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Storm damage sustained to the Somerset West Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) in Victoria Street, Somerset West, two weeks ago seems to have also signalled the end of the road of the building, as it will now be moved to a temporary site in either the Strand or Somerset West area.
Maxine Bezuidenhout, spokesperson for Traffic Services, said that the DLTC forms part of the N2 road reserve. “As the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is planning the realignment of the N2 and, taking into account the recent storm damage, a decision was made rather to establish a temporary site in either the Strand or Somerset West area,” she said. “This process is underway and the location and expected commencement date will be communicated once approved.”
During the storm of Sunday 7 April the DLTC suffered considerable damage.
The roof and one of the roller shutter doors was blown off by the winds experienced and infrastructure damage included collapsed ceilings and exposed electrical wiring.
“The cost has not yet been established, but an insurance claim has been registered,” said Bezuidenhout. “Staff have been redeployed to the other DLTCs located in Area East – Gordon’s Bay, Lingelethu West and Kuils River.”
She also clarified that the Somerset West DLTC, meanwhile, is offering very limited services until further notice. It will honour driving-licence tests and be able to facilitate card collections.
“Management will be in contact with all learner’s licence and driver’s licence applicants who have pending tests to reschedule or facilitate refunds.”
The services impacted are the learner and driving-licence tests as well as the renewal of the driving-licence cards.
To alleviate and mitigate this the Gordon’s Bay DLTC is in the process of being re-graded as a Grade C DLTC, which will allow the centre to conduct motorcycle driving tests. An additional class for learner’s-licence tests was scheduled to be created from Monday 22 April to assist applicants that made bookings previously at Somerset West DLTC. The renewals of driver’s licences can be done at the other DLTCs in Area East, until such time that the Somerset West DLTC opens at the new location.
According to Bezuidenhout the process has commenced to reserve the land identified for the new DLTC to be erected and will follow all relevant protocols, and will most likely be located at the corner of Aerodome and Main road in Strand.
John Jackson, owner of LL Cool J driving School, said that until the temporary site becomes operational, he expected congestions at the Gordon’s Bay DLTC and long waiting times.
“A large number of people from the outskirts of the Helderberg conduct their learner’s and driver’s tests at the Somerset West DLTC, including locals, and it’s a large area that will now only be serviced by Gordon’s Bay. I anticipate some frustrations among the public.”
