17 November 2022 – The South African Revenue Service has welcomed a 7 years direct prison sentence handed to one of our own, Mr Malatse Kolokoto by the Palm Ridge Magistrate Court after being found guilty of corruption. This stems from an incident in which the accused facilitated that a traveller leaves the country with goods without proper declaration.
Unbeknown to the officer, the CCTV Footage caught him accepting a bribe to assist the traveller to circumvent the declaration process, which is contrary to the provisions of Section 15 and Rule 15 of the Customs Act.
The traveller was apprehended by a Customs official as he was about to leave on an international flight. He was requested to declare all goods at his disposal whereupon he produced 6 Rolex wrist watches from his backpack without any declaration form. He was arrested, which later led to the arrest of the accused.
SARS Commissioner Mr Edward Kieswetter commended the honest and courageous Customs Officer for not only his vigilance but for also facilitating the arrest of Mr Kolokoto. He said that “true to SARS values of honesty, integrity and acting without fear, favour or prejudice, the SARS Customs Officer resisted to collaborate with criminality or look the other way when one of his fellow officers acted contrary to these values. SARS is placed in a position of trust to ensure that the laws we administer are laws scrupulously and diligently implemented, and anyone who abuses this position of trust, deserves the heaviest sentence”.
For further information, please contact SARS at SARSMedia@sars.gov.za
