The Portfolio Committee on Transport welcomes assurances from the Ministry that action will be taken against traffic officers who were shown on video brandishing piles of money in take-away containers.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Dikeledi Magadzi, said appropriate action against the officers must be taken, as an impression should not be created that members of the public can buy their way around law-enforcement officers.

“Our country should be about the accountability of our actions. The Committee accepts the briefing provided by the Deputy Minister on the contemplated action against those officers,” Ms Magadzi said.

“The Committee will support whatever sanction that is considered by the Ministry to be proportional to the crime. The video depicted despicable behaviour,” she said.

Deputy Minister Ms Cindy Chikunga informed the Committee on Tuesday that stern action will be taken against the officers appearing on the video, as well as the person who made the recording. She said the officers should not work in any law enforcement agencies tasked with defeating corruption and fraud.

Ms Chikunga confirmed that the officers were recent graduates in the Ekurhuleni metro police department.

“The Committee welcomes the update briefing from the Deputy Minister. Officers should simply refuse bribes in the process of carrying out their duties and reckless drivers should not buy their way out of the law,” Ms Magadzi said.