Parliament’s Home Affairs committee rallying behind Minister Leon Schreiber to modernise the department
Parliament’s Home Affairs committee chairperson Mosa Chabane commended Minister Schreiber’s efforts to turn the ship around with more mobile trucks and self-help kiosks to improve customer service.
FILE: Department of Home Affairs. Picture: Sethembiso Zulu/Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - Parliament’s Home Affairs committee is rallying behind Minister Leon Schreiber to modernise the department.
The committee further says it will back a request for it not to be forced to use the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for its systems.
Briefing the media in Parliament on Tuesday, chairperson Mosa Chabane said there were still too many hiccups with the department’s IT system impacting the digitisation drive and negatively impacting customer service.
Parliament's Home Affairs committee said corruption would continue to dog the department if it doesn’t fully digitise the application process for national documents.
Chabane commended Minister Schreiber’s efforts to turn the ship around with more mobile trucks and self-help kiosks to improve customer service.
But Chabane said the long queues witnessed by the committee during oversight visits remain a concern.
He acknowledged the long downtimes are often beyond the department’s control.
“All the departments have indicated that they have challenges with the network of SITA. And all of us as a portfolio committee, in fact, have raised it with the minister of Home Affairs even in the sixth administration that there should be possible exemption for the security cluster and, in particular, Home Affairs from the services of SITA.”
The committee has suggested the department consider whether the system the South African Revenue Service uses might be suitable for its own use and to improve customer service.