Election of Chairperson; DHA, BMA Annual Performance Plans 2024/25; with ministry

Meeting report

Election of the Chairperson

The Committee Secretary said that before the presentations, the Committee had to elect a Chairperson according to National Assembly (NA) Rule 158, as this was the first Committee meeting of the Seventh Parliament. He invited Members to make nominations for the position.

Ms M Modise-Mpya (ANC) nominated Mr M Chabane (ANC) for the position of Chairperson. The nomination was seconded by Ms F Muthambi (ANC). Mr Chabane accepted the nomination.

No other nominations were received and Mr Chabane was elected as Chairperson of the Committee.

Chairperson’s remarks

The Chairperson thanked the Members for their support. He was hopeful that the Committee would contribute meaningfully to the work of the Seventh Administration. He congratulated the Minister and Deputy Minister on their appointment and was hopeful that they would serve the public to the best of their ability.

The Chairperson welcomed the officials from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Border Management Authority (BMA), Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Government Printing Works (GPW) to the meeting.

Minister’s remarks

Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, extended his congratulations to the newly elected Chairperson and Committee members. He was hopeful that the Committee and Department could use their time productively to move the country forward.

Minister Schreiber said that the country was going through a moment of transition in the form of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Some priorities might change as matters progress. He assured Members that there was no interest in chaos or unstructured process. He was committed to working with Members on any adjustments moving forward. It was important for these processes to be done to ensure stability. Despite undergoing political changes, it was critical for officials and institutions to still be able to do their jobs effectively. Ultimately, everyone would benefit from departments and entities functioning effectively.

The meeting was the beginning of listening to and engaging with the Committee in terms of its priorities. It was important for the inputs made by the Committee to be taken seriously and included in the adjustments and priorities of the Department moving forward. Later, there would be time to discuss the ‘bigger picture’ and vision of the Department, but right now, it was important to get the basics right. The non-negotiable fundamentals had to be put in place in order to move forward.

The priorities highlighted by South Africans in terms of Home Affairs were clear. South Africans were concerned about queues, the offline system, backlogs and other very essential management processes. These concerns had to be addressed urgently. While these concerns appeared to be basic, they were important alongside making sure that laws were enforced effectively. Getting these issues right would be fundamental.

He noted that these issues would not change overnight. The Department and members had to be realistic but should not be discouraged or overwhelmed by the scale of the problems. It was important to be clear on the key priorities and work toward achieving these goals. If the Members and Department followed the Constitution and Rule of Law, they would move in the right direction. The importance of this portfolio lies in the fact that if Home Affairs and its entities worked, South Africa would work. There were huge opportunities in the portfolio. He affirmed his commitment to making progress in the right direction.

The Chairperson said that the Committee would interact with the Legacy Report of the previous Committee to understand what issues had been dealt with and what priorities were outstanding. He invited the DHA to begin their presentation.

Department of Home Affairs 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan and Budget

Mr Tommy Makhode, Director-General (DG), DHA, presented the Department’s 2024/25 annual performance plan (APP) and budget.

The presentation highlighted targets for a number of indicators. The Department intended to register 750 000 births within 30 calendar days per year. Additionally, the Department aimed to issue 2.5 million smart Identity document (ID) cards to citizens aged 16 and above. The Department aimed to issue 90 percent of machine-readable adult passports within 13 working days and childrens’ passports within 18 working days. Additionally, the Department intended to complete 2 000 DHA-led law enforcement operations and inspections in targeted areas of spaza shops, restaurants, mines, farms and transport and logistics companies to ensure compliance with immigration legislation.

The DHA aimed to conclude 70 percent of misconduct cases within 90 working days. It aimed to finalise 80 percent of reported cases of fraud and corruption within 90 working days.

The Department was allocated R414.196 billion for 2024/25. No funding was provided for the Digitisation Project for 2024/25 or 2025/26.

See attached for full presentation

Border Management Authority 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan and Budget

Dr Mike Masiapato, Commissioner, Border Management Authority (BMA), presented the BMA’s 2024/25 APP and budget.

The presentation highlighted the outputs, indicators and targets of its various programmes:

Programme 1: Corporate Services

The BMA aimed to establish and implement a standardised BMA communications framework. The BMA aimed to have its updated Disaster Management Plan approved and ready for implementation in case of a disaster. The BMA planned to roll out its Business Continuity Management Plan to 13 ports of entry and install and connect local and wide area networks at 13 ports of entry.

Programme 2: BMA Operations

The BMA aimed to have four signed agreements with relevant institutions granting the BMA access to identified information or data sources. The BMA aimed to detect, refuse entry and deport 100 percent of illegal persons detected at ports of entry. Additionally, the BMA aimed to process 100 percent of legal travellers at ports of entry within five minutes through the movement control system.

The presentation reviewed the key risks identified by the Department and what mitigation steps were being put in place to address them.

The BMA was allocated R1 407 692 for 2024-25. Of this, 86 percent (R1.2 billion) was allocated for cost of employment (CoE). The balance of R194.8 million would be used for goods and services.

The BMA noted the country’s economic situation and the need for cost-containment measures. The presentation emphasised that the BMA was grossly underfunded. This would significantly impact the entity’s ability to execute its mandate. The BMA was unable to adequately invest in tools of the trade and technologies to enable efficient operations.

See attached for full presentation

Discussion

The Chairperson thanked the BMA for their presentation. He invited Members to put questions to both the DHA and BMA.

Mr T Mogale (EFF) asked if the Committee could focus on one presentation at a time, rather than sharing questions and remarks for the two reports simultaneously.

The Chairperson asked other members how the meeting should proceed. Following this route might cause the meeting to run significantly over time.

Mr A Roos (DA) said there was some overlap between the DHA and the BMA and it would make sense to discuss both entities simultaneously.

Ms M Makgato (ANC) agreed with Mr Roos. 

BMA

Mr Mogale said the BMA’s report indicated that functions had been transferred from other departments. When the functions were transferred, were the budgets allocated for the particular functions also transferred to the BMA? The BMA had emphasised the under-funding of the entity.

Mr Mogale asked what percentage of the border was currently being manned and monitored by the BMA. South Africa had sizeable borders; how much was covered by the BMA?

There were people in the City of Cape Town from Europe who entered the country on a temporary basis under the visas that the Minister had extended. These people were only meant to be in the country for a few months but had overstayed their welcome. Did the BMA have the capacity to follow up on these people? Similar agencies in other countries had the capacity to follow up on such cases.

Mr Mogale said it would be unfair not to allocate the funds requested by the BMA. The BMA needed these funds to be able to fulfil its mandate effectively. The bloated Cabinet and the increased need for salaries, bodyguards, and houses created a large expenditure. The BMA desperately needed funding, but the funds were not available. This funding had to be procured. The BMA had been created, but there was a failure to fund the entity so that it could operate effectively. He supported the BMA’s request for additional funding.

DHA

Mr Mogale referred to the Minister’s statement that he would ‘change priorities.’ He would await these new priorities. He felt that it was clear where the Minister’s priorities lay - the priority of the Minister did not lie with South African citizens who did not have IDs. During the door-to-door election campaign, he had noted several people in rural areas without IDs. The priority of the Minister appeared to be foreign nationals, particularly from Europe who had requested extensions for their visas. He would monitor this issue closely. Foreign visas should not be prioritised over ordinary South Africans who do not have IDs.

Mr Mogale asked what skills the European foreigners were bringing to South Africa. Would the economy collapse without the skills brought by these foreigners? What were the critical skills that made the matter so urgent? He had seen the critical skills list published the previous year by the Department. The Department had listed call centre managers. Were there no call centre managers in South Africa? The Committee needed to be properly briefed on the matter. When a person applied for a skills visa and indicated they were bringing critical skills to the country, their employer had to have a skills transfer plan. People could not stay for an extended period of time because of critical skills – these people would apply for permanent visas next. What processes and plans were in place to ensure that companies bringing foreigners in for critical skills were implementing skills transfer plans to ensure South Africans were being equipped with these skills?

The Chairperson requested that members be mindful of time. He asked Mr Mogale to conclude his remarks to allow time for other members to engage.

Ms N Bollman (DA) said Home Affairs had an ongoing war on queues. Over the last five years, the DHA had lost 77 years’ worth of office hours due to downtime, even though the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) regularly reflected uptime above 99 per cent. What was the progress on the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) project at the five designated offices to address the network challenges? When would the Committee be presented with results and a progress report?

Ms Bollman said that the Lubisi Report on corruption described how Home Affairs officials had created fake users on the system to issue fraudulent documents and how there was a deliberate bypassing of controls to manipulate visa and permit applications that had been enabled by outdated systems. Had these gaps been closed? What funding has been directed to update these systems?

Ms Bollman noted that in 2023/24, there had been a once-off allocation of R 839.9 million for the records digitisation project. If only R300 million had been reallocated, how would the same output be achieved in 2024-25 with a third of the budget?

BMA

Ms Bollman said it had been indicated that there was no combined network for the four systems of departments that were transferring to the BMA. Was it not possible to transfer the three other systems to the one used by Home Affairs?

DHA

Mr Roos said that according to the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), an apex contribution of the DHA was in support of economic transformation and job creation, through the implementation of a revised visa regime and the issuance of visas and permits to promote the economy. Spousal visas were a large factor where one half of a relationship was a South African, and many of these couples had children. It was good that the current visa applications were improving. He highlighted the backlog project. What progress has been made in dealing with the backlog?

Mr Roos noted the percentage of general work, critical skills, and business visas adjudicated within eight months. The last figure was 38.8 percent. Would the target be reached in this financial year?

In March 2024, 69 undocumented foreign nationals escaped from the Lindela Repatriation Centre. The DHA said that the R58.1 million contract with Enviromongs would be scrutinised to decide what steps were next. Had the contract been scrutinised and what were the next steps on the matter?

In March 2021, the Refugee Appeals Authority, with the support of Home Affairs, began a four-year project to address the 148 000 backlog of asylum appeals. These people were referred to as ‘economic migrants’ – they received asylum seeker permits and were allowed to work. Some challenges identified in the project were that original physical files were located in the first instance office and people could not retrieve the files – the files had to be digitised. There were also documents missing from the files. Had these issues been addressed. What was the current backlog?

Mr Roos said in October 2023, the DG confirmed to the DA that Home Affairs had been instructed to enable naturalised citizens and South African citizens born overseas to apply for smart IDs with immediate effect. It had been indicated that system modifications were underway to address this. What was the progress on this matter?

There was a loss of citizenship case in which the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the persons who had lost citizenship by taking on a second citizenship without permission. Were the persons who had lost citizenship in this way flagged on the National Population Register (NPR) in a specific way? Would the DHA be able to identify these persons and be able to give their documentation back? If not, what was being done to prepare for this?

BMA

Mr Roos said that when the BMA Bill was passed, the Committee had indicated that there was no funding for the Bill. The current situation had been predicted. At the end of the last term, the Committee was told that there were 50 coast guards at the ports. While a lot was being done with the land borders, the sea borders were being pillaged by fishermen who were a big threat to local fishermen. There was a National Maritime Security Strategy to incrementally secure ports. What were the engagements on this strategy between the BMA and Department of Defence? What progress had been made to safeguard coastal borders?

Mr Roos referred to a parliamentary question in December 2023 on the amounts for fines and penalties in terms of Sections 53 and 54 of the Immigration Act. This was specifically related to the fining of transporters bringing in illegal immigrants. The Auditor-General said that the matters had to be resolved, and apparently it had been. As of 31 March, the amount of fines that had not been collected was R273 million. What progress was being made? How much had been collected? What was the outstanding amount? This could be a helpful source of revenue for urgent projects.

DHA

Mr A Sauls (PA) said that the DG had mentioned that there was normally a huge interest in the impact of the operations done at the spaza shops. The report did not mention the impact. The report should provide an understanding of this.

Mr Sauls indicated that he had been a Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development in Johannesburg. Similar operations had been conducted and during this time, it was very difficult to get DHA to join in on the operations. What was the relationship between DHA and the local level on these operations? The things produced in spaza shops were sending people to hospitals and, in some cases, resulted in the deaths of people. When invited, the DHA did not show up to efforts at a local level. The issue existed largely at a municipal level. When it came to illegal immigration discoveries during these operations, the DHA could act on this.

BMA

Mr Sauls referred to slide 22 of the BMA presentation. He noted the target of 100 percent of illegal persons detected at ports. This indicated that there was a target to efficiently deal with those who were detected. What was the numerical value of the 100 percent? What happened in the case of undetected people? There were people in the country on visitor’s visas who had not left. How many of the undetected people were being dealt with? Those undetected sometimes owned property and worked in the country. Nothing was being done to create ways of detecting these people. He highlighted the recent catastrophe in George, Western Cape, where a building fell on workers. Illegal, undocumented foreigners had been contracted to build the building. Nothing had been done about the matter. How, on a practical level, could the impact of illegal immigration be quantified at the borders? The Patriotic Alliance had slept at the border, and during a three-day period, the border was wide open, with people coming and going as they pleased. What was being done about undetected persons not entering through ports of entry? How could these people be detected as there were many of them? 

Mr Sauls asked about the employment equity targets of the DHA and the BMA. He wanted to see a comparison of the targets and the actual data.

Ms M Modise-Mpya (ANC) said she would like the Committee to deliberate on the report at another time, so that it could thoroughly engage with the presentations. The Committee had not been able to review the presentations adequately prior to the meeting.

Ms Modise-Mpya noted and appreciated the progress made in relation to visas. The Sixth Committee’s Legacy Report and the Minister’s priorities would serve as a guide on how things would progress.

Law enforcement operations were a critical function. She asked if the DHA could provide a detailed plan on how these operations would be implemented.

Ms Modise-Mpya said that gross under-funding compromised the security of the country. The Minister and Deputy Minister had to deal with this issue. The underfunding was a serious concern.

It was concerning that 98 percent was allocated to CoE. How would the BMA perform its functions with the remaining two per cent? 

She was concerned about the 400 young recruits. How would these recruits be spread across the border? Would they only be stationed on the land border or would they extend to the coastal and maritime borders?

The Chairperson thanked the members for their engagement. Time was a major issue. He invited the DHA and BMA to respond and indicated that the Committee could deliberate on issues at a later stage.

Responses

BMA response

Commissioner Masiapato thanked Mr Mogale for supporting the need for further budget allocation to the BMA.

He said the BMA’s establishment coincided with the budget cuts in government. Money related to the CoE could not be changed. The budget followed the functions, and the functions followed the people. It was unfortunate that the budget allocation was problematic for goods and services. It was a problem because other budgets were being run in departments and in the ports. The budget had never been directly split to indicate what had been allocated to the ports. The BMA was in a situation where people came to the BMA with, for example, cell phones that the DHA funded. At the point of transition, it was agreed that the cell phones should not be cut, but they had been. The BMA now had to finance the cell phones but there was no budget. The only way to solve this issue was to allocate more money to the BMA. The President invoked Section 97 and moved functions into the BMA. This meant that the budget had to be transferred as well. The majority of the budget for goods and services came from Home Affairs.

In terms of the border coverage by the BMA, South Africa had 71 ports of entry, of which 52 were land. The BMA was present at all 52 land ports of entry. There were ten international airports and the BMA was present at all 10. There were nine seaports, and the BMA operated all nine of them. The BMA had full coverage in all entry ports.

The BMA Act stated that over and above working in the ports of entry, the BMA also operated 10km from internationally recognised border lines into the Republic. This space was called the Border Reinforcement Area. The BMA was expected to be present 10km from the borderline into the Republic. It was not close to fulfilling this. It identified vulnerable segments and deployed to those segments. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was assisting in performing oversight in other segments. Approximately 15 percent of the segments were being overseen by BMA, and the SANDF oversaw 85 percent. The SANDF was securing the country’s territorial integrity, and the BMA was meant to reinforce the border. Due to the capacity issues of the BMA, the SANDF was covering this space. If someone crossed the border line into the country, it was a BMA issue not a territorial issue. In cases where people did cross over illegally, the SANDF assisted in apprehending them. The BMA needed to be capacitated to fulfil this function effectively.

Regarding the people in the country who entered legally, the BMA only operated at the port of entry and the border reinforcement area. It did not work inside the country. This meant that if someone entered the country legally and overstayed, this person was the problem of the Immigration Inspectorate of the DHA. The BMA could not go into the country to seek out people who had stayed longer than permitted. In the American context, border authorities were mandated to operate within the country as well as at the border.

Regarding the coordinated system, the multi-agency approach meant that each organisation was at the port with their own system and doing its own work. When the four entities were integrated, the systems also had to be integrated. For this to happen, investment in ICT needed to be made to purchase an overall system integrator. This would allow for a shared system. As there were no funds to do this, the entities continued with the disintegrated systems. Integration would be a key priority if funds were received. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) was assisting the BMA with the integration.

In terms of funding, a multi-agency approach has been costly and inefficient. Significant savings would be likely if there was a conscious agreement to implement the integrated model. The disintegrated approach meant that each entity had its own facilities, machinery, vehicles, etc. This came at a big cost. The integrated model aimed to bring these resources under one entity.

The BMA had to employ coastal guards in the previous year. It brought in only 50 coastal guards and the coastline was 3 900km. The BMA operated in the nine seaports and 10km inland and 10km off the coast. It brought in the 50 coast guards to demonstrate that it was an area that needed to be capacitated. These coast guards were stationed at the ports and were unable to do patrols.

The BMA was engaged in the National Maritime Security Strategy. It was in constant engagement with the South African Navy. The Navy held the same responsibility for the seas as the SANDF held inland. The Navy was not responsible for border enforcement but was currently assisting the BMA with this.

Regarding the charges under Section 53 of the Immigration Act, the BMA had met with more than 50 conveyancers and a decision was made that no bus would be allowed to come in or out of the Republic unless they paid the outstanding money. There had been a lot of payment. He was unable to provide a breakdown at this point. When these buses paid, they paid both the backlog or money owed before 1 April which was meant to go to the DHA, and the money from after that which was meant to go to the BMA. He had been on the ground at Beitbridge in January 2024. Within four days, R9 million was collected. The previous Friday, the BMA had engaged with the Airlines Association of South Africa (AASA) and had discussed the charges. The BMA had not yet moved into the banning approach that was being applied inland. The BMA had indicated that AASA had to settle any outstanding amounts.

The BMA did not have the capability to gain insight or information on people who had come into the country undetected. It had procured drones, which had not yet been delivered. Once the drones were delivered, the footage of the vulnerable areas would be able to depict how many entered illegally. In vulnerable segments of the border, the BMA deployed officials who had drones and could see where people were moving. He said that at the same time that the Patriotic Alliance slept at the border, he had also been on the border. The border in Limpopo ended in the middle of the Limpopo River. From that point on, one would be in Zimbabwe. Any crossing beyond that point would be taken as a declaration of war. The BMA was therefore not able to cross. The BMA could only monitor and try to ensure that no one was ferried across illegally. Once people were brought over illegally, the  BMA could act.

The APP had to specify the target for ‘detected persons’. The BMA would ensure that persons who were detected were arrested and later deported.

Dr Masiapato said that for the BMA to run operations in December, it had borrowed officials from Home Affairs. Home Affairs then indicated that the BMA was responsible for compensating the people – the BMA had to pay for accommodation, overtime and other expenses. During the Easter period, the BMA knew it would not be feasible to use officials from Home Affairs and had taken 400 students to be deployed. Without additional funds for goods and services, the BMA would not be able to expand this deployment. Out of the 400 students, 110 were sent to Beit Bridge as it was one of the biggest and most problematic ports. Approximately 100 were taken to Limpopo. The rest of the students were split between Oshoek, Maseru Bridge, and Ficksburg. The BMA also put 29 recruits in the Special Response Team. These recruits would not be deployed in the ports but would respond if there were challenges in a particular port.

Dr Masiapato indicated that further and more detailed responses could be provided to the Committee if necessary.

DHA Response

Director-General Makhode addressed the concession on the visas. This was the third concession signed off by the Minister. It emanated from the COVID-19 period when backlogs accumulated in the processing of visas. As a result, the concession regularised people who were in the country and who had applied for a visa. There were approximately 145 000 people who had paid for visas. The DHA was willing to appear before the Committee to explain the work being done to battle the backlogs.

Regarding the critical skills visas, the DHA processed approximately 200 visas for engineers, technicians and other employees at the Koeberg Nuclear Plant in Cape Town. Critical skills visas were meant for people entering the country for work and activities supporting economic growth. The DHA did not determine the list of critical skills, it was determined by the Department of Higher Education and Training. The DHA had only published and consulted on the list.

Work was being done with the CSIR in Cape Town regarding the war on queues. Connectivity at the Wynberg branch had improved dramatically. There was a new branch in Epping where connectivity was being improved. In Tygervalley, a new office was being built that would be connected to the CSIR. The DHA was making progress in stabilising and improving the network challenges. New offices were being directly connected to the CSIR.

Regarding the Lubisi Report, the President had signed a proclamation, and these matters were handled by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The SIU was providing regular reports on the cases.

Good progress was being made on visa applications for dependents and spouses. The DHA was processing close to 2 000 applications a week. 

The matter of the Lindela Repatriation Centre was subject to investigation by the National Treasury and the Financial Intelligence Centre.

On the matter of the refugee appeals backlog, the Minister had committed to pursuing the matter.

Progress was being made regarding the issue of citizenship for naturalised South Africans. It was indicated that people were being invited to the offices. The Minister could provide further information at another stage.

The previous year, in October, in Ekurhuleni, the Minister hosted municipal managers, mayors, traditional leaders and premiers from all over the country. A plan was developed to deal with issues around illegal migration. The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) was responsible for developing by-laws to deal with some of the issues raised by Mr Sauls. CoGTA had done this and published the by-laws for public comments. There were plans to deal with the issues of illegal migration.

The DHA received R100 million to purchase buses to conduct operations. The impact was felt not only in the DHA, but across the whole of government.

In terms of employment equity targets, the DHA would be able to address this in its Annual Report.

On the question of the funding of the modernisation project, Mr Makhode said that on slide 36, it was indicated that R 786 million was allocated to the modernisation project in 2024/25, and R 767 million in 2025/26.

Mr Thulani Mavuso, Deputy Director-General (DDG): Institutional Planning and Support,  DHA, responded to the concerns about system downtime and the work being done with the CSIR. There had been significant improvement and progress. The DHA could provide further details to the Committee at the appropriate time.

He confirmed that DHA was struggling with the digitisation project. The funding was a major issue. In 2024/25, no money was allocated; the R 300 million was cut from branches. This funding was not adequate. The DHA was investigating other options to increase the amount available for the digitisation project.

One of the DHA’s biggest challenges was a lack of inspectors. In some towns, there were no inspectors. It was important for the inspectorate to be expanded. The Minister would bring a DHA Bill to the Committee. One of the critical areas of the Bill would be the employment of DHA officials. The DHA wanted to align with law enforcement agencies so that the DHA was present in operations.

Mr Mogale asked that operations and inspections start in the Western Cape. He also requested that the 2.5 million target for smart IDs be increased to 3 million.

Mr Gordon Hollamby, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), DHA, said that R12.47 million was collected in 2023/24. He noted that these figures were unaudited and there were material irregularities in 2022/23 raised by the Auditor-General (AG) which were not resolved.

Deputy Minister's remarks

Mr Njabulo Nzuza, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, referred to the incident in George. Three months before the collapse of the building, an inspection was conducted. The DHA was not able to foretell that there would be an issue. In 2019, the first inspection was done in the Waterfront area in Cape Town. Inspections were done in high-risk areas. If there were more resources, inspections could be more frequent and widespread.

The DHA was before the Committee to present the APP. A Cabinet Lekgotla was scheduled for the weekend, which would iron out the plans and address any need for changes.

The concessions signed by the Minister were not aimed at legalising illegal people in the country. These people came in with various kinds of visas and made further visa applications. Due to delays at the DHA and issues with the system, the applications could not be finalised on time. These people were in possession of renewal slips which indicated that their applications were being processed. 

On the issue of securing borders, the DHA was not going to secure them by ensuring that there was a guard at every 300 metres of the border line – this was not possible. That was why the funding of the BMA was important – it would enable the procurement of necessary infrastructure and technology that would enable border security.

It was now clear that it was not a bad idea to establish the BMA. The BMA Bill was the best idea at the time. The issue was with the funding of the BMA. Unfortunately, the budget cuts impacted the security cluster the most. The security cluster could not continue to bear the brunt of the budget cuts. For the country to grow, it was necessary to have a strong security cluster.

The BMA was meant to ensure that the borders were not porous. It was correct that people entered the country through the airports and through some corrupt means. This was the reason for the Inspectorate. This was an effort to ensure that those in the country illegally were deported.

A lot of progress has been made on the issue of queues. New offices were coming into operation. The DHA had also invested in other projects that would reduce queues significantly. It was considering a model to modernise other offices and infrastructure. The Branch Appointment Booking system has helped the issue of queues significantly. The system limited the amount of people who stood in long queues and were not seen to. This offered economic benefits to South Africans, who could book an appointment and travel for their appointment, rather than queueing multiple days without being seen. The DHA could provide further details on the progress at another stage.

Regarding South Africans who did not have IDs, there were a number of contributing factors. Some people simply did not want to have IDs. There was a societal problem that had to be dealt with in terms of parents who were not taking children for IDs. This created problems when trying to verify whether children were South African or not. The DHA was responsible for going the extra mile, which was done through late-birth registration processes.

Minister’s remarks

The Minister, Dr Schreiber, said it was encouraging that there was consensus on the issue of funding. This was the fight of both the BMA and the DHA. It was important that the DHA and the Committee make the financial case for the DHA and BMA. People did not want to invest in a country that could not secure its borders – it had economic effects. It was a security issue and an economic issue.

He highlighted the need to improve the DHA’s technology. There were huge opportunities for the DHA to ‘leapfrog’ some of the challenges, for example, by having a BMA presence at the border without necessarily having guards deployed in a certain area. It was important to direct energy toward addressing the issue of queues and system failures and unlock the potential of technology across the different functions of Home Affairs.
The DHA and the BMA had several components. The first interaction of a child or baby with the state was through Home Affairs and the last interaction of the state, at death, was with Home Affairs. The DHA dealt with very personal issues. When people had bad experiences with the DHA, it had to be taken very seriously. Security was a critical aspect of Home Affairs. The BMA had a critical role to play in security. It was also important to have inter-departmental cooperation. The economic side of this sector had been somewhat neglected, but the DHA had a big potential to create jobs for South Africans. Despite political persuasions, the need for jobs and employment could be identified as a critical issue in the country. The DHA should pursue any opportunity to stimulate economic growth. It had the opportunity to invite investment, encourage tourism, and to encourage skills transfer to South Africans to stimulate economic growth. Understanding the balance between security, economy and personal issues was important.

The Cabinet Lekgotla would address any potential policy changes and also highlight what was working. It was not necessary for a complete overhaul as there were positive aspects, but new ways of thinking could be introduced.

When addressing priorities going forward, the DHA had to consider what was impacting South Africans. This was where the issue of queues, system failures, and porous borders mattered. The DHA was committed to putting people first, and through this, it would be able to identify and address critical issues. There was also an opportunity for quick wins. The DHA had to identify areas where there was the most underperformance but the biggest demand, for example, big offices that performed poorly. Intervening in these spaces would have a massive impact on the perception of the DHA and its operations.

The international element was an important factor. South Africa needed to use the leverage it had in international institutions and demand assistance with migration issues. European countries were facing similar issues. People left South Africa for places where there were also migration issues. If these foreign countries were concerned about migration, they had to help South Africa to address the issue. South Africa mattered when it came to migration.

The Chairperson noted the reports. The Committee would deliberate on the scheduled date.

The meeting was adjourned.