And to make matters even worse, these colleagues were apparently on duty and supposed to be at work during the court hearing.

This is not the first time Nelson Mandela Bay traffic officers have shown poor judgment in publicly supporting their corrupt colleagues.

In August, a group of uniformed traffic officers drove their official vehicles to the memorial service of a colleague who was gunned down during a shoot-out with police after he and his accomplices were allegedly involved in an armed robbery at the Wimpy Bar at Metlife Plaza.

Following the memorial service, then acting traffic services director Frik Terblanche said the department was conducting a thorough investigation and would “get tough” on officers found guilty.

Yet a month later, the department admitted its investigation had revealed that no official written instruction had been given to the traffic officers ordering them not to attend the service and therefore no action would be taken against them.

Surely this would have been the perfect opportunity to formalise departmental policy regarding staff publicly endorsing and supporting tainted colleagues? Instead, it seems this obvious opportunity was overlooked, with the result that the department has egg on its face after this week’s incident and has lost even more credibility among the people it serves.

How can the long-suffering and crime-plagued public have any faith in those employed to uphold the law if these officers maintain loyalty to their own colleagues who break it?

It is clear from the actions of some traffic officers that they do not understand the unwavering responsibility, sense of professionalism and uncompromising attitude toward corruption that is required of a person in their position.

And for this, the state must shoulder the blame and ensure that any sympathy for corrupt officials is rooted out and sternly dealt with.