Cape Town - The City council says it is doing everything it can to speed up the vehicle licence disc renewal process.
We reported in November that motorists were frustrated by the lack of notification of the new regulations that require proof of residence to be provided when renewing licence discs.
Many people had to make two to three trips before they could renew their licence discs, causing a great deal of anger.
With the festive season in full swing, the change in licence renewal requirements has put a strain on motorists wishing to renew their licence discs.
Motorists are experiencing much longer queues than normal at the vehicle registration centres.
This, together with the fact that renewal notices have not been sent out by the Road Traffic Management Corporation, has been affecting the turnaround time at renewal centres.
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Spokeswoman Priya Reddy said the council was doing "everything in its power to ease any inconvenience" to Cape Town residents.
This includes deploying additional staff and moving staff between offices as the need arises. Staff are also being deployed over weekends to assist with processing the backlogs in online applications for discs.
Reddy said: "In addition to these actions, the city council has also employed Expanded Public Works Programme workers in the back offices to do copies and other tasks in order to free up the time of our counter staff."
The new regulations requiring proof of residence were not instituted by the city council itself. Reddy explained that was a regulation as per national legislation, which the city council was obliged to enforce.
There are several documents that can be used as proof of address including a utility bill, telephone account or retail store account. The document used, however, must be no older than three months.
Motorists have also expressed frustration at not receiving a notification of renewal. According to Reddy, the fault was not with city council processes.
Despite this, the city council "is doing its best to lessen the damage done" by the lack of renewal notices.
To renew your motor vehicle licence in person, you will need to provide your renewal notice (an MVL2 form), an acceptable form of identification and proof of residence. If you do not have a renewal notice, you will need a fully completed and signed Application for Licensing of Motor Vehicle form. You can visit the Western Cape government website at www.westerncape.gov.za/tpw.
Cape Argus