Whether, in view of the large number of rural residents who have to walk long distances and take multiple forms of transport to reach the offices of his department and the modernisation of the Home Affairs systems such as the Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS), his department has any practical alternatives to those in rural areas who do not have access to smartphones, technology and/or consistent and reliable internet connection to secure themselves slots online; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
The Department of Home Affairs’ Access Model has identified 778 mobile service points and the majority of them are in rural areas to service citizens; hence in the next financial year we will be buying additional mobile units to add to the current fleet and expand the footprint to ensure that citizens receive the services in their localities.
Secondly, all offices with BABS have ...
(1)What interventions has his department undertaken in Hillbrow and other communities to ensure that all who live and work within the borders of the Republic are legally permitted to do so;
(2) what is the position of his department on estimates by some that the Republic is home to approximately 15 million illegal and/or undocumented migrants;
(3) how does his department intend to address the prevalence of undocumented and/or illegal migrants within communities;
(4) whether he has found that the daily growing numbers of illegal and/or undocumented migrants is a national crisis as his department is unable to implement its immigration legislation; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
(1) The department’s inspectorate is fully engaged in immigration operations and inspections. Areas such as Hillbrow and other communities are regularly visited by immigration officials who conduct compliance. The Inspectorate unit deployed a dedicated team to Diepsloot from 6th April 2022 to 8th July 2022 where 1910 arrests were made for illegal migration. The department also conducts its own multi-stakeholder operation called “Operation Siyasibenta” ...
Which steps of intervention have been taken to combat the long lines of freight trucks waiting to cross the Republic’s ports of entry?
Border Management have identified the management of trucks along the highways, national roads and corridors towards the ports of entry as one of the factors affecting the operational dynamics in the legitimate facilitation of persons and goods.
The following planned responses as contingences were developed:
- The establishment of the integrated traffic management plan with all transport and traffic authorities in the respective corridors to ...
What (a) type of visa class was granted to all the occupants of the Russian yacht called Nord that is supposed to dock in the Cape Town harbour, (b) is the duration of each visa and (c) number of occupants are on the specified yacht?
The yacht referred to has not docked at any of South Africa’s harbours. No pre-clearance application was received for such a yacht to dock at Cape Town harbour.
END
Which steps of intervention has he taken towards the abolishment of all borders to promote free trade amongst African countries?
The promotion of free trade amongst African countries does not require the abolishment of all borders but the continued implementation of regional and continental initiatives to manage the flow of goods.
The Department of Finance as the responsible Department can provide relevant information on the current initiatives to improve the facilitation of goods into and from South Africa to give effect to free trade ...
With regard to the recruitment of 10 000 unemployed youth graduates to join the digitisation project of records of his department, (a) who was awarded the tender to assist with the appointments, (b) who makes the appointment decisions, (c) for each of phase 1, 2 and 3 list the (i) offices where the recruits will work and (ii) total number of recruits allocated to each specified office and (d) what is the status of procurement of (i) scanners and (ii) workstations for the specified project?
a) The Department has not awarded any tender to assist with the recruitment process for the 10 000 unemployed youth graduates. However, the recruitment was facilitated by the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) through the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) Programme. The service was provided at no cost to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
b) Interview panels were set up by the ...
(1)Whether, with regard to the responsibilities of his department in relation to the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, Act 49 of 2003, he will furnish Ms N K Sharif with a statistical summary of the most common reasons provided by the Director-General (DG) for the rejection of applications in terms of section 2(3) of the specified Act; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) what total number of officials in the DG's office work on assessing and deciding upon the specified applications in terms of section (a) 2(1) and (b) 2(3) of the Act;
(3) whether he will furnish Ms N K Sharif with copies of all standard operating procedures, guidelines, checklists and all other guiding documentation developed by his department to help officials in the office of the DG to take decisions in terms of section 2(3) of the Act; if not, why not, if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) what is the average turnaround time for the specified applications from submission by an applicant to a decision communicated to the specified applicant?
- There is no statistical summary of rejected applications in terms of section 2(3) of the Act.
- Four (4) Officials
- The standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status was signed in October 2020 and is applied by officials that process the applications. The Department is unable to provide a copy of the SOP due to the sensitivity of the ...
With regard to the dismissal of a certain employee (name furnished) who has since passed on, which was later found to be substantively and procedurally unfair by an arbitrator, what (a) has been the progress with regard to the arbitrator’s award of R232 916,67 to the specified employee’s family and (b) measures has his department actioned to ensure that their disciplinary and consequence management processes are fair to their employees?
a) The Department does not have any outstanding arbitration award to the amount of R 232 916.67 that is due to Mr Moodley’s family.
The Department received an arbitration award dated 27 July 2010, in respect of Manickum Moodley which ordered that: -
- Mr Moodley be paid a sum of R232 916.67 in outstanding salary for the period May 2009 to May 2010;
- The first ...
Whether he will furnish the Leader of the Opposition with a list of all South Africans who are in possession of a diplomatic passport; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
The Honourable Member is herewith informed that Diplomatic passports are issued according to the South African Diplomatic Passport Policy and that the Department of Home Affairs is not the custodian of this policy, and similarly not responsible for the application(s) as well as the issuance of this category of passports whatsoever. Hence it is requested that any information relating to Diplomatic Passports should be ...
(1)Whether, with regard to the responsibilities of his department in relation to the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, Act 49 of 2003, he will furnish Ms N K Sharif with all internal research that his department has conducted in terms of its responsibilities in relation to the specified Act; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) what total number of appeals has he received, challenging the decision of his department to reject an alteration of sex description application, since the inception of the Act;
(3) whether he will furnish Ms N K Sharif with a statistical breakdown of his ruling on such appeals; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether any members of the Trans Activist Coalition have been included in the drafting processes of the amended Identifications Act, Act 68 of 1997, which will be presented to Cabinet in 2023?
1. No internal research has been conducted as the department’s responsibility and mandate as guided by Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, Act 49 of 2003, is to process applications in this respect.
2. None received.
3. Not applicable as no appeals have been received.
4. No member of the group, identified, has formed part of the drafting team. The Bill will ...
