What the driving licence renewal fee review means
The Department of Transport has asked its card agency to work out what a 10-year driving licence card should cost, so the driving licence renewal fee motorists pay could change before the longer cards arrive. The department told Parliament’s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and Minister in the Presidency that the minister had commissioned the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) to develop a pricing model “to cover the concomitant costs” of the extension, Daily Investor reported this week.
The DLCA funds itself by selling licence cards to testing centres. Director-General Mathabatha Mokonyama told the same committee last November that it produced 2.135 million cards in 2024/25, and doubling the time between most renewals would cut into that volume over time.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has previously warned, in remarks reported by MyBroadband, that a fee increase could be needed to protect the agency’s finances. No new fee has been proposed, and the gazetted draft rules say nothing about price.
At today’s prices a motorist buys two cards a decade, and under the draft they would buy one. The pricing model could double the card fee before motorists stopped saving money, though they would still make half as many trips to a testing centre.
Fees differ by province. The Western Cape Government lists R140 for card issue.
What the gazetted draft actually says
Creecy published the draft amendments in Government Gazette 55205 on 17 August 2026, less than three weeks after Cabinet approved the 10-year card in July. The text answers several questions that were open at the time, including what happens to existing cards.
| Item | Draft rule in Gazette 55205 |
|---|---|
| The driving licence itself | Valid indefinitely, unless suspended or cancelled under the National Road Traffic Act or the AARTO Act |
| Card for codes A1, A, B and EB | Expires 10 years after it is ordered from the Card Production Facility |
| Renewal before the old card expires | New card runs 10 years from the day after the old card’s expiry date |
| Card for codes C1, C, EC1 and EC | Five years, with the same early-renewal rule |
| Drivers who must hold a PrDP | The card-validity rule does not apply, and no alternative period is stated |
| Existing five-year card | Valid until the new card is issued, but never more than three months after expiry |
| Learner’s licence | 24 months from the date of the test |
The clause most motorists will feel is the early-renewal rule. Under the current regulation a card runs for five years from the date it is ordered, so renewing early shortens it, but under the draft anyone who applies before their card expires gets a new card running 10 years from the day after the old one lapses.
The draft also separates the licence from the card. The licence would become valid indefinitely, while the card becomes the authorisation to drive for as long as it is valid.
Existing five-year cards do not stretch to 10 years. They remain valid only until a new card is issued, and never more than three months past their printed expiry date.
Who the 10-year card leaves out
Heavy-vehicle codes C1, C, EC1 and EC stay on five-year cards. The draft goes further than most coverage has noted: it says the card-validity rule does not apply to any driver who must hold a professional driving permit, the permit needed to carry passengers for reward.
That would include taxi drivers and those working under the rules for e-hailing drivers. The draft does not say what validity period their cards would carry.
The department has said the professional driving permit itself stays on a two-year cycle. Professional drivers will therefore keep returning to testing centres far more often than private motorists.
AfriForum’s submission, lodged on 16 September, asked for the 10-year period to cover all licence codes, MyBroadband reported. OUTA chief executive Wayne Duvenage said in August that the change could be in place within months.
When the 10-year card could take effect
Public comment closed in mid-September, 30 days after publication. The department must now consider the submissions, and the draft goes to the Office of the State Law Adviser before final regulations are made, while Daily Investor reports the department will return to Cabinet for final approval.
Several points remain open. No commencement date, card price or pricing model has been published, and the draft is silent on the card period for professional drivers.
Until the final regulations are gazetted, the five-year card remains the law, and motorists still need to renew their driving licence card before it expires.
HOW WE REPORTED THIS CROSS-CHECKED
- The draft rules were read in full in Government Gazette 55205, Proclamation Notice 336 of 2026, published by the Minister of Transport on 17 August 2026.
- The Cabinet decision and the department's renewal advice were checked against the government news service's reports of 30 July 2026, and the Western Cape Government's public summary of the draft was compared line by line with the gazette text.
- The pricing model and card production figures come from the department's statements to Parliament's Select Committee on Public Infrastructure as reported, and the presentation document itself was not located.
- Southafriworld's fee comparison is arithmetic on the renewal cycle only and assumes no change to today's fees, which the department has not yet decided.
- No comment was sought from the Department of Transport or the Driving Licence Card Account before publication.
