Pretoria: Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has assured citizens that the government is rolling out targeted interventions to curb corruption and hold officials accountable for manipulating systems to issue documents irregularly. "I can today announce that disciplinary processes against all implicated individuals are ongoing. A total of 20 officials have already been dismissed since April last year," the Minister said on Monday.
According to South African Government News Agency, these remarks are a response to the release of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) interim report on the investigation into allegations of serious maladministration within the Department of Home Affairs. The investigation focused on recurring schemes involving document fraud, visa and work-permit manipulation, and facilitation networks enabling unauthorized entry into South Africa.
The Minister further mentioned that he has requested the Director-General to communicate with the Department of Public Service and Administration, as well as the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to ensure that these former officials are not reemployed elsewhere in the State while they undergo criminal proceedings. Over the past two financial years, a total of 75 disciplinary cases were completed, resulting in 16 suspensions without pay and 22 written warnings. This work has also led to several referrals for criminal prosecution.
Schreiber encouraged the National Prosecuting Authority to prioritize these cases as part of collective efforts to restore the rule of law. Furthermore, the department has identified over 2,000 study visas that were fraudulently issued through the syndicates operating at Home Affairs. Administrative processes are now underway to cancel these visas, and subsequent visas obtained by these individuals will be ringfenced to ensure that all irregularly obtained documents are canceled, with perpetrators facing deportation or prosecution.
The department is moving to shut down manual processes and replace them with new digital systems to prevent manipulation. "As confirmed by the SIU, it is paper-based and manual processes that have long created space for crooked officials to overlook fraudulent documents or approve applications that do not meet the relevant regulatory requirements," Schreiber said.
Last year, Home Affairs launched the first phase of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which enables visa applicants to apply online, capture biometrics, and receive approvals in real-time, eliminating lengthy processing times and cumbersome documentation. To date, the new system has declined over 30,000 applications that did not meet the requirements for tourist visas. The ETA uses machine learning to verify the authenticity of documents and biometric technology to match an applicant's face to their passport photo, ensuring that fraudulent documents cannot be used to enter South Africa.
Working with the Border Management Authority and the South African Revenue Service, the department is expanding facial recognition capabilities to all international airports and busiest land ports of entry. Once complete, the ETA will become the central entry point for all tourist visas to South Africa, shutting down other tourist visa processing, including at South African missions abroad. The system will then expand to additional visa categories, including study visas, closing loopholes previously exploited for fraudulent applications.
Through the ETA, Home Affairs aims to prevent officials from manipulating processes. The rollout of the ETA is linked to efforts to build an Intelligent Population Register to anchor a new Digital ID system, ensuring biometrics are recorded for every person in South Africa and used for biometric verification to protect citizenship and identity systems.