City of uMhlathuze licensing hours explained
The city does not have the mandate to increase employees in the licensing department, which falls under the Department of Transport
WHILE the Zululand Observer has been inundated with complaints over long queues and poor service delivery, the City of uMhlathuze’s Licensing Department believes it has done a good job of servicing residents who were renewing their vehicle licence discs during the lockdown.
City spokesperson Mdu Ncalane said his municipality was serving more than 120 people per day during Level 2 of the lockdown.
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‘During Level 2, we were working with only three cashiers owing to lockdown restrictions. Even though we had restrictions in place, all customers were assisted.
‘In some instances, staff were forced to knock off late due to the number of customers waiting for our services.
‘Our offices both in Richards Bay and at the Empangeni Civic Centre open at 7:30am and they close at 2pm,’ he said.
Ncalane said at times they experienced load-shedding where customers were turned away before closing time.
‘Those people were given priority and asked to return the following day,’ Ncalane said.
He added that as the municipality, they do not have the mandate to increase the number of employees working at the Traffic Department.
‘Everything is under the control of the Department of Transport, including the system. We are merely an extension of the department to bring services closer to the people. We only offer them a building,’ he said.
Ncalane said the municipality, together with the KZN Department of Transport will open new traffic offices at eSikhaleni in November, which will reduce demand.
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