Meet the Backlog Bomb Squad – the dedicated team of people at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) who, for the last six months of 2024, worked tirelessly to clear the visa application backlog of over 306,000 unprocessed applications. Some of the pending applications were dating back over a decade.
It was no mean feat. It took sweat and endurance, working long hours, at night, over weekends and over holidays to clear the backlog which acted as a millstone around the neck of the DHA and handbrake on South Africa’s economic growth prospects. But they succeeded with flying colours, said Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, at a gala event in Sandton on Monday, 3 February, celebrating the team’s success.
Before DHA brought the collective Bomb Squad, comprising government officials and private sector employees, onto the field, many people had given up on the idea that their applications would ever be processed. The delays, long queues and system downtime, led some to refer to “Hell Affairs” rather than “Home Affairs”, Schreiber said.
The Minister said copying Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ innovative, out-of-the-box approach with an unconventional split on the replacement bench which took the rest of the rugby world by surprise, the DHA drew on resources and support from across the public and private sector to strengthen the Backlog Eradication Team in an innovative new way.
“Like the Springbok Bomb Squad, we did so to ensure that we end much stronger than we started, by finally getting the backlog project over the try line.”
On this subject, Phindiwe Mbhele, Director of Corporate Accounts at DHA, told Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb, in a recent podcast on important immigration reforms in South Africa, that the clearing of the visa and permitting backlog is nothing short of remarkable.
He chuckled about a sudden, new and unexpected problem the team faced due to the efficient speed at which they got the job done. By early December over 80% of the backlog was cleared and in the last days of 2024 it was more than 90%.
As the team worked almost non-stop to eradicate the backlog by Christmas, the DHA ran out of visa labels – the stickers placed in an applicant’s passports containing information about the visa conditions.
“Running out of labels is in itself an indication of the number of approved applications that we finalised. Consequently, a lot of outcomes were stuck at the printing stage, and this is where the Government Printing Works did their part in printing a high number of labels for us to issue,” Mbhele said.
Good news for business
He admitted because the DHA could not issue visas on time, it had to resort to other measures such as granting several concessions over the last few years to applicants awaiting outcomes in order for them to stay in South Africa legally.
Many businesses were also uncomfortable when they faced the possibility of employing someone whose visa has or would expire soon, and the employee only having a receipt to show as proof that he or she applied for a visa renewal in time.
The Minister said the backlog project in particular is more important to South Africa than what may appear from face value. “It deprived our economy of the investment and skills it needs to grow and achieve the apex priority of the Government of National Unity, which is to create jobs. It is for precisely this reason, that it is so important that we make meaningful and urgent progress at Home Affairs.”
Benefits for South Africa
During the gala event, Schreiber said DHA is on track with important reforms and the future must be built entirely around digital transformation.
Jacobs, also the BUSA NEDLAC Business Representative for Immigration, was among the business representatives attending the Sandton event. She said the progress with processing visa applications, visa reforms and digitization at DHA under Schreiber’s leadership, are some of the positive developments in the immigration landscape the past year. It has already contributed to position the DHA as a vital economic enabler.
Organised business welcomes the good cooperation and engagement with the Department as the benefits to corporates, international travellers and South Africans are becoming more evident.
Both Schreiber and Mbhele said the achievement of clearing of the backlog opens the way for creating a more efficient and digitally transformed Home Affairs to deliver dignity and help create jobs.
This year the Minister want the DHA adjudicators to focus on clearing appeals flowing from the backlog. He wants high quality decisions where adjudicators act as risk managers, and not as gatekeepers.
Mbhele said he looks with excitement to the year ahead to make strides in realizing DHA’s vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home.
The aim is to get both South Africans and visitors out of long queues and offices by enabling them to access all departmental services digitally, whether it be from the comfort of their own home, a local bank branch or community library.
(The podcast can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/vx4renI9CFo)
