Ever been in the situation where you were entrusted to sell a motor vehicle, which you’d been driving for several years but was still registered in your mother’s name, you then lost any buyer details you might have had and got hauled over the coals by your mother because a year later she received not only the license renewal but a traffic fine to boot?
Well here is what you do if you ever do find yourself in that situation.
Get your mother to sign a sworn affidavit that she entrusted you to sell the car, ask her nicely to remove all defamatory comments about your apparent lack of responsibility, organisational skills and uselessness. Take the renewal license to your nearest traffic department (in my case a very long walk down to the bottom end of Cape Town), stand in the queue. Once you get to the counter explain the situation to the counter clerk, who will frown a little at you and ask if you first went to enquiries. Admit you did not. Leave the counter and proceed back to enquiries where the pleasant gentleman will give you a yellow form to fill in. Do not attempt to fudge any details because the counter clerk will spot them and send you packing with yet another frown. Go back the next day with an amended affidavit giving the date the car was sold which apparently needs to correspond with the date on the yellow form (don’t worry if you can’t remember the date it seems thumb sucked dates work too). Once again join the queue and end up with a different counter clerk. Wait anxiously whilst he processes the forms and disappears behind a closed door to get his supervisor to approve them. On his return practically kiss him through the glass when he hands you the acknowledgement of receipt.
Mom’s going to be really happy with me tonight, for once.
I’d also like to give a thumbs up to the staff at the traffice department – even though I had to go back twice, the atmosphere was pleasant, the queues moved at a steady pace and most people seemed happy with the service they were getting.