Comments by Director-General Mkuseli Apleni
The Department of Home Affairs, in November 2010, in line with the mandate from Minister Dlamini Zuma, undertook a process to completely transform and stabilise the issuance of permits to foreign nationals, which included the process to document Zimbabwean nationals. Measures were taken to clear the backlog that had accumulated over the past years in the forty-three (43) regional offices across the country.
The Department of Home Affairs can today Wednesday, 30 March 2011, announce that measures to clear backlogs relating to permit applications have been successful. This is in line with the department’s commitment to ensuring these backlogs were resolved by the end of current financial year, Thursday 31 March 2011.
Applications received up until the end of January 2011 have therefore been adjudicated and permits have been dispatched to the various regional offices. Applications made in February and March this year are currently being processed, the outcomes of which will be communicated to applicants in due course.
As part of this process, the adjudication of permits was centralised and is now done at a Central Hub in Pretoria. It was necessary to centralise the adjudication of permits so that the department could assume full control of the process while increasing its efficiency, effectiveness and accountability. The possibility for bribery and corruption in the process has therefore been significantly reduced.
This comes within the context of the department’s commitment to ensuring that foreign nationals who add value to South Africa are able to receive the relevant permits expeditiously while those undesirable elements who want to exploit our country and its people are prevented from doing so.
Centralisation of adjudications and the eradication of the backlog
After consolidating all applications from the regional offices, the backlog of permits stood at approximately 53 000. This included the backlog that had accumulated prior to November 2010 as well as new applications received up to the end of January 2011.
Today we are pleased to announce that this backlog has been resolved – all applications for permanent and temporary residence in South Africa have been adjudicated and permits dispatched to offices of application.
Permanent residence permits are issued to foreign nationals who have met the requirements to reside permanently in South Africa, while temporary residence permits are issued to foreign nationals who intend to reside in the country for a maximum period of five years. More information including the categories and requirements can be accessed on http://www.dha.gov.za.
With the establishment of a centralised adjudication hub based at Head Office, the following measures were implemented to resolve the backlog:
- The creation of a Backlog Adjudication Hub which deals with the adjudication of backlog files.
- The creation of a day-to-day Adjudication Hub for the adjudication of daily/current new applications.
- The creation of a Despatch and Postal Receipts Hub for the despatch and receipt of applications from and to regional offices which included a technological site for capturing of applications on the Movement Control System and the Track and trace system.
- A 48-hour Hub for the finalisation of urgent applications especially the renewal or extension of permits. This has been converted to a second line support for the resolution of queries or enquiries referred to the customer service centre (call centre) which has improved communication with the clients and enabled officials to concentrate on adjudication of applications. This has also been supported by the uploading of information regarding permitting requirements on the department’s website.
- The enhancement of the Large Account Unit which is dedicated to processing applications of large corporate institutions. This unit currently services 72 corporate institutions.
- The centralisation of adjudications has been supported by additional human resources and IT capacity. The use of effective and efficient project and operations management methods also contributed positively to the resolution of the backlog.
In addition, as part of the governance model the department appointed, in the 20 offices with the highest volumes of applications, two existing staff members to act as Permit Quality Inspectors while in other offices, one official was appointed. These officers served as nodal points for all enquiries relating to permits including compliance and adherence to quality standards, in addition to reporting to the central hub at Head office on a daily basis.
Following the centralisation of permitting, the following is a breakdown of the permits adjudicated:
| Adjudicated | Approved | Rejected | Special Cases | |
| Permanent Residence Permits | 6535 | 4601 | 1934 | 3302 |
| Temporary Residence Permits | 70216 | 64589 | 5627 |
Let me explain the last category, these are applications that require review including further consultation with the client.
Although all permits for applications up the end of January 2011 have been dispatched to the respective offices, applicants must allow a grace period of 14 working days (20 April 2011) from the end of March before they lodge enquiries with the contact centre. This includes time for the courier service and other administrative functions to be concluded.
Applicants will be notified through sms generated through Track and Trace informing them of the outcome of their application. Those in the category of special cases will be contacted by an official from the Customer Service Centre (Call Centre).
Only applicants who have not received communication from the department as indicated above, in the next 14 days, should contact the Department’s Customer Service Centre on 0800 601190. We should however emphasise that applications for documents from Zimbabwean nationals are still being finalised and therefore not included amongst those in the backlog that has now been cleared.
Documentation of Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa
Meanwhile the department, on 31 December 2010 brought to a close the process of receiving applications from undocumented Zimbabwean nationals who were applying to have their stay in the country regularised. The department has, in consultation with the Zimbabwean government agreed to finalise this process by 31 July 2011.
We have to date finalised the sorting of documents according to the following classifications:
| Applicants who already applied for Zimbabwean passports | 28 044 |
| Applicants who have applied using other Zimbabwean identification: Birth Certificates, Drivers Licenses or expired Zimbabwean passports | 15 066 |
| Applicants who applied with no supporting documents | 17 596 |
| Applications requiring fingerprints for completion | 56 254 |
| Total applications with applications with outstanding information | 116 960 |
We are also pleased to report that the department has, to date crossed a major milestone in our adjudication framework by finalising one hundred and nineteen thousand and nine (119 009) applications from Zimbabwean nationals. A further one hundred and fifty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty three (156 753) applications remain to be adjudicated for which the department requires fifty three (53) working days to complete the adjudication at the rate ofthree thousand (3 000) adjudications per day.
A system of text messaging will be implemented from the 4 April 2011 to the following applicants:
- Applicants who need to take fingerprints at the office of applications.
- Applicants still requiring passports from the Zimbabwean Consulate.
- Applicants who need to submit supporting documents for each of the three types of permits (business, study and work).
We are currently in the process of validating and finally confirming amnesty applications which amount to 6 243.
We therefore take this opportunity to notify Zimbabwean nationals that since their applications fall within a special project and are therefore not included in the above, they should allow the department to finalise their applications by the end of July 2011 as agreed with the Zimbabwean government. We also appeal to nationals to respond timeously to sms requests to provide further information to enable the Department to finalise their applications.
Questions and answers:
Question: DG, there has been a public outcry regarding the tariff increases of IDs and passports. Why did you decide to implement these without consultation? The increases have been described as reckless – will you continue with these increases?
Answer: I think we have explained this issue. I think that as the department we have followed a process which has not been reckless.
Let’s look at the issue of the passport – which has increased from R190 to R400 – you will recall this the British government imposed visas on South Africa because our passports could be copied by anybody so for the benefit of this country, we had to come up with a passport that wills ecure the citizens of this country. It has to be enhanced with security features. For instance the passport is printed on polycarbon paper which cannot be copied or reproduced. This was done so the passport could be secure and our people could travel freely to any part of the world.
We also compared the prices of passports in the region – those in Botswana cost about R750 as do those in Zimbabwe. We even went further afield to the more developed countries. After this research we found that South Africa produces the cheapest passports.
We need to accept that people who are able to travel outside of this country are surely not amongst the poorest of the poor. But there is a provision that if there is a person in that category you can apply for a temporary passport.
So in our view this was not reckless, it has been costed and we also have our reasons for implementing this decision. Once we introduced this passport, we want to continue discussions with other countries re: visa waivers so that citizens can travel abroad without paying for visas. This can only be done if our passports are secure and reliable.
You will recall that we introduced the Movement Control System before the 2010 FIFA World Cup which read all manner of travel documents including those made of paper. We at that time asked countries to ensure their passports were machine readable so we could link with other databases around the world. We cannot ask countries to do this without doing it ourselves.
So I think if we begin to look at this matter broadly, I reiterate we were not reckless as these measures were taken to ensure we secure our country and its people.
On the issue of IDs, it is the constitutional right for every South African to have an ID document this is why the first issue is free of charge. We do not charge South Africans to issue their IDs the first time. What we are talking about here is the re-issues, I think it is important to understand the circumstances under which people were applying for re-issues. People were coming to us saying that they needed a new ID because their photos needed to be changed, are you saying the State must carry this cost.
We were also informed by a member of the public that some South Africans borrow money from loan sharks – one of the requirements for which is that they leave their IDs with them. These people then come to ask to apply for new IDs so they could access other services. Should the State carry the cost for this – I can go on and on.
I am here in Gauteng – when I travel to the Eastern Cape and need to go to the bank, I go to the Department for a temporary ID which is issued immediately. When you return to Gauteng do you go to collect your ID – no!
We are on record before the voter registration weekends saying we had more than 500 000 uncollected IDs in our offices. We said the majority of these were reissues because people come to get reissues for some of the reasons indicated above.
There is also the instance where people say their names have been incorrectly spelt or they would like three names listed on their documents. We have tried to resolve this by producing an application form that is in triplicate. So, when you apply you will fill in this form and you will be given a copy. If in the event your ID is not produced correctly, you can come to us with this document and we will correct it at no cost to yourself. This is also to ensure that clients do not carry the costs when the department has made a mistake.
There is also the instance of marriage – this is a normal part of life – therefore, we will not charge you when you come to us asking for a new ID because you have now been married and want to take the surname of your spouse – this will be based on a natural need.
In the event that there is a massive natural disaster like a flood then the Minister has the prerogative to waive the costs related to the second issue of an ID because of the circumstances.
We must look at the issue of bank cards, when you lose your card you go to the bank for a new one. They may not declare up front the costs related to the new card but you will see it reflected on your statement. Bank cards are not re-issued for free.
We are saying as government we must give people IDs are part of their constitutional right but once you want to make changes, as the State we are able to say it costs R140 to produce an ID.
Question: DG, could you kindly explain what you mean about the finalization of amnesty related to the Zimbabwean Documentation Process? Are the numbers of those with outstanding requirements included in the 275 762 applications you have received from Zimbabwean nationals?
Answer: You will recall that we had said that the issue of granting amnesty to Zimbabwean nationals was not a simple process. Some people had acquired bonds, firearms, loans – we asked for those requiring amnesty to submit their applications to us. We then said we would have to travel a road to deal with this issue together with the relevant institutions. In fact the Minister had a meeting earlier this year with representatives of the Financial Services Institutions and the Deeds Office. We are working on resolving this. We are beginning to say we have an understanding of what needs to be done to resolve this matter. We will now begin calling people in so that we can finalised this matter.
Yes, the figure is included in the 275 762.
Question: DG, it seems you still have a severe backlog in permit applications – when can we expect that this will be resolved?
Answer: I think we have cleared the backlog – there is no backlog in the Department.We have cleared it from January 2011 backwards. According to us all applications in the offices have been cleared. Some people may say their permits have not been dealt with. This is why we are asking people to wait for 14 days before they begin to call us. Perhaps this permit fell through a crack and we had never received the application. However, we do not have this backlog any more.
Question: DG, you have said the backlog has been cleared – what mechanisms are you putting in place to ensure this does not happen again? Are you attributing the backlog to the decentralisation of this process?
Answer: Prior to November 2010 there was no Track and Trace – we therefore we not as Head Office were not able to account for permits. We therefore said that one of the first things we needed to do was to implement a Track and Trace system in each of the regional offices. The second thing we did was to appoint inspectors in the offices who are able to say how many applications were received, and that they had been put on Track and Trace. XPS is delivering our permits.
We felt they could not be based outside the office and we therefore created a receiving and dispatch unit.We are now able to know how many applications have been received and adjudicated. We can now manage this process. We are saying that through the centralisation of permits we will never again have a backlog because we are managing this issue – we know where it begins and where it ends. So, we are saying this has taken the department to a new level of service delivery.
Question: DG, you mentioned an alternative on the passports for those who cannot afford the R400 – what is the alternative for the poorest of the poor or the unemployed with regard to IDs? There is a huge public outcry on this issue? What is there alternative?
Answer: Firstly, we are saying to the poorest of the poor – keep your IDs safe. Take care of your IDs. Safeguard your documents. It doesn’t mean that you must abuse your ID or not look after it because you are poor. You must safeguard your document. If you look after it you will not be in a position to have it reissued at a cost of R140.
You must remember that it is also our intention to move towards a smart card. This is why we need to begin educating South Africans because it is going to be very expensive to produce although we will issue the first one to South Africans for free. If people do not learn to look after their IDs it is going to be very difficult with the smart card. People must look after it like an asset. The first issue is free of charge.We will not charge the poorest of the poor to issue an ID. However, if a tragedy strikes that community or individual, there is a process that enables the cost to be waived.
You will also remember that earlier this month when we talked of the Gijima settlement we said it needed to be done to amongst others, pave the way for the production of a smart card.
With regard to the timeframes of the production of smart cards – we must get our live capture processes correct first. As long as you have officials taking photos and pasting them into documents, we cannot move towards the smart card.We want to have piloted the smart card by the end of 2011/12. We want to begin the roll out in 2012/13. This is our intention.
Question: DG, have the new South African passports been copied?
Answer: I have said that I cannot confirm we will ever eliminate fraud completely, people will always try. But as far as I know, the passports have not been copied.
Question: DG, can you confirm that the turnaround time for TRP is four weeks and that for PRP is six months have these been adjusted?
Answer: The turnaround times have not been changed. We are still trying to making sure we can deliver these permits within the allotted timeframes. We do not want to create expectations we cannot deliver on.
