Dozens of South African identity documents and passports, which were in the hands of foreign nationals illegally, have been rendered useless by the Department of Home Affairs.
The department laid claim to at least 124 applications, 111 of which were passports and 13 IDs, that had been fraudulently processed using the particulars of South African citizens.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, it said it had subsequently fired two employees for fraud.
Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said it was part of ongoing clean-up operations to "fearlessly and ruthlessly root out corruption wherever it rears its ugly head".
The department said another four officials were suspended for similar offences.
In one of the incidents, the department's internal processes found Phathisani Outshiki, from its Benoni offices in Gauteng, guilty of gross misconduct in processing at least 111 of the documents.
Home Affairs spokesperson Bongi Gwala said Outshiki allegedly charged R1 000 per application.
He said Outshiki pleaded guilty and was subsequently dismissed. However, he had appealed his dismissal.
In the second matter Morena David Motsamai, from the Germiston office, was also found guilty of gross misconduct in that he's believed to have processed 13 passport applications for what the department said was "undeserving foreign nationals using particulars of South Africans".
He was allegedly paid between R2 500 and R5 000 per application.
Gwala said Motsamai pleaded guilty and did not appeal the sanction.
"The police are pursuing criminal charges against both Mr Outshiki and Mr Motsamai," said Gwala. "In addition, the police are tracking the South Africans who sold their identities and the foreign nationals who wanted to buy South African documents they do not deserve."
He added: "Fortunately, all the fraudulently processed IDs and passports were flagged and removed from Home Affairs records thus rendering them useless and unusable by the people who acquired them.
"None of these documents were ever used."
The four officials who were suspended at the department's Tzaneen offices on 1 July were going to face disciplinary action within 10 days.
Gwala said all six officials had been on the radar of the Home Affairs Counter Corruption Branch without their knowledge "hence it was easy to catch them".
Minister Motsoaledi said his department was on the trail of more Home Affairs officials who were involved in shady dealings.
The Minister once again urged South Africans to stop selling their identities to foreign nationals.
"If you sell your identity, you are replaced by a foreign national on our database which means that you will not be able to access services in-country", concluded Motsoaledi.
