Home Affairs needs to embrace automation, digital transformation

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says automation and digital transformation is necessary to turn Home Affairs into a department that supercharges economic growth, delivers dignified civic services and secures national security.

“The inefficiency and corruption that has maligned this department can all be traced back to the fact that it still has manual and paper-based processes,” Schreiber said.

Speaking at the RMB Morgan Stanley Investor Conference, Schreiber said Home Affairs sits at the heart of national security apparatus and has much work to do to restore internal security after decades of neglect and institutional vandalism.

He said securing immigration and civics systems through automation and digital transformation will deliver an immediate boost to confidence in South Africa’s ability to re-establish law and order.

“But the role of Home Affairs as an economic enabler goes well beyond the realm of national security. In total, it is in the domain of Home Affairs that we have the potential to triple or even quadruple this country’s annual economic output.

“We can do all of this with very little additional demands on the fiscus, which is already overstretched. To achieve this economic impact, we must address both regulation and administration as a matter of urgency,” the Minister said.

Schreiber said South Africa’s new remote working visa was a game changer.

“My message to remote workers all around the world is simple: there is just no place like South Africa. And with our new user-friendly remote working visa, there has never been a better time to come and spend your hard-earned salary in a beautiful country whose best days are yet to come.

“Even more exciting than the remote working visa, is the new points-based work visa. The points-based work visa is going to revolutionise the South African economy.

“Gone will be the days when highly skilled workers had no pathway to help build this country if their skills happened to not be included in an arbitrary critical skills list,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za