Traffic officers caught by vigilant motorist
Senior officers were grateful for the tip-off and urged residents not to give up, but to report such behaviour.
Vigilance on the roads can save more than lives. It can also save money – especially those of foreign tourists.
This was proven in Hazyview during the busy Easter weekend when the owner of a hospitality establishment and lobbyist for safe tourism, noticed suspicious behaviour by traffic officials at the stop street near Hippo Hollow.
He realised that they were picking on tourists again after receiving two reports from guests at his lodge during the week. On two consecutive days they had been forced to hand over first R2 000 and the next day another R1 000 for allegedly not stopping at a nearby stop street. The same officials were involved in both cases.
When he passed the spot the next day at 09:30, he noticed that three officers had just pulled over three of the same model vehicles in quick succession. “This made me suspicious, not only because all three vehicles were obviously hired cars with older tourists occupying them, but also because the officers’ camera was pointing towards Bushbuckridge and they were stopping these vehicles coming from the Hazyview side,” he said.
“The stop street was not even visible to them due to the positioning of their own traffic police vehicle! They were literally jumping into the road and plucking the tourist vehicles out of traffic, while ignoring everyone else.”
He immediately made a couple of calls to senior traffic officials known to him. The Hazyview Chamber of Business and Tourism had been working with senior traffic officials tirelessly to curb this kind of corruption during recent months.
They reacted to his report within half an hour. It later emerged that the culprit cops were provincial officers and not from Hazyview. “They had come here to pick on ‘our’ tourists,” he said indignantly.
“I am told that they tried to scarper in terror at the sight of their senior officers when they insisted on checking their pockets, but they were caught in the act.”
He said the senior officers were grateful for the tip-off and urged residents not to give up, but to report such behaviour. “They are now holding officers accountable, also if they are aware of corrupt colleagues but do not report them.”
He said the traffic department’s cooperation was highly appreciated and urged other lodge owners again to hand out the anti-corruption cards. “Although tourists may be too intimidated on occasion to use it and often feel that it would be easier to pay than to face the risks, it is unfair for them to be in this position at all.”
He emphasised the importance of handing out the cards, in order to keep traffic officers aware that they would not get away with corrupt actions.
Cards are available from the Rissington and KLCBT offices (Mbombela).
The fate of the two officers implicated could not be established at the time of going to press. Hazyview Herald will publish a follow-up.
