A weighbridge master from Mpumalanga, who is accused of trying to bribe a truck driver, has been granted R1,500 bail.
The 48-year-old appeared before the Belfast Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of corruption following his arrest on Saturday at Wonderfontein weigh bridge.
It is alleged that he attempted to bribe a truck driver who had been pulled over on the N4 highway and asked to proceed to the weighbridge on suspicion of overloading.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS) the scale master, after weighing the truck and informing the driver that it was overloaded, then asked for R6,000 “gratification”.
Following a negotiation with the truck owner, an amount of R4,000 was reportedly handed to the scale master, with further instruction to EFT an additional R2,500. Then the driver did something smart that would eventually lead to the scale master’s arrest.
Meanwhile the owner of the truck reported the incident to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), who then informed the Hawks’ Middleburg-based investigation unit.
A team consisting of RTMC and Serious Commercial Crime Investigation officials then drove to the Wonderfontein weighbridge and searched the scale master. An amount of R4,000 was recovered, with some of it hidden under bricks.
Thankfully the astute truck driver had taken pictures of the cash before handing it over and investigators were able to match the serial numbers.
Following the granting of bail, the case was postponed to September 16 for further investigation.
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