Key Benefits:
30. Drivers to be licensed
(1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle of any class on a road unless-
(a) he is a holder of a valid driving licence in respect of that class of vehicle; and
(b) in the case of a holder of a provisional driving licence, such person is accompanied by a holder of a driving instructor certificate issued under section 41.
(2) No person shall be entitled to have more than one driving licence issued under this Act.
(3) The driver shall always carry with him the driving licence while driving and must produce it on demand to a police officer for inspection.
(4) No person who owns or is in charge of a motor vehicle of any class shall cause or permit any person to drive such motor vehicle unless such person is the holder of a valid driving licence for that class of vehicle.
(5) Driving licences shall be issued by a licensing officer and shall, unless previously revoked, suspended or cancelled in accordance with the provisions of this Act, remain in force for the lifetime of the holder.
(5A) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (5), the holder of a driving licence shall, every five years, present himself to a licensing officer to have his eyesight screened by such apparatus as may be prescribed and the licensing officer shall deal with his licence in such manner as the Minister may prescribe.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a person who, immediately before the commencement of this Act, holds a valid driving licence, other than a provisional driving licence, in respect of any class or classes of vehicle, shall not be required to obtain a driving licence for the same class or classes of vehicles under this Act for a period of two years from the date of commencement of this Act, and the old driving licence shall be deemed to be a driving licence issued under this Act for the same class or classes of vehicles:
Provided that this section shall be without prejudice to any provision of this Act relating to the revocation, suspension or cancellation of licences.
(7) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P500, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.
(8) Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be sentenced to a fine of not less than P500 but not more than P3 000, or to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months but not more than 18 months, or to both.
31. Conditions for granting of driving licence
(1) A licensing officer shall not grant an applicant a driving licence in respect of any class of motor vehicle or validate a driving licence in respect of any other class of motor vehicle unless the applicant-
(a) produces to the licensing officer a certificate of competency showing that he has passed a test of competence to drive that class or other class of motor vehicle conducted under section 39 or is the holder of a full valid driving licence for that class or other class of motor vehicle granted by a competent authority in Botswana or any other prescribed country;
(b) makes a declaration in the prescribed form-
(i) as to whether or not he is suffering from any such disease or disability as may be specified in the form, or any other disease or disability which would be likely to cause the driving by him of a motor vehicle, being a vehicle of such class as he would be authorized by the licence to drive, to be a source of danger to the public;
(ii) that he is able to read, with glasses if normally worn, a motor vehicle identification plate at a distance of eight metres; and
(iii) stating his age at the date of the application.
(2) If it appears to a licensing officer that there is reason to believe that an applicant for a driving licence, or the renewal of a driving licence, or the validation of a driving licence in respect of any other class of vehicle, is suffering from a disease or disability likely to cause the driving by him of a motor vehicle, of the class or classes in respect of which the application is made, to be a source of danger to the public, he may refuse to grant such application unless the applicant-
(a) produces a certificate from a medical practitioner, stating that in the opinion of such medical practitioner the applicant is fit to drive the class or classes of motor vehicle in question; and
(b) undergoes and passes a driving test.
(3) Any person who is aggrieved by the refusal of the Director or a licensing officer to grant or renew a driving licence or to validate a driving licence in respect of any other class of vehicle may, after giving to the Director notice of his intention to do so, appeal to a magistrate's court presided over by a Magistrate Grade I or over, which shall after considering the grounds for such refusal make such order as it thinks fit, and any order so made shall be binding on the Director.
32. Provisional driving licence
(1) Notwithstanding section 31(1), a licensing officer may issue to an applicant for a driving licence, or for the validation of a driving licence in respect of another class of vehicle, a provisional driving licence validated in respect of any class or classes, or that other class, as the case may be, of motor vehicle, in order that the applicant may learn to drive such class or classes of vehicle, or that other class of vehicle.
(2) A holder of a provisional driving licence shall not drive at a speed exceeding 60 kilometres per hour.
(3) Provisional driving licences shall be valid for six months only and may be issued subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
33. Age limits for granting of driving licences
A driving licence shall be subject to the following minimum age limit conditions-
(a) 16 years - class F;
(b) 18 years - class A1, A, B, EB, H (Special type);
(c) 21 years - C1, C, EC1, EC,
PrDP "P" Call-cab,
PrDP "P" Taxi,
PrDP "P" Mini-bus,
PrDP "P" Midi-bus,
PrDP "P" Special, and
PrDP "G" Goods,
(d) 25 years - Pr DP "P" Train-bus,
PrDP "P" Double-deck bus,
PrDP "P" School-bus
PrDP "P" Bus, and
PrDP "H" Hazardous Goods.
Applications for driving licences shall be made to a licensing officer in the prescribed form, accompanied by the prescribed fee, and the particulars required in such form shall be signed by the applicant.
35. Driving licences to members of security forces
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Part, the Minister may, in regulations made under section 130, prescribe special terms and conditions for the issue of driving licences to uniformed members of the Botswana Defence Force, the Botswana Police Force or the Prison Service for the purpose of driving service vehicles while on duty, and he may in such regulations order that such licences shall be issued without the payment of any fee.
(1) Driving licences shall be in the prescribed form, and there shall be affixed to each licence a photograph of the licence holder, which shall be impressed with the official stamp of the licensing officer.
(2) The signature of the licence holder shall also be affixed to the licence.
(3) No person shall use a mutilated or defaced driving licence.
(4) A driving licence to be issued to any person who is suffering from any disease or disability as referred to in section 31 shall only be issued with the written permission of the Director and shall be subject to such restrictions or conditions as may be determined by the Director; such restrictions or conditions shall be entered on the licence, which shall not be valid unless such conditions or restrictions are complied with by the holder thereof.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section the Minister may prescribe different requirements with regard to the form of the driving licence.
If a driving licence is lost, defaced or mutilated, the Director shall, upon application being made in the prescribed form and upon payment of the prescribed fee, issue to the holder a duplicate of such driving licence:
Provided that where any driving licence which has been lost is subsequently found the holder shall forthwith return such duplicate to the licensing officer for cancellation.
(1) Driving tests for the purposes of this Act shall be conducted by driving test examiners.
(2) Driving tests shall be carried out in the prescribed manner upon payment of the prescribed fee and shall in any case include a test of the applicant's-
(a) knowledge of the rules of the road;
(b) knowledge of recognized traffic signs and signals made by drivers of vehicles;
(c) knowledge of any authorized highway code;
(d) fitness to drive a motor vehicle of the class for which the licence is required;
(e) ability to drive a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates; and
(f) eyesight.
40. Suspension, etc. of driving licence or permit
(1) The Director may-
(a) suspend or revoke a driving licence, provisional driving licence, driving instructor's permit or PrDP of any person who-
(i) appears by any reason to be unfit;
(ii) has reached the prescribed demerit point limit; or
(iii) is unfit to hold a driving instructor's certificate under section 41;
(b) order a fresh driving test in the case of any holder of a driving licence who appears to the Director to be so deficient in driving ability as to be a source of danger to the public, and, if the licence holder fails to pass such tests, revoke his licence; or
(c) order a refresher training course for a holder of a particular class of licence to reduce the number of demerit points.
(2) Where the Director has suspended or revoked a driving licence, provisional driving licence or permit under subsection (1), the owner of such licence shall deliver his driving licence within 48 hours to the Director, who shall endorse on it the reason for its suspension or revocation.
(3) The Director shall restore a driving licence, provisional driving licence or permit suspended under subsection (1) to the person in question under the following conditions-
(a) in the case of a licence suspended under subsection (1) (a), if such person satisfies the Director, by means of a certificate referred to under section 31 (2) (a) that he is not suffering from any disease or disability likely to cause the driving by him of a vehicle, of the class or classes in respect of which his licence was issued, to be a source of danger to the public; and
(b) in the case of a driver having accumulated the prescribed legal limit of demerit point, such conditions as the Minister may prescribe.
(4) Where a licence or permit is revoked under subsection (1) (a) (ii), the driver shall be disqualified from acquiring another licence for a prescribed period.
(5) Any person who is aggrieved by the suspension or revocation of a licence under this section may, after giving the Director notice of his intention to do so, appeal to a Magistrate Grade I or over, who shall, after considering the grounds for such suspension or revocation, make such order as he thinks fit.
41. Driving instructors' certificates
(1) No person shall, for reward, instruct or supervise any other person in the driving of a motor vehicle on a road unless he holds a certificate (for the purposes of this Act referred to as "a driving instructor's certificate") issued to him by the Director.
(2) A person desiring to obtain a driving instructor's certificate shall apply to the Director on the prescribed form which shall be accompanied by two passport-type photographs of the applicant's head and shoulders from which he may be readily identified, each copy being approximately 5 cm by 4 cm in size and shall pay the prescribed fee.
(3) The Director shall require an applicant for a driving instructor's certificate to submit himself to-
(a) an examination and a test by a competent person nominated by the Director in order to determine the competence of such applicant to act as an instructor of learner-drivers; and
(b) a medical examination by a medical practitioner nominated by the Director in order to determine the physical and mental fitness of such applicant to act as an instructor of learner-drivers.
(4) The applicant shall bear the cost of any medical examination carried out under subsection (3)(b) and shall pay the prescribed fee for an examination for a driving instructor's certificate.
(5) The Director shall, if satisfied that an applicant referred to in subsection (3) is competent and is a fit and proper person to act as an instructor of learner-drivers, is not suffering from any physical or mental defect so to act, and complies or has complied with such conditions as may be prescribed for the purposes of this subsection, issue to such applicant a driving instructor's certificate in the prescribed form which shall have firmly affixed to it at the time it is issued one of the photographs submitted with the application for the certificate.
(6) A driving instructor's certificate shall be valid for one year from the date of its issue.
(7) The holder of a driving instructor's certificate shall, whilst he is, for reward, instructing or supervising another person in the driving of a motor vehicle on a road, prominently display the certificate within the vehicle or, if the vehicle has no interior, keep it on his person and produce it immediately for examination by the person he is so instructing or supervising or by a police officer in uniform on being required to do so by that person or by such a police officer.
(8) The holder of a driving instructor's certificate or a duplicate thereof issued under this section shall at all times keep the certificate or duplicate thereof in a clean, unmarked, undamaged, undefaced and legible condition and the photograph affixed to it at the time the certificate or duplicate thereof was issued firmly so affixed.
(9) Any person who is aggrieved by the refusal of the Director to issue to him a driving instructor's certificate, may, within 21 days of such refusal, lodge a written notice of appeal with the Minister, and such person shall at the same time serve a copy of such notice on the Director.
(10) The Director shall forthwith after receipt of the copy of a notice referred to in subsection (9), furnish the Minister with his reasons for the refusal to which such notice refers.
(11) For the purpose of deciding an appeal the Minister may-
(a) appoint any person to examine and test the appellant in order to determine his competence to act as an instructor of learner-drivers;
(b) appoint a medical practitioner to carry out a medical examination in order to determine the appellant's physical and mental fitness to act as instructor of learner-drivers; and
(c) require either party to such appeal to furnish such information or evidence as he may deem expedient.
(12) The appellant shall bear the cost of any medical examination carried out under subsection (11)(b).
(13) The Minister shall notify the result of an appeal under this section, in writing, to the parties concerned and, if such appeal is allowed, the Director shall give effect to the decision of the Minister.
(14) Any person desiring to replace a driving instructor's certificate lost, destroyed, damaged or defaced or that has become dirty, marked or illegible shall apply to the Director on the prescribed form for a duplicate thereof, which form shall be accompanied by two passport-type photographs of the applicant's head and shoulders from which he may be readily identified, each photograph being approximately 5 cm by 4 cm in size, and shall pay the prescribed fee.
(15) Where the Director is satisfied that the original certificate has been lost, destroyed, damaged or defaced or has become dirty, marked or illegible, he shall grant every application under subsection (14) and issue to the applicant a duplicate of his original driving instructor's certificate which shall have firmly affixed to it at the time it is issued one of the copies of the photographs submitted with the application for the duplicate.
Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Part for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be guilty of an offence and shall be sentenced to a fine of not less than P500, but not more than P2 000 or to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months but not more than 15 months, or to both.
