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Petition to OP exposes corruption at Transport

In a letter dated December 11, 2013, Nkungwa tells the OP that he applied for a Road Permit on January 19, 2012 after establishing all the requirements for such application and satisfying them.

“At submission I indicated my intention to apply for Route 6 and enquired if this was a viable proposition in terms of available slots etc.

“I was told by the controller (Mr Mokotedi) that there were slots, and that there was a need for buses on this route as demand had increased with the advent of new offices at the Game City, Finance Park area.”

Nkungwa alleged that upon submission he got telephone calls from an individual who claimed he wanted to change the application to Mogoditshane Route 6 since the latter route was busier.

He said that they agreed to meet with the man at BBS mall who to his surprise wanted to process his application outside DRTS offices, yet he is an officer.

He says the man demanded a copy of his application, road-worthiness certificate, his National ID, and the sum of P300 and then the permit would be processed.

He said that curious to establish whether this was a corruption transaction or not, he went to look for the money and they agreed to meet the following day.  However, before they parted ways, he says the man demanded that he bring another P3,500.

“We came the following day at 10am without the P3,500. When we phoned him he told us to park our car behind BBS and that he would come to us since he was going to bring me documents to sign”.

Struggling to feed a family of eight, Nkungwa says that the man told him to be ready with the P3,500, and that they would go inside the DRTS offices upon signing, where the transaction would be finalised and the permit issued.

He said that he waited for the man who never showed up. He said that he later learned that his permit was allocated to another person, who had earlier indicated his willingness to rent out his permit to Nkungwa.

He said that he went to complain to the management of DRTS, who apologised to him for the department’s staff misdemeanor.

“I then took my case to the DCEC to request them to investigate the issuance of permits considering that I had been waiting for so long for a permit. I also went to report to the minister and he delegated my issue to the Permanent Secretary (Ms Mosigi)”.

Nkungwa further alleges in the letter that he was shocked to receive a letter from DRTS in which it was stated that his application for a permit had not succeeded on the basis of their findings on field survey carried out at Oodi. “Upon quizzing them of the relevance of Oodi on the route I applied for, the officer went back and wrote another letter citing surveys done on the route I applied for, and stating that I can appeal their decision,” writes Nkungwa.

Nkungwa is adamant that there is a syndicate at DRTS that is benefitting from permits, which he says, are concentrated in the hands of a few individuals. Prior to petitioning the OP, Nkungwa had an exchange of letters with DRTS on the issue in which he called for explanation as to why their refusal to grant him were based on Oodi route when his application was for Broadhurst Route 6.

He added that there were individuals who were granted permits post January 2012, yet DRTS argues that the route was not viable.

DCEC spokesperson Lentswe Motshoganetsi could neither confirm nor deny that they were investigating issuance of some permits at DRTS.

Efforts to get a comment from the department were futile as a questionnaire sent to DRTS public relations manager Mmapula Sampson on November 8, 2013, is still to be responded to.  This was long before Nkungwa petitioned the OP. The Minister for Transport and Communications Nonofo Molefhi was recently quoted in the government media on his intentions to suspend hundreds of permits, which are rented out to third parties.