ATC231020: Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 2022/23 Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report Dated 20 October 2023

Home Affairs

Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 2022/23 Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report Dated 20 October 2023

 

1.         INTRODUCTION 

As specified by section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act (MBAP) of 2009, the National Assembly, through its Committees, must annually assess the performance of each national department. A Committee must submit the Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) annually to the National Assembly which assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of the department’s use and forward allocation of available resources and may include recommendations on the use of resources in the medium term. In this regard, the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs (the Committee) oversees the Budget and Performance of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Government Printing Works (GPW) and the Electoral Commission (IEC). In addition, after being formally established and assuming its status as a schedule 3 (A) public entity on 1 April 2023, the Border management Authority (BMA) was also officially launched on 3 October in Musina, Limpopo, under the direction of President Cyril Ramaphosa. As such this entity has also been separately accounting to and being overseen by the Committee.

 

The Committee met with the DHA, BMA, IEC and GPW, Auditor General (AGSA) and National Treasury on the Budgets and Plans of the Budget Vote 5 entities on 29 and 30 March 2023 as part of the Committees Strategic Planning. The DHA briefed the Committee on its Quarterly financial and performance reports on 2 November and 16 May 2023. Annual Reports of the DHA, IEC and GPW were presented to the Committee for deliberation on 10 October 2023. The BMA was not yet inaugurated in the year under review and thus still has its finances and performance reported as part of the DHA.

 

The Committee considered and amended its Draft BRRR on 17 October 2023 and the final was Adopted on 20 October 2023 after additional inputs from the entities and members.

 

Over the medium term, the DHA has been allocated budget to continue to focus on securing international migration through the establishment of the Border Management Authority, modernising ICT infrastructure to ensure integrated planning and efficient administration, ensuring access to rights and services, and digitising records. Expenditure is expected to increase nominally at an average annual rate of 0.7 per cent, from R10.8 billion in 2022/23 to R11 billion in 2025/26. This is mainly due to a once-off allocation of R839.9 million in 2023/24 for the digitisation of records project. The department plans to facilitate the function shift from various national departments towards the establishment of the Border Management Authority, which explains an increase of 14.4 per cent in spending on transfers and subsidies. The department is set to receive additional funding of R900 million over the MTEF period for the establishment of the Border Management Authority. Spending on compensation of employees’ accounts for an estimated 35.8 per cent (R11.3 billion) of total expenditure over the MTEF period, and spending on goods and services for an estimated 27.5 per cent (R8.4 billion).

 

Over the medium term, the IEC focus is on preparing for and conducting the 2024 national and provincial elections, for which R3.5 billion is allocated over the MTEF period for electoral operations. These include the procurement, printing, distribution and warehousing of registration and election materials; rental and infrastructure payments for about 23 400 voting stations; the procurement of electoral material such as an additional ballot type; the appointment and training of an estimated 350 000 electoral and expansion staff; the maintenance of the voters’ roll; technological improvements such as rewriting candidate nomination, ballot generation and election result systems; and the procurement of a building for its national office. The commission plans to undertake extensive civic and democracy education and communication campaigns ahead of the 2024 national and provincial elections, as well as to roll out the amended Electoral Act (1998) once it becomes law.

 

To ensure compliance with applicable provisions of the Political Party Funding Act (2018), the commission’s party funding unit will focus on the management and administration of the Represented Political Parties’ Fund and the Multiparty Democracy Fund, for which R75 million has been allocated over the MTEF period. Total expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 5.5 per cent, from R1.7 billion in 2022/23 to R2 billion in 2025/26. As a result of the appointment of contractors ahead of the 2024 national and provincial elections, spending on the compensation of employees is set to increase at an average annual rate of 7.3 per cent, from R827.2 million in 2022/23 to R1 billion in 2025/26.

 

Over the medium term, GPW will focus on revamping its ICT infrastructure by procuring a new enterprise resource planning system at a projected cost of R324 million. It will also focus on completing its master plan to renovate the administration building on Visagie Street, Pretoria, at an estimated cost of R1 billion. Expenditure is projected to increase at an average annual rate of 12.1 per cent, from R1.3 billion in 2022/23 to R1.8 billion in 2025/26. The entity is set to generate 99.1 per cent (R5.5 billion) of its revenue over the medium term through its business operations. Revenue is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 12.2 per cent from R1.4 billion in 2022/23 to R2 billion in 2025/26.

 

Processes for the establishment of the Border Management Authority as a schedule 3A public entity with effect from 1 April 2023 are underway. This entails, among other things, transitional arrangements that include sharing some corporate services with the department in 2023/24; transferring the frontline immigration, health, environment and agricultural functions and personnel at ports of entry to the authority through ministerial delegations; seconding personnel to the authority from other organs of state; and physically verifying assets and inventories. The authority will continue using some of the department’s shared corporate services for 2023/24 as guided by a service‐level agreement. Expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 4.6 per cent, from R1.3 billion in 2023/24 to R1.5 billion in 2025/26. Total expenditure amounts to R4.2 billion over the MTEF period. The authority will focus its spending over the period ahead on deploying 200 additional border guards and gradually operationalising the corporate back office with 5 senior positions.

 

The DHA and IEC submitted their annual reports on time by the end of September 2023 as required by the Public Finance Management Act. The GPW however only submitted the previous 2021/22 year financial report by September, still affected by two system crashes as in the previous year. This also contributed to the GPW’s second Disclaimer Audit Opinion. The DHA had its 7th consecutive unqualified audit with findings. The IEC with its third consecutive clean audit.

 

1.1       The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs

In line with the core objectives of Parliament, the mandate of the Committee is to consider and pass legislation; oversee and scrutinise executive action; facilitate international participation; facilitate co-operative government and facilitate public participation and involvement. The key issues in the DHA, IEC and GPW are put forward by the Committee on the basis of:

• 30 Committee Meetings and deliberations since the last BRRR which includes briefings by the DHA (including BMA), the IEC and GPW. In addition, the Committee met with National Treasury, the Auditor General, Lawyers for Human Rights, the State Information Technology Agency, 3 Petitioners and Hon. Hendricks on a Private Member’s Muslim Marriages Bill.
• 9 of the above 30 meetings included the Electoral Amendment Bill (1 of 2022) which was adopted by the Committee on 10 February 2023. Consequential Amendments are still being considered to this Act and are pending a related Bill from the DHA.  
• Scrutinising the entities’ Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, the State of the Nation Addresses, policy documents, Estimates and Revised Estimates of National Expenditure, Medium Term Expenditure, quarterly reports as well as other external briefings and reports.
• An oversight visit to the Department’s Head Office and the newly opened Menlyn Shopping Mall Office.  
• Committee Members’ engagement in their constituencies and over a thousand electronically forwarded requests for intervention on behalf of the public.

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1.2       The Department of Home Affairs

The mission of the DHA is to ensure the efficient determination and safeguarding of the identity and status of citizens and regulation of migration to ensure security as well as to promote and fulfil South Africa’s international obligations. This mandate is administered through the following four overarching budget programmes:

 

Programme 1 - Administration: The programme provides leadership, management and support services to the Department of Home Affairs.

Programme 2 – Citizen Affairs: The programme provides secure, efficient and accessible services and documents for citizens and lawful residents. This programme’s budget also includes the transfers to the IEC and GPW.

Programme 3 - Immigration Affairs: The programme facilitates and regulates the secure movement of people into and out of the Republic of South Africa through ports of entry; determines the status of asylum seekers and regulates refugee affairs. It also confirms and provides enabling documents to foreign visitors legally residing within the Republic of South Africa and enforces immigration legislation and effects deportations.

Programme 4 - This programme provides for institutional support and transfers to entities not under the control of the department such as the BMA, IEC and Represented Political Parties Fund.

 

1.3 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; ensuring that any election is free and fair; promoting conditions conducive to free and fair elections; promoting knowledge of sound and democratic elections processes and compile; maintaining a register of parties; compile and maintain a voters roll to mention but a few examples. This is administered through 4 budget programmes:

•    Programme 1: Administration

•    Programme 2: Electoral operations

•    Programme 3: Outreach

•    Programme 4: Party Funding

 

1.4 The Government Printing Works

GPW specializes in the printing and development of security media, including passports, visas, birth certificates, educational certificates, smart identity documents, examination materials, and a wide range of other high-security printed documents.

 

GPW’s financial viability is dependent on its ability to generate revenue from services rendered. Its main clients include State departments and their statutory bodies for example the DHA, Departments of Education (Basic and Higher Education), the South African Police Service (SAPS), Department of Health, Justice and others, to which GPW provides security printing services on a cost recoverable basis. The GPW is administered across four branches:

• Office of the CEO
• Branch: Operations and Production
• Branch: Strategic management
• Branch: Financial Services
• Branch: Human Resource

 

2.         2022/23 BUDGET

 

2.1  . Briefing by the DHA, BMA, GPW and IEC on their 2023-24 budget allocations and Plans

The Committee met with the entities on their Budgets on 28 February and held its Strategic Planning Session inclusive of the entities plans on 29 and 31 March 2023.

 

2.2 DHA Budget

DHA Chief Financial Officer, Mr Gordon Hollamby, presented on the budget indicating that the expenditure from the past 9 years had been at 100% of its allocation. There is capacity to spend and since 2013-14 no unauthorised expenditure has been incurred. As of January 2023, the overall spending was at 74 percent, this is slightly under the projections for the current financial year. This underspending projection is due to the late receipt of funds for the digitization project. Alongside the passenger name recognition project that has not progressed, leaving an amount of R200 million that has not been used.

 

The compensation of employees (CoE) remains the biggest cost driver, sitting at 36 percent. The ceiling for CoE is capped at R3.9 billion. As of January 2023, CoE is at 75% of its target, this places the Department in a less pressurised position – allowing the offices of the Department to stay open later and pay overtime including for the festive deployment periods.

 

Allocations for the 2023/24 budget are increased and are expected to drop in 2024/25. This is due to specific baseline reductions and baseline increases of about R1 billion. This is largely in programme 4: Institutional Support and Transfers related to the BMA and IEC.

 

Self-financing is a mechanism that allows the Department to retain some of the generated revenue and use it for the purpose defined by National Treasury. The Department uses these funds for the costs incurred for the generation of this revenue, these include but are not limited to: cash-in-transit activities, hospital connectivity, property look and feel, financial accounting, and archives management. The overall self-financing allocation is R987 million.

 

For the 2023-24 financial year, the DHA’s allocations were R10.863 billion for the four DHA programmes as follows:

• Programme 1: Administration – R2.719 billion.
• Programme 2: Citizen Affairs – R3.361 billion.
• Programme 3: Immigration Affairs – R858.59 million.
• Programme 4: Institutional Support and transfers – R3.924 billion (BMA: R1.342 billion and IEC: R2.232 billion).

2.3 BMA

Dr Mike Masiapato, the BMA Commissioner indicated the BMA was at that stage still to be established by 1 April 2023 as a separate entity from the DHA. The staff consultation has been conducted in preparation for 1 April 2023.  He also reported that the Audit and Risk Committee with four members and the Remuneration and Human Capital Committee with three members have been established and were appointed by the Minister for three years with effect from 1 February 2023.

 

The budget for 2022-23 was R78 million and the BMA has already spent about R47 million which translates to 60 percent. There was a commitment of R13 million for February and March 2023. An estimated amount of R18 million would be unspent from the COE.

 

The transfer of staff and functions from the Departments of Home Affairs; Health; Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and Forestry, Fisheries and Environment would contribute about R1 billion to the BMA budget. The initial budget request by BMA for 2023-24 was R2.686 billion and over the MTEF period the budget was R10.6 billion. Because of budget pressures, the BMA would outsource most of its corporate functions to DHA.

 

2.4 IEC

IEC Chief Electoral Officer, Mr Sy Mamabolo, indicated that based on the 2024 Election, the 2023/24 financial year budget is R2.2 billion, housed in four programmes bearing 14 outputs. The IEC budget will provide for:

- two registration weekends - one in 2023 and the other in 2024

- revisions to electoral information communication technology

- voter registration

- launch of communication campaigns

- staff expansion programme

- incremental capacity increase of the institution

- recruitment and training of 50 000 registration staff for the upcoming registration weekends

- expansion of the local delivery model and local storage sites

- identification and contracting of registration stations

- maintenance of the network of offices countrywide.

 

Taking note of the recently passed Electoral Amendment Bill, the IEC is looking to accommodate the operational and financial implications of this. This includes the re-writing of ICT business applications, particularly the candidate nomination system to take account of independent candidates and signature requirements; the logistics information system; and the results system.

 

The IEC has some funding pressures, particularly in:

1. workshops and training,
2. the projected increase of ballot papers by about 50% to accommodate the regional ballot,
3. the expected increase in the number of contestants resulting in longer ballots and possible reconfiguration of ballot papers,
4. a public education programme of the revised electoral system and
5. workshops for new electoral contestants.

 

The IEC has had to absorb cuts of about R240 million in the current year but National Treasury has provisionally approved the retention of any 2022/23 budget allocation surpluses to assist with funding pressures.

 

The IEC programme financial breakdown is:

• Administration programme accounts for R820 million which includes CoE.
• Electoral Operations is the core programme accounting for R1.2 billion.
• The Outreach programme is R258 million.
• The Party Funding and Liaison programme is R25 million.
• The recruitment of staff in the Political Parties Funding Unit has been slowed down for the IEC to get a more realistic sense of the volume and intensity of work in this unit.

 

 

 

2.5 GPW

Ms Alina Fosi, the Chief Executive Officer; Ms Constance Shibambo, Director: Internal Audit and Mr Ian Van Der Merwe, Chief Financial Officer made the presentation. Ms Fosi indicated some of the projects that were implemented at GPW as follows:

• The development of change management and GTAC has been appointed.
• Modernisatiion of GPW.
• Business continuity after the loss of data.
• The implementation of Ministerial Review Panel Report Recommendations.
• The Security Printing Bill.
• The appointment of the Ministerial Advisory Board.
• A case study to establish a polycarbonate printing assembly.
• Critical infrastructure projects.

 

The newly approved organisational structure was implemented on 1 April 2022. It was reported that 417 new positions were added to the new structure and 74 positions have been reassigned.

 

The GPW was addressing the audit findings. There were 595 findings and 77 percent of these findings have been resolved.  GPW revenue was forecasted to increase at an average annual rate of 16 percent from R1.426 billion in 2022/23 to 1.654 billion in 2023/24. GPW was set to generate R5.51 billion in revenue over the medium term through business operations. Expenditure was forecasted to increase at an average annual rate of 15.54% from R1.288 billion in 2022/23 to R1.488 billion in 2023/24.  The total estimated expenditure over the medium term will be R4.96 billion.

 

2.6  Budget Deliberations

In response to questions raised by members of the Committee the following was indicated:

 

DHA Response

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      1. The decrease in the DHA Immigration branch budget is due to the functional shift of Immigration to the BMA. All immigration officials at the ports of entry will move to BMA with their salaries. Therefore for the 2024/25 financial year, these remuneration budgets will move to BMA, because of the functional shift.
      2. In the DHA Immigration branch budget, there are funds of about R450 million for goods/services and these will assist the Home Affairs team with deportation.
      3. The Committee had suggested Home Affairs work on a business case due to understaffing as the DHA staffing level was sitting at about 36%. National Treasury had approved funds of R260 million which enabled DHA to fill about 762 vacant positions with a focus on services which placed it at a 42% staffing level. Whilst this is far below acceptable measures, DHA is looking at improving the staffing levels to at least 55%.
      4. The budget will not be impacted by mobile trucks as the mobile footprint is being increased. The DHA is anticipating the receipt of 20 more trucks by the end of February 2023. Moreover, on the recommendation of the Committee, DHA is going to order 100 more trucks to be deployed and service the more rural areas.
      5. On the digitisation programme, it is set to continue for the next two years due to the late receipt of funds, therefore the interns will still be in the digitisation project. The digitisation programme is under consideration, with expected full running in March and April. More graduates are expected to be employed on this. The key milestones of the project will be indicated quarterly. The minimum set of records should be demonstrable at the end of March 2023. On the anticipated unspent money for the digitisation project, due to late receipt of the funding allocation, DHA has engaged National Treasury for a rollover, of which Treasury has been supportive.
      6. The Passenger Name Recognition (PNR) is allocated about R228 million, the system is a sub-component of the Advanced Processing System. This system allows DHA to tell you when a person books a ticket to South Africa which establishment they will be staying at, track the banking system of the traveller, and how the traveller intends to leave South Africa. Unfortunately, this system is provided by a sole supplier – a Swiss-based company – and National Treasury declined the application to engage and appoint this service provider for the PNR. The Department was advised to go on an open tender, and the process has been started. As a result, DHA will be unable to spend the R228 million in this current financial year, National Treasury has been requested to un-earmark the funds.
      7. Overall DHA has managed prudent financial systems in the past and there has been consistent performance. The aim now is to improve and receive a clean audit. Efforts to lobby for funding for the BMA will continue as this has been continually committed to by the Portfolio Committee that funding for the security cluster needs to be improved.

 

Border Management Authority response

1. The BMA operates in two distinct areas: (i) the port of entry, which is inside the port, and (ii) the law enforcement area, which is outside the port. Outside the port is legally defined as 10 kilometres outside the port, going sideways at the borderline, and 10 kilometres inside South Africa. The other specialised area which is part of law enforcement is the vulnerable segment on the borderline. This refers to areas where there are border communities, these are areas where the borderline competes with civilian activities in that area. These areas have at times what is called the foot and mouth fence, which deals with animal movement. The BMA will be taking over this work from DHA of Agriculture.
2. Understanding the above, issues about the South African Police Services (SAPS); the BMA Act indicates that border law enforcement work will be done by BMA officials. The intention was to ensure there is no confusion about duties. Whilst this work is currently being done by the SAPS, when the BMA Act comes into effect it will be done by the Border Management Authority.
3. The initial intention of BMA was to ensure officers deployed at the port environment by SAPS are controlled by BMA and those officials are integrated into the BMA. It quickly became clear this would not succeed as the funds allocated for border control will have to be transferred to the BMA, Treasury did not allow this. This meant BMA will not have the capacity to do all the work. Although the BMA will be doing some aspect of the work based on the current 200 border guards and 400 that will be brought on in the coming financial year. As it stands the SAPS is utilising 6,000 officials across all ports in the country. Compared to the 600 officials that the BMA will have, this meant the BMA could not fully take on the function. The SAPS will continue this work and BMA will gradually take responsibility when their border guards increase. There are still ongoing discussions with the relevant Ministers regarding the matter.
4. The BMA is looking at utilising drone technologies to complement the boots on the ground, unfortunately, with the allocation of only R250 million, BMA will not be able to deploy this at this stage. In the interim, the BMA will try and tap into the drone technologies that the South African National Defence Force had indicated they intend to use for border management during the 2023 Budget Speech, with the hopes that the BMA will be granted additional resources.
5. Presently the BMA will cover all the main ports, which include land ports, sea, and airports. In terms of the border line, only land will be covered with no sea borders covered. BMA has not put effort into the sea line ports, let alone budgetary consideration. The bringing in of the coastline guards will be the second phase of the BMA plans. In summary, the shortfall is R10bn over a five-year period. For the current year BMA asked for R2.6bn but got R250m.

 

Government Printing Works’ Response

1. To date, GPW has started printing for all spheres of government. In identifying revenue-generating clients, progress has been made. A multi-faceted approach has been adopted for the revenue quantum for the expansion plan. Since the advent of Covid-19, there have been numerous online engagements with SADC countries and the greater African continent to ensure the marketing of GPW products. This has yielded some results, as these countries have come on official visits to view GPW services, with the intention of returning for business. Central to this strategy have been efforts to engage embassies and high commissions in Pretoria to ensure there is wider engagement, without having to spend much on travelling costs.
2. On the data loss, several companies have been engaged for data recovery and no costs have been incurred. To date, there are no costs budgeted for data recovery, as systems are being recreated and there are efforts to re-automate the previously crashed system.
3. On an economic impact assessment for potential business losses by the private sector, it is important to note that GPW is part of Printing SA. Printing SA is a coordinating body for all printing, publication and its manufacturing sector within the country, therefore the GPW model has never competed with the private sector; it supports small, micro, and macro enterprises. SMMEs have been granted business by being contracted to print certain products on behalf of GPW, to ensure their development and sustainability.

 

IEC response

1. Voter education plans have a combination of integrated activities, the target is the young electorate of the country – particularly first-time voters. Given the new electoral system, every electoral member becomes a target for voter education and the communication campaign. One of these integrated activities is the community approach – the capacity is being put on the pool of staff members that will be at municipal duty stations. The hope is that communities are reached broadly within communities, this will be at a voting district level.
2. The second focal activity deals with vulnerable groups, particularly persons living with disabilities, where there will be similar community engagements with these groups for voter education and information.
3. Radio-based engagements for voter information and engagement will continue, using community-based radio stations as the medium has still been found to be relevant and effective. Digital media is a new medium and the IEC will be making use of these. The key areas include information sharing through animation, chatbots, and conferencing facilities to create dialogue for participants to engage with the IEC content. The partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation does include radio and television where educational material will be shared, extending to all SABC channels.
4. The IEC also has a focused school curriculum where civic education and duty are encouraged, coupled with the annual campaign in April which is voter education month. The context of voter education in South Africa is still about why people should participate and vote. This is a question that needs to be answered in dialogue and interactions. The electorate needs to have a purpose in participating and to understand their responsibility in participating in the electoral democracy.
5. The electoral process is becoming an expensive exercise as there is the amendments in the Electoral Amendment Bill to consider; enhancements to technology; and efforts in automating the election process. Moreover, the IEC procures in the open market and prices are affected by external factors such as inflation.
6. Donations to the Multi-Party Democracy Fund are indeed a strategic innovation in the party funding regulatory environment, as it allows for corporates and the citizenry to contribute to entrenching multi-party democracy. Contributions to date have been to the value of R7.5 million. Quite admirably two citizens have made contributions. The need is there and the IEC is engaging all corporates and citizens who can contribute. A process of engaging with high net worth individuals is underway to enthuse them about contributing to the fund. This is distributed in a defined formula contained in the electoral prescripts in both an equity and proportional manner.
7. The IEC intends to open the total fleet of 23 000 voting stations for two registration weekends – one in late 2023 and another in early 2024. This is an important modality as voting stations are the most accessible for people. It is a modality that is not dependent on a cell phone as you merely walk to a voting station to register. It serves as an equalising opportunity for all South African citizens. To supplement this, the IEC has an online 24/7 accessible voter registration platform. This is an attractive feature, particularly for young voters, who are the key target. Civic education programme was launched last year for students in all tertiary institutions which is also important as it is an opportunity to register.

 

3.DHA 2023/24 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

 

The Committee Strategic Planning Session included briefings by the four entities in its oversight portfolio of the annual plans and progress on Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) from 2019 until 2023.

 

The DHA envision South Africa where identity, status and citizenship are key enablers of citizen empowerment and inclusivity, economic development and national security.  The DHA carries 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.

 

The DHA’s mandate is divided into two broad categories namely Civic Service and Immigration Services. There are three (3) mandates, which are to manage citizenship and civil registration, the management of international migration and the management of refugee protection.

 

These are values of the DHA and it is committed to being:

• People-centred and caring

• Patriotic
• Professional and showing leadership
• Effective, efficient and innovative
• Ethical and having integrity
• Security conscious
• Development oriented

 

Strategic Plan Outcome Targets 2020 to 2025

In support of achieving the strategic objectives of the DHA, government priorities and the NDP, the DHA identified the following MTSF commitments for delivery by the end of 2025:

 

Outcome	Indicator	Baseline 31 March 2020	5 Year Target (2025)	Responsible
Secure management of international migration resulting  in South Africa’s interests being served & fulfilling international commitments	Risk-based & strategic immigration approach implemented against predetermined measures that ensure sovereignty, national security, public safety, stability & development	BMA legislation enacted.	BMA incrementally rolled out as per the BMA Roadmap 2032 to: 36 ports of entry 10 segments of the land borderline & 2 community crossing points	Border Management Authority (BMA)
		Transaction Advisor appointed for the redevelopment of 6 priority land ports of entry.	Construction & redevelopment of six land ports of entry as one-stop border posts completed by 2025.	BMA
		BMCS piloted at 2 additional ports of entry Draft Immigration Bill (including amendments to the Refugees Act) submitted to Minister for approval 160 law enforcement operations/ inspections conducted to ensure compliance with immigration & DHA legislation.	A risk-based & strategic approach to immigration implemented in respect of: Legislation implemented to support the White paper on International Migration Secure entry, documented stay & departure of persons through the rollout of biometric functionality & law enforcement operations.	(Immigration Services & Information System (IMS / IS)
	Risk-based & strategic issuing of visas & permits against predefined, percentage-based targets to grow the economy by 2024/25	100% compliance with set service standards for: Permanent residence permits Business & general work visas Critical skill visas	100% compliance with set service standards for risk-based & strategic issuance of visas & permits to grow the economy by 2024/25 as outlined in the annual performance plans for: Permanent residence permits Business & general work visas Critical skill visas	IMS
	Risk-based & strategic visa system implemented	The pilot of e-Visa (Phase 1 - temporary residence visa for tourist module) in 6 missions	E-Visa rolled out to all selected countries (106) by 2025	IS
Secure & efficient management of citizenship & civic registration to fulfil constitutional & international obligations	Percentage of identified citizens & holders of PR permits to which enabling documents are issued by 2024/25.	100% (3 810 000 - Smart ID cards)	Enabling documents issued to 100% of identified citizens (including naturalized citizens) & holders of permanent residence permits  (births registered within 30 calendar days & smart ID cards issued to a projected 19 050 000 by 2025).	Civic Services (CS)
	Legislation in operation in respect of the new Marriage Act	Green Paper on the recognition of marriages submitted to the Minister for approval.	New Marriage Act implemented to regulate all marriages.	Infrastructure Planning & Support (IPS)
	Percentage of compliance with service standards set for adult passports issued (new live capture system) by 2024/25.	100% compliance with set service standard	100%	CS
Efficient asylum seeker & refugee system in compliance with domestic & international obligations.	Effective & efficient recording & monitoring of asylum seekers & refugees.	New PI	Asylum Seeker & Refugee System implemented	IS
Secure population register to empower citizens, enable inclusivity, economic development & national security.	National Identity System (NIS) operational as per requirements.	Specifications for NIS approved by DG.	NIS is operational by 2025.	IS
	Legislation in operation to regulate the collection, storage, accessing & processing of personal information.	Official Identity Management Policy submitted to Cabinet for public consultation	Population Register Act implemented to regulate the collection, storage, accessing & processing of personal information	IPS
DHA positioned to contribute positively to a capable & developmental state.	Measures implemented to reflect a repositioned DHA that contributes positively to a capable & developmental state.	White Paper on Home Affairs approved by Cabinet for implementation in December 2019.   A final draft of the DHA Bill submitted to Cabinet for approval for public consultation.	DHA Act implemented to effect the repositioning of the department as a secure & modern department.	IPS
		New PI	Service Delivery Model implemented in line with repositioned DHA.	IPS
		DHA Access model approved by Ministerial Management Meeting (MMM)	DHA Access Model implemented in support of the repositioning of the DHA.	IPS
		Communication Strategy implemented as per the communication plan.	Communication Strategy implemented as per the communication plan.	IPS
		Counter corruption strategy implemented as per set targets	Counter Corruption Strategy for DHA implemented in terms of initiatives outlined in Annual Performance Plans.	Counter Corruption & Security Service (CCSS)

 

 

 

3.3 The DHA contribute to the achievement of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 objectives:

• The inclusion of all citizens in democracy and development is enabled by providing them with a status and an 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 plays 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 fourth (4) 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.

 

The NDP 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.

 

3.4. State of the Nation (SONA) 2023 commitments.

The DHA made the following commitments after the President’s SONA:

• More than 340 million paper-based civic records are to be digitized by about 10,000 unemployed young people who would be appointed by the DHA.
• Establish a more flexible points-based system to attract skilled immigrants, implement a trusted employer scheme to make the visa process easier for large investors and streamline application requirements.
• Introducing remote worker visas and special dispensation to high-growth start-ups.

 

3.5. Key Development and Critical Success Factors for 2023-2024.

• The DHA will continue to support the Border Management Authority (BMA) as a public entity through systems, legislation, policies and standard operating procedures that form part of the broader approach to managing migration within the RSA.

• The Digitization Programme to modernize civic services as announced by the President in the 2022 SONA has commenced and the 2023/24 financial year will digitize around 36 million birth records.
• The Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) went live in November 2022. The DHA is in the process of implementing phase 2, which will include additional functionalities such as Iris, infant footprint and palm-print backend recognition capability.
• The Biometric Movement Control system (BMCS) rollout to 72 ports of entry will be completed in the 2023/24 financial year.
• The DHA has developed an implementation plan to deal with the Vulindlela Task Team policy and process recommendations.
• A multi-disciplinary task team has been appointed to deal with the Lubisi Report recommendations.
• The implementation of the DHA Repositioning Programme is underway and around 30 projects form part of the Programme Management Office.
• To deal with long queues:
  1. The DHA Menlyn office in the Menlyn Shopping Mall in Pretoria was opened in March 2023 with more malls to follow.
  2. The Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS) has been rolled out to all 200 modernized offices.
  3. DHA is in the process of procuring an additional 100 mobile offices to cover the 778 visiting points to augment the DHA access model and strategy.

• The procurement process for the Passenger Name Record (PNR) has started. The bid specification process is underway. The PNR system data elements include passenger data from airline reservation systems like payment details, travel itinerary and baggage information. The PNR is a key component of a risk-based approach to immigration.
• DHA has made significant progress with the implementation of POPIA.
• DHA will continue with the implementation of the DHA Plan to promote gender-based violence and femicide (GBV&F) as well as gender, youth and persons with disability issues. Specific focus to be placed on:
  • Increase awareness on issues of harassment through the launch of women’s forums across the DHA.
  • Undertake a survey on different issues related to GBV&F.
  • Strengthen the DHA Sexual Harassment Policy.
  • Host sessions aimed at empowering employees on issues of harassment, especially lower-level employees.
  • Create a dedicated email for reporting cases of harassment.
• Central to the DHA improving its organizational performance and quality of service delivery, is the issue of capacity. The funding received from the National Treasury as part of the Capacitation Business Case has already shown a positive impact on target setting for 2023/24. The DHA will strive to improve its HR capacity from 46% to at least 55% over the medium term in conjunction with National Treasury.
• The DHA will continue in its endeavours to find durable solutions for long-lasting systemic challenges such as system downtime through working closely with SITA and other service providers.

 

3.6. Summary of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) Targets for 2023/24.

In the Civic Services programme, the DHA plans to register 800 000 births within 30 days a calendar year and 2.5 million Smart Cards to be issued to citizens 16 years of age and above. The DHA plans to issue 90 percent of the machine-readable passports issued within 13 for applications collected and processed in South Africa per year. The DHA would also issue 90 percent of machine-readable passports issued within 18 days for applications collected and processed in South Africa per year.

 

In the Immigration Services, the DHA plans to conduct 1 296 DHA-led law enforcement inspections to ensure there was compliance with the immigration legislation per year. These operations would focus on restaurants; security companies; manufacturing; transport companies; automotive industry such as car dealerships, towing, scrap yards, and recycling; retail outlets; farms; DHA-led operations or roadblocks and mines.

 

The DHA plans also to adjudicate 85 percent of permanent residence applications for critical skills (S27b), general work (S26a) and business (S27c) within eight (8) months for the applications collected within South Africa per year. The DHA would adjudicate 95 percent of critical skills visa applications within 4 weeks for applications processed within the RSA per year, 90 percent of business visa applications adjudicated within 8 weeks for applications processed within the RSA per year and 90 percent of general work visa applications adjudicated within 8 weeks for applications processed within the RSA per year.

 

To achieve the above, the DHA has 16 adjudicators who were due to start on 1 April 2023. The DHA was training 62 adjudicators who would be posted to the South Africa missions abroad. These 62 adjudicators would assist with the backlog for two (2) months before being posted abroad.

 

Under the Administration programme, there are sub-programmes such as the Information Service; the Director-General’s Office; the Institutional Planning and Support; Counter Corruption and Security Services and Human Resource Management and Development. Below are the targets under the Administration programme.

 

3.6.1. The Information Service

• Biometric Movement Control System (BMCS) implemented at 38 ports of entry and the implementation of BMCS will eliminate a lot of fraud and identity theft as has been the case using only photographs as a means of biometric testing. The use of fingerprint technology will make it increasingly difficult for fraudsters to enter the country anonymously.
• Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) Phase 2 is operational: Iris, infant footprint and palm-print backend recognition capability is deployed into production. ABIS started in January 2016. It is a modern IT system based on commodity hardware. This modern IT system will integrate with other relevant systems, inside and outside Home Affairs, to allow for one holistic view of the status of clients.  It will serve as a single source for biometric authentication of citizens and non-citizens across state institutions and private sector entities.
• The DHA would pilot the IMS Case Management System modules for Inspectorate and Deportations to be piloted in four (4) offices (Head office, Epping Refugee Reception Centre, Pretoria Large Office and Lindela Repatriation Centre)
• The DHA would implement the Asylum Seeker Management and Refugee System at five (5) refugee reception offices and 2 statutory bodies (Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa -RAASA and the Standing Committee on Refugees Affairs - SCRA)

 

3.6.2. Digitisation of Records.

Target for 2023/24:

• 36 million records digitised (birth records)
• 18 000 Microfilm indexed

Target for 2024/25:

• 152 million records digitised
•  

• 152 million records digitised.

 

3.6.3 Legislation

Target for 2023/24:

• White Paper on the Management of Citizenship, International Migration and Refugee Protection submitted to Cabinet for approval

Target for 2024/25:

• Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Bill submitted to Cabinet for approval

Target for 2025/26:

• Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Bill tabled in Parliament
• White Paper on the Management of Citizenship, International Migration and Refugee Protection submitted to Cabinet for approval

• The Immigration Regulations will be amended to incorporate remote working/digital nomad visas as a priority under one of the existing visa categories. Consultations with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition are underway on this matter. The Regulations will be presented to the Minister of Home Affairs by end of May 2023.
• The DHA also planned to table to Parliament the DHA Bill; the National Identification and Registration; Marriage Bill and One Stop Border Post Bills would be submitted to Cabinet and therefore tabled in Parliament for processing.
• The DHA would have 20 engagements with the media and will have six (6) outreach programmes and three (3) campaigns. These targets are intended to communicate and publicise the DHA’s core functions and mandate, while also engaging with the stakeholders to solicit their support and buy-in for the work of the institution.

 

3.6.4 Institutional Planning and Support.

• The 2023 State of the Nation Address commitments such as the establishment of a more flexible points-based system to attract skilled migration, implementing a trusted employer scheme to make the visa process easier for large investors and streamlining application requirements as well as introducing a remote worker visa and special dispensation for high-growth start-ups will be covered in the White Paper on the Management of Citizenship, International Migration and Refugee Protection.
• The Service Delivery Model (SDM) implementation Framework approved by the Director-General and the User Asset Management Plan (U-AMP) 2024/25 was submitted to National Treasury and copy to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPW &I.)
• The DHA would submit approved strategic accommodation requirements for 2025-2026 to DPW&I and budget requirements and options analysis for DHA Hybrid Access Model presented to National Treasury to secure funding for the Access Model.
• The DHA would digitise 36 million records digitised (birth records); 18 000 Microfilm indexed.

 

3.6.5. Counter Corruption and Security Services

• Under the Counter Corruption and Security Services, the DHA would review 16 Business processes to identify vulnerabilities to fraud, corruption and security breaches (per year).
• Seventy-five percent of reported cases of fraud and corruption were finalized within 90 working days (per year).
• Forty Threat and Risk Assessments (TRAs) are conducted per year in accordance with the requirements of Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS) and/or Minimum Physical Security Standards (MPSS).
• Four hundred and fifty vetting files were finalized and referred to State Security Agency (SSA) for evaluation.

 

 

3.6.6. Human Resources Management and Development.

• DHA Gender-based Violence and Femicide Plan were implemented and 70 percent of misconduct cases were concluded within 90 working days per year.

 

• In addition, the Department of Home Affairs reported on the upcoming legislation and update the policy to amend consequential legislation to the Electoral Amendment Bill. The DHA reported that the Electoral Commission Act, the Electronic Communications Act, the Political Party Funding and the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act were being drafted together with the Electoral Commission (IEC). The document was yet to be finalised.

 

• The project of moving Refugees Reception Centres (RROs) closer to the borders has been shelved due to the unavailability of funds.

 

• With the One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP), the Public-Private Partnership (PPP), the DHA must obtain approval from the National Treasury (NT). The DHA was granted Treasury Approval (TAI) on 10 August 2017 to start drafting the Request for Proposal (RfP). The draft RfP and the draft PPP Agreement were concluded on March 2022 and submitted to NT on 18 March 2022.

 

• The DHA engaged with the NT draft on the RfP, the draft PPP and this resulted in the revised RfP that was re-submitted to NT in December 2022, and final amendments are expected to be completed by 31 March 2023. The RfP would be issued to the market before the end of April 2023. In March 2025, the construction would commence in phases and could take up to 3 years for each of the six (6) ports of entry.

 

3.6.7 Vulindlela Report

During the February 2022 SONA, the President announced that South Africa would review its visa regime to make it easier for foreigners to travel to the country for tourism, business and work. Operation Vulindlela delivered to the DHA a report with eight recommendations broken down into Process Recommendations and Policy Recommendations. The Immigration Services Branch has studied the report and was in the process of the Implementation Plan.

 

4. BMA 2023/24 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

The Commissioner reported that the development of the BMA Strategic and Annual Plans involved the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME); the DHA; Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD); the Department of Health (DoH); the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE); the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

 

During the BMA Strategic Planning Sessions, he reported that the Strategic Plans (2020-2025 and APPs 2022-2023) of the DHA; DoH; DFFE and DALRRD were scrutinised.  These departments would cede selected functions to the BMA.  The DPME guarded the BMA in the development of the Strategic Plan and APPs with inputs from NT and the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).

 

Section 5 of the BMA Act, the Authority is expected to fulfil the following legislated mandate:

a) Facilitate and manage the legitimate movement of persons within the border law enforcement area and at ports of entry;

b) Facilitate and manage the legitimate movement of goods within the border law enforcement area and at ports of entry;

c) Co-operate and coordinate its border law enforcement functions with SAPS, SARS & SANDF, border communities or any other persons.

 

Section 4 (2) emphasizes that border law enforcement functions should be exclusively performed by the officers of the BMA and BMA’s is overseen by the Border Technical Committee (BTC) & Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee (IMCC) – (No Board). The Minister of Home Affairs would chair the IMCC and the Commissioner would report to the Minister of Home Affairs. The Commissioner is the Commander of the Border Guard, the Accounting Officer, the Accounting Authority and the Chairperson of the BTC.

 

The BMA has four key outcomes and these outcomes are aligned with the outcomes of the Medium-Term-Strategic-Focus (MTSF) priorities.

• Outcome 1: Institutional excellence distinguished by good corporate governance and ethical leadership;

• Priority 1
• A capable, ethical and developmental state.
• Priority 2
• Economic transformation and job creation.
• Priority 6
• Social cohesion and safer communities.

• Outcome 2: Secure borders that protect national interests and enhance national security;

• Priority 6
• Social cohesion and safer communities
• Priority 2
• Economic transformation and job creation

• Outcome 3:Enhanced trade and socio-economic development;

Priority 1

• A capable, ethical and developmental state.

Priority 2

• Economic transformation and job creation.

Priority 7

• A better Africa and world.

• Outcome 4:Strengthened coordination and cooperation amongst stakeholders within the border management environment.

Priority 1

• A capable, ethical and developmental state.

 

Operating Model

The BMA has signed service level agreements with the Departments of Home Affairs; Health (DOH); Forestry, Fisheries & Environment and Agriculture (DFFE), Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRLD). Functions, staff and assets of these departments at the border environment would be transferred to BMA. The core functions of the BMA are land border law enforcement; maritime border law enforcement and Aviation Border law enforcement. There would be Head office nine (9) regional offices. The border guards would be deployed at the vulnerable segment of the borderline, 53 land ports of entry, 11 avian ports of entry and nine (9) maritime ports of entry.

 

Furthermore, there are stakeholders such as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), the South African Revenue Services (SARS) and the South African Police Services (SAPS) that would cooperate under the implementation protocol. The C-BRTA and South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) would operate under the basic Memorandum of Understanding.

 

The BMA would also work with the local and international communities; the border communities; the law enforcement community, travellers and neighbouring countries.

 

BMA Operationalisation

The President has signed Section 97 Proclamation shift function to BMA. The Ministers, Directors-General and the Chief Financial Officers of the four (4) Departments (DHA; DoH; DFFE and DALRRD) signed the joint submission in December 2022.

 

The Ministry of Public Service and Administration (MPSA) approved the determination for the transfer of resources and NT concluded budget shifts.

 

The Agreement of the transfer and integration of staff into the BMA was signed by Government and the organized labour and staff migration plan endorsed by National Macro-Organizational Government (NMOG) Streams and implemented. The BMA signed a Shared Services Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs for assistance with corporate services support.

 

As indicated, the BMA has four (4) outcomes and four (4) targets for five (5) years to accomplish 15 targets. The five-year targets are as follows:

• Integrated good governance framework for the BMA established.
• Intelligence and risk capability established and implemented. Six Priority land ports of entry functional as secure trade- and travel-friendly one-stop border posts.
• Eleven (11) agreements with stakeholders were signed and implemented.

 

The targets for the BMA are as follows:

• Business process reviews are conducted to detect system and process-related vulnerabilities to fraud and corruption.
• 100 percent of valid invoices are paid within 30 days.
• Three (3) quarterly approved reports were submitted to DPME as prescribed.
• Gender-based Violence and Femicide Plan implemented as per the approved implementation plan.
• Disaster Management plan approved.
• National Targeting Centre (NTC) was established as per the proposed operating model (business case).
• The BMA rolled out in phases along additional two (2) segments of the land border law enforcement area
• The BMA rolled out to one (1) additional community crossing point (CCP).
• Thirty (30) PoEs rendering port health services in compliance with International Health Regulations (2005) and National Environmental Health Norms and Standards
• 100 percent of detected illegal persons at the ports of entry are processed for deportation.
• 100 percent of pre-booked CITES consignments that go through the PoE endorsed.
• The facilities at 22 identified PoEs audited for transfer to the BMA.
• The OSBP: Bid adjudication for selection of preferred bidders concluded.
• Three (3) signed Implementation protocols (with SAPS, SARS & SANDF) were monitored for implementation.
• 25 percent of cooperation agreements signed and implemented.

 

5.  IEC 2023/24 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN

5.1. Annual Performance Plan for 2023-2024 Financial Year.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) made the presentation. He indicated that the IEC received a budget of R2.2 billion with four (4) programmes and 14 targets for the 2023-2024 financial year.

 

These programmes are as follows:

• Programme 1: Administration. The purpose of Programme 1 is to achieve the strategic outcome of strengthening institutional effectiveness at all levels of the organization. It also provides the overall strategic management of the Electoral Commission, as well as a centralized support and financial management services. This programme has four (4) targets.
• Programme 2: Electoral Operations. Programme 2 focuses on the strategic outcome of managing and delivering free and fair elections by striving for excellence at the 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 improving the legislative framework.
• Programme 3: Outreach. This programme focuses on the strategic outcome of informing and engaging citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy. The programme fosters participation in electoral democracy by providing civic and democracy education continuously; voter and balloting education as may be required by each election; strategic and thought leadership on matters pertaining to electoral democracy; broadening our research agenda and issuing publications; increasing visibility through proactive consultation, effective communication, and presence among our stakeholders and communities; facilitating platforms for political dialogue; cultivating an environment conducive for the holding of free and fair elections; and constantly engaging the media.
• Programme 4: Party Funding. This programme focuses on the strategic outcome of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding. The programme manages party funding and donations in the:

• Compliance with legislation, and strengthens cooperative relationships by providing consultative and liaison platforms between the Electoral Commission and political parties and candidates, using systems, people and processes that are sustainable.
• It also provides effective management of the registration of political parties and processing of the nomination of candidates for various electoral events.

 

 

5.2 The IEC indicated that consequential amendments that require attention would be:

• Section 236 of the Constitution provides that “to enhance multi-party democracy, national legislation must provide for the funding of political parties participating in national and provincial legislatures on an equitable and proportional basis”.

• The Political Parties Funding Act is to be amended to bring independent MPs within the scope of the Bill.
• Other optimization amendments to the Political Parties Funding Act.

 

6    GPW ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN FOR 2023-2024

Ms Alinah Fosi, the Chief Executive Officer made the presentation and indicated that the APP outlines all the outcomes, outcome indicators and performance targets for the 2023-2024 financial year and the targets are aligned with the Strategic Plan 2020-2025. The APP was further developed on the revised Framework for Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans with the assistance of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

 

She indicated that the GPW contributes to the following MTSF:

• Building a capable, ethical and developmental State.
• Economic transformation and job creation.
• 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.
• A better Africa and world.

 

6.2. Progress on the 2019 to 2024 Strategic Framework Targets demonstrates that GPW performed well.

• GPW has successfully maintained and achieved the quality measure of producing security-printed documents at 100% compliance against client quality and quantity specifications. As at the mid-term reporting period a total number of 432 905 identity documents/cards and 1  432 738 passports were produced.
•  In contributing to the “economic transformation and job creation” strategic outcome, GPW has been implementing the youth and women through its Artisan and Graduate skills programme. Of the 100 planned for achievement over the MTSF period, a total of 54 have already been taken through this programme. 
• GPW received a disclaimer audit opinion for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years, as a result of the challenges that emanated from the system crash that led to the loss of critical finance data. GPW has been implementing a migration plan to stabilise and sustain all operations, particularly in ICT and Finance.
• GPW’s focus on business continuity, risk management and resolution of audit findings remain a priority to strengthen internal controls and ensure clean governance, given the challenges experienced in the past financial years.  

 

6.3. Critical Projects.

• GPW repositioning: change management and culture change. GTAC appointed and busy with the development of turnaround strategy and provide support on the implementation of HR recommendations based on the MRP Report and change management
• Modernisation of GPW- a renewed focus on ICT interventions in the wake of 4IR. A migration plan is being implemented to ensure the stabilisation and sustainability of the ICT environment.
• Business continuity of all operations and sustainability of GPW, given the challenges that GPW has been experiencing in ICT and its facilities
• A conscious journey towards a clean audit rests upon the following crucial pillars:

• Quality of oversight processes in GPW- to realise the imperative of achieving a clean audit
• Strengthening and monitoring internal controls to ensure their relevance and effectiveness
• Financial probity and culture that supports probity with our procurement processes being efficient and compliant with legislation, having integrity, equitable and fair
• Overall governance: leadership, management responsibility and effectiveness of governance structures such as EXCO, MANCO, Audit and Risk Committee within the combined assurance framework

• Implementation of Ministerial Review Panel Report recommendations: Action plan being implemented based on the short-term, medium-term and long-term activities and milestones. 
• Security Printing Bill: The Provincial consultative sessions on the Bill are ongoing. GPW in partnership with the DHA team has already presented to all Provinces, except for North West and Western Cape. Engaging them on dates to finalize consultation.

• Appointment of the Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB). Governance structure to advise Minister and EXCO on overall GPW operations.
• Strengthening systems of employee wellness and occupational health and safety. Implementation of policies, procedures and plans to create and sustain a caring environment
• Critical Infrastructure Projects: New Head Office (ABSA) building refurbishment) and Masterplan (initiation of construction plan): both projects approved for implementation.
• DBSA has been appointed as the implementing agent and has begun with administrative processes towards the refurbishment and construction of these critical facilities.
• Implementation of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 18788 and ISO 14298: Research and development, including support and service maintenance for 5 years post implementation
• Conduct a polycarbonate printing and assembly plant techno-economic study: agile printing facility, which is ready for expected future trends in technology and the printing industry.

 

7.         DHA 2022/23 ANNUAL REPORT

 

7.1 DHA Programme Performance

 

Key success(s) in 2022/23

• The DHA improved its audit outcome to an unqualified audit opinion without findings, which means that the financial statements were fairly presented and free from material misstatements.
• Two programmes, Administration and Citizen Affairs have achieved over 80% of their targets for the 2022/23 financial year.
• The Department managed to decrease its fruitless and wasteful expenditure from R91 000 recorded in the 2021/22 financial year to R78 000 for 2022/23.

 

Key challenges in 2022/23

Nine APP targets were not achieved during the 2022/23 financial year. The Department continues to be beset with the same challenges, similar to what was reported during previous financial years. These are:

• The Department only achieved 71% of its planned targets for the 2022/23 financial year, whilst this is an improvement compared to the 69% achievement in 2021/22, it is still well below 80%.
• In the financial year under review, the Department incurred irregular expenditure of R32,707 million.
• The Department continues to experience challenges with network connectivity. This affects the live-capture system for the Civil Service. This system cannot function when offline, and therefore, services cannot be rendered during that period of time.
• Whilst the “War on Queues” remains a priority for the Department, the frontline offices of the DHA still experience long queues coupled with network connectivity challenges.
• As in the previous financial years, the DHA has a limited number of offices, some offices are poorly located, and most do not meet the norms and standards set for modernised offices.
• A major weakness and risk for the DHA is the inadequate human resource capacity and capability in critical specialists, management areas and frontline offices.

 

Table 1 provides a summary of the performance of the programmes of the Department and the targets achieved during the 2022/23 financial year:

 

Table 1: Performance per Programme 2022/23

Programme	Number of planned targets	Number of targets achieved	% of targets achieved
1. Administration	18	16	89
2. Citizen Affairs	4	4	100
3. Immigration Affairs	4	1	25
4. Institutional Support and Transfers	5	1	20
Total	31	21	71

Source: DHA Annual Report 2022/23, adapted

 

The DHA is responsible for providing efficient and secure services to the citizens and residents of South Africa, such as issuing identity documents, passports, visas, permits, and certificates. The DHA has three main branches: Administration, Immigration, and Civic Services. In this report, we will compare the results of these three branches in the annual reports for 2021/22 and 2022/23.

 

 

Programme 1: Administration consists of five sub-programmes:

• Ministry,
• Management,
• Corporate Services,
• Financial Services, and
• Internal Audit.

 

The DHA shifted an amount of R265.3 million from the rest of the programmes to fund the Administration programme. The approval was granted by the National Treasury on 8 March 2022 for goods and services allocations to be used within the same vote and programme for compensation of employees of the Department in terms of section 5(1)(b) of the 2021 Appropriation Act. In addition, approval was granted in terms of section 6.3.1(c) of the Treasury Regulations to utilise R210 million of savings from the procurement of the Passenger Name Records (PNR) system, and R40 million from the Border Management Agency (BMA) earmarked allocations towards funding various categories of goods and services and compensation of employees related items.

 

According to the annual reports, the Administration branch achieved 71% of its targets in 2021/22 and 89% in 2022/23. The main improvements were in the areas of human resource management, information technology, and risk management. The main challenges were in the areas of supply chain management, asset management, and audit outcomes. Other improvements were noted in the sub-programmes of Corporate Services and Office Accommodation, which increased their performance from 75% to 83% and from 67% to 75%, respectively. The sub-programmes of Ministry and Management maintained their performance at 100% and 83%, respectively.

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs focuses on services to citizens and residents. Its purpose is to provide secure, efficient and accessible services and issuance of enabling documents to citizens and residents. The objectives are to ensure that registration at birth is the only entry point to the population register; that citizens are provided with smart ID cards when they turn 16 years of age; and that secure, machine-readable passports are provided to adults and children within 13 to 18 working days from the date of application through the live capture system. This programme achieved 100% of its targets in 2022/23, the same as in 2021/22.

The Civic Services branch of the Department of Home Affairs is responsible for providing efficient and secure identification, status and civic services to citizens and other clients. The branch consists of four sub-programmes:

• Civic Services Support,
• Identity Services,
• Status Services and Travel Documents and
• Citizenship.

 

The annual reports of 2021/22 and 2022/23 provide detailed information on the performance indicators, targets and achievements of each sub-programme.

A comparison of the two annual reports reveals that the Civic Services branch has demonstrated some progress and innovation in delivering its mandate but also needs to address some gaps and weaknesses that hamper its efficiency and effectiveness.

 

The branch exceeded its target of issuing 2.8 million smart ID cards in both years, issuing 3.1 million in 2021/22 and 3.2 million in 2022/23. The branch reduced the turnaround time for issuing birth certificates from 30 days to 15 days in 2022/23, meeting its target for the first time. The branch increased the number of mobile units deployed to rural and remote areas from 40 in 2021/22 to 50 in 2022/23, enhancing its service delivery and accessibility. The branch achieved a 100% compliance rate with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards for passport security features in both years.

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs performed very poorly during the 2022/23 financial year, only achieving 25% of its set targets, which is a decline from the 50% that was achieved in 2021/22.

In 2021/22, the sub-programme achieved six out of eight indicators, partially achieved one indicator, and did not achieve one indicator. The indicator that was partially achieved was the percentage of visa applications adjudicated within eight weeks at missions abroad. The target was set at 85%, but the actual performance was only 79%. The reason for this underperformance was attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of missions abroad and the reduced capacity of staff due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. The indicator that was not achieved was the percentage of permanent residence applications finalized within eight months at the head office. The target was set at 80%, but the actual performance was only 55%. The reason for this underperformance was attributed to the backlog of applications that accumulated over the years due to various factors such as system challenges, staff shortages, litigation cases, and complex cases that required more verification and investigation.

In 2022/23, the sub-programme improved its performance by achieving seven out of eight indicators and not achieving one indicator. The indicator that was not achieved was again the percentage of permanent residence applications finalized within eight months at head office.

 

Programme 4: Institutional Support and Transfers provides institutional support and the transfer of funds to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the Represented Political Parties’ Fund and the BMA. The IEC is a constitutional Chapter 9 institution. The department does not exercise oversight over the IEC or the Represented Political Parties’ Fund and simply transfers the budget allocated to these entities in accordance with the drawdowns of these entities. Out of the four programmes, this is the worst performing programme, scoring only 20% in terms the of success rate of its targets in 2022/23, which is also a decline from the 57% that was archived in the previous financial year of 2021/22.

 

In conclusion, the DHA has shown progress in achieving its strategic objectives and delivering its services to the public in both years. However, there are still areas that need improvement and attention, such as asylum seeker management, supply chain management, and audit outcomes.

 

7.2 DHA Annual Financial Performance Summary

 

The Immigration and Civic Services branches are the main sources of revenue for the DHA, as they collect fees from various services such as issuing passports, visas, identity documents, birth certificates, etc. According to the annual reports, the total revenue from these branches increased by 12.5% from R2.8 billion in 2021/22 to R3.2 billion in 2022/23. This was mainly due to the increase in the number of applications and the introduction of new fees for some services.

 

However, the expenditure of these branches also increased by 15.6% from R2.7 billion in 2021/22 to R3.1 billion in 2022/23. This was mainly due to the increase in personnel costs, which accounted for 76.4% of the total expenditure in 2022/23. The DHA also invested in improving the infrastructure and technology of these branches, such as upgrading the biometric system, enhancing the online application platform, and expanding the network of offices and mobile units.

 

As a result, the net surplus of these branches decreased by 36.4% from R97 million in 2021/22 to R62 million in 2022/23. The surplus ratio, which measures the efficiency of revenue generation over expenditure, also decreased from 3.5% in 2021/22 to 1.9% in 2022/23. This indicates that the DHA needs to improve its financial management and optimize its resource allocation to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of these branches.

 

Programme 1: Administration saw an increase in its budget from R 2.6 billion in 2021/22 to R 2.8 billion in 2022/23. As per the appropriations, this programme spent 100% of its budget in both financial years, with transversal information technology management as one sub-programme into which a lot of spending goes.

 

Programme 2: Citizen Affairs’ budget also soared from R 3 billion in 2021/22 to R 3.9 billion in the 2022/23 financial year. Unlike the previous financial year, the programme’s expenditure did not reach the ceiling (100%) in 2022/23 as only 92% of the expenditure was utilized.

 

Programme 3: Immigration Affairs spent 100% of its budget of R 1.4 billion in 2021/22 and spared 5% of its similar budget of R 1.4 billion in 2022/23. Given that there was only a 0.6% increase in the programme budget from the previous year, in real terms there was around 6.3% reduction in funds after the high inflation for the year.  The saving in Immigration Services was a result of the new Lindela contract entered into during the year under review being awarded at much better rates. In addition, the saving on passenger name records (PNR) was used to cover other expenditure.

 

Programme 4:  Institutional Support and Transfers with three sub-programmes also saw an increase in its budget from R 2.4 billion in 2021/22 to R 3 billion in 2022/23. The programme only spent 90% of its budget in 2022/23 as compared to 100% spent in the previous financial year, 2021/22.

 

7.3 AGSA Opinion on the DHA 2022/23 Financial Report

 

The Department obtained its seventh unqualified audit opinion in the 2022/23 financial year. Without discounting the efforts made to achieve a ‘clean’ audit outcome (unqualified with no findings).

 

Emphasis of matter

 

• Impairment of receivables: as disclosed in note 12.6 to the financial statements, an amount of R540 753 000 was impaired as a result of the department's inability to recover these receivables.

 

• Internal control deficiencies: There are no documented policies and procedures to guide the collection of money due to the Department for fines and penalties issued in terms of sections 50(3) and 50(4) of the Immigration Act.

 

7.4 Human Resources

 

The following tables summarise the number of posts in the establishment, the number of employees, the vacancy rate, and whether there are any staff that are additional to the establishment as at 31 March 2023:

 

Table 2: Employment and vacancies by programme as of 31 March 2023

Programme	No. posts on approved establishment	No. of posts filled	Vacancy rate	No. of employees additional to the establishment
Administration	1 048	963	8.11	32
Citizen Affairs	6 057	5 682	6.19	0
Immigration Affairs	717	668	6.83	0
Total	7 822	7 313	6.51	32

Source: Department of Home Affairs (2023)

 

For years, the Department could not replace staff as and when positions became vacant, given the Compensation of Employee (COE) ceilings imposed by the National Treasury. As of 31 March 2023, the staff complement of the three programmes consisted of 7 313 positions filled, while the number of posts on approved establishment was 7 822. Therefore, the DHA had a vacancy rate of 6.51% as of 31 March 2023.

 

8.         IEC 2022/23 ANNUAL REPORT

 

8.1       IEC Programme Performance

Key successes in 2022/23

• The Commission achieved a third successive clean audit outcome from the annual external audit process, which indicates that the Commission has effectively managed financial resources in compliance with the legislation.
• Programme 4: Party Funding achieved 100% of its targets in terms of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding.

 

Key challenge(s) in 2022/23

The Commission continues to experience the same challenges that were reported during previous financial years. These are:

• The Commission continues to achieve below 80% of its overall planned targets, and the 2022/23 financial year saw a decline in performance to 71% from 77% achieved in 2021/22.
• The Commission is still grappling with recruiting and retaining a talented permanent staff complement to meet operational requirements, as well as constitutional obligations due to the challenges in the HR processes.

Programme Performance

Table 1 below provides a summary of the Commission’s strategic outcome-oriented goals and general performance per programme for the 2022/23 financial year:

 

Table 2: Programme Performance 2022/23

Programme	Strategic Outcome- oriented goal	Number of targets	Number achieved/exceeded	Number not achieved	% Achieved
1. Administration	Goal 1: Strengthening governance, institutional excellence, professionalism and enabling business processes at all levels of the organisation	3	2	1	67%
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	2	1	1	50%
3. Outreach	Goal 3: Strengthening electoral democracy	5	3	2	60%
4. Party Funding	Goal 4: Contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding	3	3	0	100%
Total		14	10	4	71%

Source: Electoral Commission Annual Report 2023. adapted

 

It is worth noting that as per the above table, only Programme 4: Party Funding was able to achieve 100% in the 2022/23 financial year, same as 2021/22. Programme 3: Outreach saw a decline from a 100% achievement rate in 2021/22 to 60% in 2022/23, meaning in terms of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding, the programme’s performance decreased by 40%. Another decline in performance rate is noted in Programme 1: Administration, the goal to strengthen governance, institutional excellence, professionalism and enabling business processes at all levels of the organisation saw an average performance percentage of 67% in 2022/23, which is a decrease from 77% that was achieved in 2021/22. On a much more positive note, Programme 2: Electoral Operations saw an increase from 0% in 2021/22 to 50% in 2022/23.

 

Programme 1: Administration is responsible for strengthening institutional effectiveness at all levels of the organisation. It also provides the overall strategic management of the Electoral Commission, as well as centralised support and financial management services in order to help achieve strategic outcome-oriented goals.

 

This programme has about 4 main strategic objectives on which strengthening institutional effectiveness is dependent. The first one is exercising leadership and governance, monitoring and evaluation to ensure the effective implementation of the Electoral Commission’s core mandate, strategic outcomes and outputs, aligned with the corresponding budget allocations and risk mitigation. In the last two financial years of 2021/22 and 2022/23; this specific objective has been achieved by reaching a target number (4) of quarterly reviews of the Strategic Risk Register by the Executive Risk Management Committee within 30 days after the start of the next quarter. The second objective of this programme is to provide a cutting-edge, stable, secure ICT environment that meets all the functional needs of the Electoral Commission and supports innovative business processes, according to the Electoral Commission Annual Report, this target was not achieved in 2022/23 due to load-shedding, however, the same target was achieved in 2021/22 financial year.

 

Thirdly, this programme also developed a strategic objective to recruit and retain a talented permanent staff complement to meet operational requirements, as well as constitutional obligations, and this objective was not achieved in 2022/23 as the filling of posts was delayed by the unexpected withdrawal of the risk assessment service provider as well as the HR review matter in the Labour Court. This was also the case in 2021/22, when the target was not achieved because of delays in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) challenge of the IEC HR review implementation process. The last strategic objective of this program is to effectively manage financial resources in compliance with legislation, and for the past three consecutive financial years, the Commission has managed to excel in this area.

 

Programme 2: Electoral Operations focuses on the strategic outcome of managing and delivering free and fair elections by striving for excellence at the 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 improving the legislative framework. This programme has two strategic objectives as per the 2022/23 Electoral Commission Annual Report. The first one is to 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. This specific objective was achieved in 2022/23, whereas in the previous financial year 2021/22, the target was not achieved because the Electoral Court set aside the Ward 33 election in Enoch Mgijima Municipality, principally because of circumstances surrounding the elections in the ward were dangerous and chaotic.

 

The second strategic objective of this programme is to maintain a credible national voters’ roll that is cutting-edge technology. This objective was not achieved in 2022/2 due to a variance ascribed to a 2021/22 reduced baseline of no voting station-based registration drives owing to the period being a non-election period. In the previous financial year 2021/22, this target was not achieved because it is common practice for the Commission to hold two general voter registration events ahead of a general election but owing to COVID-19 and the regulations promulgated to curb the spread of the virus, it was not possible for the Electoral Commission to schedule two registration events.

 

Programme 3: Outreach focuses on the strategic outcome of informing and engaging citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy. The programme fosters participation in electoral democracy by providing civic and democracy education on a continuous basis; voter and balloting education as may be required by each election; strategic and thought leadership on matters pertaining to electoral democracy; broadening our research agenda and issuing publications; increasing visibility through proactive consultation, effective communication, and presence among our stakeholders and communities; facilitating platforms for political dialogue; cultivating an environment conducive for the holding of free and fair elections; and constantly engaging the media.

 

This program has various strategic objectives set to contribute to achieving positive outcomes of building and encouraging informed and engaged citizens and stakeholders in electoral democracy. The first target according to the annual report is to provide research and thought leadership to strengthen electoral democracy. Despite the Commission achieving this output in 2021/22; in 2022/23, the Commission was not able to meet this target due to outstanding research. Under this program, the Commission also seeks to actively promote and foster awareness and participation in electoral processes through civic and democracy education (CDE) programmes. In 2022/23 this target was achieved and in fact exceeded due to additional resourcing of capacity to mitigate the risk of underperformance as a result of a revised target, which was also the case in 2021/22, owing to an increase in the number of civic and democracy education events as a build-up to voter registration and Election Day. One other output that the Commission planned to achieve under this program was to interact with domestic, regional and international stakeholders to build an understanding of the Electoral Commission’s role in delivering credible elections, and this target was achieved because the Commission held several meetings with key stakeholders in 2022/23.

 

Programme 4: Party Funding focuses on the strategic outcome of contributing to the enhancement of transparency in elections and party funding. The programme manages party funding and donations in compliance with legislation and strengthens cooperative relationships by providing consultative and liaison platforms between the Electoral Commission and political parties and candidates, using systems, people and processes that are sustainable.  It also provides effective management of the registration of political parties and processing of the nomination of candidates for various electoral events. In terms of its strategic objective or targets, this programme performed exceptionally well and achieved all its targets in 2022/23, as it did in the previous financial year of 2021/22.

 

8.2       IEC Budget Allocation and Expenditure:

 

Financial performance 2021/22 vs. 2022/23

Programme	Budget		Total percentage of Expenditure
	2021/22	2022/23
	R’000	R’000	%
1. Administration	840	838.9	100
2. Electoral Operations	1 905	781.3	100
3. Outreach	327.9	162.2	100
4. Party Funding	51.7	25	100
Total	3 126.1	1 807.9	100

Source: Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs 2022/23 Budgetary Review and Recommendation            Report

 

At the beginning of the 2022/23 financial year, the Commission received a budget allocation of R 2.4 billion, which was then reduced to R 2.2 billion following the MTEF Budget cut of about R 240.241 million. On the other hand, in the 2021/22 MTEF budget, the Commission was allocated R 2.3 billion, which is higher than the 2022/23 budget. According to the Commission, the decrease in the allocated budget in 2022/23 is due to the fact that it is a non-election year.

 

Programme 1: Administration’s budget has decreased from R 840 million in the previous financial year (2021/22) to R 838 million in the 2022/23 financial year. The programme’s expenditure indicates that about R 230.417 million was spent on the compensation of employees, while R 560.749 million was spent on procuring goods and services.  In real terms, when inflation is considered, the budget of this programme has decreased by R 37 million (or 4.2%).

 

Programme 2: Electoral Operations also received a budget cut from R 1.9 billion in the previous financial year to R 781.3 million in the current financial year. This budget decrease equates to 60.7% (R1.15 billion) in real terms. As indicated, the significant budget decreases compared to the previous financial year were due to the Local Government Elections.

 

Both Programme 3 and 4 received decreased allocations for the 2022/23 financial year. Programme 3: Outreach budget declined from the 2021/22 financial year's allocation of R 327.9 million to R 162.2 million in 2022/23. In real terms, Programme 3 budget received the most reduced budget in percentage terms by R 172,2 million (52,6%). Programme 4: Party Funding’s budget was reduced by 53.7%, from R51.7 million in 2021/22 to R 25 million in the 2022/23 financial year. All the programmes spent their budgets, meaning in terms of expenditure, 100% of the funds were used.

 

 

 

8.3       IEC Human Resources

The Human Resources Department embarked on a consultation process with the union in a bid to facilitate agreement on the filling of critical positions at the regional level to ensure the timely provision of human capacity. The Employment Equity (EE) Report was compiled and submitted to the Department of Labour in January 2023. The current organisational EE Plan expired in September 2023, and the process for the development of a new plan has commenced. There was a reduction in the number of cases referred to the CCMA during the 2022/23 financial year.

 

In preparation for National and Provincial Elections (NPE) 2024, Human Resources Management commenced with the development of recruitment and payment plans, as well as the review and development of electoral staff training material.

 

Table 2: employment and vacancies according to rank for the 2022/23 financial year:   

Level	Number of employees	Approved Posts	Number of vacancies	Percentage of total vacancies
Top Management	5	5	0	0
Senior Management	44	44	0	0
Professional Qualified	122	165	43	21.6
Skilled	671	745	74	37.2
Semi-skilled	24	30	6	3
Unskilled	40	41	1	0.5
New positions (not yet evaluated)	0	75	75	37.7
Total	906	1105	199	100

Source: Electoral Commission Annual Report 2023. adapted

 

Employment equity targets among male and female staff members for the 2022/23 financial year: 

 

Table 3: Employment equity targets among male staff members for 2022/23

Level	African		Coloured		Indian		White
	Current	Target	Current	Target	Current	Target	Current	Target
Top Management	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
Senior Management	15	22	3	3	1	1	2	2
Professional Qualified	63	93	4	11	6	4	3	10
Skilled	269	334	22	38	1	14	3	38
Semi-skilled	11	13	1	2	0	1	0	1
Unskilled	2	18	0	2	0	1	0	2
Total	364	482	30	56	8	21	8	54

Source: Electoral Commission Annual Report 2023. adapted

 

Table 4: employment equity targets among female staff members for 2022/23

Level	African		Coloured		Indian		White
	Current	Target	Current	Target	Current	Target	Current	Target
Top Management	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0
Senior Management	17	18	0	2	2	1	2	2
Professional Qualified	27	77	7	9	1	2	14	8
Skilled	317	274	36	31	7	7	19	30
Semi-skilled	11	11	1	1	0	0	0	1
Unskilled	38	15	1	2	0	0	0	1
Total	410	397	45	45	11	10	35	42

Source: Electoral Commission Annual Report 2023, adapted.

 

 

8.4       Report of the AGSA on IEC Annual Financial Statements

 

Opinion

The Auditor General audited the financial statements of the Electoral Commission, which comprise the statement of financial position as of 31 March 2023. According to the Auditor General, the Commission achieved a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) in the 2022/23 financial year, meaning the financial statements are free from material findings. In terms of the basis for the Auditor General’s opinion, the AG conducted the audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and therefore believes that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for such an opinion. This is the 3rd consecutive clean Audit.

 

Emphasis of matter

Intangible assets and Prior period error: as disclosed in note 30 (prior period errors) and note 9 (intangible assets) to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023, the useful life of internally generated intangible assets was reassessed to indefinite and amortisation on these assets would cease. The reassessment was treated as a prior period error on which management judgement was to reverse accumulated amortisation on these intangible assets.

 

 

 

Report on the Audit of the annual performance plan

In accordance with the Public Audit Act 25 of 2004 (PAA) and the general notice issued in terms thereof, the Auditor General is mandated to audit and report on the usefulness and reliability of the reported performance against predetermined objectives for selected programmes presented in the annual performance report. Therefore, the Auditor General selected Programme 2: Electoral Operations and Programme 3: Outreach in the annual performance report for the year ended 31 March 2023 for auditing. The Auditor General indicated that these programmes because they adequately measure the constitutional institution’s performance on its primary mandated functions and that is of significant national, community or public interest.

 

The reported performance information is presented in the annual performance report in the prescribed manner and there is adequate supporting evidence for the achievements reported and for the reasons provided for any over- or underachievement of targets.

 

Internal Control Deficiencies

There are weaknesses in the internal controls around the process of compiling and collating performance information reported in the performance report.

 

 

9.      GPW 2021/22 ANNUAL REPORT

 

9.1    Performance Overview

• The Annual Report for the financial year 2021/22 represents the progress that was made in achieving the performance targets set out in the Annual Performance Plan (APP) for the year under review.
• GPW had a total of 18 targets set for the financial year and 13 of these targets were attained, translating into 72% achievement.
• The remaining five targets that were not achieved relate to the following: implementation of the reviewed security model; obtaining a clean audit opinion; the attainment of the 10% net profit margin; the submission of the Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and the In-Year-Monitoring Reports by the stipulated timeframes.
• The targets within the Branch: Finance were adversely affected by the system failure and data loss. Plans have been put in place to address challenges that contributed to non-achievement of these targets in order to improve overall performance.
• GPW has enhanced its internal capacity with skilled professionals to support GPW in the execution of its plans in areas such as Finance, ICT and Legal Services.  
• The Government Component continued to strive to align its operations to the strategic goals that contribute to the national government outcomes and objectives as outlined in the National Development Plan.
• A gradual increase in revenue was experienced post relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions, which positively enabled GPW to sustain its operations.
• The Ministerial Review Panel (MRP) was appointed to investigate the circumstances around the ICT system crash. GPW is in the process of implementing the recommendations from the report and these are continuously monitored.
• GPW’s catastrophic hardware crash and systems failure that led to the loss of critical data in February 2021 and March 2022, left a lasting impact on the Government Component’s ability to produce credible Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and ultimately, the timeous tabling of the Annual Report to Parliament.
• The knock-on effect of this loss of financial information, will remain with GPW over the foreseeable future, but management has developed focused mitigating to address challenges relating to risks of systems
• In order to address above challenges, GPW management has been engaging critical stakeholders such as the National Treasury, Office of the Accountant General (OAG) and Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) to present specific challenges caused by the system failure, including plans to address them.

Total planned targets	Achieved	Not Achieved	% Achieved
18	13	5	72%

 

 

 

 

9.2       GPW Financial Performance

The AFS for 2020/21 were submitted to the AGSA on the 31st May 2021, one year after its statutory submission date, due to the data losses experienced by GPW on the 04th February 2021

The audit report was signed off on the 20th September 2022. The Annual Report for the same period was prepared by GPW management and tabled by the 30th September 2022.

 GPW received a disclaimer audit opinion for the 2020/21 AFS due to the data loss which eroded the general ledger. The balances in the AFS were not supported by the general ledger which resulted in limitation of scope.

GPW management put all its efforts in recapturing the data lost covering the period from November 2019 to February 2021. Despite all these efforts, the recaptured data was again lost when the database crashed on the 25th March 2022, and wiped out the financial data and the supporting schedules. 

The data loss adversely impacted the opening balances from the 1st of April 2020. This negatively affected the compilation of credible financial statements for the 2020/21 financial year, and the knock-on effect will be experienced by GPW in the next financial years. Consultation with relevant stakeholders such as National Treasury, OAG and AGSA serves to address this challenge, to support the entity to find solutions that will turn this situation around to the benefit of GPW. 

GPW management have developed plans to address identified challenges related to the system failures and data losses in the short, medium and long term, in order to improve operations and gradually reverse the adverse audit opinions.  

 

AFS caption	Budget	Actual	Variance	Reasons
	R’000	R’000
Revenue	1 495 760	1 207 226	288 534	Due to the second national Covid-19 lockdown, between July 2021 and September 2021, GPW was not functioning optimally, which resulted in a decrease in revenue generation.
Cost of Sales	913 811	675 591	238 220	Cost of sales is in direct relation to revenue generation, hence, a decrease in revenue will cause a decrease in Cost of sales. The allocated budget was not utilised in personnel costs, material usage, operational expenditure and depreciation.
General, Admin Expenses and employee cost	411 703	385 781	25 922	Limited spending on travel and subsistence, training and courier expenses led to a cost-saving when compared to budgeted expenses. This was a direct result of Covid-19 restrictions. Even though GPW is in the process of filling open positions, not all open positions have been filled during the 2022 financial year, which led to reduced spending on personnel costs.
Capital Expenditure	541 500	47 047	494 453	Due to COVID-19 and the international lockdown of borders, GPW halted purchases of machinery from abroad and other capital expenditure. GPW also amended their asset register by expensing items valued at R 7 000 and less. This affected the calculation of the amount spent on additions to minor assets.

 

10        DELIBERATIONS ON THE ANNUAL REPORTS

 

In response to the input from members of the Committee, the following was provided:

Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The department reported that several offices would be opened soon including in Mokopane, Polokwane, Thohoyandou, KwaDukuza and Taung. The was also considering expansion to the Cresta and Southgate Malls in Johannesburg, the Pavilion Mall in Durban and the Tyger Valley Mall in Cape Town. There are 127 mobile offices and the 100 new additional mobile offices were in production.
2. The DHA received an allocation of 742 posts in the previous financial year and the department has submitted a second business case for additional capacity. It was also indicated the capacity issue was not unique to the DHA but the whole security cluster.
3. Of the eight (8) top management of the DHA only one (1) was a female, however, three (3) vacant posts needed to be filled.
4. The DHA was working on the Task Team Report that reviewed the process that was followed to issue permits and visas. The work was continuing and it would take time to finalise.
5. In terms of inspection, the DG reported that the JCPS has developed a strategy to deal with illegal migration. The plan was budgeted and it was being implemented. The DHA was involved in the reported arrest of 145 illegal foreign miners  in the Northen Cape. All of them were transferred to Lindela Repatriation Center for deportation.
6. With regards to the VFS contract, the DHA was looking at the selection process at the end of the VFS contract in a year. There was a transactional advisor that was appointed to assist with the PPP process.
7. The DHA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Health on early birth registration and LRBs. Certain facilities provide DNA testing and these health facilities were designated by the Department of Health.
8. The DG reported that in the previous financial year, the DHA collected R123 million out of the R147 million and in addition, DIRCO paid R28 million. The DHA was in discussion with DIRCO about the R567 million.
9. The DHA has managed to reduce the contingent liability from R2.3 billion to R239 million and this followed the discussion between the department and AGSA on the methodology for calculations.
10. The DG reported that the Minister of Home Affairs has issued instructions with immediate effect to allow naturalised persons to apply for Smart ID Cards. The department was working on modifying the related systems.
11. The Constitutional Court has declared that it was unconstitutional for South Africans to lose their citizenship once they acquired citizenship of another country without informing the Minister of Home Affairs. The department was waiting for a directive from the Constitutional Court to ensure implementation.
12. On the issue of corruption relating to the photo swaps in applying for passports and identity documents; the Counter Corruption and Security Services evaluated and closed these loopholes . The officials involved were dismissed by the department and charged criminally. The last case of photo swapping was in 2021.
13. The Department does not have programs to evaluate the productivity of staff but has signed an MOU with Productivity SA with a view of implementing Productivity Improvement Program (PIP). The program is aimed at ensuring efficient and effective utilisation of resources to achieve maximum outputs. This will be rolled out as a pilot in the operations areas, namely, Permitting unit with the view of full scale implementation in other areas of the Department.
14. The Department does not have an integrated system to evaluate customer satisfaction levels. It utilizes customer complaints logged with the Contact Centre to inform the development of the service delivery improvement plan for the Department that is presented to EXCO and approved by DG then submitted to DPSA on an annual basis. It also conducts Customer satisfaction surveys through the Research unit and the last survey was conducted in 2022 with the results reported to EXCO and MMM.
15. The upgraded solution to be rolled out in the Contact Centre will have an online Customer Satisfaction evaluation module that will be used to measure customer satisfaction levels and inform quality assurance and customer experience enhancement strategies to be implemented.
16. Regarding branch revenue vs expenditure, what is the forecast of net surplus per programe in the medium 3-5 year term?
17. It was responded that the Appropriation Statement per programme on page 252 of the 2022/23 Annual Report is referred to. For the 2022/23 financial year, the DHA was allocated a budget of R11,1 billion. Of this budget, R10,4 billion was expended, equating to a 93,7% of the final budget. The appropriation is voted funds allocated to the Department by Parliament.
18. For Programme 2: Citizen affairs, the budget allocated / appropriation increased from R2,97 billion in 2021/22 to R3,89 billion in 2022/23. This equates to a 23,5% increase for this Programme. This significant increase is as a result of the additional R500 million allocated for the digitisation project.
19. For Programme 3: Immigration affairs, the budget allocated / appropriation increased marginally from R1,39 billion in 2021/22 to R1,4 billion in 2022/23. This equates to an increase of 0,08% for this Programme. 
20. The nature of Departmental Revenue (generated mainly through the sale of passports, IDs and visas) is increased from R718 million in 2021/22 to R1,029 billion in 2022/23. These two programmes constitute the core of the Department and receive the bulk of the budget allocations / appropriations. Both these programmes did not spend their full budget allocations in 2022/23. In 2022/23, Civics spent 91,6% of its allocation and Immigration 95%. A surplus ratio cannot be applied to Departments that must use the Modified Cash Standard. So Departments do not operate in order to generate surpluses, but to spend its allocations fully and effectively.
21. The following DHA sites will be connected to a network identified by CSIR and they are: King Shaka IA, Menlyn, Potchestroom, Soshanguve, Umgeni and Wynberg during the month of November 2023. This process will be achieved by peering the networks by CSIR and SITA at the SITA Data Center (Centurion) then disconnecting the selected offices/sites from SITA network and re-connecting to the network. The fail over for the selected sites if the overlay cause disruption is to connect back to SITA network (roll-back).
22. The first phase of the project to digitise records recruited a total of 2000 youth. Of these, some have received other appointments and the number has reduced to 1146. The Department is filling the vacancies. The second phase is to recruit 4000 youth and this recruitment is underway. The first phase of the digitisation process focused on preparation of records; that is, detailed indexing and condition assessment of records. The second phase which includes full scanning and indexing of records in the production environment started in June 2023 in Gauteng at our New Cooperation Building, Pretoria. As at 31 August 2023, the total number of records that had been digitised are 328 800, inclusive of 7 141 388 images as at 13 October 2023. This performance is far above the target of 12 000 records set for the second quarter (July – September 2023) of the 2023/24 financial year.
23. Note 14 on receivable revenue in the annual report related referring to surpluses indicates DIRCO foreign revenue still owed to National Revenue Fund. Why is this a surplus?
24. DIRCO collects revenue on behalf of the DHA at its foreign missions abroad. Money so collected must be paid by DIRCO into the National Revenue Fund (NRF).  During 2022/23 DIRCO collected and paid over to NRF R146,8 million of which R122,6 million was towards 2022/23 collections. In addition, DIRCO paid over to NRF R27, 9 million during 2022/23 in respect of monies collected at missions in prior years. See the narrative to Note 14 Departmental revenue and NRF receipts to be surrendered to the NRF on page 315 of the Annual report. 
25. Money collected by DIRCO is accounted for as a Receivable in the DHA books. The contra transaction is the payable to the NRF. The Receivable for DIRCO is bigger than the Payable as DIRCO did not / does not pay all money collected in a particular financial year to the NRF. As at 31 March 2023, DIRCO owed the DHA / NRF R521 million. The DHA is engaging DIRCO to pay over all revenue collected at the missions to the NRF.
26. Statistics drawn from the IMS Publication Quarter 2 Report of 2023/24 show that at 95% confidence level, the average number of weeks to finalise Critical Skills work visas is between 4 and 4,3 weeks.
27. Statistics drawn from the IMS Publication Quarter 2 Report show that at 95% confidence level, the average number of weeks to finalise General work visas is between 4,8 and 5,3 weeks while the average number of weeks to finalise Business visas is between 5,6 and 6,9 weeks.
28. Based on section 38 of the Border Management Authority Act, 2020, both land and infrastructure at the 53 land ports of entry should be transferred from the custodianship of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) to the Border Management Authority (BMA). At the point of transfer, the financial allocation for the maintenance and repairs of such properties would be transferred from DPWI to the BMA by the National Treasury. In the past financial year (2022/2023), a total of 31 land ports of entry had been audited while the remaining 22 land ports of entry are being audited in the current financial year (2023/2024). With the completion of the audit process in the current financial year, all the 53 land ports of entry would be transferred and registered under the BMA at the Deeds Office. Therefore, the BMA is currently co-managing the facilities at all the 53 land ports of entry together with DPWI until the end of the transitional process (31 March 2024) and the entire portfolio and relevant financial resources are moved from DPWI to the BMA.
29. The underspending on COE is explained in the Explanatory Notes to the Appropriation Statement (page 290 of the 2022/23 Annual report). In this regard, it is reported that the main contributor to the underspending on COE was as a result of the late funding and subsequent underspending in the digitisation project and the wrong allocation of the digitisation budget for the employment of the 10 000 youth as COE and not Goods and Services.  Please also see the narrative on page 25 of the Accounting Officer’s report in the 2022/23 DHA Annual Report.

 

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

1. The matter of the indelible ink during election day only happened during the general elections in 2019. This was not widespread and the matter was resolved. These were not the only safeguards used to ensure that voters did not vote more than once. The incident of the indelible ink did not recur in the 2021 Local Government Elections. The IEC received the VMDs late because of the Covid-19 restrictions and there is a plan to conduct a dry run before weekend registration in November 2023.
2. On the matter of the requirement for South Africans living overseas needing to have a passport and identity document to vote, people who had lost their citizenship could still hold onto their passport and Identity documents and thus a double check was implemented to ensure they cannot vote.
3. Even though the Internal Audit and Risk Committee expressed satisfaction with the Internal Audit function effectively discharging its responsibilities during the reporting period, the Auditor General pointed out that there are weaknesses in the internal controls around the process of compiling and collating performance information reported in the performance report. Has the Commission responded that it had addressed those challenges and other recommendations by AGSA. There is ongoing detailed compliance review of performance information to ensure accuracy and completeness of reported information. Additionally, a process of internal audit performing an audit of performance information ahead of annual audit by AGSA is being institutionalised as additional assurance.
4. Why is there no progress on the irregular expenditure identified in previous years amounting to R66,5 million; it is indicated in the Annua Report that all irregular expenditure is investigated with consequence management for those who caused or permitted irregularities but there was no discipline or recovery actions in tables e) and h) on pages 37/38?
5. It was responded that the R40 million of the R66,5 million, relates to irregular expenditure disclosed in the Internal Audit panel in 2021/22 financial year. R10 million relates to historical local office lease arrangements mainly with Municipal Councils. Requests for condonation have been submitted to National Treasury in terms of the Irregular Expenditure Framework. The balance of the matters relate to old cases in which consequence management cannot be implemented because the responsible officials are no longer in the employ of the Commission. Guidance will be sought from National Treasury on these matters.
6. What is the difference between the irregular expenditure amounts of R66,5 million and R28,49 million stated in the first 2 tables on page 37 of the annual report? The balance of the matters relate to old cases in which consequence management cannot be implemented because the responsible officials are no longer in the employ of the Commission. Guidance will be sought from National Treasury on these matters.

 

1. Government Printing Works (GPW)
2. GPW welcomed the suggestions by the Committee of a meeting with critical stakeholders such as the National Treasury and the AGSA to assist it with the matter of data loss. The printing of passports, examination papers and the production of the manufacturing infrastructure were not affected by the data loss in 2021 and 2022.
3. The security upgrades that were conducted were in relation to the installation of the special scanners for access control and cameras.
4. GPW was in the process of replacing the backup systems infrastructure and was working with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). There had been delays within SITA and the matter was escalated to the Managing Director.
5. Status of the Master Plan: Masterplan facility is a state-of-the-art factory that is meant to house all GPW’s modern machinery and equipment. The Masterplan Project, was assigned to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure since 2012. The delays experienced in the implementation of this project, led to GPW management’s decision to the appointment of the DBSA as an Implementing Agent in July 2023, in order to gain traction. The DPWI has been requested to cede all outstanding documents to both GPW and the DBSA, in order to facilitate progress on this project. A letter has been sent to the acting DG of DPWI in August 2023, requesting her to expedite submission of these documents. A response is awaited but followed up is being made by GPW.   
6. Engagements had been underway between GPW, DPWI, Infrastructure SA, and DBSA to plan and expedite the execution of the Masterplan project. Completion of this project will enhance the printing capacity of GPW for local customers as well those located in the SADC and other African countries. 
7. Efforts to Get New Business Abroad: GPW has been implementing its Integrated Marketing and Communication Strategy and Plan, with a strategic intention of expanding its business into countries located outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa.  The GPW has been participating in the Joint Ministerial Committees (JMC) and Bi-National Commissions (BNC’s) in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), in order to market its services to countries in the SADC Region and other African states. In the current year, the GPW attended BNC’s in Namibia, DRC and Ethiopia and also participated in the JMC held in Ethiopia. Direct engagements outside JMC’s and BNC’s are also facilitated in order to present GPW’s products and services, and these have been effected with Mozambique and Kenya to date.
8. The GPW is also in the process of capacitating itself in the area of Research and Development, through recruitment of specialists in this functional area.  This will further assist in product development and innovation. To date, the GPW has printed security documents for Namibia and Eswatini, particularly, birth certificates and University degrees certificates. There are also plans to present GPW services to more countries in this year.

 

1. Tripartate Meeting on delayed Annual Report: Following Minister’s assurance, several meetings have been held between AGSA, OAG and GPW management since November 2022 to date.  To this end, a working committee has been established comprising of officials from the OAG and GPW and its objective is to explore options to assist GPW to address all legacy findings which were affected by the data loss due to systems failure. The 2021/22 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament in September 2023 and the 2022/23 Annual Report will be tabled as soon as the audit for this financial year is concluded. The AGSA has undertaken to conclude this audit by the end of November 2023.
2. Annual Report Delays after Audit: The audit for the 2021/22 financial year was only finalized when the AGSA submitted the Management Report to GPW management on the 28th July 2023. This time frame had a knock-on effect on the development of the Annual Report for the 2022/23 financial year, because the audit for the 2022/23 financial year effectively started in August 2023. The AGSA plans to finalise the audit and submit the Management Report to GPW management by the end of November 2023. GPW management commits to developing the Annual Report for the 2022/23 financial year as soon as the Management report is received from AGSA, and then submit the Annual Report to Minister to facilitate tabling to Parliament. 
3. 2022/23 Audit: Yes, the Annual Financial Statements were submitted by GPW management to the AGSA by end of May 2023 as per the PFMA requirements.
4. Investigations into Irregular Expenditure not done: GPW management appointed a law firm to investigate irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure in GPW based on the Management Report received from AGSA. This Report was also submitted to the Ministerial Review Panel as part of the investigation. The outcome of this Report, based on the MRP recommendations, has been submitted to the current forensics investigating team. The investigation is still underway, and the recommendations will be considered by GPW management once received. The Loss Control Committee has been established in GPW. The objective of this Committee is to consider all cases presented to it by officials in GPW. The outcome is referred to Directorate: Internal Audit, which in turn makes determinations in line with the Irregular and Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure Framework set by National Treasury. Internal Audit then presents its outcome to the Loss Control Committee, which makes recommendations to the CEO for condonation and/or to take disciplinary action against affected officials. Implementation will be monitored.
5. Service Provider to verify assets, people and data: The target set by Security Management on “Implementation of the reviewed security model for GPW” was not achieved because the process to appoint the service provider was not concluded at the end of quarter 4 in the 2021/22 financial year. This was as a result of BAC not approving the appointment of service provider for ISO18788 Security Operations Management System, due to failure to meet basic requirements of the probity audit assessment.
6. Extensive research has been undertaken to address all concerns raised by probity auditors and the specifications have been approved. The Bid Evaluation Committee has commenced with the evaluation and the BAC will finalise the appointment by the end of the year, in order to facilitate implementation. 

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11.       CONSIDERATION OF OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

1.      STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESSES 2023

 

The 2023 State of Nation address has three broad areas with implications for the Department of Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission and Government Printing Works. These are:

1. Growing the economy, addressing unemployment and poverty by reducing red tape to scarce skills, tourism and business investment.
2. Addressing Crime and corruption.
3. The Impact of Load shedding and Infrastructure.

The first 2 issues are continuations of themes in SONA for several years and the last issue is new but overlaps with issues relating to infrastructure improvement from previous years.

 

1. Growing the Economy, Addressing Unemployment and Poverty by Reducing Red Tape to Scarce Skills, Tourism and Business Investment

Again this year, the specific mention of the DHA is in relation to Immigration Permitting. The President mentions that one of the key ingredients for economic growth and competitiveness is the ability to attract skills which the economy needs. He mentions the completion of a comprehensive review of the work visa system, and moving quickly to implement the related recommendations.

 

These include establishing a more flexible points-based system to attract skilled immigration, implementing a trusted employer scheme to make the visa process easier for large investors and streamlining application requirements. Consideration is also needed for the recruiting and visas for scarce skills in the electrical engineering, project management and renewable energy sectors. The Committee has already planned oversight of this Permitting Review during its forthcoming trip to Pretoria in March 2023.

 

The President again mentioned red tape reduction and the team in the Presidency that has been working with various departments to make it easier to do business. He mentions the collaborative approach, working with departments and agencies in areas such as tourism transport and visas and work permits. An example will be introducing remote worker visas to encourage this new kind of tourism to the country and a special dispensation for high-growth start-ups to recruit highly-skilled and competitive skilled persons. A critical facilitator of this process will be the improvement of the e-visa platform beyond the initial 14 countries as well as better coordination between the Immigration Branch, the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) and Border Management Agency.

 

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has provided work and livelihood opportunities to more than one million people. All departments including the DHA must remove the requirement for work experience for young people seeking entry-level positions.

 

The DHA has also played a role in several job creation initiatives through the appointment of the first cohort of 10,000 unemployed young people to digitise more than 340 million paper-based civic records, which in turn will improve efficiency and reduce corruption in the DHA. The implementation of these jobs and this project must be monitored as a potential for addressing the longer term shortage of staff and backlogs in the DHA and Government departments in general.

 

DHA also has a role to play in terms of stability and prosperity, and development in our continent.
As the focus of the African Continental Free Trade Area will be on collaboration on sustainable development, the just energy transition and industrialisation; DHA will need to participate in the promotion of bilateral and multi-lateral visa agreements needed to facilitate free movement of persons related to trade are expanded.

 

Once fully operationalised, the Continental Free Trade will provide an unprecedented opportunity to deepen African economic integration, grow national economies, and open up new frontiers and markets for South African companies. This in turn can provide further opportunities for the GPW to expand its market for security printing.

 

1. Addressing Crime and corruption

The recommendations of the State Capture Commission are being implemented according to the plan submitted to Parliament in October 2022 so that the systemic weaknesses identified by the Commission are addressed. The Following are reactions to the President’s Response to the report recommendations relating to the DHA and IEC:

The National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, consisting of people from across society, is in place to advise on suitable mechanisms to stem corruption, including an overhaul of the institutional architecture for combatting corruption. Reinvigorated law enforcement agencies are taking firm action against companies and individuals alleged to have been involved in state capture and specialised police teams that are working on tackling crimes like kidnapping, extortion and illegal mining have had several breakthroughs, arresting dozens of suspects and achieving several convictions. The DHA will be monitored in terms of how it is advised by the Anti-Corruption Advisory Council and the Relevant Prosecution bodies and how it interacts with other Departments in Addressing Illegal Mining.

In response to the State Capture Commission and in line with the framework for the professionalization of the public service, new recruits to the DHA, IEC and GPW will have to undergo integrity assessments which will become a mandatory requirement for recruitment to the public service along with entry exams.

 

The Presidency and National Treasury will work together to rationalise government departments, entities and programmes over the next three years. National Treasury estimates that we could achieve a potential saving of R27 billion in the medium term if we deal with overlapping mandates, close ineffective programmes and consolidate entities where appropriate. It is unlikely, given the recent addition of the BMA separating border functions from the DHA but consideration could be given to whether combining the Police Service and the DHA into one Department, as is the case in several other countries, could improve efficiency in identifying criminals, in particular those in contradiction to the Immigration Act.

 

1. The Impact of Load shedding and Infrastructure.

With the implementation of a State of Disaster relating to the Electricity Load Shedding, Section 27(2), read with Section 27(3) of the Disaster Management Act is required to make regulations for the purpose of —

(a) assisting and protecting the public;

(b) providing relief to the public;

(c) protecting property;

(d) preventing or combatting disruption; or

(e) dealing with the destructive nature and other effects of the disaster.

In terms of the forthcoming regulations, it must be assessed whether the DHA and GPW can at least be partially exempted from load shedding because of the critical services they offer. The power outages have had a negative impact on service delivery at Home Affairs offices already challenged by network connectivity and outages. In this regard backup power solutions by offices not assisted by Uninterrupted Power Supply solutions will need to be budget for and may benefit from expedited procurement processes and budget under the disaster regulations.

 

Such backup power solutions will, however, need to be done with awareness of the climate change impact and consideration of more renewable power solutions such as solar, wind and battery technologies.  The Presidential Climate Commission and Just Energy Transition Investment Plan must be monitored for funding, rebates and infrastructure upgrades for Home Affairs, IEC and GPW offices.

 

The President indicated that one of the greatest obstacles to infrastructure investment is the lack of technical skills and project management capacity. In this regard, the requisite international scarce skills and business visa applications will need to be prioritised and expedited.

 

The continued expansion of infrastructure for ports and railways to rival the best in the world and broadband access for more parts of the country should also be pushed by the DHA as a means of improving the presence of the Border Management Authority at ports and network connectivity in rural DHA offices.

 

Lastly mention was made of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of public violence in 2021 and flooding in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North-West. An update will be required on the impact of these disasters on the delivery of services by Home Affairs offices and special provisions for providing replacement documents lost to the flooding.

 

11.2      RESPONSE TO THE 2022 BRRR

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs sent the following responses on the 2022 BRRR of the Committee to the Speaker of the National Assembly on 31 May 2023.

 

DHA –  6.1  Issues Outstanding From The 2021 and Previous BRRRs
6.1.1.    Strive towards a clean audit opinion and better adhere to in-year audit plans. In particular, the impairment of departmental revenue in collecting of penalties, issues of significant contingent liabilities and the reduction of irregular expenditure. Progress on audit plans and the Auditor General Management Letter must continue to form part of all future quarterly performance reporting to the Committee.	The Department remains committed to achieving a clean audit outcome. The 2021/22 audit action plan was implemented to address the findings relating to the impairment of departmental revenue, the contingent liabilities and irregular expenditure. With the exception of irregular expenditure, the findings on impairment of departmental revenue and accruals and payables were not repeated in 2022/23.   The 2022/23 audit action plan similarly addressed all the AGSA findings. In addition, the Internal Audit findings are also monitored. Progress against the audit action plans is monitored at Back-to-Basic meetings, the departmental management meeting (DMC) and EXCO. Such progress reports on the audit action plan are included in the departmental quarterly reports to the Portfolio Committee.
6.1.2     The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure should ensure that all officials and others who were found to have acted in the illegal procurement process of the Beit bridge fence are held accountable.	The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has tabled a report with SCOPA on the procurement of the Beit Bridge fence.
6.1.3.    The Committee welcomed the dual connectivity links at several offices and the installation of power generators at 196 offices but urged the DHA to increase this number. The Department must also report on the partnership with SITA to resolve the network connectivity within the 24 months’ target as specified in the 2019/20 Annual Performance Plan.	Installation of SDN-ready equipment in all 25 SITA switching centers has been completed. Implementation of the Remote Environmental Monitoring (REM) system at all 25 Switching Centres has been completed. Implementation of 21 core links in identified problematic switching centers has been completed.   SITA has reported that a bid for the appointment of Layer 2 service provider to implement the redesign of the core architecture is at an advanced stage with the auditors for review. Migration of services from old legacy equipment to the new SDN-ready equipment has been completed in the following switching centers: Bloemfontein, Polokwane, Potchefstroom, Mmabatho, Beta, Kimberley, Bhisho, Welkom, Upington and Pietermaritzburg The remaining SITA Switching centres will be migrated during the current financial year (FY2023/24).
6.1.4.    Assess and report to the Committee, on the report findings on cost and benefits of having security cameras, security services and cash collection for the staff and clients at vulnerable DHA offices.	New offices such as Menlyn Mall are fitted with security cameras and security systems, including a monitoring room.  Bid processes for the installation of alarms and armed response at a national level failed. The intention is to reduce the night shift deployment and reliance on physical security on site. The existing budget (2023/24) for physical security is insufficient to cater for the existing deployments and the statutory PSIRA (Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority) increases. The budget shortfall was presented at the Budget Committee meeting held on 10 May 2023.   The Department has a service provider to provide Cash-In-Transit services. However, the Department is encouraging offices to go cashless in order to do away with or minimise this service; some offices are already cashless.
6.1.5.    Revive and expand current provision of services to clients on Saturdays and after 4pm in negotiation with National Treasury for funding and trade unions for staff interests prior to the end of the 2019/20 financial year. Consideration, in this regard should be given to the lost productive time for learners, businesses and employees as well as the essential nature of the services.	A resolution for Saturday work has not been reached with Unions but the Department will expand the services to seven days a week using the kiosks once ready for rollout.  In future once the DHA Bill is passed the operations model will allow 7 days a week operation and shifts system.
DHA –  6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 2022
6.2.1.    The Department of Home Affairs should ensure that the registration of births is improved to be within the confines of the legislation and to not delay the issuance of the Unabridged Birth Certificates within 8 weeks.	In respect of the current financial year, the Department planned to register a cumulative number of 750 000 births within the confines of the legislation, i.e within 30 days of birth. For the 2022/2023 financial a total number of 981 832 births were registered of which 778 612 births were registered within 30 days and 203 220 were registered above 30 days.  This shows that more than 79,3% of births were registered within 30 days.   To ensure further improvement towards 100% registration of birth within the legislated period of 30 days, the Department is in the process of connecting additional health facilities for birth to be registered at the point of occurrence.   All children born from March 2013, are issued with birth certificates with full particulars of both child and parents (unabridged birth certificate) on the spot. However, for persons born before the aforementioned period, the department has embarked on a project to digitize records which will result in improved turnaround time for the issuance of unabridged birth certificates.
6.2.2.    The DHA should report on the roll out of modernising their remaining 214 offices to ensure that citizens can apply for the Smart Cards and the Committee will oversee this in person. There should be a stage where the issuance of the green ID Book should be stopped, including for naturalised citizens, because it was vulnerable to fraudulent activities.	The Department is expanding its mobile units fleet to increase footprint for the provision of Smart Cards with the addition of 100 units in 2023/24.  The self-service kiosks will also be another channel that will be rolled out to increase the footprint and allow the Department to stop the issuance of Green ID books.
6.2.3.    The Department of Home Affairs should roll out the Branch Appointment Booking System to all offices and expand this to include collection of documents.	The Branch Appointment Booking System has been rolled out to 199 offices and its expansion to include collections will be completed in the second quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.
6.2.4.    The applications for passports and Identity documents (IDs) through the banks should also be rolled out further to alleviate the long queues at DHA offices.	There are engagements underway with BASA (Banking Association of South Africa) on an ongoing basis regarding the expansion of services to more banks. Upon determination and conclusion of the rollout strategy, the Minister will make an announcement in this regard.
6.2.5     More budget should be allocated to expand mobile units with reliable network connectivity to be dedicated to schools and the elderly. An annual or bi-annual schedule of mobile unit visits to schools should be drawn up in advance and children at the schools who are unable to apply for birth certificates or IDs on the day of the mobile unit visit should be referred by DHA to their nearest Home Affairs office. The Home Affairs office must work with the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Social Development to proactively assist these children with social support and/or assist indigent fathers with free DNA testing should this be preventing the child from registering their birth.	As part of increased access to services and multi-channel strategy mobile offices are to be deployed to geographical areas with the population threshold of 40 000 and below. The department in consultation with SITA is looking at dual mode of connectivity and also satellite in areas where connectivity is poor.   The Department had a total number 110 mobile units across the country. However, two mobile units (WC and FS) are no longer roadworthy and one (EC) was involved in an accident which leave a total of 107. Additional twenty (20) mobile units were procured in 2022/23 financial year and more than 100 will be procured in 2023/24 which will bring the total to 227. The use of mobile units is to close the gap in areas where there is no DHA footprint.   Mobile offices collected 96 456 Smart ID card re-issues and 107 861 Smart ID first applications during the review period 2022/23 totalling 204 317 applications. This has assisted clients with enabling documents and learners at respective schools across the country.   The Department is working closely with Department of Basic Education where lists of all high schools and learners with no IDs were provided and mobile schedules are in place to visit those schools. The matric learners are then prioritised on the various visits and a schedule to visit schools is in place and shared with school principals and other stakeholders. Clients without the required documentation for IDs are referred to offices for assistance.   There is engagement with Department of Health pertaining to free DNA testing at health facilities for indigent people.
6.2.6.    The DHA should ensure that it reduces irregular expenditure and complies with the related legislation when executing its mandate.	The Department is taking all possible efforts to detect and prevent irregular expenditure from arising. In this regard, it must be noted that the amounts disclosed as current year irregular expenditure in the Annual Financial Statements are the following: Year R’000 2017/18 34 918 2018/19 27 045 2019/20 272 351 2020/21 4 071 2021/22 46 099 2022/23* unaudited 32 707 The irregular expenditure in the 2019/20 financial year is as a result of the ABIS contract; the irregular expenditure in the 2021/22 financial year is as a result of the IT Firewall contract. The Department has requested National Treasury to condone the ABIS and an old security contract.   Consequence management is applied where officials are found to have caused the irregular expenditure.
6.2.7.    Ensure that the DHA continues to develop their audit action plans to address the negative findings identified by the Auditor-General.	The Department annually develops an audit action plan to address all Auditor-General findings. These actions are monitored internally at the Back-to-Basics meetings, EXCO, and the Risk Management and Audit Committee meetings. Internal audit verifies whether the management actions are indeed addressing the root causes of the findings. Internal Audit also provides assurances that management actions are indeed complete against verifiable evidence.   Internal Audit findings are treated no different from AGSA findings. This was done to elevate Internal Audit findings and track progress against the audit action plan for Internal Audit findings.     Consequence management is applied where managers fail to respond to audit findings, fail to meet due dates or fail to provide updates for their management actions.
6.2.8.    The DHA must improve the eHomeAffairs system and contact centre response times. In addition, the DHA should improve on its coordination of responding to queries raised by the public and the Committee more timeously. At the root of these challenges is the DHA ensuring that it meets its service delivery targets on issuing of documents in time.	To ensure that the Contact Centre response times are significantly improved, the Department is in the process of upgrading the existing Contact Centre systems to align them with industry requirements for efficiency gains, this including but not limited to additional access channels with self-service functionalities. Also, a number of Supervisor positions will be filled to monitor performance and adherence to schedule by the Contact Centre staff. Another area that the Department is focusing is on the empowerment of Contact Centre staff to issue certain categories of enabling documents that have exceeded the Department’s turnaround times. This will assist with the reduction in the number of escalations done to core business units that are that may have backlogs and under capacitated to finalize all applications within the agreed to service standards.
6.2.9.    The Department of Home Affairs should ensure that the hiring of the 10 000 youth to work on the scanning project is completed without unnecessary delay and report to the Committee, within 3 months, progress on this project.	The project to recruit the 10 000 unemployed graduates was to be undertaken in three phases, with the first cohort recruited during August 2022 and 1259 graduates were appointed in February 2023. The second phase to recruit 4000 started in March 2023, interviews are currently being conducted and the  envisaged appointment of this cohort is around July 2023.  The advert for the last phase will be placed in the second week of May 2023.
The DHA should provide an update on how it is addressing its on-going IT challenges, system down-time, long queues and lengthy waiting times at its offices.	DHA has engaged CSIR as of November 2022 to perform comprehensive and hands-on diagnostic assessment to technically understand the issues affecting ICT service delivery, including root causes. Network: Assess the entire DHA network to understand its architecture, redundancy, users, devices, servers, performance, service level agreements, and other related ICT issues. Applications and Infrastructure: Assess entire “as-is” enterprise architecture linked to ICT service disruptions and performance. Confirm specifics of system instabilities. Evaluate the existing infrastructure (hardware and software) that may be impacting on ICT service delivery. Security: Conduct technical security and risk assessment to determine any impact or causality on ICT service disruption. The ultimate objective being to Support DHA to stabilise and improve its ICT ecosystem (network connectivity, hardware, and software).
6.2.11.  The Minister should ensure that the findings of the Ministerial Task Team on the validity of permits, are developed into a remedial action plan.	The Minister has appointed a Multi-Disciplinary Task team who have commenced with this remedial process.
6.2.12.  The Department must table an action plan on revision of the Immigration Policy regime to address the country's immediate immigration challenges, including the prevalence of fake IDs, passports and undocumented migrants, while ensuring that the BMA continues to be made fully operational without further delay.	The BMA has been formally established as an autonomous Schedule 3A Public Entity. The establishment date was 1 April 2023 and the Authority is operational. However, additional funding is required to, inter alia, further capacitate the BMA for purposes of increasing its footprint and investing in technology for purposes of deterring illegal activities in the border environment.
6.2.13.  The DHA should update or develop new policies that will ensure it collects fines from transport operators that breach immigration laws.	The Department has prepared a draft Policy on the collection of fines from conveyors. This draft is going through the approval process.
The DHA should ensure that it intensifies its fight against fraud and corruption within the department and that officials are referred for sanction and prosecution.	DHA has developed a Fraud and Corruption Prevention Strategy and Plan, which is an integral part of fraud management, to ensure that corrupt activities by officials are prevented, detected and investigated. Where employees are found to have infringed on prevailing policy and internal controls, disciplinary action is taken. Where criminal elements are involved, cases are reported to the law enforcement agencies for criminal prosecutions of officials, citizens and foreign nationals.   For the 2022/23 financial year, 134 officials were reported to Employee Engagement for committing various acts of misconduct.  20 Officials were arrested and 5 officials were reported to the SAPS to institute criminal charges.   To strengthen the capacity of the Branch Counter Corruption and Security Services, an additional 12 officials were appointed to investigate and analyse corruption trends in the Department. 10 Investigators 2 Analysts
GOVERNMENT PRINTING WORKS –  6.1 ISSUES OUTSTANDING FROM THE 2021 AND PREVIOUS BUDGET REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION REPORTS
6.1.6.    The GPW should report on the implications of introducing legislative provisions for ring-fencing of certain government printing work prior to the tabling of such legislation at Parliament.	The strategic intent of GPW is to print State security documents for customers within the Republic of South Africa and those in other SADC and African countries. The Security Printing Bill, once enacted, would enable government departments to print their State security documents with GPW without being subjected to a competitive bidding process.   The AGSA would not continue to issue findings against departments that do business directly with GPW, thereby minimising negative audit findings and opinion against such departments.   As a government printer, GPW would be able to achieve the objective of securing the sovereignty of the country by ensuring that all critical State documents such as, amongst others, Identity and travel documents, legislation, letterheads for all political principals, matric certificates and certificates are printed solely by GPW.    As a self-revenue generating entity, GPW will be able to sustain its operations through the sale of security products to all its customers. It will be enabled to replenish its revenue base, and continue to fund all its capital projects and pay salaries and service providers/suppliers. This financial benefit will sustain the entity to avoid approaching National Treasury for a bailout.    GPW’s financial liquidity will be strengthened, and it will be able to surrender its surplus to National Treasury and contribute to the National Revenue Fund, thereby supporting government in meeting its financial obligations.   GPW will better promote the development of SMME’s in the printing and manufacturing sector, by procuring services of those involved in security printing, facilitate their accreditation, and outsource some of the para-security work to the benefit of their companies.    The legislative provisions for ring-fencing of State security documents will only be introduced when the Security Printing Bill is assented to and signed by the State President.
6.1.7 Ensure that the State Security Printers Bill is submitted to Parliament by the end of the 2019/20 financial year.	Consultation on the Security Printing Bill could not be concluded due to legal advice DHA received from the State Law Advisor’s office that consultations on the Bill had to be extended to the provincial departments and that it should also be tabled at the NCOP.   This prolonged the consultation programme beyond what was anticipated, hence the Bill could not be tabled by the end on the 2019/20 financial year. The consultative process with provincial departments is currently underway.   To date the GPW and the DHA’s legal team had been following the draft legislative process, towards finalisation of the Bill. Both national and provincial departments have been consulted on the content of the Security Printing Bill, as per the recommendation of the State Law Advisor. Consultation with the remaining two provinces is being finalised.
6.1.8 The Committee notes that a police investigation is underway regarding the missing Curriculum Vitae’s (CV’s) of advertised posts which were supposed to have been filled. However, the Minister of Home Affairs should hold the Acting CEO accountable for the missing CV’s. The Committee expect a report from the Acting CEO on the actions taken against those responsible for safeguarding the CV’s.	Internally, the CEO wrote and issued letters of contemplation to discipline to a total five (5) officials who were responsible for safeguarding of CV’s at the time of the loss.  Four (4) officials were issued with written warning letters. One Assistant Director: HR Recruitment has since resigned.   On the 23 May 2022, the CEO: GPW wrote a letter to the National Commissioner of SAPS and Head of Priority Crime Investigations (HAWKS), and requested feedback on all GPW cases which were being investigated by their office. A response letter was sent back to GPW on the 01 July 2022, indicating that this investigation was completed and referred to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU). No decision has been made as yet.
6.1.9     The GPW should attempt to table their 2021/22 Annual report before May 22 and report on those being held responsible for the loss of financial data without the relevant backups being in place.	The 2021/22 annual financial statements were submitted on the 29 December 2022 to the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA). AGSA has indicated that the audit report will be signed off on 24 April 2023. The Annual Report will be developed and tabled as soon as the audit is finalised and audit report issued to GPW.   An investigation conducted by the Ministerial Review Panel (MRP) was concluded and the report presented to the Portfolio Committee in July 2022. The Reports were handed over to EXCO by Minister in September 2022. An action plan is in place and the recommendations are being implemented by GPW management.   In addition, the CEO issued nine (09) letters to the entire ICT management team, including the Director who got a written warning, as consequence management.   A forensic investigation has been concluded in the ICT environment and recommendations are being implemented.  One official is on suspension and a disciplinary process is underway.   The forensic investigating team into all matters raised by the MRP Report is underway and the Report will be submitted as soon as it is concluded.
6.1.10   Regarding human resources in the IT environment, the committee urged GPW to develop a strategy to augment skills and capacity, to ensure sustainability in the long run.	All vacant positions in ICT have been advertised and HR is in the process of facilitating filling of these posts. Additional manpower for support has also been sourced from DHA.   Professional services for virtual infrastructure has been sourced and has started in March 2023.   GPW is in the process of procuring professional services for the project management office for implementation of all ICT projects, in order to support the ICT unit, due to the high turnover being experienced.  This will be concluded in July 2023. Critical skills are also being sourced through the SITA’s transversal tender.    More positions have been added to the approved organisational structure as per the MRP report, and posts are already approved by Minister of Home Affairs. GPW is awaiting concurrence by the Minister of the Public Service and Administration, then they will also be filled.   Two service providers have been procured to support ICT with applications management as well as re-automation of the eGazette and tender systems.
GOVERNMENT PRINTING WORKS – RECOMMENDATIONS 2022
6.2.15.  GPW should work closely with National Treasury, the DHA, SITA and the Auditor-General to ensure that the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the 2021-22 financial are submitted to the Auditor General and Parliament as soon as possible and ensure that the 2022-23 financials are submitted on time.	The 2021/22 annual financial statements were submitted on 29 December 2022 to the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA). AGSA has indicated that the audit report will be signed off on 24 April 2023.   GPW has been implementing the 2022/23 AFS preparation plan to ensure that the 2022/23 AFS are submitted by 31 May 2023 to AGSA.
6.2.16.  The Minister of Home Affairs should ensure that all the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Panel Report on the Data loss at GPW are implemented, particularly the consequence management, upgrade and maintenance of IT infrastructure and multiple redundancy backups.	In terms of implementation of all the MRP Recommendations: ICT has achieved 39% implementation of the recommendations to date. The ICT MRP recommendations will be implemented by March 2024.   Consequence management As indicated in 6.1.9 above, the CEO issued nine (09) letters to the entire ICT management team, including the Director who got a written warning, as consequence management.   A forensic investigation has been concluded in the ICT environment and recommendations are being implemented.  One official is on suspension and a disciplinary process is underway   Upgrade, maintenance of IT infrastructure and backup Multiple layers of back up are being implemented to enhance business continuity. Backup and restore tests are being performed monthly. The ICT Technology Infrastructure refresh is planned for achievement by December 2023. The migration of ICT Systems to the new Technology infrastructure will be achieved by March 2024. GPW is in the process of procuring the new ERP system to enable this migration. Professional Services for Security Services are sourced, and the contract started in April 2023. The service will provide Security Architecture and Identity Management Services. Restoration of the e-Gazette system is underway, and the Go-Live process is targeted for conclusion in May 2023
6.2.17.  The Minister of Home Affairs and GPW should aggressively market GPW products to the African market and other parts of the world.	The GPW has engaged various countries in SADC and East Africa since 2021, such as Angola; Botswana; Lesotho; Eswatini, Namibia, Kenya and Ethiopia. These engagements have resulted in the signing of service level agreements (SLA’s) and subsequent orders for the printing of Higher Vocational, University and Birth certificates for Eswatini and Namibia.   Furthermore, the GPW has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Kenyan Government Press, and plans are well underway to start printing orders. Ethiopia has also been engaged in 2023, and there are prospects to sign an SLA with the Ethiopian State Security Printer.
6.2.18.  The Minister of Home Affairs and the GPW should complete reviewing all the evergreen contracts as a matter of urgency.	The process of assessing all contracts classified as long-term/ evergreen, sole supplier and single source contracts, has been concluded by GPW. A process of reviewing all SLA’s in GPW is underway to ensure that all contracts have definite periods. 60% review of contracts has been concluded.
The Committee will refer the GPW audit outcomes and loss of data to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) for further oversight of its governance and the implementation of recommendations by AG, Treasury and GPW.	GPW management is in the process of implementing the MRP recommendations, and has achieved 25% to date. The implementation of the Plan is planned for completion by March 2024.   A total of 82% audit findings by AGSA and Internal audit have been resolved by GPW management. The remaining 18% are mainly in the Finance branch, and have a dependency on being granted an exemption by National Treasury on prior period findings due to data loss. GPW and Minister of Home Affairs wrote to National Treasury requesting an exemption and the response is still awaited from National Treasury since 2022.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION –  6.1 ISSUES OUTSTANDING FROM THE 2021 AND PREVIOUS BUDGET REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION REPORTS
6.1.11.  Provide detailed motivation and budgets for the procurement of permanent headquarters rather than continued payment of considerable rent prior to the end of the current lease agreement and in view of medium to long term financing.	The budget for the procurement of a permanent national office accommodation is subject to the approval of the 2022/2023 roll-over. Discussions in this regard have been had with National Treasury. A formal retention of surplus application will be made upon the approval of the Annual Financial Statements.   On the other hand, the bid specification for a permanent office building are in the process of being finalised so that the procurement process can commence.
6.1.12   The IEC in collaboration with key stakeholders will need to further improve to ensure that they meet their annual targets to register the 10 million unregistered eligible South African’s to participate in elections during the upcoming National and Provincial Elections scheduled for 2024	The Commission has already announced that it is planning two national registration weekends. The first of these will be conducted on 18-19 November 2023. Citizens will have the use of approximately 24 000 registration stations across the country.   A communication campaign will underpin the preparations for these general registration weekends.   An online registration campaign was also launched in March 2023. This allows for citizens to register to vote online.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION – 2022 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.2.20.  The IEC must expand and report on the impact of its outreach and education to mobilize more young people to vote. Political parties should be engaged to be more directly involved in such outreach	Civic and Democracy Education (CDE) for Institutions of Higher Learning was launched at the Rhodes University on 7 March 2023. All institutions of higher learning will be rolling out CDE in terms of the programme. The Schools Democracy Week which focuses on CDE in the formal schooling system was also launched in North-West on 13 April 2023. The Electoral Commission is also planning 80 000 community workshops in the current financial year. A multi-media CDE campaign which will cover radio and television will be rolled out in the lead up to the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (NPE). Furthermore, social and digital media based CDE will underpin mobilization campaign for 2024 NPE. The Party Liaison Committees at the national, provincial and municipal level are engaged on the CDE delivery programmes.
6.2.21   The IEC must report back within 6 months on addressing the remaining R66 million in uncondoned irregular expenditure.	Of the R66 million of accumulated irregular expenditure, R 44 million has been submitted to National Treasury for condonation. Responses are currently awaited.
6.2.22.  The IEC must address the technical and training issues with the new Voter Management Devices well before the 2024 National and Provincial Election. Training, particularly of temporary staff, should ensure that there is better uniformity of implementation of legislation and regulations at voting stations without political bias.	The operating system of the VMD’s (Voter Management Devices) is currently being updated. This will optimize the functionality and improve the security of VMD’s. The new registration application on the VMD’s will allow them to function in an offline mode without impact on functionality. A mobile device management application is being on-boarded on the VMD’s. Two dedicated dry-runs have been planned to test the functionality of the VMD’s ahead of the registration and NPE 2024. Supporting hardware has been reviewed and remedial action is being undertaken.
6.2.23.  The IEC must address the issue of some voters being removed from the voters' roll without being informed.	Section 11 of the Electoral Act imposes an obligation on the Chief Electoral Officer to change the registration details of a voter if such details are incorrect or have changed. The address of a voter must be linked to the ward in which the voter is registered.   Processes are being implemented to serve notices of intention to change registration details of voters and provide the affected voter an opportunity to make representations before changing the registration details of the affected voters.
6.2.24.  The continued IEC clean audit is commendable and focus should now be directed to improve performance against targets, which have remained at around 75% over the last few years.	The Commission is committed to improving overall institutional effectiveness including meeting all agreed targets. However, there are external factors which negatively affect the achievement of some targets. Some of these factors are as follows: Load shedding affects network connectivity and system availability. Research suggests that registration of voters is also influenced by developments in the political system. Potential voters are opting out of registration as voters and voting.  The challenge to the Preferential Procurement regime resulted in disruptions to the supply chain process which has led to low spending levels.
6.2.25.  The IEC should continue to collaborate with Government Printing Works to print as much of the ballots as possible in the upcoming National Elections.	The Commission takes the view that negative perceptions about the independent management of elections may abound if ballots are printed with Government Printing Works (GPW). This is so because GPW is a government entity under the direction of a member of the national executive.
6.2.26.  The IEC must rectify that some special votes that were registered, were not visited by IEC officials to complete their votes	The Electoral Commission will endeavour to visit all approved applicants for home visits during special voting days. However, there are instances where political parties apply on behalf of voters who have not requested a special vote. This leads to a less optimal use of special votes and instances wherein voters with real need are not serviced.  Furthermore, this leads to wastage of scarce public resources.

 

11.3 RESPONSES ON THE 2023/24 BUDGET AND PLAN REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

The Minister of Home Affairs provided the following response to the Committee’s Budget Vote 5 Budget and Plan report on 16 October, a day before the first draft of the BRRR was considered.

 

Committee Recommendations	Response
DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS –
11.2. Whilst the additional allocation of funds increasing the DHA capacity is appreciated, the DHA budget should continue to increase capacity even beyond the 55% currently allowed for given the delays in services to the public. Planning should start to possibly retain some of the youth employed in the digitisation project after their 2 year contracts.	In response to the 1st capacitation business case submitted to National Treasury in the 2021/22 financial year, the Department received R837 million over the 2022 MTEF (R267 million in 2022/23; R279 million in 2023/24; and R291 million in 2024/25). This allocation enabled the Department to fund and fill 742 additional posts, with priority given to Civic Services, and resulted in the Department reaching 39% capacity in respect of an approved establishment of 18 765 posts.   The Department has submitted the 2nd capacitation business case to National Treasury on 30 June 2023. Should the 2nd business case be funded, it will enable the Department to reach 60% capacity. In the 2nd business case, National Treasury was requested to increase the total establishment with an additional 3 668 posts at a cost of R1.4b. The National Treasury requested the Department to reprioritise the capacitation requirements over a 3-year period with options. Such a reprioritization was provided and the first option will focus on IMS (Inspectorate, permitting), Provinces (hospital clerks, mobile units, front office managers), internal audit, risk management, counter corruption & security services, and labour relations. The Department is waiting for formal feedback from National Treasury on the 2nd capacitation business case.
11.3. The Department implements decentralisation and downward delegation of Visa and Permit applications with other ad hoc and automated system checks and balances put in place to address the backlog.	The department has submitted renewed delegations for all visas and after further deliberation with the Director-General on the 8th September 2023 it was agreed that the delegations need further refinement that will allow for quicker clearance of the backlog. This should be submitted for approval by 15 September 2023.
11.4. There should be ambitious time bound targets set in the annual plans and related budgets for so-called non-critical permits such as spousal permits which have a knock on effect on the reputation of the country to attract scarce skills and investments.	The Department will consider this recommendation during its planning for the next financial year 2024/25.
11.5.     The Department enhances the Branch Appointment Booking System to ensure that it accommodates the collections of documents and that walk-ins should be allowed in all offices.	The Branch Appointment Booking System has been activated in 202 modernised offices.  Walk-ins are still allowed in all 202 Modernised offices, and the system has been enhanced to allow for the collection of documents from 15 September 2023 onwards.
11.6. The Department capacitates the Call Centre to ensure that members of the public are assisted timeously.	The Department is in the process of procuring requisite systems and technologies equipped with multiple access channels including interactive self- service functionalities and robotics for easy handling and management of queries channelled to the Contact Centre. The systems will also assist with easy management of current staff performance to ensure reduced call handling time and call abandonment rates. The Branch: Information Services is in the process of verifying security features of the proposed system and technology prior to finalizing the procurement process and implementing the system.   In addition to systems and technologies, the Department finalized the recruitment of two Team Leaders to strengthen the management of contact centre consultants.
11.7. The DHA should ensure queries sent to the Department by Committee members on behalf of the public, should be responded to.	All queries sent to the DHA are responded to by the Accounting Officer. The Accounting Officer has implemented mechanisms to prioritise all queries received from the PC members. There has been a nodal point appointed to collate, consolidate and report to PC members through the appropriate protocol. The Civic Services and Immigration Services branches currently also have nodal points that are ensuring that queries are being responded to with dedicated emails and links to the Call Center.   The Department received a total of 750 queries from Committees members for the period 1 April 2023 to date.  Of the queries received, 534 have been finalised and 216 are pending and still being processed by the Department.  This is for the period 1 April 2023 to 15 September 2023.  The outstanding matters are not abandoned, but still receiving attention given the complexity of the matters, some of which have legal references.
11.8. The DHA should deal with long queues at its offices and mobile offices should be procured and deployed in rural areas.	The Department through its Hybrid Access Model have identified geographical areas that will be served by traditional offices and the areas that will be served by Mobile Units. In this regard, the department compiled the Footprint Development strategy which outlines how the plans will be executed over a short, medium and long-term in order to deal with lack of footprint in various geographical areas, in particular, rural areas. The Hybrid Access Model identified 778 mobile visiting points across the country in geographical areas with the population of 40 000 and less which should be served by approximately 334 Mobile Units and there are 127 Mobile Units currently and the department requires 207 Mobile units to cover all 778 mobile visiting points. The department is in the process of procuring 100 Mobile units during 2023/24 financial year and additional mobile units will be procured during the 2024/25 financial year. Furthermore, the business case the department compiled on capacitation which was submitted to National Treasury this financial year, took into consideration the capacitation requirements for mobile units.  The department is also acquiring virtual interactive self-service machines (KIOSK) to enable clients to interact directly with the machines and this will assist in addressing capacity challenges within the department.
11.9. The Department modernises its offices in rural areas to ensure the phasing out of the Green Identity Documents.	The Department acknowledges that long queues are as a result of communities in geographical areas where there are no modernised offices for the processing and issuance of Smart ID Cards and thus flock to these offices to access these services and providing channels for Smart ID Cards and passports.  Non-modernised offices which are mostly in rural areas will ensure equitable provision of services and contribute to the reduction of queues in modernised offices. The department is currently planning to provide Virtual Interactive Self-service machines (KIOKS) in these offices as the alternative channel for the application of Smart ID Cards and passports. All 123 non-modernised offices will be provided with 2 KIOSKs each for the processing of Smart ID Cards and Passports as well as the reprints for Birth, Marriage and Death certificates. These offices will be capacitated with collection counters to allow for collection of Smart ID Cards and Passports from the office of application through the KIOSK. Furthermore, the department has also developed a criterion for modernisation of non-modernised offices given the space constraints in these offices. Modernisation of offices requires a minimum space that can accommodate end to end Live Capture process and the number of counters also determines productivity, that is, the number of clients that can be served within a day in the office with minimum space requirements.  The department has approximately 123 non-modernised offices across the country and has planned to rollout live capture system in ten (10) of these offices, namely, Temba, Stuttenheim, Molopo, Citrusdal, Orange Farm, Nkomazi Middleburg, Taung and Mapulaneng during this financial year.    The Department has adopted a new small booth that mitigates the issue of space in small offices to rollout Live Capture. We have also submitted a capacity business case to appoint more staff especially in small offices in order to cater for segregation of duties on roles given to operate Live Capture.  The project is still in progress, with 8 offices to be rolled-out during 2023/24 financial year as they meet the requirements. The modernising of the rural offices will also be completed with the rollout of the KIOSKs in support of the strategy to eradicate the issuance of the Green Identity documents.
11.10. The Committee requested that the DHA should focus on applications for Identity Documents towards the 2024 National and Provincial Elections and there should be cooperation with the IEC.	The DHA developed and approved a plan in partnership with IEC in order to prepare for both Voter Registrations (18-19 November 2023 & 3-4 February 2024) and Elections 2024. There are regular meetings with relevant stakeholders to ensure that clients apply and collect their ID documents including data exchange, community outreach, advocacy and communications plan for Voter Registration and Elections 2024.
11.11. The DHA should ensure that its offices installed cameras for security purposes.	Security cameras and alarms are installed in all new DHA offices such as Menlyn Mall.  This will only be done in other offices when budget is available.
11.12. The Department works faster on resolving the Late Registration of Births to ensure that all South Africans have the necessary documents while at the same time, encouraging citizens to register births within 30 days.	DHA established committees at various levels to ensure cases are adjudicated within specified turnaround times and outcomes are communicated to clients. This process includes thorough investigation to ensure due diligence in protecting the integrity of the National Population Register.   As far as encouraging citizens to register births within 30 days is concerned, the DHA has developed an Early Birth Registration Strategy to proactively ensure Late Registration of Birth is reduced. The strategy focusses on advocacy and partnering with stakeholders (DoH, DoE, COGTA) to create awareness and educate citizens/communities about the importance of early birth registration.   Furthermore, the department has embarked on a large-scale project to rollout online birth registration system in health facilities with maternity wards for the registration of birth and issuance of birth certificates on the spot. To date, the department has capacitated 161 health facilities with the online birth registration system which are responsible for the delivery of approximately 68.35% births delivered across the country in public health facilities and thus these births will be captured as they occur. The department plans to equip 91 health facilities this financial year which will result in a total of 251 health facilities responsible for 84% of the births delivered. In addition, the department plans to have additional 95 health facilities equipped with online birth registration system in 2024/25 financial year which will see the coverage for birth rising to 91%. There are also 1099 health facilities including clinics, community health centres that accounts for low birth and the department planning to provide an alternative and financial viable solution which will ensure that all children born in these clinics are also registered and are issued with a birth certificate before they are discharged.
11.13. The Deputy Minister should engage with VFS on the issues raised by the Committee and report back. The Committee would then conduct an oversight visit to VFS office/s.	The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs has invited the Committee to conduct oversight at VFS offices.  The department is awaiting an indicative date from the Portfolio Committee.
11.14. The Department completes as soon as possible the Public Private Partnership tender for the appointment of a new Visa Facilitation Service provider, with the inclusion of inclusion of requirements to filter out incomplete applications which are now clogging the application process.	The Department awarded the visa facilitation services bid to VFS Global in December 2013. The VFS contract was extended in December 2018 for 2 years, ending 31 December 2020. The extension allowed for the development of the Biometric Movement Control System (BMCS) at ports of entry and the e-Visa system. The contract was extended in December 2020 with another 24 months; and in December 2022 for another 24 months, ending 31 December 2024.   During the consultations with National Treasury in October 2018, it was recommended that the Department should first issue a Request for Information (RfI) to test the market for the appropriate procurement method. The RfI was issued in December 2019 and seven responses were received by the closing date. None of the shortlisted service providers met the technical requirements and the RfI process failed.   The Department also registered the visa facilitation services as a public private partnership (PPP) with National Treasury. National Treasury approved the registration as a PPP on 16 January 2020.  The bid for the appointment of a transaction adviser was issued on 4 February 2022. Prior to the signing of the SLA with the successful bidder, it transpired that the owner / director of the service provider was found guilty of fraud and corruption. As a result, the award for the bid of transaction adviser was cancelled. Another bid for the appointment of a project manager was issued the same time. The evaluation process was concluded and a service provider was appointed on 24 May 2022. The bid for the appointment of a project manager failed and was cancelled in July 2022.  A new bid for the appointment of a transaction adviser was issued following engagements with the BAC on 7 September 2022.    The bid for the appointment of a transaction adviser failed as no bids were received on the closing date of 27 January 2023. As a result, a new bid was issued in February 2023. This bid was successful and CTS Consortium was appointed as transaction advisor on 12 May 2023.  Immigration Services has been to the Bid Adjudication Committee to obtain permission to go to open market on this issue.
BORDER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
11.15. The BMA should work closely with the National Treasury to get more funding for the full operationalisation of the BMA, expansion of its patrolling of the borderline and roll out to guarding coastal borders.	The BMA has made request for funding through the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA) in order to procure specialized equipment, in this regard, the BMA has been allocated R150 Million and will be proceeding with procurement of prioritized equipment through ARSMCOR.   In addition, the BMA has recruited 400 Law Enforcement Border Guards who are currently undergoing training with the intention of deploying them along our borderline for patrolling purposes. Furthermore, the BMA is in a process of appointing 50 Maritime Coastal Boarder Guards who will be deployed at some of our vulnerable segments in our harbours.
11.16.   BMA should continually endeavour to make good on the promise that its establishment would improve the efficiency of border management beyond the capacity seeded from other departments despite fiscal constraints.	The BMA will be officially launched by the President on the 5th October 2023 wherein the President will commission the Commissioner of the BMA and thus formally making the BMA the 3rd law enforcement authority in South Africa.   The BMA is in a capacitating journey where key positions are being filled to enable the BMA to discharge its mandate effectively and efficiently. The BMA continues to make infrastructural developments in some of the key land borders, in this regard, the process to redevelop and redesign the 6 key land borders into One-Stop-Border-Posts has commenced wherein the Request for Proposals with regard to Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was published in this regard.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION –
11.19. Funding provisions will need to be made for the inclusion of independent candidates in the forthcoming National and Provincial elections and forthcoming Party Funding Act amendments.	National Treasury has approved the retention of surplus to the value of R 1.5 billion. This will enable the Electoral Commission to have two registration weekends as well as additional costs for the third ballot paper introduced by the revised electoral system. Furthermore, the cost of increased sizes of ballot papers will be covered by this retained surplus.   The fiscal allocation to the Represented Political Parties Fund (RPPF) is a matter outside the purview of the Commission. National Treasury determines the annual allocation to the RPPF. The amendments to the Political Parties’ Funding Act to include independent representatives within the scope of the Act are to be tabled in the National Assembly by the Minister of Home Affairs.
11.20. The IEC aspires towards its initial targets set in 2019 for the registration of 29 million voters and 74% participation in elections. & 11.21. The IEC will require additional funding in the adjusted budget to allow for extensive voter education and mobilisation given the changes to the Electoral laws around independent candidates.	Two national registration weekends have been planned to offer opportunities for eligible citizens to register and eventually participate in the elections.   Furthermore, there is an online registration facility which eligible citizens can use on a 24-hour basis to register as voters.   The registration events will be supported by a communication campaign which will be launched on 26 October 2023 so that everyone in the country is aware of the registration opportunities available.  This campaign will be manifested on all communication media including social media. Radio and television will be a key component of the delivery of the communication strategy.   For engagement with the citizenry of the country, Civic and Democracy Education have been activated. This project is supported by Municipal Outreach Co-ordinators (MOC’s) and Democracy Education Facilities (DEF’s) who are tasked with engaging with communities on civic, democracy and voter education. Currently, 276 MOC’s and 1241 DEF’s who have been contracted.  This on-ground human capacity will be supplemented with civic and democracy education on other media channels.
GOVERNMENT PRINTING WORKS –
11.23. There should be a timeline provided by the GPW for the implementation of the remaining Ministerial Review Panel Report recommendations.	On 29 August 2023 GPW presented an update on the implementation of Ministerial Review Panel report recommendations.  The target is to implement the recommendations by 31 March 2024. The presentation depicts the short, medium and long term timelines within which the GPW anticipates to complete the remaining recommendations. GPW management is committed to adhere to these timelines.   There are recommendations which are planned to be achieved beyond the 12 months’ period which are strategic in nature, such as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) multi-year technology roadmap, implementation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the audit of ISO, as well as the forensic investigations based on the MRP report recommendations.
11.24. GPW needs particular focus and oversight on ensuring the timely submission of accurate audit data to internal and external audit and consequence management for dereliction in this regard.	The GPW has adhered to the statutory reporting requirements of the PFMA and has submitted Annual Financial Statements to this effect. Audit data is accurate except where it relates to legacy matters and those caused by the data loss, and in this respect the Office of the Accountant General has been requested to assist with technical assistance. The Audit Matrix has been developed and progress made in the resolution of all audit findings both from AGSA and Internal audit are reported and monitored in all governance structure meetings. Managers are held accountable and responsible for progress made on all findings.
11.25. The GPW work in collaboration with National Treasury to ensure that non-payment by government clients after 30 days is addressed.	GPW consistently pays creditors within 30 days of receipt of the invoices.
11.26. The GPW must provide an update on its consultation on the State Printers Bill and finalise the tabling of this legislation as a matter of urgency.	The Bill has been consulted with seven (7) of the nine (9) provinces (i.e. provincial government departments which are represented in the relevant clusters), with 2 of the provinces, namely the Western Cape as well as North West still outstanding.   The matter was escalated to Minister in order to obtain the audience from the two provinces. The letters have been prepared jointly by the DHA’s legal services section and GPW for submission to Minister, and these will be sent to Offices of both Premiers of the two provinces.

 

12. OUTSTANDING COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS

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Outstanding from the 2022 and previous Budget Review and Recommendation Reports.

The Department of Home Affairs

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   1. Strive towards a clean audit opinion and better adhere to in-year audit plans. In particular, the impairment of departmental revenue in collecting penalties. Progress on audit plans and the Auditor General Management Letter must continue to form part of all future quarterly performance reporting to the Committee.
   2. The Home Affairs office must work with the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Social Development to proactively assist these children with social support and/or assist indigent fathers with free DNA testing should this be preventing the child from registering their birth.

The Government Printing Works

1. Ensure that the State Security Printers Bill is submitted to Parliament  as soon as possible bearing in mind the stability and capacity of the organization to effect these legislative changes.
2. GPW should work closely with National Treasury, the DHA, SITA and the Auditor-General to ensure that the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-23 financials are submitted on time.
3. Regarding human resources in the IT environment, the committee urged GPW to develop a strategy to augment skills and capacity, to ensure sustainability in the long run.
4. The Minister of Home Affairs should ensure that all the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Panel Report on the Data loss at GPW are implemented, particularly the consequence management, upgrade and maintenance of IT infrastructure and multiple redundancy backups.

The Electoral Commission

1. The IEC in collaboration with key stakeholders will need to further improve to ensure that they meet their annual targets to register the 10 million unregistered eligible South Africans to participate in elections during the upcoming National and Provincial Elections scheduled for 2024.
2. The continued IEC clean audit is commendable and focus should now be directed to improve performance against targets, which have remained at around 75% over the last few years.

 

13. BUDGET REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS 2023

Based on the continuous engagement with the Department of Home Affairs, the Government Printing Works and the Electoral Commission for the 2022/23 financial year, the Committee recommends the following to the Minister of Home Affairs to report back within 6 months of the tabling of this report (End of  April 2024):

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    1. The AGSA has presented similar reports to the Committee on the DHA audit which has been Unqualified with findings since the 2018/19 financial year. The DHA must better address monitoring the implementation of their audit action plans on compliance with applicable laws and regulations to move to the target of a clean audit.
    2. The DHA must continue to address long queues at DHA offices, including expanding mobile units, network reliability, quality of services by staff, and modernising offices.
    3. The DHA must address gender and disability equity targets in filling positions of the DHA top management. Account should also be given as to why this has not been done yet.
    4. The department was operating at 42 percent of its capacity and the Immigration Branch only met 25% of its targets in particular in the permitting unit. The DHA should report on the feedback by National Treasury for the 2nd capacitation business case or more funding to operate at an acceptable level especially in the Immigration branch.
    5. Having implemented much of the Lubisi report on Immigration Permitting, report back should be given to the renewed decentralised delegation of visa and permit decisions  being considered by the DG to address backlogs.
    6. The Department should use its limited resources and technology more efficiently.  An assessment of staff productivity over time was needed since it appears that staff were each contributing to 18% less documents each in 2023 than 14 years ago. More effective measures needed to be put in place to monitor the productivity of staff in this regard.
    7. The DHA must urgently address the long outstanding remaining impairment of R440 million in relation to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).
    8. The Committee noted that the DHA has IT weaknesses and there was a recommendation that the DHA should develop a roadmap to address the weaknesses. These weaknesses allow fraud and corruption to occur, especially in the permitting unit.
    9. Update the Committee quarterly on the progress on the R839.9 million allocated in 2023/24 for the digitisation of records project.
    10. Report on the delay in the procurement of the Passenger Name Recognition (PNR) due to the need for an open tender, and the related National Treasury un-earmarking of funds.
    11. Report on the appointment of CTS Consortium as transaction adviser on the Visa Facilitation Services on 12 May 2023 and on Immigration Services requesting Bid Adjudication Committee permission to go to open market on this issue.
    12. Report back on the CSIR and SITA collaboration and what measures would be implemented and need funding to improve network stability at front offices.

 

Border Management Agency

1. The BMA needs to be better funded to improve the prevention of undocumented migration. The total of R2.9 billion over the MTEF period from 2022 to 2025 was promised for the establishment of the Border Management Authority. However it was indicated in the Budget Presentation for 2022/23, that the BMA only received R168 million in 2022 and R278.6 million for the first quarter of 2023 year (only 15% of the three year allocation after 15 months).
2. Since the BMA establishment the staff consultation revealed certain transitional issues regarding employee benefits and salaries that must be addressed and reported to the Committee as soon as possible to ensure that officials are not further adversely effected.
3. Address the delayed transfer of SAPS 6,000 officials across all ports in the country compared to the 600 officials that the BMA will have, this meant the BMA cannot fully take on the function of administering border posts.

The Electoral Commission (IEC)

1. Address issues on the requirement for overseas voters to have passports and IDs for voting while South Africans in the country will only require an Identity Document. South Africans abroad struggle to receive both documents on time.
2. For South African citizens who have lost citizenship as a result of acquiring another citizenship without informing the Minister of Home Affairs, the Constitutional Court ruled that it was unconstitutional. The DHA, DIRCO and IEC would need to together ensure that they receive their passports and Identity Documents on time for the 2024 Elections.
3. The IEC need to report on the procurement of the building for its national office to prevent unnecessary further high expenditure on rental of its current offices.
4. The IEC must address the weaknesses pointed out by the AG in the internal controls around the process of compiling and collating performance information reported in the performance report.

 

Government Printing Works (GPW)

1. The Committee recommended that there be more frequent meetings between the Committee, GPW, National Treasury and the GPW Internal Audit to find solutions to the outstanding Ministerial Review Panel recommendations around the GPW data loss.
2. Refer recommendations to SCOPA???
3. Update the Committee on reports in its budget that there are no costs budgeted for data recovery whereas there were significant challenges in auditing due to lost data.
4. GPW needed to work proactively to ensure that it finalises its already late 2022/23 Annual Report as soon as possible after receiving its audited report back from the AGSA.
5. Address the critical issues raised by AGSA in relation to GPW implementation of their Audit Action plans. Particularly in the areas of ICT and Business Development where 20% or less of 87 targets were resolved.
6. The Committee would need to convene a meeting with the GPW, National Treasury and the Internal Audit and engage with the Minister to assess the effectiveness and accountability of GPW management.
7. Microsoft patches are not sufficient to secure the IT environment whilst GPW was waiting for the tender to procure IT services. GPW should undertake all possible routes to ensure that the systems were secured after the data loss and address the backups to return to secure document printing.

 

Report to be considered.