South African drivers can look forward to longer-lasting licences after the Department of Transport confirmed plans to extend the validity period of driver’s licence cards from five to eight years.
The decision, announced by Department of Transport director-general Mathabatha Mokonyama, comes as welcome news to motorists who have long complained about the inconvenience and cost of renewing their licences every five years.
Speaking earlier this month to Parliament’s Select Committee on Public Infrastructure, Mokonyama said the department had concluded its assessment on the licence extension.
“We have just concluded, although it took a little bit of time, the issue around extending the validity period of the driver’s licence card from five to eight years,” Mokonyama told the committee. “Our analysis and assessment is that South Africans do favour a longer period. They don’t want to come back to us every five years. So we definitely will be moving to eight years soon.”
However, the department is proceeding with the change despite an incomplete cost-benefit analysis. The extension will likely result in a loss of revenue for the Department of Transport (DoT).
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has previously expressed support for the eight-year licence, but emphasised the need to assess the impact on the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA). She also suggested that drivers of heavy vehicles and passenger transport should continue renewing their licences every two years due to safety considerations.
“People who are either driving heavy vehicles that can cause significant accidents or those driving passengers should be renewing on a two-yearly basis,” Creecy said previously. “However, with regard to the driver’s licence for ordinary citizens like you and me, the suggestion was that we go for a period of eight years.”
The project appears to be running behind schedule. The department had originally planned to publish a notice in the Government Gazette for public comment during the second quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, but no such notice has been published yet.
The move to eight-year licences will bring South Africa closer to international norms. A comparison of 33 countries reveals that South Africa’s current five-year validity period is shorter than most global standards.
Currently, only Egypt and Kenya have shorter validity periods than South Africa, with licences valid for one to three years. Most countries surveyed have 10-year validity periods, while some European nations like Denmark, France, Germany, and Norway issue licences valid for 15 years.
Countries like Singapore and Switzerland don’t impose validity limits until drivers reach 65 and 70 years old respectively, after which medical assessments may be required.
Many countries implement age-based restrictions for older drivers. For example, in Japan, licences are valid for five years until the holder reaches 70, after which validity periods are reduced to three or four years depending on medical assessments.
Brazil follows a similar model, with 10-year licences reducing to five years for drivers aged 50-69, and three years for those over 70.
ALSO READ: Two arrested for manufacturing fraudulent driving licences and vehicle documents
