Vusi Shongwe, Mpumalanga MEC for community safety, security and liaison, has called on driving school owners to become izimpimpi (whistleblowers) and anonymously report officials who demand a bribe at driving licence testing centres.
Shongwe met with the driving school owners in Mbombela on Thursday following allegations that some officials at the Nelspruit testing centre are demanding an increase in bribes paid towards the acquisition of driving licences.
The MEC said the state is losing revenue because of illicit transactions and fraud committed by these unscrupulous individuals.
“The corruption in licensing must be rooted out because it does not only undermine
efforts to make roads safer, but also puts the province in a bad light. We must all work together to end corruption,” said Shongwe.
He called for the strengthening of working relations between the department and driving schools, saying the partnerships will go a long way to enhance road safety.
“Driving schools are important because they produce and train future drivers. They are further contributing to job creation by employing people to train learner drivers. As part of ensuring uniformity in the sector, a database of all driving schools must be developed and updated on regular basis,” said Shongwe.
He also criticised the owners of driving schools who pay bribes to get bookings at the expense of other people who are denied the opportunity.
Some of the driving school owners told the MEC that there is an urgent need for
driving schools to be regulated. They insisted that once a regulatory mechanism is in place, it will eliminate any possibilities of malfeasance in the sector.
They said the regulatory mechanism will assist to curb the mushrooming of what they refer to as fly-by-night or phoney schools. The owners also apportioned corruption in the licensing to bogus driving schools which they allege are owned by corrupt licensing officials and examiners.
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