According to police, three individuals have been taken into custody on charges of creating fictitious marriage certificates in order to assist foreigners in obtaining South African citizenship.
Application forms, copies of identification documents, and other evidence were found when police raided a building in Durban on Monday. They said that one of the suspects was caught attempting to destroy the evidence.
Many of the IDs, according to the police, were taken from local women without their knowledge and used to fabricate fake marriage licenses and immigrant visas.
“They arrive as a married guy to a woman from South Africa. “They will divorce that woman when they get here,” Col. Robert Netshiunda, a regional police spokesman, told News24.
“They brought additional persons after obtaining citizenship at that point.
“They brought additional persons after obtaining citizenship at that point.
“That’s the scam they were [allegedly] running.”
The number of participants in the purported scam and the nations from which the purported payees originated are unknown.
In search of additional evidence, police claim to be examining laptops and hard drives recovered at the scene.
The supposed office is located on a suburban road in a modest building.
The “clandestine home affairs office” was what Col. Robert Netshiunda told the national network SABC.
“They were facilitating marriages, visas and other services that Home Affairs would provide to South Africans.”
Police said they have identified but not apprehended an insider at the government department for Home Affairs who may have been involved in the sophisticated operation.
With the largest economy on the continent, South Africa draws migrants and job seekers from the surrounding area as well as a smaller number from Europe and Asia.
Anti-immigration demonstrations and waves of violence against immigrants have occurred in recent years.
Political parties accused of inciting xenophobia included the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which is currently a member of South Africa’s coalition government. It became a campaign topic for the general election in May.
(BBC)
