The Durban Magistrate’s Court has found five people, including four foreign nationals and one South African national, guilty of fraud and corruption related to the issuing of false passports
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said Tausi Majani Kahwere, 25, and John Majani Kahwere, 44, who are both Congolese, were convicted on Monday March 4, while the other three accused, Morshed Alam, 25, Saiful Islam Sujon, 43, both Bangladeshi nationals and Oliver Whendle Hurriparsad, 42,, a South African national, were found guilty on Tuesday March 5.
“The convictions follow a lengthy investigation by the National Serious Corruption Investigation, in collaboration with Department of Home Affairs’ Counter Corruption in KwaZulu-Natal, which resulted in a lengthy trial until all the accused pleaded guilty,” said Colonel Mogale.
“It is reported that during 2021, a Department of Home Affairs official, Ms Judy Zuma, operating with a foreign national’s syndicate, colluded with South African citizens to assist foreign nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Democratic Republic of Congo to obtain South African passports by using their identity documents and biometrics.”
He added that the foreign nationals fraudulently replaced the owners’ photos with theirs and assumed the names of the South African citizens. The official, Ms Zuma, has since pleaded guilty and was convicted on 1 159 counts of fraud, corruption, contravention of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 and contravention of the Identification Act, Colonel Mogale said.
He added that the foreign nationals had been arrested between 2021 and 2023 as they were boarding flights to different destinations, and had already gone through the airport processes.
The suspects were found guilty of all seven charges brought against them, including fraud and corruption related to various contraventions of the Identification and Immigration acts.
Colonel Mogale said the Kahwere duo were to have been sentenced on Friday March 8, while Alam, Sujon and Hurriparsad would be sentenced on May 21. Zuma’s sentencing was due to be heard on April 5, said Colonel Mogale.
