A source who wished not to be named expressed their dissatisfaction with service levels.
They said, “A recent visit to the Nelspruit Licensing Office revealed that there had been no applications accepted for learners’ licences since October.
“There is only one test conducted per month and only 16 application forms are handed out daily. After we failed to be attended to locally due to the immense backlog, we travelled to Sabie and were required to provide a proof of residence before being allowed to proceed with the application process,” the source said.
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According to Moeti Mmusi, the provincial spokesperson for the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, limits have been placed on the number of candidates allowed into the licensing offices.
“Only 16 applicants per class are allowed per day to facilitate social distancing among them,” he said. Mmusi added that all offices are taking bookings, but said that, because applicants book ahead, space is limited.
“For instance, if you make a booking today, it is likely that you will only get to write in March, because February is fully booked.”
He explained that applicants do not require any proof of residence, but that he will provide clarification on that issue.
Licensing offices will remain open to the public and will operate at normal hours.
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“We do have skeleton staff to encourage social distancing and all applicants are required to wear cloth masks, sanitise and have their temperature readings taken.”
A bonus for motorists, however, is that vehicle licence renewals can be done at post offices, and on weekends.
“People do not need to flock to centres to renew their vehicle licences. This can be done at post offices like the ones at Sonpark, Brown Street, White River and Bushbuckridge.
“This will ease the burden on centres, especially during this time when we have the issue of the fast-spreading Covid-19.”
Moeti added that, depending on how South Africans respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, another moratorium on renewals may be granted, but that it was too early to tell.
“For now, things are running normally. We hope that motorists who have the expected documentation will access the centres before ending up in trouble with the law,” he concluded.
