Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the media. Today I wish to address you on four issues that are of importance to all South Africans namely, the roll-out of the smart ID card; the invalidation of duplicate IDs; processes towards the establishment of the Border Management Agency (BMA) and a national study on migration and immigration trends to be undertaken by the HSRC.
ROLL-OUT OF SMART ID CARD
Home Affairs has worked hard to ensure the roll-out of the smart ID card to the people of our country. Part of this process was the launch of the Smart ID card on July 18 this year to coincide with the celebration of Nelson Mandela Day in South Africa.
We reiterate our view that the introduction of the smart ID card strengthens our successes in restoring national identity, citizenship and dignity given that they were denied to the majority of our citizens by successive racist regimes. This is a further advance for our democracy.
The government has earmarked the month of November as the month of the disabled. As part of this designation, the Department of Home Affairs will issue Smart ID Cards to some of our citizens with disabilities during the week of the 18th-22nd November 2013 in and around Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The identified people will consist of SASSA disability grant recipients and learners at some schools for children with special needs.
As part of our efforts to ensure quality and responsive service delivery to all sectors of our society, the department has ensured that the new Smart ID Card has Braille. This will enable blind people to easily recognise the card. The smart ID card has the word ID written in braille on the front of the card.
Since the launch of the smart ID card we have specifically stated that the smart ID card will be issued free of charge to 16 year-olds who are first time applicants. This is in keeping with current regulations that allow for first time applicants to receive identity documents free of charge.
However the law allows the Minister of Home Affairs to waive fees for applicants for identity documents from any sector of our society that the Minister may from time to time determine. We have previously waived fees for victims of fires, floods and other forms of natural disaster.
Within the spirit of this legal provision, we have held discussions with our colleagues in the National Treasury regarding the possibility of waiving replacement fees for certain categories of applicants.
Critical to note however, is that the first issue of the Smart ID card for pensioners will be free but replacements will cost R140.00.
I am pleased to announce that agreement has now been reached with National Treasury to completely waive fees for the smart ID card for pensioners who are 60 years old and above.
This is in recognition of the contribution made by our senior citizens to the development of our economy and the country over the years. Most importantly however, we waive these fees for senior citizens because we care about their welfare.
Coming within the context of the celebration of 20 years since the dawn of peace, democracy and justice in South Africa in 1994, the launch of the smart ID card and associated technologies signals further achievements of our democracy. We are pleased to announce that we won an award for the best designed smart ID card for 2013 in recent years during the recent Asia, Middle East and Africa High Security Printing Conference held in Bangkok on the 7th October 2013.
May I take this opportunity to remind our public that
- The implementation of the smart ID card programme will take a few years so the public is called upon to exercise patience
- Citizens should await on our invitation to come to our offices to apply for the smart ID card
- We will invite citizens according to months of birth
- The green-bar coded ID remains a legal form of identity
REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE 2014 NATIONAL ELECTIONS
The IEC has proclaimed the dates of 09-10 November 2013 as registration days for the 2014 national elections. We call on all South Africans, particularly the youth of our country, to apply for their IDs to enable them to exercise their democratic right to vote. Our offices will be open on the voter registration days from 08h00-17h00 in agreement with the IEC
Holders of both the current green-bar coded IDs and the Smart ID card over 18 years of age will indeed be eligible to register and vote in the 2014 National Elections.
As part of our mandate to facilitate the issuing of enabling documents to citizens, the department stands ready to issue identity documents including temporary identity certificates during this period to those who may require them for purposes of registration for the national elections. We encourage holders of certificates to apply for IDs speedily.
We are confident that the majority of South Africans, black and white will take advantage of the registration dates proclaimed by the IEC to register and verify their status so that they participate in the forthcoming 2014 national elections, which will coincide with our national celebration of 20 years of peace, freedom and democracy in our country.
INVALIDATION OF DUPLICATE IDs
In our budget speech early this year, we announced our intention to invalidate duplicate IDs which have caused untold suffering to thousands of affected South Africans.
Whatever the source of these duplicate IDs, be they attempts to avoid debt as well as plain crime, fraud and corruption, we are determined to bring to an end this illegality. It is illegal for any person to hold more than one ID number at a time whatever the reasons.
We have thus published in the government gazette and select print media names and dates of births of those affected to alert them to the fact that they are holding duplicate IDs. We have done so with a view to calling upon them to approach their nearest Home Affairs offices to seek assistance.
We furthermore called upon the public to check the status of their identity numbers by texting the letter “d” to the number 32551, contacting our call centre or visiting our website www.dha.gov.za.
In this regard, Wednesday 30 October 20123 marked the day when we began invalidating all the identity numbers of those who hold multiple identity numbers.
The second phase deadline is 31 December 2013 we will invalidate the identity numbers of those who share identity numbers. Our offices are ready to assist those who need our assistance.
We are motivated in this campaign by nothing other than the need to ensure full compliance with provisions of our laws, we want to end the pain and suffering brought about by the problem of duplicate IDs and to ensure those genuinely affected by duplicated IDs can together with their compatriots enjoy the fruits of a better life for all. Everyone who has an ID is a genuine and legal holder of that document or card.
We announced that the invalidation of duplicate IDs will take place in two phases. The first phase is to deal with the category of one person with multiple IDs while the second refers to the category of two persons sharing the same identity number.
PROCESS TOWARD ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOME AFFAIRS-LED BORDER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
We are pleased to announce today the appointment of Mr Elroy Africa to the department of Home Affairs as the Project Manager for the project office of the Border Management Agency. Mr Africa is the former Director-General in the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
As you are aware, the government has agreed to the phased establishment of a Border Management Agency (BMA to ensure coordination of and co-operation among the departments operating at our land, sea and air ports of entry and along our borders.
The BMA is to be established to enhance our goals of national security and public safety and to enable the efficient flow of legitimate travellers and goods. This requires all role players in the border environment to work closely and to share information. Mr Africa will develop proposals for policy and structure and will work with our partners such as SARS, SANDF, SAPS, Health and Agriculture. The creation of a BMA will lead to an integrated and secure management of all our ports of entry and borders while ensuring quality immigration services for the public.
We will work closely with colleagues in the JCPS structures, such as the Border Control Coordinating Committee. Key objectives over the next twelve to eighteen months will be research and development of an appropriate model and draft enabling legislation
HSRC STUDY INTO IMMIGRATION TRENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Our department has commissioned, the HSRC to conduct research into policy and migration. The study will reflect on current practice and policy and provide recommendations for future policy review
The study is expected to produce a comprehensive report on the main characteristics of immigration in South Africa and migration impacts on South Africa within the SADC region, highlighting key challenges and critical aspects to consider in policy formulation, legislation development for the regulation of immigration, planning and immigration management practices.
The study will include a comparative analysis of international and regional immigration legislation and policy.
We have also begun the process of developing a scarce skills list as envisaged by the Immigration Act. Mr Alan Taylor has been appointed to do this work and will finalise the project end February 2014.
I thank you.
Minister Naledi Pandor; Transcript Copy; Weekly Media Briefing; 08 November 2013; Pretoria
Question and Answer
Question: Minister on the offices opening for voter registration weekend, is it only the offices that will be opened or will you be deploying mobile units as well?
Answer (Minister Naledi Pandor): On the office opening I should have added that mobile offices will be out. We have around a hundred and twelve of them which are functioning properly with the necessary connections through 3G and wireless. So, they will be supporting our offices but it is important that both the offices and mobile trucks are available. We are going to try to ensure that the mobile trucks are as close as possible to residential areas but the offices, of course, are as close as possible where they are located.
Question: Minister what is the status of investigations into alleged permit irregularities by ANN7?
Answer: I did report at our last media briefing that all those who were in the country legally remain here on the basis of the visa that they required, those who arrived on a visitor’s visa and were carrying out what they called project work in that particular station were asked to return and apply for an appropriate visa should they wish to return to South Africa.
Follow up question: Do you have the numbers for us perhaps?
Answer: I don’t have them in front of me but Ronnie (Mamoepa) can give you the old statement and you will get the details from there. But it was not a large number.
Question: Is there a need for a Border Management Agency?
Answer (Director-General: Mkuseli Apleni): As Minister indicated on the statement that there are various departments operating in a border post environment as well as the border line. But departments were on a co-ordination basis which means there was a willing basis but no willing framework. The importance of the BMA is integration so that the control and command is under one institution. If things go wrong in a border environment there is one institution that must take responsibility under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Question: I just clarity on the invalidation of IDs, are there any plans to try and get law enforcement agencies to go and get these people who are not availing themselves to you?
Answer (Minister Naledi Pandor): We have taken many steps, we have even visited the homes of some of these individuals, tried to trace their addresses and for some we have found actually that the address provided is a false one. We have done a lot of work over several years. We have added our stakeholder forums, when ward committees are held the councilors are asked to indicate that we are looking for individuals that are holding duplicate IDs. The numbers are published on the walls of community centres such as Thusong Service Centres. We have done as much as we can and the only thing now is to invalidate because if you invalidate, if you have accounts you are not going to be able to access them, you are going to have difficulties with the banks. Fortunately, we have been liaising very closely with SABRIC throughout this process and they agree with us that it will help them in their attempts to curb fraud for us to deal with this matter expeditiously. It is not something that Home Affairs has just done in an instant, it has taken several years to get to this point where we now feel that we must act and invalidate. Essentially, when people come forward, if they are entitled to hold an ID, we will help them apply for one and issue it to them but if they are not entitled, clearly they must not have an ID.
Question: Are these office hours normal operating hours or extended?
Answer: Yes (they are extended) and the DG and the DDGs will be in different provinces. I will be in the Free State and DG will be in the Eastern Cape, a DDG responsible for Gauteng will be in Gauteng and so on, so that all of us are ensuring that the mobile trucks and the offices are operational.