Mqhwathi and Khumalo then took the suspect to the police station to charge him for impersonating a security officer.
Police spokesperson Brig Leonard Hlathi said while on their way to the police station the suspect reportedly took out R2,000 from a plastic bag and offered it to the officers in exchange for his freedom, but the members would not budge.
“Further on towards the police station, he again took out another amount, later calculated to the tune of a whopping R40,000 and still offered it to the police in exchange for his freedom, but the incorruptible members stood their ground and instead took the money and booked it in the exhibit register,” Hlathi said.
Hlathi said the police officers laid an additional charge of bribery against the suspect.
Zuma said he hoped the officers' conduct would rub off onto other members of the force. the officers' conduct what the officers did was exactly what was expected from every member of the organisation. He said he wished this kind of behaviour would rub onto other members as well.
“The members should continue being true to the oath they took and work to protect their community”, he Zuma said.
Mpumalanga cops refuse R42,000 bribe from 'security officer'
Mpumalanga police commissioner Lt-Gen Mondli Zuma congratulated two police officers who refused an alleged R42,000 bribe from a man they had arrested for allegedly impersonating a security officer.
Constables Vuyi Mqhwathi and Mandla Khumalo, from the Balfour police station, were on routine patrols near a gold mine on Wednesday when they spotted a white Toyota double-cab bakkie without a registration number parked near the mine gate.
They approached the vehicle and interviewed the driver, who reportedly mentioned that he was working for a security company based at Nigel, in Gauteng, and that he was doing a site visit.
The two police officers called the security company to verify if the man, aged 38, was in fact working for the company. However, the security company denied knowing him.
Mqhwathi and Khumalo then took the suspect to the police station to charge him for impersonating a security officer.
Police spokesperson Brig Leonard Hlathi said while on their way to the police station the suspect reportedly took out R2,000 from a plastic bag and offered it to the officers in exchange for his freedom, but the members would not budge.
“Further on towards the police station, he again took out another amount, later calculated to the tune of a whopping R40,000 and still offered it to the police in exchange for his freedom, but the incorruptible members stood their ground and instead took the money and booked it in the exhibit register,” Hlathi said.
Hlathi said the police officers laid an additional charge of bribery against the suspect.
Zuma said he hoped the officers' conduct would rub off onto other members of the force. the officers' conduct what the officers did was exactly what was expected from every member of the organisation. He said he wished this kind of behaviour would rub onto other members as well.
“The members should continue being true to the oath they took and work to protect their community”, he Zuma said.