Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has announced a final extension to the grace period for expired driver’s licences in South Africa.
Learner licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences, and professional driving permits that expired between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021 will be deemed valid until 5 May 2022, reported MyBroadband.
“The final opportunity is provided by the current regulations which extends the grace period by 30 days from date of the end of the state of disaster,” said Mbalula.
“This means affected motorists have until 5 May 2022 to renew their expired driving licence cards.”
This is the last time there will be an extension as the end of the state of disaster means the transport department can no longer issue directions that further lengthens the grace period, said Mbalula.
This is the third extension for expired driver’s licences in South Africa, with the previous cut-off date being 15 April.
Concerns raised
The third extension of the driver’s licence renewal grace period comes after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) raised concerns that the mid-April cut-off date will be insufficient.
“If there is no further extension, millions of South Africans will be forced to operate a vehicle on a public road with an expired driver’s license card and may run the risk of being issued a traffic fine of up to R2,000,” said Outa executive director for accountability Stefanie Fick.
“Outa contends that issuing a fine under the above circumstances is unlawful and that the motorist has a defence if ever prosecuted.”
Punishing motorists for issues that are a result of departmental insufficiencies would be “unlawful, unreasonable, and grossly unfair,” she said.
Fick provided the following tips for motorists dealing with law enforcement in South Africa.
“A driver must always keep a record of his/her interactions with the authorities. Keep a detailed record (date, time, and places) of all your attempts to obtain a new driver’s license card and, where possible, take photos and voice recordings of events,” she said.
Keyword: Good news for South Africans with an expired driver’s licence – Longer grace period announced