By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has announced the introduction of new driver’s licence cards, which will be piloted next year.
The current driving licence card was introduced in 1998 and the production equipment was procured in the same year. The technology has become obsolete, Mbalula said on Friday during a media briefing in Midrand.
The Minister is expected to publish the changes to the driving licence card in the government gazette.
This will then enable us to commence with the procurement process for the new production infrastructure in October 2022. The new card will be piloted from 1 November 2023 until 31 March 2024.
“The current driving licence card and the equipment used to produce it will be decommissioned on 1 April 2024. However, there will be a five-year period of transition from the old card to the new. The current cards will continue to be recognised as valid licence cards until 31 March 2029,” Mbalula said.
As government had earlier committed to a review of the renewal period of the driving licence card, research on the matter was undertaken by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which also undertook a benchmarking exercise covering 64 countries.
The research revealed that countries ranked above South Africa according to the World Health Organization (WHO), have an average driving licence card validity period of 9.3 years and countries ranked lower than South Africa averaging 4.4 years.
“It needs to be highlighted that many of the poorer road safety ranked countries are still using paper-based driving licences which would explain the lower average validity period in these countries.
“The average driving licence card validity period of almost 10 years is applicable in developed countries, with much better road safety ratios than South Africa.
“This is an important factor in validating a longer renewal period in line with international best practice. Most of the European Union (EU) countries have a five-year validity period for heavy vehicles,” the Minister said.
The Department of Transport is in the process of evaluating the options informed by the South African reality, which includes carnage on the roads, driver competence and prevalence of lifestyle diseases that influence safe driving.
“We have consulted with MECs on the matter and have received full support for the review. Once we have made a final determination on this matter, this will be communicated accordingly,” he said.