Renewing your driving licence has long been one of those chores that rolls around far too often. That may be about to change. Cabinet has approved extending the validity of ordinary car and motorcycle licences from five years to ten, a decision welcomed by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and her deputy, Mkhuleko Hlengwa.
What actually changes
The longer ten-year cycle applies only to light vehicles, namely Codes A, A1, B and EB. Heavier commercial and public-transport vehicles keep their five-year renewal period, and professional driving permits still have to be renewed every two years. The reform revives an idea first contemplated more than a decade ago, and reverses government's more recent preference for an eight-year validity period. That eight-year figure was still the official position as recently as July 2025, when Deputy Minister Hlengwa told Parliament the department was running a cost-benefit analysis before finalising the change. This week's decision goes beyond even the RTMC's own recommendation, which had suggested eight years for lighter vehicles.
Why the change, and why now
The move was informed by a study from the Road Traffic Management Corporation, which found that stretching validity would align South Africa with international best practice, cut the frequency of renewals, and ease pressure on overloaded licensing centres. The same study noted that human behaviour, not licence paperwork, was the main cause of the roughly 12,000 road deaths on South African roads each year, and that countries with longer licence periods tended to have better road-safety records. Consumer watchdog Outa welcomed the decision, with CEO Wayne Duvenage calling it almost six years overdue and a victory for motorists and for common sense. There is history here too: a ten-year validity was actually written into Regulation 108 back in November 2013, but the start date was never published, so it never came into force.
For now, nothing changes at the counter. The Cabinet approval still has to pass through public comment and legal scrutiny before the draft notices become law, so motorists must keep renewing expired cards exactly as before until then. The reform is real, but the queue is not going anywhere just yet.
