Dept of Transport Turns to Home Affairs to Tackle Licence Card Crisis

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The Department of Transport has enlisted the help of the Department of Home Affairs to assist with printing driver’s licence cards as it battles to clear a massive backlog caused by ongoing breakdowns of its only functioning card-printing machine.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy confirmed that her department is working with Home Affairs to create a temporary solution after delays in the procurement of a new card-printing system were tied up in a court dispute. The delays stem from findings by the Auditor-General pointing to irregularities in the tender process for the new machine.

Creecy revealed that Home Affairs is developing a prototype printer that could ease the pressure on the ageing Transport Department machine, which is more than 25 years old and prone to frequent breakdowns.

“We are running that machine day and night. We can be clearing the backlog, but as we are clearing it, more licences are expiring. So it is a never-ending cycle,” Creecy said.

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“We went to Home Affairs and said, ‘Can you help us?’ and they said, ‘Yes, we can’. They are busy producing a prototype machine and, once done, it will be submitted to the State Security Agency for approval, since a driving licence is a form of identification.”

The two departments agreed that the process should not exceed three months.

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As of 5 July, the national backlog stood at 602,831 cards, with Gauteng hardest hit at 192,856, followed by the Western Cape with 86,862, and KwaZulu-Natal with 85,313. Despite this, the department managed to process 515,758 cards between May 8 and July 7.

To ease the burden on affected drivers, Creecy reiterated that motorists would not be fined if their temporary licences expired while waiting for permanent cards, as long as they have proof of application. Drivers will also not be required to reapply for another temporary licence.

With no quick fix in sight, the collaboration between the two departments could provide a much-needed lifeline for thousands of motorists stuck in limbo.