News24 | Eastern Cape ‘ghost’ operators: Businessman accused of R85k scholar transport fraud scheme

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport said “ghost operators” were undermining its scholar transport programme.

• Eastern Cape businessman Siyabulela Mvimbi was arrested by the Hawks for allegedly submitting fraudulent scholar transport invoices for routes that were closed due to infrastructure damage.
• The Eastern Cape Department of Transport said “ghost operators” were undermining its scholar transport programme.
• This year, the department recovered 14 000 pupil spaces after eliminating fraudulent operators from the R725-million programme.

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport says “ghost operators” are negatively affecting its scholar transport programme.

Several deserving pupils had been battling to be included in the programme owing to lack of funding.

In December last year, the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda ruled the department needed to transport to and from schools a further 50 000 deserving pupils, on top of the 103 000 it had budgeted for during the 2025 academic year.

But owing to lack of funds, the department was only able to cater for 112 000 pupils at an amount of R725 million during this year’s academic year.

Transport MEC Xolile Nqatha, in an interview with News24 in East London last month, said the department was able to cater for a further 14 000 pupils, totalling 126 000 pupils, due to its efforts of eliminating “ghost operators” from the programme.

“The fact that we were [during the 2025 academic year] able to find space for 14 000 kids [that] were not transported, this simply means there are [discrepancies] in the scholar transport programme which we are trying to [fix],” Nqatha said at the time.

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On Wednesday, a service provider appeared in court for allegedly submitting fraudulent invoices for scholar transport payments in the province.

Businessman Siyabulela Mvimbi, 43, appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after he was arrested by the Hawks for alleged fraud.

Hawks spokesperson, Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana, said: “During the period between 2020 and 2023, several authorised routes were closed due to substantial infrastructural damage.”

Despite the closure, Mhlakuvana said, Mvimbi allegedly submitted several fraudulent invoices, purporting that scholar transport services were rendered on the affected routes.

“The department’s internal investigation revealed that no such services had been provided, prompting a referral of the matter to the Hawks for further investigation.

“A meticulous investigation by the ... team uncovered conclusive evidence confirming that the invoices were fraudulently generated. The department was nearly prejudiced an amount of R85 000, which was fortunately prevented as the irregularities were detected prior to the processing of any payments,” said Mhlakuvana.

Mvimbi is out on R2 000 bail. His case was postponed to 8 December for further investigation.

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Provincial transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose welcomed Mvimbi’s arrest.

“We welcome this development, and we will allow law enforcement agencies the space to continue with their investigation.

“The matter of so-called ‘ghost operators’ has indeed been part of ongoing public debate, and this arrest reinforces the importance of our continued efforts to strengthen oversight and compliance mechanisms.

“Any individual or service provider found to have defrauded the state or compromised the programme will face the full might of the law,” Binqose said.