Order, hon members!
In some instances, they find themselves waiting outside Home Affairs offices as early as 03:00.
Naganelang batho ba bangwe! Ke mariga a go siame gore motho ka ura ya boraro mo mosong a bo a ya go emela lekwaloitshupo kwa kantorong. Tona a lefapha le ke kopa lefapha le simolole go diar. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Be considerate to other people! It is now the winter season and it is absurd for a person to be in a queue to receive his identity document at 03:00. Minister, please ensure that your department delivers adequate service.]
These conditions are precisely the production sites of xenophobia. It is even more concerning that Africans who want to study in South Africa still have to jump through hoops to get student visas. Shouldn't the doors of learning be opened to all, mostly, South Africans?
In the refugee camp in KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC officials are busy looting food parcels meant for immigrants, who are staying in shocking conditions. Now, we have learnt that even South Africans are in these refugee camps. Nine-year-old, South African-born Dolly has found herself in these refugee camps precisely because of the Department of Home Affairs' inability to ensure that South Africans and Africans can move freely across these colonial, imposed borders. For white South Africans, however, it is easy. In the Year of the Freedom Charter, should this really be happening?
While the much-publicised ID smart cards are supposed to lessen the burden, the poor will be the last to receive them, as usual. The current capacity to produce ID smart cards leaves much to be desired. Even if the department reaches its target to produce 5 million ID smart cards a year, it would take at least 10 years to produce for the current population.
The government must build internal capacity and stop the tender system. Tenders with companies, like VFS Global, which continue to milk the state purse, is a model that is not sustainable. We know that the Department of Home Affairs will be here tomorrow and next year. Why is it not building its internal administrative capacity?
Corruption and maladministration must be dealt with decisively, in time, and the Minister must ensure that it ends. It is the poor who are subjected to this ...
... ka gore rona re tswa kwa khumanegong tota, kwa ga Motlharo. [... because in Ga-Motlharo, we are the poorest of the poor.]
It is the poor who are subjected to this, not the rich and the elite.
Tona, o ka se tlhaloganye se ke buang ka soneson ka fa o se na maitemogelo a sona. [Minister, you will not comprehend what I am talking about as you have no experience thereof.]
Home Affairs must be accessible for everyone. Everyone! As the EFF, we definitely do not support the Home Affairs Budget Vote.
Ke bua ke re: Ga re fetoge; ga re tshameke ebile ga re tshege. [There is no turning back.] We are the government-in-waiting. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Minister of Home Affairs, hon members, my task is to give you a progress report on some of the areas that I'm responsible for, one of them being asylum management.
We are pleased to report to the House that our refugee centres in Musina and Durban have seen massive improvements in both the accessibility and efficiency of processing applications, in the last two years. New applicants to these centres are processed and adjudicated in less than a week. Just four years ago, when these applicants arrived at these centres, they faced the prospect of having to wait years before their applications were finalised. In these reception offices, genuine refugees are assisted swiftly and efficiently. If they qualify, they can walk away with their refugee status in a matter of days.
However, both Durban and Musina are underutilised. Most asylum seekers register their applications at our Marabastad office, which processes approximately 70% of all new arrivals. In both the Musina and Durban refugee reception centres, there is no backlog in the adjudication of applications. This goes to prove that in an environment of efficiency and good management, corruption and other malpractices are eliminated. We have seen a concomitant decrease in the number of applicants in these refugee reception centres, as their productivity and efficiency levels have increased. As the numbers dwindled in Durban and Musina, we saw a concomitant rise in the number of asylum seekers at Marabastad.
Marabastad continues to have productivity challenges. We are concerned about these and the large numbers of complaints we still receive related to bad service ethic and alleged corruption. In this regard, at this point, I wish to state the following very clearly to the members who are present - because without a doubt, you are also approached by your constituencies.
Our approach is always, when people allege corruption, to ask them to please sign an affidavit for us because corruption involves two parties - somebody who offers the bribe and somebody who accepts the bribe. It cannot be that there is one complicit party. In this regard, I think it's time South Africans stood up for what is right. If they know of corruption, ask them to come and testify. Let us all confront this scourge.
It really does not matter and it does not help anybody when people merely say there is corruption somewhere. I think it is our responsibility, as leaders, to take them to task and ask for those details. From our side, the Minister and I are on record as saying that we will leave no stone unturned in that event, should people step forward and make use of our laws to enforce our laws.
We have agreed with the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Refugee Affairs that the issue of the quality of decisions must be enhanced at our refugee reception centres. With the co-operation of that particular standing committee, the refugee status determination officers, RSDOs, will now be assessed and their decisions routinely quality-checked by the standing committee. We wish to thank the Chairperson and members of the Standing Committee on Refugee Affairs for their invaluable advice and support, despite their lack of capacity.
With regard to backlogs at our refugee centres, I'm happy to report that, together with the UNHCR, we are exploring options to deal with just under 100 000 files awaiting RSDO decisions and just over 100 000 cases awaiting appeals at the Refugee Appeals Board. These are backlogs that accumulated between 2006 and 2010.
In order to assist us in the backlog project, we will be approaching Parliament to effect some amendments to the South African Refugees Act in order to enable us to employ appropriately qualified RSDOs and Refugee Appeal Board members on a short contract basis. This is in order to beef up our capacity for the limited period that it will take to finalise the backlog, for now, and also to enable more flexibility and adequate responses to contingencies that appear regularly in the asylum seeker management process, as they occur into the future.
Our offices that are currently dedicated to backlogs, including Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and the Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception Office, in Pretoria, have reported a significant level of no-shows on the part of applicants. They've also reported rather significant numbers of what we call "dormant files". These pose risks and hamper efficiencies which we have to maintain when dealing with the large numbers of asylum seekers that we experience.
The proposed amendments will be tabled for consideration by hon members to deal effectively with these matters. We are also looking at improving our ability to locate failed asylum applicants who disappear into our communities and who then irregularly continue staying on in the country, adding to our socioeconomic challenges. In this regard, we shall need the support of both Parliament and our courts to effectively enforce our laws and to deport such persons.
With regard to the Moetapele project, I have been mandated by the Minister to improve the client experience at each of our front offices. Moetapele, meaning leadership at every level, is called for. We invite hon members, when they are next in the province of Gauteng, to visit our Edenvale office and get a first-hand look at what changes we envisage with this campaign. Edenvale is our pilot project office.
Chairperson Dlamini's concern about branding is also taken care of, in this regard. We hope to roll out this format to all offices where the online system is operational. Moetapele is aimed at extracting the best out of our people, refining our systems and developing secure products which must be held in high regard by South Africans. It is a massive task, but one that we tackle with zeal. Every day, we get closer to realising the full potential of our people, our moetapele, who in all they do, show leadership.
Speaking of leadership, may I take this moment to salute the leadership of the department, the director-general, in absentia, the deputy directors- general and the chief directors, some of whom are present here today? These are some of the most consummate professionals, whose contribution to our nation often goes unsung. As South Africans, we have a very negative image of the Public Service. However, I can assure the House that in an environment like home affairs, given the complexity of our work, the capacity constraints we have and the purview of our mandate, if these officials had to work in a more resourced country, like the UK, for example, they would all be knighted by the Queen of England.
I want to extend a special word of thanks to our leader, our Minister, for being the lightning rod of our department. In every crisis and controversy, he is what we call our moetapele. He is the leader in front, attracting and absorbing all the stress and through it all, shining the light ahead, pointing us to calmer waters. Thank you, Minister, for this, for being supportive of all that the Deputy Minister does and for always being the consummate gentleman. [Applause.]
I also echo the thanks to our select committee, to the chairperson and to each member, without exception. When you work hard at your task, you assist us to do better and greater things for our nation. Thank you so much. [Applause.]
Hon House Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, securing the borders of a country is one of the biggest challenges facing, especially, developing countries and developing markets around the world. South Africa, as a developing market, is experiencing the same fate. What the Department of Home Affairs is beginning to address now is what needed to have been attended to many years ago.
It will be recorded that when the then Minister of Home Affairs, Prince Buthelezi, started a process to attend to these matters in the early 2000s, some cliques in the powers-that-be disapproved the process. We are facing this dilemma today because some forces tried every trick in the book to frustrate Prince Buthelezi and the department from attending to the crucial issue of migration and immigration matters of the country in time.
Migration control requires a broad spectrum of interdepartmental activities and consultation, but the buck stops exactly with Home Affairs. The Immigration Act places border control firmly within the responsibility of Home Affairs.
After the department's victory on the legal challenges to the immigration regulations at the Constitutional Court, in May 2003, the Minister was able to set up the Immigration Advisory Board. The immigration regulations then were based on the principles of enabling foreign nationals who wished to make a contribution to the economic growth of South Africa to do so on a permanent or temporary residence permit.
Therefore, on the same basis, the IFP welcomes the establishment of a border management agency and the building of a comprehensive national identity system. Home Affairs needs to deal with the fraudulent actions of people who illegally possess South African citizenship, for whatever reason. These are sometimes for purposes of acquiring South African social services, social grants, health and education. These initiatives will assist the country in also stamping its authority firmly on fighting the illegal activities of drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The introduction of the ID smart card and the automation programmes to e- government, intended to provide clients with fast and secure access to services, is a step in the right direction. For a very long time, Home Affairs has been infected with fraud and corruption because of the inability to address the shortcomings of lack of security in the internal processes. South Africa experiences rampant crime associated with the forging of documents. Crime is destroying the image of the country and its economic development initiatives.
Whilst welcoming automation, care must be exercised to avoid putting rural communities, especially, in jeopardy. When systems are down and not operational, there are usually no backup systems. As a result, clients are turned away and they have to come in on another day for the service. This is a waste of time and money for poor people, who have to commute in buses and taxis to and from Home Affairs service centres.
Improved management of records at Home Affairs can help stamp out fraud relating to social grants at Social Development and fraudulent activities relating to low-cost government houses in Human Settlements. It can also assist Education and Health with proper figures for budgeting. A lot of money is wasted in these two departments because of fraudulent, cooked data submitted to authorities. The result is inadequately increased resources provided for bodies that do not exist.
For the record, let me state that the IFP does not approve of the deployment of political appointees to the IEC. This renders the credibility of our elections questionable. The independence of the IEC has to be maintained at all costs. I thank you.
Hon House Chair, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, yes, it takes two to tango when it comes to corruption, but the problem is that there is a trend set in this country. We can start with the President. [Interjections.]
Hon Minister Gigaba, job creation is a serious problem in our country. What will all the employees do now, since everything is mechanised? Are you planning to cut jobs there or what is the plan, going forward?
I also think, hon Minister, you forgot to brag about the new costs that come with these new systems that are in place. Who is benefiting from the VFS Global company? Perhaps it is some cousin or nephew. We don't know. Be that as it may.
Unfortunately, the hon Stock has run away now, but talking about double standards, I think it is important for everybody to know that the ANC has double standards. In front of the people they speak in a certain way, but behind their backs, they make sure that they benefit for themselves. [Interjections.]
Talking about not going backwards, what about our unemployment rate? It has gone from 31%, in 2009, when President Zuma came in, to 36%, currently. That is backwards! [Interjections.]
Before one can claim any other life desire, one first needs to have a sense of belonging. This is where your department comes in, hon Minister - to give every South African a valid and correct identity document. How would you feel, hon Minister, if your special day of birth was changed on your behalf by an incompetent cadre deployed on the basis of nepotism by your ANC? Or how would you feel if, tomorrow, you realised that you are married to an unknown, foreign national who bought an ID from one of your department's corrupt and greedy deployees?
Well, this is some of the horrific disrespect handed out by your failing department, hon ANC Minister! Then, you and your comrades stand here, in the front, and tell South Africa good stories and say that the ANC cares. Stop telling South Africa stories and start fixing what is wrong. South Africans are tired of excuses. Unfortunately, your ANC has become so selfish and obsessed with power and money in their own pockets that they have forgotten to care.
The only hope for real freedom, fairness and opportunity for all South Africans lies in a DA-led government of tomorrow. [Applause.] The people can see and hear. The ANC's time is running out. Phambili, Afrika Borwa, phambili! [Forward, South Africa, forward!] [Interjections.] Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister of Home Affairs and your Deputy Minister, hon Members of the NCOP and guests in the gallery, I just want to set the record straight, starting with the hon Mpambo-Sibhukwana. You must understand, my sister, that you are not going to come to the podium and threaten the ANC by saying, "We shall meet at the polls". The ANC is not and has never been afraid of the polls. We shall, indeed, meet there because we are not afraid of the polls. [Interjections.]
Secondly, there is only one legitimate charter that is actually a guide to and roadmap of the ruling party and its government programmes .That is the Freedom Charter. So, don't come and tell us about your Values Charter you concocted in that concert you had that you called a conference - to me it was just a concert. [Interjections.]
Thirdly, with regard to the Lindela Repatriation Centre that you say is cramped, you were there during the select committee engagement with the government when the Deputy Minister actually spelled out and explained, at length, the interventions of government to alleviate congestion in these different camps. You were there and you actually said the department is doing very well. I am surprised that you come here and say the direct opposite of what you said during the portfolio committee sitting. [Interjections.]
Let me move on to the EFF. I want to set the record straight. South Africans are not xenophobic. They are not and have never been. When I was still a school teacher, we were ... [Interjections.] ... Listen! Listen!
Hon members, order! Order!
The reason you are not going to win elections is because you are not able to listen.
Hon Zwane ... hon members, you can howl but you must not drown out the speaker. [Interjections.]
Yes. You provoked us first, and now I am responding. [Interjections.]
The Department of Basic Education was running short of teachers for mathematics and science. The government made it possible for us to get assistance from neighbouring countries. We had a lot of teachers with skills coming from neighbouring states to assist in mathematics and science. We did not do any harm to them. Not one of them can come forward and testify that he or she was mishandled because South Africans are xenophobic. The attacks we have seen recently are as a result of criminal tendencies, not because South Africans are xenophobic. I can vouch for that.
I also want to comment on the point made that the Department of Home Affairs doesn't have capacity. It is not true.
Hon Chair, I want to know if she is proud of getting skills from foreign countries.
No! No! No! Hon Mtileni! No!
She is saying we have teachers who come from other countries.
No, hon Mtileni! Hon Mtileni, take your seat. Hon Mtileni! Mtileni, you are out of order! You have to ascertain whether the member is ready to take a question. You can't just stand up and ask a question. Take your seat. You have not even been recognised. Continue, hon Zwane.
The hon Mtileni was living in his own dreamworld where he does not know that, as people ...
Hon Chair, I would like to know whether the hon Zwane would take a question on xenophobia. [Interjections.]
No, members. It's not your responsibility. It is up to the hon Zwane. Hon Zwane, are you prepared to take a question?
Afterwards, during lunch. [Laughter.] I was still saying that I don't know where the hon member lived because he knows very well that blacks were deprived from studying mathematics and science by the oppressive apartheid regime. We have a shortage of mathematics and science teachers now because of that oppressive government.
Home Affairs has capacity and is developing capacity. The department has been able to produce 1,4 million ID smart cards in under a year. You can imagine how fast they are going to be moving from now on, now that they have acquired the experience to produce more. There is capacity in the department because it has got leadership.
The hon Smit referred to the unemployment issue. He forgets that the average sum of people that are unemployed are compromised by the fact that the employment rate is dropping in the Western Cape and that sum is actually affecting the figure, nationally. [Applause.] In fact, you are a liability as far as that is concerned. [Laughter.]
Do you know where the good stories come from that we, as the ANC, have? They come from service delivery. We don't make them up. We deliver services and, as a result of that, we have good stories to tell. [Interjections.] You must accept that. [Interjections.]
At the ... [Interjections.] ... please protect me, Chairperson.
Hon members, you can't drown out the speaker. You are protected, hon Zwane.
Thank you very much. At the ANC's 53rd national conference, held in Mangaung, in the Free State, in December 2012, we committed ourselves to positioning Home Affairs as the backbone of security and service delivery of the developmental state. We said this because we had suffered the pangs and vestiges of the apartheid regime. The main objective of the Department of Home Affairs was to control our people and deny them their citizenship - that is, the apartheid regime - deny them their identity, deny them their dignity and deny them their freedom of movement.
Today, we can say with the utmost pride and humility that the Department of Home Affairs has transformed the country, in this regard. Today, our people have a Department of Home Affairs that plays an effective role in providing them with pertinent documents to access their basic rights. We have moved with the utmost speed to ensure that this department becomes the backbone of the developmental state that we seek to build. We have ensured that this department remains central to our national efforts to strengthen national security and provide our people services that they are entitled to, in terms of the Constitution.
We want to take this opportunity to congratulate Minister Gigaba and his predecessors for all their tireless efforts to make this department the flagship of our national efforts to transform South Africa. It is through your decisive and vigilant leadership that, today, we have a department that continues to play a crucial role in enabling all South Africans to proudly claim their citizenship with the utmost dignity and a great sense of pride. Civic affairs is the custodian of the National Population Register, which contains the records of all citizens and permanent residents, including their changes in status, such as marriage and death.
Ngiselapho Ngqongqoshe, ngiyafisa ukuthatha ithuba lokuba sibonge njengabantu besifazane ikakhulukazi ngoba ngaphambilini bekwenzeka ukuthi uma ngabe usuthi ulungisa izinto zakho njengomuntu wesifazane, uzithole usubhaliswe njengomuntu oshadile ungazi kodwa ngokungena kukaKhongolose kulo Mnyango, lowo mkhuba usuyaphela. Sekuyashabalala ukuba abantu besifazane bashadiswe nabantu abangabazi ngoba uyayisiphula inkohlakalo. Siyafisa impela ukukubonga lokho. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[On that note, Minister, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of women, especially because, in the past when you sorted out your affairs as a woman, you would find that you were unknowingly registered as a married person. However, because of the work done by the ANC in this department, this practice is coming to an end. There is an end to women being registered as married to people that they don't know because the ANC is putting an end to corruption. We would really like to commend you on that.]
Immigration affairs determines the status and identity of foreign nationals or international immigrants. It regulates immigration through permitting and controlling movement through the system, and provides consular services abroad. The branch also has an inspectorate function responsible for enforcing the Immigration Act and its Regulations.
When the department came before the committee to present its annual performance plan and budget - I am going also talk about this and couple it with the Border Management Agency - we were a bit concerned about the fact that we need to have a sizeable number of inspectors to control the borders and the immigration processes. This requires a sizeable amount of money in terms of the budget. We do understand that the department is not given enough to execute the mandate in a manner which we'd all desire. However, we are happy that we were informed by your department, hon Minister, that you are going to be employing more inspectors to ensure that there is sufficient control in so far as the borders are concerned.
The National Development Plan obliges the department to facilitate the acquisition of critical skills for the economy and to enable efficient, secure and managed movement of these people. As I explained earlier on, we have people that have special, critical skills that we require. Your department facilitates matters by ensuring that the process of applications is simplified, so that those people with special skills are not prevented from coming in.
What we also appreciate is that the department had planned to increase the number of live-capture offices, by March 2014, at least. We appreciate the speed with which the systems have been modernised. We can testify to the fact that when one goes to a Home Affairs office these days and applies for an ID smart card, it takes a lot less time than in the past when one applied for an identity document. I went to apply for my ID smart card in Pietermaritzburg and it literally took 10 days. That is service delivery!
The ANC supports the Budget Vote of the department. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Ministers, members of this House, yesterday in the Joint Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, the department admitted that South Africa will have one of the strictest visa regulations in the world. In a desperate move to look tough on immigration, the Department of Home Affairs is using child trafficking as a red herring to an enforcement problem along South Africa's borders. It is with complete disregard for the need for proper regulatory impact assessments or sound research on best practice on how to control South Africa's borders that these regulations are being implemented.
After several critical questions posed to the director-general yesterday, it is, once again, clear that the Department of Home Affairs did no research before the suggested regulations were put in place. I would like to take you back a few months to illustrate this very point.
On 26 May 2014, South Africa's new immigration regulations, as well as the Immigration Amendment Act of 2011, came into effect, with merely three weeks given for comment and no opportunity for stakeholder engagement. With all the complaints and concerns received, the DA-led Western Cape Provincial Parliament's Standing Committee on Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture, of which I am the Chairperson, unanimously - including the ANC members - resolved to consider the negative impact of these new visa regulations, on 27 August 2014. This would be done by hosting two days of public hearings and engaging with stakeholders across all industries to determine the extent of the impact of the regulations across the economy.
The impact seemed to suggest that the implications were far-reaching. The 79-page report here provides conclusive findings on the impact of these regulations, the issue around capacity constraints, the question around human rights abuse and litigation regarding learners being kept out of schools and classified as undesirable, the concerns around the unabridged certificates and recommendations made to the provincial Parliament and to the National Assembly. The report came to the conclusion that the new immigration regulations would negatively impact on every level of South Africa's economy and on the National Development Plan goal to create 1 million jobs by 2030.
Minister Gigaba has stated that the amendments were in the best interests of South Africa's security, particularly in combating human trafficking - which the Minister alludes to on more than one occasion - while ensuring economic development and prosperity. At the time, Minister Hanekom could not comment, but said that South Africa's arrival numbers had been spared, as the system has not kicked in. However, he conceded, "Like Ebola, we do not know the full impact". He was so wrong. Minister Hanekom came out publicly, stating:
Tourism arrival figures show a drop in the number of visitors from countries that require a visa to enter South Africa. So it would be difficult not to conclude that, in fact, the visa regulations are having a negative impact. And it's not something I would wish to sweep under the carpet. We are worried about it.
Minister Hanekom was quite right, as Sun International are predicting a 60% to 70% plummet in tourist traffic volumes to South Africa from areas such as China, Russia and India. While the world moves towards visa openness, South Africa does a U-turn and at present lags behind the world average in terms of the most open regions. In our very own region, Mauritius is considered as one of the most open countries in the world.
The greatest challenge to human trafficking is not a lack of legislation, but rather the failure to enforce existing legislation. How many incidents of child trafficking or human trafficking have Home Affairs intercepted in the past 12 months, when 22 million passenger movements at O R Tambo International Airport and 12 million passenger movements at Cape Town International Airport have occurred over the past 12 months? How many such cases have been intercepted at our country's border crossings, where millions pass through, annually?
Despite requests for more information, the Department of Home Affairs remains tight-lipped and vague about just how pervasive this really is. The director-general has stated that an estimated 30 000 minors are trafficked into South Africa, every year. Yet, on the risks of child trafficking in South Africa, the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect has reported that there are no credible figures available in South Africa. So, I question the department's rash bandying about of figures that have no credibility.
The 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report states that South African citizens and foreign nationals are subjected to human trafficking, mainly within the country. The Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Act, its amending Act and the Child Amendment Act all specifically contain legislation around the enforcement of this human rights issue.
It goes on to state that enforcement seems to be the greatest challenge and accuses the SA Police Service of a serious lack of capacity and widespread corruption among the police force, which has prevented progress in antitrafficking law-enforcement efforts. To date, the report indicates that South Africa is yet to prosecute successfully any large international syndicates in South Africa.
While we recognise human trafficking as a hideous crime that must be acted upon, why is Minister Gigaba using visa regulations as a blanket measure to fix his porous borders? Is this not a matter of enforcement that must be looked at? After all, the legislation is already in place to ensure that enforcement is put into operation.
Therefore, while human and child trafficking should be condemned in the strongest sense, it is imperative that we guard against a situation where new immigration regulations have a severe impact on the economy. Real human traffickers don't follow legitimate and documented methods of travel, but cross borders in illegitimate and clandestine circumstances. The regulations won't prevent this, and I encourage you to read this morning's article on africacheck.org.
So, I question Minister Gigaba and his department's real motive. I ask the Minister this: Is this piece of legislation not about preventing some 465 000 children crossing our land borders from neighbouring countries, as illegal immigrants, to prevent them having access to South African schools and our social grant system? I ask the Minister again, why has the Department of Home Affairs decided to introduce the strictest of measures to minors who are travelling? Why can South Africa not merely insist on a letter of consent from both parents, as is the international benchmark in countries such as Canada, the USA and Australia?
The Department of Home Affairs has yet to meet with any representatives from our travel and tourism organisations. Even President Zuma, in his state of the nation address, said that the government would review the country's immigration policy to strike a balance between national security and growth in tourism. Yet, no further information has been forthcoming, according to stakeholders, and standard operating procedures were only sent to airlines a week ago, with three subsequent amendments in the past seven days.
In the absence of any proper preparations or consultations with the industry or affected stakeholders, the Department of Home Affairs is about to make a serious mistake that will cost South Africa thousands and thousands of jobs. The Minister will argue that the DA prioritises profits before children, but in truth, unabridged birth certificates will save no children. They will merely create more red tape and cost thousands of parents their jobs. Minister Gigaba, rather conduct a study on the nature of cross-border illicit activities, such as human and child trafficking. Close your porous borders through proper control, but leave our tourism and economy alone. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, House Chairpersons, permanent delegates to the NCOP, Minister, Deputy Minister, special delegates from the different provinces and our guests in the gallery ...
... ba gaMampuru ba a le tami?a. Ke rata go lemo?a badudi le baagi ba Afrika-Borwa gore ba se ke ba tlalet?wa le go thothomet?wa ke bagadit?ong ba rena bao ba tlago mo ba etla ka ditaba t?a keleketla. Ke kgopela gore ge ba bolela ditaba, Tona, wena o re keleketla. Mogologolo o re ge motho a go bot?a ditaba t?eo e sego t?ona, o se ke wa senya ditsebe ditsebe t?a gago ka go theelet?a, sa gago ga e be gore keleketla. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[... greetings to you, hon members. I would like to advise South Africans not to be confused by our rivals who come here with their unfounded stories. Hon Minister, my request to you is to ignore all of these and know that it has no effect. The seniors advise us not to listen to unfounded stories and so, take it to be music to your ears.]
Hon Chairperson, according to the interpretation, the hon Mampuru is saying that the people standing there in front are lying and I think that is infringing directly on us, as members. [Interjections.]
Hon Mampuru, did you in any way say people standing here were lying?
I never said it.
Ke Mopedi wa gaMampuru, ke bolela Sepedi sa ge?o. Ke bolet?e Sepedi Modulasetulo. [I am Mopedi of gaMampuru, and my home language is Sepedi. What I have just spoken is Sepedi, Chairperson.]
I will check. I do speak Sesotho, Sepedi and Setswana, but I did not pick that up. I will just verify and come back to you. Please continue, hon Mampuru.
Mohl Modulasetulo, mo?omo wo mogolo wa rena baetapele ba mmu?o ke go bot?a set?haba sa Afrika-Borwa ka t?e botse t?eo re di dirilego, t?eo re di dirago le t?eo re sa tlilego go di dira. Temokrasi ya Afrika-Borwa e na le mengwaga ye masomepedi-tee, bohlatse bja bokgoni bo pepeneneng, le sefofu sa Jeriko se a bo bona. Sa bagadit?ong ke go tia lentha, ba opa ka ntahle, fela seo ga se se ke sa re fapo?a morerong wa rena wa go hlabolla maphelo a badudi ba Afrika-Borwa.
E reng NDP? E re ke yona lenaneo la naga ka bophara. Mmu?o o ikgokaganya le mafapha kamoka go kwe?i?a le go hlaologanya tsela yeo mafapha a ikemi?edit?ego go tsenya letsogo go ditirelo, kudu go hlaola dit?hiti?o t?a bona morerong wa go phethagat?a maikemi?et?o a bona ka botswerere. Lenaneo le ke lona le le tla matlafat?ago ditekanyet?o t?a ma?eleng dikgorong t?a go fapafapana. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Ms T K MAMPURU: Hon Chairperson, our great task as leaders in government is to tell the good story to South Africans about the developments on what we have done, what we are currently doing, and what we plan to do. We are 21 years into democracy in South Africa, and this bears testimony to the remarkable progress that even the blind man from Jericho can see. The only thing the rivals can do is to criticise and disapprove, but this will not stop us from doing good to improve the lives of South Africans.
What does the NDP stand for? It stands for the National Development Plan. The government is working together with all the departments to optimise service delivery. It will focus on the obstacles that deter them from fulfilling their role effectively. This plan will shape the budget allocation for efficient service delivery.]
The NDP has also identified the task of improving the quality of the Public Service as critical to achieving transformation. It has also prioritised the need for the state to professionalise the Public Service and strengthen accountability.
E a it?okot?a ANC, e a it?okot?a! Re eme fa re le komiti re phethagat?a lona la motho wa pejana ge a re dihlatse e ba t?e pedi, gomme t?e tharo di a botega. Ge nkabe e se lona, re be re ka no re: "Tsenang temeng Tona le Motlat?atona, mo?omo o t?habe diatla ka gore kgonthe gona le a ?oma." Bohlatse bo gona.
Pukwana ya boitsebi?o e bile tlhobaboroko go badudi ba Afrika-Borwa. Ka mahlatse, ka gore ba re ga a top?e, basadi ba ANC ba ile ba gwantela Mopresidente wa maloba wa mmu?o wa kgethologanyo, ba le kgahlanong le Tompase. Tompase e be e lekana le notepuku ye kgolo. [Tsenoganong.] Ee - ngwaga e be e le wa 1956. Lehono re ingwaya ka lekomane ka magetleng ka lebaka la maitapi?o a lena, Tona. Karata ya boitsebi?o, ke yona. E bile go e t?welet?a go t?ea mat?at?i a mahlano fela. Ke tsefelwa ke gore ga go na maphephe, ke kgatelopele taba ye. Sellathekeng, ke sona. Robala ka khut?o MmaRuth Mompati, o e lwele ntwa.
Mehlala yeo e bont?hago seo o ka se dirago ka pukwana ya boitsebi?o ke ye: O ka ngwadi?a ntlo; o ka humana mekitlana ka go fapafapana ga yona; o ka humana lengwalo la go otlela mehuta ya dinamelwa kamoka; o ka hwet?a mphiwafela wa bana, wa bao ba sa itekanelago mmeleng, wa dit?hiwana le wa bot?ofadi e ?ita le t?ona diphuthelwana t?a dijo.
Ke kwele ba bangwe ba re re kgoboket?a diboutu ka t?ona. Aowa, t?eo ga di tshwenye. Lebaka leo le dirilego gore ba bangwe ba bona ba tle mo Palamenteng, ke yona pukwana ya boitsebi?o. O boutelwa bjang o se na pukwana ya boitsebi?o? Ke metlae ya boMa?ilo le boMa?ilwane. Ga go sa na poelomorago, re tsene re tsene, mmogo re i?a ditirelo bathong, re e ra t?ona dit?haba.
Ke kgotsofat?wa ke gore kua gae Limpopo kgoro e hlokomedi?i?a taba ya go re agela meago ya meswa. Lebaka ke gore fao go ?omelwago gona ke ga maadingwa goba ona mahlagalet?wa. Dikantoro t?e lesomehlano di gare di a roropa, ka karata ya boitsebi?o. Kgoro e lenaneong la go boledi?ana le ba Et?entshi ya T?hirelet?o ya Set?haba ya AfrikaBorwa, gore bat?ofadi le bao ba sa itekanelago ba tle ba latelelwe moo ba dulago gona. Se ke bophelo bjo bobotse go bohle. Ditirelo di batamela batho. Re gatela pele.
Ga se gore ditlhohlo ga di gona, badudi ba dinagamabapi bao ba tshelelago ka Afrika Borwa ba se na mangwalo goba ba se na mangwalo ao a lokilego, ke tlhohlo go Kgoro ya Merero ya t?a Selegae. Mellwaneng ya go tsena ka mo nageng go swana le Beit Bridge, Kgoro ya Maphodisa e swanet?e go matlafat?a magora a motlagase, a bu?et?we sekeng.
A re hlokomeleng taba ya go ngwadi?et?a masea ditifikeiti, gobane ga se rena ka moka bao re kgonago go itirela. Ba bangwe re bodikobodimagetleng. Go ya ka Et?entshi ya T?hirelet?o ya Set?haba ya Afrika Borwa ge ngwana a ?et?e a na le setifikeiti ga go na bothata, ba tla mo fa mphiwafela.
Se sengwe ke gore, kgoro ye e na le maikemi?et?o a go pho?olla dipho?o t?a maloba o t?habe mmu?o wa kgethologanyo. Kua Mangaung ... (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Indeed, the ANC is making great strides. As a committee, we can confirm that you are on the right track. Hence, they say that two witnesses are sufficient, but three would be better. Your work is commendable. We have proof. If it were not the case, we would simply demand that you get to work.
The former identity document - dompas - has always been a nightmare for South Africans. Fortunately, the ANC Women's League took it upon themselves to protest against the apartheid government. The size of a dompas was that of a big notebook. [Interjections.] Yes, that was in 1956. Hon Minister, today we pride ourselves on the efforts you took. The use of the ID smart card is in full swing at the moment. The good news is that it takes only five days to process the ID smart card. What I like the most is that it is user-friendly and you can even apply for it online. You can even do it from your cellphone. Rest in peace, Mma Ruth Mompati, you have won the battle.
These are examples of what you can use this ID smart card for. You can register for housing; you can use it to get credit; you can apply for all driving licence codes; you can receive a child support grant, a disability grant, a foster child grant and an older persons grant, as well as receiving food parcels.
I have heard some claims that we use this as a strategy to lobby for votes. That is not the case. It was through this identity document that some of the members here made it into Parliament. How else would they have been voted for, had they not had identity documents? This is ridiculous! Forward we go, backwards never! Together, we are taking services to the people.
I am glad that in my province of Limpopo, new office buildings for the Department of Home Affairs are being built. This is because the existing offices are old and on lease. Currently, the construction of 15 offices is under way. The department is working together with the SA Social Security Agency to create convenience for the senior citizens and the disabled. This is a better life for all. Forward we go!
However, this does not mean that there are no challenges. We still have neighbouring foreign nationals crossing our borders illegally. This poses a serious security threat to the country. Security fences at border gates, such as at Beitbridge, need to be electrified again to restore efficient security.
Fellow South Africans, you are advised to register the birth of your children within 30 days after birth. This is more important, as some of you will need the child support grant. A birth certificate is a prerequisite for the child to be regarded legally as a citizen of this country and to receive a child support grant.
In addition to this, the department aims to correct the errors of the past. The apartheid government has really done us harm. In Mangaung ...]
... the national conference of the ANC resolved that the government should reconsider its policy relating to centres for asylum seekers during consideration of their status. The department should also take the lead in the Border Management Agency as it is seized with immigration issues. This is just to mention a few. I am over the moon because the Minister and the Deputy Minister, not excluding their personnel ...
... ka gore seema se re: "Monwana o tee ga o rone nta." Ka nnete ba dira bjalo. Boutu ye re a e thekga. T?welang pele ka mo?omo wa lena. Mmogo a re ageng Afrika Borwa ye kaone, re be le seabe go Afrika ye kaone le lefase le le kaone. Re tla ba set?haba sa mmakgonthe-a-kgodi-a kgokgo.
Ngwane?o, o be o le mo o bolela ka ditlhaselo t?a lehloyo la bat?wantle. Nna ke makala gore naa lena le dula kae mo Afrika Borwa, mohlomongwe le be le tshelet?e mafaseng a ka ntle ge Kgoro ya Merero ya t?a Selegae, Ditirelo t?a Maphodisa t?a Afrika Borwa, Et?entshi ya T?hirelet?o ya Naga le Kgoro ya Bokgabo le Set?o le dihlongwa ka moka t?a ANC di etla ka mananeo a go ya dit?habeng, go ya go lwant?hana le mokgwa wona woo ... [Tsenoganong.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[... because of the idiom which goes: "Two hands are better than one." It is indeed like that.
We support this Budget Vote. We applaud your hard work. Together, let us build a better South Africa for all and contribute to a better Africa and the international community, at large. In that way, we will be a true nation.
Hon member, you were just talking about xenophobic attacks. As to where in South Africa you live, it is unknown. I suspect you were overseas when the Department of Home Affairs, the SA Police Service, the State Security Agency and the Department of Arts and Culture, as well as all the ANC structures, came up with programmes of taking services to the people, to fight against this way of ...[Interjections.]]
The machine is off now.
Is the Xitsonga interpreting off now? [Interjections.] Was it there when she was speaking Sepedi?
Yes, it was here, but when she started speaking in English, it started to disappear.
Interpreters, please! [Interjections.] It's on. Please continue, hon Mampuru.
My apologies, hon Chair.
Ka madimabe Mohl Mokgosi ga a gona ka mo, efela ke kgopela ... [Unfortunately, the hon Mokgosi is not here, but I request ...]
... leswaku Tatana Mtileni a yingisela kahle. Tatana Mtileni, ndzi kombela leswaku u yingisela kahle hikuva Manana Mokgosi u fambile. Ndzi lava ku ku byela leswaku ... (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[... that Mr Mtileni listens attentively. Mr Mtileni, I request that you listen attentively because Ms Mokgosi has left. I want to tell you that ...]
... gore ngwale'a hloka moditi o t?ea molao ka tsela. Maitshwaro a mabotse a lota seriti sa motho. Ka ge a na le mafolofolo ke be ke tlile go mmot?a gore diyunibesiti di gona mo ... [Tsenoganong.] ... ditheknikone di gona ... (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[... leadership is an important building block. Good conduct restores a person's dignity. I would have told her that there are universities and technikons ... [Interjections.]]
Hon Mampuru. Hon Mtileni, which part did you not hear, the Sepedi or the Xitsonga one?
Perhaps it is because she speaks very fast. [Interjections.] Perhaps she speaks very fast and changes languages very fast. Perhaps that could be the reason.
Perhaps that could be the reason. I also know that you are well conversant in both languages, hon member. I also know that you are well conversant. Hon Van Lingen? [Interjections.] Will the interpretation please ... [Interjections.] Please continue, ma'am.
Mohl Modulasetulo, re le maANC a mabotse, re etile mmu?o wo pele re sa gatelela taba yela ya gore re tla kopana dikgethong. Rena ga re maf?ega, re mat?waraphaga, ga re ithute seo. Re tla kopana ka 2016. Bouto ye re a e thekga, Tona, t?wela pele. Moletesekuba! (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Ms T K MAMPURU: Thank you, hon Chairperson. As the ANC-led government, we reiterate that we will see which party is voted for in the elections. We are not cowards and we are quite experienced in this. We support this Budget Vote. We will see you in 2016. I thank you.]
Hon Chairperson, I would like to thank the hon members for the debate. We presented five priorities here, today: to improve our front-office operations; to review our immigration legislation; to improve the physical and systems infrastructure of our ports of entry; to continue to modernise the department; and finally, to implement the Border Management Agency. I would like to thank the hon members who responded to these five priorities and who therefore assisted us to develop other ideas about their concerns. Let me respond to some of them.
Hon Khawula, we will not prejudice the rural areas with the Modernisation programme. There are several interventions we are going to implement. One of them is to automate even the rural offices. We are in discussion with the Department of Public Works to build more offices, because even the 407 offices that we have are not enough. The programme we are implementing with the banks will also create capacity for rural people to have access to our modernised services.
In addition, as I indicated, we are going to convert 38 more offices this year to ID smart card offices. We are also exploring the fleet recapitalisation of our mobile offices so that we can reach out to rural areas, to those people who need these services but cannot go to towns, and to those who don't have access to the Internet. The services we are providing are intended for all categories of South Africans. That is why we can never focus only on the urban people and leave out the rural people.
The Department of Home Affairs is not just about immigration, and particularly not just about the immigration regulations. We have a whole extensive programme of civic service, immigration management and other programmes, as we have outlined here today. The members from the DA have all focused exclusively on the immigration regulations, as if the department is only about this.
I want to focus on two matters. Last year, when we spoke here, we indicated that there is a fundamental ideological disagreement on these regulations. Our disagreements are political. It has got nothing to do with the issues which are being presented here today.
Last year, the critical issue was the decision to remove the penalty and replace it with the declaration of a person as an undesirable person. We have moved further now to focus on two things: firstly, the requirement that an applicant must present themselves in person; and secondly, that any South African child leaving the country or foreign child entering the Republic must present an unabridged birth certificate. The question is: If you are opposed to this, who is this person that you want to have enter South Africa without us knowing? Who is this child that you want to see leaving the country without us knowing?
These issues have nothing to do with tourism. Among the 10 leading countries that have received tourists, three - Italy, Canada and Germany - have exactly the same regulations as we have, but no, the issue is not about them. The issue is about South Africa.
We are even being advised to be so naive as to think that human traffickers don't use regular means of entering the country, but will only enter the country irregularly. It would be naive of us to think that. It would be naive of us to think that because somebody believes that the legislation to manage human and child trafficking exists in other departments, the Department of Home Affairs has absolutely no role to play in this. We cannot agree with that perspective and the Department of Home Affairs will not buy into that type of reckless thinking.
Let me be clear, hon members, South Africa is not an island. What has happened in Kenya, what has happened in the Horn of Africa will happen in our country if we are naive, and we do not want to have a rude awakening. It is quite clear to us that we need to minimise the risks of this, as seen in Nigeria and other African countries, and to learn from their experiences, so that we can protect our country. For us to say we will sit and wait until such things happen in our country, only then to be presented with other documents that say that government was sleeping, is to ask us to be naive and reckless. We are not going to be part of that argument.
Let me further say that the hon Mokgosi, who has now left, was extremely confused about what she was saying. To start with, I deliver no hampers. I am running no promotion.
Exactly!
I am not a hair products owner or a cellphone operator. I have got no hampers. I run the Department of Home Affairs and that's my only job. An Id smart card, a passport is not a hamper. There are no refugee camps anywhere in the Republic of South Africa. Nowhere in this Republic are there refugee camps.
Thirdly, the elderly and the youth have already received their ID smart cards, free of charge. Children of 16 and people above 60 years of age received their ID Smart Cards, free of charge. Poor or not, we do not discriminate. There are many poor South Africans who have received ID smart cards and paid for them because they understand the importance of that service.
To grandstand about the poor when you do your politicking, when you don't come from the struggle history and you have no tradition of the poor is to take us for a ride and to think that you, yourself, are representing the poor. Thank you, hon Chair. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.