No driver’s licence fines should be issued until the Department of Transport (DTC) gets its affairs in order and the printing backlog is overcome. This is the assertion of the Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) amidst uncertainty over the delay. Previously, following yet another card-printing breakdown, the DTC said the backlog would take four months to clear.
In May, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy confirmed that around 733 000 driver’s licences sat in the queue. Nearly half of the 1.3-million backlog peak in 2022/2023. Although the DTC usually advises 14 days to process a licence application, this has risen to six weeks since the printer breakdown. To avoid driver’s licence fines, authorities advise holding onto your expired license card, along with proof of a new application.
SUSPEND DRIVER’S LICENCE FINES
Furthermore, the DTC said 269 000 back-logged cards had already been cleared. However, those numbers don’t add up. At the current printing rate of 2 400 cards per day, it will take more than one year to clear the backlog, reports BusinessTech. As such, the Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is calling on Minister Creecy to suspend driver’s licence fines. The non-profit initiative says government should waive fines and temporary licence process for those who have cards stuck in the system through no fault of their doing.
OUTA believes it’s unfair to fine motorists who are waiting for their card renewals. Likewise, in light of on-going printer breakdowns, OUTA argues the validity of all licence cards should be extended to 10 years. The civil action organisation has been highly involved in the license printing debacle. It was OUTA’s independent investigation last year that uncovered significant irregularities in the tender procurement process.
TENDER IRREGULARITIES
In turn, the Transport Minister passed OUTA’s report onto the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). AGSA noted that while a new printing machine cost R486 million, a tender worth R898 million was irregularly awarded. Many believe this near doubling of cost was to facilitate new digital Driver’s Licence Card Accounts (DLCAs).
French company, Idemia, raised plenty of eyebrows when it won the massive tender. The firm is considered a leader in biometrics and smart technology and has associations with government all around the globe. There is still no clarity from the department on whether a new tender will be awarded. Or if driver’s licence fines will be suspended in the meantime.
SHOULD FINES BE SUSPENDED UNTIL THE BACKLOG IS CLEARED?
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