AA and DA want the driver’s licence grace period extended

The Automobile Association (AA) says Government needs to extend the renewal period for licences. It believes that this is the only practical solution. The AA shared that motorists will decide to drive illegally in order to remain mobile.

The DA and AA believe the grace period should be extended

Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for roads and transport in Gauteng Fred Nel seems agree with the AA. Nel shared that the driver’s licence grace period is not enough. He explained that motorists have been struggling for months on end.

Licences that expired between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021 have been given until 15 April 2022 to be renewed. Nel said that in March, the department made headway. Approximately 150,000 renewals were done.

The clearing of the backlog was halted. Now, a backlog of around 273,000 driver’s licences arose after strikes at some centres occurred. Nel said another six months will be needed to get rid of the backlog, reports The Citizen.

“Thus we will need around another six months to eradicate the backlog, as we also have to deal with current expirations,”

Fred Nel, DA spokesperson for roads and transport

Driver’s Licence: New card on the horizon

South African motorists now have until 15 April to renew their driver’s licences. The initial deadline was 1 April. There is a huge backlog that was nowhere near being cleared and locals have been scrambling to get their licences renewed.

Addressing the nation on driver’s licence renewals, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula revealed that the country is looking to renew and refurbish the driver’s licence sector of South Africa.

Mbalula stated that the issue of printing driving cards is on a first-come basis. He revealed that the current draft regulations allows for the department to continue for another 30 days. He shared that the closing date for comments on the draft regulations is 1 April 2022.

Mbalula also spoke about the period between licence renewals. The minister said that he is working with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to discuss the period which could be five years, ten years or even 15 years. Read the full story here.