South Africa ready to review 5-year driving licence
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula says that his department is ready to look at amending the five-year validity period that currently applies to driver’s licence cards in South Africa.
“We are also looking at the duration time. It is five years, but in terms of the national land transport act, that issue is not very clear that it has to be five years,” Mbalula told SABC News.
Mbalula announced in February that a team at the Road Traffic Management Corporation would compile a report with a focus on how extending licences to 10 years could impact safety and revenue.
He said his department completed the research on the matter.
“I’ve got the report now, and I’m ready to go to cabinet with new proposals to probably re-look at the five years in terms of the driver’s licence,” the minister said.
However, he said that he could not provide further information until his proposal has passed through the cabinet.
Groups like the Automobile Association (AA) and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) have for years urged the government to extend the validity period of driving licences from five to 10 years as a way of dealing more effectively with renewals.
Among the proposal, these groups have recommended:
- That an extension for driver’s license renewal be applied from 5 to 10 years;
- The extension from 5 to 10 years applies between the ages of 18 to 65 years;
- That more efficient online application processes for DL renewals precede the actual renewal to allow for more effective service delivery and flow between appointment, eye test and licence delivery;
- Multiple methods for DL renewal are made available through test centres and reputable service providers, i.e. stronger collaboration with neutral, third-party organisations such as the AA;
- That current restrictions applicable to Professional Driver’s Permits either remain the same, or are possibly extended as well, but that this decision be based on more extensive research and the inclusion of input from bussing and tourism role players.
Data provided by Outa shows that across the world the average period of licence validity was 8.5 years, ranging from three to 20 years. Africa and the Americas had the lowest periods at five and six years respectively, while the Middle East/Asia, Australasia and Europe had the highest at 8.6 years, 10 years and 11.5 years respectively.
The group argued that there are no negative road safety implications from extending the validity period from five to 10 years, while the upsides are substantial social and administrative gains for motorists and the state.
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