If Home Affairs fails, our country fails

Note to editors: The following speech was delivered in Parliament today by the DA’s Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Archibold Figlan MP, during the Budget Vote on Home Affairs.
Honourable Chairperson,
This department is one of the most important in our government. It touches the hearts and minds of every single South African and is often used as an indication of just how well our government works. If Home Affairs fails, our country fails.
For this reason, everything we do in this department must bring change to the lives of our people and make a positive contribution to the development of all South Africans and the country as a whole.
The smart ID rollout programme, as my colleague has already mentioned, has made some sterling progress, but the rate of delivery is still too slow. At the current rollout rate, it is likely to take more than ten years to ensure that we convert from the old ID book to the new smart ID card. We must, therefore, implement new measures to achieve this target sooner than planned. We welcome the introduction of banks in assisting with this rollout but there are still too few banks that can entertain applications.
The long queues at Home Affairs offices are also a massive problem for people who are unable to spend an entire day away from work, just to apply for an ID document.
Many offices around the country stop accepting people from 15:30. We appeal to the Minister to take careful note of the declining quality standards at many offices countrywide. In particular, the Edenvale Office in Johannesburg, the Bellville office in Cape Town, and the Umgeni Road office in Durban are the main culprits.
Honourable speaker, for many years now, we have raised the concern around the registration of new-born children. Thousands of children who live in our country are still not properly registered and years later when they attempt to register, it becomes very difficult to prove that they are South African citizens.
Many parents do not take this responsibility seriously. Only 75% of the children born in our country are registered within 30 days. This is a scary statistic. We must do more to ensure that every single child that is born in this country, is properly registered. It does not help that registration facilities at hospitals are inoperable and under staffed. This exacerbates the problem and must receive urgent attention from the Minister.
Honourable Chairperson, another area of concern is the massive backlog that we have in the permanent resident application process.
Recently, the Director-General announced that about 4 600 applications are no longer on the system. What has happened to those applications? Why have they simply disappeared and what steps are being taken to inform every applicant to re-apply?
Many applicants have already been waiting for many years for the adjudication process to be completed, and now we hear that their applications have somehow been deleted. I invite the Honourable Minister to inform this house of the details in this regard, in her final reply.
Honourable Chairperson, in conclusion, I wish to extend our appreciation to all the staff and senior management officials in the department for their contribution.
We must recognise that hundreds of home affairs officials work tirelessly to keep this department operational but that so much more could be done to support and improve the delivery of services to the people of our country.

BOKAMOSO | Mashaba’s team gives a tantalizing preview of a post-ANC South Africa

Mayor Herman Mashaba’s State of the City Address, delivered last week, makes for brilliant reading. It fills one with hope for a future South Africa that is modern, united and working. In Johannesburg, the foundations for that future are already being laid, because residents voted for change in 2016, and because a diverse group of parties has had the good sense to rise above their differences in pursuit of that change. Mashaba’s message is clear and authentic. It leaves no room for doubt that this is the way forward for SA: coalition government, so that no single party can abuse their power in our country ever again.
And they have their work cut out for them. They inherited a city in a parlous state of disrepair, a city with crumbling infrastructure and massive housing backlogs, a city held hostage by drug lords and crime. Most of Johannesburg’s 181 informal settlements have no basic services at all. Worst of all, 862 000 people are unemployed and youth unemployment is over 50%. It is unthinkable that the previous ANC government could have seen fit to build a R360 million new council chamber while people are subjected to these most dire conditions, living with indignity and in fear.
The violent protests that have flared up this week in Ennerdale, Eldorado Park and other areas around the country are fuelled by anger and frustration, the result of an ANC government that long ago stopped caring about the poor. South Africa is a powder keg of discontent. Every spark of protest has the potential to ignite a chain reaction of anarchy and destruction, which will produce even more suffering and frustration, but no winners. In some cases violence may be incited by opportunists fanning the flames in an effort to render DA-led cities ungovernable. It will not work.
Whatever the motivation, these protests are a measure of how disastrously ANC government has failed to deliver on its promises. They are an early warning system for the widespread chaos that might ensue if we don’t make some drastic changes very soon. Perhaps more than any other indicator, these protests highlight the urgency of a complete political realignment in South Africa. The people of Johannesburg opted for that in August 2016, and already many communities are experiencing real change, with so much more on its way.
Mashaba’s team has made a clear break from the previous way of doing things. They have a categorically pro-poor agenda. On assuming office, they immediately set about redirecting funding towards electrifying houses, tarring roads, extending clinic operating hours, improving waste removal and providing housing in the poorest communities. Going forward, a minimum of 60% of the City’s capital expenditure will be on projects in underserviced areas.
To reverse massive unemployment, they have a target to achieve a minimum of 5% economic growth in the city by 2021. They intend for Johannesburg to be the engine room of SA’s economic growth. Undoubtedly, economic stagnation is the root cause of protest action. The team is establishing an investment desk in the mayor’s office, and small business (SME) hubs throughout the city, with the sole focus of making Johannesburg as business-friendly as possible.
Mashaba’s motto is “service with pride” and his team is dedicated to building a professional, committed and responsive civil service, which will help to attract investment and spur growth and job creation. They have initiated an independent skills audit to ensure that every manager is there because of what they know and not who they know. They inherited a billing system in shambles, and have already made great strides in improving revenue collection, which in turn produces more funding for service delivery. In March 2017 they collected over R3 billion in revenue, far exceeding their budgeted amount of R2.6 billion. It is the first time the City has ever exceeded the R3 billion mark, and they are confident of reaching the R4 billion mark by July 2017. And every cent must be well spent.
Mashaba’s team takes a zero tolerance approach to corruption, and has appointed General Shadrack Sibiya to head up their new internal investigations unit in the City. It has already exposed and prevented R2 billion of fraud and corruption, and 30 city employees have been arrested, with an additional 91 employees suspended and 3 resignations as a result of the unit’s work. Over 300 cases are under investigation, and a total of R10 billion is alleged to have been lost or misused. In stark contrast, Mashaba’s team has established an open tender system in which bid adjudication meetings are open to the public and the media. Transparency kills corruption.
Their recently completed comprehensive housing waiting list is going to be made public too, as soon as its audit is complete. And they have handed out 2800 title deeds to date, with an additional 1100 ready to be handed over. Title deeds confer ownership, wealth and dignity. Importantly, having a title to a home provides residents with the economic opportunity to better their lives and enter the mainstream economy.
The revitalization of Johannesburg’s inner city is a key element in their quest for 5% economic growth. To fight crime, they are in the process of putting another 1500 metro police officers on the streets, and have launched a Narcotics Unit which has already made 597 arrests and recovered 100kgs of drugs, 463 stolen or hijacked vehicles, 1044 stolen items of property and 52 firearms.
Mashaba’s diverse team can be exceptionally proud of what they have achieved so far, but they are not blind to the enormity of the challenge which still lies ahead. The magnitude of the backlogs is staggering. One shudders to imagine the scale of unnecessary decay and suffering had the residents of Johannesburg waited another five years before choosing real change. And this is the key lesson to be learnt from the protests flaring up around South Africa. There is no time to lose. South Africans must vote for real change, nationwide, in 2019. A post-ANC South Africa is not only possible, it is the only way forward.

DA calls on all South Africans to join this Friday’s March for Change

Over the past 72 hours, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has been inundated with requests from a host of concerned citizens – from all backgrounds and walks of life – who want to take part in the growing movement calling for Jacob Zuma to be removed as President of South Africa.
As the DA, we are seeking to bring together all like-minded South Africans who want to see change, and who want to stop the corruption and state capture at the heart our government. This includes civil society, religious organisations, business groups, and political parties – including the honourable citizens inside the ANC that wish to help in restoring our Constitutional order.
This is not a party political matter. It is a matter of urgent national importance, which affects all of us as South Africans, and thus transcends party politics.
Therefore, in the interests of this ever-growing movement to remove Jacob Zuma, we have today taken a decision to lead a March for Change through the streets of Johannesburg this Friday, 7 April 2017. The march will finish at Beyers Naude Square in the Johannesburg CBD, where a rally will be held calling for Jacob Zuma to be removed. Further details, including times, will be communicated during the course of this week.
I would like to encourage every South African who cares for the future of our country, regardless of political affiliation, to join this March for Change. I would also like to invite all those citizens and civil society structures who are participating in Friday’s “national shutdown” to join this March for Change. Together, with one united voice, we are stronger and we will be heard.
Lastly, following public comments over the last few days by a number of senior ANC leader indicating broad dissatisfaction with Jacob Zuma, I will be extending an invitation to leaders in the ANC’s top 6, including Cyril Ramaphosa, Gwede Mantashe, and Zweli Mkhize, to join the thousands of South Africans who will be marching in a united call for Jacob Zuma to be removed as President of this country. We will create an opportunity for these senior ANC leaders to address the rally – which will be just one block away from Luthuli House – and to add their voice to the call to free our country from the reign of Jacob Zuma.
Our Constitution states that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. Not to the connected few, but to all of us.
Therefore, in the spirit of our Constitution, let us all stand up against the Jacob Zuma and his lawless, corrupt ways, and sent a clear and united message: Zuma must go!

Roof collapse at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital

I have seen the collapsed roof section at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital and I hope desperately that there are no deaths.
We know that some people have been pulled from the rubble and were injured.
Staff have told me that stones were moved onto the section of the roof which collapse onto the hospital street level.
Staff at the Hospital have warned in the past of the leaking Hospital roofs and other structural problems in the building.
The entire hospital must be urgently assessed to ensure it is safe.