What we know so far
South Africa’s Driving Licence Card Account has laid out its most detailed reform plan to date, setting a target of producing new driving licence cards within seven working days and committing to a new card design and extended validity period — all within a structured legislative timeline. The plan is contained in the DLCA’s Annual Performance Plan for 2026/27, tabled at Parliament and introduced by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy.
The plan comes after one of the most disruptive periods in the DLCA’s history. A breakdown of South Africa’s single licence card printing machine between February and April 2025 caused a backlog of 756,227 cards by May. The machine has been in operation since 1998 and has broken down at least 160 times in its lifetime, according to the Sunday Times. By December 2025, the DLCA confirmed it had cleared the backlog, having printed 2,239,456 cards between 8 May and 8 December 2025.
Now, with the backlog cleared and the legal uncertainty over the contested tender resolved, the department says it is refocusing on long-term stability, a new card, and faster turnaround times for South African motorists.
Why it matters
Every licensed driver in South Africa is affected by the DLCA’s ability to produce cards reliably and quickly. Under the current system, the average production time in 2024/25 was 19 working days — nearly four weeks from application to card in hand. That figure has been as high as 23 working days in recent years and has contributed to chronic frustration for motorists, many of whom were forced to drive on temporary licence documents for months.
The 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan represents the most concrete set of commitments the DLCA has published in years. It covers three interconnected issues: producing cards faster, providing a reliable backup printing arrangement, and formally progressing the legal and policy work needed to introduce a new card and extend the licence validity period from five to eight years.
The Automobile Association has previously questioned why South Africa does not assign the Government Printing Works, which already produces smart ID cards and passports, as the permanent producer of driving licences. The latest plan suggests that question is now being answered, at least as a contingency measure.
Key details and figures
The DLCA’s 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan sets out a phased production target. Starting in the 2026/27 financial year, the DLCA is targeting an average production time of 21 working days — a slight step back from the 19-day figure recorded in 2024/25, which the department attributes to the transitional demands of bringing new systems and equipment online. The target then drops to 14 days in 2027/28 and reaches the stated goal of seven working days by the end of the 2028/29 financial year.
Production volume targets are set at 2.6 million cards in 2026/27, rising to 2.7 million in each of the following two years. These figures are lower than the 3.4 million cards produced in 2022/23 and the 2.8 million produced in 2023/24, a difference the department links to the ongoing stabilisation of the printing environment.
On the backup printing arrangement, the DLCA 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan confirms the contingency solution concluded with the Government Printing Works. The GPW, which falls under the Department of Home Affairs and produces the country’s smart ID cards and passports, will be able to produce the current driving licence card in the event of a machine breakdown. A network connection between the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the GPW was successfully tested in early 2026, enabling secure data transfer between the two systems. The State Security Agency approved the GPW’s prototype card design in January 2026, and the department said at the time that a Cabinet process would be initiated to formally approve the new design.
On the new card itself, the Gauteng North High Court ruled on 6 January 2026 that the tender process through which IDEMIA Identity and Security South Africa was appointed as preferred bidder was irregular, invalid, unlawful, and unenforceable. The tender, worth R898 million, was awarded in August 2024 following a process the Auditor-General found to be irregular. With that ruling, the department must re-advertise the tender and begin procurement again. The DLCA’s 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan confirms the entity will initiate the acquisition of new production equipment as a result.
The plan also sets out the legislative roadmap for extending driving licence card validity from five to eight years. According to the published schedule, the proposal is due to be submitted to the Minister of Transport in June 2026, to the Shareholders’ Committee in September 2026, and to the relevant Forum of South African Directors-General clusters in December 2026. Cabinet approval is targeted for March 2027, with parliamentary approval to follow by March 2028. The DLCA has acknowledged that revenue concerns — the entity depends on renewal fees — have been among the reasons the extension was delayed for years under previous administrations.
The DLCA’s total assets stand at R523.2 million and total liabilities at R432.6 million, according to the 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan.
Separately, the 2026/27 plan also flags a significant structural change in the medium term: the DLCA, together with the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, is set to be incorporated into the Road Traffic Management Corporation as part of a broader repositioning of transport entities.
What happens next
The most immediate step is the formal submission of the eight-year validity extension proposal to Minister Creecy, expected in June 2026. That triggers a process that, if everything proceeds on schedule, would see Cabinet receive the proposal by March 2027 and Parliament consider it by March 2028.
On the new card, the DLCA must re-advertise the tender for new production equipment following the court ruling. No timeline for the fresh tender process has been confirmed publicly. In parallel, the GPW contingency arrangement remains in place and Cabinet has been asked to formally approve the GPW prototype card design.
The DLCA’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities were flagged explicitly in the 2026/27 Annual Performance Plan as an area requiring attention. The department noted that cybersecurity improvements form part of what is needed to reach the seven-day production target, alongside new equipment and a reduction in backlogs.
For motorists, the practical message is straightforward: the card you will receive when you renew your licence in the immediate term is likely to look the same as the card in your wallet now. The faster turnaround times and new card design are years away from full implementation. What has changed is that the department has, for the first time in years, a publicly accountable plan with named milestones and financial year deadlines.
