Durban — Two traffic officers have been dismissed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport for allegedly accepting bribes from truck drivers.
The department said it has intensified the fight against alarming levels of truck accidents on the roads and has dismissed two traffic police officers who are allegedly involved in soliciting bribes from truck drivers.
The two Road Traffic Inspectorate officers based in Newcastle, northern KZN, were dismissed after a long investigation which dates back to 2018/19.
“The two were caught in possession of money believed to have been obtained through the proceeds of crime, whereby they were taking money from truck drivers and allowing them to continue despite violations,” the department said.
The department said it finalised the matter last month and issued the officers with a dismissal notice. Their case is going to be rolled in court after it was temporarily struck off the roll pending more investigation and evidence.
“The dismissed traffic officers were arrested after the work of a task team including the Public Transport Enforcement Services, SAPS Crime Intelligence and Newcastle SAPS,” the department said.
“The investigation in Newcastle on the allegations of irregularities in the Driver Licence Testing Centre has to date resulted in the six examiners being charged.”
The department said some of the examiners are charged for issuing learner’s licences to foreign nationals, which the department has since cancelled.
Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Sipho Hlomuka said the department is taking a tough stance against traffic officials involved in taking bribes.
“Those traffic officers who are accepting bribes are undermining provincial efforts of fighting fatalities on the road and have no space in our department. The fact that the two of them are now dismissed is an indication that we are very serious about rooting out rotten apples within our ranks. Worse, we have taken a position against truck drivers, considering the alarming levels of accidents.
“As we are approaching the festive season, we are firmly focused on dealing with drivers who are violating the law. Our plan is to reduce the levels of crashes and fatalities. To achieve this, we need ethical, dedicated traffic officials with high moral values,” Hlomuka said.
The department said the arrest of the officers follows the arrest of three suspects in Hammarsdale a week ago, who are believed to be acting as “jockeys”, writing exams on behalf of the applicants in exchange for money.
The department appealed to the public to report all police officers who are asking for bribes in the course of doing their work.
Last week, three people were arrested for allegedly writing learner’s licence tests on behalf of others in exchange for payment, acting as “jockeys”.
The syndicate has allegedly been involved in activities in several centres, including Pinetown, Camperdown and Howick.
Daily News
Now watch: