“This Is Treasonous”: Ex-Home Affairs Worker Shares Involvement in Fraudulent ID and Passport Scheme
- A former Department of Home Affairs employee opened up about her role in an illegal passport and ID scheme in a candid podcast interview
- The ex-official admitted she was drawn into the scheme after watching colleagues profit from issuing documents to unqualified foreign nationals
- South Africans watching the interview were outraged, arguing her actions had lasting consequences for the country
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Source: Twitter
A former Department of Home Affairs official has gone on record about her involvement in an illegal scheme of selling identity documents and passports to foreign nationals who did not qualify for them. The interview, aired on the Justify podcast hosted by Justice Tshabalala, was shared on 27 July 2026 by X user @Judaeda3 and quickly drew fierce reactions from South Africans.
How the scheme started
The former official described how financial pressure played a central role in her decision. She said she began to notice colleagues pocketing extra money by processing documents for ineligible foreigners, and eventually gave in to the same temptation. She spoke openly about the consequences, noting that the scheme cost her years of freedom, separated her from her children, and ultimately landed her in prison.
While she acknowledged that correctional facilities offer rehabilitation programmes, she told the interviewer that real change only happens when a person decides internally that they want to be different.
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Watch the former Home Affairs official in the X video below:
Mzansi reacts with fury
The video landed hard with South African viewers, many of whom felt the interview was more brazen than remorseful. Comments flooded in expressing frustration over undocumented foreigners in the country and calls for the documents she helped issue to be cancelled.
User @DivaT673952 wrote:
"We want all the IDs you've sold, please. Our country is gone to the dogs; our children are going to be foreigners in their own country."
User @M2MASI said:
"It's mostly women employees who are selling the country at Home Affairs."
User @AlettaPutso added:
"No, she must go back to jail again; she doesn't regret what she did 😏."
User @jozitube argued:
"Every ID she did for foreign nationals must be revoked."
User @BoredSpid declared:
"This is treasonous!"
User @dwanat6 concluded:
"We are in her mess now. She needs to be arrested again."
3 Briefly News articles about Home Affairs
- A local news outlet has reported on a corrupt former Home Affairs official who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison following a passport fraud scandal.
- A 59-year-old man from Limpopo was handed a 22-year sentence after her was found guilty of four counts of crime for placing fraudulent residence permit stickers and entry stamps in immigrants' passports.
- Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced that South Africans will soon receive Smart IDs and passports delivered to their homes.
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Source: Briefly News
