In a similar incident in April last year, a 47-year-old Zimbabwean man was arrested after police found a fully functional “department of home affairs” in his flat in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said at the time that police were patrolling the streets of Hillbrow when a community member tipped them off about a man producing fraudulent identity documents and passports. When police searched the man’s flat, they found documents that included more than 95 South African identity documents, birth certificates, smart identity cards, passports, bank statements, Covid-19 certificates, work permits, police firearm licence competency certificates, Sassa cards and bank cards.In October 2022, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that 553 fraudulent marriages had been finalised since 1 January 2022.
At the time, Motsoaledi was responding to a parliamentary question from Inkatha Freedom Party MP Khethamabala Sithole, who asked the minister how many fraudulent marriages his department reversed since 1 January 2022 and what steps his department took to end fraudulent marriage certification.