South Africa’s driving licence printer – a 10-year solution dragged out over 26 years

South Africa’s driving licence card machine was originally only intended to serve the country for a period of five years, which was stretched to ten years.

This is according to Werner Koekemoer, a former project manager who was involved in the set up of the machine in 1998, in an interview on 702.

Koekemoer explained that the original contract was awarded to a consortium of companies in 1997, and the machine went live in 1998.

It was intended to serve the South African public for a five year period.

“This then allowed for a second period of five years without a refresh of the technology. So, one would safely assume that the machine was good for a period of 10 or 12 years,” said Koekemoer.

That technology is now completely obsolete, and it’s not just the machine that needs a refresh, but the technology of the card itself.

Koekemoer explained that South Africa’s driving licence card printing machine uses processes and security features that don’t even exist anymore.

“That machine produces a card that’s got a paper core and is then laminated on both sides, and that technology has gone out maybe 10 or 15 years ago.”

These days the card would typically be fully plastic or composite.

The machine itself also takes up almost a whole building floor.

“The only logical way would be to do a full technology refresh – and that includes the software.”

In stark contrast, new driving licence card printers can be placed on a desktop and print three times faster, explained Koekemoer.

“That technology has become less complicated with much simpler machines. So the actual cost of the machine is not that great at all,” he said.

Stuck in a never-ending cycle

Despite the benefits of the newer technology, South Africa’s Department of Transport has not upgraded.

The current machine has broken down 160 times since it was installed 26 years ago.

It racked up a R16 million bill in maintenance and overtime just since the start of the 2022/23 financial year.

A report commissioned by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) in 2022 found that the machine should have been replaced over 15 years ago.

Koekemoer explained that a fairly large contract would be required to replace the existing system, and would require several new machines to eliminate the current single point of failure.

“The way the technology has evolved, you normally now have multiple machines, because they’re much smaller, faster, and cheaper.”

This means that if one or two machines are down, the Department of Transport is able to keep serving the public.

The raw material costs to produce the cards must also be incorporated, which adds to the size of the contracts.

To address the challenges of the aging driving licence card printer, tender advertising was done to secure an alternative system.

Idemia secured the tender in August 2024, but an audit by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) concluded that Idemia had “failed to meet key bid technical requirements.”

With the budget set for a new machine set at just over R486 million, the report found that the award of a tender worth R898 million was irregular.

Koekemoer added to this, saying “I think it’s gone out on tender – and I’m talking under correction – five or six times for a full replacement.”

“The tender processes became so contentious, that some of them were set aside even up to the Supreme Court, some were set aside by the ministry itself.

He explained that it’s just been a cycle of lots of work, preparation, and bidding documents, with companies submitting bids at great costs, only for the whole process to stall when it comes to evaluation.