the Pakistani government relating to the deportation of Mr Khalid
This statement relates to questions raised by Mr Omar in the media and in
his most recent court application regarding the authenticity of a letter from
the Pakistani Ministry of Interior confirming that Mr Khalid was received in
Pakistan on 6 November 2005.
Mr Omar refers to two similar documents. It should be noted that the letter
marked âSecretâ, was obtained from a correspondence file belonging to an
official of the Department of Home Affairs, which was stolen from the Pretoria
High Court on 10 May 2006. This file was returned to the department in court on
Sunday, 14 May 2006. At the same time, Judge Poswa made an order that the
contents of the file should not be published or disclosed. Mr Omar and sections
of the media have ignored this order.
The Minister and the Department of Home Affairs have no intention of
breaching this order and discussing the contents of the file. However, the
allegation those documents were tampered with or forged are not true. The
Minister of Home Affairs and her legal representatives reserve the right to
respond in the appropriate time and forum, which may include an action for
damages for defamation.
We have the original letter, confirming that: âMr Rashid arrived in Pakistan
subsequent to his deportation from South Africa on 6 November 2005. The
individual was, with the exception of a skin ailment (eczema), in good health.â
A copy was filed at court on 2 March 2006.
Enquiries:
Ministerial Liaison Officer
Cleo Mosana
Cell: 082 902 8796
Head of Communication Services
Nkosana Sibuyi
Cell: 082 886 6708
Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
9 June 2006
