Driver queues three days for licence — with no luck

Nelson Mandela Bay motorist Ashton Ashley has battled for three days to get a temporary driver’s licence from the Korsten traffic department, a task that should have taken just a couple of hours.

Ashley is just one of scores of motorists who have been frustrated at having to queue for hours without being attended to.

This is partly because the traffic department has to close by 2.30pm because of Covid-19 regulations.

The Bay only has two functioning traffic departments — the one in Korsten and one in Uitenhage — which has made things worse.

Ashley said he had lost his driver’s licence, but after  three days of queuing he still had not been able to get inside the building.

“It is just to apply for a  duplicate and get a temporary licence but it has taken three days just for that and I cannot afford it because it is time off work and I was saving my leave for the December holidays,” he said.

“I arrived here on Monday just before 7am but I stood in the queue until they closed the gates at 2.30pm and it was the same story Tuesday and today [Wednesday] again.”

He said he had tried to phone to make a booking but had been kept on hold until he ran out of airtime, or he found the landline engaged.

“They say you should make bookings over the phone, but you can never get through — and then you get people who walk straight in without queuing so I wonder how they made their bookings?

“It has been a really unfair experience.

“Other people in the line say they have been trying to get assistance since last week,” he said.

When The Herald visited the traffic department on Wednesday during an oversight visit by the DA, a huge queue was seen outside.

Flanked by DA MPL Marshall von Buchenroder and DA Bay councillor John Best, DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga visited the centre in Korsten, saying staff were overworked.

There was also not enough capacity to assist residents who flocked to centre on a daily basis.

Bhanga said they would lobby transport minister Fikile Mbalula to extend the operating hours.

“Saturday is not used entirely and Sunday is also not used,” he said.

“In an emergency situation you make provisions, and we will also ask the municipality to find a way of extending the working hours of the current staff and pay them overtime, if needs be.

“We also say there should also be a way for people to book and make their applications online,” Bhanga said.

He said the new the Motherwell Thusong Centre — which includes a traffic and licensing centre — was supposed to reduce the amount of foot traffic at the Korsten centre but the facility was still unused.

“The Thusong centre must be opened to service the larger groups of people in the city, in not only Motherwell but other surrounding areas.

“The Uitenhage centre is also overrun — the municipality must do something.”

Best said the staff organigram for the Thusong Centre had not yet been approved by council.

“Once the organigram is approved, the national department of transport will issue the necessary equipment and Thusong would cover at least 30% of the workload now facing the staff at Korsten, who have worked beyond their capabilities to service the people,” Best said.

Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said the long queues were due to the Covid-19 regulation adherence and skeleton staff operating daily.

She said the Korsten staff was split into two shifts for the centre to operate Monday to Friday from 7am to 3pm and the Uitenhage centre worked only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

  The Motherwell centre was still awaiting the completion of electrical work that needed to be done by the municipality.

“They experienced a staff shortage and promised to even work on a weekend to assist with the work that needs to be done.

“The cashier cubicles are not completed.

“After lockdown the contractor returned only in September to work on all its outstanding work.

“Only after the above-mentioned is completed the department of transport will do inspection and grade the centre accordingly,” Ndamase said.

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