Andrew Stegmann

Why South Africa would do well to fire all its deputy ministers

This includes a R7 billion reduction in the public sector wage bill over the next three years as well as a reduction in travel costs, entertainment budgets, catering expenses and restrictions on conferences.

The cuts come in the wake of a weakened South African currency and a shrinking tax poolto fund government. They are also a response to the auditor-general’s adverse report on the government’s wasteful and irregular government expenditure, which stood at R25.7 billion for 2015.

The cuts are commendable and long overdue. But they ignore one part of the wage bill the country can do without: deputy ministers. Although not a panacea, cutting down the number of deputy ministers would go a long way to helping government get its finances onto a more stable footing.

At the beginning of his second term in office, President Jacob Zuma appointed 35 ministers and 37 deputy ministers. This is a very large cabinet.

Russia, for example, has a cabinet of only 23 ministers; China has a cabinet of 20 ministers; Botswana has a cabinet of 17 ministers and only seven deputy or assistant ministers; Nigeria has 31 ministers.

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Andrew Stegmann

Economic refugees abuse South Africa’s liberal asylum regime: Gigaba

An unintended consequence of the country’s liberal asylum regime has been that migrants who are not genuine refugees but are seeking economic opportunities have used it to attempt to regularise their stay in South Africa.

This comment was made by Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba as he addressed the World Refugee Day in Johannesburg on Monday.

SA will not hesitate to act against xenophobia: Malusi Gigaba
“In terms of our asylum seeker regime‚ we are proud to be one of the few African countries which receives large volumes of asylum seekers‚ which does not have an encampment policy.”

World Refugee Day: ‘I feel like SA is now my home’
Gigaba said the result had been that economic migrants had used the asylum regime to regularise their stay in South Africa.

“The sheer volume of applications from these migrants has placed an enormous burden on the refugee status determination process‚ which has disadvantaged genuine asylum seekers by delaying their decisions‚ in the past taking years where they should take no more than six months‚” Gigaba said.

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Andrew Stegmann

SA has worlds most progressive refugee legislation: Gigaba

Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba says the South African constitution requires the country to observe its international obligations.

The minister was speaking on Morning Live as Monday marks World Refugee Day.

The day is observed to commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees around the world.

This year, World Refugee Day also marks a key moment for the public to show support for families forced to flee.

Gigaba says it is our obligation as South Africans to protect refugees and recognize their rights.

“Those rights include the right to live where they want to live and be protected in those areas,” says Gigaba.

He says when it comes to refugees, South Africa has the most progressive legislation in the world but is still lacking in practice.

Currently there are 121 000 recognized refugees in the country, but each year the department receives applications for new asylum seekers.

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Andrew Stegmann

More than 40 home affairs officials arrested for graft

The officials had a way of finding out who needed a visa and would contact the applicant, and become the middlemen in helping them obtain documents.

Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said between 2015 and 2016 more than 40 home affairs officials had been arrested for corruption.

During a World Refugee Day event held at the Catholic Archdiocese in Johannesburg, the minister said the department was trying its best to make sure that asylum seekers were treated fairly.

“We get clues via social networks and we are quite happy that some immigrants report. We are doing our best and by improving work processes we will reduce the abuse of immigrants.”

Earlier, Gigaba visited the Bienvenu Shelter which is currently home to 19 women and child refugees who came to South Africa because of wars and violence in their home countries.

June 20th was declared World Refugee Day by the UN General Assembly in 2000.

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