WATCH: Motorist applauded for holding TMPD officers accountable
On the video, an unidentified woman is heard requesting the names of two metro police officers, who drive off after a short verbal interaction with her.
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula yesterday applauded a motorist who demanded Tshwane metro police officers show her their official identification after fining her.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
On the video, an unidentified woman is heard requesting the names of two metro police officers, who drive off after a short verbal interaction with her.
“Under the legislation, members of the public are entitled to request identification from traffic officers,” said Mbalula.
He said such measures were put in place to guard against abuse of power and corruption.
“The Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that an officer who cannot or will not provide such identification is in violation of the act.”
READ MORE: WATCH: Prasa winning war to revive rail transport Mbalula
Mbalula said while the officers were obliged to give out their identification, the same applied to motorists stopped by them.
“When a member of the public is stopped by a traffic officer, they are obliged to give their names and addresses when requested,” he said.
South African law enforcement officers were expected to carry out their duties professionally within the country’s laws, he added.
Mbalula said he commended the member of the public for holding traffic officers to account and warned traffic officers against the abuse of power.
However, “there are many law enforcement officers who do their jobs diligently with professionalism and dedication”.
“These officers keep our roads safe and ensure we arrive alive in our homes and places of work.”
READ MORE: Officials inspect Pretoria public transport accessibility
He said over the next few days, his department would launch a festive season road safety programme.
“We will be conducting law enforcement operations as well as road safety education and awareness throughout the country.”
Tshwane metro police spokesperson Issac Mahamba acknowledged that his department was aware of the video in question.
“The matter is receiving attention internally and we have obtained statements from both officers.”
“We have managed to trace the complainant and we’re awaiting her statement, which will determine the way forward from there.”
Do you think she’s right or wrong ?#Pretoria #Traffic #TMPD #TshwaneScandal pic.twitter.com/ZpmbYIxSSn
— Tshepo dot.9 (@tmosima4) November 26, 2019
The story will be updated as soon as Rekord obtains comment from all the parties involved.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
