Justice Project South Africa (NPC) (JPSA) has welcomed the news of further corruption busts and investigation of licensing officials
“JPSA is delighted to note that some action is finally being taken to tackle the rampant corruption in drivers’ and vehicle licensing centres within the City of Johannesburg and now, Gauteng in general,” the company said in a statement.
It was announced on 26 January that seven more licensing officials had been arrested by the Hawks as a result of the investigation the City of Johannesburg commissioned in the latter part of 2016.
Howard Dembovsky, the national chairman of JPSA said, “Following this announcement, the MEC for Transport for Gauteng, Ismail Vadi, put out a media release announcing that an investigation launched by his department in 2013 has revealed that as many as 394 officials employed in motor vehicle registration authorities in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng and the West Rand, and involving some R42 million in what appears to be vehicle licensing fraud, are also on the radar. Nineteen of these officials will apparently be suspended and prosecuted shortly.”
What is notable about the MEC’s announcement is the fact that his department’s investigation appears to be focused primarily on vehicle licensing, rather than the irregular issuing of drivers’ licences by corrupt officials. “Whilst there is no denying that fraud and corruption in vehicle licensing robs government of revenues,” said Dembovsky, “the irregular issuing of drivers’ licences by corrupt officials puts unqualified drivers on the road, with severe repercussions for the daily lives of ordinary road users, adversely affecting the economy, and draining State resources.
He welcomed the Minister of Transport’s recent instruction to the Road Traffic Management Corporation to “undertake an audit of how driving licences as well as roadworthy certificates are processed and issued in our testing stations, so that we can have an appreciation of how it is possible that so many incompetent drivers and unroadworthy vehicles could be on our roads.”
JPSA hopes that the Gauteng Department of Transport and all other authorities acknowledge the clear dangers of irregular drivers’ licences and have also been investigating, and that they will take action on the rampant fraudulent issuing of drivers’ licences.
Dembovsky continued by saying that if a mere 10 per cent of those drivers’ licenses had been ‘bought’, more than 50 000 potentially incompetent drivers would have been let loose on the roads in 2016 alone.
JPSA also hopes that those who are suspended will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that the courts will take the adverse impact of corruption on society very seriously when sentencing persons convicted of corruption.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at randfonteinherald@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 693 3671.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites Roodepoort Record, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard
