Buying Days in SA: Man Caught With 582 Cash-Stuffed Passports Remanded in Jail

A quiet Mpumalanga town becomes the centre of a cross-border scandal

You don’t expect a bakkie parked on the side of the road in Waterval Boven to be carrying half a thousand passports and close to R150,000 in cash. But this week, that is exactly what police say they found, turning an otherwise quiet Mpumalanga town into the latest flashpoint in South Africa’s fight against border corruption.

A 43-year-old Zimbabwean national, Edward Chitaizvi, was arrested after a multidisciplinary police unit intercepted a white Chevrolet Utility on Monday. When officers opened a concealed compartment inside the vehicle, they uncovered what investigators described as an “assembly line of illegal travel”: 582 passports, many stuffed with cash, along with R20,000 hidden in a black plastic bag, bringing the total seized to roughly R147,300.

Edward Chitaizvi (43) a Zimbabwean national who was arrested after he was found in possession of dozens of passports and large amounts of cash, will remain behind bars while they verify his address. He appeared in the Waterval Boven Periodic court on Wednesday, the 10th of… pic.twitter.com/Smqhfggx61

#PutSouthAfricansfirst (@Patriot_S_A) December 11, 2025

On Wednesday, Chitaizvi made his first appearance in the Waterval Boven Periodical Court. According to provincial police spokesperson Captain Mpho Nonyane-Mpe, he has been remanded in custody while police verify his address. His next appearance is scheduled for 15 December at the Belfast Magistrate’s Court.

SA police arrested a 43-year-old #Zimbabwean man after finding 582 passports & R147,300 cash hidden in his car.

He’s accused of paying for fake immigration stamps to extend 90-day stays.

Case heads to court on 10 Dec as cops probe a wider syndicate.#RMAMCI Chicago | Broos pic.twitter.com/5aSJBv5oCh

Africa Affair Journal (@AffairAfrica) December 11, 2025

A scheme that has become all too familiar

If this case feels familiar, it’s because it is. South Africans have watched story after story emerge of Home Affairs officials, border guards, or intermediaries running illegal “passport-stamping businesses,” often charging desperate foreign nationals for a few extra days in the country.

Social media reactions summed up the country’s frustration:

• “582 passports? That’s not a hustle that’s a whole franchise.”

• “We don’t have immigration control; we have immigration trading.”

• “Until officials stop selling stamps, these arrests won’t mean much.”

And the frustration isn’t unfounded.
Just last year, an immigration officer in Mpumalanga was arrested for allegedly stamping a Tanzanian national’s expired passport in exchange for R1,000.
IOL has also reported several cases of officials selling illegal passport stamps and facilitating fraudulent entries at ports of entry across the country.

In another separate incident last year, the Border Management Authority (BMA) arrested a man carrying 34 passports, mostly belonging to Mozambican and Angolan nationals, along with a stash of cash.

The pattern is clear: there is a thriving underground market of people willing to buy and sell, extra days inside South Africa.

How police uncovered the stash

Captain Nonyane-Mpe said Chitaizvi’s arrest was the result of coordinated policing involving the Middelburg Flying Squad, Nkangala District Anti-Hijacking Team, and Waterval Boven SAPS.

Acting on information received, the teams intercepted the bakkie at around 1pm.
Inside, police found the passports hidden in a modified compartment, with some containing cash tucked between the pages.

Investigators believe Chitaizvi was likely on his way to meet an official who would stamp the passports the following day, and that the cash recovered was meant for payment.
The bakkie has since been confiscated for further investigation.

Police warn: more arrests are coming

Acting provincial police commissioner Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi welcomed the arrest and issued a clear warning: this network is not being taken lightly.

“We will not leave any stone unturned. The possibility of more arrests cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Authorities are now tracing where the passports came from, who they were intended for, and who the next link in the chain might be. Given the high number recovered, investigators believe Chitaizvi was not working alone.

A symptom of a bigger border-control crisis

Beyond the sensational nature of the arrest, the case exposes a deeper problem: South Africa’s borders remain dangerously porous, not because of physical gaps, but because of corruption.

Many foreign nationals who overstay in the country don’t do so by accident, they buy their way into compliance. Officials who are underpaid, undertrained, or unmonitored can be tempted into side deals that undermine national security.

This case, with its 582 passports, is one of the most dramatic in recent years.
But it is far from the only one and far from the last.

For now, Chitaizvi sits behind bars awaiting his next court appearance.
But the real question, South Africans say, is this:
How many others are still out there, buying and selling South African borders one stamp at a time?

{Source: IOL}

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