Foreigner buys drug addict’s birth certificate to get South African ID

Undocumented foreigners have apparently found a way to access services reserved for South African citizens, by buying the identities of drug addicts desperate for their next fix.

The scheme involves illegal immigrants buying birth certificates from local drug addicts, which they use to acquire South African identity documents.

These immigrants are allegedly targeting young people addicted to nyaope, a highly addictive concoction of heroin, dagga and other substances, and buying their birth certificates for as much as R5,000 each.

In one particular case which The Citizen uncovered in the Ramochana community in North West, a Mozambican immigrant allegedly used the birth certificate of his girlfriend’s brother to acquire a South African ID.

Who is who?

A resident, we shall refer to as Themba to protect his identity, has expressed his frustration after numerous attempts to report the scheme to authorities amounted to nothing.

He said during his quest to get to the truth, he discovered that desperate drug addicts have resorted to selling their birth certificates to pay for their fixes.

“I was personally offered a birth certificate by a drug addict who thought I was a foreigner, for R2,000. This has caused me sleepless nights, as it undermines our sovereignty and compromises the population register. It is a worrying trend,” he said.

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According to information that The Citizen has corroborated with three independent sources and through video, Moses Inguana is originally a Mozambican national who now lives in Ramochana, and now goes by the name Dipolelo Sebonego.

The real Dipolelo Sebonego is his girlfriend Linah Sebonego’s brother, who apparently sold his birth certificate to Inguana, who used the document to obtain an ID card.

Inguana and Sebonego live together in Ramochana, outside Rustenburg, and they have three children together.

The case of the disappearing ID

Sebonego was allegedly instrumental in the elaborate scheme that enabled her live-in boyfriend, commonly known by his original name of Moses, to use her brother Dipolelo’s birth certificate to get an ID, which was issued on 24 August 2016.

“It is common knowledge here that Moses [who now goes by the name of Dipolelo Sebonego] is a Mozambican, when he arrived here in 2013 and in 2016 he had an ID book. I discovered how this had happened and tried to report it to the police, but I was told a case must be opened by the owner of the birth certificate,” Themba said.

He said he tried to report the matter to the Department of Home Affairs’ corruption hotline but has been unable to get through.

When approached with this information, Linah was cagey about discussing her boyfriend’s identity or admitting that Dipolelo was, in fact, her brother. 

Dipolelo could not produce his birth certificate, insisting his name was Thapelo Edwin Sato and that he had lost his ID when he was mugged and run over by a car while running from his attackers last year.

Sold identity?

He said his birth certificate was in Tlhatlhanyane village, where he had stayed with a family that took him in when his parents passed away and helped him to obtain an identity document using the family’s name.

Dipolelo [now Thapelo Edwin Sato] said he knew nothing about his birth certificate being used by Inguana to obtain an ID, but did confirm that his sister’s (Linah) surname was Sebonego.

“I do not know what happened because at the time I was living on the streets in (Rustenburg),” he said.

The Sato family explained that Dipolelo (Thapelo Edwin Sato) arrived in the village without a birth certificate and a baptismal certificate was arranged with their church, which allowed him to obtain an identity document and attend school.

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“We discovered later, after few years that his sister used his birth certificate to assist her boyfriend to obtain an identity document,” Boitumelo Sotu said.

Another Sato family member named Pani confirmed this story, saying the biggest motivating factors for Moses to seek a South African ID was that he was struggling to get work and was on the verge of losing the property he currently owns.

“So, a plan was hatched and Dipolelo’s birth certificate was used for Moses to obtain an identity document. Thapelo Edwin Sotu is actually Dipolelo Sebonego and Linah is his sister,” he added.

Inguana even claiming victim’s grant

A woman who has a child with the real Dipolelo Sebonego was also captured on video by another concerned community member confirming the allegations.

In the video, the woman can be heard telling an acquaintance how Inguana used her ex-boyfriend’s birth certificate to obtain an ID and that he was even receiving the latter’s R350 Social Distress Relief (SDR) grant.

When approached about her claim, she confirmed that Dipolelo (Thapelo Edwin Sato) is her ex-boyfriend and they have a child together but would not discuss the identity theft.

“I do not want to get into trouble. I suggest you speak to his sister about the matter,” she said.

When confronted by The Citizen, Inguana initially introduced himself as Dipolelo Sebonego, but changed his story when faced with evidence about his true identity.

He confirmed that his name was Moses Inguana but claimed he had changed it to Dipolelo Sebonego.

Moses Inguana also confirmed that he is the one who signed Dipolelo Sebonego’s discharge forms from hospital after his accident; and that he had used the name Moses Inguana on the forms.

He could not explain why or when his name suddenly changed to that of his girlfriend’s brother.

Identity theft rampant

Department of Home Affairs spokesperson David Hlabane is yet to respond to questions on whether the department was aware of the possible sale of birth certificates, and if there a way to verify the bearer of a birth certificate as the original owner of the document.

Fraud and corruption involving identity in South African has increasingly degraded official documents, including passports, and used for illegal activities.

Last year it was revealed that South Africans sold their passport information and documents to illegal foreigners as part of a large fraud syndicate, compromising the country’s ID system.

In 2008, the UK blocked visa-free travel from South Africa, citing security concerns about corruption and the ease with which foreign nationals were able get their hands on SA passports.

In March last year, 13 foreign nationals and 13 locals were arrested for allegedly taking part in an identity fraud ring.

Two officials of the Department of Home Affairs were dismissed in July last year in connection with fraud involving the selling of South African identities to foreign nationals.

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