Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) The total number of the officials of the department that were allocated to front offices, who are not on sick leave but are off work due to restrictions related to COVID-19 as at 11 March 2021 are 108.

(2) No, these officials all fall within the category of persons with one or more of the underlying commonly encountered chronic medical conditions that are not well controlled. Assigning such officials to manage queues may heighten exposure and place them at a higher risk of complications or death than other employees if infected with COVID 19, considering the environment and observation of physical distancing protocols in queues.

The Department however deploys other officials as well as Supervisors and Office Managers to assist with queue management. COVID-19 Compliance officers are appointed in writing to manage the queues as well as Immigration Officers who add to the capacity to manage the queues. Furthermore, strategies including utilisation of different channels have been developed by the Department to put measures in place to deal effectively with long queues in Home Affairs offices country wide. Officials are thereby deployed to health facilities, banks and mobile units to reduce long queues. Some offices are assisted by the municipalities with (Expanded Public Works Programme) EPWP staff to assist DHA in managing the queues.

END

 

Reply:

(1)(a) 35 795

(b) 1875

(2)(a) 120

(b) 0

(3) This is as a result of the observation by the Department of a high number of staff being affected in the wake of the second wave of the COVID-19 variant, followed by front offices being temporarily closed due to decontamination and sanitising thereof. This then necessitated and made it imperative for the Department to reduce some of its operational services as part of an attempt to reduce the number of clients who visit our offices who may further exacerbate the spread of Covid-19 among clients and staff.

The Department thereby made a determination to prioritise key services and to offer critical and mandatory enabling documents such as registration of births, death and identity documents. This strategy would not perpetuate high client volumes with the enduring queues, hence the COVID-19 administrative protocols applied as a containment measure to limit the further spread of the virus.

(4) The Department will from time to time conduct a review and consult with relevant structures including the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC). When the situation improves, a determination will then be made to resume pending services including determination and retention applications, in a phased approach and will then be pronounced, as a result.

END

Reply:

1. Birth certificates are issued on the spot therefore the Department does not have a backlog on the issuing of birth certificates.

2. (a), (b)(i)(ii) and (c)

The Department is mandated to do civil registration only and Statistics SA (StatsSA) as well as the Department of Health are mandated to produce official vital statistics from the civil registration system and to register birth occurrences at health facilities respectively.

END

Reply:

The Department, through the Acting Chief Director: Legal Services, is in constant communication with Mr Tjad Clark to obtain certain information related to the application required in order to implement the judgment. Thus far progress has been made and the relevant section is tracing the application as per clarification received from Mr CLark.

END

Reply:

(a) The total number of persons who have overstayed their visas from 2015 to 2020 according to data from the Movement Control System is 527, 972. The trend has shown a decrease in the number of overstay hits in most cases. As an example in the following ports the trend has been as follows: In Beit Bridge the overstay figures for the period 2015 to 2020 has seen a reduction from 26,972 in 2015 to 11,695 in 2020. In Lebombo a similar trend from 9007 in 2015 to 4673 in 2020, whilst in Maseru Bridge the 2015 overstay figures were 10846 to 6225 in 2020.

(b) The estimated number of undocumented and/or illegal foreigners in South Africa is difficult to determine as there are those who are not recorded on any system as they may have entered the country clandestinely.

END

Reply:

1. The Department of Correctional Services notifies the Department of Home Affairs of all foreign nationals that are due for release in order for the department to prepare and effect their deportation.

This is in line with section 30 (1) (g) of the Immigration Act, 2002 which states that:

30 (1) The following foreigners may be declared undesirable by the Director, as prescribes, and after such declaration do not qualify for a port of entry visa, visa admission into the Republic or a permanent residence permit:

(g) Anyone with previous criminal convictions without the option of a fine for conduct which would be an offence in the Republic, with exclusion of certain prescribed offences.

(2) The departments do work very closely on the issue of illegal foreigners. There is regular contact between the departments on issues of foreign nationals and illegal immigrants. The Department of Correctional Services also assists in the transfer of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities to the Lindela Holding Facility.

END

Reply:

1. The email address [email protected] was discontinued on 15 December 2020 and citizens are required to send their queries to [email protected]. The Home Affairs Contact Centre (HACC) email is on the landing page of the DHA website.

2. The target turnaround time to respond to queries sent to [email protected] is 48 hours and the emails are currently managed by 10 officials.

END

Reply:

a) Employee Wellness programmes dealing with Gender Based Violence and Femicide implemented.

(i) Counselling services for employees and their immediate families offered

(ii) Awareness campaigns conducted throughout the provinces.

b) Men’s forum established as an agent of change and capacity awareness programmes for men implemented on combating GBV and Femicide conducted throughout the Provinces issues including sexual harassment in the workplace.

c) Officials have been vetted within the Department but not against the National Register of Sex Offenders.

END

Reply:

a) (i) & (ii)

The Department of Home Affairs does not have specific initiatives and/or programmes for homeless persons.

However, the department assists only in cases of disaster wherein the disaster management from various municipalities provides a disaster management report and certificate in order for the department to determine the kind of service required as well as the cost element attached to it. Upon receiving of the latter mentioned documents, the department may waive the fees of those affected.

(b) The services for registration of first issuance of identity documents and birth certificates is free of charge.

END

Reply:

(a–b) Primary function to vaccinate is that of the Department of Health. However, the DHA’s Inspectorate Unit is provided for within the Immigration Act 2002, has the mandate to conduct investigations and enforcement operations that will assist with the identification of persons who are undocumented or have an illegal status in the Republic. Such persons may be detained and dealt with under Departmental Regulations.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) According to DHA system, there are currently 40 455 persons from the SADC region with the recognised refugee status.

(ii) South African government has signed the 1951 United Nations Convention without any reservations, including settlement and encampment, whilst other Member States have signed the Convention with the obligation to settlements and encampment in order to house and control the movement of refugees and asylum seekers. Therefore, in South Africa asylum seekers and refugees reside where they wish to, if there are those that are indigent they are able to approach UNHCR to seek assistance for accommodation, whilst refugees do qualify to apply for RDP houses.

(b)(i) Not all refugees are indigent and dependant on social grants. Those who require such assistance do approach the Department of Social Development that would subject them to the necessary means test like South African citizens and receive grant if they qualify.

(ii) Section 27(1) (a) of the Bill of Rights provide that; everyone has the right to have access to ¬health care services, including reproductive health care. Therefore, the Department of Health has its protocols and procedures to deal with persons who attend their health facilities.

END

Reply:

It is correct that passport holders of Israel are not required to be in possession of port of entry visas for holiday and business visits. This decision was, however, not taken by the Minister of Home Affairs, but by Cabinet. The decision and the countries who benefitted from the decision is documented in Cabinet Memorandum number 8 of 1992, dated 23 April 1992. In so far as Palestine is concerned, the Minister of Home Affairs has already approved a submission seeking a waiver of visa requirements for diplomatic and official/service passport holders. Currently the necessary protocols are being applied in order to conclude a reciprocal visa waiver agreement between the two countries. In so far as normal passport holders are concerned, the Department of Home Affairs is exploring ways in which to lower the restrictive travel measures which applies to Palestine nationals. The latter process is more extensive and requires wider consultation which is not the case with diplomatic and official/service passport holders

END

Reply:

(a) Department of Home Affairs

 

(i) NAME OF SERVICE PROVIDER	(ii) PROVINCE/SITE	(iii) CONTRACT VALUE	(iv) CONTRACT PERIOD
MODISE PROTECTION SERVICES	LIMPOPO	R 51 487 678.38	36 MONTHS
MODISE PROTECTION SERVICES	HEAD OFFICE	R 11 491 104.68	29 MONTHS
MODISE PROTECTION SERVICES	MPUMALANGA (x10 OFFICES)	R 10 757 845.57	29 MONTHS
INTENSE PROTECTION & TOURISM SERVICES	KWAZULU/NATAL	R 61 587 719.24	36 MONTHS
TLHOMPHANANG BUSINESS ENTERPRISE	NORTH WEST	R 23 957 448.54	36 MONTHS
TLHOMPHANANG BUSINESS ENTERPRISE	GAUTENG	R 59 182 035.70	36 MONTHS
TLHOMPHANANG BUSINESS ENTERPRISE	MPUMALANGA	R 19 318 448.54	36 MONTHS
TLHOMPHANANG BUSINESS ENTERPRISE	EASTERN CAPE	R 52 065 886.02	36 MONTHS
BAMOGALE ENTERPRISE	WESTERN CAPE	R 32 340 481.29	29 MONTHS
BAMOGALE ENTERPRISE	NORTHERN CAPE	R 13 382 827.05	36 MONTHS
MAFOKO SECURITY SERVICES	FREE STATE	R 18 851 637.24	36 MONTHS

a) The Electoral Commission

(i.)Name of firm	(ii.) Purpose	(iii) Value	(iv) duration
Fidelity Security Service National Office	Guarding services	R11,715,374,96	54 months
Mafoko Security service Northern Cape	Guarding services	R5 549 538,24	36 months
Huibidu Group North West	Guarding services	R4 871 417,75	36 months
Vimstire Security Free State	Guarding services	R3 289 522,92	36 months
Khayalami Security Service Limpopo	Guarding services	R2 326 347,90	36 months
Rise Security Services Kwazulu Natal	Guarding services	R9 055 266,08	48 months
Tykes Security Services Gauteng	Guarding services	R2 131 100,25	36 months
Mafoko Security service Western Cape	Guarding services	R270 019.70	36 months
Shumelahaya Security Service Mpumalanga	Guarding services	R4 475 328,77	36 months
Likunga Security Services Eastern Cape	Guarding services	R5 039 987,52	36 months

(i.)Name of firm	(ii.) Purpose	(iii) Value	(iv) duration
Red Alert Security Eastern Cape	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R44 712.00	36 Months
National Security and Fire Gauteng	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R39 856.32	36 Months
National Security and Fire Mpumalanga	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R73 237.80	60 Months
African Urban Security Limpopo	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R54 000.00	60 Months
National Security and Fire National office	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R36 712.80	36 Months
Securiforce Free State	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R48 300.00	60 Months
Defensor Security Northern Cape	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R59 048.40	60 Months
Mzanzi Fire and Security Kwazulu Natal	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R51 414.00	60 Months
Xpanded Security Solutions North West	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R49 200.00	60 Months
National Security and Fire Western Cape	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R32 400.00	36 Months
Gauteng (Local office) Nokeng tsa Taamane	Alarm Monitoring and armed response	R27 000.00	60 Months

(b) Government Printing Works

GPW has appointed a private security service provider, for the provision of physical security guarding services, in order to complement a total of 52 internally appointed security officers.

(i) Name of the firm: Mahlatje Mmetji Cleaning and Security (Pty,) Ltd

(ii) Purpose: the company serves to protect and secure assets, people and resources both in head office and regional offices located in Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces.

(iii) Value: The monetary value for provisioning of security services on the current arrangement is R 353, 050.00 (VAT inclusive) for each month.

(iv) Duration: For the months of February and March 2021 (2 months, renewable), whilst the organisation plans to procure and contract security services on a 3 years basis, to assist complement the internally appointed officials. The contracted service provider would focus on the non-core areas whilst the internal officials would secure the cores areas of GPW, in order to manage security risks and breaches.

END

Reply:

a) The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure is currently responsible for Border infrastructure at Ports of Entry and along the borderline, however the Border Management Authority is putting plans to address Infrastructure challenges which impact on the processing of people and goods at Ports on Entry as part of its legal mandate.

The plans include the redevelop of six land Ports of Entry as One-Stop Border Posts (OSBP). It is intended that these infrastructural improvements will enable the secure and efficient processing of people and goods at Beit Bridge; Maseru Bridge; Ficksburg; Oshoek; Kopfontein and Lebombo Ports of Entry.

b) It is anticipated that the OSBPs will be operational by 2024.

END

Reply:

(1)(a) There were employees that performed work in addition to the responsibilities related to their work, outside normal working hours.

(b) The employees performed work outside their normal work for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

(i) Sixteen (16).

(ii) Senior Management Services, Administration Clerks, Immigration Officers, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors.

(2) Approval was not obtained. All the employees were subjected to disciplinary process for violating policy.

(a) Policy requires that employees should apply for permission prior to engaging in any work outside the public service.

(b) Applications are considered and approved by the Director General as per the delegation by the Executing Authority.

(c) Employees identified by the Auditor General (b) (i) were the only ones reported to the National Treasury.

(d) The transgressors were subjected to a disciplinary process in which they were found guilty and a sanction of Final Written Warning was imposed on all of them. Where sanction was not issued, application was declined and the official did not perform outside work the department.

Financial Year	Number of Employees	Approved/Nor Approved	Work Categories	Action Taken
14/15	16	Not Approved	SMS,MMS,Admin Clercks,Immigration Officers, Assistant Directors	Did not perform outside work
15/16	33	Not Approved	SMS, Immigration Officers, Assistant Director and Administration Clerks.	Did not perform outside work
16/17	31	Not Approved	SMS,Deputy Directors, Immigration Officers, Administration Clerks	Did not perform outside work
17/18	38	Not Approved	SMS,MMS,Admin Clercks,Immigration Officers, Assistant Directors	Did not perform outside work
18/19	39	Not Approved	SMS,MMS,Admin Clercks,Immigration Officers, Assistant Directors	Did not perform outside work
19/20	27	Not Approved	Deputy Director, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Did not perform outside work

Employees identified by the Auditor General

Financial Year	Number of Employees	Work Categories	Action Taken
2014/15	6	SMS	Final Written Warning
2015/16	19	SMS, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Final Written Warning
2016/17	11	SMS, Deputy Director, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Final Written Warning
2017/18	6	Assistant Director, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Final Written Warning
2018/19	12	Deputy Director, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Final Written Warning
2019/20	8	Deputy Director, Administration Clerks and Immigration Officers.	Final Written Warning

END

Reply:

1) The Departments of Home Affairs and Social Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Identity Management and Social Welfare matters. This MOU is affected through a standing committee comprising of DHA, DSD as well as SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) representatives where matters of mutual concern are discussed. This MOU makes provision for the sharing of information that will facilitate the smooth execution of social welfare service delivery matters, where SASSA will provide information about citizens who require either birth registration services and/or identity documents.

2) Birth registration is the building block of the National Population Register (NPR). The Department prioritised birth registration and has partnered with the Department of Health to ensure that every birth that occurs is registered prior to them being discharged from health facilities.

3) Mobile Units are also deployed to assist in registering births in areas where there is no infrastructure to register birth.

4) Mothers who are unable to register birth at health facilities are referred to front offices to register such births.

END

Reply:

a) Counter Corruption and Security Services has been established within the Department with a revised mandate to conduct constant research, analysis, implementation and monitoring with a view of preventing corruption and raising awareness around fraud and corruption. However the Department has partnered with the Department of Health (DoH) to ensure that each child is allocated with a birth certificate on the spot, by registering birth at health facilities. This will curb identity theft from the onset as an ID number gets allocated and remains with the child for life. The primary purpose is to ensure a credible population register, not vulnerable to theft and fraud.

With live capture the Department is able to identify applicants through online verification which has a direct interface with our Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) to identify persons through biometrics. Furthermore, during collection of Smart Identity cards, online verification is also performed to ensure that the correct enabling document is handed over to the appropriate clients. Moreover, the South African Smart ID card and passport have enhanced security features. The Department is moving away from paper to a paperless environment. The Department is thereby progressively phasing out the manual application process.

In addition, in terms of the Departments’ Information Security Policy, a model was built around proactive risk assessment and risk management where all users responsible for registering and capturing births and identity related applications within the domain of the organization, are assigned with biometric fingerprint authentication, to detect and hold users accountable for fraudulent activities.

b) Processes are evaluated by Branch Counter Corruption and Security Services to identify security breaches, vulnerabilities and loopholes and reports drafted and send to relevant sections to implement recommendations. However, each time Branch: Civics (CS) improve systems to close loopholes, criminals also changes their Modus Operandi against what has been put in place to prevent Identity Fraud. As they change their methods, Counter Corruption also found ways to identify those gaps and CS will implement by closing gaps where possible.

Identity Fraud does in most instances start from Birth Registration, especially Late Registration of Birth (LRB), where birth is registered after 30 days of even later than that.

In that regard, committee were composed or formed in Provinces to sit and interview applicants in categories in order verify where and when did that birth occurred and in that case that is where in most cases foreign nationals “buy parents” to assist them obtain birth certificates and then Identity documents.

From the beginning of financial year 2020 – 2021, 33 cases of Identity fraud were investigated divided as follows:

• Quarter One (1) 14 cases were investigated

• Quarter Two (2) 5 cases were investigated

• Quarter Three (3) 8 cases were investigated

• Quarter Four (4) 6 cases were investigated

Finalised cases are not yet reported but will be reported by the end quarter 4.

END

Reply:

(a&b) The Department does not promote gender mislabelling mistakes hence there is no discriminatory practice by the Department on the basis of colour, race, religion or gender. Our officials have been duly trained to be humane, caring and responsive in delivering quality services to the all the applicants in a fair-minded manner. The Department will investigate and resolve any case reported immediately upon receipt thereof, where required. Accordingly, the Department urges members of the public who may have thus been affected, should not hesitate to report such cases.

The Department cannot specify the gender mislabelling mistakes per se, however the response outlined per annum below is an indication of the total number of gender cases finalised which is inclusive of amendment and rectification applications over the past five years:

2016: 18155

2017: 18820

2018: 11301

2019: 11948

2020: 5255

(c) The normal turnaround time for resolving such cases is six (6) to eight (8) weeks.

END

Reply:

a) There’s no maximum limit on the number of daily applications to be processed in terms of licence agreements. The performance is dependent on systems and personnel numbers.

b) It should be noted that no office could be fully operational due to the effect of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and capacity challenges. Please refer to the attached Excel Annexure

(b)(i)

PROVINCE	b(i) total number of Home Affairs offices were fully operational in the period 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020
EASTERN CAPE	12 were fully operation of 53
FREE STATE	23
GAUTENG	33 Offices
KZN	13 offices operational of which 3 offices only operational at level 1 lockdown
MPUMALANGA	37 out of 58
LIMPOPO	42
NORTH WEST	8
NORTHERN CAPE	15
WESTERN CAPE	28

(b)(ii) It should be noted that offices were not entirely closed due to ICT challenges

PROVINCE	b(ii) what were the reasons for closure of offices in each case
EASTERN CAPE	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour
FREE STATE	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour
GAUTENG	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour
KZN	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, and scarcely electricity challenges and renovations
MPUMALANGA	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour and water outages
LIMPOPO	None
NORTH WEST	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour and water outages
NORTHERN CAPE	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices, scarcely electricity challenges and renovations, closed by organised labour and water outages
WESTERN CAPE	Mainly COVID-19 case detection and decontamination of offices Prohibition orders issued by the Department of Labour

(c) Number of staff according to the organogram (approved posts) compared to the actual number of staff at Home Affairs offices in each Province, at 31 January 2021.See the table below:

PROVINCE	POSTS ACCORDING TO ORGANOGRAM	ACTUAL NUMBER OF STAFF
Eastern Cape	1699	630
Free State	755	349
Gauteng	3185	1207
Kwa-Zulu Natal	1915	602
Limpopo	1379	604
Mpumalanga	1233	394
North West	919	412
Northern Cape	568	244
Western Cape	1090	509
Grand total	12743	4951

END

Reply:

1. South African Missions abroad provided limited services to South African citizens during lockdown. This included applications for passports and emergency travel certificates for those who wanted to return to South Africa.

2. No contact was made with governments of countries with large expatriate communities of South African citizens because South African citizens abroad were allowed to apply for passports during lockdown.

3. The transportation of applications and official correspondence from South African Diplomatic Missions abroad is done in term of Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961and is done via Diplomatic Bag which is administered by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

4. Yes, the Department is considering the installation of the eHome Affairs and Live Capture System in the Missions abroad in order to reduce the turnaround times for South Africans living abroad. In July 2019, an IT team visited the UK Mission and concluded that before such installation is done a network security review should be conducted by the State Security Agency (SSA) before implementation, in order to prevent vulnerabilities and cyber-attacks and the implementation plan will be finalized during the 2021/2022 financial year.

END

Reply:

a) The Department has commenced with the process of bringing in a professional service provider for the design and development of the KIOSK for the provision of DHA services, including collection services. The request for the appointment of the service provider to design and develop a virtual interactive machine (KIOSK) for the provision of DHA service has been approved by the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) and members of the BSC and BEC appointed in November 2020. The Department envisaged advertising the tender during the first quarter of 2021/22 financial year and having the preferred service provider on board by end of the second quarter of the financial year, given the supply chain processes.

b) The appointed service provider will commence with the design and development of the virtual interactive machine (KIOSK) during the third quarter of 2021/22 financial year. It will only be during this period that the department will learn of the period it will take the service provider to design, develop and test the virtual interactive machine (KIOSK) for readiness and utilisation by the department.

END

Reply:

There have been a number of notable successes that the Inspectorate have achieved since 2019 such as maintaining regular deportations which have numbered 29376 in 2019/20 and in the financial year 2020/21 we have deported 11787.

The Inspectorate are participants in the weekly Okae Mulao Operations led by the Provincial Commissioner of SAPS.

The Inspectorate has also assisted in the removal of the UNHCR protesters in Pretoria in November 2021 and from Greenmarket Square and the Central Methodist Church in April 2020 and further verifications of such persons who were relocated to 2 Shelters at Wingfield and Paint during the course of October and November 2020 resulting in 204 arrests of undocumented persons.

The Inspectorate are also part of the inter-sectoral task team that deals with violence within the trucking industry in 54 joint law enforcement operations/roadblocks with the Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Transport, the South African Police Services, Metro Police Departments and Bargaining Council, whereby the Department was able to apprehend and charge offenders as follow, 33 cases were opened against Employers (Charged) and 160 Undocumented foreign truck drivers were charged.

During the period 2 January 2021 to February 20 2021 60 inspectorate officials were deployed to the high risk borderline areas and conducted 13088 direct deportations of those encountered attempting to enter the country clandestinely.

END

Reply:

a) The application in respect of PRP1726119 is currently within the adjudication workflow process and resides at the 3rd quality assurance level.

b) The application has not been finalised due to an accrued backlog of cases. The department is addressing this through a project that will ensure all unresolved cases dating back to 2016 can be resolved and finalised by 31 June 2021. Further processing of this application will be monitored to ensure that it is finalised by the end of March 2021.

END

Reply:

The department’s response to questions (a), (b), (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) are as follows

a) I convened bilateral meetings with National Office Bearers of NEHAWU and PSA in which parties deliberated on the significance of processing collective bargaining procedures on working time arrangements. Parties agreed that collective bargaining process hold a key to working time arrangement in the Department of Home Affairs in compliance with the Constitutional Court judgement on working time arrangement. The Departmental Mandating Team, consisting of Senior Managers and chaired by the DDG: HRM&D, Ms N. Mohoboko was established and is operational.

The Mandating Team is guiding the Departmental Bargaining Council negotiators on matters for discussion. Currently, parties have agreed on the following:

1. A Task Team to develop shift models was established and terms of reference for the Team were drafted and agreed to.

2. A Task Team of funding model for the shift system was established. The latter Team will start its operation once the Team on shift models has finalised its task. The function of the Task Team on funding model is dependent on the outcomes of the shift models that will be agreed to. Negotiations at the Bargaining Council are currently deadlocked as Trade Unions have raised concerns on the program of the Youth Forum of the Department in which they agreed as Youth to volunteer to render services on Saturdays to their youth counterpart in procuring critical documents such as Identity documents to access matriculation studies and related services.

The impasse is referred to the Director General who has scheduled a meeting on the 19th of March 2021 with a view to break the deadlock.

b) The meeting between the Director General of the Department and Trade Unions is confirmed for the 19th of March 2021.

In terms of question (ii), (iii) and (iv) the department will provide feedback as soon as the parties have met on 19 March 2021.

END

Reply:

GPW has been implementing its Integrated Marketing and Communications Strategy which incorporates its efforts to penetrate the market in the SADC region as a government printer, in order to offer Africa, solutions brewed within the Continent. GPW will continue to be supported by DHA through collaboration with SADC countries by facilitating visits by member states to view GPW facilities and service offerings, enhance business opportunities for GPW.

GPW has been visiting SADC countries to present its products and service offerings in order to expand its footprint. Engagements through various platforms like exhibitions and online meetings, have occurred with all SADC countries, but GPW has started discussions on the printing process of state security documents with eSwatini, DRC, AU Commission and Namibia.

The South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan presents an opportunity for GPW to realise its strategic intent of exploring economic opportunities outside the borders of the Republic thereby expanding its footprint into SADC and other African countries.

END

.

Reply:

1. May the Honourable member please advise which scandal is he referring to.

2. The department completed its bid evaluation process and after finalising outstanding matters with selected bidders, such as confirmation of price and costs as well as any sub-contracting arrangements the preferred supplier may have, realised that the costing methodology in the bid did not allow for an equitable evaluation process of the pricing by the bidders, and as a result no appointment could be made by 30 November 2020. The department therefore extended the current contract by one month from 1 to 31 December 2020.

2. On 9 December 2020, the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) approved the cancellation of Bid DHA10-2020. It is therefore necessary to extend the existing service provider’s contract from 1 to 31 January 2021. This is a provisional arrangement during January 2021 to allow engagement with National Treasury so as to provide for an implementable timeframe allowing the department to re-advertise the Bid using a different costing method.

END

 

Reply:

The Department of Home Affairs has already approved a waiver of visa requirements for diplomatic and official/service passport holders of Palestine. Currently the necessary protocols are being applied in order to conclude a reciprocal visa waiver agreement between the two countries. In so far as normal passport holders are concerned, the Department is currently exploring ways to lower the restrictive travel measures which applies to Palestinian nationals. The latter process is more extensive and requires wider consultation with various Government Clusters prior to conclusion.

END

Reply:

(a) SITA was notified on Friday 13 November 2020 about the faulty data line in Nigel office and were supposed to dispatch the Telkom technician to the site but that did not materialise. Later that day after a remote diagnosis SITA called the DHA Regional IT Officer informing her that there is no sound from the office’s router, they suspected that it was switched off and then asked her to confirm if it had power. It was confirmed to SITA that power was on for the router and pictures were sent as proof and that is when the latter confirmed that it implies that there was nothing wrong on their side with reference number: Ref 20894281

On Monday,16 November 2020 the Regional IT Officer revisited Nigel to check the equipment in liaison with the departmental HQ networks technician and that is when it was confirmed that indeed the router was not responding as the Network Card slot was dead. The card slot was changed but unfortunately that slot was not configured as the password to configure was not working, all passwords were tried and still did not work. On the 17 November 2020, the networks technician managed to crack the password, did new configurations on the other slot and inserted the router as they had removed it on 16 November 2020 and that caused a delay. The matter was resolved late and thus clients could not be assisted and were only attended to on 18 November 2020.

(b) SITA and the internal DHA IT Infrastructure team were responsible for resolving the problem.

(c) In Terms of the Service Level Agreements between SITA and DHA the following are adhered to:

• Mean time to respond is 4 Hours
• Mean Time to Resolve is 16 Hours

(d) The penalties are applied when Service Level Agreements are not met by the service provider in this case the responsibility was on both DHA IT and State Information Technology Agency and the contracts management team will advise on the penalties to be levied if any, due to shared responsibilities.

(e) The allocated and limited number of mobile units have a set schedule and were already deployed as confirmed with various stakeholders as they relieve the offices when there is high influx of clients for management of queues.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) As at 30 June 2020 there were 3656 cases at RSDO level.

(a)(ii) The total number of cases at the Refugee Appeal Board (Now Refugee Appeals Authority) is 123 424 as at 18 September 2020

MONTHS		APRIL 2020 TO SEPTEMBER 2020
		No. of Cases heard	No. of Cases finalized and decisions issued	No. of cases Confirmed as unfounded	No of cases upheld	No of condonations dismissed	No of condonations granted	No of no show cases	No. of Cases referred back to RROs (RSDO)	No of cases cancelled
DESMOND TUTU		0	376	14	34	0	0	5	115	323
MUSINA		0	100	51	12	0	0	6	0	31
DURBAN		26	308	39	61	0	0	1	0	207
CAPE TOWN		137	114	21	11	0	0	0	0	82
PORT ELIZABETH		30	83	31	9	0	0	0	0	43
TOTAL		193	981	156	127	0	0	12	115	686

(a)(iii) The Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) has a backlog of 38185 cases for all the five centre with the majority of cases being at the Desmond Tutu RRO. These are active cases.

(b)(i) The Refugee Appeal Board (Now Refugee Appeals Authority) finalised 981 cases.

(b)(ii) SCRA has finalised 4672 cases.

NO OF CASES REVIEWED	UPHELD	SET ASIDE	REFERRED BACK	TOTAL FINALIZED	COMMENT
4672	4096	400	176	4672	These cases were only attended to at the Desmond Tutu RRO during the level 3-2 lock down.

END

Reply:

1. Honourable member, I told the committee what I know according to information at my disposal.  If some people have information to the contrary, then they are duty bound to bring it out into the open.  I suggest you approach them to provide proof of their statements. Honestly, I don’t know what they are talking about.

2. The total investigation around the whole Bushiri matter are being conducted by a Joint Team of the whole Justice, Peace and Crime Prevention Cluster. When it is completed, the country shall be informed accordingly.

END

Reply:

All 412 Offices of the Department of Home Affairs are capacitated to receive applications for the category of Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status and are henceforth dispatched to Head Office for further processing. There is a back office unit at head office, Rectifications and Amendments Unit that implements the gender marker on the system to amend the status of transgender people by changing their gender on their respective identity documents, provided the applicants meet the requirements as per the regulations and standard operating procedures has been followed

END

Reply:

• We made an announcement through a government notice on 24 October 2020 to resume all services except Citizenship applications at the Civic Service Branch of the Department. The Department thereby issued a circular to all staff members, regarding Administrative Protocols for the Lockdown, Containment and management of the COVID-19 in the Department under lockdown level 1.

• As a result, the Department has recalled 100% staff capacity, mainly in areas where there are backlogs in order to eliminate such backlogs. Under this circumstance, strict adherence to the lock down level 1 protocols is practiced to contain the spread of COVID 19 by ensuring that officials adhere to the protocols in the workplace by maintaining social distancing, adhering to personal hygiene practices (wearing of masks, sanitizing, washing of hands etc.), and further ensuring sufficient ventilation in all workspaces.

 

• The Department furthermore engaged its stakeholders in the value chain of its products and services, in particular GPW (Government Printing Works) and Skynet courier services, to work overtime during the week as well as over the weekends to assist the Department in eliminating such backlogs.
• Moreover, the Department has a Business Recovery Plan to deal with backlogs accumulated during lockdown period.

END

Reply:

When level 5 lockdown was implemented on 27 March 2020, there were approximately 20 000 identity documents applications at the Department’s Back Office processing facility.

When the Department re-opened to capture first time applications, it was initially necessary for operations to be conducted with the most essential staff only to adhere to the limitations of the Disaster Management Act protocols (social distancing, wearing of masks, washing of hands as well as ensuring sufficient ventilation).

Furthermore, the Department’s operational facilities are generally open plan offices, consequently, as and when there are confirmed Covid-19 cases, the Department has to release officials who were in contact with a positive case, who must then isolate and are not available for duty, which also causes delays in the finalising and issuing of Identity documents.

END

Reply:

1(a) Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) has a Chairperson and 2 members at head office Pretoria (3). Admin Support staff at head office Pretoria is a total twelve (12).

There are no SCRA members at the regions, members at the head office from time to time visit the five centres on rotational basis., process is underway to appoint 2 Members for Desmond Tutu RRO; 1 for Cape Town and PE RRO; 1 for Durban RRO for a period of two years to attend to the backlog. Over and above that 2 additional Members shall be appointed for a period of five years to be based at the SCRA head office.

(1)(b) The Refugee Appeals Board (currently Refugee Appeals Authority) have the following staff in numbers :

• Pretoria: 1 Member and Chairperson and 13 Admin staff/Officials,
• Cape Town: 1 Member
• Musina, Port Elizabeth and Durban have no staff

(2)(a)(i) SCRA has 29579 cases as at 11 November 2020

(2)(a)(ii) The total number of appeals is 123 424 as at 18 September 2020.

(2)(b)(i) It will take about 2 years to clear the SCRA backlog.

(2)(b)(ii) Based on the Auditor General’s 2019/2020 report if the current capacity of RAASA remains the same, it would take more than 60 years to clear the backlog. However currently, a plan is in place to increase the Authority’s capacity with 36 members, this will mean that the backlog can be cleared within 4 years.

(3)(a)(i) 317245

(3)(a)(ii) The total number of appeals rejected over the last 10 years is 13 572.

(3)(b)(i) Failed Asylum Seekers are either given an order to leave the Republic of South Africa or are detained for the purposes of deportation.

(3)(b)(ii) The records of failed Asylum Seekers who have been deported is as follows :

2015 - 1

2016 - 113

2017 - 561

2018- 110

2019 - 69

2020 - 22

It is only in recent years that we have been doing a breakdown of the analysis of deportees prior status.

END

Reply:

(1)(a) There were about 7 times in October where system was offline, impacting all Live Capture offices nationwide and there were also incidents affecting individual offices which caused downtime and these include photo booth not working, camera functionality etc.

(1)(b) The current report configuration does not store the downtime in hours but SITA has been requested to create this reports effective 1st of December 2020.

(1)(b)(i) State Information and Technology Agency system downtime,

There are a couple of issues that cause offline or refer to an office as offline. It can be infrastructure issues like cable theft, dependent on as external service provider, Server issues, power outages and application issues or office equipment issues.

(1)(b)(ii) power outages

A consolidated report from SITA is not available for this metric. SITA has been requested to make this report configuration effective 1st of December 2020. There were approximately 20 calls logged for office equipment like FLO (Front Line Officer), Photobooth and some scanners, which did not affect the whole office operations entirely.

(1)(b)(iii) faulty office equipment,

Workstations hardware for Live Capture System (Modernised offices) are actively supported through a 3 year warranty system; and are refreshed every 4 years as per the Tech Refresh Plan. When a workstation required replacement, there is a process to replace computers and peripheral devices that are stored for such purpose both at Head Office and Provincial Head Quarters.

(1)(b)(iv) last-mile connectivity problems and/or (v) any other specified reason

A consolidated report from SITA is not available for this metric. SITA has been requested to make this report configuration effective 1st of December 2020.

(1)(b)(v) Not applicable.

(2) No there is no mechanism in place to proactively inform citizens before travelling as outages are not known upfront or predictable. However Provincial Managers do engage local media to inform Public where major downtimes are experienced and clients are redirected to other offices

(3) The Department is still investigating various options to proactively engage citizens regarding the state of offices.

END

Reply:

(1) They were found to have been issued in June 2016 with permanent residence permits in terms of a provision in the Immigration Act 13 of 2020 they did not qualify for, not having met its requirements. The application did not, inter alia, comprise of proof of the financial guarantees (prescribed minimum net worth in the amount of R12 million plus an undertaking that the applicant will pay R120 000 to the Director-General).

(2)(a) A Non-Profit organisation was used to process the application, despite the fact that it is not regarded as a business.

(2)(b) The investigation is proceeding into the application and adjudication methods and disciplinary proceedings will be initiated on completion of the evidence collection process.

(3)(a) Inspectorate is engaged nationally in the detection of illegal immigration activity through investigations, joint operations with other law enforcement agencies and inspections of entities including businesses.

(3)(b) It is not apparent what reports are being referred to and therefore the question is not substantiated.

(3)(c) In mitigation, the Department has prioritised modernisation of its visa and permitting system to ensure that all priority categories of face value documents are subject to independent clearance phases through the use of an electronic Visa Adjudication System (VAS). Ongoing development of the VAS system is being undertaken to incorporate all categories of visas and permits and thus eliminate manual files and work processes.

(3)(d) The abuse of the asylum system in the main stems from porous borders and the delays in finalizing asylum applications. In this regard the department is finalizing the operationalization of the BMA, whilst amendments were made on the Refugee Act to allow proper capacity at SCRA and RAASA to be able to conclude asylum applications within the prescribed turnaround times.

END

Reply:

a) Based on data extracted 11 November 2020 there are 175 461 persons with section 22 permits active.

b) The total number of appeals that were turned down over the past 10 years is 13 572 (as at 12 November 2020).

c) 

END

Reply:

a) The department continues through its inspectorate to actively conduct inspections and operations in partnership with other law enforcement agencies to deal with all transgressors of immigration legislation. The department has continued with its enforcement and deportation functions throughout the period of the lockdown.

b) With regard to the issues relating to migrant employment the Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Home Affairs co-chair an inter-ministerial committee on migration which is preparing a programme to address these issues which include, amongst others, policy directives, international benchmarking and enforcement responses.

END

Reply:

The applications in this regard were considered by the Department in terms of Section 4(3) of the South African Citizenship Act and out of six (6) applications, five (5) were conditionally approved and 1 was rejected. The outcome letters were forwarded to their respective legal representatives/attorneys.

The outcome letters clearly outlined that the successful applicants are directed to approach their local front office of the Department to sign declaration of allegiance forms upon which they would be issued with naturalisation certificates. Upon receipt of the naturalisation certificates the applicants would thereafter be eligible to apply for registration of birth and receive birth certificates allocated with identity numbers, successively they would apply for identity documents as a result.

(a) The Department would issue identity documents subsequent to receipt of applications in this regard, in the prescribed manner.

(b) The date to be issued identity documents will be determined by date of receipt of applications in this respect, with the turnaround times currently set at 54 days for the first issue of a green barcoded ID book.

END

 

Reply:

(a – b) Follow-up to my Budget Vote statement on 10 July 2019, the Department of Home Affairs embarked on a large-scale project to roll-out online birth registration system in all 1445 health facilities. The project roll-out plan was adopted as outlined below:

Milestones	Estimated Completion Timeframe
Optimisation of 41 Priority 1 health facilities	2019/20 Financial year
Optimisation of 210 Priority 2&3 health facilities	2021/22 Financial year
Optimisation of 127 Priority 4 & 5 health facilities	2022/23 Financial year
Roll-out of birth registration system in 1067 new Priority 4 & 5 health facilities	2023/24 Financial year

The activities of the project involve optimisation of existing health facilities with DHA presence with the aim of enhancing network connectivity and space. The project commenced with the optimisaiton of 47 priority 1 (high actual births delivered) health facilities which were completed during 2019/2020 financial year. The next stage is the roll-out of 210 priority 2 and priority 3 health facilities which will be completed by the end of 2021/22 financial year. Due to COVID-19 regulations, the department could not implement the second stage of the project this financial year and had to roll the stage over to the next financial year. The third stage involves rolling out of online birth registration in 127 priority 4 and 5 health facilities and 1067 priority 5 health facilities will be completed in 2024/25 financial year.

The Department of Home Affairs depended heavily on network connectivity for the registration of birth and this project incorporated provision of uninterruptable network in all 1445 health facilities. The department has provided uninterruptable network, in a form of a router and UPS, in 160 health facilities and is in the process of procuring the services of the service provider to provide network in the remaining 1285 health facilities by the end of 2024/25 financial year. The process of connecting the 1285 health facilities has been with SITA to publish the Bid for the connection. The Business case for the Specification for the Health facilities has already been sent to SITA for the Publication of the Bid.

END

Reply:

a) There is no post identified to be filled as critical in the De Aar office as currently all vacant posts are unfunded. It should be highlighted that there is currently a moratorium for filling of posts in the Department due to the budgetary constraints on compensation of employees as per the recent announcement by National Treasury.

b) The Renosterberg municipality is one of four local municipalities that is serviced by the De Aar office. These areas are serviced through Mobile office outreach visits. The mobile itinerary is communicated to the Community Development Workers(CDW’s) and the Department of Social Services amongst other government entities on a monthly basis. This assists us to identify clients in need of our services. The mobile itinerary for December 2020 is as communicated, below:

DATE	LOCAL MUNICIPALITY	TOWN
2-Dec-20	Renosterberg	Petrusville & Van der Kloof
9-Dec-20	Umsobomvu	Noupoort
17-Dec-20	Renosterberg	Phillipstown
23-Dec-20	Emthanjeni	Britstown

END

Reply:

Honourable Member this is a very complex and sensitive matter best left to the South African National Defence Force, Military Intelligence and State Security Agency.

END

Reply:

(1)(a) There should be no reasons for refusal to register birth.

(1)(b) There is no statutory provision for refusal to register birth that meet the requirements as per the Birth and Death Act, Act no. 51 of 1992.

(i) Every child Birth should be registered as per Birth and Death Act.

(ii) Both parent’s details will be reflected on the birth certificate as per Act.

(2)(a) Where there is non-compliance to the Law and the Department is aware, corrective measures will be taken against the official/s.

(2)(b) The Constitution of South Africa promotes equality. The state may not directly or indirectly discriminate against anyone on the grounds of gender, sex or sexual orientation. Refusal to register the birth of a child on the ground that both parents are of the same gender/sex is discriminatory and inconsistent with the constitution. Managers at all levels will ensure that information on birth registration is once more disseminated to all officials responsible for birth registration. No discrimination will be tolerated and if such occurs, the Department will take the necessary actions against the official

(3) The birth registration system allows and accepts the registration of birth of a child born of people of the same sex. The affected couples can approach the Office Manager in charge at the nearest Home Affairs office to get their child registered so that they can ensure that both names of parents appear on the birth certificate.

END

Reply:

The person who is declared dead even though he is still alive, is due to the sharing of the same identity number by two persons. The case of the person concerned as per details furnished was declared dead on 13 September 2014 at Vredendal, was received and referred to the relevant section for investigation.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the client had to submit an application with supporting documents to finalise the matter. On 12 November 2020, the documents were only forwarded to Head Office, Pretoria which will be used to verify the owner of the identity number and finalisation thereof.

The applicant will be informed accordingly once finalised.

END

Reply:

a) The Department has eight hundred and thirteen thousand three hundred and forty-three (813 343) identified cases of blocked identity documents (IDs) under different categories. The afore-mentioned total includes cases that have to remain blocked as these cases are already investigated and/or marked for deletion so that they should not be used again as such.

The breakdown of the categories are as follows:

Description of Markers / Blocked IDs	Number
Immigrant does not qualify for automatic citizenship	222
South West Africa (S.W.A) cases	8214
Death - Correspondence file created (dead or alive cases or fraudulent death)	17747
Illegal Immigrants	145619
Duplicates (ID duplicates for one person having multiple identity numbers and 2 persons sharing same ID number)	517240
Under Investigation for various reasons	70323
Refer to Identification (to investigate fingerprint or biometric records)	53978
Total	813343

It has to be highlighted that when the Department delivers services to citizens and non-citizens of this country, it will come across cases of Identity theft, where an Identity document was acquired illegally, fraudulently, where supporting documents were falsified or inadvertently where identity numbers are duplicated. In all such cases markers are set on the National Population Register(NPR) as a means of ensuring the integrity and credibility of the National Population Register.

In addition, markers are set on identity numbers such as cases that are referred to as “under investigation” for various reasons or causes. When the Department receives cases of this nature, they first have to investigate these cases to establish if indeed the Identity document was acquired illegally, then those Identity numbers are definitely blocked. Where there is sufficient evidence provided to the contrary, markers are lifted accordingly.

The following reasons mainly attribute to why IDs are blocked and markers are set on the National Population Register:

• Where ID numbers are Duplicated
• Illegal Immigrants who obtained SA documents fraudulently
• False registration of Birth, Marriages and Death and;
• Investigation purposes of suspicious ID obtained fraudulently with falsified supporting documents

​b) It takes the department approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks to resolve and to finalise blocked Identity documents, provided all required supporting documents to resolve these cases are obtained from the applicant. This includes the time when the client visits the front office and the receipt of all requested documentation to resolve the case in line with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s).

END

Reply:

(a)(b) & (c):

(i)(aa) number of applications were received between 1 June 2020 and 8 October 2020

• [email protected] : Applications received : 27, 387
• [email protected] : Applications received: 3,651
• [email protected] Applications received: 1-15 October 2020: 4,701

(i)(bb) number of officials are/were dealing with the specified applications

• [email protected] : 5 officials on rotational basis
• [email protected] : 6 officials
• [email protected] : 6 officials

(ii)(aa) - Requests for travel were allocated within one day to prioritise urgent cases at least 2 days prior to the date of travel.

• All applications are managed on the basis of striving to achieve a 24hr turnaround, and in order to achieve this a rotational staff roster (as specified above in (i)(bb) has been assigned.

(ii)(bb) Resolutions are communicated within 1-10 days. Immediate communication was send to all applicants in the form of an autoresponse with details on the supporting documentation required for travel, the process and the final Immigration Controls at the Ports of Entry.

 

END

Reply:

1. The person holds no position within the Department or Ministry of Home Affairs as he is not in the employ of the Department. However, the Advocate has represented the Department in various matters in court, like many other counsel, on behalf of the State Attorney.
2. Not applicable.
3. Not applicable.

 

END

Reply:

a) Level 1 Regulations do not pose any restrictions on SADC for South African Citizens to repatriate back home.

b) The Immigration Act requires that any student wishing to register at a recognised learning institution should apply for a study visa authorising them to study in South Africa. Such study visas are issued for the duration of study. South African Missions prioritize study visa applications from all SADC countries. This is done in conjunction with learning institutions to ensure that prospective students from SADC countries are given the necessary support.

END

 

Reply:

1. Law Enforcement officials within Department of Home Affairs (DHA) come within 2 categories. there are immigration officers in the inspectorate unit which deal with transgressions under the immigration act and other departmental legislation where a foreign national is attempting to gain a benefit such as using fraudulent information to obtain an ID, birth certification or citizenship. The other law enforcement official is those working within the Counter Corruption and Security Services Branch to combat corruption and unethical conduct by officials within the department. Immigration Inspectorate officials derive their powers under section 33 of the Immigration Act,2002. They can investigate any matter falling under the Immigration Act, subject to the directions of the Minister. Under section 34(1) of the Immigration Act an immigration officer without the need for a warrant may arrest an illegal foreigner, cause him or her to be deported and pending deportation may detain him or her. The job description of an inspectorate official is derived from the Immigration Act, 2002. They are also declared as peace officers under the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977.
2. The matters relating to this official are part of an ongoing investigation into gross misconduct. The Honourable member is referred to our media statement released on 2 October 2020 (www.dha.gov.za) which addresses this question regarding support provided to the official on investigations they have undertaken.
3. This matter remains a pending investigation. Further action will be determined following further investigation.

END

Reply:

Honourable member, the matter pertaining to the trip of passengers who made use of falcon 900 airplane from the South African National Defence Force on 08 September 2020 for a flight to Zimbabwe, were dealt with by the President of the country. He took a decision to sanction the Minister of Defence because there were irregularities in the manner in which the trip was undertaken under her stewardship. After the action by the President, I regard the matter as closed except that the Public Protector is doing her own investigations.

END