How to bribe Home Affairs: ‘Senior’ official arrested over R6k payment
The South African – 07-06-2022
As it turns out, you don’t need *that* much money to bribe senior officials at Home Affairs – thankfully, this one was caught red-handed.
A top Home Affairs official has been detained by police this week, after he caught accepting a paltry bribe from a foreign national. The payment has enraged South Africans online, who have questioned the department’s integrity. Nonetheless, SAPS officials have been praised for their work.
How to bribe a Home Affairs official? You only need a few grand…
A number of concerning details were made public this week, after it emerged that some senior workers can be ‘bought-off’ on the cheap. A police sting operation managed to catch this criminal in the act…
- The arrested official is said to be a ‘senior immigration official’ in Bloemfontein.
- A foreign national offered the suspect a total of R6 000 to bend the rules.
- The foreigner’s brother was arrested for allegedly ‘not having proper documents’.
- A sting operation was conducted by the police and Home Affairs where the suspect met with the victim and took R6 000 as agreed.
- He was then arrested after police found him with the money that he demanded from the victim.
- The suspect is expected to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Monday 30 May.
SAPS act swiftly to quash corruption
SAPS has since issued a statement on the matter, confirming that an elaborate scheme was foiled thanks to the help of their Corruption Investigation Squads, formed by both Hawks AND Crime Intelligence (CI)
“A 50-year-old suspect was arrested in Bloemfontein on Thursday 26 May 2022 by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team together with Crime Intelligence (CI) and Home Affairs officials all based in Bloemfontein.”
“The suspect’s arrest came after the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team received information about the Home Affairs Senior Immigration Officer who demanded R6 000 from a foreign national for the release of his brother.”