South Africa has taken another step towards the full digitization of licenses with the Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s (JMPD’s) launch of a new handheld electronic traffic notice issuing system.
This is according to Rob Handfield-Jones, a professional driving expert, who is a well-known advocate for replacing physical license cards and discs with digital alternatives.
The unveiling of the new handheld electronic traffic notice issuing system took place on 8 August 2025, highlighting modified smartphones and portable printers.
These modified devices can verify vehicle and driving license card details, flag stolen cars and fraudulent cards, and pull violations from the Electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis).
“The device lets officers capture accident reports within five minutes and issue notices, even during load-shedding or without network coverage,” the city said.
Handfield-Jones told MyBroadband that these new devices raised the question of why South Africa still needed physical license cards and discs.
In his words, if traffic officers around the country used these devices, then the need for the physical checks currently used could be avoided.
Instead, traffic officers could scan vehicles and connect directly with eNatis. Additionally, for identification, fingerprint scanning with biometric data could be used to recognise drivers.
Most modern smartphones can scan fingerprints, so this option is quite viable.
Handfield-Jones recently submitted a proposal to Parliament calling on the legislature to facilitate the development of an electronic backend system to eliminate physical cards and discs.
Money maker for the government
Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Transport, recently admitted that the one factor keeping driving license card renewal periods at five years was the impact a change would have on the department’s revenue.
Currently, drivers must renew their licenses once every five years despite calls for extending this period to eight or even 10 years.
Claims that the five-year period improved road safety, as drivers needed to get their eyes checked as a part of the process, have been debunked.
Other claims that the laminated cards wouldn’t last longer than five years were also found to be invalid.
This admission from Creecy, therefore, comes as no surprise.
Handfield-Jones has noted that the government will continue milking drivers as long as the physical system persists.
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