Service delivery in the Makhado Municipality is a serious problem. Not only are residents battling to cope with water and electricity shortages and poor roads, but renewing a driver’s license is also a major headache.

This has been the experience of Mrs Melony Coetzee, who has been trying to renew her driver’s license since August of last year. She has had to reapply a number of times, and each time she is informed that she has to make another application because of "problems on the machine". This also entails the buying of a temporary license at a fee of almost R80, to prevent her being fined for driving without a license if she is stopped by traffic officials. Her two sons, Kirk and Rory, are in the same boat and are still trying to get their licenses renewed. One of them has had a problem with his insurance when he was involved in an accident. The temporary license is not accepted, especially if the original renewal application was made some time ago.

In the past, Zoutpansberger has reported on the countrywide problems with the Inatus system as they affected local residents, especially in terms of long queues. Up to a few months ago, one was required to spend many hours in a queue to do the required eye test and submit the necessary documents. Currently, the situation seems to have improved somewhat. The excessively long queues are no longer prevalent, but the problems with the machine still seem a reality.

Another resident of the town, Mr Daan Rossouw, has had a similar experience. He applied for his license to be renewed in June of last year. His application was rejected on the grounds that he has to wear glasses when he drives. He made intermittent enquiries about the process, but was told that nothing had happened yet. His file was subsequently sent to Polokwane. Some time later, in January this year, when he enquired about the state of affairs, he was told that his file had been lost and that he would have to reapply and go through the whole process again. He refused to accept this and insisted that the officials look for his file. After a long time, it was found and he was informed that he needed to bring an endorsement from his optometrist that states the need for him to wear glasses while he drives. He complied with this request, but his filed had disappeared again. He reminded the person at the desk that he had seen the previous person put the file under the counter. After some searching, his file was discovered. He was then told to bring another set of photographs and a certified copy of his ID. It will take another six weeks, if he is lucky, for the process to be completed.

In answer to a question put to Mr Eric Chauke of the municipality, he indicated that the machines are currently in working order, although he admitted that they had been defective upon occcasion in the past. He also indicated that people who have to wear glasses while driving should perhaps be pro-active and obtain a certificate from an optometrist to confirm this. This fact is then indicated on the renewed license, which means that such a person must wear glasses at all times when driving.

People who have to go through the application process repeatedly need not pay the R180 application fee again. They must, however, bring along another set of photographs and a certified copy of their ID. In response to a question of why this is necessary, Mr Chauke indicated that the application is sent off to Pretoria physically, accompanied by the required documentation. Once an application has been rejected, the documents and photos are not returned, which necessitates the additional photographs and ID copy with any further application.