The man is allegedly a Zimbabwean who has not only been living in South Africa illegally but was allegedly found with three passports.
Johannesburg – A high-ranking government official has been arrested for allegedly living in South Africa illegally.
According to a source, the man – who holds a top position in the Mpumalanga provincial government – was arrested by Home Affairs’ immigration officers on Tuesday in Pretoria where he lives.
The man is allegedly a Zimbabwean who has not only been living in South Africa illegally but was allegedly found with three passports.
One of the passports is said to be a South African one; the other two are allegedly from other countries.
Home Affairs spokesperson Thabo Mokgola was contacted for comment but he referred all questions to the Hawks.
However, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi of the Hawks said they did not make the arrest and referred IOL back to Mokgola who said he would check.
However, he had not yet responded at the time of publication.
According to Mpumalanga provincial spokesperson Sibongile Mkani-Mpolweni, the man is a head of department at the Department of Human Settlements and has been in his the position for the past three years.
“He was arrested by immigration officers on Tuesday. The premier does not know what he was arrested for and is awaiting the court case to find out all that information.
“He has been remanded in custody in Pretoria,” she said.
The official’s arrest comes just after a Home Affairs official from Mpumalanga was allegedly found to have made 131 suspected fraudulent transactions between April 2018 and January 2019.
The matter came to light after Edwell Muntu Monareng was suspected to have fraudulently registered a Pakistani national and issued him with a birth certificate.
Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said Monareng became a focus of the investigation after a police officer based at the King Shaka International Airport in KwaZulu-Natal questioned the Pakistani national who was preparing to travel on a South African passport.
“The Pakistani national looked older than the age recorded in the fraudulent passport. Upon further investigation, they found his Pakistani passport with a different date of birth and surname.
“The Pakistani national was arrested and charged with possession of a fraudulent SA passport and for contravention of the Immigration Act.
“Using technology-enabled security features built into the system, an internal Home Affairs investigation established that Mr Monareng had registered the Pakistani’s birth and issued a birth certificate.
“This birth certificate was later used to apply for the passport at the Empangeni Home Affairs office in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The investigation into the activities of Mr Monareng also flagged another 131 transactions suspected to be fraudulent which were completed by Mr Monareng between April 2018 and January 2019,” Motsoaledi said.
IOL
