Pretoria - Motorists have been challenged to refuse to pay bribes to law enforcement authorities, and insist on traffic infringement fines during their trek back from holiday.
This was said by the police as holidaymakers were expected, starting from yesterday, to travel back to their homes and places of work.
City of Tshwane S79 chairperson for Community Safety, Nkele Molapo, said she received two tip-offs about traffic officers who allegedly extorted “coldrink” (bribe) money during the festive season exodus.
Molapo, an active member of ActionSA, strongly condemned such action, and called for motorists to resist the urge to take the easy way out and to promote and encourage order and good citizenry on Tshwane roads.
Pretoria is a between provinces and is expected to experience high traffic volumes on highways like the N14, N1, the N4, and regional roads like Moloto Road between Tshwane and KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga, and the R101 between Pretoria and Polokwane, Limpopo.
Good conduct and respect for road laws is critical, she said.
“The one call was from a motorist travelling to Limpopo through Tshwane on the N1 north and the other was travelling to Fourways from Tshwane on the N1 south, when both were stopped for normal spot checks by the officers. On both occasion, although separately, it is alleged that the officers extorted from the motorists R1 500 and R1 000 respectively, instead of issuing traffic fines.
“While I wish to strongly condemn these actions, allegedly from the traffic officers, I want to equally urge motorists not to aid this behaviour by giving in to these demands. Motorists should insist on getting traffic tickets for their transgressions and allow the law to take its course instead of feeding this corrupt behaviour.
“It will take every one of us as members of society to fight corruption.
“I want to applaud the two motorists who reported these matters to me. The officers are now under investigation, and if found guilty, the law will take its course and a fitting sanction will be meted out against the officers.”
Reaction to the news from Molapo on social media was positive, as users called on law enforcement officials and departments to root out the bad apples, “because it was them who allowed people who should not be on the roads to continue driving and end up causing accidents that kill innocent people”.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation reported that officers doing their work with “pride and dignity” to curb lawlessness on the roads had already arrested over 2 000 motorists by New Year’s Day nationwide, for offences including drunk driving, high speed, driving without licences, and the violation of permits.
Spokesperson Simon Zwane said there was evidence to show some motorists continued to operate unroadworthy vehicles on public roads, placing the lives of other motorists at risk.
He said by December, more than 4 200 vehicles were already discontinued from operating, while a total of 324 motorists were arrested for drunk driving before Christmas Day.
The highest alcohol content arrest was in Gauteng, between Lever and New Road in Midrand. The suspect’s alcohol reading was recorded at 3.99mg/1000ml.
Meanwhile, the highest speeding arrest was on the December 8 on the N1 to Bloemfontein in the Free-State, where a motorist was caught driving at 191km/h in a 120km/h zone.
Pretoria News