/ 13 October 2011

Census official arrested in bribes-for-jobs racket

A census official was arrested for allegedly soliciting bribes from youths looking for work in Roodepoort, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.

The fieldwork co-ordinator was arrested on Tuesday after a complaint was laid with the police, said Lieutenant-Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou.

Ndou said the man was released without appearing in court to allow police to obtain further information.

According to the SABC, the official demanded R150 from desperate job seekers, promising them work as census fieldworkers.

Census spokesperson Trevor Oosterwyk said they were looking at other complaints at the same office. He said this was the first of such a case to come to their attention.

“If there are any others coming to the fore, they will be dealt with accordingly. We don’t want the census to be contaminated by such things,” said Oosterwyk. — Sapa