South Africa's only driver's licence printing machine has broken down and will only be fixed in two to three weeks' time, the Department of Transport announced on Wednesday.
The department said the machine had broken down just after undergoing routine maintenance in April.
"The routine maintenance started on 5 April”, lasting till 19 April.
“Thereafter, the technical team encountered a technical breakdown which requires a replacement of a critical part from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)," the department said.
"It is anticipated that the resumption of card production shall commence within the next two to three weeks."
However, the department encouraged the public to continue applying to renew their driver's licences despite the current repairs.
"The production of driving licence cards will not be affected by the routine maintenance of the card production machine.
The department has therefore encouraged members of the public to continue applying for their driving licence card as normal," it said.
According to the Automobile Association, the department has only one driving licence printing machine in a bid to prevent giving corrupt officials the opportunity to produce fraudulent licences.
The current machine is a particularly old model printer that is supported by an OEM in Germany.
Former Transport minister Fikile Mbalula earlier announced that the country would be getting new driver's licence cards and with them, new printing machines, aligned with international best practices.
The department published tender documents to start the process in November 2021.
