On 2 January, a video was published on YouTube that saw a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officer asking a motorist for a bribe in the Honeydew area.
According to the source, the officer was unaware that the passenger next to the driver was holding a camera, recording the incident.
Here is the link to the video that has gone viral within three days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgRy5DfWeSw
According to YouTube user ‘garyvdh’, in the video, the man asked the officer for his badge number after he tried to solicit a bribe from the man. He said, “The man was taken to the Honeydew Police Station where he went for a blood test and he was charged with drunken driven and was released on a R1 500 bail after he had two beers in six hours.”
He added that according to Honeydew Police, no crime was committed by JMPD because no money changed hands.
“It is utter nonsense that ‘ no crime was committed because no money changed hands’,” said chairperson for Justice Project South Africa, Howard Dembovsky. “It is not a requirement of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act for money to have changed hands. The mere solicitation of a bribe is a very serious crime.”
He added, “What should be of particular concern to everyone, is the fact that if a R200 bribe was solicited from a driver who was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, while he may not have been, it is then safe to say that the same was done to people who were under the influence of alcohol and there’s a very good chance they would have paid one.”
JMPD spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar explained that they are aware of the incident but added that the onus is on of the driver of the vehicle to lodge a complaint at the Internal Affairs Department of the Metro Police.
“The motorist has to physically launch a formal complaint before anything can be done about the matter,” concluded Minnaar.
No comment was received from Honeydew Police Station at time of going to print.
