Johannesburg – The validity of a driver’s licence for a light motor vehicle s will be extended to 10 years.
Announcing the move on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said Cabinet had agreed to the extension of the driving licence validity period from five to 10 years.
However, Minister Ntshavheni explained that: “The 10-year renewal period will apply only to light motor vehicles”.
“Cabinet approved the extension of the validity period of driving licences for Codes A, A1, B and EB from 5 to 10 years.”
She said heavy commercial and public transport vehicles will remain subject to the existing two- or five-year renewal cycles while Professional Driver’s Permits will also remain on the two-renewal cycle.
The change aligns with international best practice, enhances administrative efficiency, reduces the frequency of renewals for motorists and eases service demand pressures within the licensing system.
However,the minister said the implementation of the extended validity period requires legislative amendments.
“Motorists must therefore continue to renew expired driving licence cards until the new law takes effect,” said Minister Ntshavheni.
Commenting on the development, AfriForum, which had been pressing for the extension along with other organisations, said the change was welcome.
In a terse statement made available to The Bulrushes, AfriForum stated that “awareness and public pressure” have produced a tangible result in this case, and that this decision must be implemented as soon as possible.
“While there have frequently been major backlogs in the renewal of driving licences over the past few years, AfriForum has repeatedly engaged with the Department of Transport and called for the validity period to be extended in order to ease pressure on the system,” the statement said.
“Barbara Creecy, Minister of Transport, even undertook in a written reply to AfriForum in March this year to complete the process of extending the validity of driving licences.”
Louis Boshoff, AfriForum spokesperson, said it was important to finalise the process of extending the validity period as soon as possible, before backlogs arise again.
“The Department still only has one driving licence card printer in its possession, which is decades old and often breaks down,” said Boshoff.
“New printers also still need to be procured, and other problems in the system still need to be resolved.
“This decision should really only be the first step towards ensuring that effective and reliable processes are in place for the licensing of motor vehicle drivers.”
Transport Minister Creecy welcomed the Cabinet decision to approve the extension of the validity period of driving licences for Codes A, A1, B and EB from five to ten years.
In a joint statement, Minister Creecy and Transport Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa said: “The change was informed by a study undertaken by the RTMC which recommended that the extension of validity period will align with international best practice, enhance administrative efficiency, reduce the frequency of renewals for motorists and ease service demand pressures within the licensing system”.
However, the statement reiterated earlier sentiments that the implementation of the extended validity period requires the amendment of regulation 108 of the Road Traffic Regulations.
“The Cabinet approval serves as an endorsement for the draft notices for the extension of the driving licence validity period to be submitted to the Shareholders Committee and also to the Secretary of Parliament for public comments, and also to the office of the State Law Adviser for legal scrutiny,” the statement said.
