SA’s only driving licence printing machine is finally working again — with the backlog at nearly 750,000

The Department of Transport says that South Africa’s sole printing machine for driving licence cards, stalled since 4 January, is working again. There is a backlog of more than 747,000 waiting to be printed.

Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said the machine could print between 14,000 to 19,000 cards during a 14-hour shift. “We are cautiously optimistic, given the age of the machine,” he said.

“This means working hours for staff members at the Driving Licence Card Agency … will be extended to ensure the reduction of the backlog,” said the department. New orders were being added to the backlog and updates would be provided, said the department.

“That’s great news, but my question is, when is it going to break down again?” said Wayne Duvenage, the CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).

According to a previous statement by the department, the current printing machine has had almost 160 breakdowns in its approximately 25 years of operation.

Duvenage called on the minister of transport to put out a new tender for a card machine and to ensure transparency and efficiency in the process. “It doesn’t have to take too long, so that we can modernise this whole process.”

The tender was awarded to a company in September last year. After a report by the Auditor-General found non-compliance with the required procurement processes, the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, called for a court order to block the awarding of the contract.

“Currently, we are more invested in finding an interim solution in order to address the issue of reliance on the current machine,” said Msibi. “The interim solution will be a better solution while we wait for the court decision.”

Duvenage also called for the validity of driving licences in the country to be extended from five to 10 years. “It is something that our government has wanted to do and actually gazetted a while ago in 2013, but reversed for some odd reason.”

He said that if this could be done while the current machine is working and the tender for a new machine is out, the long-standing problem with licences could be solved.

The department’s statement said the backlog of outstanding cards at the beginning of May was:

• Gauteng 252,745;


• KwaZulu-Natal 115,020;


• Western Cape 108,402;


• Mpumalanga 66,833;


• Limpopo 61,769;


• Eastern Cape 55,393;


• North West 39,983;


• Free State 33,741; and


• Northern Cape 13,862

“We have too many unlicensed drivers on our roads contributing to road crashes,” said Johan Jonck from Arrive Alive. “When the system functions effectively, our traffic officers can focus on checking for valid driving licences and removing these … violations from our roads.” DM

First published by GroundUp.