South Africa is getting 8-year driver’s licences – which is bad news for the transport department

South Africa is finally set to extend the validity period of its driver’s licences from five to eight years, but doing so is expected to hurt the Department of Transport’s revenue.

Earlier this month,  Director-General Mathabatha Mokonyana informed Parliament’s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and the Minister in the Presidency that a decision had been made to extend the validity period.

“We have just concluded, although it took a little bit of time, the issue around extending the validity period of the driver’s licence card from five to eight years,” he said.

“Our analysis and assessment is that South Africans do favour a longer period. They don’t want to come back to us every five years. So we definitely will be moving to eight years soon.”

This was corroborated by Department of Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi, told MyBroadband, noted that South Africa will shift to an eight-year driving licence.

While this is good news for motorists, who will enjoy three more years with their licences before they need to repeat the bureaucratic hassle of renewing their cards, it will likely result in a loss of revenue for the Department of Transport (DoT).

The DoT stated that it has yet to complete its cost-benefit analysis, so it’s unclear how much the drop in renewals will impact its revenue, but it stands to reason that a 46% extension on the validity period will have a noticeable effect.

Werner Koekemoer, the former driving licence project manager, explained that the vast majority of the licence renewal fee goes straight to the government.

“I don’t know what the exact figure is. It was around R250, let’s say R300, for a new card application. No more than R50 or R60 of that should be for the production of the card.”

A loss of revenue was one of the most commonly cited reasons why South Africa shouldn’t extend its validity period; however, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) argues that this should not be a concern for the department.

Outa has been a vocal advocate for longer driver’s card periods alongside other measures to simplify the administrative process, which has resulted in significant delays and poor service delivery over the years.

In an interview with eNCA, Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage stated that revenue should not be a concern for the government, as it is not intended to generate a profit and must only be sufficient to cover expenses.

“Our view is that the government is not in the business of making money. It is in the business of covering costs,” he said.

“If you have fewer licences to issue, you will have fewer costs and will therefore need less revenue to cover those costs.”

Outa has even argued that South Africa should opt for a longer 10-year validity period to reduce the bureaucratic load motorists have to deal with.

“It is not about costs or money for the government. It is about the efficiency of the government and to reduce the administrative burden and the costs we have to suffer as the public to renew these licences.”

“Plus, it takes a lot of the pressure off the government with regards to the printing machine breaking down and services not being delivered.”

Duvenage said that an even better solution would be to move to digital licences, which would drastically reduce costs for the state and the public.

Fewer licence renewals means less printer drama

The move to extend South Africa’s driver’s licence validity comes after a year of licence card renewal drama, as the country’s only printer broke down yet again in early 2025.

The resulting renewal backlog peaked at around 750,000 cards back in May, and was still sitting at 169,606 cards as of November.

The current printer has been in operation since 1998 and was initially scheduled for replacement in 2009, but it is still being used today despite its numerous breakdowns.

Cabinet approved a plan for a new printer in August 2022, but no machine has been procured because the tender has been repeatedly cancelled and reissued.

Until a new printer is acquired, a longer licence validity period will go a long way to mitigate the fallout of any more breakdowns.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy explained that her department has conducted a study comparing the validity periods of driver’s licences around the world to inform a process on extending South Africa’s beyond five years. 

“I read that study when I was appointed. It noted that if you are driving a bus, taxi, or a heavy vehicle, the suggestion is that there should be more regular renewal of those licences.”

“We want to make sure that those people who are driving vehicles that can cause significant accidents or carrying passengers are renewing at least on a two-year basis for safety.”

“However, with regard to the driver’s licence for ordinary citizens like you and me, the suggestion is that we go for a period of eight years. I think that is something that we view in a favourable light.”