The transport department said it would ‘ruthlessly’ penalise motorists who don’t renew their driving licences within the next couple of days before the extended grace period for renewals expired on May 5.

The Tshwane metro extended its operating hours for driving licence testing centres to accommodate licence renewals after ‘challenges’ were noted in addressing the backlog.

The extension was to accommodate motorists whose licenses expired between March 26, 2020, and August 31, 2021.

“There will be no further extensions,” says transport minister Fikile Mbalula on Thursday.

He encouraged everybody who hasn’t renewed their licences yet to do so without delay before the deadline.

“We will penalise those who wilfully disregard the law and fail to renew their expired licences while assisting those with genuine challenges,” says Mbalula.

“We have done everything to remove obstacles that impeded the renewal of driving licences. It is now up to the motoring public to overcome their inertia and comply.

“Law enforcement authorities will be extremely ruthless in dealing with drivers who flout the law by driving without a valid driver’s licence card and cannot produce evidence they have renewed their licence and are awaiting its issue,” says Mbalula.

He says motorists between 25 and 50 make up 68% of drivers who have yet to renew their licence cards.

An average of 25% of motorists in Gauteng, who had booked licence renewal slots online, did not show up for their bookings.

“Motorists must understand that they have to use their booked slots to help us tackle the backlog.”

“We urge drivers to take up the slots, which would ordinarily have been used by others who have difficulty in finding slots closer to where they live,” says Mbalula.