Motorists frustrated as system failure means licence applications can't be processed

Cape Town officials on Tuesday said they were unable to renew or process driving licence applications as the eye-testing machines were offline.

Traffic department spokesperson Richard Coleman said a number of a driving licence testing centres across the country had been affected.

The city said the issue started at the weekend in Pretoria after the department of licensing and consumer affairs experienced a power failure, which affected its national server.

“While it has since gone back online, it appears centres around the country are unable to connect to the server, which means the eye testing units cannot be used,” said Coleman.

He said the DLCA had been alerted to the issue and was working to resolve it. Attempts to obtain comment were unsuccessful at the time of publishing.

Meanwhile, HeraldLIVE reported Nelson Mandela Bay centres had also been affected.

The city’s director of traffic and licensing, Warren Prins, said they could not predict when the issues would be resolved.

“Unfortunately we do not have a time frame when these machines, used to renew and issue newly acquired driving licences and book learner’s licences among other things, will be back online.

“These machines log on to national software systems to transact.”

Prospective clients were warned against visiting the centres until further notice.  

“The city apologises for any inconvenience and will inform the public as soon as the system is up and running again,” said Coleman.