NEW LICENCE CARDS FOR SA

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has announced that her department is ready to start printing the new licence cards before the end of April.

The new licence cards were meant to be rolled out at the end of March already, but Chikunga said her department hadn’t yet awarded a tender for the new printer in January. If everything goes to plan, the process will be finalised before the end of the month.

With the new printer and process in place, licence cards should be produced within five days. Currently, the printer needs 14 days to do so.

The new card will feature improved security elements like biometric data, watermarks, and holograms to improve road safety and reduce licence card fraud.

The new licence cards will also be compatible with the International Information Technology Personal Identification Compliant Driving Licence (ISO18013).

Although only new cards will be printed from the end of April, current licence cards will still be valid until 31 March 2029.

The Citizen reports that the front of the card will display the driver’s name, gender, date of birth, ID number, and information about the licence, such as issuance date, code, licence number, and validity period.

Image credit: South African