On track: licence cards. File picture.
The Department of Transport says it’s on track to deliver a new driver's licence card and printing equipment for the country, despite the initial challenges of finding suitable service providers.
The department says it’s on the brink of “a new dawn” in the driving licence card environment, with the evaluation and adjudication of the bids completed, and with the audit process being the only hurdle remaining.
Cabinet gave the go-ahead to produce a new driving license card for the country on 30 August 2022 already.
The department says it embarked on its first attempt to source a service provider to deliver a turnkey solution on 10 November 2022 but this bid process was unsuccessful.
Following a new bid in April 2023, the department received five bids from the following bidders: “Ren-form Corporate Print Media”, “Nec Xon Systems (Pty) Ltd.”, “Muehlbauer ID Services”, “Gemalto Altron Fintech Southern Africa”, and “Idemia Identity and Security — South Africa”.
They emphasised that with the evaluation and adjudication of the bid completed, the bid is currently undergoing standard and required department's probity/audit processes.
The Automobile Association of South Africa spokesperson, Layton Beard says: “I think that the main concern we would like to see addressed is how much of an impact this will have on drivers, if any, but mostly we would like for the department to share the timelines for this, and when the government intends to have this rolled out. Transparency is important in how this is handled.”
Department of Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi called for patience “as it is prohibited by law not to poke its nose into the affairs of the bidding committees”.
“The department will pronounce on this matter when all processes have been completed.”
dailyvoice@inl.co.za
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