KZN launches crackdown on driver licensing fraud: Asset seizures and blacklisting of schools ahead

KwaZulu-Natal’s Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has initiated a comprehensive crackdown on driver licensing fraud, targeting the criminal syndicates operating within the province’s licensing system. KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma has announced a sweeping crackdown on fraud in the province’s driver licensing system, with authorities moving to seize assets, blacklist driving schools, and deregister implicated examiners. Duma said 11 individuals who fraudulently obtained driver’s licences had already been identified through the revived Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit (TTIU), operating under the #NenzaniLaEzweni campaign.

“One examiner from the department of transport has pleaded guilty. Others are being processed in collaboration with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation,” Duma said, referring to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. The investigation has uncovered widespread irregularities across more than 30 Driver’s Licensing and Testing Centres (DLTCs), prompting the provincial department to begin blacklisting private driving schools, instructors, and examiners found to be involved.

Head of Department Zibusiso Dlamini has initiated the deregistration process, with enforcement to be carried out by the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and Operation Shanela teams. Duma said the province would work with national law enforcement bodies, including the Road Traffic Management Corporation, the Special Investigating Unit, and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, to pursue those implicated. “We aim to seize bank accounts, houses, cars, and all other assets owned by those involved in any bribery, corruption, and fraud associated with the issuing of learners and driver’s licences,” he said.

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The crackdown forms part of a broader effort to dismantle what Duma described as a “criminal syndicate” embedded within licensing centres, involving collusion between officials and private driving schools. He said vulnerable groups, including pensioners, were often pressured into paying bribes. “Poverty-stricken communities and pensioners, in particular, are forced to give their grandchildren their last cents because of individuals who demand bribes,” he said.

Earlier this week, Duma also signalled plans for a “truth and reconciliation of a special kind” to encourage individuals who obtained licences fraudulently to come forward and identify those involved in the scheme. “The aim is to encourage those in possession of a licence obtained fraudulently to point out the culprits. We will act harshly, name and shame these individuals,” he said.

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