Chairperson, hon members, and esteemed ladies and gentlemen, I rise firstly to thank the Minister and his team for issuing us with smart cards. It is only smart people that can issue smart cards! [Applause.] You have made us proud as South Africans, and I say thank you for that. I am sure that I do this on behalf of many of us in the House, both in the ANC and in the opposition. [Interjections.]
The ANC in its 20 years in government has brought about many changes for the better, and it continues to deliver to improve the quality of life, particularly for the poor and marginalised.
In that process many lessons have been learnt in government, bringing in new ideas and concepts, and a new way of doing things. Among these has been the realisation that for better governance the government has to be in a partnership with different organs of civil society, which includes the private sector, and to develop an inclusive approach in planning as well as in implementation.
This has resulted in the National Development Plan, which is a product of a situational analysis by the National Planning Commission. This long-term plan was adopted in 2012 by all parties in Parliament, thereby becoming the blueprint of the nation, owned by the nation, owned by all.
We therefore expect every plan of government to be aligned to the National Development Plan. Let me implement my part, while you implement your part and we all implement our parts, and South Africa will be a great country. [Applause.]
This plan was intended to take us to 2030 and thus help to lift us out of a situation of poverty and inequality to where we have a more prosperous society that is more equitable and more inclusive.
This is a journey with a number of steps, like reducing unemployment; expanding and improving infrastructure; improving efficiency in the use of available resources; moving towards an inclusive planning approach; improving the quality of education, and here we see that the department has established an academy to make sure that the skills development in the department is raised and at the proper level, making the department more professional; building a more capable state; fighting and eliminating corruption; uniting the nation; and building a coherent society. We have started holding hands and moving forward as South Africans. Let us move on.
Coming back to the Department of Home Affairs, the following questions arise: Is the department laying a foundation for the National Development Plan and, if so, what steps has it taken? Does its Medium-Term Strategic Framework align with the National Development Plan and, if so, what are the relevant facts?
This is done to check whether the short to medium-term strategies of the department are aligned to the National Development Plan. That is our duty of oversight: to make sure that what government promises is what it does every day.
From what the department reports, its contribution to the National Development Plan was, among others, the inclusion of all citizens in democracy and development, something that was enabled by: providing them with identity documents and a security system that has helped the poor and reduced corruption; increasing its efficiency in issuing identity documents to the poor, especially in the rural areas; increasing its capability and efficiency in the management of immigration; a programme modernising IT for more efficiency and security; and promoting nation-building by providing the same services to all residents at over 400 service points.
Yes, 400 service points are quite a lot, but the ANC would be the first to say that these are not enough. It would also say that it should, together with public representatives, make sure that it does better, either through using mobile offices or through whatever other proposals there might be.
So, come up with proposals - do not demonise the programme. It is working so well, and working for South Africa. We consider these to be the building blocks for the bigger picture in our journey towards the National Development Plan: Vision 2030.
Similarly, the Medium-Term Strategic Framework focus on the feasibility of the border management agency is a matter of interest, as it looks forward to better capability in border management and control. This is a matter of concern, and we are happy that the department is taking responsibility. It is accountable for addressing this problem.
The improvements in the national identification system, backed by training and capacity building, give us hope that in future our identification documents based on biometric data will not fall easily into the hands of criminals and the corrupt. Here the fear, Mr Hoosen, is that if we do not do these things, the drug traffickers and the child traffickers will have a field day in South Africa. So, it is a measure that government is taking.
The Minister was the first to say that his door is open to those who have better alternatives. So, please, just go to the Minister and give him advice. Howling is not going to assist, sir, but if you go to the Minister and give him advice, perhaps that will be more effective. [Applause.] When we talk about being more efficient and effective, we are talking about methods that work - howling does not work.
As we go forward it is evident that the department has aligned many of its plans with the National Development Plan. In the past 20 years in government the governing party has learnt a lot of lessons. As the hon Mnisi has said, at its 53rd conference it adopted a number of positions after noting the following.
The presence of undocumented migrants poses an economic as well as a security threat to our beautiful country, South Africa.
There are many asylum seekers that do not qualify for refugee status or protection, and the question that has been asked is: What we are doing about it? The new immigration regulations are trying to address that situation.
Some weaknesses in cross-border management have been noted, and thus the border management agency has been formed.
There are challenges relating to legislation regulating access to citizens by foreign nationals - that is what the immigration regulations and legislation have been formulated for.
There is a need to balance the inward flow of low-skilled labour to curtail the negative impact it has on domestic employment. Here again, Mr Hoosen, we make a distinction between skills. There are scarce skills, and there are critical skills. There are skills that South Africans have. Where we have those skills, we say that people from other countries should not come here and walk into jobs that ought to be ours ... [Applause.] ... because we have those skills. We cannot allow a situation where the people of South Africa who are paying taxes are displaced by people coming from elsewhere.
But surely, where skills are critical, there is a list that can be updated every year, and there is a process to follow. Where there are scarce skills, there are processes and regulations to follow. Just familiarise yourself with them, and then this debate will give more light than heat. South Africa needs more light, going forward, than heat. We have had heated debates; we have had struggles; and now we need to move forward as a united nation. That is why we say we are building the nation and we should have a coherent society in South Africa.
Let me say that the department has largely responded to the above matters.
So, if we view the annual performance plan for 2013-14, it is evident that in responding to the above there has been the start of a significant shift to new ideas and concepts. These include the shift to modernisation in developing the national identification system, which requires an applicant for an identity document to present himself or herself personally to take a photo and use a fingerprint for identification, among others.
The positive identification of children is also necessary to prevent child trafficking. The Minister of Home Affairs is on record as saying that his door is open on this matter, so please engage with him. It is more constructive, because it builds a stronger South Africa.
Chairperson, we shall continue to closely monitor the priorities of the department, which have been stated as being: the effective management of immigration; the design of a secure national identification system; the modernisation of Home Affairs front offices; the improvement of service delivery and promotion of good governance and administration; the development of officials that are ethical, patriotic and professional - here we can actually see that the academy is trying to address that; and visible and firm action in the fight against corruption. Here we also invite the media houses to publish actions taken by government against corruption. There are many.
Thank you very much. The Department of Home Affairs is smart, and we move that the budget be adopted. [Time expired.] [Applause.]