South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, has confirmed that a criminal case has been opened against Kudakwashe Mpofu, a Zimbabwean national.
Mpofu, who held the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the North West Development Corporation, is accused of fraudulently obtaining his permanent residence permit in South Africa.
Motsoaledi has taken decisive action by requesting the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate how Mpofu managed to secure a high-ranking job using a fake permit.
According to TimesLive, Motsoaledi stated that Mpofu was informed as early as June 23, 2023, that his purported permanent residence permit was fraudulent. Said Motsoaledi:
I’m here today to confirm that according to our records, Mr Kudakwashe Mpofu’s permanent residence document is fraudulent and was not issued by the Department of Home Affairs and we do not know where he obtained it.
We can confirm the permanent residence permit number appearing on Mr Mpofu’s document does not exist in our systems.
We can further confirm that the control number appearing on Mr Mpofu’s purported document was not issued by the department to him but rather it was legitimately issued to somebody else.
As to how Mr Mpofu came across that control number, we do not know.
On March 10, the Sunday World reported that Mpofu was actively resisting deportation by the Home Affairs Department.
Mpofu also expressed frustration that the department had failed to respond to his court papers.
Minister Motsoaledi emphasized that it is disappointing that Mpofu was able to hold a high-level government position while using a fraudulent document. He said:
It is a matter of national embarrassment that Mr Mpofu was able to obtain employment as the CFO at the North West Department of Economic Development handling public funds.
After ascertaining these facts about Mpofu, I immediately phoned the acting premier of North West, Nono Maloyi, and he told me that Mpofu had already been suspended.
Minister Motsoaledi questioned why the home affairs officials who had uncovered the fraud did not take the step of opening a police case. He said their awareness of the fraudulent permit should have prompted immediate legal action.
Additionally, Motsoaledi wondered why the human resources division within the North West Department of Economic Development failed to conduct due diligence in verifying Mpofu’s documentation during the hiring process.
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