Report of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on an oversight visit to the Office of the Department of Home Affairs in Barrack Street, Cape Town, dated 16 September 2014

1. Introduction

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs conducted an oversight visit to the main office of the Department of Home Affairs in Barrack Street, Cape Town on 26 August 2014. The Committee was accompanied by Mr Mkuseli Apleni, Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs, Mr Thulani Mavuso, the Chief Operations Officer and Adv. Tsietsi Sebelemetja, the Director for Legal Drafting. At the office, the Committee was welcomed by Mr Ignatius Mokgele, the Office Manager and Mr Yusuf Simon, the Western Cape Provincial Manager.

The objective of the visit was to assess:

· The queue management system;

· The Live Capture functionality for passports and Smart ID Cards;

· Clients satisfaction and service delivery, and

· Asylum seeker management.

2. Delegation

African National Congress (ANC)

Mr DM Gumede

Ms DD Raphuti

Mr BA Nesi

Ms NA Mnisi

Democratic Alliance (DA)

Mr MH Hoosen

Mr AM Figlan

Parliamentary Staff

Mr Eddy Mathonsi – Committee Secretary

Mr Adam Salmon – Committee Researcher

Ms Nandipha Maxhengwana – Committee Assistant

Mr Evans Malatswa Molepo – Communication Officer

3. Barrack Street Large Office

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs was welcomed by Mr Yusuf Simon, the Western Cape Provincial Manager and Mr Ignatius Mokgele, the Office Manager. Mr Ignatius Mokgele took the delegation to the ground floor. He pointed out that the Committee visited on a day referred to as “Super Tuesday”. It was called “Super Tuesday” because the elderly had access to free transport by bus and train on a Tuesday so many senior citizens visit the office on those days.

Mr Mokgele explained that the first issue of the Smart ID Card to 16 year olds and persons who are 60 years or older was free. He further explained the process of applying for the Smart ID Card which was much simpler compared to the process that was used to apply for an ID Book. According to Mr Mokgele, an applicant would first pay R140 at the cashier and return to the entrance desk to be given a number which would appear on the monitors. If the person was exempted from paying the R140, he or she would get a number at the entrance. As soon as the person was called using that number, that applicant would go to a booth for their photo and fingerprint scans to be taken electronically. Thereafter, the applicant would wait to be called for the application to be done electronically.

The application process required no paperwork as it was done electronically. Mr Mokgele pointed out that if the applicants could not be assisted on the day, they could return the following day when they would be prioritized on the queue management system, so that they could be served first. Once the application was completed, the applicant would be sent an SMS informing him or her that the application had been received. As soon as the completed ID card was delivered to the office from Pretoria, the applicant was again notified via SMS that the card was ready for collection. The old ID book was then cancelled by punching holes on the ID numbers. The elderly and persons with disabilities were helped on the ground floor and therefore there was no need for them to use a lift or stairs.

The process followed for the application of the passport was the same as of that of the Smart ID Card. The department would therefore soon discontinue the issuing of temporary passports. This would be done because it would be quick to issue out the passport.

Mr Mokgele reported that the ground floor and first floor would be renovated from 1 September 2014. The ground floor had three booths which were used for the application of the Smart ID Card. He reported that in addition to the three booths, there were eight counters for the processing of Smart ID Cards. After the renovation, the department plans to have 25 counters.

While the delegation was doing a walk-about, they realised that the toilets were not working. Mr Ignatius Mokgele responded that members of the public at times vandalised the toilets. He indicated that a service provider had even once found a child’s trousers blocking a toilet.

The delegation was taken to another floor where immigration services were processed. It was reported that the office had 19 newly appointed inspectorate staff. The office had 106 employees in total. It was reported that illegal immigrants were detained at Pollsmoor Prison. The department had an agreement with the Department of Correctional Services. This was done because the Barrack Street Large Office did not have holding cells. People who had been detained at Pollsmoor were transferred to Lindela Repatriation Centre near Krugersdorp in Gauteng for the deportation. The office was unable to provide the specific cost of keeping illegal immigrants in detention. The immigrants were kept for a maximum of two weeks before being transferred to Lindela Repatriation Centre.

It was reported that on average 15 – 20 marriages between South Africans and foreign nationals were investigated each month. It was further reported that the processing of ID and passport applications for refugees was moved from its temporary location at Custom House on the Foreshore in Cape Town to the Barrack Street Large Office. This was a temporary arrangement and this function was in the process of being moved to the Bellville Office. The majority of the people applying for ID and passports were Somalians. The advantage was that the Bellville office had more sufficient shelter as compared to the Barrack Street Large Office. It was reported that approximately 20 passports and 30 refugee IDs were applied for every day. As of July 2014, there were 2 085 uncollected refugee IDs and the province had approximately 200 000 asylum seekers. There was no track and trace functionality for refugee IDs and passports.

The office indicated that it needed an additional 12 computers, five symbol barcode scanners, five biometric capture devices for fingerprints, five Gemalto smart card readers, three signature pads and five Cogent fingerprint scanners.

It was further reported that there were occasions when people could not apply for the Smart ID Card because the internet service was down. The downtime was mostly caused by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). The other challenge was the high volumes of people who visit the office on Tuesdays.

The Committee was impressed with the efficiency in the application of the Smart ID Card and encouraged the office to keep improving.

The Committee would make a follow – up visit within three months.

4. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the oversight the Committee recommends the following:

• The Minister of Home Affairs should ensure that the roll-out of the Live Capture functionality at other offices of the department was done as soon as possible. This would limit the number of people coming to Barrack Street Large Office, especially on Tuesdays.

• The Minister should ensure that the main office in Barrack Street was sufficiently capacitated, specifically for the roll-out of the Smart ID Card.

• The Minister should meet with the SITA to reduce internet downtimes, given that many clients have to travel some long distances to come to the office to apply for the Smart ID Cards.

• The Minister should ensure that during renovations at the Barrack Street Office, there should be little or no disruptions to the services rendered to our people.

Report to be considered