Cops Asked Me For A Bribe – SA’s Zodwa Wabantu Claims After Court Appearance For Violating Curfew

Flamboyant socialite Zodwa Wabantu briefly appeared in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday following her arrest for allegedly flouting the Covid-19 regulations during the wee hours on Sunday.

A crimen injuria charge will also be added to the case following her altercation with police officers during her arrest.

State prosecutor Yusuf Baba asked that the case be postponed to September 2 because the prosecution had not received the docket from the investigating officer.

The reality TV star, real name Zodwa Libram, was nabbed by the police in Douglasdale for being out after curfew together with three others, in contravention of the Disaster Management Act.

According to a police statement, which City Press has seen, the 35-year-old dancer was arrested by the police patrolling in Fourways, north of Johannesburg. She and her accomplices did not have a permit to travel outside the stipulated curfew hours the statement reads:

The statement noted that the police initially spoke to the driver of their white WV minibus who insisted that the group had a permit but refused to produce it.

However, outside court on Wednesday Libram disputed this version of events. “The police stopped us and took our car keys. That’s when the dispute started because you don’t just open someone’s car and take out the key. That is private property,” she told City Press.

“And they asked where we came from and for a permit. I told them that I am eight minutes from home. The permit was on the phone but it was off because we were travelling from far,” she said.

She said she wanted to charge the phone but the police officers were frustrated, that’s when things began to escalate.

“One was exchanging words with the driver, and the other one said ‘Zodwa, you are a public figure. You are big. You don’t want this to get out of hand’. I said skhokho tell me what I need to do, and then he said ‘coolie nyana’ [a bribe] … I was going to do it [pay the bribe] because it is my brand I worked so hard for,” she said.

She added that another officer, who was aggressive, then interrupted while the other solicited a R500 bribe. She said she was willing to pay the bribe to protect her brand.