Speaker, the reply is as follows. We have been working very hard in the department to process the backlog in permanent residence applications. We established a permit adjudication committee in order to fast-track the processing of the applications. This committee convenes each day to assess applications. From 23 January to 27 February this year the committee adjudicated 1 504 applications.
With respect to temporary residence permits, there isn't any application backlog. We have a dedicated team of adjudicators who on a daily basis process all temporary residence permit applications that are received. We have also established an enquiries unit to deal with any outstanding temporary residence permit applications. If we find that there are queries, that unit follows them up.
We anticipate that the current backlog in permanent residence applications will be cleared by the end of the year, as it is a fairly involved process going through quite a number of detailed papers and submissions associated with an application, and also given the fact that permanent residence applications often involve more than one individual. The primary applicant may have a family member or several members of the family as part of the application. All of that requires processing and checking.
We are finalising applications for temporary residence permits within the annual performance plan turnaround time of eight weeks. Thank you very much, Speaker. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, the Minister has answered my question and also touched on the issues that I wanted to raise with regard to the systems and policies. Can the Minister expand on how we can beef up the policies in this regard?
Speaker, I think really at the moment what we have tried to look at is improving the administrative system with respect to dealing with permanent residence applications, as well as applications for temporary residence.
As I develop a greater understanding of what the problems are, I will, of course, approach Parliament and table here any proposals I might have with respect to policy. However, my understanding in the past few months has been that this whole terrain is a fairly complex one, and that one needs to be wary of making policy on the basis of intuition. Where there may be a problem, I would prefer to have a proper evaluation of what the impediments and problems are, and then develop a response based on an appropriate review. Thank you.
Thank you, Speaker. I am encouraged by what the Minister has had to say, that she is looking at the systems. Part of the problem, I would suspect, is the fact that the system needs to be simplified, which is one of the reasons for the backlog. The hon Minister admits that there have been numerous documents and that it is a complicated process, and part of it would be the simplification thereof.
I am also encouraged to hear that there is no temporary residence permit backlog. I say this because in the department's 2011-12 annual report a target of 193 000 was set for permanent and temporary residence permits to be processed, but only 73 499 were actually issued. This translates to only 38% of what their own targets require.
So, I am asking the hon Minister what she is doing to improve this performance, and what other initiatives she has under way to improve this and better meet their targets that they have set themselves.
Speaker, I thank the hon member. Of course, it would assist me if, when members see the questions in the Question Paper, they could send their questions in. Then we would be able to prepare ourselves to respond appropriately.
Let me just say that the establishment of the adjudication committees, as well as the enquiries unit, was due to the realisation that we had difficulties, that there was an overloading of the existing staff, and that we needed to take special measures in order to ensure that we were able to move faster. I am going to be appointing more staff to the unit dealing with permits. We are in the process of considering applications so that we can appoint 20 more staff members to assist with the adjudication and processing of enquiries.
We have cleared, as I indicated, the temporary permits backlog from around 46 000 applications, to arrive at a situation where we consider those applications that we receive on a day-to-day basis. We are able to process them within the eight weeks that is mentioned in the annual performance plan. I hope that we will maintain this record or, in fact, improve upon it.
I do think all countries have fairly weighty processes, particularly with respect to permanent residence applications. With respect to temporary residence, obviously one would want to look at whether the requirements might be far too onerous, given the temporary nature of those permits. However, you also have to be careful that you don't simplify to a degree where you actually give yourself further problems, rather than addressing the challenges that confront you.
Speaker, we know the Minister to be conscientious, competent, efficient and extremely dedicated. We also know that the Minister is still new and will need to find out the full status of the department's operations and situation.
What we can tell the Minister is that the situation in regard to permanent residence and temporary residence is a disaster, and submit to her that by centralising the decision-making the problem will not be addressed.
The difficulty is that in the past 10 years a number of evaluative processes have been concentrated within the department. Those evaluations, during the administration of Minister Buthelezi, were taken out of the department and placed in the hands of chartered accountants and institutions outside Parliament. Parliament has done all it can to bring that power, that discretionary power, back within the administration, while at the same time disempowering and effectively outlawing an entire class of people out there who were helping the department to make correct and expeditious decisions - the immigration practitioners.
My question to the Minister is this. Should we not actually look at revising the policy and changing the procedures, making the procedures not simplified and not easier. They can be complex, but still simple. For instance, there is absolutely no reason to have the vetting of National Intelligence ...
Hon member, your time has expired.
... with respect to permanent residence applications. The issue is in the proceedings ...
Your time has expired, hon member!
Mr Speaker, I thank the hon Oriani-Ambrosini for the kind remarks about me, but I suppose it's the fate of former Ministers and former advisors to praise their work in order to retain some positive reputation.
As I said, in reviewing our current practices, should I discover that there is a need to change the practices, I will do so. However, I refuse to do it by intuition. I wish to do it by taking a very careful look at what we are doing and ensuring that the processes we have in place assist South Africa in managing this very important obligation properly, and that is my intention. [Applause.]
Thank you very much, Speaker. I also thank the Minister for the response. We appreciate the complexity of the situation in the Department of Home Affairs.
My follow-up question, Minister, is this. I did not quite understand how many applications for permanent residence currently constitute the backlog that you spoke about, which is to be cleared in December.
Secondly, we also know that associated with the applications for permanent residence has been the issue of corruption or criminal activity, where people "marry" using the names of South Africans who do not know that their names are being used for them to marry. I just want to understand whether the system is able to weed out some of those corrupt practices that have occurred. I want to know if you are the ones who adjudicate on that and whether any action has been taken with regard to the people who are complicit in that.
Speaker, I am sure that the hon Ramatlakane is aware that he has gone well beyond the question that was posed to me.
Nevertheless, let me say that the current backlog we have of residence permit applications that we need to process stands at 18 772 files. As I said, one file sometimes consists of many persons that are associated with the principal applicant. So, that is the backlog as it stands at the moment.
With respect to corrupt practices, the hon member will be aware that we have arrested persons, we have changed regulatory frameworks, and we have amended legislation in order to address some of the fraudulent practices.
However, I believe that we will achieve success when we've got a national population register that has integrity, when we have registered all children within 30 days of birth, and when we have ensured that all children of 16 years and over get an ID at an early stage of their life, so that when they register to study they have our identity smartcard - I hope from this year.
I think that when we have a smartcard with a full set of biometrics, it will help us to more appropriately "track and trace" individuals and monitor whether the persons who apply for services are actually persons with legal status in South Africa and are not engaging in any negative fraudulent practices.
Position regarding reinstatement of sexual offences courts
17. Mrs D A Schfer (DA) asked the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development: With reference to the recommendation made by the task team for the reinstitution of the sexual offences courts, (a) can he confirm that the courts will be reinstated and (b) what (i) plans are in place and (ii) is the timeframe for the reinstatement?