City enlists residents’ help in fight against corruption

31 October 2016

Image by @SACrimeFighters

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers who take bribes must face the consequences.

 

This stern warning was sounded by the City of Johannesburg’s Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, at the launch of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption campaign at the Pan Africa Shopping Centre in Alexandra on Saturday October 29.

The launch of the campaign comes after Executive Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba declared corruption as Johannesburg’s public enemy No.1 during his inaugural speech following the 3 August 2016 local government elections.

Cllr Sun’s move not only seeks to reclaim the City by restoring law and order, but it is also aimed at winning back residents’ trust in law enforcement officers. He applauded “the many good officers” in the JMPD who were “doing the right thing”.

He said the new City administration was passionate about fighting fraud and corruption and ensuring that members of the JMPD were upstanding law enforcement officers.

“The City wants to root out all those officers who accept bribes. That’s why we are here to plead with residents to work with us in killing the culture of corruption in the city,” said Cllr Sun.

In his walkabout at the Pan Africa Taxi Rank, Cllr Sun asked taxi drivers what their concerns were and called on them to serve as anti-corruption ambassadors by saying “no” to paying bribes.

“We want motorists to do the right thing by paying the fine instead of giving officers ‘cool drink’ money. People need to understand that giving a bribe is as bad as taking a bribe,” he said.

Cllr Sun emphasised that the Public Safety Department could not win the battle against fraud and corruption on its own. “That’s why we are urging the public to help us.”

He said the campaign was not only aimed at JMPD officers but also at the city as a whole. “The more we allow corruption to go on in our city, the more we will see our city go into a state of disorder. We need to prevent that from happening,” said Cllr Sun.