The formation of Prodiba, the joint venture company contracted by the Department of Transport to manufacture South Africa's 6,5 million new driving licences, has given a powerful boost to both the country's technological base and its drive to improve road safety, said Danie Bisschoff, Prodiba's managing director.

The company was formed after a private sector initiative by Face Technologies (previously Denel Informatics), France's IDMatics and black empowerment group KobiTech, each of which now holds 33% of Prodiba.

Bisschoff, also the managing director of Face, said the Government's tender for the production of the CCF licences required "integration and project management skills, state-of-the-art card technology and the participation of members of the previously disadvantaged community".

Face, which is an Aerial Technologies subsidiary, had the necessary integration, management skills and experience to initiate such a project, said Bisschoff.

After evaluating various technologies, Face then selected IDMatics' solution as the best and most suitable for the project at hand.

The combination of these skills, together with Kobitech, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nkobi, provided an integrated solution in the form of Prodiba to the department.

IDMatics, a wholly owned subsidiary of France-based defence electronics group Thomson-CSF, supplied the production technology for the CCF driving licences.

IDMatics technology has been successfully implemented in countries such as the United States, France, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Peru.

Shabir Shaik, chairman of Prodiba and executive chairman of Nkobi, said one of Prodiba's key aims is to make a sizeable contribution to job creation by facilitating ownership and skills transfer to historically disadvantaged communities.

Kobitech has provided 90% of the required workforce, most of which is being drawn from these communities.

During the start-up phase, Face was responsible for the overall project management, the integration of the production system with the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) and the establishment of Prodiba's card production facility in Pretoria.

Face is now also responsible for the operational management of the production facility.

Prodiba has made the initial capital outlay of R270-million for the facility. According to Werner Koekemoer, the assistant director of NaTIS at the Department of Transport, the department has made a guarantee to Prodiba that it will recoup the R270-million over a period of five years. This will be achieved by Prodiba receiving R40 out of the R75 to R100 that motorists are required to pay for their CCF licence.

Twelve months were allowed for the preparation of the facility, after which the contract runs for a five-year period. After the lapse of this period the department reserves the option to extend the contract for another five years or to procure the facility itself.

[Now we know why the CCF (credit card format) licences just had to paid for by the public by 2003. But what an investment, the department guarantees recoupment of the investment in five years, then the licences have to be renewed every five years after that - it's money for jam. And it only cost Schabir about R530 000 and an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland to get this one from Mac Maharaj - whatta boy - it be real.]

With acknowledgement to the Cape Argus.