City revenue, vehicle licence offices processed some 530 000 transactions even with COVID-19 impact
13 September 2020
The City of Cape Town’s customer offices remain hard at work, having processed some 530 000 transactions since June 2020 alone, even amid the impact of COVID-19 and the national lockdown regulations. Transactions include motor vehicle registration and licensing renewals. The City redeployed staff to assist with the influx of online MVRL applications and to help residents with online support. As far as we know, the City was the first metro in the country to open some of its cash offices from lockdown level 4 in May 2020 already. All cash and motor licensing offices are now open. We continue to look at ways to enhance services to cope with the licence renewal volumes and backlogs, that are not unique to Cape Town but that are being experienced across South Africa.
There are some 1,2 million registered vehicles in the Cape Town metro that require vehicle licensing services. Due to the national lockdown and shutdown during April, May and June 2020, a backlog was created, as is the case in the rest of the country.
Under normal, non-pandemic conditions, some 100 000 motor vehicle-related transactions are performed per month. Last month in August, City staff performed more than 200 000 transactions.
This shows City staff have truly been working day and night to catch up on the backlogs and perform their duties. When doors are closed to members of the public in the afternoon, staff continue to work to process the thousands of Motor Vehicle Dealer applications alone as well as other online applications. Some work until late at night. Unfortunately, there are instances of abuse toward staff, yet they continue to produce at a high rate.
Thank you to our customers for their patience and understanding.
The metro’s customer offices have processed about 530 000 transactions since June 2020, while experiencing severe backlogs as a result of the National Lockdown. This is just slightly lower than the same period last year, without the severe impact that the pandemic has had on all facets of our lives and shows the commitment from the City to provide the service under challenging conditions.
Disaster Regulations required the City to reduce its staff complement in public-facing offices for public safety, while also contending with months of renewals that could not take place due to the lockdown regulations. The vast majority of City staff have worked nonstop through the lockdown levels to ensure the continuation of basic and essential customer services. We thank customers for bearing with us during these abnormal times, as well as our resilient staff for their dedication.
There are some 1,2 million registered vehicles in the metro that require vehicle licensing services. During August alone, City staff processed 200 940 transactions, which is approximately double the usual volume. Staff have gone the extra mile to ensure large numbers of transactions are processed. Staff have worked late into the evenings and over weekends to assist working through backlogs. Due to the fact that the National Traffic Information System (NATIS) is a national system, the City is unfortunately unable to drive the automations that would improve efficiency.
‘Municipalities across the country have faced tremendous pressure in dealing with service request backlogs. However, in Cape Town we will continue to process as many transactions as we can. Not only were we the first metro in South Africa to open our cash and licensing offices, we have done our best to achieve close to the same volumes processed as last year, a year without a pandemic. Completing some 530 000 transactions during this time took dedication and commitment. We wanted to make sure that amid the uncertainty of this pandemic, we offer services to the best of our ability. This has been an abnormal time and we thank all our customers for continuing to support us and for their patience. Please remember that volumes remain high, both in the public offices as well as online. If you do visit our offices, please do so as early in the morning as possible and please adhere to social distancing rules,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Finance and Executive Deputy Mayor, Alderman Ian Neilson.
Customers are reminded of the following (regulations as per the National Department of Transport):
Discs that expired on 31 August 2020 as well as those who received a three-month COVID-19 grace period (for licences that expired on 31 March, 30 April and 31 May) to renew by 22 September 2020
Discs that expired on 30 June 2020: payment and renewal had to be renewed by 21 July 2020
Discs that expired on 31 July 2020: payment and renewal had to be renewed by 21 August 2020
Motor trade vehicle numbers/trade plate for motor vehicle dealers: renew by 30 November 2020
Driver licences, learner’s licences, and roadworthy certificates: renew by 31 January 2021
Customers who could not renew their licences due to lockdown, but who needed to renew their licences before 26 March 2020 when the lockdown was implemented but failed to do so, will unfortunately have to pay the penalties which are imposed by the national system. 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.
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
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
To register for e-Services visit: online e-services portal
For motor vehicle registration and licensing assistance, please email Vehicle.Licence@capetown.gov.za
For customers who have experienced difficulties with the MVRL online transactions, please email Help.Uces@capetown.gov.za
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
