Drivers license embarrassment

[KALSTER]

I worked in Swaziland for the second half of 1997 and got my Swaziland drivers license while there (card type with picture and all, but no expiry date). It was still under K52; the learners was a guy behind a desk pointing at a chart with a stick and quizzing us one by one and the license examiner was bought and paid for by the local driving school (how almost everything works in Swaziland).

So I got my license and have been driving with it for the past 15 years and never had an accident. I have been through my fair share of road blocks and such, but never got a fine related to the fact that it was a Swaziland drivers license. Each Speedcop had his own idea about the legality of it all. When I first got back in SA, I went to the local traffic department and was told that I had to be back for a year before I could convert it to an SA driving license, but that it would be valid in any case.

That all stopped when the bloody Metro PD stopped me at a road block a few months back and told me that I had to wait there for their bus to arrive, which would take me to the nearest police station where I was to pay a spot fine of R2.5k. He wanted a registration paper from me so I could be on the system, otherwise they couldn't fine me and such. That made sense, but it was the first time I had heard of such a thing in 15 years. After donning my saddest eyes, he eventually let me off with a warning, provided I promised to go to my local traffic department and registered, which apparently would only require a fee and ID photos.

Naturally they had never heard of such a thing down here. This now has developed into me, at 34 years old and having driven all over the place for 15 years will be taking my learners license tomorrow! I'll have to go through the whole rigmarole of getting my license! :mad:.



tldr: Swaziland driving license I have been using for 15 years turns out to be invalid, which means I need to do the whole ordeal of getting a license. I am writing my learners tomorrow!:(


Laugh away fellas. It is pretty funny.

[StarBound]

Not exactly. The problem with now is your reacting to situations vs doing what the drivers test wants you to do. So good luck and tell them your gonna be driving a humvee in our war against CAR. I didn't even know that we were at war.

[hamin_aus]

I bought my drivers license in SA.
By bought I mean passed my learners fair and square but when I went and took the driving test I paid the invigilator R300 to ensure I would not fail.

Also whats so funny about this story, the fact that traffic cops don't understand the laws they are meant to be enforcing or the fact that as a South African citizen you thought you could drive SA roads with a foreign drivers license...
Both of those are tragically ignorant - but only one is your fault.

If I was the spietkop listening to that story I would have doubled the fine.

"O hai officer, I'm South African but don't have an SA drivers license because I went to little old bumfark Swaziland and paid 40 kwachas for one of their lucky-dip licenses - thats okay right? I shouldn't have to have an SA license that shows I understand SA's road rules and regulations. I'm completely ignorant and without common sense so let me off this time and every other time for the next 15 years pleez... kthxbai"

[KALSTER]

The funny bit is my misfortune, the ignorance abound, etc.

I got the license in Swaziland as part of my job and was assured it would be valid back then by both the local traffic department and people who have done similar in the past.

Swaziland is one of the SADC nations, which means there is a similar standard of traffic laws across the member nations. though this only started in 1999 IIRC. So it looks like it was valid when I got it and would be valid if I got it today, but I apparently got caught out by the evolution of the rules over the years.

[hamin_aus]

Story would have been much funnier if you had to pay the fine tho.

[CapNemo]

They were probably fishing for a bribe

[KALSTER]

They were probably fishing for a bribe

That might be true and I thought about it afterwards, but I'd much rather pay the fine than reward one of them for being a dishonest piece of poop.

[Ron2K]

Contact your closest AA branch. If your Swaziland drivers license is still valid (and I wouldn't take the word of a metro police officer regarding this), they may be able to issue you with an International Driving Permit that endorses your Swaziland drivers license (which you will still need to carry on you and present on request; the IDP is a license endorsement and not a license replacement) and is officially recognised in South Africa. If your Swaziland drivers license is indeed invalid, you can either continue with your plan of acquiring a South African drivers license, or renew your Swaziland license (depending on their local laws) and get an IDP then.

[Stuart]

Contact your closest AA branch. If your Swaziland drivers license is still valid (and I wouldn't take the word of a metro police officer regarding this), they may be able to issue you with an International Driving Permit that endorses your Swaziland drivers license (which you will still need to carry on you and present on request; the IDP is a license endorsement and not a license replacement) and is officially recognised in South Africa. If your Swaziland drivers license is indeed invalid, you can either continue with your plan of acquiring a South African drivers license, or renew your Swaziland license (depending on their local laws) and get an IDP then.

What are the chances that the average Metro Police Officer who stops Mr KALSTER in a Christmas roadblock will understand said endorsement?

[KALSTER]

Contact your closest AA branch. If your Swaziland drivers license is still valid (and I wouldn't take the word of a metro police officer regarding this), they may be able to issue you with an International Driving Permit that endorses your Swaziland drivers license (which you will still need to carry on you and present on request; the IDP is a license endorsement and not a license replacement) and is officially recognised in South Africa. If your Swaziland drivers license is indeed invalid, you can either continue with your plan of acquiring a South African drivers license, or renew your Swaziland license (depending on their local laws) and get an IDP then.

I think I'll give that a try actually. Might get lucky. Thanks for the advice.

NOT in the mood for doing the whole license thing.

[Tribble]

Good luck with whatever route you choose to follow. Both are iffy

[GreyWolf]

Seems the cops are taking you for a ride.

According to the guy above ( an American embassy employee), SAPS must accept all foreign drivers licenses, and you only need the foreign permit if your drivers license is not in English.

HOWEVER, there must be a way of transferring the Swazi license to an SA one without doing all the freakin test sagain...