Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa have welcomed the High Court's declaratory order that sets aside the Driving Licence Card Machines tender.

The Gauteng North High Court, on January 6, declared that the tender was irregular, invalid, unlawful and unenforceable.

Consequently, the tender has been set aside by the court and the Department of Transport (DoT) has been ordered to re-advertise the tender within 30 days.

Pending the appointment of a successful service provider under the readvertised tender, the DoT has also been allowed by the court to outsource the services of printing and issuing of driving licence cards to the Department of Home Affairs.

The court’s declaratory order is the result of the department’s court application following the findings of the Auditor-General of South Africa that pointed out irregularities in the tender process.

The declaratory order is an outcome 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 viewed as a necessary step for effective regulation, Creecy says.

Further, the prototype driving licence card designed by the Government Printing Works (GPW) has been approved by the State Security Agency.

The establishment of the network connection between the road safety government agency Road Traffic Management Corporation and the GPW was successfully tested, which will allow the transfer of data and files required by the GPW to print the driving licence cards.

A process will soon be undertaken to seek Cabinet approval for the prototype card design, Creecy reports.

Meanwhile, the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) agency cleared the backlog of driving licence cards that were outstanding for printing on December 9, 2025, following the breakdown of the printing machine from February to May 2025.

From May 8 to December 8, 2025, 2.2-million driving licence cards were printed by the DLCA.