Some of the Mandeni testing centre accused and their supporters, photographed outside the Eshowe Magistrate's Court. Some of the Mandeni testing centre accused and their supporters, photographed outside the Eshowe Magistrate's Court.
Durban - A teacher on Tuesday told a Zululand court that, after having failed her driving test three times, she paid a Mandeni driving school at least R5 500 – and was given a driving licence without being tested.
Bongekile Millicent Khumalo also told the Eshowe Regional Court that she had not been given a single lesson by the driving school.
Khumalo was testifying in the trial of eight traffic officers and three clerks from the Mandeni Driving Licence Testing Centre, and nine driving school operators/instructors operating in that area.
All 20 accused face a charge of racketeering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The traffic officers also face fraud charges.
The State charges that driving licence applicants were not examined or tested; test sheets were fraudulently completed; and licences were issued to people who were not competent to drive a vehicle.
The driving school owners/ instructors are also charged with corruption for “giving a public officer a benefit” or “accepting a benefit”, under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
Khumalo was described as a “204 witness”, referring to a clause in the Criminal Procedure Act in which a witness can be indemnified from prosecution if the court is satisfied she testified openly and honestly.
Yesterday, Khumalo was testifying in particular on charges faced by the only female traffic officer on trial, Sibongile Benedictor Ntuli. The charge sheet lists six occasions when Ntuli allegedly took payments for issuing licences.
Khumalo told the court that she had undertaken the driving test three times at the Empangeni Testing Station, but had failed each time.
Speaking through a Zulu interpreter, she said, “I was concerned because I urgently needed a driving licence.
“I heard that at Mandeni there is a way to get a licence, so I went to Mandeni.
“When I went to Mandeni I knew the person I was to speak to, he was known as ‘TP’.”
When Khumalo, accompanied by a friend, arrived at the building they had been directed to, a man came out of the office. She explained to him that she wanted a licence.
“He went to his car and got his briefcase, then took out a green form for me to fill in,” Khumalo said.
On the first day of the trial, on Monday, State witness Tony Freese, the chief provincial tester at the Department of Transport, had explained the “green” (or DL1) form.
It is a three-page form used by traffic departments to record applicants’ details, the results of driving tests, and payments made.
Khumalo said the man from the driving school told her how much she would have to pay: money for the green form, payment for an eye test, and a fee for a “special booking”.
She could not remember the total sum she handed over that day. She was told that she would be contacted when she had a test date. On that day, she should bring another R5 500.
On September 17, 2010, she went to Mandeni. The driving school contact left her and her friend in the car while he went into an office at the Mandeni Driving Licence Testing Centre.
He later emerged and told them to wait outside until their names were called. Khumalo was called a short while later, and sent to have her fingerprints taken. Then a woman in a traffic officer uniform, and a man not in uniform, handed her the form to sign.
She was given a temporary driver’s licence and again paid a sum of money; she does not remember how much.
Khumalo said she was not able to identify the woman traffic officer who had given her the licence, describing her only as a black woman with a light complexion.
In court on Tuesday, Khumalo was shown an optometrist report from “Mandeni Optometrist”, and confirmed that it contained her details. She told the court she had never gone to an optometrist.
The case continues on Wednesday.
Daily News