The new online system to make appointments to renew driver’s licences has cleared 85 percent of the backlog relating to late card production, according to Gauteng roads and transport MEC Ismail Vadi.
The delays in the production of the cards were as a result of a labour dispute between the national transport department and employees contracted to produce licence cards.
A prolonged strike by the staff of the company which produces the cards led to a backlog of 522 902 licences, according to Vadi.
“I am satisfied that good progress is being made in resolving the backlog in licence production as 437 899 licence cards have been processed to date,” he said.
“These are being distributed to the various testing centres in the province.”
The company which produces the cards has since confirmed that an additional 10 000 licences were expected to be printed by the end of this week.
“A further 45 000 cards are currently in production and are expected to be ready by mid-April,” said Vadi.
“The department acknowledges that many drivers who had applied to renew their licences last year are anxious about the delays in the distribution process, which is understandable. But the matter is being attended to with urgency.”
The department apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delays in processing applications.
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