Sham marriages are being used to help foreign nationals secure permanent residency in South Africa, according to a progress report by the Special Investigating Unit presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The report says fraudulent marriages and life partnerships have become a key route for immigration fraud.

The SIU found that some foreign pastors and prophets entered the country on visitor visas and later used these unions to apply for Permanent Residence Permits. It also found that corrupt officials and religious leaders worked together to facilitate what it described as marriages of convenience and fraudulent life partnerships.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

The report paints a bleak picture of a system open to abuse. According to the SIU, South Africa’s immigration process had effectively become a marketplace where marriage certificates and residency permits were sold for prices ranging from R500 to R3 000. An earlier interim report also alleged that officials earning less than R25 000 a month received more than R16.3 million in direct deposits.

Investigators said the probe was triggered after 2 557 study visa applications submitted by Nigerian nationals to the Department of Home Affairs between 2021 and 2023 were examined. One case involved a foreign pastor who entered South Africa on a visitor’s visa in 2002 and later signed a life partnership agreement with a South African woman.

The SIU said syndicates obtained the identity documents of South African women and used them to marry undocumented foreign nationals, in some cases without the women’s full knowledge or consent. In one example, a woman said she was offered money, taken to a court near a Chicken Licken in Roodepoort, asked to sign documents she did not understand and paid R400. The SIU said she later denied knowing about a notarial agreement dated 9 December 2003.

Another case involved a foreign national who applied for permanent residence in 2004, just eight days after marrying a South African man. Her citizenship application was later approved in September 2010.

Wider Concerns Over Illegal Stays and Fronting

The SIU says more than 630 000 foreign nationals may be living in South Africa illegally as a result of these schemes. The issue has also resurfaced during the 2024/25 spaza shop registration drive, where some South Africans were found allegedly fronting for undocumented individuals. In Nelson Mandela Bay, 338 of 1 637 spaza shop applications were flagged as fraudulent.