The News received a startling letter from a reader explaining how an elderly Indian/ coloured man tried to solicit bribes from three women at the Mogale City Licensing Department recently.
The reader, who asked for her identity not to be revealed, said the man called the three women aside and offered to get them appointments for a fee of R400 each.
“By the looks of it this man was also very friendly with the older male security guard at the Renewals Department. Some people were taken to the offices via a back entrance and did not have to sit in the queue like the rest of us,” the letter read.
Last week an angry father sent a similar complaint to the News. He said his son’s job was on the line if he did not get his driver’s licence renewed urgently, but the problem, which so many others are also facing, is the lack of appointment slots.
The father, Willem Swanepoel, also claimed that he received information that if he paid a certain person R100, he too would get an appointment.
The News immediately made Mogale City Local Municipality’s communications department aware of the claims.
They responded on behalf of the Licensing Department.
“The complainant was apparently at our Licencing Centre when all that is being alleged happened but she chose to remain quiet about it instead of bringing it to the attention of management immediately, especially considering the fact that the alleged perpetrator [elderly Indian/ coloured man] was still on the premises.
“It happens all the time that people will be physically at our Licencing Centre and allegedly observe what they regard as bribery being committed and decide to keep quiet, only to report it to the newspaper a few days after it had happened. Had the complainant at least reported this matter immediately to management in secret at the time it happened, the perpetrator could have possibly been arrested on that very same day,” their response reads.
They explained how difficult it is to address some of the complaints because there is simply no cooperation from ‘concerned’ members of the community.
“They rather go and report incidents to newspapers a few days after the occurrence of the alleged misconduct instead of helping management. If only this culture can be corrected, and members of the community learn to complain directly to management, we will as a country go very far in dealing with the challenges of bribery and corruption in the public service. I honestly don’t know where to even start trying to address this complaint because we have nothing to work on.”
The response further stated that the Licensing Centre does not have an elderly Indian/ coloured man in its employ. They don’t know who the people are who were allegedly taken to the offices via a back entrance and also don’t know which older male security guard is being referred to in this complaint.
“We understand the need for people to remain anonymous but they must at least give us something concrete and useful to work on when we investigate their allegations.”
