Department of Transport seeks interim fix for licence card backlog

THE Department of Transport is on a mission to find an interim solution to address the issue of reliance on the current driving licence card machine.

- MANYANE MANYANE

The department was responding to a statement by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) following the announcement that the machine had been repaired and operations resumed.

The breakdown of the machine, according to the department, led to a backlog of more than 700000 outstanding cards to be printed.

Outa said the machine is prone to regular breakdowns and is bound to break down again.

The organisation said the machine also lacks modern security features.

Outa said it is still waiting for the department to provide a solution to this problem.

This was the 160th time the printer had broken down, based on a recent statement from the department.

“It is a relief to hear that the machine has been repaired, but the question is, how soon it will break down again?” said Stefanie Fick, Outa’s executive director.