Drivers foot bill for government blunder

It just doesn’t get easier for drivers on our roads. Already having to cope with an outrageous fuel hike at the start of the month and having to navigate the pothole-ridden roads on a daily basis, motorists applying for the renewal of their driver’s licences have had to deal with a number of obstacles since Covid hit our shores in March 2020.

Now, they’ve been hit with yet another hindrance.

The production machine that produces driving licence cards has been broken since 24 November, which means no new driving licence cards have been produced for the past three weeks.

The already high backlog in the renewal and issuing of licences will now only get worse. In August, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula revealed that, nationally, 42.4% or 1.2 million licences had not been renewed out of a total of 2.8 million licences that have expired since 26 March, 2020.

The solution to the new problem? Apply for a temporary driving licence card – something that you must pay for even if you had applied in time to get your new licence. When will our government learn?