Department of Home Affairs on 1st Quarter 2015/16 performance

Meeting report

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on First Quarter Performance

Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, Acting Director General: Department of Home Affairs, took the Committee through the presentation. He focused on the DHA’s outcomes and strategic objectives, progress against objectives as from April to June 2015, the major challenges faced by the Department, its overall performance and the performance by branch and by programme.

During the first quarter, 498 353 Smart ID cards had been issued to citizens and 125 468 machine-readable passports had been issued within 13 working days. In excess of 9 500 000 travellers had been cleared at 72 ports of entry. A total 10 242 immigrants had been deported for transgressions against laws, and 70% of finalised misconduct cases had resulted in guilty verdicts being pronounced.

Major challenges had included managing the implementation of the new immigration regulations to ensure they were properly and consistently applied; unreliable telecommunications networks; the Department’s baseline budget for missions that had to be transferred to the Department of International Relations and Co-operation; the complex and limited IT resources; non-connectivity of some healthcare facilities to the National Population Register; the difficulties of registering births on weekends and public holidays; and slower funding for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Mr Mkhize said that out of the Department’s total of 41 targets planned for the first quarter of 2015/16, 27 had been achieved, representing a 67% achievement rate.

As a way forward, certain major issues had to be addressed. These included:

• Finding an alternative network provider to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to ensure a stable network.
• Continuing to find creative ways to deliver services, such as the partnership with banks.
• Ensuring the Border Management Agency (MBA) Bill was successfully taken through the Parliamentary process.
• Preparing for the closing of the current late registration of births procedure, and introducing much stronger measures.

With regard to budget against expenditure, Mr Mkhize said that 25.2% had been spent in the first quarter, and that R4.827 billion was available. Expenditure per economic classification and sub-programme was explained in detail. Included was self-financing expenditure. Actual revenue collected amounted to R56 533 000.

Discussion

The Chairperson sought clarity on some tables which indicated that more than 100% had been spent. Where did the Department get additional funds and how could the problem of overspending be addressed?

Mr Gordon Hollamby, Chief Financial Officer: Department of Home Affairs, responded that some programmes, such as households and status services, had not been adequately budgeted for, and some additional funds had been transferred from compensation of employees, where there were unoccupied positions. These were vacant positions that had been budgeted for in anticipation of recruitment, but some of these positions remained unfilled.

On the question of legal services expenditure, Mr Hollamby explained that the expenditure was so high given that expenses included litigation costs. It was difficult to predict that a specific number of cases would be litigated.

The Chairperson expressed his concern about shifting money from unoccupied positions to fund other programmes, because this implied that those positions would not be filled for the whole financial year. This would have an impact on meeting targeted objectives.

Mr M Hoosen (DA) sought clarity on the challenge of managing the implementation of the new immigration regulations and on changes in regulating the refugee policy. He asked about the provision of ID documents and passports. He commented that some parents were not, for religious reasons, registering their children before certain rituals were performed, and wanted to know the Department’s approach to resolving that matter. He also suggested that at offices of Home Affairs, there should be two different queues -- one queue should be for smart ID cards and another queue for passports – as this would improve provision of services. He asked why the adjudication of permanent residence permits should take eight months. What were the reasons for taking the Department to court? What measures could be taken to reduce legal costs? Why was the Department not meeting its permanent residence permit (PRP) target?

On the question of meeting the PRP target of, the Chairperson responded that there had been a change in mind by the Department. It had come to realise that a PRP could not be granted easily. Setting a target was inappropriate and unreasonable, because the PRP was issued subject to meeting certain requirements.

Mr Hoosen was unhappy that the Chairperson had answered his question, and was of the view that he was covering for the Department.

The Chairperson responded that Mr Hoosen was asking the same question which he had asked in a previous meeting, and had been given an answer. He could not allow the same question to be posed while aware of the answers that would be given.

Ms D Raphuti (ANC) sought clarity on why the Department adjudicated on critical skills visas. Was the Department responsible for the nation’s human resources? With regard to the figure of 9.5 million travellers, she sought clarity on whether “travellers” implied tourists. Were tourists coming into South Africa in numbers? This question was very important amid criticism that new the immigration regulations had negatively impacted on tourism. She sought clarity on foreign nationals who were deported. Could the deportation be broken down. per country and per crime? Lastly, she asked why the target of registering births had not been achieved.

Ms T Kenye (ANC) expressed her concern about the major challenges that were hindering the Department from achieving its targets. What mechanisms were in place to address these challenges? What were root causes for delaying the signing of certain projects? How did the Department intend to address its chronic under-performance, including its under-spending problem?

Mr A Figlan (DA) expressed his concern about 45.1% of R589 million being allocated to legal services. Did this expenditure include court cases? Why was the development of technical specifications for some systems taking longer than anticipated?

Ms N Mnisi (ANC) sought clarity on how far the process of the Border Management Agency Bill had gone, and whether the Department was happy with the progress. What were the specific challenges in providing smart ID documents within the time framework?

Mr D Gumede (ANC) expressed his concern about the IT-related challenges and key programmes that had not been achieved.

Department’s Response

Mr Mkhize referred to legal services, and said they included court cases. He explained that people had a right to ensure that the administrative decisions taken were reasonable, and this could be done by approaching the courts. Most of the cases involved asylum-seekers. People who entered the country illegally ought to be removed, but some of them lodged their claims in court. The Department had to prove that an applicant was illegal and, in the case of the asylum-seeking process, that the person in question was abusing the asylum system. Sometimes arrested illegal immigrants did not disclose their country of origin, so the Department had to cooperate with embassies to trace their origin. Litigation would happen and could not be avoided.

With regard to the classification of deported foreign nationals per country and per crime, the Department had the statistics and these would be communicated to the Committee.

On the issue of filling vacant posts, Mr Mkhize said a total analysis posts had been made and where those posts were not yet filled, the money had to be transferred to other programmes. They had also looked at the recruitment advertising process. The required three months to advertise a post did not make sense. The period of advertising had been cut down to one month. Money that had been transferred was money that was available because a post was still vacant.

A major problem that the Department was facing was the requirement for applications to be made in person so that biometrics could be captured. On this issue, the Department was engaging with all stakeholders to find a viable solution.

The provision of unabridged birth certificates was a problem. The Department was not sitting idly, but it was finding ways and means to address all the challenges. Hard questions being asked were whether these challenges were affecting the economy and tourism. Regardless of the challenges, the Department was on track in terms of granting unabridged birth certificates and issuing visas.

Mr Mkhize said that the issue of information technology (IT) was problematic and hindering the Department’s work. The Minister of Home Affairs was engaging with his counterparts to find ways in which the matter could be addressed. The Department worked with SITA, which was in charge of installing and maintaining switching centres. If one switching centre was not in good order, this could affect the whole province. On the issue of telecommunications, the Department worked hand in hand with Telkom. It also worked hand in hand with the Department of Health. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) had been signed between the two departments.

The Department was aware of those parents who did not register their children because of their cultural beliefs or religion. Officials at healthcare facilities had a form to fill in the details of the child and his/her parents. Parents could be contacted at a later stage to finalise the registration of a child. According to United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) guidelines, births should registered within 30 days in order to fight invisibility. There would be education around fighting invisibility of children, because unregistered children could be at risk.

With regard to making two queues at the offices of Home Affairs, Mr Mkhize agreed with Mr Hoosen that it was a problem. An effective procedure to apply for passports and smart ID cards was being considered.

On the issue of PRPs, the Department had abandoned the question of meeting a target because before issuing a PRP, the Department had to be certain that the applicant was an honourable person who would contribute to the South African economy. South Africa did not want people who would jeopardise its national stability and security.

With regard to tourism, Mr Mkhize noted that tourists were coming into South Africa.

On the issue of the asylum system, he said that the Department was challenged by the problem of asylum-seekers who declared their full names and, after being recognised as refugees, claimed that the names were not theirs.

The Chairperson suggested that any further requests for clarification should be addressed to Mr Mkhize in writing.

The meeting was adjourned.