A road safety organisation has welcomed plans to extend the validity period of South African driving licences from five years to 10 years, saying the move could help reduce backlogs and ease pressure on licensing departments.
Cabinet has approved the proposed extension for light motor vehicles, bringing motorists closer to renewing their driving licences once every decade rather than every five years.
However, heavy motor vehicles, including trucks and public transport vehicles, will remain excluded from the proposed changes.
Drive More Safely founder Alida Venter supports the extension but believes the policy should also be expanded to include heavy motor vehicles.
Venter said the move would benefit motorists and the economy by reducing the frequency of licence renewals.
“I think for the economy, especially for our people, it's going to be much better. Your licence never expires, it's only the card that expires,” she said.
Venter questioned the need for motorists to renew their licences every five years, pointing out that other identity documents are not subject to the same requirement.
“We really feel that it's unnecessary for us to really go and renew a licence. We don't renew our ID cards. So, why do we need to renew a licence every five years?” she said.
She added that the extended validity period could reduce pressure on licensing systems and allow authorities to focus resources on improving critical infrastructure.
Venter said funding should be directed towards addressing the ongoing challenges within the licensing system.
She expressed hope that extending the validity period to 10 years would reduce the strain on licensing machines and help authorities manage the high volume of renewal applications more effectively.