South African over stays

Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A SOUTH African national has been deported after a month long illegal stay in the country. Henry Uzodinma, 43, of Johannesburg was issued with a visitor’s entry certificate which was valid for eight days but he extended his stay by 36 days.

He was arrested on April 2 at the Plumtree Border Post while trying to leave the country for South Africa.

Uzodinma was convicted by Plumtree magistrate, Gideon Ruvetsa for remaining in the country after the expiry of his visitor’s entry certificate and fined $50.

Failure to pay the fine will result in him spending 15 days in prison.

In mitigation, Uzodinma told the court that he overstayed in the country because he was broke.

“I had gone to Harare and then I passed through Bulawayo where I was supposed to get money for my bus fare back home within the stipulated time. However, the people I was staying with indicated that they did not have money which caused the delay.

“I eventually had to borrow some money in order to go back to South Africa. I knew that I had overstayed but my friends told me that if I produced an affidavit obtained from the police at the border then they would let me through,” said Uzodinma.

He pleaded with the court for leniency after revealing that he had a family in South Africa.

Prosecuting, Jane Phiri said Uzodinma arrived at the Plumtree Border Post on April 2 around 7AM and presented his South African passport to an immigration officer.

She said the immigration officer noted that the accused had been issued with a holiday visitor’s entry certificate valid for eight days extending from February 16 to February 24 at the Beitbridge Border Post.

“The immigration officer then discovered that Uzodinma had extended his stay from 25 February to 2 April,” said Phiri.

In passing sentence Ruvetsa said foreign nationals need to be discouraged from overstaying.

“If you overstayed then you committed an offence and there is no excuse for your actions. To make matters worse you illegally extended your stay by more than 30 days,” he said.