Free State cops arrested
for corruption
Sapa | 07
May, 2013 19:28
Nine police officers and seven officials were arrested for fraud and corruption at the Caledonspoort border post on Tuesday, the Hawks said.
The other six
were immigration officers and the seventh a health department official,
spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.
They
allegedly allowed people to enter the country from Lesotho without documents
for R150.
"In some
instances taxi drivers delivered passports at the port of entry to be stamped,
in order to extend the days of holders in South Africa, at a fee of R150,"
he said.
"This
had been orchestrated for a long time. The officials were able to make over
R100,000 per day. In one instance officials shared R200,000."
He said
people without passports would arrive at the border in a bus. A police officer
would then charge the passengers between R150 and R200 for the bus to enter
South Africa.
Police
confiscated R38,000 found in the boot of a car belonging to one of the
immigration officials.
The group was
expected to appear in the Fouriesburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Ramaloko said
they were arrested on duty at the port of entry. One of the police officers was
arrested at a hospital, where he had been booked in for alcohol abuse.
The head of
the Hawks in the Free State, Maj-Gen Senaba Mositi, said the arrests were part
of the police's quest to stop corruption in the province.
