The Department of Home Affairs said a "senior official" appeared in court on Friday on a charge of corruption.
Department spokesperson, Mayihlome Tshwete, said the woman (who was not identified) was arrested by the Hawks on Thursday.
He said the woman was caught in a sting operation while accepting a R40 000 bribe from a police informant to facilitate the processing of permits.
Tshwete said the Hawks, working with the Counter-Corruption Unit of the Department of Home Affairs, have been investigating the official for some time while consolidating information to build up a tight case.
He said the arrest forms part of Operation Bvisa Masina, which aims to rid the Department of Home Affairs of the rot.
Tshwete said on Tuesday, Minister Malusi Gigaba reiterated his resolve to clean the Department of fraud and corruption, saying resources are being directed at capacitating the Counter-Corruption Branch to achieve this goal.
"We must emphasise the fact that the overwhelming majority of our officials are honest, caring and hardworking. We have a number of interventions to enhance the security of the country and the integrity of our documents.
Operation Bvisa Masina has resulted in the arrest of no less than 30 officials through our own internal detection as well as information from members of the community," the Minister said.
He said the Department of Home Affairs has commenced with internal disciplinary processes against the official. She has been released on a R5000.00 bail and will appear at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on 04 February 2016.
