The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is recommending a salary increase for me as well.
I will definitely support that increase for both Ministers and I will stamp it. [Laughter.]
Chairperson, I would like to inform the hon member that I am not aware of any request to amend the Constitution as suggested. Should such a proposal be made, motivation will be needed if it is a matter to be considered in the normal course of events. It should, however, be pointed out that a proposal such as this constitutes a considerable policy shift from the current position and requires thorough consultation with all stakeholders. Thank you. [Interjections.]
No, thanks. I am satisfied. Increase in department's security involvement on Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland borders in order to combat stock theft and other cross-border crimes
25. Mr T M H Mofokeng (ANC) asked the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans:
Whether her department will increase its security involvement on the Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland borders in order to combat stock theft and other cross-border crimes; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO126E
Chairperson, the question is whether we are going to increase our security involvement on the borders of Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Yes, indeed, following the decision of Cabinet last year, we have already deployed personnel to the borders and we phased in our deployment, largely because of financial constraints.
We have six phases and we hope that, by 2013, we will have fully taken control of the South African borders, which is a total of 4 471 km of land border, 2 798 km of maritime sea border and 7 660 km of air border. We are budgeting for this and we believe that by that time we should be fully operational in all the areas.
As we speak now, we have completed our first phase, which we started before June last year, to ensure that we have complete security for the World Cup. We are now doing phase two. We started at the Kruger National Park and we will go on with Pongola and Wepener. Phase three and so on is to ensure that we tighten up wherever we need to concentrate on.
The phasing in is determined by the priority areas and the security risks that we face. The second criterion has been that we do not have the necessary funding right now, but, in two years' time, we expect that we will be completely functional, everywhere we need to be. Thank you.
Chairperson, is this arrangement and the phased in approach also applicable to the borders of Namibia and Botswana?
Chairperson, the question did not include Namibia and Botswana, but yes, certainly. We are safeguarding the entire border around South Africa. That is why I gave you the details of the square kilometres that we are covering. Ultimately, we will get to every inch of the South African border that we need to cover. Thank you.
Hon members, on behalf of the Chairperson of the Council, let me thank the Minister, Deputy Minister and members of the executive for answering all the questions. The hon Bloem has promised that he will vote for your salary increase, Minister, so we must keep him to that promise. Hon members, you are requested to remain seated until the procession has left the Chamber. Thank you.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.