The woman, who requested to stay anonymous, said that her licence expired on 26 September. She went to the Steve Tshwete Municipality\u2019s Licencing Department to renew her licence card on 18 August, more than a month before it expires.<\/p>\n
She provided the\u00a0Middelburg Observer<\/i>\u00a0with proof of her application for renewal.<\/p>\n
She was told that she will be notified by SMS when her licence is ready for collection. After hearing nothing for weeks, the woman went back to the Licencing Department to enquire about the status of her licence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first they told me that the company that issues the licences were on strike. During my most recent visit I was told that the company is now upgrading its system,\u201d the lady told\u00a0Middelburg Observer.<\/i><\/p>\n
She says that she was told to apply for a temporary licence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a pensioner and can definitely not afford paying extra money for something that I did not budget for. Am I to be held financially responsible for a mistake out of my control? \u201d the woman asked.<\/p>\n
\u2022Steve Tshwete Municipal spokesperson, Prudence Magutle, said that the lady has since been notified that her licence is ready for collection.<\/p>\n
\u2022Another elderly couple said that they have spent two days at the Licencing Department in an attempt to renew a licence. On Monday, they were told at 15:30 that they were not going to be helped. They returned on the Tuesday, only to be sent home again at 14:00 after they were told that the machines were offline.<\/p>\n
The elderly woman is 79 and in a frail condition. Her husband said that staff at the office were very unsympathetic towards them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told them that I will now be driving to Hendrina. If I get my wife\u2019s licence there I will be deducting my travelling costs from my municipal account,\u201d the elderly man said.
\nHe said that they were told that only two of the three machines work. The third has been broken for at least five months.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is this: I sat and counted and it takes them about 30 minutes to help one person. Let\u2019s say they help 30 people per day. On Fridays they close early so let\u2019s say they help 20 people on a Friday. That amounts to 140 people a week and 6 700 per year. If I look at the amount of residents in Middelburg, it seems that they do not have the capacity to properly assist the public. Why are they not buying more machines to accommodate the increase in residents?\u201d the man asked.<\/p>\n
The couple too, requested to stay anonymous out of fear of victimization.<\/p>\n
The municipality did not respond about the matter before deadline.<\/p>\n
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