Traffic system a shaky success

2007-04-18 19:58

Johannesburg - At least 600 000 people had accessed services on the upgraded transport information system by 13:00 on Wednesday, said the transport department.

"That is phenomenal," the department's safety promotions manager Ntau Letebele said.

Letebele acknowledged that the system was still shaky in some areas like Johannesburg and Pretoria.

"Our technicians are working on it...to make the system stable".

The best-performing stations were Windsor Park in Durban with 4 259 transactions, 3 793 in Tshwane Central RA, 3 291 in Johannesburg and 2 722 in Bloemfontein.

'Please be patient?'

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 opened only on Tuesday in Johannesburg.

Although the stations were opened, the system was still shaky on Wednesday in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Johannesburg metro spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said: "The system is slower than usual and there are possibilities of problems. We ask the public to please bear with us," 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, said superintendent Alta Fourie.

"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.

- SAPA