24/07/2026
What's going on there by NaTis - Namibian Roads Authority?
A woman alleges that she paid more than N$10,000 to a purported NaTIS employee in exchange for a driver’s licence, only to end up without either the licence or her money.
The accused employee has not denied receiving the funds, but instead threatened to report the woman to the police for allegedly attempting to bribe him.
The woman told NBC News that she was referred to the alleged NaTIS official by a friend who was to facilitate the process. She said she was then instructed to transfer money via an electronic wallet to a cellphone number provided by the suspect.
According to the woman, she ultimately transferred a total of N$10,810 over a period of time.
WhatsApp messages and SMSs seen by NBC News show repeated demands for additional payments. The suspect allegedly claimed the money was needed to pay various officials at NaTIS, including for fingerprint processing, scanning fees, an IT technician and other approvals before the licences could be issued.
However, the promised licences never materialised.
When the woman demanded a refund and attempted to confront the alleged official at a NaTIS office, the exchanges allegedly took a dramatic turn.
Messages seen by NBC News contain threats that her son would be blocked from obtaining a learner’s or driver’s licence anywhere in Namibia.
The suspect also allegedly threatened to hand photographs of the woman and her son to police and use CCTV footage from a NaTIS office as evidence against them.
Having refused to make any further payments, the woman says she now intends to report the matter to the Namibian Police.
The alleged NaTIS employee, who identified himself only as George, did not deny receiving the money. Instead, he argued that anyone attempting to obtain a driver’s licence through other means is committing a criminal offence.
He said the woman was fully aware of the lawful procedures for obtaining a driver’s licence and threatened to open a bribery case against her.
The woman said she never initiated the payments and that the money was extorted from her.
Roads Authority spokesperson Hileni Fillemon said the agency will investigate the allegations.
The man has since sent a picture of the licence and instructed the woman to collect it from the NaTIS branch in the Northern Industrial Area, but NBC’s investigations established that the licence is not authentic.
Both soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public official and offering a bribe as a member of the public are offences under Namibia’s Anti-Corruption Act.
Earlier this year, the Roads Authority urged the public to obtain learner’s and driver’s licences only through the official application and testing process. It warned that fraudulent licences not only break the law but also endanger the lives of all road users.
Emil Seibeb and Gordon Joseph
