Anna Cox
JOHANNESBURG: Telkom chief executive Sipho Maseko is at the centre of an investigation of a car licence cloning scandal.
The man who earns almost R1 million a month stands accused of running up almost R30 000 in traffic fines – to be paid by another driver.
He is also accused of getting City of Joburg manager Trevor Fowler to call off the metro police department (JMPD) when officers went to his house in Houghton to check on the licence plates. Maseko would not allow them in.
It was a chance-in-a-million meeting on a Pretoria freeway that led to businessman Mabena Motshoane’s driving behind a vehicle using his licence plates.
Motshoane had become used to looking closely at every black Range Rover he came across because over the past few months, he had received a number of traffic fines, adding up to about R30 000, for offences allegedly involving his car. His black Range Rover had been parked at a reputable motor workshop for several months while parts were imported from overseas.
Motshoane spent days at the JMPD offices opening a case with the number plates investigative unit and also opened a fraud case at the Booysens police station but with little success as officers appeared unwilling to help.
Motshoane became scared that his unpaid “fines” would become a liability if he was ever stopped at a roadblock.
His e-toll bills were also mounting. So when he saw a black Range Rover with the TVL 414 GP plates, he gave chase and stopped the driver – only to find that it was someone he knew, Maseko.
“I asked him why he was driving around with my number plates, and he gave me a vague answer that his old black Range Rover had that number plate and he had personalised it to his own name,” he said.
Motshoane later discovered his car had been owned by Maseko.
JMPD officers then phoned Maseko who said TVL 414 GP were his number plates and there was nothing they could do to him and slammed the phone down.
After much persistence by Motshoane, the JMPD sent officers to Maseko’s Houghton home, but they were refused permission to inspect the vehicle. Eventually they were instructed to leave after being told that Fowler had intervened. An officer again later called Maseko and asked to inspect the vehicle. Maseko agreed to take the car to the Martindale JMPD headquarters a few days later. When he did, the vehicle had the plates 414 TVL GP – the same numbers and letters, but in a different order.
Motshoane says all he wants is to be able to sell the car and get it off his name.
Maseko said he had personalised the number plates 414 TVL GP for his new Range Rover which he bought last year. When asked why he would want to use old number plates on a new vehicle, Maseko said TVL stood for Transvaal and he felt nostalgic about it.
He said when the JMPD arrived at his house he had no idea why. “I asked for a charge sheet or complaint, but they were not able to give me one. I was scared and nervous and the only person I could think of was Trevor Fowler. All Mr Fowler did was to refer me to someone in the JMPD who could assist me,” he said.
“I was not trying to hide anything.”
The JMPD did not respond to a request for comment.
The City of Joburg said Fowler denied he had instructed JMPD officers to leave Maseko’s premises.