New grace period for vehicle licence renewals

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) last week announced that the validity period of vehicle licences which expired between March 26 and August 31, has been extended to the end of January 2021.

According to the new directive issued, all learner driver licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences and professional driving permits that expire during the period that commenced from March 26, 2020, up to and including August 31, 2020, are deemed to be valid and their validity period is extended for a further grace period ending January 31, 2021.

Vehicle licence discs, temporary permits and roadworthy certificates that expire during the period that commenced from March 26, 2020, up to an including May 31, 2020, are valid until August 31, and motor trade number licences that expired during the same period are valid until November 30, 2020.

In a statement, the Automobile Association (AA) says they recently launched a petition urging the government to extend the validity period of licences given the problems with renewals at Driving Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs), and are elated at the move by RTMC and the government to extend the validity period of all licences.

“It’s great news for motorists who have been worried about being legal on the road in the face of mounting backlogs with renewals,” said Willem Groenewald, CEO of the AA.

“We applaud the government and the RTMC for making this decision which, ultimately, is the right way forward.”

He added that the tens of thousands of concerned South Africans who signed the online petition urged the government to extend the period and he thanked them for being active citizens and for playing their role.

“We trust the government will monitor the situation with renewals closely and consider further extensions in the new year should the need arise,” said Groenewald.

“We believe much can be done between now and the end of January to clear backlogs and to ensure everyone is accommodated fairly.”

He concluded that the extension will give motorists some breathing space in terms of renewals.

“Motorists must, however, not waste the opportunity to get their licences renewed sooner rather than later,” he said.

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