Grace period for the renewal of licences extended
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in restrictions that led to the closure of DLTCs, which caused backlogs.
WITH the current backlog that is being experienced at Driving Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs), government is further extending the grace period for the renewal of licences.
Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula said that all learner’s licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences and professional driving permits that expired during the period that commenced from 26 March 2020 up to and including 31 August 2021, are deemed to be valid, and their validity periods are extended for a further grace period ending on 31 March 2022.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in restrictions that led to the closure of DLTCs, which caused backlogs.
Addressing a media briefing, the Minister said nationally, 1 210 965 licences are not yet renewed, out of a total of 2 852 388 expired licences.
This represents 42.4% non-renewal, with 57.6% of all expired licences having been renewed.
“While we had agreed with the MECs that operating hours of DLTCs must be extended, a number of provinces have experienced challenges relating to overtime. However, significant progress has been made in this regard,” the Minister said.
In seven of the nine provinces, large registering authorities and DLTCs have extended their operating hours to include Saturdays, and further augmented their human resource capacity.
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