Home Affairs has reiterated its commitment to the fight against the sale of South African identities to foreigners.
In a statement on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said his department is fighting relentlessly and the results are showing.
“Our persistent efforts are paying off. Since we arrested the Pakistani kingpin and 29 other people including Home Affairs officials in Krugersdorp on March 24, we have been unrelenting,” said Motsoaledi.
“We have been on the trail of those who are participating in these schemes, and we are dealing harshly with our corrupt officials who facilitate these shameful acts.”
Motsoaledi confirmed that the department made more arrests on Friday, saying the law-enforcement authorities “are hot on their trail” and noting that more arrests are imminent.
Nico Ibrahim, a South African, was arrested at the Home Affairs office in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg on Friday.
According to the department, Ibrahim had been on the run since April after the arrest of a recruiter, Mohamed Ali, a former Home Affairs official Nhlanhla Mathebula and four others who participated in a “photo swap scheme” at the office in White River, Mpumalanga.
Ali and Mathebula were denied bail and are on trial in the Mbombela magistrate’s court. Ibrahim appeared at the Kliptown magistrate’s court on Monday and remains in custody.
“Also on Friday, two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested by law-enforcement officials that included the Home Affairs counter corruption, Home Affairs immigration and the Hawks while trying to use fraudulently acquired passports to leave the country via the OR Tambo International Airport. They were remanded in custody for seven days after appearing at the Kempton Park magistrate’s court yesterday [Monday].
“One of the Bangladeshis, Morshed Alam, arrived in South Africa in 2016 and is wanted for fraud in eThekwini after he applied for a passport he did not qualify for at the Home Affairs office in Commercial Road,” the department said.
Judy Zuma, the official who issued Alam’s passport, was dismissed in December 2021. The department said Zuma, who is currently facing multiple criminal charges including fraud and corruption, was arrested in a sting operation after she tried to bribe a counter corruption officer.
Zuma is currently facing criminal charges that include corruption, fraud and breaching the Immigration Act and the Identification Act. The corruption charge stems from her arrest in a sting operation after she tried to pay R10 000 bribe to the counter corruption officer.
“The fraudulent passport of the second Bangladeshi, Fakrul Islam, was issued by Mathebula. Islam arrived in South Africa in 2013 and is currently a holder of a temporary residence visa, which is due to expire in 2024.
“All documents that are found to have been issued in fraudulent schemes are immediately cancelled by the department, thus rendering them useless to the person who holds them,” the department said.
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