Here’s how many people have failed their learner’s licence in the Western Cape since last year
· Citizen
The overwhelming majority of prospective drivers taking their learner’s licence tests in the Western Cape fail the multiple-choice assessment.
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A written response to a question posed to the provincial government showed that only one driver’s licence testing department had a learner’s licence pass rate above 40%.
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) raised the issue, suggesting the problem may lie with the wording of the questions rather than applicants’ knowledge.
Only one in five pass
The Western Cape’s mobility department confirmed that 142 100 computerised learner’s licence tests had been taken between May 2025 and July 2026.
Of these, 61 136 were first-timers, with 32 061 being repeat applicants.
“The overall pass rate for the online examinations during this period was an average of 18%,” the department’s response stated.
The department provided the learner’s licence pass rates for 63 driver’s licence testing centres (DLTCs), with only two reaching 30% and higher.
Knysna ranked the highest with a 41% pass rate, followed by the City of Cape Town’s Helderberg office and the Gansbaai DLTC with 30% and 28% respectively.
The province had 16 other DLTCs above 20% and five below 10%, including Philippi East, Murraysburg, Lingelethu West, Eastridge and the worst-performing Langeberg-Bonnievale with 5%.
‘Essential first step’ for work
Available to be taken in 11 official languages, the electronic test was launched in the Western Cape in May 2025, with the provincial government confirming it was formulated almost 20 years ago.
“The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) further advised that the language editing and translation of the computerised learner’s licence test were undertaken by the University of the Witwatersrand during the initial development of the system, approximately in 2007.”
FF+ member of the provincial government Grant Marais asked if there was any assessment of the questions or the language proficiency of the test prior to the launch.
“The RTMC, as the current custodian of the Computerised Learner’s Licence Test (CLLT), has advised no independent assessment of the language proficiency of the system was undertaken prior to its implementation,” the mobility department stated.
Marais argued that the wording of the tests needed to be reviewed, including translations into all official languages, and that the provincial government should consider practice runs or mock tests before the actual test.
“An extraordinarily high number of applicants are failing the test because the questions are poorly phrased and difficult to understand, even for people who are familiar with traffic rules.
“For many young people, obtaining a driver’s licence is an essential first step to accessing the labour market. This system is, however, hampering, rather than facilitating, obtaining a licence,” Marais concluded.