Thousands of motorists in the Eastern Cape will be left stranded if they don’t make arrangements to get a temporary driver’s licence this festive season.
This after about 90,000 motorists across SA were affected by the driver’s licence printing delay caused by a labour dispute between a government transport entity and its workers, Times Select reported on Tuesday.
Provincial transport spokesman Unathi Binqose said approximately 5% of those affected were from the Eastern Cape.
The most affected regions include Sarah Baartman district, Amathole Municipality and OR Tambo District Municipality.
“Currently the Transport Department's Drivers Licence Card and Account (DLCA) is training its staff to capacitate them in delivering the driving licence cards as a matter of urgency,” Binqose said.
According to the Times Select report, many motorists are believed to be unaware of the dispute or that they now need to return to licensing centres to get temporary licences – and that they are at risk of being fined if stopped at a roadblock and do not have one.
The dispute began when 15 printing production staff from the DLCA, which is the only body authorised to print SA driver’s licences, went on strike in June.
Binqose said Eastern Cape motorists have to visit their driving test centres to make arrangements to get a temporary licence as soon as possible.
“The Road Traffic Management Corporation and National Department of Transport are also assisting in getting the matter resolved regarding the issuing of free temporary licences by the National Traffic Information System,” he said.
Motorists will have to visit their driving licence testing centre to make arrangements of getting a temporary licence.
“If the motorist has already paid for the temporary licence, he/she is not supposed to pay anything further, however the temporary driving licence is R96,” Binqose said.
The cards are expected to be printed in the next three weeks.
Motorists who want to check the status of their driver’s licences can do so by SMSing their ID number to 33214.