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Ladies and gentlemen, this year we will be holding the country's second democratic local government elections. Consequently, the question of my Department's readiness to provide eligible voters with bar-coded identity documents in time becomes once more relevant.

The special effort made by my Department in ensuring that all willing and eligible voters are in possession of bar-coded identity documents for the purpose of the 1999 general elections resulted in a significant updating of the Population Register.

As a result of the intensive identity document campaign conducted by my Department, at least 4,8 million bar-coded identity documents were issued to our citizens between November 1998 and May 1999. In view of this, ladies and gentlemen, my Department has since experienced a markedly significant decline in the applications for bar-coded identity documents.

In anticipation of a further last minute rush for acquisition of bar-coded identity documents nearer to the forthcoming local government elections, my Department will once again engage in campaigns where the need arises.

We hereby appeal to members of the public who will be eligible to participate in this year's local government elections to approach Home Affairs offices timeously, to apply for their bar-coded identity documents.

Whereas our green bar-coded identity document was introduced about twelve years ago in terms of the Identification Act 72 of 1986, other forms of identity documents are still regarded as valid for purposes other than the elections.

This situation, ladies and gentlemen, created legal and administrative problems for the Department. I am certain that we can all recall the two cases in this regard that ended up in the Constitutional Court.

It is disconcerting that despite sufficient time given to all South Africans to acquire bar-coded identity documents, certain members of the public are still reluctant to acquire the bar-coded identity document. To address this, is imperative that there is certainty with regard to the provisions of the Identification Act. Amendments to the Identification Act, 1997 to make provision for the definition of an identity document, and for the abolition of all other forms of identity documents except the green bar-coded identity document, will be made during the present Parliamentary session.

The total South African Population are clients of the Department and this literally entails a life-long association - from the issuing of birth certificates to registering deaths. Moreover, departmental decisions and actions profoundly affect the lives of all clients. Legitimacy is afforded to their sojourn within the South African geographical area, enabling them to realise rights and opportunities as South African citizens. The core Home Affairs functions of civic affairs and migration are central to defining and managing the essence of statehood in our country namely affording human content to the South African geographical entity. Migration management focuses on the protection of these rights and opportunities for those who have a legitimate claim to the country's resources. This is a daunting task following from the reality of our porous borders and the asymmetry of economies in the sub-continent.

The current unprecedented flow of foreigners to South Africa requires suitable strategies and systems geared for the proper management of the situation. This necessitated the drafting of the White Paper on International Migration. Flowing from this, a Departmental Committee is currently drafting the first draft of the Migration Bill. Still to be put to public scrutiny and the Parliamentary process, the eventual legislation will result in clear guidelines and procedures to be followed with regard to the management of the migration matters.

As far as Migration is concerned, much has been written in the media about my Department's backlog in dealing with applications for immigration permits and temporary residence permits. During that period my Department was still without a Director-General in office.

As you are aware, Mr Billy Masetlha was re-deployed by the President from the Secret Service to assume the position of Director-General in my Department with effect from the 1st of December 1999. I take this opportunity to welcome him to my Department's first Parliamentary media briefing in this capacity. Mr Masetlha officially started with the Department on the 8th December 1999 and was introduced by myself to the public on the same date.

On the 1st of December 1999 I held a meeting with the then Acting Director-General, Dr Khulu Mbatha, and officials of the Migration Chief Directorate. This meeting was aimed at introducing processes that will alleviate the backlog in the application of various immigration permits.

Following that meeting I have approved the following processes:

Firstly, that in terms of section 28 [2] of the Aliens Control Act, 1991, I have empowered official in the rank of Deputy Director and higher in the Department of Home Affairs' offices countrywide to exempt from having an immigration permits, first applications for immigration permits who would clearly qualify in terms of completeness of the application form, compliance with approved policy and provisions of the Act, as well as first applications who, at the time of the application, had been married to South African citizens or permanents residents for a period of two years or longer and whose applications are duly completed. This process applies to all applications currently in the offices of the Department as well as those received up to 31 January 2000

Secondly, that all applications for temporary residence permits in terms of section 26 of the Aliens Control Act, 1991 that are evidently complete, acceptable and that qualify in all respects as required by legislation and regulations, received up to and including 31 January 2000 be fast tracked to finalisation. This fast tracking has been delegated to a wider group of officials than is normally the case.

Thirdly, that where, for temporary residence permits, recommendations are required from bodies outside the Department, such applications should be accomplished by the necessary recommendation upon presentation to the Department of Home Affairs, and lastly that officials with experience in migration work be seconded on a temporary basis from regional and district offices to the head office's temporary residence sub-directorate, to assist with working off the current backlog.

These measures, I am convinced, will ensure that the current backlog in immigration permits and temporary residence diminish and also prevent the build-up of similar backlogs in the future.

On 2 December 1999 the Constitutional Court passed a judgement to the effect that foreigners involved in lifelong permanent relationship with same sex South African partners, should for the purpose of applying for immigration permits, be treated on the same footing as heterosexual married couples.

My Department is in the process of formulating guidelines that should be followed to effect this Constitutional Court decision. In the meantime, applications received falling in this category will be considered from the end of March 2000 once the guidelines have been finalised and transmitted to all offices of my Department.

Currently visa applications from countries without South African representation are being processed in Pretoria and the processed visas are then posted to the South African host or the applicant. By implication, these visas are not affixed in the applicant's passports by authorised persons.

From 1 April 2000 visa applications will only be processed at South African missions abroad. Applicants who do not have South African Diplomatic or Consular representation in their countries of residence will have to apply at their nearest South African mission as these applications will no longer be processed in the RSA.

Early in 1999 the Cabinet approved the White Paper on International Migration. The draft Bill in this regard has now been finalised and is in my possession.

The following process will henceforth be followed regarding the publication of this draft Bill.

On the 7th February 2000 I have authorised the publication of the Bill for comments. The Department will publish this Bill at the end of this week or early next week.

During the period of publication the Department will organise workshops in conjunction with members of the Home Affairs Portfolio Committees and other stakeholders and interested parties to receive comments for my consideration.

It is envisaged to allow this consultation process to run over a six-week period.

After the period of publication, a conference bringing together all those who commented on the draft Bill will be organised. At this conference which I shall address, I will also announce a drafting committee to make amendments to the Bill as recommended by the comments and findings of the conference.

The finalised draft Bill resulting from this conference will thereafter be submitted to the Cabinet followed by tabling in the National Assembly and related processes.

Ladies and gentlemen, I anticipate finalising this process not later than the end of the first half of this year.

The first refugee legislation in South Africa, the Refugee Act, 1998, was passed by Parliament in November 1998. The Regulations for the Act were drafted during the 1999 and submitted to stakeholders for comment in November 1999. The Act will be implemented on 1st April 2000

In accordance with Section 8 of the Act, the following regional offices of my Department in addition to Braamfotein Refugee Reception Centre have been designated as Refugee Reception Offices. These are Regional Office Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and the District Office Pretoria. In practice, this implies that after implementation of the Act all new applications for asylum will have to be lodged at these offices only and not any other office of Home Affairs.

Status Determination Officers and Refugee Reception Officers are to be transferred from my Department's Head Office to these offices in March 2000 to effect the smooth implementation of this Act. The Cabinet will be approached regarding the financial requirements for implementing the envisaged staffing structure.

On 31st January 2000 I officially launched the Home Affairs National Identification System commonly known as HANIS at a function in Pretoria. Media was present and I am pleased to acknowledge that there was significant interest in this regard. Allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to emphasise that we expect the first HANIS smart card to be issued during the last quarter of 2001.

The project consisting of the automation of the Department's manual fingerprint system and the issuing of a new identity card was prodded by a continuing situation of mistrust. The present identity document has limited security features and is easily forged, resulting in unscrupulous persons fraudulently obtaining benefits they do not deserve. This practice impacts negatively on key services that the Government is supposed to render to its subjects as undeserving persons cheat and obtain forged identity documents which they in turn, use to claim services Housing subsidies, health services, welfare grants, to mention but a few, are not always received by genuinely qualifying and properly identifiable individuals.

It was resolved that an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) would be implemented to replace the manual identification/verification system. For this purpose, the Government did not have the necessary technology and a need arose for external procurement. A comprehensive tender was published on 6 December 1999 for the Home Affairs National Identification System. After a protracted tender process, which endured acute scepticism and severe attacks from various quarters, the tender was eventually awarded to the deserving MARPLESS Telecommunications Technologies consortium. On 8 November 1999 the Department and the contractor signed a detailed supply contract, drafted by the two parties aided by the State Attorney and guided by the State Tender Board.

The smart card that we are introducing is not confined to the limited identification/verification realms of the Home Affairs strategic engagement only. Rather, it is a magnanimous, multi-applications, government smart identity card with extensive capabilities contained in a chip that boasts enough intelligence to allow other departments and perhaps even other forms of industry permissions to utilise the card technology. The HANIS card will serve several government departments and among others, the following departments are co-operating with Home Affairs on the project, The Departments Welfare, Health, Labour, Transport, Housing and Communications.

The Department requested the South African Law Commission in 1996 to conduct an investigation into the various marriage systems in the country and to review the existing marriage legislation. The investigation into customary marriages was finalised in 1998 and following from this investigation the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 was passed by Parliament. The Commission has recently issued a discussion paper on the Review of the Marriages Act, 1961 and stakeholders were requested to comment thereupon by the end of November 1999. Further more, the Commission is also investigating religious law marriages. The goal of these investigations is to enable the Department to bring matrimonial unions into line with both modern demands and the requirements of the Constitution.

The National Government Printing Works in Pretoria appointed an independent consultant who is currently finalising the process of investigation into the feasibility of privatising this institution towards a more effective Printing Works in line with international trends. My Department will finalise the rationalisation process of the Umtata Government Printing Works by the end of this financial year.

The Film and Publication Board's annual report will be tabled in Parliament before the end of February 2000. The Board advised me that the Deputy Minister Dr L N Sisulu will host a national conference on child pornography in May 2000, where matters such as the involvement of law enforcement, the judiciary, NGO's, Internet Service Providers and civil groups will be reviewed to assess the progress regarding our aim to curb child pornography on the internet. The Deputy Minister has travelled extensively abroad to study what other countries in the West are doing about Cyberspace child pornography which is a very serious threat to the mores of our society.

In conclusion, I am confident that the support I will receive from my colleague the Deputy Minister, the Director-General and his officials including all of you will assist us to ensure effective service delivery in this new millennium.

I thank you.

Issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, 10 February 2000