DA calls for further extension on vehicle licences as KZN drivers made to pay penalties despite waiver

26 August 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has called on the province’s Transport MEC, Bheki Ntuli, to urgently request a further extension on the payment of vehicle licensing fees in the province.

This after the DA was reliably informed that despite a waiver, granted by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula due to the Covid-19 lockdown, many drivers in the province are being made to pay penalties for late renewals. The information was greeted with surprise by KZN Transport MEC, Bheki Ntuli, during a meeting of the province’s Transport portfolio committee held yesterday.

The DA is concerned by this latest revelation. It also comes as KZN’s Department of Transport (DoT) has not, to date, made any progress in terms of online applications. This despite continuous interruptions of services at its Driver Licence Testing Centres (DLTC’s) due to the lockdown and Covid-19 infections amongst staff which has had a severe effect on the backlog of licence renewals.

It is in light of this situation that the DA has called on the MEC to request a further extension of licensing fees so that motorists are spared the injustice of paying further penalties in spite of a situation which is beyond their control.

The DA has also, once again, raised the issue of online licence renewals in the province with MEC Ntuli. This after the DoT under-collected by more than R300 million on vehicle licence renewals and over-collected by R24 million on learners and drivers licence in the first quarter of this financial year.

There can be no doubt that the Covid-19 lockdown regulations will also have drastically affected the Department’s collection of vehicle licence renewals as well as driver testing, learners and driver’s licence. It is now critical that the DoT fast-track on-line applications.

While the MEC is in support of the proposal, the problem lies with implementation and to date there is no indication of when online services will be made available. In the meantime, it the motorists of KZN who are being made to suffer the inconvenience of constant closures of DLTC’s, long queues, daily quotas when it comes to being attended to and many wasted hours visiting various centres.

Unfortunately, KZN is also still way behind other provinces who have created online renewal services, making it easier, safer and convenient to make payments, thereby increasing the collection rate of revenue. In this regard, Gauteng and the Western Cape have led the way, with the former providing home deliveries of licence renewals and the Western Cape having implemented the online service in 2015.

The DA expects MEC Ntuli to address the concerns we have raised and report back to the public in terms of a further extension, as well as with specific timeframes around the implementation of an on-line service. The people of KZN can no longer be expected to put up with an antiquated service, which costs them both time and money.

Issued by Sharon Hoosen,DA KZN Spokesperson on Transport, 26 August 2020