The high profile case of US actor Wesley Snipes found using a fraudulent South African passport and identity documents illustrates why this country`s immigration and population information systems need to be catapulted into the 21st Century.

Actor in trouble

Snipes was discovered by Department of Home Affairs (DHA) immigration officials to have entered the country illegally on 23 May and was questioned by them when he was departing on 1 June. According to the department, the system detected a discrepancy by rejecting the South African identity number, which indicated that the passport was fraudulent.