Johannesburg, Mar 23 (PTI) A senior official of the South Africa Department of Home Affairs has been dismissed for trying to secure a visa for a close associate of the fugitive Gupta brothers and others in the UAE and Ethiopia.
Atul, Ajay, and Rajesh Gupta who originally hail from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, are accused of siphoning billions of rands from South African parastatals through their close association with former president Jacob Zuma.
Major Kobese, the Director for Appeals in the Department, unsuccessfully facilitated the undue processing of permits of Ashu Chawla and others to which they were not entitled, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Chawla was identified as a kingpin in the companies established by the three Gupta brothers.
The Gupta family is currently in self-exile in Dubai. South African authorities are awaiting their extradition on corruption and money laundering charges. Kobese was found guilty on three counts of gross misconduct in the execution of his duties in a disciplinary hearing that lasted five months, it said.
“The visas which Kobese wanted were not issued because officials based in these missions refused to be part of his shenanigan,” the department said. The first allegation involved Kobese having exerted pressure on the officials of the Department to process and issue visas in breach of the applicable laws.
The second and third counts included him giving preferential treatment to some visa applicants over others and having engaged in grossly inappropriate conduct including paying a bribe.
The Chairperson of the Disciplinary Hearing found that “given the core responsibility of Mr Kobese, as a senior manager, to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct and a high level of integrity and his complete lack of remorse, the conclusion which I ineluctably arrive at is that the employment relationship has been destroyed and dismissal is the appropriate sanction”.
Welcoming the dismissal of Kobese, Home Minister Aaron Motsoaledi reaffirmed his department’s commitment to eradicating the bribery and corruption within its ranks, which has seen allegations of thousands of migrants from the Asian subcontinent and other African countries illegally obtaining permits and even citizenship.
“We are unflinching in our commitment to ensuring that we bring to a speedy end irregular practices and decisions by Home Affairs officials within the system. The outcome of this disciplinary hearing shows that many officials continue to do their work diligently even when placed under pressure by their managers. It also shows that we are rooting out all forms of corruption, malfeasance and irregularities we find at Home Affairs,” Motsoaledi said. PTI FH FZH FZH
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Source: The Print
