Briefing by the Minister & Department on Issues of Concern in Department

HOME AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
13 November 2007
BRIEFING BY THE MINISTER & DEPARTMENT ON ISSUES OF CONCERN IN DEPARTMENT

Chairperson: Mr H Chauke (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Home Affairs Transformation Progress Report [Part 1][Part 2]

Audio recording of meeting

SUMMARY
Members met with the Minister and the Department in order to discuss a number of issues around the Department of Home Affairs and allegations in the media that had been of concern. There were four main issues raised. These included the allegations that the Deputy Minister had purchased flowers for a family member using tax payer’s funds, the findings of the Accountant General, the suspension of senior officials at the Departmental level, and the outstanding Annual Report of the Department. The Chairperson stated that the Committee felt that it should intervene on the issues as it was the Committees’ responsibility to call the Executive to account.  The Minister, as the head of the Ministry, had been invited to brief the Committee on the various issues and what was being done to address them. 

Members were also briefed on the turnaround strategy of the Department. The presentation outlined the progress that had been made to date and highlighted challenges of corruption, poor service delivery, organisational structure and information technology issues. A comprehensive transformation strategy had been designed, which was aimed at rolling out a tracking system for Identity Documents and clearing backlogs. The strategy would be divided into 14 streams. Team leaders and members would be backed up by consultants. The Department was in the final stages of phase 1 of the transformation project. The next step would be to finalise the vision and design of the new DHA, and finalise plans for phase two of the project.

Members sought clarity from the Minister on whether the firing of senior officials had affected the monitoring and control systems that were in place, and the problems around corruption arising from late registrations of birth.  Some members were unsatisfied with the explanation provided by the Minister into the firing of officials and felt that there must be details provided on the suspensions as matter was in the public domain. The issue of the flowers was clarified as a matter of principle, and the Minister confirmed that the amounts would be repaid and the message strongly sent out that the actions had been inappropriate. Members sought clarity from the Department into how many vacant posts were still outstanding, how long the turnaround team would be in existence, and on the measures that had been placed to ensure the security of stamps at the ports of entry. The Department suggested that there must be a further meeting to address the issues of corruption and outstanding matters.

The Committee adopted its oversight Report on the visit to Mbizana.

MINUTES
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
The Chairperson stated that the Minister and Departmental officials had been asked to attend the meeting to brief the Committee and to discuss various items of concern around the workings of the Ministry and Department.

The first item on the agenda was informed by a media report that the Deputy Minister was alleged to have purchased flowers with Departmental funds. The Committees’ responsibility was to call the Executive to account.  The Minister had been invited to brief the Committee on the incident and what was being done to address the matter.  The second Item dealt with the findings of the Accountant general. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) had received a disclaimer from the Auditor General (AG) and the report would help the Committee gain a clearer understanding into what the issues were. The third item was the suspension of senior officials of the Department. The Committee understood that in any Department there would be disciplinary matters, but since the suspension involved high level officials, the Committee needed to be assured that the suspensions did not in any way impact on the Department’s service delivery targets. The fourth area of concern was the Annual Report of the Department. The Committee had yet to receive an Annual Report, and had already engaged with the Auditor General on the matter.  The fifth area would be the report on the turnaround strategy for the Department and what the developments were. The same applied to the strategic plan of the Department that had not been adopted by the Committee. The Committee realized that the newly-appointed Director General would most probably ask for more time. The final item was the issue of how the Department was dealing with the refugee centres, and in this regard the Committee appreciated the interventions that had been made at the centres. However, the fact remained that some of the Centres, such as the one in Cape Town, still needed urgent attention.

Minister’s Briefing
Hon Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Home Affairs, stated that the issues regarding the refugee centres were dealt with in the turnaround strategy, which would be presented by the Director General.  It would be preferable if the report on the suspension of officials could be placed on hold until the investigations were complete.  Most of the issues that were on the agenda were matters that would be dealt with adequately, and the Director General’s presentation would provide more detail on the plans that had been implemented and what still needed to be done. The Department was happy to brief the Committee on the matters involving the turnaround strategy, and was also happy that the matters involving the recent misunderstandings between the Department and the Committee had been clarified.  This would allow the Department and the Committee to focus on the Department’s turnaround and the way forward. 

The Minister profusely apologised to the Members of the Committee for the misunderstandings around the two meetings that she had been unable to attend. At the time of the first meeting, the Minister was in Spain, and there was an agreement with the Committee that the Director General could lead a meeting in the absence of the Minister. With regard to the second meeting, an Imbizo was scheduled at the same time as the meeting with the Portfolio Committee. She would like to stress that she had simply been unable to attend, and it was not as if anyone was trying to undermine parliament.

Matters that related to the refugee reception centre and work that was being done to implement the report of the Accountant General would be addressed by the Minister. The Director General and his team would address any further issues of detail that the Committee might want to deal with thereafter. With regard to systems implemented to monitor the turnaround strategy, the presentation would provide a report on what was being done on the finance and risk management work stream.

With regard to the reported irregularities in the Deputy Minister’s office, the accounting officer had been asked to investigate the allegations concerned. An initial report arising from the investigations had been provided, and it was agreed that certain facts within the report should be further verified before it could be finalised.  With regard to the flowers, the amount in question was R1 020, and the Deputy Minister had agreed to pay back the money. With regard to the Malusi Gigaba Institute for Learning, it should be noted that in the investigations that had been made by the Auditor General, there were a number of observations made which may not necessarily refer directly to the Institute. A number of activities involving young people were convened by the Deputy Minister, and the Department was still trying to determine what was the nature of these meetings.  

In regard to the turnaround of the Department, the Minster reminded Members that on 30 June the Department made the announcement that an interdepartmental task team would be brought in to investigate systemic and service delivery weaknesses within the Department.  The Department was ushered into an era of thorough transformation and service delivery improvement. The turnaround was different from all the other turnarounds in the pasts, in that it thoroughly focused on the problems the Department had, and the challenges facing it. The Department had reverted numerous times to brief the Committee on the progress that had been made by the Task Team, as well to unveiling the turn around project.  The Ministry had also been busy with a full time dedicated team, together with officials from the Department and external expert consultants, who were busy managing 14 work streams. The project was designed in two phases. The first phase was designed to run from the beginning of June to the end of November, and it mainly focused on the re-visioning and design process of the new organisation. The second phase would then involve the new business model and the long term organisational changes. The Department was in the process of completing the first phase, and the Director General would provide information on the work that had been completed during this the first phase of the project. The Minister provided an overview on the transformation progress report, where she outlined the 14 work streams.

One of the biggest loopholes that had been identified was the late registrations of birth, where criminals would get their hands on birth certificates in order to qualify for identity documents. A directive was issued to management that this loophole be closed. In closing down the loophole, the Department sought a clear plan that would assist in identifying ways of screening South Africans who come forward to register. This late registration was the one area that had been abused.

In relation to suspension of senior members it was unclear whether the Department was to give a report into why suspension should take place. The only response would be that people had been suspended as there were investigations taking place. Other people had been appointed to fill the gaps caused by suspensions on an acting basis, so that the service delivery was not unduly affected.

Discussion
Mr F Beukman (ANC) protested about the venue provided and stated that the matter should be brought to the attention of the relevant Parliamentary officials. 

Mr Beukman said that the Department should be commended on their appointment of the new Director General, which was a sound appointment. The Department however had dismissed its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) during the financial year. He asked for clarity whether the firing of the CFO had affected the monitoring and control systems that were in place.

The Minister replied that the Department had appointed an acting CFO, who did the same work, and who was on a 6-month contract. There were many reasons why the CFO was suspended, and many of the problems regarding the CFO’s inability to perform certain tasks were raised by the Auditor General. The Department was still looking at a whole range of issues with regard to the financial shortcomings, and needed to perform proper investigations.

The Chairperson stated that the Committee was seeking clarity on the systems that had been put in place in terms of monitoring. The Auditor General stated that the Department had no senior officials responsible for finalising the Annual Report. Part of the problem in the past had been the weaknesses in the internal controls, and the Committee needed to be assured that the suspension did not lead to a crisis.

The Minister reiterated that there was an Acting CFO. She added that the Department had brought in someone from outside to deal with the matters that had been identified.

Mr M Swart (DA) referred to issues of finances and the suspension of officials, stating that details must be provided on the suspensions, as these matters were in the public domain. There also needed to be clarity into how many top-level officials had been suspended, and how it impacted on the Department’s finances. Clarity should also be provided on when the final Annual Report would be provided and whether there would be a disclaimer. There should also be details given on the exact extent of the late registration of births and what was the impact.
The Minister responded that there had been four officials had been suspended and that the Director General would elaborate more on the matter.

With regard to the late registration of births, this matter had been going on for a long time, and there were many instances where illegal immigrants were caught in possession of birth certificates. One of the many challenges faced was the lack of standard operating procedures, and the Department had discovered widespread fraud in late registration. A decision was therefore taken to close the procedures.

Mr Mavuso Msimang, Director General, DHA, replied that four officials had been suspended and allegations against them related to misconduct and corruption. 

With regard to the Annual Report, the AG’s report would indicate that there was a strike which was responsible for part of the delay. The AG had raised observations and the Department was asked to comment on the findings. When the time came to make the comments, the AG had sent low level officials to the meeting. The Department had then rescheduled the meeting to 15 November.
 
Ms I Mars (IFP) added that the registration of birth seemed to be a major problem. She stated that UCT Child Unit had established that there were some child-headed households who could not receive grants because the head of the household or the members were without birth certificates.

Mr M Lowe (DA) sought clarity on the issue of the flowers that were purchased with taxpayers’ money by the Deputy Minister. He stated that it was not an issue that R1 020 was spent on flowers, but was rather an issue of whether the Deputy Minister was allowed to do such a thing. The Department should provide more information on the matter, especially as there were further allegations that the amount spent on the flowers far exceeded R1 020. Information should also be provided on the issues raised regarding flight costs and hotel accommodation by Departmental staff, and on the Institute for Leadership, which was an initiative that never got off the ground.

The Minister replied that the figure provided was R1 020, and in hindsight the Deputy Minister accepted that he should not have sent flowers to his partner. He had come forward and taken responsibility for what he had done, and had agreed to pay back the money.

With regard to the Institute, the Deputy Minister had indicated that it was an idea that was never realised. Sponsorship was not an issue that was to be dealt with by the Department, as it was not money from the Department. It had been established that there had been meetings of young people that were convened by the Deputy Minister, and the Department was still trying to determine what the nature of the meetings was. The Deputy Minister had made it clear that the meetings had nothing to do with the Institute that never came into existence.

The Minister stated that the issue of the flights and accommodation had not been finalised.

The Chairperson asked whether there was a specific timeframe for the completion of investigations. He stated that the issue regarding the flowers should be brought to a close, and that the Executive needed to focus on implementing systems that would prevent the situation from happening again. The Committee had the responsibility to monitor Executive action, in order to prevent the abuse of tax payer’s money.

The Minister reiterated that the amount of R1 020 was the figure that had been confirmed to her. The sending of flowers was allowed; but there needed to be an appreciation as to where it was proper to spend taxpayers’ money.

The Chairperson asked Mr Lowe to elaborate on the allegations that the amount was greater than R1 020.

Mr Lowe responded that it gave him no pleasure to pursue something that seemed to be petty. However, it was a matter of principle and the manner that it has been brought to light by the press made it seem as if there was some sort of cover-up. The Deputy Minister had remained silent and there was no information coming forward from him.
 
The Chairperson stated that the Committee must accept and be satisfied with the assurances of the Minister that the Deputy Minister had paid back the funds. The Committee should, however, send a strong message to the Department that this kind of matter should not happen again.

The Minister stated that when the report was received, an inquiry had to be conducted through the Director General. There was still a need to determine whether the amount had been paid back. The Deputy Minister had appeared before the Committee twice before, and he had not been asked to answer for himself.  Information into whether the amount exceeded R1 020 must be provided before the matter could be investigated. At present all the Department could do was to send a strong message on the acceptable ways in which to use taxpayers’ money.

Mr K Morwamoche (ANC) sought clarity on the filling of vacant posts and the steps that had been taken to address the matter. He stated that there were still ports of entry that were manned by police despite the fact that new immigration laws had been passed. He asked also for information on the outstanding penalties that had to be paid by the Department, and information on what the penalties were.

The Minister replied that there were immigration officers at all ports of entry. There was an interdepartmental team that operated at the borders, and there was not a single border that did not have one or two officers present. It should be noted that the Department was trying to prioritise areas where skills were required.

The outstanding penalties related to the penalties from airlines, and this issue was a very difficult and tricky matter.

Mr Msimang spoke to the issue of the unfilled posts. The turnaround strategy affected the shape of the organisation in the future. The Department had identified 291 posts that needed to be filled, and had appointed a specialist in Information Technology to head up the Technology Department. As part of the way forward the Department was still looking at implementing the smart card system, and was performing a feasibility study which would be finished before the end of the financial year. It had been established that the continued use of the identity book (ID) was prone to corruption, and the smart cards were the way forward.

The Chairperson stated that initial launch of the smart card idea involved a whole number of Departments, and thus he asked for clarity on the current situation and which Department was responsible for the harnessing of the card.
 
Mr Msimang replied that the DHA would be responsible as it had one of the biggest databases that stored large amounts of data. The Department needed to see whether it would be possible to link the card system into the database, and the information on the card would also be of interest to other departments.

Mr W Skhosana (ANC) stated that it was good to see that steps were being taken to address the issue of the flowers purchased by the Deputy Minister. However, he asked if the matter was ever referred to the Public Protector.

Mr Morwamoche stated that he would not like to see the Portfolio Committees being allowed to be used as a platform for complainants.

The Chairperson summarised that the Minister had reported that the Deputy Minister would pay back the money for the flowers, and there would be further investigations into the issue of flights. Once these investigations were completed, the Department would hopefully present a report to the Committee. The Committee should send a firm message that it was unacceptable that funds were being misused. The Minister was called in her capacity as head of the Ministry.

The Chairperson noted that clarity must still be provided on the issues raised by the Accountant General in his report. The Committee should receive a full report on all the funds that had not been accounted for and this report must be made available to members. The Committee believed very strongly that issues that were raised by the Auditor and Accountant Generals were to be highlighted to the Committee in order to try and help the Department move forward.

The Minister responded that it appeared that there were assumptions that the Accountant General had performed a forensic audit of the Department. The Department had in fact merely requested the Accountant General to assist in unpacking the report by the Auditor General. The Department had work streams in place that were implemented to focus into the concerns raised by the Accountant General. There had been no auditing done, just information and proposals on how to rectify the situation. The Department was not trying to keep information away from the Portfolio Committee, and would report on outstanding issues.

The Chairperson stated that the Committee still needed to have the full report by the Accountant General.

The Minister stated that the Chairperson seemed to be implying that the Ministry was keeping the report away from the Portfolio Committee. The Ministry must protect its integrity. There were no investigations. There were merely recommendations into how systems could be improved and how the Department could best deal with challenges.

Mr Morwamoche sought clarity on the process of asylum seekers who had been detained and said that it was important for the Minister to provide guidelines on what should happen after 90 days.
 
The Minister responded that the people detained were not asylum seekers, but undocumented migrants. There had been instances where some of the embassies would not give their services to verify whether these migrants had come from the embassy’s country.  The problem of deportation was that such migrants refused to disclose their nationalities. There had been instances where individuals were discovered to have been at the centre for over six months.

The Chairperson stated that there was an instance where someone had starved himself to death outside the Barrack Street office. The Embassy had identified the individual as a Zimbabwean, however the embassy was unable to help. That was one of the many problems experienced with deportation.

The Minister stated that there was a joint commission established, and if Zimbabweans were confirmed as legal citizens, then there could be discussions on how they could be helped. The Department interacted with governments in order to find the best solutions and suggestions as to how to help.
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Mr Lowe thanked the Minister for addressing the issues in an honest manner. He assured the Minister that she had the full support of the Committee and looked forward to engaging with her again. He would like to have an assurance from the DHA that the vacancies would be filled.

The Minister stated that National Treasury had provided the Department with great support, and had allocated some funds for the turnaround. Through various processes, consultants had been brought in to stabilise the Department, and in each of the work streams there were representatives from the Department who worked with the consultants. The Department had also set up a call centre, although there were some difficulties with it, as the Department had to convince National Treasury to allocate funds. This Centre should be up and running by end of November.

Progress of Transformation: DHA Briefing
Mr Msimang briefed Members on the transformation progress report.  The presentation outlined the progress that had been made to date, and the way forward. The presentation also highlighted some of the various challenges, which included corruption, poor service delivery, organisational structure and information technology issues. It was stated that the Department’s main objective was to transform the Department into a modern and efficient organisation that was responsive to the needs of all citizens and visitors to the country.  A comprehensive strategy to transform the Department had been designed, which was aimed at rolling out a tracking system for Identity Documents and clearing up a number of backlogs. The strategy would be divided into 14 streams, which would include track and trace, ID production process, refugee matters and permits, contract review and finance and risk clean-up. This highly collaborative effort was to be overseen by the Minister and over 70 departmental staff members, who would be participating as sponsors. Consultants would be supporting the team leaders and team members for the project. The Department was in the final stages of phase 1 of the transformation project. The next step would be to finalise the vision and design of the new DHA, and finalise plans for phase two of the project.

Discussion
Mr Beukman stated that the Department’s presentation spoke to budget adjustments and showed that there was a lot of progress made. He added that he would support any function that would strengthen the Department.

Mr Morwamoche sought clarity on the adjusted estimated expenditure. He stated that according to a recent report, vacant funded posts were “the order of the day” at the Department’s head office. Clarity should be provided on how many vacant posts were still outstanding.

Mr Morwamoche noted that there were two cases identified where the stamp number of the official did not match the stamp register at the ports of entry. In one instance it had been reported that 24 stamps had been missing at OR Tambo International Airport. Clarity should be provided on the cases recorded to the ports of entry that were not submitted to head office.

Mr Msimang replied that he was unsure about the variance of the adjusted estimates, and would need to look at whether the two systems spoke to each other. There were still unfunded positions and some of the positions needed to be upgraded. It was also agreed that a certain level of professionalism needed to be projected.

With regard to OR Tambo, the Department was under the impression that it was to appear before the Committee to provide a progress report, and the rampant corruption was not part of this report. If a report was required on the extent of the corruption, then the Department could be happy to help on another occasion.
 
The Chairperson noted the response and stated that the Committee would need to raise all of the issues at an engagement next year. The issue around the stamps was a problem that seriously needed to be addressed. The Department however should provide clarity on what controls had been put in place to monitor the safekeeping of stamps.

Mr Msimang replied that the anti corruption unit was over stretched. The Department however urged people who came across instances of ill discipline to report on these matters, so that the Department could work out a way forward.
 
Mr Skhosana also sought clarity on the vacant posts, and whether these really needed to be filled if efficient production was taking place. Clarity should also be provided on how long the turnaround team would be in existence.

Mr Msimang replied that there were a large number of posts that remained unfilled. The Department was hesitant to fill posts until there was clarity on what was happening. There would however be situations where positions would be required and other posts would have to be removed. The numbers were not static and the situation was fluid. The Department was grateful that the Task Team had been established and was moving forward. There had been completion of the first six months of operations by the Task Team, and the restructuring of DHA would take longer than a year.

The Chairperson stated that the Committee needed to understand various processes, such as the work done by the Task Team. He proposed that the Committee convene next year and deal with the issues stream by stream. The Committee would also seek clarity on what the relationship was between DHA and the State Information Technology Agency. The issues pertaining to the refugee centres also needed to be urgently addressed. All one could say about the Cape Town centre was that there was a lack of management in the offices. The refugee issue was a global problem, however the situation in South Africa had become particularly topical and it reflected negatively on the country. The Committee also needed to look into the Accountant General’s report together with the Annual Report in order to attend to the matters in a coordinated way, and determine the way forward.

Mr Malusi Gigaba, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, thanked the Portfolio Committee on the oversight function that they continued to perform. One of the many challenges faced was the turn around of the Department. It was important for the Portfolio Committee to bear in mind that the restructuring process was key to turning matters around. The Department also needed to optimise the output of existing staff instead of bringing in new people. The support provided to the Department and the executive by the Committee was very much appreciated.

Adoption of Oversight Report
Members unanimously adopted the report on the Committee’s oversight visit to Mbizana, with amendments, and the Chairperson stated that the report would be sent to parliament once the amendments had been effected.

The meeting was adjourned.