Mbombela - Four Mpumalanga police officers attached to the highway flying squad were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly soliciting a bribe from a Mozambican motorist on the N4, police said.
The arrests were made in the presence of the MEC for community safety, security and liaison Vusi Shongwe and acting provincial commissioner Major General Meshack Nogwanya.
According to Nogwanya, after the suspects solicited the bribe, a tip-off was sent to the commissioner who alerted police officers on the ground, a Sapa correspondent reported.
“(We) do not want rotten police who are a disgrace to the force...These suspects stopped a car which had counterfeit goods. Instead of arresting the suspects they negotiated a bribe to allow the goods to pass. They were given the money. We got a tip-off, we cannot say from whom, and during this arrest found the suspects in possession of the (bribe) money, which is over R2000,” said Nogwanya.
MEC Shongwe said that the arrest was one of many to come of both ordinary citizens and corrupt officers.
He said police were following up on a case of traffic officers accused of soliciting a bribe from a Mozambican minister, who then informed Premier David Mabuza about the incident.
The police officers who were arrested on Wednesday will be suspended from work and will undergo an internal disciplinary hearing if granted bail, said Nogwanya.
He said the four suspects - one woman and three men - will appear in the Nelspruit magistrate's court on Thursday on charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
Sapa