Several immigration officers employed by the Department of Home Affairs are facing allegations of corruptions and have been arrested.
This follows allegations that were published in The New Age of 23 April that the officers are working together with touts and bus drivers in the sale of entry stamps to desperate travellers at the Beit Bridge border post.
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), Mr Thabo Mokgola, confirmed on Tuesday that the department was aware of the matter. "The department is aware that some officials at the port are involved in corrupt practices, including the selling of days. The department is constantly in liaison with intelligence structures and law-enforcement agencies to assist in identifying such officials," said Mokgola.
According to The New Age's report, their undercover team witnessed a traveller, who had been denied entry into the country, returning with a tout and paying an immigration official R200 in exchange for a 30-day visitor's visa.
What the team discovered is that corrupt officials create an opportunity for totes to collect bribe money by only granting the minimum number of days to Zimbabwean passport holders. This happens even though Zimbabwean passport holders are visa exempt if they are visiting South Africa for 90 days or fewer for business or tourism purposes.
But because officials do not grant 90 days, totes "sell" date stamps to desperate travellers and split the money between themselves and immigration officers.
In the meantime, it remains to be seen if the DHA will be able to root out the scam. Apart from confirming the arrest of certain officials, Mokgola was unable to provide further details about the case. At the time of our going to press he had yet to confirm when and where the officials had been arrested and if they had appeared in court. Mokgola advised travellers, if they should suspect any corrupt activities while attempting to cross the border, to contact the DHA's call-centre number (0800 60 11 90).