Hackers fleece road safety corporation

THE Road Traffic Management Corporation has been fleeced of R8.5 million by hackers who got into its bank account.

This was revealed by AuditorKimi Makwetu in Parliament when the roads agency tabled its annual report.

Corporation spokesman Simon Zwane confirmed this yesterday.

He said five people, including a couple from Pretoria, were arrested for fraud and corruption.

They are believed to be part of a syndicate and are on trial in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.

The alleged fraudsters made 21 transfers from the corporation’s bank account into various accounts.

Some of them have pleaded guilty. Police are looking for other members of the syndicate.

Makwetu said the agency managed to recoup some of the R8.5 million that was defrauded.

“An amount of R4.3 million has since been recovered, while the balance was written off as irrecoverable,” he said.

In his remarks on the annual report, board chairman Zola Majavu said controls needed to be tightened to prevent fraud and corruption in the organisation.

“The unqualified audit opinion that the auditor-general expressed on the financial performance of the corporation bears testimony to the hard work that has been done to ensure that the RTMC is prudent in managing its funds and utilises the resources placed at its disposal with extreme care and diligence, enabling it to achieve its strategic goals,” said Majavu.

He said the corporation was pleased about its financial performance, adding however that as the audit showed, there were many tasks that had to be accomplished.

“In the year ahead, we will have to continue the work we have started to tighten controls, and improve administration practices and organisational performance,” he said.

The corporation has come under fire from the opposition over its role in traffic management amid the carnage on the roads.

The more than 14 000 people killed on the roads every year cost the state R306 billion.