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Thursday / 6 February 2025
HomeFeaturesNew car licence renewal hurdle on the cards for South Africa

New car licence renewal hurdle on the cards for South Africa

The Automobile Association (AA) is calling for annual roadworthiness tests to be made compulsory in South Africa, which would be tied to a motorist’s car licence disc renewal application.

AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede put forward these suggestions during a recent interview with Newzroom Afrika, where he argued that attempts to improve driver behaviour would not be enough to address the nation’s dire road fatality statistics.

Accountability on the roads

South Africa witnessed over 1,500 deaths on the road over the 2024/25 festive season, according to the latest report from Transport Minister Barbara Creecy.

Worryingly, this represents a 5.3% year-on-year increase from the year before, indicating that previous efforts to improve driver awareness and responsibility have largely fallen on deaf ears.

While many of the fatalities were attributed to driver behaviour, including speeding, reckless driving, and driving while under the influence, another 16,527 cases were linked to one of the vehicles being in an unroadworthy condition.

Ramagwede reiterated that this is a major area of concern that doesn’t receive the level of attention it should, claiming that current efforts to reduce accidents are “scattershot” and that more needs to be done to address factors beyond driving habits.

This includes “equipment components” – in reference to the condition of the cars themselves.

It was put forward that all cars should be subject to an annual roadworthiness inspection.

At the moment, most owners may only encounter a vehicle inspection if they happen to be stopped at a roadblock, but this is something that should be standardized and put into legislation, he said.

Motorists are already required to renew their car licence disc every year, so it stands to reason that a roadworthiness certificate should be included in that process.

“It’s all good and well paying a subscription to use the roads, but let’s ensure that the equipment itself is adequate for the road as well,” said Ramagwede.

Another factor that needs to be addressed is the nation’s road infrastructure, which is designed in favour of cars at the expense of pedestrians.

Roughly 41% of the festive period’s road-related fatalities were pedestrians, indicating that South Africa needs to re-examine the way it plans and builds transport networks going forward.

All of this needs to be studied while continuing efforts to curb reckless behaviour, using tactics like roadblocks to stop these actions in real time.

Nearly 1,000 roadblocks were set up over December, leading to over 711,000 fines being issued.

A total of 9,550 motorists were arrested for various offences, with drunk driving accounting for 3,840 of those cases.

Visible policing on the roads is a step in the right direction to address these trends, as people are less likely to take chances when there is a tangible police presence, explained Ramagwede.

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