Watch| Home Affairs Takes Down Fake Passport Kingpin
Two home affairs officials from the Krugersdorp office are among 27 people arrested for alleged involvement in a syndicate defrauding passports and documents reserved solely for South African citizens.
According to Motsoaledi, the alleged kingpin was among those arrested in the early hours of Friday morning. “They were doing what we refer to a photo swap or using details of a South African to apply for a passport and then interfering with the system to insert the picture of a foreign national instead of the South African,” said home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
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When the alleged kingpin was apprehended, he had R45,000 in cash on him. “Sadly, this kingpin was working with some corrupt officials of home affairs in a network that spanned Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Mpumalanga. The kingpin was arrested together with two home affairs officials who are allegedly his trusted lieutenants.”
Motsoaledi stated that the alleged kingpin was identified by the department after an immigration officer discovered irregularities in the passports of two people attempting to leave the country via Cape Town International Airport.
The two people, as well as their passports, were turned over to police by that official. “The police worked with the department’s counter-corruption branch to get to the bottom of this. Their investigations led them to the alleged kingpin who has businesses in Gauteng. They spent time observing how the syndicate operated.”
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He claimed that the alleged kingpin would recruit foreign nationals, primarily Pakistanis, who wanted to obtain South African passports. Once he had a certain number, he would assign his runner to find South Africans who had never obtained a passport.
“Once the number of foreign nationals and South Africans matched, he would activate his lieutenants, who would secure an office from where they would conduct their treasonous acts,” said Motsoaledi.
It is alleged that the kingpin acquired cars for his subordinates, presumably so that they could be at his disposal. “The lieutenants are said to have pocketed between R5,000 and R10,000 per passport while the kingpin allegedly charged anything from R40,000 to any foreign national who wanted to acquire a passport for which they don’t qualify.”
South Africans are said to have been recruited for as little as R500 and promised jobs overseas that never materialized.
Investigators were able to trace more than 100 suspicious passports issued by the alleged lieutenants using the biometric access control management (BACM) system. While the investigation is ongoing, Motsoaledi expects more arrests.
“Law enforcement officers have received sworn statements from people who participated in the syndicate and have turned state witnesses.
“I detest corruption. Our fight against corruption would not be as successful if we did not receive tip-offs from members of the public about acts of corruption conducted by some of our officials with whom they interact. I want to reassure the patriots who tip us off on acts about malfeasance that we follow each tip and act decisively.”
