Badplaas - The Mpumalanga Community Safety Department has placed four traffic officers on precautionary suspension following an altercation with a motorist last week.
The move comes after a video was posted on social media showing a heated confrontation with the officers who had stopped a motorist for speeding.
In the post, the man explained that he was stopped while driving from Ermelo to Nelspruit and told he'd be issued with a R1 500 fine for speeding unless he opted to pay to bribe, an offer he flatly refused to do.
The motorist then claims he requested proof of the offence, which the officers allegedly could not provide and at that point, he was threatened and assaulted and the officers refused to return his confiscated licence.
The man claims he then tried to report the matter at the Badplaas police station but police officers there refused to open a case and instead, he got threats before having his licence returned.
Days after the video emerged, Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Pat Ngomane announced that the four officers had been placed on a precautionary suspension pending an internal investigation.
"The confrontation, which was recorded on video through a cellphone, occurred while the four were on duty in Badplaas in Albert Luthuli Local Municipality.
"The video was seemingly recorded by the motorist who also alleges that the police refused to open a case when he reported the matter at the local police station."
MEC Ngomane, reacting to the circulation of the video, said the recorded incident "has the potential to undermine the community's faith in the department's efforts to effectively enforce the law on the road and therefore the matter should be urgently resolved.
"The traffic officers will also be afforded an opportunity to state their case through the investigation."