By the end of September, the City of Cape Town’s revenue offices had processed more than 683 000 transactions, including vehicle licensing. There are 1,3 million registered vehicles in Cape Town. Due to the national COVID-19 lockdown regulations, backlogs occurred. The City is currently clearing a three to four-month COVID-19 backlog, as well as performing new transactions and is presently processing more than double its normal monthly volumes.
The City thanks customers for their patience during this unprecedented time and apologises for any inconvenience caused. While long queues continue at our offices due to COVID-19 operating regulations as well as the COVID-19 backlog, we encourage residents to visit in person only when necessary, to do so very early in the day or to use our online options where possible. Remember to plan for the delivery of the license that could take about two weeks through the South African Post Office.
Staff have been redeployed to help with the COVID-19 backlogs. During August, City staff performed more than 294 000 transactions, and in September more than 205 000 transactions were processed. This is more than double the normal volumes of about 100 000 per month. The total number of new vehicle registrations processed are currently around 30 000 per month and usually take a longer time to process than license disc renewals.
‘City staff have been hard at work to perform more than double the normal amount of monthly transactions in the last few months. We are operating in an abnormal time, however we will continue to do our utmost to keep up our normal standards as far as possible. Customers are reminded that national COVID-19 regulations still apply and the City must adhere to these. The regulations require a reduced staff complement that is allowed to assist in the front end of offices at the same time and thus fewer customers can be seen each day. When doors close to the public, staff work into the night and over weekends to process online applications to clear backlogs.
‘We will continue to make sure that we offer services to the best of our ability and we thank customers for their patience and understanding,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Finance and Executive Deputy Mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson.
Customers who needed to renew their licences on or before 22 September 2020 but failed to do so, will unfortunately have to pay the penalties which are imposed by the National Traffic Information System (NATIS). Note that online applications over the March, April and May months needed to be redone because of the passage of time. Fines cannot be written off as it is not a decision the City can make. This falls within the ambit of the National Department of Transport and the City follows the prescripts of the applicable regulations and legislation.
Customers are reminded of the following National Transport regulations:
- Discs that expire on 30 September: renew by 21 October 2020
- Discs that expired on or before 31 August 2020 (including the COVID-19 three-month grace period): the renewal is overdue
- Motor trade vehicle numbers/trade plate: renew by 30 November 2020
- Driver’s and learner’s licenses, and roadworthy certificates: renew by 31 January 2021
What to expect when visiting an office:
- COVID-19 screening at the entrances. Limited number of customers allowed in at a time
- Social distancing is required and must be adhered to
- Visit early in the day. There are longer queues due to reduced staff at some offices as required by COVID-19 regulations and high volumes of transactions are being experienced
- You only need your ID for motor vehicle licensing and registration renewals
- To check customer office operating hours, please visit the Operations and Service Notifications document on the City’s website or the City’s social media pages ahead of time if unsure
Register on e-Services to:
- Renew vehicle licences
- Submit water/electricity readings
- Pay accounts online
- View current account and account history
- Apply to receive accounts via email
- Log service requests