LISTEN | Public petition to oppose driving licence fee renewal hike still in effect: AA

A government gazette outlining proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) fees has caused outrage among motorists and civil society organisations in recent days.

Listen to what the AA has to say here: 

The proposal, as can be read in the gazette, includes a charge to motorists of R250 for online bookings to renew driving licences. This is for the booking only, excluding the actual cost of the licence, R700 for online registrations of motor vehicles, and R700 for online change of ownership of motor vehicles.

These fees are additional to transaction fees of R72 for every transaction performed at the RTMC and R99 for the delivery of driving licence cards if you want the card delivered to you.

Organisations including the Automobile Association (AA) and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) have taken strong exception to the proposed fees.

However, the RTMC has recently come forward to say these public interest groups have misinterpreted the draft regulations, saying no new fees are being proposed but that these represent existing fees.

AA spokesperson Layton Beard said this is not made clear by the gazette and as a result the AA will continue with a public petition to object to the RTMC’s new fee proposal, which looks to amend the 2007 regulations.

Beard explained that officially clarifying the draft fees is critical to ensure that South Africans aren’t made to pay more and that a clear understanding of what is expected is reached.

The association said it will make a formal submission to the department of transport highlighting its concerns. It has also launched an online petition against the proposed fees to collect signatures to support its submission, which must be made before October 4.

Beard outlined that the goal of the public petition is to have the proposed fees not only clarified and amended, but also revised down to become more affordable for struggling motorists. He said the group hopes to have fees standardised across provinces, and to bring attention to what it considers a “broken” driving licence renewal and vehicle registration system.

The gazetted notice, with details for submitting comment, is here.

The AA’s public petition can be accessed here. 

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