The political principals in the Department of Transport (DOT) have welcomed the ruling setting aside the driving licence card machines tender awarded to French firm IDEMIA.
This week, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria declared that the tender was irregular, invalid, unlawful and unenforceable.
As a result, the tender has been set aside by the court and the department ordered to re-advertise the tender within 30 days, says the DOT statement.
Pending the appointment of a successful service provider under the re-advertised tender, the court has allowed the department to outsource the services of printing and issuing of driving licence cards to the Department of Home Affairs.
Reacting to the High Court’s declaratory order, DOT minister Barbara Creecy said: “the outcome is a vindication of the department’s commitment to the transparency and legitimacy of tender processes with the decision to approach the court for guidance on the matter as a necessary step for effective regulation.”
To fight counterfeiting, government has decided to introduce a new smart driving licence card with security features such as biometric data, holograms and watermarks.
According to the DOT, the new cards will be valid for eight years, instead of the current five. The process will also shorten the time it takes to produce new cards to within five working days, nine days faster than the current printer.
Idemia Identity and Security South Africa, a subsidiary of the French multinational technology company, landed the lucrative contract to produce new driving licence cards in September 2024, after competing with Ren-form Corporate Print Media, NEC XON, Muehlbauer ID Services and Gemalto Altron Fintech Southern Africa.
However, furore erupted, following the announcement that the firm had landed the tender for the rollout of SA’s driver’s licence printing programme.
This later resulted in Creecy instructing her department to lodge a High Court application for a declaratory order regarding the driving licence card machines tender found to have been irregular by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA).
The AGSA audit of the Driving Licence Card Account’s (DLCA’s) supply chain management processes revealed irregularities in the tender evaluation. IDEMIA, the winning bidder, failed to meet key bid technical requirements, it found.
IDEMIA has denied any wrongdoing in being awarded the R486 million tender and is considering legal options to resolve the dispute.
According to the department statement, the DCLA has cleared the backlog of driving licence cards that were outstanding for printing following the breakdown of the printing machine from February to May 2025.
As a result, from 8 May to 8 December 2025, 2 239 456 driving license cards were printed by the DLCA.
It further adds that the State Security Agency has approved the prototype driving licence card designed by the Government Printing Works (GPW).
“The establishment of the network connection between the Road Traffic Management Corporation and GPW was successfully tested. This will allow the transfer of data/files required by GPW to print the driving license cards. A Cabinet process will soon be undertaken to sought Cabinet approval of the prototype card design.”
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