Driving licence card printing machine disaster strikes again

A machine that produces driving licence cards has broken down.

This was revealed by the department of transport on Wednesday, saying it could take up to three weeks to fix the machine.

The department said the machine broke down after it underwent routine maintenance last month.

“The department of transport has today reassured members of the public that the production of driving licence cards will not be affected by the routine maintenance of the card production machine,” said the department’s spokesperson Collen Msibi.

“The department has therefore encouraged members of the public to continue applying for their driving licence card as normal.

“The routine maintenance started on 05 April 2023 to the 19th of April 2023.Thereafter the technical team encountered a technical breakdown, which requires a replacement of a critical part from the Original Equipment Manufacturer,” he said.

Msibi said it was anticipated that the resumption of card production would commence within the next two to three weeks.

Last year, motorists doing licence renewal applications suffered major backlogs when the over two decades old machine had to be taken to Germany for repairs.