Thank you hon, House Chair. The National Freedom Party welcomes the Budgetary Review and
Recommendation Report of the Department of Home Affairs tabled here today. Allow me first of all to welcome the decision by the Department of Home Affairs together with the Department of Tourism in relaxing the requirements for the unabridged birth certificate particularly for foreign children that want to visit South Africa, making it a lot easier enhancing the tourism industry.
Hon chairperson, what is quite evident here is the fact that the department is facing serious challenges. I think it is time that maybe this department needs a full forensic audit into the challenges that they face to be able to see exactly what is going on so that we can start addressing them. You know, it appears to be a norm at the moment that the information technology, IT, system seems to be failing the Department of Home Affairs always. People are going to the Home Affairs offices and they are turned away because the systems are down. They have to go back and told to come back and the next day it is exactly the same thing. So, it appears to be serious problem.
Work permits appears to be problem ... [Inaudible.] ... going rate in South Africa at the moment it is about
R30 000 if you want a work permit. The going rate to come and go across the border today is R50 at a time that is all you need to pay at SA borders to be able to cross over. Over and above the challenges that we are facing in terms of supply chain and the irregular expenditure we need to pay more attention particularly to the porous borders that we have because this is exactly where greater percentage of the corruption and illegal foreigners that are entering South Africa appears to be taking place. We call for greater border control in terms of that.
The other problem that many people seem to be experiencing is, where applications have to be submitted to an organisation, an independent organisation called Visa Facilitation Services, VFS, they have to submit it at paying a lots of money for it. What happens is that - I tell you - if there is one document outstanding they have to resubmit with everything and pay again. We think that the department needs to take control of this rather than outsourcing and have internal capacity to be able to do that. The National Freedom Party very reluctantly will support this on the understanding that the department
will ... [Time expired.] ... do a forensic investigation to deal with this challenges. Thank you.