Two Home Affairs officials from Kwazulu-Natal have been arrested as the part of a passport fraud syndicate. The arrest of both the officials had been done by the Home Affairs Counter Corruption Unit in collaboration with Hawks.
The announcement of the arrest of the both officially was shared by the South African Administration on Monday October 12, 2026. According to a Government statement, the arrest was the outcome of the joint investigation done by the Home Affairs Counter Corruption Unit and Hawks as they uncovered the syndicate in 2022.
The two officials allegedly provided illegal passports to foreign nationals with South African identities. A system is known as “photo swapping” which is outdated manual processes to fraudulently issue South African passports to foreign nationals for up to R100 000 each.
In simple terms they used the identity details of legitimate South African citizens right beside the photographs of foreign nationals to obtain passports. The Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Carli van Wyk mentioned that the arrest of the two officials highlights the department’s approach of shifting towards the extensive digital transformation programme.
She further explained the department’s new approach. She Said, “Under the department’s ongoing digital reforms, biometric verification now links applicants to their identities throughout the application process, including throughout the application process, including when photographs are captured”.
Wyk also stated that they are partnering with Banks to expand the access of Smart ID Cards through secure, digitally integrated processes. She said, by adapting digital reforms in the system it will remove the opportunity for criminal syndicates to misuse the South African citizens.
Additionally, Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs also shared remarks on the arrest of the two department officials. He Said, “This case is a powerful example of why we are fundamentally reforming Home Affairs. For years, outdated manual processes created loopholes that criminal syndicates could exploit to fraudulently obtain South African passports”.
The Minister also commenced the Department’s Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks officers for their hard work and dedication to root out corruption from the department. Notably, after the start of the seventh administration, 98 Home affairs officials have been dismissed and 42 arrested.