Cabinet gives green light for new, more secure license card
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has announced that Cabinet’s approved the replacement of South Africa’s current driving card license with a more secure version that’s in line with international standards.
Mbalula held a press briefing on Friday alongside the management of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and driving License Card Account (DLCA), where he gave an update on driving license interventions.
“The current driving license card was introduced in 1998 and the production equipment was procured in the same year,” Mbalula said.
“The technology has become obsolete. We will publish the changes to the driving license card in the government gazette.”
The minister said the procurement for the production infrastructure is expected to begin in October.
“The new card will be piloted from 1 November 2023 until 31 March 2024. The current driving license card and the equipment used to produce it will be decommissioned on 1 April 2024.”
There will be a five-year period of transition from the old cards, resulting in the current cards remaining valid until 2029.
Mbalula also announced the introduction of the new smart enrollment solution which is geared at reducing turnaround times at driving license testing centres, with Gauteng set to be the first province to go live in March next year.
The solution has been successfully piloted at the Waterfall and Eco-Park Centurion DLTCs and Gauteng will be the first to go live in March 2023, before the full deployment to other provinces.
ALSO READ:
