Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has once again hinted at the possible extension of the driving licence card validity from five to ten years.
He made the statement during an announcement that Cabinet had approved the replacement of the current card with one with more secure design features.
Which means he can’t use his usual excuse for the five-year expiry – that the material from which the licence cards were made would not last more than five years.
“The new proposed card will make the country’s driving licence compatible with the International Information Technology Personal Identification Compliant Driving Licence (ISO18013),” Cabinet said.
In February this year Mbalula announced that the department planned to introduce the new licence card from October 2023.
Speaking in a media briefing held at the time, he said the new card would feature a number of security enhancements and international recognition – which meant it could be used as a form of identification. The current card will be phased out over a five-year period.
Civil rights group AfriForum took legal action against the five-year renewal period earlier this year, arguing that there was insufficient legislation to enforce this requirement.
Their contention is that drivers’ licences are permanently valid according to the National Road Traffic Act.
Another strong lobby for the extension to ten years has come from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse which has, on numerous occasions, said that a ten-year solution made sense and that renewing all current cards for ten years would bring essential efficiency to the chaotic renewal system.
Outa met with Mbalula on March 10, and is still awaiting feedback on its proposal that the validity of the cards be extended to ten years. “This despite the research Outa provided to Mbalula during the March meeting, and a promise by the minister that the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) will undertake its own research into the viability of our proposal by the end of April,” said Adv Stefanie Fick, head of Outa’s accountability division.
