South African driving licence cards will remain valid for five years only. Picture: IOL.
Driving licence cards are often valid for 10 years or more in other countries, but for the foreseeable future South Africans will still have to renew theirs every five years.
This is in spite of former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula previously indicating that the validity period for South African driving licences could be extended to eight years.
This came after the Minister ordered the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to conduct a study into the validity period, back in February 2022, when huge licence card backlogs existed due to the national card printing machine being out of order for an extended period.
However current Transport Minister Sindiswa Chikunga has since confirmed that the current five-year validity would remain in place.
Sindiswa told BusinessTech that this decision was based on health concerns, particularly the eye tests which determine whether a driver’s vision has deteriorated, necessitating a restriction on a person’s licence.
The Organization for Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), has called into question the motives of the RTMC after it refused to share its research findings with the organisation, which had requested it under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
“OUTA questions the motives of the RTMC as the ultimate decision to extend the validity period lies with the Minister of Transport and the Minister should not be influenced by an entity with vested financial interests in the decision”, said OUTA’s Executive Director, Advocate Stefanie Fick.
“In simple terms, we find these reasons advanced by the RTMC to be ludicrous.”
OUTA has repeatedly called for a validity extension for local licences, as it would save the public money and reduce the time wasted by a bureaucracy that is “inefficient and riddled with corruption”.
After researching 35 countries on six continents, the organisation found that the average driver’s licence validity period across the globe was 8.5 years.
OUTA has also demanded answers on why the “badly needed” new driving licence card machine has been delayed.
The tender for this new device, which is being procured by the DLCA, has been advertised and withdrawn repeatedly in recent years.
“OUTA believes the entire tender process is shrouded in uncertainty and lack of transparency. The procurement of this machine is of utmost importance to South Africa, and we believe that the department and the DCLA should be much more transparent about this process,” Advocate Fick said.
Given that it takes at least nine months for a new machine to be constructed, shipped and put into operation, a new machine will not be in operation before May 2025 in even the best case scenario.
This is in spite of the Department’s earlier intentions to introduce a brand new driving licence card with advanced security features by October 2023.
The current machine, which is the only one in operation in South Africa, caused a backlog of 639,000 cards when it broke down in November 2021.
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