The Department of Transport has given an update on the printing of driving licence cards in South Africa, including the approval of a new design coming to circumvent a now-delayed tender process for a new printer.
The High Court has set aside the appointment of South Africa’s new driving licence printing machine tender, ordering the Transport Department to re-advertise it within 30 days.
This will set the department on a new tender process, further delaying the replacement of the country’s only printing machine, which has a history of breaking down.
Responding to the court order, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy welcomed the decision, saying it was a vindication of the department’s commitment to transparency.
Creecy ordered the investigation into the tender when she took office in the DoT following the 2024 elections.
The investigation was driven by the Auditor General of South Africa’s findings of irregularities surrounding the tender, which were launched and drawn out before her tenure in the ministry.
As per the order, the tender has now been set aside and must be re-advertised within 30 days.
However, given the delay, the courts have also given the department the go-ahead to find alternative printing methods to avoid potential backlogs and delays.
“Pending the appointment of a successful service provider under the re-advertised tender, the department has also been allowed by the court to outsource the services of printing and issuing of cards to the Department of Home Affairs,” it said.
In July 2025, Creecy announced that the department had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Home Affairs to establish an interim licence printing system.
Under the agreement, the Government Printing Works, which already produces passports and Smart ID cards, will print driving licences.
A backlog of 756,227 licence cards had piled up by May 2025 due to the printing machine breaking down between February and April.
This was reduced to 336,028 by mid-September 2025 and cleared by December, with the DoT noting that it had printed an additional 2.23 million cards between May and the end of the year.
To avoid another backlog, the DoT said that it was making progress on the interim solution for printing.
Crucially, the State Security Agency has approved a prototype driving licence card that can be printed by the Government Printing Works.
“A cabinet process will soon be undertaken to seek approval for the prototype card design,” the department said.
There has also been a successful testing of a network connection between the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Government Printing Works.
This will allow the transfer of data and files required by the printers to produce the licence cards.
Source: https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/847354/new-driving-licence-card-coming-to-south-africa/
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