News24 reports that five KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) licensing officials have been sentenced for fraudulently assisting many learner's licence applicants in the province to pass their tests.

On Monday, the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced the five examiners, who were attached to the uMngeni licencing department in Howick, to direct imprisonment terms ranging from four to eight years. The five officials were part of a group of 19 people who were arrested when the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the Hawks raided the uMngeni Local Municipality in March 2018. All of them were charged with fraud following months of investigations that found examiners were assisting applicants to pass their learner's licence tests. The examiners used a concealed light-emitting device to point out the correct answers to the applicants, enabling them to pass without learning the rules of the road. The court found the officials guilty of fraud in November 2020 following a lengthy trial. Sentencing was handed down on Monday (details in report). The RTMC advised that the officials were dismissed after lengthy disciplinary processes.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Marvin Charles at News24

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