Department of Home Affairs on Progress made on the Turnaround Project

Meeting report

Briefing by the Department of Home Affairs
The delegates from the Department of Home Affairs included Mr Vusi Mkhize (Deputy Director-General), Ms Thembie Shimamane (Deputy Director-General: Human Resources) and Mr Jackson Mckay (Deputy Director-General: Immigration).

The briefing included an historical perspective and the background to the Department’s transformation programme.  The Department of Home Affairs was the custodian and protector of the identity and status of citizens and the regulator and manager of migration.  The four strategic thrusts identified were service delivery and processes, information and communication technology, service culture and human resources and financial management.  The strategic thrusts had to be supported by effective leadership and governance.

A summary of the problems currently faced by the Department was presented.  The major areas of concern were weaknesses in management and governance processes, commitment to a consistent set of values and related behaviour by personnel and weak financial management and controls.

At this point, Members of the Committee interrupted the presentation.  The Department was requested to brief the Committee on the turnaround strategy instead of repeating issues that the Members were well aware of.  After apologising to the Committee, the briefing was resumed.

The turnaround strategy included strengthening governance practices and building a management team to take full control of operations and to drive new values at all levels.  Robust steps were taken to establish a culture and practice of service (Batho Pele), integrity and efficiency; to fight corruption and to capacitate staff.  The Department had appointed professional financial consultants to introduce effective financial systems.  Progress had been made in the implementation of financial and asset management processes and controls, fleet management, the refurbishment of offices, a new asylum and refugee system and the 2010 FIFA World Cup projects.

Discussion
Ms J Terblanche (DA) recalled that the Department reported 700 vacant posts in a previous meeting.  She asked how many of the vacant posts had been filled.

Ms Shimamane advised that 590 to 610 of the 2008/2009 vacancies had been filled.  The vacant posts had been in the Information and Communications Unit and the Immigration Services Unit.  There were currently 690 vacant posts, which had been advertised in the press.

Ms Terblanche asked if the contract workers employed by the Department had been trained to deal with the security features on identity documents.

Ms Shimamane replied in the affirmative.  She said that the Department conducted police clearances to ensure that the contract workers employed did not have criminal records.

Ms Terblanche asked if the Department had statistics on the extent of corruption in the Department and how many people had been convicted of corruption charges.

Ms Shimamane advised that measures were in place to deal with corrupt officials. Approximately 120 members of staff had been dismissed. The Department was developing a strategy and had employed specialists to deal with incidents of corruption.

Mr M Mnqasela (DA) asked where the refugee centre to replace the centre in Nyanga would be situated.

Mr McKay replied that the centre would be moved to Voortrekker Street in Maitland. The new centre in Maitland was being refurbished to have the correct layout.  The centre was temporarily accommodated in a building behind the new location.  A temporary office was opened in De Doorns to deal with persons working on the surrounding farms.

Ms D Mathebe (ANC) asked if the track-and-trace system implemented by the Department was actually working or not.

Mr Mkhize confirmed that the system was working. He explained that the track-and-trace system enabled the Department to establish exactly where each document was. The Department was able to check when the application was submitted and when the application had been delivered to the relevant office within the Department for processing.

Ms Z Balindlela (COPE) remarked that queues were very long at the refugee centres in Nyanga, Langa and Johannesburg.  Incidents were reported of people bribing officials to avoid standing in the queues. She asked how the Department was dealing with the issue of bribery of officials.

Mr McKay admitted that there was a crisis at Home Affairs refugee reception centres. Many people were abusing the asylum system. Most of the people applying for refugee and asylum status were economic migrants and did not qualify for refugee and asylum status.   He said that there was a need to introduce legislation to distinguish economic migrants from refugees and asylum seekers. The Department intended introducing a Bill to Parliament to deal with the matter. An inter-departmental team had been created to deal with the issue.  Approximately 90% of applicants for refugee status were rejected.  The Department planned to increase the number of refugee centres. A new refugee centre was opened in 2008 in Musina. The Department had three refugee centres in Gauteng (Crown Mines, Marabastad and Tswane).  The centre at Musina relieved some of the pressure experienced at Marabastad.  There was only one centre in Cape Town.  The number of refugees at the Cape Town centre equalled the volume at the Gauteng centres and the Cape Town office did not have sufficient capacity.  He conceded that there were lengthy queues at all the Home Affairs offices but assured the Committee that the Department was attempting to deal with the problem.

Mr Z Madasa (ANC) asked if the Department’s programme to instil a culture of service was in line with the Batho Pele principles introduced by Government a few years ago. He noted that the Department had said that its strategy was about putting people first and creating a people-centred organisation.

Ms Shimamene confirmed that the Department complied with the principles of Batho Pele. She reported that 80 -90% of Home Affairs staff members had completed the compulsory Batho Pele induction course.

Mr Mkhize said that although there were committed staff members at Home Affairs, there were also people who gave the Department a very bad name. Behaviour was not something that could be changed overnight.  It was necessary to put mechanisms in place to improve accountability and to determine if personnel carried out their responsibilities. The Department trained its employees in the principles of Batho Pele. There were consequences if employees did not comply with the standards that had been set by the Department.

Mr Mkhize conceded that the Department was still facing challenges on the issue of values.  He advised that the call-centre established by the Minister for the public to voice their complaints and compliments was beginning to have an impact on the conduct of staff members.  He explained that branch managers were responsible to ensure that each staff member at a Home Affairs office wore a name tag.  The Department encouraged the public to report rude officials.

Mr Madasa noted that, in the presentation, the Department had mentioned the issuing of birth certificates at certain hospitals.  He asked the Department to explain the nature of the relationship with the Department of Health.

Mr Mkhize explained that the Department of Home Affairs had a staff presence at a number of hospitals. The Home Affairs staff members were responsible for registering deaths and births at those hospitals. The Department had been holding meetings with the Department of Health to see how the relationship could be improved.  The Department wanted to increase the number of hospitals where there was a Home Affairs presence.  Both Departments were reviewing the memorandum of understanding and re-considering the role of nurses concerning the registration of births and deaths.

Mr Madasa asked if the Department had a verification process in place to ensure that a person’s identity document and passport were authentic.

Mr Mkhize admitted that it was difficult to identify if a document had been fraudulently issued.  The Department relied on people to verify the authenticity of a document at a Home Affairs office.  When the Department changed the system to records fingerprints electronically, instances of fraudulently-issued documents were uncovered.  Case files were opened and the holders of such fraudulently-issued documents were requested to verify their fingerprints when next visiting a Home Affairs office.

Ms Terblanche noticed that security personnel at Home Affairs were responsible for showing people which queues to stand in.  She found the manner in which the security personnel handled a person’s documents to be unacceptable.  She wanted to know who the security personnel at Home Affairs reported to. 

Mr McKay advised that the security personnel were contracted to the Department. If there was a problem with a security company employee, then the Department would request that the person was replaced.

Another Member of the Committee asked if the Department of Home Affairs had dealt with the backlogs in the issuing of passport documents.

Mr Mkhize confirmed that the passport backlog had been dealt with.  The backlog was caused when approximately 20000 passport applications had to be returned to certain offices for data to be re-captured.

Ms Terblanche asked the Department to explain what was meant by the achievement of a 300% improvement in service delivery.

Mr Mkhize explained that Head Office employees were set specific targets.  The performance of the employees was monitored and the 300% improvement in service delivery reflected the percentage by which the targets were exceeded.

A Member of the Committee related the problems experienced by two girls from Khayelitsha to obtain identity documents.  Applications for the documents were submitted early in 2009 but the applicants were told that the Home Affairs office in Khayelitsha was still processing applications received during 2008.

Mr Mkhize agreed that the delay was not acceptable.  He undertook to follow up the matter after obtaining the details from the Member.

The Member of the Committee asked what was happening with the issue of smart cards.

Ms Terblanche appreciated the information from Mr McKay that new legislation would be forthcoming. She wanted to know why the Committee had to hear about the proposed refugee identity document in the newspapers. The Committee was not informed by the Department about plans to introduce a refugee identity document.

Mr McKay replied that the amended Refugee Act made provision for the issuing of a green bar-coded identity document to refugees. The document would clearly identify the holder as a refugee and was intended to alleviate the problem of xenophobia.

Ms Terblanche asked who Members of Parliament could contact to discuss problems reported to them by their constituents.

Ms Balindlela wanted to know if the Department of Home Affairs was ready for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Mr McKay confirmed that the Department was prepared for the 2010 World Cup and would be happy to make a presentation on this subject to the Committee. The major challenge was the availability of technology.

Ms Balindlela remarked legislation on human trafficking was in the process of being formulated.  She wanted to know if the Department would be involved in the development of policy on human trafficking and the implementation of the policy and legislation.

Mr McKay replied that the legislation on human trafficking would be submitted to Parliament by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Affairs later in 2009.  An inter-departmental team had been set up to deal with the matter.

The meeting was adjourned