NaTIS? Never, never, never again!

A warning to vehicle owners: for heaven's sake, do not order your licenses online through the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS)! NaTIS informed me as early as August that it was time to renew my license (which expired at the end of September). In the same email, I was invited to renew it online; for an additional R99, it would be delivered to my home "within three to five days." What a pleasure that seemed, as I had no desire to stand in long queues at the municipality. On 18 August, I therefore paid an amount of R591 (R492 for the license and R99 for courier costs). After about two weeks had passed without delivery, I began to grow concerned – more so upon receiving a message from the City of Cape Town stating that I needed to renew my license. My numerous emails and calls to the City of Cape Town were fruitless; I was informed that they had no record of my license having been renewed. After I sent proof of payment to the City of Cape Town, they recommended that I contact NaTIS, where I was repeatedly told that the license had indeed been delivered. When I asked for proof of delivery, NaTIS suddenly changed its tune: their courier services "could not get hold of you by telephone and at the address you provided". And – wait for it – I could have the license collected in Centurion at my own expense! I was therefore left with no choice but to do what I had initially tried to avoid, namely to go and queue at the Durbanville municipal offices, where a friendly and helpful official named Sias printed my license for me. Joy, but NaTIS? Never again!