By Alex Eliseev

They don't have a catchy name, and when they won an award last week, the presses didn't exactly grind to a halt. But behind the scenes, this anti-corruption unit is hard at work. And you may just be one of 10 000 suspects on their hit-list.

The unit, under Gauteng's Community Safety Department, is auditing licence and roadworthy test sites across the province in a bid to root out corrupt officials. In the process, it is identifying drivers who may have paid for fraudulent roadworthy certificates and forcing them to retest their cars under the watchful eye of authorities.

The unit's head, Chris du Preez, explained that in about a year, 2 700 orders for retesting had been sent out. That means a further 7 300 remain on the unit's database - which grows as investigations continue.

So far, most of the orders have been in the Tshwane area, but the focus is now shifting to Joburg and adjacent areas.

The unit's auditors are travelling across the province and investigating private testing stations.

If they discover large-scale corruption, they shut them down - as was the case in Tshwane last year. Through their audits, they identify rogue testers and their clients.

After that, Du Preez explained, a letter is sent to the client, informing them that they need to retest their cars within 35 days. They are ordered to report to their nearest municipal testing station and pay the cost of the test (which ranges between R250 and R350).

If the car fails, the owner has to repair and repeat until the vehicle passes. A worrying 42 percent of cars fail the first time, Du Preez said.

If the car's owner does not arrive for the test, the unit declares that car unroadworthy on eNaTIS, the electronic system used by transport authorities. If the driver is caught on the roads with the unroadworthy vehicle, he or she can be fined or arrested and the car impounded.

And, until the car is declared roadworthy and the black mark is removed from eNaTIS, the owner can't renew his or her annual licence disk.

Du Preez said his unit works in tandem with the Department of Transport, the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Bureau of Standards.

Next year may see the unit join up with insurance companies, who will be interested to know if their clients are driving unroadworthy cars.

In the past six months, 13 people have been arrested for fraud and corruption by the unit and three testing stations are on the verge of being shut down. Convictions have, in the past, seen culprits receive two-year suspended jail terms and fines of R8 000.

Du Preez said some of the cases they came across were "scary". In one testing station, they found trucks that were roadworthy but did not have brake boosters, which are vital for bringing a truck to a stop.

In another case, a man who was retested had to fork out R35 000 to get his car up to the standard.

Last week, a Lenasia man was arrested for issuing a roadworthy certificate to a Volvo that had been in an accident and was still a wreck.

Also last week, the unit won a medal at the Premier's Annual Service Excellence Awards for its work. It was selected from about 50 projects.

MEC Firoz Cachalia said he was proud of the unit and its successes. He said it played a crucial role in preventing death and injuries on the roads.

"This is a warning to road users that they will be retested at their own expense (if they obtained their certificate unlawfully)," he said.

• # To check if your car's certificate is legitimate or to give tip-offs, readers can call 011-689-3791 or the national tip-off line at 0800-701-701.