Businessman in court for vehicle licence fraud scam

A businessman who is accused of being part of an elaborate vehicle licence scam owns a fleet of at least 40 vehicles out of a total 16,000 that are being investigated for having been fraudulently licensed.

Morris Robert Shabalala, 58, who owns companies in transport and logistics, mining and industrial cleaning, appeared in the Mbombela magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga yesterday facing charges of fraud, theft and money laundering. He was released on R15,000 bail.

A companies search showed that he is a director of 10 companies, all based in Standerton, Mpumalanga, including Lamavuso Transport Service Line, which operates luxury buses in two provinces.

According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Shabalala is alleged to have colluded with licensing officials to issue his fleet with licence discs without paying licence fees or penalties.

RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said preliminary investigations showed that the state lost R343,332 in licence fees that were not paid by Shabalala.

He said unspecified money was paid into the account of one of the suspected officials on the day of the alleged fraud.

“Shabalala made contact with the people from the helpdesk, and they facilitated with the licensing officials from Standerton to say move the business file of this fellow to Mbombela’s helpdesk. They do the transaction. Clean all the fees owed by him,” Zwane said.

“But our suspicions are that those officials from the registering authority and those at the helpdesk were collaborating in this [alleged criminal activity]. So [this alleged criminal activity] is syndicated.”

Shabalala’s court appearance yesterday is linked to the arrest of 17 other suspects who include two businesspeople, five former Mpumalanga department of community safety, security and liaison employees and licensing officials and registering authorities.

Their arrests followed an investigation by the RTMC, the Hawks and Special Investigating Unit into R89m fraud and corruption related to vehicle licence fees in the province.

The bulk of the arrests took place between December 2022 and April 2023. They are all expected to appear in the Mbombela Commercial Crimes Court on August 30.

Zwane said about 100 suspects were involved in the alleged fraudulent activities dating back to 2016.

Shabalala is the third businessman to be nabbed in the matter after Demieties Pieter Botes, 46, and Magidi Doctor Mpapane, 59, were also arrested earlier this year.

Botes, who owns a fleet of truck tractors and tippers trading under the name DP Botes Verwoer Beperk, and it is alleged that the file for the renewal of his fleet was unlawfully moved from the Delmas registering authority to Nelspruit provincial helpdesk with the intention to allegedly perpetrate crime.

Zwane said preliminary investigation indicated the state lost R1,005,923.40 in unpaid vehicles fees and penalties as a result.

Mpapane, 59, who is also accused of failing to pay R709,333 in vehicle licence fees, owns a filling station, property company, a restaurant, a plant hire and a towing company.

"Mpapane is the registered owner of Doc’s Construction and Plant Hire. He owns a fleet of vehicles such as tankers and loader pump lifters. His business file was moved from KwaMhlushwa registering authority to the helpdesk in Nelspruit to perpetrate the alleged crime. It is alleged that a large sum of money was paid into the bank account of one of the suspected officials on the day the illicit transaction was concluded," said Zwane.

"Doc’s Construction and Plant Hire has also been positively linked to another vehicle licence fraudulent transaction that took place at the Sedibeng branch of the South African Post Office in 2021."

He said five employees of the Mpumalanga department of community safety resigned when they learnt they were implicated in the investigation.

“There are 10 licencing officials from different registering authorities [who are still employed] who have been arrested,” he said.

“The vehicles are displaying fraudulently issued discs… it is illegal for them to be on the road. For them to operate, these owners will have to pay the money. We want to recover the money but they must also face the consequences.”

Zwane said they would be guided by the prosecution on whether the vehicles should be attached if the owners fail to pay the fines. 

Last year, the Gauteng government said it had lost at least R1.4bn in unpaid traffic fines due to an elaborate scam at licensing centres that transfer debt to deceased motorists. This was after a forensic report into the corruption at licensing centres across the province had uncovered that owners of large fleets collude with officials in a fraudulent scam using profiles of dead people to avoid paying fines and vehicle licence fees.