South Africa proposes removing driver’s licences from list of identification documents — TimesLIVE

In South Africa, the Department of Transport proposes amending road traffic regulations so that traffic register number (TRN) certificates, learner’s licences and driver’s licences are no longer used as general identification documents. TimesLIVE reports.

If the changes take effect, banks, Airports Company South Africa, offices and residential complexes will have to review their rules and systems to comply with the new requirements. Documents issued under road traffic legislation are proposed to be used only for road traffic-related transactions.

Control over TRNs

According to Department of Transport spokesperson Collen Msibi, the department assisted the Department of Home Affairs in a 2023 investigation that found widespread improper use of TRNs and other road traffic documents as identity documents.

TRNs were created for people who do not have a South African identification number, allowing them to conduct transactions in the National Traffic Information System, NaTIS, while they regularise their legal status with the Department of Home Affairs. According to the department, this number was never intended for general identification.

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Which documents are proposed for recognition

The draft amendments provide for removing TRNs and other documents issued under road traffic legislation from the list of acceptable documents for confirming identity. For persons who are not permanent residents of South Africa, such a document must be a valid passport from their country of origin together with the relevant permit issued by the Department of Home Affairs under immigration legislation.

For companies, the proposed acceptable documents are a certificate of incorporation or registration, a memorandum of incorporation, or a certificate of name change issued under the Companies Act. The ministry also wants to strengthen control over the issuance and validity of TRNs. Provinces have already been instructed to centralise the issuance of such numbers at provincial reference centres.

The draft amendments will be published in the Government Gazette for public consultation. Interested parties and institutions will have 30 days from the date of publication to submit written comments. The final regulations will take effect only after the submitted proposals have been considered and they are published with a specified commencement date.