Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia calls upon the members of the committee to ensure that the practice of application of law and the policy is informed by core constitutional obligations of respect for human dignity and respect for basic human rights - as afforded to all who live in this country.

The appointment of the Immigration Advisory Board (IAB) is a requirement of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002. In doing so, Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber has merely acted in accordance with what policy dictates.

Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (Kaax) and all who struggle for social justice in this country and globally hope that this will make a contribution to ensuring that the Department of Home Affairs acts within the ambit of the law - first and foremost the Constitution and all relevant policies that inform how South Africa manages the movement of people.

In this regard, the first task of this committee should be to recall the White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. The department has ignored the call by many individuals and organisations to withdraw this White Paper. Kaax wrote an open letter to the department calling for the withdrawal of this White Paper. One of the reasons presented was that the White Paper in its entirety fails to meet the threshold for a participatory reasonable process.

As Kaax, we call upon the members of the committee to ensure that the...