How to renew your driving licence card

When your driving licence card expires, your driving licence itself doesn’t: only the card that proves you have one. Renewing it means getting a new card, without another driving test.

When to renew

Your card is valid until the expiry date printed on it. Apply at least 4 weeks before that date. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) says that if you apply in the two months before the card expires, its expiry date is extended by 3 months while you wait. Keep the expired card and your receipt with you when you drive.

If the card has already expired when you apply, you also need a temporary driving licence, at an extra cost. It is issued the same day and is valid for 6 months.

Where to apply

Renewals are done in person at a driving licence testing centre (DLTC), because your fingerprints, photo and signature are taken again. You can’t renew from abroad.

• Online booking: the government says you should book on NaTIS. In Gauteng, you can book at the Smart Licensing Centres on NaTIS. Not every centre takes online bookings, so check with your DLTC.
• At the DLTC: if your centre doesn’t use online booking, go there to apply.

What to take

• your ID and a copy, or your old driving licence card or a valid South African passport,
• ID photos (the government page says four black-and-white photos, but ask your DLTC how many it needs),
• proof of your home address, such as a utility account (if it is in someone else’s name, they make an affidavit that you live there, with the bill attached),
• the application fee.

At the DLTC you fill in the renewal form (DL1) and a change of address or particulars form (NCP).

The eye test

There is no driving test. You have an eye test at the DLTC, or you can bring a report from an optometrist. If your eyesight has got worse since your licence was issued, new conditions are added to your licence.

What it costs

Each province sets its own fees and changes them from time to time, so ask your DLTC for the amounts or check your provincial transport department’s website. You pay for the licence application and for the new card, and separately for a temporary driving licence if you need one.

Collecting your new card

The new card should be ready in about 4 to 6 weeks, at the DLTC where you applied. Take your ID when you collect it. In the Western Cape, cards not collected within 120 days are destroyed.

If you can’t collect the card yourself, the RTMC says someone else can, with a certified copy of their ID and your affidavit that names them and explains why you can’t come.

Stay safe

Apply only at a DLTC or on the official NaTIS website, online.natis.gov.za. Fake websites with similar names ask for payment or personal details. Nobody can sell you a faster card or a booking.