AfriForum in court bid to declare 5-year licence renewal invalid
AfriForum says it's optimistic the courts will rule in its favour as it seeks to challenge the requirement to renew driver's licences every five years.
The lobby group has confirmed it filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.
It's asking the court to declare the requirement invalid and order a review.
"We are seeking a declaratory order in the first place that is outside legislative power to mandate the five-year requirement for licences to be renewed," says AfriForum's Reiner Duvenage.
"Secondly that it is illegal to punish people for driving without a renewed licence. The application was submitted yesterday in the Pretoria High Court."
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"And we truly believe this will might be a watershed moment in South Africa, it will mean the government might have been punishing citizens wrongfully for more than 20 years."
The court challenge comes as driving licence testing centres have been battling massive backlogs, partly caused by the lockdown, and exacerbated by the card printing machine breaking down last year.
The Transport Department extended the grace period for renewals and increased operating hours at centres in a bid to clear the backlog.
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