Broken Silences: Breaking the Code of Silence to Hold Corrupt Traffic Police Officers Accountable in South Africa

Traffic police thrive in countries where anti-corruption strategies put in place are not working effectively. The driver who gives money to the traffic police officers are both corrupt under South African law. Traffic police officers are very scared to report their colleagues as some of them are protected by managers. Officers are concerned about the risk of harm and safety of their lives if they report their colleagues for corruptive and unlawful acts. This is a qualitative research study where thirty serving traffic police officers currently serving in Gauteng Province South Africa voluntarily took part in a tape-recorded interviews session. Some of the key findings of the research are:

Corruption is rife and spread very fast at a very high-velocity rate, making it difficult for anyone to mitigate or control it [21]; the management team and junior-ranking traffic police officers do not fully accept the blame for traffic police corruption; each blamed the other for it; traffic police managers deliberately ignore corruption incidents whenever reported to them; managers protect corrupt traffic officials and, in some instances, are more corrupt than junior officers; traffic police officers stated that they will not report or arrest their colleagues for corruption for fear of any reprisals, sanctions, or the safety of their lives and do not want their colleagues to lose their jobs; poverty levels have increased among traffic police officers due to a high cost of living and salaries are not enough to provide for their families; greed has made it impossible for traffic police officers to resist the urge for corruption; the government needs to do more to fight corruption, and it puts too much effort into fighting it from the top to bottom levels. The author provided the reader(s) with eight key recommendations to promote a zero-tolerance environment within traffic policing environment in South Africa.