Potter’s suggestion to help alleviate licensing centre issues

Ward 102 councillor David Potter has written a letter addressed to City, road management and provincial officials to ask for a dedicated desk catering for senior citizens to renew their driver’s licences at the Randburg Licensing Centre.

“No matter the adjusted lockdown level or the driver’s licence renewal extension, the elderly and infirm deserve better service when renewing their driver’s licences. I’ve written to the City management asking for an urgent review of the current system for those over 60,” he said.

The Randburg Sun covered the issues of long queues experienced by elderly persons at the Randburg Licensing Department in October last year.

In the letter, Potter noted the current lockdown level as well as the extension granted for driver’s licence renewals but asked for a dedicated desk that could operate daily to cater for senior citizens. He suggested that should there be no senior citizens in the queue, then this desk could attend to others in the queue until a senior citizen arrived.

“I understand that there could be challenges related to the payment of the driver’s licence renewal which needs to be done with the cashier on the upper level. But I trust that workaround could be easily implemented, especially now that cash is not accepted as a form of payment. Mobile credit card machines should be available for the applicant’s PIN to be entered etc.”

Potter added that allowing senior citizens to only renew their driver’s licences on one day of the week (a Wednesday) or only allowing the first say 30 senior citizens into the normal queue, and who start to queue at sunrise because of this limitation and demand, was a less than compassionate and caring service afforded to our senior and infirm citizens.
He hoped that officials would consider his suggestion.