National carrier South African Airways is the main culprit when it comes to unpaid fines for transporting people without legal papers on to South African soil.
But the main tongue-lashing from the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) was given to the department of home affairs, to whom the money is owed.
The issue came under the spotlight this week when Scopa tackled the department on a variety of issues arising out of the Auditor General’s report on the department’s performance on immigration issues.
The Auditor General found that by June last year R16,9-million was owed to the department by 120 different entities (primarily airlines), marking a significant increase over the R4,2-million owed in 2000. More than half the penalties have been outstanding for more than three years and, says the report, the lack of effective procedures to collect debt ultimately has an impact on taxpayers because it affects the amount of money paid into the national revenue account.
But, most perturbing for members of Scopa, was that the largest single amount (R1,6-million) owed was by the national carrier.
Scopa member Jean-Pierre  Gerber pointed out to newly appointed director general Mavuso Msimang that, of the 120 culprits, ‘communication should be best with our own airlineâ€.
Msimang said the national carrier perhaps owed the most because it brought a large number of people into the country every day.
Commenting after the events at the session Gerber told the Mail & Guardian that made it even worse. ‘That’s exactly why they [SAA] should have the best methods of checking who is coming in legally or illegally.â€
Msimang conceded, however, that there was ‘clearly a breakdown in the systemâ€.
SAA spokesperson Robyn Chalmers disputed the amount of R1,6-million: ‘SAA does have an outstanding penalty owing to the department of home affairs, but this is in the process of being settled. We have made payments totalling R500 000 so far this year. The outstanding amount is R90 000 for May and this is being processed through our finance department. SAA endeavours to pay the department timeously.â€
Scopa chairperson Nelson Themba Godi said SAA’s outstanding penalties were one of many problems related to poor management at the airline.
‘This does not reflect well on their state of affairs,†he said, ‘and when Scopa earlier asked SAA to appear before us because we are not happy with their management, the money owed to home affairs didn’t come up during the hearing. So we are surprised to now hear about it. That they bring in more people on a daily basis doesn’t hold water as an explanation. This issue is merely a continuation of all the negative reports about SAA, which is losing money left, right and centre.â€
But, he said, ‘the department of home affairs is itself a minefield of mischiefâ€.
Meanwhile, Chalmers says that SAA is cracking down on the number of illegal immigrants it inadvertently transports: ‘We have an extensive training plan to ensure staff recognise and consistently check that passengers are carrying the correct documentation for their travel purposes. SAA has taken up this issue with handling agents based outside South Africa dealing with the airline’s passengers.â€
A waste of resources
The department of home affairs also came under fire for other aspects of the report:
1. The contract to run Lindela Repatriation Centre will lead to R49-million being wasted every year.
Leading Prospects was awarded the revised contract in 2005 after it had already been doing the job and the terms were such that a fee of R79,90 would be levied for each person staying there, assuming a minimum occupation rate of 3 250 persons.
The Auditor General found the centre seldom reached that capacity and the effective costs the department was paying per head almost always exceeded R100 a person a day, sometimes reaching as high as R251 a person a day.
2. The department purchased computer equipment worth almost half a million rand in March last year without purchasing additional office space and before personnel had been appointed to use it. By June, it was still not installed and had not been recorded properly in the asset register.
3. In October 2004 a new biometric system was used to capture information on all people detained at Lindela. However, in June last year it was found that the system was out of use and that officials had returned to the original paper system. The biometric system, which cost R2-million, had been out of use since December 2005. The department claimed this was because it reached its capacity of 30 000 entries, but Scopa pointed out that this was nonetheless a ‘fruitless and wasteful way to spend moneyâ€. — Tanya Farber