Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber says 212 cases involving officials accused of serious misconduct have been referred to law enforcement for investigation and possible prosecution since April 2023.
Image: Leon Shreiber / X
Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber says 212 cases involving officials accused of serious misconduct have been referred to law enforcement for further criminal investigation and possible prosecution since April 2023.
This comes after uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) Member of Parliament (MP) Thalente Kubheka asked the Minister for the total number of officials in his department who have been arrested and dismissed for corruption over the past three financial years.
In a written parliamentary reply, Schreiber said: “212 cases against Home Affairs officials involved in serious acts of misconduct were referred to law enforcement for further criminal investigation and possible prosecution since April 2023 to date.”
He said the department continues to cooperate with law enforcement agencies to ensure implicated employees are held accountable through appropriate legal channels.
Schreiber said a multi-disciplinary approach involving the Branch: Counter Corruption and Security Services (CC&SS) was introduced in the 2023/2024 financial year to tackle passport fraud, including photo swaps.
He said this led to the arrest of a kingpin and 26 individuals in September 2023, with investigations spreading to other provinces and resulting in further arrests of officials, South African citizens, and foreign nationals.
“So far 27 officials were dismissed of which 8 officials have been convicted and sentenced to a total of 97 years imprisonment,'' he said.
He added that convictions range between four and 18 years, with one official also ordered to repay bribes after receiving a 10-year sentence.
“Another 6 officials were convicted and sentenced in the previous two financial years for, among others, the selling of birth certificates, issuing fraudulent death notices,'' Schreiber said.
He also cited a case where an official attempted to bribe a Counter Corruption investigator with R10 000 to halt a visa fraud probe, which resulted in a three-year direct imprisonment sentence.
He also provided dismissal figures showing 43 officials were dismissed in 2023/2024, 49 in 2024/2025, and 22 in 2025/2026, bringing the total to 114 over three financial years.
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