Five more Home Affairs employees have been arrested for allegedly issuing false birth certificates and identity documents, bringing to 12 the number of officials apprehended since June, the department announced on Tuesday.
Director-general Billy Masetlha said two officials allegedly linked to a Chinese syndicate were arrested in Pretoria in the morning. They allegedly helped process fake identity document applications lodged in the Eastern Cape. Two weeks ago, another three officials were arrested in Pretoria. Nokuzola Funani, Yolanda Mfunzi and Ncomeca Nombembe were charged with fraud, corruption and theft in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court and freed on R1 000 bail. They were due to appear in court again on Tuesday. Funani and Mfunzi were employed at the department's regional office in Pretoria, while Nombembe worked at the identification directorate in head office. They were arrested with a fourth man not employed by the department.
Masetlha said the arrests formed part of a joint investigation by his department, the police and customs officials into corrupt officials. Operation Molopo started in June and had so far identified seven syndicates of different nationalities involved in the issuing of fake birth and identity documents. The investigation was also focusing on those making the applications. "We would like to get them to lead us to the main culprits," Masetlha said. The director-general expressed concern about refugees evading the system by marrying South Africans in order to obtain residence status. Recently, some 300 refugee applications were withdrawn by foreigners who subsequently married local partners.
Masetlha conceded "very little" controls were in place and said special measures should be introduced to tackle the problem of so-called marriages of convenience. This could include measures as used in the US, where married couples of which one partner was a foreigner, were regularly grilled in a bid to establish if they truly lived together as husband and wife.
Source: Mail & Guardian
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