MUNICIPAL DYSFUNCTION: City debt and procurement negligence paralyse Joburg’s driving licence centres
The chaos at City licensing centres is a direct fallout of a 13-month financial standoff in which the City admits it owes more than a year in licensing fees to the province, compounded by severe municipal procurement negligence.
Chaos has engulfed Johannesburg's driving licence centres, a direct consequence of a 13-month financial deadlock and rampant municipal procurement failures. The City of Johannesburg owes over a year's worth of licensing fees to the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT), while simultaneously suffering from procurement negligence. Motorists face long queues, locked doors, and turned-away rejections as they attempt to renew licence discs or apply for driving documentation at these centres.
A spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg confirmed that the local government has neglected to transfer licensing agency fees to the GDRT since June 2025, leaving the provincial authorities to impose a strict quota of face-value paper for printing official driving licences and vehicle registration forms. This intergovernmental dispute has crippled the centres' ability to produce the necessary stationery, forcing the GDRT to limit weekly shipments of the crucial paper.
City-managed driving licence testing centres (DLTCs) currently have secure face-value paper stock available, but the GDRT has increased the allocation from 25 to 30 boxes per week to sustain daily operations. Despite this, the tight inventory management leaves no room for error, as the centres remain under constant pressure to fulfill the mounting demand.
The dispute between Johannesburg's municipal licensing centres and the provincial "smart DLTCs" highlights a stark power struggle over money and control. While municipal centres are operated by the City, which collects fees but fails to pay what is owed to the provincial transport department, the provincial smart centres run a cashless, appointment-based system directly under the GDRT.
Residents experience stark differences: municipal centres suffer closures and backlogs, causing wasted trips and month-long delays in renewing licences, while provincial centres remain open with extended hours and faster turnaround.
The procurement failures have compounded the paper rationing, with acute shortages of standard A4 paper and printer cartridges within the City's own managed DLTCs. The City allowed its supply contract to expire without a replacement tender, leaving administrative staff unable to issue standard physical receipts and forcing desperate motorists to seek assistance from touts outside testing centres.
Backlogs, primarily confined to bulk processing centres, have left day-to-day walk-in centres mostly unaffected, but motorists are directed to nearby operational centres when temporary localised delays occur.
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