Driving licence crisis in South Africa

South Africa’s driving licence system is in crisis. It has an old machine that frequently breaks down, no clear way forward regarding procuring new printing machines, and a validity period that many motorists want extended.

This is according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which slammed the Department of Transport for failing to solve these critical problems.

Outa wants the Department of Transport to procure a new printing machine and extend the driving licence card validity period to 10 years.

Outa’s executive director, Advocate Stefanie Fick, acknowledged that the machine has been repaired following its breakdown in February 2025, but raised questions about when the next breakdown will occur.

“This old machine is prone to regular breakdowns and is bound to break down again,” she said.

She also warned that the current card lacks modern security features.

“The long-term solution, which is a decade overdue, is the finalisation of the new driving licence card solution, either through a tender awarded to a private company or through the Government Printing Works,” said Fick.

She noted that the Government Printing Works successfully manages to print ID cards for the Department of Home Affairs.

According to the civil action organisation, the existing driving licence card printer should have been decommissioned around 16 years ago.

Outa also warned that the backlog caused by the most recent outage will take nearly two months to clear.

The Department of Transport revealed that the backlog had reached 747,748 cards to be printed by the time the machine returned to service.

According to Outa, the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) has a maximum production capacity of 14,000 to 19,000 cards in a 14-hour shift.

“It would thus take 40 to 53 days to clear that backlog, excluding the addition of any new card applications,” it said.

“The card machine has been in use since 1998, so it has seen 27 years of service, although it should have been replaced in about 2009.”

DLCA wants more money

On 10 March 2025, the DLCA published a tender to find a service provider to review its cost model to help it recover a fair amount for producing South Africa’s driving licence cards.

It called for applications from “qualified service providers to conduct a review of the current cost model and develop a new cost model that will be aligned to a fair recoverable amount for the driver’s licence card”.

According to the DLCA, the driving licence card tariffs were last adjusted in January 2024.

“The DLCA is of the opinion that it is not realising/recovering the total cost to produce the driver’s licence card,” it said in the bid document.

Regarding the procurement of a new machine, the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) flagged the tender awarded to Idemia Identity and Security South Africa in August 2024 as non-compliant.

The AGSA’s findings prompted transport minister Barbara Creecy to approach the High Court to cancel the tender. However, she was later advised against cancelling it.

Outa is demanding answers about the High Court application, which the minister promised would not go ahead.

Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage wrote to the minister on 27 March, asking for clarity on the situation. Outa has yet to receive a response.

“The AGSA report was clear in its flagging of several irregularities, including that ‘the winning bid was non-compliant’,” Duvenage wrote.

“The AGSA recommended that the awarding of this tender be cancelled. This is sufficient reason for you to be confident in the decision you have taken.”

The DLCA does not appear to have issued a new tender for the machine.