Chairperson, hon Minister Dr Dlamini- Zuma, hon Dr Motsoaledi the Minister of Health, hon MECs of health, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, in presenting this Budget Vote we are cognisant of the responsibility we carry on our shoulders to assist in the fulfilment of our liberation's historic vision to ensure that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. Several volatile and unfortunate incidents recently have threatened to shake the core of our beliefs in this very same historic vision that transcends the divisions and fault lines of our programmed prejudice. These incidents have led us to question the character and the soul of what we have built thus far. It is in these times of social introspection that we have risen above petty squabbles and racial parochialism to cement the idea of a new identity, an identity that encompasses all the facets to one commonality that all South Africans can relate to. That commonality is the hope that we are part of developing a whole, a whole that warrants citizenship of pride.
It became clear that there are still a few amongst us who hanker for the past, choosing to be identified more with hatred than reconciliation. These nostalgic few have purposely placed themselves at odds with our pluralistic view of a nonracial and nonsexist South Africa. However, we take solace in the knowledge that these hidebound racists have become an even smaller minority in our society. In spite of their flawed ideological provocation and emotional, racial instigation, they have been answered by patriotic South Africans with the calm and dignity that pacifies expected racial turmoil. South Africans are seeing themselves more and more as one people, united in their diversity. They are rapidly recognising the commonalities in their hopes for the future.
If it is true that one should win through action and not argument or rhetoric, then our Fifa World Cup preparations are a bold exhibition of common nationhood. Our single-mindedness in striving to host a successful event has already deemed us victors, even before the anticipated moment of the kickoff. In the past few months, we have displayed our pride and unity by donning Bafana Bafana jerseys in observance of Football Friday. We are now moving in harmony to the melody of the soccer dance, passionately waving our flags and chanting out our support for South Africa and Africa at large. This euphoria has not been halted or disintegrated by the sad murder of Mr Eugne Terre'Blanche because, as a nation, we have wholeheartedly condemned this challenging incident. Our objections to his bigotry in the past and the present lay in the fact it represented a step backwards and resembled a call for violence. It is therefore fitting at this point to quote a man of peace, Oliver Reginald Tambo, who said, "The fight for freedom must go on until it is won; until our country is free and happy and peaceful as part of the community of man, we cannot rest."
That is why we are not resting. We are committed to ensuring the project of transformation and integration does not change direction. Every day, we battle heavy constraints and obstacles, to be further tomorrow than we were yesterday. We have committed ourselves unreservedly, whilst comprehending the dynamic and continuous task that lies ahead, a task of safeguarding the identity and citizenship of the new South Africa, as well as empowering our citizens with rightful belonging and proof of being.
It is partly for these reasons that we have enunciated the above, which challenge us continuously to nation-building, that we in the Department of Home Affairs have defined our vision as, "a safe, secure South Africa, where its entire people are proud of, and value, their identity and citizenship." We have defined, for ourselves, three important and interrelated outcomes which are: a secured South African citizenship and identity; managing immigration effectively and securely in the national interest to facilitate economic, social and cultural development; and a service that is efficient, accessible and corruption free.
In pursuit of this vision and these outcomes, we believe that we will be able to fulfil the vision we have set for ourselves and contribute to the common pursuit of our people for social cohesion. We are part of a broader social movement for transformation, and our activities could never be isolated from the common and noble endeavours of millions of ordinary South Africans and their dreams.
Last year we announced plans to establish the Home Affairs Learning Academy. The academy will also deal with policy development, as well as knowledge management. Major strides have been made in this regard. For this financial year, our training will focus on the training of supervisors and front office officials in customer service, operational excellence and other needs-based interventions. Towards this end, we further requested the secondment of managers from particularly the banks to train our officials, especially those involved in front office operations in customer service. We will further contribute towards government's youth development programmes by recruiting 244 interns, as well as 300 young people in the National Youth Service Programme. The recruitment of interns is already under way.
In the last financial year, we committed ourselves to improving the operational efficiency and effectiveness of refugee affairs. We are happy to report that we have improved the number of days it takes to issue section 22 permits, from seven days to one day. We have increased the staff in our refugee reception offices and have also increased the number of their decisions from an average of five decisions per week to an average of seven decisions per day.
More importantly, we intend to begin this year to review the refugee policy and legislation and extensively overhaul the asylum processes. The details of these will be announced during the course of the year. Through this exercise, amongst others, we hope to separate economic migrants from genuine asylumseekers and refugees, in order to enhance the protection of genuine asylumseekers and refugees.
Furthermore, we will continue to hold regular consultations with local and national refugee stakeholders in order both to benefit from their opinions, expertise and insight as well as to regularly brief them on the progress and challenges in the implementation of our programmes. Last year we also committed ourselves to intensify the campaign against xenophobia. In this regard, we trained 102 community development workers and 23 secondary schools in affected areas in Gauteng. However, fighting xenophobia is ultimately the responsibility of the public as a whole, and so this programme must be premised on mobilising communities at large. To improve the department's institutional capacity to lead and co-ordinate sustainable interventions in this regard, we are going to create a directorate and finalise our programme against xenophobia.
The President finally signed the Films and Publications Amendment Act into law. Both the Act and regulations are now operational. This means that among the priorities for this financial year, we must develop a turnaround strategy to ensure the alignment of the Film and Publication Board, FPB, structure and systems and processes in compliance with the amended Act. We will within 30 days finalise the appointment of the council of the FPB.
We have continued to make strides in the past financial year, particularly in the campaign against child pornography. We are still waiting for a report from the SA Law Reform Commission on our request for advice on the possibility of prohibiting pornography on television, the Internet and mobile phones. We are determined to have legislation in this regard. We are further heartened that most South Africans firmly rejected the idea by MultiChoice to establish a 24-hour pornography channel. We regret that MultiChoice even thought of this in the first instance. We must continue steadfastly to refuse to accept pornography being brought into our living rooms. For the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, the FPB has dedicated R15 million to the related public awareness campaign to ensure the protection of children during this tournament.
Over the past few years, we have been seized by the challenge of the transformation of the Government Printing Works, GPW, to position it as a security printer of choice for government and the Southern African Development Community region. We want to position it as a key player in the smart card and passport industry. We have completed its conversion into the government component, and we shall soon complete the appointment of its advisory board and finalise the migration of its staff into the new structure. This conversion has made it possible for us to negotiate and implement a special salary dispensation for artisans, which should address the challenge of recruitment and retention of skilled artisans for the organisation. After all, the majority of the staff of the Government Printing Works must be made up of artisans and technicians, and there must be fewer officials dealing with administration. We've also recruited a well- qualified and experienced chief financial officer in order to ensure that we strive towards an unqualified and, eventually, clean audit. Further to enhance its position as a security printing agency, we will procure new equipment, as well as complete the second pavilion in a few months, so that we relocate the entire factory to a new and refurbished plant.
I would like to commend hon Plaatjie on the issues he raised. He raised many questions, and we will deal with them when we write our final exams. [Laughter.] The Home Affairs National Identification System, Hanis, was a Home Affairs National Identification System and had nothing to do with the police. The police had their own SA Police Service Automated Fingerprint Identification System called Afis. These are two separate programmes. Now, as you would know, had you read your reports, we completed this process quite a few years ago. I have actually even forgotten when it was. All the questions that you have asked have been answered in many of the reports that we have provided in the past. I would like to recommend that you read those reports. [Applause.] We are offering also, hon member, to assist you in the pursuit of your responsibilities by providing you with the answers to all those questions.
Hon Marais, we appreciate your grudging applause for what we have achieved, but many of the issues that you raised have actually been answered, even today, by the statement the Minister made about the new offices we are building and the changes in our offices that we are implementing, even as we speak, to address issues of the disabled, of women and of the elderly. There are many offices where we are going to either build new offices or change some of the present offices, so that they are accessible to people, in particular those with special needs.
Insofar as skills are concerned, there are many changes that we have announced that we are implementing. It is inaccurate to make a sweeping statement as you did. There are many immigrants in South Africa with skills, who are working in our country. In fact, the biggest problem in South Africa is not faced by immigrants with skills; it is faced by immigrants without skills. That is why the Minister announced here, just a few hours ago, that we are meeting with unions; we are meeting with Cosatu, and we are going to meet with other unions and business to deal with the issue of economic migrants, because most of the immigrants in South Africa who have skills are employed. It is those without skills who are facing challenges. One of the issues that we are dealing with in our refugee policy is the issue of asylumseekers who are in our country, whether they have skills or not. In terms of the law, they are permitted to seek employment.
I wish to conclude by thanking the Minister for her studious leadership and wise counsel, as well as to thank the old and the new directors-general, the senior managers, and all the officials in the Ministry and department for their support in the execution of our mandate. We are confident, hon members, that together with you, we can and will do more to achieve the objective we have set ourselves to manage both immigration and civic services and to fight corruption in a manner that not only secures the identity and citizenship of South Africans but also enhances our sense of nationhood and social cohesion. Thank you very much. [Applause.]