Personalised number plates

Vanity of vanities?

I’m fascinated by the personalised, or vanity, plates South Africans choose, especially those in and around Port Elizabeth. There are the subtle ones, like PE’s municipal manager Graham Richards who used to have his initials, JGR on his Beemer.

Others are clearly just the person’s name – the bright orange Ford Focus driven by CALVIN and the black Honda driven by BONTLE, for example.

Then there are those which want to give you a message. The red Honda Jazz with 001 MUM is driven by a motherly sort, designer Morné's black Citroen dubbed CHICHI suits his persona to a T, and if the red Renault WOOF number plate didn’t give you enough of a scent, you’ll often find it parked where she works, at the vets.

As for the silver Pajero that says MY 4X4, seeing as this is driven by a well-coiffed matron, perhaps he has one too ... or maybe, just maybe, he drives the clapped-out 12-year-old rust bucket. Now that would be something ...