26 January 2020
Sunday Politics
Earlier this month, I visited Langlaagte licensing and testing station to apply for a temporary licence. On my arrival, I was intercepted by a guy who asked me what I needed. I replied that I was there to get a temporary licence. The man said I needed to have secured a slot online to access the service, a point that was repeated by the security guard at the gate. I told both that the Department of Transport’s eNatis page does not have an option to secure a slot for a temporary licence. But they insisted I would need a reference number.
Before I knew it, the guy offered to secure me a slot and fast-track my application if I offered him R700 (R400 fee plus R300 for issuing). I refused and went to Maponya Mall’s government services centre in Soweto, where after a short period of queuing I paid only R75 for the whole process and was told I did not have to apply online to get a temporary licence.
Had I believed the unscrupulous characters that were the guard and that fellow, I would have paid a whopping R625 more for such a cheap government service.
Stories abound of citizens who are forced to pay close to R8 000 in order to pass their driver’s licence test. It is said that if you fail to pay some examiner would deliberately fail you. It is the same experience if you want to get a job or a tender in some government institutions – you have to offer something (money for cold drink or even sex) more than just your capabilities and qualifications.
The corruption at testing and licensing stations is symptomatic of the graft that has plagued almost every facet of our lives, especially at the level of the state, as exposed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo’s State Capture Commission. The inquiry has showed us that the country was at some point run by a shadow state – a group of unelected tsotsis looting state coffers for their narrow interests at the expense of the public.
The emergence of the phenomenon of “shadow government services” is dangerous for service delivery going forward.
We need to urgently tackle this spectre of “shadow government services” and the “shadow state” or more people will continue to be duped into paying exorbitant amounts of cash to access basic services such as education and health.
