The Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber warned those who engage in corruption that they would be pursued.
He was speaking following the sentencing of home affairs official Judy Zuma who was jailed to 12 years for passport fraud.
Zuma was sentenced this week in the Durban Commercial Crime Court after pleading guilty to a string of counts including corruption, fraud, and breaching the Immigration Act and the Identification Act.
She was arrested following a sting operation where she tried to bribe a Home Affairs Counter Corruption Investigator with R10,000 and was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (known as the Hawks).
“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 said this sentence must inaugurate a new culture of zero-tolerance towards corruption.
“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.”
During 2021, Zuma and the syndicate colluded with South Africans to assist foreign nationals to obtain South African passports by using their identity documents and biometrics.
Zuma charged R4 000 per passport and issued 192, making well over R700 000.
The minister said all the affected passports were red-flagged.
“This means that anyone who tries to use these fraudulent documents at a port of entry will be immediately arrested.
“So far, two foreign nationals have already been locked away, serving time for their involvement in this corrupt scheme.”
He said to improve the security of travel documents, the Department in 2022 introduced a requirement that passports be activated via fingerprints at the office of application.
“This means that passports can only be used after the owner has validated them with their own fingerprints.”
Her co-accused Zima Shange was sentenced to an effective 10 years imprisonment in October 2023.
Minister Schreiber said he was repulsed by the actions of Zuma and other members of such syndicates.
“Who cheapen our documents, threaten our security, and undermine the work done by committed Home Affairs officials.
“May she be haunted by her actions every day that she spends behind bars. Those of us who are committed to turning Home Affairs into a department that delivers dignity will not be deterred by corrupt criminals. Instead, we will put them behind bars where they belong.”
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