There will be no more reprieves and extensions after the driving licence renewal grace period lapsed on Thursday.

Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Transport, said currently the country has a backlog of 1.3 million expired driving licence cards that have yet to be renewed.

“Analysis of the backlog by age of drivers who have not renewed their driving licence cards show that motorists between the ages of 25 and 50 years constitute 68% of drivers who have yet to renew their licence cards.”

He said an analysis by the department showed that between 25 and 30% of motorists who book renewal spots do not show up for their bookings. Mbalula said motorists who have not yet applied for a new licence would be penalised.

To deal with the expected increase in the demand for services, the department is working with the Road Traffic Management Corporation, Provincial and local authorities to implement an extensive plan to assist those who will be seeking to renew their licences.

Mabalula said the department has overcome the capacity constraints that delayed the production of driving licence cards due to the machine that broke down last year.

“The Driving Licence Card Account trading entity is now working 24-hour daily shifts to clear the backlog of driving licence cards.” He said law enforcement authorities will be extremely ruthless.