Licensing crisis is real
Tshwane motorists say that claims that the licence card backlog has been cleared are untrue.
Andrew Ngozo
Tshwane motorists have reacted with anger to the Tshwane metro downplaying the licensing crisis.
Earlier this week, Rekord reported that the issuing of replacement license cards to motorists was chaotic because of a backlog.
What had gotten their goat was the city spokesperson alleging the problem had only been for a short period and that the backlog had been resolved.
Doctor Lucas Steenkamp, a medical superintendent at a Garsfontein hospital, said he was still waiting for his renewed driver’s licence card and had been since 6 March.
“I have not had any joy from the licensing department – there is no easy way to contact them and when somehow one does, he is told the same old story that they are upgrading this or the other. As a result I dare not travel out of the city, let alone the country, to attend international medical congresses. If I do, and happen to drive with an expired license card, I may find myself thrown in jail,” he said.
Steenkamp said that the treatment he, and other residents, were receiving from the city showed that it was not happy to serve the public.
“We are treated like dirt,” he said.
Gabby Venter, whose licence card will expire in a few weeks’ time, said she went to renew it in July.
“Each time I have gone to the Rayton Testing Centre [to collect the renewed licence card], I was told to come back on a different date. When I did, I was given a new date. The circus never stops. What compounds the problem is that if one does not have cash to pay a bribe, one can stand in the queue for anything from three hours to the whole day. Those with money [for bribes] are never failed or do not stand in the queue for ages. They are in and out within minutes,” she said.
Bernadine Britz said she had been waiting for her new driver’s licence card since March.
“I applied for the new licence in March at Akasia, and there is still no feedback. The backlog is still a problem,” she said in an email.
Andrews, whose licence card expired on Thursday, but he had applied for a renewal 45 days before, said that the lack of understanding of the law by law enforcement made things worse for motorists.
“The law says that if the motorist has not received his renewal licence, if he applied for it 30 days before his current one expired, the receipt, with date and time, validates the old card until such time as the renewal has been delivered. But there is confusion when hiring a vehicle and by law enforcement. I follow my renewal [application] very closely via eNaTIS (electronic national information transport system), and it seems the problem is at the newly-appointed contractor,” he said.
The DA has promised to report the problem to the provincial and national legislatures.
When Rekord first reported on the licence card backlog, the Tshwane metro denied it.
“The backlog you are referring to, was only for a short period and [it] was addressed,” said spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.
Also read:
Alleged licensing backlog chaos in city
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