Springbok – An alleged corrupt immigration officer at the Vioolsdrift border post between South Africa and Namibia has appeared in the Springbok Magistrate's Court and been released on R2 000 bail, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said on Saturday.
Benedictus J Fredericks, 46, was charged with corruption and contravention of the immigration Act and appeared in court on Friday. He was granted R2 000 bail and the case was postponed to April 12, Northern Cape Hawks spokesman Captain Philani Nkwalase said. "Upon conducting a search, eight passports of different foreigners were found as well as... dagga.
Consequently, an additional case of possession of dagga was opened against Fredericks," Nkwalase said.
Earlier, Nkwalase said the Hawks anti-corruption unit in the Northern Cape, in collaboration with the home affairs department, had arrested the officer at the Vioolsdrift border post. “A project driven investigation ensued when the home affairs’ anti-corruption [unit] approached the Hawks to further investigate the alleged activities of corruption at [the] border post,” he said.
The investigation started in October 2016 and had now led to the arrest of the 46-year-old immigration officer. Two other immigration officers were taken in for questioning and were later released.
Several passports of foreign nationals were found at the suspect’s premises during a search and Hawks investigations uncovered the “fraudulent renewal of passports without following due processes and acceptance of gratification through cash payments as well as electronic transactions”, Nkwalase said.
Hawks Northern Cape provincial head Maj-Gen Kholekile Galawe applauded the home affairs management at Vioolsdrift for acting decisively in reporting the matter to the Hawks and their assistance during the investigation.
“We are in dire need of such patriotic and law abiding civil servants within our province and the entire country,” Galawe said.