Two Men Were Sentenced To Direct Imprisonment For Corruption
Mpumalanga: The Nelspruit Specialized Commercial Crimes Court has today convicted and sentenced Robert Reginald Booth(53) and Barry Victor Welgemoed(35), both from Nelspruit to eight years imprisonment for corruption. This was after the pair pleaded guilty to the offence, which was committed on 16 March 2022, at Kingston Valley Farm, near Karino in Nelspruit.
Booth was employed by the Department of Home Affairs as an Immigration Officer, and Welgemoed was an ordinary member of the public. The pair offered to arrange work permits for foreign nationals, employed at the farm, in exchange for R5500, for eleven foreign nationals.
One of the employees reported the matter to the Hawks, and a sting operation was arranged. Both accused were caught red-handed, and their activities were recorded on CCTV and voice recording. In court, the pair pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption. Senior State Adv. Henry Nxumalo addressed the court about the seriousness of the corruption offence, and that there is a huge outcry in the society that the courts must address corruption, by imposing appropriate sentences. He further told the court that, corruption is a threat to the democratic order.
Magistrate Van Rooyen sentenced the pair to eight years imprisonment, half of which is suspended for five years, on the condition that the accused are not convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension. The effective sentence is four years of direct imprisonment.
Corruption is one of the key priorities for the National Prosecuting Authority, and we applaud all partners involved in ensuring that justice is served without fear or favour.
Issued by
Monica Nyuswa
NPA Regional Spokesperson
Mpumalanga Division
013/0450625/ 0764855446