A 52-year-old South African man has been deported for assaulting a female immigration officer.
Steven Steyn, a polygraph examiner is believed to have kicked the immigration officer after it had been realised that he overstayed while on a business visit to Kagem Mining Limited.
Immigration Public Relations officer Namati Nshinka said Steyn has since appeared before the Ndola magistrate court and was deported.
He said that Mr Steyn was apprehended on July 9th, this year at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (SMKIA) in Ndola after kicking at a female immigration officer.
“Mr Steyn was incensed by the decision to make him pay for a Temporary Permit after the alert Officers discovered he had overstayed while on a business visit to Kagem Mining Limited. On 11th July 2023, he appeared before the Ndola Magistrate Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to a fine of K 4,000 for the offenses and another K 4,000 as compensation to the Officer,” he said.
Mr Nshinka said he was then deported to South Africa on July 19th, 2023 at 13:00 hours via Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport under a warrant signed by the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security.
Meanwhile, the Mwandi Immigration Office in Western Province has secured the conviction of a 26-year-old Zambian businessman, Jonathan Chininga, for knowingly and unlawfully aiding illegal immigrants.
Chininga facilitated their movement into the Republic of Namibia contrary to section 46(1)(a) and (2) of the Immigration and Deportation Act Number 18 of 2010 of the Laws of Zambia.
“Jonathan Chininga was apprehended in the early hours of April 28th,2023 at the Mwandi Harbour after Immigration Officers found him readying a boat with an undocumented Congolese female and her eight children on board,” he said.
Mr Nshinka explained that the Officers were responding to a tip-off from members of the public to the effect that a Zambian national intended to facilitate the illegal movement of nine foreign nationals from Zambia into Namibia by boat on the Zambezi River.
He added that the convict appeared before the Mwandi Magistrate Court on July 18th, 2023, where he was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of K 60,000 or, in default, nine months simple imprisonment.
Mr Nshinka said similarly, the Ndola Regional Immigration Office has secured the conviction of a 30-year-old female Chinese interpreter Wu Wuxiaoyan, for failing to observe conditions specified in her employment permit.
He said she was apprehended on June 21st, 2023 during a routine operation when she was found working at New World Manufacturing Limited when her Employment Permit showed that she was a Comora Mining Investments Limited employee.
“She appeared before the Ndola Magistrate Court on July 18th, 2023, where she was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of K 30,000 or, in default, nine months simple imprisonment.
Mr Nshinka noted that she has since paid the fine and was declared to leave the country within seven days.
“We further wish to condemn in the strongest terms the disrespectful behaviour of Mr Steyn towards an Immigration Officer and hope that his deportation serves as a warning to everyone to treat authorities with respect when executing their duties,” he said.
(Mwebantu, Wednesday, 19th July, 2023)
