LETTER: Driving licence fiasco is a tangible example of a failed state

In August, transport minister Fikile Mbalula announced that driving licences that expired between March 26 2020 and August 31 2021 would be valid until March 31 2022. But in February Mbalula indicated there is still a total backlog of 2.1-million licences nationally that will have expired by March 31.  The government has since extended the deadline to April 15.

It is laughable to even consider that this incompetent government will clear the backlog by mid-April.  

The driving license fiasco reads like a bad soap opera: problems with the production of driving licence cards, issues around driving licence testing centres and online booking systems and, of course, corruption. All of this has the direct implication that, potentially, insurance claims by motorists will not be paid out.

What has not explicitly been said is that this is a tangible example of a failed state. Many people consider a failed state to be one that is in the midst of a war. This is not the case. Wherever a government is not fulfilling a function that it should be doing, it is failing.

A general perusal of all ANC-run governments and entities clearly makes this point. Consider the government’s supply of electricity, water, basic services, and indeed the issuing of driving licenses.

Manny de Freitas, MP, DA tourism spokesperson

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