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Chifamba Is Not an Illegal Immigrant, Court Told

Brian Kazungu

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Mr. Benito Magomela, the lawyer representing Mr. Brighton Chifamba, who has been behind bars since 12 October 2020 on remand based on allegations of theft, money laundering, corruption and fraud gave the Home Affairs Investigating Officer a torrid time in Court today.

This happened during cross examination in order to ascertain whether Chifamba qualified for bail or not, of which the merits of the bail application had to be determined by the accused’s immigration status.

The Department of Home Affairs’s Investigating Officer was to prove that Chifamba was illegally in the country and more importantly that his permit temporary visa issued on 25 March 2020 was a fraud and as such invalid.

However, under cross examination, he conceded that during the month of March 2020, Chifamba came to South Africa on the 6th as evidenced by a Home Affairs stamp issued at the Beitbridge Border Post.

It was also established that the 90 day permit issued on that very day was authentic.

An argument was raised to the fact that when Chifamba came back to South Africa on 25 March 2020, the permit on his passport was not endorsed as was the case in relation to the 6 March permit but his lawyer asserted that the interpretation given by the witness was not correct.

When asked whether if a person granted a 90 temporary visitor’s visa left the country before the expiry of a valid visa and then comes back, was there any need to endorse a renewal of a permit issued without the maximum period of stay of 90 days?

The Court was informed that the second visa issued on 25 March had the effect of invalidating the 6 March 2020 and it was put to the witness that there is no need to endorse the visa each time a person visits South Africa if the maximum 90 days per year have not been exhausted.

Another issue that arose was whether Chifamba was at the material time when he worked for Setheo a foreman or rather a Project Manager as erroneously presented to Court.

Chifamba’s lawyer said that Home Affairs only had possession of Chifamba’s current valid passport and it was not possible for the Court to resolve a dispute of this nature without going to trial to test the evidence.

It was also interesting to note that the Home Affairs witness could not tell the Court the process that has to be followed to determine if a visa was a fraud or not even though he was adamant that Chifamba was an illegal immigrant notwithstanding the lack of facts to support his allegation.

Chifamba’s lawyer pointed out that at material times, his client was lawfully in the country.

He also pointed out that the lockdown effectively closed South Africa’s borders resulting in the Department of Home Affairs extending the period of validity of permits issued, with permits that expired during the lockdown being extended to 31 January 2021.

More-so, it was accepted by all parties that Chifamba’s permit would have been valid until 2 June 2020 but given the lockdown, there was no basis in fact and law for anyone to conclude that Chifamba was an illegal immigrant.

It was then submitted to Court that Chifamba can stay in the country legally until 31 January 2021 and that is, in any event, he has not been charged and convicted of any crime as set out in s49(1) of the Immigration Act.

The Prosecutor did try to highlight to the Court that in 2017 when the Mashaba and City Power debacle started, the record of his movements did not confirm that he was a lawful resident.

This argument was countered by Chifamba’s lawyer who argued that what was before the Court was a dispute as to whether his client was lawfully in the country and the evidence before the Court is instructive that he is not an illegal immigrant.

The matter was postponed to 3 November 2020 when the heads of argument will be presented and the matter should be finalized.

Brian Kazungu is an Author, Poet, Journalist, and Technology Enthusiast whose writing covers issues to do with Business, Travelling, Motivation and Inspiration, Religion, Politics, and Communication among others. https://www.amazon.com/author/briankazungu https://muckrack.com/brian-kazungu http://www.modernghana.com/author/BrianKazungu [email protected] @BKazungu-Twitter He has written and published several books covering various aspects of human life including leadership, entrepreneurship, politics, personal development as well as poetry and travel. These books are found on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/briankazungu