The R900m wrong turn: SA’s licence machine fiasco
They flew to the wrong country for the wrong machine! This is the story of SA’s R900 million driving licence tender fail
South Africa’s government scandals rarely disappoint, but this one? This one deserves a standing ovation.
The Department of Transport wanted a shiny new driving licence card printing machine.
The price tag? R898 million. The mission? Inspect the machine, sign off, and finally retire the 25-year-old dinosaur.
Here’s what happened instead: the evaluation team hopped on a plane, flew to the wrong countries, and ended up inspecting the wrong model of the machine.
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How did we get here?
South Africa’s only licence card machine has broken down 160 times in its lifetime.
By August this year, the backlog of unprinted cards sat at 539,947.
That’s nearly 540,000 frustrated drivers clutching paper licences like Monopoly cards.
So naturally, the government decided: “Let’s buy a new machine!” Fair enough. Now here’s where the wheels came off.
According to News24, the team sent to inspect the new printers went to the wrong countries. Not only that, they also looked at the wrong machine.
It’s like going to KFC, ordering chicken, and walking out proudly holding a pizza box.
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To fix this, the DoT awarded IDEMIA (a French multinational) the contract in September last year.
Sadly, things went south… fast! The Auditor-General’s report flagged irregularities.
The inspectors went to the Netherlands and France, even though the tender specs said the correct machines were in Greece and the Czech Republic.
Then, they ended up looking at the wrong machine model.
Even worse? The tender cost R898m, but the DoT’s budget was R486m. That’s a R400m overspend, which would make even a reckless e-toll planner sweat.
To put it into perspective, that’s about:
- 450,000 traffic fines for “not wearing a seatbelt.”
- 90 million packets of NikNaks (the real orange machine we should be investing in).
- Enough petrol to drive from Joburg to Durban and back… about 300,000 times.
So… what now?
Well, the licence backlog continues, the tender is tied up in legal knots, and South Africans are left with loads of questions.
Will we ever get a new machine? Will it be the right machine, in the right country, this time?
Most importantly, can we trust anyone with directions anymore?
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