The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Vusi Shongwe, to do a thorough investigation and suspend a traffic officer after he was on duty and in full uniform caught on video appearing to be drunk.
The incident which took place in Mashishing (formerly Lydenburg) on Thursday is disturbing and a vindication to the DA’s call for heads to roll after recent allegations about the irregular appointment of 97 traffic officers in Mpumalanga.
The DA would like to urge traffic officers to learn to love and respect their jobs. They must avoid compromising and embarrassing situations, like being caught drunk or engaging in corrupt activities of accepting bribes from drivers who are found on the wrong side of the law.
The recent incident of the “drunk” traffic officer is an embarrassment to the Province and the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison. With that being said, the DA calls on MEC Shongwe to act immediately by investigating the matter and act against the traffic officer, or traffic officers involved. He cannot come up with excuses as the incident has been shared on social media platforms for the whole world to see. He must act immediately to avoid a backlash.
Just recently, the Province and the very same department where fingered in another scandal, or allegations of corruption, nepotism and irregular appointment of traffic officers. It is alleged that 97 trainees were appointed by the Department to be traffic officers without conducting interviews.
This sort of scandal is not the first of its kind in Mpumalanga. In January 2020, the DA unveiled that senior officials of the ANC in Emalahleni local Municipality appointed 20 individuals irregularly of which some were their family members.
Corruption and nepotism by the ANC has become so rampant that they continue to hire individuals with not even the minimum requirement of a matric certificate and drivers licences as traffic officers.
We call on MEC Shongwe to take full responsibility and conduct a full investigation into all the embarrassing matters raised above. Nepotism, mediocrity and corruption by the ANC-led government is eating into the core of this province.
The DA will not turn a blind eye while such actions are taking place in the province. We will watch and monitor this recent incident very close, and if the MEC does not act, we will escalate the matter to the National Ministry of Police and Minister Bheki Cele.