A man from Zimbabwe told the court that his future mother-in-law made him a false identity document, claiming he was her son.
The accused was nabbed at the immigration offices, where he had gone to collect his Swazi travel document.
Mluleki Ncube told Magistrate Siphosini Dlamini that he left Zimbabwe because of poverty in that country.
The passport he had acquired stated that he was Mazwilakhe Masuku and he was about to sign for it when an immigration officer suspected him.
“I was planning to marry my lover this month but I had to get the passport and go back to South Africa to fix some things concerning my being in Swaziland,” Ncube stated.
He was charged with being in the country illegally, while the second charge was that of swearing in false information to obtain a Swaziland travel document.
“You are a danger in the country because as I sit here, I do not have a travel document from my own country but you have it all - an ID and a passport,” Dlamini stated.
The accused told the court that he had a nine-year-old child with the girl whom her mother helped for him to obtain the false paperwork. The magistrate then stated that the police should have called the mother-in-law and she should have been charged for presenting false information too, where she claimed to be a mother to the Zimbabwean when she was not.
In the charge sheet, it states that the accused arrived in the country on 15 July 2010 and he overstayed his visit of 30 days.
“You should not stay in the country since you have multiple nationalities and now you are going to have an international passport from the country. The judgment we are made to give to illegal foreigners is despicable,” Dlamini stated.
Dlamini then stressed that people like the accused should be sent to prison without an option of a fine to deter would-be offenders. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to five months in prison or pay a fine of E500 on the first count and one year in prison with a fine option of E500 on the second count.
“I will then arrange that after serving your sentence you are deported back to your country and you must never return,” Dlamini said.

By Staff reporter and agencies