The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has launched a focused intervention targeting fraud within the province’s driver licensing system. The move comes amid mounting concern that between 30% and 50% of motorists may be operating vehicles with licences allegedly obtained through corrupt means.
In response, authorities are now turning their attention directly to Driver’s Licensing and Testing Centres (DLTCs), while also moving to seize assets, blacklist implicated driving schools, and deregister examiners linked to malpractice.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, 15 April 2026, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport Siboniso Duma revealed that the department has already investigated and traced 11 individuals alleged to have obtained fraudulent driver’s licences.
According to the MEC, the investigations are being driven by the revived elite Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit, which is making use of advanced digital tools to monitor activity in real time and identify those involved.
To watch the Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit using their equipment to monitor suspects, click here.
With this said, MEC Duma pointed out that one examiner had already pleaded guilty, while several other cases continue to progress in close partnership with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).
Building on this progress, MEC Duma praised the unit’s effectiveness in exposing deep-rooted corruption.
He stated: “We commend the newly revived and elite Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit for the sterling work that has resulted in uncovering the rot in more than 30 Driver’s Licensing and Testing Centres.”
These latest actions build on a broader series of interventions that began earlier this year.
As previously reported by Newcastillian News in January 2026, weekend services were suspended at the Empangeni, Mkondeni and Newcastle Driver’s Licence Testing Centres, as well as at the Pinetown/Mariannhill and Rossburgh DLTCs, together with several motor licensing offices in Pietermaritzburg, Umbilo, Pinetown/Mariannhill and Durban.
Those suspensions followed serious allegations of organised syndicates involving officials, driving school instructors and applicants, who were allegedly working in concert to manipulate booking slots for learner’s and driver’s licence examinations.
To read more, click here.
The department has also signalled that its response will extend well beyond temporary suspensions and reactive interventions.
Head of Department Zibusiso Dlamini has already initiated processes to deregister and blacklist private driving schools, instructors and examiners implicated in corruption, while enforcement responsibilities have been placed in the hands of the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and Operation Shanela teams.
MEC Siboniso Duma made it clear that the department now intends to pursue not only those directly involved in fraudulent licensing practices, but also the wider financial networks that sustain them.
“By and large, our DLTC must not be the catalysts for economic crimes, racketeering and money laundering. Poverty stricken communities and pensioners in particular are forced to give their grandchildren their last cents because of individuals who demand bribes. It is for these reasons we are also working with the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s Anti Corruption Unit, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Asset Forfeiture Unit. We aim to seize bank accounts, houses, cars and all other assets owned by those involved in any bribery, corruption and fraud associated with the issuing of learner’s and driver’s licenses,” emphasised Duma.
He further stated that the department’s campaign has been strengthened through the introduction of advanced digital monitoring systems designed to support real-time surveillance and the identification of offenders.
According to Duma, the technology is also capable of exposing the rigging and manipulation of tests and results, with a media demonstration expected in the coming weeks.
He declared that, for those involved in such conduct, it was effectively “game over”.
The department’s stance was underlined on 9 April 2026, when members of the Transport and Traffic Inspection Unit (TTIU) arrested a learner driver and an instructor at the Umkondeni Driving and Testing Centre.
During the intelligence-driven operation, officials intercepted communications that allegedly pointed to an illicit payment of R1800 in exchange for licence facilitation.
Duma said the department had studied the methods used by syndicates operating across multiple centres in the province and had specifically mandated the TTIU to dismantle those networks.
“By and large, we have studied a corruption playbook used by syndicates in various centers across the province. We have therefore mandated the TTIU to dismantle the syndicates. The head of the department, Zibusiso Dlamini, will be supporting the unit and will augment its operation with resources where necessary. Critically, any employee of the department of transport who is involved in this racket will be dealt with harshly to set an example for others to see that the corruption game is over,” stressed MEC Duma.
He added that those found to be involved would be publicly named as part of a broader effort to expose and remove entrenched malpractice from KwaZulu-Natal’s licensing system.
Duma also linked the clampdown on fraudulent licences to the province’s wider road safety agenda. He said that, following the implementation of #NenzaniLaEzweni operations and the removal of drunk drivers from provincial roads, fatality figures had already begun to decline. Against that backdrop, he described the sale of driver’s licences as the next major target in efforts to reduce road deaths in KwaZulu-Natal.
The MEC further stated that intelligence suggests between 30% and 50% of motorists on KwaZulu-Natal roads may be driving with licences obtained fraudulently.
To illustrate the scale of the danger, he referred to a recent RTI stop in which a motorist was reportedly unable to locate the vehicle’s hooter and did not know how to use indicators when turning.
“This is a clear indication that there are many people on our roads who are a danger to other motorists,” stressed Duma.
The real measure of success, however, will not lie in announcements or arrests alone. It will depend on whether the department can sustain this momentum, secure meaningful consequences for those implicated, and rebuild public trust in a system long clouded by suspicion.
With all the above in mind, what are your thoughts?
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2 Responses
I’m driving for over 40 years and have never felt so unsafe on our roads as now. Some motorists just ignore the rules of the road. Some vehicles are in a poor condition.
Time to follow American style traffic policing – traffic police monitor traffic by number plates. This is done live and is linked to main traffic computer and gives up to date information of any trafi violations and fines outstanding also as it is linked to police it can give any info regarding outstanding riial offence