Chairperson, esteemed hon Members of Parliament, hon Minister of Home Affairs, hon Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, valued stakeholders, distinguished guests, I thank the hon Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, for her honest and frank appraisal of work done, work in progress and challenges faced by the department.
It is common cause that transparent and accountable governance is strengthened when comprehensive, objective and critical departmental documents are tabled for public scrutiny and legislative oversight. The Minister's argument in defence of her Budget Vote has just borne testimony to this principle.
In linking performance targets to budgeted expenditure, she has provided Members of Parliament with information on how the department is spending money authorised by the legislature, thus enabling Parliament and society to keep the department and its agencies, namely the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, the Government Printing Works, GPW, and the Film and Publication Board, FPB, accountable for service delivery commitments.
In keeping with its oversight responsibility, the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs will continue to engage the Department of Home Affairs and the State Information Technology Agency, Sita, without fear or favour with regard to financial procurement and other issues pertaining to the Who Am I Online and smart card identity document projects.
The Who Am I Online project is supposed to form a part of the department's information technology strategy objectives, along with the Home Affairs National Identification System, Hanis, which, in turn, includes the smart card. The information technology objectives of the department fall within its broader service delivery objectives and the objectives of its turnaround strategy.
Furthermore, the Who Am I Online project is expected to eliminate waste and reduce the cost of providing services to the public. With this project the department means to switch from the use of paper-based to a paperless system where all transactions are processed online and in real time. We therefore urge the department to finalise matters relating to this project and the smart card identity document project, which was suspended by the Minister in order to conduct a forensic investigation into tender processes which were not completed by Sita. Matters relating to these two important projects have dragged on for too long.
With challenges here and there, the department's turnaround strategy continues to bear fruit. Better and friendlier services are rendered and promoted, and the scourge of corruption continues to be fought wherever it rears its ugly head. There is still a long way to go, but the positive gains which are being made are seen by the public and acknowledged.
The department continues to fulfil its civic function of acting as the custodian of citizenship and identity. It regulates immigration, which remains critical for development and security. It further enforces the Immigration Act and determines the status of asylumseekers and refugees in accordance with its international obligations and the Bill of Rights.
The benefit of hindsight reveals that budget accountability has historically focused mainly on targeting the performance of government departments and agencies at the output level. Government has now adopted an approach which provides a new methodology that is focused on the attainment of a number of desirable outcomes using measurable outputs and well-defined activities to achieve better value, as well as better value for money. The department's policy priorities for 2010-11 seek to meet government's new prescripts. It does this largely through providing the necessary documents for citizens and migrants to access social services and the economy.
In this regard, it has had a key role to play in better facilitating access to several of the priorities in the 12 desired outcomes outlined by the Presidency earlier this year, which include the following: In education, it facilitates the registration of students for identity documents in schools and the phasing out of late registration of births. In health, there is an expanded capacity for the registration of births and deaths in hospitals but much more is needed, especially in rural areas. In the fight against corruption and crime, the department continues to fire and discipline corrupt officials while also improving the monitoring of income and expenditure systems.
It is noted that the department and two of its entities, namely the Government Printing Works and the Film and Publication Board, received qualified audits last year. We hope that this will change this current year.
The Independent Electoral Commission needs to be commended for its sterling performance and unqualified audit. [Applause.] The Independent Electoral Commission continues to perform exceptionally well and all signs show that we can expect an even better-planned and executed local government election next year.
With regard to the economy, access to documents provided by the department is crucial and the improved delivery times of documents assist applicants. However, reports of identity document application problems still abound, and need to be addressed and monitored continuously.
With regard to skills, facilitating the improved procurement of skills by companies through better corporate accounts procedures is crucial for the economy but needs to be balanced against the socioeconomic and security needs of South Africa.
With regard to rural development, we have seen an expansion of the capacity and footprint of the department in rural areas, as well as a sharing of resources in the combined government service/Thusong centres, thereby improving service delivery and cost efficiency.
The department's policy priorities for 2010-11 seek to meet government's new prescripts and include the following: one, affirming, recording and securing the identity of all citizens and other individuals who live in South Africa; two, facilitating and regulating immigration in the interests of national security and development; and three, ensuring that departmental officials respond to the needs of all citizens by delivering an accessible, honest, caring and efficient service.
Of crucial concern this year are the commitments made to Fifa for the 2010 World Cup. In this regard the department has improved the related delivery of travel documents, as witnessed during the recent multi-portfolio committee visits to border posts and Fifa World Cup host cities. Initiatives include a new events visa being rolled out, having airline liaison officers in countries participating in the World Cup and advanced passenger registration, all of which will improve the speed of processing the arrival and welcoming of guests during this exciting event. The department's role in achieving these outcomes largely requires co-operation from other departments.
In conclusion, the Constitution of the Republic Of South Africa guarantees everyone dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected. It is through the interventions of the Department of Home Affairs that citizens and foreign nationals are given access to government services in order to make their lives better. The ANC supports Vote No 4. Together, we can do more. [Applause.]