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Zimbabwean drivers will now be able to receive their licence within seven to 10 days from the day they pass their tests and will be asked to pay US$5, or the equivalent at the official exchange rate on the day of payment, for the new plastic disc.
THE new standard plastic driver’s licence launched in Harare yesterday to replace the metal licences will clear a backlog of approximately 600 000 applicants who were waiting for their driving licences to be printed and issued since 2019.
The backlog was created by the use of obsolete equipment at the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR), as well as a shortage of materials to produce the costly metal discs.
An online booking platform is available for applicants to make appointments for the capture of biometric details.
The new Zimbabwean licence will be scannable and meet the international standards of SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community.
In the region, South Africa and some other countries already use plastic licences also known as plastic polymer licences.
At present, those who pass the Zimbabwe driving tests at VID depots countrywide are issued with a temporary paper licence before obtaining the metal licence a few months later.
One of the advantages of the new plastic licences is that they have security features that will make them difficult to forge, as well as being scannable so checks can immediately confirm the authenticity and reveal any legal issues.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona yesterday launched the new licences as well as the Multilingual Electronic Learner Licence Testing System and the Digital Route Permit System as a fulfilment of the ministry’s 2021 to 2025 Strategic Plan premised on the upgrading and modernisation of the transport sector.
“Allow me at the outset, to inform you that the new SADC Compliant Drivers’ licence was developed under the Zimbabwe Integrated Transport Management Information System (ZIMTIS) Project.
“The ZIMTIS project is a public-private-partnership between the Government of Zimbabwe and 1010 Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. The overall strategic objective is to create a robust Electronic Integrated Transport Management System to support our vision to become a middle-income economy by the year 2030,” he said.
Minister Mhona said the macroeconomic policy, NDS1, recognised that ICTs were key enablers of economic development, hence their entrenchment across all national development strategies.
“Similarly, ZIMTIS will integrate the strategic components of road traffic, driver training and licencing, vehicle licencing and registration, operator registration and the entire transport management function. It will also promote the efficient use of national infrastructure and sharing of information among relevant Government departments and agencies.
“I extend my profound gratitude to all stakeholders who have worked so hard to develop this new SADC compliant drivers’ licence system, which comes with increased benefits such as reduced production costs, improved turnaround time and quality of service.
“I hold this launch as an eloquent testimony of the commitment that Government and the private sector have towards efficiency and effectiveness in the processing and issuance of drivers’ licences.”
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