Driving licence cards KZN motorists applied for in October and November last year are ready for collection

The Department of Transport encourages driving licence applicants, who applied in October and November 2021, to collect their cards ahead of the looming extension deadline on March 31, 2022.

The Department of Transport posted this picture of printed driving licence cards on Facebook after the licensing card machine was fixed.

Published Mar 13, 2022

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DURBAN - THE Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Transport has announced that the first batch of driving licence cards, which motorists applied for in October and November 2021, are ready for collection. Another batch will be ready next week.

In 2020, The Mercury reported that a broken printing machine resulted in a backlog of at least 124 000 driving licence cards across the country.

The Driving Licence Card Account (DLCA) facility, which reports to the Department of Transport, is the only operational device that prints driving licence cards for provincial and municipal licensing centres. About 450 000 licence cards are printed a month.

The department announced earlier that the licensing card machine had been fixed and has been in operation since January.

“Staff are working day and night shifts to ensure driving licence cards are made and delivered,” said the department on its Facebook page, accompanied by a picture of the machine.

The Department of Transport posted this picture of the fixed licensing card machine in operation on Facebook.

The provincial department announced on Friday that it was working around the clock to minimise the backlog.

“The first batch of licences for those who applied last year October and November has arrived,” it said.

The department encourages driving licence applicants, who applied in this period, to collect their cards ahead of the looming extension deadline.

The Covid-19 extensions from August 21, 2021 will come to an end on March 31, 2022, the department reminded motorists.

“An extension to this is highly unlikely as the country has moved to Adjusted Risk Alert Level 1 which means drivers with expired temporary licences will be charged after this period,” said the department.

The department's principal provincial inspector, Thulani Mthembu, who is a management representative and head of testing at the Mkondeni Road Traffic Inspectorate, said they are expecting the December batch by next week.

"They will arrive in batches. Those who applied in the first week of December can expect to receive it next week. However, I wouldn't advise people to come to the DLTC during this time because as we need to do refilling and then only, we will be able to issue those cards," said Mthembu.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) launched the online payment system for the renewal of driver and vehicle licences as a way of fixing the controversial and unreliable drivers licence system.

However, Mthembu cautioned that the online payment system is not yet operational in KZN.

"We are not sure when it will start but I think for now they are still busy trying to deal with the logistics. In KZN we still don't have an online application system so people should still go to the DLTCs to apply for the renewal of driver’s licence just yet," said Mthembu.

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