The City of Tshwane has uncovered massive corruption in its licensing department, where crooked officials are costing the municipality millions in traffic fine revenues and arrears with a scam called "dumping".
Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga told media yesterday motorists who could not get vehicle licences because of outstanding fines, would approach licensing department officials to bypass the ban.
An official would then initiate a process of registering the vehicle in the name of a supposed new owner, business or estate.
The registration would be backdated to fall under the unsuspecting new owner's name - along with the fines. Then the vehicle would be re-registered under the original owner's name - minus the fines.
"The unsuspecting person, business or estate, on whose name the fines had been dumped, would then approach the licensing department to query the transaction. Officials would claim ignorance and simply wipe off the fines. So the city loses out on traffic fine and licensing revenues," said Msimanga.
Those implicated in the scheme were believed to be part of a Gauteng-wide syndicate and operated from all the city's licensing stations, he said.
Internal disciplinary procedures had already been initiated against 12 of the alleged perpetrators.
"This number may grow as we delve further into a practice that went largely unchecked under the ANC administration," he said.
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