A HOME Affairs investigation sparked by a dramatic R3 million McLaren crash in Cape Town has uncovered what officials describe as widespread abuse of South Africa’s vehicle registration system, with hundreds of luxury cars allegedly purchased by foreign nationals using fraudulent documents.
The probe presented in parliament last week Friday, identified Gauteng as the centre of the scheme, where 282 luxury vehicles were allegedly bought using fraudulently obtained Traffic Registration Numbers (TRNs).
Investigators found that nearly 90% of the vehicles flagged during the investigation could not be linked to a valid immigration record.
The investigation was triggered after Nigerian rapper Prince Daniel Obioma, known as 3GAR, crashed a McLaren in Sea Point in March 2023.
According to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Obioma had allegedly overstayed a visitor’s visa, left South Africa, and later re-entered the country without any recorded movement entry.
This story is from the June 08, 2026 edition of The Star.
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