The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling on the Dawid Kruiper Municipality to urgently prioritise the capacitation of the Upington traffic office, including equipping the unit with adequate management oversight, skills training and additional staff to restore basic service delivery to residents.
Excessively long queues are experienced at the traffic office at certain times of the month. Residents line up from early morning in the hope of being among the small number of applicants assisted. With only a handful of people helped each day, many leave without receiving the services they need, forcing some frustrated residents to travel to traffic offices in other towns to access basic licensing services.
The consequences are far-reaching. Farmers, businesses and workers depend on valid licences to conduct their daily operations and travel to work, while young people, who can only visit the office after school hours, struggle to secure driver’s license appointments. Many residents also fear fines for expired licenses due to circumstances beyond their control.
The staffing shortage is further aggravated by limited skills to effectively utilize the system and the absence of a quality-checking manager. The already thin staff complement is stretched even further when officials are deployed once a month to outlying areas such as Mier for a full week to provide services there. While these outreach services are important, the Upington office simply does not have the capacity to absorb the additional strain.
This ongoing dysfunction wastes residents’ time and makes it increasingly difficult for people to access essential licensing services.
The DA believes that proper management, adequate staffing and training, and improved planning are essential to restoring efficiency at the Upington traffic office, and we have approached the Municipal Manager, Elias Ntoba, to prioritise urgent intervention.
We will continue to engage the municipality and monitor the situation to ensure that the Dawid Kruiper Traffic Office is properly capacitated and able to deliver the reliable services residents deserve.