02 Sep 2020

Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs will during the remaining part of NDP 11 develop a secure system that will integrate all ministry systems.

This was said by Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi when delivering the Economy and Employment thematic chapter of the NDP 11 Mid-Term Review in Parliament on Monday.

She said the integration exercise would reduce expenditure on operational costs and in so doing ensure efficient government spending and financing, which was one of the priorities for the NDP 11 Mid-Term Review.

“The System will also interface/integrate with Vehicle Registration and Licensing System, Livestock Identification and Trace Back System, Integrated Patient Management System, Voter Registration and other government systems to improve the ease of doing business and enable secure data sharing between key government organisations and the private sector,” she stated. Ms Mokgethi said that the system would also improve person registration, identification, as well as, personal data authentication.

She said once the system was up and running it would facilitate online services offered by government such as applications of National Identity Cards (Omang), passports, VISA and other permits. Furthermore, she said the system would also create employment opportunities through use of local ICT companies for system maintenance, improve access to services, especially those related to Foreign and Domestic investment and reduce reliance on inefficient manual records.

In an effort to improve the business environment, she also stated, the ministry was continuously monitoring systems, processes and procedures to determine areas that could be tweaked to improve service delivery and create a conducive environment for business facilitation. In doing so, she said the ministry would continue to review Policies/Acts to improve ease of doing business in the country.

She said during the remaining years of NDP 11 the ministry would also embark on finalisation of the development of a Migration Policy in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), reviewing both Immigration and Citizenship Acts, and expediting introduction of e-VISAs.

“All these are meant to assist in luring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country, promote export-led growth and improve ease of doing business,” she stated.

With regards to mitigating Gender Based Violence (GBV) Ms Mokgethi said government continues with implementation of the National Strategy on ending GBV, which is multi-sectoral and focuses on prevention, protection, care and support of GBV survivors and victims. She said activities include capacity building for Dikgosi and other key stakeholders in the GBV referral system, engagement of men and boys across the country to dialogue on GBV and gender equality and public awareness raising through commemoration of 16 Days of Activism against Violence on Women and Girls.

In terms of expediting the digital transition, Ms Mokgethi said the ministry would embark on upgrading of the National Identification System (NIS) which would include development of a Biometric National Identity Card (Omang) to ensure timely service delivery and business facilitation.

Furthermore, there would be improvement the provision of ICT infrastructure for all border posts to enhance efficiency in service delivery.

To this end, she said the ministry was currently carrying out computerisation of the remaining six border posts (Two Rivers, Bokspits, Makopong, Paarshalt, Zanzibar and Mabolwe) which would be completed this financial year. A total cost of P306million is proposed for development programmes and projects for the remaining period of the National Development Plan 11. Ends