SOUTH AFRICA
eNCA
PORT ELIZABETH – A Nigerian pastor charged with human trafficking and sexual assault was found to have been living in South Africa “illegally” after it was discovered that at least one of his permits were “issued fraudulently”, it emerged in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Testifying in the pastor’s bail application, senior immigration officer, Ivan Klaasen, said that he had also discovered that the pastor had six passports, and not four as the the court was previously told.
Klaasen said that he had conducted investigations on the department’s movement control system which picked up that the pastor had travelled in and out of South Africa three times during the year 2000 without a relevant visa.
“He was issued with a temporary residence not a visa, as per the regulations a Nigerian national must be in possession of a visa, so there is a contravention of the Act here. He was not allowed to enter South Africa without a visa, he was issued a single entry only and came into South Africa without a relevant visa,” said Klaasen adding that he had no idea how this could happen at various ports of entry.
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