The Gauteng Traffic Police has warned the public against bribing law enforcement officials, following the arrest of two men aged 40 and 60 in Pretoria.

“Any form of bribery, including receiving monetary rewards in return for any favour within Gauteng roads will not be tolerated,” Gauteng Traffic Police Spokesperson Sello Maremane said on Wednesday.

The suspects were arrested for alleged bribery and corruption during the law enforcement operation conducted on Tuesday at Souter Street, Pretoria West.

The members of Gauteng Traffic Police attached to Pretoria Service Point stopped a heavy motor vehicle in order to assess its roadworthiness. Upon inspection of the vehicle, officers realised that the driver was not in possession of Professional Driving Permit and also the vehicle was heavily loaded.

The driver was instructed to drive the truck to the Weighbridge in order to determine the extent of the overload.

“The owner of the truck detected through the tracking device that the truck was being escorted to the weighbridge to determine the overload. It is alleged that he telephonically requested that the truck should not be escorted to the weighbridge as they were going to make a plan to release it,” the Gauteng Traffic Police said.

Both the driver and passenger offered the officers an amount of R2000 for the driver not to be charged as well as for the truck not to be escorted to the weighbridge. The officers then arrested both the driver and the passenger for bribery and corruption.

“We wish to commend these officers for their sterling work in ensuring that we root out bribery and corruption elements in the province,” Maremane said.

The Gauteng Traffic Police has called upon the members of the public to report any member of the public or law enforcement officer found to be involved in any corruption activity on 0800 701 701.

Source: South African Government News Agency