Johannesburg - Frustrated motorists have been left in limbo as the deadline to apply for slots to renew their driver's licence will come into effect in a few hours’ time.
Currently the driver's licence backlog is about 500 000.
Thando Maseko, a Sandton resident, told IOL Media that her licence expired in April 2021.
Maseko said the online system has been giving her an error sign; she said that “today being the last day”, she intended to go to the Randburg driving licence testing centre (DLTC) to try again.
“I have been trying for months now to get a slot with no luck. This is frustrating. I can't rent a car and I am not sure how this will affect my insurance should I need to claim,” said Maseko.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula will on Friday provide an update on the backlog relating to the production of driving licence cards and other measures to deal with the remaining backlog.
“The minister will announce measures aimed at ensuring that motorists are not unnecessarily inconvenienced. However we encourage all those whose licence either expired or is about to expire to visit a DLTC or use the online platforms to renew their licence before the expiry of grace period at midnight tonight,” said the department’s spokesperson Lawrence Venkile.
In August last year, Mbalula announced that driving licences which expired between March 26, 2020 and August 31, 2021, will be valid until March 31, 2022. In February Mbalula indicated that the total backlog of licences that will have expired by March 31 that have to be renewed stands at 2.1 million nationally.
Thousands of motorists were unable to get slots to get dates so that they would be able to renew their licence, however due to a number of problems including technical glitches and system failures, they could not get the slots.
“Given the recent problems with the production of driving licence cards, and issues around DLTCs and online booking systems, we believe it’s unrealistic to expect that this enormous backlog will be cleared by Thursday. This leaves hundreds of thousands of drivers without the necessary documents to be on the road legally.
“Unless traffic law enforcement understands these issues and finds a suitable way of addressing them we may find a massive spike in the number of traffic fines issued to motorists in the next couple of weeks and months,” said the Automobile Association (AA)
The association said, motorists may find themselves negatively impacted from an insurance perspective if they are involved in crashes.
“Insurers may repudiate claims if motorists are driving with expired licences. Although those who have applied for new licences are covered through an extension of the validity of their licences, there are still many drivers who have not applied for renewed licences for various reasons beyond their control,” the AA said.
Earlier this week the department announced that licences of motorists, who applied for their driving licences before March 31, 2022 (the deadline), will be valid for a further three months.
This arrangement is only for motorists who are in possession of their old driving licence and can provide slips as proof of payment for the renewal application.
The AA again appealed to Mbalula to reconsider government’s refusal to extend this deadline, and to make provision for a longer renewal period.
Civic organisation AfriForum and Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) applied pressure to the minister for the extension of the deadline. The organisations went as far as confirming that they intend to go to court if the minister fails to extend the deadline.
“The state cannot simply ignore this problem, as it will leave motorists at the mercy of overzealous or corrupt law enforcement officers who may use this as an opportunity to extort bribes from the motoring public,” said advocate Stefanie Fick, executive director of Outa’s accountability division.
Fick warned that government should not start a war with citizens that it cannot win.
“Outa is considering a legal opinion that may lead to another civil disobedience campaign,” Fick said.
Reiner Duvenage, campaign officer: strategy and content AfriForum, said the huge backlog was caused by a number of delays at the department in the first place.
“Although this announcement brings temporary relief to motorists, it is not the solution to the deep-rooted and systemic problems at the department,” said Duvenage.
The department further said if one applies after the expiry date, one would be required to apply for a temporary driving licence.
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau