By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Pretoria High Court has handed down a declaratory order setting aside the Department of Transport’s appointment of Idemia as the preferred bidder for driving licence printer tender.
The order follows the department’s court application, which was made after the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) found irregularities in the tender process.
After several years and numerous withdrawals of the tender, department announced that it had selected Idemia as the winning bidder in August 2024.
However, the decision sparked backlash, with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) organising a meeting with the minister to highlight various procurement irregularities.
It submitted a detailed report of its findings, prompting the minister to instruct the AGSA to expand the scope of an investigation into the contract.
Key among these was Outa’s finding that the tender’s cost has ballooned from the Cabinet-approved budget of R486 million to R899 million.
The AGSA also found various instances of non-compliance in the department’s prescribed procurement process.
The high court has since ordered that the tender be set aside and instructed the Department of Transport to re-advertise the bid within 30 days.
The department was also granted permission to temporarily outsource the printing and issuing of driving licence cards to the Department of Home Affairs, pending the appointment of a new service provider.
Reacting to the judgment, minister of transport Barbara Creecy welcomed the outcome, saying it reaffirmed the department’s stance on ethical procurement.
“[This] is a vindication of the department’s commitment to the transparency and legitimacy of tender processes with the decision to approach the court for guidance on the matter as a necessary step for effective regulation,” Creecy said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Transport reported that the DLCA had successfully cleared the backlog of outstanding driving licence cards in early December 2025.
The backlog had accumulated following a breakdown of the ageing printing machine between February and May last year.
Between 8 May and 8 December, the DLCA printed more than 2.2 million driving licence cards, according to the department.
In a further development, the State Security Agency has approved a prototype driving licence card designed by the Government Printing Works (GPW).
“The establishment of the network connection between the Road Traffic Management Corporation [RTMC] and GPW was successfully tested.
“This will allow the transfer of data/files required by GPW to print the driving license cards.
“A process will soon be undertaken to [seek] Cabinet approval of the prototype card design,” the statement concluded.
South Africa’s current driver’s licence card printing machine, which is more than 25 years old, has experienced persistent breakdowns over several financial years, costing R12.09 million since April 2022.
Source: https://fullview.co.za/driving-licence-card-machine-tender-awarded-to-idemia-set-aside/
.
