Metro Police officer took R1.5 million in cash bribes in one day

A Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) official is accused of taking R1.5 million in cash bribes in one day.

This was revealed by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi in response to a parliamentary question about traffic officer bribery in the province.

Across Gauteng, 456 complaints of fraud, corruption, extortion, and theft were recorded between 2022 and 2026.

185 of these cases were recorded at the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, which was the worst offender in the province.

47 of these officials were suspended or reassigned, and 16 were dismissed. It is not known how many were criminally prosecuted.

Superintendent Elmarie de Beer at Internal Affairs at the JMPD said that they do not know how much money was involved in extortion and corruption by their officers.

However, she revealed that the highest amount taken by a Johannesburg Metro Police Department official in a single day was R1.5 million in cash.

This, Michael Sun, a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, said, showed the corruption and rot within the Gauteng traffic and metro police services.

“This confirms that residents’ growing distrust of law enforcement is not a perception, but a documented reality,” he said.

Although the Johannesburg Metro Police Department leads the pack, similar problems exist in other cities in Gauteng.

The Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) has 180 cases of corruption and bribery of officers in the city.

28 members of the department have been suspended for bribery and corruption, and 17 were dismissed.

“These figures are concerning because they represent only cases that were formally reported. The extent of corruption may therefore be much greater,” Sun said.

He added that, when looking at the 456 cases of corruption and bribery, only 175 officers, or 38.3% of those implicated, have been criminally charged.

“The JMPD could not even tell the Premier how many of its own officers face criminal charges, which highlights a significant loss of control within the department,” he said.

He added that the large sums involved in his crime show that this is not petty corruption but organised extortion.

“What makes this worse is that nothing appears to be in place to prevent it, as there is no visible, functioning system of deterrence, detection, or consequence,” he said.

Sun called on Lesufi to confront corruption within Gauteng’s law enforcement agencies with decisive action, transparency, and consequences.

“Residents should not be forced to choose between complying with the law and being extorted by those entrusted to enforce it,” he said.