MBOMBELA – Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Mr Vusi Shongwe has welcomed the arrest made by a traffic officer of the department of an Examiner of VTeq Vehicle Testing Station in Piet Retief for allegedly issuing a road worthy certificate to a vehicle which was not road worthy.
The vehicle was discontinued on June 20, 2013 and reports revealed that it was tested and issued with a road worthy certificate on August 3, 2013 by the station.
Upon investigating, the traffic officer discovered that the certificate was allegedly issued fraudulently, which led to the examiner and the driver of the vehicle being arrested.
In June this year, the department cancelled 74 road worthy certificates which were issued fraudulently by the station.
The certificates were cancelled because they were issued by the pit assistant and that the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 outlines that an appropriately graded examiner of vehicles shall examine and test a motor vehicle before a Roadworthy Certificate is issued and not a pit assistant.
The pit assistant had authorized the certificates using an infrastructure number for an employee who had left the testing station without formal resignation from 22 December 2012.
The arrested Examiner has been charged with fraud and corruption while the driver faces a charge of driving an un-roadworthy vehicle and for not complying with the National Road Traffic Act for vehicle fitness.
Both appeared today, September4, 2013 at the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court.
