Welcome colleagues. We are very pleased to have you with us this morning. We want to communicate what the department has been doing. We yesterday briefed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the 2009/10 annual report.
We are really pleased with the progress the department has achieved. You will recall that there was an administrative change during the 2009/10 financial year and minister's came into office when the financial planning and strategic plans for the department had already been done. So when the Minister of Home Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma assumed her portfolio she gave us three key strategic priorities to deal with.
The first one was really to ensure the integrity and security of our National Population Register (NPR) and also to ensure we fulfilled our 2010 FIFA World Cup guarantees.
In addition, she asked us to build on the achievements of the turnaround strategy in terms of improved service delivery. So, we really focused on these issues. There have really been some registered successes although we have not achieved a 100% success rate on other issues.
Regarding the transformation issues, you know the department has been severely criticised in terms of service delivery and the Department of Home Affairs is serious about people so as a department we must ensure people receive the services they deserve.
To do that we really in the year ensured improvements in the delivery and security of key services were extended with the launch of the state of the art passport system.
We really extended the track and trace system and SMS alert system for birth, marriage and death certificates. So when people come to our offices to apply they receive an SMS within three days to say their application has been received within the department and once that process has been concluded, they are also informed that their documents are ready for collection. This really brings some comfort to the people.
We also use live verification for passports and identity documents. The process has greatly speeded up security. We have improved security on key documents that is birth certificates. And then there have been ongoing improvements in processes related to asylum seekers and refugees.
We launched a Back-to-Basics campaign to strengthen financial management within the department. We also strengthened the organisational design which was made more effective by moving from a zonal to a provincial design. We have really pushed these issues to ensure the department is working efficiently and effectively.
We also have challenges about which we will be very open. We believe that once we have identified our challenges we will be able to put processes in place to rectify that but if we are not able to clearly articulate what challenges face the department, we must forget about turning the department around.
So, what we really see as the main challenges is mainly the uneven quality of front office service delivery and staff attitudes remain a serious challenge. The ability for people to access services in the rural areas is also be big challenge.
Colleagues, in this regard, I was yesterday part of the president's meeting with Directors-General, you would have seen this item in the media last night and this morning, to say how can we change the government in terms of how it works.
We are clear in terms of policies and resources, yes, we may have some areas where we are weaker but even with the resources we have, we are not able to adequately use them. This is therefore a very major issue for us.
The other issue with which we are faced is the information technology (IT) infrastructure. We say Home Affairs is about records; your birth, marriage, ID or death certificates, all these records must be maintained for each of our citizens. Therefore it is a problem if our IT environment is not able to deal with this.
There is also the issue of fraud and corruption, but what we are saying is that as a department we have moved some miles in dealing with this although we are not saying we have eradicated this completely.
There are some signs which show that the department is moving in the right direction and what is important is that we have realised we cannot do it alone.We are working jointly with other agencies including the police, the Hawks; you can understand how we were able to make arrests like we have reported during the year. We have clearly made this a priority.
On the issue of capacity, but we saying, linking with point number one, that although there may be capacity constraints, if the one or two officials who are in the department can function effectively and to the best of their ability, we will be able to manage for now.
As you know in the 2009/10 year we have really engaged in the processes of amending policies and legislation relating to civics and immigration because we have found that prior to this, we need to amend these in line with challenges we currently face.
The department is also faced with some contractual disputes and matters of litigation. When we deal with the finance part you will see why we have contingencies in place.
The other important matter is around the financial management of the department. You will recall that when the Minister took over the department, we had faced several disclaimers in previous annual reports.
The minister committed to saying we need to change the situation because if we have financial mismanagement issues, it would be difficult to convince the public we are able to deliver on our mandate. She committed to having a clean audit within two years.
Based on the reports we have, we are saying the department is really in the right direction in the sense that in the 2008/09 financial year, the department received a qualified audit around four issues: revenue, payables, leases and assets.
Based on processes we have now put in place with the support of the minister, we have in 2009/10 received only one matter of qualification which shows a significant improvement since the previous year and this is about assets of the department.
This really paves the way for the Department to really achieve the commitments made by the minister. We are really optimistic that we will receive an unqualified audit in 2010/11, the first since 1995.
Overall, we are saying the department has performed very well in terms of its mandate. We will work on the financial management issues but mostly what we are saying is that we need to care about the people we are serving.
Questions
Question: Director-General, you talked about one of the key tasks given to you by the minister, one of which was to work on securing the National Population Register. How far is this process? I understand you will also be visiting rural areas to ensure all South Africans are documented to ensure people have all the proper documents.
Answer: Really the issue of the NPR is a serious matter in the department because we say it is not a matter of people receiving IDs and birth certificates. A secure population register will allow the country to plan properly for its citizens. It is really to know who is in the country, in what demographic, with what needs. This will enable us to plan for education, social grants, housing etc. We will also be able to deal with crime more effectively. The issue of the NPR is a very serious issue in any government.
The minister took a decision that by the 31 December 2010 everyone who is at the age of 16 must be registered and receives an ID document. We then said we will approach this by asking, do we know how many people do not receive these documents, hence the strategy from the minister was to say let us create stakeholder fora because these are made up of people who are close to the communities. These people can assist us in telling us who has a document and who hasn't. This has progressed well. We have established a lot of these fora.
We began this process in February and was launched by the president in March this year. We have moved through the length and breadth of South Africa. We are really happy with the progress we have made. The numbers are showing the progress we have made in terms of the IDs we have issued and we are really confident that come 31 December 2010, we will be able to cover everyone.
However, with the assistance of stakeholders who can come to the department and say there are still pockets here and there, we will be able to sort this out in this financial year. What is important is that we are saying with the amendment that people must take this opportunity because we will be implementing strict measures for people who are not documented.
As a department we have now connected about 127 hospitals to ensure people do not leave hospitals before their children have been documented. We are really happy with this process and we think that we are seeing results in terms of people's understanding of the need for them to be in the NPR.
Question: Director-Deneral, regarding the announcement on the amnesty to Zimbabwean nationals; how is this process going? Are you recording on a daily basis how many people are coming to your offices to apply for documents and the amnesty?Are you hopeful you will meet the deadline?
Answer: We are managing this on a daily basis.Given the statistics, we have been able to receive, up to the 8th October 2010, 18 454 applications for Zimbabwean nationals to be documented. However, we have noticed a concentration of applicants in Pretoria and Johannesburg. This is where we are getting high volumes of applicants.
We are on record that we are not going to extend this process beyond the 31 December 2010 but what is important is how we are managing this to ensure people are not left out. This is why we are receiving daily statistics.
There is one important statistic for us – how many people were in our offices and returned on that particular day. If that number is growing then this is telling us that people are returning without receiving services. Surely the deadline, which comes from the government, to ensure Zimbabweans are documented. So surely if the number of Zimbabweans who have not been helped by 31 December 2010 is huge, it remains the responsibility of this government to ensure we fulfil our mandate. What we are not going to do is extend that date because people have not thought it important to respond to that call.
However, we are really pleased that so many have been heeding the call to be documented. We are visiting offices in various regions; we have noticed that the main reason for huge volumes of people in offices is that people are queuing for the forms to apply.
We have therefore instructed that people must receive the forms in advance of them coming to apply. Then we just have to take their fingerprints. We are not after all, adjudicating at the regional offices. This is happening in Gauteng. We will see how this proceeds in this week to see how this is proceeding and whether numbers are improving. We will be conducting visits again next week.
Question: Director-General, how many undocumented Zimbabwean nationals are you expecting to come and apply?
Answer: As you are aware, and we have again put this on record, that we do not know the numbers so we do not want to pretend we know. But when we are looking at the numbers, and if we divide this on a daily basis according to the applications we are receiving; it amounts to about 9 000. Although the media suggests there are about a million
Zimbabweans in South Africa, this is not what the applications are suggesting.
We have committed that more resources will be devoted to this process should we see large volumes of applicants. We have begun to do this. We are really monitoring this on a daily basis. We are doing this together with Zimbabwean coordinators who are in South Africa.
Question: Director-General, in terms of court cases, one of the issues you dealt with was that relating to Gijima AST. What is happening with this?
Answer: I'm sure you would have seen this matter is still under investigation in our report. This matter is really one of national interest and with this realisation, the Ministers of Home Affairs and Finance were mandated by Cabinet to deal with this matter. So negotiations are in progress but I cannot mention the nature of these negotiations although I can say we look forward to bringing this matter to a conclusion.
Question: Director-General, when government first announced the decision to end the special dispensation we were told that the Zimbabwean government would work together with the department to assist Zimbabweans in other parts of the country. This has not happened. There is a current state of crisis in Zimbabwe. When will the Zimbabwean government begin this process?
Answer: I think we are really dealing with this matter together with the Zimbabwean government which is why the minister met with both her Zimbabwean counterparts. We made a commitment at that time, to which we remain committed, stressing that we return the dignity to Zimbabwean nationals in our country. We will therefore do what we can to ensure this.
This depends on Zimbabwean nationals receiving passports from their government. We therefore agreed with the Zimbabwean government that they would process passport applications through their offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
However, should they have a problem with processing these applications, they would come to us for support and would utilise space in our offices to collect information they would need. The Consular-General in Johannesburg sits in our meetings and he will ask us to assist should the need arise.
We are committed to this although we are still awaiting the request for assistance from the Zimbabwean government. We will have a desk where people can submit their information. The passports will still be processed in Harare. We met last Friday and we said we will monitor things this week to see how they are proceeding and we will meet again next week.
Question: Director-General, about 14 days ago, 14 Malawian nationals were found with fraudulent papers and taken to Pollsmoor prison where they are still being held although they were driven to Lindela and returned to the prison. Why are deportees being held at Pollsmoor prison?
Answer: I think we understand that we have an immigration act that governs the way in which we deal with illegal immigrants. Lindela is the only deportation centre in the country. We do not have deportation facilities across the country so what do we do if we have illegal immigrants around the country, they must be kept in a secure facility until they can be deported. I do not think we are using Pollsmoor prison as a deportation centre. I am sure it is merely a holding area from where they will be moved to Lindela.
Question: Director-General, are ward councillors able to work with the department to launch raids on illegal immigrants in the communities?
Answer: It is only the Department of Home Affairs, through its immigration officers who are mandated to deal with issues of deportation. No other person can do this.
You will remember that we say this is the government of the people for the people. This is why we have established stakeholder fora, police fora and community fora. Should people not be comfortable with things in their communities, they are able to seek assistance from these fora. This is their right.
We want to promote this as a government on any issue, service delivery, crime or others. They must not take the law into their own hands but rather to ask for assistance from the relevant authorities. So councillors are able to ask the Department of Home Affairs to intervene should they notice a problem.
Question: Director-General, are you saying the Zimbabweans must go to Johannesburg to get their passports?
Answer: What we are saying is that we will assist the Zimbabwean government with office space should they identify their needs. We have not yet received this request from that government. We will also review the matter next week.
Question: Director-General, can you give us an indication of how many fraudulent South African documents you have received in this process of documentation? The Minister yesterday said that some of these people had now acquired assets using fraudulent South African documents. How do you plan to deal with this?
Answer: We have received 465 fraudulent documents that have been returned.
I think we need to understand this process of the amnesty. The decision to grant this amnesty was not a departmental decision, rather a Cabinet decision. Therefore, in government, all government departments that deal with people and their documents must be vigilant about fraudulent documents. The minister has raised issues, people have acquired jobs, loans, university certificates on the basis of these documents. We have therefore said we need to assemble all relevant stakeholders to discuss the way forward for this matter.
We need to make a distinction, what we are talking about is whether people have obtained things through an ID that is fraudulent, not things that are acquired fraudulently. If I went to university and received a degree with a fraudulent ID, it is different if I want a degree without having gone to university and not passing my examinations.
I think we must understand the context of what we are talking about. Many South Africans were once labelled as terrorists but because of understanding the context we sat around the table and discussed the way forward. So even in this context we are recognising circumstances that may have led to certain actions. An amnesty does not say we promote fraud. What we are saying is we must deal with this matter and that where people obtained things fraudulently.
We are looking at this matter but we are really encouraging Zimbabweans to come forward. We have dedicated resources to devote to this matter. Our current programmes will not be affected by this.
