Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, South Africa is not only an attractive opportunity for foreign direct investment, FDI, but also a unique travel destination, a veritable gateway to Africa, and a protector of human rights on the continent of Africa.
Due to this standing, the challenges associated with the movement of people, both into and out of the country, are immense, and the task of facilitation requires extraordinary competence, planning, foresight and strategy by the Department of Home Affairs.
The department must be congratulated for the successful implementation of the following programmes and campaigns: online fingerprint verification; birth registration within 30 days of birth; and documentation of Zimbabwean nationals - and we wish to see this also occur with nationals from other neighbouring countries like Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana. This will actually assist the Department of Home Affairs to get an accurate idea of how many foreign nationals from neighbouring countries are in our country legally.
The IFP welcomes the key areas of focus by the department where they plan to transform the department by modernising their systems and establishing secure responsive and effective immigration, as this will attend to challenges and problems that still exist and require urgent attention.
The duplication of identity documents must not be allowed to occur. Adequate oversight and monitoring mechanisms must be put in place, and duplication through negligence or criminal activities must be brought to an end. The backlog of identity documents applied for but not yet received must be addressed, and the issuance system thoroughly checked, its weak points identified and measures put in place to ensure timeous execution and delivery of identity documents to our citizens. The impact of such backlogs have devastating effects on social grant beneficiaries, who are amongst our most vulnerable.
Adequate human resources must also be placed at various ports of entry and border lines in order to prevent human trafficking and illegal entry of persons into South Africa.
The IFP welcomes the prioritisation of the strengthening of ports of entry for which R120 million has been made available for upgrades of our sea port infrastructure.
Equal opportunity and employment practices, particularly in respect of the disabled, must be promoted by the department, and we ask for greater attention to this aspect by the Minister and her human resources staff. Officials found guilty of corrupt activities must be speedily prosecuted and made examples of to show what is no longer tolerated within the department.
One of the greatest challenges facing refugees in South Africa has been promoting their reintegration into host communities, combating the resultant xenophobia, and allowing them space to create new lives for themselves on South African soil. The department has a critical role to play in respect of this reintegration. The recent closure of the refugee asylum centre in Port Elizabeth, before finding suitable alternative premises, sent the wrong message to the refugee populace in that area. We therefore urge the Minister and department to ensure that a situation like that does not occur again. Equal and just administrative action must be extended to all within our borders, irrespective of nationality.
In conclusion, a great deal has been put in place and it is working extremely well. The department must keep striving to improve upon its processes and procedures, it must maintain vigorous oversight thereof and continually set itself higher standards of performance. The IFP supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]