Mbalula assures motorists that renewing driver’s licence will be easier from March

20 November 2021 - 14:00
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Transport minister Fikile Mbalula. File image
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula. File image
Image: Twitter/Department of transport

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has assured motorists that renewing their driver's licences will be “easier” from March. 

Mbalula, responding to questions in the National Assembly this week, said the online booking system initially introduced in Gauteng may be rolled out nationally to deal with the driver’s licence renewal backlog.

“The online booking system initially introduced in Gauteng, managed by the RTMC [Road Traffic Management Corporation] on behalf of Gauteng, has provided a good basis for the RTMC to introduce a bouquet of online services across the country,” said Mbalula. 

“I will not be in a position to give you a breakdown province by province in terms of addressing the backlog, but I can tell you that we will able to meet the deadline by March and nobody will be having challenges of driver’s licence renewal.”

Among other things, Gauteng roads and transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo had launched the “Request A Slot” campaign aimed at addressing the renewal backlog. This allows people to book a slot online.

“In the next few weeks, watch this space. We will be launching that renewed, revamped online approach,” said Mbalula. 

“We are going into spaces where you can get an opportunity to renew your licence ... And I can assure you that we should be able to, statistically ... by next year, give you an update.

“Where we have got challenges, we are unlocking the bottlenecks so that beyond March, getting a driver’s licence in SA should not be a nightmare and to renew a driver’s licence should not be a nightmare that is riddled with the corruption of [having to bribe your way up the list]. We are rolling out our mobile driver licence and traffic centres around the country to reach our people.”  

On complaints that it is more expensive to renew a driver’s licence in Gauteng than in other provinces, Mbalula said the department was working with its provincial counterparts to address the challenges and policy gaps in the driver’s licence regime around the country.

“So there is a whole lot of things we are working on, and standardisation is one of the things we are considering.”


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