Official nabbed with R30k during Meyerton licencing centre sting operation
Seven suspects were arrested at the Meyerton licensing centre in Midvaal on Friday on suspicion of fraud relating to the issuing of driving licenses.
The suspects include licensing officials and driving license applicants.
One of the officials was found with more than R30 000 in cash, which is believed to be the proceeds of criminal activity.
The operation was conducted by the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) national traffic anti-corruption unit and the Commercial Crimes Unit of the South African Police Service.
RTMC chief executive officer Advocate Makhosini Msibi, who was on the scene to witness the arrests, blamed the greediness of the officials for rampant corruption at the centre.
“[The] matter is greed. Our officials gave permanent employment, but as you can see at about 11 'o'clock in the morning, at this station, officials have about R6,000 in their pockets. You can imagine how much that is at the end of the day?”
Seven suspects arrested at Meyerton licensing centre in Midvaal, on suspicion of issuing driving licences fraudulently.
— Road Traffic Management Corporation (@TrafficRTMC) October 20, 2023
One of the officials was found with more than R30 000 in cash which is believed to proceeds of the suspected criminal activity. pic.twitter.com/C1xSJwkqxB
It is alleged that officials at the centre issued heavy-duty driving licenses to applicants who were not present to do the test.
They also allegedly collude with driving school operators to have intermediaries write learner license tests on behalf of applicants.
Msibi condemned the corrupt activities of drivers license and testing centre officials, saying the fraudulent issuing of driver’s licenses endangers the lives of road users.
“We now know that as a country, on an annual basis, we spend R146 billion in terms of the accidents that happen on the roads, including medical attention. But what causes this?
“The people that we have on the roads can’t drive. You can see that these people that are on their list are people who are not here, but they’ve been issued driver’s licenses. Those people can’t even drive, but the next moment they are going to be on the roads, and they’re going to cause a lot of accidents,” he said.
The RTMC says more arrests are expected as investigations continue.
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