ATC210518: Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs Report: Vote 5 Annual Performance Plans and Budget of the Department of Home Affairs, Electoral Commission and Government Printing Works, Dated 18 May 2021

Home Affairs

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS REPORT: VOTE 5 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLANSAND BUDGET OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS, ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND GOVERNMENT PRINTING WORKS, DATED 18 MAY 2021 

 

 

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs (the Committee) met with the Department of Affairs (DHA) on 4 May 2021, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) and the Government Printing Works (GPW) on 7 May 2021 on their Annual Performance Plans (APPs) and budgets and reports as follows:

1. The Department of Home Affairs

 

1.1. Introduction

The purpose of the Department of Home Affairs is to:

• Determine and safeguard the identity and status of citizens.
• Regulate immigration to ensure security, promote the development and fulfil South African international obligations. 

 

Mandate: The mandate of DHA is derived from the Constitution and various acts of Parliament and policy documents.  The DHA’s services are divided into two broad categories:  Civic Services and Immigration Services. The DHA is mandated to manage citizenship and civic status,international migration, refugee protection, and the population register.  The DHA is the key enabler of national security, citizen empowerment, efficient administration and socioeconomic development. These functions must be managed securely and strategically.

Vision: A vision of the Department of Home Affairs is that of South Africa where identity, status and citizenship are key enablers of citizen empowerment and inclusivity, economic development and national security.

Mission: The DHA’s mission to carry out its mission in line with its commitment to citizen empowerment and inclusivity, economic development and national security, by:

• Being an efficient and secure custodian of citizenship and civil registration
• Securely and strategically managing international migration
• Efficiently managing asylum seekers and refugees
• Efficiently determining and safeguarding the official identity and status of persons

 

In order to fulfil the above, the Department of Home Affairs prepared the new Strategic Plans for the 2020 to 2025 period.The Strategic Plan was reported that is aligned with the new Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) of Government.

 

The revised Framework for Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans (2019) was used for the development of the DHA strategic planning instruments (Strategic Plan for the 2020 to 2025 period and Annual Performance Plan for 2020/21). DHA Planning Instruments cover the following priorities:

1. National Priorities (as per the National Development Plan, Apex Priorities and MTSF related commitments).
2. Ministerial Priorities:

• Establish an effective Border Management Authority (BMA)
• Complete the Modernisation Programme
• Comprehensive review of Immigration Policy and subsequent legislation
• Upgrade the 6 priority land ports of entry / One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) Policy
• Improved client experience through leadership (Moetapele)
• Early birth registration
• Critical skill visas
• “War on Queues”
• key elements of the White Paper on Home Affairs which was approved by Cabinet for implementation in December 2019
• Improvement of service delivery initiatives (e.g. footprint development /access, efficient issuance of enabling documents.

 

The DHA has identified the following outcomes for the 2020 to 2025 period:

• Secure management of international migration resulting in South Africa’s interests being served and fulfilling international commitments
• Secure and efficient management of citizenship and civil registration to fulfil constitutional and international obligations
• Efficient asylum seeker and refugee system in compliance with domestic and international obligations
• Secure population register to empower citizens, enable inclusivity, economic development and national security
• DHA positioned to contribute positively to a capable and developmental state

 

 

1. DHA’s Contribution to the National Development Plan (NDP)

The National Development Plan aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030 and the major focus of the NDP is to confront the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment by achieving higher growth rates. The DHA has a critical contribution to make to the achievement of the NDP 2030 objectives:

• The inclusion of all citizens in democracy and development is enabled by providing them with status and identity that gives them access to rights and services.  This must be done in an efficient, effective, professional and secure manner.
• A further priority for the DHA is to facilitate the acquisition of the critical skills needed for economic growth as determined by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to build our own skills base. 
• The DHA must continue to drive integrated and coordinated border management to ensure our borders are effectively protected, secured, and well-managed.
• The DHA could play a key role in enabling regional development by working with SADC countries through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to establish efficient, secure and managed migration.
• The DHA is central to harnessing the 4th industrial revolution and building a capable state. The modernization programme of the DHA can reduce fraud and the cost of doing business by enabling e-government which will attract more investment into the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3.The Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) Commitments from 2019 to 2024.

APEX Priority	Link to Outcome	DHA contribution	MTSF Commitment
Economic Transformation and Job Creation	Outcome 4 – Decent employment through inclusive economic growth	Secure the identity of citizens and foreigners Design and implementation of NIS Issuance of critical skill visas and implementation of revised visa regime (simplification aspects, the rollout of e-Visa, etc)	95% of critical skills visas adjudicated within 4 weeks by 2022 Implementation of the revised visa regime
(5) Social Cohesion and Safe Communities	Outcome 3 – All people in SA are and feel safe	Secure the borders of the country through the establishment and operationalization of the BMA Continue with the implementation of a risk-based approach to immigration Provision of enabling documents to access rights and services, e.g. early birth registration and smart ID cards	BMA established by 2020 BMA operational by 2021 at 11 ports of entry and 5 segments of the land borderline ((BMA fully operational by 2024) 100% of selected ports of entry equipped with biometric functionality Implementation of DHA Automated Biometric Information System (ABIS) by 2022/23.
6) A Capable, Ethical and Developmental State	Outcome 12 - An efficient, effective and development-oriented public service	Reposition the DHA in support of a capable, ethical and developmental state through the implementation of new service delivery, operating and organizational models supported by the required policy and legislative framework
(7) A better Africa and World	Outcome 11 - Create a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better world	Introduce a world-class e-Visa regime and rollout of e-Visa

 

 

 

1.4 DHA Policy Priorities For 2021/22 and Alignment with Regional, Continental and Global Agendas (nine-point plan, SADC-FMP, Agenda 2063 & SDGs)

 

The DHA policy priorities are aligned with the National Development Plan (NDP) vision 2030, the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2019-2024, and the 2021 State of Nation Address (SONA). The DHA took ownership of three Outcomes of the MTSF 2014-2019, outcome 1 (economic transformation and job creation); outcome 5 (social cohesion and safe communities); outcome 6 (a capable, ethical and developmental state) and outcome 7 (a better Africa and world) of government’s 2019-2024 Medium-Term Strategic Framework.

 

In line with these priorities, the DHA plans to maintain the issuance of smart identity cards and registration of birth, simplify the issuance of permits and visas in support of economic growth, and continue the Information Technology (IT) modernisation programme to expand client’s interfaces, and incrementally operationalise the Border Management Agency (BMA) and secure international migration.

 

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons was adopted in 2005 to facilitate the free movement of people, encompassing the right to visa-free entry, residence (temporary and permanent), and establishment (income generating activities). The main challenge with implementing the Protocol relates to developing critical enabling conditions, such as compatible immigration policies, laws, systems and accurate population registers. The Protocol makes provision for Member States to conclude bilateral agreements for visa exemptions. South Africa has adopted visa-free entry for nationals from 11 SADC countries. It also offers special permits to irregular migrants from neighbouring Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Recently, the DHA started piloting the E-Visa regime with countries such as Kenya, which it will extend to Nigeria during 2021 to facilitate the efficient flow of personnel between countries.

 

The African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) is the free trade area agreement adopted by the African Union in 2018 but only came into effect on 1 January 2021. The main objectives include creating a single market in the continent, deepening the continent’s economic integration, establishing a liberalised market through multiple rounds of negotiations, and aid the movement of capital and people, to mention but a few examples. The DHA is expected to play a central role in assisting the country with the ACFTA objectives through efficient issuance of enabling documents such as visas; and efficient movement of goods and people through South Africa’s borders. As such, the One-Stop Border Post construction that was postponed in the past financial year has been reprioritised, and the BMA has finally been asserted into law for incremental implementation.

 

In September 2015, the United Nations (UN) Member States agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which pays particular attention to the people, planet and prosperity. The SDGs’ central reference to migration is made in target 10.7 to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including implementing planned and well-managed migration policies. The South African Constitution makes provisions for freedom of movement and the right to choose where to live, work, study and access to social services. These fundamental human rights are also afforded to refugees in the country.

 

Agenda 2063 is a fifty-year strategy for the African continent set in motion following the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU) in 2013. South Africa contributed to the formulation of Agenda 2063; therefore, the strategy is already aligned with South Africa’s developmental goals. The aspirations expressed in the strategy are consistent with the mandate of the DHA and South Africa’s White Paper on International Immigration Policy. The White Paper acknowledges at least two resolutions adopted by the Assembly, which set clear parameters for South Africa’s immigration policy, namely, the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and a continent-wide visa-free regime, including the issuing of visas on arrival at ports of entry for African citizens. President Ramaphosa had already announced during SONA 2021 that the CFTA had come into effect on 1 January 2021. As a result, visa-free entry should be the norm once bilateral return agreements are concluded. The DHA has been issuing 10-year multiple entry visas to frequent travellers from other African countries. Where visas are still required, entry is straightforward as possible for bona fide travellers. The E-visa regime is already being piloted with Kenya and will later be extended to Nigeria, and more countries will be added in the future.

1.5 Analysis of the 2021/22 Annual Performance PlanPer Programme

The DHA has set out several strategic priorities in the Strategic Plan for 2019 – 2024 and a set of planned annual targets in the APP for 2021/2022. This section analyses the Departments 2021/22 APP per programme and the budget allocated to achieve the annual targets. In addition to identifying projects, targets and performance indicators were analysed to determine whether they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART). The annual targets for the 2021/2022 financial year are presented below.

 

Programme 1: Administration

The Administration programme covers all functions of the DHA that support its core business, such as policy, governance, finance, human resources (HR) management and security. It is also responsible for the provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, accommodation, transport and the keeping of records.

 

The tablebelow provides the analysis of selected Programme 1 performance indicators and targets for the 2021/22 financial year. It should be noted that for 2021/22, programme 1 has 15 annual targets, but only 8 annual targets and perfomance indicators were selected for analysis.

 

The Department had already commenced with the piloting of the e-Visa regime in Kenya. As a result, the e-Visa system outcome appears for the second year running in the APP. The ongoing phase 2 implementation was supposed to have been implemented during 2020/21. However, due to the Covid-19 restriction, this performance indicator was postponed to the 2021/22 financial year.

 

The Department also target to roll-out the Biometric Movement Control System (BMCS) in 23 ports of entries by the end of the financial year. The BMCS is a new system that will replace the Enhanced Movement Control System (eMCS) used to track the movement of citizens and foreign travelers entering and departing South Africa at all ports of entry. The new system will interface with the e-Visa system which will confirm visa compliance, where applicable. It will further identify undesirable travellers and confirm citizens against thed Automated Biomentric Identification System (ABIS).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programme 1 performance indicators and annual targets.

Strategic Outcome:              Secure management of international migration resulting in South Africa’s interests being served and fulfilling international commitments
Output	Output Indicator	Estimated Performance 2020/21	Annual Target 2020/21
Biometric functionality implemented at ports of entry equipped with Enhanced Movement Control System (EMCS)	Number of selected ports of entry with biometric movements (BMCS) implemented as per approved specification	BMCS partially rolled out to 4 airports	23
e-Visa system designed and implemented (Phased approach)	e-Visa modules quality assured as per approved specifications (phased approach).	e-Visa phase 1 (Tourist TVR) integrated with: Advanced Passenger Processing (APP) Payment Gateway Central List Orchestration	e-Visa phase 2 module development onto live capture and deployment in Quality Assurance (QA) environment: Temporary Residence Visas Critical skills and Business visa Permanent Residence

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

The introduction of the National Identity System (NIS) in the table below is intended to replace the outdated National Immigration Information System (NIIS). The NIS will be developed into a live capture system and integrated with other DHA systems. This system will register the demographics and biometrics of asylum seekers and facilitate the adjudication of their cases with the option of referral to other bodies if denied. This performance indicator complies with the SMART principle as per Treasury guidelines. As a result, the Department target is to complete the drafting of the technical specifications by the end of the third quarter and the live capture prototype to have been completed by the end of the financial year.

 

Programme 1 performance indicators and annual targets.

Strategic Outcome: Efficient asylum seeker identity and refugee system in compliance with domestic and international obligations
Output	Output Indicator	Estimated Performance 2020/21	Annual Target 2020/21
Components of the National Identity System (NIS) designed and operationalised.	Implementation of Asylum Seeker and Refugee system by 2023/24 ABIS in full operation by 2022/23 Case management system quality assured as per specifications (2023/24)	Service provider contracted to develop Asylum Seeker and Refugee System	Asylum Seeker and Refugee system developed onto live capture-Prototype.

Source: DHA APP (2021)

Programme 1 performance indicators and annual targets.

Strategic Outcome: Efficient asylum seeker identity and refugee system in compliance with domestic and international obligations/Secure population register to empower citizens, enable inclusivity, economic development and national security
Output	Output Indicator	Estimated Performance 2020/21	Annual Target 2020/21
Policy and Legislation developed in support of repositioned DHA	Promulgation of DHA Bill	DHA Bill gazetted for public consultation	DHA Bill submitted to Cabinet for Approval
	Submission of Official Identity Management Policy to Cabinet for approval	Official Identity Management Policy submitted to Minister for submission to Cabinet	Official Identity Management Policy submitted to Cabinet for approval
	Submission of the Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Bill to Cabinet for approval	Policy Discussion Paper on Citizenship and Civil Registration submitted Minister for approval.   Policy Discussion Paper on International Migration and Refugee Protection submitted to Minister for approval	Green Paper on the Management of Citizenship, International Migration and Refugee Protection submitted to Cabinet to request approval for public consultation

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

The three output indicators and annual targets in table 4 above comply with the SMART principles as per Treasury regulations because they are measurable. In the quest to improve the policy and Legislation in support of repositioning the DHA, the Department has estimated that it would have gazetted the DHA Bill for public consultation by the end of the previous financial year. The Annual Report is due in September 2021 and it will confirm if the Department has achieved this annual target or not. For the current financial year, the Department’s annual target is to submit the DHA Bill to Cabinet for approval.

 

In line with repositioning the DHA agenda, the Department also planned to submit the Official Identity Management Policy to Cabinet for approval and also submit the Green Paper on management of Citizenship, International Migration and Refugee Protection to Cabinet for approval and public consultation. These three performance indicators and annual targets are also compliant with SMART principles.

 

The DHA Bill is intended to be the anchor legislation in the form of Home Affairs Act which is aimed to provide a coherent legal framework for a repositioned DHA to deliver on a mandate appropriate for a sovereign state that has a constitution founded on democracy, inclusion, social justice, development, peace and security. On the other hand, the identity management framework (policy and Legislation) is needed to address how the DHA will regulate the mananner in which personal information will be processed by establishing conditions that meet the minimum threshold requirement for lawful processing of personal information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programme 1 Performance indicators and annual targets

Strategic Outcome: DHA positioned to contribute positively to a capable and developmental state
Output	Output Indicator	Estimated Performance 2020/21	Annual Target 2020/21
Strategic communication interventions implemented through the DHA Communication Strategy and Action Plan	Compliance with a set number of interventions implemented in support of Communication Strategy and Action Plan	DHA Communication Strategy and Plan implemented through:   20 Media engagements 6 Outreach engagements 3 Campaigns	DHA Communication Strategy and Plan implemented through:   20 Media engagements 6 Outreach engagements 3 Campaigns
Revised Service Delivery Model implemented in line with a repositioned DHA	Phased implementation of the revised Service Delivery Model	Tender for the appointment of the service provider for the development of the Service Delivery Model advertised	Revised Service Delivery Model approved by Minister
DHA Gender-based Violence and Femicide Strategy implemented	Number of awareness sessions on gender-based violence and femicide, gender and disability mainstreaming conducted	New Performance Indicator	13

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

The DHA is in the quest of improving its image by positively positioning itself to its stakeholders. Consequently, the Department communication unit plans to have 20 media engagements, 6 outreach engagements and 3 media campaigns. These annual targets as the same as the previous financial year and comply with the SMART principles of the Treasury regulation.

 

The DHA also intends to revise its Service Delivery Model and have it approved by the Minister by the end of the financial year. The Department should be commended for introducing a new output indicator which is to conduct 13 awareness sessions on gender-based violence and femicide, gender and disability mainstreaming as mandated by the Presidency that all government departments must comply with the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violance and Femicide: 2020-2030.

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs

This programme aims to provide secure, efficient and accessible services and documentation for the citizens and lawful residents. Citizen Affairs covers the activities of the Civic Affairs Branch at the national and provincial level. This involves providing and managing identity and status services for citizens, permanent residents, and persons accorded refugee status.

 

The Civic Affairs branch has achieved two (2) out of the planned three (3) annual targets during the 2019/20 financial year, translating to 67% annual performance target achievement. During this financial year, the Civic Affairs programme was not successful in achieving 33% of its annual targets. Compared to the two previous financial years (2017/18 and 2018/19), the Civic Affairs branch performance has declined significantly as it had achieved 80% and 100% of its annual planned performance targets, respectively, as illustrated in figure 1 below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 years Civic Affairs annual target performance (2017/18 -2019/20)

Source: DHA, adapted by Research Unit

 

The tables below provide the analysis of programme 2 outputs indicators and targets for the 2021/22 financial year. Programme 2 (Civic affairs) strategic outcome is to secure and efficiently manage citizenship and civil registration to fulfil constitutional and international obligations. Unlike in the previous financial year when the programme had a total of 3 output indicators and 3 annual targets, in 2021/22, it has 4 output indicators and 4 annual targets.

 

All indicators on programme 2 comply with the SMART principle. The first three output indicators, as depicted in table 9 below, remain the same as the two previous financial years, but the last indicator is a new indicator in the programme.

 

For the 2021/22 financial year, the programme has revised its annual targets in response to Covid-19. During the start of the 2020/21 financial year, the programme had targeted to register 810 000 birth within the first 30 days of birth. However, this target was revised down to 700 000 due to Covid-19 related adjustments in the revised APP for 2020/21. It is not clear if the Department has managed to achieve the previous year adjusted annual target as the Annual Report is only due in Parliament in September 2021.

 

Taking Covid-19 restrictions into consideration when planning for 2021/22, the Department has reduced its annual target of registering birth within 30 days to 700 000 for 2021/22 if it operates at 100% staff capacity. However, this target is reduced in various levels of Covid-19. For instance, if the Department is forced to operate at 75% functional capacity, the target is reduced to 525 000 and 233 100 at 33% functional capacity.

 

Programme 2 performance indicators and annual targets.

Output Indicator	Annual Target Achievement 2019/20	Estimated 2019/20 Achievement	Annual Target 2021/22
Number of birth registered within 30 days	845 253	700 000	700 000
Number of smart ID cards issued to citizens (including naturalised and holders of permanent residence permits) 16 years of age and above	2 816 544	750 000	1 600 000
Percentage (%) of machine-readable adult passports (new live capture) issued within 13 working days (from date of receipt of the application until the passport is scanned at the office of application)	95.88%	70%	90%
Submission of Marriage Bill to Parliament for approval	N/A	Draft Marriage Policy Gazetted for Comments	Marriage Policy submitted to Cabinet for approval

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

Programme 2 had planned to issue 3 million smart identity documents in the 2020/21 APP but revised the target to 700 000 in response to Covid-19 when it revised its APP. The Annual Report is expected to be tabled during September 2021, and it will indicate if the Department was able to achieve its revised annual target.

 

For the 2021/22 financial year, the DHA has decreased its annual target to 1. 6 million in anticipation of Covid-19 related interruptions. The 1.6 million smart identity cards is an increase from the last financial year revised annual target of 700 000 as demand is expected to increase due to Local Government Elections on 27 October 2021. The DHA has also planned for various scenarios of Covid-19 related interruptions. Should the Department be operating at 75% functional capacity, the annual target will be reduced to 1.2 million; 50% capacity reduces the target to 800 000, and 33.3% reduces the target to 532 800. No smart identity documents will be offered during alert level 2 to 5.

 

Programme 2 had also planned 90% of machine-readable adult passports to be issued within 13 working days in the previous financial year, but this annual target was revised down to 70% due to Covid-19. The actual performance for the 2020/21 financial year will be available once the Annual Report is tabled during September 2021.

 

For the current financial year, the DHA has kept the annual target at 90% of machine-readable adult passports to be issued within 13 working days should it operate at 100% capacity. The targets are reduced according to Covid-19 alert levels and available staff capacity. For instance, this service will not be rendered during alert level 4 and 5.

 

The new performance indicator for Programme 2 is the submission of the marriage policy to Cabinet for approval by the end of the 2021/21 financial year. The new Marriage Act will enable South Africans of different sexual orientation, religious and cultural persuasions to conclude legal marriages that will accord with the doctrine of equality, non-discrimination and human dignity as encapsulated in the Constitution of RSA.

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs

This programme aims to facilitate and regulate the secure movement of people through the ports of entry into and out of the Republic of South Africa. The programme is also responsible for determining the status of asylum and regulate refugee affairs.

 

Programme 3 (Immigration affairs) strategic outcome is to secure and efficient management of international migration resulting in South Africa’s interests being served and fulfilling international commitments. Unlike in 2020/21, when the programme had 6 output indicators, it has 4 output indicators for the 2021/22 financial year (table 11 below).

 

As reported in the 2019/20 DHA Annual Report, the Immigration Affairs programme was the best performing and most improved branch in the Department. It had planned six (6) annual performance targets for 2019/20, and it achieved all its targets. This translates to 100% target achievement. Compared to the two previous years, the Immigration Affairs branch achieved 90% during 2017/18 and 78% in 2018/19, indicating an above average performance for three consecutive years. The annual targets for 2021/22 financial year are depicted on the table below.

 

 

 

Programme 3 Immigration: Strategic Outcomes and Annual Targets

Output	Output Indicator	Estimated Performance 2020/21	Annual Target 2021/22
Enforcement of compliance of departmental Legislation through law enforcement operations/inspection	Number of law enforcement operations/inspections conducted to secure compliance with immigration legislation	220	220
Permanent residence permits adjudicated according to set standards	Percentage (%) of permanent residence applications adjudicated within 8 months for applications collected within the RSA(from date of receipt of the application until outcomes is in  scan at VFS Centre-office of application)	20%	85%
Temporary residence visas adjudicated according to set standards	Percentage (%) of critical skills visas adjudicated within 4 weeks for application processed within the RSA (from date of receipt of application until outcomes is in scan at VFS Centre-office of application)	82%	85%
	Percentage (%) of business and general work visas adjudicated within 8 weeks for application process within the RSA (from date of receipt of application until an outcome is in scan at VFS Centre-office of application)	90%	90%

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

For 2021/22, the Department set itself an annual target of 220 law enforcement operations/inspections. This indicator aims to ensure that undocumented persons are documented and are not unlawfully employed in South Africa as they do not comply with the law. This target will remain the same in all Covid-19 alert levels.

 

The Department also targeted 85% and 90% of critical skills and business visas adjudicated within 4 weeks and weeks of application. These visas should have been applied within the country, and the application process is facilitated through the VFS. All the performance indicators comply with the SMART principles and their measurable.

 

Immigration issues for consideration

• The Department continues to overachieve on the number of enforcement operations/inspections to ensure compliance with immigration laws and departmental Legislation. However, public perception is that the department does not enforce immigration laws and it is alleged that the Tourism Industry (restaurants and hotels) and Logistic Transport Industry (Truck Drivers) are openly employing illegal immigrants. How true are these allegations?
• Is the annual target of only 220 law enforcement operations/ inspections not too low considering the public perception and media reports around undocumented immigrants employed in non-critical skills sector?
• The Department has gazetted the Critical Skill List for public comments during February 2021, and the public has widely criticised it for containing some of the skills which are deemed not critical. Parliament should monitor the development regarding the Critical Skills List and ensures that all the skills listed are indeed critical.

 

Programme 4: Institutional Support and Transfers

The Institutional Support and Transfers appears for the first time as a stand-alone programme. Funding of the BMA was budgeted for in programme 1 while the Electoral Commission and Represented Political Parties fund was previously planned and budgeted for on Programme 2, Institutional Support sub-programme. The purpose of this new programme is to transfer funds to the Electoral Commission and Represented Political Parties Fund, which manages national, provincial and local government elections to ensure those elections are free and fair. The programme will also transfer funds to the Border management Authority to ensure south Africa’s borders are effectively defended, protected, secured, and well-manged.

 

Programme 4 Institutional Support: Border Management Strategic Outcomes and Annual Targets

Output	Output Indicator	Estimated 2020/21Performance	Annual Target 2020/21
BMA incrementally rolled out at selected ports of entry, designated segments of the land border law enforcement area and community crossing	Number of ports of entry, land border law enforcement area segments and community crossing points with incremental BMA roll-out	BMA Act No 2 of 2020 assented by the President	BMA incrementally established BMA incrementally rolled out at 11 ports of entry by incorporating frontline immigration, port health, border facility management and agriculture functions into the BMA BMA incrementally rolled out in phases along 5 segments of the land border law enforcement area (RSA/Zimbabwe;eManguzi;skukuza; KZN/eSwatini; and Mpumalanga/eSwatini BMA rolled out to 1 community crossing point
Measures introduced to drive intelligence and risk-led border management	The incremental roll-out of the National Targeting Centre (NTC) as per the NTC Establishment Plan	NTC business case approved by Minister	NTC incrementally established commencing with the establishment of an interim NTC
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) concluded to redevelop six land ports of entry	Development of the six (6) land ports of entry	Multiple preferred bidders appointed for the redevelopment of six priority land ports of entry	Financial and contractual closure reached with the appointed bidders regarding the redevelopment of the six priority land ports of entry.
Policy and legislation development in support of risk-based and developmental approach to immigration	Submission of OSBP Bill to Parliament for approval	One-Stop –Border-Post (OSBP) Policy gazetted for public comments	One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) policy gazetted for public comments

Source: DHA APP (2021)

 

The BMA Act (No 2 of 2020) has finally assented into law, and it is effective as of 1 January 2021. The annual target for the 2021/22 financial year is to incrementally roll out BMA to 11 land ports of entry by integrating frontline immigration personnel, port health, etc. In line with the BMA roll out, the Department target to gazette the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) policy for public comments and finalise the contractual agreement with the contracted bidders to develop the six priority borders where the OSBP will commence. The OSBP concept is an infrastructure intervention aimed at improving efficiences and securty at ports of entry in respect of goods and people movement, and promoting economic development through the establishment of the OSBP.

 

 

 

1.6 Analysis of the Budget of the Department of Home Affairs for the financial year 2021/22

In this budget allocation, the Department of Home Affairs (hereinafter the DHA or the Department) is located on Vote 5 of the Estimates of the National Expenditure (ENE). The Minister of Finance delivered the 2021/22 financial year budget outlining government priorities on 24 February 2021. The budget vote and the DHA’s Annual Performance Plans (APP) assist Parliament to effectively perform its oversight function over the department for the financial year ahead and forecast the probability of success in relation to its strategic objectives in the MTEF.

 

Over the medium term, the DHA will focus on establishing and incrementally operationalise the BMA to secure international migration, continue with its IT modernisation programme to expand its client interface, and ensure the timeous issuing of permits and visas.

The 2020/21 financial year budget supports the long-standing policy priorities of the DHA. Some of the key highlights of Vote 5 are summarised below.

 

The DHA will incrementally implement the BMA during the MTEF. The BMA Act (No.2 of 2020) has since come into effect on 1 January 2021. Consequently, the BMA budget has been doubled from R 20 million in the previous financial year to R 40 million for the 2021/22 financial year. An amount of R 124.9 million has also been set aside over the MTF period.

 

In line with the implementation of the BMA, the DHA plans to redevelop and modernise six priority land ports of entries in the form of the One-Stop Border Post concept. The priority borders are Beitbridge, Maseru Bridge, Kopfontein, Lebombo, Oshoek and Ficksburg. An amount of R 1.8 billion has been set aside in the Administration programme to ensure related activities are carried out to complete this project over the MTF.

 

The DHA will continue with the modernisation project of its IT systems. The department has been able to automate its business processes and products. Most significantly, this has made capturing information and images, digitising supporting documents, and issuing enabling documents more efficient. The department will continue with the modernisation programme and has allocated R3 billion over the MTEF.

 

The DHA has continued to prioritise the timeous issuing of permits and visas. The timeous issuing of permits and visas enables economic growth and removes impediments to foreign investment. Accordingly, the department plans to continue implementing the visa simplification process, through which certain low-risk countries will benefit from visa waivers and relaxed conditions and rolling out electronic visas.

 

For the 2021/22 financial year, the Department receives an allocation of R 8.7 billion compared to the R 8.8 billion special adjusted allocations of 2020/21. As stated previously, the adjusted budget includes revenue generated through the issuance of civil documents. Without inflation (nominally), the Department’s budget decreases by 1.1 % from the previous year. This allocation is much lower in real terms as the Department allocation is 5.1 % lower than the previous year’s budget. This allocation translates into a decrease of R 447.3 million in real rand value. The Department’s responsibilities keep increasing considering the BMA, One-Stop-Boarder-Post and modernisation of its IT infrastructure; however, its budget has decreased in real terms for the past three financial years.

 

 

 

Overall Budget 2020/21 and 2021/22 – Department of Home Affairs

Programme	Budget			Nominal Increase / Decrease in 2021/22	Real Increase / Decrease in 2021/22	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22		Real Percent change in 2021/22
R million	2020/21		2021/22
1. Administration	R2 358,8		R2 266,6	-R92,2	-R183,6	-3,91%		-7,78%
2. Civil Affairs	R2 832,9		R2 552,4	-R280,5	-R383,4	-9,90%		-13,53%
3. Immigration Affairs	R1 304,4		R1 454,3	R149,9	R91,3	11,49%		7%
4.Institutional Support and Transfers	R 2 291,3		R 2 417,1	R125,8	R28,4	5,49%		1,24%
TOTAL	R 8 787,4		R8 690.4	-R97,0	-R447,3	-1,10%		-5,09%
Nominal Increase/Decrease		Is when inflation is not taken into account
Real Increase/Decrease		Is when inflation is taken into account

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

Only two of the Departments four programmes show a real increase in the current financial year. The Immigration Affairs branch shows a real increase of R 91.3 million or 7%, while the Institutional Support and Transfers Programme shows a slight real increase of R 28.4 million or 1.2%. The slight budget increase in the Institutional Support and Transfers could be attributed to the implementation of the One-Stop Border Post, BMA and the Electoral Commission hosting Local Government elections, whilst the increase in the Immigration Affairs could be attributed to the implementation of the E-Visa regime and the procurement of the Advanced Passenger Processing System.

 

Both Administration and Civil Affairs programmes have been allocated a smaller budget compared to the last financial year. However, given that the Department’s revenue collected will be appropriated in September 2021, its respective programme budgets will likely increase.

The Administration Programme budget is reduced by R 183.6 million or 7.78% in real terms when considering inflation. Programme 2: Civil Affairs experiences a significant budget reduction by R 383.4 million or 13.53 % in real terms.

 

In terms of economic classification, the Vote¡¦s main cost drivers are the compensation of employees (COE), which cost the Department R 3. 469 billion or 39.9% and goods & services at R 2,824 billion or 32.49%.

 

Both SONA 2021 and the Budget Speech have indicated the government’s dire fiscal constraints; therefore, it is not surprising that government expenditure is reduced almost across the board. Therefore, Parliament should request mitigating measures to the potential risk due to budget cuts, especially with the implementation of the BMA, One-Stop Border Post and its modernisation project. „h The Department should explain how it will fund the recruitment of the personnel requirements at the BMA considering Cabinet¡¦s decision to reduce the COE by an average of 0.6% over the MTEF from R 3.6 billion in 2020/21 R3.5 billion in 2022/23.

 

1.6.1 Overall Performance

For the 2020/21 financial year, the voted allocation of the DHA was R9.5 billion, but this was adjusted downwards to R8.8 billion through the special adjusted budget during the Medium Term Budget in October 2020.1 Compared to the 2019/20 adjusted allocation of R9.5 billion, in 2020/21, the DHA voted allocation decreased by R707.7 million in nominal terms. However, when the cost of inflation is considered, the budget showed a real term decrease of R1.1 billion. A trend for the DHA allocation to invariable be adjusted upward in the adjusted allocation during September of each year should be noted. This is because the revenue generated by the Department (mainly through administrative fees for certificates, identity documents (IDs), permits, etc.) is appropriated to it during the adjustment process.

 

Figure 3 below, compares the proportional allocations per main programme between 2020/21 adjusted budget and 2021/22 voted funds. The Citizen Affairs programme retains majority allocation but has been allocated less by 13.5 % in the current financial year from 32% in 2020/21 to 29% in the current financial year. There is also a 1% decline in the Administration Programme from 27% during 2020/21 to 26% in the current financial year. On the contrary, both the Institutional Support and Transfers Programme and the Immigrations Affairs Programme receive a 2% increase. The former’s allocation increases from 26% in the previous financial year to 28% in the current financial year, while the latter’s allocation increases from 15% to 17% in the current financial year.

 

Comparison of the split of the Department of Home Affairs budget between programmes

 

The DHA is structured according to four main programmes: Administration, Citizen Affairs, Immigration Affairs and Institutional Support and Transfers. For the 2020/21 financial year, the Citizen Affairs (Programme 2) received the largest allocation, constituting 32% of the overall departmental expenditure2. Programme 2 is responsible for the issuance of security enabling documents such as identification cards, birth certificates, passports, and other related documents.

 

It should be noted that the 2020/21 Annual Report of the Department, covering the full financial year ending 31 March 2021, will be tabled at the end of September 2021. Thus, this section analysis focuses on the financial year performance at 31 December 2020 (third quarter).

 

Third Quarter Analysis: 2020/21

As of 31 December 2020 (third quarter of 2020/21 financial year), DHA spent R6 billion (68.9 %) of the adjusted total budget of R8.8 billion.3 The Department’s expenditure was R265.6 million (4.1%), lower than the projected expenditure of R 6.3 billion for the third quarter. The lower than expected expenditure was mainly due to the lower expenditure under goods and services in the Information System Modernisation (ISM) project and underspending on the compensation of employees (CoE) due to cost of living adjustment not implemented during the period under review.

 

 

 

 

 

Table 8: 2020/21 Third quarter expenditure of DHA

Programme   R million	Main appropriation	Adjusted Budget	Q3 Actual Expenditure	Q3 Projected Expenditure	Expenditure (%Available Budget)	% Variance from Projected Expenditure	COVID-19 Spending ()\
Programme 1	2 349.1	2 222.5	1 494.9	1 567.8	64.9%	4.6%	6.3
Programme 2	5 066.6	5 253.1	3 590.5	3 758.9	68.8%	4.5%	14.3
Programme 3	1 614.0	1 311.8	965.0	980.3	76.4%	1.6%	1.7
Total	9 029.6	8 787.4	6 050.4	6 306.9	68.9%	4.1%	22.3

Source: National Treasury (2021a), adapted.

 

Programme 1: Administration: The purpose is to provide strategic leadership, management and support services to the Department.Actual expenditure at the end of the third quarter (2020/21) amounted to R1.4 billion (64.9 %) of the programme’s total available budget of R 2.2 billion. The programme’s expenditure was R 78.8 million (4.6 %) lower than its projected expenditure for the third quarter. The low expenditure was due to the delays with the implementation of the Information System Modernisation Project (ISMP), which has been deferred to the last quarter due to Covid-19.5

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs: This programme aims to provide secure, efficient and accessible services and documents to citizens and lawful residents.Actual expenditure at the end of the third quarter (2020/21) amounted to R 3.6 billion (68.8%) of the programme’s total available budget of R 5.2 billion. Expenditure was R 168.4 million lower than the projected expenditure of R 3.8 billion. The reasons for lower expenditure are Covid-19 lockdown regulations where some of the civic services such as identity documents, passports, and birth certificates were not offered. Consequently, there was a lesser expenditure on the courier services as ID’s and Passports were not delivered.

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs: The purpose of this programme is to facilitate and regulate the secure movement of people through ports of entry into and out of the Republic of South Africa. Determine the status of asylum seekers and regulate refugee affairs.The actual expenditure of Programme 3 amounted to R 965 million (76.4%) of the available budget of R 1.3 billion. This was R 15.3 million lower than the projected expenditure of R 980.3 million, mainly due to less expenditure on compensation of employees as the Department has not paid the cost-of-living adjustment and low expenditure on items such as travelling and training.

 

The total spending related to Covid-19 amounted to R 22.3 million by the end of the third quarter of the 2020/21 financial year. The Covid-19 expenditure is mainly related to the procurement of personal protective equipment such as mask, gloves, sanitisers and cleaning materials.

 

1.6.3 DHA Budget Per Programme

 

Programme 1: Administration

As Table 3 below depicts, the Administration programme receives R 2.3 billion for 2021/22 compared to an adjusted appropriation of R 2.4 billion the previous year. The current allocation translates into a decrease of 3.9% or R 92.2 million in nominal terms and 7.8% or R 183,6 million in real terms. The Management Support Services and Office Accommodation sub-programme is the only sub-programme that receives an increase under programme 1. The former receives an increase of R 10.9 million or 6.2%, while the latter receives R 112.1 million or 25.1%. The Office Accommodation sub-programme increases are intended to fund the BMA and One-Stop Border Post office space requirement.

 

The other three sub-programmes receive a reduced allocation in both nominal and real terms for the current financial year. The Corporate Services and the Ministry sub-programmes receives the biggest decreases in real terms as they decrease by R 162.4 million or 26.9% and R 7.1 million 19.6%, respectively. The Transversal Information sub-programme also receive a reduced budget from R 1.1 billion in the previous year to R 1 billion in the current year. This decrease translates to R 137.1 million or a 12.4% budget cut in real terms.

 

Programme 1: Administration

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
R million	2020/21	2021/22
Ministry	36,4	30,5	-5,9	-7,1	-16,21%	-19,59%
Management Support Services	175,6	194,3	18,7	10,9	10,65%	6,19%
Corporate Services	601,7	475,8	-143,9	-162,4	-23,92%	-26,98%
Transversal Information	1098,4	1001,7	-96,7	-137,1	-8,80%	-12,48%
Office Accommodation	446,7	582,3	135,3	112,1	30,36%	25,10%
TOTAL	2 358,8	2 266,6	-92,2	-183,6	-3,9%	-7,78%

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs

The Citizen Affairs branch is responsible for providing secure, efficient and accessible services and documents to citizens and lawful residents. It ensures that entry to the population register happens within 30 days of a child’s birth. It maintains the number of smart identity cards, and it has a target of 3 million per year. It also targets to issue 90% of machine-readable adult passports through the new live capture process within 13 working days.

 

The Citizen Affairs branch budget declines from R 2.8 billion in 2020/21 special adjusted allocation to R 2.6 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. This is a reduction of R280.4 million or 9.9% in nominal terms and R 383.3 million or 13.5% in real terms. The Status Services is the only sub-programme to receive a reduced budget in the programme as it is significantly reduced by R 502.7 million or 85.3% in real terms.

 

The Citizens Affairs Management sub-programme received the most considerable increase in real percentage terms after being allocated an increase of R 18.7 million, equivalent to a 311.1 % increase. The Identification Services and Service Delivery to Provinces also received an increase in both nominal and real terms. The Identification Services increases from R 156.9 million in the previous year to R 243.8 million in the current year. This increase translates to an increase of R 77.1 million 49.1 % in real terms, while the Service Delivery to Provinces increases from R 2.1 billion in the previous year to R 2.2 billion in the current financial year, thus translating to an increase of R 23.1 million or 1.14 % in real terms.

 

The above inflation increases in the Citizen Affairs Management and Identification Services sub-programmes could be attributed to the potential increase in the demand of Identity Documents since 2021 is the year of Local Government Elections. The Service Delivery to Provinces sub-programme will increase efforts to issue identification documentation to potential voters, which will increase spending on courier services.

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22	Real Increase/  Decrease in 2021/22	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
R million	2020/21	2021/22
Citizen Affairs Management	6,0	25,7	19,7	18,7	328,33%	311,07%
Status Services	588,7	89,6	-499,1	-502,7	-84,78%	-85,39%
Identification Services	156,9	243,8	86,9	77,1	55,39%	49,12%
Service Delivery to Provinces	2 081,2	2 193,3	112,1	23,1	5,39%	1,14%
TOTAL	2 832,8	2 552,4	-280,4	-383,3	-9,9%	-13,53%

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs

The immigration affairs branch facilitates and regulates the secure movement of people through ports of entry into and out of the Republic of South Africa. It also determines the status of asylum seekers and regulates refugee affairs. Programme 3 has four sub-programmes under it.

Constituting only 17% of the Department’s budget in the current financial year, the Immigration Affairs programme has the lowest spending area. However, the programme’s budget increases from R 1.3 billion in 2020/21 to R 1.4 billion in 2021/22. Out of the two programmes that receive budget increase real terms, this programme is the main beneficiary as its allocation in real terms increases by 7% from the previous year budget.

 

The Admission Services sub-programme’s 14.2% (real growth) drives strong growth in this programme. This sub-programme allocation increases from R861.5 million to R 1 billion in the current financial year, translating to R123 million in real term growth.

 

On the contrary, all the other sub-programmes in this branch are allocated a reduced budget. The Immigration Affairs Management allocation is reduced from R 37.2 million to R 32.9. This allocation translates to the most significant decrease in the programme by 15.1% in real percentage terms. Similarly, both the Immigration Services and Asylum Seekers Sub-programmes also receives reduced allocations. The Immigration Services is reduced from R 253.6 million to R 246.2 million in the current financial year. In real terms, its budget is reduced by R 17.3 million or 6.8%, while the Asylum Seekers budget is reduced to R 149.4 in the current financial from R 152.1 million in the previous financial year. In real terms, the allocation is reduced by R8.7 million or 5.7 %.

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2020/21	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/21
R million	2020/21	2021/22
Immigration Affairs Management	37,2	32,9	-4,3	-5,6	-11,56%	-15,12%
Admission Services	861,5	1 025,8	164,3	123,0	19,07%	14,27%
Immigration Services	253,6	246,2	-7,4	-17,3	-2,92%	-6,83%
-Asylum Seekers	152,1	149,4	-2,7	-8,7	-1,78%	-5,73%
TOTAL	1 304,4	1 454,3	149,9	91,3	11,5%	7%

 

 

Programme 4: Institutional Support and Transfers

The Institutional Support and Transfers funds to the Electoral Commission, the Represented Political Parties Fund and the Border Management Authority. This programme aims to defend, protect, secure and manage South Africa’s borders by establishing and operationalising the Border Management Authority in 1 community crossing points and 10 land borderline segments by 2023/24.

 

The Border Management Authority Act (No 2 of 2020) was signed into law during July 2020 and became effective as of 1 January 2021. It is encouraging to note that the BMA’s budget increases to R 40 million in the current financial year from the previous allocation of R 28 million. This is an increase of R 12 million if inflation is not considered and R 10.4 million or 37,1% in real terms. The Electoral Commission receives a slight increase from R 2.1 billion in 2020/21 to R 2.2 billion in the current financial year. This increase translates to just R 5,23 million or 0,99% in real terms. The Represented Political Parties Fund budget has been reduced by R 2,6 million in real terms from R162,7 million in the previous year to R 1 66,8 million in the current year.

 

Programme 4: Institutional Support and Transfers

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2020/21	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/21
R million	2020/21	2021/22
Border Management Authority	28,0	40,0	12,0	10,4	42,86%	37,10%
Electoral Commission	2 100,5	2 210,3	109,8	20,7	5,23%	0,99%
Represented Political Parties Fund	162,7	166,8	4,1	-2,6	2,52%	-1,61%
TOTAL	2 291,2	2 417,1	125,9	28,5	5,5%	1,24%

 

2. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

 

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (also known as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)) is South Africa’s electoral management body. The IEC is an independent organisation established under Chapter 9 of the Constitution of South Africa. The IEC is an autonomous body underwritten by the Electoral Commissions Act (No 51 of 1996). In terms of Section 190 (1) of the Constitution, the IEC must manage elections at 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 national legislation and that is as short as reasonably possible.

 

Section 5 of the Electoral Commission Act (No 51 of 1996) outlines the duties and functions of the IEC. This includes managing any elections; ensure that any election is free and fair; promote conditions conducive to free and fair elections; promote knowledge of sound and democratic elections processes and compile; maintain a register of parties; compile and maintain a voters roll to mention but a few examples.

 

The purpose of this brief is to provide a summary and analysis of the budget and Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the IEC for the 2021/22 financial year. In order to provide context to this analysis, the paper commences by outlining the IEC’s strategic objectives and then provides a brief analytical overview of the 2019/20 performance.

 

1. Policy priorities for the Electoral Commission for 2021/2022

For the 2019 to 2024 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), the IEC will focus on the following key policy priorities:

 

• Strengthen the regulatory space in relation to the requirements for electoral participation;
• Place South Africa’s electoral democracy on the cutting edge of digital innovation with a view to increase voter convenience;
• Increase public confidence in electoral outcomes;
• Work with partners in electoral democracy to increase voter participation, especially among the youth;
• Anticipate and provide advice in relation to the national policy debate on the electoral system; and
• Assess the viability of composite elections in the Republic.

 

In line with the constitution, legislation and the MTSF priority areas, the IEC has developed several strategic outcome-oriented goals in order to ensure delivery in terms of these priority areas. The IEC strategic outcomes are:

• Strengthened institutional effectiveness;
• Free and fair elections of representatives delivered;
• Informed and engaged citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy; and
• Contributed to the enhancement of the transparency in elections and party funding.

 

1. Overview of the Electoral Commission Performance During 2019/20

The IEC’s performance for the 2020/2021 financial year will be contained in its Annual Report, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament in September 2021. Therefore, a brief overview of the performance of the IEC for 2019/20 is provided below.

 

Tracking the progress on set targets and strategic goals (outputs) of the entity is essential to determine how well it functions in attaining constitutional and legislative mandates for the benefit of society. It also improves transparency and accountability and assists Parliament, members of the public and other stakeholders with information to hold the Electoral Commission executives accountable.The table below provides an overview of the IEC performance during 2019/20. This section should indicate the IEC’s capacity and ability to achieve its set targets for the financial year.

 

The IEC Annual Target Performance for 2019/20

Programme	Strategic Outcome-oriented Goal	number of targets	target achieved	not achieved	Achieved
Programme 1: Administration	Goal 1: Strengthening governance, institutional excellence, professionalism and enabling business processes at all levels of the organisation	10	8	2	80%
Programme 2: Electoral Operations	Goal 2: Achieving pre-eminence in the area of managing elections and referenda, including the strengthening of a cooperative relationship with political parties.	10	7	3	70%
Programme 3: Outreach	Goal 3: Strengthening electoral democracy	7	5	2	71%
Total		27	20	7	74%

 

The IEC achieved 20 of the 27 targeted outcomes set for 2019/20. Its overall target achievement was 74%, while it was not successful in delivering 27% of its targets. The best performing Programme 1 achieved 80% of its targets, while Programme 2 and 3 achieved 70% and 71% respectively.

 

1. Analysis: IEC 2021/22 Budget Allocation Per Programme

The Electoral Commission is allocated R 2.3 billion for the 2021/22 financial year shared amongst its 4 programmes. The IEC budget grows in nominal and real terms. This is a budget increase of R 292.3 million (or 14.5%) in nominal terms and R 199.3 million (or 9.9%) in real terms.

 

Programme 1: Administration’s budget has increased from R 683.8 million in the previous financial year (2020/21) to R 765.2 million in the current financial year (2021/22). In real terms, when inflation is considered, the budget of this programme has increased by R 50.6 million (or 7.3%). Programme 2: Electoral Operations receives the largest share of the IEC’s overall budget. It has been allocated R 1.3 billion, which is equivalent to 57.1% of the IEC overall budget.

 

Both Programme 3 and 4 receive a decreased allocation for 2021/22. Programme 3 budget declines from the previous financial year allocation of R 221.84 million to R 201.7 million in the current financial year. In real terms, Programme 3 budget is reduced by R 7.9 million (3.9%). Programme 4’s budget receives the most reduced allocation in percentage terms from R 38.3 million in the previous financial year to only R 22.1 million in the current financial year. This budget reduction equals R 17.1 million (44.7%) in real terms.

 

IECBudget Allocation 2021/22

Programme	Budget			Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)		Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
(R’000)	2020/21		2021/22
Programme 1:Administration	683.8		765.2	81,4	50,6		11,90%	7,39%
Programme 2: Electoral Operations	1 092.3		1 319.3	227,0	173,8		20,78%	15,91%
Programme 3: Outreach	201.5		201.7	0,2	-7,9		0,09%	-3,94%
Programme 4: Party Funding and Liaison	38.3		22.1	-16,3	-17,1		-42,44%	-44,76%
TOTAL	2 015,9		2 308,2	292,3	199,3		14,50%	9,89%
Nominal Increase/Decrease		Is when inflation is not taken into account
Real Increase/Decrease		Is when inflation is taken into account

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

2.2.1 Programme 1: Administration Budget Analysis

The Administration programme primary purpose is to achieve the strategic outcomes of strengthening institutional effectiveness at all levels of the organisation. This programme is comprised of three sub-programmes, namely, Management, Corporate Services and Financial Management.

 

Budget allocation under this programme is directed at supporting the strategic management and core business of the IEC. The Administration programme is allocated R 765.2 million for 2021/22. The current allocation translates into an increase of 7.3% (R 50.6 million) in real rand value terms from the previous year allocation of R 683.8 million.

 

The programme’s cost drivers are primarily made of goods and services, ensuring that ICT costs and office accommodation are catered for. The ICT is made mainly of professional services to maintain the security and integrity of the data held at the IEC. The office accommodation consists of the cost of the National IEC head office, nine provincial offices, 10 warehouses and 213 local electronic offices.

 

Programme 1 Budget

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
(R’000)	2020/21	2021/22
Compensation of Employees	191,3	214,8	23,5	14,8	12,28%	7,75%
Goods and Services	461,0	521,0	60,0,0	39,0	13,02%	8,47%
Depreciation	31,5	29,4	-2,1	-3,3	-6,74%	-10,50%
Loses	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0%	0,0%
Interest, dividends and rent on land	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0	0,0
TOTAL	683,8	765,2	81,4	50,6	11,9%	7,39%

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

The Goods and services’ budget item increases from R 461 million in the previous financial year 2020/21 to R 521 million in the 2021/22 financial year. This is a real increase of R 39 million (or 8.4%). Considering that 2021 is the year for Local Government Elections, the increases in the goods and services budget item are sound as the IEC will be sourcing additional professional ICT services and warehousing in preparation for the elections.

 

Similarly, compensation of employees’ budget item under programme 1 increases by 7.8% (R 14.8 million) in real terms from the 2020/21 allocation of R 191.3 million to R 214.8 million in the current financial year. The increases in the compensation of employees is mainly due to salary increases. Costing of remuneration of employees includes salary packages, reimbursed travel claims, cell phone allowances, overtime and employer contributions.

 

2.2.2 Programme 2: Electoral Operations Budget Analysis

The purpose of this programme is to focus on the strategic outcome of managing and delivering free and fair elections. The expenditure under this programme increases significantly in an election year compared to a non-election year mainly due to the cost of voting station infrastructure, logistical arrangements, recruitment, appointment and training of staff appointed at voting stations during main registration drives and elections.

 

The Electoral Operations programme is allocated a budget of R 1.3 billion for the 2021/22 financial year. The budget has been increased by R 169.5 million (15.4%) in real rand value terms from the previous financial year allocation of R 1 billion. The goods and services budget item on this programme increases from R 562.3 to R 638.7 million in the current financial year. This increase is equivalent to R 76.4 million (or 13.5%) in nominal terms and R 50.6 (9%) in real terms. Similarly, compensation of employees under programme 2 also increases from R 509 million to R 609.9 million in 2021/22 financial year. The increase translates to R 76 million (or 14.9%) in real terms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Programme 2 Budget Allocation

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
(R’000)	2020/21	2021/22
Compensation of Employees	509,0	609.9	100,9	76,3	19,82%	14,99%
Goods and Services	562,3	638,7	76,4%	50,6	13,59%	9,01%
Depreciation	21,0	70,7	49,7	46,9	236,90%	223,32%
TOTAL	1 096,6	1 319,3	222,7	169,5	20,3%	15,46%

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

2.2.3 Programme 3: Outreach Budget Analysis

Programme 3 constitutes only 8.7% of the IEC’s overall budget and has the lowest spending area after programme 4. Budget allocation under this programme is directed at informing and educating civil society on democracy and electoral processes[1]. Expenditure normally peaks during the registration and election period when the Civic and Democracy Education and communication peak. A further factor is the international observer mission that is hosted by the IEC during this period. It is therefore a concern that Programme 3 budget has declined by 3% considering that IEC will host Local Government Elections on 27 October 2021.

 

Programme 3 Budget Allocation

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
(R’000)	2020/21	2021/22
Compensation of Employees	79,4	108,4	28,8	24,4	36,20%	30,71%
Goods and Services	122,1	93,5	-28,6	-32,3	-23,39%	-26,48%
TOTAL	201,5	201,7	0,2	-7,9	0,1%	-3,94%

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

The budget for the outreach programme increases in nominal terms but declines in real value terms from R 201.5 million in 2020/21 to R 201.7 million in 2021/22. This translates to a budget decrease of R 7.9 million (3.9%) in real terms. Under programme 2, the compensation of employees significantly increases from R 79.4 million to R 108.4 million in the current financial year. This growth translates to R 36.2 million (30.7%) in real terms. The goods and services under programme 2 decrease from R 122.1 million in the previous financial year to R 93.5 million in the current financial year, thus translating to R32 million (26.4%) budget decrease in real terms.

 

2.2.4 Programme 4: Party Funding

Programme 4 is a new additional branch to the IEC 2020-25 Strategic Plan. The programme is intended to focus on the strategic outcome of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding. For 2020/21, this programme was allocated R 33.2 million, but its budget decreased to R 21.9 million in the current financial year. The biggest cost driver in this programme is goods and services line item that have been allocated R 13.7 million in the current financial year from the R 30.4 million allocation in the previous financial year. This translates into a budget decrease of R 16.7 million (54.8%) if inflation is not considered but R17.2 million (56.6%) when inflation is taken into consideration. Compensation of employees’ budget item under this programme has decreased in real terms by R 3.9 million from the previous year allocation of R 7.9 million.

 

Programme 4 Budget Allocation

Programme	Budget		Nominal Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 Rand)	Real Increase/ Decrease in 2021/22 (Rand)	Nominal Percent change in 2021/22	Real Percent change in 2021/22
(R’000)	2020/21	2021/22
Compensation of Employees	7,9	8,2	0,3	0,0	3,87%	-0,32%
Goods and Services	30,4	13,7	-16,7	-17,2	-54,83	-56,65%
TOTAL	38,3	21,9	-16,4	-17,3	-42,8%	-45,12%

Source: National Treasury (2021)

 

1. Analysis of the Annual Performance Plan Per Programme

The IEC has set out several strategic priorities in the Strategic Plan for 2020-2025, as well as a set of planned annual targets contained in the APP for 2021/22. This section provides an analysis of the annual targets for the 2021/2022 financial year as per IEC’s APP.

 

Comparison of targets contained in APP for 2019/2020 and 2021/2022.

Programme	Number of Strategic Outcomes		Number of Targets		Budget
R ‘000	2020/2021	2021/2022	2020/2021	2021/2022	2020/2021	2021/2022
Programme 1	1	1	11	4	R 683,806	R 765,213
Programme 2	1	1	10	4	R 1 092, 292	R 1 139 281
Programme 3	1	1	10	5	R 201,510	R 201,697
Programme 4	1	1	7	2	R 38,311	R 22,050
Total	4	4	27	15	R 2 015,919	R 2 308,2

Source: IEC APP (2021)

 

The 2021/2022 APP contains a total of 4 strategic objectives and 15 targets, in comparison to the 2020/21 APP, which contained 4 strategic goals and 27 targets. The vast difference is due to the streamlining of some of the targets.

 

Programme 1: Administration

While programme1 strategic outcome remains the same, the number of targets decreases from 10 in 2020/21 to just 4 annual targets in 2021/22 financial year. The Administration programme is allocated R 765.2 million (33.2% of the IEC overall budget) for 2021/22, increasing from last year’s allocation of R 683.8 million in nominal terms. In real terms, Programme 1’s budget increased by 7.7% (or R 12.2 million).

 

The primary purpose of Programme 1 is to achieve the strategic outcome of strengthening institutional effectiveness at all levels of the organisation. It aims to promote efficient and effective administrative processes. Below are the number of targets and output indicators:

 

 

 

Programme 1 Annual Targets Performance Indicators

Strategic Outcome:	outputs	Output Indicator	Annual target
Strengthened institutional effectiveness	Exercise leadership and governance, monitoring and evaluation to ensure the effective implementation of IEC’s core mandate, strategic outcomes and outputs, aligned with the corresponding budget allocations and risks compliance	Number of quarterly reviews if the strategic risk register by the Executive Risk Management Committee within 30 days after the start of the next quarter.	4
	Provide a cutting-edge, stable, secure ICT environment that meets all functional needs of the Electoral Commission and supports innovative business processes.	Minimum annual percentage network and application systems availability measured in hours system-generated report available.	97% of 2 214 hours’ achievement
		Number of funded positions filled per annum	90% of 1 113 posts calculated pro-rata over the year
	Effectively manage financial resources in compliance with legislation	Obtain a clean audit outcome from the annual external audit process (New indicator)	Obtain a clean audit

Source: IEC APP (2021)

 

Programme 1 has a standard annual target of producing 4 quarterly reports as required by National Treasury regulations for all government departments and entities. In order to keep the IEC operations at an optimal level, the IEC annual target is to ensure that at least 97% of the 2 214 working hours are accounted for in terms of network and system availability. The Human Resource Unit also intends to ensure that at least 90% of the total 1 113 positions at the IEC are filled at all times. The IEC has also added a new performance indicator for the 2021/22 financial year by targeting to obtain a clean audit outcome from the external auditors.

 

Programme 2: Electoral Operations

The Electoral Operations programme is allocated a budget of R 1.3 billion for the 2021/22 financial year. The budget has been increased by R 169.5 million (15.4%) in real rand value terms from the previous financial year allocation of R 1 billion.

 

Strategic objective: Manage free andfair elections striving for excellence at voting station level; ensuring accessibility and suitability of voting facilities and processes; managing results; maximising electoral justice for all stakeholders in the electoral process; enhancing the credibility of the voters roll; ensuring compliance with legal prescripts; and continuously improve the legislative framework.

 

Programme 2: Electoral Operations is the branch that ensures that the IEC’s constitutional mandate of managing free and fair elections is achieved. As a result, one of the programme’s output indicators and the annual target is to ensure that none of the elections it organises is set aside. In addition, the IEC has a responsibility to ensure that all adult citizens that are eligible to participate in the elections in all spheres of government do. Consequently, the IEC’s annual target for 2021/22 is to ensure that at least 26.5 million adult citizens are registered on the voters roll.

 

Table 9: Programme 2 annual targets performance indicators

Strategic Outcome:	outputs	Output Indicator	Annual target
Free and Fair Elections Delivered	Manage free and fair elections in accordance with the applicable electoral timetables to ensure the efficient and credible execution of the mandate of the Electoral Commission	Number of elections set aside	0 (none)
	Maintain a credible national common voters’ roll that is enabled by cutting-edge technology	Number of registered voters as of 31 March of each year	26 540 000

Source: IEC APP (2021)

 

Programme 3: Outreach

The primary purpose of the Outreach is to focus on the strategic outcome of informing and engaging citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy. The programmes have 5 output indicators and 5 annual targets for the 2021/22 financial year. The budget for the outreach programme increases in nominal terms but declines in real value terms from R 201.5 million in 2020/21 to R 201.7 million in 2021/22. The IEC has sets itself a target of producing 2 research initiatives per annum. This annual target has been reduced from the 4 annual research initiatives in the past 3 financial years (2016/18 to 2019/20). In addition, the programme plans to conduct 10 thought leadership initiatives in the current financial year, and it is the first time it introduces this annual target.The programmes strategic outcomes and annual targets are summarised below:

Programme 3 annual targets performance indicators

Strategic Outcome:	outputs	Output Indicator	Annual target
Informed and engaged citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy	Provide impactful and research and thought leadership to strengthen electoral democracy	The number of research initiatives achieved per annum	2
		The number of thought leadership interactions achieved per annum (new indicator)	10
	Actively promote and foster awareness and participation in the electoral process through civic and democracy education programmes	The number of CDE events held per annum	24 000
	Interact with domestic, regional and international stakeholders to build an understanding of the Electoral Commission’s role in delivering credible elections	Number of meetings Electoral Commission hold with key stakeholders per annum (New Indicator)	15
Informed and engaged citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy	Advance and promote electoral processes through communication campaigns on diverse platforms to sustain visibility across the electoral cycle.	Recorded reach across multimedia communications platforms (digital, television, print, radio and out-of-home).	Digital (all social media and online content: Facebook ad reach – 35 million impressions Twitter ad reach – 2 million YouTube ad views – 2 million WhatsApp – New Google Adwords –2 million impressions SMSs sent – 2 million Please Call Me – 150 million) Television: 6 million viewers Radio: 5 000 000 listeners Print:6 million readers Out of home (150 billboards, 180 000 street pole posters, 2 000 transit TV screens, commuter transport – 20 long-distance buses.

Source: IEC APP (2021)

 

Programme 4: Party Funding

Programme 4 is a new programme that will be responsible for managing the party fund. This programme focuses on the strategic outcome of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in the elections. The programme manages party funding and donations in compliance with legislation and strengthens cooperative relationship by providing consultative and liaison platforms between the IEC and political parties and candidates, using systems, people and sustainable processes.Programme 4 also provides effective management of the registration of political parties and processing of the nomination of candidates for various electoral events. The programme’s annual targets are summarised below:

 

Programme 4 annual targets performance indicators

Strategic Outcome:	Outputs	Output Indicator	Annual target
Contributed to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding	Manage party funding in compliance with relevant legislation	Number of disbursements to represented parties per annum	At least 4-one per quarter
	Provide consultative and cooperative liaison platforms between the Electoral Commission and stakeholders and potential contributors to promote funding of multi-party democracy.	Number of liaison sessions held with stakeholders and potential contributors to multi-Party Democracy Fund	10

The outputs and indicators covered under this programme support Outcome 4, which aims to achieve enhanced transparency in elections and party funding and its associated indicator, which aims to monitor and report progress made over the planning period. All these outputs and associated indicators will not only assist in achieving Outcome 4 but also the impact statement of ensuring free and fair elections.

 

 

3.         THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING WORKS (GPW)

 

Government Printing Works facilitates implementation of the legislation that governs the production and management of identification, citizenship and travel, which are developed by the Department of Home Affairs.

 

GPW contributes towards achievement of the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP, Vision 2030) and strives to make a significant contribution to the national outcomes of government including the following:

• Outcome 03: All people in SA are and feel safe
• Outcome 11: Create a better South Africa, contribute to a better and safer Africa and a better world.
• Outcome 12: An efficient, effective and development oriented public service.
• Outcome 04: Decent employment through inclusive economic growth.
• Outcome 05: A skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path.

 

GPW aligns its work to the majority of apex Government priorities particularly the four that DHA directly contributes to, as highlighted below:

• Economic transformation and job creation (Outcome 4)
• Education, skills and health
• Consolidating the social wage through reliable and quality basic services
• Spatial integration, human settlements and local government
• Social cohesion and safe communities (Outcome 3)
• Building a capable, ethical and developmental State (Outcome 12)
• A better Africa and world (Outcome11)

 

3.1 GPW 2021/22 Annual Performance Plan

GPW’s APP 2021/22 has a total of 18 performance targets, with critical targets aligned to the Strategic Plan, to ensure that all outcomes and desired impacts are achieved. A qualitative and quantitative methodology was followed to collect and analyse factors that would have a bearing on GPW’s capacity to accomplish its mission as outlined in part a of this annual performance plan, including milestones as outlined in the opening forewords both by the executive authority, the deputy minister and accounting officer.

 

The GPW saw a reduction of performance against targets between 2015 and 2017 as a way on focusing on strategic imperatives and allowing other targets to be measured at an operational level. Continuous efforts have been made every year to ensure improvements in the performance planning process, whilst ensuring alignment with applicable national treasury frameworks. Both the bottom up and top-down planning approaches have been used during the planning process, to ensure consultation, buy in into a shared vision and integrated planning.

 

It should be noted that the financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 have had similar performance outcomes n terms of the number of targets that were set (23) and achieved (18), averaging 78%. GPW has had challenges in terms of the completion of the construction project, referred to as a masterplan project. These challenges are among other reasons attributed to dependencies of the project, the project size and level of expertise required.

 

The other challenge relates to governance in terms of obtaining a clean audit opinion. While in pursuit of our strategic targets, GPW will continue to put measures in place to improve our internal controls environment. This will be achieved through application of good governance principles and implementation of audit recommendations. The post audit action plan and other mechanism will be developed and monitored in order to reduce occurrences of irregular expenditure and other compliance gaps that impact on GPW’s governance. The table below outlines various products that were produced in the last five years. These figures reflect that the production of security and para-security documents has increased between 2015 and 2018 (with exception of the green barcoded id). There has been a steady demand in the production of passports with an increase of 17% when comparing financial years 2015/16 and 2019/20.

 

Performance targets for the financial year 2021/22

Branch/Office	Number of targets	Purpose:
1. Office of the CEO	3	The CEO is the Accounting Officer for GPW, responsible for strategic direction and the overall effective, efficient and compliant functioningof the organisation. Both the Information Communications Technology (ICT) as a business enabler, and Internal Audit as an independent assuranceprovider that assists management to achieve their strategic objectives reside within the office of the CEO.
2. Operations and Production	5	The main responsibilities of the Operations and Production branch are to conduct market, production and technology research anddevelopment; the management of production operations; planning and business development; the production of high security printed matter andrelated services; processing and publishing of the Government eGazette, ensuring that a healthy and safe working environment is provided and tomaintain GPW’s production equipment in a state of readiness.
3. Strategic Management	4	The branch is responsible for providing support to strategic elements of GPW, facilitating the development, alignment and implementationof the strategic plan and related policies and procedures, communications and marketing of the GPW’s products and services, the rendering of legal,security, compliance and risk management services.
4. Financial Services	4	The main responsibilities of the Financial Services branch are to provide financial accounting services; the administering of costing andmanagement accounting; the administering of the supply chain management process and the rendering of logistical support services
5. Human Resources	2	The Human Resources branch is responsible for the developing of human resource strategies and to ensure that GPW’sorganisational structures are aligned to its Strategic Plan; the administration of human resources provisioning and conditions of service;to promote the development and utilisation of the GPW’s human resources; to support sound employee relations and the managing of employee healthand wellness programmes.
Total number of targets	18

 

Similar growth is noted in the production of id smart cards for the first four years, which are aimedat replacing the green barcoded identity documents by 2025. GPW has seen an increase in servicelevel agreements with the departments of basic and higher education as highlighted by growth inthe printing of examination papers. A general decline is noted in 2019/20 across the production of allproducts amongst others reason, due to a general slowdown during the last quarter of the year in thewake of the novel covid-19 pandemic.In the financial year 2019/20 GPW introduced a performance measure to evaluate the production ofhigh security certificates, which relate to the production of civic, educational, refugee, transport andsimilarly related documents).

 

3.2 Key Strategic Projects

GPW has to date managed to engage SADC countries with a strategic intent of expanding its footprint into the SADC Regions. The following countries: eSwatini, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), AU Commission and Namibia have already been engaged in the past financial year for printing of their security documents.

 

Research has proven that some countries have historically been printing with their colonies. However, GPW continues to have follow up engagements with all other SADC countries, in order to introduce its capabilities for security printing, using among others the embassies in South Africa, in order to secure presence in African market

 

Aggressive positioning of GPW will include focused engagements with Departments within the countries, including face to face engagements where COVID 19 status allows.

 

The targeted countries for this financial year are: Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, DRC, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

 

Additional strategic projects per branch are shown in the table below:

 

Projects	Details
Branch: Operations and Productions
ePassport series	Refreshment of the South African Passport Series Current contracted supplier (Enstra Paper) contract ended in July 2019 Recommendations: GPW to issue a tender to find a suitable manufacturer (specification review  in-progress) Security features of the paper substrate be refreshed (design in progress with SSA) Tender process be developed with DTI to maximize localization
Polycarbonate Plant	Establishment of a polycarbonate plant within South Africa The polycarbonate used to produce the ID Smart Card and the data page for the passport is sourced from Gemalto which is based in France The plan is to open a plant to produce the product locally: Techno-economic study planned for implementation in FY 2021/22 Polycarbonate plant planned for implementation in FY 2022/23, following the recommendations of the Techno-economic study
Branch: financial services
Master plan construction	•Construction of the factory at 83 Visagie street. Project managed by department of public works •The GPW precinct will, upon completion estimated in 2025, comprise the remaining development of the Visagie street site, and incorporate the adjacent vacant land known as the Minaar street site. •This will fulfil the total spatial requirements of GPW, allowing it to consolidate its entire operation in one precinct, and will enable the transition from the legacy Bosman street site. •The envisaged GPW precinct will consist of a number of designated, function-oriented campuses, made up of self-contained and product-oriented processing centres, which will allow for secure, efficient and high quality business operations. Project status: drafting of specifications •Engagements with DPWI to facilitate completion of the project within the shorter turn around times (as opposed to the 6 years contained in their project plan)
Branch: financial services
GPW administration head office	•Refurbishment of the head office (corner Sophie de Bruyn and Visagie streets) •The facility will be renovated into a modern building with pedestrian bridge connecting Visagie factory precinct and administration building across the street. •All administration personnel will be housed in the building. •Overall estimated cost is at r100 million and completion is planned for 2021/2022. Project status: •Reviewing  the draft specifications •Collaborating with construction industry development board (CIDB) as specialists in the construction industry to ensure compliance with construction industry regulations. To go out on a tender by June 2021.
Branch: strategic management
Enabling legislation: Security printers bill	•Finalisation and tabling of the security printers bill to Parliament (incl. NCOP). •GPW is pursuing promulgation of the bill to facilitate printing of state security documents. •GPW has been assisted by DHA: legal services to present the bill to both national and provincial departments. Project status: •The bill has thus been jointly presented by GPW and DHA to a cohort of HOD’s and MEC’s in Limpopo, kzn and Mpumalanga. DHA is facilitating presentations to other provinces before the end of the year.

 

3.3 Management of Risk and Audit processes

• GPW has put in place an enterprise wide risk management process, inclusive of business continuity management, to ensure that risk is being managed at strategic and operational levels.
• Key documents such as the Risk Management Policy, Risk Management Strategy and the Annual Risk Implementation Plan are annually reviewed, together with the Risk Committee and approved by the CEO.
• Risk assessments have been conducted periodically and risk exposure areas allocated to various branches to manage and monitor.
• Progress monitoring of risk is then tabled at the management committee meetings as well as GPW Risk and Audit committees.
• Post audit action plan is monitored through the Audit matrix which is presented by EXCO members at every EXCO and MANCO meetings to hold management accountable and ensure resolution of audits
• The established Internal Controls Committee (ICC) is composed of management, and sits on a monthly basis to focus on all control deficiencies to facilitate effective resolution of all matters raised by both internal audit and AGSA
• Due to the escalation of the audit process to the Auditor General of SA by GPW management, the 2019/2020 year’s audit has not yet been finalized. Awaiting feedback from AGSA.

 

3.4 GPW Budget

 

Description	ACTUAL			Budget
	Actuals 2018/19 R'000	Actuals 2019/20 R'000	Actuals 2020/21 R'000	ENE Budget 2021/22 R'000	ENE Budget 2022/23 R'000	ENE Budget 2023/24 R'000
TOTAL SALES	1 510 273	1 621 672	608 235	1 449 259	1 774 770	1 870 367
COST OF SALES	732 344	885 644	488 598	913 811	1 143 560	1 163 314
Direct Material	191 103	364 934	92 494	389 144	524 300	465 161
Direct Labour	124 618	147 128	133 591	200 138	218 473	228 304
Operating Expenditure	96 886	142 572	92 213	191 906	235 724	295 913
Finished Goods	319 737	231 010	170 300	132 623	165 063	173 935
GROSS PROFIT	777 929	736 028	119 637	535 448	631 210	707 054
GP %	51.51%	45.39%	19.67%	36.95%	35.57%	37.80%
OTHER INCOME	9 675	12 941	42 950	46 501	46 726	46 490
Interest received	1 647	1 967	-
Loss on foreign exchange	-21 095	-4 168	-811
TOTAL EXPENSES	250 716	249 619	209 642	437 023	500 459	566 507
Employee Benefits	109 972	123 175	128 201	157 778	165 671	173 127
Administrative Expenditure	35 590	31 686	23 020	66 373	69 300	73 235
Production and Stores	1 280	2 944	1 881	1 740	1 836	1 950
Equipment	1 407	1 563	1 589	2 855	3 012	3 176
Professional Services	60 965	75 810	40 845	152 413	163 089	171 547
Depreciation and Provisions	19 995	13 837	13 834	29 088	69 304	113 671
Sundry Expenditure	411	604	272	26 775	28 248	29 801
NET SURPLUS/(LOSS)	517 440	497 149	-47 866	144 926	177 477	187 037
Net Profit %	34.26%	30.66%	-7.87%	10.00%	10.00%	10.00%

 

3.5 Risks linked to the strategic plan

Outcomes	Key risks	Risk Ratings	Mitigations
Security printed material produced	Failure to secure paper for the production of secure printed material due to among other things, a global move towards becoming green and moving away from printing towards digitisation	High	Conduct research into acquiring own paper mill (vertical integration) Invest in research and development to monitor trends and strategic direction of the printing sector   Sign strategic relationship agreements with critical vendors, whereby any decisions to change or discontinue equipment and/or consumables is done in partnership with GPW and/or the Printing SA
Young people and women equipped with Artisan and other requisite professional skills	Readiness to execute the project, considering limitations on finalisation of the facilities	Medium	Project manage the initiative and define milestones or targets annually.
Capacity of workforce developed to support service delivery	Value for money with regard to training programmes provided by successfully appointed service providers.		Evaluation through supply chain processes and screening of service providers
	Value for money with regard to trainees		Ensure each training has SAQA unit standards
Effective and efficient internal corporate governance	Inadequate coordination and implementation of governance activities including compliance and risk, management of previous audit findings and implementation of recommendations by Internal Audit.	Medium	Discussions on compliance, risk management and audit matrix remain standard agenda items at MANCO and       EXCO structures. Implement decisions taken at the Internal Control Committee meetings
Secured management of GPW operations, facilities, information and people	Delay in the implementation of the new security model for GPW		Collaborate and engage with security departments and entities in the public sector to facilitate implementation of the security model (benchmark with SARB, SABN and SA Mint)

 

4          Observations/ Engagement with the Committee

 

The Following were issues raised by Members in the engagement with the DHA, GPW and IEC on their Annual Plans and Budgets.

 

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
   1. The Committee indicated the Strategic Plan targets might need to be revisited because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.The DHA should have a plan to ensure that uncollected Identity Documents are collected by the applicants.
   2. The DHA has been underfunded and this will have an impact on the implementation of the Border Management Authority (BMA) considering that the DHA might not be able to employ personnel to BMA because of the Compensation of Employee (COE) ceiling. South African borders are porous and the Committee still wants to see the roll-out plan of the BMA. It appears that there was a lack of political will to implement the BMA because other relevant departments do not want to participate in the implementation of the BMA.
   3. The Committee expressed concern regarding the level of service that the DHA was delivering at Home Affairs offices given the reduction of staff during the lockdown regulations.
   4. It was also indicated that the DHA should have a unit that deals with queries at the Head Office because the current system does not work. The Head Office does not respond to queries that come from public representatives through their Constituencies. The DHA tends not to even acknowledge receipt from Members of Parliament and the public.
   5. The Department of Home Affairs system is constantly down and members of the public are not able to receive services. The DHA offices in the rural areas are far from some villages and people have to travel long distances only to find that the system is offline. The DHA should devise a plan to ensure that the system downtime is resolved working with State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The SARS system is not often offline like the Home Affairs/SITA system.
   6. The Committee commended the DHA for the inclusion of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as part of the targets for 2021-22 and the Department of Home Affairs is encouraged to work with other departments on GBV awareness because of the budget cuts.
   7. The target on the War on Queues was not included in the current APP and there was a big challenge at Home Affairs offices, especially in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and other big cities in South Africa.
   8. Some companies only employ foreign nationals at the expense of locals and the DHA has indicated that they will only conduct 220 inspections per annum which translate into 18 inspections per month. The Committee felt that this was not enough considering the number of undocumented migrants in South Africa.
   9. Even if the DHA can conduct more than 220 inspections; the concern is if the DHA will be able to deport apprehended undocumented migrants because the budget of the Department has been reduced.
   10. The DHA has an agreement with certain banks for the applications of Smart ID Cards and passports. The DHA piloted the project and it still needed to roll out to more branches and other banks. This relationship with the banks could relieve DHA offices of long queues and must thus be expanded.
   11. The DHA should deal decisively with corrupt elements within the Department. These corrupt elements should not only face disciplinary processes but should be charged criminally.
   12. It appears that the DHA does not have a plan to roll out the Live Capture system in all Home Affairs offices when this would alleviate the pressure for people to apply Green ID Book in certain offices where the Live Capture system does not exist.
   13. The Committee was concerned that certain targets such as the birth registration and Smart ID Card applications have been loweredeven while the DHA wasagain operating at 100 percent capacity. The Department should be operating at the previous target levels if operating at 100 percent capacity.
   14. The DHA does not have a tracking mechanism for the application of services at its offices. The DHA is unable to determine where the problem meet its timeframes for services.
   15. The Committee was concerned that Contingent Liabilities still exceeds R2 billion and have increased from the previous financial year.

The Electoral Commission (IEC).

1. The IEC have a contingency plan to be ready for the Local Government Elections (LGE) that will take place on 27 October 2021.
2. The Committee commended the IEC working towards a clean audit.
3. The Committee noted that voter apathy has increased from 1994 until 2019 and the Committee encouraged the IEC to ensure that voter education is emphasised especially among young people.
4. The Committee expressed a concern that the budget for the training of staff would be reduced and this will affect the LGE in that the IEC would introduce the new Voter Management Devices (VMDs). These VMDs are important for the elections and the staff must be trained on how to utilise them.
5. The Committee wanted to ascertain how many of the VMDs have been procured and if the staff training has commenced.
6. The Committee urged the IEC to pilot an e-voting system.
7. The Committee noted that the public service has not had salary increases and questioned whether if the IEC negotiate their salary separately and if this will this affect the LGE.
8. The Committee expressed concern about 30 cases of IEC material found along the R38 from Standerton to Bethal in Mpumalanga.
9. The Committee noted that there would be only one registration weekend towards the LGE 2021 elections on 27 October 2021 as a result of Covid-19 and lack of funds.

The Government Printing Works (GPW).

1. The Committee noted that positions of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were vacant and there are acting people in these positions. The positions have been vacant for a long time but are in the process of being filled.
2. The target of engaging with the African countries to conduct business with GPW was 10 countries and this target has been reduced to 5 countries. The Committee encouraged the GPW to have relationships with all African countries.
3. It was concerning that there were government departments and organs of state who owe GPW approximately R250 million. It should also be noted that the GPW does not receive an allocationfrom National Treasury but in fact pays some of its profit into the National Revenue Fund.
4. The Committee was concerned about the loss of financial data for 2020/21 which has stalled the audit process.

5.         RECOMMENDATIONS.

 

5.1        The Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

The Portfolio Committee recommends that the DHA should:

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
   1.  
      1. ensure that that all uncollected Identity Documents (ID) are collected by the applicants by intensifying its communication.
      2. engage with the Minister of Finance to ensure that the BMA was adequately funded. The Minister of Home Affairs should further engage with the Ministers whose departments are operational at the border environment to ensure that they are familiarwith the regulations of the BMA Act. The DHA must brief the Committee on the BMA project implementation plan includingholdingslow or non-compliant partner Departments accountable at a cabinet level.
      3. ensure that service delivery occurs in all Home Affairs offices and timeous and proper communication is done to members of the public when it comes to downtime and the proper working hours when Home Affairs offices are no longer accepting applicants.
      4. ensure long queues at Home Affairs offices especially in cities are resolved by providing an appointment system as well as intensified roll-out of the bank project to all branches, while ensuring that mobile offices are fully operational and mobilised.
      5. Be encouraged to work with other departments on GBV awareness because of the budget cuts.
      6. ensure that staff respond to queries by public representatives and members of the public forwarded to the Head Office. If the DHA was sticking to its timeframes for their services, there would be no need for public representatives and members of the public to be frustrated by the non-response. The Committee recommended adding an application progress tracking system visible to applicants in the medium term.
      7. meet with the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies as well as the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to devise a plan to ensure that the system downtime at DHA is resolved. The task team addressingSITA issuesmust provide quarterly reports to the Committee on the progress of their work.
      8. Provide the Committee with a detailed plan to rapidly increase the 220 immigration inspections to be conducted per year by working closely with other state entities. The Inspectorate must find more effective ways to detect and process undocumented migrants. The Ministers of Home Affairs and Labour and Employment should finalise, as a matter of urgency, their discussions around amending legislation to impose sectoral targets for the employment of foreign nationals in sectors of the economy where South Africans are overlooked for opportunities.
      9. ensure that officials found guilty of fraud and corruption in disciplinary hearings, are charged criminally.
      10. ensure that the Live Capture system is rolled out to all Home Affairs offices.
      11. ensure a client accessible tracking mechanism for all DHA documentapplications is introduced as soon as possible.
      12. speed up the implementation of the Modernisation Programme. The National Identification System (NIS) and the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) should be implemented as soon as possible.
      13. ensure that all targets set for 2021-22 financial are fully implemented within the timeframes set.

5.2 The Electoral Commission (IEC).

The Portfolio Committee recommends that the Commission should:

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
   1.  
   2.  
      1. ensure that all elections are free and fair.
      2. ensure that it intensifies voter education especially among the young people by using media and social media.
      3. ensure that staff are adequately trained on the usage of the Voter Management Devices to prevent double voting.
      4. conclude the investigation of the materials that were found along the R38 and the culprits should be disciplined to ensure that this does not happen again.
      5. consider piloting and roll-out of online voter registration.

 

5.3. The Government Printing Works (GPW).

The Portfolio Committee recommends that the GPW should:

1. ensure that the appointment of critical positions such as the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer are completed with due urgency.
2. create relationships with all African countries to access new markets and build relationships.
3. ensure that the financial statements of the GPW are made available on time.
4. ensure engagement to follow up with all departments that have not paid the GPW.
5. ensure that the reasons for repeated non-adherence to annual report deadlines are addressed.The Committee should be updated regularly on the coordination and implementation of governance activities including compliance and risk; management of previous audit findings; and implementation of recommendations by Internal Audit.
6. present to the Committee a report on the investigations into lost audit data and security breaches.

Report to be considered.

 

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[1] IEC Presentation (2020).