SA PASSPORT
A 37 year-old woman appeared in the Tzaneen Magistrates’ court on Wednesday on a charge of fraud.
Winnie Raophala’s appearance in court follows her arrest on the 16 January by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation members for allegedly committing passport fraud at Tzaneen Home Affairs.
It is alleged that on 21 December, the suspect visited the mobile Home Affairs office in Sekororo to apply for her daughter’s passport. It further alleged that her daughter was only in possession of a South African birth certificate and therefore her fingerprints were not available in the system.
After all the processes were followed when applying for a passport, the Home Affairs authorities received information that the suspect colluded with a foreign national to use the particulars of her daughter with a picture of aforementioned foreign national.
According to the Hawks spokesperson in Limpopo, Captain Matimba Maluleke, the matter was reported to the Hawks and the suspect was subsequently arrested when she went to collect the passport at Home Affairs offices on 16 January 2023.