Thank you, House Chair. House Chair, the ACDP is aware of the many challenges facing this department as we - like many other parliamentarians - receive many constituency queries and complains. We welcome the additional R1,8 billion allocated for the mordernisation programme as well as the R7,1 billion set aside of the medium term as employee compensation to improve and expand client interface. We really are looking forward to an improvement in the services that are delivered.
However, one of the key challenges remains with the border management with the number of illegal immigrants increasing over the years. As you know this places a lot of pressure on our resources when it comes to health, education and ... [Inaudible.] ... services. Regrettably, our borders remain porous. It is therefore a shame that the Border Management Agency Bill lapsed in the Fifth Parliament due to a dispute with the Treasury on the Border Management Agency, BMA, taking over customs
payments at border posts. This issue needs to be resolved.
The ACDP also welcomes yesterday's announcement by the Minister that he has signed a waiver which allows foreign children to enter the country without carrying the additional supporting documents, the unabridged birth certificate. This ill-considered requirement - a number of years ago - had a devastating impact on tourism numbers and eventually since it prevailed and that requirement has been done away with, regrettably again, at the cost of tourists coming to South Africa.
The Electoral Commission's budget is also referred to in the Report and it falls within this budget. Many questions have been asked in this regard relating to a number of issues of double voting, indelible ink and zip- zip machines. These issues need to be addressed as we prepare for the local government elections going into that season. The report makes mention of a lot of other recommendations about the entities reporting to it and clearly, as Parliament exercises its oversight functions that portfolio committee must ensure that those
recommendations are complied with and are implemented to the ... [Inaudible.] ... I thank you.
Declarations of vote: (Cont...)