A Nation on Hold

For thousands of South African motorists, the humble driving licence card has become a source of anxiety and frustration. What once took two weeks now takes up to two months, and with a backlog of nearly 540,000 cards, there’s no quick fix in sight.

At the centre of this crisis lies a single, ageing licence card printer, 26 years old and more fragile than ever. It has broken down at least 160 times in its lifetime, with 38 working days lost to breakdowns in 2025 alone. And yet, despite running it around the clock, the system simply cannot keep up with demand.

The Machine That Won’t Quit, But Can’t Keep Up

The Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) has been pushing the machine to its limits, running it 24 hours a day and paying millions in overtime to staff. Production has tripled from 7,440 to over 22,000 cards a day, but even that isn’t enough.

Every day, around 11,000 new orders arrive. The backlog is shrinking slowly, but at the current pace it would take more than eight months to clear, assuming the machine doesn’t suffer another major breakdown. If it fails completely, the backlog could balloon by 300,000 cards every month.

Frustration on the Roads

The delays are no longer just a bureaucratic headache, they’re disrupting everyday lives. Motorists who once waited two weeks for a card now face eight to nine weeks, with some waiting even longer. Social media is flooded with complaints, from learners anxious about starting jobs to taxi drivers whose livelihoods depend on being road-legal.

To soften the blow, the Department of Transport has waived fees for temporary licences and suspended penalties for expired ones. But for many, that feels like a plaster on a wound that keeps reopening.

A Promised Fix Stuck in Legal Limbo

The long-term solution seemed simple: replace the dinosaur of a printer with three new machines, backed by a plan to modernise the entire licence card system. Unlike the current model, the new ones would be maintained locally, ending the need to ship parts overseas.

But that plan has hit a wall. A R900 million tender for the machines has been pulled into controversy after the Auditor-General flagged irregularities. Reports revealed that a government delegation sent to Europe to inspect the machines actually visited the wrong countries, France and Amsterdam instead of the Czech Republic, Greece, Morocco, and Burkina Faso, where the real models were located.

As a result, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has turned to the High Court for legal clarity on how to proceed. Until then, procurement is frozen, leaving South Africans stuck with the unreliable old printer.

The Department had initially promised to clear the backlog by early 2026. Now, with legal battles looming and no new machine on the horizon, officials admit delays could drag into the second half of 2026.

For motorists, that means the frustration is far from over. The crisis has become a symbol of South Africa’s wider service delivery struggles, an everyday reminder of how outdated systems, poor planning, and administrative missteps can bring a nation to a standstill.

{Source: BusinessTech}

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