Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, hon members, comrades and friends, one of the Department of Home Affairs' mandates is to effectively and efficiently manage migration and securely facilitate entry, stay and exit within specific timeframes. This, of course, we have not managed very well thus far. We can, with the department's commitment today, do more.
The ANC's meeting in Polokwane in 2007 charted a new direction with regard to migration, refugees and xenophobia. This happened a mere five months before television and media images brought home the tangible, however complex, reality of prejudices towards fellow Africans.
In addition, migration has been given pronounced space by the media in this country, and peculiarly so. Just for your information, this phenomenon, as we have seen in South Africa, is not new in Africa. In the 1970s, Ghanaians expelled Nigerians under the so-called Alien Compliance Order, and in the early 1980s, Nigerians retaliated by expelling hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians. However, having said that, the ANC will continue to deem these and other similar practices un-African.
The Polokwane conference resolution taken by the ANC acknowledges that regional integration and the free movement of people pose a particular challenge to the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. The conference noted that we still need to work closely with SADC countries to harmonise immigration policies, with particular reference to the combating of crime associated with illegal immigrants.
The conference also resolved that our policy needs to take into account the United Nations codes on refugees. We have ratified these codes to ensure that the manner in which we treat refugees is humane, including taking lessons from other countries which give support in respect of initiatives like education and social welfare. We also need to work on improving the relationship between foreign nationals and South African communities and on conduct awareness campaigns amongst our communities to prevent incidents resulting from xenophobia.
As a country we have ratified all of the United Nations conventions, protocols, declarations and other instruments relating to migration in all its facets, refugees, etc. Therefore, adherence is not negotiable, but a must. Our Refugees Act of 1998 provides for the needs of forcibly displaced persons coming to South Africa in search of asylum status. It states that refugees are allowed to seek employment and have access to education, as well as being entitled to certain rights enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution. Ours, therefore, is to make sure that we provide the necessary documents to enable this process to take place.
In fact, these ratifications aside, it must be stressed that our country is one of the most welcoming countries in the world. This is reflected in the current harmony in our unique ethnic, religious and cultural mix that defines us as a rainbow nation. This is testimony to the vision of Oliver Tambo, Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and many others.
We welcome and acknowledge that the Department of Home Affairs has, in conjunction with the local and provincial government, launched training initiatives to empower these tiers of government on how to engage with, manage and implement immigrant and refugee legislation and other policy instruments.
We need to subjectively look at the causes of migration. It is caused by normal reasons like people moving from one country to another, and this applies to South Africa as well. This happens because people are looking for opportunities for trade, selling of expert knowledge, studies and visits. All these bring people from one country to another. Therefore, as a country, we need to tighten up those areas where we can do more and make sure that people feel welcome when they are within our borders.
As the portfolio committee, we are encouraged by the objectives and measures outlined by the Department of Home Affairs to control and facilitate the immigration of various categories of foreigners into and out of the country. This is done with a view to reducing the turnaround time on the issuing of the following: visas - from 10 days in the 2007-08 financial year to three days by the end of the 2010-11 financial year; section 22 asylum permits - from five days in the 2007-08 financial year to same-day issue by the 2010-11 financial year; refugee status - from three months in the 2007-08 financial year to one month by the end of the 2010-11 financial year; temporary residence permits - from 24 weeks to two weeks by the end of the 2010-11 financial year; and permanent residence permits - from 18 months to six months in the 2010-11 financial year.
The Department of Home Affairs also undertakes to ensure the control and facilitation of the immigration of various categories of foreigners into and out of the country by reducing the number of days taken to finalise 100% of cases by the Refugee Appeals Authority to within 30 days by the 2011-12 financial year and to issue a refugee identity document from six months in 2007-08 financial year to three months by the end of the 2009-10 financial year.
We are naturally aware of the challenges immigration and refugees pose to any developing country. We are in agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has emphasised the effects it has on local communities which are invariably affected by the movements of refugees. Suffice to say, if it is not properly managed by all parties concerned - meaning Home Affairs, NGOs, CBOs, MPs and political parties - these things will continue to happen.
In conclusion, given the challenges that still lie ahead in the department, I would like to call on political parties and all parties involved, like NGOs and CBOs, to work together to build a better South Africa with a better Home Affairs that we will all be proud of.
On behalf of the ANC, I would like to support Budget Vote 4. I thank you. [Applause.]