Contact AfriForum if you have received a fine for an invalid driving license card

The civil rights organisation AfriForum has recently started legal action against the requirement to renew driving license cards every five years and will soon appear in court. In this regard, AfriForum requests members of the public to contact the organisation if they have recently been punished or fined because of the Department of Transport’s failures because they have been driving without a renewed driving license card. This information can be added to AfriForum’s application and thus strengthen AfriForum’s case.

AfriForum’s application rests on several legal and practical grounds. From a legal perspective, the National Road Traffic Act and regulations are too vague to be enforceable. The legislation does not clearly distinguish between a “driver’s license” and a “driver’s license card”. It also does not explicitly stipulate those motorists must apply for a new driving license card when the card expires. It does not even stipulate that it is a crime to drive with an expired driving license card and does not prescribe any fine, penalty or sanctions.

In terms of practical reasons, the Department of Transport’s well-known failures make it impossible and irrational to require motorists to renew their driver’s license cards every five years. In addition, many other countries allow much longer periods between driver license card renewals and in some countries driver’s licenses are valid indefinitely.

“We know that more than 40 000 fines were issued in May alone to motorists who drove vehicles without valid driving license cards. If some of these motorists, who due to the Department of Transport’s poor service delivery could not renew their licenses, can contact us it will significantly strengthen AfriForum’s case against the five-year renewal period of driving license cards,” says Reiner Duvenage, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.

Tell AfriForum about your fine here.