By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has warned of the fast-approaching grace period deadline for motoring licences at the end of March.
The national lockdown imposed on the country last year forced licencing centres to close, resulting in a massive backlog of expired licences. This was compounded after the country’s only licence printing machine broke down at the end of 2021, leaving approximately half a million South African motorists stuck with expired driving licence cards.
Mbalula previously extended expired licences to 31 March 2022 due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which meant motorists could not visit licensing centres. This grace period covered all documents which expired in the period between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021.
“We think by April we would have been done with a backlog of around two million people it will take us somewhere,” he said.
“It’s not on our agenda to extend (the grace period) hence my call to all people, go and renew your driver’s license, and be on the queue to renew your driver’s license card.
Mbalula added that the country’s licence printing machine was now back in operation and several new online features will make it easier to get a licence.
“My call to all people is to go and renew your driver licence and be in the queue – there will never be another window. We are going (back) to normal now as we were before Covid-19.
“Once the (state of disaster) is gone away with we should be ready to roll with the country’s driver licence backlog.”
Meanwhile Civil society group Outa has welcomed the introduction of the online vehicle and driver’s licensing system, but warned that the government has slipped ‘massive cost increases’ into the new services.
“It’s all very well to say that you can now have your vehicle change of ownership done from the comfort of your home, but the cost of doing so has moved from around R150 to R530, plus another R99 courier fee, which is nothing but a rip-off and an unacceptable money-making scheme, “said Andrea van Heerden, Outa senior legal project manager.
Imagine the outrage if the banking industry told its customers that transacting online will cost them 300% more than the charges applied if they came into the bank for their services. This behaviour would generate customer outrage, as the efficiencies recovered by moving into a digital space would not be passed on to the customer.”
Outa said that similar trends have been seen in other government departments, where services that society once received free or at minimal cost are now being turned into profit centres.
This is specifically the case with the RTMC, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), the Driving Licence Card Account (DCLA) and more, it said.
It added that an online fee should not be higher than the fee charged at the offices; rather, the online fees should be substantially lower.
The Department of Transport gazetted the updated transaction and service fees for its upcoming online vehicle licence disc and driver’s licence card renewal system in January 2022.