Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has been forced into a corner over his lame excuses about government’s five-year driving licence renewal requirement.
In a court record filed in a court case brought by civil rights group AfriForum, Mbalula claimed the reason was because the material from which the licence cards were made would not last more than five years.
AfriForum took legal action against the five-year renewal period earlier this year, arguing that there is insufficient legislation to enforce this requirement.
It now appears that Mbalula, due to public pressure on the Department of Transport, is considering extending the renewal period from five years to ten years. According to AfriForum, he recently admitted that the legislation did not make it very clear that the driving licence cards needed to be renewed every five years.
“However, in an interview during which he made this statement, he referred to the wrong legislation. He claimed that it is the National Road Transport Act that determines the renewal period when it is the National Road Traffic Act that actually determines the renewal period,” the organisation said.
AfriForum’s arguments point out that drivers’ licences are permanently valid according to the National Road Traffic Act.
But despite the department’s apparent intention to extend the renewal period, AfriForum is continuing with its legal action.
Its legal action aims to obtain a court order stating that the legislation that purports to prescribe the five-year renewal period is unreasonable, arbitrary, and vague, as well as that motorists may not be punished if they drive with expired driving licence cards.
“It is extremely encouraging for AfriForum’s court case that the minister himself admits that the legislation is unclear about the renewal period of driving licence cards. In addition, the court record shows that it is an entirely inadequate and irrational explanation to prescribe the five-year renewal period simply because the material of the drivers’ licence cards allegedly cannot last longer,” says Reiner Duvenage, campaign officer for strategy and content at AfriForum.
