Joburg - Four suspects appeared in court on Friday for aiding an illegal foreign national to gain entry into the country.
Pedro Lewis, 46, Tobi Oyesile, 36, Stanley Mukhari, 39, and Kenny Mahlangu, 40, appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court on Friday for an alleged violation of the Republic of South Africa Immigration Act.
According to the Hawks, the group was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, January 5, 2023, at OR Tambo International Airport after the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation was prompted by intelligence gathered by the South African State Security Agency.
“The intervention uncovered that Pedro Lewis, an airport station manager, was assigned as a representative for the expected Ivory Coast Airlines flight. Swissport employees Stanley Mukhari and Kenny Mahlangu colluded with Tobi Oyesile, a Nigerian national, to afford him a safe path out of the airport corridors despite his not having valid papers,” Captain Lloyd Ramovha said.
Ramovha said the team was strategically in place just after midnight when the plane landed.
“Lewis also appears to have been the one who facilitated collecting of Oyesile’s luggage using an unoccupied wheelchair. A further probe at the restricted area of the airport netted Oyesile and the two Swissport employees who were already prepared to exit,” Ramovha said.
The court granted Lewis, Mukhari and Mahlangu R2000 bail each; however, Oyesile remains in custody, and the case was postponed to Friday, January 13 for his attempt at a bail application.
The Star