Johannesburg – Two Department of Home Affairs officials and a Pakistan national have been sentenced to lengthy terms in prison after they were found guilty of graft and fraud involving the unlawful issuing of SA passports.
Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi on Monday said he: “Welcomes the lengthy sentences recently meted out two South Africans and a Pakistani national in two different cases in Durban and Johannesburg, respectively, for passport-related crimes”.
Arfan Ahmed, a Pakistani national who was arrested in a sting operation on 24 March 2022 at the Home Affairs office in Krugersdorp, has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Brixton Magistrate’s Court.
The sting operation included the Counter Corruption Branch of Home Affairs, the Hawks and the Police Crime Intelligence.
Ahmed was sentenced for the passports that were found in his house following his arrest in Krugersdorp.
In addition, the Department said it awaits Ahmed’s 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,” the department said.
“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.”
The department said in another development, the Durban Magistrate’s Court sentenced former Home Affairs officials Anda Ngozi and Nomathandazo Mboyane to long prison terms.
The two officials were 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,” said the department.
“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 R500.
“These were usually young people who were on nyaope.”
The accused – Ngozi and Mboyanwere – were arrested in November 2022 by Counter Corruption Branch of Home Affairs and the Hawks following the conclusion of an internal investigation led by the Counter Corruption Branch.
Ngozi was sentenced to eight years for fraud, as well as for contravention of the:
- Identification Act – four years
- Immigration Act – four years
- Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act – 10 years
Mboyane was sentenced to eight years for fraud, as well as for contravention of the:
- Identification Act – four years
- Immigration Act – four years
- Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act – eight years
The sentences of the two will run concurrently, practically meaning that Ngozi will spend 10 years in prison while Mboyane will spend eight years.
The Durban Magistrate’s Court also ordered that the 52 passports be surrendered to the State.
Commenting on the sentences on Monday, Minister Motsoaledi said: “I am extremely pleased that the courts are meting out lengthy sentences to those who seek to undermine the integrity of Home Affairs systems.”
Minister Motsoaledi added: “It is worth noting that the courts had refused bail to all three after their arrests.
“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.”
The minister said he was looking forward to the sentencing of more people related to these two cases as the Hawks haven’t yet closed 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,” said Minister Motsoaledi.
“If you are at Home Affairs and are corrupt, expect our knock at your door.”
“South Africans who stupidly lend their identities to be utilised in this manner end up suffering serious prejudice when trying to do transactions with other State institutions, banks and some industry associations.
“This is because the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA), banks and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) verify the identity of the people they transact with through the Home Affairs National Population Register (NPR).
“Every time you apply for an ID or passport you are required to take a photo.
“The latest photo you take becomes the one in our database and all previous ones are automatically deleted.
“So, if a South African sells their identity in this way, it means that the photo in the Home Affairs system is that of the foreign national.
“So, institutions verifying through NPR refuse to deal with people whose identity at Home Affairs have pictures that don’t look like the person in front of them.”
