The short version
- Code 1 — motorcycle
- 16Restricted to 125 cc or less until you are 18
- Code 2 — light motor vehicle
- 17Up to 3 500 kg
- Code 3 — heavy motor vehicle
- 18
- Motorcycle over 125 cc
- 18It is not in the 16-year-old category, so it falls into "any other licence"
- Maximum age
- None
- If you are 65 or older
- A medical certificate on form MCRegulation 103(1)(c)
- When the age is checked
- Before the licence is issuedThe examiner must be satisfied you are not disqualified
The minimum age, by what you want to drive
Section 15(1)(a) of the National Road Traffic Act fixes the age to the class of vehicle, not to the piece of paper. Read the middle column first — that is what decides your answer.
| Learner's licence code | What it covers | Minimum age |
|---|---|---|
| Code 1 | A motorcycle of 125 cc or less, or an electrically propelled one | 16 |
| Code 1 | A motorcycle over 125 cc, with or without a side-car | 18 |
| Code 1 | A motor tricycle over 125 cc | 18 |
| Code 2 | A car, bakkie or motor home with a tare up to 3 500 kg; a minibus, bus or goods vehicle with a gross vehicle mass up to 3 500 kg; a light combination; a tractor | 17 |
| Code 3 | Any motor vehicle or combination other than a motorcycle or tricycle | 18 |
The Act does not phrase it as "Code 1 is 16". It says a person under 16 is disqualified for a licence relating to a machine of 125 cc or less, a person under 17 is disqualified for a learner's licence for a light motor vehicle, and a person under 18 is disqualified for any other licence. The table is that, sorted by code.
The 125 cc line is the part nobody tells you
A Code 1 learner's licence is one code. It does not come in a small version and a large version. A 16-year-old and a 25-year-old apply for the same thing and sit the same test.
What changes with age is the machine you are allowed under it. The 16-year-old category in the Act is written around an engine of 125 cubic centimetres or less, or electrical propulsion. A bigger motorcycle is not in that category, and anything not in a named category falls into the last line of the provision — any other licence, 18 years.
So a 16-year-old with a Code 1 may ride a 125. The same person on a 250 is riding outside what their licence authorises, and that is the situation a lot of families walk into without knowing, because the card itself does not say 125 on it. The Department of Transport's learner-driver manual puts it in one sentence: under 18, a motorcycle of not more than 125 cubic centimetres.
"Light motor vehicle" is a mass, not a size
The 17-year-old category is a learner's licence for a light motor vehicle, and the Act defines that by weight rather than by what the thing looks like.
A motor vehicle whose tare — its unladen mass — does not exceed 3 500 kg. Or, where it is a bus or a goods vehicle, one whose gross vehicle mass does not exceed 3 500 kg. Or an articulated vehicle whose gross combination mass does not exceed 3 500 kg.
In practice that covers every ordinary car, bakkie and small van, and it is the category almost everybody reading this page is actually in. If the vehicle is heavier than 3 500 kg on the relevant measure, you are in Code 3 territory and the age is 18.
When the age is measured
Before the licence is issued, not when you fill in the form. Regulation 104(2)(b) requires the examiner to satisfy themselves that you are not disqualified under section 15 before issuing a learner's licence, and being under the age is one of the ways section 15 disqualifies you.
Booking dates run weeks out at most centres, so the practical point is simple: make sure the test date the centre gives you falls after the birthday, not before it. Nothing in the Act or the regulations says what a centre does with an applicant who qualifies between application and test, so do not build a plan on it.
Age is only one of the disqualifications
Section 15 lists the others, and they are worth knowing because the application form asks about them and section 16 makes it an offence to wilfully hide one.
You are disqualified while a court or competent authority has disqualified you from holding a driving licence, while such a licence of yours is suspended, and for the period after one has been cancelled. You are also disqualified from a licence for a class of vehicle you may already drive on a licence you hold — which is why you cannot collect a second licence for the same class.
And there is a health list. It is narrower than the rumours about it.
The health conditions in section 15(1)(f)
Read the qualifying words. Most of these turn on the condition being uncontrolled or severe, not on having it at all.
| What the Act says | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled epilepsy | Epilepsy that is managed and controlled is not what this paragraph describes |
| Sudden attacks of disabling giddiness or fainting, from hypertension or any other cause | The concern is losing consciousness or control at the wheel without warning |
| Mental illness to the extent that detention, supervision, control and treatment as a patient are necessary | A high threshold, tied to the Mental Health Act |
| Any condition causing muscular incoordination | Control of the vehicle is the test |
| Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus | Again, uncontrolled — managed diabetes is not this paragraph |
| Defective vision, measured against the prescribed standard | The standard is regulation 102; see below |
| Any other disease or physical defect likely to make you incapable of driving that class of vehicle safely | The Act adds a proviso in the same sentence: deafness is not, by itself, such a defect |
Applicants aged 65 or older bring a medical certificate on form MC, signed by a medical practitioner or occupational health practitioner, certifying that they are not disqualified under section 15(1)(f) or (g). Under 65, no medical certificate is required for a learner's licence.
Eyesight: glasses are allowed, and a failed screening is not the end
Regulation 102 sets the standard, and the phrase that matters is "with or without refractive correction". You are measured wearing your glasses or contact lenses if you wear them. Needing them is not a disqualification; it is an endorsement on the licence.
For a learner's licence relating to a car or motorcycle, the standard is a visual acuity of at least 6/12 in each eye — or, where one eye is below 6/12 or blind, at least 6/9 in the other — plus a visual field of at least 70 degrees temporal in each eye. The standard is stricter for the heavy codes.
If the screening at the centre says you do not meet it, regulation 102(2)(a) lets you have your eyes tested by a registered optometrist or ophthalmologist at your own expense, and the centre must accept that result provided it properly reflects your acuity on the Snellen rating and your field of vision in degrees.
The mistake
Reading "17" off a website and treating it as the answer for everything. It is the answer for a light motor vehicle and nothing else — a 17-year-old cannot hold a Code 3, and a 16-year-old with a Code 1 is not licensed for the 200 cc machine a friend lends them.
The second one is assuming a diagnosis ends it. Five of the seven health paragraphs are written around the condition being uncontrolled or disabling. Declare it honestly on the form, because hiding one is a separate offence under section 16, and let the medical assessment do its job.
Old enough? Find out whether you are ready
Age is the easy gate. The theory test is the one that sends people home. Our free readiness test is five questions, scores you by section the way the real test does, and takes about two minutes.
Take the free readiness testCommon questions
What age can you get a learner's licence in South Africa?
16 for a Code 1 motorcycle licence, 17 for a Code 2 light motor vehicle licence, and 18 for a Code 3. The ages come from section 15(1)(a) of the National Road Traffic Act and attach to the class of vehicle, not to the test.
Can I ride a 150 cc motorcycle at 16?
No. The 16-year-old category covers a motorcycle, tricycle or quadrucycle of 125 cubic centimetres or less, or an electrically propelled one. Anything above that is "any other licence" in section 15(1)(a)(iii), and the age for that is 18.
Can I write my learner's test before my birthday?
Plan on no. The examiner has to be satisfied you are not disqualified under section 15 before a learner's licence is issued, and being under the age disqualifies you. Book a date that falls after the birthday.
Is there a maximum age for a learner's licence?
No. There is one extra requirement rather than a cut-off: an applicant aged 65 or older must supply a medical certificate on form MC signed by a medical practitioner or occupational health practitioner.
Does epilepsy or diabetes stop me getting a learner's licence?
The Act names uncontrolled epilepsy and uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. A condition that is diagnosed, treated and controlled is not what those paragraphs describe. Declare it on the application and let the medical assessment decide.
Can a deaf person get a learner's licence?
Yes. Section 15(1)(f)(vii) ends with an express proviso that deafness shall not of itself be deemed to be a disqualifying physical defect.
Do I need perfect eyesight?
No, and you are measured with your glasses or contact lenses on. For a car or motorcycle code the standard is 6/12 in each eye, or 6/9 in the better eye where one is below 6/12 or blind, plus a 70 degree temporal field in each eye.
Sources
- National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 — section 15(1)(a)Disqualification by age. Under 16 for a motor cycle, motor tricycle or motor quadrucycle of 125 cubic centimetres or less or electrically propelled; under 17 for a learner's licence for a light motor vehicle (tare not exceeding 3 500 kg, or a bus or goods vehicle of gross vehicle mass not exceeding 3 500 kg, or an articulated vehicle of gross combination mass not exceeding 3 500 kg); under 18 for any other licence.
- National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 — section 15(1)(b) to (h)The other disqualifications, including paragraph (f), which lists uncontrolled epilepsy, sudden disabling giddiness or fainting, mental illness requiring detention and treatment, muscular incoordination, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, defective vision against the prescribed standard, and any other disease or defect likely to make safe driving impossible — with the proviso that deafness is not of itself such a defect.
- National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 — section 16(1)It is an offence to wilfully fail to disclose a section 15 disqualification when applying.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 99(1)The three learner's licence codes and the classes of vehicle each covers.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 102(1) and (2)The eyesight standard, measured with or without refractive correction, and the right to be re-tested by a registered optometrist or ophthalmologist at your own expense, with that result to be accepted by the testing centre.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 103(1)(c)The medical certificate on form MC required of applicants aged 65 or older.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 104(2)(b)The examiner must be satisfied that the applicant is not disqualified under section 15 of the Act or regulation 102 before issuing a learner's licence.
- South African Learner Driver Manual — Rules of the Road, Department of Transport (v1.00, June 2012)Section 5.1: Code 1 at 16, Code 2 at 17, Code 3 at 18, and "if you are under the age of 18, you may only ride a motorcycle with a cylinder capacity not exceeding 125 cubic centimetres".
Last updated 2026-09-21.