31 Home Affairs officials bust, including for smuggling and breaking immigration laws

Between July and September 2024, the Department of Home Affairs finalised 31 disciplinary cases against its officials.

According to spokesperson Siya Qoza, the disciplinary cases resulted in a range of sanctions. These include criminal prosecution, dismissal, suspension without pay and final written warnings.

The officials faced transgressions relating to irregular recruitment, violation of the Citizenship Act and the violation of the Immigration Act.

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Eight of these cases came from the Free State, while six came from KwaZulu-Natal.

Home Affairs officials nabbed

One of the includes that of an official who failed to abide by the required standards of ethical conduct. His trial is set to start on 6 November, facing fraud charges.

The official was dismissed from the department last year after the conclusion of disciplinary processes.

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He was implicated by the Counter-Corruption Branch in multiple fraudulent transactions that benefitted mostly Pakistani nationals. He allegedly committed fraud by manipulating the systems Home Affairs uses to administer immigration.

Another official is a suspended Border Management Authority (BMA) official arrested allegedly for trying to smuggle foreign nationals into the country.

Dora Ncube made her first court appearance on Monday. Her bail application is expected to be finalised on Tuesday.

According to the BMA, Ncube was stationed at the Beitbridge port of entry.

The 52-year-old Immigration Officer was arrested with six suspected illegal immigrants by the SAPS during a sting operation last month.

She was allegedly in possession of R3,700, which she could not account for and six passports belonging to travellers, who were on a bus arriving from Malawi.

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These prosecutions follow the recent conviction of two dismissed officials, Judy Zuma and Tony Stout, for similar crimes.

The department expects more arrests as the SIU and Hawks progress with the implementation of Proclamation 154 of 2024.

SIU investigations

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the proclamation in February, empowering the SIU to probe serious maladministration at Home Affairs relating to the issuance of permanent residence permits, corporate visas, business visas, and critical/exceptional skills work visas, among others.

In May, SIU and Hawks conducted searches and seized evidence at Home Affairs offices in five provinces.

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They raided three offices in Gauteng, the Musina refugee reception centre in Limpopo, the Cape Town refugee reception office customs house in Western Cape, the Gqeberha refugee reception centre in the Eastern Cape, and the Durban refugee reception centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

The raids followed a tip-off from a whistleblower suggesting that Home Affairs officials in the identified centres work with syndicates to duplicate application status files applied for in other offices and process them for a fee.

Members of the SIU and the Hawks seized computers and electronic pieces of equipment to help in their investigations.

“While we are committed to empowering the many officials who uphold ethical governance and dignified service delivery within Home Affairs, we have zero tolerance for unethical conduct or corruption.

“As our accelerated action against errant conduct demonstrates, officials who fail to heed this message will soon find themselves out of Home Affairs and on their way to prison,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber.

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“These cases make us even more determined to pursue digital transformation to close opportunities for manual and paper-based processes to be exploited towards corrupt ends.

“Digital transformation holds the key to uprooting corruption in our systems while enhancing the efficiency of service delivery.”