Question NW833 to the Minister of Home Affairs
17 September 2019 - NW833
McGluwa, Mr JJ to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(1)Whether he has been informed of the various reports stating that the National Treasury is seeking an initial budget allocation cut to his department of 5% for the 2020-21 financial year, followed by a 6% and 7% cut for the following two financial years; if so, (2) whether the financial cuts will affect the provision of essential services to South Africans by his department; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether the financial cuts will result in (a) any jobs losses and/or (ii) the closure of any Home Affairs offices in the Republic; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. Yes, the requirement to present compulsory budget baseline reduction scenarios is set out in the MTEF Technical Guidelines 2020 issued by National Treasury in June 2019. In addition, the CFO presented the compulsory budget baseline reduction scenarios at the Departmental priority setting workshop held on 13 and 14 August 2019.
2. It is logical that when there are budget cuts, it will impact on the capacity to certain services.
(3)(a-b) Budget cuts will have a negative impact on the filling of some posts, but we are not envisioning closure of any Home Affairs office.
END