Last Friday (27th August 2021) Transport Minister Fikile Mabula announced that the government would be extending the deadline for all driver licence renewals.
The previous deadline had been the end of August, initially put in place to accommodate motorists who saw their licences expire while under 2020’s series of lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they have until March 2022 to renew their licences.
On the surface, one would think this would be a piece of good news. However, anyone who has tried to renew an expired driver licence in the last year-and-a-half will likely feel nothing but cold comfort.
Driver licence renewal problems are legion
The reason for this is that the collective debacle occurring at Driving Licence Test Centres (DLTCs). In the press briefing in which he announced the deadline extension, Mabula said that South African drivers had faced a number of challenges in applying for their licence renewals. That may just be the understatement of the year.
DLTCs around the country face massive capacity problems. Not only are a lot of them understaffed by chronically overworked employees, but a lot of the technology also used at them poses a problem.
To begin with, there have been reports that a lot of the eye-testing machines at these centres no longer work, leading to longer queues and massive backlogs. This problem, however, seems to pale into insignificance compared to the Department of Transport’s (DoT) online booking system.
Technology feeding crime
Launched in order to make booking an appointment for licence renewal a more streamlined and convenient process, the online booking system has turned out to be a millstone around the necks of both the DLTC employees and people who are trying to renew their driver licences.
Cast an eye at Twitter and reports about attempts to use this system amount to a horror-show. People have issued missives detailing problems including massive waiting times for an appointment – anywhere between six to eight months in some cases – and the DoT issuing appointments for licence renewals at DLTCs that are nowhere near the applicant’s home. According to reports, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has acknowledged a backlog of 500,000 licences waiting in the system.
This in turn has led to a thriving black market at numerous DLTCs, in which applicants are approached by individuals in carparks offering to sort out their licence renewal for a fee. Sometimes those desperate enough to take them up on the offer do receive a licence or are shuttled to the front of the DLTC’s massive queues, but sometimes their ‘saviour’ simply disappears with their money. That some people willing to pay for this ‘service’ do receive their licence points to the fact that some of these centres have a massive problem with corrupt officials who, it seems, are not above taking bribes.
In light of all these issues, Mabula’s extension of the deadline for licence renewals seems akin to placing a band-aid on a broken knee.
An overhaul is needed
South Africa’s driver licence renewal process is in dire need of a massive overhaul. It needs more staff, working equipment – hell, even a couple of sting operations to root out corruption wouldn’t hurt.
But crucially, the DoT needs to acknowledge that the online booking system not only isn’t fit for purpose it’s actively helping a criminal element make money hand over fist. It needs to be scrapped.
Perhaps the DoT should look to Home Affairs for a little inspiration. These days, one needn’t stand in queues in order to renew a passport or obtain a new identity document. This process has been farmed out in part to several banks, which has made it far easier and more convenient. Simply enter your details, pay your fee and you receive an SMS from the branch you book at for an appointment. Head to said branch, do your optics and fingerprints and then wait for another SMS for collection – which usually arrives in a week. Head back to the branch, collect your document and you’re done. It’s that easy.
Until the DoT makes the effort to make driver licence renewal as easy as this, Mabula can extend the deadline for doing so until the end of 2022 if he likes. It won’t help.
[Image: Jon Collier/Creative Commons]