POLICE must crush the syndicate that is alleged to have been issuing fake medical cover to Basotho who want to study in South Africa. As our lead story states, the syndicate is understood to have been operating for several years. In that time it has helped hundreds of Basotho students to circumvent South Africa’s tough immigration requirements. At first sight this might look like just another fraudulent activity of a group of people out to make a quick buck.
In reality, though, it is a serious crime that affects two countries, Lesotho and South Africa. A permit to study in another country is an immigration issue. The syndicate and its beneficiaries have therefore violated South Africa’s immigration laws by using fraudulent documents to get study permits. As we write South Africa has probably already started reviewing its internal control mechanisms in relation to the issuance of study permits to Basotho.
They cannot be blamed for making changes to their system to deal with such problems. The danger, however, is that those changes might affect innocent people. The process of getting a study permit might now take longer than necessary because South Africa has implemented new controls. The result is that study permits will be delayed. There will be long queues at the High Commission. When that happens it is inevitable that South Africa will be criticised for making it difficult for Basotho to get study permits. Calls will be made to the Lesotho government to intervene.
We saw this in 2010 when South Africa tightened its border controls. There was a huge logjam at the border. South Africa was accused of being hostile to Basotho yet it was merely reacting to a danger coming from Lesotho. South Africa had warned Lesotho months before suspending the temporary travel documents that many Basotho were using. It had indicated that some of those documents were being forged but Lesotho had not moved fast to nip the problem in the bud. When it eventually moved to deal with the threat people were up in arms, accusing the South African government of targeting Basotho.
We can foresee this happening when South Africa implements measures to weed out people who use fake medical covers to get permits. Permits will be revoked. Once again, South Africa will be criticised for merely taking measures to protect itself against threats emanating from Lesotho. That is why the police must get to the bottom of this matter. While at it, Basotho must be warned of the dangers of always trying to cut corners. There is a culture of always wanting to go through the backdoor.
People are using fake certificates to get into universities. They are using fake drivers’ licences and fake certificates.
Some are using fake passports to benefit from the government’s old age pension scheme. We must learn to do things through proper channels. Corruption does not pay.