The department of home affairs anti-corruption unit has identified the abuse of traffic register numbers by foreign migrants without the required documentation to illegally enter into transactions in South Africa. A traffic register number (TRN) is the main identification number accepted for road traffic transactions on the eNaTIS (National Transport Information System) for foreigners and organisations that serve as non-legal entities. A foreigner who is not yet registered on eNaTIS and who wants to buy or register a motor vehicle is required to produce an identification document or a TRN which requires proof of legal residence in South Africa. TRNS are issued by the department of transport to foreign nationals but the anti-corruption unit identified that they have been acquired using fraudulent documents falsely claiming to have been issued by the department of home affairs. A forensic analyst from the department of home affairs anti-corruption unit, Maria Mnisi, briefed a joint meeting of the parliamentary committees of home affairs and transport on the abuse of the system on Friday. The unit analysed over 1-million TRN records from January 2000 to end-July 2023 with thousands of TRN holders being found to have unverified permits. Read: SA security at risk as illegal number plates flood market“The procedures to apply and obtain a TRN are regulated by the National Road Traffic Act. Though this business process does not fall within the mandate of the department of home affairs, foreign nationals have identified and exploited a loophole that enables them to use this process as a means to legalise their stay in the country,” Mnisi told MPs. The act stipulates that a natural person not permanently resident in South Africa who applies for a TRN must provide a temporary identity certificate, an unexpired passport or a temporary permit or other document of identity of a class recognised by the minister of home affairs. The issuance of the TRN without verifying the identification of the applicant with the department of home affairs contravenes the law. Fraudulently acquired TRNs allow illegal foreigners to benefit in various ways. It gives them free movement in South Africa, allows them to purchase and register vehicles, obtain learners’ and drivers’ licences, access to credit, operate undeclared business operations, access e-hailing and trucking jobs and gain access to land and property. An analysis of data received from the department of transport, matched against the department of home affairs system, revealed that some foreign nationals allegedly used fraudulently obtained TRNs to acquire luxury vehicles despite having visa applications rejected under different categories. The more than 190,000 foreign nationals with unverified DHA records linked to vehicle transactions recorded by the Road Traffic Management Corporation included Zimbabweans (106,687), Ethiopians (26,124), Mozambicans (15,638), Pakistanis (10,794), Nigerians (9,936), Somalis (6,510), Malawians (5,292) Congolese (5,291), Chinese (3,624) and Bangladeshis (3,034). A total of 328,762 with unmatched records registered motor vehicles and 116,584 had obtained drivers’ licences. Mnisi recommended the department of transport review the process for issuing TRNs “to ensure that their validity period is aligned with the visa status of foreign nationals. This should include implementing an expiry mechanism linked to the individual’s authorised period of stay in the country, as well as conducting regular updates and deactivations in accordance with visa and passport expiry dates. “The systems of the departments of transport and home affairs need to be integrated to enable real-time verification during the TRN issuance process. Applications should only be approved for foreign nationals whose visas have been verified and confirmed as valid.” Mnisi also recommended that the department of transport introduce a mandatory biometric data capture process during TRN issuance, requiring the capture of fingerprints linked to foreign nationals’ TRN numbers for enhanced identity verification. The department of transport needed to partner with the department of home affairs to verify the validity of identification documents used to apply for TRNs, Mnisi said.