Pretoria - The Hawks have arrested a Department of Home Affairs official in Nigel, Gauteng, for allegedly organising fraudulent birth registrations.
The Hawks arrested the 36-year-old senior administrative official after a tipoff and subsequent investigation.
Hawks spokesperson, Major Robert Netshiunda, said on Tuesday, 12 fake birth registrations were found to have been done by the suspect and a further 388 fraudulent births were registered at the Department of Home Affairs in Alberton, allegedly by the same suspect.
“The suspect would go into the Home Affairs system, select a name of a South African woman, and register a foreign child with the details of the local woman as the biological mother.
“The birth certificates would then be sold to foreign mothers so that their children could qualify for the social grant and other benefits enjoyed by South African children,” said Netshiunda.
The arrested suspect will appear before the Nigel Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, facing charges of fraud and corruption.
Netshiunda said more officials and foreign mothers are expected to be arrested as the investigations widen. - SAnews.gov.za
