The South African government faces a significant crisis of legitimacy in its inability to address simple public service shortcomings. The renewal backlog of driving license cards is a case in point dealt with in this study. One key problem with this issue is the fiscal context in which it is transpiring. Motorists are already heavily taxed and paying renewal fees on such a regular basis is an additional ‘user-pays’ tax. This issue must be addressed. The solution proposed in this report would not cost anything other than a foregoing of revenue for specific public entities, which can be offset by reduced administration costs. Technical challenges include dysfunctional equipment and online booking system, reduced capacity in testing centres and corruption, which result in motorists being unable to secure bookings in time to meet deadlines for the renewal of their driving license cards.
The driver's licence card renewal system has been in chaos for years.
The licences themselves do not expire, only the cards which motorists carry to confirm they have a licence.
Some motorists resort to paying others to queue for them, some pay bribes to secure a spot in line.
Current regulations require licence cards to be renewed every five years.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns, the backlogs in the system increased significantly.
The sole machine used for printing the driving licence cards broke down in November 2021 and was out of service until January 2022, with the Driving Licence Card Account entity reporting that there was a backlog of 639 000 cards.
On 10 November 2022, the Department of Transport issued the tender for the provision of a turnkey solution for smart licence cards, including the provision, installation and maintenance of a new machine, on a five-year contract. The closing date was 30 November, just 20 days after publication although this was subsequently extended.
It is not clear who has bid for the tender or whether it has been awarded.
The costs are also unclear. The DLCA annual report notes that in March 2022, the DLCA had an accumulated surplus of R448 million, so presumably this will be used to buy the machine.
The system is rife with corruption. n September 2022, a report commissioned by the Gauteng Premier’s Office found widespread entrenched corruption and chaos in the province’s driving licence system, particularly at the DLTCs. See here.
In September 2020, OUTA wrote to Minister Mbalula, calling for the card validity to be extended to 10 years and providing a short study to back up this call, to save both motorists and government time and money (see here).
In June 2021, OUTA ran a survey through social media about frustrations with the driving licence card renewal system. A total of 65% of the 3 685 respondents reported frustration with the ineffectiveness of the online booking system. More than 10% said they had witnessed bribery, about 45% referred to “poor staff attitude” and 60% complained about long queues.
In September 2021, the RTMC proposed new fees, including charging motorists R250 just to make an online booking for a slot in the queue to renew a driving licence, over and above the transaction fees (see
here
). OUTA wrote to the Minister and the RTMC, asking for an explanation on the fee proposals (see
here
). After OUTA criticised this, the department dropped the fee from the final version. The fees are shrouded in secrecy. The RTMC sets them in consultation with the Minister and provincial MECs, so fees can differ from province to province with no explanation. OUTA’s PAIA application to the RTMC in November 2022 included a request for information on how the fees are calculated and how the revenue is distributed, but this information was refused. The secrecy encourages corruption.
In December 2021, OUTA again wrote to the Minister calling for a solution (see here).
In February 2022, the Minister announced that he had commissioned the RTMC to research the extension issue. “You know OUTA and many others have raised their issue to say that ‘why are you not extending the renewal to 10 years’ so through the RTMC, we have commissioned a study and research... And on the basis of that research, which we will compare with other countries, we will then make a determination on the status quo of five years, as it stands, [and whether it] is beneficial or counter-productive. Should we arrive at a conclusion informed by the research, we will immediately spring into action,” the Minister said at the time.
On 10 March 2022, OUTA met with Minister Mbalula to again call for the extension of validity to 10 years, to improve system efficiency (see here). OUTA’s position paper motivating for the extension of the validity period for driver’s licence cards, handed to the Minister, is here. Despite numerous follow ups by OUTA, there has been no official feedback from the Minister.
In May 2022, OUTA published
a guide for motorists on how to renew an expired driver’s licence. See here.
In May 2022, OUTA met with Driver's Licence Card Account officials to discuss various financial issues OUTA had identified in the entity's financials.
In November 2022, OUTA filed an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) to the RTMC, calling for a copy of the research report on the validity period, to get clarity on how the eight years was decided, and for clarity on the fees. The RTMC refused this and in February 2023 OUTA filed an internal appeal against the refusal. The outcome is awaited.
