Questions and Replies

Reply:

1 (a) No

On 7 October 2016, the Department instituted a rescission application under Case No: 38429/13, as it contends that the court order herein was erroneously sought and erroneously granted. The Cuban parents’ contention that their child was denied Cuban citizenship is incorrect and the Department will show this, with the aid of the Cuban Embassy.

The State Attorney: Pretoria has been having difficulties in translating the Cuban Amended Immigration Laws and their Citizenship Rules, which are pivotal for the Department’s case. Once this is done, the Department will then file its Replying Affidavit (to the parents’ Answering Affidavit, which is in reply to the Department’s rescission application). Thereafter, the matter will be set down for hearing at court.

1(b) NO

The Department is working with the Department of Public Works to get the process of identifying a suitable place/office for the re-opening of the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office. The Department has engaged DPW Western Cape Regional Office mid December 2017 advising them of the judgment. Following internal processes, the Department wrote to DPW Director – General, on 22 January 2018 submitting the initial needs assessment for office accommodation.

Subsequently, the DPW responded asking for corrections and adjustments. The Department submitted the final needs assessment to the DPW during February 2018 and their Head Office has issued a procurement instruction to their Regional Office in Cape Town.

The Department of Public Works provided a project execution plan on 6 April 2018 whereby the estimated time of occupation is 1 October 2018, which will allow the Department to start operating as soon as possible after the handover.

Further to the above, the office continues to provide existing clients with services at the current office accommodation.

Operational Budget

 

The Department has determined that the centre will be able to function within the ambits of the current base line allocation.

 

Personnel

The Cape Town RRO is currently operating at 37.5% of the approved establishment. The funding and filing of key posts is being prioritized. Considering the reduction in volumes the Department is of the opinion that the funding and filling of posts should not delay the opening of the office once suitable accommodation has been secured.

IT Equipment

5 fully equipped RRO computers have been procured and installed at the current CTRRO to provide capacity for the capturing of newcomers. The replacement of other computer equipment will only be done once occupation of permanent accommodation has been taken.

2(a) and (b) The Institution of the Department’s rescission application has suspended the operation of the initial court order.

2 (c) The Department will re-open the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office as soon as DPW has finalised all the necessary in the allocation of suitable office accommodation.

2(d) The Constitutional Court Order was received by the Department on 14 December 2018. The Department wrote to Scalabrini in January 2018 requesting an extension to file its report and the Department has already submitted two reports to the Scalabrini Centre detailing the steps taken in compliance with Constitutional Court.

3 The Cuban child was granted a permanent residence permit on 22 April 2016.

Reply:

The department and entities responded as follows:

(i0 Department of Home Affairs

(a) Three (3)

(b)(i) See schedule attached as Annexure A.

(b)(ii) – (iii) See schedule attached as Annexure A.

(ii) Government Printing Works

(a) Fifteen (15)

(b)(i) See schedule attached as Annexure B.

(b)(ii) – (iii) See schedule attached as Annexure B.

(b) Electoral Commission

(i) Eighty (80)

(i) See schedule attached as Annexure C.

(b)(ii) – (iii) See schedule attached as Annexure C.

Reply:

(a) No

(b) No

(c) No

(d) No

There is no legal provision for bonuses as part of the conditions of service of Commissioners.

(i) Not applicable

(ii) Not applicable

(iii) Not applicable

(iv) Not applicable

Reply:

The Visa Adjudication System (VAS) is not designed to keep statistics according to company names. The system keeps records of applicants’ details in a unique identification code, commonly known as a reference number. Only through these details would the Department be in a position to retrieve the original application and explain each decision.

Reply:

1. No, the Minister of Home Affairs was not aware or informed of negotiations between the parties mentioned by the Honourable Member.

2. Not applicable.

Reply:

(1) The special voting dispensation on the provincial ballot is regulated in terms of section 33A of the Electoral Act 73 of 1998. This aspect of the electoral scheme was passed into law by the Parliament of the Republic ahead of the 2014 general elections. The key consideration of Parliament is that there is no nexus between ordinary residence outside of the Republic and a province inside of the Republic. Crucially, the nexus on the national ballot is established by the subsistence of citizenship on the part of those ordinarily resident outside of the Republic.

(2)(a) There is no legal opinion that the Commission procured on this matter.

(2)(b) The relevant extract of the Commission meeting is hereto attached is attached as Annexure A.

ANNEXURE A

 

EXCERPT FROM COMMISSION MEETING OF 21 SEPTEMBER 2012

After a deliberation on the above, the meeting APPROVED the following recommendations from the Committee:

 

1. South African citizens applying to vote abroad should be allocated to the national voters’ roll at the last known physical address of the voter in South Africa.
2. That South African citizens abroad should be required to produce both a valid South African passport and a valid South Africa identity document when registering abroad.
3. That no provincial ballot will be issued to overseas voters and other voters casting their vote outside their province of ordinary residence.
4. That voting abroad will only take place in South African missions.

The meeting AGREED that the Chairperson should approach the Leader of Government Business in Parliament.

Reply:

a) No, according to the information on the National Population Register (NPR), Ms Shivani S Gupta, the holder of this ID number: 700510 1418 186, has never been issued with a South African passport.

However, the same person, with ID number: 700510 1418 087 has two active passports as follows:

PASSPORT NO	(a)(i) DATE OF APPLICATION	(a)(iii) DATE OF ISSUE	DATE OF EXPIRY	STATUS	(a)(ii) OFFICE OF APPLICATION
M00235637	15/11/2017	15/11/2017	14/11/2027	Active	Pretoria
M00161089	06/10/2015	14/10/2015	13/10/2025	Active	Centurion

b) Shivani Gupta has been issued with a total of two passports which are active.

NB> The passport issuance is regulated by the South African Passports and Travel Document Act, Act No 04 of 1994 and its Regulations. In terms of the Act, a person can only be issued with a South African passport if he or she is in possession of a birth certificate or an Identity document bearing the identity document number of a citizen. The Gupta family member in question who is in possession of South African passports have been issued with South African Identity documents with identity document numbers of citizens.

The Regulations 2(5) allow the Department to issue a second South African passport under circumstances listed in Regulations 8(3), 8(4) and 8(5).

The reasons for applying for a second passport, amongst others, are either the passport is full, expired or the passport is sent for visa applications. The passport application system has a facility that allows applicants to indicate the urgency of their applications.

Reply:

a) Yes, the information is as follows:

	(i)	(ii)	(iii)
PASSPORT No.	DATE OF APPLICATION	OFFICE OF APPLICATION	DATE OF ISSUE	DATE OF EXPIRY	STATUS
M00234326	2017/11/03	Pretoria	2017/11/03	2027/11/02	Active
M00234360	2017/11/03	Pretoria	2017/11/03	2027/11/02	Active
M00139003	2015/02/09	Centurion	2015/02/17	2025/02/16	Passport pages are full
M00138156	2015/02/04	Centurion	2015/02/05	2025/02/04	Passport pages are full
M00069726	2012/09/13	Abroad	2012/09/14	2022/09/13	Cancelled
M00006520	2009/07/13	Pretoria	2009/07/27	2019/07/26	Cancelled
462064042	*Not system registered (manual registration process)	Centurion	2006/07/27	2016/07/26	Expired
01584182 (Temporary Passport)	*Not system registered (manual registration process)	Centurion	2006/08/11	2007/08/10	Expired

*It should be noted that some information of passport applications done prior to 2008 is not detailed due to the manual registration process, previously decentralised to front offices for registration of applications.

b) According to the information on the National Population Register (NPR), Rajesh Kumar Gupta with ID Number: 7208056345087, has been issued with eight (8) passports in total.

NB> The passport issuance is regulated by the South African Passports and Travel Document Act, Act No 04 of 1994 and its Regulations. In terms of the Act, a person can only be issued with a South African passport if he or she is in possession of a birth certificate or an Identity document bearing the identity document number of a citizen. The Gupta family member in question who is in possession of South African passports have been issued with South African Identity documents with identity document numbers of citizens.

The Regulations 2(5) allow the Department to issue a second South African passport under circumstances listed in Regulations 8(3), 8(4) and 8(5).

The reasons for applying for a second passport, amongst others, are either the passport is full, expired or the passport is sent for visa applications. The passport application system has a facility that allows applicants to indicate the urgency of their applications.

The System did not register the date of application for the passports that were applied for in 2008 and earlier.

Reply:

a) Yes, the information is as follows:

	(i)	(ii)	(iii)
PASSPORT NO	DATE OF APPLICATION	OFFICE OF APPLICATION	DATE OF ISSUE	DATE OF EXPIRY	STATUS
M00154401	2015/07/31	Centurion	2015/07/31	2025/07/30	Active
M00081294	2013/03/15	Pretoria	2013/03/19	2023/03/18	Active
477486059	*Not system registered (manual registration process)	Centurion	2008/06/05	2018/06/04	Passport pages full
448254276	*Not system registered (manual registration process)	SAHC New Delhi	2004/09/29	2014/09/28	Expired
437252898	*Not system registered (manual registration process)	Randburg	2002/11/04	2012/11/03	Expired

*It should be noted that some dates of passport applications done prior to 2008 is not detailed due to manual registration process, previously decentralised to front offices for registration of applications.

(b) According to the information on the National Population Register (NPR), Atul Kumar Gupta with ID Number: 6806145105080, has been issued with five (5) passports.

NB> The passport issuance is regulated by the South African Passports and Travel Document Act, Act No 04 of 1994 and its Regulations. In terms of the Act, a person can only be issued with a South African passport if he or she is in possession of a birth certificate or an Identity document bearing the identity document number of a citizen. The Gupta family member in question who is in possession of South African passports has been issued with South African Identity document with identity document number of citizen.

The Regulations 2(5) allow the Department to issue a second South African passport under circumstances listed in Regulations 8(3), 8(4) and 8(5).

The reasons for applying for a second passport, amongst others, are either the passport is full, expired or the passport is sent for visa applications. The passport application system has a facility that allows applicants to indicate the urgency of their applications.

The System did not register the date of application for the passports that were applied for in 2008 and earlier

Reply:

Payment of legal fees for the Department and the State in general is made by the offices of the State Attorneys, therefore, the Department, like other institutions of State, does not have the mandate to directly effect legal fees.

However, the Department has, upon receipt of this question, requested the Office of the State Attorney in question to provide details on the legal costs incurred on the Fireblade matter. The State Attorney responded to the Department’s request and advised that it has only attended to the processing of the payment of fees in respect of the Department’s legal team, which amounted to R874 199-25 thus far.

 

Reply:

(a) Critical skills visa received

Year	Total Received
2015/16	3 852
2016/17	6 304
2017/18	6 697

(b)(i)&(ii) Critical skills visa approved and rejected

Year	Approved	Rejected
2015/16	1 904	1 948
2016/17	3 032	3 272
2017/18	3 697	3 000

c) The average turnaround time for critical skills visas is 4 weeks.

Reply:

a) Indeterminate in the context of the response to parliamentary question 528 means that the Commission had, as at that time of the response, not concluded its review and made determinations relating to voting procedures and requirements for voters outside of the Republic.

b) The Commission has submitted the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill to me. The process is to procure Cabinet approval and expeditious introduction into the parliamentary process.

Reply:

The Electoral Commission responded as follows:

1. The Electoral Commission has no policy of recruiting members of SADTU or members of any specific organization. To obviate possibilities of bias in the electoral process. The Commission has co-developed criteria for the recruitment of electoral staff with the National Party Liaison Committee (a committee comprising all parties represented in the National Assembly). The criteria provide, amongst others, the following elements:

• a) In the last five years the applicant must not have held political office or been a candidate in an election or have been politically active for a political party or campaigning for a political party.
• b) In the last five years the applicant must not have been elected to office in an organisation that has party political affiliations or aims.

2. The criteria are intended to exclude persons who hold active party political office. The ultimate aim is to eliminate political bias and partiality on the part of electoral staff. Additionally, the proposed staff for appointment is presented to Municipal Party Liaison Committees for screening with a view to give parties an opportunity to object to the inclusion of persons with known active political involvement.

3. To exclude applicants on the basis of membership of a trade union would constitute discriminatory practice and be open to constitutional and legal challenge. Expenses in such litigation may result in wasteful expenditure.

4. The Commission has over the last few elections being proactively recruiting unemployed young persons. Concomitant with this there has been a progressive reduction in the number of teachers employed. The attached tables present figures relative to the use of young persons as well as the teachers per election:

AGE ANALYSIS	TOTAL STAFF RECRUITED	35 and Below	% Youth
2009 NATIONAL ELECTIONS	201 328	120 882	60%
2011 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS	198 227	120 836	61%
2014 NATIONAL ELECTIONS	213 318	126 091	59%
2016 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS	207 015	123 873	60%
TEACHERS	TOTAL STAFF RECRUITED	Teachers	%
2009 NATIONAL ELECTIONS	201 328	35 544	18%
2011 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS	198 227	27 675	14%
2014 NATIONAL ELECTIONS	213 318	24 065	11%
2016 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS	207 015	18 918	9%

Reply:

1. The Electoral Commission (the Commission), can confirm that there was an investigation that was conducted by the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit in relation to the Public Protector’s Report. The Electoral Commission can also confirm that the Specialised Commercial Unit had finalised the investigation and indicated that there was no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution.

(a)-(c) The details of the report to the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, as well as the person to whom such report was filed, including the complainant in this matter is currently unknown to the Commission. The Commission has in the meantime requested such information from the Gauteng Regional Head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, and will furnish such information as soon as it is in receipt of same.

(d) The case number is Sunnyside CAS 738/09/2014.

Reply:

a) The application is currently at its final phase of adjudication.

b) Permanent residence applications in the category of Relatives or Spouses undergo detailed assessment, hence the delay in their finalising.

c) The application will be finalised on or before 30 April 2018.

Reply:

No. The matter was amicably resolved on 20 February 2018.

Reply:

The question was referred to the Electoral Commission which responded as follows:

The Allocation of seats in a local council is dealt with in the Municipal Structures Act, Act 117 of 1998. The existing legislation in fact deals with excessive seats. The legislation however does not provide a formula for the recalculation of the remaining seats. This omission is being dealt in the proposed amendments in the Local Government Municipal Structures Amendment Bill, 2016 which is currently before Parliament.

Reply:

The question was referred to the Electoral Commission which responded as follows:

1. The Electoral Commission did not file an appeal against the Public Protector Report.
2. There are therefore no minutes reflecting that decision.
3. There were no costs incurred as there was no appeal against the Public Protector Report.

Reply:

(a-d) The Visa Adjudication System (VAS) is not designed to keep statistics according to company names. The system keeps records of applicants’ details in a unique identification code, commonly known as a reference number. Only through these details would the Department be in a position to retrieve the original application and explain each decision.

 

Reply:

1. Yes.

(1)(a-b) Not applicable.

(1)(i) The reports are investigated by Counter Corruption Branch or by Labour Relations Directorate through grievance procedures and other mechanisms as provided for in the Disciplinary Code and Procedures; Labour Relations Act; and the Departmental Sexual Harassment Policy.

The Policy stipulates the following sanctions in the case of guilty verdict:

• Counselling
• Verbal Warning
• Written Warning
• Final Written Warning
• Suspension (Without Payment for a period not more than three months)
• Demotion
• A combination of the above
• Dismissal.

(2)(a)(i) The recorded cases reported for the preceding three financial years in the department are 2 and they are as follows:

2014/15 FY	2015/16 FY	2016/17 FY
0	1	1

(2)(a)(ii) 1 Case has been opened in 2017/18 to date.

.(2)(b) The information is as follows.

Financial Year	2014/15 FY	2015/16 FY	2016/17	2017 /2018
(i) Opened	0	1 Case	1 Case	1 Case
(i) Concluded	0	1 Case but taken for review	1 Case	0
(ii) Withdrawn	0	0	0	0
(iii) Remain opened	0	1 Case.	0	1 Case

(2)(c) The information is as follows:

2015/16 FY

• The case involved a female foreign national (the complainant) and an immigration officer at level 8 (the alleged perpetrator). Charges of misconduct were preferred against the Officer and a disciplinary hearing was held. The Officer was found guilty and a sanction of dismissal was pronounced by the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing. The dismissal was implemented. From the employee side the matter have been taken for review of the decision of the presiding officer.
• The employee took the matter to the Labour Court for review – the case is still pending.

2016/17 FY

• This case was registered as a grievance but the case was investigated and an outcome was issued. The employee consequently registered a dispute with CCMA based on sexual harassment. The Commissioner ruled that the employee must be compensated for sexual harassment. The department implemented the sanction and the employee was compensated.
• The case is completed and concluded - closed.

2017/18 FY

• The case is in progress. The employee initially registered a grievance and the grievance resolution meeting, the chairperson recommended that the alleged perpetrator should be charged with acts of misconduct for sexual harassment. The charge sheet has been formulated and the disciplinary hearing is in progress.
• The case is still on and not yet finalised – in the process

Reply:

(a)&(b) The Ministry and the Department have an established protocol with the Presidency in cases where individual members of the public approach the President of the Republic of South Africa directly (via the Presidency) regarding applications submitted to the Department. Such cases are handled in the same manner as those received from the Public Protector, South African Human Rights Commission and other organisations such as NGOs, where requests from members of the public are referred to the Department to follow-up on the status of such cases.

Requests of this nature that are received by the Presidency are forwarded to Ministry and the office of the Director General which are then disseminated to various branches. As such the volumes cannot be accurately determined to indicate the number of such cases received.

Reply:

No, according to the information on the National Population Register (NPR), Ajay Gupta with ID Number: 660205 6061 184 has never been issued with a South African Passport.

(a) (i) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

(b) None.

Reply:

To address the issue of the long queues:

a) the office is being visited by approximately 500 clients that queue for services daily. The office has therefore increased the number of information points from one to two, and photo booth stations from one to two with the third installed and awaiting the additional equipment.

b) the office ensures that frontline application counters are always fully capacitated with staff members to ensure that services are rendered at all workstations in the office.

c) the Acting Office Manager does walkabouts on hourly intervals to address clients on the performance of the systems and officials.

d) once documents are ready for collection the owners are notified thereof via short messaging services (sms). This has also been a major push factor to the office when large volumes of documents are ready for collection. The office has therefore increased the number of counters on the inside to deal with the public that comes to collect their documents.

e) the office is in the process of replacing the ageing equipment to increase productivity.

Reply:

The information is tabulated as follows:

(A) Number of applications for	(aa) 2015	(bb) 2016	(cc) 2017
(i) Passports	8546	9174	8756
(ii) ID	574	616	489
(iii) Birth Certificate	1671	2421	2331
(iv) Citizenship	3277	2371	1827
(v) Visas and permits	7860	7715	7407
(b) Staff compliment	Locally recruited staff	16	13	12
	Transferred staff (DHA)	4	4	4
	Total	20	17	16

Reply:

(a)(i) NPR never crashed in (aa) 2014-15, (bb) 2015-16 and (cc) 2016-17 financial years.

(a)(ii) NPR was never offline in (aa) 2014-15, (bb) 2015-16 and (cc) 2016-17 financial years.

(b) Not applicable.

Reply:

a) Newcomers for 2016 was 35 377 and during the same reporting period 3157 applications were approved.

(b)(i) The following countries were approvals during the 2016 reporting period, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, DRC, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Palestine, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

(b)(ii) The vast majority of approved cases is for family joining, re-unification with some of the other reasons noted below:

- Persecution on political opinion

- Parent (s) and /or brother (s) and / or sister (s) killed

- Civil war and political instability

- Religion

- External aggression

Reply:

(1)(a) The completion date of the review of the voting procedures and requirements for voters outside of the Republic is currently indeterminate. However this review will be completed ahead of the elections in 2019. Depending on the eventual outcome of the legislative amendment process, it will be necessary to also amend the Election Regulations.

(1)(b) The Electoral Commission has already commenced discussions with the Department of International Relations and Co-operation on the matter of reviewing the voting procedures outside of the Republic.

2. Operational details will be determined based on the outcome of the legislative amendment as well as Election Regulations. The completion date is currently indeterminate but will be ahead of 2019 elections.

Reply:

As the parliamentary question was directed to the former Minister of Home Affairs, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, MP at the time, this response addresses the budget and personnel within Minister Dlodlo’s office during her tenure within the Department of Home Affairs only which commenced on 17 October 2017 until 26 February 2018.

a) The information is as follows in the table below:

Financial years	Budget	Expenditure
	R’000	R’000
1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016	22 043	21 792
1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017	27 788	25 451
1 April 2017 – 23 February 2018	24 103	14 091
Total	73 934	61 334

b) The information requested at (b) (i) – (v), is herewith attached as Annexure A.

Reply:

Ahead of the 2019 national and provincial elections, the intention of the Electoral Commission is to amend section 11(1) of the Election Regulations, 2004, such that South African citizens who intend to apply to vote abroad will not be required to produce a passport, but will be required to produce an identity document or smart identity card indicating citizenship of the Republic of South Africa. The proposal to amend electoral legislation falls within the statutory jurisdiction of the Electoral Commission.

Reply:

As indicated previously, the Department continues to rollout the issuance of smart ID Cards in a phased-in approach. The process of expanding the Live Capture footprint and the verification process of the records for naturalised citizens are ongoing as are the system upgrades which will make provision for this category of applicants.

Upon determination of adequate footprint and system status readiness, the Minister will make an announcement which will give naturalised citizens the opportunity to apply for Smart ID Cards

Reply:

(a)(i) Former Minister of Home Affairs, Prof. H B Mkhize, MP undertook 4 international visits during her tenure from 31 March 2017 to 17 October 2017. The information is as follows:

TRAVEL DATE	(b)(i) DESTINATION	(b)(ii) PURPOSE	(c) AMOUNT
26.06-01.07.2017	Berlin -Germany	Global Forum on Migration and Development	R 80 917.43
19-22.07.2017	Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania	SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ meeting	R 18 292.29
02-04.09.2017	Ezulwini - Swaziland	Ministerial Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA)	R 6 181.69
30.09-05.10.2017	Geneva - Switzerland	68th Session of the UNHCR ExCom for Refugees in Geneva	R 80 870.09
Total			R 186 261.50

(a)(i) Ms Dlodlo, MP who was subsequently appointed Minister of Home Affairs from 18 October 2017 to 26 February 2018 did not take any international trips.

(a)(ii) The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Ms F Chohan, MP undertook 3 international visits since 31 March 2017 to date. The information is as follows:

TRAVEL DATE	(b)(i) DESTINATION	(b)(ii) PURPOSE	(c) AMOUNT
30.09-08.10.2017	Geneva - Switzerland	68th Session of the UNHCR ExCom for Refugees in Geneva	R 94 821.03
19.10-22.10.2017	Kigali - Rwanda	African Union Commission Technical Committee on Migration of Refugees and Displaced Persons	R 35 589.30
15.12.2017	Maseru – Lesotho	Bilateral meeting on Immigration issues	R 5 704.71
Total			R 136 115.04

Reply:

(a) eVisa introduces online capture of visa and permit applications and capturing of applicant’s biometrics in South Africa and abroad. An application will be captured and submitted online together with the required supporting documents that will be scanned and attached to the application. The applicant will then present himself/herself before a DHA Official for biometric enrolment and verification of the submitted supporting documents is conducted at this stage. The application form together with supporting documents and biometrics are then electronically routed to DHA Head Office in Pretoria for adjudication. The applicant is electronically notified of the outcome via email as well as via the application portal. For an approved visa/permit, a secure QR-Code is generated for print on the notification notice/letter sent to the applicant. This QR-Code contains the approved visa/permit detail and is maintained and managed by DHA at a secure web-storage facility. The same QR-Code will be scanned to view and validate the issued virtual visa/permit upon arrival of the applicant within the Republic. The same QR-Code is also pre-loaded into Biometric Movement Control System upon approval of the application and the virtual visa/permit (eVisa/ePermit) will be further validated at the Port of Entry upon arrival of the applicant.

(b) The roll-out programme will be gradual starting with Phase 1, Release 1, which entails applications for temporary residence visas, adjudication of temporary residence visas, applications for waivers, notifications to the applicant via email and biometrics captured at the Mission. The ePermit will be piloted at one Mission or local office in the last quarter of the next financial year by 31st March 2019. This is to ensure system stability. Once stable, more offices locally and abroad can then be gradually brought online.

Reply:

(1)(a)(i-ii) Total recorded movements for traveller arrivals in 2013, 2014 and 2015 on visitors visas for holiday purposes.

Year	2013	2014	2015
Total	13 457 600	14 130 057	14 313 737

(1)(b) Total recorded movements for traveller departures in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Year	2013	2014	2015
Total	13 774 965	14 803 240	15 196 891

(1)(c)(i) The top five nationalities who’s movements indicate they have not yet departed the RSA are:

COUNTRY	2013	2014	2015
Zimbabwe	127 095	163 906	179 739
Mozambique	87 447	65 491	56 821
Malawi	59 860	52 690	35 013
Lesotho	24 137	20 569	19 337
Swaziland	3 459	3 946	3 985

(2) Due to system changes the department is not able to provide this information since 1994. For 2016 a total of 177 450 persons who overstayed were declared undesirable. For the period in question the most common reasons cited for overstaying are based on medical grounds or applicants awaiting temporary residence visa extensions.

Reply:

(a) I have no knowledge of the reasons for the suspension of the relevant official in the Department, as I was not involved in the matter. (b) audited figures are still being awaited to date, (c) The matter was work related, as such, relevant department has shouldered the legal fees

Reply:

(a) Yes, details thereof have been covered in the Annual Report of the Department of Home Affairs tabled in Parliament. (b) No. The Deputy Minister has not made use of a chartered private jet

Reply:

(1) No

(2) No

Reply:

The security contract (DHA07-2014) was held to be irregular because of the following:

1. Non-adherence to the Supply Chain Management (SCM) administrative procedures

• The tender was advertised for a period shorter (18 days) than the prescribed period without a clear approval to deviate from the SCM policy.

• Bidders were disqualified for non-submission of bid requirements which are deemed to be administrative in nature e.g. non- submission of a valid tax clearance certificate.

• There were inconsistencies in the verification of compliance with bid requirements.

2. Bid Evaluation process

• One of the bid evaluation criteria was a site inspection to determine the adequacy of the infrastructure and resources. However, the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) changed the criterion and evaluated on the bid documents submitted by the bidders.

• The introduction of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PRISA) requirements which were not communicated to bidders and resulted in the disqualification of some bidders unfairly prejudiced other bidders.

• The BEC was not consistent during the evaluation specifically on the site inspection in that not all BEC members visited the sites. However, all members scored the bidders on the site visits based on the outcomes of those members who conducted the site visit.

• The functional evaluation score sheets were apparently discussed and agreed upon contrary to the National Treasury SCM Guide for Accounting Officers that requires individual assessment without discussing any aspect of the bid with any of the other members prior to the award of an individual score.

• Scoresheets and B-BBEE score were not captured correctly as they differed to what was captured on the BEC report.

3. Bid Adjudication process

• There is no evidence to substantiate that a quorum of 60% was met before the Bid Adjudication Committee convened to adjudicate the bid.

Reply:

No, because the Court did not order former Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Hlengiwe Mkhize to be personally liable to pay the legal cost

Reply:

a) Out of 52 Commonwealth countries, 22 countries require of South African diplomatic and official passport holders to apply for visas. These countries are: Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Malta, Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In so far as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is concerned, diplomatic passport holders do not require visas, but official passport holders do require visas.

Ordinary South African passport holders require visas to travel to the following Commonwealth countries: Cameroon, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada, Cyprus, Malta, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Australia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.

b) In respect of all the countries which require of South African passport holders to be in possession of visas, South Africa reciprocates by requiring visas from their citizens as well, with the exception of Australia, Canada and ordinary passport holders of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. All Australian and Canadian passport holders are exempt from visa requirements, but diplomatic and official passport holders of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland require visas to enter South Africa. Australian, Canadian and United Kingdom passport holders were granted exemption from visa requirements by means of a Cabinet decision dated 4 February 1993. When the authorities of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland imposed visa requirements on all South African passport holders, South Africa reciprocated by imposing visa requirements on that country’s diplomatic and official passport holders. South Africa was later granted a visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders. However, South Africa did not reciprocate by granting the same privileges to British diplomatic passport holders.

c) Former Home Affairs Minister, Mr M K N Gigba, MP, established an inter-departmental task team, with the Department of Home Affairs as the lead department, to review all visa agreements, with a reciprocity approach to be the main objective.

Reply:

1. The Department contracts daily with numerous service providers and contractors after following the prescribed procurement processes. The details of these service providers are set out on the enclosed CD in EXCEL format, per financial year. To print the detail response to this question will require 4 790 pages. The summary table below sets out the cumulative totals from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2017 (the past five financial years). Please note that the Department does procure services from other departments and State-owned entities such as the Department of Public Works, SITA, and the Government Printing Works. Procurement from other departments and State-owned entities are excluded from this report.

NUMBER OF SUPPLIERS	B-BBEE LEVELS	PERCENTAGE	AMOUNT
671	1	14.85	R 485 089 646.42
119	2	38.60	R 1 261 249 793.79
116	3	27.31	R 892 196 425.65
105	4	13.40	R 437 669 354.11
13	5	1.99	R 64 999 390.19
7	6	0.13	R 4 358 788.49
4	7	0.10	R 3 365 154.32
4	8	0.03	R 851 643.26
7	Non Compliant	3.59	R 117 396 813.88
1046		100	R 3 267 177 010.11
TOTAL AMOUNT OF ALL TRANSACTIONS	R 3 267 177 010.11

2. The details of the services provided by each service provider and or contractor are likewise set out on the enclosed CD in EXCEL format. To print the detail response to this question will require 378 pages.

3. Seven hundred and ninety out of one thousand forty-six (790/1046) or 75, 5% of the service providers used by the Department of Home Affairs the last five financial years are BEE level 1 and 2 contributors. The details of the contracts awarded and the amounts paid to these Black-owned entities are also set out on the enclosed CD in EXCEL format. Suffice to say that the Department of Home Affairs is committed to Black empowerment and the development of SMME’s. To print the detail response to this question will require 494 pages.

Reply:

Yes, follow-up has been made with the Department of Labour, which is the custodian of data on the number of jobs created, as such, this Department is in a better position to provide details on the number of jobs been created.

Reply:

(a) The Electoral Commission has no intension to purchase new software for running elections before the 2019 general elections.

(b-d) Not applicable

Reply:

The Electoral Commission responded as follows:

(a) The Electoral Commission’s Outreach Programme has received a qualified audit from the Auditor General of South Africa for 3 consecutive financial years: 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. The common reason for qualification in all three instances has been the reliability of information regarding the verification on Outreach Targets. The source of this has largely centred on the verification of performance against the target for Civic & Democracy Education (CDE) Events. “Events” in this instance refer to an activity with an educational objective targeting a specific audience of least 20 people as defined year on year in the Technical Indicator Descriptions that accompany the Annual Performance Plan. This is one target out of several that measures the performance of the Outreach Programme.

An event has to be supported by auditable evidence to demonstrate the minimum number of attendees per event and – for purposes of usefulness – educational substance.

The system on which CDE events are captured is known as the Outreach Management System (OMS). Before its advent, events were captured on Excel Spreadsheets and supporting evidence stored manually. This was labour-intensive, cumbersome and an inefficient way of collecting and collating management data. Thus the OMS was designed to – amongst other things:

• Avail management information and statistical data;
• Monitor performance indicators and targets at various levels of the organisation; and
• Facilitate quality and risk assurance;

The OMS came into use in April 2015. All the performance data for CDE events for the 2015-2016 financial year audits was stored in, generated by, and drawn from the OMS.

Reliability has been a challenge due to the following factors:

• 1. From the outset, there were repeated shortcomings in the capturing and uploading of auditable evidence;
  2. Most events take place in provincial and local offices of the Electoral Commission. During non-election years the responsibility for capturing the events and the supporting documentation on the OMS falls on Electoral Project Coordinators (EPCs). During election years, added contract capacity takes on this responsibility. The events and the supporting documentation are supposed to be reviewed and approved by Regional Supervisors. Provincial staff has supervisory duties to ensure this happens. This scheme has proved fraught and has resulted in events not being captured on time and those that are captured being approved without the requisite supporting documents. In turn has resulted in three consecutive qualifications;
  3. Poor quality of auditable data was in evidence. Audit findings showed that incorrect evidence was uploaded, or that the educational substance could not be determined rendering the target inadequate for purposes of usefulness; and
  4. Inadequate and ineffective internal controls to ensure proper record keeping in a timely manner which in turn compromised completeness, relevance and accuracy of the information captured.

b) The remedial measures that have been taken include:

1. Revision of the Technical Indicator Description that makes it compulsory to upload both a register with a minimum of 20 attendees and evidence of educational substance;
2. National Office monthly quality assurance which is effected before an event is approved and thus recorded on the OMS;
3. Enhancement of the OMS to improve the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls such as segregation of approval duties; and
4. Improved communication throughout the value chain and re-training of end-users.

Reply:

There is no system called Biometric Exercise Movement Control System in the Department. The Department is in the process of developing the Biometric enhanced Movement Control System (BeMCS), as part of the modernisation project.

Discussions are underway to explore a comprehensive approach to DHA System as part of the Repositioning Process.

Reply:

(a)(i) In 2014-15 no investigations and/or audits have been conducted into the Electoral Commission bar the normal audit conducted by the Auditor-General annually.

(a)(ii) In 2015-16 no investigations and/or audits have been conducted into the Electoral Commission bar the normal audit conducted by the Auditor-General annually.

(b) Since 1 April 2017 no issues were raised by the Auditor-General or brought on by any institution that required an investigation and/or audit

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) No investigations and/or audit done

(cc) Not applicable

(dd) Not applicable

(ee) Not applicable

Reply:

The Electoral Commission responds as follows:

a) Yes

(i) Yes

 (ii) Not applicable

(aa) The delegation consisted of Commissioner Terry Tselane; Ms Nkaro Mateta; Mr Thabo Masemula and Ms Belinda Mbeleni.

(bb) Election Observation

(cc) 9 – 16 September 2014 for Ms Mateta, Mr Masemula and Ms Mbeleni, and 7-9 September 2014 for Commissioner Tselane.

(dd) The total cost of the trip was R136 558

Reply:

The information received from the Department and the entities are tabulated as follows:

a) Department of Home Affairs

(i)	Number of supplier invoices	Total amount outstanding
(aa) more than 30 days	27	1 226 438.62
(bb) more than 60 days	7	160 512.14
(cc) more than 90 days	1	1 240.31
(dd) more than 120 days	3	4 898.52
GRAND TOTAL	32	1 393 089.59

b) Government Printing Works

(i)	Number of supplier invoices	Total amount outstanding
(aa) more than 30 days	1	15 352.02
(bb) more than 60 days	2	59 022.36
(cc) more than 90 days	0	0
(dd) more than 120 days	3	44 114.30
GRAND TOTAL	6	488.68

c) Electoral Commission

(i)	Number of supplier invoices	Total amount outstanding
(aa) more than 30 days	11	119 422.00
(bb) more than 60 days	2	2 156.00
(cc) more than 90 days	0	0
(dd) more than 120 days	19	32 818.00
GRAND TOTAL	32	154 396.00

Reply:

The Electoral Commission responded as follows:

No.

a) Not applicable

b) Not applicable

Reply:

The Electoral Commission responded as follows:

Yes, the Electoral Commission has signed MOUs with its counterparts from the following countries:

a) Country                                b) Date            c) Nature

Elections Commission of India	11/10/2011	Exchange of knowledge related to the study, reform and management. Promotion and implementation of educational research and training programmes on election management and administration. Facilitation of mutual exchanges to enhance experience in election management and administration. Holding of conferences on topics of common interest. Any other modality of cooperation agreed upon.
Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico	29/06/2012	Exchange of knowledge related to the study, reform and management. Promotion and implementation of educational research and training programmes on election management and administration. Facilitation of mutual exchanges to enhance experience in election management and administration. Holding of conferences on topics of common interest. Any other modality of cooperation agreed upon.
Central Elections Commission of Palestine	03/09/2013	Identify areas of mutual benefit through exchange and cooperation. Identify and undertake capacity-building initiatives in any discipline in modern electoral management practices.
Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation	08/09/2014	Promotion of exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of organization and technical development of electoral process, with a view to developing the practice of management and administration. Support in exchanging information, materials, expertise and organizing training of personnel. Facilitate relationships with other electoral authorities and organizations. Production and distribution of materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting technology, voter education and awareness, participation of women, minorities, people with disabilities. Any other modality of cooperation agreed upon.

Reply:

Yes.

a) Not applicable

b) Not applicable