The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is calling out the Department of Transport (DoT) and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), accusing them of lying to the South African public over the extension of driving licence validity in the country.
The civil action group has also published the RTMC’s research from 2022, where the corporation recommended that licence card validity be extended to eight years – with no research supporting the recent decision to walk back on this.
There have long been calls to extend the validity of South African driving licence cards from five years to ten years, backed by stakeholders like Outa, the Automobile Association and drivers at large.
In response to mounting pressure from these stakeholders, former DoT minister Fikile Mbalula commissioned the RTMC to research the feasibility of extending the validity of driver’s licence cards.
Following the completion of the research that year, Mbalula announced that the cards would be extended to eight years after the research found that the average renewal period across 35 countries was 8.5 years.
However, his successor, minister Sindiswa Chikunga, reversed course and said the validity period would remain five years.
The DoT told BussinessTech in July that this is because “the timeframe of license validity is partly informed by the health and wellness of license holders.”
“This includes eye tests, which are able to determine the deterioration of a driver’s vision and if a necessary restriction needs to be listed on an individual’s license,” it said.
The RTMC also expressed this reasoning, claiming that “communicable diseases” were also part of the reasoning for dropping the extensions.
Ludicrous reasoning
However, Outa called the department’s reasoning “ludicrous” and subsequently submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to access the RTMC’s initial 2022 research and the alleged research used by the RTMC to justify denying the extension.
Outa has been requesting the research since 2022 and was finally given one of the reports this month. Notably, the RTMC denied Outa access to a second research report.
In the RTMC’s response to Outa about the second report, it stated: “The research conducted by the Corporation on the referred to subject herein falls within the ongoing research relating to the viability of extension of the 5-year driver’s license card validity period and access to this research consequently, therefore, stands to be refused in terms of Section 43(2) of PAIA.”
Section 43(2) allows refusal of access to information if there are confidentiality concerns, including those relating to the subject of research.
However, the transport department told Outa that the second report does not exist.
“We have taken reasonable steps to find a copy of the alleged research, and for that reason, it cannot be found; thus, it does not exist,” it said, providing an affidavit from a deputy director-general to the group confirming this.
What the report said
Ultimately, Outa revealed that the department’s decision to keep licence validity at five years goes against the RTMC’s initial recommendations.
The Driving Licence Card Validity Period Review, written in May 2022 by consultants Zutari for the RTMC, proposed extending the driving licence card validity for light vehicles to eight years.
The report proposed that driving licence cards for light vehicles be valid for eight years instead of the current five years, while the validity for licence cards for heavy vehicles remains at five years.
“It is clear that the RTMC is deliberately misleading the public on its so-called reason not to extend the driving licence card validity period,” said Outa executive director Stefanie Fick.
“Outa now questions the motives of the RTMC, as the ultimate decision to extend the validity period lies with the Minister of Transport…We find the reasons advanced by the RTMC to be ludicrous and lacking in any factual basis.”
Outa said it is now taking up the fight with the new Minister of Transport, Babara Creecy, hoping to engage and discuss the extension of driver’s licence card validity, among other issues.
Read: Trouble for new driving licences in South Africa
