KwaZulu-Natal’s transport MEC believes once all motorists have changed to credit-card licence it will be simpler to root out fraudulent licences and thus save lives.
KwaZulu-Natal’s transport MEC believes once all motorists have changed to credit-card licence it will be easier to root out fraudulent licences.
Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa said advocate T J Botha of the CSIR estimated that in 1990 there were nearly a million fraudulent driver’s licences in circulation in South Africa.
“Apartheid fragmentation created numerous authorities that could issue valid driving licences. Thousands of these licences had absolutely no relation to the holders’ ability to drive. They were obtained fraudulently, but considered valid as long as they carried the stamp of a registering authority.
“Valid licences did not indicate that drivers had undergone the same standard of examination. Drivers who had no eye defects when they obtained their licences continued to have valid licences even when their sight had deteriorated,” Mbanjwa said.
Mbanjwa said the credit card format was machine-readable at the roadside and all previous violations recorded against a driver could be accessed immediately. Fraudulently obtained licences were automatically rejected. He said the credit card licence contained security features that couldn’t be reproduced.
He said the new licence was “the key to restoring the integrity of the driving licence”. By rooting out false licences they were also saving lives on the roads.
The MEC said that in 1996 it became compulsory for motorists to carry their driver’s licence and many people complained that the ID book was too bulky. “The credit card format is the answer to those complaints,” he said.
