Home Affairs cracks the whip on officials after SIU visa corruption exposé

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said active steps have already been taken against officials singled out in a visa corruption probe by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

On Monday, the anti-corruption agency revealed that one official even built a road to her house from the bribes paid to her by foreign nationals to illegally facilitate their stay in South Africa.

Schreiber said contrary to what would be expected, the number of dodgy officials involved in the scam is relatively small.

The SIU said the permit and visa racket its uncovered within the Department of Home Affairs has cost the State around R180 million.

Four officials used the bank accounts of their spouses to extract bribes of around R16 million over a 10-year period from 2014.

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Schreiber said once all visa applications go through a new electronic system, which is already operational for tourist visas, it will limit corruption through human interaction.

“Perhaps the single most extraordinary and important finding of the SIU’s work, is that the bulk of the malfeasance was allegedly committed by a handful of officials.”

Schreiber added that disciplinary processes against the implicated officials are ongoing.

Twenty officials have already been dismissed since April last year.

“I have also requested the Director-General to write to the Department of Public Service and Administration, as well as to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to ensure that these former employees are flagged, and that they are not reemployed elsewhere in the State while they undergo criminal proceedings.”

Schreiber said the department has also uncovered 2,000 fraudulent study visas issued by these syndicates - which are in the process of being cancelled.