10-year driving licence validity could be coming sooner than you think

South African motorists could see the validity period of driving licences extended from five to ten years sooner than expected, following Cabinet’s approval.

The decision came months earlier than initially expected, which sparked hope that the extension would also be fast-tracked.

The fight to have driving licence cards expire after ten years rather than every five started in 2022, when the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) first conducted a study into the possibility.

Former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula was the one who announced the study, yet its results were only released by his successor, Sindisiwe Chikunga.

Despite the study supporting the extension of driving licence validity periods, Chikunga and her administration instead rejected the idea.

For years, supporters of the plan argued that the extension would ease pressure on South Africa’s licensing centres and serve as a more convenient alternative for the country’s motorists.

It was not until current Transport Minister Barbara Creecy took the reins at the Department of Transport two years ago that she announced the plans to accommodate the extension would be reviewed.

Fast-forward a little over two years, and the plan to extend driving licences’ validity from five years to ten years was approved by South Africa’s Cabinet.

What gave motorists hope that the change would be implemented sooner rather than later is that the approval came around eight months earlier than expected.

According to the government’s medium-term goals, the plan was meant to reach Cabinet by the end of the 2027 financial year, which is March 2027, and be sent to parliament for review by the end of the next financial year.

As a result, South Africans are holding out hope that the ahead-of-schedule approval indicates driver’s licence validity will be extended sooner than anticipated as well.

Despite the process being handled faster than first expected, the department has not specified whether any of its timelines had been moved forward.

Better late than never

While the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomed Cabinet’s approval of the ten-year driving licence cards for light motor vehicles specifically, it said the decision is long overdue.

“This decision is almost six years overdue, but it is a victory for motorists and for common sense,” noted the organisation’s CEO, Wayne Duvenage.

He said that the government has finally accepted that forcing motorists into an inefficient renewal system every five years wastes time and money without making roads safer.

OUTA has been a supporter of the extension right from the start, initially calling for it in September 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions disrupted South Africa’s licensing services.

Over the years, the organisation researched the driving licence card validity periods of 35 countries and found that the average validity period is 8.5 years, with periods ranging from 3 to 20 years.

It also surveyed nearly 4,000 motorists about their experience with the renewal system, finding that almost two-thirds were frustrated with the ineffective online booking system, and 60% also complained about long queues.

Nearly half of respondents expressed disappointment with poor staff attitudes, while more than 10% of them admitted to witnessing bribery.

In March 2022, OUTA met with the former Transport Minister to present its findings and motivation for extending the validity period of driving licence cards.

The organisation continued to support the reform as backlogs, card-printing failures and other departmental and operational inefficiencies persisted.

Duvenage declared that the government has taken far too long to act, despite the overwhelming evidence and power to address the unnecessary administrative burden.

“We are nevertheless pleased that it has arrived at the right decision,” the OUTA CEO concluded.