News / Regional
Immigration officer in court for demanding a bribe
09 Jan 2013 at 06:27hrs | Views
A 34-year-old Chimanimani-based immigration officer on deployment at Beitbridge Border Post was yesterday hauled before the courts for allegedly demanding a R200 bribe from four undocumented travellers who intended to illegally cross into South Africa.
Ian Muhwati of Cashel Valley in Chimanimani, pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer as defined in Section 171 (1) of the Criminal Law (Reform and Codification) Act, Chapter 9.23, when he appeared before Beitbridge resident provincial magistrate, Ms Gloria Takundwa.
He was remanded out of custody to 23 January on $100 bail. Muhwati was ordered to reside at his given address as well as not to interfere with ongoing police investigations as part of the bail conditions.
The prosecutor, Mr Jabulani Mberesi, said on 4 January at around 3pm, Muhwati, who had been deployed to the Beitbridge Border Post to complement the local immigration staff during the festive period, was manning the southern exit gate when he intercepted a South Africa registered vehicle with four undocumented passengers.
The court heard that on discovering that the passengers did not have passports, Muhwati allegedly demanded a R200 bribe from the driver, Durity Themba Ndlovu, before releasing the vehicle.
The vehicle was later stopped by alert police officers that were on a routine border surveillance leading to the discovery of the four undocumented occupants. Further investigations by police revealed that Muhwati had allegedly accepted a bribe from the undocumented travellers before allowing them to proceed and he was arrested.
The bribery money was recovered
Ian Muhwati of Cashel Valley in Chimanimani, pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer as defined in Section 171 (1) of the Criminal Law (Reform and Codification) Act, Chapter 9.23, when he appeared before Beitbridge resident provincial magistrate, Ms Gloria Takundwa.
He was remanded out of custody to 23 January on $100 bail. Muhwati was ordered to reside at his given address as well as not to interfere with ongoing police investigations as part of the bail conditions.
The court heard that on discovering that the passengers did not have passports, Muhwati allegedly demanded a R200 bribe from the driver, Durity Themba Ndlovu, before releasing the vehicle.
The vehicle was later stopped by alert police officers that were on a routine border surveillance leading to the discovery of the four undocumented occupants. Further investigations by police revealed that Muhwati had allegedly accepted a bribe from the undocumented travellers before allowing them to proceed and he was arrested.
The bribery money was recovered
Source - TC
