Home Affairs Budget Vote Report; DHA rollout plan for self-service kiosks; MRC Interim Report on GPW; with Deputy Minister

Video Annual Performance Plan (APP) of Government Departments & Entities 2026/27 The Portfolio Committee met to consider and adopt the Committee's Budget Vote Report for the home affairs portfolio, and received an update from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) on the stalled self-service kiosk project and broader digital transformation strategy. The Chairperson opened the meeting by raising concerns regarding undocumented foreign nationals, noting ongoing protests and memoranda submitted to authorities and Parliament. He said Parliament and the Department were engaging the matter continuously, and stressed the importance of public participation processes around the White Paper and future legislation dealing with citizenship, migration and refugee protection. He called on the executive, particularly the Minister of Home Affairs, to engage directly with stakeholders and the public on migration-related concerns and reforms. The Chairperson also raised concerns about delays in the Ministerial Review Committee (MRC) investigation into the Government Printing Works (GPW), noting that the Committee had expected an interim report earlier in the year. Members expressed dissatisfaction with the Department’s explanation that the MRC could not release interim findings before completion of its work because of procedural fairness concerns and the risk of contradictory information. The Committee resolved to note the correspondence, but indicated dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity and progress regarding the GPW investigation. The Department briefed the Committee on the kiosk project and its digital transformation strategy. It explained that the kiosks had initially been introduced to complement mobile services, reduce queues and improve public access to Smart identity document (ID) cards, passports and reprints of birth, marriage and death certificates. It confirmed that 91 kiosks and related software had been procured at a cost of R27.391 million, but said the original service provider had failed to complete integration work despite submitting an R11 million work order for integration. The Department had terminated the service provider’s contract in March 2025 because of persistent non-performance. Additional challenges included payment device incompatibility, expiring warranties, idle assets and maintenance costs. A feasibility assessment was underway to determine the future viability of integrating and deploying the kiosks. Members raised serious concerns about procurement failures, accountability, project delays and possible fruitless and wasteful expenditure. They questioned how compatibility and integration problems had not been identified during the tender specification stage, and whether the change in departmental leadership had influenced the project’s reprioritisation. Members also questioned why the kiosks had remained idle at the Silverton site while communities continued to experience long queues at Home Affairs offices. The Chairperson said the Committee remained dissatisfied with inconsistencies in the Department’s explanations regarding the integration process. He noted differences between the responses provided by the chief financial officer and the acting chief information officer, and said the Committee had observed similar inconsistencies over a prolonged period. He requested the Department to return with a detailed report on the feasibility assessment, integration process, procurement decisions, accountability measures, and new developments raised during the meeting. The Committee then considered amendments to the Budget Vote Report recommendations. The amended recommendations required the Department to provide a detailed short-term and long-term plan for graduate interns and workers at the digitisation hub, including plans relating to ongoing employment and stipend reviews, as well as the service-level agreement with the digitisation hub service provider. The recommendations required the Department to report on the financial implications, accountability measures and rollout plans relating to the self-service kiosks, report on risks arising from cuts to transversal information technology (IT) funding and their impact on digital transformation initiatives, and provide updates on the transfer of South African Police Service border functions to the Border Management Authority, including timelines and outstanding challenges relating to the implementation of a single command structure. Additional recommendations, directed at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), addressed online voter registration system failures, accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities, ICT upgrade risks ahead of the 2026 local government elections, outstanding impact assessments relating to section 24A of the Electoral Act, and the implementation of vetting and lifestyle audits for IEC officials. The Committee also agreed that the recommendation relating to Government Printing Works should require the Ministerial Review Committee to present its final report within a clear timeframe.