Public asked to be patient

2007-04-18 10:56

Johannesburg - All vehicle testing stations in Johannesburg and Pretoria were open on Wednesday, but glitches with the upgraded traffic information system continued.

Johannesburg metro police spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, said all stations were open on Wednesday morning when the eNaTIS system went online.

"The system is slower than usual and there are possibilities of problems. We ask the public to please bear with us," Minnaar said.

He said all vehicle registration, licensing, testing and licence renewals would go ahead.

In Pretoria, the new system kept shutting down as it did on Tuesday, Superintendent Alta Fourie said.

"We keep explaining to the public that the system is down. We can't say when will it be up, but they can wait."

Fourie said drive-through centres, where motorists renewed their licences, would remain closed the whole week.

Vehicle testing stations, vehicle registering authorities and driver's licence testing centres were closed last week for the upgrading of the old National Transport Information System (NaTIS) to the new eNaTIS system.

All testing stations were supposed to have been operating by Monday, but were still closed in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Technical hiccups were reported in most stations countrywide.

The new service is electronic and means traffic-related transactions may be done through automated teller machines and the internet.

Transport Minister Jeff Radebe gave the system the "all clear" at a launch in Midrand on Tuesday.

- SAPA