ENatis puts licensing in dire straits
THE electronic national administration traffic information system (eNatis) has already started crumbling.
Some vehicle licensing centres have been affected due to Tasima – which manages the system – stalling in handing over the system to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMN).
This is according to an affidavit by the corp boss‚ Makhosini Msibi‚ filed in the Pretoria High Court.
“The RTMC has learned through reports from various officials in provinces that various eNatis sites (these include driver’s licence testing centres‚ vehicle testing stations and registering authorities) have been collapsing since 23 January 2017‚ in that one or more of their core legislative functions has been compromised‚” Msibi said in the affidavit.
He said the sites were part of the eNatis system‚ whereby members of the public obtain various services related to their vehicles and driving licences.
Msibi said these included vehicle registrations and licensing‚ licence discs renewals‚ issuing of drivers licences as well as driving permits.
He said a number of eNatis sites had collapsed‚ with services to the public interrupted across the country. This included driver’s licensing and testing centres like Bela-Bela and Hermanus.
He said the snowball effect of this was that new drivers’ licence cards and professional driving permits could not be issued; aspirant drivers‚ despite test dates being scheduled well in advance‚ could not sit for their learners’ tests and that licensing fraud would be encouraged at sites where computerised learner’s licence testing equipment had been installed but could not be used.
Msibi said law enforcement was rendered ineffective as motorists were‚ in the absence of the eNatis information to renew vehicle licences‚ forced to drive with unlicensed vehicles.
“Owners cannot register their new motor vehicles, the banks are unable to register them on the system; and … insurance companies are unable to insure them as required by law‚” he said.
The court is set to decide on the fate of the system as the RTMC seeks an urgent order forcing Tasima to hand over the system.
In November last year the Constitutional Court declared that the extension of the contract‚ in terms of which Tasima has operated the system since 2010‚ was invalid and ordered Tasima to hand over the system to RTMC within 30 days. However‚ Tasima failed to comply. Simon Zwane‚ RTMC spokesman for the corporation wanted the court to order Tasima to comply with the Constitutional Court order and hand over the system and vacate the premises from which it operates the eNatis as these premises were a National Key Point.
It also seeks an order declaring Tasima and its directors in contempt of the Constitutional Court ruling that it hand over the system. — TMG