Licence renewal grace period extended
Millions of motorists with expired driver’s licences will breathe a sigh of relief, this as a further extension to the grace period for the renewal of licences was announced.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said the extension comes while government implementing some measures to improve their systems and resolve challenges.
“All learner’s licences, driving licence cards, temporary driving licences and professional driving permits that expire during the period that commenced from 26 March 2020 up to and including 31 August 2021, are deemed to be valid and their validity periods are extended for a further grace period ending on 31 March 2022,” Mbalula said on Thursday.
This comes as the deadline for the end of the grace period for the renewal of driving licences was set for 31 August 2021.
Addressing a media briefing, the Minister said the extension comes into effect from the date of publication of the Directions in the Government Gazette.
“Nationally, 1.2 million (1,210,965) licences are not yet renewed out of a total of 2.8 million (2,852,388) expired licences. This represents 42.4% non-renewal, with 57.6% of all expired licences having been renewed,” Mbalula said.
The backlogs at the Driving Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs) has been attributed to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in restrictions that led to the closure of DLTCs.
The previous extensions of the validity period were meant to enable an orderly clearing of the backlog, however capacity challenges put tremendous pressure on DLTCs in processing renewals of driving licences.
Some of the officials who have been entrusted with the system, where online booking are done, block slots and sell these to those prepared to pay bribes.
In addition, the slow speed and unavailability of the eNatis system has caused frustrations for officials and motorists renewing their licences.
The Minister said the faulty live capture units as well as the faulty eye testing equipment have resulted in long queues at DLTCs and there were delays in validating fingerprints as live capture units are not linked to Home Affairs real time.
“There are many more challenges that have been brought to our attention, to which we are attending with the necessary urgency. Together with the MECs, we have been hard at work in addressing these challenges.
“In May 2021, the Ministers and Members of Executive Councils Meeting (MINMEC) adopted an Action Plan to modernize and turnaround our driving licensing system and licensing centres,” Mbalula said.