As part of its October Transport Month campaign, Eastern Cape MEC for Transport Thandiswa Marawu opened the Sterkspruit Registering Authority (RA) in the Senqu Municipality on 20 October 2011.
A registering authority is an authority which has a mandate of:
(i) Issuing of duplicate registration certificates
(ii) Processing of applications for the reduction of tare weight on new trucks
(iii) Registering motor vehicles
(iv) Licensing motor vehicles
(v) Processing of applications for the introduction of motor vehicles.
According to the vehicle statistics of the Senqu Municipality there are 6 132 vehicles, out of those, 1 973 are licensed at Barkley East and 4 159 vehicles are licensed at Lady Grey and some of these vehicles originate from Sterkspruit.
“The time for planning is over we must implement now, this office must be utilised by all as it is for the public, however, I must warn of the challenges that come with this new responsibility, especially that of corruption”, said MEC Marawu
MEC Marawu added that this is the 60th Registering Authority (RA) in this province and that 23% of the revenue that is going to be collected in this office will go to the municipality, meaning Sterkspruit will now start generating its own revenue.
Chief Director for Transport Regulations Mrs Romilla Metune said it is the responsibility of any Municipality to apply to the department for the opening of a Registering Authority in its area through her office and it’s only then that the application shall be considered.
“We are making a call as the department to those Municipalities that have not yet applied to make sure that they do so, as this is a service delivery tool that the department is offering to them”, added Metune.
The Inspectorate office of the National Department of Transport together with the Provincial Inspectorate officials and Provincial eNaTiS Security Officer shall conduct the necessary inspection and give recommendations for consideration.
In order to encourage best practice in rendering of motor vehicle services, the department has partnered with Senqu Municipality to ensure that the office is opened and the RA office shall carry the mandate of taking services to the people and improve revenue generation for the local Municipality.
