Two home affairs officers who processed scores of passports for people who were not South African citizens — and were paid R3,000 for each — have been imprisoned amid evidence that two Durban offices have been “captured.”
This Monday, Durban specialized commercial crimes court magistrate Garth Davis sentenced Ande Ngozi to an effective ten years in prison and Nomathandazo Mboyane to eight years. They were already fired from the department and had pled guilty to the charges.
According to the evidence presented in court, they were stationed in Komani (Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape in August 2019 when they were approached by two guys, “Alex” and “Mondli,” who urged them to help process false passports for foreigners.
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Genuine South African identity documents would be sought, and their fingerprints would be used to process passport applications.
After that, the “foreigners'” photos would be utilized in the applications. Then a home affairs official known as “Gito” would clear the applications on the system. The syndicate paid for Ngozi and Mboyane’s transportation to Durban and hotel accommodations.
After hours or on weekends, they traveled to the Prospecton or Dr AB Xuma Street (previously Commercial Road) home affairs offices to complete the applications.
Ngozi would take the photos, while Mboyane would enter the information into the system. They accomplished this six times between January and February of 2020.
They were initially offered R5,000 per passport, but this was reduced to R3,000. Ngozi ultimately received R158,000 and Mboyane R125,000 plus free transport and accommodation.
They were accused of fraud, violating the Identification Act and the Immigration Act, and committing corruption. Ngozi was found guilty on 312 counts, while Mboyane was found guilty on 246 counts.
During the sentencing hearing, their lawyers contended that by pleading guilty, they demonstrated remorse and were penalized by losing their employment.
Mboyane was the primary caretaker for three children. It was argued that their money difficulties were a major motivator for them to perpetrate the crimes.
However, the state used the testimony of Cyril Ncwabe, KwaZulu-Natal home affairs regional manager, who said both the Commercial and Prospecton road offices were “riddled with endemic corruption” to bolster its case.
It was pointed out that they committed the offenses while on the department’s payroll. Davis said the offenses were serious and “the degree of moral blameworthiness on the part of both accused was reprehensible”.
“They are paid by their employer to conduct themselves in a manner that safeguards the integrity of the population register and passport system.
“There seems to be a tendency of non-lawyers and, on occasion, even legally trained people to trivialize the seriousness of white-collar crime. This perception is wrong. These offenses are serious and must be properly and adequately punished,” he said.
Davis called it “unfortunate” that a recent assessment of sentences handed down since 2010 found “some disturbingly soft sentences.”
“There were times when it appeared that the specialized commercial crime courts were debt collection vessels.”
He stated that the accused were hired to offer a service to society and that the fact that they corruptly and fraudulently abused this position for financial gain was an aggravating factor.
“The aggravating circumstances far outweigh the mitigating circumstances. They were part of a syndicate and they were not mere minions,” he said.
“A worrying conclusion to the evidence placed before this court is confirmation that corruption and fraud seem to be endemic to the Department of home affairs. The capture of these offices seems complete. Many officials, from senior managers to the outsourced security company, are complicit or turning a blind eye to what is happening.
“I am satisfied the personal circumstances of the accused must yield to the other purpose of sentence, deterrence, and retribution.”
Davis directed the Department of Social Development to appoint a social worker to guarantee Mboyane’s children are adequately cared for. The state received the counterfeit passports.
