11 JUNE 2004
Madam Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Ministers
Honourable Members
Comrades and friends
Madam Speaker, the African National Congress supports the budget allocation for the Department of Home Affairs.
The focus of my speech is on the Auxiliary and Associated Services programme of the Department. This programme has four sub-programmes. They are the following:
Less than two months ago our people in their millions went to the polls that were peaceful, free and fair. The international community expressed confidence in a way that we conducted our elections. Today we are regarded as a democratically established country by the entire universe - rightly so. This is due largely to the way our people conducted themselves during the campaigning period and on the Election Day. Political parties exercised maturity during the campaign.
Madam Speaker more importantly we need to express our unreserved and unqualified appreciation to those women and men that constitute the Independent Electoral Commission who spent sleepless nights in wanting to make sure that our elections are really free and fair. I lack words to show how much we appreciate what you did for your country. The upliftment of our people from poverty and ignorance will be a fitting tribute the ladies and gentlemen of the IEC.
Honourable members there were problems, in a few areas. The credibility and integrity of the body tasked to manage our elections cannot be doubted. Those problematic areas must be tackled by both the Independent Electoral Commission as the body constitutionally mandated to do that and the stakeholders, in this case, the political parties. To have free and fair elections is in the best interest of our country and our people.
We need to make a special appeal to our people to go and get their green bar-coded Identity Document for them to be able to exercise their democratic right and be able to access services that is rendered by the government. We need as South Africans to jealously guard our hard won democracy.
Madam Speaker we went out of our way trying to ensure that South Africans where ever they are, could exercise their democratic right and huge resources were committed to this effort. 1 500 people went to the polls outside the county, off those 1 500, 1000 were out of the country on government business, only 500 people voted. We need perhaps to reconsider our position regarding this.
There is an amendment tabled by the Minister of Home Affairs to extend the term of office of the Commissioners. This is necessitated by the fact that their term of office comes to an end at the end of June. The African National Congress supports the amendment. This is done also to allow the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court to continue with the process of selection smoothly.
Film and Publication Board.
Madam Speaker the board to be where it is today has come a long way. The transformation of the board right from its staff and mandate has almost come a full circle. The period before 1994, the board we had was used as an instrument of furthering the aims and objectives of the then apartheid government. It banned all the books and films that were deemed antigovernment. Its task was to ensure that the artistic creativity of our people is severely curtailed, whether it be through art, book or film was banned.
There has been radical changes in the last ten years.. This Parliament has changed its mandate drastically. Our people can express their artistic creativity without the fear of the board. It seeks to carry out its duty within the human rights ethos of our country as enshrined within the bill of rights in the constitution. The expressed mandate of the board today is to make sure that our children are protected from viewing and accessing harmful material. The main objective of the Film and Publication Act of 1996 is to classify films and publications not censorship. In terms of classification producers and distributors may appeal the decision of the board to the review board.
The challenge that the board is facing is a question of jurisdiction. The public broadcaster in form of the South African Broadcasting Co-operation feels that they are not accountable to the board in terms of what they produce and show. This has led to many conflicts in the past and until clarity is sort, this will continue to be a problem. We are of the opinion that the public broadcaster cannot be a player and a referee at the same time. We further believe that the Film and Publication Board must be given a mandate to cover everything that relates to publication and film. If the broadcasting laws have to be amended for this purpose then this parliament must do it. Our government encourages integrated governance services in every field of our lives therefore film and publications will not be exception to the rule.
Government Printing Works.
This is a very critical section of the Department, this section leaves much to be desired. Some of the reasons for not performing to expectations need to be identified as follows:
There is an ongoing effort of establishing the Government Printing Works as a public entity. We think this will go a long way in addressing some of the critical problems that are being currently experienced by the Department. The rules and obligations that govern other public entities will also apply to it.
There is audit opinion in relations to the Government Printing Works. They have received the worst audit opinion. If the Auditor General gives you the Adverse Audit Opinion then you know you have no place to hide.
Government Motor Transport.
This sub-programme is responsible for the purchasing and maintenance of cars for departmental use and also for the allocation of subsidy under the subsidised motor transport scheme for those members of staff who qualify under the scheme. The current transport fleet of the Department is more than six years old. The current fleet is not in the good state ate all. We do not have adequate transport to reach out to our people in deep rural areas. Poverty alleviation programmes will not reach the people in rural areas if we do not make an effort to reach them.
Turnaround strategy.
Despite all the problems highlighted, something is being done to remedy the situation. The Director General and his team backed by the Minister and the Deputy Minister came up with an implementable strategy to transform the department. There are a number of areas in which the strategy touches that will have positive impact in the department's performance. I will touch on a few things that will be done to improve the situation.
The turnaround strategy moves from a point of recognising the problem and seek to work within the resources at their disposal. This is key in addressing the problems that faces the department. There will be a major shake up in the head office. New posts will be created with specific mandate like the one on anti-corruption and security. The second one will be appointing competent candidates to fill the vacant, critical posts. This process has already started. Key areas have been identified and those posts are filled.
Staff morale is another key issue. Transformation within the department will not be successful if the staff is not willing to be part of that process. There is a need for the maximum mobilisation of staff.
An audit on the conditions of the departmental offices will be done to identify the worst offices for immediate reconstruction and facelift. Meeting the Department of Public Works to develop a strategy to deal with the problems that the Department of Home Affairs is facing should be prioritised. The Information Technology should be on top of the agenda in order to create a common standard framework for all the offices of the department.
Honourable Minister, Deputy Minister, Director General and officials - as the ANC, we commit ourselves to promote a people's contract and continue creating a better life for our people.
I thank you.