Two home affairs officials are expected to appear in court soon, after they were arrested for fraud at Richmond in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands.
The Hawks received a tip off about fraudulent activities at the Richmond Home Affairs offices. The officials were identified as the main suspects in the syndicate.
Hawks spokesperson Simphiwe Mhlongo says the suspects were allegedly the masterminds behind the illegal issuing of late registration birth certificates, social grants cards and identity documents.
He says, “The Hawks received information about fraud activities related to late registration of birth certificates in the Home Affairs offices in the Richmond offices. Then we swooped on the offices and we found the two while on duty.”
“We worked together with the Home Affairs officials and they were immediately arrested. We took them to their places of residence where a search was conducted and we found SASSA cards, we found Identity documents.”
Mhlongo says possible corruption charges might be added as the investigations continue.
