South Africa’s only driver’s licence printing machine did not break again – Minister

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has announced that the country’s only 20-year-old driver’s licence printing machine has not broken down again, but that it was affected by “power outage challenges coupled with routine maintenance and the replacement of components.”

This comes after Eastern Cape acting chief director for transport regulations, Xolisa Jakula, told MyBroadband in mid-October that “the machine is reported to have not been working for two weeks now” and that it would be up and running again by the end of this week.

Fortunately, the printer is now operating at “full steam” and “motorists who wish to apply or have applied for renewal of their driver’s licence cards can be assured that there will be no delays in the printing and issuing of their driving licence cards,” said Mbalula.

According to the minister, the machine is capable of producing over 300,000 licence cards per month and his department intends to keep it this way to avoid the possibility of backlogs forming again.

“As will be expected, glitches might be experienced at some point, but the team is keeping a close eye on the smooth operation of the machine,” said Mbalula.

Not the first time

South Africa’s only licence printing machine first went out of operation in November 2021, an outage that lasted for over two months and saw hundreds of thousands of driver’s licence renewals being put on hold.

In the same month the printer broke down, tender documents were filed that showed a potential new design for South African driver’s licences.

Shortly thereafter, minister Mbalula confirmed that a new licence card will be trialled in the country 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.”

The new card will feature a more secure design and will conform to the standards of the “developed world” but it is still awaiting approval from Cabinet, said the minister.

Several calls from the public have also implored the government to extend the validity of driver’s licence cards from five to 10 years.

In response, minister Mbalula said “a team at the Road Traffic Management Corporation will compile a report on this proposal in the coming months, with a focus on how extending licences to 10 years could impact safety and revenue.”

However, this announcement was made all the way back in February and nothing further has been said about the purported report, leaving the possibility of these extensions up in the air.