Cape Town Warns of Alarming Number of Motorists Driving Without Valid Licences Amid Printing Backlog

Cape Town officials are sounding the alarm over the growing number of motorists caught driving without valid driver’s licences – a situation described as both dangerous and unacceptable.

During a recent traffic operation in the Cape Town CBD, the city’s Traffic Services recorded 164 transgressions. Shockingly, 54 of these were motorists who could not produce a driver’s licence when asked. City officials are now reminding motorists that they are legally required to carry their original driver’s licence card at all times when operating a vehicle.

According to the City of Cape Town, digital images, photocopies, or screenshots on a smartphone are not acceptable under the law. If you are caught driving without your original licence card, you may face a fine of R500 – regardless of whether you are actually licensed or not.

“If the card has been lost or stolen, or if you’re caught up in the backlog, motorists must carry valid proof of application or a temporary licence,” said Cape Town MMC for Safety and Security, JP Smith. “It’s quite alarming to realise how many people are driving without valid licences, or even proof of one. It might seem of little consequence, but the fact is, officers are duty-bound to enforce the law.”

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Smith also stressed that having a licence is not just a box-ticking exercise, it’s a critical component of road safety. “The city is facing massive challenges with unlicensed drivers who are a danger to themselves and others,” he said. “Presentation of that driving licence card is the only way to prove that you are behind the wheel legally.”

This warning comes amid ongoing delays in the printing of driver’s licence cards by the Department of Transport and the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA). The backlog, which was caused by a breakdown of the country’s only card printing machine earlier this year, currently stands at 733,000 unprinted cards.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has acknowledged the delays and urged those affected to carry valid proof of application. She confirmed in a parliamentary reply in June that the machine, which resumed service in May, can only process between 14,000 and 19,000 cards in a 14-hour shift. That means clearing the backlog could take between 40 to 53 days, not even counting new applications.

The machine, now 26 years old, has suffered over 160 breakdowns during its lifespan, and the situation is expected to worsen. Plans to replace it with new, locally maintained equipment have stalled after a R900 million tender was dragged into an Auditor General investigation over irregularities.

In mid-July, Creecy filed court papers seeking to set aside the contract and restart the tender process. As a temporary fix, the department has approached the Department of Home Affairs’ Government Printing Works for support.

For now, the message from officials is simple: if you’re driving, make sure you have your original card or proper proof – or risk facing fines and further consequences.