Creecy Drags R898m Licence Printer Deal to Court, Taps Government Printing Works to Ease Backlog

- Advertisement -

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has stepped in to clean up the controversial R898-million driving licence printer tender, filing papers in the Pretoria High Court to set the deal aside – while also calling on Government Printing Works (GPW) to help crush the country’s massive licence card backlog.

The contract to supply new driver’s licence card printers was awarded last year to Idemia South Africa. But after a deep dive into the procurement process, Creecy flagged serious irregularities. Now the Department of Transport wants the court to scrap the deal and rerun the tender.

According to court papers signed by acting director-general Mathabatha Mokonyama, the department uncovered:

• A cost jump from R486 million (approved by Cabinet) to R899 million
• Outdated pricing and missing costs for printing materials
• Bidder non-compliance, scoring errors, and dodgy machine evaluations
• Weak documentation and capacity issues at the DLCA, the unit that ran the tender

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) had earlier blown the whistle on the tender. Their findings were handed to Creecy, who sent them on to the Auditor General (AGSA). The AGSA’s report now forms part of the evidence before court.

- Advertisement -

Meanwhile, Creecy has taken decisive action to keep licence cards rolling out. She confirmed a deal with GPW, a government agency under Home Affairs that specialises in printing secure documents like passports and IDs.

“To ensure we have a backup solution, we’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Government Printing Works,” Creecy said during her budget vote speech. “We expect that this backup solution will be able to print driver’s license cards within three months.”

This comes as the DLCA struggles with a massive backlog, worsened by printer breakdowns earlier in the year. At one point, over 747,000 cards were stuck in the system.

By mid-June, around 269,000 cards had been printed — but the backlog still sat at 690,000. At the current pace of around 2,400 cards per day, it could take more than a year to clear completely.

Spokesperson Collen Msibi admitted turnaround times have increased from the usual 14 days to between four and six weeks.

For now, Creecy’s intervention looks like a move in the right direction, both to restore confidence in government tenders and to keep frustrated motorists on the road.