Mbombela licensing offices offline, again

MBOMBELA – The main office in Suikerriet Street as well as the municipal licensing office was once again offline on Tuesday.

Residents confirmed that they were advised to use the offices in Barberton, White River or Hazyview instead to renew their driver’s and vehicle licences.

The situation has resulted in long queues and worries among drivers.

Quintin Hunter pleaded on Facebook: “Can someone please give us advice, we can’t carry on like this. (We are) waiting for papers.

“We can’t drive, or tow a trailer, because (we) don’t have papers. 

“The licence department is once again offline. Can we drive the car and tow a trailer with the documents in the car whose papers we are awaiting?”

Joseph Ngala, spokesperson for the City of Mbombela Local Municipality, told Lowvelder on Monday that the municipality has “noted the persistent systems failures that occur frequently.

“We can indicate that national government is trying to resolve (it). We also note the inconvenience this situation creates and the turnaround time it takes to resolve such,” he said.

“It is also a common cause that load-shedding affects all types of businesses when it is implemented, and as such the licensing service is not immune to the effects of load-shedding – even though the City has a backup generator.

“The City continues to engage both national and provincial government on the system challenges faced, with a view of improving the system’s performance.”

None of the licensing offices answered their phones when Lowvelder called.

The number for the licensing office in Suikerriet Street is 013-759-2395/2397, and 013-759-9557 for the one in Riverside.

Ngala has been approached for further comment.

WATCH: Residents face hours of waiting at the Mbombela licensing offices, January 10, 12:09

MBOMBELA – Spending four hours to renew one’s licence requires a lot of patience – not to mention the loss of productivity of taking leave during a working day.

This was the reaction of one frustrated local resident who became too frustrated trying to renew his licence on Thursday – after his wallet had been stolen – that he took this video in frustration.

“There were people at some of the counters, but clients could not be helped because the system was offline. It is a pity that this was not communicated at all.”

ALSO WATCH: Class of 2019’s matric results

It is understood that the Barberton, White River and Malalane offices were also closed on Thursday, causing even more traffic at the Mbombela branch.