The Nelspruit Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday sentenced a former immigration officer at Home Affairs to four years in jail for corruption.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the accused, Robert Reginald Booth, 53, was in cahoots with 35-year-old Barry Victor Welgemoed, who is an ordinary member of the public.
Nyuswa said the pair was caught red-handed on CCTV footage selling fraudulent work permits to 11 foreign nationals at R5 500 each. According to Nyuswa, the crime was committed on March 16 2022 at Kingston Valley Farm near Karino in Nelspruit.
The duo was concomitantly arrested following a sting operation conducted by the Hawks.
“One of the employees reported the matter to the Hawks, and a sting operation was arranged. Both accused were caught red-handed and their activities were recorded on CCTV and voice-recording,” said Nyuswa.
She said the convicts pleaded guilty and were sentenced to eight years behind bars, half of which was suspended for five years on condition that they are not convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension.
Nyuswa explained: “In court, the pair pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption. Senior state advocate Henry Nxumalo addressed the court about the seriousness of the corruption offence, and that there is a huge outcry in society that the courts must address corruption by imposing appropriate sentences. He further told the court that corruption is a threat to the democratic order.
“Corruption is one of the key priorities for the National Prosecuting Authority, and we applaud all the partners involved in ensuring that justice is served without fear or favour.”
In July, Home Affairs dismissed two officials for selling fraudulent South African identity documents to foreign nationals.
Home Affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said at the time that Phathisani Outshiki from the Benoni office and David Motsamai from Germiston were dismissed after they were found guilty of gross misconduct for illegal processing of documents.
According to Qoza, Outshiki processed 98 passports and 13 IDs at a fee of R1 000 per application while Motsamai processed 13 passport applications ranging from R2 500 to R5 000 per application.
“Fortunately, all the fraudulently processed IDs and passports were flagged as fraudulent and were removed from Home Affairs records thus rendering them useless and unusable by the people who acquired them. None of these documents were ever used,” Qoza said.
Meanwhile, an information technology specialist, Simphiwe Hlophe, was on Friday dismissed for negligence.
Also read: Home Affairs IT specialist dismissed for negligence
For more crime stories click here.
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
