Deputy Speaker, Kabelo Thibedi, who was sentenced to five years in jail after he took a Home Affairs official hostage, could have bought an ID book on the street for R200. The young man would probably not have been arrested. Instead, he kept going back to Home Affairs for two and a half years.
The ID in no way condones Thibedi's actions, but he played the role of an MP when he exposed the maddening levels of frustration ordinary South Africans feel when they go to Home Affairs.
The hon Minister - and also the Deputy Minister last night on TV2 - has admitted to MPs in this House that there are problems. I want to make a call today on all Members of Parliament to take our oversight role more seriously and work together with the Department of Home Affairs to fix the problems.
To Minister Balfour, I say this: Please ensure that Thabedi does not become a hardened criminal. Instead, give him the same privileges and rights you would have given a criminal member of the ANC. Send him to a VIP prison, give him a one-man cell, and make sure he knows about his weekend parole rights. Thank you.