Minister & Department of Home Affairs, & Government Printing Works briefings: Strategic Plans 2009-2012

Meeting report

Ministerial briefing
Hon Dr Nkosazana Zuma, Minister of Home Affairs, emphasised the importance of the Department of Home Affairs, noting that it played a part throughout the life of the citizens of South Africa, since birth, marriage, travel and finally death came within its ambit.  In addition, immigrants and visitors to the country depended on it. It was also a tool for government planning. For instance, the Department of Education could use birth registration figures to anticipate how many and in what year children would be eligible for school attendance. The Department was also important for security arrangements. If the wrong people could freely enter the country, security would be compromised.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) had faced challenges in the past. The previous Minister had to take the unprecedented step of asking for Government intervention in 2006. The intervention had lasted for a year, and then a turnaround process commenced. There had been improvements since then, but matters could not be expected to return to normal within a mere two years. Positive achievements had been made and needed to be further developed.

The Minister indicated that she would leave it to the Departmental team to start working together with the Committee for improvements. Proper programmes were needed to discharge the mandate of the Department. The issue of adequate ID provision, and the handling of marriage and deaths registration, needed attention. Obtaining a clean audit remained a top priority. Cooperation with other departments had to be encouraged, especially as regarded movement through South African ports.

She concluded by urging Members of Parliament to convey imperatives through their constituencies, so that they may be implemented.

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Strategic Plan briefing
Mr Mavuso Msimang, Director General, DHA, referred to the Minister’s remark that the Department of Home Affairs was the custodian and protector of citizens. The mandate of the Department was to protect and regulate interests of status, identity and rights of the inhabitants of the Republic, to manage migration at ports of entry and missions abroad and to determine the status of asylum seekers.

The vision and mission of the Department was to contribute to the development of a safe, secure South Africa, where identity and citizenship were valued, to safeguard the identity and status of citizens and to regulate migration. The Department subscribed to values covering its commitment to be people-centered and caring, patriotic, opposed to corruption, professional, and motivated by integrity.

The Department was committed to transformation, in order to pursue Government’s priority of building a developmental state. There was a keen awareness that work places often did not have an encouraging feel to them, and refurbishment processes were under way. A campaign had been launched to register thus-unregistered births, and to provide identity documents (IDs) for everyone over 16 years old. 2000 high schools had been visited in the previous year to issue IDs. The issuing of proof of identity to support the right to vote in the election was tackled with energy.

The Department would identify and take steps to counter fraud and identity theft, and thus play a role in the fight against crime and corruption. He noted that an issue also requiring work was the verification of people passing through South Africa.

Mr Msimang cited examples of Canada and Australia who both supplemented local skills by acquiring qualified personnel from other regions. Understanding and awareness of migration in a globalised world made this possible. This was a Departmental transformation priority. Processing of asylum seekers and refugees was a priority, and every effort would be made to progress to E-passports and visas during the year to come. The “Who Am I Online” programme would be developed to verify identity.

The Department had identified its customers and sounding boards as being ordinary citizens, and aimed at the creation of a people-centred culture. Staff members were required to be professional, skilled and responsive.

An important strategic objective was the establishment and maintenance of secure, accurate and integrated data systems. The IT component of a population database would be developed. The Department would supply information to State departments and the private sector, and serve the interests of security. The creation of integrated data systems remained an important strategic objective. Cumbersome systems relying on stacked files could not be effective. He noted that ideally a South African arriving in Stockholm should be able to have his identity scanned and verified online almost immediately.

In summary, he noted that the objective was to turn the DHA into a centre of excellence for securing and affirming the identity of persons, and for delivering a professional, caring and responsive service. This would be achieved in part through the advancement of cooperation with other departments, with strong focus on improving service delivery and countering corruption.

Discussion
Ms J Terblanche (DA) asked Mr Msimang to introduce his delegation to the Committee.

Mr Msimang did so, noting the names of the delegation on the attached document.

Ms Terblanche asked what factors could potentially hamper the implementation of the DHA strategic plan, what other departments were involved, and to what extent there had been liaison with them. She said that she was happy about progress made, but as the DA spokesperson on Home Affairs, she had been inundated by reports of service from that Department that did not conform to ideals of being professional, caring and responsive.

Mr Msimang noted that Department of Public Works (DPW) was the “landlord” providing accommodation for his Department, and it was expected that the former should give its full cooperation towards meeting the DHA objectives. Eskom provided electricity, and any service interruption from that quarter forced the DHA to rely on generators. The DHA relied on Telkom for communications assistance. Service level agreements were in place where appropriate.

Mr Msimang proceeded to speak to frustrations encountered by his Department. The transition from the old passport system to the new had not been so smooth. It was desirable to have a passport with high security features, but the information required could be hard to obtain, and this could cause delay. The new passport machine now being used showed a marked tendency to reject photographs, which complicated matters. He agreed that the phasing-in of the new system could have been handled more efficiently. Duplication of IDs still occurred, and issuing of an ID could be blocked because another existed somewhere. Stacks of manual records had to be transferred when the Department moved from the Civitas building. These files had not been properly stored, and it was time consuming to deal with them. A team had been set to work ordering records and scanning them. On the positive side, he noted that the DHA call centre had been responsive, with 90% of calls attended to within the first 20 seconds.

Mr M Mnqasela (DA) referred to corruption in many centres around the country. He said that ID crime was a disease, and asked what the DHA was doing to control it. A plan had been presented, but he would like to know what was actually being done, especially concerning the 2010 IT rollout, and the “Who Am I Online” project?

Kgoshi P Mathebe (ANC) thanked Mr Msimang for being clear about transformation, but pointed out that asylum seekers felt that they had to pay bribes to officials, who were in collaboration with security staff. The latter were not employed by the DHA, but were in cahoots with DHA officials. He added that paying of bribes to obtain direct help could be attractive if the alternative was to return daily to an office far from their place of abode, to stand in queues.

Mr Msimang said that conversion from older systems, even from the old Dompas system, had left confusion in its wake, and created opportunities for mischief makers. Corrupt DHA employees could exploit loopholes, but these were gradually being closed down. He noted that one instance of corruption had been that an ID number assigned but not taken could be used to falsify documents. A better use of technology and proper processing could help minimise such practices. Better controls over corruption were being instituted. People who worked in sensitive areas had to be fingerprinted, and there was a requirement that the system know who was working inside and who was leaving the areas at any given time. The serialisation of documents could help to reduce the amount of people who worked on a document, so that as few as 14 people would have access to the ID document, as opposed to the old practices where many more people would be involved.

He emphasised that when people were caught out committing malpractice, they were dismissed. Many people had been suspended, dismissed and handed over to the police for prosecution.

Minister Nkosazana Zuma noted that several weak links had been identified in the system, starting with the issuing of birth certificates. That was why children between 5 and 14 were currently registered. If every child was registered, late applications for birth certificates could be scrutinised more closely. This could eliminate the kind of corruption where Chiefs were bribed to testify that a person was indeed born in a certain area. The next weak link was the ID. IDs were currently issued to those between 10 and 16 years, to prevent a rush for identity documents during election times. This could help prevent corruption.

She agreed that security personnel and services dealing with refugees were often of poor quality, which made it all the more difficult to combat bribery. Offices where asylum seekers could be processed had to be expanded, as well as infrastructure and personnel generally improved. Currently, people were still having to return to the original office where they might have applied for asylum, but there were efforts being made to change that.

The Minister noted that as a policy issue, true asylum seekers had to be separated from economic migrants, as the current system was being clogged; hence Government had to take a policy decision to separate the two. People who were in fact not political refugees were claiming that status, and adequate mechanisms to provide them with documentation were not in place. Not only did that make it possible for such persons to hide, but it also made it impossible to deal properly with asylum seekers. The support of Parliament would be necessary in this matter.

Hon Malusi Gigaba, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, said that the turnaround was being factored into the strategic plan. Business processes and systems used were being overhauled. ID corruption was not just about weaknesses inherent to the green bar-code system. Corruption could not be resolved if people could access registration systems. There had to be a clear path between birth and ID registration. The birth registration process had to be speeded up. He agreed that late birth registration presented serious problems. In future, he suggested that it would be necessary to run thorough verification checks on older people seeking first-time ID applications.

Mr Gigaba commented on the problems cited by Kgoshi Mathebe. He said that the conditions that asylum seekers faced did require an overhaul. It should be possible to grant an asylum seeker a Section 22 permit within three days, and give a set appointment date on which to return. If the whole process could be speeded up, such asylum seekers would stand less chance of becoming victims of corruption. Exploitation became more likely when people had to return to queues.

Mr Gigaba added that the current processes were not integrated. This situation was under review. The Refugee and Deportation System (RAD) had to be upgraded, and there had to be conversion to electronic data, so that applicants did not have to move around to be processed. Applications had to be speedily processed, so that the applicants’ status could be clear.

The Chairperson intervened to say that more interactive meetings had to be scheduled, possibly with the Director General and the Deputy Minister. For instance, if corruption was endemic, action had to be taken, and those responsible had to be fired. This was the kind of matter that had to be discussed. Time constraints prevented a fuller discussion during the current session.

Ms Terblanche asked the Deputy Minister to clarify what he had meant when he implied that an older person coming with a first-time ID application, having already waited so long for an ID, could wait a while longer. She pointed out that a person without an ID could not get a job.

The Chairperson interjected that he thought Ms Terblanche had misunderstood the implication.

Mr Gigaba replied that he had meant that late registration of births had to be concluded. Much fraud and corruption were attendant on such late registrations. He noted that a 40-year old might apply for an ID, but have no proof of identity or birth dates by way of birth certificates. The veracity of the applicant’s claim to a certain identity had to be established, and this took time. There were, for instance, certain surnames prevalent in Swaziland as well as in the Republic, and the language spoken was similar. More and more adults were applying, as older person, for birth certificates, and many of these claims turned out to be not valid.

The Chairperson agreed that there had to be scrutiny of any such applications.

Department of Home Affairs Budget presentation
Mr Sagaren Naidoo, Acting CFO, Department of Home Affairs, tabled and spoke to the budget. He noted the change in programme structure. He tabled the approved budget, the additional funds that had been approved by the Ministerial Committee on budgeting, and then gave an overview of the budget over the three financial years from 2009 to 2012. He indicated the percentage change in baseline per programme across the years, the programme and economic classifications. He then presented an overview of the whole budget, and then the allocation per province.  Finally he gave a breakdown of the IT projects, and the infrastructure allocations over the period.

Discussion
Kgoshi Mathebe asked about complaints concerning the budget from the Film and Publications Board.

Mr Naidoo replied that allocations from National Treasury were moved through the Department. Submissions were part of the Department of Home Affairs, but would not be interfered with.

Ms Terblanche asked if the 34% vacancy rate, referred to on Slide 12, had been taken into account.

Mr Naidoo answered that when the baseline had been costed, this vacancy rate had been foreseen, but that National Treasury had not responded. The vacancy had been augmented through the use of contractors, among other means.

Ms Terblanche referred to the statement that the Smart ID Card project had never taken off, and asked when this was expected to happen.

Mr Msimang responded that the Smart Card had been outsourced to State Information Technology Agency (SITA), but that Agency had experienced problems. The Auditor General had to authorise the project, but it became known that a supplier had already obtained the tender, prior to authorization, and SITA placed the process on hold. No recommendation had yet been received, and the National Treasury had advised a rollover of funds.

The Chairperson commented that a sense of the strategic objectives and budget had been sufficiently conveyed, and suggested that the Committee proceed to a vote. He commented that sufficient Members were present to constitute a quorum.

Ms Terblanche took issue with this, stating that she was sure that Members who had initially been present, but who had then left the meeting, could not be included in the quorum figure.

The Chairperson requested that additional MPs be asked to attend, to ensure that there was a quorum.

The Members then constituting a quorum proceeded to propose, second and adopt the Strategic Plan and budget.

 Ms Terblanche ventured that her party would make use of the Budget debate to further interrogate issues.

The Chairperson noted her point.

Government Printing Works (GPW) Strategic Plan and Budget presentation
Mr Tom Moyane, Chief Executive Officer, Government Printing Works, told the Committee that the GPW was a trading entity, unsubsidised by Government, that took care of its own resources.

He defined the GPW as a mandated security printer. It was established in 1976 as a Trading Entity under the DHA but had been unable to secure adequate revenues to invest in modern facilities and equipment required of a state-of–the-art security printer.

Sustainability of the entity remained a challenge. A business case was prepared and presented to National Treasury and Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) in 2007, but DPSA raised several issues, and the business case was not finalised. Various qualification issues raised by the Auditor-General in relation to the audits had not yet been fully addressed.

Mr Moyane noted that the DHA charged the public for printing, but this income would then flow to the national fiscus, and not GPW. “Profits” could not be retained for future infrastructure investment. This resulted in asset stripping.

GPW had identified opportunities for printing services from outside South Africa, for foreign agencies, but these could not be taken up to the full because of capacity constraints. An African Union passport had been produced, and there had been requests that GPW undertake the printing of exams for Malawi, and revenue stamps for Lesotho. However, attracting and retaining skilled personnel remained a problem. There was no proper governance structure in place to guide and advise GPW on the print environment, operations and best practices.

A key priority of GPW was the conversion of GPW into a Government Component. Marketing priorities included the development of a GPW brand, and an aggressive regional marketing strategy on face value documents.

GPW had embarked on the new passport process as a key project. Equipment had been delivered and employees trained on the passport machine.

A future home for the GPW had been identified. A brand new facility had been envisaged, at a cost of R700m (as at 2005), but the “Old Mint” buildings had been chosen in stead. Additional lease costs would be R3-4million per month. Transformation and modernisation would require additional capital injection by the state.

Mr Moyane asked Mr Rassie Barnard, Acting CFO, to comment briefly on recycling and debt matters.

Mr Rassie Barnard, Acting Chief Financial Officer, GPW commented briefly on recycling and debt matters. He noted that GPW had recycled 419 tonnes of waste paper. He tabled a list of debts still owed to GPW. A total of R32 million in debts, running as far back as 1990, were seen as beyond recovery, and would probably have to be written off.

Mr Moyane concluded with an appeal to the Committee for advice and support during the transformation process, and support towards requisite funding, the key to any turnaround initiative.

Discussion
The Chairperson remarked that skills needed money. State departments wanted to compete, but could not pay market related salaries. The Committee would lend support for funding where it could.

Mr Mnqasela agreed with support wherever possible, but urged that the GPW would need to be competitive. He asked what kind of interventions were envisaged for those old debts going back to 1990.

Mr Barnard replied that there was no area with which the Auditor-General had indicated his satisfaction. The GPW was instructed to take a stock inventory and investigate debtors. Much of the old stock was not sellable, but 419 tonnes of paper were sold to Nampak. With regard to the debtors, he said that debt collection procedures had been improved. More cash was being recovered. It was the very old debts that still presented a problem.

Ms M Maunye (ANC) said that it was unclear to her whether there was a new building for GPW or not. She enquired about the additional cost of R3 million mentioned in connection with GPW buildings.

The Chairperson pointed out that the Old Mint building had been decided upon as suitable for the future facility.

Mr A Radakrishna, Member of the DHA Turnaround Team, said that it was estimated that the rental would be around R3  to R4 million per month. Once the facility was operative, it would be rented from Department of Public Works.

Ms Maunye asked about the GPW’s proposed conversion to a Government Component.

Deputy Minister Gigaba replied that the corporatisation of GPW had been suggested in 2004. In the 2005/6 budget vote, the proposal was refused. The corporatisation concept was limiting, and Cabinet was opposed to privatisation. In 2006, consideration was then given to the establishment of Section 3(b) status, which was the status of Telkom, for instance. GPW was defined as a high security printer. Although some of its equipment was admittedly outdated, it was decided that GPW would remain a government agency, but be placed in the position that it was competitive. Its mandate was narrowed down to security printing, which could not be privatised.

Mr Gigaba said that the business case for conversion to Section 3(b) had been discussed the previous year. This envisaged conversion into a Government Component, geared towards the generation of revenue and income. The GPW would be transformed under government  protection, so as to acquire Section 3(b) status later.

Visas and passports, the Smart Card, birth certificates and security documents would all be produced by the GPW under one roof. It would acquire the status of a National key point, with appropriate security measures in place. The new facility was already highly secured. He reiterated that the objective was for GPW to become a state-of-the-art security printer. Department of Public Works would assist to develop the new facility to DHA specifications. Once the President had signed the conversion process into place, skills transformation could proceed.

The Chairperson again called for additional Members to attend the meeting so that there was a quorum. Members then proposed, seconded and adopted the GPW Strategic Plan.

Mr Moyane asked that the Committee should try to visit the new facility at the Old Mint building.

The meeting was adjourned.