Johannesburg - A prominent Mpumalanga truck and bus owner has been arrested in connection with the R89 million fraud and corruption related to vehicle licence fees in Mpumalanga.
Morris Robert Shabalala, 58, who owns a fleet of buses and semi-trailers registered under the trade name Lamavuso Family Trust, appeared in the Mbombela Magistrate’s Court this morning facing charges of fraud, theft and money laundering.
He was released on R15 000 bail.
Shabalala’s arrest is linked to the arrest of 17 other suspects, including two business people, five former Mpumalanaga Department of Community Safety, Security, and Liaison employees, and licensing officials based at Mbombela, Piet Retief, Mashishing, KwaMhlushwa, and Delmas registering authorities.
Those arrests took place between December 2022 and April 2023. All the suspects, including Shabalala, will appear in the Mbombela Commercial Crimes Court on August 30. They have been granted bail.
It is alleged that former staff members of the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security, and Liaison, who worked at the department’s helpdesk, colluded with the licensing officials to fraudulently issue vehicle licence discs to corrupt fleet owners and company representatives.
Initially, it was thought that the scheme was operated between 2018 and 2019 and cost the state R60m in lost revenue, i.e., unpaid vehicle licences fees and penalties. However, further investigations showed that more crimes were involved, and the scope of the investigation was extended to 2016, which showed that R89m was the amount of revenue lost in unpaid fees between 2016 to 2019.
RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said a lengthy collaborative investigation by the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s National Anti-Corruption Unit, the Hawks and the Special Investigative Unit established that corrupt business people allegedly paid large sums of money into the accounts of departmental officials to have their licence fees and penalties dumped or cancelled so the business people could receive vehicle licence discs as if they owed nothing to the state.
Zwane said in the case of Shabalala, it is alleged that the file for the renewal of his fleet was unlawfully moved from the Standerton Registering Authority to the Nelspruit helpdesk with the intention to commit crime.
Preliminary investigations showed that the state lost R343 332 in vehicle licence fees and penalties that were not paid. A lump sum of money was paid into the account of one of the suspected officials on the day that the illicit transaction was concluded.
He said in the case of another accused businessperson, Demieties Pieter Botes, 46, who owns a fleet of truck tractors and tippers trading under the name DP Botes Verwoer Beperk, it is alleged that the file for the renewal of his fleet was unlawfully moved from the Delmas Registering Authority to the Nelspruit provincial helpdesk with the intention to allegedly perpetrate crime. A preliminary investigation indicated the state lost R1 005 923.40 in unpaid vehicle fees and penalties as a result. A large sum of money was allegedly paid into the bank account of one of the suspected officials on the day the illicit transaction was concluded.
The third businessperson, Magidi Doctor Mpapane, 59, is accused of failing to pay R709 333.60 in vehicle licence fees.
Mpapane is the registered owner of Doc’s Construction and Plant Hire. He owns a fleet of vehicles, such as tankers and loader pump lifters. His business file was moved from KwaMhlushwa’s Registering Authority to the helpdesk in Nelspruit to perpetrate the alleged crime. It is alleged that a large sum of money was paid into the bank account of one of the suspected officials on the day the illicit transaction was concluded.
Zwane said Doc’s Construction and Plant Hire has also been positively linked to another fraudulent vehicle licence transaction that took place at the Sedibeng branch of the South African Post Office in 2021.
“Investigations are continuing, and more arrests are expected,” said Zwane.
The Star