Pretoria - Two men, a senior immigration officer at the Home Affairs’ Pretoria Office and a Pakistani national appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday, police said.
Elisha Matsipa, 43, who is the Assistant Director at the Immigration Office, was arrested on Monday and is facing charges of corruption after he allegedly assisted a Pakistani national Wahdat Hussain, 30, to fraudulently obtain a South African Passport, Identity Document and a marriage certificate.
Initial investigations have revealed that Matsipa received an amount of R23 000 from Hussain, the Hawks said.
The men were arrested in a joint sting operation by the Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks.
Both of them will be staying at police’s holding cells at least until Monday, 20 July 2015 when they will appear in court again for a formal bail application.
Acting Head of the Hawks Major General Mthandazo Ntlemeza hailed the Anti-Corruption Unit members for a sterling investigation that led to the two suspects.
“We have a strong case against the two and this shows that our investigating officials were on point throughout the process. We also applaud the Home Affairs Department for taking a brave step of isolating even one of their own to root out fraud and corruption within their ranks.” – SAnews.gov.za
