More driver’s licence renewal backlogs expected for South Africa

South African motorists may once again be facing further delays when trying to renew their driver’s licence cards, as the country’s only printing machine has broken down for the second time in less than a year.

The Eastern Cape’s acting chief director for transport regulations, Xolisa Jakula, told MyBroadband that the machine has not been working for two weeks, but that they are hoping to have it operational by the end of this week.

“We are expecting a further update tomorrow [Wednesday, 19 October 2022],” he said.

Broken again

This is the second time in less than 12 months that South Africa’s only licence printing machine has broken down, as it previously stopped working in November 2021 and wasn’t fixed until the end of January 2022.

The lengthy repairs accounted for the holiday period and were marred by mixed reports from Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, who initially said the machine had been sent to Germany for reparations, but changed his tune in February and said it “never left the shores” of South Africa.

It was also revealed that the printer is so old that it is the only one of its kind still operating in the world, and Mbalula said his department was dealing with an “inherited problem.”

In response, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) said Mbalula has been transport minister since 2019 and that his department has failed to purchase a new licence printing machine despite raising over R400 million in renewal fees over nine years.

The department itself also acknowledged that the machine was run-down and needed to be replaced as far back as March 2021, but seemingly no action has been taken to do so.

New licence cards

South Africa’s ageing driver’s licence card is on its way out and next year it is being replaced by a new design which will be piloted from 1 November 2023 until 31 March 2024, after which “there will be a five-year period of transition from the old card to the new,” said Mbalula.

The new card will feature a more secure design and will conform to the standards of the “developed world,” said the minister, though they are still awaiting Cabinet approval.

Alongside the revised cards, the country is also getting a new printing machine which will be capable of producing these cards.

The current printer is scheduled to be decommissioned on 1 April 2024 and the old cards will continue to be recognised as valid until 31 March 2029, said Mbalula.

There have also been calls to extend the validity of a driver’s licence card from five to 10 years, which the transport minister said is currently under consideration.

The below diagram shows an accurate depiction of what South Africa’s new licence cards could look like, according to tender documents filed in November 2021.