What it costs to buy a fake driver’s licence in South Africa

Motorists can acquire a fraudulent driver’s licence card for as little as R3,500 in South Africa.

This is according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), an entity under the Department of Transport, which recently announced its plans to move away from physical identification documents to combat fraud.

The entity noted that there is widespread corruption at driver’s licence testing centres (DLTCs) across the country, with many staff members being complicit in the circulation of fake driver’s licence cards and vehicle licence discs.

It stated that there are criminal networks involved with DLTCs, working alongside driving examiners, traffic officers, and members of the South African Police Service to distribute fake licences for a quick buck.

Driver’s licences are a hot commodity for these criminals, typically selling cards for anywhere from R3,500 to R14,000.

Car licence discs are also popular, particularly among fleet managers in the public transport and freight logistics sectors.

Motselesi Juma, the RTMC’s programme management office and strategy general manager, said that fleet managers will only register 10 out of 100 vehicles and use duplicate discs for the remaining 90.

To address these issues, the RTMC plans to digitise South Africa’s DLTCs to crack down on the sale of illegal licences.

This is on top of existing services like the eNatis website, which allows motorists to renew their car licence discs online and book appointments for other tasks.

Juma said that 2.8 million of the 13.5 million licence holders in South Africa have registered on the eNatis website, roughly 20%.

South Africa’s driver’s licences are going digital

In his 2026 State of the Nation Address in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the Department of Home Affairs would launch the country’s digital ID before the end of the year.

“This year, the DHA will launch a digital ID to enable safe and secure use of digital services for all South Africans,” he said.

“We will digitise drivers’ licences, matric certificates, and Master’s Office services.”

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber gazetted the draft digital identity regulations for public comment in early May 2026.

The regulations serve as the legal foundation for the MyMzansi platform, which is the service that will be used to digitally store civic records such as driver’s licences and IDs.

The new digital licences are expected to reduce fraud while greatly improving service delivery for motorists.

South Africa only has a single, decades-old licence printing machine that is prone to frequent breakdowns.

When it does inevitably break, it often takes months to repair and requires specialized staff and equipment to be brought in from overseas.

These breakdowns lead to extensive licence backlogs that can take months to clear once the machine is back up and running.

The last time the machine broke down was in February 2025, creating a backlog of over 750,000 licence renewals that was only cleared in January 2026.

The government has proposed alternate solutions to this problem, including a new printing machine and collaborations between the Transport Department and the Government Printing Works, which produces the country’s ID cards.

However, industry stakeholders argue that digital licences would be a far better solution, costing less and eliminating the logistical issues presented by the current system.