{"id":89846,"date":"2025-09-15T13:32:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa"},"modified":"2025-09-15T13:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:56:36","slug":"digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa","title":{"rendered":"Digital Driving Licences Face Challenges in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>While there have been suggestions and even a concerted push for the adoption of a digital driving licence in South Africa, experts say the country simply isn\u2019t ready for it.<\/p>\n

This is because the necessary digital systems are not in place, and the \u201ctender-favour\u201d system the government uses to award contracts will likely skip the best companies for the job.<\/p>\n

According to technology analyst and researcher, Arthur Goldstuck, while a digital driving licence would solve a lot of the country\u2019s problems with licencing drivers, \u201cwe\u2019re definitely not there yet\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said that South Africa faces roadblocks on several fronts in making the digital licence a reality\u2014from access to digital services to security and safety around such systems.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, he said that the current \u201ctender-favour\u201d system\u2014where companies are awarded government contracts on their proximity to the political elite, rather than on merit\u2014is a significant impediment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe single most important thing (with a digital licence) is security. Encryption, biometrics, and a system that can work offline as well,\u201d Goldstuck said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is quite a challenge, and for that, we need best practice, not best connection with the government when they award the tender.\u201d<\/p>\n

The analyst said that if the tender for a digital licence goes to the wrong companies, South Africa will simply end up with a weak system, wasted money, and damage citizens\u2019 access to this facility.<\/p>\n

Goldstuck added that it\u2019s not a technology issue, as the technology for a digital licence already exists. Countries like Estonia, Singapore, South Korea and Denmark already offer this.<\/p>\n

However, he stressed that these countries already have \u201crobust systems in place for digital services\u201d, which South Africa currently lacks.<\/p>\n

He pointed to widespread issues at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), which he said has been \u201criddled with corruption\u201d and is hamstrung by \u201csomeone needing to benefit from contracts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Notably, the tender process for the new driving licence card printing machines and system has also been mired in tender irregularities, which have indefinitely delayed the process, emphasising this point.<\/p>\n

The other issue with digital<\/b><\/p>\n

According to Goldstuck, the other issue with digital driving licences and digital services in general is that they are not accessible to all.<\/p>\n

He said that even though smartphone adoption in South Africa is growing, there are still millions of citizens who do not have reliable access to devices or affordable data.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t have an alternative for those citizens, we\u2019re going to exclude them from something as basic as the right to drive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital has to enhance that access, not restrict it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means that whatever digital systems are adopted, they would have to continue to offer physical alternatives, which does not remove the challenges the country is currently encountering with driving licence cards.<\/p>\n

However, the government, particularly the Department of Home Affairs, is still moving towards a more digital-first era, including with things like Smart IDs and passports.<\/p>\n

The DHA recently launched the next phase of its rollout of services to hundreds of new bank branches in South Africa, giving more service points to attain Smart IDs.<\/p>\n

The new branches are expected to roll out from October, hitting 100 new branches by the end of the year, and 1,000 new branches by the end of the medium term.<\/p>\n

Key in the rollout is integrating Home Affairs services with banking apps\u2014a project that could be a precursor for how digital government services could be put in the hands of South Africans at large.<\/p>\n

SARS and the South African Reserve Bank have also previously talked up a move towards a fully digital ID<\/b>, that would integrate all official documentation and even payments.<\/p>\n

The Reserve Bank in particularl is keen on pushing digital payments through PayShap, and encouraging a move away from cash.<\/p>\n

Again, Goldstuck said that while South Africa has the potential to have ID cards as digital tools, which could include driving licences and passports and other documents, the issue is the system in place to facilitate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology is proven, but the challenge is making it accessible and making it safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t have a system like this when we have a tender-favour system in place, like the one we still see happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. While there have been suggestions and even a concerted push for the adoption of a digital driving licence in South Africa, experts say the country simply isn\u2019t ready for it. This is because the necessary digital systems are not in place, and the \u201ctender-favour\u201d system the government uses to award contracts will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-89846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nDigital Driving Licences Face Challenges in South Africa - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While there have been suggestions and even a concerted push for the adoption of a digital driving licence in South Afric ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digital Driving Licences Face Challenges in South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While there have been suggestions and even a concerted push for the adoption of a digital driving licence in South Afric ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T13:32:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-15T13:56:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757931966.395206.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Digital Driving Licences Face Challenges in South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T13:32:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-15T13:56:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757931966.395206.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/digital-driving-licences-face-challenges-in-south-africa\",\"name\":\"Digital Driving Licences Face Challenges in South Africa - 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