Officers of Johannesburg Metro Police District said bribery has tarnished policing career’s reputation and sends the wrong message to society.
Officers Itumeleng Buza and Ayanda Mbewu, who have been working for the Metro police since 2007, said it’s embarrassing that Metro police are mostly known as people who accept any amount of bribe from community members.
“When we joined JMPD in 2007 we had one thing in mind, to serve the community and keep Joburgers safe. We work in the community outreach department of JMPD. Part of our job is to teach road safety in schools and communities almost every day. It’s embarrassing to hear a Grade 1 school child talking about a bribe as a mean of avoiding a ticket fine,” said Buza.
Both officer Buza and Mbewu have also urged parents to stop abusing each other in front of children because it has a negative impact on children. “Parents must stop abusing each other in front of their children. We see this when we have our safety lessons programmes in schools. Bullying is something that children in some cases learn at home and they take with them to school,” said Mbewu
The JMPD community outreach unit teaches the community about road safety, substance abuse and bullying in schools among other things.
