South Africa’s only driver’s license card-printing machine has been fixed and is back in production, according to the department of transport. Following the repairs, the department plans to double card production from 60,000 to 120,000 per week and hopes to clear the backlog of 350,000 driving license cards by August.
Machine Breakdown and Repair
The machine underwent routine maintenance in April when a problem was encountered that required the replacement of a critical part from the original equipment manufacturer in Germany. Although the department originally promised the repair would only take two to three weeks, it has been closer to two months since the machine broke down.
Department spokesman Collen Msibi said testing of the machine after the part replacement took another two weeks before it was certified to go back to full production. “The machine has printed an average of 2.85 million cards per annum in the past two financial years. Since its commissioning in 1998, it has printed over 60 million driving license cards,” Msibi said.
New Driving License Card and Machines
The department is currently working on introducing a new driving license card, as approved by the cabinet in August 2022. The new driving license card will be launched before the end of the current financial year.
“It will also bring with it new card-production machines to replace the current machine. This signals the new dawn in the driving license card environment,” Msibi said.
Last year, the department also experienced a major backlog in printing licenses after the card machine broke down and had to be sent to Germany for repairs.