BUSTED FOR BRIBERY

Thabazimbi – The Democratic Alliance (DA) have welcomed the arrest of 10 traffic officers of the Limpopo Provincial Department of Transport and the Polokwane Municipality on Tuesday, 23 January.

These 10 traffic officials were placed under arrest for soliciting bribes from the public for failing to obey the rules of the road. The arrests were made by members of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks). The suspects will soon appear for a formal bail hearing before the Polokwane Magistrates’ Court.

The public are urged not to partake in any bribing of traffic officials and are advised to report these activities to 0861 400 800.

Says Councillor Frank Haas, DA caucus leader of Polokwane Municipality: “The DA will continue to champion for the implementation of good governance that is transparent and accountable to all who live in our beautiful city.”

An anonymous Platinum Bushvelder newspaper reader tells of her experience with Thabazimbi traffic officials recently:

“I underwent a surgical procedure in Rustenburg recently and was returning home to Thabazimbi. My husband, in his haste to get me home and comfortable went slightly over the speed limit. Traffic officials pulled us off the road and requested a driver’s licence. My husband produced the licence and the officer took the licence and went to his vehicle, ordering my husband to accompany him. Here, the traffic official requested a two-thousand-rand bribe or be taken into custody. 

“The officers refused to return my husband’s licence until he had paid some sort of bribe.  My husband told the officers that he did not have that amount of cash. The officers then dropped their price to one-thousand-rand. 

“My husband refused the offer as he did not have the cash. This did not please the officers, they then insisted on being paid six-hundred-rand. By this time, I was sick and vomiting, my young daughter was hysterical.

“This did not faze the officers, my frantic husband then agreed to pay the six hundred. The officers then followed our vehicle to where we withdrew money from a bank. The money was handed to the officers, only then did they return the licence.”