With Drivers License Expired, you must renew your driving licence card four weeks before its expiry date. If you renew it after the expiry date, you will have to apply for a temporary driving licence at an additional cost while waiting for your driving licence to be issued.
An expired driver’s license card is deemed to be valid for a further three months from the initial expiry date, if the motorist can prove that they have applied for a new card, and provided that the expired card and the proof (receipt) are kept in the vehicle at all times.
About renewing your drivers’ licence
You must renew your driving licence card four weeks before its expiry date. If you renew it after the expiry date, you will have to apply for a temporary driving licence at an additional cost while waiting for your driving licence to be issued.
Note: You will not be required to take a driving test when you renew your driving licence. You will undergo eye testing and your fingerprints will be taken. Alternatively, you can have your eyes tested by an optometrist and submit the report at the driving licence testing centre (DLTC). If your sight has worsened from the date on which your licence was issued, new conditions will be attached to your licence.
The rules you should know
Mbalula has also confirmed that traffic authorities will be stepping up law enforcement after the driving licence renewal grace period lapses on 5 May.
He warned that motorists who have not yet applied for a new licence would be penalised. The deadline also won’t be extended further, he said. However, he also promised that officers would help motorists with ‘genuine challenges’ who could not renew.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation said that motorists should be aware of important rules around expired driving licence cards:
- Motorists who apply for renewal of their driving licence cards before the expiry date are permitted to use the expired card for a period of three months, provided that they have in their possession the expired card and the receipt in the vehicle at all times. This provision is contained in the country’s National Road Traffic Regulations.
- Motorists who apply for renewal of their driving licence cards after the expiry date will be compelled to take a temporary driver’s licence because they do not fall within the grace period.
These rules apply generally – ie, to all driving licence cards – but are especially important for those whose licences expired , as 5 May is now considered the expiry date for these cards.
“In terms of the regulations of the Road Traffic Act, you are not going to be penalised. We are going to allow you to renew, and what you need to prove to the law enforcer is a receipt that you’ve renewed, as well as your old licence,” said RTMC chief executive Makhosini Msibi.
“Anybody that comes beyond 5 May will be compelled to renew, but over and above, you are therefore compelled to take a temporary driver’s licence because you don’t fall within the grace period.”