ATC150422: Report of the Portfolio Committee On Home Affairs on the Annual Performance Plan and Budget Vote 5 of the Department of Home Affairs, dated 21 April 2015

Home Affairs

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN AND BUDGET VOTE 5 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS, DATED 21 APRIL 2015

 

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs (the Committee) having met with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Government Printing Works (GPW) on their Annual Performance Plans (APPs) and budgets for 2015/16, reports as follows:

 

1. Introduction

 

The Committee conducts oversight over the DHA, the IEC and GPW. The Committee met with the DHA on 17 March 2015, the IEC and GPW on 24 March 2015 to receive briefings on the Strategic Plans for the next five years and the Annual Performance Plans for 2015/16 financial year as well their related budgets. The total budget of the DHA is R6.45 billion for 2015/16 financial year, including transfers to the IEC and GPW.

 

The DHA is responsible for determining and recording the identity and status of all people living in South Africa and issuing documents that affirm this. The DHA’s services are divided into two broad categories: Civic Services and Immigration Services. The Civic Affairs branch is the custodian of the National Population Register (NPR), which contains the records of all citizens and permanent residents, including changes in status such as marriage and death. Services to citizens include issuing enabling documents after their status is confirmed, such as birth and death certificates and travel documents. The verification of identity is a service that is also rendered to all government institutions, banks and other private sector institutions.

 

The Immigration Affairs branch determines the status and identity of foreigners, regulates immigration through the permitting and movement control systems and provides consular services abroad. Immigration officers are present at ports of entry and regional offices in provinces. The branch also has an inspectorate function which is responsible for enforcing the Immigration Act (No. 13 of 2002) and its Regulations. Immigration Affairs is also responsible for processing and determining the status of asylum seekers and refugees and operates centres nationally in this regard.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Briefing by the Department of Home Affairs on the Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plan for 2015/16 financial year

 

The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs: Ms Fatima Chohan, accompanied the delegation to the meeting and Mr Mkuseli Apleni; the Director-General of the DHA; made the presentation. He briefed the Committee on the Strategic Plan of the DHA for the next five years and the Annual Performance Plan for the 2015/16 financial year.

 

2.1. The Department of Home Affairs Strategic Plan

 

The Director-General indicated that the government has increased the number of national outcomes from twelve to fourteen. The two additional outcomes are 13) Social protection and 14) nation building and social cohesion. The DHA contributes to the following four of the fourteen outcomes:

 

Outcome 3: All people in South Africa are and feel safe.

Outcome 4: Decent employment through inclusive economic growth.

Outcome 12: An efficient, effective and development oriented public service; and

Outcome 14: Nation building and social cohesion – This is a new outcome.

 

The DG indicated that government programmes should align with the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF). The MTSF is based on the priorities in the electoral mandate given to the government by citizens. The top priorities are:

 

• Decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
• Education.
• Health.
• Rural development, food security and land reform; and the
• Fight against corruption.

 

Department of Home Affairs Goals for 2015 – 2020

 

There are two overarching goals that informed the strategic planning of the DHA:

 

• To continue to deliver against the core mandate of the DHA, which is to secure identity and citizenship; to manage immigration securely; and to deliver services related to these critical functions of the state.
• To ensure that over the next five years, the DHA puts in place the people, systems and infrastructure needed for it to play an effective role in support of national priorities and programmes.

 

2.2. The Department of Home Affairs commitments in the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2015 -2020

 

The DHA has aligned its own outcomes to the four relevant outcomes of government mentioned above as follows:

 

DHA Outcome 1: Secured South African citizenship and identity.

DHA Outcome 2: Secured and responsive immigration system.

DHA Outcome 3: Services to citizens and other clients that are accessible and efficient.

 

National Outcome 3: All people in South Africa are and feel safe

 

The DHA should know and protect the identity and status of every citizen; and every foreigner who enters South Africa legally. Identity systems that are not secured expose countries to risks and threats from domestic crime and international terrorism.

 

Sub-outcome 3: South Africa’s borders effectively defended, protected, secured and well managed

                                                                                                                         

The DHA is leading the establishment of the Border Management Agency (BMA). It was reported that the BMA Bill will be introduced in 2015/16 financial year and the BMA will be launched in 2016/17 financial year. The mandate of the BMA will be to secure the border environment and ensure the efficient facilitation of legitimate people and goods through the ports of entry. It is envisaged the BMA will be formally established by December 2016.

 

Sub – outcome 6: Identity of all persons in South Africa known and secured

 

The registration at birth should be the only entry point for South Africans to the new National Identity System (NIS). It was reported that by 2018/19, 90 percent of total births will be registered within 30 calendar days. The DHA will ensure that systems will be in place to capture biometric data of all travellers who enter or exit South Africa legally. All ports of entry will be equipped with the biometric systems capable of processing 100 percent of travellers. All ports of entry will be equipped with the Enhanced Movement Control System (eMCS) by 2018/19. The NIS will be pivotal to the functioning of the state and the private sector and it will be the backbone of e-government. The value of the DHA services depends on the security of its identity and immigration systems. These systems are essential to the security of the state and are constantly under threat from the transnational syndicates and cyber-crime.

 

The DHA Modernisation Programme is aimed at replacing outdated systems by building an integrated, paperless, secure, digital platform for the DHA systems and processes. The automation of business process for passport and identity documents is already functioning. There are live capture technology in 110 offices across the provinces. Live Capture is the technology which is used to capture personal details and biometrics such as photographs, signatures and fingerprints online without the need for paper. The cleaning of the National Population Register (NPR) and the automation of the permits and asylum seekers and the National Identity systems are due for completion over the medium term.

 

National Outcome 4: Decent employment through inclusive economic growth

 

The importation and retention of critical skills is a key component of enhancing economic growth, the creation of employment and reducing levels of unemployment in South Africa.

 

Sub-Outcome 3: Elimination of unnecessary regulatory burdens

 

The DHA will reduce regulatory burdens and reduce the time required for importing skills that are necessary for the economy. The maximum period for the approval to import skills is targeted at three months from the time of application.

 

National Outcome 12: An efficient, effective and development oriented public service

 

The DHA helps government to build the capacity of the state to deliver services to its people and assists in the fight against corruption through securing identity and implementing its own anti-corruption strategies. The DHA will implement an improved Contact Centre over the medium term thereby allowing direct feedback to citizens and others who call in to inquire on applications. The department will also improve and continue to implement the Counter Corruption strategy.

 

Sub-Outcome 6: Increased responsiveness of public servants and accountability to citizens.

 

The establishment of the Contact Centre will improve on the feedback to clients by improving access to information and functionality of agents working in call centres.

National Outcome 14: Nation Building and social cohesion.

 

Civil registration, democracy and nation building are very important. The introduction of the Smart ID card will enable citizens to claim more rights and participate in the political, social and economic processes nationally and internationally. The provision of documents and publicising of rights of migrants will also assist in promoting cohesion.

 

3. The DHA’s contribution to the National Development Plan (NDP): 2030

 

The NDP offers a long-term perspective. It defines a desired destination and identifies the role different sectors need to play in reaching that goal. The NDP aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. According to the plan, South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society. The major focus of the NDP is to confront the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment by achieving higher growth rates.

 

The DHA contributes to the NDP by facilitating the acquisition of the critical skills needed for the economy and to build on the country’s own skills base. The NDP draws on international experience that a capable state staffed by professionals leads to development; improved services, reduced corruption and citizens feeling they are part of the economic development plan.

 

The DHA will play a role in enabling regional development by working with SADC countries to improve the efficient, secure and managed movements of people.

 

The DHA also provides citizens with identity that gives them access to rights and services.

 

The DHA Modernisation Programme seeks to reduce fraud and the cost of doing business by enabling e-government and thus attracting more investment.

 

4. The Department of Home Affairs’ Annual Performance Plan for 2015/16 financial year

 

4.1. The Annual Performance Plan is organised around three DHA Outcomes, each of which is supported by a number of Strategic Objectives.

 

 

 

The DHA has three budget programmes:

 

4.1.1. Programme 1: Administration - The purpose of the programme is to provide strategic leadership, management and support services to the department.

 

There are five sub-programmes related to this programme:

• Ministry
• Management Support Services- including the Director-General Support Services, Audit Services, Legal Services, Policy and Strategic Management and Intergovernmental Relations.
• Corporate Services- including Communications, Counter Corruption and Security Services, Human Resources Support, Learning Academy and Financial Administration.
• Transversal Information Technology Management- including Information Services and Transversal IT Projects.
• Office Accommodation.

 

4.1.2. Programme 2: Citizen Affairs –The purpose of the programme is to provide secure, efficient and accessible services and documents to citizens and lawful residents.

 

The objectives of the Programme are as follows:

• Ensuring that registration at birth is the only entry point to the national population register by increasing the number of births registered within 30 calendar days from 750 000 in 2015/16 to 880 000 in 2017/18.
• Maintaining the standard of service delivery for the issuing of enabling documents by:

 

• Issuing 90 percent of machine readable passports through the new live capture process within 13 working days over the medium term.
• Issuing 90 percent of identity documents (first issue) within 54 working days over the medium term.
• Issuing 95 percent of identity documents (reissue) within 47 working days over the medium term.
• Increasing the issuing of the smart identity card from 2.2 million per year in 2015/16 to 5 million per year by 2017/18

 

 

 

 

There are eight sub-programmes under programme two. The sub-programmes are as follows:

 

• Citizen Affairs Management provides for the overall management and policy direction of the branch for both head office and frontline offices.
• Status Services regulates all matters relating to the NPR. These include maintaining an accurate register of all citizens and immigrants who had acquired the right to permanent residence; registering deaths, births and marriage; providing travel and citizenship documents; providing financial assistance to citizens abroad who wish to return to South Africa and determining and granting citizenship.
• Identification Services oversees issues relating to identity such as fingerprints, photographs and identity documents.
• Access to Services provides for the development of service delivery channels. The DHA is working closely with the Department of Health to register births and deaths at health facilities. The use of mobile offices, particularly in the rural areas and the use of banks and the post office outlets to issue Smart ID Cards will significantly improve the reach and accessibility of the DHA.
• Service Delivery to Provinces provides for all civic, immigration and refugee affairs functions in all provinces.

• The Government Printing Works transfers funds to the GPW. The GPW provides printing services to the South African government and some SADC countries. It has been reported by Dr AD Mbewu: the Chief Executive Officer of GPW that the entity has been self-financing for the past three years. The GPW has not received funding from the National Treasury via the DHA.
• The Electoral Commission transfers funds to the IEC. The IEC manages national, provincial and municipal elections. This sub-programme’s total budget is transferred in full to the IEC.
• The Represented Political Parties’ Fund transfers funds to the Represented Political Parties’ Fund in order to provide funds to all political parties represented in Parliament and provincial legislatures.

 

4.1.3. Programme 3: Immigration Affairs – The purpose is to facilitate and regulate the secure movement of people through the ports of entry into and out of the Republic of South Africa. Determine the status of asylum seekers and regulate refugee affairs.

 

The objectives of the Programme are as follows:

• Maintain the standard of service delivery for enabling documents while improving the   percentage of applications processed within a specified period by:

 

• adjudicating permanent residence applications (applications collected within South Africa) within 8 months, and increasing the achievement of this target from 70 percent in 2015/16 to 90 percent in 2017/18.
• adjudicating business and general work visas within 8 weeks (applications processed within South Africa), increasing the rate of meeting this target from 70   percent in 2015/16 to 90   percent in 2017/18.
• issuing 80 percent of refugee travel documents within 90 working days.
• issuing 50 percent of refugee green barcoded identity documents (first issue) within 90 working days.

 

There are four sub-programmes under programme three. The sub-programmes are as follows:

 

• Immigration Affairs Management provides for the overall management of the branch and provides policy direction.
• Admission Services is responsible for issuing visas, facilitating the entry and departure of person to and from South Africa in line with the Immigration Act, 2002; recording the movements on the movement control system; controlling the processing of applications for permanent and temporary residence permits, including work, study and business visas.
• Immigration Services provides immigration services in foreign countries; detects, detains and deports illegal immigrants in terms of the Immigration Act, 2002 and conducts investigations with other law enforcement bodies.
• Asylum Seekers considers and process applications for asylum and issuing enabling documents to refugees. The head office is responsible for providing strategic leadership while the Refugee Reception Offices are responsible for operations.

 

4.2. The Department’s Outcomes, Strategic Objectives and main strategies

 

4.2.1. Outcome 1: Secured South African citizenship and identity

 

Strategic Objective 1.1 – All eligible citizens are issued with enabling documents relating to identity and status.

 

The DHA will increase birth registration within 30 calendar days. This would be done by the improvement of stakeholder management and the improvement of birth registration in hospitals. The DHA plans to register 750 000 new births within 30 days in 2015/16 financial year.

The DHA will increase the roll out of the Smart ID Card through banks and the South African Post Offices. It was reported by the Director-General that roll out of the Smart ID Card through banks would be announced by the Minister of Home Affairs during the budget vote debate. The Committee is in support of the roll out through the banks, however, they expressed a concern with regards to the security of information. The DHA will issue 2.2 million Smart ID Cards in 2015/16. The number will increase to 3 million Smart ID Cards in 2016/17 and 5 million in 2017/18. The Director-General could not indicate the year in which the green bar-coded Identity booklet will cease to be issued. The issuing of the Smart ID Card is dependent on the roll out of the Live Capture technology. This technology has thus far been rolled out to 110 offices in 2014/15 out of the 405 offices countrywide.

 

Strategic Objective 1.2: An integrated and digitised National Identity System (NIS) that is secure and contains biometric details of every person recorded on the system.

 

The DHA will use a phased approach to roll out the capacity to capture biometric data of all persons at ports of entry. In phase one all people traveling to South Africa will have this information recorded. Phase two of the Enhanced Movement Control System (eMCS) will be implemented in line with the new immigration regulations. The development of the biometric solution for eMCS will be finalised in 2016/17 and it will be rolled out in the 2017/18 financial year.

 

The procurement of hardware for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) will be concluded in the 2015/16 financial year and the implementation of the new AFIS would be in 2016/17 financial year.  The NIS will be developed in 2016/17 financial year and it would be operational by 2017/18 financial year.

 

4.2.1. Outcome 2: Secured and responsive immigration system

 

Strategic Objective 2.1. Refugees and asylum seekers are managed and documented efficiently.

 

The DHA is improving the security and efficiency in processes and systems and improving international cooperation regarding asylum seekers and refugees. Fifty percent of Refugee IDs are to be processed within 90 working days for the first issue from the date of application at Refugee Reception Offices until the document is ready at the office of application and 80   percent of the Refugee Travel documents to be issued within 90 working days.

 

Strategic Objective 2.2 Movement of persons in and out of the country to be managed according to a risk-based approach.

 

The DHA is the lead department in the establishment of the Border Management Agency. The DHA will introduce the BMA Bill in 2015/16 financial year and develop and implement the related border management strategies. The DHA has received funding to capacitate the inspectorate to support enforcement of the immigration and refugee legislation. There will also be a roll out of a Port Control Strategy and Operational Framework to five priority ports of entry.

 

In addition, the DHA would conduct a feasibility study at three foreign missions – Harare, Munich and Colombo for the installation of biometric systems abroad. The DHA would further draft a final draft of Green Paper on International Migration and the White Paper will follow in 2016/17 financial year. The Department intends to amend the Immigration and Refugees Bills in 2017/18 once the White Paper has been approved by the Minister of Home Affairs.

 

Strategic Objective 2.3 – Enabling documents issued to foreigners efficiently and securely.

 

The DHA would fast-track the importation of critical skills into the country required for economic growth. It has been reported that 70 percent of Permanent Residence applications will be adjudicated within eight months in 2016/17.

 

Seventy percent of business and general work visas would be adjudicated within eight weeks of receipt of applications and for critical skills, 65 percent of the applications would be processed within four weeks of receipt of the applications.

 

The DHA envisages to introduce the Refugees Amendment Bill and the Border Management Bill in 2015. The Refugees Amendment Bill would seek to address processes and procedures relating to the adjudication, review and appeal processes with regards to the asylum seekers and refugees. The Border Management Agency Bill would seek to establish the Border Management Agency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.2.3. Outcome 3: Services to citizens and other clients that are accessible and efficient.

 

Strategic Objective 3.1 – Secure, effective, efficient and accessible service delivery to citizens and immigrants.

 

The DHA will train 350 officials on the National Certificate: Home Affairs Services and 250 managers are to be trained in leadership and management development to improve performance. In addition, 200 officials from front offices and ports of entry will be trained on a Client Relations Improvement and Professionalising Programme. It was reported that 80 cadets will also be trained on 18 unit standards for the National Certificate: Home Affairs Services.

 

The Contact Centre will be implemented in 2015/16. The Contact Centre will be different from the Call Centre in that the officials will be able to provide applicants with information. The current Call Centre is unable to directly provide information on the queries made by the applicants. The Contact Centre will go beyond the current system and it will enable direct help of applicants with their queries.

 

Strategic Objective 3.2 – Good governance and administration.

 

The DHA will review the operating model and structure of the Department of Home Affairs. The vacancy rate will be maintained at 10 percent or below by 31 March 2016. The DHA will be repositioned as a security department.

 

Strategic Objective 3.3. Ethical conduct and zero tolerance approach to crime and corruption.

 

An awareness initiative on ethics, fraud prevention and counter corruption will be conducted and 62 percent of reported fraud and corruption cases will be finalised within 90 days. A number of reviews on processes will be conducted to identify possible vulnerability in business processes and reports. It was reported that 980 vetting investigations were to be finalised and referred to the State Security Agency (SSA).

 

Strategic Objective 3.4 – Collaboration with stakeholders in support of enhanced service delivery and core business objectives.

 

The DHA will implement an internal and external communication strategy. The strategy will focus on corporate communication services, media relations interventions and public awareness activities and engagement.

5. Briefing by the Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Government Printing Works (GPW) on the Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plan and Budget for 2015/16 financial year.

 

The IEC and GPW account to Parliament through the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. The two organisations presented their Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans on 24 March 2015.

 

The Electoral Commission is an independent constitutional body which manages free and fair elections of legislative bodies and institutions through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society in deepening democracy.

 

The Government Printing Works was founded for purposes of rendering security printing and related services to the Government of South Africa.

 

5.1. Briefing by the Electoral Commission on the Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan and Budget for 2015/16 financial year

 

The IEC derives its mandate from Section 190 of the Constitution of South Africa and the Electoral Commission Act, 1996.

 

In terms of the Constitution, the IEC must:

 

• manage elections of national, provincial and municipal legislative bodies in accordance with the national legislation.
• ensure that those elections are free and fair; and
• declare the results of those elections within a period that must be prescribed by the national legislation and that is as short as reasonably possible

 

The duties and functions of the IEC are defined in section 5 of the Electoral Commission Act of 1996 which include to:

 

• manage any election.
• ensure that any election is free and fair.
• promote conditions conducive to free and fair elections.
• promote knowledge of sound and democratic electoral processes.
• compile and maintain a voters’ roll by means of a system of registering eligible voters by utilizing data available from government sources and information furnished from voters.
• compile and maintain a register of parties.
• establish and maintain liaison and cooperation with parties.
• undertake and promote research into electoral matters.
• develop and promote the development of electoral expertise and technology in all spheres of government.
• continuously review electoral legislation and proposed electoral legislation, and to make recommendations in connection therewith.
• promote voter education.
• promote cooperation with and between persons, institutions, government and administrations for the achievement of its objects.
• declare the results of elections for national, provincial and municipal legislative bodies within seven days after such elections.
• adjudicate disputes which may arise from the organisation, administration or conducting of elections and which are of an administrative nature, and
• appoint appropriate public administration in any sphere of government to conduct elections when necessary.

 

The local government elections will take place between 18 May 2016 and 16 August 2016 and IEC is prepared for the earliest date of the elections. Although the elections will take place in the 2016/17 financial year, the IEC reported that the bulk of the work will take place in 2015/16. During the local government elections, the IEC depends on the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to delimit the municipal wards. For the municipalities which do not have problems, the MDB will finalise their work by 31 August 2015 and for those municipalities which have challenges, the MDB will finalise its work on 27 November 2015. The IEC is constantly working with the MDB to effect the soonest possible completion.

 

A review of the municipal electoral legislation has been completed and the document has been given to the Minister of Home Affairs. The IEC reported that it is facing accommodation challenges in municipalities. Many municipalities are not in a position to continue providing the IEC with office accommodation. This will require additional funding to secure private accommodation.

 

The IEC will replace the barcoded scanner units or zip-zip machines after the Local Government Elections (LGE) in 2016. The zip-zip machines are machines that are used during the registration weekends and voting days to scan Identity Documents and Smart ID Cards. The zip-zip machines will then have reached the end of their useful lives. It was confirmed to the Committee by the IEC that the machines had been serviced and tested and will not malfunction during the coming elections IEC will  carry out an IT hardware refresh and upgrade on a five year cycle.

 

The Electoral Commissioners have approached the courts for a review of the contentious Riverside Office Park lease which house their headquarters. The IEC entered into a new recognition agreement with the labour union wherein it was agreed the terms and conditions for the Electoral staff would be negotiated independently of the Public Sector Coordinating Bargaining Council from 1 April 2015. This is aimed at improving staff retention.

 

The IEC continues to conduct research to establish what the implications of the e-voting on the IEC are likely to be.

 

The Electoral Commission has three Strategic Goals and each Strategic Goals has Strategic Objectives. The three Strategic Goals are as follows:

 

• Strengthening governance, institutional excellence and professionalism through enabling business processes, at all levels of the organisation.
• Achieving pre-eminence in the area of managing elections and referenda, including the strengthening of a cooperative relationship with political parties.
• Strengthening electoral democracy.

 

During the 2015/16 financial year, the IEC will fill 980 posts and award 80 bursaries. The IEC is continuously building the capacity of its staff by offering 160 internal and external courses. All staff will comply with the performance management system. The IEC will have two registration weekends before the local government elections in 2016, in which it will appoint 50 092 additional temporary staff. It is envisaged that the IEC will have 22 600 voting stations in 2016 and that all of them will be supplied with electoral materials. The number of registered voters as at 31 March 2015 is 25 600 000 and the voters roll will be validated once per month against the National Population Register (NPR).

 

5.2. Briefing by the Government Printing Works (GPW) on the Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan for the 2015/16 financial year

 

The Vision of the GPW is to be the State’s mandated security printer and its mission is to provide cost effective, secure, reliable and timeous services to all spheres of government and the public with equitable information and dissemination of government information through technology; innovation and service excellence.

 

The GPW strives to make a significant contribution to the National Outcomes of Government and goals of the National Development Plan (NDP). The GPW contributes to the following outcomes:

 

Outcome 11: Create a better South Africa and contribute to a better and safer Africa and World.

Outcome 12: An efficient, effective and development oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship.

Outcome 5: A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path.

 

The development of the GPW Strategic Plan 2015 -020 was guided by priorities of government and the Department of Home Affairs. The GPW has three strategic outcome-oriented goals, namely, the transition to a State Owned Company; Optimised Processes and Facilities and a Developed Workforce.

 

The principal clientele of the GPW are State Departments and other organs of state. The GPW has the sole mandate to produce South African passports and identification documents and the GPW is a strategic partner of the DHA.

 

On 9 October 2009, the GPW was converted into a Government Component in terms of the Public Services Act, 1999. This was intended as transitional phase to becoming a State Owned Company. A draft State Printers’ Bill has been produced and it is with the Minister of Home Affairs. The intention of the Bill is to transform the GPW from a Government Component into a State Owned Company of which the government will be the sole shareholder. All profits generated will be used into asset recapitalisation and the development of the facilities. The Bill will also provide GPW with greater flexibility in setting salaries to attract and retain the skilled artisans professionals needed to complete the transformation of the GPW into a modern “print and media” company.

 

The Visagie Street Campus has been designed and viability report completed. The detailed plans will be completed in 2015. The total project will cost R788 million on a 54 073 square metre property. The funds will come from the accumulated funds in the Pay Master General Account and the profits to be accrued from 2015 – 2019. The tender for the contractor will be issued in 2016.

 

A Dispatch Centre is also being constructed at the Visagie Street Campus due for completion by the middle of 2016. It will be used to dispatch passports and Smart ID Cards. It will mean that there would be no human intervention in the production of Smart ID cards from the time of live capture of the citizen’s details to the point of handover to the courier in the Dispatch Centre.

 

The Pavilion Three on the Visagie Street Campus is being converted into a High Speed Printing and Examination Papers factory. The total cost of this Factory and the Dispatch Centre is R257 million and the entire facility will be completed by the middle of 2016.

 

A modern building on the other side of Visagie Street Campus will be purchased and converted into an Administration Building. The conversion of this building will cost R49 million to purchase and between R10 – 15 million to renovate it and will be completed by the end of 2015.

 

The GPW introduced an Electronic Government Gazette which was launched in 2012 and it can be accessed at the website: www.gpwonline.co.za  and the uptake of the new system has been very impressive. The online component went live in March 2015 whereby customers will be able to submit material for the Government Gazette electronically using a PDF format.

 

The production of Smart Card began on 15 October 2013 and thus far 2 million Smart ID Cards have been produced. Another 36 million Smart ID Cards will be produced over the next six years to replace the current ID books by 2021.

 

There is lack of experienced and qualified senior managers, artisans and administrative personnel in the GPW which continues to impact on its service delivery. At the current staff capacity and operating hours, the GPW is able to produce 3.6 million Smart Cars per year; more than the 3 million targeted by the DHA for the 2015/16 financial year. The GPW is in the process of trying to secure additional business on the African content. Very few countries in Africa produce their own passports and security documents, largely due to security concerns.

 

6. The budgets of the Department of Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission and the Government Printing Works

 

6.1. The Department of Home Affairs

 

The spending focus over the medium term will be on the two main mandates of DHA, namely; the civics mandate (falls under Programme 2) and immigration mandate (falls under Programme 3).

 

Programme	Budget				Nominal Rand Change	Real Rand Change	Nominal % Change	Real % Change
R million	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2014/15-2015/16		2014/15-2015/16
1 Administration	1 860.3	1 598.2	2 090.5	2 198.0	-262.1	-335.3	-14.09	-18.02
2 Citizen Affairs	4 106.9	4 131.7	4 352.6	4 050.3	24.8	-164.4	0.60	-4.00
3 Immigration Affairs	656.5	720.9	753.1	801.2	64.4	31.4	9.81	4.78
Total	6 623.7	6 450.8	7 196.2	7 049.5	-172.9	-468.4	-2.61	-7.07

Table: DHA budget per programme

 

The budget of DHA showed a decrease from R6.6 billion to R6.4 billion between 2014/15 and 2015/16. This showed a real decrease of 7 percent in its allocated budget for the year under review (before inflation it was a decline of 2.61 percent).

 

The total budget of DHA included allocations to GPW and the Electoral Commission (IEC). In total, the budget of DHA was reduced by R173 million from 2014/15 (across the three programmes indicated in the table above). The biggest decline was for the Administration programme.

 

The Department anticipated that its departmental receipts (fees generated from services rendered by the Department) will increase significantly in 2015/16, up R365.5 million the previous year to R790.8 million. In nominal terms, it was expected that revenue will increase by 116.4 percent in 2015/16 (or 106.5 percent when taking into account inflation/ real terms). Most of the additional revenue will be generated through the processing of ID documents, passports and permits, etc. 

 

1. Programme Analysis

 

1. Programme 1: Administration

 

The total budget for this programme was R1.5 billion for 2015/16, down from R1.8 billion in the previous financial year. Programme 1 showed a nominal decrease of R262 million (or 14 percent decrease) from previous financial year. The effects of inflation (real value) resulted in a decline of 18 percent.

 

Within the Administration Programme, 3 of 4 sub-programmes showed a decrease in allocations. These were:

 

• Transversal Information Technology Management sub-programme – declined by R250 million (37.4 percent in real terms).
• Another year on year decrease in allocation within Office Accommodation sup-programme with R150 million less than 2014/15 (-31.6 percent in real terms).
• Corporate Services sub-programme – declined by R5.7 million (5.5 percent in real terms).

 

The Support Services sub-programme experienced a nominal increase of R3.4 million (a decline in real terms of 5.4 percent).

 

The reduction in expenditure was concerning given that Corporate Services only managed to fully achieved 6 of its 14 targets (43  percent) for  this important outcome in the most recent 2013/14 Annual Report. This sub-programme largely managed one of the DHA’s main objectives - a service that is efficient, accessible and corruption free.

 

1. Programme 2: Citizen Affairs      

 

Programme 2 is the largest in DHA, in terms of budget allocation, and constituted 56 percent of overall departmental budget.  This programme showed a small nominal increase in allocation of R5.6 million from the previous year. However, the effects of inflation converts the nominal growth of 4.6 percent to a decline of 0.2 percent. In 2014/15, the DHA indicated that it would reduce spending in line with Cabinet approval, which will mainly be aimed at non-core areas of operations such as catering, venue hire, etc. These saving would span over the 2014/15 – 2016/17 MTEF.

 

A total of three out of the seven sub-programmes shows a decrease for 2015/16. Of note was the Status Services sub-programme, which showed R443 million reduction in allocation from the previous year. This showed an 80 percent (in nominal terms) reduction in allocation. When considering inflation, this sub-programme’s allocation showed a decrease of R448 million (81.3 percent in real terms).

 

A rather nominal decrease of R0.3 million (1.4 percent in nominal terms) in allocation was noted for the Citizen Affairs Management sub-programme. When considering inflation, this sub-programme’s allocation further decrease by R1.4 million (5.7 percent in real terms). The total budget for this sub-programme is down from R24.7 million in 2014/15, to R24.4 in 2015/16. 

 

The Services to Provinces sub-programme, in contrast, received the biggest increase R103.5 million (5.5 percent in nominal terms and 0.7 percent in real terms) in this programme. This increase was encouraging since the sub-programme provides for all civic, immigration and refugee affairs functions across all nine provinces. This sub-programme takes up 52 percent of the programme’s budget allocation. While the Access to Services sub-programme received an increase of R4.8 million (4.7 percent nominal increase), inflation erodes this growth to a decline of 0.05 percent (real terms).

 

The DHA allocated funds to the Electoral Commission (EC), which manages national, provincial, and municipal elections. The DHA transfer to the EC for 2015/16 amounts to R1.52 billion, which decreases slightly from R1.55 billion the previous year. The 2014/15 allocation to the IEC made provision for the 2014 national and provincial elections, while in 2016 the LGE were due in 2016. The IEC allocation for 2016/17 will therefore increase to R1.59 billion to make provision for the elections.

 

In terms of the economic classification, savings in Programme 2 relate to the following:

 

• Consumables (stationary, printing and office supplies): from R506.6 million the previous year to R79.6 million.
• Goods and services: from R843.8 million the previous year to R400.8 million.

 

1. Programme 3: Immigration Affairs

 

This was the smallest programme in terms of budget allocation. The allocation for Programme 3 increased from R656 million in 2014/15 to R720.9 million for 2015/16. This programme showed a nominal increase of 9.81 percent (or 4.78 percent when considering inflation) from the previous financial year.

 

The increase in allocation was notable for the Immigration Services sub-programme; i.e. 15.7 percent increase in nominal terms and 10.4 percent in real terms). The DHA should be commended for prioritising this sub-programme in terms of allocation as this sub-programme had been, for several years, the worst performing programme and/or section of the DHA in terms of the number of strategic targets achieved.

 

Within the Immigration Affairs Programme, the DHA envisages introducing the Refugees Amendment Bill, 2015, with the view of addressing processes and procedures relating to, amongst others, the adjudication, review and appeal processes pertaining to asylum seekers and refugees. It also envisaged to introduce the Border Management Agency Bill, 2015, into Parliament during 2015 so as to establish the Border Management Agency which will set out its purpose, mandate and the principles by which it will operate. The increase in allocation for this programme is in part due to these two bills. 

 

1. The Electoral Commission

 

The IEC has three programmes, namely:

 

Programme 1: Administration –The budget allocation is directed at supporting the strategic management and core business of the IEC. Over the 2015 MTEF, R 452 million has been allocated to the compensations of employees, R1.2 billion goods and services and R57.5 million to capital assets. The goods and services will increase during election periods

 

Programme 2: Electoral Operations – An amount of R893 million was allocated to the programme for goods and services in the 2015 MTEF period and compensation to employee amounts to R1.2 billion. Expenditure increases by 198 percent for the coming election year and goods and services increase during election periods.

 

Programme 3: Outreach – Over the MTEF period, an amount of R384.1 million was allocated mainly for goods and services and R233.3 million to compensation of employees. The expenditure peaks during registration and election periods when civic education and communication programmes peak. A further factor is the international observer missions which are hosted by Commission Services. The rate of registration of young voters and specifically those citizens born after 1994 represents one of the major challenges to the IEC.

 

The Electoral Commission’s activities normally coincide with the five year electoral cycle. The spending focus over the medium term will be on the 2016 local government elections. In 2015/16, the spending focus will on the two registration weekends preceding the 2016 local government elections and 2017/18, non-election year, the focus will be on the ICT refresh and zip-zip replacement programmes and the IEC has committed to find savings amounting to R180 million over the medium term of these projects.

 

The bulk of spending in registration and elections years is linked to:

 

• the compensation of approximately 263 184 staff to work at the 22 600 voting stations in elections.
• the intensive training programmes that the electoral staff.
• the continuous registration and two registration weekends.
• voter education and civic democracy education programmes.
• ballot papers and stationery used at voting stations.
• extensive communication programmes via various media platforms.
• updating of the electoral systems and databases in line with elections specific requirements; and
• the updating and rolling out of the IT infrastructure.

 

Expenditure in a non-election period will focus mainly on the civic and democracy education and long term influences such as permanent staff costs and administrative overheads.

 

The IEC has a total establishment of 1 034 posts at 30 September 2014, of which 932 were filled. During the 2015, the IEC will embark on the restructuring process and it will be a phased project taking into account the local government elections in 2016. Over the MTEF, approximately 6 000 expansion staff and 263 184 staff will be appointed on contract.

 

The budget for 2015/16 was R1.58 billion; across the three strategic objective goals/programmes which were inclusive of two registration weekends. In 2016/17 election year, the budget is estimated to increase to R1.64 billion to R1.15 billion in 2017/18.

 

Summary of budget in respect of Strategic Goals

Strategic Goals (R Million)	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18
Strengthening governance, institutional excellence and professionalism and by enabling business processes, at all levels of the organisation.	531.6	535.4	560.7
Achieving pre-eminence in the area of managing elections and referenda, including the strengthening of a cooperative relationship with political parties.	763.0	907.7	458.3
Strengthening electoral democracy	287.7	198.9	130.9
Grand Total	1 582.3	1 642.1	1 149.9

 

1. The Government Printing Works

 

Dr AD Mbewu indicated that the GPW has not received any budget allocation from National Treasury via the DHA for the past three years. The GPW is self-financing from revenue from its various printing services which are used to procure and renovate buildings and machinery. The total sales increased from R692 million in 2012 to R781 million in 2014 to an anticipated R977 million in 2015 and R1.45 billion in 2018.

 

 

 

7. Committee observations

 

The Committee appreciated the presentations made by the Department of Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission and the Government Printing Works and engaged with them and observed the following:

 

7.1.     Department of Home Affairs

 

7.1.1. The Committee noted that the DHA will roll out the Smart ID Cards through the banks and South African post office outlets, however, it expressed a concern with regard to security of information of these applications.

7.1.2. The Committee noted the slow vetting of officials by the State Security Agency (SSA).

7.1.3. The illegal immigrants that have been rejected for refugee status were not being traced by the DHA due to lack of capacity in the Inspectorate division.

7.1.4. The Committee noted that the disciplinary process was taking too long to be finalised with regard to the officials of DHA that were involved in fraud and corruption.

7.1.5. The Committee noted that there was an improvement of the relationships between the DHA and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) with regards to services rendered by DIRCO in missions abroad.

7.1.6. The Committee noted with concern the significant reduction of budget allocation across all programmes of the Department. Whilst there were limitations across all departments; the concern was that this will have a negative impact on the already low performance against targets, particularly in Immigration Services.

 

7.2.     The Electoral Commission

 

7.2.1.    The Committee noted that the Local Government Elections (LGE) will take place in 2016. The election will take place between 18 May 2016 and 16 August 2016.

7.2.2.    The Committee noted with concerns that the LGE and by-elections are characterised by low voter turnout.

7.2.3. The barcoded scanners or zip-zip machines used during voter registration and on Election Day will be replaced after the LGE in 2016.

7.2.4.    Some of the IEC targets in the Annual Performance Plan for 2015/16, were not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

7.3.     The Government Printing Works

 

7.3.1. The Committee noted with appreciation that GPW was self-financing and does not require funding from the National Treasury.

7.3.2.    The GPW has state of the art security printing machines and they are printing documents for the South African government and some SADC countries and can print ballot papers as well.

7.3.3.    The Committee noted that the improved security features on the South African passports and Smart ID Cards and that to date these documents have not been successfully forged, however, the Committee expressed a concern that it is a security risk to produce the green ID booklet and the Smart ID Card simultaneously.

7.3.4.    The Committee noted a concern that GPW was not able to retain staff such as artisans due to the low salary compared to other comparable printing organisations.

 

1.      Recommendations

 

1.     The Department of Home Affairs

 

The Committee recommends that the Department of Home Affairs should:

 

1. Clarify the strategies to be used to ensure that the personal information of citizens was safe in the applications of Smart ID Cards through the banks.
2. Consider working closely with the SSA to ensure that the vetting of officials of the DHA be improved both in terms of the time taken and ensuring that vetted officials’ work is credible.
3. Pay attention to improving inspectorate capacity to ensure that undocumented immigrants were apprehended timeously.
4. Improve on the time taken to ensure that disciplinary procedures are expedited and that the officials found to be involved in fraud and corruption are criminally charged.
5. Continue to improve the relationship with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on revenue collected in missions abroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Electoral Commission

 

The Committee recommends that the IEC should:

 

1. Continue to work closely with the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to finalise the delimitation of the wards in preparation of the Local Government Elections (LGE).
2. Develop strategies to mobilize society to vote, particularly during the LGE and by-elections.
3. Pay attention to the availability of infrastructure for elections and improve the functionality of future technology, particularly on the new barcoded scanner units.
4. Consider improved clarity in future on some of its targets in the Annual Performance Plans.

 

1. The Government Printing Works

 

The Committee recommends that the Government Printing Works should:

 

1. Continue to explore more markets in Africa and engage the Electoral Commission (IEC) on the possibility of printing ballot papers.
2. Improve the awareness campaign on security features on passports and Smart ID Cards and work closely with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that a date is reached when the last green barcoded ID will be produced.
3. Remain ahead of criminal syndicates with regards to security of documents.
4. Find innovative ways to retain and sustain staff.

 

1. The Committee recommends that the House approves the 2015/16 Budget of the Department of the Home Affairs.

 

Report to be considered.