Cape Town - Transport and Public Works MEC Daylin Mitchell has called for a further extension of the deadline to the validity period of learners’ licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences and professional driving permits.
This after Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula revealed that the Western Cape was among the top three provinces with the highest number of driving licences not yet renewed, which represented 13.1% of the national tally.
Mbalula said the Western Cape had 279 175 licences not yet renewed. He said the first province with the highest number of licences not yet renewed was Gauteng, which accounted for 744 710, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 345 433 licences not yet renewed.
Mbalula made the announcement on Thursday as he provided an update on driving licensing interventions.
His address comes after South Africa’s growing driving licence backlog led to concerns from motorists about what happens when their licence expires and they are not able to receive their new cards because the machine used in the production of the cards broke down in late November and was taken abroad for repairs.
Mbalula, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) had to address motorists on the interventions.
"As we approach the end of the grace period for the renewal of driving licences on March 31, we have paid particular attention to the challenges experienced by drivers in this regard.
“The previous extensions of the validity period were meant to address the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 restrictions," said Mbalula.
He said that in November they experienced a breakdown of the equipment used in the production of the driving licence cards as a result of a power surge caused by flooding from the adjacent building.
"Our technicians at the DLCA, supported by RTMC, managed to isolate the problematic component," he said.
Mbalula said efforts were made to repair the faulty part locally without success, and that the affected component was flown out of the country to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for repairs.
"In a few weeks, the damaged component was fixed and production of driving licence cards resumed on January 20. As on February 1, the backlog of renewal applications awaiting cards stood at 597 492," said Mbalula.
He said in the two weeks since the production process resumed, the DLCA had produced 128 436 driving licence cards.
He said considering the current backlog of 597 000 awaiting to be printed, they anticipated that it would take approximately four months to clear the backlog.
"The backlog of the cards currently in the system will be cleared by April 2022," Mbalula said.
Mitchell said he wrote to Mbalula last week, requesting a further extension to the validity period of learners’ licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences and professional driving permits.
"I believe that a further extension until December 31, 2022 will be fair on motorists," said Mitchell, as he welcomed the news that the card machine was fully operational, but believed citizens should be given enough time to renew their licences and not be punished because of a failure on the government’s side.
Automobile Association (AA) spokesperson Layton Beard said they would have loved to see an extension to the deadline “because the number of people who have complained about the backlog is enormous”.
Mbalula said with an estimated production of 400 000 cards per month, the DLCA estimated that the 2.1 million backlog would be cleared by September.
"Those whose cards expired between March 26, 2020, and August 31, 2021, are deemed to be valid until March 31, 2022.
“However, those whose licences expired after August 31, 2021, they are required to apply for a temporary driving licence as the grace period does not cover them," said Mbalula.