Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, members and colleagues. In my budget speech last year I acknowledged the fact that the Minister is open and honest about the problems facing this department and is committed to turning it around. There are, indeed, many improvements to be seen in certain areas: a number of critical posts have been filled, a new passport system is in place and, through the work of the anticorruption unit, a number of corrupt officials were suspended. Furthermore, the national population registration campaign was launched on 23 March and will hopefully go a long way towards ensuring the integrity of the national population register.
However, a lot of work still needs to be done before some of the serious challenges the department is facing have been dealt with and in order for the department to give our citizens and immigrants the world-class service they deserve.
In the department's 2008-09 annual report, the Auditor-General delivered a qualified opinion and raised several urgent matters. The most shocking is departmental revenue amounting to R365 million which cannot be accurately assessed due to the lack of an audit trail. Irregular expenditure in the amount of R198,2 million has also been recorded. This is simply unacceptable. Equally unacceptable is the situation where one of the entities of Home Affairs, the Government Printing Works, appears before the portfolio committee and reports that the department owes them R126 million for the printing of the new passports since April 2009. Minister, I hope you will be able to recall that this amount has since been paid, and that measures were put in place to prevent a recurrence. I have asked a parliamentary question about this matter, but this question and some others have not yet been responded to.
With reference to immigration services, huge concerns remain about the treatment that economic migrants and asylumseekers receive in our country. I hope that the new immigration policy as well as amendments to the Refugees Act and regulations will address this. I would like to ask the Minister whether there is a target date for the finalisation of this policy.
Yesterday afternoon we received notice that we will have a briefing by the department and the State Information Technology Agency, Sita, on the forensic audit report next week. Hopefully the mystery will be solved at last and perhaps some progress will be made with regard to the smart ID card.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank two officials in the operational response unit, Melanie Shaaban and Annie Bodlo, for their continued assistance with the constant flow of problems that arrive in my inbox. For the sake of this debate, I would like to read two extracts from such cases. Phumzile Lassiter wrote:
I am only praying to God that you guys still remember me, because today I can say it out loud that my children have clearly become the victims of South African Home Affairs. A few months ago, I wrote a letter to thank you guys for taking part in helping me and my children, and I still would like to say "thanks" again.
However, something must have gone really wrong, because even though their ID numbers show me as their mother when pulled from the system, the microfilm from the regional Home Affairs still prints their grandmother's name as their mother on the full birth certificate.
We applied and waited for months for this full birth certificate after the amendment, which took three years and eight months, was completed back in October 2009. Now I am being told that no one knows what is going on, and that I need to reapply and wait for four months again. I say, "No, this should have been done more than three years ago, and my children should not suffer any longer."
Please, I am pleading as a mother to you, as mothers too, let's stop the suffering of our South African children, even if it's one family at a time. The next one is from David Jankelowitz, who wrote:
I am having an unbelievable issue with Home Affairs that I am pulling my hair out to resolve. I first applied for an unabridged birth certificate for my son on 26 November 2009. I was told that it would take 6 to 12 weeks to complete. I am now into week 20. I lodged the application at Randburg Home Affairs, where they told me that, to follow up going forward, I must call the call centre.
Mr Jankelowitz did phone the call centre, 16 times, after which he went back to the Randburg branch on 11 March and reported the following:
People there were very unwilling to assist me and told me that the manager was on leave. At this point, I feel like my hands are tied behind my back as I am powerless to obtain a document that I am legally entitled to, have paid for, and also followed the correct procedures to obtain. I am desperately looking for assistance in this regard.
I receive complaints like these on a daily basis from citizens who are frustrated and disillusioned by the service rendered by the Department of Home Affairs. Minister, I am sure you will agree - our citizens deserve better. [Applause.]