WeeklySA_AdminSTILL SENTENCES FOR WHITE COLLAR CRIME
Fraud and corruption, especially in government, negatively affects sustainable economic development and erodes the public trust in the integrity of the State. With law enforcement agencies hot on the heels of those who loot the country’s coffers, it is the duty of the judiciary to impose appropriate jail sentences to those convicted of these serious crimes. They must show all and sundry that they are serious about cracking down on these criminals and mete out sentences that would serve as a deterrent.
The Department of Home Affairs, which has been plagued by corruption carried out by unscrupulous officials who illegally sell South African identity documents to foreigners to enter the country illegally, should heave a sigh of little relief on their mission to root out dishonest employees in their midst with the recent conviction and sentence of their staff member in Giyani .
Mdunwazi Ngwenyama (47), who was stationed at the Home Affairs Department office in Malamulele, was sentenced to 14 years direct imprisonment last week after being found guilty on charges of corruption and fraud in the Giyani Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. He was jailed for eight years for corruption and six years for fraud. He was arrested while on duty in December 2021 after he had registered and issued a bogus birth certificate for someone who did not exist in the department’s system.
The document was handed to somebody who was acting as an intermediary and paid R1000. An investigation by the police revealed that the certificate was intended for a Zimbabwean national.
We commend the court for the appropriate sentence imposed on Mdunwazi which would serve as a deterrent to corrupt officials in the Department of Home Affairs following a string of cases on the illegal issuing of documents to foreigners in exchange for payment of huge sums of money. Actions by these officials have led to the flooding of illegal foreign nationals into the country.
The consequences of the illegal issuing of these licences have, amongst others, resulted in fatal incidents including the deaths of children who had been sold expired goods at spaza shops owned by illegal foreigners throughout the country.
The 14- year jail sentence imposed on Ngwenyama should serve as a precedent to be followed by other courts, some of which have a tendency of handing out suspended and lenient sentences on criminals who are causing the country significant financial losses. Fraud and corruption endangers the rule of law and erodes the trust the public has in the government. It is therefore important for the courts to send a strong message to these greedy officials by imposing stiff sentences for those convicted. This will help stop the scourge of corruption which negatively affects the government’s plans of improving the lives of the poor.
The courts must therefore – without fear or favour – hand out sentences that must fit these serious crimes.
