Johannrsburg - Public Safety MMC David Tembe on Friday condemned corrupt City of Joburg officials who took bribes and said they would be dealt with.
During an Operation Buya Mthetho campaign media briefing, Tembe addressed newly elected City of Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse and said that this corruption was widespread and prevalent in several departments.
“Madam mayor, it is very clear that some of the customers of the City are not paying for their services because they are working in cahoots with our own City officials,” the MMC said.
“The culture of corruption has festered through the system.”
Tembe added that in the licensing department, “it is an open secret that people pay our officials to have their fines scrapped out of the system”.
“Our metro police are notorious for asking for a cold drink and some are collecting fees from street vendors and street traders to perpetuate the undermining of our by-laws.”
Tembe believes that Operation Buya Mthetho, the City’s new multi-departmental initiative aimed at enforcing by-laws and bringing the rule of law to Johannesburg, could assist in rooting out corruption.
Operation Buya Mthetho is a joint operation between all key City departments and entities such as the Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD), Environmental Health, Social Development, Infrastructure Services as well as the City’s legal department.
The operation is already active through the deployment of 1 800 officers in the inner city who seek to increase police visibility, conduct block patrols and ensure by-law enforcement.
Meanwhile, an additional 20 officers will be deployed for revenue collection to work with group finance to conduct cut-offs for those who are failing to pay for municipal services.
“Let me be clear, Buya Mthetho is back and we will not tolerate officials taking bribes,” Tembe warned.
He said that through the revival of the anti-bribe unit and by strengthening their undercover unit to fight corruption within their ranks, his department would be able to arrest their own officers.
The MMC added that from next week roadblocks would be erected at various locations around Johannesburg, including the gates of Metro Centre and Thuso House, in order to identify Joburg officials engaging in traffic infringements corruption.
Tembe said that his department was owed about R86 million, of which R42m was money belonging to JMPD and R33m was owed to Emergency Management Services (EMS).
“A large chunk of the money owed to JMPD is from event organisers who procure our services for securing their events and blocking the streets and the biggest culprits are film companies and political parties.”
He said that the ANC owed the City R450 000 while broadcaster Channel Africa owed R3.4m.
“From Monday we will be on their backs and they must pay now or face the consequences,” Tembe said.
He added that others also owed EMS millions of rand, including City Power, which was R284 000 in arrears.
Tembe said that during Operation Buya Mthetho, law enforcement officers would also deal with those who connected water and electricity illegally.
The campaign also seeks to deal with reckless drivers in the city, restoring hijacked buildings to their rightful owners, ending illegal dumping and ensuring that street vendors and traders have legitimate identification documents.
Tembe stressed to the media briefing that Operation Buya Mthetho was meant to create a culture in which there was a rule of law.
“It starts with small things like urinating or spitting in public and if this happens without any consequences, you may as well forget about crime prevention.
“We want our people to walk freely in our streets and our children to play safely in the parks, so let us work together to restore law and order in our city,” Tembe said.