New R34-million vehicle testing and licensing centre opened

The Makhado Municipality officially opened their smart new vehicle testing and licensing centre in Louis Trichardt on 30 April.

The event was attended by traditional leaders, driving-school owners, car-dealership owners, and members of the community at large. The new station comes as a relief to locals as the old and dilapidated Louis Trichardt vehicle testing station could no longer meet the demands of local communities.

Makhado Mayor Dorcus Mboyi said that the municipality had taken a decision that nobody would ever need to walk long distances and wait for long periods before they could apply for their licenses and licence renewals, particularly people in the deep rural areas who were forced to spend more money on transport to town to access services.

The licence-renewal service will take less time and is part of an initiative to bring convenience and efficiency to townships and informal settlements, said Mboyi during the centre’s opening on the corner of Rissik and Krogh Street. The R34-million project was started in February 2021.

The centre provides full online and cashless services and is solar-powered to ensure services are delivered during load shedding. Mboyi said corruption in driver's licence renewals was caused by “runners” who demanded payment for booking slots on behalf of residents. “These operations have ceased at this smart licence-testing centre. Here you come as per appointment and a law enforcer becomes the centre manager. This approach will assist in mitigating serious issues of corruption, making the process fairer and more transparent,” said Mboyi.

Representing the Driving School’s Association, Mr Petrus Maboyi said he appreciated the good work the municipality was doing for its people. “As an association, we are very excited about this development,” he said, adding that the new admin block boosted the development of the town. “It really shows that the municipality cares about its people and the development of the town,” he said.

News - Date: 02 May 2024

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]