HCBT: We will not tolerate corrupt traffic officials

During the recent long weekend, several visitors to the Hazyview area complained about alleged corruption among provincial traffic officers.

Reports included incidents near Hazyview, Bushbuckridge, Graskop and White River.

Chris Harvie of the Hazyview Chamber of Business and Tourism (HCBT), said in the chamber’s newsletter that they had received several reports of thousands in cash being demanded from tourists by alleged corrupt Mpumalanga traffic officers without being supplied with paperwork, receipts, or justification.

On enquiry, Moeti Mmusi of the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison said they remain committed to curbing corruption by officials and welcomed the reporting of the incident.

Mmusi confirmed that an incident implicating an officer would be investigated.

He urged motorists who encounter suspicious behaviour by officials to report it to the department on either 080-070-1701 or 013-766-4062 or to the nearest SAPS office.

Harvie called on officials to put the word out that the corrupt activity has to stop. “We face enough challenges already with potholed roads and service-delivery protests almost daily. We do not want to lose tourists again because of unavoidable corruption.”

He suggested that tourism businesses hand out anti-corruption cards to all their guests to empower tourists in particular to stand up to corrupt traffic officers.

Cards can be obtained from Kruger Lowveld Tourism’s offices at Crossing Centre in Mbombela.

According to a later post on a WhatsApp group, he received a reply from the senior manager of Public Safety, Law Enforcement and Security in Mbombela, acknowledging the allegations and asking for details of cases.

An officer of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation has also in the meantime indicated that they are investigating these incidents.