The grace period for licence renewals has once again been extended, with 1.2m motorists in possession of expired licences yet to renew them.

News24 reports that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that those whose licences expired between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021, had until 31 March 2022 to renew them.

He said the grace period applied to all learners' licences, driving licence cards, temporary drivers' licences and professional drivers' licences that expired during that period.

On Friday, Mbalula, during a visit to the Road Traffic Management Corporation in Centurion, gave an update on the state of Driving Licensing Testing Centres (DLTCs) and the progress of licence renewals.

More than half of the 2.8m expired licences have been renewed.

‘We remain concerned by this high backlog as it adversely impacts law enforcement effectively. We are, however, more concerned by the reasons that give rise to this state of affairs which include … capacity challenges, which put tremendous pressure on DLTCs in processing renewals of drivers' licences and corruption of officials entrusted with the system where online back booking is used,’ he said.

Other issues like slow systems and faulty equipment also played a role, he added.

Gauteng has the largest number of expired licences, at 437 819.

To assist with the backlog, two more testing centres are expected to be opened in Midrand and Centurion on 1 October, while two state-of-the-art mobile centres are expected to be operational in Diepsloot and Alexandra.

Full News24 report