Home Affairs unrelenting fight against syndicates selling identities of South Africans pays off with yet more arrests

20 September 2022

The Department of Home Affairs is intensifying its fight against syndicates involved in selling identities of South Africans to foreign nationals who do not deserve such identities. The unrelenting pushback against these schemes continues to yield positive results, following the arrest on Friday, 16 September of yet another South African national, Nico Ibrahim, at the Home Affairs office in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg.

Ibrahim had been on the run since April this year following the arrest of the recruiter, Mohamed Ali, a corrupt former Home Affairs official Nhlanhla Mathebula, and four others who were involved in a photo swap scheme at the Home Affairs office in White River, Mpumalanga. He too sold his identity for a paltry five hundred rand. Both Ali and Mathebula were denied bail and are on trial at the Mbombela Magistrate Court. Ibrahim appeared at the Kliptown Magistrate Court yesterday and remains in custody for seven days.

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 Court yesterday.

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 official who issued this passport, Judy Zuma, was dismissed by the Department of Home Affairs in December 2021. She 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 bribe a Counter Corruption officer with R10 000.

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.

“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. We have been on the trails of those who are participating in these schemes, and we are dealing harshly with our corrupt officials who facilitate these shameful acts. These arrests on Friday demonstrate that these criminals have nowhere to run. The police and our Counter Corruption unit are hot on their trail. We are expecting more arrests,” said Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.

All documents that are found to have been issued in fraudulent schemes are immediately cancelled by the Department and thus rendering them useless to the person who holds them.

Issued by Bongi Gwala on behalf of Department of Home Affairs, 20 September 2022