Home Affairs
Zainul Dawood|Published
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has welcomed the arrest of two former officials linked to a syndicate that fraudulently issued South African passports to foreign nationals for up to R100 000 each.
The officials allegedly exploited weaknesses in an outdated manual process to issue passports through a loophole known as "photo swapping". This involved using the identity details of legitimate South African citizens to obtain passports bearing photographs of foreign nationals.The arrests follow a joint investigation by the department's Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks, which uncovered the syndicate in 2022.
Protect the population register
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Mosa Chabane, said the arrest was made in Germiston. He said the officials were charged with corruption, fraud and contravention of Section 49(5) of the Immigration Act. He said decisive action against corrupt officials is essential to protecting South Africa’s population register and national security.
“The arrest and prosecution of rogue Home Affairs officials is critical to safeguarding the country’s population register. We cannot continue to have civil servants fraudulently facilitating the sale of South African identity documents, particularly given the significant security risks such actions pose to the country,” Chabane said.
Fund Counter Corruption Services
Chabane said all corrupt officials must be investigated and prosecuted for undermining the integrity of a system that is central to national security.
Chabane emphasised that criminal proceedings should run concurrently with internal disciplinary processes to ensure that officials implicated in corruption are dealt with appropriately and, where warranted, removed from the public service. He warned that allowing officials suspected of compromising the integrity of the population register to remain in positions of responsibility could expose the department to further risks.
Chabane said the arrests highlight the committee’s longstanding call for increased funding for the Counter Corruption and Security Services (CCSS) branch within the Department of Home Affairs.
“The committee has been steadfast in its view that the branch plays a critical role in combating corruption and fraud within the department. A key security department such as the home affairs cannot afford vulnerabilities, particularly those linked to its own personnel. Additional funding must be made available to strengthen the branch and enhance its investigative capacity,” Chabane said.
He said the arrests are consistent with the thrust of the Lubisi Report, an independent investigation commissioned in 2021 by then Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, into allegations of large-scale fraud involving the issuance of visas, permits and citizenship documents within the department.
Chabane reiterated the committee’s firm position that the recommendations of the Lubisi Report, together with those arising from subsequent Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigations, must be fully implemented.
“Implementation is essential to ensuring that allegations of corruption and other forms of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and that prosecutions follow where sufficient evidence exists,” Chabane said.
Digital transformation important
Home Affairs spokesperson Carli van Wyk said this is a powerful example of why the department is digitally transforming. Van Wyk said under the department's ongoing digital reforms, biometric verification now links applicants to their identities throughout the application process, including when photographs are captured.
She said this closes the loophole that previously enabled criminals to substitute a foreign national's photograph for that of a South African citizen.
“The same approach underpins the department's digital partnership with banks, which is expanding access to smart ID cards through secure, digitally integrated processes,” Home Affairs said.
Preventing fraud and corruption
She said by automating identity verification and reducing human discretion, it is systematically removing opportunities for corruption across its systems. Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said that, for years, outdated manual processes had created loopholes that criminal syndicates could exploit to fraudulently obtain South African passports.
“Through our digital transformation, we are closing these loopholes by introducing secure biometric verification and automated systems that remove opportunities for human manipulation.Our reforms are not simply about making Home Affairs faster and more convenient. They are about fundamentally changing how the department operates so that fraud and corruption are prevented by design, rather than detected only after the damage has been done,” Schreiber said.
Since the start of the seventh administration, 98 Home Affairs officials have been dismissed, and 42 have been arrested as part of the department's sustained crackdown on corruption.Schreiber commended the department's Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks for their continued efforts to root out corruption.
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