Two Home Affairs clerks and a civilian in court over South African passports given to 10 Pakistani nationals

Two Home Affairs administration clerks based in Bothaville and a civilian appeared in the Bothaville Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, on charges of fraud, corruption and contravention of the Identification Act and the Immigration Act, the South African Police Service said in a statement.

The three accused are Larrick Tirick Steward (23), Kamohelo Gordon Sebatane (45) and Thabiso Meshark Seutlwadi (44). They were arrested between 26 and 27 October 2026 and released on free bail. The matter was postponed to 20 January 2027 for their first appearance before the Regional Court.

The Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation unit in Welkom says it received a complaint from the Department of Home Affairs alleging that, between January and March 2022, the two clerks assisted approximately 10 Pakistani nationals with applications for South African passports by using the credentials of South African citizens. According to the police account, the passports were issued with photographs of the Pakistani nationals.

Further investigation revealed that the Home Affairs officials received R10 000 in gratification from the Pakistani applicants in exchange for their assistance, the statement says. Warrants of arrest were secured and authorised by the Bothaville Magistrate’s Court.

The charges have not been tested in court and the accused have not pleaded. The account above is the police’s summary of the complaint and its investigation, not a finding by a court.

For South Africans, the case turns on the integrity of the passport itself, a document that carries a citizen’s identity and the country’s border controls at once. A passport issued in one person’s name with another person’s photograph is the kind of record that surfaces years later at a visa counter, an airport or an immigration desk abroad, and the holder of the misused identity is the one left proving who they are.

The Department of Home Affairs has not issued its own statement on the case. The police statement does not say how the passports were detected, whether the documents have been recovered, or what internal action Home Affairs has taken against the two clerks.

South African Police Service, 27 October 2026: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=72087