Transport MEC must explain KZN’s exorbitant vehicle license fees

11 October 2017

KZN Transport MEC, Mxolisi Kaunda, must explain the announced increase in the cost of vehicle licenses in the province.

The increase, announced by the National Transport Minister, will see KZN motorists paying the highest licensing fees in the country with a so-called "transaction fee" set to increase from R42 to R72 as of February 1 next year.

The move is set to affect motorists across the country, with licensing fees differing from one province to the next.

The DA regards the current KZN licensing fees, along with the anticipated transaction fee increase, as both exorbitant and prohibitive given the current economic challenges being faced by so many.

We also regard the move as yet another thinly-veiled initiative by the ANC-led provincial government, aimed at raising revenue to plug the ever- increasing gaping hole in the province’s fiscus due to financial mismanagement and corruption.

The question that must be asked is - what exactly are KZN’s motorists paying for? Certainly it is not for service delivery when people are standing in queues for six hours and more to renew their vehicle licences at the province’s Motor Licensing Bureaus.

It also cannot be for be for good roads when there are still so many potholes, unkempt verges and poor signage. And it is most definitely not for proper law-enforcement. The sheer number of deaths on our province's roads tells us this.

The reality is that KZN motorists have been paying more for licenses than those in other provinces for years. This biased system has seen vehicles, in particular heavy vehicles such as buses, being registered outside of the province. This has in turn compromised the safety of road users with many later being found not to be roadworthy.

The current unjust licensing system must come to an end. The DA will insist that MEC Kaunda explain what warrants KZN’s spiralling license fees.

Issued by Rafeek Shah, DA KZN Spokesperson on Transport, 11 October 2017