Joburg welcomes sentencing of JMPD officer for graft

06 October 2017

 

Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, has welcomed the sentence of three years imprisonment with the option of a R5000 fine imposed on JMPD Officer Nkgoape Lydia Matsapola for soliciting a R100 bribe.

 

Officer Matsapola was sentenced at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday 5 October.

MMC Sun says the sentence should serve as a warning to City officials who are not following the law.

“The City is encouraged by the punishment meted out against this JMPD officer. The current administration has declared corruption public enemy number one. So we are buoyed that the courts have come on board and are helping the City to clamp down on corruption,” says MMC Sun.

Officer Matsapola was found guilty of accepting a bribe and failing to charge an undercover agent of the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit for driving without a valid licence disc.

The incident occurred during a sting operation on 27 March 2016. She also received a five-year suspended sentence. The magistrate further found her unfit to carry a firearm.

“As the Department of Safety, we will not tolerate any form of bribery and corruption in our ranks,” says Cllr Sun.

Members of the public are also encouraged to report corruption on the JMPD anti-corruption hot line 0800 203 712