South Africa only has one machine that can print driving licence cards to avoid giving corrupt officials a gap to flood the country with fraudulent driver’s licences. This is according to the spokesperson of the Automobile Association of South Africa, Layton Beard.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Beard said that even though the Department of Transport has been proactive in rooting out corruption at Driving Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs), problems still exist.
“You don’t want to have a situation where the printing of licence cards is farmed out to the DLTCs,” stated Beard. You may find yourself in a worse position in terms of illegal driving license cards that are in circulation.”
Even though there is a lot of corruption at DLTCs, Beard said that’s not to say there shouldn’t be at least two machines in South Africa that process licences. Reports that South Africa’s only driving licence printing machine had broken down first surfaced in mid-December.
The machine was reportedly damaged by an electrical short after a building adjacent to its location was flooded. Initially, the machine was expected to be repaired by the end of December.
However, a Department of Transport spokesperson told Sunday newspaper Rapport that the 20-year-old machine was still broken. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse agrees that South Africa’s archaic driver’s licensing system needs an overhaul.
In a recent 702/Cape Talk interview, Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage estimated there could be a backlog of 500,000 driver’s licence cards due to the machine’s breakdown.
Duvenage said Outa has already suggested to the transport department that South Africa switch from 5-year driving licences, to licences valid for 10 years. This would alleviate the current backlog overnight,” Duvenage said.
Duvenage said former transport minister Dipuo Peters approved this exact change in a government gazette in November 2012. However, before the changes could be promulgated in October 2013, the decision was reversed.
Government and the RTMC would lose a lot of money if motorists could renew their licences less frequently. Duvenage said that’s probably why government scrapped the idea.
“That’s the wrong reason not to introduce systems. You introduce them for efficiencies,” said Duvenage. We give so many recommendations and input, and yet it all falls on deaf ears.
Source: mybroadband
In other news – Psyfo Ngwenya remembers mom June Kraus one year after her passing
Local musician and television presenter Sipho “Psyfo” Ngwenya remembers his late mother, renowned opera singer June Kraus on the first anniversary of her passing.
The former YoTV presenter took to Instagram on Wednesday to reflect on Kraus’ last moments. He also thanked Kraus for her love and support throughout the years. Learn more