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A South African Revenue Service (SARS) employee has been sentenced to seven years behind bars after being found guilty of corruption, SARS said in a statement on Thursday.
The officer, Malatse Kolokoto, was found guilty after being caught on CCTV accepting a bribe to help an unnamed traveller leave the country without properly declaring six Rolex watches.
The traveller, however, was apprehended by a customs official and arrested, which led to Kolokoto being caught as well.
"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," SARS said.
"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 six Rolex wrist watches from his backpack without any declaration form. He was arrested, which later led to the arrest of the accused."
Kolokoto was sentenced to seven years' direct imprisonment by the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter praised the customs official for helping to catch Kolokoto.
"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," Kieswetter said.
The embattled tax agency, which has been attempting to turn itself around after years of state capture, has been working to improve revenue collection. Among other things, it has been in an aggressive drive to clean up the service internally and clamp down on smuggling.
