Johannesburg – A Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer allegedly took R1.5 million in bribes in a single day, with the revelation forming part of a wider corruption problem uncovered within Gauteng’s traffic and metro police services.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said 456 complaints of fraud, corruption, extortion and theft were recorded between 2022 and 2026 across the Gauteng Traffic Police (GTP), JMPD, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) and Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD).
The figures were contained in a response by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to questions submitted by the DA on corruption within the province’s law-enforcement agencies.
JMPD recorded the highest number of complaints at 185, followed by TMPD with 180.
DA Gauteng spokesperson for community safety Michael Sun said the figures were alarming and warned that the true scale of corruption could be considerably higher because the statistics only reflected cases that had been formally reported.
Deeply concerning
“These figures are deeply concerning, particularly because they represent only cases that were formally reported. The actual extent of corruption may therefore be considerably higher,” Sun said.
The DA said only 175 officers, or 38.3% of those implicated, had been criminally charged. It also raised concern that JMPD could not provide the premier with the number of its officials facing criminal charges.
Sun described the R1.5 million allegation as evidence of corruption extending beyond isolated incidents.
“This is not petty corruption. This is organised extortion, operating in broad daylight, on our roads, with impunity,” he said.
He accused the provincial government of failing to establish effective systems to prevent and detect corruption, arguing that corrupt officers were facing insufficient consequences.
‘No visible, functioning system’
“What makes this worse is that almost nothing appears to be in place to prevent it, as there is no visible, functioning system of deterrence, detection, or consequence,” Sun said.
The DA called on Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to take decisive action against corruption within Gauteng’s law-enforcement agencies.
“Residents should not be forced to choose between complying with the law and being extorted by those entrusted to enforce it,” Sun said.
The party said it would introduce mandatory body cameras, annual lifestyle audits and asset disclosures if elected to govern the province.
It also plans to establish an independent provincial anti-corruption unit, introduce time-bound referrals of corruption complaints to IPID or SAPS, and create real-time accountability dashboards.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
