Hansard: NCOP: PLENARY (Provisional)
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 15 Jul 2014
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:36
TUESDAY, 15 JULY 2014
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
_________________
The Council met at 14:00.
The Deputy Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ORATION OF CONDOLENCES
START OF DAY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:36
ORATION OF CONDOLENCES ON PASSING OF FORMER CHIEF WHIP OF NCOP,
NOSIPHO DOROTHY NTWANAMBI
Ms M C DIKGALE: Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Members of Parliament, relatives, friends of the Ntwanambi family, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed with great sadness and sorrow that I have to stand before you in this august House to pay tribute to the late hon Nosipho Ntwanambi. Hon Ntwanambi was the Chief Whip of this House and, dare I say, the first woman Chief Whip of this House.
As the women of the ANC we were very proud of her for having attained that position. So, when we called her "Chief", it was with a great sense of pride and appreciation that one of us women had been entrusted with such a responsibility. And what a great job she did in this role.
The "Chief" is now no more. In my language, when something like this happens, we say:
Sepedi:
... "mokgapa wo mogolo o wele gomme dithaga di tlo šala di lla bošogošogo."
English:
Literally translated these words mean that a great tree has fallen and the birds will be left crying with no shelter. For those of us who were new in the Fourth Parliament, we were like those birds and the hon Ntwanambi was like a shelter to us. She was a guide and would never allow anyone to take advantage of our being new and therefore not knowing how to do things here at Parliament. She was indeed a mother to us and we will forever be grateful for that.
Hon Ntwanambi was a very special woman and this is attested to more than anything else by her name. Her name Nosipho means "mother of a gift". You can pronounce it as "Unosipho", which means "she has a gift". It can also be pronounced in the form of talking to one directly: "U no sipho", meaning "you have got a gift". So, in whichever way or fashion you pronounce it, her name has "gift" written all over it.
As a "mother of a gift" she gave the children of Siyazingisa Primary School, where she taught from 1983 until 1997, an important gift in the form of education. We all know that education plays a fundamental role in the life of a person, a nation, a country and the world. I have no doubt in my mind that many children from Siyazingisa Primary School are somebody today because of the gift of education that they got from hon Ntwanambi.
Indeed, she had a gift, her most outstanding one being that she was a hard worker in everything she did. In politics this hard work saw her rise from the dusty streets of Gugulethu township to serving in various leadership structures of the political formation that pioneered the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994 and joining the most powerful women in the corridors of Parliament. The people's movement, the ANC, recognised her hard work and elected her into its National Executive Committee and as the Deputy President of its Women's League.
Her second or English name is Dorothy, which also means "gift of God". So, there is no doubt that the hon Ntwanambi was indeed a gift to all of us, especially to the ANC Women's League and the movement at large. That is why, despite her not being well, she was still deployed to the NA in this Fifth Parliament to continue making a contribution to the attainment of a better life for all of our people. That is selflessness personified.
The gift that was the hon Ntwanambi shows just how important a name can be and what effect it can have. It is not coincidental that there is an English idiom that says, "Give a dog a bad name and hang him", with the Sesotho version being ...
Sepedi:
... bitšo lebe ke seromo ...
English:
Loosely translated, this means that if you give a child a bad name, you are cursing that child. Certainly hon Ntwanambi's parents knew that they were receiving a gift when she was born. Certainly, they are happy with what she did with her life, just as we in the ANC are happy with what she had done for this glorious movement. So, as a gift is taken away from us, we can only accept it with the knowledge that God has given and now He has taken.
We also know that the hon Ntwanambi bowed out of this life on earth to join eternal life in heaven, where she will be welcomed by other stalwarts of the ANC, such as Mam' Dorothy Nyembe – her namesake, Mam' Lillian Ngoyi, Mam' Charlotte Maxeke, Mam' Frances Baard, Mam' Adelaide Tambo, Mam' Albertina Sisulu and many more. These are the women of whom we say in Sepedi ...
Sepedi:
... ba swara thipa ka bogaleng.
English:
These women leaders of our movement have now passed the baton to us to continue with the struggle. Theirs was in the main a political struggle, which they won because today we have political freedom. So we must also win our struggle, which is in the main a socioeconomic struggle. We cannot afford to let them down, because if we do, we will not be worth being associated with them.
I therefore call on all of us who are left behind to commit to continue with the struggle until a better life for all our people is achieved. Mam' Ntwanambi has played her role and it is left to us to play ours. Are we up for it? That is the question I will leave you with. I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Hon members, I am informed that the family of the hon Ntwanambi is with us in the gallery. You are welcome in this House.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN
Ms M C DIKGALE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:36
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: Deputy Chairperson, I do not need this booster step to stand on. [Laughter.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You can just push it in.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: That's better. Deputy Chairperson, it is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Nosipho Dorothy Ntwanambi, the former Chief Whip of the NCOP. She served as NCOP Chief Whip from 2009 for the entire Fourth Parliament. As a representative of the Western Cape delegation to the NCOP for the same period, she always had the people of that province at heart.
The late Chief Whip - as my colleague said, we often fondly referred to her as "Chief" - represented various select committees, such as Economic Development; Foreign Affairs; Labour; Public Enterprises; Finance; the Joint Budget; and Land and Environmental Affairs, which included Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Rural Development, Land Reform, Water and Environmental Affairs. So, you can see that she covered the whole spectrum. That is just the way she was made. She did nothing in half measures.
Mrs Ntwanambi was also the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Women's Caucus from 2005 to the very end. She served the ANC, the Western Cape and her people with dedication and extreme compassion. In my short time here in Parliament she also showed that compassion to various members whose family members, sons or husbands had passed away. She went to extremes to do something special for them to show that she really cared.
We offer our sincere condolences to her children, her family, her friends and staff members of the NCOP, especially those who served in her office and also those who served with her in the ANC. She was a proud South African.
IsiXhosa:
Lala ngoxolo mama, ulilwile idabi labafazi namakhosikazi de itshoba lalala umbethe. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Mr M KHAWULA
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:37
IsiZulu:
Mnu M KHAWULA: Ngiyalithokozela leli thuba ongipha lona.
English:
Deputy Chairperson and colleagues, on behalf of the IFP I would like to express our deepest condolences to the Ntwanambi family, their relatives and their friends. We would also like to express and offer our condolences to the ANC leadership, especially the ANC Women's League leadership, where the late Dorothy Ntwanambi was the deputy president. While I did not serve with her, I am informed that she was a firm and fair Chief Whip of this House. I am also informed that she looked upon and served all the members of this House in the same manner.
Furthermore, I am informed that she was a veteran of the struggle and a passionate women's rights activist. She was also passionate about education, to the extent that she was one of the founding members of the SA Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu. Her loss is not only to her organisation, the ANC, but a loss to the whole of South Africa. May her soul rest in peace. Thank you. [Applause.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE NCOP
Mr M KHAWULA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:37
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Deputy Chairperson, I hope I am visible. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You must pull out the step.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Ah! [Laughter.] Thank you, Deputy Chairperson, members of this august House, our one and only Minister in this House this afternoon, members of the Ntwanambi family in the gallery, ladies and gentlemen, I rise with profound humility and a great sense of grief and sorrow to pay homage to a fallen daughter of our nation and a humble servant of our people, who dedicated her life to the ANC and served South Africa until the last moment.
Where I come from, they say if you want to know whether a person is really deeply in sorrow...
Sepedi:
... o mmethe ka mpama o tla lla ka segagabo.
English:
On this occasion I would have loved to express myself in IsiXhosa, but given our kind of history, I am disabled in that regard.
In his poem, Song of Myself, one of the prolific writers of the 18th century, Walt Whitman, writes, and I quote, "Behold, I do not give lectures or little charity, When I give, I give myself." The sentiments expressed by Walt Whitman profoundly encapsulates the life lived by the hon Comrade Nosipho Dorothy Ntwanambi or the Chief Whip or deputy president, DP, as she was affectionately known in the ANC, ANC Women's League, Parliament and legislatures across South Africa, until her untimely death on Tuesday, 8 July 2014 at about 17:00, after a long illness.
Ms Ntwanambi truly dedicated her life to serving South Africa. Her death has robbed the people of South Africa, the ANC and the ANC Women's League of a formidable source of inspiration, a mentor, a leader and a loving mother whose kind-hearted spirit, commitment to serving South Africa and love for the ANC will forever remain a living inspiration.
She was born on 25 September 1959 in Gugulethu in the Western Cape province, the eldest daughter of five. She regarded the year of her birth as interesting, and I quote:
It is the very same year that former President Nelson Mandela delivered his most revered speech, the Verwoerd's Grim Plot, fiercely criticising the apartheid government for legalising separate settlement for blacks, and the year of the birth of the Pan Africanist Congress.
This was said by her in one of the interviews she gave. Her illustrious political involvement in the struggle against apartheid truly epitomises a community leader who rose above and surmounted the travesties of growing up in a repressive apartheid society that was characterised by the deeply rooted racial, cultural and gender discrimination that was faced by many of the women of her time.
Growing up in a visibly marginalised and poverty-stricken community in Gugulethu, the hon Ntwanambi had a relentless curiosity about the situation faced by many black people, particularly the women. She formerly started her political life when she joined the ANC as a student during the 1976 uprisings, which saw millions of students across South Africa protesting against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools.
She attended Fezeka High School. At the age of 22, she possessed extraordinary tactical and political skills and became what she remained all her life: a determined and committed public leader whose vision and ideals were to fight for the rights of women who were ostracised and shackled to grim conditions of poverty, underdevelopment and gender discrimination in South Africa.
She went on to become a teacher at Siyazingisa Primary School in 1983 until 1997, teaching English, geography, history and isiXhosa. Instead of joining her peers in enjoying the easy, youthful township life, during the week Comrade Ntwanambi would juggle her schedule of being a teacher and doing the home chores to attend secret meetings of likeminded women from Gugulethu who progressed to serve in various structures of the ANC. On weekends, she would attend – I can say this now that we are free – secret meetings of the ANC and was later incarcerated in the notorious Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town.
In 1983, she joined the women activists who formed the United Women's Organisation and in 1985 she was one of the pioneers of the Democratic Teachers Union, which later merged with other teachers unions to form the SA Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu, as we know it today.
She was a political activist whose unparalleled dedication to the struggle against apartheid and the gender stereotyping of women saw her rise from the dusty streets of Gugulethu to serve in various leadership structures of the political formation that pioneered the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994. She also served in various positions in the ANC and the ANC Women's League, as my predecessor on this podium just said, and joined the most powerful women in the corridors of power - our Parliament.
Her continued selfless political commitment as a politically fired-up gender and human rights activist in the ANC resulted in her election to the National Executive Committee and the National Working Committee of the ANC Women's League. In 2003, she was elected convenor of the ANC Women's League NEC deployees in the Western Cape province. She also served in the Provincial Executive Committee and the Provincial Working Committee of the ANC in the Western Cape.
Comrade Ntwanambi joined the NCOP in 1999 and was elected chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic and Foreign Affairs in 2004. In 2005, she was elected Chairperson of the Parliamentary Women's Caucus and has served in various international structures, such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, which is a SADC body. She was also elected to the NEC of the ANC at its watershed December 2007 national conference held in Polokwane - my province.
In 2008, she was elected the Deputy President of the ANC Women's League. In the same year, she became the first woman to be elected the Chief Whip of the NCOP, which replaced the former Senate, the upper house of Parliament. Several gender activists and organisations have hailed this as, and I quote, "A major milestone in the representation of women in key decision-making structures in Parliament".
The death of Comrade Ntwanambi has robbed South Africa and the ANC of one of their most outstanding and humble servants. She truly ran the race, fought the fight and became a victor. All that awaits her is the crown from the likes of Bertha Nonkumbi Gxowa, Ida Mntwana, Lillian Ngoyi, Dorothy Nyembe, Helen Joseph and Charlotte Maxeke.
Ms Ntwanambi leaves behind her lovely mother, who is there in the gallery, two daughters, Nolitha and Nyameka, two sisters, a brother and two grandchildren, Nhlumelo and Elami.
We would like to say to the hon Ntwanambi's family that we share your grief and you are in our prayers at this difficult time. We would also like to thank you for sharing her with the ANC and the people of South Africa and we thank you for all the sacrifices that you endured when she was serving our nation. We thank you dearly. May her soul rest in peace. Amandla! [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The Council observed a moment of silence in honour of the late Ms Nosipho Dorothy Ntwanambi.
FIRST ORDER - The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
ORATION OF CONDOLENCES - Dr H E MATEME
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:38
APPROPRIATION BILL
(Policy Debate)
Vote No 4 - Home Affairs:
The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Hon Deputy Chairperson, Deputy Minister, hon members, distinguished guests, we are honoured to present our Budget Vote for 2014-15. The budget of the Department of Home Affairs is set at R6,6 billion. In terms of this budget departmental programmes will receive R4,9 billion; the Film and Publication Board will receive R79 million and the Independent Electoral Commission will receive R1,6 billion. The Government Printing Works is now fully self-funding.
In this regard, I have delegated to the Deputy Minister the responsibility for front office improvement, asylumseeker management and legal services.
The Department of Home Affairs carries the responsibility of ensuring that all South Africans have an identity and status, and of maintaining a credible and secure National Population Register, NPR. One of our top priorities is to clean up the NPR through the ongoing National Population Registration campaign - of which a key target has been to persuade all parents to register their children within 30 days of birth. In this regard, I intend ending the late registration of birth process by 31 December 2015, after which all applications for late registration of birth will go through an appeal and adjudication process. The timely registration of a birth must and will soon be the only way into the National Population Register.
This calls for a national effort, involving all who are keen to ensure that we have a clean NPR, to get involved as we enter the final mopping-up stages of the late registration of birth campaign. In this regard, the 264 stakeholder forums that have been formed will play an important co-ordinating role.
One of the most tangible elements of our efforts to build a national identity system is the smart ID card, which we began rolling out in October 2013 in 70 designated smart ID card offices countrywide.
Thus far, over 300 000 cards have been issued and an additional 70 offices will have smart ID card application capability by the end of this financial year, to support our roll-out target of 1,5 million cards. Thirty of the 70 offices will be ready to issue smart ID cards within 100 days. We are investigating ways to leverage partnerships with the Post Office and the banks in the smart-card roll-out. The details will be announced when ready.
Currently, people aged 60 and above, as well as 16-year-olds, are the only groups invited to replace their ID documents with smart ID cards free of charge. When we reach the target of 140 smart ID card offices, we will then completely stop issuing green ID documents to 16-year-olds. At the Asian, Middle East and African High Security Printing Conference in 2013, the South African smart ID card was awarded the Regional ID Document of the Year award.
We must manage immigration securely and effectively in a way that benefits our economy and society, heeds our international obligations and manages risks to national security. Cabinet has assigned the department lead responsibility to establish the Brder Management Agency, BMA, which will be central to securing all land, air and maritime ports of entry to address the threats posed to and the porousness of our borderline.
We are currently undertaking a feasibility study to determine all the practicalities of a future BMA, the findings and proposals of which will guide the legislative process. All relevant government departments are being engaged in an intergovernmental consultative process through a project management office that we have established. By the end of 2016 we hope to have completed the process of establishing the BMA.
We have upgraded infrastructure at 11 high-volume points of entry and expanded the Enhanced Movement Control System, EMCS, to 13 additional points of entry. During the previous year, we facilitated the movement of 39 million travellers in and out of the Republic, demonstrating that our ability to manage the inflow and outflow of people in our country is becoming increasingly efficient and robust.
In this regard, we draw attention to the new immigration regulations, which took effect on 26 May 2014, following amendments to the immigration legislation, which had grown outdated in the context of new and complex challenges. It had also grown outdated in terms of facilitating the streamlining of our permitting regime, improving the administration of our visa issuance and regulating human movement into and out of South Africa. The new regulations enhance security by addressing areas of weakness, risk and abuse.
Opportunistically, South Africa is being asked to drop or relax visa requirements in a world where they are required of South Africans when travelling abroad and where security has become a matter of global concern. We reject with contempt any suggestion that these regulations are part of an Afrophobic agenda to keep Africans - or any nationality, for that matter - out of South Africa. Our commitment to African unity and development is resolute, and our track record in this regard speaks for itself.
We value the contribution of fellow Africans from across the continent living in South Africa and that is why we have continued to support the AU and SADC initiatives to free human movement. But this cannot happen haphazardly, unilaterally or to the exclusion of security concerns; neither can it happen without standardising population registration and immigration legislation and addressing development challenges everywhere.
Risks to any country on our continent have a direct impact on our own country. After all, we have not unilaterally removed existing visa waiver agreements that we have with fellow African countries and are keen to enter into more such agreements as more African countries conduct the civil registration of their nationals.
At this point I wish to announce that we are in the final stages of deliberations on the Zimbabwean special dispensation permits, which will expire in December this year.
Future policy development will focus, among other issues, on a better framework for dealing with economic migration and for finding a solution on how best to separate asylumseekers and refugees from economic migrants. In this regard, work is under way to introduce a nationwide discussion on a new international migration policy framework; one that will take into consideration current realities and future management perspectives.
The Department of Home Affairs contributes to economic development in several ways and our contribution as an enabler of tourism is irrefutable. Our ID documents help to create the platform of trust and accountability that underpins our competitive and sophisticated financial system.
Our ability to efficiently facilitate large numbers of international visitors across ports of entry has enabled our positioning as a trusted host for major international events. Our staff has done well to eliminate visa and permit backlogs, and to proactively assist businesses with immigration issues. Our immigration management enables us to bring in workers and investors who contribute to economic growth.
The new immigration regulations will make it easier to source critical skills from overseas. Foreign nationals possessing critical skills can now apply for and be granted a critical skills visa, even without a job, allowing them to enter the country and seek work for a period of up to 12 months. Furthermore, families of workers will now be considered as a unit.
These specific improvements and our commitment to responsiveness to business needs in general, will make it easier for South Africa to attract the critical skills and investment our economy needs.
I am proud to announce further that all 11 visa facilitation centres throughout South Africa are now operational and results have begun to show: 4 000 applications were received in June alone and the turnaround time for adjudication has already been reduced.
The Department of Home Affairs is making important strides in terms of our adjudication process at refugee reception offices. To this end, we will, among other measures, finalise the implementation of our policy position to relocate refugee reception centres closer to the borderlines; improve international co-operation, especially in the SADC region, with regard to asylumseeker and refugee management, particularly of those who are third country nationals, and improve the implementation of the "first safe country" principle; and develop an immigration policy document, as I have said, which proposes strategies regarding the management of unskilled economic migration in order to streamline the refugee process and integrate genuine refugees into our society.
In 2009, the Department of Home Affairs initiated a pilot project aimed at revitalising the look and feel of our front offices and make them user-friendly with clear signage to enable proper workflow and queue management. The project has been rolled out in a number of our offices in accordance with available budget.
I have delegated to the Deputy Minister the task of improving the client experience at each of our front offices as a critical area of intervention. These will entail the drastic enhancement of our front-office operations, the leadership and managerial competency of our managers, the professionalism of our officials, as well as establishing a robust performance dashboard to measure and closely monitor the performance of our offices, including standardising procedures between and within all of our offices.
We remain committed to improving our operations to ensure that we have a safe and secure South Africa in which all of our people are proud of and value their identity and citizenship.
We have embarked on a modernisation programme to secure, integrate and automate all our systems and to create a paperless data environment. Key to this modernisation project is the development of the national identification system, which will replace the current NPR system, and the development of an integrated border management solution, which will include the trusted traveller programme - the e-Visa and e-Permit systems; the development of a data cleanup of key immigration and civic systems, as well as the development and further roll-out of the live-capture smart ID card to the remaining identified offices. We will further design dedicated smart ID card offices in each province, rather than implement the smart ID card system in all offices.
Leadership development will be a consistent theme over the next term and right into the future. It is critical that our staff be service-oriented, professional, competent, committed, ethical and incorruptible. High standards and accountability are no longer negotiable at Home Affairs and we are committed to ensuring that our customers consistently experience excellent customer service. Ongoing challenges include fighting corruption and staff who are overburdened because of understaffing amid resource constraints.
Our progress in developing a new cadre of Home Affairs official includes the establishment of a learning academy that would offer our officials high quality and accredited courses, in partnership with universities. Our commitment to youth development is demonstrated through our internship and cadet programmes. We have undergone a branding campaign to ensure that all frontline staff wear an updated uniform and name tags to ensure that they are easily identifiable, pleasant and approachable.
In the past eight months, the GPW has produced over 300 000 smart ID cards for the department. It has seen its revenue double since 2009 to R757 million, with an envisaged two-fold or threefold increase in revenue over the next five years.
The company is midway through a five-year, R300 million capital programme to install state-of-the-art technology. The passport, smart ID card and examination papers dispatch centre will come on stream in 2015. Over the coming few years, the GPW plans to complete its transition from a government into a state-owned enterprise. By 2017, the Government Printing Works will have consolidated its position as the leading security printer in Africa and one of the leaders in the field worldwide.
In order to adapt to the growth of digital media, the Film and Publications Board is exploring online distribution agreements with major content distributors, enabling those companies to classify on its behalf and in accordance with its regulatory guidelines. Furthermore, it also strategically engages, internationally and within SADC, on initiatives to prevent child pornography and child trafficking.
Over the next five years and towards Vision 2030, with your support, we can do even more to establish and maintain a secure national identity system and facilitate the secure, efficient movement of people. I would like to close my remarks by requesting all South Africans to also carry out the responsibilities that come with the rights we have outlined above. Firstly, prize your South African citizenship and do not contribute wittingly or unwittingly towards extending citizenship to people who do not deserve it. Secondly, register the birth of your children before they leave hospital or within 30 days of birth, in order to help us secure the National Population Register.
Thirdly, apply for ID documents at 16 years of age in order to enhance your ability to access government services. Fourthly, safeguard your documents to help combat identity theft and fraud – many of these documents end up lying uncollected for months at the offices of the department, which makes us vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. And finally, we urge them to register death immediately, in order to prevent theft of the deceased's identity.
In closing, I wish to thank the Deputy Minister, the director-general, the top management and all hardworking staff of the Department of Home Affairs for their devotion and hard work. I am grateful for the advice of the chairperson of the select committee and members of the committee, who provide critical oversight over the work of the department. I hope all members will support our budget for the 2014-15 financial year.
It is my privilege to table Budget Vote No 4 of the Department of Home Affairs before this House for discussion and adoption. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms L C DLAMINI
The Minister of Home Affairs
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:39
Ms L C DLAMINI: Deputy Chairperson, thank you for this opportunity. My greetings go to the hon Minister and the Deputy Minister, House Chairpersons, the hon Chief Whip and hon members. I am not sure whether the director-general is here, but if he is here with the team, my greetings to him too. It is very difficult to speak after you, hon Minister, but due to the responsibility that we have as a select committee we have to present our findings. It is part of the oversight mandate of this House.
Before I continue with the debate, I want to thank the department for its total turnaround. Those of you who were there with me during the apartheid regime will agree that there has been a total turnaround in the department. In those days, when one had to go and get an ID, bekukutsatsa cishe tinyanga letisitfupha kutsi utfolo uMatisi wakho. [… it would take you six months before you get your ID.] I remember that mine took six months - at one stage I thought my ID had not been approved. When I eventually received my ID, my birth date was incorrect and I was labelled as Tsonga instead of Siswati. Yes! That is why I am saying that there has been a turnaround in the department and that it is important to recognise those changes, because they did not come about by mere luck. They are the result of the visionary direction given by the ruling party, the ANC. We thank the ANC very much for giving us this direction.
In the state of the nation address by the hon President Jacob Zuma, using the monitoring report, he indicated that on the part of government we are continuously improving the services we provide to communities. This is confirmation by this department that ...
Siswati:
... umehluko ukhona kakhulu nawucatsanisa nakucala, ngetikhatsi telubandlululo.
English:
It is also important to indicate that those who were in the apartheid regime cannot be found these days. Most of the time when we stand up here, sitewukhuluma la, sikhuluma ngelubandlululo [… to talk about apartheid] that was so bad, the apartheid regime has become faceless.
Siswati:
Kute loyivumako ngendlela lebeyiyimbi ngayo. Sonkhe siyayigceka, sibabata ludvumo lwalokuhle lokwentiwa ngulohulumende wanyalo.
English:
However, I must say that in our interaction with the department, hon Minister, we realised that you have been able to meet most of your objectives, Minister. I base this statement on the four strategic objectives that you have identified, which are, firstly, to clean and secure the National Population Register; secondly, to digitise the data and records of the Department of Home Affairs; thirdly, to manage migration and immigration competently; fourthly, to improve the services that the Department of Home Affairs provides to the people by producing professional officials; and fifthly, to do oversight of the department.
At the ANC's policy and 53rd national conference, the ANC committed itself to positioning the Department of Home Affairs as the backbone of security, service delivery and the developmental state. Under the apartheid regime, the main objective of the Department of Home Affairs was to sideline black people or discriminate against them, which, as we are speaking now, is no longer the case. Home Affairs has been formulated in such a way that it provides our people with identity and freedom of movement, among other forms of justice in our country.
With the utmost pride and humility the department has been transformed. Today South Africans have a Department of Home Affairs that plays a decisive role in providing them with the documents pertinent to accessing their basic rights. There has been progress to ensure that the Department of Home Affairs becomes the backbone of the developmental state that we seek to build. Progress has been made to ensure that this department remains central to national efforts to strengthen national security and to provide our people with the services they are entitled to by the Constitution.
It is also important to note that the ruling party committed itself to the creation of a national identity database that will enable government to achieve the goals of the society we envisage. In its Ready to Govern document, the ANC said that a comprehensive, accurate and secure population register had to be built; one that would enable government to gain an accurate picture of the national profile.
The Minister has just reported how far they have come, and we are witnesses to that effect, having gone through your document and seeing how far you have come in terms of achieving that. In this regard, the department has moved with speed to put in place all systems to ensure that births and deaths are registered. The registration of births campaign has ensured that the registration of births becomes part of the national consciousness and civic responsibility of all South Africans.
We do want to encourage our people to register their children when they are born. We also want to encourage, hon Minister, some form of co-operation between you and the Department of Health that would result in making it compulsory that before a new baby leaves a hospital or a health institution, the child must have a birth certificate.
We also request the department to consider having extended working hours over the holidays and after hours, or on Saturdays and Sundays. I remember one incident when I was with the former Minister and we visited a hospital in Rob Ferreira. It was during the holidays and there were no officials from the department. So, we are encouraging the department to consider somehow extending their hours so that by the time new babies leave the hospital, they have been registered.
The Department of Home Affairs plays a central role in regulating and facilitating immigration to enforce the Immigration Act. This is so because immigration impacts strongly on our economic, cultural and social development. It is not – as the Minister said - that we do not want people from outside to come into our country. What we are saying is that it is important that as a country we know who is in the country and who is not.
This does not impact only on the issues mentioned before but also on developmental issues. If you take areas around the borders where people come in in their numbers, it impacts on them directly in terms of service delivery. That is because local municipalities plan according to the population they have, only to find that there are a number of people who are not accounted for but who are in their areas. In the eyes of the people, it seems that we are not providing services accordingly, yet it is because of people who are not accounted for.
However, we also want to commend the Department of Home Affairs on the entities for which it is responsible, particularly the Independent Electoral Commission. I think we all agree that since 1994, the IEC has done outstanding work in terms of its performance in the elections. In just one day the IEC has been able to manage millions of people through the election processes, and at no stage have the results not been accepted by all parties. The performance of the three entities under the department is encouraging. Specific mention is made of the work of the IEC, which has attracted both regional and international recognition in the form of awards, among these being the UN Public Service Award in the category "preventing and combating corruption in the public service". [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, please sum up because you have run out of time.
Ms L C DLAMINI: We are very grateful for the work that has been done by the entities under the Department of Home Affairs.
We also want to check with the department on the issues that were raised by the regional directors when they had a meeting with the select committee during the Fourth Parliament. We want to request the department to go through those issues because they are very important and they impact on the performance of the regional offices ... [Time expired.]
Ms L L ZWANE
Ms L C DLAMINI
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:40
Ms L C DLAMINI
Ms L L ZWANE: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Chief Whip and hon members, let me take this opportunity to thank you for affording me a part in this debate on the Budget Vote of the Department of Home Affairs.
Seven years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948, the people of South Africa, under the leadership of the ANC, adopted the Freedom Charter, which served as the founding principle and basis for the struggle for freedom. The masses of the people stood together and said, "All shall be free to travel without restriction from countryside to town, province to province and from South Africa abroad."
Then, 20 years ago, South Africa witnessed a radical change in government, when it became "government of the people by the people". The ANC-led government has since been able to crash the apartheid Titanic that was used by the oppressors to oppress us. Section 3(2) of the Constitution, the supreme law of South Africa, states among other things that "there is common South African citizenship" and as such "all citizens are equally entitled to rights, privileges and benefits". The ANC-led government has wrecked apartheid and racial segregation and never again shall we see a Department of Native Affairs.
It is from this constitutional imperative and background that the Department of Home Affairs was established to carry the vision of ensuring - as the Minister has said - safe, secure South Africa, where all of its people are proud of and value their identity and citizenship. Through its programmes the department has provided secure, efficient and accessible services and documents for citizens and lawful residents. The core mandate of the department therefore is to register and affirm the identity and status of citizens and regulate immigration efficiently and securely - as the Minister has said.
We are proud to say that the ANC-led government has actually been able to fulfil this mandate. There is order in South Africa: People do not simple enter and leave the country as and when they wish, because the ANC-led government is running a country, not a banana republic.
At the 53rd national conference in Mangaung, the ruling party noted that the presence of undocumented migrants in the Republic poses both an economic and security threat to the country. In relation to this issue, the movement further noted that there are challenges relating to the legislation that regulates access to citizenship by foreign nationals. A number of resolutions were made to address this gap in the system. Among the key resolutions were the following: Legislation should be introduced to criminalise fraudulent acquisition of vital documents, such as identity documents, and to provide for such crimes to be treated as serious offences. There is a need for a single national identity system, which will contain a profile of all South Africans and documented foreign nationals who comply with our laws. The Constitution of the country states that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, but it is actually referring to those who live in it legally.
Responsive to the resolutions of the ruling party, in August 2013, about 2 239 Angolans were provided with documents that either helped them remain in the country or enabled them to return to their own country, Angola. This was meant to insert control measures in respect of who qualifies to remain in the country and who is supposed to leave the country.
We shall remember that of the many government outcomes, only three are directly relevant to Home Affairs. These are Outcome 3, which ensures that all the people of South Africa should feel safe; Outcome 5, which ensures that the country should retain a skilled and capable workforce; and Outcome 12, which ensures that we have an efficient and developmental Public Service workforce.
The department has also established a very close working relationship with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This working relationship assists the department to deal with refugees efficiently. These are surely some of the good stories that we need to tell the people. These are proof that we run a government that is in control and is able to keep all measures in place to ensure that our country is safe and secure.
The 2014-15 annual performance plan of the department has set out four major strategic goals, which are responsive to the demands and challenges in the sector. As the Minister mentioned earlier on, the first goal is to keep a clean and secure National Population Register – and, as we heard, the Minister said that the business of prolonging the issue of registering children for birth until it is too late is going to come to a stop. So, we have a duty as community leaders to ensure that we educate our communities about this so that everyone knows where and when to register children.
Another objective is to improve the services the department provides by building a collective of officials who are highly trained and who know in which direction to steer the ship. These goals will drive the department and enable it to achieve its core mandate effectively. An approach where departments come together as clusters or as sister departments will also help a great deal in doing much more with the meagre resources that we have. For instance, we know that when a child is born it falls under the Department of Health, but within that department there has to be officials from the Department of Home Affairs to register the birth of the child. But also important is the Department of Basic Education because, as the Minister was saying, people should be made aware of the fact that the registration of births should take place within 30 days of birth. Such messages could be conveyed through the Department of Basic Education. If you wanted to announce something, or to relay a message to the broader public, ...
siZulu:
... ayikho into esebenza njengokusebenzisa uMnyango Wezemfundo; unikeze izingane zesikole izincwadi zokuthi zizihambise kubazali.
English:
In that way you are reaching out to a very broad spectrum of members of the public, or citizens, and the method is cost effective. So, the Department of Basic Education can also assist in that regard.
The department is working tirelessly and vigorously to ensure that the issues mentioned above are done in an integrated way. The achievements of the department in the previous years send a clear message: that the department is committed to outstanding service delivery. There are remarkable milestones to attest to this fact. There has been a very big turnaround from what the department used to be to where it is today and as the ANC-led government, we cannot keep quiet about it. It is indeed a very good story to tell.
This far, the department has shown positive moves and is continuously achieving its strategic objective of ensuring that all citizens are issued with the relevant documentation. Home Affairs gives us an identity when we enter planet earth, and it is actually surprising that as many as we are – millions and millions – there are very few cases, if any, where we see the errors that used to occur under the previous regime, as the previous speaker also alluded to. So we want to applaud the department for the good work it is doing.
We also want to say that we are really impressed with its visibility in communities. Services are being rendered to the people; mobile offices are opened in deep rural areas; whenever there is a government function, Home Affairs is there to render services. Hon Minister, we want to say thank you, your department is hard-working and it is a department at work.
By this, we claim no easy victories and we tell no lies because people are looking for service delivery. If we provide that, they will, yet again, renew the mandate of the ruling party to govern for the five-year term following this one. Thank you. [Applause.]
Ms T MPAMBO-SIBUKWANA
Ms L L ZWANE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:41
Ms T G MPAMBO-SIBHUKWANA: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Malusi Gigaba, hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon members of the NCOP, ladies and gentlemen, my first argument, which specifically focuses on the Immigration Act of 2014, involves requirements outlined in the National Development Plan. These highlight two regulations that could have a not-so-desirable impact on our country's economy. These regulations include the new requirement for unabridged birth certificates for minors, as well as a provision for the in-person collection of biometric processed visas.
Although these regulations have been put in place to protect South African borders and to address human trafficking issues, the regulations create somewhat of a hurdle to prospective tourists who want to enter the country and obtain their visas. Furthermore, the provision of these documents by the Department of Home Affairs takes far too long due to outdated processes and incompetent staff.
The hasty implementation of the new visa regulations also has far-reaching effects for South African citizens with foreign spouses. The new regulations have resulted in families being separated and stranded in various parts of the globe because husbands and/or wives married to our citizens were labelled as undesirable and could not return to the country they have been living in for decades.
Certain cases were taken to the Western Cape High Court and it ruled in favour of the affected person, which is further proof of the unlawful and undignified effects of the new regulations. How can we afford dignity and peace of mind to South Africans when you introduce a set of rules that suddenly compromise their interaction with their loved ones?
I wish to draw to the attention of this House further proof of the tremendous failure of the new immigration regulations. This is the failure to conduct a regulatory impact assessment, which would have brought to light the problems surrounding the implementation of these new regulations. A regulatory impact assessment serves to analyse regulations before they are enforced in communities. In order to identify issues and ensure more efficient government, it would have been wise of you to conduct this analysis regarding the immigration regulations. The failure to do so shows complete disregard for proper governance and the rights of citizens.
The National Development Plan says by the year 2020 our tourism sector would have created 225 000 new jobs, as well as made a direct and indirect contribution of R499 billion to the gross domestic product. As the DA, we would like to question how these promises can be fulfilled if these regulations limit the number of tourists who will be entering the country. These regulations can be seen as having a detrimental effect on our growing economy as they are barriers to entry.
How are we going to boost economic growth in South Africa if Ministers seem to be bent on stifling tourism? Countries around the world are relaxing their visa regulations simply because they want to stimulate foreign investment from visitors, yet we seem to be killing it in South Africa. I wish to draw to your attention that while the security of South African citizens is important, we cannot completely dissuade foreigners from coming into this country.
The new regulations show that we are shooting ourselves in the foot. As for our fellow African neighbours who have come to South Africa for a better life and who contribute to our economy with highly skilled labour, their status as residents has been completely overturned by the new regulations. How are hundreds of thousands of immigrants already legally working in the country supposed to renew work permits within stricter requirements overnight and all at the same time? Again, the use of a regulatory impact assessment would have prevented this atrocity and crisis from happening.
As the DA, we request that a strategy be implemented to ensure that the Minister of Home Affairs progresses in the right direction as far as human trafficking is concerned. [Applause.] This strategy should ensure that these regulations do not have a negative impact on job creation while ensuring that South Africa is a country that people can visit. At this point, Minister Gigaba does not seem to be able to prioritise these issues and the new regulations have caused great confusion as opposed to providing greater clarity and ease surrounding immigration.
I want to draw to the attention of this House to the Film and Publications Board. As the DA, we would like to suggest that a plan be devised to create a solid branding and public awareness campaign to ensure that citizens understand the board's role and the kind of programme the organisation has to offer.
As the DA, we do, however, compliment and support the efficiency brought by the Government Printing Works to securing printed matter such as passports, identity documents, the recent voting materials and related publishing.
The DA also welcomes the move by Home Affairs to acknowledge the disability sector in its mandate, because we are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by accommodating the disability sector across the board in the newly proposed smart ID cards. However, as the DA, we are concerned and would like to know how the Department of Home Affairs will assist the underprivileged who find themselves financially incapable of paying exorbitant fees to allow for the change from the identity documents to smart cards. Many impoverished communities and citizens who will also require the new smart cards will not be able to afford the expensive fees imposed for the acquisition of these cards, yet this is a right.
These new smart cards will bring a sense of belonging to fellow South Africans. We would also like to stress the importance of communicating the change to all South Africans within the prescribed period. The introduction of smart cards should be promoted around the country in an effort to get the citizens to adopt the new system and create further identity security. Many South Africans are not even aware that they can obtain new smart cards, never mind the reasoning behind the change.
With regard to the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, while I compliment the work that was done during the recent elections, there is an immense concern about the continued negative publicity surrounding the tender debacle and the IEC's Adv Pansy Tlakula. As the DA, we want justice to prevail with the utmost transparency.
We would also like to bring to this House the job specification necessary to alleviate the confusion between party affiliation and work responsibilities. As we have seen in the past, these issues have led to the derailing of the democracy which we are all entitled to.
To conclude, I would like to say that as this speech reflected the DA's support for the National Development Plan, it is a matter of grave concern to us that the rights of South Africans cannot be compromised by contradicting the National Development Plan's goals with departmental regulations that are not thoroughly thought through. I want to say that despite the good work that has been done, this is a matter of grave concern and in order to institute legal and human rights as per the Constitution, we should ensure that justice always prevails.
IsiXhosa:
Ndithi kuni mawethu, ninendlebe nje, ninetyala. Ndiyabulela ngokuba nindimamele.
ILUNGU ELIHLONIPHEKILEYO: Asikumamelanga thina.
Nksz T G MPAMBO-SIBHUKWANA: Ndiyanibulela. Enkosi. Unendlebe nje unetyala. Uvile. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Mr M MATEBUS
Ms T G MPAMBO-SIBHUKWANA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:42
Afrikaans:
Mnr M A MATEBUS: Adjunk-voorsitter, met alle respek sê ek dat ek te min tyd het om nog te groet ook.
English:
A special salute to the commander-in-chief of the EFF. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon member. In your salutation, it would be good if you acknowledged members of this House and not referred to members of another House. I therefore ask that you withdraw that salutation.
Afrikaans:
Mnr M A MATEBUS: Ek kom van 'n plekkie in die Noord-Kaap ... [Interjections.]
English:
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, order, hon member! [Interjections.]
English:
Mr M A MATEBUS: I withdraw.
Afrikaans:
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Ek kan ook Afrikaans praat. Ek gaan vir u sê u moet daardie opmerking terug trek.
English:
Mr M A MATEBUS: I withdraw.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you. Continue, hon member.
Afrikaans:
Mnr M A MATEBUS: Ek kom van 'n plekkie in die Noord-Kaap ...
English:
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Do you have a point of order, hon member?
Mr L SUKA: Chairperson, I would like to place on record that there is only one commander-in-chief and that is the President of the country. He is regarded as such by members of the armed forces. Therefore, a member cannot refer to a member of a House of Parliament as being a commander-in-chief. There is no such term.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, let us take the view that hon Matebus has withdrawn the statement. Thank you.
Mr M A MATEBUS: After 20 years of democracy, our ports of entry are as good as freeways, as foreigners enter the country illegally on a daily basis. This is due to a lack of proper immigration service legislation. We need to strengthen immigration rules and regulations so that we can adequately control our borders and keep our citizens, as well as those who have papers, safe in our country.
We need accurate statistics from the department on how many foreigners, especially white foreigners, are in our country. Without this information, we will never sort out the traffic of illegal immigration.
The department needs to clamp down on the corruption within its own ranks. Its officials are in collaboration with criminals and issue them with fake identity documents. One solution to this problem is for Home Affairs to have a special intelligence unit that focuses on immigrants only.
Inasmuch as we welcome measures to control the influx of immigrants, we take this opportunity to strongly advise against a "too little, too late" response. Time is of the essence in the delivery of your proposal, and change is of utmost importance.
South Africa is and will always be a country of great attraction to people not only from sub-Saharan Africa but from all over the world. It is in this light that we in the EFF see the role of our country in the global sphere as one of providing leadership in the quest to deliver basic fundamental rights to people who have been marginalised politically, socially and economically. In this regard, we need to start at home. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr M KHAWULA
Mr M A MATEBUS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:42
Mr M KHAWULA: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister – my brother and colleague, a brother with whom I have come a very long way – hon Deputy Minister, the importance of the Department of Home Affairs in the country's provision of social services to its citizens cannot be overemphasised. The authenticity of the data provided by Home Affairs enables the country to be efficient in social spending like education, social grants, job creation and provisioning in other areas. The opposite is also true.
We welcome the improvements effected in the department in respect of the provision of identity documents in a timely manner. We also welcome the face-lift given to certain offices in an attempt to improve the department's image. The department has stated that the Deputy Minister will be allocated the responsibility of ensuring that there is improvement at the department's front desks to ensure compliance with the Batho Pele principles. This is appreciated.
However, certain areas remain causes for concern. The weakness in the proper regulation of the inward movement of people has had a negative impact, especially on the social spending of border provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Free State and, maybe, other provinces. Sometimes people are able to obtain South African identity documents illegally. This results in the affected provinces not being able to plan accordingly for social grants.
It is important that the country's scarce resources are used to benefit the citizens of the country and deserving legal foreign nationals. This not only affects the outside boundaries of our country but also the internal boundaries between provinces. The department has repeatedly received qualified audit reports from the Auditor-General. This is against the government's Operation Clean Audit 2014. It is already 2014.
Your human resources report reflects that out of a total head count of 9 664 personnel in 2013-14, only 35 job evaluations were done. This is not a good picture at all. Your vacancy rate stands at 6,6% and that is commendable when compared to 15,1% in 2011-12 and 10,3% in 2012-13. However, what is not good is that some provincial manager positions remain vacant. Those are critical positions.
The department has set itself the objective of ensuring that registration at birth is the only entry point for South African citizens to the new national identity system. However, the ability of facilities provided by Home Affairs at hospitals is unsatisfactorily low. For this objective to be realised, strong collaborative efforts between the Department of Health and the Department of Home Affairs and other stakeholders are called for.
One notes that the department has to operate against the background of a budget decrease of about R362 million, which represents a 6% decrease. We hope the department will be able to manoeuvre effectively against this tide.
In your remarks, hon Minister, you touched on efforts to clean up the national population register, which we welcome. You also touched on managing immigration efficiently. The IFP wants to warn that we, as South Africans, dare not let the issues of immigration degenerate into child's play. As a country, we have to strike a balance between the need to bring in scarce skills and the need to protect our borders and our citizens. I want to refer you, hon Minister, to the 2003 saga, which, you will recall, was about these issues.
Lastly, we want to say that it is important to protect our women-folk who, at times, are registered as married without their knowledge. [Time expired.]
Mr T K MAMPURU
Mr M KHAWULA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:43
Ms T K MAMPURU:
Sepedi:15:23
Mohl Motlatša Modulasetulo, ntumelele ke tšee ditaba tše nke ke di lebantšhe kua go Tona ya ka. A re leboge Tona le Motlatša Tona. Re go phaphatha magetla, re a go leboga, re re gola o kake tlou, tšhukudu go wena e be mošemane. Swara o tiiše, o gate senna, gape ditaba tše o di antše letsweleng la batswadi ba gago bo mohu Ntate Nelson Rolihlahla Madiba Mandela, boOliver Tambo, boWalter Sisulu. Re ka ba tlogela bjang batswadi ba gago, bomme Albertina, Adelaide Tambo, Ruth First le ba bangwe.
Pudi ge e palelwa ke go tswala, e re mokaka ke o monnyane. Ka 1956, mme Lillian Ngoyi o ile a hlahla basadi, ba leba Meagong ya Kopano ka gore ...
English:
... she was done and had had enough of the dompas [pass book] of the former apartheid regime. At the end, she said, when referring to the then Prime Minister, J G Strijdom ...
IsiZulu:
... wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo. Uzokufa wena! [Ubuwelewele.]
English:
Hon Mpambo-Sibhukwana, with regard to visas, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation, the countries with the highest tourism numbers are France and the USA, which has one of the most difficult visa application processes. This clearly demonstrates that visas have no bearing on tourism figures.
My debate has been based on progress in birth and death registration since 1994.
Sepedi:
Legatong la MaAfrika-Borwa porofenseng ya Limpopo, ka matlafalo, ke rata go le dumediša le bahlomphegi ka moka letšatšing la lehono. Motho ke motho ka batho. Mopedi o re, feta kgomo o sware motho, mafeta kgomo ke moriri o a hlokwa.
English:
With the emergence of democracy in the early 1990s, governance and public services, including civil registration, underwent major transformation through changing legislation, policy and practice. Three key events played a major role to facilitate improvements in coverage and content of civil registration: Firstly there was the passing of the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992, abolishing differential vital registration based on race and rural residence. Secondly there was the adoption of the interim Constitution of South Africa in 1993, consolidating the geographically segmented country into one geopolitical unit, which enabled the centralisation of the civil registration and vital statistics system. This was later confirmed in the final Constitution of 1996. Thirdly, there was a collaboration among strategic role-players, ie. the Department of Health, the Department of Home Affairs and Statistics SA, as well as researchers, focussing on enhancing the vital statistics system.
Sepedi:15:26
Ke gona ge ba re a re di tlogeleng di gole mmogo, re tla di bona mohla wa kotulo. Aowa! Se re swanetšego go se tseba ke gore popotela e sa kwego e wetše leretheng la mohwelere.
English:
The Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992 replaced the provision of the 1963 Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act and its various amendments. The Act provides the basis for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which protect the rights of all children to be registered immediately after birth, to be given a name and to acquire a nationality.
The Constitution of the RSA also provides that every child has the right to a name and nationality from birth. This right is not restricted to South African citizens, but must be enjoyed by all children in South Africa, irrespective of their parents' nationality and legal status in South Africa.
In South Africa, as in other countries, the key process to the realisation of the rights to a name and a nationality is the registration of the birth of a baby and the issuing of identification documents when the child reaches the age of 16. When the birth of a South African is registered, that child's name and birth date is linked to an identity number and a record is created on the National Population Register, the NPR. This gives the child the identity of a South African citizen, with all the constitutional rights and obligations that go with that status. Linked to this is the issuing of identity documents, marriage certificates and death certificates for the caregivers of children. All of these documents are necessary for the registration of the birth of a child. In turn, an accurate NPR is essential to prevent the abuse of false identification and related fraudulent and corrupt activities.
Sepedi:
Tlogatloga e tloga kgale, modiši wa kgomo o tšwa le yona šakeng. Ka ngwaga wa 1955, Freedom Charter e ile ya amogela go ba motheo wa go tšwetša pele setšhaba sa Afrika-Borwa, Afrika ka bophara le lefase ka moka.
English:
With regard to progress made on birth and death registrations since 1994, the Department of Home Affairs has engaged with Parliament on a number of occasions since 1992 in order to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act, in an effort to continually improve service delivery on the one hand and security on the other. These include amendments to the Act in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 and, most recently, in 2010.
Improvements to services relating to birth and death registration have been achieved in practice through activities such as implementing the departmental footprint strategy in relation to opening new Home Affairs offices; establishing online birth registrations at many new health facilities; mobile office deployment in rural areas and managing the Department of Home Affairs customer service centre. In addition, the Department of Home Affairs has also increased its presence in Thusong shared service centres, development centres and four-wheel-drive vans to reach remote and difficult-to-reach areas.
As a result, since 1994 the footprint of the Department of Home Affairs has more than doubled and the budget and human resources have increased by more than 300%. The majority of South Africans have birth certificates and a great majority of those aged 16 years or older have been issued with identity documents. This has gone a long way to restoring the dignity, citizenship and rights that the great majority of South Africans were denied.
The registration of births is about more than simply giving a child a name and identity number. It provides statistics that government needs in order to plan.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Can the issue of the interpretation service please be sorted out? Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Hon member, you may proceed.
Ms T K MAMPURU: Thank you very much, Deputy Chairperson. [Laughter.]
The number of births assists in the calculation of fertility and mortality rates. It also informs goals four and five of the Millennium Development Goals, which speak to decreasing child and maternal mortality. The number of births can also be used when estimating the population and the rate of population growth between censuses and for the preparation of population projections.
Mr F ESSACK: Hon Chairperson, we are losing the speaker. Maybe she would like to have a glass of water. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can I make a ruling? [Laughter.] That is not a point of order. Hon member, you may proceed.
Ms T K MAMPURU: [Inaudible.] [Laughter.] Thank you, hon Deputy Chairperson.
An HON MEMBER: The microphone is off!
Ms T K MAMPURU: What is the problem now? Sabotage! [Laughter.] Thank you very much.
In terms of improving security, the first goal is to clean and secure the NPR. An important initiative in this regard has been the National Population Registration campaign initiated in April 2010. A key target of this campaign is to persuade all parents to register their children within 30 calendar days of birth. Early registration of birth is recognised globally as a means to secure a population register and thus the identities of all citizens on that register. The Department of Home Affairs has provided services for the registration of births at the majority of health facilities – a total of 346 at the end of the 2012-13 financial year – with most of them digitally connected so that the births can be registered online.
In 1998, 78% of birth registrations were late, using the broader measurement of births not registered in the same year - for example, a child born in 2010 was only registered in 2012. By 2012, births not registered in the same year had decreased to 21%. In terms of the more stringent requirement to register births within 30 days, 602 530 births were reported as registered in the most recent
2012-13 annual report of the Department of Home Affairs. This is 45 776 more births than the target for that year. The need for identity documents and birth certificates to access social grants and to register children for school has also contributed to the decrease in the late registration of births. However, further progress is needed, since over 45% of births are still registered outside the stricter 30-day deadline.
Currently, the registration of births is free, but the births and deaths registration regulations introduced in April 2014 will include a charge for those who contravene the law and register the birth of their children after 30 calendar days. Furthermore, the introduction in 2012 of the printing of full birth certificates at no cost for the first issue was an important improvement in service delivery and security. It is hoped that such initiatives will further improve the growth in current registrations of birth.
The accurate registration of deaths also has service-delivery and security elements. Two World Health Organisation comparative assessments rated the quality of South Africa's 1996 mortality data as low. Since then, focussed initiatives were introduced by the Department of Home Affairs to improve civil registration and vital statistics.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Hon Mampuru, please summarise.
Sepedi:
Ms T K MAMPURU: O! Joo nna ijoo! Joo, mmalo! [Disego.]
English:
As it may still take a number of years before early birth registration rates reach optimum levels, it is important that parents and caregivers wanting to register children after 30 days are not prevented from doing so by overly onerous requirements of proof or fees.
Sepedi: 15:35
Mmalo! A ke di gomele gona fa. [Disego.] feela, ba go hloka tsebe ba tsebe gore tšatši le lengwe re tlile go di hloba di gaela. A ke re gabotse ga re latswe namane ya ye nngwe.
English:
Hon Minister, the committee supports the Budget Vote.
Sepedi:
Dula fase molepo, tšohle di lokile. [Legoswi.]
The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
Ms T K MAMPURU
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 15 July 2014 Take:44
The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Deputy Chairperson, I want to thank the hon members for the discussion. I think for a while one wondered whether some hon members had received a proper briefing about what the policy discussion was about. It is Vote No 4 - Home Affairs, not a discussion about immigration legislation. [Interjections.] Let me clarify the confusion that exists.
I do not seem to get how an unabridged birth certificate hampers tourism, because if I wanted to visit Kenya or Tanzania, I do not know how either an unabridged or an abridged birth certificate would hamper or enhance or facilitate that. If you travel with a minor, you certainly have to apply for this document which, from 31 March 2014, is offered on the spot by the department. [Applause.] The challenge, the problem, is only with regard to those whose registration of birth had not been automated, and we are working very hard to automate it so that those children too will have their unabridged birth certificates printed speedily.
The problem is not all of the things that people talk about. It is the people behind the people who stand at this podium. Those are the people who are the problem. [Applause.] Those are the people who are complaining. The regulations are not the problem. The regulations are common sense. The problem with common sense is that it is not common. Which country allows its children to go everywhere abroad without there being restrictions on how those children will leave their country of birth? No parent except the most irresponsible would stand at this podium and say to me that they do not care where their child is. You wake up in the morning, you cannot see your child, and you do not care as long as you think your child is around. You might find that your child has been abducted and has left not only your home, not only the vicinity or the community, but the country.
How in the name of God would anybody say that we should not care how our children leave the country, as long as it promotes tourism? Only the most irresponsible parent would say that. [Laughter.] To argue that these regulations were hasty is to be most disingenuous. There was a legislative process that led to the regulations – the regulations did not spring up from the air. There was a legislative process that started in 2007. These regulations were gazetted only in 2013. Dishonesty dictates that you should not care about those facts; you should rather concern yourself with the ones who sent you to come and speak here on their behalf. [Interjections.] They are not here!
The new regulations were adopted after consultation with the Immigration Advisory Board. It does not constitute any barriers to entry anywhere. Nobody has been told that they cannot come to South Africa. All we have said is that if someone visited our country and that person travelled with a child, the unabridged birth certificate and passport of the child should be supplied. If the child does not belong to that person, an affidavit from the child's parents authorising this person to travel with the child should be provided. [Applause.]
What we have said is that if someone visited the country, that person should show his or her biometrics, so that we know that the person in front of us is the same person who applied for the visa in his or her country of origin. In this way, we can protect the person while he or she is in South Africa. That is all we have said. There is nothing complicated about this. Every country expects the same of South Africans when we travel abroad. No South African will simply rock up in the United States or in Britain and say: I am here. Do not ask me who I am. Do not ask me for a visa, as long as I am here. I am here to invest, so what is your problem? What we are asking for is that people comply with our laws and regulations as we comply with theirs. [Applause.]
Finally, Deputy Chair, I want to appeal to members not to cast aspersions on the Independent Electoral Commission. The matter of the IEC is sub judice, and for an hon member standing at this podium to even cast aspersions on the judiciary is grossly unfortunate. I think it is something that we must try to avoid as much as we can. Let us leave this matter to the judiciary to finalise. [Interjections.]
Hon members should not say to us that there had been a lot of cases challenging the immigration regulations. That is not true. Two cases alone does not constitute "a lot." [Applause.] The challenge to the regulations is about the implementation and not the regulations themselves. That is why we are forging ahead with their implementation and addressing the challenges that arise from such implementation. The regulations are correct and they are common sense. The problem is those people who say that these regulations will hamper tourism because people have been using tourist visas to enter South Africa and then, while they are in the country, to change their status because they are circumventing making application for critical skills, business or work visas.
They do this to enter South Africa on lesser requirements than are required for those who will apply honestly for business or work visas. While in the country, they then overstay and do all manner of things, demanding that we should not penalise them. All they want is to pay a fee. So, when we declare them undesirable, we standardise the penalty for the poor African immigrant and the rich European immigrant. [Applause.] On the one hand, this deals with the rich European immigrant who always abuses our laws and prefers to pay a fee, because he or she can afford it. On the other hand, you then have the poor African immigrant, an economic migrant, who cannot pay the fee because or he or she does not have the money. To argue that all we need to do is to insist on a fee is to give sanction to rich European immigrants to undermine our laws, while we penalise poor African immigrants. [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: No, that is not true!
The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: That cannot be right. [Interjections.] That is precisely the issue we are dealing with. At the heart of these immigration regulations are class and national issues. At the very heart of this debate are class and national issues. That is what we are dealing with, and that is why certain people take everything they hear from the bosses who sponsored their being here and come and present those arguments as though they represented the truth. [Interjections.] [Applause.] The truth hurts, but it must be said! [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Thank you very much. [Interjections.] Order! Order! Order, hon members! I have never ... [Interjections.] Order, hon members!
Mr H B GROENEWALD: The ANC is going down!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon Groenewald! Hon Groenewald! [Interjections.] Order, hon members! Order! Hon members, may I take this opportunity before I adjourn the Council – and I can see that there is a lot of energy among members - … [Laughter.] … to thank the Minister and the Deputy Minister and, of course, make the point that it is quite interesting to observe a situation in which ... Yes, hon Nyambi?
Mr A J NYAMBI: Deputy Chairperson, they told me that I must tell you that the people who assisted them in getting here will deal with them. So, that is why they have to show that they are there. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! That is not a point of order. [Interjections.] Do you rise on a point of order? On what point do you rise, madam?
Ms C LABUSCHAGNE: Deputy Chairperson, on a point order: May I ask whether it is only the privilege of the Minister and the ANC to revert to black racism by referring to "bosses"?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon member, let me rule you out of order. [Interjections.]
Ms C LABUSCHAGNE: That is the truth!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! The Minister has closed the debate. [Interjections.] There was an opportunity to engage in the debate, and the Minister has closed the debate. {Interjections.] What do you mean when you say that I am out of order? [Interjections.] When can you say I am out of order when I rule on a matter? [Interjections.] Hon members, order, please!
I wanted to thank the Minister and the Deputy Minister. It is quite interesting to see this kind of attitude expressed towards the House when you have the Deputy Minister here supporting the Minister without even participating in the debate. [Applause.] So, we wish to thank you very much.
I also want to make a few observations. Hon members, we have undergone training and that sort of thing. I think from now on we will not allow certain things to happen because we assume that members do not understand. By now we should all be aware that if a speaker is at the podium – this is the line of the NCOP – you cannot just move around freely. In actual fact, when that happens, you are disrespecting the speaker at the podium. Members, from now on, it will be an embarrassment – and I nearly did it - for a member to be called to order or to be instructed to apologise to the House. That would have been quite embarrassing, but I allowed it to pass in the knowledge that I would address the issue. I am saying that from now on, with the training having been done, you should refer to your documents about appropriate or inappropriate behaviour if you are unsure of something.
The second observation is, hon members, as and when you leave the House, do not bow to me. You bow to the Black Rod. As and when you come in, you do not bow to me. It is not about me. Even if I am looking that way, and you are going out through that door, you do not bow to me. You bow to this rod. As long as the Black Rod is here, it means that the House is in session. You therefore need to show respect for the session of the House. I have seen members just leaving and coming back in later without bowing. I avoided calling members to order because it would have been quite embarrassing.
Lastly, from now on, hon members, as you craft your speeches, as you get to the podium, take note of the clock. It is not nice to have to tell a member that his or her time has expired, especially when you hear that the member is just getting into the real stuff and then have to address a member about his or her time having expired. It is not nice, so please use the clock as your guide. If the clock is not working, indicate this before you start speaking and then we can make the necessary arrangements. Those are the observations that I wanted to make. [Interjections.] Hon Van Lingen, I thought the debate had been concluded.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: Deputy Chairperson, the debate is over, but I would like to add to your observations. [Interjections.] The decorum of the House ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, hon Van Lingen!
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: Deputy Chairperson, the decorum of the House calls for ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! No, just hold it! Hon Van Lingen, you will have the opportunity to do that as we leave the House. [Interjections.]
The Council adjourned at 16:00.
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