In this latest case, members of the Directorate for Priority Crime in the province on Monday apprehended a 32-year-old man from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, who is allegedly linked to the unlawful issuing of roadworthy certificates for uninspected vehicles by Ficksburg resident, Tlali Letaba. 

The spokesperson for the Hawks in the Free State, Christopher Singo, tells OFM News’ Olebogeng Motse that Letaba was arrested in October 2021 for his role in the crime and only then did authorities recognise that this was, in fact, a cross-provincial syndicate.

It's alleged Letaba – who is now out on bail - was colluding with examiners from different private testing stations in the Eastern Cape in issuing the roadworthy certificates without the vehicles being officially inspected. This was done in exchange for R1 100 from the purported victims of the crimes. Hence this latest arrest in Gqerberha. 

Singo says following Letaba’s arrest, four other people were nabbed in the Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces around October 2021. The Hawks spokesperson says Letaba isn’t a traffic official and the directorate is working alongside the Free State traffic department to ascertain how he was able to commit the crimes.

The Eastern Cape-based suspect is expected to appear before the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court on 16 February. Singo says he will then join Letaba and other accused in the following weeks.

This isn’t the first cross-provincial traffic syndicate that the authorities have made arrests on. In 2020, 18 accused traffic officials and private testing centre examiners were nabbed for their respective roles in a similar style syndicate. 

READ MORE: #BreakingNews: FS traffic syndicate suspects

The apprehended group included administration clerks from the Lengau Traffic and Testing Centre, a police officer, and driving school employees from the four provinces. The homes of these officials were raided and documentation was seized before they were booked. The trial into the matter was slated for mid-2021. This is a developing story.

READ MORE: Cross-provincial traffic syndicate pre-trial yet to start

OFM News