Johnathan Paoli
THE Special Investigating Unit in conjunction with the Hawks raided Home Affairs offices in five provinces across the country as part of an ongoing investigation into the department.
The centres raided include three offices in Gauteng, and one each in Limpopo, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where 120 employees have been targeted following allegations of corruption.
And 60 of the employees suspected of corruption activities are stationed at the Marabastad Refugee Centre.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the raids on Friday, followed a tip-off from a whistle-blower who has alleged 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 whistle-blower alleged that the officials bypass immigration systems to enable foreign nationals who have entered the country illegally to remain in the country and acquire permits unlawfully.
They alleged that Home Affairs officials are delaying the finalisation of the asylum seeker permits to facilitate bogus asylum seekers.
Kganyago said through the permits which were obtained illegally, the bogus asylum seekers are able to remain in the country and later use the same permits to apply for Permanent Resident Permits and ultimately obtain South African citizenship.
“After getting citizenship, they qualify to get a maroon passport, which allows them to travel all over the world except their country of origin,” he said.
The SIU and the Hawks seized computers, electronic pieces of equipment, and documents which are expected to assist in the ongoing investigation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to investigate serious maladministration and improper conduct through Proclamation 154 of 2024 which empowered the unit to probe in relation to the issuance of various permits and visas amongst other documents relating to foreign nationals.
The proclamation empowered the SIU to investigate any irregular, unlawful or improper conduct by Home Affairs officials and employees concerning corruption and fraud.
In addition to investigating maladministration, malpractice, corruption and fraud, the SIU is also expected to identify system failures and make systematic recommendations to improve measures to prevent future recurrence.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, participated in the raid in Marabastad, and said this investigation was necessary.
“The corruption is done by officials and foreigners who don’t deserve to be in South Africa but have lots of money to bribe,” Motsoaledi said.
ActionSA welcomed the raid and said it remained cautiously optimistic that the investigation will yield positive results while inspiring further action in dealing with the immigration crisis.
Speaking on behalf of the party, Lerato Ngobeni said while ActionSA strongly advocated for people to come to the country, they strongly believed that people needed to do so legally and respect the rules of South Africa.
“Refugee centres are the epicentre of fraud and corruption, and we hope the full weight of the criminal justice system will work tirelessly in bringing to book those found to have acted fraudulently. We applaud the individuals involved who have sounded the alarm,” Ngobeni said.
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