Cape Town - Digital transformation, the 4th Industrial Revolution, biometrics and a paperless Home Affairs system is what Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says will curb corruption and ID fraud.
He said this while referencing cases such as those involving Miss SA contestant Chidimma Adetshina and the 96 Libyans who had managed to gain South African visas and were arrested at a suspected training camp in White River, Mpumalanga.
The department, together with Schreiber, confirmed Adetshina's case was now in the hands of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and could not comment on whether her mother would face arrest, be deported or have her ID card revoked.
Schreiber was a guest speaker at the Cape Town Press Club this week, where he was quizzed about the case, while speaking about his vision on digital transformation in the department.
“We have handed over the information that we have, but of course every person in this country is presumed innocent until proven guilty…
“In this case as in all cases of alleged identity theft, we have written to the person involved, we have indicated that they must provide reasons why that particular identity document should not be cancelled, that is done within the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
“We have to restore the rule of law in this country and then we must uphold the law ourselves. We do not get to undermine the law and tell other people they must respect our laws.”
Weekend Argus also questioned the Hawks about their position, and whether anyone had been arrested yet.
Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said: “We can confirm that the DPCI is investigating a case of fraud and identity theft that was reported by the Department of Home Affairs. The investigation is ongoing.
“As per the Home Affairs directive for now, should investigations reveal any other aspects not highlighted before, it won't be overlooked as we are guided by evidence.”
Siyabulela Qoza, of Home Affairs, said all evidence had been handed over to the Hawks. “The issue was taken over by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. The enabling documents in their possession may only be withdrawn by the department after following due process.”
Last month, the court's decision to have the 96 Libyans deported was welcomed by Home Affairs after charges against them relating to breaching Immigration laws were dropped.
This week, Adetshina's case continued to make headlines after she was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria, and questions arose about what was happening with the case of fraud allegations against her and her family.
Adetshina, from Soweto, was forced to withdraw from participating in the Miss SA beauty pageant after allegations of identity fraud surfaced against her and her family.
She then participated in the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant where she was crowned, and questions arose over how her mother had been allowed to travel amid the investigation.
ActionSA's chief whip, Lerato Ngobeni, wrote an urgent letter to the Department of Home Affairs asking how she had been permitted to travel.
“It is therefore alarming that the main subject of this ongoing investigation was seen in Nigeria this past weekend during a televised broadcast of Miss Universe Nigeria,” she said.
“Given the nature of the investigation, which involves circumventing immigration controls, it is reasonable to expect that any travel would be restricted, especially to Nigeria.
“As highlighted in the June 2022 report by the Ministerial Committee on the Issuance of Permits and Visas, of the 36 647 fraudulent applications detected, 12 177, or one-third, originated from Nigerians, underscoring the scale of the problem.”
Schreiber explained his vision on transformation would alleviate backlogs.
“For our international guests we are working hard on clearing backlogs when it comes to visa and permits which has been building up in the past decade,” he said.
“It started as a backlog of 306 000 and we are just about three-and-half months into this project and we have managed to do 157 688, so something is happening, it means there is 48% left.
“The goal we have set ourselves is to have no backlog by Christmas. We want deep and meaningful reform. The key to making that happen, in revolutionising home affairs, lies in embracing digital transformation. We live in the great age of artificial intelligence, the fourth industrial revolution, we have all the tools at our fingertips.”
He further elaborated on how it would curb illegal documentation.
“We are talking about a department that still issues paper based and written visas, a department where systems are off-line too much and where queues are too long and where the space where human discretion allows organised syndicates to commit acts of corruption, built on a system that allows so many gaps.
“Is is wrong that our very South African identity becomes a commodity in corrupt trade and abused and trampled on everyday.
“Biometrics can be done in seconds at the airport , track and trace systems when they enter and leave and no more space for human description and corruption.”