RISING COSTS OF MAINTAINING OUTDATED DRIVING LICENCE MACHINE ALARM SOUTH AFRICAN WATCHDOGS

Amid talks over the past 10 years about the government obtaining a new licence card machine, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said it is concerned over the millions of rands spent on maintaining the one and only printer after several breakdowns. 

This was after Transport Minister, Barbara Creecy, said the machine had been out of service for 38 days since April 1, resulting in a backlog of 733 000  licence cards. 

Creecy disclosed this in response to a written parliamentary question from Rise Mzansi leader, Songezo Zibi.

Creecy said the machine was broken for 17 days in 2024/25, 48 days in 2023/24, and 26 days in the 2022/23 financial year.

The department paid R9 267 862 for the repair and maintenance in 2022/23, R1 651 772 in 2023/24, R544 747 in 2024/25, and R624 988 so far. 

The department also had to fork out R4.4 million for overtime payments between the 2022/23 and  2024/25 financial years. 

Creecy said she has directed that a declaratory order be sought from a competent court on the tender to acquire a new machine, in order to ensure that no further irregular expenditure occurs. 

Outa’s chief executive officer, Wayne Duvenage, said the organisation was concerned by the length of time it takes for the department to get the court to nullify the contract - riddled with irregularities and potential corruption. 

“Why does it take so long to get this process done?” he asked. 

“Lots of money spent on maintaining and overtime costs to catch up with backlogs. This is very concerning. The government has been talking about a new driving licence card machine for about 10 years now, with multiple tenders awarded and cancelled for the past 5 years and still, we are nowhere near resolving this issue. Incompetence and political interference at its best,” Duvenage said. 

Department of Transport spokesperson, Collen Msibi did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

In a statement released on June 4, Rise Mzansi MP, Makashule Gana, said: “The recovery of this lost time has further cost the people of South Africa over R4 million in overtime. It is clear that the old, single printing machine has become a financial burden on the department and the people of South Africa. RISE Mzansi therefore calls on Minister Creecy to urgently provide a public update on the declaratory order, having announced the process three months ago,” he said.

Cape Argus

2025-06-10T05:34:15Z