Tavern owner arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe police

Eastern Cape police officers have been applauded for their integrity after they arrested a bribery suspect on Christmas Day during a routine operation in Bholotwa in the Chris Hani district.

Police spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said that on Wednesday, 25 December, at approximately 12.45am the police were conducting Safer Festive Season operations in Bholotwa when they found a tavern that was still open after midnight, in contravention of its licensing conditions.

“The police then instructed the 45-year-old owner to close the tavern and the clients to vacate the premises,” she said. The tavern owner approached the vehicle, she said, and tried to bribe the officers to let the tavern stay open. They refused,  but the owner insisted, said Mgolodela, “dropping off a stack of money inside the vehicle to subdue compliance”.

The officers opened a case of bribery and detained the suspect, who will remain in custody until his appearance in the Komani Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The Chris Hani district commissioner, Major General Rudolph Adolph commended the officers for conducting their duties with integrity.

The minister of police, Senzo Mchunu, and the national commissioner, General Fanie Masemola, visited the crime-ridden Eastern Cape over Christmas to check on the progress of Safer Festive Season operations.

Masemola said, “This visit forms part of the decision to ensure all within our borders are and feel safe and their properties are protected during this festive season. We appreciate our men and women in blue, who did not take vacation leave but will be holding the fort during this period while other people will gather to celebrate.”

Mchunu said that since October, in the Eastern Cape alone, 337 unlicensed liquor premises had been shut down by the police, 13,679 suspects were arrested for various crimes, including 485 for murder, and 351 firearms were seized. DM