VHF radio Licnese fiasco

During the covid years ICASA stopped sending out invoices for annual radio license renewal. As a result I didn't pay mine one year and they simply cancelled my VHF radio license. When I realised this I tried to pay only to find that I had to re-register my radio. What a mission as their "online" portal which is a manual system - you input the data and then someone at ICASA has to approve it manually before you get to the next step, so it takes days to do. Eventually they decide that my operator license, which has no expiry date on it, needs to be replaced with a new SRC (short range certificate). To do this I have to attend a course and write an exam at a cost of many thousands of Rand, which I did in early December 2023. It took them 3 months to issue me with a temporary radio operators license (SRC - short range certificate) which was supposed to take a few days. At least it was enough to register my VHF radio but only lasts 6 months while they print a permanent certificate. Nine months later I am still waiting for it and my temporary license has long since expired. I am told that my permanent license has now been printed (hooray) but still has to be approved before I can collect it. What a joke. So I continue to operate without an operators license, simply because a government department cannot print and issue a certificate in 9 months. Someone should be fired.