SA’s only driver’s license printing machine is finally repaired
“We will see an increase in production from the 60 000 cards produced over the past three weeks during the testing period to about 120 000 cards per week.”
South Africa’s only driver’s licence printing machine has been repaired and is ready for full-scale production following a backlog, according to the National Department of Transport.
In May, the department informed the public about the machine going for repairs which would take only three weeks.
However, there were delays in returning the machine for operation and took five weeks for it to be fully operational.
Spokesperson Collen Msibi said the delays were caused during the testing of the machine.
“The testing of the machine after the part replacement took another two weeks before it was certified to go back to full production.”
Despite the delays, the great news is that the department plans to produce more licence cards.
“We will see an increase in production from the 60 000 cards produced over the past three weeks during the testing period to about 120 000 cards per week,” Msibi said.
The machine has printed an average of 2.8 million cards per annum in the past two financial years.
Since its commissioning in 1998, it has printed over 60 million driver’s licence cards in the country.
BACKLOG OF CARDS IS AT 350 000 CARDS
Msibi said the backlog of cards is at 350 000 cards for the past five weeks.
“Backlogs are dependent on the number of orders received and there is currently a catch-up plan to address the backlog, which will be cleared by the end of August 2023,” he said.
The department is currently working on the process to introduce a new driver’s license card as approved by the cabinet in August 2022.
“The new DL card will be launched before the end of the current financial year,” Msibi assured.
“It will also bring with it new card production machines to replace the current machine.”
“This signals the new dawn in the DL card environment,” he concluded.
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