Licence card delays frustrate motorists

DESPITE the national delay in the issuing of driving licence cards, motorists could be fined up to R2 000 if caught without it. Disgruntled Driving Licensing Card and Account (DLCA) employees in Pretoria downed tools in July, resulting in a huge backlog in the issuing of new or renewed licence cards. The unit produces about 450 000 licence cards a month.

It is the only national government department responsible for the printing of all driving licence cards for both provincial and municipal licensing centres in the country, resulting in a national backlog.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the issuing of new driving licence cards would usually take three to six weeks for delivery, but since the strike, some motorists have waited for more than two months.

Metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad warned that those caught driving without a valid licence or temporary driving licence could be fined R2 000.

“The laws of the road are clear. You need to be in possession of a valid driving licence or be in possession of a valid temporary licence.

“We are aware of the current delay in issuing of driving licences. However, for those who don’t have a temporary licence and produce a receipt of payment as validation, the decision to issue a fine would be at the discretion of the police officer,” said Sewpersad.

The 15 DLCA contract workers, who were employed at the company that made the cards for 20 years before it was taken over by the Department of Transport in 2015, are demanding permanent jobs.

According to a source at one of the

● An application for a driving licence for Code C1, C, EC1 and EC costs R300; Code B and EB are R250, and Code A1 and A are R220.

● Renewals, conversion or duplicate licences cost R250.

● A temporary driving licence costs R90 and is valid for six months. busy licensing departments in KZN, drivers were not immediately affected by the strike. However, as stock of the cards depleted, the waiting periods for driving licence cards to be issued increased.

“In July and August we had no issues as licences were being delivered in the usual time frame. However, since September we started noticing the delays,” said the source, who asked not to be named as they were not allowed to speak to the media.

Still waiting

“Drivers who renewed their licences in August, and some from before that, still haven’t received their cards. They are coming in so often but we have to tell them to come back another time because the licences haven’t arrived,” said the source.

Another source said drivers would experience issues when purchasing a new vehicle as a dealership may only release the vehicle when they have a copy of the buyer’s valid driving licence.

“There will also be an issue with drivers’ insurance companies. If they claim they will need a valid driving licence in their name, so this may cause delays there,” he said.

Themba Masango, of the #NotInMyName campaign, which is supporting the employees, said a peaceful, legal protest was supposed to be held outside the DLCA premises in Erasmuskloof on Monday.

“We were, however, interdicted from holding our protest, but this does not mean we will not fight for what is right.

“These are elderly people, who have families to support and are struggling due to not receiving a salary for the past three months. They wish to return to work and be compensated fairly,” he said.

KZN Transport MEC Mxolisi Kaunda’s media liaison officer, Mluleki Mntungwa, said its national office was dealing with the matter, and the process of issuing driving licence cards was expected to be resolved this month. “We urge all motorists who have applied for renewals to make a temporary licence in the interim.”

Department of Transport spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi declined to comment and referred to the acting head of the DLCA, Collins Letsoalo.

He said a case of malicious damage to property was being investigated against the employees by the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State Unit and could not comment further on the matter.

Letsoalo added that from August 1 to date, the DLCA had produced more than 480 000 cards. “We now operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to recover our delivery timeline, which is within seven working days.”

He said driving licence card applicants could SMS their identity numbers to 33214 to get the status of their application. – Additional reporting by Kailene Pillay