Alarm bells for driving licence renewals in South Africa

The Department of Transport has been advised that cancelling the smart card drivers’ licence tender could have dire consequences—with the current card printer on its last legs and a backlog in renewals growing since January.

At the beginning of March 2025, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy initiated legal action to block the awarding of a contract for new printing driving licence printing machines following an investigation into the tendering process.

Despite the investigation, City Press has reported that the Department of Transport’s lawyers have since advised against cancelling the tender.

Advocate Adam Masombuka, the department’s chief director of legal service, said cancelling the R500 million smart card driver’s licence tender awarded to French company Idemia would have serious consequences.

“It will lead to an interdict and a protracted review legal process that can take years, compared with appointing the preferred bidder.”

The Auditor-General (AGSA) found that the tender was irregularly handled, including instances of non-compliance with required processes.

South Africa is trying to move to new smart driving licence cards with enhanced security features to combat fraud and counterfeiting.

Additionally, the new driving licence cards would be produced at a faster rate, reducing motorists’ waiting times to renew their licences.

This is desperately needed, as South Africa’s current driver’s licence card printing machine is 26 years old and has experienced 159 breakdowns.

There is no backup printing machine, which means a breakdown can significantly delay motorists getting their new licence cards.

Among the proposals under the new tender was procuring three driving licence card printing machines.

The new machines would also be maintained and repaired in South Africa, unlike the current machine, which must be shipped overseas for repairs.

However, insiders have told City Press that driver’s licence printing stopped in January, and the backlog was growing. Sources said the printing machine had broken down and needed to be fixed again.

The problem

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy initiated legal action to block the tender award after receiving a letter from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) highlighting several irregularities.

On 5 September 2024, Minister Creecy requested the Auditor-General to expedite and broaden the investigation into this tender.

The inquiry focused on whether supply chain management regulations were followed, personal data safety specifications were met, and Idemia’s technical capacity was sufficient.

In January 2025, the Auditor-General submitted the investigation report to Minister Creecy.

On 5 March, the department announced that it had approached the High Court to block the tender, citing the Auditor-General’s review of the process.

The report revealed that the tender had been irregularly handled, including notable instances of non-compliance with established procedures.

The Auditor-General stated that the tender process failed to comply with supply chain management regulations, the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Treasury Regulations, and the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) policies.

According to Outa, the bid would have cost South African taxpayers just under R900 million, which the Auditor-General stated was inconsistent with the approved DLCA budget of R490 million.

The report indicated that the DLCA submitted outdated pricing and budget information to the Cabinet for approval.

“The budget they submitted to the Cabinet did not include all the contract costs, resulting in the Cabinet approving a memo that did not accurately reflect the total cost,” the Auditor-General noted.

Additionally, there were inconsistencies in the application and scoring processes and issues related to technical evaluations, site visits, capacity assessments, and deviations from the bid specifications.

Given these findings, the department could not overlook the identified irregularities. As a result, Minister Creecy has instructed the department to file a High Court application for a declaratory order on how to proceed.