A Gauteng motorist is in hot water for allegedly attempting to buy his way out of trouble with R1,500 after Limpopo traffic officers caught him driving at more than three times the legal alcohol limit.
Instead of freedom, the attempted bribe earned him another criminal charge.
The driver was arrested during a speeding and drunk-driving operation at Cyferfontein on the N1 South on Wednesday.
According to the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety, officers stopped the motorist at about 10am and subjected him to an alcohol test. He allegedly recorded 0.88mg of alcohol per litre of breath, well above the legal limit of 0.24mg/L.
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The department said the motorist then allegedly offered the traffic officers R1,500 in an attempt to avoid arrest.
The officers rejected the money and arrested him.
The motorist was subsequently handed over to Modimolle police for detention and is expected to face charges relating to drunken driving and bribery.
The department praised the officers for refusing to be bought.
Department spokesperson Matome Moremi Taueatsoala said:
“No bribe will be tolerated. We remain uncompromising against drunken driving, speeding and corruption on our roads,”
The arrest comes amid continuing concern over drinking and driving on South African roads.
During the 2025/26 festive-season road-safety campaign, authorities tested 173,695 motorists for alcohol and recorded 8,561 positive results.
That worked out to roughly one positive alcohol test for every 20 motorists tested.
READ: Limpopo councillor in SIU bribery case re-arrested after getting bail
Government reported that positive alcohol tests had increased sharply compared with the previous festive season, although increased enforcement and testing can also influence arrest and detection figures.
The Limpopo incident is particularly striking because the driver’s alleged alcohol reading was about 3.7 times the ordinary legal breath-alcohol limit.
What could have been one drunken-driving case therefore became two alleged offences when the motorist apparently reached for cash.
The department said its traffic officers would continue conducting operations targeting drunken driving, speeding and corruption.
- A Gauteng motorist is in hot water for allegedly attempting to buy his way out of trouble with R1,500 after Limpopo traffic officers caught him driving at more than three times the legal alcohol limit.
- Instead of freedom, the attempted bribe earned him another criminal charge.
- The driver was arrested during a speeding and drunk-driving operation at Cyferfontein on the N1 South on Wednesday.
- According to the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety, officers stopped the motorist at about 10am and subjected him to an alcohol test.
- He allegedly recorded 0.88mg of alcohol per litre of breath, well above the legal limit of 0.24mg/L.
