The Department of Transport has a bidder that will be producing new smart driving licence cards which will be in line with international driving licence standards.

IDENTITY COMPANY

Department spokesperson Collen Msibi explained that they will be entering into a service level agreement with identity and security company, IDEMIA, in due time. "It will then begin putting in place infrastructure and systems required for the smart cards. More information in terms of the time frames will thereafter be made available to the public once the service agreement has been signed," he added.

SECURITY FEATURES

According to Msibi, the new licence card will incorporate new security features aimed at eliminating the ever-increasing risks of fraudulent and counterfeit driver's licences. "Considering the cost of producing the driving licence and the risk of fraud and corruption, the new driving licence will continue to be manufactured centrally," said Msibi. The smart licence concept was introduced in 2022 by former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula upon realising the major backlog experienced by the department when the only driving licence card printing machine in the country broke down.