733,000 license cards delayed, South Africa plans fresh tender
South Africa seeks to cancel license printer contract over failures
South Africa’s Department of Transport is attempting to resolve a growing crisis over driving license card production.
According to MyBroadband, the department has filed papers with the Pretoria High Court requesting the cancellation of a controversial contract with Idemia South Africa for the supply of new driver’s license card printers and to launch a new tender process.
The R898 million (over $50 million) contract with Idemia was signed last year but has since been ruled unlawful for several reasons — including inflated costs, non-compliant bidders, outdated pricing, and more. As a result, the department is suing Idemia and asking the court to terminate the deal, rerun the tender, and allow the Department of Home Affairs to take over printing.
One of the reasons for the original tender was the breakdown of the department's existing card printer. However, officials now claim the equipment is working again and that a temporary contract has been signed with the Government Printing Works (GPW) to handle driver’s license printing.
GPW, a state agency under the Department of Home Affairs, specializes in secure printing of government documents such as passports, visas, birth certificates, green ID books, and smart ID cards.
“To ensure a backup solution, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with GPW and expect license card production to resume within three months,” said Transport Ministry spokesperson Collen Msibi.
Rising delays in driver’s license card issuance
The temporary solution may slightly ease the backlog caused by printer failures and tender issues. As of May 15, the downtime had led to a backlog of approximately 733,000 cards. By mid-June, Msibi said that 269,000 cards had been printed and the backlog had reduced to around 690,000 — although this figure likely includes new applicants still waiting for their cards.
Regardless, the department’s claim that the backlog will be cleared in 4–6 months appears overly optimistic. Given the continued inflow of new applications, resolving the problem could take significantly longer.
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