OUTA Urges Government to Halt Driver’s License Fines Until Backlog is Cleared

“Don’t Fine Us for Your Delays,” Says OUTA as License Backlog Persists

As frustrations mount over South Africa’s never-ending driver’s licence backlog, civil group OUTA is calling for a complete halt on licence-related fines in 2025. Their message to government? Sort out the printing chaos before punishing motorists for delays that aren’t their fault.

Paper Trail of Problems

The Department of Transport (DTC) has been grappling with a broken card-printing system for months. In May, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy confirmed that nearly 733 000 licence cards were still stuck in the queue, although this is down from a peak of 1.3 million during the 2022/23 backlog crisis.

On paper, the department says it’s making progress. Around 269 000 cards have been printed, and the current waiting period has climbed from the usual 14 days to around six weeks. But the maths doesn’t lie — at a printing pace of just 2 400 cards a day, experts estimate it could take more than a year to catch up.

OUTA Steps In

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), a non-profit known for keeping tabs on government inefficiencies, says enough is enough. They’ve asked Minister Creecy to suspend all driver’s licence fines until the backlog is sorted, and to waive penalties for motorists whose cards are caught in the system.

“If the department can’t print cards on time, how can it justify fining people for expired ones?” OUTA argued.

They’re also pushing for a more permanent fix: extending the validity period of driver’s licence cards from five to ten years, aligning with practices in other countries and avoiding these costly logjams in future.

Tender Troubles Resurface

This latest licence drama isn’t just about broken printers. Last year, OUTA’s independent investigation exposed serious red flags in the tender process for the new card-printing system.

Although the department reportedly approved R486 million for a new machine, a tender worth R898 million was awarded — nearly double the amount. The contract was handed to Idemia, a French biometrics company with international ties, raising questions about procurement transparency and value for money.

Following OUTA’s exposé, Minister Creecy passed the findings to the Auditor-General, but there’s been no public update since.

What Now?

While motorists scramble to keep their old cards and application receipts on hand to avoid trouble during traffic stops, there’s still no clear word from the department on whether licence fines will be suspended or if a new tender process is underway.

In the meantime, drivers are left navigating a system that feels stuck in neutral.

Source: The South African 

Read More: Driving in Limbo: South Africans Left Waiting as Licence Backlog Spirals

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