Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
4 October 2001
The Department of Home Affairs this year, for the first time, embarked on a strategic planning process culminating in the Department's Strategic Plan. This Plan epitomises a decisive beacon in the transformation of the Department towards complying with the principles and practices of good governance, comprising the fundamental tenet of public management and administration of the Government of South Africa. The Plan identifies crucial priorities for realigning the Department's organisational culture and updating its business processes, thus enabling conformity with the good governance prerequisite.
We are now, more than ever, committed to an ongoing process of improving performance by maintaining a consistent focus on our strategic goals, refining the definition and measurement of the outcome of our work, and improving the communication of the results of our efforts to the public. We have set ourselves the vision of "Rendering World-class Service" and will constantly strive towards achieving just that.
A further measure to improve service delivery not only to the Department's South African clients, but also to persons across the world wishing to obtain information on the Department and its services, is the re-launching of the Home Affairs Internet website. Although the Department has had a functioning website for the past year, it had certain shortcomings in the sense that it was not very user-friendly and the navigation was somewhat confusing to a person not familiar with Departmental terminology. We have now developed this into an extremely user-friendly resource, which will not only provide information but from which forms can also be downloaded when applying for Home Affairs services. The new site can be accessed at www.home-affairs.gov.za
Websites are not static. Should they be, they would soon become boring to those visiting them. The Department has therefore appointed a dedicated Web Developer and Webmaster to ensure that the website will remain current and interesting to those accessing it. In the case of the Department, continuous updating is even more important to ensure that the latest information, as well as the most current policies and legislation, is always available to members of the public. In addition to the Web Developer and Webmaster, the Department has therefore appointed a representative in each functional unit of the Department to ensure that the latest information is published on the website at all times. A Departmental Website Committee constituted from the mentioned personnel meets on a weekly basis to ensure that these quality standards are maintained.
The next development in this regard will be an Intranet site through which all Departmental staff will have immediate access to a wealth of Departmental information, thus further improving their service to the public. Through the Intranet staff will have policy documents, operational guidelines and legislation at their fingertips at the push of a button, enabling to deal with enquiries from the public in a much more efficient manner.
This improved website is but one of a number of initiatives towards electronic services which will improve service delivery. The massive HANIS and Smart Card projects currently underway are already public knowledge.
The Department is also in the process of computerising its visa system, as part of our efforts to improve service delivery, but also to improve the integrity of the system. The visa system entails the capturing of data of a visa applicant on computer in the foreign Mission where the application is lodged and transferring the data via Head Office to the ports of entry. Once a person enters through these ports of entry, his/her particulars are already available to the immigration officer, thus expediting the clearance process and eliminating forgeries. This computerised visa system is already implemented at 54 SA Missions abroad. The implementation of a further 23 new missions and the upgrading of 12 existing missions are scheduled for the current financial year. It is foreseen that the project will continue for another year, by which time the system at all the Missions will have been computerised. Thirty-four missions are already using internet communication that is substantially cheaper than normal data lines.
Computerisation of border posts is also taking place as part of the Department's efforts to improve services. Fifty-one of the sixty computerised border posts are already transferring data of travellers via satellite, six ports of entry (including Johannesburg International Airport) make use of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) communication and three ports of entry transfer data via modem communication. These transfers take place on a daily basis and substantially reduce the delays in capturing the data on the main frame.
During July 2000, we approved the implementation of a transversal, online records system for the Department that will provide the following:
A tender for the acquisition and implementation of the first phase of an online Document Management System was published during May 2001. The evaluation of the tender responses received is currently in process. The intention is to have a contract for this in place towards the end of October 2001.
Through initiatives if this kind, it is the intention to make the Department of Home Affairs a leader in Government service delivery and to indeed render "World-class Service."
Contact: Leslie Mashokwe at 082 809 6547