Mbabula announced the grace period for licences, which was impacted by the Covid-19, has been extended to Friday 15 April 2022.

READ MORE: Renew driving licence

However, the spokesperson for the provincial department Hillary Mophete in a statement says those in the province will have until Thursday 14 April 2022.

This, as 15 April falls on Easter Friday.

Mophete adds that in the Free State, out of 134,917 expired licences, only 65,551 driving licences have been renewed so far.

This translates to 48%.

OFM News earlier this week reported about the heavy queue at the Lengau Traffic Department Centre with motorists rushing to amongst others renew their driving licences.

READ MORE: Bloemfontein motorists frustrated with deadline

"Up to 28 March 2022, 628,150 driving licence cards were produced, reducing the backlog of cards to be printed to 522,839. This is in respect of those who have already applied to renew their licences. The number of driving licence cards, falling in the category to whom the grace period applies, for which renewal applications have yet to be made, stands at 1,424,756 million. This is nearly half of the outstanding 2,813,016 licences. This means that only 49% of the affected motorists have applied for renewal of their expired driving licences. The primary reason for this is that motorists are not coming forward to renew their licences for a variety of reasons," Mophete adds.

In a Government Gazette published on Thursday 31 March, Mbalula said all learner licences, driving license cards, temporary driving licences, and professional driving permits that expire during the period between 26 March 2020 and 31 March 2022 are still considered valid and their validity has been extended for a further grace period.

31 March was the last day of the grace period for the renewal of driving licences that expired at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. These are driving licenses that expired between 26 March 2020 and 21 August 2021.

"With a renewal application rate of 54.1% (218,286 out of 403,507), the Western Cape fared the best of all provinces in the country and Limpopo is worst off with a renewal rate of only 43.8%. We urge all those who have yet to renew their driving licenses not to delay any further and take advantage of the additional capacity we have provided and the online services. Those who apply for renewal of their driving license cards before the expiry date are permitted to use the expired card for three months, provided that they have in their possession the expired card and the receipt in the vehicle at all times," Mophete further adds.

When applying for a driving license, motorists will be expected to produce the following information and documents:

• Original Identity Document (ID) as well as a copy thereof or your old driving license card or valid South African passport;

• Four black-and-white ID photographs;

• Proof of residence;

• Licence renewal fee.

OFM News