I renewed my driver’s licence at a “Smart” DLTC – How it went

I recently renewed my driver’s licence card at one of South Africa’s first “Smart” driver’s licence testing centres (DLTCs) in Eco Park, Centurion, and the process was swift and painless.

What makes a DLTC “Smart”, exactly?

Well, the Department of Transport describes it as a DLTC that uses a “Smart Enrolment System” that is integrated with the Department of Home Affairs thus ensuring photos, fingerprints, and other sensitive information are verified and captured in real time between the entities.

This sidesteps the problem of having to show up and stand in long queues in hopes of getting assisted, and waiting for lengthy data capture to take place, in turn cutting the time it takes to renew a licence card in half, the Department of Transport claims.

With my old licence card set to expire on 26 April 2024, I decided to put the “Smart” service to the test.

In and out in a flash

A Smart DLTC requires that you book a slot before visiting as you will not be assisted if you just show up unannounced.

This is done through the online National Traffic Information System and takes approximately five minutes to complete. Once done, you immediately receive an email confirming the date and time you are expected to be there.

At the time of my booking there were hundreds of slots available spread out over several weeks; my appointment was at 14h00 in the afternoon on Tuesday, 27 February 2024.

On the day, I arrived at 13h45 at the Eco Park Smart DLTC, which admittedly is one of the better-looking of its kind in the country, with signage pointing me in the right direction.

Unlike at traditional DLTCs, the long row of chairs outside the doors intended for waiting patrons was empty and I simply walked inside, signed my name at the security, collected the necessary forms from the receptionist’s desk, and got in the back of the line with three people ahead of me.

Looking around, there were fewer than 20 licence renewal applicants inside the room at the various stations.

With the forms completed, I was called to perform an eye test which is also the point where the Smart Enrolment System was put to use in recording my details.

The data capturing and eye exam took all of seven minutes, and thereafter I was directed to the invoicing table.

During this process, I was asked twice if I needed a temporary licence as my current card was less than two months away from its expiry date, and the employees seemed to be very aware that it could take longer than that to get a new card.

I declined both times, warily putting my faith in the country’s licensing regime.

After paying the R228 fee, the worker handed me a receipt and said that I would “receive an SMS within six to ten weeks” notifying me that the card is finished, and I was out of the doors of the Eco Park Smart DLTC at 14h04.

Seven weeks and one day after lodging my request for a new driver’s licence – at 12h07 on Wednesday, 17 April 2024 – the Eco Park DLTC informed me via SMS that the card was ready for collection.

Luckily being nearby, I was at the DLTC at 12h58 and, after completing the visitor’s form at the security checkpoint, was promptly directed to a line where a handful of other citizens were waiting on chairs.

An assistant came through and retrieved all our receipts, and he came back shortly thereafter with documents each of us had to sign before getting our licences.

However, these papers must be signed in front of a DLTC official and the waiting continued for another minute or two, after which I was called up to verify that all my information was accurate and to put down my signature.

Eco Park Smart DLTC Collections Waiting Area

By 13h06, I was back in my car with a new licence card in hand that expires in 2029.

From start to finish, I spent a total of 27 minutes physically inside the Eco Park Smart DLTC to renew the vital document – not including the 50 days of waiting for the SMS.

Customer service wasn’t a high point, though, neither during the application nor the collection phases.

Without deviation, the various DLTC employees begrudgingly acknowledged my existence when I got to their stations but uttered nary a word, occasionally mumbling an instruction or lazily pointing a finger towards the next thing I must do.

However, brash employees and all, this card renewal was the least mind-numbing experience I’ve ever had at a DLTC.