House Chair, hon Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, hon Deputy Minister, Mr Njabulo Nzuza, Chairperson of the IEC, Mr Glen Mashinini, Acting CEO represented by Ms Modise, I stand on behalf of the ANC to support this Budget Vote as tabled by the Minister.
Hon Chair, we are meeting in July. July is a very significant month in the history of our country, it marks the birth our struggle icon, Isithwalandwe, our father, hero, a peacemaker and the father of the nation, Baba Mandela.
Centrally to the July month, it reminds us about the supreme sacrifice that Madiba and his generation made for the people of this country to achieve peace, freedom, democracy and justice while reclaiming the dignity of our people.
We can say without fear of contradiction that our liberation struggle has produced much of value and lessons that many people in the country and in the world can learn from.
South Africa needs to draw the same values and lessons as we speak directly to the challenges confronted South Africans in general and confronting the Department of Home Affairs in particular.
Under the apartheid regime with its Bantustan offspring, the main objective of the Department of Home Affairs was to control black people and deny them their citizenship, identity, dignity and a freedom of movement.
The National Democratic Revolution as led by the ANC seeks to build a society with an improved quality of life for all citizens. The ANC in its 54th National Conference held in December deliberated on the state of Home Affairs and raised concerns about the presence of undocumented migrants in the Republic which poses both economic and
security threat in the country. Congress went further with imperial evidence that the majority of asylum seekers in the country do not qualify for refugee status and protection but rather they are here for economic activities.
It deliberated on legislation that needs to be undertaken and it deliberated on the access and acknowledges the initiative taken by that department in modernising and developing a single identity system which is based on biometrics to be integrated as part of the whole system of the justice cluster of intergraded management system to fight crime.
The Congress of the ANC recognised the perception that arises in the process of this that aligned itself to issues of xenophobia and and resolved that we need awareness programme to make sure that citizens are educated and society is educated on this narrow nationalism.
The ANC support this Budget Vote because on what the Minister has said, the implementation of the policy of the ANC, it is heavily detailed on what the Minister has already raised. The mandate of the Home Affairs meant transforming Home Affairs into a modern, digital secure custodian of national identity responding to the present and future needs of the circumstances and run with professional
officials and make sure that we follow the National Development Plan, NDP, as it was outlined by the ANC.
The Department of Home Affairs is a very important department. It makes four critical contributions in the country, among others is an enabling economic development and it contributes to security, effective service delivery and supporting governance and administration.
However, the Budget as it was outlined, it went down. The allocation of 2019-20 financial year is R8,339 billion in comparison to the 2018-19 financial year, it is adjusted with R9,047 billion. If you look in rands, it is about R707,7 million, but when you look at the inflation rates, it is just over a billion rand.
The Department of Home Affairs will be focussing on repositioning itself as a modern and secure organisation; improving and expanding client interface services and establishing and operationalise border management system.
The Home Affairs IT modernisation programme is currently underway and it will radically improve the service delivery for our people.
In the context of 2019 having been declared by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa as the year of action, the Department of Home Affairs could be introducing a world-class e-Visa regime. The implantation of this e-Visa regime by the Department of Home Affairs which is at a functional stage, it is expected to be tested late this year, 2019, with a full production that will take place in November. It is a serious enabler for the tourist growth in the country. This world class e-Visa will provide for easy and a secure access to the country for visitors.
This system will enable tourist to apply for visa online resulting into quicker turnaround on time for visa adjudication. This will bolster our tourist figure and create economic activities and job opportunities, particularly for the youth of our country.
The border management agency should thus be strengthened and the department should play a crucial role in ensuring that the strategy developed by the department to document everyone who comes to a country is properly implemented.
The department should strengthen its management of asylum seekers. There should be a strict adherence of the International Convention and protocol in processing applications as you know that we are a
signatory of a lot of UN Convention and so on and so fourth. The performance of the two entities which we have raised - one of which is IEC, I have raised that we would like to congratulate the IEC for the work it has done in ensuring that it deliver an election that did not cause any civil war in the country. My experience of having visited many countries after an election - a civil war erupts because of the systems that are developed by the IEC.
We also congratulate the IEC for the award that they got at the United Nations Public Service Awards in the category of combating corruption and crime in the public service. The ANC support this Budget Vote.
Isixhosa:
Asinanzondo, asinamona, siyayidumisa i-ANC.
English:
Thank you very much.