Is it time for the government to rethink how we issue driver's licences?
After months of frustration for motorists, the transport department has confirmed the country's only driver's licence card printing machine is now up and running.
The machine broke down on February 5, halting production and creating a backlog of 747,748 licence cards.
Gauteng leads the list with more than 250,000 outstanding cards, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
To catch up, the Driving Licence Card Agency will extend staff working hours — but the backlog also depends on how many new orders arrive each day.
With long waits, outdated systems and only one card printing machine serving the country, is it time for a complete rethink?
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The Herald
2 days ago
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Is it time for the government to rethink how we issue driver's licences?
After months of frustration for motorists, the transport department has confirmed the country's only driver's licence card printing machine is now up and running. The machine broke down on February 5, halting production and creating a backlog of 747,748 licence cards. Gauteng leads the list with more than 250,000 outstanding cards, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. To catch up, the Driving Licence Card Agency will extend staff working hours — but the backlog also depends on how many new orders arrive each day. With long waits, outdated systems and only one card printing machine serving the country, is it time for a complete rethink?
IOL News
02-06-2025
- IOL News
Driving licence printing machine fixed but huge backlogs remain
The Department of Transport has repaired the driving licence card printing machine after months of downtime, but a significant backlog of unprinted cards remains. Image: File Millions have been spent on repairing and maintaining the driving licence card printing machine. The Department of Transport announced earlier last month that the driving licence printing machine was fixed and operations have resumed. The machine had been inoperative since February 5, resulting in a backlog of 747,748 unprinted cards. To reduce the backlog, the Department of Transport's Driving Licence Card Agency extended the working hours of its staff members. In light of this, in a parliamentary question and reply, Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi asked Transport Minister Barbara Creecy about the number of times the machine broke down and how much it cost to repair it. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Zibi then asked how many employees it takes to operate the machine and how much overtime pay has been paid to employees due to lost printing time because of machine breakdowns. Zibi also asked Creecy if there was progress in acquiring a new card machine. Creecy said the backlog of driving licences as of May 15 was estimated at 733,000 cards. Creecy revealed the machine's major breakdowns in the past financial year are as follows: 2022/23 - 26 working days 2023/24 - 48 working days 2024/25 - 17 working days 2025/26 - 38 working days Over the same period, repairs and maintenance costs: 2022/23 - R9,267,862,33 2023/24 - R1,651,772,57 2024/25 - R544,747,64 2025/26 - R624,988,10 (to date) Overtime payment, over the last few financial years, has been: 2022/23 - R1,435,376,79 2023/24 - R1,608,102,52 2024/25 - R1,351,473,78 2025/26 - R0,00 Creecy said it takes four people to operate the machine. About progress made with the process to acquire a new driving licence card printing machine, Creecy said: 'The Minister has directed that a declaratory order be sought from a competent court on the tender to acquire a new machine, in order to ensure that no further irregular expenditure occurs.'
