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The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has urged the National Treasury to find innovative ways to increase the allocation of the Department of Home Affairs.

This is because the work of the department plays a major role in preventing many of the underlying challenges that the country faces. The Committee emphasised that the work of securing the country’s borders and ensuring that undesirable people do not enter, require adequate funding. Furthermore, the department is expected at some point to offer a service to citizens and foreign nationals wishing to enter the country.  

While the Committee is cognisant of the ensuing financial pressures that the fiscus is facing and the need to cut budgets, it has urged both the Department of Home Affairs and National Treasury to find workable solutions without impacting the mandate of the department.

Of importance to the Committee is the need to increase investment in human resources within the immigration office in order to ensure the functioning of immigration laws. The Department of Home Affairs is also encouraged to streamline spending and prioritise programmes that make a meaningful impact on the lives of the people.

The Committee will continue its engagement with both the National Treasury and Department of Home Affairs in an effort to find workable solutions to funding challenges at the Department of Home Affairs.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs, Mr Lemias Mashile