Renewing driver’s licence ‘supposed to be a simple matter’, says Mbalula
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has vowed to root out corruption at Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC's).
The country has a backlog of 1.2 million driver’s licences which still need to be renewed.
Addressing the media on Friday, Mbalula said corruption was one of the reasons for the backlog.
"Corruption of officials entrusted with the system, where online booking is used, who block slots and sell these to those prepared to pay bribes," he said.
Mbalula said government has begun with sting operations in an effort to arrest the culprits.
"We will not pre-empt corruption, the system must be perfect and tight such that it is incorruptible. We need to make it easy for people to acquire and renew their drivers licences it must be a simple matter. It must not be so difficult that we cannot resolve it.”
Gauteng Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo confirmed the province had appointed a forensic firm to investigate corruption at its various centers.
He said the team, Lekwa Consulting, has been on the job for two months.
Along with the extension of the grace period for licenses which expired in March 2020 to March 2022, Mbalula also announced several other measures meant to assist with clearing the backlog.
In Gauteng, two licencing centres operated by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) at Waterfall Park in Midrand and Eco Park in Centurion will open on 1 October and will operate seven days a week from 7 am to 9 pm.
Gauteng has experienced the bulk of the challenges related to renewals with 44.6% of the backlog.
Two buses will be in Diepsloot and Alexandra from October 1 to assist as mobile centres.
"In addition, two self-service kiosks are being prepared for testing and should be rolled out by October 2021 to assist those who do not have immediate access to a DLTC," said Mbalula.
Private optometrists will also soon be able to upload eye tests results directly onto the eNatis system, said Mbalula.
"In seven of the nine provinces, large registering authorities and DLTCs have extended their operating hours to include Saturdays, and further augmented their human resource capacity. Challenges are still being experienced in the Northern Cape and the City of Tshwane,” he added.
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