WATCH: RTMC destroys 500 illegally imported cars
The Road Traffic Management Corporation says it's started the process of destroying 520 illegally imported vehicles that were fraudulently registered in the country.
This comes after a joint operation by law enforcement agencies the in Eastern Cape.
They examined the pattern of how vehicles were being fraudulently registered via the local Transport Department's Help Desk.
The probe also led to the arrests of 17 suspects - alleged kingpins behind the syndicate.
The corporation's Simon Zwane says investigators found that the vehicles were illegally imported from Japan and had been destined for other African countries.
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He says they were sold at reduced prices, prompting officials to bypass the system and register the cars.
Some were fitted with false registration plates from KZN and Cape Town.
"The cars are barring number plates that seem to resemble South Africa’s but the licence disks show that they licenced in Malawi, but that is also not true,” says Zwane.
"All of the cars are imports - second-hand cars that are being imported and sold cheaply in the country."
The destruction of illegally imported second-hand cars continues at the SAPS vehicle safeguarding storage in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape this morning. #BuyaMthetho @Abramjee @SABCNews @eNCA @Dispatch_DD pic.twitter.com/dhmxUTZRXl
— Road Traffic Management Corporation (@TrafficRTMC) March 31, 2022
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