C. Botha Sigcawu Boardroom
The joint delegation was briefed by Home Affairs and Social Development officials regarding the programme for the visit. Social Development officials indicated that as far as they were concerned everything was in place for the visit. The delegation would meet with the respective leadership of the areas they are visiting and be briefed about the state of change and progress in respect of poverty alleviation and other pertinent issues. A mobile unit, manned by Home Affairs officials equipped with, among other things, a computer and a photo-copying machine would be sent to all earmarked areas as reflected on the programme. They indicated that their staff would process all types of social grant applications, including the child support grant. The delegation was told that all stakeholders in the areas to be visited, had been consulted and were ready and expecting the parliamentary delegation. Arrangements had been made to secure media coverage for the events. Two regional radio stations, namely Umhlobo Wenene and University of Transkei Community Radio were mentioned as possible media sources earmarked to cover the events.
In briefing the delegation, the Home Affairs officials indicated that, as far as they were concerned, it was all systems go. They had put together a team that would work closely with that of Social Development. Contrary to the understanding and expectations of the Parliamentary delegation, Home Affairs officials explained that their team would only concentrate on the registration of childbirths and issuing of birth certificates. No ID applications would be dealt with. The Parliamentary delegation took the Home Affairs officials to task on this, expressing its disagreement. The delegation explained that, as a matter of fact, the primary purpose of its visit was to oversee how Home Affairs was dealing with the problem of the backlog of IDs. Mr Maqethuka requested his Home Affairs counterparts to rethink their position. Home Affairs agreed, promising to add staff to process and complete ID applications as well.
Mr Patrick Chauke explained that the task of the delegation was to mobilize the rural people and to assist them where needed, as opposed to merely addressing them.
The briefing was ended with the understanding by all present that Home Affairs officials needed time to make contact with their staff in order to cater for their late decision to process ID applications before the visit to Mqanduli later the same day. While Home Affairs officials were making arrangements, the parliamentary delegation decided to go and visit the Umtata Home Affairs office.

D. Visit to Umtata Home Affairs Office – 05 May 2003
Observations
1. Birth Administration Office
1.1 Two officials serve more than 60 applicants per day.
1.2 The office is unhygienic, cramped and not conducive to deal with large volumes of people.
1.3 There are chronic delays in serving people.
1.4 It was reported that officials are bribed to serve certain people before others.
1.5 We found one old woman looking for a birth certificate from a bundle of certificates herself. She could not read nor write.

2. Migration Office
2.1 No queues were observed, as there were no people to serve.
2.2 No electronic filing system. The manual filing system observed is in shambles.
2.3 There were a lot of uncollected travel documents lying around in the office.
2.4 The office was very dirty.
3. ID Applications Office
3.1 Characterized by long queues. Droves of people standing outside the office in hostile weather conditions.
3.2 Working and service conditions are poor and unhygienic and not conducive to service delivery.
3.3 The office lacked computer facilities. 3.4 Inadequate staff to deal with swelling numbers of people wanting to be served.
4. General observations
Lack of effective management at the office.
4.2 Batho Pele principles are not observed.
4.3 There is no sense of urgency on the side of the officials in serving the public. Not even the presence of the delegation could spark a sense of urgency.
4.4 The building is dilapidated. It is badly situated and not suited for Home Affairs work. It is a house converted into an office.
The floor is hazardous and poorly maintained - this applies to the overall building.

There is a shortage of office equipment, for example there is no safe for keeping documents such as ID’s.

E. Mqanduli
1. Visit to Social Development office
1.1 The office is a small, cramped makeshift structure characterized by very long queues outside, with people exposed to the sun.
1.2 Long queues for child support grants and enquiries.
1.3 No shelter from hostile weather conditions. Plans are said to be afoot to build such a shelter.
2. Visit to Home Affairs Office (a stone throw away from that of Social Development)
2.1 The office is a small unhygienic zinc structure without ventilation, toilets or a telephone. It is completely unsuitable for a productive working environment and efficient service delivery. It is a health hazard.
2.2 Very long queues and no systems for early interventions.
2.3 Birth certificates were available but there was no official available to distribute them. The delegation was told that only one person was responsible for issuing of birth certificates. When that person was absent, nobody could issue them.
3. Mapuzi Technical College (Mqanduli) – Ward One visit
The local leadership representative of different stakeholders in the area welcomed the Parliamentary delegation. The delegation was told that Mqanduli was a very rural and poor area. The local leadership raised a concern that the organizers of the event in the province had not informed certain sections of leadership in Wards One and Two. They added that the venue for the event, while technically sound, was far removed from most areas. They argued that the event should have been communicated through constituency offices. It was explained that the intention of the delegation was not to visit all areas. The aim was to see whether government’s policy was being implemented. It was further explained that the main mission for the visit was to assist with delivery by bringing services to where people lived, in particular, those residing in the very deep rural areas like Mqanduli. The programme should be sustained even after the delegation had left the area.
Observations through interaction with people
Confusion exists regarding the age threshold for old age pensions as well as child support grants.

There were long queues indicating a huge turnout for the day’s event.
3.3 Local management of Home Affairs was not present at the site.
3.4 Verification of people’s correct age to qualify for old age pension is a critical issue.
3.5 Most people cannot afford the R20-R50 charged for ID photos resulting in them being unable to apply for IDs. This leads to a serious problem of a growing number of people without valid IDs.
3.6 There was a lack of provision of basic resources by Home Affairs for the day’s programme. Home Affairs deployed volunteers without supplying them with the essential resources, like computers, necessary to carry out the work. The problem was said to be emanating from the national office of Home Affairs, which is accused of having a tendency of frustrating officials at regional level and below. This issue needs to be seen in light of the fact that there seems to be a lack of co-ordination between national, provincial and regional Home Affairs offices.
3.7 Social Development was organized on the day.
3.8 More than 110 ID applications and over 220 birth registrations were processed on the day. It is necessary to point out that more than 1000 people showed up on this particular day and that the majority of these applications could not be processed.
3.9 Social Development processed over 107 child support grants on the day. The majority of applications were also not processed in this area.
F. Bizana visit – Ward One (Mzamba area)
1. Site briefing
After the introduction of the Parliamentary delegation the Mbizana Mayor, Mr Makhaya Twabu, welcomed the delegation. In his briefing, Mayor Twabu said his municipality had its own programme similar to the one initiated by the delegation. Such a programme, he said, was not the first of its kind but was part of a wide range of similar initiatives undertaken by his municipality. He cited retrenchment and lack of formal employment as problems facing the area. He promised that those who qualify for social grants would be assisted in any way possible.
Mayor Twabu expressed his municipality’s frustration at the personnel shortage in the Home Affairs office in the area. Only four Home Affairs personnel were operating in the area. For a long time there had been no computer at the Lusikisiki Home Affairs office.
Mr Myataza from Home Affairs confirmed the staff problem saying that the office was a satellite office. He said addressing the problem would be guided by the availability of funds. He said Home Affairs was relying on the staff complement of 1995. There had been no review of the current staff complement in order to balance the staff figures with the evolving needs. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the population in this area consists of more than 1, 2 million people; i.e. 11 districts and 7 municipalities.
2. Observations
2.1The day’s programme started late due to a decision by the local leadership to delay the start of proceedings until the arrival of the Parliamentary delegation. This was deemed unnecessary by the visiting Parliamentary delegation.
2.2 There was a large response to the day’s programme, indicated by the long queues of people waiting to apply for IDs and social grants. Due to the vastness of the area, the people may be best served by the introduction of mobile units of the departments of Social Development and Home Affairs.
2.3 Home Affairs officials did not bring along the computers and photocopying machines that were necessary to process the applications. As a result thereof there was a delay in processing ID and birth registration applications. The unavailability of the photocopying machine and the limited number of application forms were inadequate to cater for the swelling numbers of ID and birth certificate applicants.
2.4 Later in the day when the necessary equipment arrived, more than 225 ID’s and 475 birth registrations were processed. This represents a small percentage of the overall number of potential beneficiaries in the area.
2.5 Social Development processed over 250 child support grants. The majority of the applications were not processed and large numbers of people were turned back.
G. Ntabankulu Town Hall
1. Site briefing
The local leadership welcomed the delegation. In briefing the delegation they pointed out that there was a problem with the distribution of IDs. They informed the delegates of a series of unrelenting break-ins at the Home Affairs offices in the area. A number of IDs and birth certificates had been stolen. They also raised the problem of a lack of co-operation between different government Departments. It was blatantly clear to delegates that organized crime ‘syndicates’ were operating in this area and responsible for the break-ins in this area. It is this highly important that security around these offices needs to be improved in order to prevent corruption and crime. In explaining preparations for the day’s programme, Home Affairs officials indicated that they had put together a 10-member team to man their tables. Five of those were permanent staff members and the other five were volunteers. They also indicated that computers had been brought along and that they were prepared and ready to deal with birth registration and ID applications. Social Development, indicated that everything was in place and that they too had a 10-member team, six of which were permanent and four were volunteers.

2. Observations
2.1 Both Social Development and Home Affairs officials were better prepared for the day’s programme as opposed to previous days.
2.2 Members of the parliamentary delegation assisted with the issuing and processing of IDs and birth certificates as well as general enquiries.
2.3 There was a massive turn out by people wanting to apply for IDs and social grants. Scores of people were bussed in from the adjacent villages.
2.4 Over 285 IDs and 290 birth registrations were processed. This figure represents a small percentage of the potential number of clients in the area.
2.5 Social Development processed over 242 child support grants. The majority of potential applicants had to be turned away.
H. Qumbu – Tsilitwa area
1. Site briefing
The Parliamentary delegation met with the local leadership. The ineffectiveness of the ward committee in the area and the fact that they do not meet was highlighted.
Mr Jikijela, the ward councilor in the area pleaded with the parliamentary delegation to ensure the extension of the constituency allowance to enable Members of Parliament to successfully look into, among other things, the problem of ward committees not meeting. Concern was raised that the Department of Social Development was not using the small black empowerment banks that are not ACB-registered. It was said that the social grants beneficiaries were not benefiting fully through the so-called established commercial banks as they are subject to taxation. In response, Mr Duntsula from the Department of Social Development explained that there was an understanding between his department and the established commercial banks, the so-called ACB-registered banks, which allow social grant beneficiaries to make withdrawals without being charged bank levies.
Mr Jikijela was concerned whether the ID and birth registration programme would be sustained after the delegation left. The delegation indicated that it would brief the Members of Parliament in all the areas visited about the programme and the need to sustain it. Mr Bobe, one of the local Social Development officials added that the local office had a programme scheduled to start on Monday, 12 May 2003 that would target access to social grants. The only problem envisaged was transport for the would-be beneficiaries. He emphasized the need for the day’s programme to continue adding that they would also establish service centers in all the wards in the Qumbu area. He indicated that social workers, for each wards had already been appointed and a liaison person was in the process of being employed in a concerted effort to beef up the planned service centers.

2. Observations
Social Development did not have staff on the ground to deal with social grant applications. The explanation was that they were all engaged with pension payouts somewhere in the same area. Eventually, they managed to secure one official and two volunteers to rescue the situation.

Home Affairs was very organized on the day. It had four different tables attending to all ID and birth registration-related issues, manned by nine permanent officials who quickly got on top of things. The staff was however not furnished with a computer and as a result birth certificates could not be issued on the day.

There was no photographer for ID photos. This resulted in scores of people being not able to apply for IDs as they were without photographs. This had a negative bearing on the day’s proceedings.
2.4 Social Development processed about 95 child support grants on the day. This represents an insufficient number of processed applications if one takes into account the number of potential applicants.
I. Port St Johns

The Department of Social Development had no staff present at the venue. Provincial officials of the Department claimed that the officials were at Qumbu. This later transpired not to be the case since the Department was also absent at Qumbu.

The Department of Home Affairs was extremely well organised on the day. Computers, printers and photocopiers were available. The system of dealing with ID and birth applications was also streamlined. The Department issued birth certificates every half hour, which shortened the period of time people had wait considerably.


1. Observations

1.1 There is a serious problem with the authentication of the age of people. Many peoples’ ID’s reflect their age as younger than their actual age. The result is that these people cannot access the old age grant due to their ‘reduced age’. When these people attempt to resolve the problem they are referred to Umtata, which is 160 kilometers away.

Many of the names of the people in Tombo are spelt incorrectly on their ID’s. This represents a serious infringement of peoples’ right to be treated with dignity.

1.3 Officials deal with the public with contempt and have little or no regard for their integrity. One official had to be reprimanded because of this.

The Home Affairs office in the area opens twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also a lack of co-operation between councillors and Home Affairs officials.

It was reported that the magistrate in the area refuses to process child support grants because of local government demarcation disputes.

The Parliamentary delegation was informed that the Port St Johns Council has budgeted R100 000 for the ID campaign.

2. Port St Johns Home Affairs office

The office is in a sturdy building that also houses the magistrate’s courts.

Despite the outward appearance of the building, the office was extremely dirty and unhygienic.

There are no signs within the office to identify it as that of Home Affairs.

A manual filing system exists and appeared chaotic.

3. Visit to the magistrate’s office

Despite the strong structure of the building, it is not maintained and it is dirty and still reflects Apartheid signs and coat of arms.

The delegation did meet with the magistrate and she was asked to address the issue of co-operation between officials and councillors. The magistrate reported that she had requested funds to improve the conditions in the building on several occasions, but to no avail.

J. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The large number of people, who applied for the services and grants on offer, indicates that there is a huge need for these types of services and social grants.

The level of poverty in the areas visited underscores the critical need for access to social grants and benefits. The ID and birth certificates are an important and critical factor in the speedy delivery of social security benefits.

The cost of ID photos makes it impossible for many of the most vulnerable and desperate to acquire the necessary documentation in order to access social grants and benefits.

Rigid and narrow structural thinking of officials impacts negatively on the delivery of ID’s, birth certificates and the access to social grants.

Systems are outdated and sometimes unsuitable for the prevailing circumstances.

Staff on the ground lacks initiative and staff in general appears unmotivated and low morale exists. It appears that the staff, in especially the Home Affairs offices, are not multi-skilled and that they are unwilling to assist their colleagues when there is a back log of tasks to be performed. The latter situation seems to occur even when the staff members in question have very few tasks to perform.

Management at offices seems to be lacking and more involved management and commitment could have addressed much of what was observed.

The Batho Pele principels are rarely observed and are basically absent.


There seems to be very little respect, on the part of staff of both the departments of Home Affairs and Social Development, for the dignity of their clients. This is evidenced by the many bad circumstances in which clients are expected to come and apply for services and benefits: long queues, no shelter, the lack of or very bad public amenities and short-tempered staff.

There is a prevailing shortage of staff at both Departments that clearly frustrates and hampers quick and efficient service delivery.

The physical state of offices is appalling. Many of the offices are situated in structures that are utterly unfit to serve as an office. Many offices are without electricity, water or toilets. Where the offices are in a structurally sound building, it is dirty, in need of paint and in general dilapidated. Conducive working conditions do not prevail.

Offices are not computerized and in many instances in need of basic resources such as secure filing cabinets, photocopiers, and even the basic forms required to provide necessary services.

Officials and grass roots level staff have been implicated in instances of corruption.

The distribution of documents after finalization remains a problem. Many uncollected documents remain with the Department of Home Affairs.

There is a clear lack of co-operative governance not only between the different departments, but also in terms of co-operation between the departments and local councils.

Communication between the two lead departments, communities, local leaders and councillors can be improved.

Two problems repeatedly surfaced from the communities at the different venues: The incorrect capturing of both the ages and names of a significant number of applicants. It was also alleged that ID numbers of some people in the Eastern Cape were similar to those of people in KwaZulu-Natal. As a result of the duplication the system automatically stops the pension payout of those people in the Eastern Cape.

There was a general expression of the need to continue with this program once the delegation had departed. However, the perception existed that this would not be the case.

There is a disturbing divide between what the Departments of Social Development and Home Affairs say and the reality at grass roots level. If nothing is done soon to stem the tide, a strong possibility exists that would-be voters and beneficiaries would be denied their constitutional rights to access social security benefits and to vote.

Communication between different levels of community leadership and the Departments of Social Development and Home Affairs is reportedly poor. Interdepartmental communication as well as communication with community leadership, particularly traditional leaders, in the rural areas should be improved to ensure delivery of government services, particularly the distribution of IDs and birth certificates.

There is no mechanism in place for Home Affairs to assist those people in the rural areas who cannot afford to pay R20-R50 for ID photographs.

The current Social Development and Home Affairs staff components are not adequate to cope with the ID and social security grant applications.

K. RECOMMENDATIONS
The Departments should revisit the systems that they implement when dealing with applications in rural and remote areas, greater flexibility and a more integrated approach is important for the successful delivery of these services.

The morale of the staff of both Departments needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The physical environment need to be improved and it is important to address the factors contributing to low moral.

Management at the offices must be lifted to an acceptable level. Evaluation of managers and the identification of their shortcomings must be done so that intervention can take place as a matter of urgency.

The principle of Batho Pele should be reinforced through thorough training and recommitment to the principle. Thereafter, ongoing evaluation of the successful implementation should take place to ensure that, where necessary, early intervention can take place.

An audit of the physical state of all offices should be embarked upon as a matter of urgency. This audit should determine the suitability of current offices in so far as the physical state of the offices are concerned, the suitability of offices in dealing with the system requirements, the resource requirements of offices, etc. The Audit should be followed up with a clear program with the Department of Public Works and a plan to resource the offices sufficiently should be developed. The audit should also address the needs of clients when they visit these offices so as to ensure that they access these services with dignity.

The shortage of staff should be addressed and efforts should be made to ensure that staff is multi-skilled and committed.

Corruption should be dealt with in the hardest possible terms, which should include severe punishment for perpetrators, and rooted out at all levels. Good service should make it impossible to get involved in corruption or for others to seek the opportunity to corrupt officials.

A clear and agreed plan for distribution of documentation must be embarked upon. This plan should consist of all Departments involved, local authorities, the community, schools and the churches. Communication channels should be opened between all roll players to ensure the success of distribution.

The Department of Home Affairs should embark upon a special program to address the general problem of incorrect ages and names in ID documents. The Department should go out of its way to deal with this problem in a decisive manner and ensure that this problem should not re-occur.

It is further recommended that those involved in the program do a proper evaluation of the program and record the best possible ways in dealing with the program so that it can be implemented throughout.

The continuation of this program at all levels must be ensured. This should not only be for the period just before the elections, but should become part of the routine, ongoing program of the lead Departments.

Oversight of the programme must also be continued.

Home Affairs and Social Development should constantly be taken to task for their poor performance in many critical areas.

Government should take the initiative and make it possible for the poor and desperate to receive their ID’s while waiving the cost of ID photos. The budget for the ID program should be increased considerably; local authorities should be encouraged to buy cameras to assist with the access to photographs.


Report to be considered.