Judith Salome Zuma has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for her role in a massive bogus passport scheme.
The sentence was handed down by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday.
This comes after the Department of Home Affairs embarked on a clean-up campaign corruption and fraud at the department.
Fraud, corruption, and immigration act violation
Zuma arrested on December 13, 2021. She faced charges of fraud, corruption, and breaking the Immigration and Identification Acts.
Her actions at the Richards Bay home affairs office were part of a criminal network outside of her jurisdiction. The thorough investigation conducted by the Hawks and the Department of Home Affairs exposed this.
The Hawks issued a statement on the matter. In it, they say Zuma took advantage of vulnerable South Africans by involving them in her schemes. She paid them between R300 and R500 for fingerprints that were used to obtain illegal passports for foreign nationals.
Sunday World understands that these illegal actions were carried out at night, on weekends, and on public holidays. They were done at the Durban home affairs office, on Commercial Street.
Paid locals for fingerprints used in fake passports
The Hawks further revealed their investigation proved that Zuma received R4,000 for each forged passport issued. This came to a total of R768,000 from 192 forged passports.
“She entered a guilty plea to all 1,159 charge. These include one for R10,000 intended to sway a Home Affairs employee to end an ongoing inquiry into her. Following that, she was given prison terms of 10 years for 192 counts of fraud, six years for three instances of corruption, and 10 years for 192 counts of corruptly taking gratification.
“For 385 charges of violating Identification Act 68 of 1997, a further five-year prison sentence was issued. And an additional four-year imprisonment term for 386 counts of contravening Immigrantion Act 12 of 2004,” the statement said.
To spend 12 years in jail
She will be imprisoned for an effective 12-year term.
National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya expressed relief. He commended Home Affairs, the Hawks, and the NPA for their cooperative efforts.
“This sentence serves as a stern warning to those who corruptly or fraudulently facilitate the influx of foreign nationals in our country.”
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber welcomed the sentence.
“The message sent by this conviction is crystal clear: if you engage in corruption, we will find you and we will pursue you until you are locked up. Under this new administration, we will not rest until we have cleansed the scourge of corruption from the face of Home Affairs,” Schreiber said.
Inaugurate culture of zero-tolerance
“Yesterday’s sentence must inaugurate a new culture of zero-tolerance towards corruption. The fight against corruption in this department, as demonstrated by the serious nature of the issues raised in this case, is particularly urgent given that Home Affairs sits at the heart of our national security apparatus,” Schreiber added.
