Motorists’ last-ditch bid to avoid fines on expired licences

MOTORISTS braved the rain, wind and frosty conditions in a last ditch effort to avoid fines for expired licence discs.

The deadline for licence discs renewal expires at midnight on Monday.

Motorists who have not taken advantage of the grace period would be fined R500 and the vehicles would be deemed unlicensed. On top of the fine you would also be slapped with penalties for late payment.

According to the gazetted regulations:

-Discs that expired on June 30, payment and renewal had to be completed by July 21.

-Discs that expired on July 31, payment and renewal had to be completed by August 21.

-Motor trade vehicle numbers/trade plates for motor vehicle dealers must be renewed by November 31.

-Driver licences, learner licenses, and roadworthy certificates must be renewed by January 31, 2021.

Yesterday, high volumes of motorists were left standing in the pouring rain to renew their motor vehicle licences across the city, including at the Cape Town Civic Centre and Milnerton Traffic Department.

Among those was Michelle Daniels, who went to renew her motor vehicle licence at the Cape Town Civic Centre yesterday.

Daniels said: “I have been here for an hour and a half already and there is a very long queue. I have asked the security how long it will take us to get to the tellers but no one can tell us.”

Also affected was Bart Smithers: “I am here to register a car and it is the second time that I am here. I’m standing close to three hours in the queue and it is ridiculous that people are standing in the rain and wind.”

Deputy mayor and mayco member for finance, Ian Neilson, said: “Customers who could not renew their licences due to lockdown, but who needed to renew their licences before March 26 when the lockdown was implemented but failed to do so, will unfortunately have to pay penalties. These fines cannot be written off as it is not a decision the city can make. This falls within the ambit of the National Department of Transport and the city follows the prescripts of the applicable regulations and legislation.”

Despite the rush, Neilson appealed to customers to only visit offices when necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“Please visit offices early in the day or make use of online services where possible. Social distancing must please be adhered to when visiting our customer office,” he added.

Meanwhile, most of the city’s driving licence testing centres (DLTC) are opening on Saturdays from 8am until 1pm for the renewal of driver licence cards, driver licence and learner licence applications.

Traffic services spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout said: “The backlog has been dealt with except at a few of our centres. Turnaround times for tests range between 3-6 weeks. All DLTCs are open for driver licence applications except for Elsies River and Bellville. All DLTCs are open for learner licence applications except for Kuils River, Lingelethu West, Bellville and Somerset West.”