Pay the bribe or pay the fine, say cops

POLOKWANE – Municipal traffic officer who solicit bribes from motorists before they are allowed to drive away, are once again under the spotlight after a local truck company reported two recent incidents.

First incident reported

David Ledwaba, a driver from the company said he was pulled over by municipal traffic officers just outside the city on the R101 to Mokopane.

“I had my driver’s licence in hand and was waiting for the traffic officer to ask me for it so I could be on my way. One of the traffic officers asked where I was going and said they had to look inside the vehicle.”

“I opened the passenger door for him, upon which the traffic officer removed the truck licence from its disc. I asked them if there was something wrong and they said that it was still a long way from payday and working on the road made them hungry and thirsty. They said if I drove without a licence disk the vehicle was not roadworthy and I could get into a lot of trouble. I had to pay them to get the licence disk back,” Ledwaba related.

Second incident reported

In another incident, Janique Wilson said she was asked for her driver’s licence and also told by municipal traffic officers that they had to look inside the vehicle. “I opened the door and the traffic officer sat down on the seat next to me. He started asking if I had some money with me to which I replied ‘no’.

“He then asked me if I had money in the bank and when I replied in the affirmative, he closed the door and said I should drive to an ATM at a filling station to withdraw some cash. I didn’t know what to do, so I did what I was told,” Wilson recalled.

She said she withdrew R300 and gave it to the traffic official who demanded she drive him to a fast-food store and back to his colleague before she could go. “Thinking about it now, I should have driven to the police station with him and opened a case right there and then. But being a woman alone I was so intimidated that I did not think further than just doing what they said and being on my way,” Wilson said.

After several e-mails and calls to the Polokwane Municipality on these issues no comment had been received by the time of going to print.

Contacting the municipal traffic department directly was also fruitless as Review was referred back to the municipal spokesperson.

A former municipal traffic official who does not wish to be identified said he left the municipal traffic department some years ago because of these very same issues. Read more in Review Weekend.