A Krugersdorp Home Affairs customs officer is currently awaiting bail after being arrested for allegedly being found in possession of 24 illegally endorsed passports of foreign nationals.
Philimon Mzondi Kekana was hoping Principal Magistrate Nondumiso Simelane would afford him bail on 28 April.
However, Magistrate Simelane had to tie up some lose ends before her ruling and did not grant Kekana bail. She said she needed certain documents to finish her judgment before handing it down.
She also wanted to see Kekana’s travelling document, which he said was in the possession of the police. She then postponed the matter.
Kekana asked to be granted bail as he claims he is innocent of the charges and was just a visitor in the house where the documents were found. The state opposed the application.
Kekana was arrested on Good Friday at the Ngwenya Border gate. He is suspected to have, for financial and material gain, colluded with other people who are being sought by the police to have used fraudulent Swaziland immigration stamps on foreign nationals’ passports claiming they entered the country through that border gate.
With his misrepresentation, he is alleged to have caused the foreigners to possess fraudulently stamped documents.
Kekana is employed by the South African government under the ministry of home affairs as a customs officer.
He is based at the Oshoek Border Gate and lives there.
When police saw him with the documents, they allegedly ran after him and he allegedly ran straight into the house of one Mzikayifani. He was found there and was arrested and charged with 26 offences.
The 24 passports allegedly found in his possession bore names of foreign nationals and had endorsements which were issued without lawful authority. These nationals are from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Botswana, Malawi and Ghana.
The passports are stamped with the Swaziland Immigration Department stamps which are no longer officially used since they have been phased out.
He also is alleged to have three passports he is using.
