63 travel documents stolen from Siteki Home Affairs

SITEKI – Sixty-three travel documents valued at E9 450 have been reported stolen from the Ministry of Home Affairs offices in Siteki.

The documents were reportedly discovered missing on September 14, 2026, at the Siteki Home Affairs offices.

According to information contained in a police report, the travel documents were discovered missing at about 7am.

The documents were allegedly stolen by an unknown person(s).

The latest incident comes at a time when the Ministry of Home Affairs is conducting wide-ranging investigations into alleged corruption and irregularities involving the issuing and handling of national documents.

In March this year, this publication reported that the ministry had launched a 20-year internal investigation into some of its officers following a crackdown on alleged corruption involving the issuance of State documents.

The ministry’s Communications Officer, Mlandvo Dlamini, was reported as saying the investigation was intended to establish when the alleged illicit activities started.

The investigation followed the arrest and suspension of officers allegedly implicated in the irregular issuance of State documents.

At the time, the ministry was also reviewing the activities of officers, including documents they had issued, as part of efforts to establish the extent of the alleged irregularities.

The ministry’s investigation was prompted by a series of cases involving national documents, including identity cards and other State-issued documents allegedly obtained under questionable circumstances.

The latest theft of 63 travel documents at Siteki now raises another question about the security and control of such documents at the point where they are kept before being issued to members of the public.

The value of the documents, according to the police report, is E9 450.

The documents were reported stolen from the Siteki offices, with the identity of the person or persons responsible not yet established.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Home Affairs Communications Officer Dlamini said they were aware of the incident, and they would leave no stone unturned. He said they would investigate the issue through the assistance of the relevant authorities and ensure that those responsible are taken to task.

Dlamini further extended an apology to the members of the public whose travel documents were stolen. He bemoaned that such an incident occurred at a time when the ministry of was mourning the passing of its Minister, Senator Princess Lindiwe.

It is worth noting that the incident is particularly significant against the background of previous investigations into the alleged theft, sale and fraudulent issuance of passports and other documents at the ministry.

In August 2025, this publication reported that an investigation into the fraudulent issuance of an Eswatini identity document to South African businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala had opened what was described as a wider investigation into activities at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The investigation by law enforcement and the Anti-Corruption Commission reportedly uncovered an alleged organised crime syndicate operating within the ministry.

Among the allegations being investigated was the use of credentials belonging to deceased Home Affairs employees to access the ministry’s systems and carry out allegedly illicit activities.

The Royal Science and Technology Park was also enlisted to investigate individuals logging into the ministry’s system to issue documents.

The August 2025 report stated that investigations had uncovered alleged unauthorised actions involving work permits, births, marriages and deaths.

There were also allegations of passports being fraudulently issued through a process involving the swapping of photographs between a liSwati and a foreign national.

The investigationa further revealed allegations that bribes were being taken to assist people in avoiding queues or paying fines for overstaying in the country. The same investigation also led to the arrest of a Zimbabwean national, Delight Moyo, who was alleged to have acted as a middleman between immigration officers and customers seeking documents.

Moyo was found in possession of five stolen Eswatini passports, according to the report.

He was also accused of using a fraudulent passport to enter and leave the country and of offering a E2 100 bribe to a public officer to stamp fraudulent passports.

The investigation into the alleged syndicate was not the first internal investigation into document-related problems at Home Affairs.

According to the August 2025 report, the ministry had already conducted an internal investigation in 2022 into the alleged sale of refugee status and passports.

That investigation reportedly resulted in the transfer of more than 100 Immigration officers in 2023.

The theft of security documents was also reported to have become serious enough for government to plan the installation of a E3.99 million security surveillance system at the Immigration Office. The reports showed that concerns around the security of State documents had, therefore, been under investigation for several years before the ministry announced the 20-year probe in March 2026.

The March investigation widened the scope of scrutiny considerably.

The ministry said it wanted to establish how far back the alleged irregularities went, with officers’ activities and documents issued by them being reviewed.

At the time, the ministry said it would leave no stone unturned in determining the extent of the alleged corruption. The investigations have since continued to produce cases involving different categories of Home Affairs employees.

In August 2026, this publication reported that two Home Affairs cleaners had been dismissed from the public service after admitting to soliciting money from members of the public in exchange for facilitating the issuance of birth and marriage certificates. The two employees were dismissed by the Civil Service Commission with immediate effect. The cases were part of a wider crackdown on alleged corruption and irregularities at the ministry.

The CSC said the conduct involved dishonesty and the exploitation of members of the public seeking essential government documents.

The latest cases have also followed investigations into the alleged unlawful processing of identity documents for foreign nationals.

One of the most prominent cases involved Nonhlanhla Malambe, a Home Affairs official who was found guilty by the Civil Service Commission of unlawfully processing an Eswatini identity document for alleged South African crime boss Vusimuzi Matlala.

The case followed investigations into how Matlala allegedly acquired an Eswatini identity document under the name Vusumuzi Dlamini.

The investigation reportedly found that a person bearing Matlala’s attributes had been registered in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ civil registry as a resident of Motshane.

The woman listed as his mother, however, denied that he was her child. Malambe was subsequently arrested and suspended.

The matter has since developed into a criminal case, with an amended charge sheet reportedly containing 17 charges. The Home Affairs investigations have also raised concerns about the use of the credentials of deceased employees. The alleged practice is significant because access credentials are meant to identify the official responsible for accessing government systems and processing documents.

The August 2025 investigation found that a Home Affairs employee allegedly attempted to have digital traces relating to the fraudulent ID removed. The investigation reportedly established that the employee’s username had been replaced by that of a deceased colleague.

RSTP officials monitoring the system detected the development, reversed the changes and discovered alleged collusion involving the employee and an RSTP officer.

Against this background, the reported theft of 63 travel documents from the Siteki office places the physical security of documents alongside the previously reported concerns about the electronic processing and issuing of State documents.

The Siteki incident, however, remains a theft investigation.

There is currently no information establishing a connection between the 63 missing travel documents and the wider investigations into alleged corruption within the ministry.

The documents were reported stolen by unknown person(s), and investigations would have to establish how they disappeared from the Home Affairs offices, who had access to them and whether they were removed from the premises or taken through another means. The incident also raises questions about document-control procedures at regional Home Affairs offices, particularly the recording, storage and reconciliation of travel documents before they are issued.

The value of the documents may be E9 450, but travel documents are not ordinary office stationery.

They are State documents used to facilitate international travel and establish the identity and status of their holders. Their disappearance, therefore, requires the circumstances surrounding the loss to be established.

The Siteki case comes as the ministry continues to deal with the consequences of several previous investigations involving national identity documents, passports, permits, birth certificates and marriage certificates.

It also comes months after the ministry publicly acknowledged that it was investigating activities dating back 20 years.

That investigation means that officials are not only examining recent cases but are attempting to establish when alleged irregularities began.

The ministry’s investigations have already resulted in arrests, suspensions, transfers and disciplinary action in different cases.

However, the cases, reported over the past year also demonstrate that the challenge extends beyond individual employees.

Investigators have had to examine physical documents, electronic access records, employee credentials, civil registry entries and the alleged involvement of intermediaries.

The Siteki incident now adds another entry to that growing list.

For now, the key facts remain that 63 travel documents were reported stolen from the Siteki Home Affairs offices, they were valued at E9 450, and the person or persons responsible had not been identified in the information contained in the police report.

The incident was discovered at about 7am on September 14, 2026.

As investigations continue, establishing exactly how the documents disappeared will be critical in determining whether the matter was an isolated theft or whether it exposes further weaknesses in the control of sensitive State documents.

For a ministry already examining two decades of alleged irregularities, the latest incident is another test of the systems put in place to protect the documents entrusted to it.

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