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New South African driving licence cards uncertainty-Hanno Labuschagne
South Africa’s new driving licence card is late, and the Department of Transport has yet to officially announce whether it will have an extended validity period.
According to the latest timelines shared by transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga during a Q&A session in a media briefing on 10 April 2024, the new cards were supposed to be launched by the end of last month.
Chikunga said that a team had to travel to France to finalise the procurement of the printer that would produce the new cards.
She said the process was at its “tail-end”, and the department would introduce at least 100 new cards in every province by the end of April.
However, neither the minister nor her department has since confirmed that a new printer has arrived or been installed or that any new cards have been printed.
The tender for the procurement of the printer has been repeatedly published and withdrawn since at least November 2021.
A year later, Chikunga’s predecessor, Fikile Mbalula, said the pilot period for the new cards would run from November 2023 to March 2024.
MyBroadband followed up with the department multiple times in October 2023 and November 2023 to learn the status of the pilot.
While we received an acknowledgement of our query, we did not receive any response to our questions.
MyBroadband also asked an employee working at a driving licence testing centre (DLTC) what the latest update was on the new cards in late November 2023.
The employee said that since Mbalula’s move to ANC Secretary-General, there have been no further developments on the new cards. This could not be verified with the department.
Chikunga acknowledged in January 2024 that the tender for the printer had not been awarded.
There have been little to no updates on why this procurement has taken more than two years, aside from the process being described as “complex”.
The current cards have been in use since 1998, and the printer which produces them has repeatedly broken down in recent years.
The new card will offer various technical and security improvements, including better protection against forgery and more seamless use in other countries.
Mbalula also said the country would adopt a digital driving licence in a phased approach up to 2025/2026. There has been no further information on this development, either.
Validity period extension
The transport department has also gone quiet on extending the validity period of the licence cards.
Several organisations and political parties pointed out that there was no reasonable basis for the 5-year validity period, and that it was short when compared to many other countries around the world.
A MyBroadband comparison of renewal periods in 31 countries found that most countries had longer licence card validity, typically lasting 10 years between renewals.
Most countries with longer validity periods than South Africa had much lower road accident deaths, including Singapore and Switzerland, which only demand renewal after a person reaches 65 and 70, respectively.
The last word on the validity period extension in South Africa came in August 2023, when Mbalula said that an 8-year validity would be tabled for approval by the cabinet.
While that would already be three years more than the current period between renewals, it falls short of the ten years that the Automobile Association of South Africa, Democratic Alliance, and Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse called for.
MyBroadband again contacted numerous communications and media relations employees in the department over the past few days to learn more about the latest delay.
One employee acknowledged our query and said it would be forwarded to the relevant division.
However, despite several follow-up emails and calls to the communications contacts listed on the Department of Transport’s website, we have had no further responses.
SOURCE:New South African driving licence cards uncertainty (mybroadband.co.za)
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