Most members of the home affairs portfolio committee spoke in favour of the budget vote tabled by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber last week, saying the department was finally delivering for the people of SA.
Giving his budget vote speech in the National Assembly on Thursday, Schreiber cited among the department’s achievements over the year the clearing of a backlog of more than 306,000 visa applications dating back more than a decade.
It had also produced and delivered just under 3.6-million smart IDs, surpassing the previous annual record by nearly half a million. More than 1.4-million naturalised citizens and permanent residents had obtained smart IDs for the first time.
The use of advanced drone and body camera technology had resulted in an increase of up to 215% in the detection and prevention of attempted illegal border crossings. More than 46,000 people were deported, the highest figure in more than five years.
During a debate of the budget vote in parliament on Tuesday, Schreiber said the department’s ecosystem was set to reach even greater heights in the second year of its reform journey.
“To fund this journey, I am tabling a budget for Vote 5 on Home Affairs that amounts to R11bn in 2025/26. This includes a baseline increase of R321m in 2025/26, R1.2bn in 2026/27, and R369m in 2027/28,” he said.
“These increases will primarily support the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the preparations for the 2026 local government elections. However, the BMA budget will only increase from R1.7bn to R1.9bn over the next three years, which remains insufficient.
“As a result, we will continue to work on self-financing and alternative revenue sources to unlock greater investment and accelerate our digital transformation efforts.”
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will receive an additional R885m in 2026/27 to support the local elections, bringing its total budget for this financial year to R2.1bn, while the government printing works (GPW) will retain the difference between revenue and expenses which amounts to R1.8bn.
The minister said the scale and urgency of reform that was now under way in the home affairs ecosystem “is without parallel in the story of our young democracy. We already have a lot to show after just one year and a lot more to do over the next four years.
“Our progress is based on the fact that we are working as one team, with one dream. With every day that passes we take another collective step towards achieving our goal of using digital transformation to deliver dignity for all,” Schreiber said.
ANC MP Mosa Steve Chabane said the party supported the budget vote because the reforms would improve the department holistically.
However, MK's Mariam Be Be Muhammad disagreed, saying: “We reject this budget. It’s not a tool of transformation, it’s a plaster over a festering wound. Let’s return to the basics ... in rural parts of the country, people wait for months for birth certificates. Offices have no functioning printers. Corruption goes unchecked, border control is lax. The budget conceals rather than corrects. It infringes on basic human rights.”
DA MP Nicole Jane Bollman said the party, which is part of the government of national unity, supported the budget vote as it provides for “measurable progress to grow our economy and create jobs. It supports results, reform and a department that is finally delivering for the people of SA”.
EFF MP Thapelo Predict Mogale slammed what he described as an austerity budget, which would not be sufficient to address the “serious backlog of birth certificates” or be enough to fund the BMA. We reject this budget vote”.
Patriotic Alliance MP Millicent Lorato Mathopa said the PA supported the budget vote, but pointed out that SA’s borders remained “dangerously porous”.
She said unchecked infiltration by illegal immigrants drained the economy. “The current measures are not enough.”
ActionSA MP Lerato Mikateko Ngobeni said: “We support the budget because without it the department and its entities would have no lifeline at all. The BMA is underfunded.” Illegal immigration “choked the healthcare system and underwhelm our schools and public service that South Africans rely on”.
Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana said: “What South Africans are demanding from this department is not outrageous. It is this: make it easy and straightforward to enter this country legally and make it difficult to enter illegally. They are demanding to know who is in SA.”
He said the country could not prosper while the department had a dysfunctional system which hampered legal entry to the country and allowed unfettered illegal entry.
“There was once a time when the name “Home Affairs” was synonymous with chaos — the system is offline, long, snaking queues, and corrupt officials were the norm. Thankfully, that is starting to change. But now, we must bring that same urgency to fix our broken immigration system,” Gana said.
He called on the department and the BMA to make it “near-impossible to enter the country illegally”.
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