WALVIS BAY – The three Walvis Bay court employees who made their second court appearance on Monday in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court had their case postponed to October 30 for further police investigation.
The trio of Johanna Noreses (36), Bertha Hipundjua (36) and 46-year-old Ottilie Mutumbulwa were arrested in August after they were implicated in a traffic ticket scam in which they allegedly solicited bribes from traffic offenders in exchange for making traffic citations and dockets disappear.
Noreses is a court typist, while Hipundja and Mutumbulwa are court translators. Meanwhile, the three have been transferred from the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court to other courts in the country. Noreses was transferred to Swakopmund, Mutumbulwa to Khorixas and Hipundjua to Lüderitz. It is not yet known whether they have already reported to their new duty stations. It is alleged that the three corruptly used their offices for self-enrichment, defeating the course of justice and theft or alternatively fraud.
Noreses remains free on bail of N$10 000 and Hipundjua and Mutumbulua on N$3 000 bail each. The court officials were arrested last month, after approximately 1180 traffic fines and warrants of arrest were discovered at a government house occupied by Noreses. Upon further investigation a substantial number of traffic citations were also found in the offices of all three by investigators.