Road Safety Blog

Public Service offering key services following COVID-19 Lockdown

Media

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has begun re-opening its key Public Service Centres, including licencing units after they were closed for over two months due to the COVID-19 national lockdown.

These Public Service Centres have opened this morning and will operate in phases which are aligned with the Departmental COVID-19 recovery plan, which places at the centre the safety of staff and members of the community.

As of last week Friday, 05 June 2020, 31 Registering Authorities in the province have already been re-opened, whilst nine private vehicle testing centres have also been opened.

Today Monday, 08 June 2020, some Driving Licencing Testing Centres (DLTCs) and Motor Licencing offices have opened and are offering full services. These include offices in Goble Road, uMbilo and Pinetown in eThekwini. The priority will be given to car dealerships. The Provincial Regulatory Entity offices will also open to provide services to the public transport industry.

The Provincial DLTCs will resume operations on Tuesday, which includes Pinetown, Mkhondeni and Newcastle to cover the spread of the province. However, only members of the public who had prior appointments and who have been sent notifications will be attended to. No new bookings will be taken until further notice. No person shall come to the offices if not sent a message or contacted by the Department.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Bheki Ntuli today inspected, amongst other compliance issues and adherence to the COVID-19 Recovery Plan, which primarily focuses on the safety of staff and members of the public.

He said officials in the Department were working around the clock to ensure the provision of services.

“After conducting the inspection today I must say we are very impressed. The opening of our centres in a phased approach is to reduce the backlog as there are more than 5 806 candidates for learners’ licences with more than 5 033 candidates for driver’s licence tests that had to either be cancelled or postponed. More than 37 134 vehicles were affected. Overall, we are estimating that R37 million in revenue was lost. We are working hard to put plans into action to catch up with the lost period, including working extra hours and working on weekends. We are now comfortable with the safety and our staff and members of the public who will be visiting our offices,” said MEC Ntuli.

Motor Licencing offices in Pinetown, Goble Road, Umbilo in eThekwini and Hyslop Road in Pietermaritzburg will be opened to members of the public from Monday, 08 June 2020 from 08h00 – 14h30.

MEC Ntuli further appealed for patience and understanding from communities during a difficult time. He urged them to continue wearing masks and observe physical distancing when visiting our service centres.

Ntuli concluded by appealing to members of the public not to panic since the Minister of Transport has approved the 90-days grace period for all licences that have expired.

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