SA’s only driver’s licence machine now working after three-month breakdown

Staff members at the Driving Licence Card Account, an entity of the transport department, will work overtime to tackle the backlog in the issuing of cards after the country’s only printing machine was repaired and operations have resumed.

The machine had been out of operation since February 5, which led to a backlog of 747,748 outstanding cards to be printed, said department spokesperson Collen Msibi.

The backlog breakdown per province at the beginning of this month is as follows:

• Gauteng: 252,745;
• KwaZulu-Natal: 115,020;
• Western Cape: 108,402;
• Mpumalanga: 66,833;
• Limpopo: 61,769;
• Eastern Cape: 55,393;
• North West: 39,983;
• Free State: 33,741; and
• Northern Cape: 13,862.

“With the catch-up plan, updates on the backlog reduction will be provided as and when significant progress is made. However, the backlog reduction is also dependent on the number of orders received on a daily basis,” Msibi said.

The machine is more than 20 years old and regularly breaks down. Its parts need to be imported when there are breakdowns, according to previous reports.

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