�Licence Dealers� In Limbo

Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday September 11, 2017 16:04

 

The situation, which is a growing thorn in the businesses of driving school operators, is due to the fact that the police are yet to conclude their investigations.

“The cases are still with the police and no disciplinary hearings have been conducted until the police have concluded their investigations,” DRTS spokesperson Mmapula Sampson said. Sampson could not share their findings stating that they are not yet concluded since the cases are with the police who are vested with taking appropriate action once they conclude the investigations.

Sampson said since the raid, they have not recorded any new cases of examiners being involved in corrupt practices as measures are now in place to curb the acts “Anti-corruption committees have been established to educate and sensitise the staff on issues of corruption and from time to time, the management addresses staff on issues of malpractices and how they affect productivity. We encourage members of the public to follow the right procedures to acquire the services at our offices,” she said.

The suspected fraudsters from within the DRTS were arrested on suspicion that they issued various classes of drivers’ licences without following proper procedure. The Ministry of Transport and Communications issued a press release shortly after the bust, stating that they had suspended a total of 19 officers on suspicion of corrupt practices at licensing offices. “The corruption the officers are implicated in range from fraudulent issuance of drivers’ licence, fraudulent issuance of roadworthy certificates, fraudulent issuance of theory tests, receiving bribes, fraudulent issuance of permits, soliciting money from customers and mismanagement of licensing forms,” read the press release.

A source told The Monitor that examiners would allegedly give the buyers marks when they never undertook a road test, while others would get marks without having sat for a theory test. Some would use automatic cars and get awarded marks as if they were using manual cars, which are the preferred vehicles for practical testing.

The suspension of officers has dealt DRTS a blow as just last week driving school operators took to the streets with their disappointment of snail paced processing of licence applications.