Fraudulent document holders in home affairs’ line of fire as probe continues
• About 45,000 fraudulent visas were issued in 2014-21
Thousands of individuals who have been issued with fraudulent visas or permits by corrupt officials of the department of home affairs could have their status revoked and be deported under the Immigration Act after being given due notice, parliament’s home affairs committee heard on Tuesday.
This is according to the legal opinion obtained by the department on what remedial action could be taken against those who fraudulently obtained their documents. Those who deceitfully obtained naturalisation should be stripped of their rights and deported, the opinion said.
The head of the multidisciplinary task team which is investigating fraudulent visas and permits, Peter Bishop, briefed MPs on the progress of its work and on the legal opinion.
Deputy home affairs minister Njabulo Nzuza told MPs the department was looking at options such as annulling fraudulently issued permits and visas which would mean those holding them would no longer have the right to be in the country. “Those who are party to buying these fraudulent visas [must] also suffer the consequences,” he said.
DA MP Adrian Roos questioned how the department would trace the individuals concerned.
The deep-seated rot of corruption in the department, which coexists with a huge backlog in the processing of permits and visas, was probed by former director-general Cassius Lubisi two years ago and is now the subject of an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit which will extend backwards for about 20 years.
The Lubisi report identified about 45,000 fraudulent visas issued in 2014-21 and recommended further investigation.
In 2023 the department appointed the multidisciplinary task team comprising 41 individuals including forensic and criminal investigators, data analysts and lawyers on a threeyear contract to take further the findings of the Lubisi report by investigating the fraudulent issuance of permits and visas.
A budget of R41.6m was allocated for the task team investigation in 2023/24 and more will be allocated for 2024/25.
Bishop said the task team was conducting data analytics into 11.9-billion records and was investigating criminal syndicates for theft, fraud and maladministration involved in the irregular issuance of a range of visas and permits including permanent residence permits, business permits, under-age visas, work visas, study visas and retirement visas. The host of irregularities under investigation include the issue of documents after hours, the same passport number being used by multiple people, the fast processing of applications and the dubious outcome of successful appeals.
Bishop said the task team had uncovered 880 approved applications containing fraudulent documentation; 4,160 applications which were rejected due to fraudulent documents being submitted but where the applicants successfully applied subsequently for other visa/permit types; and the potential corrupt involvement of officials in companies employed to install a firewall in the department’s provincial offices, a case which has been referred to the police for criminal investigation. Also, 1,137 business permits were approved using the wrong system.
Bishop reported that the task team had identified 307,178 instances of potentially implicated individuals in unlawful and/or irregular activities relating to the processing of visas/permits and 115 instances of officials being implicated in such activities. A total of 3,530 retired person visa applications were issued where the recipients appeared to be too young to be retiring, with three departmental officials apparently responsible for processing the bulk of them.
A total of 60 officials had to date been referred for disciplinary action and two for criminal investigation by the Hawks, with new matters referred involving 49 decisionmakers.
Bishop said a preliminary analysis of available evidence relating to applications for various visas or permits by identified Chinese foreign nationals had led to the identification of a single address as a nodal point referred to in at least 3,193 applications.
Two department of home affairs officials who were stationed at the Beijing mission in China had each been linked to 142 and 45 of the above-mentioned applicants respectively, Bishop said.
The task team performed further data analysis and uncovered a further 187 applicants warranting immediate further investigation as this number is rapidly escalating as further investigations are undertaken, he said.
In addition, 477 addresses used appeared to relate to vacant erven and 75 appeared to be nonexistent in SA.
“In certain instances the same address was used by up to 488 applicants, being highly unusual,” Bishop said.
DA MP Angel Khanyile and IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe expressed concern over the length of time the task team investigation was taking, but home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said this had to be seen in the light of the voluminous documents to be examined.
A BUDGET OF R41.6M WAS ALLOCATED FOR THE TASK TEAM INVESTIGATION IN 2023/24 AND MORE WILL BE ALLOCATED FOR 2024/25