Government confirms bad news for South Africans wanting to renew their driving licence

The Department of Transport (DoT) has confirmed that the only driving licence card printer in South Africa has broken down again. 

This followed reports that the machine had been out of order since January and that a few to no cards had been issued since the start of the year.

On 23 March 2025, insiders at the Department of Transport noted that the country’s only licence card printing machine had stopped working in January.

The sources added that the machine breaks down frequently, which has resulted in a growing backlog of driver’s licences waiting to be printed.

These reports where substantiated by Alderman JP Smith, the City of Cape Town MMC for safety and security.

Smith stressed that the city’s Driving Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs) received nearly 60,000 driver’s licence card applications in 2025, but not one has been issued.

“To date, not a single licence has been received for those applications from the DLCA in Pretoria,” said Smith.

South Africa’s current licence card printing machine is 26 years old and has experienced 159 breakdowns in its lifetime, which have become more frequent with age.

Following these reports, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) wrote to Creecy demanding answers, while Smith urged transport minister Barbara Creecy to act with haste to address the issue.

In response to questions from MyBroadband, the DoT spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed that the country’s driving licence card printer has been broken down since February 2025.

“The Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) is liaising with the sole supplier in France to repair equipment that has malfunctioned and resulted in the machine breakdown,” Msibi said.

“The Department is exploring various interim solutions to sustain the operations of the current machine, given its age.” Msibi also noted that it could take several weeks to repair the machine.

Smith noted that the country experienced the same issue at the start of 2022, and the fact that nothing has changed three years later is an absolute indictment of those responsible.

Smith advised those who need to renew their licences that an expired driving licence card will remain valid for three months past its expiry date.

However, he noted that the three-month period will only count if the application for a new driving licence was submitted before the expiry date.

Motorists must keep their expired licence and proof of payment for their application in case they are pulled over.

“If the situation is not resolved within the three months, an application can be made for a temporary licence, which is valid for six months, or until the new driving licence card is issued,” said Smith.

However, motorists who fail to submit their renewal applications before their card expires will be charged R45 for a temporary licence.

Time for change

Outa and other experts have noted that this latest breakdown and the excessive backlog created are reasons why the current driving licence must be replaced. 

Outa believes these changes should include extending the driving licence validity period, while others have called for a complete overhaul by introducing digital licences. 

Outa said it has long advocated for extending the validity period of the driver’s licence card from five to ten years.

“This move would alleviate administrative burdens, reduce backlogs, and lower costs for both motorists and the government,” it said.

“Research we undertook in 2022 shows that many countries have already extended the validity period of their driver’s licence cards,” said Outa. 

Outa’s CEO, Wayne Duvenage, added that these validity periods are ten years or more, and do not compromise road safety.

“It should also be noted that a ten-year validity period was gazetted in 2013 but then mysteriously withdrawn. We believe the DoT cannot continue to avoid this issue.”

Road safety expert and Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones argues that South Africa should retire its physical licence cards and replace them with permanent, digital-only permits that never expire.

“Every driver has fingerprints, and every vehicle has a VIN. If SARS can collect tax with an app, surely traffic officers could police drivers with an app,” said Handfield-Jones.

Handfield-Jones added that the government would not consider an option that excluded a physical card because it would be a money-spinner for the state and possibly other vested interests.

“There is no technological or practical obstacle to digital licensing and enforcement,” he said.

“Rather, the problem is the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s refusal to give up the revenue streams that go with analogue document production.”