South Africa’s digital driving licence secrecy

While the Department of Transport (DoT) has been highly evasive in answering questions about the rollout of a new physical smart driving licence card, it has gone all but silent on its previous plan to introduce an electronic driving licence (eDL).

The first indications that South Africa would launch an eDL came in the DoT’s 2021/2022 annual performance plan.

Former transport minister Fikile Mbalula was the first to confirm that the country would get an eDL or digital driving licence (DDL) over two years ago.

In March 2022, Mbalula said the eDL would be launched by the 2024/2025 financial year, following the introduction of the new physical card “set to be launched” in October 2023.

Mbalula explained that motorists would be able to choose between a physical card and an eDL when applying for their licence or licence renewal and that the eDL would be accessible on smartphones.

About a year and a half later, Mbalula’s successor — Sindisiwe Chikunga — provided a revised timeline for the physical card’s pilot and eDL’s launch.

Chikunga said that the new physical card would be piloted from November 2023 and that the eDL and automated driving licence applications would be rolled out over three years until 2025/2026.

Over a year after Mbalula’s initial deadline, the pilot for the new physical licence card has yet to be launched, and the company that will print the card has yet to be appointed.

According to the most recent update from the DoT, auditing the bidding process to print the cards is currently underway, and it has asked for understanding from the media and public as it is not allowed “to poke its nose” into the process.

The physical card’s rollout will likely impact the eDL’s launch as its technology will be linked to the eDL.

Therefore, the digital licence might be delayed by at least another year.

MyBroadband asked the DoT — which now has Barbara Creecy as its third minister in three years — for an update on its plan to support an eDL or DDL. The department did not respond by the time of publication.

According to Driving.co.za managing director and road safety expert Rob Handfield-Jones, there might be some resistance from the government against digital licences.

Handfield-Jones argued that there was no logical reason why the country had not adopted an eDL.

“There is no technological or practical obstacle to digital licensing and enforcement,” Handfield-Jones recently told MyBroadband.

“The problem is the RTMC’s refusal to give up the revenue streams that go with analogue document production.”

He added that there were no valid safety, efficiency or social reasons for the renewal of physical driving licence cards either.

Several countries have already launched or are currently trialling digital licences.

The first was Kosovo in southern Europe, with a population of less than two million, which introduced its mobile driving licence in February 2018.

Two months later, Brazil also rolled out DDLs. Its neighbour Argentina launched its DDL in February 2019, with Norway following in October 2019.

South Korea and Denmark also joined the digital licence party in June 2020 and November 2020, respectively.

Countries currently piloting DDLs include Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the case of the US, the rollout is being supported by Apple, which has started allowing residents of some states to add their DDL or state ID to its Wallet app.

It is unclear whether South Africa’s government plans to partner with major tech companies like Apple, Google, or Samsung to support secure storage and access to eDLs via digital wallets.

While little is known about the technology that would support the eDL, the Driving Licence Card Account division of the DoT previously said that it was looking at integrating new technologies with the updated card, including using a blockchain.