Driver’s license renewal fees mostly go straight to government

The fees South Africans pay while renewing their driving licenses are predominantly used to raise funds for the state rather than to produce the cards.

This is according to Werner Koekemoer, who revealed in an interview with 702 that only a small part of the fee South African motorists pay to renew their licenses goes into the production cost.

“The full fee application that you pay when you apply for your licence or when you apply for a renewal or a duplicate, that full amount is not for the production,” he said.

“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.”

Koekemoer is the former driving license project manager.

This claim was supported by Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield Jones, who noted that South Africa’s physical license cards are still in use due to the revenue the application fees generate.

“There is no technological or practical obstacle to digital licensing and enforcement,” he said.

“Rather, the problem is the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s refusal to give up the revenue streams that go with analogue document production.”

He continued to explain that, alongside generating revenue for the state, there were likely other vested interests in maintaining the status quo.

Based on this, he noted that the government prioritises revenue over addressing the issues that have given rise to the high accident rates on South Africa’s roads.

“Before 1998, South African driving licences had no renewal process, and 1998 was the safest year in our history on our roads,” said Handfield-Jones.

“The fatality rate has at least quadrupled since 1998, so there is no evidence that card renewals have been of any benefit.”

Handfield-Jones also attributes the high mortality rate in 1988 to South African drivers acquiring licenses illegally and lacking fundamental driving skills.

“That traces back to the 1996 evisceration of the Instructor’s Test and the implementation of the centralised licence booking system shortly afterwards,” he said.

“No other factors can explain the abrupt doubling of fatality rates from 1998 to 2006 after they had declined in a straight line from 1985 onwards.”

Old machine and breakdowns

South Africa’s sole license card printing machine is well past its expiry date, and consequently, breakdowns have been frequent in recent years.

While the Department of Transport has made progress in securing a new machine, the process was recently derailed due to legal concerns.

This is due to Idemia Identity and Security South Africa, the chosen company for procuring the new machine, being subjected to an audit by the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA).

This audit was requested by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and found that Idemia had failed to meet key bid technical requirements.

Following this, Creecy approached the courts with an application for a declaratory order and is currently still waiting for an outcome.