The City of Cape Town has launched a vehicle licence renewal drive-thru in Brackenfell, enabling motorists to renew their licence discs without leaving their cars.

The metro says the drive-thru is its latest innovation to save customers time and effort, following the launch of its online booking system.

The online booking system enables residents to make bookings for key municipal services, including motor vehicle licensing, account payments, and general enquiries.

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The first drive-thru is located at the corner of Reservoir and Kruispad Roads in Brackenfell and operates between 11:30 and 19:30 on weekdays and 11:00 to 14:30 on Saturdays.

The city said it was working to extend the hours and potentially expand the service to more locations.

According to mayoral committee member for finance, Siseko Mbandezi, the facility is entirely cashless and caters exclusively to motor vehicle licence renewals.

“The City is excited to bring this innovation to Brackenfell. The drive-thru aims to make life easier for motorists — now you can drive up, pay by card, receive your new disc, and be on your way,” he said.

“Our initial tests indicate that a renewal process in the drive-thru could take a motorist less than five minutes to renew their disc if all paperwork is correct.”

Mbandezi said that motorists who received their renewal notice via SMS only needed to show the text to officials at the drive-thru.

“The facility is another innovation that we are adding to ensure that the City remains the number one most trusted and convenient motor vehicle licence renewal agent,” he said.

“We encourage motorists to make use of the Brackenfell drive-thru and experience of renewing your disc from the comfort of your vehicle.”

The city emphasised that no cash would be kept on the premises and said motorists should expect further service expansions over the next 12 months.

Major online licence disc renewal services shut down in South Africa

There has been an explosion of third-party online vehicle licence disc renewal services in South Africa in recent years.

Various providers have competed fiercely on pricing, making it cheaper for people to order their new licence discs without leaving their homes.

Among the most affordable providers was the Post Office, which charged R75 for delivery of the disc. However, it killed off its service in 2024, just two years after it was rolled out.

Despite previously stating it had launched the service, the Post Office said it was merely a proof of concept and was never fully implemented.

Another popular third-party renewal platform — PayCity — stopped offering online licence disc renewals at the end of June 2024, sending customers an email notice.

It was one of the older and best-priced online licence disc renewal platforms.

As of September 2025, FNB offers the cheapest option through its mobile app. It charges R69 for the disc’s delivery.

While this was originally only a promotional price, the bank has repeatedly extended the offer. The table below compares online licence disc renewal costs from five prominent providers in South Africa.

One well-known online renewal service, Disky, was not included as the provider doesn’t list its pricing online.

This article first appeared at My Broadband