The National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Hawks nabbed five more licensing officials yesterday morning during a joint operation at licensing offices in Delmas, Lydenburg and Piet Retief in Mpumalanga.
The arrests follow other arrests made in July in connection with an R60 million motor vehicle licence fee dumping corruption scandal in Mpumalanga.
Lindy Dinah Mantshwane (45) from Mashishing, Lydia Sindiswa Maseko (47) from Piet Retief, Phindile Grace Maseko ( 49) and Salibona Harriet Mlangeni (47) from Delmas and Zinhle Precious Tshabalala (36) from Amsterdam appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court today (October 12).
They were all granted bail of R15 000 each on condition that Maseko, Mlangeni and Tshabalala should hand over their travelling documents to the investigating officer.
The matter was postponed to December 6.
Yesterday’s arrests bring the total arrests to 14. Six more administrators were arrested during July and are also out on R15 000 bail.
According to the Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, the suspects were allegedly colluding with other employees of the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL) at the eNatis Helpdesk section to fraudulently issue vehicle licence discs. This cost the State R60 million in unpaid licence fees and penalties.
They allegedly printed these licence discs on official documents that showed R0.00 amount as paid.
The large-scale investigation revealed that between 2018 and 2019, the eNatis system was manipulated to assist motor vehicle owners to avoid payment of vehicle license fees and penalties owed to the state.
The modus operandi involved changing the ownership of affected motor vehicles into the name of an unsuspecting individual, a deceased person or a dormant company.
Fees and arrear penalties would then be passed onto the unsuspecting individual or company before vehicle ownership is changed back to the rightful owner without any debt.
In some instances, fees were allegedly dumped onto government vehicles by using a GG authority code.
The suspects are expected to face 603 charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering.
The public can join the campaign against fraud and corruption by providing information to ntacu@rtmc.co.za or via WhatsApp on 083 293 7989.
