Mahikeng - The Hawks in the North West have arrested nine traffic department officials, along with the owner of a driving school and his employee, on charges of fraud and corruption.
Two of the suspects were released by the Sannieshof Magistrate's Court on R1 000 bail on Thursday, while the nine officials were also granted R 1 000 bail by the Delareyville Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
The Hawks said the suspects, aged between 28 and 65, allegedly granted learner's and driver's licences for a bribe of R7 500. Upon payment of the money, applicants were granted both a learner's licence and a driver's licence without being tested, the Hawks' Manase Phukubye said.
According to Phukubye, one of the suspects arrested was the owner of the Sammy Driving School in Sannieshof, whose administration clerk allegedly collects the bribes. It is suspected that the two worked with the nine traffic department officials in the area.
Phukubye said the driving school also allegedly provided learner's licence applicants with the answers before they sat for the exam. He said, during the exam, the learner drivers were allegedly allowed to copy from the answer sheets by examiners.
They will all appear in court again on April 5.
"Uprooting these types of crimes - fraud and corruption - will reduce accidents and deaths of innocent people on the roads and will minimise the unnecessary claims from the Road Accident Fund," said the Hawks' provincial head Major-General Linda Mbana.