With the looming grace period for the renewal of driving licences, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has encouraged drivers to renew their licences, as there will be no further extension to the licence validity.

The grace period for the renewal of driving licenses ends on 31 March 2022. Previous extensions of the validity period were meant to address the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The renewal of driving licences was also affected by a breakdown of the equipment used in the production of the driving licence cards in November 2021. This has been resolved, with the production of driving license cards resuming on 20 January 2022.

“We remain on track to clear the backlog. As on 25 February we have produced 401 131 driving licence cards and the backlog which only relate to those who have lodged renewal applications currently stands at 534 807,” the Minister said.

Addressing members of the media on Monday during an oversight visit in Akasia, Pretoria, Mbalula said capacity has been increased at the Centurion and Waterfall driving licence testing centres (DLTCs).

Last month, the Minister launched a bouquet of online traffic services that were previously only accessible by visiting a registering authority or DLTC.

These services are available on the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) online platform:

• The online application, issuing and delivery of a motor vehicle licence and disc to the owner of the motor vehicle.
• The online application, issuing and delivery of a registration certificate of a motor vehicle to the title holder of the motor vehicle for financial institutions, large fleet operators and motor dealers.
• The online application and payment for a booking for renewal, in person, of a driving licence card at a driving licence testing centre.
• The online application and payment for the delivery of such driving licence card, to the holder concerned.
• The provision of an electronic copy of an accident report.

The online notification of the change of ownership of a motor vehicle by the current titleholder or owner will be implemented at a later date.

“In the 16 days since the online system went live, a total of 3 641 transactions were successfully processed with a monitory value of about R2 million. Gauteng accounts for the highest number of transactions at 1 827, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 558 and Western Cape at 459 transactions,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, the Minister expressed concern for the safety of the workers at licensing centres as protesting driving schools disrupt services in Gauteng.

“In a democratic state, the rule of law states means that you cannot infringe on the rights of others. Everyone has a right to protest but it should not be at the detriment of the services of the DLTCs,” Mbalula said.

The Minister engaged the driving school workers in Akasia on their concerns.

“…We will through an organised process report back to them. They have demands and concerns over the online system; with it they have less clients because people opt to use online services,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency