MBOMBELA – Shoppers at Crossings were in for a surprise when they stopped to get their daily bread and milk as four members of the flying squad were arrested there and then for allegedly soliciting a bribe from a minibus taxi driver and a passenger earlier today.
The taxi had apparently been carrying counterfeit goods along the N4. It was pulled over near the province’s capital earlier today and the members of the flying squad discovered the counterfeit items. They allegedly demanded a bribe and allowed the vehicle to proceed with its journey.
However, the minibus taxi was pulled over again by SAPS in Middelburg. Police officials saw the couterfeit goods, but passengers informed these officials that they had already been pulled over near Mbombela.
The passengers in the taxi confessed that the they had already paid money to the police officials who had initially stopped them. They supplied the officials stationed in Middelburg with the registration number of the vehicle of the flying squad which had pulled them over.
The driver of the taxi was then arrested along with the passengers and detained at Middelburg police station. At the time of going to print, they were being transported back to Mbombela.
Acting Provincial Commissioner, Maj Gen Meshack Nongwanya received an anonymous call informing him of the incident. “We will leave no stone unturned in this investigation, and we don’t want any corrupt officials within the SAPS. You can’t be robbed or give a policeman a bribe,” says Nongwanya.
The driver of the vehicle, its occupants as well as the four members of the Flying Squad are due to appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate court tomorrow.
More updates will be provides as this investigation unfolds.
