Pretoria - Members of the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) implicated in soliciting an amount of R12 000 from a Centurion couple in order to let them off the hook have been preliminarily identified and it is just a matter of time before they undergo an internal disciplinary process.
This was according to MMC for Community Safety Grandi Theunissen, who expressed concern about the conduct of metro officers who allegedly threatened to arrest the couple if they can’t pay a R12 000 “spot fine”.
The couple, Yolande and Neels Groenewald were driving back home from a late-night school function in Pretoria with their son, 14, when they were pulled over on an R21 off-ramp by a group of TMPD officers in August.
AfriForum, which assisted the family to lay criminal charges of extortion and corruption at the Lyttelton police station, said the female officer allegedly demanded Neels immediately transfer R3 000 electronically to a certain number to ensure the investigation against him “disappears”.
Neels, who was driving, then had to drive to two different ATMs to withdraw the remaining R9 000 and hand it over to the officers. Only then did the gang give him back his licence, and he and his family could go home.
Theunissen said the municipality was aware of the incident and the process of identifying the alleged perpetrators would be concluded soon.
He said the incident, which has been described as traumatic by the family, was not an isolated one as “there have been 18 metro police officers arrested in the past couple of weeks and all allegedly involved in the similar incident”.
In October this year, two TMPD officers were charged with corruption for allegedly demanding a R1 200 bribe from a motorist to have her car released from a municipal pound in Madiba Street.
The incident, which took place in September last year, was investigated by the Hawks after the motorist reported it.
In 2020 three TMPD officers were arrested in Bronkhorstspruit after allegedly demanding a R3 500 bribe from a foreign national. The officers threatened to impound his vehicle as he was not allowed to drive around during the lockdown.
Theunissen said the city has already reached out to the Groenewalds and assured them that it would speedily resolve the matter.
“We are serious about cleaning up and getting rid of people who are actually a disgrace to an organisation like the TMPD,” he said.
He said the family can institute a civil claim against perpetrators after they are found guilty to recover their money.
“Obviously I am not in a position to say they will be compensated for the money. That is something that they will have to put through the legal process,” he said.
He said the metro wanted the perpetrators to be jailed for what they did.
“By doing that, we will be setting an example like we have done in other instances. Like I said, we have 18 members being charged as we speak. My intention is to get prosecution successfully and to set an example and obviously irrespective of whether the legal process is finalised or not the disciplinary process will take place,” he said.
Pretoria News