The City of Cape Town has advised motorists to continue applying to renew their driving licence cards despite ongoing problems with the national production of the plastic cards.
City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security, Jean-Pierre Smith, said the city had noted some motorists’ “increasing frustration” regarding delays with the delivery of their driving licence cards.
“While the situation is entirely out of our control, we will do everything possible to assist the public where possible, and communicate any further developments made public by the National Transport Department with regard to this issue,” Smith said.
Driving licence cards are produced by a national entity, the Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) – which then sends the driving licence cards to Driving Licence Testing Centres around the country. The machine used to produce the cards broke down in late November 2021 and is currently abroad for repairs.
Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula earlier indicated that the machine would be repaired by March 2022.
“It is imperative that it is resolved as soon as possible to avoid further backlogs in future. Already our DLTCs have been working extended hours over the past 18 months to clear the backlogs caused by the hard lockdown in 2020. We can ill afford this latest obstacle,” Smith said.
He advised motorists to continue applying to renew their driving licence cards until further updates regarding the problem had been received from the National Department of Transport.
In terms of the National Road Traffic Act, an expired driving licence card will remain valid for a period of three months from the date of expiry, if a renewal application was made before the expiry date. The condition for this is that the holder of the licence must be in possession of the expired card and proof of payment.
If the situation is not resolved within three months, a motorist may apply for a temporary licence, which is valid for six months, or until the new/replacement driving licence card is issued. The renewal of a driving licence card after its expiry date will automatically require a temporary licence, which costs R45.
This does not apply to new drivers, who are issued with a temporary licence after successfully completing their licence test.
Motorists urged to continue applying for new licences
19 Jan 2022 - by Lyse Comins
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