Pretoria - Four men from Eldorado Park, in Johannesburg, alongside a former Home Affairs employee appeared in the White River Magistrates Court in Mpumalanga for a bail application, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday.
Nhlanhla Mathebula, 38, who worked at the Ntsikazi Center of Home Affairs in White River, Faude Mahammed Ali, 35, Christopher Sydney Marillier, 37, Samuel Gabriel Van der Merwe 31, and Sifiso Kheswa, 30, are facing various charges of fraud, corruption, forgery and uttering and contravention of the Immigration Act.
Mpumalanga NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said that the men form part of a syndicate that provides fraudulent passports to undocumented foreigners, mainly from Somalia and Pakistan.
“Their arrest follows within a month after the Department of Home Affairs and the HAWKS arrested 26 individuals on similar charges, at a Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp,” Nyuswa said.
The matter was postponed to Friday, June 10, for judgment regarding their bail application. The State is opposing their bails.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a group of 158 undocumented immigrants were arrested at a road block in southern Free State after allegedly firing gunshot at the police and soldiers at the control point.
The SAPS and the SANDF manned a roadblock on Sunday at the R702/R26 crossing, an unguarded part of South Africa’s border with Lesotho in Wepener area.
“At about 12.45am the convoy of 13 Toyota Quantum, (minibus taxis), a grey Toyota Regius, red Volkswagen Golf and grey BMW 523i approached the roadblock and the first Toyota Quantum failed to stop as indicated by the official on the roadblock,” Free State police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said.
“Shots were fired from the minibus and the officials on the roadblock returned fire. One male was slightly injured during the cross-fire and rushed to the hospital in Bloemfontein.
“Eventually, all vehicles were stopped and searched. One-hundred-and-fifty-eight passengers were found to be travelling into the Republic of South Africa without proper documents allowing them to be in the country. Two firearm with a magazine loaded with rounds were found hidden inside the BMW sedan,” Makhele said.
IOL