'We can't afford bribe increase': Driving school operators shut Mbombela traffic department

Driving school operators in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, took the extreme measure of shutting the entrances to the local traffic department facility on Tuesday in what they said was an effort to expose the shenanigans at the department.

The operators blocked entrances in protest against an alleged increase in the bribe money examiners allegedly demand to pass their clients.

A driving school operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of compromising his business, said they have been paying a bribe of R1,700 to officials for a couple of years now.

He said last week they were informed that the bribe would increase to R2,000 from November 1.

“We are obviously against this increase, so shutting the gates is a way for us to expose them. We want everyone to know what they have been doing,” he said.

The driving school operator alleged that when they shut the gates, everyone who was tested on that day failed.

“They failed all students, demanding an increment of the bribe. We can't [pay more] because people are poor ...  We know they are corrupt and failed all those who didn't pay a bribe, but we can't increase it,” the operator said. 

“If the department is serious about investigating, they must start by investigating our claims that everyone who tested on Wednesday failed. They will get their answers there.”

Spokesperson for the department of community safety, Moeti Mmusi, said they viewed the allegations in a serious light. He said the department would be meeting with the driving school operators.

Regarding the allegation that everyone who tested on Wednesday was failed because they didn't want to pay the R2,000, Mmusi said they would need the operators to come forward with all the information. However, he cautioned that it might be difficult to prove that they were failed because they didn't pay the bribe. 

“We have cameras on the testing ground at the station. We can go back and view if the person being tested did everything correct in the yard, but how do we prove they did everything correct on the road test? Remember, we have traffic lights, stop signs and all other things that are looked into during the road test,” Mmusi said. 

Moss Letsholo of the National Driving School Association of South Africa told TimesLIVE they were not in a position to comment immediately.

“We are trying to gather the facts around this incident. At the moment we don’t understand what is happening but we are in back-to-back meetings in an effort to get to the bottom of this. Once we have all the information and facts, we’ll get back to you,” he said.

- Additional reporting by RiseFM

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