South Africa’s new driver’s licence cards have suffered multiple delays, with the instatement of a new Minister of Transport sparking fears that the rollout might be hindered further.
As many as 11 ministers have been at the helm of the Department of Transport since 1994, which has resulted in massive projects being canned, upcoming initiatives falling by the wayside, and delays in implementing important plans.
For instance, ex-Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula in October 2022 said that his administration would take a proposal to Cabinet to extend the validity period of driver’s licences in South Africa to eight years, up from the current five, following calls from the industry to review the renewal period.
He was replaced by his second-in-command Sindisiwe Chikunga in March 2023, who in August of the same year said that the eight-year validity period proposal was still on her table but that she had taken it upon herself to present it to Cabinet with haste.
In May 2024, approaching the last weeks of Chikunga’s tenure, it was revealed that the proposal never reached Cabinet and that the five-year validity period would remain the status quo until further notice.
Likewise, there have been no updates on the introduction of electronic driver’s licences since August 2023, with much of the attention surrounding the enhanced cards being focused on the procurement of a new printer and the final launch date.
With Barbara Creecy taking over from Chikunga as the country’s new Minister of Transport this past June, she will have plenty on her plate left over from her predecessors, perhaps the most important of which will be dealing with the introduction of the country’s new driver’s licence card.
Other vital areas of focus include addressing the country’s rail crisis, introducing measures to improve traffic law enforcement, dealing effectively with issues like corruption at Driving Licence Testing Centres, and creating a safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable public transport network.
Tender document showing South Africa’s new licence card
Continuity is key
While associations such as the Automobile Association and Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse are generally upbeat over the employment of Creecy as the new Transport Minister, the Road Freight Association (RFA) is slightly more pessimistic.
RFA CEO Gavin Kelly notes that a change in leadership is bound to affect the ongoing projects at the Department of Transport as the new ministers learn the lay of the land, history shows.
Kelly told SABC News that Chikunga and her deputy minister were eager to lend an ear to industry stakeholders, allowing them to voice their concerns over the country’s transport sector and be active participants in determining the optimal solutions to these issues.
This put Chikunga’s administration on a good trajectory to sort out the most pressing matters under its purview.
“Our concern is going to be, as we’ve seen in the past with new leadership coming in, that it’s going to take some time [for the ministers] to find their feet, to understand what the important things are, and why there are bottlenecks and hurdles, and it’s going to slow down this whole process,” said Kelly.
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