Trouble for anyone renewing their driving licence and car licence discs in South Africa
South Africans trying to renew their driving licences and vehicle licence discs in parts of Johannesburg have been hit by major service disruptions.
These disruptions have been caused by a contract dispute that has left licensing centres without the necessary resources to process transactions.
This is the feedback from Moshe Koma, the City of Johannesburg’s MMC for Public Safety, who commented on the situation in an interview with 702.
He said the disruption stemmed from an expired contract with a service provider, rather than the municipality simply running out of stationery or other supplies.
He explained that the contract had expired early in September, but the replacement arrangement had not yet taken effect.
The problem involves the city’s information and communications technology (ICT) department, which manages services across the municipality.
The disruption has raised concerns about the ability of motorists to complete essential licensing transactions, particularly at busy centres where people depend on services to renew driving licences and vehicle licence discs.
Koma said the municipality had intervened to resolve the issue, with the provincial government and the Department of Transport and Road Transport also involved because of an existing service-level agreement between the parties.
The problem has been reported at licensing facilities in Langlaagte, Midrand, and at Waterfall Office Park.
Koma’s comments focused primarily on the Langlaagte centre and did not independently confirm the extent of the problems at the other facilities.
The expired contract has also prompted questions about why contingency arrangements were not in place before the previous agreement ended.
Contracts have defined expiry dates, which means the municipality should have been able to anticipate the need for a replacement provider and avoid interruptions to public services.
Koma acknowledged that the problem arose at the city’s administrative and procurement level, specifically within its ICT structures.
However, he declined to provide a detailed account of how the contract had been allowed to lapse and said the relevant administrative structures were responsible for the process.
Confirm with your closest licensing centre before
He said the previous service provider had been expected to continue supporting the city until the new contract came into effect, but that arrangement did not materialise as anticipated.
The MMC also acknowledged broader concerns about disruptions to municipal services, but he said he could not comment comprehensively on problems outside his departmental responsibilities.
“I understand and feel what our people have been complaining about,” he said, but added that his department had done its part to restore the affected systems.
The city is now working on a new contract intended to prevent a similar disruption.
Koma said he and the head of the department had made recommendations on how the agreement should be structured to provide for contingencies if a replacement contract was delayed in future.
“What is important is that now we are involved in making sure that the situation doesn’t happen again,” he said.
The replacement contract was still being processed by the city’s group ICT department at the time of the interview.
Koma could not provide a definitive date for its award, and said it would be finalised once the administrative process had been completed.
He said the Public Safety department had been given an opportunity to contribute to the contract’s structure because its licensing centres were among the services most directly affected.
Until the city’s replacement arrangements are fully in place, motorists should confirm that their intended licensing centre is processing transactions before travelling there.
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