Nozipho Mjwara
A young woman from Port Shepstone fears identity theft and fraud after misplacing her identity document at a local library, which later led to flyers of her ID being made public, exposing her identity number.
Sinenhlanhla Mqadi was alerted by her mother and friends that flyers of her identity document were posted around the area, startling her, as she understands the potential harm this could have on her identity. Mqadi shared that after realizing her documents were missing, she took to Facebook to seek help, urging anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact her. This situation has left her highly stressed, as the person who made flyers of her ID did not even leave contact details for her to reach out to them.
Mqadi expressed her fear about the situation, saying she immediately went to the police station to report the matter. “I’m scared for my life because I stay alone with my son, and it is clear whoever got ahold of my documents is someone who knows me,” said Mqadi. She fears that serious fraud could be committed using her information. “My life feels stagnant at the moment as I am unemployed and had gone to the library to apply for jobs, and now this happens,” she added. Mqadi went to the police to obtain a report, which serves as proof of a lost ID, trying to protect herself from identity theft or fraud. She urges whoever has her documents to return them, as it is clear they are from the same location.
According to the South African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS) media release, the South African fraud landscape has steadily increased over the past five years, making this one of the top risks South Africans face daily. CEO of SAFPS, Manie van Schalkwyk, says the increase is alarming and indicative of how South Africans are becoming easy targets for fraudsters and scammers, who are highly motivated to find their next victim. According to the SAFPS media release, there was a 32% increase in the number of fraud incidents reported to SAFPS in 2023. "Once again, certain sectors are more vulnerable to fraudsters than others. Banking fraud made up 45% of the fraud incidents reported last year, followed by the microfinance sector (19%) and the clothing retail sector (14%). This indicates that financial institutions and the retail sector are under significant pressure regarding fraud," said Schalkwyk.
Looking specifically at how fraud is perpetrated in these sectors, Schalkwyk points out that money muling, forged documents, impersonation fraud, and employee application fraud are among South Africa's most significant challenges. He also added that, when comparing regional epicenters to previous years, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape are the main centers for fraudulent activity. However, there has been a significant increase in the Free State.
Mpumelelo Zikalala, a legal analyst, says that the most extreme form of fraud is when immigrants commit identity fraud by stealing the identity of a country's citizen. “This type of fraud needs to be closely examined because the person who allows it is an employee of Home Affairs, as someone who is not employed there does not know how the system works,” Zikalala stated. He further added that people who steal identities must be arrested and punished to show how serious it is. Zikalala gave an example of former Miss South Africa contestant Chidimma Adetshina, whose mother stole someone's identity to get her South African citizenship. “I would have expected that in the issue of Adetshina’s mother, by now some people would have been arrested. It does not take rocket science to do that-just go back and check when the application was approved and who approved it because it is there on the records,” he said.
Zikalala highlighted the possible harms that could be caused to Mqadi’s identity with her ID publicly exposed. “Once your identity has been stolen, there are a number of things you can no longer engage in. For example, you cannot get access to credit, you cannot get employment, your name may be ruined, and the worst-case scenario may be that you get a criminal record,” Zikalala further explained.
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