Drive-through license renewal centre opens in George

George in the Western Cape has become the first municipality in the province to roll out a drive-through car license renewal centre.

Innovative and quick, customers have the option of using the drive-through or the inside counters that handle bulk services.

The centre was opened to take the pressure off the main license office and alleviate some of the challenges it was facing.

The George Municipality is setting another benchmark for the rest of the country to follow, and at the same time, improving service delivery to the town’s people with the main license centre taking strain. The municipality upgraded an unused building in Blanco to take some of the pressure off.

“George is growing at a rapid pace and what we found at our existing motor vehicle registration office is that it was starting to become a bit cramped as the people who were coming there needed to stand in queues. We were having pressure from the bulk dealers – the motor dealers who come with multiple items. So that’s why we created this centre and at the same time we thought we can do it even simpler for people who don’t necessarily wish to stand in a queue,” says the mayor of George, Leon van Wyk.

For the first ever customers, the experience was a breeze – no hassle and no fuss.

“It was easy and we felt so welcome. It was just amazing all these people around and welcoming us as the first customers. I’ll recommend my friends and family to come here for the renewal of their motor licenses,” says Lilian Stoffels, one of the first users of the new drive-through licence centre.

Provincial authorities are keen to see the same model being rolled out to other municipalities.

Western Cape Minister of Mobility, Daylin Mitchell, has explained how the provincial transport department works with municipalities in testing and rolling out such innovations.

“In the transport space, we are constantly innovating and supporting municipalities – municipalities being the planning authority for all these services that directly deliver to citizens. So, the Department of Transport provincially has been in contact with various municipalities to see how we can innovate in that space and we will definitely take this forward to other municipalities,” says Mitchell.

Officials say the drive through centre is a prime example of what can be achieved when local and provincial government work together.

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Source: SABC News (sabcnews.com)