How to get your car licence renewed quickly in South Africa

The Road Traffic Management Corporation [RTMC], which launched its online system to enable South African to renew their vehicle registration or driver’s licence, is encouraging the public to use its services despite being more expensive than some third-party systems.
The RTMC reported that more than 1,300 people have successfully transacted online since its system went live.
It comes as the Department of Transport has indicated that there will be no more extensions to the 31 March deadline, which was introduced to compensate for the closure of Driving Licence Testing Centres during the hard lockdown.
South Africa’s transport minister, Fikile Mbalula said that motorists who continue to drive with expired driving licences beyond this date will face fines and possible prosecution.
To use the RTMCs new service, motorists are required to:
- Log into the NaTIS platform
- Select ‘View Motor Renewals’
- Choose the licence disc/car
- Capture card details of the respective bank and pay
Once payment has been made, motorists will have a choice to have the car licence disc couriered to their addresses of choice or get it printed at the nearest Driver Licence Testing Centre.
What you need to renew
Most third-party and traditional renewal procedures require motorists to provide the following:
- A licence disc,
- a copy of your ID
- proof of address [no older than 3 months]
- permission letter, if applying for someone else
If you are registering for companies, all the above are required as well as a registration number certificate.
Third-party offerings
To help people avoid long queues, companies have turned vehicle licence renewals into a business. Online systems such as Chatback, require no physical interaction with people at all however it comes at a price. Delivery fees vary throughout third-party providers, with the South African Postal Service providing the lowest fee due to its wide network of couriers.
All costs mentioned in the below table are added to the actual government-mandated fee for licence disc renewals which are unique to the weight of each car.
Here are a few other places where you can get a licence without visiting a branch. Days refer to business days
Provider | Provinces | Days | Fees | Delivery | Max Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chatback | GP, WC, KZN, NW, FS | Max. 10 | R300 service fee [R350 for Free State] | R110** | R460 |
Pick n Pay | All | Max. 10 | R250 admin fee | R99 | R349 |
Sorted | GP, WC | 2 to 7 | R300 service fee | Incl. | R300 |
Easyrenew | KZN, GP | Max. 10 | R8.50 per debit order transaction R188 per vehicle payable monthly OR Annual EFT of R250 per vehicle |
Incl. | R259 |
Renewonline | GP, LP | 3+ | R95 admin fee | R115 | R210 |
LicenceZa | GP, LP, FS, NW | 2 to 4 | R207 service fee (Larger fleets have negotiable prices) |
Incl. | R207 |
MotorHero | All | Max. 7 | R199 service fee | Incl. | R199 |
FNB Nav | All | ~10 | R199 Service fee | Incl. | R199 |
Wesbank | All if financed by First Rand | ~10 | R199 Service fee (Free with On-Road Protect) |
Incl. | R199 |
NaTIS | All | 3 | R72 service fee | R99 | R171 |
PayCity | GP, WC | 5 to 12 | R72 service fee | R99 | R171 |
SA Post Office | All** | 3 | R72 service fee plus any penalty fees | R75 | R147 |
* Paperless email delivery available. Delivery fee applies for delivery of original
** Except WC and select districts in NW and MP
Read: Good news for driving licence renewals in South Africa