Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Media statements

Minister must follow through with performance plan and extend validity period of licence cards to eight years, demands AfriForum

ByAfriForum 11/02/202611/02/2026

Louis Boshoff (English)

AfriForum today wrote a letter to the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, to urge her to implement the decision to extend the validity period of driver’s licence cards to eight years. The Department’s Annual Performance Plan for the 2025/2026 financial year sets specific targets for the phasing in of licence cards valid for eight years. According to these targets, the decision must be submitted to parliament for endorsement in the fourth quarter of the financial year (January to March 2026). AfriForum points out in its letter that the financial year is quickly coming to an end, which means that this decision must be implemented without delay.

AfriForum has been pressing the Department to do away with the five-year renewal of licence cards for more than five years. The issue came to a head last year when repeated problems with the country’s only licence card printer led to a backlog of more than 500 000 new and renewed licence cards.

According to Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer at AfriForum, the Department was off to a strong start when it decided in principle on the validity period. However, commitment must now be shown to implement the decision.

“Although there are indications that the backlog in issuing driver’s licences has been largely addressed, no new printer has been purchased and the current printer could break down again any day. Once driver’s licences are made valid for eight years, there will be a period of reduced demand during which the equipment and systems for printing and issuing driver’s licences can be upgraded,” says Boshoff.

AfriForum also refers in the letter to the Department’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2030, as well as the report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport regarding the Department of Transport’s annual budget. Both of these documents also set the extension of the validity period of driver’s licence cards as a target within the same timeframe.