Cape Town – Obtaining a driving licence is regarded to be a passport to increased mobility, a better social life and a chance at securing a job.
Together with the proliferation of corruption and a lack of accountability in the country, cheating in your learner’s licence test might be considered an option by some. However, risking criminal charges being laid and only being able to apply to rewrite the test in 12 months’ time is not worth the risk.
On Thursday morning, in the third such instance since May, a 22-year-old man was arrested at the Milnerton Driving Licence Testing Centre when he allegedly tried to cheat while completing his learner’s licence test. The invigilator allegedly saw him trying to hide a piece of paper containing answers on collecting the test papers, the City of Cape Town said.
In June last year, a 34-year-old man escaped prosecution when he ate his cheat sheet, destroying the evidence.
In yesterday’s instance, however, the 22-year-old man was charged with fraud at the Milnerton police station.
In May, a learner licence applicant was found in possession of a script note. He was found in possession of R2 000 in cash, and admitted that he was going to pay the person who gave him the script note, the City said.
Eugene Herbert, the chief executive of advanced driver training company MasterDrive, told a news website there are a number of reasons why people cheat and that some could be rationalised as being understandable.
“The system is so fraught with corruption and lack of accountability, it is easier to do it this way rather than possibly not passing,” Herbert said.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said: “Learner licence applicants are informed prior to the test that it is an offence to use any unauthorised aid and that they can be convicted and disqualified from reapplying for a learner’s licence for a period of 12 months.
“The easy way out can lead to a much harder road ahead.’’
IOL