Subscribe

'eNatis won't collapse'

Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 18 May 2015
The eNatis system will continue to operate as it should, says the Department of Transport.
The eNatis system will continue to operate as it should, says the Department of Transport.

The Department of Transport (DOT) this morning dismissed fears that government's national vehicle registration database is in danger of collapsing, as a result of a legal battle between the DOT and the company that manages the system.

The electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis), which is the official register for all vehicle, driving licence, contravention and accident data, is in the process of being transferred from the operator Tasima to the DOT.

However, it is understood the entities are locked in a High Court battle about how the transfer should be concluded.

"We want to give the public our absolute assurance that eNatis is not about to collapse," says DOT spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso. "We have full redundancy and the system can be operated from our disaster recovery centre in case of something happening. So we are confident the system will continue to run as it should."

Rikhotso refused to elaborate on the specifics of the legal dispute, as it is a matter currently before the court, saying only that it pertains to a contractual issue.

He did, however, fire a warning shot at Tasima: "We [the DOT] are the contracting entity and so we set the terms and conditions. Tasima is the service provider."

Eyewitness News (EWN) this morning reported a large number of Tasima's staff resigned on Friday to take up employment at the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which is meant to take over the running of eNatis. EWN says Tasima CEO Denesh Naran warned staff in an internal mail that the immediate resignations were unlawful.

An unnamed employee was reported to have said that should the staff not come to work this morning, eNatis would be in danger of collapsing.

However, it does not appear the employees reported for duty at the RTMC, as Rikhotso denied the DOT or RTMC had hired any Tasima staff. "I don't know anything about that. That is a Tasima matter."

RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane also denied large numbers of Tasima staff had been hired by the corporation. He refused to comment further on the dispute.

Tasima spokesperson Pavitska Badasie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Share