Hawks arrest senior traffic officers over fraud

THE Hawks arrested three senior traffic officers, all three of them senior superintendents in Peddie, yesterday on suspicion of fraud.

They are accused of taking bribes from motorists.

The three senior officers, who work at the Ngqushwa municipality’s traffic department, appeared in the Peddie Magistrate’s Court soon after their arrests.

Hawks spokeswoman Anelisa Feni said the unit would release a full statement at a later stage.

The Hawks swooped on two of the suspects while they were on duty.

The third suspect, who is a superintendent, was on leave and was arrested at her home village of Sheshegu near Peddie, where she was attending a traditional family ceremony. The Dispatch overheard Hawks officers ordering the woman over the phone to “save yourself from being embarrassed in front of your family and drive to Peddie”.

After a short conversation among themselves, the officers decided to fetch her.

With sirens wailing, Peddie came to a standstill as the Hawks swooped in to arrest the woman.

The three have been identified as Mzuvukile Nelson Nkontso, 50, Noluvuko Viba, 29, and Phathekile Dinginto, 44.

Feni said they were accused of demanding and taking bribes from motorists travelling along the R72 road between East London and Port Alfred.

“Furthermore, the trio allegedly demanded and received bribes from motorists travelling on the N2 road between King William’s Town and Grahamstown,” she said.

“These arrests resulted from an undercover joint operation between SCI and crime intelligence.

“The operation was conducted from September 2016 to December 2016.”

Nkontso, Viba and Dinginto were each granted bail of R3 000 and their next court appearance will be on January 26 2017.