What was the (a) average number of persons detained (b) total budget spent and (c) total number of detainees released, because they had not been deported in time at the Lindela Repatriation Centre for the 2022-23 financial year?
- The average number of persons detained is 9595.
- The total budget spent: R35 443 197-41 in 2022/23 financial year.
- The total number of detainees released, because they had not been deported in time at the Lindela Repatriation Centre for the 2022-23 financial year is 53 .
END.
With reference to his reply to question 88 on 28 February 2023, what are the details of the (a) make, (b) model, (c) year of manufacture, (d) date of purchase and (e) purchase price paid for each vehicle purchased by his department for (i) him and (ii) the Deputy Minister since 8 May 2019?
(i) Minister
(a) Isuzu MUX, (b) 3.0 DDI MU-X LSE A/T (c) 2023, (d) 15 November 2023 (e) R800 000.00 inclusive of VAT
(ii) Deputy Minister
(a) BMW (b) 520d (c) 2019 (d) 19 December 2019 (e) R668 000.00 inclusive of VAT
END.
With regard to the project to employ 10 000 graduates to digitise Home Affairs records, for every functional and operating office, (a) what are the respective locations of the offices where digitalisation will occur and (b) how many (i) graduates are currently employed in terms of the project and (ii) records have been digitised as at 31 August 2023?
(a) The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will be utilising five buildings to digitise the 340 million records.
(b)(i) As per my reply in Parliamentary Question 2220, the recruitment of the 10,000 youth graduates is being rolled out in three phases. The advert for the first 1st 2000 cohort of unemployed graduates was published in the 2022/23 financial year, leading to the initial employment ...
What is the current backlog of (a) asylum seekers awaiting status determination interviews, (b) asylum seekers who have appealed the status determination decision, and are awaiting a hearing with the refugee appeal authority, (c) asylum seekers who have submitted a review of their status determination decision to the standing committee of refugee affairs and are awaiting a decision, (d) refugees awaiting decisions on permanent residence applications and (e) foreign nationals awaiting permanent residence applications?
(a) 617 active cases are still at the first instance adjudication phase as at 31 December 2023.
(b) Refugee Appeals Authority:
(i) Failed asylum seekers who lodged Notices of Appeal – 113 698
(ii) Failed asylum seekers booked for hearing – 2 710
(c) Reviews at SCRA awaiting decisions as at 19/02/2024: 6 774
(d) Refugees awaiting decisions on permanent residence applications: 2 924. ...
What steps has his department taken to fight the increase of identity theft cases in the Republic, where innocent individuals are left in debt due to their identities being fraudulently issued by officials within his department to persons with ill intent who use it to open credit accounts?
Innocent individuals who find themselves in debt due to identity theft are informed by the creditors of their debts and if disputed, they are advised to report the matter to the SAPS for further investigation.
The Department has online verification services whereby any member of the public when applying for identification in the Department, the document is verified online to ensure authentication of the ...
(1)Whether his department had solved the problem of long queues and denial of service on reaching the counter after a long time in the queue; if so, what (a) is the average waiting time for service, (b) measures are in place to check that those who are waiting in the queue will indeed be served without being asked to come back on another day, (c) was being done to ensure that the ticket allocation system is working smoothly and reliably 100% of the time, (d) control measures are in place to ensure that the system is the best it can be and (e) surveys are undertaken to ascertain any improvements should and must occur to satisfy the Batho Pele principle; if not, (i) which of the above are not being done and (ii) why;
2) what has been his findings on citizen satisfaction with the service provided by his department?
(1)(a) The average waiting time inside an office is calculated per service as different types of services follow different process flows. Where all systems are working and the offices do not experience load shedding, which now affects network coverage in the offices, the average waiting period for pre-booked services is 7 minutes; for birth, marriage, and death services is 10 minutes and 15 minutes ...
(1)What number of (a) new-comer asylum applications have been processed in each refugee reception centre from quarter 1 to quarter 3 of the 2023-24 financial year and (b) applications were (i) granted refugee status and (ii) rejected as (aa) unfounded and (bb) manifestly unfounded;
(2) what number of (a) asylum files have been processed through the funded backlog project of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (b) the processed files have been granted refugee status and (c) backlog files processed have received a final rejection;
(3) whether any of the rejected applications have been appealed through a judicial appeal at the high court; if not, why not; if so, what number from each refugee reception centre has been appealed through a judicial appeal?
(1)(a) In the period 1 April 2023 to 31 December 2023 the Department processed 15 047 newcomer applications.
(1)(b)(i) 877 cases were granted status
(1)(b)(ii) (aa) 5009 Cases were adjudicated as Unfounded.
(bb) 8415 Cases were adjudicated as one of the Manifestly Unfounded categories for SCRA review
(2)(a) The total number of processed files for the Backlog Project is 10 890.
- Hearings conducted: 3 910
- Notices ...
(1)What (a) progress has been made by the Council for Scientific and Industry Research (CSIR) on the development of an IT system for his department in five designated offices to address network challenges and (b) are the (i) main deliverables and (ii) due dates for each deliverable;
(2) whether there are any sub-contractors involved in the project; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the full details of (a) the sub-contractors and (b) their contract value;
(3) what are the reasons that the project did not go out on open tender?
(1)(a) The progress made in the five designated offices is contained in the table in (b)(ii) below.
(1)(b)(i) The main deliverable of the Proof of Concept (PoC) is an overlay of the selected sites onto an alternative network.
(1)(b)(ii) The following activities were planned to achieve this deliverable: -
|
Activity
|
Responsible party
|
Due date
|
|
PoC site selection
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CSIR + DHA
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31 May 2023 (completed) ... |
Considering that his department had issued directives to extend the validity of the exemption permits for nationals from Lesotho and Zimbabwe, what are the plans to finally deal with the matter of the (a) Zimbabwe Exemption Permit and (b) Lesotho Special Permit?
The Department is implementing the Directive issued by the Minister on 29 November 2023.
In this regard, both Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals have started applying for the extension in line with the Directive. The new exemption permits will not be renewable (see paragraph 5.6 of the Minister’s press statement on the granting of exemptions to the Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals in terms of Section ...
(1)How many of the Operation Vulindlela recommendations relating to his department have been implemented during the targeted time frame;
(2) (a) which recommendations, if any, have not been implemented and (b) what are the reasons for failure to implement all recommendations;
(3) whether his department intend to implement any of the outstanding recommendations; if not, why not; if so, what are the (a) relevant details and (b) time frames for the implementation of those recommendations?
1. Five Operation Vulindlela recommendations were implemented fully during the targeted timeframe.
2. The remaining three recommendations are being processed as they relate to:
a) Firstly, it’s the introduction of new visa categories to cater for remote workers and start-ups. Secondly, it is the expansion of the DHA capacity in Immigration Services and the Third, is modernising IT systems.
b) The DHA is making ...
