Home affairs officials jailed amid evidence two Durban offices ‘captured’

Two home affairs officials who processed dozens of passports for people who were not South African citizens — and were paid R3,000 for each — have been jailed amid evidence that two offices in Durban have been “captured”.

Ande Ngozi was sentenced to an effective 10 years’ imprisonment and Nomathandazo Mboyane to eight years by Durban specialised commercial crimes court magistrate Garth Davis this week.

They had previously been dismissed from the department and pleaded guilty to the charges.

Evidence before the court was that they had been stationed in Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape in August 2019 when they were approached by two men, “Alex” and “Mondli”, who asked them to assist in processing fraudulent passports for foreigners.

People holding genuine South African identity documents would be sourced and their fingerprints used to process the passport applications.

Once this was done, the “foreigners'” photographs would be used in the applications.

Then a home affairs official, “Gito”, would clear the applications on the system.

Ngozi and Mboyane were transported to Durban and accommodated at a hotel, paid for by the syndicate.

They went to the Prospecton or the Dr AB Xuma Street (formerly Commercial Road) home affairs offices after hours, or at weekends, to process the applications.

Ngozi would take the photographs, while Mboyane would capture the details onto the system. They did this on six different days between January and February 2020.

They were initially offered R5,000 per passport, but this was reduced to R3,000.

Ngozi ultimately received R158,000 and Mboyane R125,000 plus free transport and accommodation.

They were charged with fraud, contravening the Identification Act and Immigration Act, and corruption.

Ngozi was convicted on 312 counts and Mboyane on 246 counts.

During the sentencing proceedings, their attorney argued they had shown remorse by pleading guilty and had been punished by losing their jobs.

Mboyane was the mother and primary caregiver of three children.

It was argued their financial problems were a major cause for them to commit the offences.

However, in aggravation the state led the evidence of Cyril Ncwabe, KwaZulu-Natal home affairs regional manager, who said both the Commercial and Prospecton road offices were “riddled with endemic corruption”.

It was pointed out that they committed the crimes while on the payroll of the department.

Davis said the offences were serious and “the degree of moral blameworthiness on the part of both accused was reprehensible”.

“They are paid by their employer to conduct themselves in a manner that safeguards the integrity of the population register and passport system. 

“There seems to be a tendency of non-lawyers and, on occasion, even legally trained people to trivialise the seriousness of white collar crime. This perception is wrong. These offences are serious and must be properly and adequately punished,” he said.

Davis said it was “unfortunate” to note that a recent study of sentences imposed since 2010 indicate “some disturbingly soft sentences”. 

“Indeed, there were times when one got the impression the specialised commercial crime courts were debt collection vessels”.

He said the accused were employed to provide a service to citizens, and that they corruptly and fraudulently abused this position for money was an aggravating feature.

“The aggravating circumstances far outweigh the mitigating circumstances. They were part of a syndicate and they were not mere minions,” he said.

“A worrying conclusion to the evidence placed before this court is confirmation that corruption and fraud seems to be endemic to the department of home affairs. The capture of these offices seems complete. Many officials, from senior managers to the outsourced security company, are complicit or turning a blind eye to what is happening.

“I am satisfied the personal circumstances of the accused must yield to the other purpose of sentence, deterrence and retribution.”

To protect the interests of Mboyane’s children, Davis ordered the department of social development to assign a social worker to ensure they are properly cared for.

The fraudulent passports were forfeited to the state.

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