We have detected that the browser you are using is no longer supported. As a result, some content may not display correctly.
We suggest that you upgrade to the latest version of any of the following browsers:
close notification
Memb
ers of al-Qaeda arrested with copies of South African passports
must have bought the documents from corrupt home affairs officials,
Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said yesterday.
Last month police commissioner Jackie Selebi said arrests made in
South Africa five days before the elections had led to the arrests
of al-Qaeda suspects internationally.
"In part of this operation, in London, the British police found
boxes and boxes of South African passports in the home of one of
these people," Selebi told parliament's portfolio committee on
safety and security last month.
Yesterday, Mapisa-Nqakula told MPs, "A few weeks ago members of
al-Qaeda were arrested with our passports. A member of the
department must have sold them those passports. It must have been a
syndicate... we are trying to break these syndicates.
"We are working with safety and security, police and the Scorpions
to rid our department of them."
She confirmed there was corruption in her department.
"I am sure that the Department of Home Affairs is the lead
department in corruption. If there is an illegal immigrant scam or
a marriage scam, then the department must be involved.
"You read every month about the arrests going on... we are doing
something about it."
She said most arrests were a result of investigations started by
the department's anti-corruption unit and then taken over by
police. - Sapa
Photos
