The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said a 34-year-old former KwaZulu-Natal Home Affairs official has appeared in court on charges of fraud and corruption.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said Hawks members from the National Head Office Serious Corruption Investigation working together with Home Affairs Counter Corruption members arrested Malusi Mlondo on Tuesday.
Mhlongo said the accused was employed by the Department of Home Affairs in the Pietermaritzburg office.
“It is alleged that in February 2023, he processed fraudulent passports for foreign nationals at the Durban office and allegedly received payments of up to R3000 per document,” he said.
According to Mhlongo an internal investigation revealed that Mlondo was using details of South African citizens together with the identity photos of the foreign nationals.
He said a case of fraud and corruption was reported at Durban Central police stations and the dockets were allocated to Hawks members for further investigation.
“Mlondo briefly appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court today[Thursday] and was remanded in custody.,” said Mhlongo.
The case was postponed until next week for the bail application.
Earlier this year, IOL reported that the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA) appealed the light sentence handed down to Home Affairs official Kedibone Serumula after she was found guilty of selling identity documents and birth certificates to foreign nationals who were in the country illegally.
The documents were sold for between R2000 and R2500.
The report said Serumula escaped jail time and received a suspended sentence.
As a result of the appeal, the Polokwane High Court came to a new conclusion and ordered that Serumula serve an effective two years in jail.
The Mercury