Work permits scam uncovered

The Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation against a senior immigration official for allegedly selling work permits to foreigners.
Case officer Phelem Masule confirmed the investigation against the immigration official stationed at Walvis Bay, adding that the file will soon be returned to the Erongo Region where the case was reported some time ago.
It is alleged that a senior immigration officer, whose identity is known to this newspaper, is ignoring provisional employment permit approval letters and granting applicants two-year permits instead of the six-month permits issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration in Windhoek.
Home affairs permanent secretary Patrick Nandago yesterday declined to comment on the matter because it still under investigation. More than five similar cases apparently have been detected since the beginning of this year.
The official was suspended from endorsing work permits until further notice on 24 August.
It is alleged that he is yet to be charged for the reported offence. According to a source, the official still enjoys access to stamps used for issuing work permits and continues using them for his own benefit.
He has been working for the ministry for more than 24 years.
When approached for comment, the control immigration officer in charge for the Erongo Region, Meriam Eelu, was caught by surprise.
She questioned the authenticity of the documents provided to the newspaper and requested that they be forwarded to her so she could confirm that the letters were actually written by her.
Eelu subsequently responded that she was aware of the issue but could not elaborate due to her being newly appointed in the position and in the region.
Documentation provided to the newspaper indicates that a South African national was issued with a permit on 22 July 2015, valid until 31 December 2015, to work for a company in Walvis Bay.
The permit was altered by the accused official to expire on 31 July 2017 despite instructions from immigration head office that the client should not be assisted without him providing outstanding documents such as police clearance.
After the official learned that the head office was aware of him issuing questionable work permits, he apparently gave the person in question 48 hours’ notice to leave the country, without nullifying the work permit that had been altered by him. This was apparently done to cover his tracks.
According to the source, the permit holder is no longer using the Walvis Bay airport as point of entry from South Africa in order to avoid being caught. He apparently now enters the country at Ariamsvlei or Noordoewer.
An internal memo dated 24 August shows that Eelu confronted the official and that he responded by saying he had made a mistake.
The permit of a second South African, issued on 22 July 2015 and valid until 31 December 2015, was also changed.
When the client arrived for his work visa endorsement the official ignored the details on the letter of approval and changed the date of issue to 16 October 2015 and the expiry date to 15 September 2017.
Eelu again approached the control immigration officer on 24 August to explain why he had granted another unauthorised permit extension for two years.
His explanation this time was that working under pressure created room for error and due to the huge workload errors were unavoidable.
The ministry initiated an investigation and contacted the client whose permit had been altered. He wrote a letter detailing payments he had made to a local company to secure a work permit on his behalf.
A normal endorsement is free of charge and the cost of a three-month work visa is N$1 395.
According to the client he paid N$11 590. He further confirmed that he paid this amount in full to the company who acted on his behalf and his work visa was collected.


OTIS FINCK