Home affairs corruption arrests rise to 44 as three more arrested - TimesLIVE

The home affairs department’s corruption arrests since July 2024 have risen to 44, alongside the dismissal of 98 officials, the department said on Thursday.

The announcement follows the arrest of two former home affairs officials and a member of the public in connection with passport fraud at the Bothaville home affairs office in the Free State in 2023.

The three suspects were arrested following an investigation by the department’s Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks into the fraudulent processing of 10 passport applications.

They appeared in the Bothaville magistrate’s court on Monday, with the case postponed to January 20 2027.

The fraud involved exploiting weaknesses in outdated systems to obtain South African passports through the swapping of photographs.

Home affairs said it had since introduced biometric verification to close certain loopholes that had been used to commit passport fraud.

Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the arrests showed that those who exploited weaknesses in the department’s systems would be held accountable.

“Our approach is twofold: pursuing corruption without fear or favour, while using technology to eliminate opportunities for corruption in the first place,” he said.

He said the department’s digital transformation programme aimed to prevent corruption by eliminating opportunities for fraud rather than responding only after it had occurred.