A South African ID book and driver’s licence. Picture: Gallo Images/Nicolene Olckers
The process of introducing a driver’s licence smart card in South Africa is gaining momentum with the appointment of an identity and security company to oversee the rollout of the new system.
On Monday, the Department of Transport confirmed that French company IDEMIA was chosen as the preferred bidder on 8 August to produce smart cards.
This decision followed a month-long bidding process that began in April and concluded in May 2023.
“This resulted in five bidders’ responses that were received and subjected to a thorough and transparent process of evaluation and adjudication by the bidding committee.
“It was also subjected to a probity/audit process – the probity conclusion being that all the processes were in compliance with prescribed legislation and policies,” the department’s spokesperson Collen Msibi said in a statement.
Msibi mentioned that IDEMIA would enter into a service-level agreement with the department “in due course”.
Thereafter, the service provider will start implementing the necessary infrastructure and systems for the smart cards, which will adhere to international driving licence standards.
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“More information in terms of the time frames will thereafter be made available to the public once the service agreement has been signed.
“The new licence card will incorporate new security features aimed at eliminating the ever-increasing risks of fraudulent and counterfeit driving licences,” the spokesperson continued.
The new government’s cabinet approved the department’s proposal to produce and roll out the new smart cards last Friday.
In April, former transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga announced that the department would procure a new driver’s license printing machine from France.
At the time, Chikunga indicated that the department aimed to print and distribute the first 100 new driver’s license cards per province by the end of the month.
The new printer is expected to speed up turnaround times for licence cards in South Africa, enabling the production of a card within five working days.
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Currently, there is only one driver’s license card production machine in operation nationwide, which has experienced multiple breakdowns due to technical failures.
In 2022, the card machine had to be sent to Germany for repairs.
This has resulted in a significant backlog in card production, forcing motorists to drive with expired licenses issued by the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA).
The existing machine produces approximately 300,000 cards per month.
The new driving licence card is expected to feature enhanced security measures, such as biometric data, holograms, and watermarks in line with the International Information Technology Personal Identification Compliant Driving Licence (ISO18013).
These upgrades are designed to combat fraudulent licences, enhance overall road safety and set the stage for the rollout of digital driver’s licences, allowing citizens to access their licences directly from their smartphones.
The current card, which has been in operation since 1998, will be phased out over a five-year period.
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