When South Africa is getting a new driver’s licence card

The South African government has put in motion the process of replacing the country’s current driving licence card with a new one that features a more secure design.

This new card will be piloted from 1 November 2023 until 31 March 2024, after which “there will be a five-year period of transition from the old card to the new,” said transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

The existing card as well as the equipment used to produce it will be decommissioned on 1 April 2024, and the card itself will then remain valid until 31 March 2029.

The diagram below from tender documents published in November 2021 shows an early rendering of what the upcoming licence cards could look like.

1.2 million expired cards

Currently, Mbalula said there are still 1.2 million motorists who have not renewed their expired licence cards after the renewal grace period ended on 5 May 2022.

He said among those who have not yet renewed their cards, 67% are between the ages of 25 and 50 years, 15% between 50 and 60, and 17% above 60 – and the vast majority have infringements on their name.

“We will therefore up the ante in our law enforcement efforts in order to bring to book these wayward motorists who have no regard for the law or the safety of others on the road,” said the minister.

However, to make it easier for motorists to renew their cards, driving licence testing centres (DLTCs) are introducing a “smart enrolment solution” to improve the service to motorists and reduce turn-around times.

This solution is already implemented at the Waterfall and Eco-Park Centurion DLTCs, with the rest of Gauteng to go live in March 2023 before full deployment to other provinces.

10-year renewal period

Mbalula additionally announced that his department is currently in the process of evaluating whether it will be viable to extend the validity period for South African driver’s licence cards from five to 10 years.

“As government had earlier committed to a review of the renewal period of the driving licence card, research on the matter was undertaken by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which also undertook a benchmarking exercise covering 64 countries,” said Mbalula.

“The research revealed that countries ranked above South Africa according to the World Health Organization have an average driving licence card validity period of 9.3 years and countries ranked lower than South Africa averaging 4.4 years.”

He notes that many of the poorer-ranked countries are still using paper-based driving licences which could help explain the lower average validity period.

The department is now evaluating the options with regards to South African factors, “which includes carnage on the roads, driver competence, and prevalence of lifestyle diseases that influence safe driving,” said Mbalula.

Once the department reaches a decision it will immediately notify the public, he said.