A Department of Home Affairs official, Judith Zuma, based in KwaZulu-Natal, has been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. This is due to her involvement in a large-scale fraudulent passport scheme. An investigation conducted by the Hawks and the Department uncovered that Zuma was facilitating a criminal network operating outside of her jurisdiction at the Richards Bay Home Affairs office.
Zuma paid South African citizens to provide their fingerprints for the creation of illegal passports for foreign nationals.
Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Philani Nkwalase says, “She was aiding a criminal network outside her jurisdiction at Richards Bay Home Affairs office, exploited vulnerable South Africans by luring them with money ranging between R300 and R500 for fingerprints used to obtain passports for foreign nationals. She pleaded guilty on all 1159 charges.”
Zuma was arrested following an investigation by Home Affairs, which revealed her involvement with a syndicate of foreign nationals. This group worked with South African citizens to help people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Democratic Republic of Congo obtain South African passports using the identity documents and biometric data of South African citizens.
The foreign nationals subsequently replaced the original photographs with their own and assumed the identities of the South African citizens.
