A licence to graft perhaps, Fikile?

It is difficult to respond to anything Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says without an exasperated roll of the eyes, so used we are to his fine promises, which result in very little or nothing at all. His latest pledge is that, within two years, we will have world-class driver’s licences. In Fikile’s Wonderland, you will be able to choose whether to have a physical copy of your licence card, or whether to carry it with you, in digital form, on your cellphone. The new system will, supposedly, have “improved security features”, while meeting international standards to such an extent that it will be accepted around the world.

Quite apart from the fact that such a system should have been in operation 20 years ago (it was being worked on in the ’90s), we should be worried about two things.

First, who gets the undoubtedly lucrative contract to install the system and print the cards and how much of the money paid will end up as kickbacks for politicians or for the ANC?

And second, what is the point of “improved security” when such a large proportion of drivers on our roads have “bought” their licences in the first place?