Years of pressure pay off with announcement of 10-year driving licences – AfriForum

Cabinet’s announcement that driving licences for light vehicles will be made valid for 10 years is a welcome development after AfriForum and other organisations had already been pressing for this change for more than five years. AfriForum emphasises 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. 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.

According to Louis Boshoff, AfriForum spokesperson, it is 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. 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,” says Boshoff.

AfriForum will engage with the Department of Transport to ensure that this decision is carried through.