Transport Department urged to resolve driver's licence crisis with local providers

AfriForum has on Tuesday urged the Department of Transport to ditch its outdated driving licence card production machine, prone to breakdowns, and leverage local service providers to produce secure licence cards.

The department is currently grappling with a staggering backlog of over 500,000 driver's licences awaiting printing. 

The department recently expressed optimism that it will clear the current backlog by December.

AfriForum spokesperson Louis Boshoff attributed the delay to the department's lack of will to resolve the issue, despite the availability of local service providers with the necessary technology.

He cited that a French company, Idemia, was named the preferred bidder for the new licence card printers last year, but the deal was suspended due to allegations of irregularities in other contracts. 

“Nine months later, no progress has been made,” he said.

The department previously raised concerns about Idemia's ability to protect citizens' personal data, and the tender's future is uncertain due to the Auditor-General's findings of irregularities in the award process.

Outside the department’s office, AfriForum showcased sample driver's licences produced using a local printer, highlighting the viability of alternative solutions. 

Boshoff said the sample cards are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), similar to existing ID cards, and meet all security feature requirements.

He argued that the department's inaction is unwarranted, given the availability of local options.

Earlier this year, the department's machine broke down and was out of operation for months while undergoing repairs.

In May, the department announced that the driving licence card printing machine had been repaired and operations had resumed.

At the time, it reported a backlog of 747,748 outstanding cards to be printed due to the machine's downtime.

Boshoff said the demonstration of the licence card printer on the doorstep of the department was aimed at pointing out that various options are already available locally that meet all the security feature requirements of licence cards to eliminate the serious backlog. 

“The backlog in printing driver’s licence cards currently stands at around 500,000, which means that approximately half a million drivers are at present without valid licence cards. It appears that the government, for political reasons, prefers to drag out the procurement process at the expense of service delivery and does not even consider workable options in the interest of that,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za