Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: Nigel Sibanda Thousands of licences have been cancelled and millions recovered by a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation into the vehicle and driver’s licensing system. The investigation has so far recovered R14.7 million from six provinces, with R9.5 million coming from Mpumalanga alone.
Roughly 190 500 driver’s licences issued under the names of deceased individuals have been cancelled, with 151 officials facing either disciplinary measures or criminal cases. SIU investigators found that eNatis was abused by officials who exploited a lack of controls to manipulate documents, alter vehicle weights, and change vehicle statuses. Officials were found to be transferring outstanding fees and penalties owed by connected individuals to the accounts of deceased motorists or random members of the public.
Transgressors were mainly heavy motor vehicle owners, and officials were also found to be misreporting cash records, failing to report daily reconciliations, and producing unverified revenue statements. Additionally, foreign licenses were converted using unverified documents, with the SIU and the Department of Transport (DoT) having since cancelled these licences. “TheSIU investigatedthe diversion of project funds and identified irregular expenditures totalling R16.7 million.
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“This led to the successful recovery of R14.7 million, which is now being returned to the departments,” confirmed SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago on Wednesday. Limpopo, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal incurred comparatively minor losses with R17 000, R60 0000 and R65 000 returned, respectively.
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