RENE HANEKOM of Van Riebeeck Park writes:
After reading the article, Metro defends poor service (Express July 12), the reply of Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro, refers.
I want Mr Gadebe to be very careful with his replies regarding the licensing centre. The gates are closed at 11am every day.
Mr Gadebe must make sure of his facts before replying to complaints from residents of Kempton Park. I arrived at the centre at 12pm during June and the guard would not let me enter the premises, saying the centre did not allow any people in after 11am.
Also read:
• Metro claims ‘huge influx’ causes poor service at licensing centre
I asked him since when this new time had been in operation and he said since 2017.
So, every day people are not allowed entry at Kempton Park Licensing Centre. The gates are closed at 11am and you cannot even reach the building.
The following day I arrived at about 10.20am. About four other applicants joined the queue behind me and after that nobody else. When I finally finished and walked out of the building, it was about 1pm and I was also one of the last people leaving the building after applying for a renewal.
I did wonder what the workers did for the remainder of that day and most probably all the other days. Very pertinently there is a sign outside that says the opening hours is 8am until 3pm.
What a joke, please change it to 11am. The manager of the licensing centre must give the residents and ratepayers of Kempton Park a reply for the lack of service delivery. We pay your salaries. It seems that you have forgotten that very important fact.
Since when do workers at the municipality change their working times as they please? Who is in charge there? Where is accountability?
City of Ekurhuleni, a partnership that does not work.
Residents are waiting for a reply, a correct reply.
Themba Gadebe, metro spokesperson, replies: It must be noted that on the day in question, the centre served 643 clients and 252 of those were serviced between 1pm and closing time. The last transaction was done at 3.59pm, which was a temporary driver’s license.
Therefore, the statement that the centre was closed at noon is not true.
Gates do close before closing time on occasions based on the number of customers inside the hall and the type of transactions they need to be assisted with.
The following transactions are affected due to their technical nature:
• Application for renewal of driver’s licences
• Application for public driving permits (PDPs).
Other services like learners and driver’s licenses, roadworthiness of vehicles are not affected.
We understand that our residents expect good quality service at all times and we always strive to deliver on our commitment to meet that expectation.
