Herald Correspondent

ABOUT 56 000 more drivers are to receive bad news in the post from the transport department that the Scorpions are convinced their licences are fake, and soon they are to face the music.

About 600 of them and six transport department officials have already been convicted and fined up to R9 000. Some have been sentenced to five years‘ jail, 42 licence testing station employees have been dismissed and 57 disciplined.

They were uncovered in an audit by the Scorpions, roped in by the department in February, 2005, to combat corruption.

Department spokesman Collen Msibi said 2 792 fraudulent licences had already been cancelled nationally. “We are in the process of cancelling the remaining licences. On Wednesday we sent 14 000 notices to people informing them that their licences were invalid.”

He said the department had committed R20-million annually until 2011 to root out fraud and to “streamline system processes to prevent repetition of corruption in the issuing of driver‘s licences”.

Msibi said those with fraudulent licences would have to start again from the “the bottom up” in becoming legal on the road. “The booking system through e-Natis has cut out a lot of corruption . . .. there is no way people could manipulate the system. Now, if you go to a testing station you won‘t know who your examiner will be.”

Msibi said part of the department‘s focus would be on the conversion of licences from neighbouring countries, which was also found to be an area of fraud. “You would find drivers coming with licences from neighbouring countries, who had never been to the countries.”

Western Cape provincial traffic management director Peter Beets said more than 2 000 suspected fraudulent licences were being investigated across the province.

“Where there‘s no co-operation we will ask that the licence holder be prosecuted.”

Six examiners had been fired and were awaiting prosecution, he said.