No More Cash at KwaZulu-Natal Licensing Offices

Cash-in-transit heists have emerged as a key driver behind the decision to eliminate cash payments at motor licensing offices in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). This shift was announced by Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, on Wednesday, 2 April 2025.

In a statement delivered on Wednesday morning, MEC Duma detailed that, following a notable increase in cash-in-transit heists across KZN, the KZN Department of Transport’s Motor Licensing Offices transitioned to a cashless payment system effective Tuesday, 1 April 2025.

“We are encouraged by the members of the public who have embraced this change and are now using debit and credit cards in our motor licensing offices. We believe that embracing digital evolution will help us as the department to save every cent and ensure that we help fund programmes of service delivery of this democratic government,” MEC Duma explained.

He further revealed that, during the 2024/2025 financial year, the KZN Department of Transport collected over R2.3 billion through its motor licensing offices. “This money is being redirected to Treasury for further allocation towards health, education, social development, water, electricity, the building of houses, road construction, and other government departments,” Duma noted.

The move to a cashless system in motor licensing offices marks a significant step in addressing cash-in-transit heists while leveraging technology to reduce cash-related crime risks.

Supporting this decision, data from the Cash-In-Transit Association of South Africa (CITASA) provides compelling evidence of the need to shift away from cash.

According to CITASA, as cited by Dr Alice Maree, KZN accounted for 34% of CIT robberies nationwide as of 6 March 2025. This represents a rise from the province’s 27% share of the more than 200 heists recorded in 2024, highlighting an increasing concentration of such incidents.

CITASA’s analysis indicates that KZN’s climb to 34% corresponds to a surge in early 2025 incidents, with four heists reported in the first week of March alone.

The association also documented a recurring pattern of advanced tactics, including the use of explosives, high-calibre firearms, and groups of up to 30 perpetrators executing attacks with military precision.

This trend, combined with a recent escalation of cash-in-transit heists in 2025, aligns with findings from the South African Police Service (SAPS). In its quarterly statistics released at the end of December 2024, the SAPS reported that KZN recorded 10 cash-in-transit heists between October 2024 and December 2024, out of a national total of 29. These figures corroborate CITASA’s earlier observations and set the context for the uptick observed in 2025.

With the KZN Department of Transport now implementing cashless payments, it is worth noting that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) published its Digital Payments Roadmap (Roadmap) in April 2024. The SARB stated that this Roadmap is designed to achieve the goals and strategies outlined in the National Payment System Framework and Strategy: Vision 2025. These objectives include promoting competition and innovation, ensuring cost-effectiveness, enhancing interoperability, and advancing financial inclusion.

At the time of its release, the SARB highlighted that South Africa possesses a robust banking and financial services sector, offering widely accessible digital payment solutions and achieving high levels of financial inclusion.

In collaboration with the National Treasury and the payment industry, the SARB has worked to provide seamless, secure, convenient, affordable, and rapid digital payment options. These efforts encompass phasing out cheques, launching the PayShap faster payments system in March 2023, and introducing contactless payments and quick response (QR) codes, among other initiatives.

However, the SARB acknowledged that the adoption of new digital payment channels and the use of existing options in South Africa have progressed slowly due to several barriers. These challenges include a heavy reliance on cash, high costs for consumers and small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises, fragmented systems, financial exclusion of underserved communities, gaps in financial and digital literacy, delayed modernisation of legacy systems, limited access to infrastructure such as Internet/Wi-Fi, and a lack of trust in digital payments.

“The Roadmap identifies and proposes ways to remove these obstacles, increase digital payments accessibility and usability, and unlock the potential of digital payments to grow economic activity and trade, while uplifting the lives of ordinary South Africans,” the SARB stated.

Furthermore, the Reserve Bank emphasised that successful implementation of the Roadmap will improve access to, and utilisation of, digital payments, supporting the socioeconomic needs of all South Africans.

Stakeholders identified to execute the Roadmap’s actions include the SARB, National Treasury, other regulatory authorities, government departments, agencies, municipalities, the payment industry, fintech companies, mobile money operators, and consumers.

To review the full Roadmap, click here.

As the concept of a cashless economy gains momentum through initiatives like the KZN Department of Transport’s motor licensing offices, in a statement, Nedbank outlined the benefits of moving away from cash payments, particularly for businesses.

“Cashless businesses do not keep any physical cash on site, so they are more secure against theft or loss. Many customers who go cashless do so for the same reason – you don’t have to carry money around and risk it being stolen,” Nedbank explained in its statement. The bank added that cashless payments enhance business efficiency, especially for small enterprises, by streamlining transactions, reducing time spent handling and banking cash, improving record-keeping through paperless data collection, and enabling quick, convenient payments for customers without the need for change.

Nevertheless, Nedbank cautioned that transitioning to a cashless society presents challenges.

As the bank explained, one notable drawback is the potential exclusion of South Africans without bank accounts or with limited access to bank cards and digital banking services, effectively barring them from participating in the economy.

In light of these insights, what are your perspectives on this shift? Do you view the adoption of cashless payments as the future of transactions? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.