Our economy can grow if Home Affairs changes it’s attitude

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Our economy can grow if Home Affairs changes it’s attitude

No one needs me to say that South Africa’s biggest issue presently is the need for job creation.  Our economy is suffering because of the wanting situation in the creating of jobs.  Government lacks a clear unambiguous strategy in this regard.  Certain government departments are even openly hostile and actively working against the creation of jobs. The Home Affairs department is a prime example.

My experience is that skilled foreigners, for example, are treated with suspicion and mistrust.  The benefit that such skilled persons can bring to the country is overlooked or ignored by this department.  International experience shows that successful economics that have grown have done so because they have welcomed and taken advantage of foreign skills, not the other way round.  Even China understands this principle and is taking advantage of international skills to grow their economy.

It is time that the Department of Home Affairs start changing their attitude.  Our rule for visa requirements for skilled immigrants needs to be reformed.  Some “out of the box” thinking is required; this includes introducing an 8 year work permit for foreign students graduating from South African higher education institutions.  In doing this it would alleviate the export of skills by foreign students who have actually benefited from state-subsidised tertiary educations in South Africa.

A window period should be introduced where immigrants with refugee visas who can provide proof of tertiary qualifications or formal technical skills can easily convert their refugee visas to a work visa.  The reality is that educated immigrants face complex and time consuming visa application processes, these needs to change.

Processes should be introduced to attract qualified South African expatriates to return to South Africa by easing conditions for non-South African partners and spouses to receive work visas.  Automatic qualification criteria for highly educated individuals should be created.  A person who has graduated from the top 20 business schools in the world would be an example of such criteria.  Immigrants who indicate strong independence and performance indicators should enjoy lower entry barriers.

This is very possible but only if the Department of Home Affairs and its officials undergo a mind, attitude and paradigm shift.   Only once this shift has happened will we start seeing these benefits to our economy.

Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

FPB CEO defends original classification of The Spear

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

FPB CEO defends original classification of The Spear

11 October 2012
Release: immediate

Today the Film and Publications Board (FPB) presented their Annual Report to the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs. The FPB is a government entity falling under the Department of Home Affairs.

In deliberations and interrogation of the Report, I asked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FPB, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi about the ruling made yesterday by the FPB Appeal Tribunal on the painting titled “The Spear” by artist Brett Murray. The artwork formed part of an exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg earlier this year. The Goodman Gallery last month appealed the FPB classification. The FPB Appeal Tribunal overturned the classification yesterday.

The FPB Appeal Tribunal found that the FPB should not have considered a complaint against the City Press newspaper as the FPB has no jurisdiction over the newspaper or its website. To make it worse the FPB overstepped its authority by extending its decision to classify the painting to all websites that published it.

In response to my questions in this regard, Ms Makhasi defending the original classification made by the FPB stated that the Board was following legislation. She stated this despite the Appeal Tribunal’s confirmation that in effect the FPB had not followed legislation.

The FPB originally claimed that “the painting would be harmful to children on the grounds that it seriously undermines and is insensitive to African culture”. Using the FPB argument, this reasoning was not used in the case of other paintings. Such an example is a painting by Ayanda Mabulu entitled “Umshini Wam” where President Zuma’s genitals are also exposed.

I concluded in the committee that it is thus clear that the FPB entered the political debate which was not their place to do. In so doing they tarnished their image dramatically and acted more like the old Apartheid-era Censorship Board and not as a Classification Board. The Appeal Tribunal thus had no choice but to make this welcome conclusion. I took the opportunity of suggesting to the FPB that this should be a lesson to them in the future so that such erroneous classifications do not recur.

What Pandor’s priorities should be

Letter to the Editor/ Opinion Piece

Dear Editor,

What Pandor’s priorities should be

I welcome the appointment of former Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio. As she settles into her new responsibilities I believe that Minister Pandor should prioritise the following as she starts her new Portfolio: 

• Continue the efforts initiated by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in transforming the Department of Home Affairs. This includes the completion of the applications turnaround effort to ensure that the process becomes effective and efficient, as well as improving the overall professionalism of its operations.

• Address human rights abuses taking place at centres where refugees and asylum seekers are attempting to legally enter the country. Reports from human rights organisations such as the June 2012 “All Roads lead to Rejection: Persistent Bias and Incapacity in South African Refugee Status Determination” by the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand indicate that gross human rights violations take place at these centres to the extent that the department is failing to fulfil its core mandate of administering the asylum system. 

• Appoint personnel based on skills and abilities – not on political affiliation. Many of the problems within the department stem from the fact that officials have been appointed because of their political affiliation and not because they possess the necessary expertise to excel in their positions. This practice deprives the department of the very skills it so desperately requires in order to function more effectively.

• Ensure that officials are accountable, follow legislation and implement decisions made by the courts. At present, Home Affairs demonstrates a general disregard for orders made by the courts and institutions such as the Public Protector. The problem originates because legislation is not always followed, resulting in applicants turning to the courts to have matters resolved. Disregard for the judicial process is so great that even when applicants have obtained court orders, the department is loath to rectify its actions, as illustrated by its recent failure to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Centre to newly arrived asylum seekers.

• Improve the ease with which applications for official documents are made. The department should generally work towards making it as easy and simple as possible for the public to apply for documents and use appropriate technologies to do so. Processes should be automated wherever possible so that members of the public are able to print standard forms for completion and track applications online without having to visit Home Affairs offices. The implementation of processes like these would go a long way towards improving the public’s overall experience during the application process.

As clients of the Department of Home Affairs, South Africans deserve an institution that is run efficiently. The implementation of these basic steps would go a long way towards achieving this.

Yours Sincerely,

Manny de Freitas MP

Member of Parliament

Shadow Minister of Home Affairs

Member of Parliament for Johannesburg South

Democratic Alliance

Naledi Pandor appointment: Five priorities to get Home Affairs in order

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
Naledi Pandor appointment: Five priorities to get Home Affairs in order

04 October 2012
Release: immediate

The DA welcomes the appointment of former Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio.

As she settles into her new responsibilities we believe that Minister Pandor should prioritise the following: 

• Continue the efforts initiated by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in transforming the Department of Home Affairs. This includes the completion of the applications turnaround effort to ensure that the process becomes effective and efficient, as well as improving the overall professionalism of its operations.

• Address human rights abuses taking place at centres where refugees and asylum seekers are attempting to legally enter the country. Reports from human rights organisations such as the June 2012 “All Roads lead to Rejection: Persistent Bias and Incapacity in South African Refugee Status Determination” by the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand indicate that gross human rights violations take place at these centres to the extent that the department is failing to fulfil its core mandate of administering the asylum system. 

• Appoint personnel based on skills and abilities – not on political affiliation. Many of the problems within the department stem from the fact that officials have been appointed because of their political affiliation and not because they possess the necessary expertise to excel in their positions. This practice deprives the department of the very skills it so desperately requires in order to function more effectively.

• Ensure that officials are accountable, follow legislation and implement decisions made by the courts. At present, Home Affairs demonstrates a general disregard for orders made by the courts and institutions such as the Public Protector. The problem originates because legislation is not always followed, resulting in applicants turning to the courts to have matters resolved. Disregard for the judicial process is so great that even when applicants have obtained court orders, the department is loath to rectify its actions, as illustrated by its recent failure to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Centre to newly arrived asylum seekers.

• Improve the ease with which applications for official documents are made. The department should generally work towards making it as easy and simple as possible for the public to apply for documents and use appropriate technologies to do so. Processes should be automated wherever possible so that members of the public are able to print standard forms for completion and track applications online without having to visit Home Affairs offices. The implementation of processes like these would go a long way towards improving the public’s overall experience during the application process.

As clients of the Department of Home Affairs, South Africans deserve an institution that is run efficiently. The implementation of these basic steps would go a long way towards achieving this.

Zuma is treading water on Home Affairs appointment

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Manny de Freitas MP
DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs
Zuma is treading water on Home Affairs appointment

02 October 2012
Release: immediate

The appointment of Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, to the Home Affairs portfolio in an acting position is evidence of President Zuma’s unwillingness to be decisive in the run-up to Mangaung.

The President must put the interests of the people of South Africa before his own election prospects at the ANC conference. The DA calls on President Zuma to appoint a permanent Minister of Home Affairs as soon as possible.

Minister Pandor may be performing adequately in the Science and Technology portfolio, but the Department of Home Affairs requires a full-time Minister to ensure that South Africans get the service they deserve.
We cannot afford to wait until after Mangaung for a new Home Affairs Minister. The President must act to fill this vacancy without delay.