By Everson Luhanga
More than a dozen suspects, including traffic officers and a driving school operator, have been arrested for fraud and corruption in Mpumalanga.
The arrests were part of a joint operation by the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) Anti-Corruption Unit, the Hawks, and Police Crime Intelligence.
The officials are accused of accepting bribes and awarding driver’s licences without proper testing.
Simon Zwane, spokesperson for the RTMC, said the arrests took place in Sabie, Graskop, Lydenburg, Elukwatini, and Verena.
Those arrested, aged between 34 and 59, included a male and female examiner of licences and a driving school operator in Sabie, four examiners in Lydenburg, and two in Graskop.
Zwane said the investigation started in 2021.
It is believed that driving school owners in Sabie worked with officials to issue learner’s and driver’s licences without following proper procedures, including bypassing routine tests.
In some cases, people allegedly paid large sums of money to receive licences without being tested.
Additionally, four traffic officers in Verena were arrested for taking bribes from motorists who broke road regulations, including speeding.
This was part of Operation “Kwanele,” an effort to clean up fraud and corruption in Mpumalanga’s driver licence testing centres.
Zwane warned that people who obtain licences through corrupt means pose a risk to other motorists and urged the public to avoid these illegal activities.
“Law enforcement officials will not rest until corrupt elements are removed from the system,” he said.
These arrests follow a similar operation in Limpopo last month, where 11 traffic officials were arrested.
Pictured above: Police lights.
Source: File
