THE BUDGETARY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION REPORT (BRRR) OF THE
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOME AFFAIRS FOR THE 2011/12 FINANCIAL YEAR, DATED 31 OCTOBER 2012
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 with reference to the following:
·
The medium
term estimates of expenditure of each national department, its strategic
priorities and measurable objectives, as tabled in the National Assembly with
the National budget;
·
Prevailing
strategic plans;
·
The
expenditure reports relating to such department published by the National Treasury
in terms of section 32 reports of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA.);
·
The financial
statements and annual report of such department;
·
The report of
the Committee on Public Accounts relating to the department; and
·
Any other
information requested by or presented to a House or Parliament.
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 the recommendations on the use of
resources in the medium term.
The Committee must submit the BRRR after the
adoption of the budget and before the adoption of the reports on the Medium
Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) by the respective Houses in November of
each year.
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs met with
the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on numerous occasions throughout 2011 and
2012 including on its strategic plan, budget and its annual report. The
committee also conducted oversight trips to Home Affairs offices and border
post operations. The Committee then considered its BRRR which was adopted by
Members of the Committee on 31 October 2012.
1.1 The Portfolio
Committee on Home Affairs
On the basis of challenges encountered during
oversight visits as well as issues raised by the President in the 2012 State of
the Nation Address, the following key issues were put forward by the Portfolio Committee
on Home Affairs in its strategic Plan as priorities for the DHA:
• Improving Border Crossings, Port
Capacity and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as part of
regional trade corridors.
• Advocating for improved DHA
infrastructure as part of initiatives of the Presidential Infrastructure Commission/Summit.
• Improving National Security, fraud
detection and prevention through online verification of identity such as
fingerprints and more secure documentation.
• Updating needed scarce foreign skills
lists and speeding up visa provision in line with the required technical and
engineering capacity needed for large infrastructure projects.
• Job creation through meaningful
economic transformation and inclusive growth.
1.2 The Department
The mandate of the DHA is carried out within the
broader mandate and programmes of Government.
1.2.1 The vision of the DHA Affairs is to
contribute effectively to the development of a safe, secure
1.2.2 The mission of the DHA is the efficient
determination and safeguarding of the identity and status of citizens and
regulation of migration to ensure security, promote and fulfil our
international obligations.
Programme 1: Administration.
The purpose of this programme is to provide overall
management of the Department and centralised support services.
Programme 2: Services to Citizens.
The purpose of the programme is to secure
efficient and accessible services and documents for citizens and lawful
residents.
Programme 3: Immigration Services.
The purpose of this service is to facilitate and
regulate the secure movement of people into and out of the
Programme 4: Transfers to Agencies.
The purpose is to provide financial,
administrative and strategic support to the Film and Publication Board (FPB),
Government Printing Works (GPW) and Electoral Commission (EC).
2. THE DEPARTMENT’S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
2.1 Strategic Plans
of the Department
National government has twelve outcomes and the DHA
contributes to three of these outcomes, namely:
Outcome 3: All people in
Outcome 5: A skilled and capable workforce to
support an inclusive growth path.
Outcome 12: An efficient, effective and
development oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive
citizenship.
The main priority of the department is securing
the identity of the citizens and status of South Africans by ensuring that the National
Population Register (NPR) is secured and accurate. This is done by ensuring the
only entry point is the registration of births within 30 days of delivery. Late
Registration of Births is the major source of fraud. In this regard the DHA
reported that 51% of new-born children were registered within 30 days in
2011/12, which was a 11.2% increase from the previous
financial year. Ninety percent of the total number of births was registered
within 12 months. Late registration of births declined by 41%.
The management of migration is still a major
problem for the department. The department intends strengthening the policies
and legislation governing the processing and management of asylum seekers and
refugee and, the movement of migrant foreigners with critical skills. Although
the Refugees and Immigration Bills were passed in 2011, the regulations
governing the implementation of this legislation had not been finalised.
Access to the department was reported as a top
priority and various strategies had been employed, such as procuring mobile
offices, the use of 4x4 vehicles, opening of new offices, the use of Thusong
Centres, and partnering with traditional authorities.
2.1.1 Smart Identity Card
Cabinet approved the smart card ID project on 25
July 2001. On 31 March 2005, the DHA received approval from Cabinet to start
procuring smart card IDs. Cabinet had only requested the DHA to re-submit a
proposal on the future of the smart card ID on 21 May 2005, taking into account
risk factors. The project was put on hold by the then Minister of Home Affairs
in June 2006 pending the new vision and design of the department and an inter-departmental
investigation that was taking place. Procurement had been suspended pending
completion of that exercise.
The Governance and Administration cluster,
mandated the project as part of its programme of action. The managed roll-out
of the smart ID card to the entire population was planned over 5 to 8 years
commencing in 2009. The former president, Mr Thabo
Mbeki announced in 2008 that a pilot project would be launched by the end of
that year.
On 12 May 2008, the Director General had written
to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) requesting them to administer
and run the smart ID card tender process on behalf of the Department. The
tender was published on 15 May 2008. The closing date of the tender was set for
27 June 2008. On 30 May 2008 the SITA Chief Executive Officer, approached the Auditor-General
(AG) with a request to audit the process until the tender was completed. This
was a pro-active audit for the AG to be part of the tender process. The AG
responded on 12 June 2008, informing SITA that they would need to discuss the
scope and terms of reference of the audit.
On 27 November 2008, SITA updated the DHA on the
tender process. The next day, the DHA wrote to SITA again concerning the delay
in the tender process. On 12 December 2008, the Chairperson of the SITA Board
responded to the DHA’s letter referring to a Board
meeting where it had been decided to request an inquiry into the integrity of
the tender process. The time-frame for this forensic investigation was set to
end in January 2009.
On 18 February 2009, SITA wrote to indicate that
the preliminary tender process had been completed. However the Recommendation
Committee had not yet dispensed with discussions in order to forward a
recommendation. They also summarised the hurdles experienced by the
Recommendation Committee.
During February 2009, the DHA began looking at
ways to mitigate the delays with the project. On 15 April 2009, the SITA Board
informed the DHA that they had appointed forensic auditors to investigate the
project and that progress was being made with this investigation. They,
however, recommended that the DHA cancel the tender.
The then DG responded in a letter dated 5 May
2009, stating that the DHA would take a decision once the final forensic report
had been received. The DG wrote to National Treasury on 19 August 2009
requesting their assistance with the tender. National Treasury had indicated
that SITA had to continue with the process. However, they would need tender
assistance to monitor compliance with the smart card ID management
procedures.
The DG then wrote to SITA to cancel the tender
on 19 August 2009. The reason for the cancellation was that they had been
allocated funds from National Treasury to start the pilot project. As they
clearly had run out of funds, they would have had to re-motivate for an
allocation of additional funds. The Department cancelled a R5-billion tender to
replace the green identity books after it emerged that confidential information
about the tender was leaked to the media from the SITA. Budget was allocated in
2012/13 to 14/15 specifically for the Smart ID card as well as the broader Who
Am I Online project within which it falls.
As indicated in the reply by the Ministry, the
Smart Card is also reliant on systems and infrastructure to be implemented by
the Who Am I Online project, which was delayed for over a year due to a legal
contention around the fulfilment of the tender conditions by the implementing
party, Gijima Ast.
After repeated requests, the Department finally made the audit report
available to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs during 2012 indicating
that indications of irregularities in the tender processes were still sub judice.
During the budget vote in 2012, the department
promised to pilot 2000 Smart ID Card but reduced it to 1000 in later
presentations. It has further been reported that the project has been piloted
and that the roll out of the project will commence in 2013 rather than the
strategic target of the end of 2012. The Smart ID card will replace the current
identity document in order to improve security and delivery times.
2.2 Measurable Objectives
of the Department for 2011/12 – 2013/14
Measurable Objectives identify very specific
things that the Department intends doing or delivering in order to achieve its
outcomes (measurable intention specified by means of outputs that enable the
realisation thereof). Each of the three outcomes mentioned above have several
measurable objectives mentioned below.
|
Outcome 1: Secure South African citizenship and
identity. |
|
|
Strategic Objectives |
|
|
1.1: |
To ensure
that registration at birth is the only entry point for South Africans to the
NPR. |
|
1.2: |
To
issue Identity Documents (IDs) to citizens turning 16 years of age and above. |
|
1.3: |
To
ensure the registration and identification of all South African citizens,
foreign residents, refugees and asylum seekers to enhance the integrity and
security of identity. |
|
Outcome 2: Immigration managed effectively and
securely in the national interest including economic, social and cultural
development. |
|
|
2.1: |
To
ensure a secure, responsive and flexible immigration regime in support of
national security, priorities and interests. |
|
2.2: |
To implement effective and
efficient asylum seeker and refugee management strategies and systems. |
|
2.3: |
To facilitate the efficient
movement of bona fide travellers to support national interests and
priorities, and to prevent and prohibit the movement of undesirable persons
in the interest of national security. |
|
2.4: |
To contribute towards realising a
positive skills migration trend of around 50 000 migrants annually. |
|
Outcome 3: A service that is
secure, efficient, and accessible corruption free. |
|
|
3.1: |
To transform the culture of
the organization in support of securing identity, citizenship and
international migration. |
|
3.2: |
To ensure ethical conduct and a
zero tolerance approach to corruption. |
|
3.3: |
To obtain a clean audit
report. |
|
3.4: |
To ensure secure, effective,
efficient and accessible service delivery to clients. |
3. ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL PLANS OF THE DEPARTMENT
In line with more focused planning as well as alignment
with the 12 National outcomes from April 2010, the
President has also put in place specific performance targets for Ministers of
government departments. The main outputs and targets in the performance
agreement of the Minister of Home Affairs are:
·
Securing the identity and status of
citizens and residents.
·
Implementing effective and efficient
refugee management strategies and systems.
·
Ensuring access to and quality of
service delivery with emphasis on the registration of every child birth within
30 days of delivery.
·
Issuing identity documents to every
South African turning 16 years and older.
·
Improving the turnaround times for
all services, improving queuing times and unit costs per service.
·
Facilitating the recruitment of 50
000 skilled migrants annually.
This has translated into a further reduction of
strategic objectives from 16 in 2010/11 to only 11 in 2011/12. These strategic
objectives in turn translate to only 24 outputs in 2011/12 compared to 28 in
the 2010/11 Strategic Plan.
The relatively regular changes in the
department’s targets, however, have made the tracking of performance over time
challenging. In addition, despite the increase in clarity and reporting on
targets, performance against the set targets in 2010/11 has not improved
significantly since 2009/10; with only 23 of 47 (49%) targets set in 2010/11
reported as achieved. In 2011/12, the DHA Annual Report indicated that the
department had failed to achieve a significant percentage of its performance
targets. When adding the Administration programme where only 8 out of 16
targets were fully achieved; Citizen Services where only 4 out of 19 targets
were achieved and; Immigration Services where only 1 out of 15 targets were
fully achieved, the result is that 74% of all targets were not met (that is
only 26 % or 13/50 were met). Although 24 targets (48%) are reported as
partially achieved, the overall performance of the Department, particularly in
the Immigration Programme is of significant concern.
The department has shown
instances of over ambitious target setting. For example, the ‘Percentage of
Permanent Residence Permits issued within 8 months was projected to be 70 per
cent for 2011/12 and 75 per cent in 2012/13. It was indicated in the 2010/11
Annual Report, however, that the average delivery at that stage was eight
months, whereas the target set in the previous year was six months. The
percentage of temporary residence permits (work, business and corporate) issued
within eight weeks was set at 70 per cent for 2011/12. However, the projected
delivery time for both 2009/10 and 2010/11 that was stated in the previous year
was supposed to be four weeks and three weeks for 2011/12. The target actually
achieved in 2010/11 was in fact 16 weeks, four times longer than anticipated.
Whilst more realistic target setting each year is admirable, the considerable
decline and continued lack of achieving delivery time targets of these and
other documents, is of concern.
4. ANALYSIS OF SECTION 32 EXPENDITURE REPORTS
In the 2010/11 financial year the DHA over-spent
by 5.6 per cent (.i.e. R6.2 billion against an available budget of R5.8
billion), which amounted to an over-expenditure of R329 million. In 2009/10,
the Department spent 98.7 per cent, and in 2011/12 spent 97.4 per cent of its
allocation. The 2011/12 under-expenditure (.i.e. R5.648 billion against an
available budget of R5.850 billion) resulted in the department incurring an
under-expenditure of R202.3 million.
The department has consistently under-spent by
the end of the third quarter, only to utilise a large part of its budget in the
last quarter of the financial year. The department
has spent an average of 68.21 per cent of its budget at the end of the third
quarter in the last three financial years, compared to an average of 100.3 per
cent for the end of the fourth quarter. In 2010/11 for example, the department
spent 64.3 per cent of its allocation at the end of the third quarter, and
recorded over-expenditure at the end of the fourth quarter, with 105.6 per cent
of the budget spent. Figure 8 illustrates that the department attributed the
over-expenditure in 2010/11 to an increase of the budget for personnel and the
payment of outstanding debts from previous financial years. The department has indicated that unfilled
vacancies were due to an inability to find the right calibre of candidates.
Third and Fourth Quarter
Expenditure
5. ANALYSIS OF THE DEPARTMENT’S ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
5.1 Annual report 2011/12
5.1.1 Summary of the Auditor-General
(AG) report
The AG’s report, in the
annual reports of government departments and entities, speaks to the
reliability of information contained in the report as well as, in recent years,
achievement of performance targets. The AG’s audit opinion can be categorised
in three general levels of importance: Audit Opinion; Matters of Emphasis and
Additional/Other Matters. From 2006/7 the DHA made gradual improvements from a
disclaimer to qualified opinions in 2008/9 and 2009/10. In 2011/12, the DHA
relapsed back to a qualified audit after receiving its first unqualified report
in a number of years in 2010/11.
The AG expressed his
qualified opinion based specifically on contingent assets. A contingent asset
is one in which the possibility of an economic benefit depends solely upon
future events that can't be controlled by the entity. Due to the uncertainty of
the future events, these assets are not placed on the balance sheet. However,
they can be found in the financial statements.
The qualification relates
to money received by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
(DIRCO) on behalf of the DHA at foreign missions. The contingent assets are the
revenue collected by DIRCO for which complete, accurate and valid supporting
documents and cash has not been received by DHA. Over and above the onus on
DIRCO to provide such documentation, the fault with the DHA lies in
misstatements of these contingent amounts due to inconsistent application of
the department’s account policy. As such reported contingent assets of R219.8
million were overstated by R34 million in 2011/12. In 2010/11, the R56 million
of contingent assets were understated by R113.1 million. The fact that these
errors were not picked up in the 2010/11 annual report could have contributed
to the seriousness of misstatements justifying a qualified opinion.
In addition to the basis
for qualification, the DHA received three matters of emphasis (compared to two
in 2010/11) as well as three additional matters (compared to two in 2010/11)
and 36 issues with other Legal and Regulatory Requirements (compared to 16 in
2010/11).
The matter of emphasis
relating to financial reporting framework deviations continues from last year
but this year relates to the misstatements of foreign revenue stated above. The
second matter relates to significant uncertainties relating to contingent
assets and liabilities, particularly outstanding legal claims against the Department
amounting to R1.2 billion for which the DHA has made no provisions. The third
matter of emphasis was that the AG discovered mistakes on five amounts stated
in the 2010/11 financial year, which had to be restated in the 2011/12 annual
report. Four of these relate to the reason for qualification, i.e. revenue that
was collected by DIRCO for DHA, and for which new policies on foreign revenue
had to be introduced under the AGs guidance to prevent re-occurrence of
contingency errors. The last correction falls under disclosure note 20 on
commitments, which were re-evaluated for usefulness and to improve service delivery.
The contract amounts were discovered to have been understated by R1.854 billion
(The restated amount was R3.2 billion rather than R1.3 billion).
5.1.2.
Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure
In 2009/10 and 2010/11
the department had irregular expenditure of R321.6 and R24.5 million
respectively. In 2010/11 fruitless and wasteful expenditure was R334.6 million.
Material losses amounting to R26 million and R66.7 million were recorded in
2009/10 and 2010/11.
In
2011/12, the DHA continues to have an amount of R463 million of Irregular
Expenditure from previous years that has not been condoned (R439 million from
prior to 2010/11). However, significantly less new irregular expenditure of
R5.7 million was recorded for 2011/12. The majority of this amount (R3.9
million) relates to contractors not being appointed according to the
Construction Industry Development Board Act (No 38 of 2000). Additional amounts
of R1.3 million relate to non-compliance with tender procedures, still under
investigation.
Fruitless
expenditure is also largely from previous years still not condoned: R334
million from 2010/11 but only R700 thousand from 2011/12. The amounts
outstanding from previous years relate largely to the out of court settlement
made with GijimaAst, reflected as payments made in
vain in the 2010/11 annual report. Fruitless expenditure in 2011/12 related to
interest of R700 000 having to be paid for late payments on leased IT
equipment, which was being investigated.
5.1.3
Performance
The
following achievements were noted by the DHA:
Administration
•
Interface capability for 3rd
party verification for banks, Department of Human Settlements and South African
Social Security Agency (SASSA) was introduced.
•
The Department of Home Affairs was voted
among the Employers of Choice, simultaneously being honoured
with the Special Ministerial Award by the Ministry of Public Service and
Administration, for “the innovative turnaround and modernization of service
delivery”.
•
The Department introduced the first-ever
South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) accredited Home Affairs course
aimed at training and producing a well-rounded Home Affairs official capable of
dealing with all aspects of the Department.
•
Enhancement of leadership capacity continued
with a further three Leaders Forums taking place during the 2011/12 financial
year. Capacity of leadership was further enhanced through the commencement of
the Outbound Management Leadership Training Programme and other management
programmes.
•
A Coaching Clinics Framework was developed
and the Coaching Programme launched in March 2012.
•
Involvement
of top management as “Champions” of specific provinces. Posters in every office
show the cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses of top management with the
statement “We serve with Humility. Talk to us.” Improvements were also made in
the functioning and monitoring of enquiry and complaints channels.
Citizen
Services
•
A total of 51% of new-born children were
registered within 30 days which is an 11.2% increase from the previous financial
year. Ninety percent of the total numbers of births were registered within 12
months. Late registration of births declined by 41%.
Immigration
Services
•
The DHA played a key role in
•
Improvements were recorded within the
Immigration environment through the approval of a new Permitting structure and
implementation of the Permitting project resulting in enhanced security and the
reduction of backlogs.
•
The Dispensation for Zimbabwean Project
progressed well during the 2011/12 financial year. Total number of cases
resolved stood at 203,364 on 31 March 2012.
•
The Refugees and Immigration Acts were
amended to streamline and secure key processes and address gaps in the legislation.
•
A National Framework was developed for the
implementation of the Cessation of Angolan Refugees in consultation with
The
levels of performance against pre-determined objectives stated in the department’s
strategic plan are, however, a significant concern both in terms of not
achieving targets and in terms of the reliability, accuracy and usefulness of
information. In 2010/11 the AG only raised matters of measurability on the
Immigration programme. As indicated before, the Administration programme had
only eight out of 16 targets that were fully achieved; in Citizen Services only
four out of 19 targets were achieved and; Immigration Services only one out of
15 targets were fully achieved. The result is that 74% of all targets were not
met (that is only 26 % or 13/50 were met).
The
poor performance of the department against its targets is partially explained
by other concerns raised by the AG on the reliability, accuracy and usefulness
of information. Performance information was audited to be unclear and ambiguous
in 30% of all indicators and unverifiable in 26% of all indicators across
programmes. This is due to unsuitable strategic planning and lack of controls
to consistently collect performance information. In addition, 32% of the
reported performance information was considered as invalid and 26% were not
accurate. This is due to lack of proper records review processes.
5.1.4
Human Resources
Only
1.4% of jobs across salary bands were job evaluated (154 out of 10712) and yet
the DHA indicated that 442 (4.9%) of employees salaries exceeded the grade
determined by job evaluations.
The
department reported 2003 new appointments in 2011/12 to add to the 9259 already
in its employ in 2010/11. The department, however, also had 1193 terminations,
the majority of which (73% or 871) were due to the expiration of contacts. This
gives a total of 10069. The total given in many of the DHA calculations,
however, on total number of staff is 9091. Of the staff employed in the DHA 52
(0.57%) were reported to be persons with disabilities. This is below the 2%
target set nationally.
The
DHA continues to improve on filling of vacant posts despite the Auditor General
indicating that several posts were not advertised within six months or filled within
12 months of becoming vacant.
|
Year 2011/2012 |
Vacant posts |
Filled posts |
Vacant posts |
% posts filled to date |
|
Priority |
1118 |
1073 |
45 |
95.97% |
|
Natural attrition |
300 |
143 |
157 |
47.66% |
|
Total |
1418 |
1216 |
202 |
85.75% |
5.2 Issues
raised by Members of the Committee on the Annual Report 2011/12
Administration
•
The department lacked internal
controls on financial management and record keeping.
•
The revenue collected in the
missions abroad did not have supporting documents and it led to the delay in finalizing
the Annual Report of the department.
•
There was lack of compliance with
national laws including the PFMA.
•
The department did not pay service
providers within 30 days.
•
The filing of vacant funded posts
were not advertised within six months after becoming vacant and were not filled
within 12 months after becoming vacant.
•
The issues raised
by the AG in the Annual Reports of 2010/11 and 2011/12 were similar but became a
reason for qualification due to the extent or materiality of the concerns.
•
The formats of the Annual Reports of
the DHA and the entities were different.
•
There was lack of training of staff
on BAS and LOGIS needed in order for revenue collected in the provinces and
missions to improve.
•
The Committee noted that the Who Am
I Online Project had been settled with Gijima and that non-payment to Double
Ring had been long outstanding due to bandwidth services not having been
provided after provision of mobile offices.
•
Some of the staff of the DHA was
conducting remunerative work with government departments outside of their job
descriptions without authorization by the accounting officer.
•
Irregular and fruitless expenditure
were still problematic although there was a decline compared with the previous
financial years.
•
The employment of persons with disabilities
was still at 0.57% instead of the 2% of the benchmark set by government.
Citizens
Services
•
Targets set by the DHA were
sometimes indicated in numbers and sometimes were in percentages.
•
The DHA had piloted the
implementation of the Smart ID Card and would launch it in 2013.
•
The late registration of births was
declining, showing that the majority of people were registering births within
30 days after delivery.
•
The dysfunctional mobile offices in
the rural areas were a major concern. The satellite dish and IT technology were
not functioning properly. As a result, mobile offices were used to collect
applications from far flung rural areas. The department was augmenting the work
of mobile offices in the rural areas by procuring 4x4 vehicles.
Immigration
Services
•
Only one strategic target out of 15
was fully achieved in immigration objectives.
•
Late Registration of Births (LRB)
was still a serious security risk since it was being used by foreigners to
fraudulently gain entry to the National Population Register (NPR).
6. CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
On 18 October
2011, the Committee on Public Accounts recommended that the DHA recovered the
unauthorized expenditure of R97 286 000 incurred during the financial 2005/06
from the department’s future baseline budgets. This was reported in the 2011
BRR Report and since then the department did not appear before the Committee on
Public Accounts.
7. CONSIDERATION OF
OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
7.1 State of the
Nation Address
The 2012 State of the Nation Address outlined
the following key priorities that have an impact on the DHA (DHA):
• Improving Border Crossings, Port Capacity
and Information and Communication Technologies as part of regional trade
corridors.
• Advocating for improved DHA infrastructure
as part of initiatives of the Presidential Infrastructure Commission/Summit.
• Improving National Security, fraud
detection and prevention through online verification of identity such as
fingerprints.
• Updating needed scarce foreign skills
lists and speeding up visa provision in line with required technical and
engineering capacity needed for large infrastructure projects.
• Job creation through meaningful economic
transformation and inclusive growth.
Job creation and countering corruption were
continued emphasis from previous years which remain important for the DHA. The
increased emphasis on infrastructure development required more specific
intervention from the DHA in terms of securing the foreign skills needed to
implement the large projects mentioned by the President for 2012 and beyond.
The improvement of regional and international trade across land and sea ports
of entry will require additional capacity development, recruitment of staff and
improving of office/ residential accommodation infrastructure.
7.2 Oversight findings
The following points were observed during an oversight
trip conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs to Kwazulu Natal and a study tour to the
7.2.1. Oversight visit to DHA in Kwa-Zulu
The Portfolio Committee visited the
• The department has good partnerships with the EThekwini Metro and
• Six of the seven mobile offices were not functioning as fully
fledged offices because the satellite dishes were not working. These six mobile
offices were used to collect applications.
• There was a high number of Late Registration of Births.
• Uncollected identity documents and duplicate cases were still a
problem in the province.
• The processing of applications at Head Office was delaying in
the processing of permit applications.
• The province had 50 cases of corruption. These cases related to
alleged fraudulent registration of births, marriages, deaths and theft.
The following specific sites were visited for which areas of
concern are listed below:
Golela Border Post:
• Shortage of staff.
• Passport scanners were not always working.
• Shortage of vehicles.
• No administrative staff or inspectorate.
• No facilities for clearance of trains at the station.
• Corruption a major challenge.
The Onverwacht border:
• No proper accommodation.
• Lack
of staff. Only one Immigration Officer to process travellers
coming to
• No vehicles means the office is reliant on Golela
for the use of their vehicle.
• Shortage of staff, residential and office accommodation.
• No vehicles.
•
No inspectorate.
• The border line cuts the Tembe tribe
in two, the Chief is in
• Informal crossing at Gate six where there are market days on
the Mozambican side and trade in contrabands goods.
• The office was operating at only 48% of capacity.
• Staff needed to be given computer skills training.
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had
stopped issuing travel documents for refugees. The issuing of travel documents
by the office was very slow. There were academics and students who wanted to
travel abroad but they could not travel because very few travel documents were
issued by the DHA. There were many queries from frustrated clients with regards
to travel documents.
• The security systems were non-functional. It was reported that
cameras and bag scanners were not working and the office only had five security
guards on the premises.
• The asylum seekers on appeal were reaching their 12th extension
on the National Immigration Information System (NIIS) and the system did not
allow further extensions and if further extension were required, a request
would have to be submitted to Head Office. Most of the resources in the office
were used for extensions.
• There was a backlog of 3000 Manifestly Unfounded decisions to
be reviewed by Standing Committee on Refugee Affairs (SCRA) dating back to
2010.
• There was very limited office space and there was no space for
eight funded positions. The lease for office accommodation expired in September
2012.
• Refugee Identity Documents (ID) were taking more than three
months to be issued and the office had not received new Refugee ID applications
from October 2010 until shortly before the visit by the Portfolio Committee.
• The Magistrate Courts were not confirming the detention of
failed asylum seekers. Failed asylum seekers were released by the courts
because it was unconstitutional to detain a person for more than 48 hours.
• There was inadequate Administrative staff,
particularly in Registry, which was the engine room of the Office. There was
one person in Registry.
• The DHA had contracted a company called the Refugee Ministry
Centre to provide interpretation services and the services were very poor.
Interpreters were not qualified and sometimes they did not accurately interpret
what the applicant was saying.
• Shortage of staff – There were only six immigration officers at
the port while the South African Police Service had 1200 police officers and
the South African Revenue Services had 112 staff members.
• Lack of office accommodation – Immigration Officers had one
office at the
Bhambanana Service Point:
• There was a shortage of staff because the office dealt with
large numbers of clients.
• The office did not have a single vehicle.
• The area was closer to
Mtubatuba District Office:
• Late Registration of Births was increasing and duplicate cases
were a major problem.
UThungulu Regional Office:
• Fraudulent Births - People who wanted to access social grants would
buy immunization cards in order to register births.
• Late Registration of Births - Due to the shortage of
Immigration Officers, it was reported that cases took long to be resolved. Most
cases were from
• The school project was a problem when pupils were writing
examinations. Principals did not allow the DHA to disturb students. Some
schools did not have telephones and faxes. The Department would contact school
principals on their cell phones and on many occasions they would forget to
inform students about appointments with the department.
• Vacant and funded posts took time to be advertised.
• Permits processed by the Head Office were issued with incorrect
information and therefore delayed the clients.
• Deposit books were not returned to the office daily after the
banking had been done. G4 Security was responsible for collecting and banking
the money.
• There were uncollected IDs for over 16 months still filed at
the office. People did not come to fetch their IDs.
• The
EThekwini District Office:
• The office had a good relationship with the Metro. The Metro
had provided 18 interns to work with the DHA. The Metro provided the interns
with transport and stationery and paid their stipends.
• The public hospitals were connected to register births and the
department was busy ensuring that the private hospitals were also connected as
well.
• It was difficult to register births since some babies had not
been named. Mothers would wait until the father or a family member had named
the baby.
• Mothers sometimes did not carry their IDs when going to the
hospital, and were thus unable to register their babies.
• The office was not open for 24 hours during weekends and public
holidays; the registration of birth was not done when the office was closed.
• The office was far from the maternity ward.
7.2.1. Study Tour of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs
to the
The study tour to
During the trip, the
delegation interacted with:
•
His Excellency (HE) M Mpahlwa, the South African Ambassador to the
•
Hon. VV Lityushkin, Member of the Federation Council Committee for
Federal Structure, Regional Policies, Local Self-Government and North Affairs;
•
Hon. A Vorobyov, Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma;
•
Hon. V Nikolayevich,
Chairperson of the State Duma Committee for
Constitutional Legislation and State Construction;
•
Hon. AE Khinshtein, Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma Committee for Security and Countering Corruption;
•
Mr. K Olegovich,
Director of the Federal Migration Service;
•
Immigration experts
employed by the Federal Migration Service.
Objectives
The objectives of the
study tour to the
•
Learn how best to
integrate and attract highly skilled professionals into our country.
•
Focus on immigration
policy, particularly concerning asylum-seekers and border management.
•
Learn how
•
Broaden the global
perspective and insight of the legislators through conduct of an international
study tour in a country which shares many of the same challenges and
demographics as
Conclusions and
observations
Based on the interaction
between the delegation and the Russian authorities the following conclusions
and observations were made which
•
The
•
The Russian government
has developed mechanisms to enable migrants to integrate into the society, to
learn the Russian language and to respect the local culture and traditions. The
migrants should know and follow the laws of the
•
All immigrants have to
undergo a health examination in order to qualify for permits.
•
It is easier for refugees
to obtain Russian citizenship than many other countries. A year after their
refugee status had been recognised, foreign nationals and stateless people may
apply for Russian citizenship.
•
Foreigners who open small
shops in
•
The
–
Temporary accommodation
centres for asylum-seekers.
–
Being able to apply for
refugee status while outside the
–
Automatic provision of
travel document to be able to travel outside the country.
•
The Federal Migration
Service has regional branches which are empowered to make decisions on asylum
applications. They cooperate with the Border Guard of the Federal Service
including training of staff on issues relating to asylum processes and
procedures at the border.
•
There is a strong
collaboration between the Federal Migration Service and various migrant
communities including religious organisations to prevent conflict among
citizens from occurring. There is also an established cooperation between the
different national ministries, departments and NGOs on migration issues.
7.3 Budget Vote
Report
7.3.1 Budget Analysis
The DHA
received a total allocation of R5,3 billion in
2012/13. This was a 9.5% decrease in nominal terms from its 2011/12 budget.
This was compared to a decrease of 6.35 per cent in nominal terms in 2010/11
and an 8.6 per cent increase in nominal terms in the 2010/11 financial year.
When these nominal decreases were considered against the 5.9% projected
inflation for the year, the overall cuts to the budget of the DHA of 9.5%
(-R554 million) were closer to 15.4%.
In general government expenditure had increased by 8.8% and
the cut in DHA budget within the general public services budget group reflects
increased payment of state debt. In government as a whole the emphasis on
increased allocation was in favour of social services like education and
housing. (All changes in allocation shown were in nominal terms and changes
needed to be qualified by the projected inflation rate of 5.9%).
As a result of the reduced budget allocation; all programmes
within the DHA had a cut in expenditure in 2012/13. The biggest reduction was
for the Administration programme,
which was 11.8% or R223.8 million less than in 2011/12 in nominal terms,
largely due to a large once off capital investment for Transversal Information
Technology last year.
|
Programme |
Budget |
Nominal |
Real |
Nominal % change |
Real % change |
|||
|
R million |
2011/12 |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
2011/12-2012/13 |
2011/12-2012/13 |
||
|
1: Administration |
1 897.2 |
1 674.1 |
1 766.8 |
1 933.6 |
-
223.1 |
-
316.4 |
-11.76 |
-16.68 |
|
2: Citizen Affairs |
3 374.2 |
3 067.9 |
3 894.6 |
3 975.1 |
-
306.3 |
-
477.2 |
-9.08 |
-14.14 |
|
3: Immigration Affairs |
578.5 |
554.3 |
596.5 |
627.9 |
-
24.2 |
-
55.1 |
-4.18 |
-9.52 |
Citizen Affairs declined by 9% or R306.3 million from 2011/12 mostly due to
an 80% decrease in the Status Services sub-programme. This was a 14% decline in
real terms.
Immigration services received 4.2% less in 2012/13. This
R24.2 million reduction was mostly due to a halving of allocation to the Immigration Affairs Management sub-programme.
The only notable increases were under the Administration programme for corporate
services (+11.24% or R56 mil) and Office
Accommodation (+5.5% or R17 mil). Under the citizen services programme
services delivery to provinces received a R105 million increase (6.8%). The
majority of sub-programmes within DHA however, received smaller allocations in
2012/13 than in 2011/12.
Two of the three entities under DHA; the Government Printing Works (GPW) and Film and Publications Board (FPB) received an increase. This
was 6% (R3.9 mil) more for the FPB and 4.8% (R6.2 mil) more for GPW. The
decline in the Electoral Commission’s budget was due to it being a non-election
year.
7.3.2 Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure
Due
to the late submission of the Annual report and BRRR, the Committee will also
consider the adjusted estimates of national Expenditure tabled by National
Treasury.
The DHA
received a main appropriation of R5.296 billion, which had been adjusted
downwards by R52.4 million to R5.2 billion during the adjustment budget
process. The Department did not apply for any roll-overs during the adjustment
budget process. However, there were virements and shifts, declared savings as
well as other adjustments.
The
table below illustrates the changes in the allocation to different programmes
of the DHA.
|
Programme
R’000 |
Main
appropriation |
Unforeseeable/unavoidable |
Virements/ Shifts |
Declared
Savings |
Other
Adjustments |
Total
adjustments |
|
Administration |
1 674
107 |
- |
(
5 508) |
(100 000) |
3 923 |
1 572
522 |
|
Citizen
Affairs |
3 067
809 |
|
|
|
26 353
|
3 094
162 |
|
Immigration
Affairs |
554 353 |
15
000 |
5
508 |
- |
2
343 |
577 204 |
|
Total |
5 296
269 |
15
000 |
- |
(100 000) |
32
619 |
5 243
888 |
Unforeseeable
and unavoidable expenditure
The DHA
will receive an additional R15 million for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations under
the Immigration Affairs programme. This allocation will be spent under
sub-programme 2: Admission Services. Of the R15 million allocation; R5.3
million will be for the strengthening of law enforcement capacity to manage
illegal immigrants and to ensure a swift response to emergencies; R2.2 million
will be for the 24-hour operational centre providing support to airlines,
foreign missions, ports of entry, spectators and Confederation of African
Football (CAF) members; R7.4 million
will be for the facilitation of CAF staff and spectators through the
creation of dedicated lanes at airports and key land ports of entry.
Virements
and shifts
In
terms of virements and shifts, the following was observed:
Programme
1: Administration
·
An
amount of R5.5 million was defrayed from the goods and services budget under
Programme 1: Administration to the capital payments budget of Programme 3:
Immigration Affairs. The funds will be reprioritised for Information Technology
(IT) related contracts for the National Immigration Information Systems due to
the foreign exchange rate deterioration.
·
R12 million had been shifted from goods and
services in the Administration programme and reallocated to the capital
payments budget for the purchase of software and other intangible assets
related to the Information Systems Modernisation Project.
·
R4.75 million had been shifted from the goods
and services budget in the Administration programme and reallocated to the
capital payments budget for the purchase of machinery and equipment related to
the Information Systems Modernisation Project.
Other
adjustments
The DHA
had received an additional R32.6 million for higher personnel remuneration
increases. This amount was allocated between the three programmes as follows:
·
Programme
1: Administration, R3.9 million for compensation of employees.
·
Programme
2: Citizens Affairs, R19.96 million for compensation of employees and R6.39
million. for transfers and subsidies to departmental
agencies and accounts.
·
Programme
3: Immigration Affairs, R2.34 million for compensation of employees.
Preliminary
expenditure at 30 September 2012
The DHA
has spent an amount of R2.46 billion; this reflected 42.1 per cent of the main
appropriation and 47.0 per cent of the adjusted appropriation.
This
was lower than mid-year expenditure in 2011/12, by which time the Department
had spent 48.7 per cent of the adjusted appropriation. The reason for the
expenditure decrease compared to 2011/12 was due to a reduction in the number
of passports printed, as well as a decrease in the payment made in the
Information Systems Modernisation projects and in transfer payments to public
entities.
Mid-year
performance status
The DHA
had 10 performance indicators, as published in the 2012 Estimates of National
Expenditure (ENE). The performance at mid-year was as follows:
•
Percentage
of machine readable passports (manual process) issued within 24 days: Target
for 2012/13 was 651 577 and the Department has achieved 184 749,
which represented 28.4 per cent of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of machine readable passports (live capture process) issued within 13 days: Target
for 2012/13 was 434 385 and the Department had achieved 76 874, which represented
17.7 per cent of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of identity documents (first issue) issued in 54 days: Target for 2012/13 was
1 105 800 and the Department had achieved 526 615, which represented 47. 6
per cent of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of identity documents (second issue) issued in 47 days: Target for 2012/13 is
1 197 950 and the Department has achieved 437 759, which represents 36.5
per cent of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of births registered within 30 days of the birth event against an estimated 1.1
million births per year: Target for 2012/13 was 594 000 and the Department had
achieved 304 466, which represented 51.3 per cent of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of permanent residence permits issued within 8 months: Target for 2012/13 was
2 500 and the Department has achieved 186, which represents 7.4 per cent
of the target for the year.
•
Percentage
of temporary residence permits (work, business and corporate) issued 8 week: Target
for 2012/13 was 109 600 and the Department had achieved 7 303, which represented
6.7 per cent of the target for the year.
•
Number
of permanent and temporary residence permits issued per year: Target for
2012/13 was 190 000 and the Department has achieved 38 301, which
represented 20.2 per cent of the target for the year.
•
Number
of arrivals and departures cleared per year: Target for 2012/13 was 31 200
000 and the Department has recorded 17 505 194, which represented 56.1 per
cent of the target for the year.
•
Number
of illegal foreigners deported per year: Target for 2012/13 was 75 000 and
information on the actual performance achieved was not available.
As
in the annual report for 2011/12, the Department had only achieved more than 50
per cent of its targets for a few indicators (two) which were: Percentage of
births registered within 30 days of the birth event against an estimated 1.1
million births per year and number of arrivals and departures cleared per year.
Given the mid-year trend there was a valid reason for concern that the DHA may
again not achieve many of its targets in the 2012/13 Annual report.
8. COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS
The following observations were consolidated
from the various sources included in the report and from the discussions of the
Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the Budget Review and Recommendation
Report. Recommendations are according to the four programmes in the
2010/11-13/14 strategic plan of the DHA:
8.1 Administration
•
A continued
focus on the look and feel of both front and back offices was needed to ensure
that employee morale and service delivery was improved.
•
There was a
shortage of adequate vehicles at border and other offices.
•
The objective
to achieve a clean audit requires that a large number of systems and controls
(governance, management and operational) were in place. Similarly, performance
management required systems as well as a change in values and behaviour by
staff and managers.
•
There was
concern of continued under spending by the DHA in the first three quarters on the budgets allocated to it.
•
There was a need to
prioritise the filling and funding of all critical vacant posts by 2012/13. The
Department must forthwith report its staffing requirements, including unfunded
vacancies, and must report its vacancy rate taking these unfunded vacancies
into account.
•
The committee observed
focus on improving provision of transport in all of its offices and the ports
of entry. Measures such as roving or pooled vehicles as well as dedicated
deportation officials could be considered.
•
There was a need to implement a
maintenance solution to ensure that all mobile units and their communication
systems in particular, were working properly particularly so as to
effectively service rural areas during
the 2011/12 financial year,
•
Online verification of identity
including the biometrics of taking and recording of fingerprints need to be
rolled out to all the Home Affairs offices countrywide by end of 2011/12
financial year.
8.2 Citizens Services
• Although the issue of duplicate cases was
raised in the BRRR of 2011 and the department had made an effort to resolve
this difficult challenge, there was still an outcry in the communities.
• The department had committed to implement
the Smart ID Card, but the concern of the Committee was the implementation of
the Live Capture in all the offices.
• The Stakeholder Forums had not been
implemented in all the local municipalities.
• The department was unable to reach the
government target of employing 2% of persons with disabilities.
• The Provincial Managers of Mpumalanga,
• The department had not filled all priority
posts it identified. The committee felt that effective delivery should not be
hampered by sticking rigidly to equity targets.
8.3 Immigration Services
• The Committee felt that the R110 million
allocated to DHA through the Department of Public Works was not enough for
infrastructure.
• The landing card should be expedited. The
country should know the whereabouts of foreigners in
• The Enhanced Movement Control system had
not been implemented in all ports of entry.
• The Refugees and Immigration Amendment
Bills were completed in 2011 and the department had not developed the
regulations to implement the Bills.
• The department did not have a refugee
charter, which will spell out the responsibility of an asylum seeker and not
only rely on the treaties that the government had signed.
8.4 Entities
The following table is a summary of the findings
of the Auditor General for the entities under the Home Affairs Portfolio.
|
Audit opinions |
08-09 |
09-10 |
10-11 |
11-12 |
|
Independent Electoral Commission |
unqualified |
qualified |
unqualified |
unqualified |
|
Government Printing Works |
qualified |
unqualified |
unqualified |
unqualified |
|
Film and Publication board |
unqualified |
unqualified |
unqualified |
unqualified |
|
Qualification areas |
|
|
|
|
|
·
Independent Electoral Commission -
Administration Expenditure -
Commitments |
|
X |
|
|
|
·
Government Printing Works -
Inventory -
Liabilities (unallocated deposits) |
X |
|
|
|
|
Other matters |
|
|
|
|
|
·
Predetermined
objectives |
|
|
|
|
|
Independent Electoral Commission |
X |
X |
X |
|
|
Government Printing Works |
|
X |
X |
|
|
Film and Publication board |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
·
Compliance
with laws and regulations |
|
|
|
|
|
DHA |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Independent Electoral Commission |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Government Printing Works |
|
X |
X |
X |
|
Film and Publication board |
X |
X |
X |
X |
What can be seen was that that apart from two
exceptions in the last four years, all the entities in the Home Affairs
Portfolio were competent at receiving an Unqualified Audit opinion. What was
also clear, however, was that there were significant and lingering concerns
around predetermined objectives and compliance with laws and regulations.
Relating to Supply Chain Management (SCM) the AG specifically recommended to
the Electoral Commission Management that it should ensure that requests for
quotations above R30 000 should include evaluation criteria as required by the
relevant regulations. The accounting officer must also exercise all reasonable
care to prevent and detect irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and
must for this purpose implement effective, efficient and transparent processes
of financial and risk management.
To the FPB the AG recommended that for SCM it be
given a thorough review of processing of invoices and related payments done by
appropriate senior management personnel. The AG also recommended that changes
in legislation and policies were communicated to all staff members on a regular
basis; and that compliance to them was monitored prior to purchasing goods and
services from suppliers.
To the GPW, the AG recommended that internal
audit should be fully capacitated so as to be able to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of
controls. The settling of payments within 30 days by the GPW should be
emphasized to all employees and adequate internal controls should be designed
and implemented by management. Lastly the risk assessment process should be
performed on a regular basis to identify emerging risk.
9. CONCLUSION
After making significant progress in its 2010/11
financial reporting, the DHA had unfortunately reverted back to receiving a
qualified and late tabled audit report in 2011/12 with more than double the
amount of matters raised by the Auditor General the year before.
Performance against predetermined
strategic targets had also not improved on previous years and continues into
mid-2012 with more than half of all targets set, not fully achieved. The Department
had affirmed that its goal was a clean audit which was even more demanding than
an unqualified audit.
It was expected that despite these setbacks, the
continued efforts of the DHA to improve on its service delivery particularly on
immigration services will move forward.
The continued improvements by the entities under
the DHA were commendable and their striving towards clean audits was
encouraged.
10. RECOMMENDATIONS
Of the issues observed by the
committee during the year under review the following were of particular concern
and were recommended for prioritisation by the Minister of Home Affairs in the
future planning and budget allocations:
10.1. Ensure that the Information
Technology systems integration projects of the DHA were finalised and
implemented.
10.2. Ensure that the Smart ID Card was
rolled out during the 2012/13 financial year. Live Capture should
be rolled out
to all offices of the department in order to implement the roll out of the
Smart ID Card.
10.3. Ensure that all priority posts
were filled before the end of the 2012/13 financial year.
10.4. Ensure that the internal audit
and compliance monitoring capacity and training of both the
department and its
entities were prioritised.
10.5. Urgently improve strategic
planning and monitoring of performance to be reliable, realistic and
measureable.
10.6. Consider methods for the
better control and monitoring of migrants within the country, both for
improved services delivery and security as
immigration policy was revised. The use
of biometrics
and an especially digital fingerprint
record was a critical tool in this area.
10.7. Improve on human resource
development and training to ensure that new regulations and
accounting systems
were uniformly implemented. This applied in particular to the new accounting
policy and
procedures to be implemented in missions for the collections of fees on behalf
of DHA by
DIRCO.
10.8. The Minister of Home Affairs
should report back in six months on progress made on the
abovementioned
recommendations.
Report to be considered