Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula yesterday again repeated her intention to finalise the long-awaited Immigration Act regulations by August this year, saying she would seek Cabinet approval to table legislative amendments in Parliament.

"We have agreed that in order to resolve some of the problems within the current regulations, we need to make certain changes to the act itself."

Opening debate on her department's budget vote in an extended public committee of the National Assembly, she said the department was "looking at only effecting those amendments that are necessary".

This was to meet the three-month deadline laid down by President Thabo Mbeki in his May state-of-the-nation address.

"For us it is urgent that South Africa should have an immigration policy regime that is responsive to the needs of the country in the area of attracting direct foreign investment, encourage tourism, and contribute to economic growth through the attraction of skills."

Mapisa-Nqakula said while it was necessary to protect local jobs, "it will also be important that our immigration policy should not hinder our contribution to the improvement of socio-economic conditions of our neighbouring countries".

This would require a delicate balancing act.

"But obviously we need to find a way of addressing this in such a way that we will not suddenly wake up one morning and have to expel all the mining workers that work in our mines from Lesotho and Mozambique," she said.

Earlier this week, Mapisa-Nqakula said amendments to the Immigration Act would go before Cabinet on June 23, "and we are hoping that Cabinet will give us the go ahead to go before Parliament on the 24th (of June)". - Sapa