Thapelo Molefe
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said on Monday that the recent Durban Commercial Crime Court conviction and sentence imposed on former official, Judy Zuma, illustrated the insidious rot within the department.
Zuma was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for being part of a syndicate that issued fraudulent passports to foreign nationals who failed to meet the requirements to qualify for legal documents.
She was originally arrested in a sting operation after she tried to bribe a Home Affairs counter-corruption officer with R10 000. She was found to have processed 192 illegal passports between 28 May and 12 June 2021 for foreign nationals and she was paid R4 000 per passport.
She left the department in December 2021, after an internal disciplinary process.
Zuma was recruited into this scheme by another former Home Affairs official, Zima Shange, who was sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment in October 2023.
The minister described the sentence imposed on Zuma as a breakthrough in the fight against organised corruption.
“The message sent by this conviction is crystal clear: if you engage in corruption, we will find you, and we will pursue you until you are locked up. We will not rest until we have cleansed the scourge of corruption from the face of Home Affairs,” Schreiber said.
The Minister said the sentence must initiate a new culture of zero-tolerance towards corruption.
“The crackdown on both officials and foreign nationals involved in the syndicate strengthened my resolve to support the work of the Counter-Corruption Branch of the department, as the successful convictions demonstrate that the cancer of corruption can be defeated,” Schreiber said.
He added that his party is committed to turning Home Affairs into a department that upholds national security, grows the economy, and serves South Africans speedily, accurately, and transparently.
“The fight against corruption in this department, as demonstrated by the serious nature of the issues raised in this case, is particularly urgent given that Home Affairs sits at the heart of our national security apparatus,” Schreiber said.
The Minister said all affected passports were red-flagged, meaning that anyone who tries to use the fraudulent documents at a port entry will be immediately arrested.
“So far, two foreign nationals have already been locked away, serving time for their involvement in this corrupt scheme. Another two were sentenced to four years of imprisonment on Friday,” said the department.
The department said that to improve the security of travel documents, they introduced a requirement that passports be activated via fingerprints at the office of application.
This means passports can only be used after the owner has validated them with their fingerprints.
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