Driver’s 12-month licence battle
Uncorrected department mistake leaves man without correct permit for a year
ABETHELSDORP driver is irate with the Humansdorp traffic department after an examiner captured an incorrect driving test code which resulted in him not having a driver’s licence card for a year.
Alroy Elias Jooste, 37, said that on April 22 last year he had booked for a driver’s code 14 test at the Humansdorp test centre.
He said he had passed and the examiner had told him to collect the licence card at the department.
“I went to the department and officials told me I could not have the card because there was a mistake,” Jooste said.
He was told that the examiner had captured the incorrect licence code on the system and his application had been processed on the same code 10 that he already had.
“I had to wait for almost four weeks to get a code 14 temporary licence while I waited for the mistake to be cleared – and now that temporary licence has expired.”
“The superintendent told me the matter would be corrected through the provincial help desk.”
Jooste said he had waited for a year for the error to be fixed and whenever he inquired at the department he had got absurd answers.
The father of four said that he had been struggling to secure employment to provide for his family without a valid code 14 and professional driving permit (PDP) needed by truck drivers.
“I’ve been back and forth with the department to the point I wanted to redo the test, but they were not assisting me in any way,” he said.
The PDP he already had and the temporary code 14 had both expired and he had been told they could not be renewed until the mistake was cleared up.
“I’ve contacted the traffic department officials several times and also the Bhisho office and none of the officials was able to help me or make an effort to compensate me,” he said.
Kouga Municipality spokesman Mfundo Sobele agreed that the examiner had made the mistake on Jooste’s application.
He said it had been sent to the helpdesk of the municipal transport department and the code had been corrected in May last year and Jooste now in fact did have a code EC (14) driving licence on the system.
“The problem is that a card has already been ordered on the system and the application for a new card is automatically rejected by the computer system.
“We asked transport to cancel the ‘ordered card’ on their side and up to now they have not been able to do this,” Sobele said.
As a measure to combat fraud, it was illegal to have two cards ordered or produced at the same time.
He said only the department could make a cancellation and the card was holding up any new applications by Jooste.
“We have been with Mr Jooste and he has been contacted on many occasions by our officials to keep him updated on processes and he has also been in touch with officials from the Department of Transport.
“It is inevitable that mistakes will occur sometimes but we have never had a problem with a driving licence code/card that took this long to fix.
“We share Mr Jooste’s frustration and sympathise with him.
“We continue to make follow-ups to try to assist him.”