on the support intervention in the Department of Home Affairs
8 March 2007
As members of the media will recall, following my Budget Vote speech on 30
May last year, I requested the support of the of the Department of Public
Service and Administration (DPSA) and the intervention of National Treasury
after discovering the challenges that the Department was faced with.
More than a decade after the advent of democracy the Department is still
faced with service delivery challenges that have continued to mar the image of
the Department in delivery of services to its clients.
A Support Intervention Team, comprising the Office of the Public Service
Commission, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the
Accountant General, together with the Department of Home Affairs, embarked on a
collaborative effort to address the issues raised by myself and the Portfolio
Committee on Home Affairs. The Team entered the Department in July 2006 for a
period of six month to provide assistance with particular emphasis on quick fix
assignments aimed towards improving service delivery in identified areas and
dealing with specific challenges.
I am pleased to share with you today that the Team has completed its work in
the Department. The report does not pretend to be a panacea for the Department
of Home Affairs. It puts forward a case that exposes the challenges faced and
suggests that these challenges are not insurmountable. In so doing, it makes a
strong case for the way in which issues can be tackled in taking the Department
forward.
The Support Intervention focused on five areas that needed to be
strengthened. These focus areas and their specific objectives were as
follows:
* Leadership and management: To establish a stronger and cohesive management
team.
* Human Resources: To provide focused support to particular human resources
management issues.
* Information and Communication Technology: To provide support in Information
and Communication Management matters.
* Service delivery: To strengthen service delivery improvement
initiatives.
* Financial Management: To improve financial management and internal
controls.
In dealing with the abovementioned focus areas, serious gaps in the
management and functioning of the Department that are hindering the
implementation of service delivery improvement initiatives were identified as
follows:
* Lack of common understanding at all levels in the Department about how
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will serve as an enabler for
organisational improvement and process innovation.
* The management of human resources is furthermore one of the weakest links
within the Department.
* Senior managers tend to work at a very operational level and lack a coherent
and strategic approach to human resources management in the Department.
* The current organisational structure does not enable the Department to
deliver on its core responsibilities.
* Detailed Transformation Framework for Civic Services finalised
* The National Immigration Branch needs to develop a comprehensive programme
for implementing the Immigration Act.
* Lack of rigorous monitoring and evaluation system that provides sound
management information for decision-making.
* A range of 'quick win' initiatives was undertaken during the six-month period
to strengthen the Department in each of the five areas:
* review of the appointment of senior managers
* conducting competency assessments of senior managers
* alignment of senior managers' performance agreements with the business plan
of the Department
* internal training on Batho Pele and Code of Conduct
* the tendering process to appoint an external service provider to assist the
Department to conduct the headcount is underway
* the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) has begun
the tendering process to appoint a service provider to assist the Department
with the conducting of the skills audit
* identification, advertising and filling of Immigration Officer posts to
improve service delivery at our ports of entry
* eradicating of backlogs in the processing of applications for permits for
permanent residence and intra-company transfers
* all jobs in the Immigration Officer cadre were evaluated and migration plan
was implemented
* the South African Qualification Authority has also approved a set of
specialist qualifications for the Immigration Officer cadre
* the Intervention Team's involvement played a pivotal role in averting the
Immigration Officers' strike that could have caused a debilitating national
crisis.
Although serious concerns have been raised about the current leadership and
management capability of the Department following the competency assessments of
senior managers, the report recognises that managers have, since the beginning
of the support intervention developed a better understanding of the strategic
and operational challenges facing the Department.
Furthermore, the level of reporting by managers on programme performance has
improved with the introduction of a process of regular quarterly reviews of the
performance of the Department against the annual strategic and business plans.
Strategic planning already commenced in November last year, which should assist
the Department in proactively developing strategies and plans to deal with
service delivery challenges and to improve organisational performance at all
levels. The signing of performance agreements and financial disclosure forms by
all senior managers for the present financial year also points to an
improvement of a culture of compliance.
The support intervention team made a number of recommendations in its
report. I will be discussing this report, including the recommendations with my
Top Management Team, as well as the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. This
consultation process will result in the development of an Implementation Plan.
This Implementation Plan will focus on service outcomes for the benefit of
citizens of the country, not only for compliance sake.
We have also received the Preliminary report on Financial Management and
Internal control system, and we will make the necessary pronouncement after the
process has been finalised.
I would like to thank the Ministers of Public Service and Administration and
Finance for their support during the intervention, as well as Professor
Sangweni of the Public Service Commission for availing his Director-General, Ms
Odette Ramsingh to support my Department. The support intervention would also
not have been successful without the assistance, hard work and dedication
displayed by Home Affairs officials during the past six months. I believe that
the Department has the determination to take this process forward, in ensuring
that it fulfils its vision statement of 'Rendering a World-class Service.'
For enquiries contact:
Cleo Mosana
Media Liaison Officer
Cell: 082 902 8796
Issued by: Ministry of Home Affairs
8 March 2007
