Durban - The Goble Road Motor Licensing Centre is set to officially reopen next month after it was closed for more than two years.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Sipho Hlomuka visited the facility yesterday to assess the state of readiness ahead of its opening on June 1.
The centre has been closed for two years after the building was condemned and declared unsafe for use. It was also impacted by last April’s floods.
The department said this forced the relocation of services to the Umbilo Motor Licensing Office.
While the building still has to be renovated, new temporary office facilities have been erected at the site to allow for people to access services.
The temporary satellite offices, which cost R13 million, include more cubicles and extra security features, the department said.
Conducting an inspection of the temporary offices, Hlomuka said that they have increased the number of employees to 60 to ensure that people receive services.
“We wish to apologise to the public and staff who have been inconvenienced during this time. The closure of the centre has created a backlog in the renewal and registration of vehicles, which affected ordinary vehicle owners and car dealerships. Out of the 10 cubicles, we have added three more to help hasten the speed of service delivery,’’ he said.
The department said the centre conducts about 70 000 vehicle transactions every month making it the biggest in the province.
‘“All services will be rendered, from vehicle registration to transfer of ownership, issuing of permits and other related services.
“In three months, we will be back to give updates on the main building and to also get a breakdown from engineers on how far they are with the progress to complete the building,’’ Hlomuka said.
Deputy secretary of the KZN Driving School, Mike Ncanana, said they were delighted about the reopening of the centre.
“This will help bring down the long hours spent at other centres like Umbilo centre, due to the long queues.
“You find that many would go home unserviced.
“The reopening of the centre will lessen the stress on our customers when it comes to being serviced,’’ he said.