“People who experienced such problems need to come forward and alert us to it, so that it can be investigated and we can get to the bottom of it,” said Thabo Rangwaga, spokesperson for MMC for Public Safety, Sello Lemao
According to Rangwaga, affected individuals should go directly to the licensing department and ask to speak to the head of the department, providing all the necessary information.
This follows a recent article by Caxton Newspapers about a Joburg motorist being issued a licence disc that was only valid for 11 months, which spurred several queries from members of the public who had also been issued license discs valid for 11 months.
Karen Ungerer said she had purchased three vehicle licence discs on the same day at the post office in Sandton and each one was only valid for 11 months.
“When I queried this I was told that that is how they do it now and I must take it up with the actual license department,” she said.
According to another reader, upon renewing her trailer’s licence disc, which was valid until 31 October 2014, she was issued with a licence that was valid until 30 September 2015.
Rangwaga said in terms of the road traffic act, a licence must be valid for 12 months and not 11.
The department would investigate the matter but needed tangible evidence in order to do so, he said.
“We would need to determine what the problem is… for instance, we need to see how the licensing department’s systems communicate with the post office’s system.”
