Driving licence printing machine fixed but huge backlogs remain

MILLIONS have been spent on repairing and maintaining the driving licence card printing machine. 

The Department of Transport announced earlier last month that the driving licence printing machine was fixed and operations have resumed. The machine had been inoperative since February 5, resulting in a backlog of 747,748 unprinted cards.

To reduce the backlog, the Department of Transport’s Driving Licence Card Agency extended the working hours of its staff members. 

In light of this, in a parliamentary question and reply, Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi asked Transport Minister Barbara Creecy about the number of times the machine broke down and how much it cost to repair it. 

Zibi then asked how many employees it takes to operate the machine and how much overtime pay has been paid to employees due to lost printing time because of machine breakdowns. 

Zibi also asked Creecy if there was progress in acquiring a new card machine. 

Creecy said the backlog of driving licences as of May 15 was estimated at 733,000 cards. 

Creecy revealed the machine’s major breakdowns in the past financial year are as follows: 

• 2022/23 - 26 working days
• 2023/24 - 48 working days
• 2024/25 - 17 working days
• 2025/26 - 38 working days

Over the same period, repairs and maintenance costs: 

• 2022/23 - R9,267,862,33
• 2023/24 - R1,651,772,57
• 2024/25 - R544,747,64
• 2025/26 - R624,988,10 (to date)

Overtime payment, over the last few financial years, has been: 

• 2022/23 - R1,435,376,79
• 2023/24 - R1,608,102,52
• 2024/25 - R1,351,473,78
• 2025/26 - R0,00 

Creecy said it takes four people to operate the machine. 

About progress made with the process to acquire a new driving licence card printing machine, Creecy said: “The Minister has directed that a declaratory order be sought from a competent court on the tender to acquire a new machine, to ensure that no further irregular expenditure occurs.”