The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) progress report exposed how foreign nationals used fraudulent marriages to secure permanent residency in South Africa.
Image: FILE
Fraudulent marriages and life partnerships were primary mechanisms for immigration fraud, often involving foreign "pastors and prophets" who would enter on visitor visas before entering into sham unions to secure Permanent Residence Permits (PRPs).
This was according to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) progress report presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa which reveals more shocking details on how sham marriages have been used as a vehicle to secure permanent residency in South Africa.
Corrupt officials and religious leaders collaborated to facilitate "marriages of convenience" and fraudulent life partnerships.
This update followed an interim report submitted in February 2026, which detailed how South Africa’s immigration system had been sold to the highest bidder, with officials earning less than R25 000 per month allegedly receiving over R16.3 million in direct deposits.
The SIU described the immigration system as a "marketplace" where marriage certificates and residency permits were sold for fees ranging from R500 to R3000.
The investigation uncovered that more than 630 000 foreign nationals may be living in South Africa illegally due to these schemes.
The investigation, which was conducted after receiving 2557 study visa applications submitted by Nigerian foreign nationals to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) between 2021 and 2023, exposed how a foreign national pastor entered South Africa using visitor’s visa in 2002, and subsequently entered into a life partnership agreement with a South African woman.
The investigation uncovered a sophisticated scheme where syndicates acquired the identity documents of South African women to marry them to undocumented foreign nationals without their knowledge or consent.
Both the Presidency and DHA did not respond at the time of publication.
According to the report, this was after the woman was approached by a friend who asked if she was interested in making extra money, adding that a foreign national was offering her money in exchange for marriage.
"The two met the foreign national near the Chicken Licken outlet near Roodeport, where the foreign national took her identity document and entered the court. He requested her to sign documents that were unknown to her and gave her R400," read the report.
The SIU said the woman was provided with a notarial agreement dated December 9, 2003, during the interview, but she indicated she had no knowledge of the document.
Another foreign national applied for a PRP in 2004, eight days after marrying a South African man. The application, according to SIU, was based on her marriage to him.
Her application for citizenship by neutralisation was approved in September 2010, followed by the citizen identity document.
During the 2024/25 spaza shop registration drive in South Africa, marriages between foreign nationals and South African citizens also came under intense scrutiny due to several regulatory and legal problems.
This prompted organisations such as Clayville Civic Association (CCA) to make submissions in support of the Immigration Amendment Bill [B8-2024], calling for tighter immigration controls, including in the context of marriages between citizens and foreign nationals, arguing that fraudulent marriages are used to circumvent immigration laws.
Residents of the Mopani District Municipality earlier this year also called for the proposed Marriage Bill to introduce tighter measures to regulate marriages between the South African citizens and foreign nationals, and they cited concerns over the prevalence of fraudulent marriages.
Participants told the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that many South African women succumb to the pressure of poverty and other negative socio-economic realities under which they live and end up in fraudulent marriages, often unaware about legal implications.
The SIU also stated that another Nigerian pastor, who entered the country on a visitor’s visa in March 2006, submitted a fraudulent letter of consent from his "wife" to apply for a PRP, which was issued in November 2017.
The SIU said it has referred these matters to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to consider instituting criminal proceedings against those implicated.
The SIU has advised the DHA to implement vetting for all employees, enforce system integration with the Department of Labour, and perform quality assurance checks before any visa is issued.
Cape Times