Parliament has urged transport minister Barbara Creecy to kick off the policymaking process that would pave the way for government to issue digital driving licences.

Speaking to TechCentral in an interview on Tuesday, Democratic Alliance MP Rikus Badenhorst, chairman of parliament’s select committee on infrastructure, said a digital driving licence card could help the transport department overcome the many issues it has had with physical card printing machines and save money for the state.

“I cannot claim that I came up with the idea; there were previous ministerial undertakings into electronic driver’s licences. In 2022, then-transport minister [Fikile Mbalula] said there would be an electronic driver’s licence (EDL) and that it would be introduced by end of March this year,” said Badenhorst.

The South African Revenue Service has “gone digital and is one of the most successful state-owned entities. Home affairs is also going digital, and they seem to be getting it right. Why must we now wait in the transport department? The card machine is so yesterday and is something that sits in a basement somewhere and costs us billions,” Badenhorst said.

The transport department has been engaged in a drawn-out and controversial process to procure a new machine to print driver’s licence cards. The current machine, which is over 25 years old, is prone to breakdowns and has led to a massive backlog of unissued licences.

According to Badenhorst, Creecy earlier this year told parliament that delays in the development of a policy regarding electronic driving licences were due to an ongoing probe into irregularities in the card machine tender and that those findings would inform the policy direction on digital licences.

“The transport minister should start developing the policy around electronic driver’s licences, because if you haven’t got the policy, you will never roll them out,” said Badenhorst.

Digital overhaul

Beyond the policy considerations, Badenhorst said the transport ministry will need to collaborate with other departments, especially home affairs, to ensure that the implementation does not unnecessarily duplicate efforts.

Home affairs, led by minister Leon Schreiber, is driving a digital overhaul that President Cyril Ramaphosa has described as central to efforts to digitise government services. Digital IDs are central to this, along with a digital wallet that will house important citizen documents such as authenticated digital versions of qualification certificates and driving licences.

Read: South Africa has much work to do in developing digital IDs

The benefits of an electronic driver’s licence go beyond savings in printing costs, according to Badenhorst. He said the implementation of the Administration and Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, part of which was previously administered by the bankrupt Post Office, may now become the responsibility of the country’s municipalities. He argued the municipalities do not have the capacity to handle these administrative duties but that a digital licence could simplify the process.

“With an electronic driver’s licence, you can get a reminder that your licence is about to expire and that you need to go for an eye test – you can still do the physical things that regulate ownership of a driver’s licence. But you can also attach fines to the digital licence and have people get them on their phones,” said Badenhorst.

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