A SAPS clerk admitted in court that she obtained a driving licence after sending an imposter to do the test on her behalf.
|||Durban - A SAPS administration clerk on Thursday admitted in court that she obtained a driving licence after sending an imposter to the Mandeni testing station to do the examination on her behalf.
Ntombiyokukhaya Mdletshe, 33, said she paid R4 500 on June 23, 2009 to obtain the licence. She was testifying in the trial of 11 former employees of the Mandeni Driving Licence Testing Centre who, along with nine driving school instructors, face a total of 207 charges including racketeering, corruption and fraud.
Mdletshe said she did not know the imposter (referred to as “a jockey” by those involved in the scam), the arrangement had been made between a driving school owner, who she knew only as Mr Shandu, and the testing centre examiner. She identified the latter as Brian Senzo Mthembu, 34, who is one of eight traffic officers on trial.
Mdletshe said when she asked how much the licence would cost, she was told there were two options: to have her mistakes overlooked during an examination would cost R2 500. To avoid doing the test altogether would cost R4 500.
The traffic officer, Mthembu, faces a charge of racketeering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 14 counts of fraud, 47 charges of corruption, and five charges in terms of the Road Traffic Act for issuing licences contrary to the provisions of the act.
Another witness, HR officer Zelda Nonhlanhla Thabethe, on Thursday said she paid R7 100 (R600 for a “booking fee” plus R6 500 for the licence) to a driving school operator known to her only as Futhi. She went to Mandeni testing centre and was given a licence without a test.
The State charges that between May 2009 and December 2010, thousands of driving licences were irregularly issued by almost the entire staff of the testing centre, working in collusion with driving schools in the Mandeni area.
The driving school owners and instructors face a racketeering charge as well as corruption charges for “giving a public officer a benefit” or “accepting a benefit”, under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
The case has been postponed to October 22.
Daily News