On behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, I wish to make a statement on the Refugees Amendment Bill, B 30D of 2010. This Bill was processed by the portfolio committee and was passed by this House. It then went to the NCOP for consideration.
The NCOP has made its contribution by way of inserting some amendments. In general, the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs concurred with the NCOP amendments that the status determination committee is allowed to establish subcommittees to deal with the status of applicants for refugee status more expeditiously. However, we amended the Bill to clarify that these subcommittees should not consist of less than two members, as we could not allow a one-person committee to make such an important determination, which affects people's lives directly and substantially. Making sure that these subcommittees have at least two members will also improve the quality of decisions and prevent corruption.
Hon members, you know by now that the critical objective of this Bill is, among others, to improve capacity, effectiveness and efficiency of the status determination system of the Department of Home Affairs and to correct the technical errors contained in the Amendment Act of 2008.
We request this House to agree to the Refugee Amendment Bill with its amendment. I thank you. There was no debate.