Home affairs blows R300 million on population register system

City Press – 25 July 2022

Massive bungle has not only cost government, it also compromises citizens’ documentation, police work.

The department of home affairs has spent millions of taxpayers’ money on a contract to upgrade its population register system, but years later, the work has still not been done.

The department paid the company EOH Holdings close to R300 million in 2017 to upgrade the Home Affairs National Information System (Hanis) to the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), but nothing was done.

After EOH failed to upgrade the system, the department paid another company, Idemia, which was initially subcontracted by EOH, more than R150 million to do the work, but the company also failed to do the job.

City Press has learnt that apart from paying for the system upgrade, the department spent more than R200 million on hardware and software, whose warrantee and licence was allegedly expiring in few weeks’ time, while it gathers dust.

Unlawful Scheme

Yesterday, the department told City Press that when the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) awarded EOH the contract, the department had no reason to think or suspect that the company may not have capacity to deliver on this contract.

“During the course of the forensic investigation, EOH announced that it was pulling out of all the contracts it had with the state, including this one. Because a lot of time was already lost, the department accepted the ceding of the contract to Idemia so that we don’t start from scratch because the system is urgently needed,” the department said.

It also confirmed paying R280 million.

“We deny that we paid between R300 million and R400 million. The contract, as awarded by the SITA, was worth R409 million. At the time EOH moved out of the contract, they had already purchased hardware for R113 383 482.12; software for R110 972 282.72; and also provided services worth R56 521 710.91. As you can see, the total is R280 877 475.75. This is what we paid for.”

The lucrative contract was awarded to EOH in 2017 by the department and the SITA, which procures ICT products and services for government departments. This after the company beat its competitors in a bidding process described as “corruption infested”. After several complaints about the tender, the department appointed a forensic auditing firm –Nexia SAB&T – to investigate the matter in 2019. Nexia SAB&T discovered that EOH and the SITA’s officials had allegedly engineered an unlawful scheme to make sure the politically connected company landed the lucrative contract.

The department yesterday confirmed the investigation.

“Because this is an IT function, in terms of the law, the department had to acquire such a service provider through the SITA. The SITA did that but unfortunately when the Auditor- General audited the SITA, it queried the manner in which the tender was awarded,” the statement said.

“Because the money to pay for this tender will come from the department, the Auditor-General instructed the department to conduct a forensic investigation.”

Responding to City Press, EOH blamed department for its failure to do the work, saying it failed to provide the company with key infrastructure and data.

Fatima Newman, Group Chief Risk Officer: EOH, said the services in question constituted the provision of both hardware and software components for the project. The deliverables and payment of fees was milestone-based, payable only against the supply of equipment and certain goals having been achieved.

In order to deliver on the project, the department had to provide to EOH certain critical infrastructure [data centres and communications infrastructure], access to government systems [interfaces] and also the data which had to be migrated from the old system on to the new system.

“These were either delayed or improperly delivered, or not delivered at all. The causes of the delay are the subject matter of arbitration proceedings between EOH and the department,” Newman said.

Motsoaledi Angered

Insiders told City Press that Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi met with senior officials in the department and was angry that the matter had not been resolved, and because the department was facing litigation from EOH and NEC XON, one of the companies that lost the tender bid, over the issue.

NEC XON took the matter to court, challenging the ceding of the contract by EOH to Idemia.

“He [Motsoaledi] accused the officials of dragging their feet in pursuing the matter. The minister also instructed the legal department and the heads of departments who were dealing with the matter to recover the money paid to both EOH and Idemia,” said the source.

However, the department denied the minister’s encounter with officials.

We strongly deny this. The minister regularly demands updates from the executive committee on this project because he wants the department to move to the ABIS sooner rather than later.

Mess-up affects police's fight

In the court papers seen by City Press, NEC XON cites Motsoaledi as the first respondent and the department as the second respondent. The three implicated companies are cited as respondents eight, nine and 10, respectively.

EOH, a JSE-listed group, was supposed to have upgraded the department’s current system and Hanis, which only records photos and fingerprints of South African identity document holders, to the ABIS. This would provide a single source of identification for citizens across state institutions and private sector entities. It was also supposed to allow the police to check the fingerprints of suspected criminals.   

In terms of the agreement it signed with the department, EOH was supposed to have completed the work in November 2018.

The company subcontracted a French-owned company, Idemia, to implement the project, allegedly because it did not have the capacity and technical erudition to implement it.

According to sources, the company missed the deadline, disadvantaging citizens and disabling the SA Police Service, which paid part of the contract, from effectively fighting crime in South Africa.

After EOH was implicated in the much-publicised allegations of corruption, the company’s new CEO, Stephen van Coller, who was appointed to clean up the legacy and remnants of corruption that plagued it, pulled out of the contract in 2020 and ceded it to Idemia, which gloatingly parades itself as a global leader in augmented identity.

Newman said the reason Van Coller wanted out of the agreement was because “the situation of impossibility” which had arisen by late 2020 or early last year was such that it could not be resolved.

“EOH did not want to stand in the way of a resolution and agreed to an assignment [cession] of the master service agreement by the department to Idemia in April last year,” said Newman.

She said the department and EOH were currently going through arbitration regarding their historical disputes.

The SITA flagged the contract for violating procurement laws when it was ceded from EOH to Idemia with the consent of the department.

“What is funny and ironic about the cession of this contract to Idemia is that it is the very same company that failed to implement this contract. We were all shocked [by that decision],” said the source, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.

DEADLINES CAME AND WENT

The department, said the source, then entered into a R150 million contract with Idemia in April last year. The company was given six months to complete the project.

The company failed to complete the upgrade on time and asked for the extension until October.

“October came and is gone. They then asked for an extension to November.

“It came and is gone. They asked for an extension to December, it came and is gone. They then asked for January extension, it came and is gone. When NEC XON threatened to take them to court because of the difficult position the SAPS found itself in, they then promised that the contract would be completed, but six months later, there is no system upgraded,” said the source.

Aloma Swanepoel, of Ginjaninja PR, who responded to City Press on behalf of Idemia, said the company did not comment on its contracts. He referred all enquiries to the department of home affairs.

The source said Motsoaledi also expressed concerns about Idemia’s failure to meet the deadline. It is alleged that some officials suggested that the department should penalise EOH and Idemia for failing to meet the deadline and also recover the money it paid to EOH.

But EOH has already beaten them to the game by approaching the courts in a bid to be released from the agreement. It is also demanding the balance of R128 million with interest, as per the original contract.

Newman said EOH had successfully delivered 51 of the 60 contracted milestones for phase 1 of the project, which had been signed off and accepted by the department. “EOH only received R282 million [including VAT] in payment for services rendered,” she said.

Newman said the agreed fee for the entire project was about R410 million, which had not been paid in full. She said EOH had only been paid for certified deliverables.

www.samigration.com

 

Constitutional Court settles 7-year battle over citizenship

LHR – 25 July 2022

 

The Constitutional Court yesterday handed down judgment in a case launched by Lawyers for Human Rights in 2016, but which started with negotiations with the Department of Home Affairs as far back as 2013. The applicants ask for one simple thing: dignity. Dignity, in this case, comes in the form of citizenship – the vessel for membership, belonging, safety and security in a world based on States.

The 5 applicants in Chisuse and Others v Director General, Department of Home Affairs and Another [2020] were each born to a South African citizen parent, outside of the Republic of South Africa. Each applicant returned to South Africa at some point after their birth. Often, they returned to be with family, some were returned as children (without their parents) to stay with South African grandparents, some returned because it became apparent that they were not citizens of the country of their birth. The result was the same, they were living in South Africa, the country they are linked to by blood, without recognition of citizenship and without the option of citizenship anywhere else. They were made stateless in the country of their ancestors.

The applicants, represented by the Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) Statelessness Project, argued that the South African Citizenship Act must be unconstitutional if it excludes them from South African citizenship. The High Court agreed and made an order in 2018 declaring the applicants to be South African citizens and ordering the Department of Home Affairs to issue them with ID documents and birth certificates. The order of constitutional invalidity had to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court and was vehemently opposed by the Department until the bitter end. This despite at least two applicants being able to provide DNA evidence of their link to a South African parent. Two other applicants had government issued proof of their link to South African parents.

In a unanimous judgment, penned by Khampepe J, the court vindicated the applicants and said:

“Citizenship and equality of citizenship is therefore a matter of considerable importance in South Africa, particularly bearing in mind the abhorrent history of citizenship deprivation suffered by many in South Africa over the last hundred and more years. Citizenship is not just a legal status. It goes to the core of a person’s identity, their sense of belonging in a community and, where xenophobia is a lived reality, to their security of person.”

The Court upheld the applicants’ pre-existing right to citizenship in terms of the Citizenship Act. Instead of finding that the Act is unconstitutional, it followed the established principles of interpretation and found that the Act is capable of an interpretation which honours the spirit of the Constitution. The Court found that the applicants and those similarly placed (persons who are born to South African citizens abroad at any point before or after 2013) fall under section 2(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act and are therefore citizens by birth.

“Access to citizenship is not only at the core of a person’s dignity, it is crucial to the achievement of our Constitutional aims which includes recognising the injustices of our past and healing those divisions to create a united and democratic South Africa while freeing the potential of every person” said Liesl Muller, attorney for the applicants.

Our clients expressed overwhelming relief and hope when the Constitutional Court saw them and called them each by name, declaring them to be South African citizens. It may have been a 7-year legal battle, but for these South Africans it has been a life-long struggl

www.samigration.com

 

South Africa: Court Action to Stop Immigrants Being Denied Life-Saving Healthcare

AllAfrica 25 July 2022

Two-year-old Zimbabwean boy died after state hospital denied him treatment because his mother had no birth certificate

SECTION27, a public interest law organisation, has launched an application in the Gauteng High Court to scrap discriminatory practices that deny immigrant women and their children state health care.

An affidavit in the case describes specific cases where children have been denied treatment.

SECTION27 says there is no coherent approach between facilities and even within hospitals treatment depends on having luck with the official on duty.

The rights of immigrant and undocumented women and children to access free healthcare in South Africa will be put to the test in a court challenge launched by SECTION27 in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.

In December 2019, two-year-old Sibusiso Ncube died of poisoning after he was refused treatment at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital because his Zimbabwean mother could not instantly produce his birth certificate or pay R5,000, says an affidavit in the court case.

This was not an isolated incident according to Umunyana Rugege, executive director of SECTION27.

"Since 2013, SECTION27 has been repeatedly approached by pregnant migrant women and children under six, who have been denied access to free health services. This is perpetuated through discriminatory subordinate laws and practices," Rugege says in her affidavit.

"They have routinely been denied access to the health care services, or they are pressured into signing acknowledgements of debt and undertakings to pay for services."

SECTION27 wants all the relevant ordinances and regulations scrapped. It also seeks an an order that the Minister of Health issue a circular to all provincial health departments recording that all pregnant or lactating women, and children under six, who are not members of medical aid schemes and who have not come to South Africa to obtain health care, be entitled to free health services at any public health establishment, irrespective of their nationality and documentation status.

Rugege says that while the National Health Act does not place any limitation on the right to free health services, there are a range of subordinate laws and practices implemented at hospitals that impose conditions requiring proof of nationality and financial means.

"These laws and practices are unlawful," she says.

Rugege cited other examples, such as a pregnant asylum seeker who was denied treatment after she was injured in a robbery. She was told she had to pay R2,000 before a "file could be opened" at Steve Biko Academic Hospital.

Two months later, when she was eight-months pregnant and went to Charlotte Maxeke, she was told she had to pay R20,000 if she wanted treatment and give birth at the hospital. Only after SECTION27 intervened, was she given an appointment, but the night before it she lost her baby.

Another Zimbabwean woman whose child needed emergency surgery was forced to sign an admission of debt for more than R34,000 at the same hospital. Then when he needed further surgery, it was denied because of the outstanding debt. The woman was further told that she would have to pay R5,000 for admission and R50,000 for the second surgery.

Again SECTION27 intervened. But in March, when the mother took him back for a check-up, a nurse addressed everyone in the queue and told them that foreign nationals would not be attended to if they did not have money to pay. The mother, and others, left without being seen.

The application is supported by the Jesuit Refugee Service, The Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, and Doctors Without Borders; all are expected to file affidavits soon. Rugege says these will highlight discriminatory institutional policies and systematic xenophobic practices and attitudes that have "detrimental and sometimes fatal consequences".

"There is simply no coherent approach at different public health establishments ... even within a single establishment, different officials treat patients differently," she said. Access to health care depends on who is on duty that day. On "lucky days" people will gain access without any trouble.

The respondents -- the MEC and Gauteng health department head, the Minister and Director-General of Health -- have 15 days to file notices of opposition.

www.samigration.com

 

 

 

Canada needs more immigrants to tackle labour shortage as vacancies hit 1m

The cable – 25 July 2022

Canada is currently reportedly experiencing labour shortage and needs over a million vacancies to be filled.

According to a report by Statistics Canada published on Jul 20, immigrants have been the driving force behind the country’s labour supply for many years, and in the 2010s, over four-fifths of the growth in labour force came from immigration.

“Immigration has always been the driving force behind Canada’s labour supply. But with job vacancies in late 2021 80% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and the working age population aging, high levels of immigration will be even more critical to the labour market,” the report reads.

The report, however, noted that “a modest, sustained increase in immigration levels will not fully offset the longer-term impacts of an aging population”, but will be critical for reducing the aging effects on the labour market over time.

“After the interruption caused by the pandemic in 2020, 405,800 immigrants were admitted in 2021, the highest level in the history,” the report reads.

Meanwhile, the development comes shortly after Canada reportedly hit a record high on number of available job vacancies.

As of March 2022, more than one million vacant job positions were available to be filled as businesses begin to recover from the COVID pandemic.

“Across all sectors, Canadian employers were actively seeking to fill more than one million (1,012,900) vacant positions at the beginning of March 2022, a record high,” the reloet reads.

“Vacancies increased by 22.6% (+186,400) in the month and were up 60.5% (+382,000) from March 2021 (not seasonally adjusted).”

IMPROVEMENT IN LABOUR MARKET PARTLY OWING TO IMMIGRANTS

As contained in the June 22 report, the increase in economic principal applicants who arrived the country was a result of the expansion of provincial programmes that relied more on temporary foreign workers (TFW) and the introduction of the Canadian experience class.

It said temporary foreign workers accounted for “a rising share of the employed labour force”.

“The increased reliance on TFWs tended to improve the economic outcomes of immigrants,” the report reads.

“The labour market outcomes of recent immigrants improved substantially in the years leading up to the pandemic.

“TFWs and international students, both of whom are transitioning to permanent residency in greater numbers, have become increasingly important sources of labour supply.

“While economic outcomes of recent immigrants have improved, substantial challenges related to their skill utilization continue to persist. Addressing these challenges will be key to improving social and economic mobility among newcomers while enhancing the skills and competitiveness of our workforce.”

In February, Canada, under its Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024, announced that it aimed to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022.

www.samigration.com

 

 

Hiring foreign workers in South Africa – the new case you should know about

Daily Mirror – 25 July 2022

The Western Cape High Court recently dealt with a case of hiring foreign workers in South Africa, and whether an employer’s intention to employ foreign nationals rather than South African citizens or permanent residents could constitute unfair discrimination.

The case centred around Mukuru, a financial services provider that uses mobile technology to transfer money across Africa and Asian countries, says Jacqui Reed, a senior associate at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.

“The group applied for a corporate visa that would permit them to employ foreign nationals. To obtain such a certificate, it was necessary for Mukuru to obtain a certificate from the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL).

“To obtain the certificate, Mukuru needed to have shown that despite conducting a diligent search to find suitable employees that were either South African citizens or permanent residency holders, it was not able to do so.”

The department subsequently refused to issue the certificate because it was not satisfied with Mukuru’s attempts to employ South Africans which prompted Mukuru to take this decision on review.

However, the High Court was not persuaded by Mukuru’s explanation for why it could not employ South Africans and found that South Africans were unfairly excluded from employment opportunities which constituted unfair discrimination on various constitutional grounds.

Reed noted that the ruling is important – especially when considering whether passing over South Africans for employment is discriminatory.

“Whilst this decision did not emanate from a South African alleging that there was unfair discrimination by an employer who employed a foreign national as opposed to the South African citizen, it does highlight that there may be circumstances under which the employment of a foreign national rather than a South African may constitute unfair discrimination,” she said.

“It is evident from this decision that South African employers will need to justify the employment of foreign nationals in favour of South Africans. Whether an employer can do so, will depend on the facts of each case.”

www.samigration.com