Chief executive of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), advocate Makhosini Msibi, on Friday led a raid at the Meyerton licensing centre in Gauteng, were several officials were arrested after being found with loads of cash in their pockets and bags.
“We are on an operation that has been ongoing for the past six months, we were observing what was going on and we have the intelligence that we gathered over the months. We are here today to execute the arrests of those that we identified to have participated in various criminal activities,” Msibi spoke to journalists during the raid.
“The criminal activities here are - among others - issuance of Code 14 driver’s licences fraudulently, they issue such driver’s licences in the absence of the applicants. Some of the applicants are in the Eastern Cape but they then get the licences here.
“It is the same with the roadworthy (certificates) that they are dealing with. The vehicles are not even here. What happens during learner licence classes, the runners are writing on behalf of the applicants. They allow the runners to sit in the exam room, and write on behalf of the clients,” he said.
The runners, according to Msibi, are often owners or staff of driving schools which bring applicants to the licensing centres.
“They (the learner drivers) do not even answer the questions, neither do they book, neither do the officials test the eyes of that particular person. These are the issues that we are dealing with. It is rampant in this station … we have people from as far as Eastern Cape, Limpopo that are in here.
“It has become a regular issue in this station. We will be taking six officials from this station, including the senior official that is managing this station. Some have run away, but we are going to pursue them over the weekend,” said Msibi.
He said four other people have also been arrested, in addition to the officials.
Annually, Msibi said South Africa spends R146 billion in relation to road accidents - including for medical care for people involved in rampant road crashes.
“What causes this? The people that we have on the road cannot drive. You can see lists here of people who are not here but they are going to get issued their driver’s licence while they are not here. Those people cannot even drive, but the next moment, they are going to be on the road and they are going to cause a lot of accidents.
“The second matter on this is greed. Our officials have permanent job employment but as you can see, normally at this station by 11 or by 10 o’clock in the morning, the officials or most of them have about R6,000 in the pocket, so you can imagine how much they have at the end of the day. This is tax-free, that money they are having on a daily basis,” he said.
Earlier this week, IOL reported that the RTMC had arrested three women traffic officers who allegedly demanded money from a truck owner.
It is alleged that the traffic officers were conducting a law enforcement operation when they stopped a truck driver between Hennenman and Kroonstad in the Free State.
“Upon inspecting the truck, the officers discovered that some of the tyres were smooth. They then solicited a bribe amounting to R2,000 from the driver in order not to issue a traffic fine,” said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane.
“It was at this point that the owner of the truck was contacted to arrange the payment of R2,000 to the officers.”
IOL