Traffic and licensing services in the Graaff-Reinet area are run by Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality, which covers Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Jansenville, Willowmore, Steytlerville, Kliplaat, Nieu-Bethesda and Rietbron in the Eastern Cape Karoo.
The municipality publishes no direct number for a traffic or licensing department. Its own contacts page lists the switchboard, the call centre and after-hours emergency lines, and law enforcement appears there as Protection Services rather than as a traffic department.
Official contact channels
- Switchboard, all departments: 049 807 5700
- Customer care call centre: 049 807 5904
- General enquiries email: [email protected]
- Protection Services, Graaff-Reinet, after hours: 076 427 7153 or 084 532 5284
- Postal: The Municipal Manager, Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality, PO Box 71, Graaff-Reinet, 6280
Ask the switchboard for licensing or traffic by name. Because the department is not separately listed, a call routed by guesswork tends to land in customer care, which then has to transfer you anyway.
Services and responsibilities
- Driving and learner licence testing and renewals
- Motor vehicle licensing and registration
- Traffic law enforcement across the municipal area
- Payment of traffic fines issued by the municipality
- Roadworthy testing where the municipality operates a testing station
The municipality has previously run a licence testing backlog serious enough to require extra officials to be appointed. Book ahead rather than arriving on spec, and ask what the current waiting time is when you book.
Office and address information
- Municipal offices are in Graaff-Reinet, with satellite offices in the other towns
- Emergency and after-hours numbers are published per town rather than centrally
- Graaff-Reinet fire services: 084 256 1536 or 060 425 0113
- Aberdeen, Jansenville, Kliplaat, Willowmore, Steytlerville and Nieu-Bethesda each have their own service delivery numbers
- The municipality is part of the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape
Treat the published after-hours list with care. At least one town entry is a placeholder of zeros rather than a real number, and another runs two numbers together into an undiallable string, so check the digits before relying on them in an emergency.
Applications and escalation
- Bring original identity document and proof of residence for any licensing transaction
- Pay or contest a fine before the court date printed on the notice; a missed date can turn a fine into a warrant
- Written representations about a fine go to the issuing authority, not to the court counter
- Service complaints the department does not resolve go to the municipal manager at the postal address above
- Maladministration by a municipality can be taken to the Public Protector
- Vehicle and licence records sit on the national NaTIS system administered by the Road Traffic Management Corporation
If you are moving into the district, change your address on NaTIS rather than assuming the municipality will do it. Licence renewal notices are posted to the address on the national system, and a missed renewal is your liability even if the notice never arrived.
Sources
- Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality contacts page, bnlm.gov.za, read 4 September 2026