Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our weekly media briefing. Our media briefing this week will focus on among others:
1. The call by COSATU and Passop to regularize some farmworkers in the De Doorns area in the Western Cape
2. Temporary residence permits
3. SA-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission on Security and Defence
4. Progress report on plans and priorities of Home Affairs
5. Minister’s directive to senior Home Affairs managers
The call by Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) for amnesty for farmworkers
We have noted the call through the media by Passop and Cosatu to the Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor, to regularise illegal immigrant farm workers that are affected by the recent farmworkers strike in De Doorns area in the Western Cape. The two parties have reportedly called on Minister Pandor to consider extending amnesty for three months to particularly workers from Lesotho.
Firstly, we wish to put it on record that Minister Naledi Pandor has yet to receive such an official request from both Passop and Cosatu. We cannot respond to media reports to a matter of such grave concern. In this regard, Minister Pandor will await receipt of such an official request before responding comprehensively to the request.
Nonetheless, we wish to remind employers in all sectors of our economy that it is illegal and against the spirit of our Immigration Act to employ immigrants who are illegal in the country and are without the necessary permits to be in South Africa. Employers must always ensure the workers they employ are properly registered with the department of labour and have the necessary documentation and work permits in line with the country’s immigration act.
Equally, we wish to express our concern at reported remarks that may have the consequence of creating a climate conducive for the rise of xenophobic attacks against foreign migrants in the country. We therefore urge members of the public to join government and other stakeholders in helping to find a long lasting solution to current challenges facing farmworkers and to desist from calls that will only excarcebate the situation with serious consequences for life and limb.
The issues of regularisation of illegal migrants within our country continue to receive the attention of the department and ministry. Indeed we are on record as having stated that following the regularisation of illegal Zimbabwean nationals the department would consider extending similar services to immigrants from other neighbouring countries.
The matter however, is still receiving the attention of the department and ministry who will decide on the issue once the Zimbabwean documentation project has been completed and finalized.
Temporary residence permits
A team of adjudicators was established at the beginning of this year to manage the backlog of temporary residence applications. We can now announce that the department has finalised the adjudication of these applications which were at Head Office’s Central Adjudication Hub.
It is possible that applications may have fallen within the cracks during the processing stage. In this regard, the department requests that any applicant who applied for a temporary residence permit eight weeks ago and has not received feedback should contact the department through:
Telephone numbers: (012) 406-4493/4476/4463/4485/4462/4475/7072.
Fax: 0865 326 320
E-mail permit.extension@dha.gov.za.
These contact details are also available at the department’s Regional Offices. The department will endeavour to ensure that any enquiry relating to outstanding temporary residence permit is finalised without any further delay.
Permanent residence permits
The department is aware of challenges relating to applications for permanent residence permits. The department took a decision to prioritise temporary residence permits as this category of foreigners was at risk of being in the country illegally if their applications were not finalised timeously.
Accordingly, we have now begun to address permanent residence backlog with effect from August 2012. In addressing this backlog, the department recognises its role in contributing to South Africa’s economic development and national priorities as they relate to the attraction of critical skills.
As such, we intend to address the backlog by facilitating the expeditious adjudication of Permanent Residence applications from applicants with critical skills. The department will prioritise applications for permanent residence permits from holders of Quota Work Permits and Exceptional Skills Work Permits in line with the country’s objective of attracting critical skills.
Once these applications are finalised, we shall process other categories of permanent residence applications. Our projection is to finalise the backlog by the end of the current financial year (31 March 2013).
South Africa-Zimbabwe joint permanent commission on defence and security
As part of the departments participation in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS), the Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan will lead the Home Affairs delegation to the South Africa-Zimbabwe joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security in Cape Town, on Friday 23 November 2012. The Commission began its deliberations earlier this week.
This annual bilateral meeting is held to discuss matters of mutual concern with respect to security, safety and defence that affect the two countries. In this regard the meeting will amongst others review the progress on managing irregular migration including the sharing of information and future cooperation on asylum seeker management.
The meeting will also discuss the proposal from the Zimbabwean authorities to establish new ports of entry in the areas of Limpopo province and the Beitbridge Border Efficiency Management System Programme.
Progress made by the department in the second quarter
I would like to share with you the progress that the Department of Home Affairs has made in the second quarter. This is done against the targets that we committed ourselves to, in the 2012/2013 financial year.
The work of the department is informed by the need to achieve the following outcomes:
1. Secured South African citizenship and identity
2. Managing immigration effectively and securely in the national interest including economic, social and cultural development.
3. Provision of a service that is efficient, accessible and corrupt free
In the main, we seek to achieve these outcomes through ensuring that:
- birth is the only entry point into the National Population Register;
- ensure a secure, responsive and flexible immigration regime in support of national security, priorities and interests
- the transformation of the culture of the department in support of securing identity, citizenship and international migration.
With regards to the first outcome, we can report that:
- 2% percent more births were registered. This amount to 151,290 against the projected 149,540 quarterly baseline.
- In addition 96% of cases of late registration of births were finalized within six months.
- Furthermore, 100 pilot ID Smart Cards were issued and accordingly the functionality and durability of the Smart ID Card was tested.
- We are happy to announce that we are on track with plans to roll-out the Smart ID Card in 2013. Smart ID Card watch it, it is coming
- The issue of duplicate ID’s continue to receive the attention of the department to ensure the dignity of those affected is restored and that they too, can, together with their fellow South Africans enjoy a better life.
- visa facilitation services were introduced in Angola which is one of high volume foreign missions.
With regard to rendering a service that is efficient, accessible and corrupt free, the department continues to engage in training its management.-we are happy to report that:
- 98.3% of IDs were issued within 47 days amounting to 222,713 in the second quarter.
- 95.9% passports that were processed manually were issued within 24days amounting to 98,316 in the period under review.
- With offices that have live capture capacity, 97.49% of passports were issued within 13 days. This amounts to 35,269 passports.
Minister says home affairs is key in achieving South Africa’s objectives and priorities
You will recall from last week that we mentioned that Minister Pandor has held meeting with senior management of the department with a view to familiarising herself with the mandate of the department and to assess service delivery levels. In this regard, the Minister participated in the retreat of the department which included the Deputy Minister, the Director-General (DG), the Deputy Director-General (DDGs) and Provincial Managers at Kievitskroon in Pretoria to assess the objectives and priorities of Home Affairs.
In outlining her vision for the department, Minister Pandor stressed the strategic role that the Department of Home Affairs plays in helping to attain the overall national objectives of the government as set out in the State of the Nation Address.
Minister Pandor said the department was one of the most important in our country as it was linked to overturning all negative imprint of apartheid that characterised our society for many decades. This was because the issues that the department deals with on a daily basis focus on the restoration of the full status and identity to people who were denied citizenship by successive past racist regimes.
Minister Pandor further said the department played an important role in service delivery and the process of nation building for South Africa. Minister Pandor reminded the department’s senior managers about the need to intensify their efforts in providing enabling documents to the public, emphasising that there was a need for the staff to be more helpful towards members of the community.
She concluded her remarks by saying that the department contributed significantly in how South Africa related internationally with the global community of nations.
As the first point of contact through our ports of entry, the department determines the movements of immigrants and visitors in and out of South Africa, how they are treated when they are in our country and in particular how humanitarian obligations are met by South Africa including responsibilities arising from the Geneva Convention and many other United Nations Conventions to which South Africa is a signatory.
