South Africa: 95 License Officials Arrested for Corruption

Published: 02 July 2019

Traffic Police in South Africa (Dickelbers CC BY 4.0)

Traffic Police in South Africa (Dickelbers CC BY 4.0)

By Samuel Trilling

South Africa’s Road Traffic Management Unit (RTMC) revealed last week that almost 100 license officials have been arrested over the past year for accepting bribes in exchange for driver’s licenses and other scams.

RTMC has a long history of struggling with bribes and corruption, with consistent stories of traffic stops and licensing gone wrong.

RTMC estimates that one in three licenses were obtained fraudulently, especially commercial and heavy duty vehicle licenses. 

A spokesperson for RTMC, Simon Zwane, told IOL that the agency has been having trouble catching all of the offenders.

“The systems to deal with this scourge are also not always adequate, and officials exploit this for their benefit,” he said.

“One driver will be tested for a driver’s licence and then the entire class gets passed,” Zwane said. “Other people don’t even pitch up for the test. An arrangement gets made for them to deliver the money, and documents are printed on their behalf which they collect from a middle man.”

The agency announced on Monday that it would be shutting down two of the most corrupt stations in Soweto and Devland.