[ad_1]
By Botho Molosankwe 
15h ago
Johannesburg – A Mpumalanga man accused of fraudulently issuing certificates to illegal immigrants was arrested and also charged with attempting to bribe an Internal Affairs official who was investigating him.
A sting operation by the Hawks led to Muntu Edwell Monareng being caught red-handed after giving his colleague R13,000 in hopes that he would stop investigating him.
Hawk spokesman Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said Monareng was arrested in collaboration with the Department of Internal Affairs, Kwa-Zulu Natal Crime Intelligence, Middelburg Counter Narcotics and Crime Intelligence Technical Support Unit.
Monareng works in the Home Affairs office in Witbank.
Sekgotodi said that Internal Affairs allegedly noticed irregularities in the issuance of birth certificates to foreign nationals during an internal inspection in January this year.
Sekgotodi said an internal investigation was launched and the suspect promised the Internal Affairs investigator money to disrupt the investigation against him.
“The matter was reported to the Serious Corruption Investigation for further investigation. A multidisciplinary operation was carried out and the suspect was arrested immediately after handing a bonus of R13,000 to the Internal Affairs investigator, ”he said.
Sekgotodi said they also found the man had R17,000 and found identification books of other people he was helping.
All of those, he said, the Hawks have taken over.
“It seems like this is not the first time (he) has done this,” Sekgotodi said.
The Star contacted three Internal Affairs spokespersons to obtain more information about the certificates that Monareng allegedly issued illegally. However, none of them were available for comment.
Monareng appeared in the eMalahleni Magistrates Court on Thursday on charges of corruption.
He was released on bail of R3,000 and is expected to return to court on 9 October.
MESS
[ad_2]
