Steps to follow if you car licence expires in 2024

If, like me, you just received a notification that your South African car licence expires in 2024, here’s a quick-fire checklist on how to renew it. Then we’ll look into what documentation you need and how much the whole process will cost you.

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First of all, if you received an email from the National Traffic Information System (eNATIS), count yourself lucky, as it’s the easiest portal to use countrywide, if not the cheapest. It will alert you timeously when your South African car licence expires in 2024 and reminds you that you have 21 days from the expiry date to renew it.

SOUTH AFRICAN CAR LICENCE EXPIRES IN 2024

We say it’s the easiest system countrywide because unlike driver’s licence renewals, which we covered recently, the eNATIS licence system is fully integrated. All you have to do is register by entering particulars like your ID number, etc, to create an eNATIS profile.

Once registered, you simply input the licence plate number of the vehicle(s) you want to renew. Enter your delivery address for disc delivery and input your banking details. Confirm the one-time pin (OTP) from your bank and the transaction is done. Over and above fee if your South African car licence expires in 2024, there’s a R72 admin fee and R99 courier fee added to your bill.

QUICK AND CONVENIENT

The entire process took no more than five minutes, including registering on the eNATIS site. Of course, there is no shortage of third-party companies that offer the same service, but they all have to access and work off the same eNATIS database. So why not go directly to the source yourself?

For example, there’s the WhatsApp service called Disky, which is equally straightforward. It’s useful if you’re servicing personal vehicles and larger fleets. Sure, it’s all handled on WhatsApp with a chatbot, but the admin fee is R169 versus R99, and your new disc still needs to be couriered to you at additional cost anyway.

SAVE A BUCK

If you are absolutely hellbent on saving a buck when your South African car licence expires in 2024, there are other alternatives. However, as we explained, these portals may require extra paperwork as they are not immediately integrated with the eNATIS database.

Shoprite Money Market, for example, charges a higher fee of R185 (discounted from R225). As always, this does not include the licence disc cost of your vehicle itself. You can do the same at selected Spar supermarkets for R199, and if you don’t mind throwing money away, Pick n Pay will charge you R329.99 for the exact same service. Skip!

WHICH IS THE CHEAPEST?

PayCity is the cheapest online option with a fee of just R113.85, however, this doesn’t service the whole country, so check if you fall into its jurisdiction. The South African Post Office costs R147 and is available countrywide, including delivery. However, we cannot vouch for how reliable the service will be now that it’s heavily in business rescue and facing thousands of job cuts.

Did you find this article about what to do when your South African car licence expires in 2024 helpful? Be sure to share your thoughts and experiences of different services with our audience in the comments section below. And don’t forget to follow us @TheSANews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest updates.