Gauteng injects R138m more into stalled Sebokeng licence centre construction

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30-01-2026
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The Citizen
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More than R80 million has been spent on the project, yet the facility remained non-operational almost a decade since construction began.

There are some signs of life – expensive, taxpayer-funded life – as construction workers busy themselves trying to turn back the clock on a decade-old infrastructure project which will, when finished, have suck up more than R200 million compared to an original contract cost of R63 million.

Work on the Sebokeng Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC) resumed last year after construction was left incomplete and abandoned in 2019, becoming the target of vandals.

This was disclosed by Sedibeng district municipality transport and infrastructure MMC Nkosinathi Ndwandwe, talking to Sedibeng Ster.

A long-delayed restart

Ndwandwe said a contractor has been appointed with the site handed over on 17 June, 2025.

“Site establishment began on 18 June and the estimated completion of the works is 17 December, 2026.”

She said the Gauteng department of roads and transport had appointed the Development Bank of South Africa “to implement the project on our behalf”.

The centre, she added, “was only about 8% complete and the target date for completion was December this year”.

Costs that keep climbing

The Gauteng government is said to have injected an additional R138 million to complete construction of the long-delayed Sebokeng DLTC.

More than R80 million has been spent on the project, yet the facility remained non-operational almost a decade since construction began.

The original projected cost for the project was R63 million, but more than R80 million is said to have already been spent on the construction of the facility.

While the building was abandoned as a white elephant, the government spent an additional R10 million on security, which turned out to be inadequate as fittings and building materials were looted from the site.

The long-stalled project has become a stark symbol of service delivery failures and wasteful expenditure in Gauteng.

[Gauteng injects R138m more into stalled Sebokeng licence centre construction]
The unfinished R120 million Sebokeng Driving Licence Testing Centre. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen

A facility residents still need

The Sebokeng DLTC was envisioned as a modern hub to provide essential services like driving licence testing, vehicle registration and learner’s permit issuance, easing the burden on residents in the densely populated Vaal area.

Work began under the Gauteng department of infrastructure development, with the Road Traffic Management Corporation initially involved, but the project was formally transferred to the Gauteng department of roads in August 2021, after years of stagnation.

Despite the handover, progress halted, leading to repeated budget overruns.

By 2023, reports indicated that R78 million had been poured into the site, but it was left abandoned, with overgrown grass, piles of rubble and a pervasive smell of dust signalling neglect, according to reports at the time.

An assessment that year pegged the additional cost to repair and complete the facility at R91 million, but this figure has since risen.

In May last year, Gauteng announced it had allocated funds to repair the vandalised structure, but gave a deadline of February 2027 for completion.

‘Millions of rands wasted’

The DA in Gauteng said it was “a travesty” that this project was “abandoned and left to rot while residents are forced to commute or walk long distances to access services”.

It added: “It is equally absurd that millions of rands are wasted on paying security companies who fail to deliver services.”

The project was yet another example of government’s “failure to complete projects on time and within budget”, it said.