South Africa: Home Affairs On Official Amongst Five Suspects Arrested for Passport Fraud in Mbombela, Mpumalanga

20 May 2022
Government of South Africa (Pretoria)
press release

Home Affairs official amongst five suspects arrested for passport fraud in Mbombela, Mpumalanga

The Department of Home Affairs' relentless and determined fight against corruption took another positive step yesterday.

In March this year when we nabbed a Pakistani kingpin in a midnight sting operation in our Krugersdorp office, we vowed that we will follow up all the members of the passport fraud syndicate, be they foreign nationals or South Africans.

We have been on their trail ever since, in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

Our effort is paying off.

Last night, a senior Home Affairs official in our White River office in Mpumalanga, Mr Hlahla Mathebula, was arrested together with four South African citizens who are part of the passport fraud syndicates. The four citizens were transported all the way from Eldorado Park in Gauteng to the Home Affairs office in White River, to give up their identities for passport fraud for a paltry R500 per person.

Mr Mathebula was performing the treasonous act of facilitating the identity transfer from South Africans to Pakistani nationals for a fee of R5 000 per passport.

The Pakistani kingpin gets R40 000 from his countrymen who desire South African passports they are not entitled to.

The successful operation was carried out by Home Affairs Counter Corruption Branch, working with other law enforcement agencies including the SA Police Service, the Hawks and Crime Intelligence.

These law enforcement agencies are on the trail of another senior Home Affairs official from our Praktiseer office in Burgersfort, Limpopo, who was able to evade arrest last night by running to a sangoma. He doesn't know that sangomas in this country are also tired of crime and corruption and do cooperate with law enforcement. It is a matter of time that we catch up with him.

"Last week when we nabbed a Bangladeshi national trying to escape through one of our airports with a fraudulent passport, we reported that we know the Home Affairs official who issued this fraudulent passport. We are on her trail and we will soon put her behind bars," said Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Law enforcement officers are also on the trail of two other South Africans from Eldorado Park who are part of the syndicate.

"There is no place to hide for fraudsters. They shall be in orange overalls within a short space of time," said Minister Motsoaledi.

Read the original article on Govt of SA.

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