A 29-year-old Zimbabwean man was yesterday sentenced to six years in jail after he was convicted of operating an illegal immigration office at the South African side of Beitbridge Border Post.
Duncan Danda was arrested by the South African police on January 3, while he was stamping passports for foreigners, including Zimbabweans. He was convicted by a Musina magistrate on two counts of contravening a section of the Immigration Act.
He was sentenced to six years in jail for the first count and fined R10 000 for the second. Failure to pay the fine will see 12 months being added to his sentence.
Danda gave prospective travellers a stay of up to 90 days in South Africa. Under South Africa’s immigration laws, Zimbabweans are allowed a stay not more than 90 days in that country per year.
South African immigration officers at the border post are reluctant to give Zimbabweans more days in that country and Danda exploited the opportunity by awarding people 90 days per each single entry for a fee.
South African police spokesperson for Limpopo Province Captain Matimba Maluleke welcomed the sentence, saying it was deterrent enough.
“We hope it will serve as a deterrent to all those who want to play hide and seek with the law,” he said. “We acted swiftly on information about a person who had opened a one-stop Home Affairs office in the heart of the border gate.
“The suspect was stamping passports of foreign nationals at the Beitbridge taxi rank.”
Capt Maluleke said they confiscated the Department of Home Affairs immigrations stamps and an undisclosed amount of US dollars from Danda.
“We strongly suspect that he was not working alone when we look at a scenario where foreigners were able to exit and return to the country through his underhand craft,” said Capt Maluleke.