Mapaballo Borotho

Transport Minister, Barbara Creecy, has revealed there is a backlog of 733 000 driver’s licence cards in South Africa, due to the country’s license card printing machine being offline for over 30 days.
Creecy was responding to a written Parliamentary question which was asked by Rise Mzansi.
South Africa is currently serviced by one driver’s license card printing machine, which has allegedly exceeded its lifespan.
Rise Mzansi’s member of Parliament, Makashule Gana says the old printing machine has become a financial burden on the department and the people of South Africa.
“With the procurement of three new machines (two for the primary site; one for the disaster recovery site) facing a major setback following the Minister’s directive for a declaratory order “in order to ensure that no further irregular expenditure occurs” in the tender process.
“What is of great concern is that between 2022/23 and 2025/26 (to-date) the printing machine has been offline for 129-days, with repairs and maintenance costing in excess of R12-million. The recovery of this lost time has further cost the people of South Africa over R4-million in overtime,”.
Gana has urged Minister Creecy to urgently provide a public update on the declaratory order, having announced the process three months ago.
READ NEXT: Icasa shuts down Starlink for operating illegally in South Africa



