APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe plans to introduce a new plastic driver’s licence that is compliant with standards applicable in eastern and southern Africa, Transport Minister Felix Mhone announced on Wednesday.
According to the minister, the plastic disk – which is expected to be unveiled on June 19 – would replace the current metal driver’s licence and would be acceptable in almost half of Africa.
“The upcoming new driver’s licence is fully compliant with the standard specifications of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC),” Mhone told journalists in Harare.
He said the initiative demonstrated Zimbabwe’s commitment to harmonise and standardise its driver training, testing and certification within the 25 countries that make up the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite, a regional bloc that aims to establish a single market from Cape to Cairo.
The new license disk would allow Zimbabweans to drive in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
Existing metal driver’s licence disks would be phased out progressively.
The new drivers’ licence would also enable the country’s capacity to develop an electronic database of all licensed drivers which will be linked to all relevant stakeholders and enforcement agencies.
JN/APA