The brazen nature of the corruption I personally witnessed at the Nature Reserve at Roodeplaat Dam and total disregard of government regulations is shocking to say the least.

Some time last year, the Department of Infrastructure Development under whose authority Roodeplaat Dam falls introduced a new payment system requiring those entering the dam precinct either for fishing or any other sport to pay entrance fees by card only. In other words, payment by cash was scratched.

This move which was probably aimed at avoiding theft or fraud, eliminated a lot of fishermen from nearby informal settlements who do not have bank accounts, and therefore cannot pay by card. This has made fishing at the nature reserve more attractive because the place is no longer crowded.

On January 22, 2024, I went fishing at the nature reserve whose entrance is on Moloto road. As I normally do when I go fishing, I always aim to be number one at the entrance gate so that I can pick one of my favorite fishing spots before they are taken. So I was up early, and was at the gate by 5.50am. Indeed I was number one, and found the gate still closed. I thought the gate would open at 6am, only to be told that it opened at 7am. I am not sure if this is the new official opening time, since I have known the gate to open at 6am over the two decades I have been fishing at the dam.

Bored that I would have to wait for over an hour before the gate opened, I tried to negotiate with the security guard manning the gate to allow me in and then I would come back latter to pay after the cashier arrived. The guard asked me if I was paying by card or cash, and when I said card, he said it was not possible because the swiping machine would only be available when the cashier arrived.

So the waiting continued for another half an hour until another car with two fisherman who seemed to be familiar to the security guard arrived at about 6.30am, and negotiated to be allowed to enter via the exit gate which was open. Happy that we would finally be allowed in, I followed the other fishermen to the exit gate where the boom was lifted to allow their car in after they paid cash to the security guard. The boom was immediately lowered before I could get in, and the security guard came to my car and asked me if now had cash. When I told him I did not have cash but had my bank card, he bluntly told me that I could not enter and had to wait for the cashier.

I immediately remembered that a new system had been introduced the previous year which actually barred payment by cash. I challenged the security guard, telling him that what he was doing was illegal and that he was committing both fraud and corruption. He simply ignored me and walked away, leaving me angry and frustrated. It was mind boggling that I, a law abiding citizen who was first to arrive at the gate was being denied entry, even after telling the security guard that I could leave my bank card with him to ensure that I would come back and pay.

I was fuming as I waited for 7am, angry that some people who had come after me had been allowed in ahead of me simply because of corruption. When the cashier eventually arrived at 7.05am, he was approached by the corrupt security guard who was mumbling something to him while pointing at me. It became obvious to me that there was an agreement between the security and this particular cashier because when I confronted him about what was happening, he looked sheepish although he said he was unaware that this was what the security guard was doing before he arrived.

To confirm my belief that they were working in cahoots, instead of saying action would be taken against the security guard, the cashier said: “Please forgive him”.

So it dawned on me that while the official policy is that payment is strictly by card, those who bring cash are actually more welcome that law abiding citizens, and it goes without saying that the cash does not reach government coffers.

Realising that there might be trouble brewing after he had seen me angrily confronting the cashier, and the sheepish manner in which the cashier looked, the security guard finally came to my car and said he was sorry.