MBABANE – Another Ministry of Home Affairs official has been arrested and charged as the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) unveils more rot at the government department.
This time around, the Hhohho Regional Civil Registrar Busisiwe Sibiya, employed at the Ministry of Home Affairs appeared before the Principal Magistrate, Sifiso Vilakati, at the Mbabane Magistrates Court precinct charged with three counts of corruption on Wednesday.
She posted E3000 bail for her liberation, which was not opposed, where she stands accused of ‘abusing her position of authority’ while contravening sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA) of 2008.
The accused is charged on the first count of “unlawfully and directly or indirectly” giving and or agreeing and or offering “to give one purported Sonkhe Magongo… the advantage of registration of a personal Identification Number.”
On count two, she is accused of giving/agreeing/offering to give the said Magongo the advantage of processing a national ID card.
On count three, she is said to have issued Magongo the advantage of a birth certificate.
All the charges were said to have occurred on March 4, 2023 at Lobamba.
In the last count, however, the accused Sibiya is said to have violated the law in her capacity as the immigration officer while on the first two counts she is cited in her capacity as the Regional Civil Registrar.
In her application for bail through an attorney, Sibiya submitted that she was domiciled in Eswatini and that she was not a flight risk as she has no relatives in the Republic of South Africa. She is said to have also worked for the ministry for 17 years “and would not do anything to joepadise her pension which has accumulated over the years.”
According to court documents, the accused is remanded in custody until March 7.
In August the Chief Justice (CJ), Bheki Maphalala, issued warrants against eight employees of the Ministry of Home Affairs while others have previously been charged with corruption charges.
