Johannesburg – The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks on Friday raided Home Affairs offices in five provinces as part of an ongoing investigation into the corrupt issuing of documents related to immigration.
In a statement, SIU Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said law enforcers seized computers, electronic pieces of equipment, and documents that will assist with the ongoing investigation.
Kganyago said the search and seize operation was prompted by a whistleblower who stated that the Home Affairs officials were bypassing immigration systems to enable foreign nationals, who have entered the country illegally to remain in the country and unlawfully acquire permits.
The whistleblower stated 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.
The SIU spokesperson said the whistleblower alleged that Home Affairs officials were deliberately delaying the finalisation of the asylum seeker permits to “facilitate bogus asylum seekers”.
Kganyago further explained: “Through the permits that were obtained illegally and unlawfully, the bogus asylum seekers will use them to remain in the country and later use the same permits to apply for Permanent Resident Permits and ultimately, obtain South African citizenship”.
He said after getting citizenship, they qualify to get a maroon passport, which allows them to travel all over the world except their country of origin.
The SIU has been authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to probe serious maladministration relating to the issuance of permanent residence permits; corporate visas; business visas; critical/exceptional skills work visas; study visas; retired persons’ visas; work visas; and citizenship by naturalisation.
For the latest raid, the SIU was granted a search warrant by the Special Tribunal, a judicial platform established to adjudicate on matters emanating from SIU investigations, on 10 May 2024.
The offices that were searched and had mirror imaging of servers included the following:
- Pretoria CBD: Head Office of the Department of Home Affairs Centurion:
- Pretoria: Home Affairs server room (mirror image) Marabastad:
- Desmond Tutu Refugee Centre Limpopo Province Musina:
- Refugee Reception Centre Western Cape Province Cape Town:
- Refugee Reception Office Custom House Eastern Cape Province Gqeberha:
- Refugee Reception Centre KwaZulu Natal Province Durban:
