BETHAL – A woman has to drive around illegally since she has been battling to get her license renewed at the Bethal Licensing office.
She visited the Bethal Licensing office at the end of February and stood in the queue when allegedly 10 people skipped the queue and were helped before her.
“I made a scene and asked why they did not stand in the line and one of the staff members told me they can help 20 people before me if they want to,” said the woman.
“They then instructed me to wait outside in the sun.”
The staff eventually helped the woman, but now she is struggling to find out whether her license is ready for collection.
The phone lines seem to be out of order.
She does not live in Bethal and does not want to drive all the way just to find out her license is not yet ready or the systems are offline.
“What is wrong at Bethal Licensing office? The service has never been so bad in the past.”
Mr Mzamani Vuma, senior manager of transport, admin and licensing from the provincial department, said they acknowledged the questions the Echo sent them regarding the Bethal Licensing office.
Mr Vuma said: “The department would like to indicate that we do care about our clients that come to our centres.
“Everyone that comes to our centre is expected to queue so that the one that arrived first, can be served first.
“Some clients that get tested and fail the eye test in our life enrolment unit (LEU) are advised to go to a optometrist for an eye test.
“When those clients come back from the optometrist, they are put at the front of the queue since they came before the rest.
“Those that were not present when these clients were first tested might think that favours are done to some people.
“It would be unfair for such a person to go to the back of the queue when they return from the optometrist.
“Clients that also come to our centre for a driving practical examination and testing are also put in front of the queue on account that they have already queued and are helped immediately by the examiners.”
According to Mr Vuma, Bethal Licensing office does not have a direct telephone line, but they rely on the fire department’s control room and the calls are then transferred to the relevant office.
“A follow up will be made with the office responsible to channel calls to the service delivery offices.
“There is a service charter displayed at the entrance of the centre with contact numbers where a follow up can be made if a client does not receive any joy from the service that is provided.”
