Following months of planning to extend South Africa’s driver’s licences to eight years, the Transport Department has missed a critical deadline in its implementation plans.
According to its own Annual Performance Plan, the department was meant to submit its decision to parliament for endorsement by the fourth quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, which it did not.
During its presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Transport regarding third-quarter expenditure, the department said it was still finalising the project’s cost-benefit analysis.
Hlengiwe Ngwenya, the department’s director for strategic planning and monitoring, said the cost-benefit analysis will determine whether or not the validity period for licences is extended.
“We had a target around the validity period where we had targeted to do consultations on the proposed validity period with the shareholders committee,” she said.
Nwenya added that this was not done as the department is still finalising its analysis.
“This is a key document which will inform the decision on whether we proceed with the validity period or not,” she added.
This uncertainty contradicts the department’s confirmation that the driving licence validity period extension will definitely be implemented.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy previously confirmed that the extension will definitely be implemented, and that her department was merely waiting on the results of the analysis to avoid “unintended consequences”.
This was supported by the department’s director-general, Mathabatha Mokonyama, who told Parliament’s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and the Minister in the Presidency that the extension would happen.
He confirmed that the conclusion of the department’s decision took longer than expected, adding that analysis confirmed South Africans prefer a longer validity period.
“They don’t want to come back to us every five years. So we definitely will be moving to eight years soon,” he said.
Transport Department spokesperson, Collen Msibi, also told our sister publication, MyBroadband, that a decision had been made despite the incomplete cost-benefit analysis.
“It is true. However, the cost-benefit analysis has not been completed as yet,” he said.
There were warnings
As the third quarter of the financial year was drawing to a close, the civil rights organisation, AfriForum, wrote to the minister to remind her of the impending deadline.
According to Louis Boshoff, AfriForum Campaign Manager, the organisation had been calling for an extension for five years.
The department’s considerations only began after South Africa’s only licence card printer broke, leading to a backlog of 500,000 new and renewed licence cards.
Boshoff commended the department for its decision to extend the validity period of driving licences, but called for commitment to its implementation.
“AfriForum does not merely regard this issue as of great importance due to what is stated in the department’s planning documents, but especially because no new driver’s licence card printer has yet to be acquired,” he wrote.
“The sooner a decision is implemented to extend the validity period to eight years, the sooner the department’s burden to print new licence cards will be eased.”
Boshoff added that although the backlog in issuing driver’s licences has been largely addressed, no new printer has been purchased, and the current printer could break down again.
“The least the minister can do is stick to her own department’s planning,” he concluded.
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