Nelspruit and White River licensing department woes persist

Earlier this year, the licensing departments were transferred from the City of Mbombela Local Municipality’s management to the provincial Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL).

Over the past month, Lowvelder received multiple phone calls regarding the service at various licensing departments in the province.

The DCSSL said there were various reasons for the service delays. Moeti Mmusi, the spokesperson for the department, said it was aware of the issues at the licensing departments and were working urgently to attend to them.

One person was verbally abused by an employee at the Mbombela Licensing Department and recorded the incident on video, which the newspaper has viewed.

The DCSSL has urged members of the public to report any officials who are rude to them at the department.

Last week, Lowvelder reported that people were denied entry to the White River Licensing Department. The staff said the security services to the building had lapsed and they did not feel safe allowing people in. The department has since apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Neither the Mbombela nor the White River licensing departments could be reached for comment.

In March, the provincial legislature voted to extend the operating hours of the White River Licensing Department to ensure that more civilians could be helped.

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Two other residents told Lowvelder that they were still waiting for their licences after more than three months.

One said the online portal, the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS), stated that his licence was ready for collection. When he got there, however, the staff had no record of the licence and told him to wait for them to send him an SMS.

According to the DCSSL, NaTIS sometimes goes offline, which consequently means applications are not processed.

“Another challenge that is urgently being attended to by the Department and the Department of Transport, is that some applicants receive notifications erroneously that their license cards are ready.

“This happens when the system starts generating the cards, Mmusi said. “After receiving these notifications, the applicants then go to the licensing centres only to find that their cards are not ready for collection.”