Home Affairs has given Zimbabwe’s Rimbi Travel and Tours Bus Service until the end of business on Tuesday, March 29, to pay a fine of R420 000 for breach of the Immigration Act.
This after a driver arrived at the Beitbridge Border carrying 28 passengers who were not in possession of travel passports a year ago.
Siya Qoza, spokesperson for Home Affairs, said in a statement the bus service has since been trying to appeal the sanction, however, its efforts proved futile when the appeals were rejected.
Qoza explained: “The minister of home affairs determined in a Government Gazette of June 3 2014 that any conveyor [transport business] that contravenes the provisions of section 35(9) will be liable for a fine of R15 000 for each person who arrives at a port of entry without appropriate travel documents.
“Section 35(9) of the Immigration Act places on the person in charge of a transport business the responsibility of ensuring that all foreign passengers travelling through a port of entry have valid passports and relevant valid visas for their travel.
“Transport companies that want to enter South Africa with passengers who do not have valid passports and visas, where required, are fined, denied entry, and ordered to return such passengers to the sending country. The fine is payable within 30 days of issue.”
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said anyone who defies the law will face due consequences. “In particular, conveyances that engage in smuggling of persons across the country’s borders will face the full might of the law,” said Motsoaledi.
Qoza also confirmed that the department will recover the money through legal means should Rimbi Travel and Tours fail to pay the fine by today.
Twenty seven people allegedly linked to fake passport syndicate remanded in custody
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
