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Support for Home Affairs Budget in National Assembly

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) debated in support of Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s budget in the National Assembly yesterday, because the Department under his leadership is making rapid progress to turn Home Affairs around. The pace of digital transformation and visa reform are especially praise-worthy.

Minister Schreiber led the clearing of a previously out of control visa application backlog of 306,000 – while creating a new scheme to make inbound tourist travel easy and digital for 176,000 new tourists from India and China.

Protecting our borders with new drone technology, and protecting the integrity of immigration with digital visa technology, is making Home Affairs a pillar of national security.

The DA looks forward to seeing Smart ID and Passport services coming to hundreds of bank branches, in the biggest roll-out of public access to Home Affairs imaginable, under Minister Schreiber.

Extracts of the DA Debate speeches are as follows:

Nicole Bollman MP

  • Home Affairs cleared a 306,000-strong visa backlog, enabling key reforms like remote work visas and the Trusted Employer Scheme.
  • The TTOS brought over 176,000 tourists from China and India, boosting a tourism sector that supports 1.46 million jobs.
  • New international offices and the ETA system will speed up passport delivery and digitise visa processing.
  • A record 3.6 million Smart IDs were issued, including to 1.4 million naturalised citizens, with plans for digital IDs and wider access.
  • The Government Printing Works is stabilising and digitising, and should reinvest its profits to modernise further.

Adrian Roos MP

  • Home Affairs systems long enabled corruption, while ordinary South Africans faced offline systems and long queues.
  • The Lubisi report revealed widespread visa fraud, fake users, and weak IT controls.
  • Reforms under Minister Schreiber include digital upgrades and expanding services to 1,000 bank branches.
  • The BMA has boosted enforcement but urgently needs SAPS border police resources.
  • The DA backs this budget as it ends exploitation and delivers fair, efficient services.

Regards

Liza Albrecht
National Media Operations Manager

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