The many queries the Krugersdorp News has received from the public regarding the problems they are experiencing with the Mogale City Licensing Department have prompted the publication to approach the entity with a number of questions. This is their response.
When asked why residents have to wait in long queues they acknowledged that the centre has been overwhelmed by clients seeking service recently. The reason for this being that the Westonaria and Randfontein Licensing Centres have not been operating consistently due to labour unrest and other issues, they said.
In an article about the Randfontein Licensing Centre in the Herald on 27 August 2019, Kenny Mampondo, the Rand West City Traffic Chief, advised the community to make use of other licensing departments, including the Mogale City Licensing Department, as their centre would be closed until further notice.
They said that like other departments, the Mogale City Licensing Centre is operating at a limited capacity to observe the required hygiene and safety protocols to comply with Covid-19 regulations.
This means that the centre is continuing to service their normal clients with an additional influx from the Westonaria and Randfontein offices. The centre is also one of choice, and people drive from all over Gauteng to make use of the Mogale City Licensing Centre despite the fact that there are more than 25 other centres in the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni areas.
However, they stated that even in these challenging circumstances they would strive to continue offering quick service to each client who visited their facility.
On the issue of booking dates not being available on the NaTIS system, they said the NaTIS system is administered by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport as well as the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). Municipalities in the province neither have control over the system nor release slots to the general public. When the municipality makes slots available on their system, those slots have been released to the public by the RTMC.
They do, however, advise clients to log into the system from as early as 7am every morning as these lots get filled up quickly because of the high demand for available times owing to the backlog caused by the lockdown.
The News also questioned why phone calls to the Mogale City Licensing Centre go unanswered, to which they replied that apart from the reduced staff, the influx of traffic has forced them to reshuffle resources to manage longer queues. This has occurred at the expense of clients who call as per usual. They encourage clients to track the status of their driving licence cards by going to the NaTIS website on https://online.natis.gov.za to help reduce the number of calls to the Licensing Centre.
