Major city to auction 800 cars, a driver’s licence renewal fee hike, and a big win for South Africa’s car factories

These were the five biggest stories in South Africa’s transport industry this week.

One of South Africa’s biggest cities to auction 800 cars

In an attempt to increase municipal revenue, the City of Tshwane will look to auction off approximately 800 outdated municipal fleet vehicles.

Bidding will take place through an online auction, with the value of the vehicles to be determined by the auctioneer, who will assess their condition and market demand.

Mayoral Committee Member Kholofelo Morodi explained that the vehicles are high-mileage units that have reached the end of their optimal lifespan and have no further purpose in the city.

Driver’s licence renewal fee hike on the cards for South Africa

The Department of Transport (DoT) is considering hiking driver’s licence renewal fees as a result of the eight-year validity period extension.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy explained that increasing the validity period will result in less frequent renewals and a loss of revenue for the Driving Licence Card Account.

The announcement has been criticised by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, which argues that the hike is a pretext to squeeze money of of motorists

Hyundai crash test sparks new vehicle safety concerns in South Africa

The Automobile Association (AA) claims it has been inundated with calls from concerned motorists following the news that the Hyundai Grand i10 received a zero-star adult occupation NCAP rating.

These calls include requests for the AA to discourage the purchasing of cars with poor NCAP performance.

The association reiterated that it does not ban or endorse vehicles, but that it is committed to exposing safety shortcomings in new cars to help consumers make informed decisions.

Big win for South Africa’s car factories

South Africa’s car manufacturers will finally receive government support to upgrade their facilities to build new energy vehicles (NEVs).

Starting on 1 March 2026, automakers will be able to reclaim tax equal to 150% of their investments into the facilities and machinery earmarked for NEV production.

Manufacturers like BMW, Ford, and Toyota have been lobbying for this change for years, warning that the local industry is falling behind in the global transition to NEVs.

Car dealer under fire for cutting jobs in South Africa

South Africa’s largest trade union federation, Cosatu, has expressed concerns regarding the retrenchments implemented by the major automotive retailer, Motus.

The Motor Industry Staff Association recently announced that Motus had retrenched 86 employees and that an additional 579 staff were being impacted by remuneration and benefit changes.

Cosatu condemned the news, stating that South Africa already has a painfully high unemployment rate and can’t afford to lose a single job.