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The civil rights organisation AfriForum today sent a letter to Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Minister of Transport, demanding clarity from her department regarding the broken license printing machine. It was reported on 3 May that South Africa’s only license printing machine had broken down again – less than a year since this happened the last time. The spokesperson for the national Department of Transport said that driving license cards will be printed again within two to three weeks. However, it’s more than a month later and the Department has not issued any updates on whether the machine has been fixed.

AfriForum’s more than 310 000 members, as well as the public at large, deserve answers and clarity when it comes to this critical service the government is supposed to provide without complications or serious delays.

AfriForum has requested that the Minister of Transport confirm whether the license printing machine has been fixed or not and if it is still not functional, to provide AfriForum with a timeframe within which it will be fixed.

In the context of these government failures and the ensuing backlogs, AfriForum will be in the High Court in Pretoria on 7 and 8 August to demand, among other things, a declaratory order stating that the five-year validity period of driving licenses is unconstitutional and that all fines issued for expired licenses are unconstitutional.

“Not only is the South African government unable to provide the basic service of license renewal, but they also appear to either not have the ability or desire to keep the public informed on the status of the problem they caused. That is exactly why AfriForum exists – to take the side of the public when the government does not. Make your voice heard with us at www.nodriversexpiry.co.za,” says Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.

Submitted by AfriForum