Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has poured cold water on Thabo Bester’s bid to question his deportation from Tanzania in court.
Motsoaledi said when Bester was nabbed with Dr Nandipha Magudumana in Arusha he was issued with an emergency travel certificate as he did not have a South African passport.
He said even Bester gave immigration officials in Arusha details about himself.
Motsoaledi, who was briefing MPs on Tuesday, said the emergency travel certificate is issued to a South African who has lost their passport overseas.
Upon arrival in the country the home affairs officials will then verify the information on the emergency travel certificate if they match the information in their systems.
Motsoaledi said he had seen reports that when Bester appeared in court last week he had questioned the documents used to put him on the flight back to South Africa.
When a South African loses their ID or passport overseas they go to the embassy to get the emergency travel certificate.
“What should happen is that you go to the South African embassy. They issue you with what is called the emergency travel certificate. The emergency travel certificate is not an emergency passport as people usually like saying. We give you an emergency travel certificate, which is a handwritten document. We write whatever information you give us about yourself because we have got no other document to check. You give us that information. You take it to the flight and you fly home. When you land that document has got no use, whatsoever. It comes to an end,” said Motsoaledi.
When they arrive back in the country they verify that information against their systems.
This was the same process that was followed with Bester when he was caught in Tanzania.
When they checked that information against what Bester gave them they found it was wrong.
They did not find Bester in any of their databases.
Then it was up to the police to follow up on that as he had lied about his information to home affairs, said the minister.
“When they arrived at Lanseria they immediately went into the system and checked that number and indeed as expected found it did not exist,” he said.
“It means it is a charge as far as I am concerned because he is defeating the ends of justice to give legitimate law enforcement officers a wrong number deliberately and turns in court that he was brought in a wrong number when you are the one who gave it,” said Motsoaledi.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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