Pretoria - An operation by the Hawks and the Home Affairs Immigration Inspectorate led to the arrest of 18 Chinese nationals on charges relating to the alleged use of fraudulent South African documents.
The Hawks and the Immigration Inspectorate embarked on nationwide raids on the operations of ZTE -- a Chinese IT company based in South Africa.
The raids were carried out at the ZTE premises in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, resulting in 18 Chinese nationals -- 17 male and one female -- detained in police holding cells.
The operation was intended to crack down on the illegal entry of foreign nationals into South Africa using fraudulently acquired documents.
This is in line with the commitment of government and Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to stem the tide of illegal immigration into South Africa using fraudulent documents.
"Government remains committed to ensuring we push back the frontiers of fraud and corruption and will ensure that those complicit in the facilitation of such activities are brought to justice," said Home Affairs.
