The GOOD Party in Drakenstein has “urgently written to the political and administrative leadership” following allegations that a municipal traffic warden attempted to extort an Uber driver in June 2025.
According to reports the warden allegedly demanded money from the driver, prompting the passenger to record the exchange.
The incident was captured on video, which was later submitted as evidence during a formal complaint process.
GOOD raised the matter in a recent Public Safety Portfolio Committee meeting, where “it was confirmed by a municipal official that the video had been received and an internal investigation was conducted,” according to a statement by Keagan Gertse, GOOD councillor in the Drakenstein Municipality (DM) and caucus chairperson.
“GOOD has now learned that the same traffic warden is reportedly back in the employ of Drakenstein Municipality, performing his duties on the road once again, despite the existence of clear and compelling evidence of wrongdoing.”
The GOOD Party has since demanded clarification, arguing that abuse of power and corruption cannot be tolerated within municipal ranks.
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The party has also called on the municipality to make public the outcome of its internal investigation and to confirm whether criminal charges will be pursued, given the availability of what it describes as strong evidence in the case.
According to Japie Cornelissen DM’s Manager of Traffic Services, the municipality has “instituted pending disciplinary action based on the complainant’s evidence or testimony.” He said the same applied to the criminal investigation.
“Unfortunately the complainant did not attend the first sitting of the disciplinary hearing, where he was due to provide verbal testimony. The complainant also failed to report to the South African Police Service (Saps) charge office to assist the municipality in registering a criminal complaint.”
Due to this the traffic officer was suspended pending the disciplinary hearing, but the suspension was lifted after the complainant failed to cooperate.
With the suspension lifted the official has been instructed to report for duty and will perform functions under close supervision, Cornelissen said.
