FORMER HOME AFFAIRS OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS DIRECT IMPRISONMENT FOR CORRUPTION
The Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court convicted and sentenced a former Home Affairs official, Nhlanhla Mathebula (39), to ten years of direct imprisonment for corruption and contravention of the Immigration Act. The accused was convicted on 12 counts of corruption in Contravention of section 4(1)(a) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004, and thirteen counts of Contravention of section 49(14) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002.
The accused was a Department of Home Affairs employee stationed at White River, Mpumalanga. During May 2021, the accused would illegally process passport applications for illegal immigrants. Along the process, he would swap the picture of the South African citizen with that of a foreign national. These applications would usually be processed late at night and sometimes in the early hours of the day. The accused would even go to the Office to process the applications even when he was on leave. He would be paid an amount ranging from R1000-R5000 per application. The accused was arrested after one of his clients confused him with his Home Affairs colleague who wanted to be assisted with a fake passport. The matter was reported to the Hawks, and investigations ensued, leading to the accused’s arrest.
During the trial, he pleaded not guilty, but Senior State Advocate Themba Mavundza, led evidence of the Home Affairs official, he explained the processes and procedures followed when applying for the passports. After his testimony, it transpired that the accused did not follow proper processes when he was issuing these passports. The accused later made admissions which were tantamount to a plea of guilty. Addressing the court to impose a suitable sentence, Advocate Mavundza told the court that these kinds of crimes affect the reputation of the country and therefore the court must impose a sentence that will deter offenders.
Magistrate Van Rooyen sentenced the accused to 10 years direct imprisonment and the court ordered that the amount of money the accused received as a gratification during the commission of the offence be recovered from the accused’s pension funds and transferred to the Criminal Assets Recovery Account. The court also made an order that the passports the accused issued be forfeited to the State.
