Long wait for cards ‘over soon’

FOLLOWING thousands of complaints by motorists unable to get new licence cards, the national Department of Transport has finally admitted to the problem and has said that employees have agreed to resume their duties pending the finalisation of the dispute at the bargaining council.

In October, the department “rejected, with contempt, the false media reports that the driving licence card account (DLCA) had not produced any cards from August 1” and that there was backlog of 450000 cards.

It further said at the time that it anticipated completing the production of the July backlog by the end of the weekend of October 13 and 14.

The department now said there was still a backlog of 90000 cards which had not been printed for motorists who applied between July and August.

“These orders have been prioritised to be printed in the next three weeks. We are pleased to inform drivers that the affected employees have agreed to resume their duties pending the finalisation of the dispute. The untimely dispute occurred during the annual production system maintenance period, where production machines are serviced,” department spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said.

A contingency plan had been put into place, which saw the resumption of production of driving licence cards, even though at a slower pace, he said.

Since then, more than 800 000 cards had been printed with more than 500000 dispatched.

Applicants who applied after September had received their cards.

As an interim measure the department advised motorists to apply for a temporary driving licence card which has a validity period of six months.

This would ensure that motorists were complying with the traffic regulations, he said.

The department apologised to motorists for the inconvenience as a result of the delays.

Mike Hawke from Randburg said he and his wife had applied for the licence renewal on August 1 and were told to go back after six weeks, which they did – and every two weeks thereafter. However they had still not received their cards. They were told last week to come back in a week or two as they “were starting to work now”.

| JACQUES NAUDE African News Agency (ANA) TSHWANE was abuzz with excitement yesterday as more than 30 000 people took part in the annual Mandela Remembrance Walk and Run. People gathered at the Union Buildings in the morning for the 5km walk as well as 10km and 21km races in honour of Nelson Mandela. Among the participants were Khanye Tindleni, 11, and her aunt Lindi Tindleni.