The Department of Home Affairs has escalated its counter-corruption sting after a Bangladeshi national was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport with a fake passport belonging to a ‘Lebogang Ndlovu’.
Patriots let us meet Lebogang Ndlovu from Bangladesh 😵💔 @HomeAffairsSA officials creating what we call corruption & they’re many more millions of them coming in & out of this banana republic country, under @MYANC government SA wakeup!#OperationDudula #PutSouthAficansFirst 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/gQBZzT2Li5
— Divine_Patriot! (@DiivineSA) May 15, 2022
‘Lebogang Ndlovu’ fake passport sparks outrage
In a statement to Sunday World, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi confirmed the suspect, whose real name is Fahim Kazi, was taken down when he attempted to flee the country on Wednesday 11 May 2022.
Preliminary investigations further revealed that the Bangladeshi national was refused asylum status back in 2015, but somehow, he had managed to go under the radar and forge a life in Kimberly, Northern Cape, for the past seven years.
According to Motsoaledi, Kazi was assisted by a syndicate of Home Affairs officials who have been under investigation for a while.
“We have traced where this passport was issued and which corrupt Home Affairs official issued it. The corrupt official who issued it is one of those who are under the radar of the department’s counter-corruption branch, hence another arrest is imminent,” the minister warned.
The official in question, whose identity remains unknown at this juncture, is believed to be part of a crime network consisting of 13 foreign nationals and an equal number of Home Affairs employees working in branches in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape.
In the first showing of the counter-corruption unit’s work, 27 suspects are currently facing identity fraud charges in Krugersdorp, alone.
“We will not tire or be dissuaded from fighting to eliminate corruption in all areas of Home Affairs, whether perpetrated by a foreign national or a South African. We will continue arresting all of them,” Motsoaledi noted.
