Online driving licence card renewal problems

Nearly three years after launching, the South African government’s online driving licence card renewal booking system is still not available in six of South Africa’s nine provinces.

The service also lacks the features necessary to properly streamline the driving licence card application or renewal process, similar to what bank branches offer with smart ID cards and passport renewals.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) launched its system on the Natis Online website in early 2022.

RTMC CEO Makhosini Msibi said the system would make it easy for “all South Africans” to renew their cards.

The service was initially only available in Gauteng. It was later expanded to the Eastern Cape and, sometime after May 2024, rolled out in the North West.

However, the service remains unavailable in the other six provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

The most recent data on driving licence holders per province is contained in Statistics South Africa’s National Household Travel Survey of 2020.

It found that Gauteng had roughly 37.3% of the coutnry’s driving licence card holders, the Eastern Cape 7.2%, and the North West 5.1%.

Assuming these figures have remained roughly the same four years later, it would mean that less than half of the country’s total licence holders can access the online renewal facility in their home province.

When asked about the system’s slow adoption rate roughly two years after its launch, the RTMC said that it was not due to any issues on its end.

Spokesperson Simon Zwane explained that the outstanding provinces had shown interest in the system but had to align their internal processes before they could “come on board”.

“The RTMC is ready to assist provinces to integrate systems once they are ready,” Zwane said.

Around the same time, the Western Cape provincial government’s mobility department downplayed the system’s capabilities when asked why it had not yet adopted the service.

“It’s a tool to book a time slot at a DLTC to enable an applicant to apply for the renewal of a driving licence,” the department said.

The province explained it would first launch new and improved smart enrolment machines at DLTCs in the financial year ending March 2025 before reviewing potential onboarding with the RTMC’s platform.

Limited benefits in speeding up applications

Several other shortcomings with the service make it of little benefit other than securing a time slot for an appointment.

In addition to limited provincial coverage, the system does not yet support online payments, something the RTMC said it would have at the initial rollout.

Applicants must still pay for their renewal in person after completing their application, adding time and the potential for corruption.

In addition, motorists must still subject themselves to an eye test at a driving licence testing centre (DLTC) or submit a valid optometrist’s eye test during their appointment.

Former transport minister Fikile Mbalula said the government was working with optometrists to streamline the process and enable the online submission of eye tests.

Thereafter, the only process that would have been required with the visit to the DLTC is the submission of fingerprints.

The system also lacks an online form where users can enter and submit all their details. Instead, applicants must still complete a physical form and hand it in at the DLTC.

The shortfalls of the system are made evident when comparing it to the bank-supported eHomeAffairs service for smart ID card applications and passports, as shown in the comparison below.