South African motorists can finally look forward to driver’s licence cards with a 10-year validity period, halving the number of times they will need to renew their licence.
On 30 July 2026, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced that Cabinet had approved the extension for the country’s licence cards.
This applies to four vehicle licence codes – A, A1, B, and EB – which are the categories for motorcycles and light vehicles. This means the extension effectively applies to all private motorists in South Africa.
However, heavy transport and commercial vehicle licences will continue to adhere to the current renewal cycle of between two and five years. Professional licences also still need to be renewed every two years.
Ntshavheni said this change will align South Africa with international best practices and improve convenience for motorists by reducing renewal frequency.
At the same time, it will help to ease pressure on the Department of Transport and the country’s Driver’s Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs), which are struggling to keep up with high demand for renewals brought about by South Africa’s relatively short validity period.
It must be noted that these changes have yet to take effect, as the extension still requires legislative amendments.
Importantly, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy advised motorists that they are still required to renew their expired licences under the current five-year system until the 10-year extension comes into effect.
Creecy and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa explained that the validity period extension requires an amendment to Regulation 108 of the Road Traffic Regulations.
Specifically, the amendment will alter paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (5) of the following: (5) (a) Subject to regulation 101(2), which states:
- a driving licence card for codes A1, A, B, and EB licence shall expire [five] 10 years from the date on which it has been ordered from the Card Production Facility; and
- a driving licence card for codes C1, C, EC1, and EC licence shall expire five years from the date on which it has been ordered from the Card Production Facility.
An unfortunate consequence of this is that motorists with licences that have expired or will soon expire will need to apply for a new 5-year licence card, as they will not be granted the new 10-year licence.
A long overdue decision
The announcement has been welcomed by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), one of several civil action groups that has been calling for reforms to the licence card system for years.
“This decision is almost six years overdue, but it is a victory for motorists and for common sense,” said OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage.
“Government has finally accepted that forcing motorists through an inefficient renewal system every five years wastes time and money without making our roads safer.”
OUTA has been calling for the validity period to be extended since September 2020. At the time, the COVID-19 lockdowns were causing major disruptions to renewal services, which led to a massive backlog of expired cards.
“Although the pandemic brought the crisis into sharp focus, our work showed that the five-year renewal cycle placed unnecessary pressure on a system already struggling with inefficiency, corruption and poor service delivery,” said OUTA.
The organisation conducted a survey, where 3,685 motorists spoke about their experiences with the country’s licensing system.
“65% reported frustration with the ineffective online booking system, 60% complained about long queues, about 45% referred to poor staff attitudes, and more than 10% said they had witnessed bribery,” reported OUTA.
In the time since then, South Africa has run into issues with its sole licence printing machine, which is 27 years old and has broken down several times.
The last time it broke down was in February 2025, creating a backlog of over 730,000 cards that wasn’t cleared until the end of the year.
Moving to a 10-year validity period would halve the number of renewal applications, reducing the severity of these breakdowns.
The government is trying to replace its unreliable printer, but this process has been delayed due to a dodgy tender process that was flagged over several irregularities.
In any case, the longer validity period will reduce the amount of admin that motorists need to deal with. OUTA said that this change was long overdue.
“Government took far too long to act, despite having the evidence and the power to address this unnecessary administrative burden. We are nevertheless pleased that it has arrived at the right decision,” said Duvenage.
It pointed out that two questions about the extension still remain: when will the 10-year validity period take effect, and will it apply only to new cards, or also to cards already in circulation?
“OUTA calls on the Department to complete the required amendments without unnecessary delay, publish a clear implementation timetable and explain the transitional arrangements,” it said.
“This clarity is essential to prevent confusion and ensure that motorists do not mistakenly allow their current cards to expire.”
Loading ...
