Passport fraud: Two ex-Home Affairs officials, civilian arrested in photo-swapping scheme

The net is tightening on Home Affairs corruption after two more former officials and a member of the public were arrested for allegedly using a photo-swapping scheme to fraudulently obtain South African passports.

The fraud was committed at the Bothaville Home Affairs office in the Free State in 2023

Arrests

The arrests follow an investigation by the department’s Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks into the fraudulent processing of ten passport applications.

The three suspects appeared in Bothaville Magistrate’s Court on 27 October 2026, and the matter was postponed to 20 January 2027.

The arrests bring the total number of individuals arrested in connection with Home Affairs corruption since July 2024 to 44, alongside the dismissal of 98 officials.

Weaknesses

Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said the case involved exploiting weaknesses in outdated systems to fraudulently obtain South African passports through photo swapping.

Schreiber said that while those implicated now face the full might of the law, the department has since closed certain loopholes used to commit passport fraud through biometric verification.

“This is part of its broader digital transformation reform programme, which is systematically designing corruption out of Home Affairs.

“These arrests send a clear message that those who exploited weaknesses in Home Affairs’ systems will be held accountable. Through our digital transformation reform programme, we have since closed key loopholes to prevent such fraud from recurring, while ensuring that those responsible for corruption do not escape the full might of the law,” Schreiber said.

Technology

Schreiber said the department is using technology to root out crime.

“Our approach is twofold: pursuing corruption without fear or favour, while using technology to eliminate opportunities for corruption in the first place.

“This is how we are building a fundamentally different Home Affairs that does not merely respond to corruption, but systematically eliminates the opportunities for it to occur,” Schreiber said.

Passport fraud

Earlier this month, a passport fraud syndicate accused of selling South African passports to foreign nationals for up to R100 000 each took another blow when two former Home Affairs officials linked to a scheme that exploited loopholes in the department’s outdated systems were arrested.

The arrests follow a joint investigation by the Department of Home Affairs’ Counter Corruption Unit and the Hawks into a syndicate uncovered in 2022 that exploited a loophole known as “photo swapping.”

The scheme allegedly allowed suspects to use the identity details of legitimate South African citizens to obtain passports bearing the photographs of foreign nationals.