FREE STATE. – A 56-year-old official of the Border Management Authority (BMA) has been taken into custody after 22 stamped passports of Lesotho citizens and R2 100 in cash were allegedly found in his possession. The official, who works at the Maseru border post, is suspected of corruption and immigration-related offences.
Dr Michael Masiapato, commissioner of the BMA, says the arrest followed an intelligence-driven operation involving their integrity management unit, the Department of Home Affairs' anti-corruption unit, the police's Ladybrand detective branch, the dog unit, and Free State crime intelligence. The investigation began after information was received that passports of Lesotho citizens were allegedly being transported from Limpopo to Ladybrand to be illegally stamped. This would allegedly have extended the visa validity and residence period in South Africa of the passport holders concerned without their personal presence, as required by law.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Ladybrand magistrate's court on charges related to corruption, unlawful possession of passports and immigration offences. The investigation is continuing and further arrests are not ruled out.
Masiapato says the BMA is currently finalising more than 60 labour and disciplinary cases relating among other things to fraud, corruption and other misconduct. According to him, 17 officials have been dismissed over the past three months, and further dismissals are expected.
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This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
