The High Court in Pretoria has declared the appointment of Idemia Identity and Security South Africa for the R898 million driving licence card tender as irregular and invalid. The court ordered the Department of Transport to re-advertise the tender within 30 days, while authorizing the department to temporarily outsource production to the Department of Home Affairs and Government Printing Works.
Why was the Idemia tender ruled unlawful?
The court’s decision to set aside the contract follows a successful application by the Department of Transport itself, based on damning findings by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General discovered significant non-compliance with procurement processes, including transgressions of the Public Finance Management Act and National Treasury regulations.
Critically, the audit revealed a “misalignment between the bid specifications and assessments used by the bid evaluation committee”. Furthermore, the pricing used by the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) was found to be outdated, and the budget analysis was deemed inadequate. The court concluded that the process was not conducted in an open, transparent, or fair manner, despite Idemia’s claims that they secured the tender legitimately.
How will the government print licences now?
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa have welcomed the ruling, which provides a clear path forward for the production of the new driving licence cards. To prevent service disruption, the court has allowed the department to “outsource the services of printing and issuing driving licence cards to the department of home affairs” pending the appointment of a new service provider.
Considerable progress has already been made on the new system. The State Security Agency has approved a prototype driving licence card designed by the Government Printing Works (GPW). Additionally, a network connection between the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and GPW has been successfully tested to facilitate the transfer of data required for printing.
Key Facts
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Tender Value: The cancelled tender for the production of new cards was valued at R898 million.
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Court Order: The Department of Transport must re-advertise the tender within 30 days.
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Irregularities: The Auditor-General cited transgressions of supply chain management prescripts and DLCA policies.
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Backlog Cleared: The DLCA cleared the printing backlog caused by the machine breakdown between February and May 2025, printing 239,456 cards between May and December 2.
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New Design: A cabinet process will soon commence to seek approval for the new prototype card design.
Sequence of Events
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February – May 2025: A breakdown of the printing machine causes a significant backlog in driving licence cards.
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May – December 2, 2025: The DLCA prints 239,456 cards, effectively clearing the outstanding backlog.
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Late 2025: The Department of Transport applies to the High Court to set aside the Idemia tender based on AG findings.
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January 2026: The High Court in Pretoria rules the tender invalid and orders a re-advertisement within 30 days.
