Having seen various articles and complaints surrounding the renewal of driver’s licences I would like to share my experience.
I live in Centurion and due to a lack of space there, I had considered using a Johannesburg centre.
My licence expired earlier this month, so time was not on my side.
Luckily I read the article which said new slots were available daily, so I checked the website early in the morning.
I was able to make an appointment for Tuesday afternoon in Akasia at 14:30.
The page you get after making an appointment clearly points out what you need to bring along plus it advises you to arrive an hour early.
When I arrived, load shedding was under way, which lasted until 13:00.
After the lights were back on we were helped for a short while before the national Natis system went offline.
At this time, the centre management calmly told us to come back within five days, advice which most did not take too kindly.
Luckily the system came back online and we were helped again with the centre attempting to make extra efforts to assist us more quickly.
Once again some didn’t enjoy the fact that one of the officials was helping people at random and they ended up making such a scene that the official stopped helping altogether.
At 14:30 I had completed my application and was in line to pay.
If my experience taught me anything it would be that perhaps one of the reasons the system does not work is due to the citizens themselves.
Perhaps by exercising patience and allowing those we have become so convinced are not helping us to do just that, we might not have to undergo these procedures with so much anxiety.
If you are renewing your licence I suggest you arrive early, communicate openly (and fairly) with centre staff and perhaps put aside that notion that the staff do not also share in the frustrations we all have with this new system.
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