Three drunk drivers who attempted to bribe traffic officers have been arrested in separate incidents in Limpopo.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy elaborated on the issue when she and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa gave an update on the Easter road safety campaign during a media briefing on the N1 in the Waterberg District in Limpopo on Monday.
Initially, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) issued a press release on Sunday stating that the number of drunken driving arrests in Limpopo had risen following the arrest of two additional drivers attempting to bribe traffic officers.
“Members of the National Traffic Police handcuffed the motorists who tried to evade a charge of drunken driving by offering cash to officers,” the RTMC said.
“This brings to three the number of motorists arrested in this province for bribery. This follows the arrest of another driver in Mokopane for the same charge.”
The first driver was arrested on Good Friday morning by National Traffic Police officers. The driver was stopped on the N1. He attempted to bribe the officers with R300 to overlook the offence after they discovered he was intoxicated.
The RTMC applauded the officers for their commitment to road safety and their refusal to be compromised.
Adding her voice, Creecy confirmed that a driver was arrested in Mokopane on Sunday for attempting to bribe a national traffic officer when he was found driving drunk. She said the driver will appear in court soon on charges of bribery, corruption and drunk driving.
“I wish to commend the officers who effected this arrest because they have shown that they are professionals performing their duties with the highest level of ethics, discipline and integrity, and I trust that officers will adopt such exemplary attitudes to restore public confidence in our law enforcement authorities,” Creecy said.
“I am delighted to hear that now we are arresting people for attempting to bribe traffic officers because we want to restore faith in road traffic management in our country.”
Creecy noted that although the volume of vehicles peaked at 2,047 vehicles an hour on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the N1 has not yet experienced a single fatal crash.
“This is a rare occurrence on this route and it speaks of the effectiveness of our law enforcement and deployment plan in improving road safety outcomes,” Creecy said.
She extended her thanks to Limpopo Transport and Community Safety MEC Violet Mathye and her team for their incredible work throughout the weekend in keeping people safe here on the N1 and on other routes in Limpopo.