Waiting on Provesional Drivers Permit

I went for my PDP on the 12 September 2018 waited untill the18 October 2018 to get clearance paid for a tempory PDP and now still waiting on the card. The department tells me that the company making the cards are on strike. I know of people waiting for their Drivers licence since August 2018 due to this problem. Was told that if my tempory PDP expire i have to go through the whole proses again. Surely there is anothe company that can do this or is it a money making thing