The South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, more commonly known as the Hawks, cracked down on corruption in the country’s law enforcement agencies again last week.
This time, the culprits were two traffic officials in Bloemfontein, according to the Arrive Alive campaign.
50-YEAR-OLD TRAFFIC OFFICIAL WILL APPEAR IN BLOEMFONTEIN COURT
The Hawks Serious Organised Investigation unit apprehended a traffic official on Monday, 26 April, after an incident, which involved a “gratification” fee, on Thursday, 21 April.
The woman, 50, allegedly impounded a motorist’s vehicle on Thursday and said that the motorist, who is a foreigner, needed to supply her with his passport and a gratification fee amounting to R1400 before he could get his vehicle back.
The motorist left the scene and turned to his supervisor at his place of employment for help. The supervisor alerted the local authorities about the incident and that is how the Hawks became involved.
The Hawks acted decisively once they were assigned the case and followed the breadcrumbs to a different 44-year-old traffic officer named Letebele Rampai. It is alleged that Rampai received the R1400 gratification fee, instead of the 50-year-old officer, and released the vehicle.
Rampai was arrested and made a court appearance on Monday. Upon further inspection, members of the Hawks discovered several other driver’s licenses in the vehicle of the 50-year-old traffic official and that’s why she was arrested.
The 50-year-old traffic official will appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 28 April.
HAWKS ARRESTED TWO OF THEIR OWN EARLIER IN APRIL
On Thursday, 22 April, the Hawks arrested two police Sergeants for alleged travel claims fraud in Ivory Park, Johannesburg. According to police, the two suspects were recently promoted and allegedly fabricated accommodation invoices when they travelled to different provinces between 2015 and 2018.
Investigations found that most of the places the suspects clamed to stay at, and submitted to their police station’s finance office, did not exist.
“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation remains resolute to tackle fraud and corruption amongst law enforcement officers who are found to be committing crime. We will ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book without fail,” said Major General Kadwa.
