Driver's licence cards machine back online to tackle 350k applications

The national transport department has a backlog of 350,000 driver's licence cards to tackle after the machine which produces them broke down but is back to full production.

Department spokesperson Collen Msibi said on Sunday the machine, which was out of commission for over a month due a broken part, is operating again.

“This follows the department's statement in May informing members of the public that the machine was taken out of production for three weeks to replace a broken part identified during a routine maintenance.”

Msibi said testing of the machine after the replacement of the part took another two weeks “before it was certified to go back to full production”.

“This will see an increase in production from the 60,000 cards produced during the testing period to about 120,000 cards per week.

“The machine has printed an average 2,850,000 cards per annum in the past two financial years.

“The backlog is currently at 350,000 cards for the past five weeks. Backlogs are dependent on the number of orders received. There is currently a catch-up plan to address the backlog, which will be cleared by end of August.”

Msibi said the department wants to introduce a new driving licence card approved by the cabinet in August last year.

“The new card will be launched before the end of the current financial year. It will also bring with it new card production machines to replace the current machine. This signals the new dawn in the driving licence card environment.”

TimesLIVE