Licensing department under the spotlight on corruption claims
A mother of a 17-year-old gushes out on allegations of corruption relating to the issuing of learner’s driving licenses in the licensing department.
A Germiston mom has lashed out at alleged corruption and bribery related to a fraudulent process of obtaining a learner’s driving license without going through the normal process.
This follows her recent visit to the Nigel and Alberton licensing departments as she wanted to get her son a learner’s driving licence.
“About a month ago we went to Nigel and when we walked across the street, the guy at the ID photos asked me for what he referred to as ‘chu-chu’. I didn’t know what it was. He said if we give him R1 500, my boy will pass his learner’s licence, which I didn’t give him,” she said.
They could not get a booking in Nigel as her son failed with only three marks, despite being an academically strong youngster.
“My son gets good grades at school and he studied really hard for his licence. He was irritated with the standard of the questions. We then made a booking to go to Alberton. When we went there I got a parking spot facing the gates of the licensing department,” she explained.
As she waited in the car while her son was inside the facility, she witnessed a transaction in front of her.
“I rolled down my window to hear the conversation. It was a young lady and a gentleman. He told her that she seems nervous and needed to calm down. He promised her that she will definitely get her learner’s licence,” she said.
According to the mom, the lady was then given pointers and that she needed not be attentive to the test. She said the girl was assured they would take her paper afterwards and put a stamp on it.
“My son then came out and said, ‘Mom I can’t believe it, I failed again’. This is a boy who got his competency licence on a firearm and he passed the first time, which was more intensive and difficult than passing the learner’s licence. If you could park your vehicle and observe, within half an hour you will see a lot of illegal stuff going on,” she explained.
She said the gentleman (the alleged offender) seemed to be a ‘chief’ and that all the other runners would consult him.
“I saw money exchange hands and it was not an R100 or R200, but quite a couple of bucks. I’m frustrated by the fact that an honest young boy, no matter how hard he studied or how badly he wants it, cannot get his licence to become a legal citizen on the road,” she said.
CoE’s response
City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the matter has been escalated and is receiving attention.
He said they are deeply concerned about this matter and an investigation will be conducted.
“If lawlessness is found, those liable will be brought to book. We are thankful that she brought this to our attention. We’ve reported it to the metro police as well. We condemn this act, as licences are not for sale and the public should be aware of this,” said Dlamini.
He said the public should not make these payments, as this encourages such unlawful conduct.
Dlamini also encouraged the community to report cases of fraud and corruption anonymously and confidentially to the city’s dedicated hotline on 0800 102 201.
