The Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport has urged motorists to renew their driving licences before 31 March.
South Africa’s driving licence backlog has been growing since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Motorists have become increasingly concerned about what to do when their licences expire and they are unable to receive a new card.
According to Hillary Mophethe, spokesperson for the department, the province has a backlog of 71 690 driving licences that had to be renewed between 27 March 2020 and 31 August 2021.
“This translates to 53,1% of the total backlog out of a total of 134 917 expired licences in the province.”
According to the department’s data, 117 736 drivers have renewed their licences between 26 March 2020 and 31 January this year.
The department of transport has set 31 March as the deadline for the renewal of licences which expired between 26 March and 31 December 2020 and between 31 August 2021 and 31 March 2022.
Due to licensing centres across the country closing down in line with government lockdown regulations, a grace period was put in place to enable drivers to renew their licences.
To make matters worse, the machine used in the production of the entire country’s driving licence cards broke down in November 2021.
A total of 83 days later, the machine was back in running order and staff at the Driving Licence Card Account facility started working day and night in an effort to eliminate the backlog.
According to Mophethe, operating hours at all testing stations in the province have been extended and are operating at full capacity from 8:00 to 16:00.
“The department urges motorists to act swiftly to renew their driving licences to allow enough time for the processing of applications before the deadline is reached.”
To renew a driving licence card at a Driving Licence Testing Centre, the following is required:
- an identity document (ID);
- the current driving licence card (even if it has expired) or a valid South African passport; and
- two black-and-white ID photos, or three if a temporary licence is needed.
