Pretoria - A total of 31 Home Affairs officials implicated in the illegal activities of processing fraudulent registration of birth to foreign nationals mainly from Pakistan have been suspended.
The suspended officials from Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Limpopo offices, joined a list of 28 more officials who were suspended towards the end of November.
This brings the total number of suspended officials since November to 59.
Home Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said the department has launched a series of investigations into these fraudulent activities to ensure those implicated in such activities face the full might of the law.
"The fraudulent registration of births of foreigners constitutes a serious threat to the national security of our country, undermines the stability of our democracy and costs the state millions of rand meant for reconstruction and development," she said.
Dlamini Zuma said fraudulent identity documents (IDs) enable fraudsters to access social grants thus denying the needy and the poor of basic services as well as costing the state millions of rand.
She added that fraudulent IDs give access to fraudsters to apply for South African passports which are then used for nefarious activities abroad.
"Accordingly, we will not rest, but will use all the power at our disposal until we have removed this scourge from our department.
"In this regard, more suspensions are expected to be announced as investigations gather momentum. Disciplinary hearings are scheduled to take place with immediate effect for those currently suspended," she said.
