At least 230 000 fake roadworthy certificates are estimated to have been issued in 2012, but only 162 vehicles have been impounded by a task team set up to crack down on roadworthy certificate fraud.
Meanwhile, 12 testing stations identified as having issued fake certificates continue to operate as the transport department awaits the outcome of criminal cases against 33 examiners arrested in connection with the fraud.
There has been just one conviction so far, in the Western Cape, where an examiner was sentenced to five years’ correctional supervision.
Over the past year, 10 089 vehicles have been positively identified as having fraudulent roadworthy certificates, according to a written reply from transport minister Dipuo Peters to a question from DA MP Ian Ollis.
“AT LEAST 10 PERCENT”
But all traffic authorities can do is to load their details on the eNatis electronic traffic management system and the automatic number plate recognition system and wait for them to be snared in a roadblock or speed trap.
Peters said 2.3 million vehicles were tested at 574 stations over the past financial year and “at least” 10 percent of these were estimated to have obtained their roadworthies fraudulently.
Ollis said the task team had documented cases of minibus taxis and cars with fake roadworthy certificates that had been involved in serious accidents - illustrating the dangers associated with the fraud.
That an estimated 230 000 such certificates were believed to have been issued in one year was “completely unacceptable” and showed there was a “whole industry” of fraud out there.
INCORRECT DETAILS
The problem would only get worse if the testing stations involved were not shut down, he added. Even then, there had been cases of stations obtaining court orders allowing them to reopen after they were closed by authorities.
The first problem was that testing stations were not capturing the correct details of vehicle owners, with at least 50 percent of details of registered owners being incorrect.
Ollis pointed out that this made it impossible to track them down when it emerged they had been issued with fraudulent certificates.
The other problem was that the department was doing nothing to hunt for such vehicles, instead waiting for them to be caught by luck.
Ollis said Peters should establish a task team to track down owners of vehicles with fake certificates and ensure details on the eNatis system were captured correctly. - Weekend Argus