DHA systems, operations & staffing in Western Cape; Consideration to amend the Constitution to increase the number of seats in the Legislature

Premier & Constitutional Matters (WCPP)

03 March 2023
Chairperson: Mr C Fry (DA)
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Meeting Summary

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Report of the Ad Hoc Committee: WCPP Seats

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) briefed the Committee on matters relating to systems, operational hours, staffing and any other related matters at the DHA offices in the Western Cape. A comprehensive presentation was provided covering a provincial overview of the Department, the war on queues and service delivery initiatives.

The Committee raised the following questions: Were there generators in the Stellenbosch office? Was there any reason why the major banks had not opened in areas outside the Metro? What was the reason for the lack of mobile drivers? Could there be an update on infrastructure development and management? What was the process with the undocumented foreigners?

The Committee discussed the consideration to amend the Constitution to increase the number of seats in the Western Cape Legislature. The Committee concluded that the draft report needed to be developed and sent to the House, and the impact of the Bill needed to be noted. The legal opinion was that it was appropriate for a Speaker or a Member of the Legislature to develop the draft bill.

Meeting report

Opening remarks

The Chairperson officially opened the meeting.

Mr C Dugmore (ANC) proposed that after the meeting with the Department, a date be set for a meeting wherein the Committee would discuss the amendments to the Provincial Constitution.

Presentation by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA): Status of Department of Home Affairs in the Western Cape

The Committee was taken through the presentation by Mr Ricardo Abrams, Acting Home Affairs Provincial Manager in the Western Cape. The presentation touched on the footprint of the Department in the province and access to clients. Members were presented with the Western Cape management structure and a detailed list of each DHA office in the province. New developments for the financial year were also presented.

Western Cape mobile units

  • DHA WC has 13 Mobile units of which one was recoded for disposal
  • Ten x New Mobile Units are in the process of being procured for the 2023/2024 FY which will be allocated as per service delivery demand i.e. 1x Worcester, 3 x Malmesbury, 1x Vredendal, 1x Vredenburg, 2x Oudtshoorn, 1x George, 1x Paarl
  • Mobile Unit Interties are drafted monthly and circulated to stakeholders via the Directorate Mobile Units 

Client care and war on queues

Members were taken through queue management practices. It was said loadshedding had an extremely negative impact on services.

Service delivery initiatives

WC Schools Project 2022/23

  • During April 2022 – the WC Department of Basic Education was requested to provide the Department with a list of learners without ID documents.
  • The list comprised of 4 552 (including non SACs) Grade 12 learners on CEMIS without ID numbers
  • The list was circulated amongst the five District Managers within the province on 14 April 2022.
  • Mobile Unit programs were dedicated to service schools from May – September 2022
  • In September 2022, during a meeting with Mr Alan Meyer (HOD WC DoBE) a partnership was forged
  • Contact details of office managers, district managers and coordinators were shared to forge and strengthen working relationships at local front office level.
  • It should also be noted that some schools, i.e. Boys High, Paarl Gym etc. prefer not to disrupt learning with the deployment of Mobile Office to schools, hence arranges were made with Local Offices to receive batches of learners to be serviced prior to official Front Office opening time – arrangements for the 2023 Matric Learners are now in process
  • Since April 2022 total number of: 
    • 4 963 First ID Smart Card applications taken in at schools through Mobile Office Programme
    • and 3 448 First ID Smart Card applications were taken in at Front Offices regarding Learners.

Assisting victims of disasters

  • The Department makes provision for waiving application fees for enabling documents for persons who lost their enabling documents due to natural and/ or fire disasters.
  • Disaster Management Incident Reports are obtained with the details listing of beneficiaries.
  • The assistance of the DLG is solicited to support the fire victims with free photographs
  • Once approval for waiving application fees is granted, Mobile Units will plan to collaborate with local ward Cllr for deployment.

West Coast High Impact Outreach Programme 20-25 Feb ‘23

  • The West Coast District Municipality was identified to host the DHA High Impact Outreach programme for 2022/2023 FY.
  • The HIOP was executed from 20 – 24 February 2023, with the dry run on Sunday, 19 February 2023 in Piketberg, where teams were welcomed by the District Speaker, Mr Swartz and DMOs, Ms Michaels
  • Additional venues were secured to service the Bergrivier Local Municipality where no DHA access points are available to the local community
  • 15 Mobile Units (3x GP, 2x EC, 1x NC, 1x FS and 8x WC) were deployed to service the District for a period of 5 days
  • 27 Venues were attended while Piketberg and Porterville had Mobile Units for five consecutive days, providing 41 access points in the West Coast District for the duration of the week.  
  • Three x District IT managers were deployed to support Mobile Units with IT related issues
  • Central accommodation for 36 Civic Service staff members and 6 Immigration Officers was procured in Lamberts Bay and Citrusdal area
  • DMO and Office Managers of Malmesbury- and Vredendal Offices were roaming between venues to deliver enabling documents and do late registration of birth interviews.
  • Three x Immigration law enforcement operations were planned for execution on 22 February and 24 February

See presentation for further details

Discussion

Mr Dugmore referred to slide four on the four banks. He said those banks were in the Metro, and none was in the non-Metro. Was there any reason why those banks had not opened in areas outside the Metro? Where did Absa intend to activate? On slide 13 on mobile units – were the mobile working still working in the Central Karoo? Were there no acting drivers in garden route 9? What was the reason for the lack of drivers? When would those vacancies be filled?

Ms D Baartman (DA) referred to slide 13 and asked what the budget was for the mobile units. On generators for the home affairs offices – did the Stellenbosch office have a generator? If the office closed during loadshedding times, did they reopen afterwards? What was being done to compensate for the time lost during loadshedding?

Mr G Pretorius (DA) asked what had to happen for suitable office accommodation to be procured. As far as the budget and the staff were concerned, were there sufficient resources? What was the process with the undocumented foreigners?

Ms B Schäfer (DA) asked about the remote working visa plan. On cruise liners – the Mossel Bay cruise liners were said to be facing issues relating to the Home Affairs backlog. Could that be explained?

Ms A Khanyile (DA, National Assembly) asked what was the Department’s plan to ensure that the permanent resident holders were going to get their green ID books. Regarding the Epping office, there were a hundred percent of bookings, and those were cashless. How did the Department cater for the members of the community that did not have access to smartphones/cellphones? Regarding performance and targets on the 70% of deaths that could not be registered within 72 hours. What had been the reason for that? Could more information be provided on the adoptions, gender changes and registered birth certificates?

Responses

Mr Abrams responded to Mr Dugmore on the issues of banks. He said the rollout of banks was due to the availability of infrastructure, resources available and the appointment of DHAs staff. In terms of the rollout to non-Metro environments, the same principles had applied. Regarding the acting capacities of the mobile drivers – some areas did not have appointed drivers, however, staff has aided with that. Permanent appointees were being considered and that was also due to the availability of recourses.

Ms Sharon Davids, Office Manager: George, DHA, was representing Mr Mosiuoa Ngaka, District Manager Operations: Garden Route and Central Karoo DMO, DHA, who could not attend the meeting. On the mobile units, she said people acted as mobile drivers so that no service delivery was being hampered, particularly in the Central Karoo and garden route areas.

Mr Dugmore said that he was confused that a Member from the National Assembly was present. Who had invited that Member?

Ms Baartman said it was not the first time that a Member from the National Assembly was present in the Committee’s meeting.

Mr Dugmore said the Members of the Provincial Legislature needed to be present at the meeting and there needed to be discussion on whether the Members from other spheres could be present and ask questions due to the short time allocation of the meeting.

The Chairperson said that Ms Khanyile was being acknowledged as a guest and had been asked to state her questions. In the meeting, she was also being acknowledged as a member of the public.

Ms P Lekker (ANC) said that in the case of Ms Khanyile, she had to ask questions after the questions of the Committee had been exhausted. She asked about those who did not have birth certificates and were older, and what the process was for obtaining birth certificates despite their age. On the Cape Winelands – there had been a growth in the number of foreign nationals who were said to have bought documentation. Could there be more clarity on that issue?

Mr Abrams responded to questions regarding the mobile units and budgets. He said that information would be made available soon to the Committee.

On the matter of generators in Stellenbosch, he said the functionality of those generators had been an issue and several strategies had been implemented to combat that issue, such as informing clients awaiting on the times that loadshedding would occur and stationing multiple staff at the counters to complete as many applications as possible. The generator had been functional within the current week, allowing the staff to work throughout the day.

There was a process on infrastructure development and management, and certain areas were being identified where the footprint needed to be expanded. Resources were critical and determined infrastructure outcomes. Offices were on a mixture of private owned and state-owned properties. There were inherent problems with the offices with maintenance and staffing. In the next financial year, the aim was to have more than ten additional mobile units. On foreigners in the province – there were select areas in the Department that saw to that. On the management of foreign national residents in the province – the Department oversaw documentation for visa and asylum seekers. The policing department had identified several areas where foreign nationals had to be monitored.

Ms Almien van der Berg, Provincial Coordinator: Western Cape, DHA, said the Department was dependent on the facilities provided by the Department of Public Works, and usually, the facilities had to be compromised on.  

Mr Abrams said that it was better to cohabitate within the constituencies. He said on the economic impact on the migration management environment within the province; visa backlog had not been added in the presentation. There were a lot of queries regarding that, but the management of that committee did not have a direct line of sight with the visa backlog. The awaiting of passports for South Africans applied for abroad would be taken up with the National Government. The remote visa process had to be taken to the relevant body. On ports of entry level and facilitation of movement – the management criteria and operational model currently operated, with a direct management environment to the national office. The shipping delays and docking of tourist’s ships were being raised as a matter of concern. DHA was identifying economic and development responsibilities and constantly aimed to improve service delivery.

In response to Ms Khanyile, 98% of the offices referred to were modernised offices. There was a disjuncture between the development of the system and catering to the issuance of documents. There was a process of reviewing the operational model with regard to the needs of the clients. On Epping – the Department was trying to see how it could increase its footprint and bring efficiency to increase productivity. The iPads that were at offices were there to aid services. On the adoption and change of sex documents – information on that could be provided to the Committee. On the problem with not registering a death on time – certain levels of that process had not been in the Department’s control. Sometimes the family took time to come forward to report the death. It could also be due to the medical team depending on the type of death.

Ms van der Berg said the national office had acknowledged the backlogs in birth certificates and name and gender changes. There was a digitisation project, and that process had started. There were also backlog teams to address the backlog. There had been a significant improvement in turnover.

Mr Abrams responded to Ms Lekker on how the LRBs were concluded. LRBs was a process of testimony, investigation and documented proof. That was a timely process. Family members did step in if the client was out of the province and so on. It remains a security risk. The LRB processes could be a venue that would be abused by illegal foreigners if not handled well, hence the process was rigid. LRBs were not approved unless all necessary documents were provided to prove the individual was a South African. On the Immigration Act, information would be provided to the Committee.

Ms Irmgard Michaels, DMO: Cape Winelands & West Coast, responded to Ms Lekker on LRBs on children and said they could be brought forward if the initial processes and paperwork had been completed. In De Doorns, there was an incident of a foreign national charged. However, the information was not present at that moment.

The Chairperson thanked the Department for their hard work. He said the subsequent questions would be sent to the Department to provide written responses.  

Consideration to amend the Provincial Constitution to increase the number of seats in the Western Cape Legislature

Mr Andre Le Roux, Parliamentary Legal Adviser, WCPP, briefed the Committee on the consideration of the amendment of the Constitution of the Western Cape for an increase in the number of seats for the Legislature. There was advice given on policy options available moving forward.

Mr Dugmore said a draft report and the recommendations had to be written with a list of timeframes for the amendment. That seemed to be a Constitutional Court matter and that needed to be done before December for the certification of the amendment. If the tabling from the Committee could be circulated by Thursday, that would be preferable. The Committee needed to do a report for the Legislature. How much detail needed to be in the report?

Ms Baartman supported Mr Dugmore on drafting the report. She said alternative steps needed to be included if the Bill was not amended in time.

Mr Dugmore said that the Department of the Premier had initiated the Bill and brought it to the Committee. Would the Committee create the Draft Bill?

Mr Le Roux agreed with the Committee that a policy decision was needed to know the way forward. The House determined how the Bill would be amended – whether it would be repealed, removed etc. the Ad Hoc Committee had been briefed on the three policy options. The Ad Hoc Committee said that the Constitution of the Western Cape had to be amended for the number of seats in the Legislature to be periodically reviewed. If there was a need for a periodic review, that obligation had to be imposed in the standing rules. If the House followed the formulaic approach, then that would bind the next Parliament to an automatic review process. The simplest approach was to amend Section 13. The repeal was an option.

Ms Baartman supported the policy proposals that the Ad Hoc Committee had provided. The draft report needed to be developed and sent to the House, and the impact of the Bill needed to be noted.

Mr Pretorius appealed that the Committee be very cautious to ensure that the procedural steps were followed correctly so that the report did not be sent back.

Mr Dugmore said that the Committee needed to be emailed on the procedural steps that needed to be taken. Could the Committee recommend that the Department of the Premier initiate the Bill and bring it to the House?

The Chairperson said that the Executive had to not impose what got done in the Legislature.

Mr Le Roux said that the standing rules allowed a Member in charge or a committee to introduce a Bill. It was appropriate for a Speaker or a Member of the Legislature to develop the Bill. The Speaker needed to be the one in charge of the Bill and preparing the Bill.

Mr Dugmore asked for the timeframe of the draft report.

The Committee agreed that the draft report had to be completed by 8 March.

Mr Pretorius asked if proposal one needed to be implemented.

Mr Dugmore said the report needed to include that the Committee supported proposal one and proposed that the Speaker initiated the drafting and pursue the legislative process.

Consideration and adoption of draft Committee Meeting Minutes of 28 November 2022

The Committee moved for the adoption of the minutes.

Consideration and adoption of draft Committee Quarterly Report: October to December 2022

The Committee moved for the adoption of the report.

Resolutions/Actions

Ms Baartman said that some colleagues asked for information from Home Affairs regarding the Mitchells Plein office. The request had been due to the high client volumes. The office did not seem adequate, and the Committee wanted to know more about upgrading the office and the number of staff to be appointed.

Of the high volumes listed on slide 8 – could there be more information about the improvement plans? Given that the front offices had generators – how many hours of loadshedding could the generators handle at a time? How much diesel was being spent on the generators? How many applications were being processed due to the impact of loadshedding?

The Chairperson said that he waited for 8 hours for passport applications. The hybrid queue system did not work.

The meeting was adjourned.

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