After six years, the duo were finally brought to the Upington magistrate’s court, where they were slapped with a R10,000 fine and given three years’ imprisonment, which was suspended on condition they did not commit a similar crime within five years.
In 2023, the NPA appealed to the high court to increase the sentence.
Last Friday, judge Catherine Mamosebo delivered her judgment where she noted that Tosa had died in 2020, leaving Bongela to face the music alone.
“Bongela is still employed by the traffic department, which is mystifying,” Mamosebo wrote.
“Corruption … is a cancer that must be dealt with harshly. It erodes the moral fibre of our constitutional democracy. Public officials in positions of trust must face harsher sentences,” she said, labelling the magistrate’s fine of R10,000 “laughable”.
As a result, Bongela must now pay R60,000.
Mamosebo refused to send Bongela directly to prison now. However, if he fails to pay — by a date to be determined next year — he will get three years’ jail time.
TimesLIVE
Traffic cop who demanded bribe from man speeding his pregnant wife to hospital gets penalty hike
Image: Gallo Images
A R10,000 fine for a traffic officer convicted for soliciting a R1,000 bribe in 2014 from a man rushing his pregnant wife to hospital was too lenient, the Kimberly high court has ruled.
The traffic officer was convicted after a sting operation. While a magistrate's court had given the cop a R10,000 fine for his crime, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) successfully appealed the officer's sentence, which they believed was "too lenient".
In a ruling delivered last week, the Kimberley high court agreed.
Robert Doncaster had been speeding to a hospital in Upington because his wife was in labour when traffic officers Lebogang Tosa and Oscar Bongela stopped him.
In exchange for a R1,000 bribe, the officers agreed not to arrest him. Doncaster left, telling Tosa and Bongela he was going to withdraw money. Instead, he approached a nearby police station, informing them about the bribe.
The police laid a trap for Tosa and Bongela, giving Doncaster marked bills and a recording device. After he paid, the police arrested the officers.
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After six years, the duo were finally brought to the Upington magistrate’s court, where they were slapped with a R10,000 fine and given three years’ imprisonment, which was suspended on condition they did not commit a similar crime within five years.
In 2023, the NPA appealed to the high court to increase the sentence.
Last Friday, judge Catherine Mamosebo delivered her judgment where she noted that Tosa had died in 2020, leaving Bongela to face the music alone.
“Bongela is still employed by the traffic department, which is mystifying,” Mamosebo wrote.
“Corruption … is a cancer that must be dealt with harshly. It erodes the moral fibre of our constitutional democracy. Public officials in positions of trust must face harsher sentences,” she said, labelling the magistrate’s fine of R10,000 “laughable”.
As a result, Bongela must now pay R60,000.
Mamosebo refused to send Bongela directly to prison now. However, if he fails to pay — by a date to be determined next year — he will get three years’ jail time.
TimesLIVE
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