Chairperson, welcome to the new Minister. She has had a soft landing. She has a very competent Deputy Minister and she has a top fleet of very efficient, hardworking and committed officials. I am pleased she has recognised that. She has been there before. [Applause.]
I must congratulate the Minister on her fresh approach to the question of migration. The migration of people around the world goes on all the time. Therefore, I think it is important for us to get in step with global trends; in effect, to be a leader. I am delighted with her vision to bring in skills and entrepreneurship. Immigrants or people who come to South Africa are in a sense coming to the united states of Southern Africa, just as the United States has been a magnet for people looking for a better life. We are, too. I do not think we must resent that. However, we must manage it.
My concern is that she did not mention what I think is the most powerful tool, one that our department has not used very effectively, namely the Home Affairs National Identification System, Hanis, which is our fingerprints recording system. That, I believe, is the best identity document, ID, because everybody has a set of fingerprints. In that regard, I believe the Minister can really make a lot of good progress.
We have to get away from what we used to call "Ndabazabantu" [Home Affairs], where people had to queue in crowds. Chairperson, sometimes, happily, it is much better, but sometimes we think we are back with "Ndabazabantu".
I had a phone call from a friend in Ladysmith, Mr Mxolisi Khumalo, who said, "I am standing in a queue at the Department of Home Affairs and there is only one person at the counter. What can I do?" I tried to phone the Ladysmith office and there was no reply. I phoned the Pietermaritzburg office, dialling the number I had from 1023, and still there was no reply. Minister, you have said that you are aware of that. However, I think we have to look at better queue management, a better call centre and also constant monitoring.
It is typical in the private sector, when you have had a DSTV query to phone you back immediately to ask, how was your experience? How did it go? I believe Home Affairs can get there, too, and make huge progress with their branding, etc. The question that I want to deal with is Question 239 on refugees and other elements. My concern from the given reply is that, for example, we have 3 000 Bangladeshi who have work permits, while we have 26 000 who are asylum seekers. Now, I do not know why that is so. One can sympathise with a person from Somalia, because it is a nightmare country. However, it is settling down. Hopefully, the Somalis will be able to go home. I believe that the department also has to look at the Chinese situation. Every town in South Africa has not one, but many Chinese shops. Okay, they are welcome. They are good traders. I think they are honest people who pay their taxes. However, I think we should look into their situation.
The other issue, in reply to this question, is that the department said there are no bilateral agreements with any country. I understand what we are trying to do in the SADC; we are trying to do an intergovernmental thing. However, I believe it is important that we have bilateral agreements with countries like Bangladesh, China and Pakistan, where many people hail from who are asylum seekers because they are here for a better life.
From a Home Affairs perspective, the arrival of 200 people at the Waterkloof Air Force Base, apparently to attend the Gupta wedding, was not just an embarrassment but it completely undermined our immigration and customs laws and it was illegal. The Gupta guests flagrantly broke the law, but you, hon Minister, brushed it aside and went off to enjoy the wedding. [Laughter.] I thought to myself maybe you felt like visiting the old Bophuthatswana, but what sort of example are you setting to your hardworking immigration officials at our border posts, who have to enforce the law and work hard? Now, if the Minister wanted to build morale, discipline and respect and be a champion in her department, she should have announced that, under the circumstances, she, as Minister of Home Affairs, could not in good conscience be present at that wedding, and then she would have heard cheers from her department.
The question of the Border Management Agency is a very serious one. This is the leading department and the Border Management Agency could become an enormous part of government. I believe the department should look at it very carefully. We have just now appointed two loyal communists, one as the Minister of Public Works, and his Deputy, another velvet communist. [Laughter.] These chaps do work hard. Chairperson, I really ...