The Greater Letaba Municipality has been rocked by revelations that more than R1-million collected at its driving licence testing centre between 2021 and 2023 was not banked, raising serious questions about accountability and financial management within the institution.
According to a preliminary report by Mphoke PK Attorneys, the law firm tasked with the investigation, the money was collected from customers, but instead of being deposited into the municipal account, the funds disappeared.
Significant differences between the amount collected and what was shown in the municipal bank account were found by the investigators.
When contacted by Sunday World, municipal spokesperson Lovers Sibanda stated only that an investigation is underway.
“Please note that the report is preliminary, so we can’t comment much because we don’t want to compromise the credibility of the investigation,” said Sibanda.
But community members have expressed outrage, with many pointing out that service delivery continues to suffer while large sums of public funds are seemingly unaccounted for.
“We queue for hours at the testing centre, paying our hard-earned money, only to find out that it’s not even reaching the municipal coffers. This is unacceptable,” said one frustrated resident.
The Greater Letaba Municipality has faced financial governance challenges before, with recurring audit findings pointing to weak internal controls.
Analysts argue that this latest revelation underscores the need for tighter oversight, especially in high-revenue units such as testing centres.
Pressed for comment, Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety spokesperson Matome Moremi Tauetsoala promised to verify the matter and revert to us.
At the time of publication, he still had not.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in Limpopo.
In 2007, the Polokwane Municipality placed five licensing department officials on precautionary suspension following allegations of fraud and irregular transactions that cost the city millions of rand.
Municipal spokesperson Simon Mokoatedi said the suspensions came after an internal audit uncovered widespread manipulation of vehicle licensing records, including the issuing of fraudulent licence discs, falsified renewals, and the misappropriation of funds meant to boost municipal revenue.
