South Africa's immigration under government investigation
December 10 2009 by Liam Clifford
An investigation has been launched and 59 people suspended following a suspected citizenship fraud in South African immigration.
South Africa’s immigration department has suspended a substantial number of immigration officials being probed for a immigration scam involving applicants, mainly from Pakistan, being given citizenship.
The investigation comes months after the UK started requiring visas from South Africans, they hypothesised that the route could be used by terrorists and criminals exploiting the availability of fake or stolen South African passports to travel to the UK.
Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the scheme involved allowing criminals to obtain South African passports, which could then be used for illegal activities abroad.
South Africa immigration said nearly a year ago that measures had been taken to stop corrupt officials from supplying bogus passports.
South Africa Home Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said today that fifty-nine immigration officials have been suspended in the past month for issuing South African birth certificates to foreign nationals.
It is not clear how many documents have been issued so far or how many have been used to obtain a South African passport.
See the latest Immigration News
