The announcement that South Africa will get a backup driver’s license card printing has raised questions over why a special machine was required to produce the documents for nearly thirty years.
This was noted by Rob Handfield-Jones, managing director of Driving.co.za, who explained that the speed at which they secured a backup system implies that a special card machine was unnecessary.
South Africa’s current machine is 27 years old and has suffered continuous breakdowns in recent years, resulting in a massive backlog of unprinted licenses.
Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Transport, in her 2025/2026 budget vote, indicated that there was a backup printer in the works.
This is enabled by a memorandum of understanding with the Government Printing Works (GPW), which produces South Africa’s smart ID cards and passports.
While encouraging news for the card backlog, this development does bring into question the Department of Transport’s previous stance on the card machine.
The department previously insisted that the one printer system was used to avoid corruption.
This discrepancy drew the attention of Handfield-Jones, who questioned why a special card machine was needed if a backup system could be put in place so easily.
“If the latter is true, it’s reasonable to conclude that the outsourcing of the original card production contract in the 1990s served no rational end,” he said.
“After years of relying on a machine that keeps breaking down, it’s miraculously discovered that GPW has unused production capacity lying idle.”
The Automobile Association of South Africa shared this sentiment, noting that the GPW has proven technical expertise in printing cards similar to licenses, as it is responsible for the nation’s smart ID cards.
“If the decision is to secure new equipment from an outside source, were all the factors of not using the GPW — and the costs of not printing ‘in-house’ — fully explored?” said the association.
Concerns over a printing scheme
This situation has reignited concerns over the licence card regime and potential corruption.
“If the DoT has been economical with the truth about driving licence card production, that is, in my view, a very severe breach of trust with the public,” Handfield-Jones said.
“It seems that, yet again, South Africans must decide whether their government has been corrupt or merely incompetent.”
He has also recommended that the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport investigate if it’s revealed that a special card machine wasn’t needed.
Handfield-Jones also noted that the physical licence card system should be scrapped in its entirety and replaced with a fully digital system.
He explained that the notion behind the card was to make the license more secure than the easily forged ID book version, but that this was no longer an effective strategy.
“This requirement no longer holds water in an era of widespread online connectivity, but the transport department isn’t going to give up the revenue stream of card production without a fight.”
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