Important message for South Africans who need to renew their driving licence

The Department of Transport expects the driving licence printing machine to be fixed in two to three weeks and will soon announce a permanent solution to prevent future issues.

However, experts have argued that the problem is easy to fix, but the government is concerned about revenue, which means South African motorists have to pay for the inefficiencies through things like temporary licences. 

Following several reports in April that the country’s only printing machine had broken down, the department only recently confirmed this.

It said the card printer had been broken down since February 2025, meaning no driving licences had been printed for the last three months.

At the beginning of May, the department acknowledged the severe disruption caused by the breakdown. It added that efforts are underway to fix the printing machine and implement a permanent solution.

Speaking to SABC News, Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed that the department is working with the machine’s supplier to repair it. 

“We [the department] are in the process of fixing the machine. We’re looking at about two to three weeks from now, after which it should be up and running,” he said.

He explained that critical machine parts must be repaired in France, as replacement parts are unavailable locally. 

“Unfortunately, you can’t find those parts in South Africa. We’ve tried, but we had to go back to France.”

The ongoing machine failure has led to a significant backlog in licence card production, which Msibi described as a “major concern” for the department. 

“It’s quite a concern for us because it simply means that there’s also a backlog that we need to deal with. It’s an inconvenience for motorists.”

To mitigate the impact on drivers, South Africans are urged to obtain temporary driving licences while they wait for their permanent cards. 

“As a motorist, if you are going to renew your driving licence, you need to either get a temporary driving licence, and you’ll receive a receipt as proof of payment,” said JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla.

He added that if stopped, this receipt, along with either the expired licence or temporary permit, should be shown to law enforcement officers. “The temporary licence is valid for six months.”

Motorists pay the cost for government failures

The situation has drawn frustration from motorists nationwide, who are already facing various challenges. Due to the breakdown, motorists risk penalties through no fault of their own. 

Speaking to 702, Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), explained that South Africans are paying for the issues when the solution to the backlog is easy. 

Firstly, he argues that the printing of the licence cards should be outsourced to the country’s national printing works.

Duvenage explained that they have the means and the technology to do the job, and it would be around 30% cheaper than what it costs the Department of Transport. 

“There’s a lot of money to be made in the whole process of printing and issuing of licences every five years, and that’s the wrong reason for why something should remain as is,” said Duvenage. 

Another solution is to extend the driving licence validity period from five years to a minimum of 10, which aligns with global standards. “And this is very easy to do,” said Duvenage. 

Again, he noted that the problem with the fix is that it will affect the revenue collected from renewals every five years. 

“Everybody wants to get their cut… and we sit here suffering the brunt of those gross inefficiencies, by having to pay for temporary licenses because of broken machines”

The faulty machine typically produces between 15,000 and 19,000 licence cards per day, meaning the disruption is affecting tens of thousands of motorists. 

While a temporary fix is underway, Msibi assured the public that the Department of Transport will soon announce a permanent solution to avoid such crises in the future.

However, Duvenage said this isn’t good enough, adding that the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, should clarify that temporary licences are unnecessary. 

“She should be saying, while the debacle continues, the expiry date on your licence will be extended by one year, costing motorists nothing while the department fixes its own issues,” said Duvenage.