Former South Africa Home Affairs official jailed for passport fraud

A former South African Home Affairs Department staff who was involved in a racket that illegally issued the country’s biometric passport to foreigners has been slammed a 12-year direct jail term and a 24-year suspended sentence.

Judy Zuma, who left the Department in late-2021 following a disciplinary process, was jailed recently by the Durban Commercial Crime Court, according to a statement from the Department.

Zuma had pleaded guilty to wrongdoing including corruption and other activities that contravene South Africa’s Immigration and Identification Acts, IOL reports. She was first arrested when she tried to bribe a Home Affairs Counter-Corruption Officer with 10,000 rand (US$538).

Per the statement, Zuma was found guilty of issuing 192 passports to undeserving foreign citizens in May and June, 2021, for which she was paid R4,000 ($215) per copy.

Home Affairs Minister, Leon Schreiber, welcomed the sentencing, saying it would serve as a lesson for those involved in identity fraud and corruption of any form.

“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. Under this new administration, we will not rest until we have cleansed the scourge of corruption from the face of Home Affairs,” said Schreiber.

He added that the move signals a new dawn of zero-tolerance for corruption because “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.”

Home Affairs already introduced a requirement for passport owners to activate their documents with a fingerprint biometric scan at the office where they are making an application for identity validation, in 2022.

Former Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in a June statement announced investigations related to the passport fraud.

The investigation at the time, he said, had led to the arrest of a Pakistani national, Arfan Ahmed, who was involved in the passport mafia and was said to be working closely with some officials within Home Affairs. He was served an 18-year sentence on two counts by the Krugersdorp Regional Court.

Home Affairs says two other foreigners involved in the passport ring were also jailed on the same day as Zuma.

Another Home Affairs official, Zima Shange, who is said to have introduced Zuma into the shady passport network, was jailed for ten years in October of last year.

South Africa has been engaged in ID and passport issuance reforms as part of efforts to curb fraud in the issuance of identity documents.

The country is also expanding the deployment of biometrics in its ports of entry as a measure to beef up security and catch identity fraud.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  border security  |  identity document  |  South Africa