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Department of Home Affairs (South Africa)

South African government department

Summary

South African government department

Field	Value
agency_name	Department of Home Affairs
nativename	{{collapsible list
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logo	South Africa Department of Home Affairs logo.svg
logo_width	150
logo_caption	Logo of the department
formed
jurisdiction	Government of South Africa
headquarters	Hallmark Building, Corner of Johannes Ramokhoase & Thabo Sehume Street, Pretoria
coordinates
employees	9,375 (2009)
budget	R11 billion (2025/2026)
minister1_name	Leon Schreiber
minister1_pfo	Minister of Home Affairs
minister2_name	Njabulo Nzuza
minister2_pfo	Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
chief1_name	Livhuwani Tommy Makhode
chief1_position	Director-General: Home Affairs
type	Department
website

| 10 other official names: | af | nr | xh | zu | ss | nso | st | tn | ts | ve The Department of Home Affairs is a department of the South African government. It is the custodian of the identity of all South African citizens.

Home Affairs is responsible for, among other things, issuing certificates such as those recognizing births and marriages, issuing identity documents and passports, and issuing citizenship, naturalization, and permanent residency certificates.

Furthermore, the department seeks to ensure a responsive and efficient immigration regime, as well as the effective, secure, and humane management of asylum seekers and refugees.

The DHA also receives funds on behalf of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), and for the Represented Political Parties Fund. The IEC and Government Printing Works (GPW) report to the Department.

The Department is headed by the Minister of Home Affairs, a role held since 2024 by Democratic Alliance party member Leon Schreiber.

Documents

The department is responsible for:

Maintenance of the National Population Register (the civil registry), including the recording of births, marriages/civil partnerships and deaths.
Issuing identity documents and passports.
Issuing visas for visitors to South Africa (although visa applications pass through embassies or consulates which are part of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation).
Managing immigration to South Africa and naturalisation of permanent immigrants.
Handling refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa.
Controlling ports of entry at land borders, seaports and airports.

Budget

The Department was allocated a 2025/26 budget of R11 billion.

Criticisms

A report by the country's Public Service Commission found that the Department of Home Affairs accounted for 22 of the 260 financial misconduct cases for national departments in 2008/9.

In May 2010 it was reported that the Department of Home Affairs had not paid its bill to the Government Printing Works, leading to a delay in the issuance of new passports, and that the department faced lawsuits from "people erroneously declared dead, people whom they failed to issue with identity documents and others arrested after their IDs were used in a fraudulent manner". In the same year, the department was being sued for for various breaches of terms and contracts.{{Cite news

There have been reports of corruption within Home Affairs. In February 2010 the department closed one of its Johannesburg offices due to corruption,{{Cite news | access-date = 28 January 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111006054710/http://www.ewn.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=17671 | archive-date = 6 October 2011 | url-status = dead

In January 2011 the department was criticised for its inefficiency, particularly in regard to processing documents. Eye Witness News reported that it would take two years to process visa requests from Zimbabwe citizens applying for work and study permits.{{Cite news | access-date = 28 January 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111008203500/http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=56145 | archive-date = 8 October 2011 | url-status = dead

References

"Home Affairs". The Government of South Africa.
(8 July 2025). "Minister Leon Schreiber: Home Affairs Dept Budget Vote 2025/26". The Government of South Africa.
"Overview on Financial Misconduct for the 2008/2009 Financial Year", Public Service Commission, http://www.psc.gov.za/documents/2010/PSC%20Overview%20on%20financiaL.pdf
"DA statement on Home affairs's R126million debt to GPW", From the Old, http://fromtheold.com/news/da-statement-home-affairss-r126million-debt-gpw-2010031016905.html {{Webarchive. link. (2011-07-11 , 10 March 2010)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

government-departments-of-south-africa internal-affairs-ministries government-ministries-established-in-1910

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