Four vehicle examiners have been arrested at a privately owned testing station in Claysville outside Tembisa in Gauteng. These arrests bring the number of suspects arrested in different private roadworthy centres to about 20 in the last three months.
This week's joint operation by the Road Traffic Management Corporation's National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit‚ the South Africa Police Service’s Organised Crime Unit and Gauteng Traffic's Compliance Unit came after investigations uncovered a scam in which the identity document of a 64-year-old bed-ridden man was allegedly used to fraudulently process roadworthy certificates for hundreds of vehicles.
It is believed that the vehicles were never physically examined before the certificates were issued‚ said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane.
"Many motorists who visited the centre with the hope of obtaining fraudulent documents yesterday were disappointed to discover that the centre was temporarily closed‚" he added.
The four suspects are expected to appear in court on Wednesday on charges of corruption and fraud.
Un-roadworthy vehicles pose a major danger on the roads and contribute to a significant number of accidents‚ said Zwane.
"The RTMC is working with other law enforcement agencies to minimise the number of such vehicles on the roads in a concerted effort to make South African roads safe.
"More arrests are expected."
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
