Civil society group Outa estimates that South Africa will still have well over one million motorists with expired driving licence cards when the official grace period expires on Thursday (31 March).<\/p>\n
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula had previously extended expired licences to 31 March 2022 due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which meant motorists could not visit licensing centres. This grace period covered all documents which expired in the period between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021.<\/p>\n
However, Outa said the number of outstanding expired licences is a significant problem and not one that government will be able to wish away or dump in the laps of its citizens.<\/p>\n
“The state cannot simply ignore this problem, as it will leave motorists at the mercy of overzealous or corrupt law enforcement officers who may use this as an opportunity to extort bribes from the motoring public,” said advocate Stefanie Fick, executive director of Outa’s accountability division.<\/p>\n
“Administrative difficulties and significant backlogs in the renewal process of driving licence cards have been the order of the day, long before the arrival of the pandemic or the breakdown of the card printing machine at the end of 2021. These problems are largely due to difficulties in securing bookings through the online booking system forced onto motorists.”<\/p>\n
Outa has called on Mbalula to extend the deadline for all expired driving licence cards to be renewed, and for the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to engage with Outa and other stakeholders to find meaningful solutions to this problem.<\/p>\n
“We already met with minister Mbalula earlier in March to suggest that the Department of Transport extends the validity period of licence cards from five to ten years.<\/p>\n
“This is in line with many countries and will go a long way to alleviate the administrative pressures on both the state and the public in this regard. We were promised a follow-up meeting in two weeks, but as of today, we are still awaiting the Minister\u2019s response to our proposals.”<\/p>\n
Outa said it has subsequently written to the minister of transport to consider a further extension of the deadline.<\/p>\n
“Should the minister not wish to extend the driving licence renewal deadline or the validity of driving licence cards, Outa proposes that law enforcement agencies be instructed to not issue fines for motorists whose driving licence cards have expired in the past 12 months, as this may lead to unlawful enforcement.<\/p>\n
“The public\u2019s inability to comply with the regulations is largely due to the department’s incompetence and the public shouldn\u2019t be punished for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fick warned that government should not start a ‘war’ with citizens that it cannot win.<\/p>\n
\u201cOuta is considering a legal opinion that may lead to another civil disobedience campaign.”<\/p>\n