Additional suspect in Malelane CIT heist to apply for bail
October 12, 2023
Crystal Lake loses to the Liver Brothers
October 13, 2023
Nhlanhla Mathebula (40), was convicted and sentenced by the White River Magistrate Court on Wednesday, 11 October 2023, for corruption.
The sentence followed after information was received and an investigation was conducted by the Hawks Middelburg-based Serious Corruption Investigation.
A Home Affairs official was involved in fraud and corruption by processing counterfeit passports for foreign nationals using the identity documents of South African citizens. By doing so, he was gratifying a foreign individual who had received a counterfeit passport from Mathebula.
It was discovered during the investigation that a Department of Home Affairs official reportedly conspired with South African citizens to assist foreign people from Pakistan and Bangladesh in obtaining South African passports using their identification documents.
The four accused:
Faud Mohammed Ali (37), Christopher Marillier (39), Gabriel Samuel van der Merwe (33), and Sifiso Kheswa (31) were linked and arrested. The investigation was finalised, and the accused were sentenced by the White River Magistrates’ Court for fraud and corruption.
The accused were each sentenced to a R100 000 fine or three years imprisonment on charges relating to contravention of the Immigration Act. They further received a R40 000 fine or 12 months imprisonment each. Nhlanhla Mathebula was linked and arrested. He was denied bail and remained in custody until his sentencing.
Mathebula was sentenced, as follows:
Count 1 to count 12 corruption, he was sentenced to 10 years of direct imprisonment. Count 13 to count 24. Contravention of Section 49 of the Immigration Act: He was sentenced to 3 years of direct imprisonment in terms of Section 280(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) 51 of 1977. The sentence imposed on counts 13 to 24 to run concurrently with counts 1 to 12.
A confiscation order was also granted against the accused in terms of Section 18 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). He has to pay an amount of R94 600.00, which he benefited as gratification for processing the fraudulent passports.