Residents angered by sales of licence renewal forms

Residents who have been queuing to renew their licences at the Centurion licensing department on Nellmapius Drive were disappointed when they were informed that the renewal forms were not available due to a lack of paper to make copies.

According to residents, officials of the department referred them to the vendors who were offering photocopying and ID photos services. The vendors were selling the renewal forms at a cost of R20 each.

Rekord has received several complaints about the matter. Even though the matter was regarded as unlawful, residents said they had no choice but to fork out R20 in order for them to renew their licences.

Yolandi Van Staden told Rekord that when she entered the premises on Tuesday there was a notice that stated: “No forms for renewal of drivers’ licence”.

She said according to some residents, this has been going on for almost two weeks now and officials claim they do not know when the forms will be available. “We were all surprised when we were told to go and buy renewal forms at the caravan where they do photocopies and take ID photos. We are not sure whether these people print them from the internet or just make copies from original forms,” said Van Staden.

Another fuming resident said her husband was also told to go to the caravan to buy forms ”And because he was desperate to renew his licence he had no choice, as he didn’t want to risk the possibility of being charged for driving without a licence.”

Tshwane metro spokesperson, Superintendent Isaac Mahamba, said the department was experiencing a challenge with printers but that the problem would be sorted out soon. ”We are aware that for the past few weeks residents have experienced problems. We will ensure that forms are available soon, and we also wish to apologise to the members of the public for the inconvenience,” said Mahamba.