THE United Kingdom is refusing to recognise metal driver’s licences for Zimbabweans living in that country after government introduced new plastic licence discs early this month.
Government unveiled the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc)-compliant plastic driver’s licences to replace the metal
discs.
According to authorities, the new licence has 13 categories
which conform to the requirement of the United Nations Convention on Road
Traffic International Organisation for Standardisation and International
Electro Technical Commission.
The changes have, however, brought new challenges to
Zimbabwean immigrants in the UK who are failing to get their metal licences
converted for use in that country.
NewsDay established that the UK’s Driver’s Vehicle
Licensing Authority (DVLA) is refusing to convert the licences saying the old
metal licences no longer meet the criteria set by the Central Vehicle Registry
(CVR) in Zimbabwe.
“The application is returned to you for the following
reason/s: “Your Zimbabwe licence does
not meet the required criteria set by the CVR in Zimbabwe and we are
experiencing difficulties in obtaining driving licence entitlement confirmation
from Zimbabwe.
“To process your application, you need to obtain an
original ‘Certificate of Competency’ before an exchange can be considered,” a
response seen by NewsDay read.
A certificate of competency is a temporary licence valid
for 30 days which is issued to drivers who have passed the practical test.
“Affected are a lot of care workers who have to drive from
client to client providing their services. Also affected are Zimbabwean drivers
in the UK who had been using their licences temporarily before converting,” a
Zimbabwean living in the UK told NewsDay.
Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Felix
Mhona did not respond to questions sent to him by NewsDay.
The Zimbabwean embassy in the UK, however, said it was
privy to the situation and was in consultation with that country’s authorities
over the matter.
“The embassy has been consulting with DVLA and they have
specified that for purposes of converting a licence they will only accept the
Certificate of Competency (Blue paper issued by CVR to a person who has
completed their driving test in Zimbabwe) and without it they are not prepared
to convert," consular officer for ambassador Tendai Chimbandi advised
Zimbabweans in an email after they sought the embassy’s assistance.
“Regrettably, most people discard this document upon
issuance of the metal disc.
“Without the Certificate of Competency, UK DVLA has
insisted that to drive in the UK, an applicant will have to complete the
practical and theory tests.”
Government says the licence discs enable Zimbabweans to drive in Angola,
Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea,
Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda,
Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and
Zambia. Newsday
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