In a bid to deal with the backlog of driving and learners’ licence renewals, Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo on Tuesday launched a new campaign dubbed “request a slot”.
Thousands of motorists in the Gauteng province have struggled to obtain slots to renew their driving or learners’ licences from their nearest licence departments with the deadline for renewals initially set down for August 31.
Mamabolo, whose department revealed there was a backlog of about 800 000 expired licences, said the new “request a slot” campaign seeks to build partnerships with the motorists and driving licence card holders and that the partnership created would introduce platforms for them to request a slot. These platforms include a web based icon which you click and request a slot.
He said the second platform is an app that is downloaded then requests a slot; it is run by Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).
According to Mamabolo, the app should be available over the next few days as it still needs to be registered.
He said they are also creating email addresses to request slots.
“In all these platforms once you have requested you will get a response within 30 days and we expect you to honour your slot hence we are calling it a partnership,” he said, adding: “The problem they are also solving is that they have publicly said between January 2021 and July 2021 they issued 500 000 slots which people took.”
Over 130 000 people have reportedly failed to honour their slots by not pitching up.
He said government wants people to take the initiative to request a slot so they can genuinely go and grab their slots.
Mamabolo further said the frustration of the public in renewing their licences has been ongoing for years and that Covid19 has worsened it.
He further maintained that to alleviate frustration, several booking avenues have been developed or optimised to ensure the public can book and renew their driving licence cards with minimal frustration.
“We acknowledge the first three months are going to be difficult but we will prioritise those whose driving licence cards expired during the Covid-19 lockdown period,” said Mamabolo.
Mamabolo also revealed the centres would operate seven days a week from 7am to 9pm.
He said the required human resources have been appointed and had undergone NaTIS and customer care training. The total number of registered examiners for driving licences is 37.
Mamabolo has asked that motorists must not wait for 21 March 2022.
Last week, Transport Minister Fikile Mablula extended the deadline to renew driving and learners’ licences until the end of March next year.
Political Bureau