The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has suspended three senior officials of the Pretoria High Court in north Gauteng following a raid by the Hawks early this week.

The Hawks raided the officials’ offices to gather evidence against them for suspected fraud and corruption.

The officials are accused of issuing fraudulent notices of motion to illegal immigrants currently staying in South Africa. It is alleged that the officials have been issuing fraudulent notices of motion to undocumented foreign nationals to prevent their deportation to their countries of origin under the guise that the matter is still pending in court.

This was after the case was formally reported to the Hawks in March this year.

“This search and seizure operation specifically targeted one office and individuals believed to be central to the commission of these offences. Exhibits were seized for further investigation,” the Hawks said in a statement after the raid.

The OCJ has since responded by suspending the three officials.

“Three Pretoria High Court OCJ officials have been placed on immediate precautionary suspension on 14 May 2025. The three officials, who cannot be named at this time, are suspects in an ongoing investigation by the South African Police Service’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) looking into fraudulent and corrupt activities in the Court.

“The OCJ takes a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption and the officials were therefore placed on precautionary suspension to allow investigations to proceed without being compromised,” the OCJ said in a statement on Friday.