Hon Chairperson, Home Affairs is a portfolio very close to the heart of the IFP because of Prince Buthelezi's very successful tenure thereof as Minister from 1994 to 2004. We still contend that Buthelezi's vision of placing the civic administration of Home Affairs under municipal jurisdiction, and thereby leaving existing Home Affairs offices to deal solely with migratory issues, would solve most, if not all, of the problems currently plaguing Home Affairs in terms of its service delivery, without negatively impacting upon the department's Budget allocation.
The recent increase in the cost of identity documents by an incredible 700% from R20 to R140, and in passports by 100% from R190 to R400 is ludicrous. These price increases are way beyond the means of our poor and unemployed people. The fact that the department will issue every citizen with their first identity book free of charge does not assist those who are getting married, divorced or who have lost of had their ID books stolen. The IFP proposes that these exorbitant price increases in ID documents and passports be looked into in order to find a more favourable and more affordable price.
Service delivery backlogs, as well as crime and corruption within the department, remain one of the biggest concerns, and the department must adopt measures and strategies to effectively nullify these during the coming year. We are pleased to see that the department has caught up with the backlog of permits for foreign nationals. This is a great step forward.
The "Who Am I" integrated information technology system is a step in the right direction in terms of our outdated and obsolete legacy systems. This system should provide the department with the necessary tools with which to expedite, track and control all applications, which should result in greater efficiency and service delivery to both citizens and foreigners alike.
Corruptions remains and will continue to remain a major problem within the department, and the proposed scrapping of section 49 of the immigration Bill will only encourage corruption within the department. The IFP therefore urges the Ministry to rethink the scrapping of "immigration practitioner" by the department in this regard.
Our refugee reception offices and, in particular, the Lindela holding facility requires infrastructural building work such as additional toilet facilities at the medical clinic, which has only one existing toilet for both male and female persons. This clinic saw 14 568 persons during the period April to June 2010. These are small building spends but are very necessary.
The department should engage in a countrywide investigation as to the infrastructural capabilities and readiness of all departmental buildings, in particular the refugee offices, in order to ascertain whether or not they are sufficiently resourced to deal with the large number of people they currently have to service.
Huge backlogs in case appeals, as well as critical posts within the refugee offices being left vacant, are some of the challenges facing the department, and we trust these problems will be resolved during the course of the year.
Overall, a corporate culture of transparency, accountability and responsibility by the department's employees must be fostered by the Ministry, and a tough-line approach must be adopted in cases where employees transgress these obligations. The recent arrest at the Umgeni Road offices of corrupt officials will send a clear message that corruption will not be tolerated and this in itself is another big step forward.
The challenges are these, but there are not insurmountable, Madam Minister, and the IFP wishes you every success in the coming year. The IFP supports the Vote. [Applause.]