Senior officials linked to Durban passport mafia

SENIOR officials have been implicated in a passport theft and illegal sales syndicate operating from two Home Affairs offices in Durban.

- WENDY JASSON DA COSTA

The Independent on Saturday received an anonymous tip-off last month after its story about Durban student Anvir Chunilall, who discovered his passport had been stolen when he went to collect it from the Umgeni Road Home Affairs office.

Chunilall said he was told at the time that “an entire batch of official documents had gone missing.”

He described the situation as alarming and said it raised serious concerns about the security and integrity at Home Affairs offices.

Shortly after the story was published, whistleblowers reached out and alleged that senior provincial Home Affairs officials were part of a syndicate which orchestrated the theft and sale of passports belonging to South African men of Indian descent.

They claimed these were sold for huge amounts to foreigners who were mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

According to the whistleblowers, at least 100 passports have already gone missing since the fraudulent activities started last year, while the lock to the passport storage facility had been broken and had still not been fixed.