Issued by: KZN Ministry of Transport
A month after initiating a crack down on the abuse of government vehicles, KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Transport, Mr S'bu Ndebele has announced that his department has achieved early successes in the fight against fraud and abuse.
In mid-September, Mr Ndebele introduced a multi-pronged plan to identify and root out fraud in the Provincial Motor Transport division of the department. A series of procedures were instituted to eradicate loopholes in the system and control measures were set in place to monitor the use of government vehicles.
Mr Ndebele said one of the key indicators of the success of the clamp down is the quantum of vehicle fill-ups. Under special circumstances, government vehicles are allowed to refuel on weekends. Prior to the new measures being instituted, about 2500 vehicles per month were refueling over weekends. The number of vehicles has now dropped to 1420 which translates into a saving of approximately R80 000 per month.
"We hope to achieve even more savings in the coming months as the project gathers momentum," Mr Ndebele said.
New reporting systems developed by the Provincial Motor Transport division will now be able to identify regions where vehicles are filling up, the filling stations they are using and the registration numbers of the vehicles. Mr Ndebele said the system will assist the department in tracing fraud syndicates involving government officials and garage employees.
Part of the clamp down included a blitz on government vehicles by the Road Traffic Inspectorate. RTI has been carrying out special enforcement exercises to check whether trips are authorised and whether the location of vehicles and number of passengers correspond with the itinerary. "RTI officers also patrol around resorts, fishing places and recreational facilities over weekends to check for government vehicles which are used for private purposes. The Special Operations Group has also been deployed to areas where the use of government vehicles is higher than the average level. These exercises are stepped up towards the end of the month when people tend to use the vehicles to go shopping or for recreational purposes," Mr Ndebele said.
Government vehicles are also being stopped at every roadblock and Booze Bus operation where their authorisation forms are checked. During camera-based operations, details of government vehicles which are found to be travelling over the speed limit are sent immediately to the Provincial Motor Transport division for investigation and disciplinary measures are then instituted.
Mr Ndebele has thanked members of the public who have come forward to report cases of abuse of vehicles. "In addition to the team of officers and officials who are working to eliminate fraud and abuse of government vehicles, we are grateful to the support from members of the public who become our eyes and ears on the ground," he said.
The reported cases include the use of vehicles over weekends and swapping of vehicle licence plates. Over the last month, 14 employees have been found guilty of fraudulent activities. The Department of Transport has submitted recommendations to the Director-General of the province to terminate the contracts of employment of these officials.