DRAFT NEWS RELEASE 17
March 2003
page one
As the deadline looms, a team of experts has been
assembled by the City of Cape Town to assist motorists who still haven’t
applied for their new driver’s licence cards.
With only 35 days to go before the final deadline on
April 30, the team is opening three more application centres in addition to the
13 already operating. New satellite application points will soon be opened at
the Athlone Stadium, Turfhall Road and Khayelitsha.
To raise public awareness of the need to apply as
soon as possible if a last-minute panic rush is to be avoided, the City is also
launching a communications campaign counting down the days to the final
deadline.
According to traffic authorities, 122 000 Cape Town
drivers have not yet applied, and both the National and Provincial Departments
of Transport have warned that the deadline will definitely not be extended
beyond the end of April.
A last-minute crisis rush seems likely, given the
fact that only 580 of the necessary 4 000 applications a day are being
received.
Temporary helpers can’t be brought in because special
access cards are required for the National Traffic Information System. On February
27 and 28 – the initial deadline – the crisis was aggravated by the congestion
of the system which could process only four applications per hour while feeding
into the main system in Pretoria.
Drivers who fail to meet the deadline face the
prospect of having to re-apply for
their learner’s licence and driver’s licence.
Traffic authorities have advised motorists to ask for
a temporary licence because the receipt will cease to be valid after the
cut-off date.
All offices processing applications are open from
08h00 to 16h00 Mondays to Fridays, and from 08h00 to 11h00 on Saturdays.
Thirteen application points are open in the six Cape
Town regions
page
two
Cape Town region– Gallows Hill
Tygerberg region – Goodwood, Parow, Bellville and
Elsies River
Blaauwberg region – Atlantis and Milnerton
Oostenberg region – Brackenfell and Kuils River
Helderberg region – Strand, Somerset West and
Gordon’s Bay
South Peninsula region - Hillstar
The City of Cape Town is rendering this service on
behalf of the National Department of Transport.
Issued by Rosemary Hare, Mitchell, Wicomb
Public Relations cc
P O Box 12521
MILL STREET
8010
Ob behalf of The City of Cape Town
Private Bag X9181
CAPE TOWN
8000
For further information, please contact Lesley-Ann
Erasmus at Rosemary Hare, Mitchell, Wicomb Public Relations on (021) 465-1166
or 082 579 3793.
All news releases produced by Rosemary
Hare, Mitchell, Wicomb Public Relations are available on the website www.rosehare.co.za