No excuse not to renew your driver’s licence card — even if the system is down

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) says there were “no excuses” for motorists not to renew their driving licence cards, apparently not even when the Natis system is down.

Speaking during the launch of the Driver’s Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) at the Gautrain Midrand station on Thursday, RTMC CEO Makhosini Msibi said they had addressed the backlog of licence cards that had expired between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021.

“We find pride in having dealt with [the] over 1.5 million backlog in driving licence card renewals,” Msibi stated.

A tweet from the RTMC accompanying Msibi’s message stated that “it was time for motorists to understand that they had no excuses for not renewing their driving licence cards”.

It made the post while Driver Licence Testing Centres (DLTCs) across the country were experiencing problems with connectivity to the eNatis system, preventing people trying to renew their licence cards from doing so.

While the RTMC initially said that the system was online and merely slow, several Twitter users at various DLTCs made different claims.

“In Roodepoort, it’s not even slow, it’s offline. Many places say the system is offline. Please report accurately before you waste people’s time and money,” said one Twitter user.

“I drove all the way from Queenswood to Temba to be told [to] leave your booking receipt, we will call you,” another said.

“But I can’t renew mine since your system is offline, so frustrating,” a third stated.

Twitter user Corné Venter said the system had also been offline the day before the RTMC’s message, while a person whose Twitter profile said they were a worker at the Elundini municipality’s DLTC said they were unable to do learner’s licence tests.

Network down on CLLT …… pic.twitter.com/dg2sc1Sl3S

— [email protected] Mofokeng Ec (@VuksPhokaMofok1) June 9, 2022

Shortly after noon on Thursday, the RTMC tweeted that it was working to resolve the technical glitches motorists reported.

“The problem has been identified and we reservedly [sic] apologise to members of the public for the inconvenience caused,” the RTMC said. 

More than 19 hours after that tweet, it had still not sent out an update on the system’s status.

The RTMC’s warning about licence card renewals comes after similar remarks made by transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

Mbalula threatened that law enforcement would step up efforts to penalise motorists who continued to drive with expired licence cards.

Organisations like Outa, the Automobile Association of South Africa, and Afriforum have criticised the hard-handed approach, and have called for reform of the renewal regime.

Outa’s accountability division executive director Stefanie Fick previously told MyBroadband that there was no legal basis for the persecution of motorists in circumstances where the renewal of a driver’s licence card is made impossible by the very department that must provide the service.

“We agree with the principle that motorists should abide by the law. However, we are of the opinion that the department should make it possible for motorists to abide by the law,” Fick said, referring to the flood of complaints of downtime of the Natis system.

True backlog unknown

The 1.5-million figure mentioned by Msibi was initially provided by the RTMC back in August 2021, and does not take into account the additional licence cards that expired from 1 September 2021.

The country’s only licence card printing machine broke down in early November 2021 and was only returned to service in late January 2022, adding more renewals to the backlog.

However, the department showed no mercy to motorists affected by this and instead encouraged them to get a temporary licence at their own cost.

MyBroadband contacted the RTMC for comment on the number of renewals which remained outstanding, but did not receive feedback by the time of publication.

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