70 dismissed in vehicle licensing swoop

‘We request the public to be patient while we work towards a corruption-free city’

JOBURG motorists wanting to renew their vehicle licences or transfer vehicles into other names could be in for long queues over the next few days – or even find facilities closed.

This follows the suspension and dismissal of 70 officials yesterday at the City of Joburg’s motor vehicle licensing centres.

But while the corruption crackdown has focused mainly on licensing centres so far, it appears driving schools have also been implicated in bribery and dodgy practices.

Member of the mayoral committee responsible for public safety Michael Sun said these officials were working with members of the public and driving schools to defraud the city.

The modus operandi in the vehicle licensing section was that these officials would offer to remove traffic fines so motorists could renew their annual licences without paying the fines.

“We found they were transferring the vehicles out of the motorists’ names into a fictitious person’s name: deceased motorists or people who have never owned a vehicle. They would then return the car into the name of the real owner,” he said.

At the testing stations, officials were caught passing people who failed tests, or even writing the tests for them. Driving schools were also involved in paying bribes to get their learner drivers through the tests.

“This is very dangerous. There are drivers on the roads who are not properly trained, driving huge trucks. We need to put a stop to this,” said Sun.

The greatest financial loss to the city was people coming in with bulk licences to be renewed.

Sun said services are likely to be affected at all licensing centres and some testing stations in Joburg, including Midrand, Randburg, Marlboro, Roodepoort, Langlaagte and Martindale.

“We request the public to be patient while we work towards a corruption-free city,” he said.

However, Sun did say contingency plans had been made in anticipation of the the dismissals, arrests and suspensions, with the hiring of an 40 additional staff members.

Officials from other divisions within the department would also be helping out.

“Each case has been considered on its merits. We didn’t just randomly suspend people.

“No organisation wants to go through that. We did dismiss two people after considering the seriousness of their offences,” he said.

This follows eight arrests earlier this month of the first of 106 suspected fraudsters. They are out on R5 000 bail.

The city has estimated that it lost up to R14.7 million through these fraudulent transactions.

Joburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said: “It is mostly the vehicle licence departments which are affected.

“Those simply renewing their car licences can go to selected post offices to avoid queueing.”