Breaking news: Two top home affairs bosses arrested
The Department of Home Affairs says it has secured two more arrests linked to corruption and fraud, bringing the total number of Home Affairs-related arrests in May 2026 to six.
The arrests were carried out through joint operations involving the department’s Counter Corruption and Security Services branch and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
In the first case, a naturalised foreign national was arrested at the Harrison Home Affairs office in Johannesburg on 12 May.
Investigators allege the suspect falsely claimed paternity of five foreign children, resulting in their fraudulent registration on the National Population Register using a naturalised South African identity document.
In a separate operation at the White River Home Affairs office in Mpumalanga, a senior immigration officer was arrested during an entrapment operation on corruption charges.
The official allegedly demanded payment before returning identity and travel documents belonging to a Mozambican national.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the department is now securing dismissals, arrests and prosecutions on a near-weekly basis as part of an intensified crackdown on corruption within Home Affairs systems.
Schreiber warned corrupt officials and members of the public involved in fraud that “it is only a matter of time” before they are caught, adding that the department will continue its cleanup campaign until “every single rotten apple” has been removed.
