By: Siyabonga Sithole
Minister of home affairs Aaron Motsoaledi and his deputy, Njabulo Nzuza are intensifying their war against identity fraud, criminality, corruption, illegal immigration and the flouting of the country's immigration laws.
This has seen his the department losing credibility in the face of the country.
Key among the many changes and improvements to operational issues, is the Motsoaledi’s complete overhaul of the immigration system and complementing the departments work force and IT infrastructure as well as the recently launched Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS) which were tabled by the department during the department's budget vote in Parliament on Tuesday.
During this session, the minister said he and his team have been working hard at introducing a series of interventions meant to put a stop to acts of corruption, illegality and other acts of impunity that have become synonymous with the department.
The minister's electorate budget vote follows hot on the heels of the dismissal of Ronney Marhule and the recent arrest of five members of a syndicate found to have lured SA citizens to sell their personal details to foreign nationals in order for them to access SA passports and other documents as well as other scandals that have rocked the department in recent weeks.
Motsoaledi also promised that the arrests and dismissal of this week were not the only arrests that will be made as many more arrests will soon follow in the coming days and weeks.
“In the coming weeks, we will continue to arrest more and more people both foreign nationals and South Africans involved in passport fraud and other forms of identity theft,” he said.
Arrests are not the only promise that the minister aims to keep. The minister said the issue of queues at South Africa’s home affairs offices across the country was giving him sleepless nights, which is why he wants to put an end to snaking queues at home affairs facilities as well as problematic IT infrastructure.
“ The issue of long queues is giving us sleepless nights. Nobody likes to queue. One of the interventions we are making is to work with banks to stabilise networks. Another immediate relief measure is a new online booking system called Branch Appointment Booking System ( BABS) This system is presently being piloted in 24 of our busiest offices. A total if 33 463 people have used the system between December 2021 and 13 May 2022. This system will help eradicate corruption because clients book straight online and come at appropriate times to be assisted,” the minister added.
With the department also grappling with staff shortage, the minister welcomed the additional R266 million that it has secured from treasury which will help the department recruit additional staff.
“ We have been awarded R266 million which will help us push our staffing level to at least 42% by hiring an additional 764 employees, 517 of these will be front office staff and 288 will be made up of immigration officers.
Motsoaledi also said that his department had implemented their newly established border management authority with recruitment for this having already been completed. South Africa's porous borders have been blamed for the increasing number if illegal immigration which the minister has been trying to resolve through a range of measures. During this time, the minister has had to defend his stance amid criticism and backlash from both peers and the international community.
His deputy added that the department had achieved its 5th consecutive unqualified audit for the year 2020/2021 which nodes well for the department.
“ The 2020/ 2021 financial year was the 5th successive unqualified audit opinion for the department. However, more still needs to be done to improve the department’s audit outcomes,” Nzuza maintains.