The department of home affairs’ reform agenda is enhancing national security and improving the efficiency of service delivery, minister of home affairs Leon Schreiber argued in his budget vote speech in the National Assembly on Friday.
But opposition party MPs expressed concern about the continued influx of illegal immigrants who place pressure on social services and have led to anti-immigrant protests, which they blamed on inadequate immigration controls.
In reply to the debate, Schreiber insisted that the government was bound by the country’s immigration law in acting against illegal immigrants.
He noted that over the two financial years, the department had carried out nearly 110,000 deportations — an increase of 46% compared to previous years. This was in addition to the more than 945,000 people that the BMA (Border Management Authority) since its establishment had prevented from entering into SA, either illegally or because they did not have the required documentation.
The minister said the department’s reform agenda included expanding greater access to Smart IDs through agreements with banks, extending the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to more countries, stamping down on illegal immigration and rooting out corrupt officials in the department and its entities.
“Through this agenda, we are reforming what was once the most maligned department in all of government, into a world-leader in modern governance,” Schreiber said.
The old paper-based, physically present application processes were being replaced by remote, digital access.
Smart ID applications
Schreiber noted the digital partnership with banks to access to Smart ID replacement services had increased applications by 47% two months after the system went live. After eight weeks, a total of 167 bank branches provided 118,434 Smart ID replacement services and by the end of 2026 the service would be rolled out to at least 750 bank branches.
“Over the next few weeks, we will also roll out first time Smart ID and passport applications through this new system,” Schreiber said. These would replace the green ID book, which he said was “the most defrauded document on the African continent, and sits at the heart of financial fraud and identity theft in our country”.
Doorstep delivery of IDs and passports would also be introduced.
Regarding the ETA, which was initially rolled out to tourists from China, India, Mexico and Indonesia, Schreiber said it would soon be expanded to tourists from many more countries, unlocking new tourism growth markets. For the four initial countries, more than 75,000 applications had been processed so far, resulting in more than 71,000 approvals and nearly 4,500 rejections.
The system uses biometric and machine learning technology to enable prospective travellers to apply for a tourist visa on their laptops or smartphones, and receive their visa within just 24 hours.
“Over the remainder of this administration, we will roll out the ETA to cover all visa categories, in order to entirely eliminate the space for inefficiency, fraud and corruption,” Schreiber said.
Convictions and arrest
On the departments crackdown on corruption, Schreiber said that since the start of the administration, his department had secured 10 criminal convictions, 14 arrests, and 65 dismissals. The BMA secured an additional 26 arrests and 34 dismissals.
“We are now carrying out dismissals, arrests and convictions on a near-weekly basis,” he said.
The cabinet-approved Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection will be converted into a draft bill, which will introduce the first-safe-country-principle to end the practice of asylum seekers “picking and choosing” SA as their only destination in the region.
Schreiber referred to the R12.5bn public-private partnership project by the BMA to demolish and rebuild SA’s six busiest land ports of entry.
The department’s budget totals R13.8bn for the 2026/27 financial year, R12.8bn for the next year and R13.3bn for 2028/29. Schreiber said a greater part of the budget was derived from revenue generated by the department itself from the delivery of its services.
Business Day
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