Pretoria – A senior Home Affairs official in Pretoria, Elisha Matsipa, was on Monday arrested for “putting South Africa at risk” by fraudulently selling ID documents for as much as R23 000.

According to IOL, the department has warned other employees involved in this type of crime to stop immediately as they too would face the same fate.

After a prolonged investigation, the Hawks and the department eventually got their man, arresting the 43-year-old assistant director moments after he had reported for work.

He was settling in for the day in his office when the Hawks cracked the whip on corruption and pounced on him at the department’s offices in Sophie de Bruyn Street in the city centre.
Matsipa is believed to be part of a syndicate selling South African ID documents for between R3 000 and R23 000.

The official’s arrest is seen as just the tip of the iceberg, as the department believes that at least 42 other people were part of the syndicate – and all have been warned they would be arrested soon.

His co-accused, Pakistani national Wahdat Hussain, 30, had been arrested earlier in the day, following the investigation by the Hawks and the department’s counter-corruption team.

The pair were allegedly producing up to 500 South African ID documents and issuing them for between R3 000 and R23 000 each. Source: IOL