The journey to modernising South Africa's driving licence system began on 30 August 2022, when the Cabinet granted approval for the development of a new driving licence card assured the public in a statement on Monday that, despite initial challenges in securing a suitable service provider, they are on track to deliver this much-anticipated upgrade to the country’s licensing infrastructure.
"Among the questions was the level of involvement, if any, by the Government Printing Works in drafting and evaluating bidders, and why the GPW was not considered the sole provider of this service, given its role in government security printing," the AA explained. ACSA cited concerns about the way the contract with IDEMIA was concluded and announced an independent investigation.
However, this initial bid process proved unsuccessful, prompting the department to re-advertise the bid on 5 April 2023. The second round of bidding saw submissions from five companies: Ren-Form Corporate Print Media, Nec Xon Systems Ltd., Muehlbauer ID Services, Gemalto Altron Fintech Southern Africa, and IDEMIA Identity and Security — South Africa.