South African passports. Photo: iStock
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has welcomed the lengthy jail terms meted out to two South Africans and a Pakistani national in separate cases in Durban and Johannesburg, respectively, for passport related crimes.
Arfan Ahmed, a Pakistani was arrested in a sting operation involving the Counter Corruption Branch of Home Affairs, the Hawks and the Police Crime Intelligence on 24 March at the Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp
Motsoaledi’s spokesperson Siya Qoza said Ahmed was sentenced to eight years by the Brixton Magistrate’s Court for the passports found in his house after his arrest in Krugersdorp.
“The Department awaits his sentencing for his role in the Krugersdorp passport syndicate. Ahmed is a kingpin of a passport syndicate that sought to undermine the country’s laws by fraudulently procuring South African passports for Pakistani nationals, who did not have a legal right to possess South African passports.
“He was working with some corrupt officials of Home Affairs in a network that spanned Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Mpumalanga. While the Pakistani is languishing in jail, the 12 corrupt Home Affairs officials who enabled his scheme have already been fired and submitted to the Hawks for criminal investigations,” Qoza said.
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In a separate case, the Durban Magistrate’s Court sentenced Anda Ngozi and Nomthandazo Mboyane to 26 and 24 years respectively for fraud, as well as for contravention of the Identification and immigration Act and Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
“The sentences of the two will run concurrently, practically meaning that Ngozi will spend 10 years while Mboyane will spend eight years [in prison],” Qoza said.
Qoza said the duo were officials of the Department of Home Affairs employed at the office in Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape.
“They used to travel 650 km each way at a time during the night to Home Affairs offices in Commercial Road and in Prospecton in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, to fraudulently process 52 passports to foreign nationals, mostly from the DRC, who are not legally entitled to them.
“They were paid between R3 000 and R5 000 for each passport. South Africans who were prepared to lend their identities for this nefarious scheme were paid a paltry R500. These were usually young people who were on nyaope,” Qoza said.
The two were arrested in November 2022 after a probe led by the Counter Corruption Branch.
The Durban Magistrate’s Court also ordered that the 52 passports be surrendered to the State
Motsoaledi said he was extremely pleased the courts were meting out lengthy sentences to those who seek to undermine the integrity of Home Affairs systems.
“I am also happy the collective work of the multidisciplinary law enforcement teams has ensured that these rascals face the full might of the law for their criminal actions.”
Motsoaledi added he was looking forward to the sentencing of more people related to these two cases as the Hawks continued with their investigations.
“Once again, I want to reiterate that we shall stop at nothing in ensuring that all Home Affairs officials who engage in malfeasance face the full might of the law. If you are at Home Affairs and are corrupt, expect our knock at your door.”
Motsoaledi said the actions of corrupt officials, kingpins, South Africans and corrupt foreign nationals have severe consequences for the country.
“Because of this abuse of the passport application system, Home Affairs has drastically changed the processes through which passports are acquired in the country,” Motsoaledi said.
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