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South African police have arrested three individuals accused of producing fake marriage documents to help foreign nationals obtain citizenship. During a raid on a Durban office building on Monday, officers seized application forms, IDs, and other materials—some of which one suspect allegedly tried to destroy upon police arrival.
Authorities believe numerous IDs, stolen from local women without their knowledge, were used to forge fraudulent marriage certificates and visas for foreigners. Regional police spokesperson Col. Robert Netshiunda explained, “They would come as ‘married men’ to South African women, and after gaining citizenship, they would divorce, enabling them to bring in additional people.”
Police are currently analyzing computers and hard drives from the office, which reportedly functioned as an unauthorized “Home Affairs office,” offering marriage, visa, and other government services. The sophisticated operation may have included involvement from an insider in the Department of Home Affairs, whom police have identified but not yet detained.
South Africa’s strong economy draws job seekers and migrants from across the region, as well as some from Europe and Asia. However, anti-immigration sentiment has risen in recent years, with xenophobic protests and incidents becoming an election issue in May. The Patriotic Alliance (PA), now part of South Africa’s coalition government, has been among the political groups accused of stoking these tensions.
