Pretoria: To commence this briefing, I firstly take the opportunity to address the matter of the pending deportation of American musician Puff Johnson who was denied entry into South Africa last night.
Ms Johnson boarded a flight to South Africa from Atlanta despite our Advanced Passenger Process (APP) identifying her as undesirable. This information was passed onto Delta Airlines with a specific request that she not be allowed to board the flight. However, Delta Airlines chose to ignore our request and allowed her to board the flight.
Upon her arrival at OR Tambo International Airport, our Movement Control System (MCS) again identified Ms Johnson as undesirable and she was denied entry into the country. Ms Johnson will be deported to the USA tonight via Delta Airlines.
She is declared undesirable because of the fact that she spent an entire year in South Africa illegally and without the necessary documentation. Ms Johnson was deported to the USA earlier this year and will continue to remain undesirable until she resolves the issue of her possessing the required documentation to be in South Africa.
Delta Airlines have been fined R10 000, for their role in this matter.
This matter once again is testimony to the success of the APP and MCS that was implemented for 2010 FIFA World Cup and its continued use as part of the World Cup legacy.
I now turn my attention to the issues for today’s briefing.
As we are all aware, the protracted strike by public servants is impacting adversely on service provision by the various government sectors. However, since the commencement of the strike, there has been minimal impact on the Department of Home Affairs capability to provide basic services to citizens and foreigners travelling in and out of the country nationally.
As of this morning (Friday), a total of 1 556 employees out of 8 194 staff members embarked on strike action in support of demands by the public sector unions. This represents 19% of the department’s total workforce.
While the number of employees on strike in the department represents a minority of our total staff complement, a disturbing trend is emerging with a number of employees being intimidated to vacate our offices and to stay away from work. Also of concern is the extension of this intimidation to our clients.
Whilst the department, like the entire government, respects the right of the public sector unions to embark on strike action, as long it is within the framework of the law and prescripts of the constitution, forcing non-striking workers to join this action is clearly illegal and will not advance the cause of the public sector unions.
Just as those who are on strike expect the general public to respect their democratic right to embark on legal strikes to highlight their demands, so does the public expect them to respect the right of others not to strike.
The impact of the strike on Home Affairs services has been felt mainly in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. In this regard, a total of 766 staff members in Gauteng, 231 in the Western Cape, 120 in the Free State and 111 in KwaZulu Natal are currently on strike. In this regard, government reiterates its commitment to the principle of no-work-no pay.
Due to various incidents of intimidation, offices forced to close included 46 in the Eastern Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga, three in the Western Cape, three in Limpopo and one in the Free State. No closures were reported in Gauteng, KZN, North West and the Northern Cape. The department has a total of 380 offices nationally.
As a consequence of the various contingency measures we implemented for the duration of the country’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we have been able to minimise the impact of the strike on our capability to provide quality and efficient civic and immigration services to citizens and foreign visitors.
Thus, on the whole, our immigration services have largely been unaffected with the department able to provide quality immigration services to South Africans and foreigners travelling in and out of the country through our land and air ports of entry through the assistance of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Contingency measures implemented by the department include:
- The posting of key contact numbers at all our offices for the use by clients in the event of emergencies.
- The redirection of clients to offices that remain open.
- The redeployment of staff to offices that are open for business.
- The creation of various hotlines to assist clients requiring emergency work permits, extension of visitors’ permits or emergency travel documents.
(Attached to this statement is a summary of the contact numbers clients may use in the case of emergencies)
To further ensure that citizens have access to services, the Minister of Home Affairs issued instructions for the creation of a special call centre to facilitate the issuing of death certificates to funeral parlours for the duration of the strike by public sector unions.
The contingency measures introduced by Minister Dlamini Zuma will assist official funeral undertakers or parlours to acquire the much needed death certificates upon written request and the provision of their designation numbers. These measures mainly include the:
- Creation of a dedicated call centre utilising mobile numbers which will be staffed by Home Affairs officials on a 24hour basis.
- The mobile phones can also be utilised to sms urgent messages to the Home Affairs officials
- The mobile numbers are as follows:
- 072 616 8819
- 079 511 8810
- 082 806 4945
- 082 808 2782
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- Funeral undertakers or parlours can also contact the department through the normal call centre numbers: 0800 601 190 or 0800 204 476
The above-mentioned numbers have also been forwarded to the National Funeral Directors Association.
Through the National Joint Operations Committee (NATJOC) and Provincial Joint Operations Committees, the department, together with the Departments of Justice, Health, Education, Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and the security agencies, are monitoring developments related to the strike on a 24 hour basis and are able to develop appropriate interventions related to the unfolding situation.
I take this opportunity on behalf of the government as a whole to express our appreciation to the majority of our employees and volunteers who under difficult and trying circumstances continue to provide basic services to their compatriots.
We also take this opportunity to reiterate government’s call to both the striking workers and their trade unions to act with restraint while all parties seek a mutually acceptable solution to a dispute that continues to deny our people much needed basic services.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
