Deputy Minister, the Honourable Mr C Nqakula, MC,
Director-General, Mr BL Masetlha,
Deputy Director-General, Mr I Lambinon,
Chief Directors,
Regional Directors,
Directors,
Other senior officials.
I welcome the opportunity of being here today amongst the leaders
of our Department with my colleague, Deputy Minister Nqakula. We
do not get many opportunities to meet with the top brass of the
Department to express our appreciation for the work you do in
running this Department. Any government in the world is judged by
its civil service which indicates the important role you play in
running the Department with the Deputy Minister and myself. The
very fact that we are both here should indicate to you our high
appreciation for the important contributions that you make
towards the running of the Department.
It gives me great pleasure to open the second Strategic Planning
Workshop for the Department of Home Affairs. It is hard for me to
believe that one entire year has already gone by since we were
here a year ago to draft the first Strategic Plan for our
Department. We are now here to repeat this same exercise and we
must ask ourselves how much it has changed since last year and
what are the real purposes of this workshop. This year more time
has been allocated for this workshop which will extend over seven
days. If I consider that according to the Bible the world and
everything in it was created in six days, I hope that the greater
length of time allocated to this exercise will indeed be
productive with tangible results.
Amongst what I would regard as tangible results is also the
possibility of improving upon the morale and esprit de corps of
our senior officials, and for this reason I am pleased to see
that the tentative agenda of this workshop makes allowance for
entertainment and bonding time. However, I hope none of this, or
the pleasant surroundings of this lovely place, will detract from
the fact that our primary if not sole reason for being here, is
that of working hard after the holiday season.
I place great expectations on the success of this workshop and I
feel it to be my duty to share with you my thinking on the
matter. This workshop fulfils a legislative requirement set out
in the Public Finance Management Act. However, I feel that we
should not utilise this occasion merely to fulfil a legislative
requirement and I am sure that none of you wishes to make this
workshop a purely perfunctory exercise. We must seize this
opportunity to transform this occasion into an engine which
solves problems and maps out a clear way forward.
I have discussed the tentative agenda for this workshop with the
Director-General who made certain proposals to me. I am not sure
to what extent the agenda has been redrafted after the meeting
which the Deputy Minister and I had with the Director-General.
However, I wish to outline the priorities that I have identified
for this workshop. To me, the starting point is that of
performing a critical reading of the Strategic Plan that was
produced last year, including my own preface to it. Last year's
exercise was part of a learning curve which enables us to become
familiar and appreciate the features, goals and structures of an
overall strategic and planning exercise. Therefore, correctly,
what was produced last year outlines the backbone of a strategic
and planning exercise and unpacks every one of the relevant
components. We must now decide whether this workshop will
reproduce something similar to that which was produced last year
and is of the same nature, or whether we are now ready for a
qualitative leap into something different and better.
We must review last year's Plan to identify exactly what that
Plan committed the Department to do or not to do from a very
practical, tangible and concrete viewpoint. We need to identify
what actions, directions and policies the Strategic Plan was
calling for, and whether its Action Plan is really all that we
need. This exercise will enable us to verify how much of the Plan
has indeed been implemented and the extent to which the
Department's performance has fallen short or behind the intended
goals and objectives of the Plan. I tried to undertake this
exercise myself in preparation for this meeting and struggled
with the difficulty of identifying specific substance and content
to the general procedural and conceptual aspects of the Strategic
Plan. In the end, I focused on the Action Plan as the best
indication of what the Strategic Plan is all about. In fact, on
the one hand the Strategic Plan describes the factual situation
of our Department, its mandates and its present structures, and
on the other, it outlines general goals relating to acting
better, performing better and functioning better, without
actually specifying what needs to be done, where, when, how much
and by whom. Therefore, it became somehow difficult for me to
determine how much of the Strategic Plan has indeed been
implemented in the past twelve months.
Last year's Strategic Plan is a valid document and still a
relevant and pertinent document, which in itself highlights some
of its shortcomings. It is possible that in reviewing last year's
document, including its action Plan, none of you will feel you
need to change one single iota in it. In fact, because of its
general characteristics and broad-brush strokes, last year's Plan
could indeed be re-adopted as this year's Plan with some minor
adjustments and updates. As this could be done in a matter of a
few hours, it is obvious that our being here for seven days of
hard work highlights that we are committed and dedicated to a
much more complex task and we have a greater goal in mind. I
believe that this task must consist of moving from the
generalities and abstractions of last year's Strategic Plan
towards concrete substance, which spells out detailed actions,
programmes and directives, which can provide the parameters to
audit and evaluate performance and set in motion a process in
which the Department can indeed begin moving from good to better.
In giving substance to last year's Strategic Plan, we need to
cast any programme in detail which we may identify within a
framework of concrete policy directives. Even in dealing with
substance and concrete aspects, it is important that we consider
the relationship between general aspects and specific
implementing actions. For instance, in respect of the
much-vaunted restructuring of our Department it is important that
we begin giving details to what we are talking about, but that we
do so within the parameters of three fundamental concrete
policies which we are pursuing. In fact, reorganisation and
restructuring must be shaped by two factors. First, the
implementation of the new system of migration control envisaged
in the Immigration Bill, including its envisaged regional
structure, and second, the devolution of civic affairs delivery
functions to municipalities. This latter parameter also
influences how the HANIS project needs to be structured as a
residual and overarching central government function, as well as
the production and distribution of smart cards to be delivered by
municipalities.
These parameters also offer a long-term perspective to the
necessary restructuring and strengthening of our regional
offices. We have placed significant attention on the
strengthening of our head office. At this time, I think that it
is essential that we realise that regional offices are, indeed,
the crucial structure of our Department which need to be
strengthened. We need to empower regional offices to deliver by
increasing the level of functional self-sufficiency. This
requires ensuring that they have both the capacity to perform the
actions ascribed to them, as well as the legal power. To this
end, we need to increase the level of training at regional
offices and, perhaps, bring about a paradigm shift in which head
office merely performs a function of support and capacity
building in regional offices, rather than performing their work.
In this respect, it is also important that we re-prioritise
communications between regional offices and head office, which
requires not only setting in place better lines of communication
but also adhering to agreed modalities and time-frames. For
instance, if we look at stating concrete performance indicators
and goals, we may think of setting forth deadlines to reply to
each communication between a regional office and our head office.
Similarly, we should have firm rules to ensure that any
correspondence directed to the Department is acknowledged within
a fixed deadline, and responded to within another.
As we look at this type of detail, we also need to consider a
broader perspective to understand and rediscover the soul of our
Department. In fact, even though the Department of Home Affairs
is part of the Security Structure in that it needs to provide
assistance, infrastructure and information to security and law
enforcement organs of the State, the Department is not strictly
speaking a security department, but rather a delivery one. We
need to emphasise delivery and avoid excessive emphasis on
security considerations which may impair delivery. Security
related expenses must be assessed against conflicting priorities
such as increasing the training and infrastructure available at
our points of delivery. We do not have the money, the resources
or the capacity to perform all our functions perfectly and we
need to choose which to emphasise. To me, it is important that we
emphasize delivery and ensure that those who require IDs, civic
affairs documentation or Entry Permits to South Africa, receive
them efficiently and in a reliable manner.
As we consider these matters, we need to place emphasis on
implementation rather than general principles. I was somehow
disappointed that when I was here with you last year, I delivered
to you an address which, in many respects, remains not
implemented. Many may find it useful to read that speech again as
it foreshadows many of the issues which developed during the last
year. Also, on that occasion, I stressed that priority
consideration should be given to delivery aspects of our
Department and highlighted how the Department should be
transformed in order to restructure regions into its many centres
of operation and delivery. I also indicated how the restructuring
of our Department should be promoted and supported by an
overhauling of our information technology backbone which should
support both the reform of our system of migration control, the
structuring of the HANIS project and the devolution of civic
affairs delivery services to municipalities.
Incidentally, in this context, I want to emphasise once again
that when I talk about devolution of civic affairs to
municipalities, I do not mean merely enlisting the assistance of
municipalities in the delivery of our services, but the fact that
municipalities should issue IDs and perform civic affairs
functions in their own name, but under our control, supervision
and direction. I have discussed the matter with the
Director-General who indicates that the present problem of
enlisting the assistance of municipalities in our delivery of
services is the first step of a process which will lead to the
actual devolution of our delivery function in this field. As a
national Minister, I am well aware that many municipalities are
still not fully established. On this occasion we need to identify
the preliminary parameters and general framework for such
devolution so that we know whether we intend it to take place
over a medium-term or long-term and the modalities through which
we can bring it about, including the possibility of staggering
its implementation depending on the administrative capacity
available to municipalities and relevant financial resources.
Also, in respect of the restructuring of migration control, we
need to begin moving into details to prepare for the
implementation of the new reform. This will include drafting the
new regulations which, inter alia, will need to embody any aspect
of the Immigration Manual which relates to third party rights and
legitimate expectations, such as all those aspects of the Manual
relating to procedures to obtain permits. Obviously, this will
require a complete redrafting because the Manual emanates out of
a different piece of legislation and will need to be adjusted to
the prescripts of the Immigration Bill which sets in place
objective criteria replacing the extensive consultations we now
perform with other departments with specific procedures to be
followed and requirements to be set out in regulations on a
general basis. Pari passu with the drafting of regulations, we
will need to develop new procedures, practices and internal
structures to implement the Immigration Bill and its regulations.
These are massive tasks to be performed which I hope can be
finalised on time so that when the Bill is finally enacted by
Parliament we are ready to move to the next stage with minimum
internal attrition and discomfort for our customers.
During this workshop, consideration should also be given to
bringing about finality in the implementation of the HANIS
project especially in respect of the production and issuance of
smart cards. As you know, I have appointed an independent
Commission, headed by Professor Fink Haysom, to provide us with
recommendations on how this process should be better structured
to avoid the possibility of suspicion of corruption and to ensure
maximum efficiency, effectiveness and value for money. This has
been one of several initiatives that I have taken during the past
year to increase the interface between our Department and civil
society. We need to increase our channels of communication with
civil society and broaden our range of stakeholders so that any
present and future processes of policy formulation can benefit
from the inputs of a much broader range of stakeholders.
However, I believe that the most important portion of our work in
this workshop should focus on performance monitoring. Last year's
Strategic Plan's most valuable portion is the Action Plan which
embodies the real substance of our commitments. We need to
determine to what extent the service delivery indicators listed
in it are real performance indicators, and to what extent we can
improve upon it so that we can better assess the degree to which
our strategic goals are achieved. I am sure that your work on the
Action Plan of last year's Strategic Plan will be central to your
deliberations. When I applied my mind to it, I felt a specific
need to receive a report of how much of it has indeed been
achieved within its targeted time-scale. However, I can see the
difficulties in measuring performance and the achievement of its
objectives in many respects. In other respects there are some
actual figures, like the percentage of computerised service
points, which can give us the measure of how far we have moved
and how much further we need to walk.
Other co-efficients might be more difficult to assess, such as
whether there has indeed been a 20% increase in service
accessibility, or a 50% improvement in the turn-around times by
our legal department or a 35% reduction in fraud, bribery and
corruption. I am sure that our Director-General has developed
strategies to monitor and assess performance under these goals,
but I hope that the new Strategic Plan will be able to identify
real mechanisms which will enable everybody, including me and the
Deputy Minister, to know exactly how well, or how badly, we are
doing. Amongst the things which we feel we need to monitor is our
employee satisfaction, and the morale and esprit de corps of our
staff.
Tangible goals and clear performance indicators will provide us
with better tools to identify where we need to give more
resources. I know that many segments of our Department are
strangled by a lack of resources, including our legal services,
in spite of the great efforts, dedication and commitment of its
Chief Director, Advocate Rufus Malatji. It will also show where
we need to allocate our scarce brain resources. For me, training
is the most important aspect on which we must focus. Personally,
I was humiliated when I read the Global Competitiveness Report
published last week by the World Economic Forum and Harvard
University which indicated that South Africa is at the bottom of
a list of 75 developed and developing countries as far as the
competence of its public officials is concerned. According to
such independent report, our public officials are the most
incompetent amongst all such countries, with the exception of
Argentina, Greece, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
We can take umbrage and deep exception to this accusation, but
this will not change international public perception. We need to
prove them wrong through our actions, commitment and dedication.
I do not doubt the dedication and commitment of most of our
officials which has been proven over and over again. We must
build on their dedication and commitment to transform into action
efficiency and competence through training. I believe that
training remains our greatest responsibility and we must build
training within everything we do in the Department. We must begin
producing training documents and instructions for simple and
complex tasks alike and, for instance, ensure that each form we
produce has training material and instruction relating to it. We
must also develop a culture of training within the Department to
ensure that people share knowledge and that anyone takes it upon
himself or herself to train somebody else, and be trained by
someone else. Train and be trained - should be a slogan which
spells out the responsibility of everyone working in the entire
hierarchy of our organisational diagram.
This workshop has very challenging tasks ahead of it and many
demanding hours of work. I am very pleased that the
Director-General informed me that the workshop would be divided
into different groups so that the relevant officials can work on
the specific issues which affect them. I recognise that there is
need for people to come together to discuss experiences and
exchange information, but we cannot forget that our Department
has indeed two different line-functions in addition to general
services and administration, which does not make it necessary for
our civic affairs officials to concern themselves with migration
problems and vice versa. Therefore, I am pleased that the
breakaway format of this workshop will increase efficiency rather
than enforcing its participants to work through plenary
discussions which might not always be the most efficient way of
going about the business. In fact, I believe that perhaps the
most important goal of this workshop is that of beginning to
transform our Department in a very subtle but important manner.
We need to begin operating like a business and achieve the
efficiency of a business. This applies to our internal
regulations as well. The comparison to the running of a business
was mentioned in last year's Strategy Plans and I think it is one
of those factors in respect of which we need to apply our minds
to see how much internal efficiency we have indeed added to our
workings.
In conclusion, I am very aware of the enormity of the tasks and
the importance of the challenges confronting this workshop. I
would have liked to be with you for a much longer time.
Unfortunately, the location of this workshop, so far away from
Pretoria, makes it difficult for me to be with you as long as I
wanted to. I asked the Director-General to see whether the
workshop could be moved to Pretoria to enable me to attend it
throughout. However, I was told that my request arrived too late
and that all bookings had been made and paid for. Now that I am
here and see once again the exceptional beauty of this place, I
know that many of you are pleased that my request for moving the
Seminar to Pretoria was so tardy that it became ineffective. I,
too, would have liked to have been here with you for a week and I
must say that my heart bleeds at having to leave here so early.
However, because of prior commitments, I just have no other
choice. For this reason, I sought to leave with you as much as I
can of my thoughts and reflections by means of my opening remarks
for this workshop, in the hope that what I have said might be of
assistance. I look forward to receiving and reading the output of
this intense week of work, and I wish all the participants
fruitful deliberations as well as the maximum enjoyment for that
which this wonderful place has to offer.