Chairperson, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs ...
... Malungu ahloniphekile ale Ndlu, abasebenzi balo Mnyango wezaseKhaya, mhlonishwa Sekela likaNgqongqoshe, kubaluleke kakhulu ukuba sazi ukuthi uMnyango eniwusebenzelayo noma eniwuphethe, uyinhliziyo yaleli lizwe lethu laseNingizimu Afrika jikelele, futhi uyigugu elibalulekile kithi kunayo yonke iMinyango kahulumeni.
Lo Mnyango ukwazi ukunikeza abantu omazisi kanye nesithunzi sobuntu kumuntu ngamunye. Okhulume ngaphambi kwami ushilo ukuthi uMnyango ukwazi ukubhalisa abantu abashonile, abazalwayo kanye nabafikayo. Kunezinto eziye zingiphathe kabi ezenzekayo, njengokugcwala kwabantu bokufika kuleli zwe, ngiyabona ukuthi uMnyango awunazo izindlela zokwehlisa ukungena nokuphuma kwabantu kuleli lizwe.
Akufuneki sedlulwe ngamazwe anjengoSwazini, lapho uma bekunike izinsuku eziyi-14 usezweni labo, uma ziphela lezo zinsuku ungabonakali, bayakuthungatha bathole ukuthi ukuphi nezwe; eLesotho nabo benza okufanayo.
Thina njengezwe yini pho esihlulayo ukuba senze into enjengaleyo? Ngikusho lokhu ngikuqonda ukuthi la mazwe abe nosizo olungakanani kithi, kodwa ngiyakuqonda futhi nokuthi abantu kudingeka balawulwe ukuthi bangena kanjani ezweni lakithi.
Okunye, mhlonishwa Sekela likaNgqongqoshe, angazi ukuthi ingabe nguwe noma yinhloko yoMnyango wakho, ovele wakhuphula imali yokuthatha omazisi. Lokhu kukhuphuka kuyamangalisa impela, ukuthi kungathi sibhubha impela yindlala, bese kuthiwa umazisi wenziwa nge-R140 kuthuleke nje kuthi nya.
Leyonto yimbi kabi, amaphasiphoti ayi-R190 kuya kuma-R400. Yinto esingeke sikwazi ukuyibekezelela ngoba kukhona abantu bakithi esingeke sakuphika ukuthi bampofu kakhulu, abangasebenzi usuku ngosuku. Yizinto zonke lezo okufuneka ukuthi sizibhekisise ukuthi zihamba kanjani.
Mhlonishwa Sekela likaNgqongqoshe, ngiyazi ukuthi uMnyango wakho uphathiswe ukubheka ukuthi iKhomishani yoKhetho iziphatha kanjani.
Le Khomishani yoKhetho kufuneka ukuthi niyivakashele, niyibhekisise ukuthi yini ibe nabantu ababizwa ngokuthi ngama-PEO, kuthiwa bayizisebenzi ezigcwele. Leso sikhundla somsebenzi sisezingeni le-13, kanti uMnyango wakho wezaseKhaya unenkotileka yeminyaka emihlanu; leyonto leyo iyohlala ihlupha ezweni ngoba umuntu uma esesebenze ngaphezu kweminyaka emihlanu usuke esazi ukuthi kusekhaya, kusenxiweni noma elawini lakhe lokulala emsebenzini. Yindawo ehloniphekile le ekufuneka silandele isahluko soMthethosisekelo mayelana nokuthi ihamba kanjani.
I-IEC ngiyazi ukuthi iwuphiko oluzimele kodwa kumele kube nemikhawulo ngoba nayo yabelwa imali kuyo le Ndlu. Ngibonge Sihlalo. Siyasisekela iSabelomali. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[... Hon members of this House, staff of the Department of Home Affairs, hon Deputy Minister, it is crucial to acknowledge that the department which you work for, or which is under your control, is the heart of South Africa, and it is a great treasure to us - more than all other government departments.
This department is able to issue identity documents to people and by so doing gives dignity to each person. The previous speaker did mention that the department is able to keep records of deaths, births and immigrants. There is an issue that disturbs me, and it is that of foreigners flocking to our country. I realise that the department does not have mechanisms in place to control the immigration and emigration of people.
We should not be outshone by countries like Swaziland where one can stay in the country for 14 days, and if your whereabouts is not known after the expiration of your stay, they search for you to find out where you are. The same applies in Lesotho.
Why don't we do the same? I raise this concern being fully aware of how helpful these countries were to us, but I also understand that there should be a controlling mechanism in place in respect of people coming into our country.
Also, hon Deputy Minister, I am not sure whether it is you or the head of the department who just raised the issue of money being paid when people apply for IDs. This increase is indeed surprising. While we are struggling with poverty, the ID application fee goes up to R140 and everything seems just fine.
This is very bad. They now charge between R190 and R400 for passports. We cannot allow this to happen, because we cannot deny that some of our people are extremely poor, since they are not working. These are the issues we must always take into consideration and question.
Hon Deputy Minister, I know that your department is also tasked with keeping an eye on how the IEC conducts itself.
You have to visit this IEC and investigate why it has people called PEOs who are said to be full-time workers. This position is at level 13, whereas your department has a five-year contract. This will always be problematic for the country because anyone who has worked for more than five years thinks that he or she is at home and does as he or she pleases. This is a critical area where we have to follow a section of the Constitution to see how it is done.
I know that the IEC is an independent body, but there should be limitations because it, too, gets its funding from this House. Thank you, Chairperson. We support the Budget Vote. [Applause.]]