South Africa experienced an alarming number of vehicle recalls in 2025, indicating that quality control standards are declining across the automotive industry.
This is according to the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA), which recently highlighted that more than 50,000 vehicles have been recalled this year from several major brands.
“The scale of these recalls reveals a systemic failure and weakness in vehicle pre-market quality assurance, manufacturing oversight and regulatory verification,” it said.
“Although vehicle recalls currently serve an essential role in addressing latent safety defects, they are inherently reactive in their nature and therefore inadequate as a safeguard.”
The AA argued that the system of vehicle recalls has proven that most notices often arrive too late with defective cars already in circulation driven by unsuspecting owners.
This is a sign that quality assurance measures are lacking, as each recall represents an oversight failure to detect the fault before the model in question hits showrooms.
“Instead of preventing danger, the recall system responds to it, exposing drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike to avoidable risks.”
This problem is not unique to one or two manufacturers, as 2025 has seen a growing pattern of product warnings across multiple brands and models.
Furthermore, these repeated incidents have exposed gaps in South Africa’s vehicle safety framework.
In May alone, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) issued four car-related notices for defects ranging from passenger airbag inflators susceptible to rupture during deployment for vehicles sold between 2014 and 2016, to seatbelt latch plates with inadequate retention hardness.
Other issues that led to recalls this year include high-voltage battery systems prone to overheating and acute fire hazards, fuel pipe clips that can cause friction leading to perforations and fuel leaks, and a loss of braking assistance due to the electromechanical brake servo control unit.
These issues not only apply to passenger cars, but also to motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, such as bakkies and panel vans.
Reactive instead of preventative
The AA stated that the existing recall framework in South Africa exhibits structural weaknesses, fragmentation, and inefficiencies in safeguarding motorists and other road users.
It highlighted three areas of concern
- Delayed Detection – Safety faults often surface years after vehicles have been sold, across successive model years. This lag in detection means defects continue to endanger lives long after vehicles enter the market.
- Consumer Burden – The onus for acting on recall notices often rests on the consumer to monitor the notices. Many motorists remain unaware or uninformed of these faults, leaving known defects unresolved and the risk unmitigated. Likewise, consumers should not have to actively engage or contact the OEM to determine the status of their vehicle.
- Limited Regulator Role – The NCC plays a coordinating role in issuing recall notices but does not conduct any tests or pre-market certification of all vehicles before market release. This makes oversight partial and places overreliance on manufacturer self-reporting to identify and disclose faults.
The AA acknowledged the logistical challenges that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) face when contacting owners of affected vehicles, as ownership records and contact information are often fragmented.
It argued that the shortcomings of the current recall system are heightened by the fact that there is no independent automotive testing authority in South Africa.
An independent body is needed to assess vehicles before they are released to the public, as the current system heavily relies on OEMs to identify, investigate, and disclose faults in their own products.
The role of regulatory oversight relies in part on the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa (MIOSA) which provides technical support to the NCC once a recall is initiated, explained NCC Executive Head, Ms Prudence Moilwa.
“However, MIOSA itself operates with a small technical team, largely drawn from within the automotive industry itself. These professionals are often associated or linked to suppliers, manufacturers or service providers, when what is required is an independent testing specialist.”
The AA argued that while this system appears to be well-intentioned, it undermines impartiality and limits the ability to ensure proactive quality assurance, as it pushes safety checks down the line when it should be done before market entry.
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