An administration clerk employed at the Lengau Testing Centre in Bloemfontein, has been added to the list of suspects arrested regarding alleged issuing of unlawful driver’s licences and learner’s licences. The suspect, Mosethle Samuel Masopa (49), briefly appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 28 June, facing charges of corruption, fraud, and money laundering.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said Masopa was served with summons on 13 June to appear in the court, and the case was remanded to 14 August for transfer to the Regional Court in Bloemfontein. She said he has been added to 14 suspects previously arrested in January this year during a crackdown. The suspects include officials working for the Traffic Department, private examiners, driving school instructors as well as runners. They were in Bloemfontein, Brandfort, Botshabelo, Ladybrand, Phalaborwa, and Nelspruit.
Matoti said their arrest was part of Operation Catfish, a multi-disciplinary initiative focusing on the network of unlawful issuing of driver’s licences and learner’s licences at various centres in the country. The initiative is undertaken by the Hawks, Tactical Response Team (TRT), and Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). She said the operation was initiated after information was received in 2022 about the crime of issuing learner’s and driver’s licences without proper procedures.
“Operation Catfish was subsequently set up, several transactions concluded over a period, and evidence thereof presented before court. On 26 January 2024, the Director of Public Prosecutions authorised warrants of arrest for 20 individuals based on evidence presented,” said Matoti.
