Parliament’s oversight committee on home affairs has urged the department to “urgently accelerate” its digital transformation programme to strengthen internal controls.
This, after a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation uncovered large-scale immigration fraud and corruption at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
Last month, the SIU revealed how South Africa’s immigration system was treated as “a marketplace, where permits and visas were sold to the highest bidder”, with DHA officials colluding with foreign nationals to illegally issue visas and permits.
The SIU this week briefed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs to further unpack the findings of its interim report, which revealed the extent of the corruption network within the DHA. It also outlined the extent of measures to address the corruption by the DHA’s counter-corruption investigating unit (CCIU) and the multidisciplinary task team (MDTT).
Condemning the large-scale corruption, the committee called for increased speed in investigations and disciplinary processes, saying those officials who are found guilty must be blacklisted from working in other organs of state.
The committee emphasised that one of the key impediments to quicker investigations is “the lack of integration between critical departmental system interfaces”.
It is of the view that accelerating its digital transformation actions, the DHA will improve detection of irregularities and enable faster retrieval of information during investigations.
“Fraud and corruption in the immigration system not only compromise border integrity but also place additional pressure on South Africa’s financial resources, infrastructure and public services.”
According to the SIU, strict measures are in place to ensure consequence management is applied. In addition, the CCIU and MDTT teams noted that strong mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the DHA is secure from future corruption threats.
The committee added that the investigation’s findings highlight the urgent need for “sweeping” reforms within the permitting unit, which will require an adequate budget to achieve.
“Some of the department’s weaknesses are due to budgetary constraints,” it acknowledged.
The home affairs department has announced various mechanisms aimed at stepping up client-facing digital efforts.
DHA minister Dr Leo Schreiber last month stated that systemic reform and digital transformation are key to closing internal corruption loopholes.
“Digital transformation is the apex priority of home affairs under the GNU [Government of National Unity],” he said at the time.
“At the heart of our work to close the space for manipulation of visa processes is the Electronic Travel Authorisation. As confirmed by the SIU, it is paper-based and manual processes that have long created space for crooked officials to overlook fraudulent documents, or approve applications that do not meet the relevant regulatory requirements.
“We are moving to shut down all of those manual processes and replace them with new cutting-edge digital systems that leave no space for manipulation.”
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