Home Affairs official sacked over Bushiri
JOHANNESBURG - A senior Department of Home Affairs official has been dismissed for approving the permanent residency application of self-proclaimed prophet and fugitive Shepherd Bushiri.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, said in a statement on Monday that Chief Director Ronney Marhule was found guilty of two counts of misconduct, relating to dishonesty and negligence.
Disciplinary
The disciplinary hearing lasted for almost a year. Bushiri, his wife Mary, and three others are accused of fraud involving around R102 million.
At the time of their bail hearing, Home Affairs officials suggested that the Bushiris be considered a flight risk and refused bail. However, they were granted bail of R200 000 each. In 2020, the Bushiris fled to Malawi.
During the Hawks’ investigation into the Bushiris, it was found that they had irregular identity documents and permits.
Permit
Mary Bushiri claimed she had a permanent residence permit that was issued in 1997, even though their first entry into the country was recorded as 2013.
In 2016, the Bushiris applied for a permanent residence permit and declared under oath that they entered the country for the first time in 2015. This permit was granted without proper compliance in 2016.
Marhule, who recommended that Bushiri and his family should be issued with permanent residence permits ‘which they did not deserve’, was dismissed with immediate effect, Motsoaledi said. The second count against Marhule was in connection with a recommendation on the approval of the permanent residence permit applications of two other people, Mohamed Afzal Motiwala and Fatima Ebrahim.
Remorse
The chairperson of the disciplinary hearing found that Marhule showed no remorse and that the ‘relationship of trust between the employer and the employee has broken down and cannot be restored’.
Motsoaledi added: “The outcome of this disciplinary hearing is taking us closer to ensuring that we bring to an end irregular practices and decisions by Home Affairs officials within the system. We are cracking down on all forms of irregularities wherever we find them at Home Affairs.” destabilised in recent years by fighting between Armenia - a close ally of Russia - and Azerbaijan, which included a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020.
Hostilities along their shared border had ticked up in the early months of this year, just before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Putin is said to be fearful of assassination since declaring war, after hit squads were sent into Ukraine to take out President Zelenskyy in the early days of the conflict.
Zelenskyy and his entourage have described surviving several attempts to storm the presidential palace in the opening hours of the war, in what they believe were kill-or-capture missions by Russian ‘saboteurs’.