One of the motorists that was turned away, Pieter du Plessis, stated the official's reasoning was that there were already too many people inside the premises. However, this is very frustrating for him as he has been at the traffic centre three times last week and he received the same treatment. 

Thapelo Morake, who also received the very same treatment, explained they told him to arrive in the early hours of the morning in order to be assisted. Motorists whose driving licenses expired between 26 March 2020 and 31 August 2021 are given until tomorrow, 31 March, to renew them.

“They stated I should come back earlier tomorrow, so I can be in the queue. However, I only took one day off from work to renew my license. Tomorrow I will have to go to work in the morning and the cut-off day of the grace period is also tomorrow,” stated Morake.

Also Read: D-day for licence renewals

Another motorist, who would like to remain anonymous, stated that he received the exact treatment and in addition, he was told it is advisable to be at the traffic centre by 06:00 to be assisted, as the queues are already long around that time.

The Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, previously stated the reason for the grace periods was due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic – which resulted in restrictions that led to the closure of Driving Licence Testing Centres, which in turn led to backlogs in the processing of licences.

Also Read: Department of Police, Roads and Transport back to business

The Traffic Centre, together with some offices under the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport, have recently started operating after being closed down for days due to no running water in the buildings. This follows after the Mangaung Metro Municipality cut off water supply to the buildings after non-payment towards their water bill.

OFM News is awaiting a response from the provincial department.

OFM News/Corn Koteli and Olebogeng Motse