Driving

Wow. That is expensive. For two IDL's (for my wife and for myself) the total cost was less than Rand 200, i.e less than US$15 each (plus the cost of the photograph) through our local Automobile Association.

And wow from me too. Especially as I'd not even be willing to pay R50 or R100, let alone the wasted hour of more getting to an AA office, when it's totally unnecessary. Both for visitors to S.A., and for South Africans travelling abroad. Or at least (for the latter) in my own experience. I'm also puzzled why there is any reference on S.A. Gov. websites to translations of non-English licences being required, when major car hire companies clearly don't require that.

Arthur, as far as I know the car hire companies do not require a IDL - but the traffic cops do, if and when you are stopped, run a red light, or are involved in an accident.

I'd say that if the traffic cops do, then that's possibly because they don't know th Law, and/or it's potential to solicit a bribe. So I suppose an Int. permit would be safer, even if unnecessary. I also don't want to be the one who says categorically that there will not be a problem, and then there is. For likely an unjustified reason.

But . . . just for the record, I can't see anything in the National Road Traffic Act of 1996 to say anything about a foreign licence needing to be in English, nor even using a "Roman alphabet". And there is not even any mention of the licence requiring a photo. Chapter IV Section 23 under the preface "When licence not issued in terms of this Act deemed to be driving licence" simply says:<blockquote>Quote
<hr>a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle and which was issued in any other country. . . shall, in respect of the class of motor vehicle to which that licence or permit relates and subject to the conditions thereof, be deemed to be a licence for the purposes of this Chapter<hr></blockquote>In the next paragraph of 23 it then goes on to say:<blockquote>Quote
<hr>The period in respect of which a licence or an international driving permit referred to in subsection (1) shall be deemed to be a licence for the purposes of this Chapter, shall be as prescribed.<hr></blockquote>In other words (I think) this means that of you have a foreign licence in any alphabet, any language, it will be valid for as long a period as it is valid for in the issuing country.

So unless those words are amended in some other obscure place, I'd say that it's very likely that the car hire companies are imposing more stringent rules, so as to make it less likely that they'll be renting a car to an incompetent driver.

But to rephrase what I said at the beginning of this post, the traffic cops can sometimes be a law unto themselves. And I hasten to add that I'm not a lawyer.

I've now found what seems to be more recent S.A. Law. So let me retract my #23. I've found a Gov. doc that has a later date, 1999. And at a guess that was probably the time that we moved to the new "credit card" licences. I don't have time now to read the doc carefully, but a .pdf file on a Gov. website here is headed "NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1996" but also sub-headed " NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATIONS, 1999" And it has something (pages 74/75) about

1. A licence needs to be in an official language of the Republic. (I did wonder about all our 11 languages, when we were talking about "English or Afrikaans". Although I don't know if licences in any other S.A. official languages exist, the words are probably there to be "PC".)
or
2. There is an "authenticated" translation attached.
and
3. "such licence contains or has attached to it, a photograph and the signature of the licence holder"

It then goes on to say (as previously) that an Int. Driving Permit can be an alternative to the above.

So if your "foreign" licence is not in English with your photo, then yes, it seems that you need either an Int. Driving Permit or an attached "certified" translation.