Honourable Chairperson, 

The work of the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa’s seventh democratic administration is guided by a crystal-clear apex priority.

With singular focus, we have identified as our primary goal the need to digitally transform this department, encapsulated in our vision statement to deliver Home Affairs @ home.

Make no mistake about it: the successful implementation of this vision has the potential to revolutionise government as we know it in South Africa.

I say this because of the centrality of Home Affairs to critical services in both the public and private sectors.

It would be little exaggeration to say that Home Affairs is the beating heart of the South African state.

And, as we all know, when the heart is healthy, the whole body thrives. 

Allow me to demonstrate what I mean.

We all know that Home Affairs is central to managing civic services and immigration.

But the ripple effects of this department’s mandate extend much further. 

Of particular importance is the department’s mandate as the custodian of status for both citizens and non-citizens, through the National Population Register (NPR).

It is this status in the NPR database, secured through every person’s unique biometrics, that is expressed through enabling documents such as IDs, passports and various certificates.

But this central database not only enables Home Affairs to render services. 

In fact, any government service that requires a client to produce an ID, ultimately relies on the NPR.

Social grants, tax collection, student funding, access to healthcare and education, qualification for housing subsidies, and countless other government services – all depend directly on the data contained in Home Affairs’ NPR.

But it is not only government services that depend on Home Affairs.

Private institutions, including banks, credit bureaus, insurance companies and other financial services, similarly rely on Home Affairs to deliver critical services to the people of South Africa.

Both public and private sector services, that extend well beyond the immediate mandate of Home Affairs, are entirely dependent on database management within this department.

It is for this reason that I say that, above all else, Home Affairs is an IT department.

As a consequence, when the digital infrastructure of Home Affairs is allowed to decay, all forms of public and private sector services similarly decay.

When our digital infrastructure is not secure, then South Africa is not secure.

Conversely, a digitally transformed Home Affairs will deliver a transformed South Africa.

Digital transformation that eradicates the use of paper, that records the biometrics of everyperson who wishes to enter this country, and that eliminates human discretion, holds the key to securing our borders and enforcing accountability for those who violate our immigration laws.

Digital transformation that automates and biometrically secures access to IDs and passports, holds the key to eliminating identity theft and erasing the value of fraudulent documents.

Digital transformation that empowers every citizen, as well as legal residents and tourists,with secure digital products that cannot be faked or stolen, holds the key to modernising every government service in South Africa.

Imagine a future where critical government services like IDs, passports, drivers’ licences, land titles, SASSA grants as well as SARS and NSFAS services can all be securely accessed through a single government portal.

Where Home Affairs services are accessible from any cell phone and laptop, and in many more bank branches.

Where even the most rural library or community centre can deliver online access to these services, just like we already do with SARS.

Where enabling documents like IDs and passport are delivered right to the doorstep of citizens, just like we already do for other secure documents like bank cards.

Where we supercharge tourism, economic growth and secure our ports of entry, by replacing paper visas with an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), just like Kenya already does.

Where we eliminate identity fraud even as we empower every South African with an identity, through the use of secure biometrics.

And where we save South Africa billions of Rands by making it impossible for fraudsters to steal social grants from our most vulnerable citizens by using fraudulent IDs.

These are the transformative benefits that the people of South Africa will experience from a digitally transformed Home Affairs. 

Honourable Chairperson,

Clearly, we have a long way to go to deliver on the vision of Home Affairs @ home.

Right now, Home Affairs systems remains too paper-based, too manual and too vulnerable.

But it is encouraging to be able to inform this House today that we have made meaningful progress since the Government of National Unity came into office five months ago.

During a two-day strategic planning workshop with myself, Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza, as well as managers from around the country, Home Affairs adopted a new strategic plan built entirely around digital transformation.

This translated into amendments to the Annual Performance Plan, the Annual Operational Plan, as well as the Department’s Five-Year Strategic Plan – all anchored in the vision of delivering Home Affairs @ home.

An internal review of existing cooperation with the banks is underway, with the goal of deepening and expanding this successful partnership, and introducing new service offerings.

Aspects of the visa adjudication process have been digitised and improved, which has contributed to the fact that the visa backlog – which dates back more than a decade – has been reduced by more than 82%.

Network problems experienced by the Border Management Authority at ports of entry are being addressed in cooperation with SARS.

The conceptualisation for the automation of visa adjudication, which will also lay the foundation for a secure ETA, is underway.

Similarly, internal processes are being automated, as demonstrated recently when Home Affairs launched an online portal to receive applications for the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme.

This Scheme has the potential to supercharge tourism from the burgeoning source markets of China and India, and we hope to welcome the first airplane full of tourists who would otherwise not have come to South Africa as early as January next year. 

Honourable chairperson,

In order to deliver on our vision of Home Affairs @ home, we must understand that digital transformation is not only about technology.

The technology to deliver, already exists.

The true key to rolling out this vision depends on building a digital-first culture.

We need a culture that places cybersecurity at the centre of everything we do.

A culture that rejects manual and paper-based processes, and embraces technology in all that we do.

A practical culture that seeks to use technology to solve the problems that the people of South Africa face every day.

And, above all, an ethical culture that has zero tolerance for corruption and maladministration, which often depends on precisely the kind of manual and discretionary processes we seek to eliminate. 

It is for this reason that Home Affairs recently dismissed 18 officials for a range of offences, including sexual harassment as well as the irregular issuing of IDs, birth certificates and other documents. 

This sends an unambiguous message that we have zero tolerance for corruption.

We are not interested in placing officials on endless taxpayer-funded suspensions.

We are interested in accountability, and there is more to come as we intensify the clean-up required for deep and meaningful culture change at Home Affairs. 

Finally, I think it is important to indicate to this House that we face one critical obstacle on our journey towards digital transformation.

The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) is an artificial construct that stands squarely in the way of technological progress, not only at Home Affairs, but across government.

SITA currently exercises a monopoly over key aspects of IT services in the public sector.

The model of imposing a state monopoly over digital technologies is simply not fit-for-purpose in the digital age.

In practice, the SITA monopoly means that Home Affairs is operating with one hand tied behind our backs. 

Even as we move with urgency to reform technological aspects under our control, our efforts will fall short for as long as we cannot maintain, procure and properly manage our own IT infrastructure.

It is simply not right that Home Affairs is held accountable for IT failures, but that we are not empowered to fully address those failures.

We cannot digitally transform and revolutionise government in the context of an outdated IT monopoly.

It is therefore critical that government as a whole, and the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies in particular, takes urgent steps to reform the regulatory environment for Information Technology. 

There will always be a need for a government agency to ensure interoperability and set norms and standards.

But the SITA monopoly is a proven failure, as demonstrated every time that its infrastructure takes the Home Affairs system offline, or leaves data unprotected, or even fails to keep government’s website and email system up and running.

If government acts as a collective to untie the hands of Home Affairs and other government departments to embrace the opportunities of digital transformation, I am confident that we will deliver on our vision of Home Affairs @ home. 

Given the meaningful progress we have already made within a short five months, just imagine what we can do if we are fully empowered to deliver a digital revolution over the next five years.

With the support of this House, and of every South African who wants a working Home Affairs, we can remove regulatory hurdles and build a digital-first Home Affairs, that delivers dignity to all the people of South Africa.

Thank you.