Two Zimbabwean immigration officials at the Beit Bridge border post were fired last week after they were found in possession of a fake South African immigration date stamp, which they were using to fraudulently clear travellers who would have contravened the Immigration Act.

The two officials, Anna Mutashu (32) and Kennedy Matunga (45), were fired last Thursday, following a disciplinary hearing.

A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration, Mr Francis Mabika, said the two officials were in possession of a fake South African departure date stamp, which they were using to clear those who had overstayed in South Africa. “They used the fake stamp to clear travellers who had overstayed in our neighbouring country, charging them between R300 and R500 to put a stamp on a single passport,” he said. According to the SA Immigration Act, foreigners who overstay in South Africa are either fined between R1 000 and R5 000 or banned for a period of five years, depending on the number of days they would overstayed in the country.

The two officers, said Mabika, were arrested after a trap was set by detectives from the Border Control Unit with the assistance of SA Home Affairs officials “We relieved them of their duties after they were found guilty of corruption and improper performance during an internal disciplinary hearing. We want to weed out all corrupt officials in the department as they are tarnishing our image,” said Mabika.

“We continue to urge travellers to report any corrupt official to the enforcement and compliance department. Detectives from the Border Control Unit received a tip-off from their South Africa counterparts in January last year and investigations were conducted, leading to the arrest of the two officials. This was after South African immigration officials had intercepted a cross-border bus from Zimbabwe carrying passengers whose passports contained fake Home Affairs departure date stamps.

Mutashu and Matunga were implicated in the syndicate and arrested.