Creecy signs agreement to provide backup for ailing driver’s licence card machine

As the country battles with only one driver’s licence card machine, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says her department has struck an agreement with the Government Printing Works to provide a backup if the existing fault-prone machine is out of service.

Creecy shared the details during her budget speech delivered at the transport department budget vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

Driver’s licence card machine

South Africa’s only driver’s licence card printer has been plagued by breakdowns.

The machine has been out of order since January, creating a massive backlog in the issuing of driver’s licences. Few to no cards have been issued since the start of the year.

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Solution

Creecy said the Auditor-General found irregularities in the procurement process of the new driver’s licence card machine.

“It is a matter of public record that the department has taken a self-review application on this matter to the courts. The old card machine is currently fixed and we are hard at work to clear out the printing backlog of licence cards.

“To ensure we have a backup solution, we have signed an MOU with the Government Printing Works. We expect that within three months, this backup solution will be able to print driver’s licence cards,” Creecy said.

Government Printing Works

The Government Printing Works produces vital documents such as passports, visas, birth certificates and smart ID cards in South Africa.

The Driving Licence Card Authority (DLCA) is the entity in the department of transport responsible for producing driving licences.

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Tender

In March, Creecy instructed her department to file a high court application for a declaratory order regarding the R400 million tender for a driving licence card machine.

This was after the Auditor-General (AG) identified irregularities over the preferred bidder Idemia’s South Africa contract.

In September last year, the transport department appointed French multinational identity technology company Idemia as the preferred bidder for the multimillion-rand tender to procure a new driver’s licence printing machine.

Irregularities

However, a week before Idemia was selected, it was dealt a blow with Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) cancelling a deal that would have seen the French company provide technology like self-boarding gates at nine South African airports.

In September 2024, Creecy instructed the AG to expedite and widen the audit scope for the new driving licence card procurement process after new evidence emerged of alleged serious irregularities in the decision to make Idemia the preferred bidder.

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AG report

According to the report, the AG identified instances of non-compliance with the required procurement processes.

The AG also found that the identified instances of non-compliance were due to the DLCA’s inadequate budget analysis, which is part of the demand management process.

“Bids are not being evaluated according to the evaluation criteria as per the bid specifications and scoring is inconsistent during the bid evaluation process.”

Old machine

The existing licence card printing machine is 26 years old and has experienced almost 160 breakdowns, which have become more frequent.

In May, the department confirmed that the driving licence card printing machine had been fixed and operations resumed with a massive backlog of licences to be printed.

ALSO READ: Report on investigation into driving licence machine tender won’t be kept under wraps