Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni, recently announced the relocation of Rossburgh Driving Licence Testing Centre to Pinetown due to extensive damages at the centre following the disastrous torrential rains that wreaked havoc on various state properties and facilities, leaving at least 443 dead in the province.
Following an assessment by MEC Nkonyeni on the flood damage to Rossburgh Driving Licence Testing Centre, it has been decided that services based in Durban will temporarily move to the Pinetown Driving Licence Testing Centre after the heavy rains caused major destruction to the centre’s information technology (IT) equipment for the National Traffic Information System (ENATIS). Nine patrol vehicles belonging to the department also recently fell victim to vandalism. MEC Nkonyeni said the station is the third largest in the country and processes more than 32 000 applications a month. “This is the biggest station in the province, hence we have taken the decision to prioritise attending to its challenges. The recent floods completely destroyed many key work areas of the centre and it will remain closed. We have agreed that Pinetown will be used for issuing licences.
The bookings that have already been made in Rossburgh will continue in Pinetown during the weekends. We deeply apologise for the inconvenience caused to our applicants, but we wish to assure them that we are doing all we can to restore the services. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) will assist the department in setting up the ENATIS line in Pinetown whilst the assessment to the damage is being conducted,” said MEC Nkonyeni. She added that the Department of Transport is engaging with the Department of Public Works in procuring temporary office accommodation to ensure that service delivery is not affected. “This is the third instance in recent times where the station has been flooded. As a long-term solution, the department is also looking at the possibilities of relocating entire offices to an area where it will not be in danger of always getting flooded,” the MEC concluded.
