Sometimes the good guys win one. And by good guys, I mean a group of dedicated Mozambican cops.

A news snippet in this month’s go! magazine describes how a party of South African tourists were pulled off the road by the usual AK-47-wielding policemen and compelled to pay a R1000 fine for a traffic “offence”. The travellers managed to get the cops’ licence plate and reported the incident to the SA High Commission in Maputo.

The bent coppers were apparently arrested the same day – with the cash still on them.

The best part of it, though, is that members of the Mozambican police complaints bureau then drove from Maputo to Paarl to take a statement and hand the money back.

This is great news. Mozambique has for years been plagued by a rash of bent policemen who intimidate tourists – staring down the barrel of an AK-47 will do that to one – and attempt to fleece them for bogus rules violations. So, it is great to see the Mozambicans taking this seriously. Corruption is the scourge that ruins tourism.