Johannesburg – A traffic cop who was fired for taking a R200 bribe from an errant motorist has failed in his bid to get his job back.
The Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration has dismissed Gift Hleza’s appeal against his dismissal as a Mpumalanga traffic officer after he was caught taking a bribe.
The dismissal came after Hleza was caught by undercover anti-corruption agents while conducting a speed operation on the road between Mkhondo and Ermelo in January 2020.
He was then arrested and granted bail of R1 500 pending the finalisation of his trial.
However, Hleza approached the CCMA following his dismissal by the Msukaligwa (Ermelo) local municipality for bringing the municipality into disrepute.
Hleza told the CCMA that on the day he was bust by undercover law enforcement officers it was hot and he needed a “cooldrink”.
He said a kind motorist offered him money to quench his thirst and undercover officers thought he was accepting a bribe.
Delivering the arbitration award on Thursday, (10 November 2022), the commissioner of CCMA, said he had difficulty attaching any weight to Hleza’s version.
The commissioner said the only inference that could be drawn was that Hleza wanted payment in kind.
The commissioner found that Hleza’s dismissal was substantively fair.
This came in a week in which two other people were sentenced for corruption related to traffic matters.
In another case, 37-year-old Meshack Masenjwa was found guilty of accepting a R100 bribe when he was still a traffic officer.He was sentenced to five years in prison by the Middelburg Regional Court.
Commenting on the unlawful behaviour on the road, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said it believes that these decisions will spur the efforts of the corruption fighting agents to identify and arrest more officers involved in bribery, corruption, and fraud in the traffic law enforcement sector.
RTMC Spokesperson Simon Zwane said members of the public are urged to get involved in the campaign against corruption by reporting the suspicious incidents by sending a WhatsApp message to 083 293 7989 or email ntacu@rtmc.co.za.
