Corrupt South African immigration officers at Beitbridge are said to be exploiting truck drivers passing into Zimbabwe on a flimsy ‘ruling’ by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) that all drivers present letters bearing company stamps.
The letters of authentication are required to have company stamps supposedly vetted by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).”
“It’s meant to limit illegal drivers passing through immigration because it’s claimed that in many instances the letters drivers carry are fraudulent. But a stamp can also be fraudulent,” said Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta).
Worse still, unscrupulous officials are targeting drivers who are oblivious of the CIPC verification.
“Not all officials are bribing drivers, only some who are nitpicking on little details to extort money from drivers desperate to continue their journeys.”
According to Fitzmaurice, in one of the most recent incidents a driver phoned Fesarta complaining of having had to pay a R400 bribe after an immigration official had seen that the company letter accompanying the driver had no CIPC stamp.
“The driver didn’t know that was a requirement,” Fitzmaurice said.
