Eight-year driving licence card extension moves closer to decision date

Updated Feb. 18, 2026, 11:58 a.m. | By Stacey & J Sbu

The deadline is drawing closer on a key decision that could change how often drivers renew their licence cards. Here is what is at stake and why it matters.

man holding phone showing driving licence card / iStock

South Africa’s transport department has a limited window remaining to meet a target it set for itself regarding the validity period of driving licence cards. The current plan is to extend the validity from five years to eight years, with a formal decision expected to be submitted to Parliament by the end of March 2026.

The target forms part of the Department of Transport’s 2025/26 annual performance plan, which specifies that the proposal should be presented during the fourth quarter of the financial year, ending on 31 March 2026. With less than two months left in that period, attention has turned to whether the department will meet its own deadline.

According to MyBroadband, this self-imposed timeframe has been highlighted by civil society organisations, including AfriForum, which has been vocal in pushing for the implementation of the extended validity period.

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Why is the March 2026 deadline important?

The deadline matters because it represents a concrete commitment by the department to move the issue forward. Without submitting the decision to Parliament within the stated period, the extension process could face further delays. AfriForum has written directly to transport minister Barbara Creecy, urging her to ensure the department adheres to its planning.

AfriForum campaign officer Louis Boshoff has argued that the minister should at least follow through on the department’s published targets. He has also raised concerns that, while the backlog in printing licence cards appears to have been largely resolved, the underlying infrastructure issues remain.

What concerns exist about licence card printing capacity?

One of the key issues raised is the continued reliance on the existing licence card printing machine. Boshoff has warned that no new printer has been procured and that the current machine could fail again at any time. A breakdown would risk recreating backlogs similar to those experienced in previous years.

Supporters of the eight-year validity period argue that extending the renewal cycle would lead to a temporary reduction in demand. This period of lower pressure could then be used to upgrade printing equipment and systems without severely disrupting drivers

Has this deadline appeared in other official documents?

The fourth-quarter 2025/26 target is not limited to a single planning document. The same timeframe appears in the department’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2030, as well as in a transport portfolio committee report. This repetition suggests that the target has been consistently adopted across multiple levels of planning.

Why was the five-year validity period defended in the past?

Historically, government has argued that driving licence cards were not durable enough to last longer than five years. However, this reasoning has been increasingly questioned, especially after independent research challenged the justification.

Nearly four years ago, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) received an independent assessment recommending an extension of the validity period for standard Code B licences. The RTMC commissioned consultancy firm Zutari to benchmark South Africa’s system against international practices.

What did the independent research find?

The report, delivered in May 2022, compared South Africa’s driving licence validity rules with those of dozens of other countries. It found that developed countries with strong road safety records typically used validity periods of between nine and ten years. In contrast, countries with poorer safety records tended to favour shorter periods of five years or less.

Despite this, progress stalled. In September 2022, then transport minister Fikile Mbalula said he would take a proposal to Cabinet to extend the validity to eight years. Shortly afterwards, he resigned from the transport portfolio to focus on his role as ANC secretary-general.

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Why did the extension appear to be reversed?

In 2024, Mbalula’s successor Sindisiwe Chikunga, alongside RTMC CEO Makhosini Msibi, stated that the extension proposal had never been presented to Cabinet. They maintained that the five-year validity period would remain, citing concerns about communicable and other diseases potentially affecting driver health and safety.

This position was challenged by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, known as Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse. After obtaining Zutari’s report through a Promotion of Access to Information Act request, Outa released the findings publicly.

What did the release of the report reveal?

The full report showed that certain findings had been selectively used to justify retaining the five-year period. While the consultants noted that regular eye testing was not prioritised by many South Africans, they did not view this as sufficient justification for such a short renewal cycle.

The experts also found that eye tests conducted during the current renewal process were inadequate for properly assessing a driver’s eyesight. Their overall recommendation was clear: existing laminated cards should be valid for eight years, while future polycarbonate cards could potentially last for ten years.

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