Not having an e-mail address and a faulty fax machine are being blamed for delays in the investigation into an Eastern Cape traffic officer who allegedly solicited a bribe.
While the farcical probe into Maclear traffic officer Buyiswa Rulumeni – who was suspended in 2018 for three months for taking a bribe – drags on she continues to work.
Last week, Weekend Post reported that Eastern Cape businessman Dirk van Staden had used his cellphone to record Rulumeni allegedly asking for a bribe when she stopped him on the R61 between Ugie and Umtata on February 2.
Van Staden, 56, alleged that when he refused to pay the bribe Rulumeni had him arrest- ed at the Ugie police station – where he sat in a cell for nine hours with no access to his diabetes medication.
Maclear traffic department station commander Nceba Magadla confirmed on Friday that he had sent a report to the district traffic department in Aliwal North – which oversees officers from the surrounding areas – so an investigation could be undertaken.
But, he said, issues with the fax machine delayed delivery.
“I called [the district department] on Monday and they prepared their statements.
“On Tuesday, I was asked to put together and send through all the necessary attachments.
“What we battled with was sending the fax to e-mail to our control provincial inspector.
“They confirmed on Thursday that they had received all the documents,” Magadla said.
He explained that the documents he wanted to fax did not go through to the inspector’s email address due to their size.
Magadla also confirmed that Rulumeni had been suspended in 2018.
The suspension took place mid-year and related to the bribe which Rulumeni had allegedly accepted.
Rulumeni was suspended with no pay for three months.
Criminal charges were filed and a court case in relation to that matter is ongoing.
Following Van Staden’s arrest, and nine-hour detention, he appeared in the Maclear magistrate’s court on Monday February 4, only for the prosecutor to decline the case.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Tsepo Ndwalaza confirmed that the case had not been placed on the court roll because the docket contained numerous errors.
“When the prosecutor got the docket he realised that he had no case to prosecute against the man [Van Staden].
“According to him, a lot was wrong about the docket, there were no dates and the actual charge was not even clear.
“To make matters worse, there was also a video in which the traffic officer was [allegedly] confirming that she wanted a bribe from the man.
“The prosecutor didn’t enrol the matter because there were no prospects of a successful prosecution in the matter,” Ndwalaza said.
Transport spokesperson Khuselwa Rantjie confirmed that the department had received the report and was investigating the matter.