- Police arrested a learner driver and an instructor at the Mkhondeni Driving and Testing Centre on Wednesday for suspected bribery.
- The transport department says up to half of all drivers on the road use licences obtained through fraud and corruption.
Police arrested a learner driver and an instructor from a private driving school at the Mkhondeni Driving and Testing Centre outside Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
The arrests happened after a special police unit listened to a conversation between the two about exchanging R1,800.
KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Siboniso Duma said the arrests were carried out by the new Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit as part of a fresh police operation.
He said the learner and instructor were discussing how to free a member of their group who was locked up at the Alexander Police Station in Pietermaritzburg.
Duma said the department has studied the methods that these criminal groups use at different testing centres across the province.
“We have therefore mandated the unit to dismantle the syndicates,” he said.
Duma announced that department head Zibusiso Dlamini will step in to support the traffic unit and give them the extra resources they need to do their work.
The MEC warned that any transport worker caught taking part in these crimes will be punished harshly to show others that the bribery must stop.
“We will publicly identify and hold accountable those responsible for this racket in order to eliminate the corruption that seems to be deeply ingrained in our licensing centres,” Duma said.
He said the government has already seen fewer road deaths after removing drunk drivers, and now wants to end the sale of driving licences to stop the crashes.
Duma said the department has been told that between 30% and 50% of people driving on the roads have licences they got through fraud and corruption.
This problem was shown last weekend when traffic police stopped a driver on the N2 near Mandeni.
The driver did not know how to find the hooter or use the left and right indicators.
Pictured above: A learner driver who was arrested at the Mkhondeni Driving and Testing Centre outside Pietermaritzburg.
Image source: RTI
