Home Affairs asked to assist with driver’s licence print backlog

1 Views

You know the driver’s licence print backlog is bad when the Department of Transport (DOT) is turning to Home Affairs for help. As we reported previously, the DOT is unable to procure a new printing system due to tender irregularities.

So, when South Africa’s only card printing machine broke down yet again earlier this year in February, a new driver’s licence print backlog began afresh. As such, the DOT is asking Home Affairs to help develop what Transport Minister Barbara Creecy terms a ‘temporary solution.’

2025 DRIVER’S LICENCE PRINT BACKLOG

You may not be fined for six months for an expired driver’s licence. However, you must be able to produce a valid renewal receipt. Image: File

Furthermore, Minster Creecy said last week that the department is worried, because it’s break-down-prone machine is working ‘day and night.’ And as much as they’re clearing the driver’s licence print backlog, other motorists’ licences continue to expire, “So, it’s a never-ending cycle,” she said.

However, the backlog is clearly worse than advertised, because the minister admits to meeting with the Department of Home Affairs last week, reports TimesLive. “We went to Home Affairs and said, ‘Can you help us?’ and they said, ‘Yes, of course, we can.”

BUILDING A PROTOTYPE MACHINE

Home Affairs is building the DOT a prototype card printing machine. And once ready, they will have to have it ratified by the State Security Agency (SSA) for approval. This is because a driving licence is a legal form of identification. The minister says this process shouldn’t take longer than three months.

Moreover, according to the DOT, at the start of the month (July 2025) the driver’s licence print backlog stood at 602 831 cards. With 192 856 destined for South Africa’s most populated province, Gauteng. From there, the Western Cape is waiting on 86 862 driver’s licences and KwaZulu-Natal has 85 313in the queue.

SIX-MONTH GRACE PERIOD

A reminder that you won’t be fined for an expired driving licence only if you have a valid receipt for renewal. “If you have an expired driver’s licence, you have a six-monthgrace period in which to get your renewal,” explains Creecy. “Motorists should not be penalised because this is not of their making. But you must keep your receipts to prove you have applied – then they can’t be fined,” the minister concluded.