• Several parties represented in Parliament blamed undocumented migrants
for crime and draining social services during the debate on the
Department of Home Affairs` budget.
• Claims undocumented migrants
are disproportionately responsible for crime or are depleting South
African taxes without contributing, have previously been debunked.
• New Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said he wanted to bring dignity back to the department`s work.
While
new Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber`s focus was on improving the
department to provide dignity to South Africans, xenophobia reared its
head as MPs debated the Department of Home Affairs budget vote on
Monday.
The debate descended into scapegoating foreign nationals for crime and depleting resources, akin to a Trump or Le Pen rally.
`At
its heart, home affairs is about dignity. The dignity of having an
identity and a nationality. The dignity of belonging somewhere in this
great big world. The dignity of being able to travel beyond our
borders,` said Schreiber to a mini-plenary of the National Assembly.
`The
dignity of giving your child their name on a birth certificate. The
dignity of being able to have a bank account and to access an old age
pension.
`As your newly-appointed minister of home affairs, I not
only recognise and acknowledge that dignity is at the heart of this
department.
`I will also make it my mission to restore dignity to
interactions with home affairs, both for the many dedicated officials
who have found their calling by serving the people of South Africa
through this vital department, and to our clients.`
He added there
was nothing that brought dignity like a job, and that was why they were
positioning home affairs as `an engine of economic growth`.
`The apex
priority of the government of national unity, as captured in our shared
statement of intent, is to generate rapid, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth to create jobs. Home Affairs has a critical role to play
in achieving this vision, by accelerating the reforms introduced by the
president through Operation Vulindlela.
`Alongside steps that have
already been taken, such as the streamlining of required documents and
the introduction of the Trusted Employer Scheme, we will do much more.
`This
includes finalisation of the points-based system for work visas,
rolling out the remote working and start-up visas, updating the critical
skills list more regularly, and making it easier for more tourists to
visit our beautiful country and spend their valuable foreign currency
right here in South Africa,` said Schreiber.
He added the Border Management Authority (BMA), like the department, was underfunded.
He said:
If we want to properly manage our borders, we will have to invest more resources in doing so.
Several
other speakers, including ANC MP and Portfolio Committee on Home
Affairs chairperson Mosa Chabane, and the DA`s Adrian Roos, also
lamented the BMA`s funding.
Chabane said it was the committee`s responsibility to advocate for the BMA`s funding.
There was also general agreement South Africa`s borders should be secured.
However,
several MPs claimed undocumented migrants were responsible for crime
and South Africans` unemployment and draining social services.
None of these MPs substantiated their claims with factual evidence.
Last
year, AfricaCheck debunked claims undocumented immigrants contributed
disproportionately to South Africa`s crime levels, or drained South
African taxes without contributing in turn.
It also found `compelling
long-term data to show that immigrants in fact create employment for
locals and help grow the economy`.
In the run-up to the elections,
Human Rights Watch warned South African politicians risked inflaming
xenophobic violence by scapegoating and demonising foreign nationals.
On
Monday morning, MK Party MP Mariam Muhammad greeted the mini-plenary in
the name of Allah and `the father of our nation, the rightful president
of our nation, ubaba Jacob Zuma`.
The corruption-accused Zuma has
already served two terms as president and, therefore, cannot serve
another. Furthermore, he is ineligible to serve as an MP, from which the
president is elected, on account of being a convicted criminal.
Muhammad claimed there are `rampant abuses in our refugee and asylum system`.
`South
Africa`s current legislative framework compromising the Citizenship
Act, Immigration Act and Refugee Act is fragmented and outdated,` she
said.
Muhammad claimed a `disproportionately large number of refugees
seeking refugee here` were `overwhelming our capacity as a developing
country`.
`South Africa has garnered a reputation for its generosity to immigrants, asylees and refugees.
`However,
this generosity has come at a significant cost. Our asylum system is
being exploited by individuals, finding fraudulent claims to gain entry
into South Africa.
`The courts frequently issue rulings that protect
illegal immigrants while foreign-funded NGOs politicise immigration
reform and challenge our legislation.`
She said the MK Party
advocated for the `mandatory detention of immigrants seeking asylum
until their claims are verified` and added `parole from detention should
only be granted in exception circumstances`.
EFF MP Yazini Tetyana
referred to Schreiber`s decision on his first day in office to extend
the temporary concession for foreign nationals who are currently
awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications.
`On his first day in office, he resolved romantic affairs instead of long problematic issues,` he said.
`We
have a serious problem, particularly here in Cape Town, of European
immigrants who have entered the country on visitors visas and then
overstay their visas, just like those who arrived in 1652 and never
left.
`They are contributing towards the high cost of living,
driving up rental accommodation prices, as they are seen to be more
preferred than locals, because they pay in dollars and euros,` Tetyana
added.
IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe said her party believed the
previous administration`s failure to effectively manage migration led to
a `national crisis posing a national security threat to our nation but
also placing a heavy strain on our state`s resources` and it led to
communities in northern KwaZulu-Natal being `constantly and daily under
siege`.
`South Africans are tired of the lawlessness that prevails in our country.`
She
added in a country where unemployment was at crisis levels, it was
unforgivable businesses were `allowed` to employ undocumented migrants
in sectors such as hospitality, construction and transport.
Van der Merwe, too, claimed far too many economic migrants were using the asylum seeker process.
She said the government should ban businesses employing undocumented migrants, as fines did not work.
She added:
We should reserve the spaza shop sector for South Africans.
ActionSA
MP Lerato Ngobeni said she hoped Schreiber took `the widespread
mismanagement and corruption that have plagued the Department of Home
Affairs seriously`.
`These have allowed criminal elements to exploit
the legal visa regime, contributing to the problem of illicit drugs and
goods in our country.
`Whether we are called sellouts or xenophobes,
we stand firm in our commitment to upholding the rule of law, protecting
our porous borders and safeguarding the wellbeing of our citizens.
`South
Africans must not be intimidated into backing down on this issue. All
those who call us xenophobic are bullies who are unpatriotic and want to
impose hypocritical standards on us.
`Our country is facing massive
socioeconomic troubles and cannot be expected to take on the challenges
of other countries at mass scale,` Ngobeni said.
`Increased
criminality and decreased wages, the impact is felt by the most
vulnerable among us, including genuine asylum seekers.
`Unchecked
migration poses a severe threat to our national security and
sovereignty. Being tough in our stance on this does not mean we do not
recognise the human side to this issue.`
Like Van der Merwe, and ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula, Ngobeni said spaza shops must be reserved for South Africans.
Zungula
added `securing the borders, reduction of unemployment and putting
South Africa first` was in the country`s best interests, saying
extending the visa concessions was not in the interest of South Africa.
`People can`t be permanently employed on workers` visas.
`The
rise of the influx of what is termed digital nomads, meaning foreigners
from Europe and America, has led to gentrification and pushing out
citizens,` said Zungula.
`The crisis of illegal immigration is a national security risk.`
FF Plus MP Philip van Staden added South Africa`s borders must be protected.
`Immigration is a natural process and every country tries to manage it in such a way that it is beneficial,` he said.
`These illegal immigrants put immense pressure on the water resources, health care, job
Responding
to the comments on refugees and asylum seekers, Schreiber said:
`There`s also a global responsibility to this. And migration is an
international phenomenon, and it has international consequences if South
Africa loses control over our migration management.
`In the interest
of the global community to help us get the capacity we need to process
that massive backlog that one report estimated would take something like
60 years to process.`
He added he found some of Tetyana`s remarks
confusing, as his party leader, Julius Malema, told the radio station
702 in 2019, `that thing of borders, we will not have them`.
`Now,
I must say chair, I don`t agree with the EFF whatsoever, we must have
borders. We must secure them. And if there is hypocrisy, we`ll find it
on that side of the House,` said Schreiber.
The PA, which campaigned
on a xenophobic platform in the run-up to the elections, calling for the
mass deportation of immigrants and job reservation for South Africans,
did not participate in the debate.
Tetyana also complained of the
`pernicious role of white billionaires in Stellenbosch who are on a
clear mission to capture our political system and subverting our
democracy by pumping millions of rand to fund certain political parties
and establishment of new ones`.
`This is reflected in the report
published by My Vote Counts, which revealed the Stellenbosch mafia spent
over R300 million in the past election, and the DA received most of the
funding,` he said.
He added in 2017, the ANC `installed a Manchurian candidate who was raised and groomed by white businesses`.
Schreiber agreed they should look into party funding.
Amid
howling from the EFF benches, he said: `The question we need to ask is
where is the EFF`s declaration of the VBS money. Where are the
declarations?`