Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the Department of Home Affairs Conference on Foreign Offices
Operations, at the Birchwood Hotel Conference Centre
6 February 2006
Minister of Home Affairs, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana
Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa
Directors-General
Chief Executive Officers of various companies
Distinguished guests
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
Congratulations on this important conference that can only serve to improve
the performance of the Department and facilitate greater intergovernmental
coordination. Many of us have not always understood the strategic nature of
this department as a political, social and economic department.
Home Affairs is there when you are
* Born
* When you graduate from being a minor to an adult
* When you get married or
* Divorce and when you
* Travel in and outside your country and
* When you die.
An error at any of these critical points in life can be devastating, traumatic
and even destiny changing to an individual and or family.
Home Affairs is key for the:
* Efficiency of movement of goods and services
* It can impact positively on our exports and therefore significant earnings
for the country
* frustrate import of essential goods and services, movement of people be they
are tourists, families and business.
In each case a mistake can be very costly emotionally, financially and
politically.
Home Affairs is also a key security department, our national security
depends very much on how we manage our borders, so that only those we want are
within our borders, and those we seek to detain and keep in check within our
borders must not leave our shores without our knowledge.
Those of you who are stationed overseas are part of our frontline staff and
therefore the face of our nation, how you deal with people and with how you
render services makes us a losing or a winning nation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a key department for the success of
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa.
Your workshop follows State of the Nation Address (SONA) where the President
has unveiled to the nation Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa (ASGISA).
Your Department is one of our crucial department for attracting Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI), Skills, Tourism, Market Access, Exports and Imports,
which are key and supporting elements of ASGISA for example those inputs which
we have got from other countries.
In ASGISA we seek to:
* Half unemployment and poverty by 2014
*Average of Growth of at least 6% of GDP by 2014
* We want Sustainable and Shared Growth, we admit that not withstanding our
good macro-economic balance unemployment and poverty is still too high as
President said âYears of freedom have been very good for businessâ
ASGISA is not a new economic policy. It is mostly micro economic reforms
within a GEAR Macro economic framework. It is about the efficiency of the
state, better conditions for business, closing the skills gap in short and long
term, linking the 1st and 2nd economy, clearing up on Governance and Red tape,
corruption etc, that impacts on delivering at all levels of government and
critical within specific departments like Trade and Industry, Minerals and
Energy, Home Affairs, Land Affairs.
We are addressing a phenomena of growth that is driven by commodity prices
to consumer spending both variables are therefore risky.
The key Initiatives in ASGI-SA are:
* Infrastructure
R320 billion to be spent by state-owned enteprises (SOE), government
departments, PPP in the current METF, ESKOM, Transnet, Water, ACSA/2010, Roads,
Harbours, Rail, Clinics and Schools.
* Human Resources
The MAKE or BREAK of this much needed R320 billion public investment which is
the best ever Fixed investment the country has ever seen could fall flat in the
short term because of artisan skills and high level scarce and priority skills
some of which we have to import. If we lose it on human resource development
(HRD) and skills we will lose momentum and goodwill
Skills needs for key sectors of the economy face similar challenges, i.e. we
do not have any of them in South Africa. The long term quality of education and
curriculum relevance needs attention; it will help us to have our critical pool
of skills.
Private sector has told us they have problems with Home Affairs when it
comes to bringing in scarce skills, spouses of South Africans and in general
turn around time is too long at desk level and going through border gates by
air or road can be a nightmare. It has been alleged.
Scarce skills that we have identified for the agent ASGISA include:
Sectors to be promoted:
The following are the sectors we have identified as priority and are ready to
implement pending minor outstanding matters.
* Tourism and BPO
Skills, movement of people also arise here, including issues of flights,
visas are also relevant. These two sectors represent quick win sectors for both
1st and Second Economy so we cannot go wrong. I think Home Affairs must be part
of the ASGI-SA Help Team responsible for removing bottlenecks. Other sectors
which are priority but are still work in progress include, Bio-fuels,
Chemicals, Agriculture, Mineral beneficiation, Creative industries Clothing,
Textile, wood and pulp paper.
Issues such as competition, import parity pricing, and incentive scheme
still need to be finalised in some of the sectors. For all of them skills are
challenges.
Second Economy
SMMEs Access to Finance Micro and for small
* Micro, R10 000 and below
* Small, R10 000 â R250 000
Available funds include R1 billion from IDC, Khula, Umsobomvu, Financial
services, Charter and other black economic empowerment (BEE) charters.
Preferential Procurement by SOEs and government to be given attention and
paying small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) on time Government has to
set aside 10 items for SMMEs. Targeting a 100 000 new SMME p/a. Easy regulatory
burden for SMMEs. A set of proposal are under consideration by Cabinet in that
regard.
Further Second Economy initiatives will target youth, unemployed graduates.
A national youth service, care for vulnerable children through the big brother
big sister programmes, are some of the Umsobomvu Programmes. Education support
and start businesses are also part of the work the DTI and DOE are busy
with.
Youth will be targeted for artisan training at FET, learner-ships and
apprenticeships. We hope to place some trainees in companies outside South
Africa. Expanded Public Works will include early childhood care givers and road
construction will also be significantly up-scaled. In all of EPWP programs we
need to pay attention to quality of skills. Housing challenges also enjoy
priority in ASGI-SA especially the lower middle class who cannot find homes for
R250 thousand to R150 million.
Women have identified, skills Access to finance, specific sectors that will
help to engender ASGISA viz; Tourism, Agriculture, Creative Industries &
BPO. A fund which will target women is being launched tomorrow by Business
Partners and Khula.
A placement program for women in infrastructure will start by May
essentially providing project management, site management and project finance
and all other aspects of infrastructure development.
Provincial Project: There are a range of infrastructure and Sectoral
Initiatives.
Governance and Service Delivery:
As far as local government is concerned we will be deploying scarce skills.
We have established a database in the last few months and will be ready to
deploy mainly retired South Africans from May 2006 at least 90 of them have
been screened, interviewed and approved. We are recruiting foreigners as well
for mentoring in Local Economic Development, Engineering and Financial
Management systems.
Focus on bottlenecks at local government levels and bottlenecks at all
levels of Governments across departments, SOEs, those who issue licenses,
permits, approvals and visas frontline officials in borders.
In conclusion:
* Cannot over emphasize the relevance of this department to ASGI-SA
* Tourism and BPO
* Skills in general especially for GIPSA
* Import and Exports
* Security and Corruption
ASGI-SA is meant to assist us perform better and profile the country well
and share growth.
In this regard we received of what sounded like service delivery breakdown
at some of our borders last December. I hope the matter has been canvassed with
the department at the right levels.
Your Ministry and Department have been seized with efforts to root out
corruption and improve service delivery. It is a battle have to win, any
failure always receive widespread publicity. As you know the Minister, Deputy
Minister or Director-General can only do so much, they need from all of you. I
thank you.
I know you are equal to the task, we depend on you when we are born, marry,
divorce, go out of the country and even at death. You inform cabinet that we
are officially dead.
I thank you
Issued by: The Presidency
6 February 2006
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