Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula Extends Deadline to Renew Driving Licences to March 2022

• Transport Minister Fikile Mbabula has given South Africans an extended grace period to renew their driver's licence
• Mbalula accounted on Friday that drivers now have until 31 March 2022 to make sure that they are driving legally
• The Democratic Alliance says the Road Traffic Management Corporation system needs to be completely transformed and made efficient

JOHANNESBURG - Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula announced on Friday that the grace period for drivers whose driving licences expired from 26 March 2020 will have until the end of March 2022 to renew their licences.

Mbalula's announcement comes after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) called on the Transport Minister to reconsider giving motorists an extension because drivers were faced numerous challenges such as long queues at testing centres, according to EWN.

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The department has also been plagued with huge backlogs and the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) has stated that there are 500 000 licences waiting to be processed on the system.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Mbalula stated that the extension of the grace period has been granted to give motorists a fair chance to renew their driving licences without facing penalties because of issues that are not in their control, reports EWN.

The grace period has been extended to professional driving permits, learner's licences and temporary driving licences including licences that will expire on 31 August 2021.

Democratic Alliance wants the RTMC system to be reformed

The Democratic Alliance is calling for a complete reform of the RTMC system as soon as possible. The party says the current state of the system is plagued with issues of corruption and is inefficient, according to BusinessTech.

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The DA would like professional driving permit applicants to be given the opportunity to apply for renewals during special hours and on weekends. They also suggest that Gauteng motorists should be given that allowance to apply for renewals from anywhere in South Africa.

They also want an improvement of the system that will make it possible for motorists to fill out forms and make payments electronically before visiting the Driving Licence Testing Centre(DLTC).

Amongst other demands, the DA wants an extension of the driving licences renewal to a longer-term, they suggest seven to 10 years.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula kicks off implementation of Amended Aarto Act

Briefly News previously reported that Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula launched the first phase of the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Act on Thursday.

According to EWN, Phase 1 will continue until the end of September this year and three additional phases will end in July 2023.

Speaking at a virtual briefing, Mbalula stated that the initiation of the Aarto Amendment Act Phase 1 entails the expansion of the Road Traffic Infringement Agency's accessibility across the country by providing seven service outlets as well as online services such as the Aarto website and mobile APP.

Source: Briefly News