Hon House Chair, the NFP welcomes and supports the report of the Department of Home Affairs Budget Vote 5 tabled here today.
Hon Minister, allow me to congratulate you on your appointment as the Minister of this department and I am certain that you will do justice for the department and the experiences I have had with you under the Department of Health and I know that you will listen, you will investigate and you will act accordingly wherever it is necessary.
Hon Minister, I must admit to you that I was doing a speech and then I decided to stop and just make same points that how well I think I
know same of the changes that I experience in the Department of Home Affairs and I would like at sometimes, Minister, to have an hour with you to highlight some of the challenges that I have identified in the various branches of Home Affairs so that we can work together for the common ground of finding solutions to them.
Let me also congratulate the department in terms of its smartcard roll out because I think you are doing a fantastic job as far as that is concern.
However, Minister, I think one of the major problems you seem to be having is your IT system. More often than not it is down and people have to stand in those queues and it seems to be a serious problem.
If you take, particularly the issue of Umngeni Road Branch, now, it is normal on any day to have 300-400 people in the queues or 500 people more often than most of them are turned away. I think it is because of your IT system and also because of the lack of the number of branches in the area because you are also accommodating people from the north, south and all the other areas that are coming.
So, I think you need to look at one somewhere like in the Brick City areas of people of Phoenix, Inanda, Newlands, KwaMashu can go to
that centre; that is having quite an impact on the Umngeni Road Branch.
But let me also tell you know I had a problem of a grandmother that I met at the bus stop while I was parked there, Thokozani Mditshwa. A 63-year-old woman who is trying to get an ID for a grandchild. They requested her daughter to come, who was in school in the university in Umtata; comes in there and your branch in Tongaat failed to assists this lady despite numerous calls. This is not normal in all your branches, the Umgeni Brach I must give them credit whenever there is a need they act and they act appropriately and timeously. So I must give them a credit. But matter like this it's a problem because when you take particular the age and you expecting to go to run there they don't have an income they rely on social assistance; I think it is not acceptable.
The going rate, Minister, I am going tell you now, R30 000 for a work permit, R30 000. And it is not difficult to trace because all you need to do and I hope your system tells you if you ... I caught the one person who is the one who authorised and approved that and if you follow that and see how many under that particular official that was issued you will be able to trace them. That is how it is.
Going rate, Minister, at the border is R50.00 if you don't have a passport, that is why they are so many in the country I can assure you R50.00, in and out, they just allow you in and out of the border and I am telling you these are facts.
Put a red overall Minister and you go there they don't know you are the Minister and I promise you will be able to see them. [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
But ... Minister, one of the problems people are having [Time expired.] the NFP supports the report tabled here today, thank you very much.