Chairperson, hon members, it is an honour for me to represent the ANC in this debate on this day. This debate takes place in the very same year when we celebrated 50 years of the Freedom Charter, 50 years of the march by the women of this country against oppressive apartheid laws and 30 years of a revolt by our youth against forced Afrikaans as a medium of education in 1976.
My approach to this debate will focus on the role of local government in the fight against poverty. This will entail my understanding of poverty as it relates to South Africa and the continent. I will briefly unpack how poverty is measured for us to strategise on solutions to the problem, including its manifestations. I will also structure my discussion to reflect three pillars on which local government deals with the eradication of poverty: the developmental role of local government in poverty alleviation, governance and local government and the role of women in local government.
According to an article in a journal on public administration, Renosi Mokgati from the HSRC writes:
Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. It is understood as a condition that manifests itself in a number of ways, including the lack of income, insufficient resources and vulnerability to social, political and environmental shocks. Individuals and households become vulnerable because they lack the assets or combination of assets that can enable them to cope or manage the negative effects of the external shocks.
Poverty is a result of a number of interrelated factors. According to the World Bank, South Africa as a developing country has the character of other developing countries in terms of high population growth, low per capita real income, high unemployment, disguised employment rate, and low productivity, and high levels of poverty.
Chairperson, because of bad planning under apartheid and a lack of a developmental agenda, South Africa remains with the following challenges that are directly linked to poverty: the eradication of poverty and extreme income and wealth disparities and inequalities, the provision of access to quality and affordable basic services to all South Africans, a sustained reduction in the unemployment rate and the attainment of a sustainable high economic growth rate.
It cannot be denied and it is an undisputable fact that the historical background to this subject in South Africa has left an indelible problem. Apartheid's separate development has promoted the deprivation of services with regard to the majority of the population. How has it promoted environmental degradation? Against this backdrop provincial and local government is at the coalface of everything. It becomes relevant to us addressing these challenges through its mandate and interventions. Let me quote President Thabo Mbeki on the occasion of his inauguration, as well as the tenth anniversary of our freedom in Pretoria:
South Africa was a place that decreed that some were born into poverty and would die poor.
Order, hon member. Just take your seat for a minute. Can we lower the noise levels. Please proceed.
Let me quote the President:
South Africa was a place that decreed that some were born into poverty and would die poor; their lives in the land of gold and diamonds cut short by the viral ravages of deprivation. It was a place where others always knew that the accident of their birth entitled them to wealth. Accordingly this put aside all human values, worshipping a world whose worth was the accumulation of wealth. It was a place where to be born a woman was to acquire the certainty that you would, forever, be a minor and an object owned by another. Whereas to be a man was to know that there would be another over whom you would exercise the power of a master.
Chairperson, this sad state of affairs led to the corrective measure put to government by the President in the very same year in his state of the nation address, and as a directive to this Parliament. It was on government's commitment as it relates to local government, to move our country forward decisively towards the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment in our country, taking care to enhance the process of social cohesion, to strengthen the system of local government as it has been done.
Furthermore, it was to integrate our system of governance responding effectively to the requirement of co-operative governance. As you would know, Chairperson, we have passed an Act on intergovernmental relations to mobilise all our people voluntarily to work together to achieve the task of reconstruction and development, to help reconstruct a new world order that is more equitable and responsive to the needs of the poor of the world, who constitute the overwhelming majority of our humanity. Hence it is through its constitutional mandate that local government deals with poverty eradication directly, as in section 152 that relates to our developmental state.
Also, through the demarcation process we are aware that wards were aligned to a wall-to-wall situation that addresses the imbalances of the past through the Municipal Systems Act. On its definition of a municipality, communities have been included. The issue of community participation is legislated, and that also includes a commitment by local government to make sure that there is a consultative process through their integrated development plans. We also passed an Act that provincial and local government is responsible for property rates and it has a provision that allows for government not to charge those who are poor in terms of a threshold. Also, there is a provision in terms of the Disaster Management Act that allows for the participation of communities.
Let me also reflect on the role of women in local government. It is also undisputable that local government led by the ANC is leading in this area, through a 50-50 representation of women. Also, in terms of community participation, we have made legislative provision that would allow for ward committees to be in place and it is in this context where the role of women is clearly defined. We just have to appeal to our people, more so at this time when municipalities are busy with IDPs, to make sure that when planning is done, it reflects the needs of our women. We also have community development workers, most of whom, I am quite certain, are women.
Ndiza kuthi gqaba gqaba ngesiXhosa. USalga, njengokuba emele oomasipala, uthe emveni kokuba oomama benyuliwe wabeka inkqubo yokuba baqeqeshwe ukuze bakwazi ukuphatha. Ndiza kwenza isicelo kubantu bakuthi, phaya emakhaya, ngokubhekisele ekumiselweni kwee-IDPs.
Njengoko iinkosi bezikhala ekuseni zisithi azibizwa ngoomasipala, siye sazixelela ukuba isemthemthweni into yokuba zithathe inxaxheba kule nkqubo. Kwakhona, simema abantu bakuthi ukuba xa kukho iimbizo mabazizimase, ukuze bakwazi ukuzithethelela besebenzisa iilwiimi zabo.
Liphindile kwakhona iSebe looRhulumente bamaPhondo nabaseKhaya, waba nelinge lokudibanisa okanye i-Project Consolidate kwabo masipala bangenamandla, apho lithe laathumela ezona ziqeqeshiweyo iinjineli ukuba zincedisane noomasipala ukuphucula inkqubo yokuziswa kweenkonzo ebantwini.
Sineendawo ke, njengokuba ndivela eRhawutini, ezifana ne-Alexander, i- Bekkersdal ne-Everton, apho kukho amaphulo ovuselelo ngokutsha lwemimandla yeedolophu. Siyazazi iingxaki ezilapho. Ezinye zazo zezokuba ngandlela ithile oomama abavunyelwanga ukuthatha inxaxheba. Masibakhuthaze ke ukuba benze, bangeva ngakuxelelwa. Banalo ilungelo, ngoba lo rhulumente uvotelwe ngabo.
Kwakhona masamkele into yokuba iNkqubo yeMisebenzi yoLuntu eNatyisiweyo inayo indlela enyanzelisa ukuba amashishini asakhasayo abandakanye abantu basetyhini. Masikhumbule, kwakhona, ukuba njengokuba sasingabasebenzi ngaphambili, phaya emboneni bekusenzeka ukuba oomama ibe ngabo abamkela imali encinci, kwaye bangaqeqeshwa. Kodwa ngenxa yalo mbutho kaKhongolozi namhlanje banelungelo lokuba balinganiswe nabanye abantu.
Okokugqibela, ndiza kuthetha njengelungu le-ANC, nditsho ukuba kukho iingqungquthela zophuhliso loqoqosho lweengingqi kwizithili zethu. Siza kuphinda futhi sicele abantu bakuthi ukuba njengokuba beza kuthetha ngeendlela zokulwa indlala nje, maze benze ukuba noomama babe khona, ukuze livakale nelabo ilizwi.
Masiphinde kwakhona siqinisekise ukuba kuzo zonke izinto esizenzayo, ingakumbi ekuphuculeni ubomi boomama, nanjengokuba sisazi ukuba ngabo abenza ukuba kube kho into etafileni, oomama mabathathe inxaxheba.
Ndiza kuthi ke ngoku kule ngxoxo-mpikiswano, kula malungu ahlala ephikisana ne-ANC, ukuba nanku umkhomba-ndlela. Mawakwazi ke nawo ukuba bancedakale kweli linge lohlenga-hlengiso lweli lizwe ukuze akwazi ukuthatha inxaxheba. Siya kuphikisana sele siphucule iimpilo zabantu bakuthi. Ndiyabulela. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[I will briefly speak in isiXhosa. Salga, as an association of local government, made it feasible that after women were elected, a programme on developing their managerial skills was implemented. The communities must lend a hand with regard to the implementation of the IDP.
The traditional leaders complained in the morning that they were not invited by municipalities to participate in this programme, but we explained to them that their involvement is legal. Furthermore, we ask the communities to attend the izimbizo, so that they can express themselves, using their mother tongues.
Once more the Department of Provincial and Local Government initiated Project Consolidate for the municipalities that cannot work on their own. Trained engineers were dispatched to assist in the improvement of service delivery programmes.
There are areas in Johannesburg, where I come from, such as Alexander, Bekkerdal and Everton, where the programme of urban renewal is implemented. We understand that there are challenges, though. One of these is that women are not allowed to participate in these programmes. Let us inspire them, so that they can refuse to be told what to do. They have rights, because they voted for this government.
Let us accept that the Expanded Public Works Programme has a clause that mandates small businesses to include women. It must be remembered that during the times when we used to harvest maize in the field, women were earning little and they were not given skills. The ANC-led government made it possible for them to enjoy equal rights.
In conclusion, I will speak as a member of the ANC; there are regional conferences on economic development in our constituencies. We plead yet again with people that when discussing issues relating to poverty alleviation women must be included, so that their voices can be heard.
Let us ensure that in all we do, particularly the fact of improving women's lives, we involve women, because they are the ones who place food on the table.
In this debate I am saying to those who always oppose the ANC that they must accept these guidelines. They must benefit in some way from the transformation outcomes taking place in this country in order to participate in it. We will engage in argument after we have improved the lives of people. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Chairperson and hon members, there is a simple solution to poverty in South Africa, and it goes like this: In order to fight poverty, people need jobs; in order to create jobs, we need an economy that is growing and a friendly business environment, which encourages entrepreneurship and investment. In order to create that environment, we need simple and effective legislation, and in order to create that legislation, we need strong and innovative leadership.
The reason unemployment is stuck at 40% and we have a problem with poverty in this country, is not because of a lack of resources, but because our leaders lack the political will to make the necessary changes.
Ukuzalisa kilokhu, abasebenzako baneenyonyana ezithi nazibakhulumelako nofana ezithi nazibalwelako, bese zikhohlwa ngalabo abangasebenziko abajama eentradeni njalo, bafuna umsebenzi. (Translation of isiNdebele paragraph follows.)
[To add to this, those who are employed have trade unions that represent them. These trade unions tend to forget about those who are unemployed, who always stand on street corners looking for jobs.]
The DA does not believe, however, that the state is there to simply nurture a person through life. A responsible state must be complemented by responsible citizens. The force behind growing prosperity is a socially and environmentally responsible enterprise economy, driven by the choices, risk and hard work of free individuals.
Without growth in prosperity created through the exercise of a market economy, there can be no opportunities, and choices become increasingly limited. That is why the DA promotes an economic policy that puts growth at its centre. While we promote such policies as low inflation, a minimal budget deficit, lower taxation, a deregulated labour market, privatisation, enterprise zones, opportunity vouchers and the like, there are those who object to some of these policies. But experience across the world has shown that they generate growth, and with growth come job opportunities.
In addition to the policies that promote growth, the DA promotes policies designed to provide the poorest of the poor and the least empowered with a safety net to ensure their survival and welfare. For this reason we support the provision of free essential services at a municipal level, such as a basic amount of water and electricity, and a basic income grant of R110 per month for those living below the poverty line. These are some of the tenets of an open-opportunity society, a society in which each person has the opportunity to make the most of his or her life.
The government needs to learn that it cannot shape people in its own mould. Its job is not to dictate to people their identities, but to actively seek to provide them with opportunities to make the right choices for themselves. Until this government learns that, we will not break the cycle of poverty and unemployment that currently grips our country. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson and hon members, today in South Africa a child will be born. Her mother will hold her, feed her, comfort her and care for her as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a child in today's Africa is to begin a life centuries away from prosperity. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this House would consider inhuman.
No one today is unaware of this divide between the rich and the poor of the world. No one today can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on the poor and dispossessed, who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedom, security, food and education than any of us.
The cost, however, is not borne by them alone. The cost is borne by all of us, rich and poor, men and women of all races and religions. Today's real borders are not between nations, but between the powerful and the powerless, the free and the fettered, the privileged and the humiliated.
Scientists tell us that the world of nature is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest can generate a violent storm on the other side of the earth. The principle is known as the butterfly effect. Today we realise perhaps more than ever that the world of human activity has its own butterfly effect for better or worse, hence the need to work together.
The IFP, as the champion of the poor, supports this debate. You would recall that I began my address with reference to the girl. Even though her mom will do all in her power to protect and sustain her, there is a one-in- four risk that she will never go to school, and that she will have to head her own household and take care of her siblings.
A few years ago at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders recognised that global progress had been achieved in the struggle for human development, but they also identified impediments. These included HIV/Aids, and the conflict and poverty that still stand between humanity and the realisation of its freedom from want and fear.
Among those priorities, none was more important than the pledge they made to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty. More especially, they resolved that by 2015 they would halve the proportion of the world's people living in extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal access to primary schooling and gender equality at all levels of education, reduce child mortality by two thirds and maternal mortality by three quarters, halt the spread of HIV/Aids, and reduce the incidence of other major diseases.
Currently, sub-Saharan Africa is home to just a quarter of the world's very poor, but the ratio is rising steadily, aggravated by the scourge of HIV/Aids. Another challenge to meeting the target is how to measure poverty, which has dimensions other than simply average income. Growth is not a gain if it destroys the environment, fails to engage women, or drums families from secure but poor rural lives to a frightening, crime-ridden, marginal and city-slum existence.
To briefly take another look: there is also reversing Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, which together have accounted for 150 million deaths since 1945. Child poverty is the principal determinant of life chances. Children born into poverty are more likely to die prematurely. They are less likely to attend school or get any qualifications. The time to act is now, and we need to make sure that the Millennium Development Goals are attainable. But poverty is an old enemy with many faces. Defeating it will require the many actors to work together. It was the great Mahatma Gandhi who once said that poverty was the worst form of violence. Let us recognise that extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere. Let us recall that poverty is a denial of human rights, and let us summon the will to deal with it.
Let me end with the words of Mother Teresa, who said the following:
We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.
I believe the title of the debate is so apt in that we need to work together, and the time to start is now. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chair and hon members, the prevalence of poverty in our society continues to cast a shadow across the achievements made under democracy. It is not poverty alone that threatens societies, but rather the extreme inequalities and disparities between the poorest of the poor and the super rich. Deep mutual resentment and contempt are bred in societies by these extremes living within viewing distance of each other
Sadly, the growth of a new middle class and elite, even though it has given some black individuals wealth, has only exacerbated the vast gulf between the haves and the have-nots. It is unfortunately so that a certain culture of conspicuous consumption has become fashionable among the new elite.
The fact that an MEC can spend R100 000 on a government credit card for a single dinner with a small group of guests is just one example of that extravagant flaunting of new-found wealth and power. Is it any wonder that this culture of get rich quick and spend recklessly has created the conditions in society in which violent robbery is endemic, in which people are killed for as little as a cellphone, in which a schoolchild can stab to death a peer over borrowed money? Poverty presents less of a challenge than the arrogant disregard of the rich for the concerns and aspirations of the poor. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chair, the ID agrees wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed in the title of today's debate: "Working together out of poverty". As Patricia de Lille said in her response to the state of the nation speech earlier this year, the problems of the poor are the problems of the rich. What this country needs most is a shared sense of solidarity and compassion that cuts across the different divides in our country.
We need to institute a mass mobilisation campaign whose primary target is the eradication of poverty. Everyone in South Africa should have this as their goal, and the government must create the necessary mechanisms to enable people to get involved in this effort.
Much is often said about the lack of capacity within government, but the ID believes that this is more than made up for by the immense capacity communities and inspired individuals have to change their circumstances.
If government can't spend its money, then give it to people who can. Civil society and community-based organisations that perform many of the state's statutory obligations are crying out for more funds to reach more people. We need to give it to them.
We also need to remove obstacles to poverty alleviation like the means test on child support grants, and we need to extend the child support grant to all children under 18. Nine million children in South Africa live in poverty. We must do more to tackle child poverty and change the tragic fact that one in 10 children born in South Africa today will not live to see the World Cup. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, according to the World Health Organisation, even though there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, one person dies from starvation every 3,6 seconds.
The 2005 UN Human Development Report records that 5 million people in South Africa survive on less than R6 per day and that South Africa ranks 56th out of 103 in the world poverty rankings, with a human poverty index of 30,9% or 14,5 million people.
These are very real people and not just statistics, like the granny from Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape, where her meagre grant goes to community education needs while government fails to provide even the most basic services in that community. Provision of basic services should be a given.
Acknowledging the chronic poverty problem in South Africa is, however, a start, and recognising that working is key to changing the situation has us at least facing in the right direction together. Government's five-year R400 billion public works programme follows through on this thought and is likely to succeed to some degree.
An amount of R400 billion could, for example, pay 7,8 million unemployed South Africans R855 per month for five years. But, of course, wages are not all that is budgeted for and a large percentage will be spent on capital assets.
Labour unions which represent the employed and not the unemployed are, unfortunately, not helping as they naturally continue to maximise benefits for their members, diminishing employment opportunities for the unemployed in the process. At the same time strained employer-employee labour relations further exacerbate the situation and escalate the move to a greater degree of automation in modern production methods, resulting in fewer jobs. Yes, we must work together.
Unless we are able to turn our employment problem around, the poverty trap will become more and more difficult to get out of, with the gap between the rich and the poor widening, the poor becoming isolated and demoralised, moral values changing daily and ethnic divisions increasing.
According to the UN Bulgarian Human Development Report, suicide, child abuse, domestic violence, broken homes and homelessness are typical of the more complicated and consequent social and economic problems in society. The bigger the unemployment problem is, and the longer it remains, the worse it is. We must work together. [Time expired.]
Chairperson, hon members, the UN has declared 17 October to be the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
In 1995, at the World Summit in Copenhagen, South Africa joined the nations of the world and pledged to eradicate poverty. Since the dawn of our democracy, South Africa has emerged from hatred and bitter separation to a new democracy of reconstruction, reconciliation and development.
Poverty is the denial of opportunities and choices most basic to human development to lead a long, healthy, creative life and enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-esteem and respect from other people.
Poverty is one of the greatest political, social and economic challenges of the 21st century that is facing the world at large. The most affected are the millions of women and children living in rural areas.
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on poverty and the monitoring of the policies and programmes to tackle it. The government, led by the ANC, has implemented policies and programmes, such as the municipal infrastructure grant, the Working for Water programme, the free basic services, etc, to address the problems facing South Africa.
Whilst the 2005 state of the nation address highlighted targets to attain water and sanitation provision, the President, in his 2006 state of the nation address, located the issues within the intentions of Asgisa. The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa identifies and implements a set of policy initiatives that will improve South African growth prospects. The President highlighted the following strategic objectives in his address that are relevant to Water Affairs: the public- private partnership capacity of local government and the eradication of the bucket system.
As regards the impact on Water Affairs, we all know that as from the 2005- 06 financial year, the capacity funds for the basic service have been allocated directly to municipalities under the municipal infrastructure grant. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry will be responsible for ensuring compliance and ensuring that municipalities maintain their focus on ending sanitation backlogs.
As regards access to clean water, in 1994, 15,9 million people out of a population of 39,8 million did not have access to basic water supply. Currently, 3,3 million people out of a population of 48,6 million have no access to a basic level of water supply.
The free basic water programme is making a huge difference to the poor, who are defined as households with an income of less than R800 per month. Currently, 1 million people are receiving the free basic service via normal infrastructure, while 80% of the population with access to water infrastructure enjoy access to free basic water, which relates to 75% of the South African population and represents a 5% increase.
Mangikusho ukuthi amanzi abaluleke kakhulu. Yingakho kufanele ukuthi wonke umuntu abe namanzi ukuze akwazi ukuphila, futhi yingakho-ke siye sithi: Water is life. Nabahlala emaphandleni kufanele ukuthi bagcine bewatholile amanzi ukuze babone izimpilo ziba ngcono. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.) [Let me also say that water is very important. It is for this very reason that all people should have water to live. That is why we say water is life. Even those who live in rural areas should get water, too, so that their lives can be better.]
The core business of the Working for Water programme is to contribute to the sustainable prevention and control of invasive alien plants. In doing so, it addresses poverty relief, and promotes economic empowerment and transformation within the public works framework.
Since the inception of the Working for Water programme in 1999, it has cleared more than 1 million hectares of invasive alien plants, providing jobs and training to approximately 25 016 people per annum from the marginalised sector of society, of which 52% are women.
Working for Water is currently running 303 projects in all nine provinces of South Africa. Short-term contract jobs were created through clearing activities and with an emphasis on recruiting 60% women, 20% youth, and 5% people with disabilities.
Regarding the eradication of the bucket system, out of a population of 48,6 million people, there are currently 15,3 million people with no access to sanitation. Since 1994, access to sanitation infrastructure in the sector has improved from 49% to 69% of the population. By 2007, the bucket system will be eliminated in all formal settlements in the country. There are 230 000 bucket toilets that need to be replaced with adequate sanitation.
I am happy to announce once more that the Mpumalanga Department of Local Government and Housing has completed the eradication of the bucket system in all its formal areas throughout the province.
The programme has also created more than 5 000 part-time jobs for the poor. The government is continuing to promote the eradication of the bucket system to replace it with dignified and appropriate types of sanitation services.
In conclusion, as people are stripped of their material and other possessions, part of their soul is lost in the process, leading many poor communities to sink further into poverty, characterised by crime, illiteracy, unemployment, diseases and often violence. That is why it is important for the ANC government to ensure that the masses of the people are well taken care of, in order to create a better life for all. Water is life and sanitation is dignity. Let us work together in order to eradicate poverty. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ke a leboga, Mmusakgotla. Mo letsatsing le la gompieno la lefatshe lotlhe la bana, re tshwanetse go tsepamisa megopolo ya rona mo go tshwaraganeleng go ba direla isagwe. Seane sa motswana sa re; kgetsi ya tsie e kgonwa ka go tshwaraganelwa.
Kgwetlo e tona e re lebaneng le yona ke ya go fedisa leuba mo lefatsheng la rona le kontinente ya Aforika, ntswa re tshwanetse go tswaragana le lefatshe lotlhe tota. Dintwa tsa go lwela maemo di kgoreletsa kgolo ya moruo. Lebelela jaaka tlala e tsene kwa Zimbabwe ka ntlha ya go diiwa ke dintwa. Lebelela Repaboliki ya Congo jaaka le yona e batla go diiwa ke dintwa kgotsa re tloga re lebelela Aforika Borwa jaaka e batla go lwa e lwela gore Moporesidente e tla nna mang.
Ee, re tshwanetse go tshwenyega mme ga e a tshwanela gore e nne sone fela se se nnang mo megopolong ya rona. Re tshwanetse go lebelela gore set?haba ka bophara se na le mathata a eng gore re tle re fedise leuba. Leuba le ka fedisiwa ka go tlhola ditiro, ka go rotloetsa bana go ithutela dithuto tsa seteginiki sa gompieno gore le bone batle ba kgone go itshedisa, ba fedise leuba.
Mafatshe a a humileng le ona a tshwaraganele leuba le rona go beeletsa mo lefatsheng la rona le le humanegileng. Mafatshe a a humanegileng le ona a sekaseke melao ya badiri gore e kgone go rokotsa kgatlhego go tswa mafatsheng a humileng gore batle ba tlhole ditiro.
Bana ba rona ke mpho ya botlhokwa e re e tsayang mo Modimong. A re ba direleng boswa ka go fedisa leuba. Mme re ka dira fela jalo fa re tshwaraganetse kgetsi ya tsie. Ke a leboga. (Translation of Setswana speech follows.)
[Mr B E PULE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today is International Children's Day, we must focus on working together towards the future of our children. There is a Setswana proverb that says two hands are better than one.
The main challenge we are facing is to eradicate poverty in our country and on the African continent. However, we have to work together with the whole world. The fighting for positions affects the growing of the economy. Just take a look at Zimbabwe; there is a lot of poverty because of the ongoing wars. Or shall we say: Look at South Africa, they are about to fight for the position of who will be the next President.
Yes, we must be worried, though this is not supposed to be the only thing that worries us. We have to take a look at the problems of the whole nation in general in order for us to eradicate poverty. Poverty can only be eradicated by creating jobs, encouraging children to study today's technologies in order for them to be able to fend for themselves.
The First World countries also work together with us in this fight as they are investing in our country. The Third World countries are examining the labour laws so that they can lure the interests from the First World countries so as to enable them to create jobs.
Our children are important gifts from God. Let us create a better future for them by ending this war. We can only do that by working together.]
Chairperson, comrades and hon members, poverty in our country carries, by and large, the face of an African woman, is rural based and a reality to the African majority. It is a product of inequality created by years of settler colonial rule with its attendant criminal oppression and ruthless exploitation. We reject the trickle-down theory and we advocate, as a measure of ideological conviction, an active role for the state in the socioeconomic life of the people. Absolute poverty can be wiped out by ensuring that our social security net covers all vulnerable groups, which have up to now excluded the long-term retrenchees.
The state's active role in the economy helps to ensure a fairer distribution of wealth, thus reducing relative poverty. Whilst the state has its role to play, so does private capital. We are not convinced that private capital is playing its role actively and satisfactorily, in terms of creating quality and sustainable jobs. Instead, poverty amongst the workers is rife due to starvation wages and permanent casualisation. The message must be sent that there is a growing realisation or appreciation that beyond the 1994 political settlement, white capital's resistance to share the economic cake has not waned much. The continued African poverty is a blot on our democracy. Indeed, the miracle of 1994 in material terms happened for the rich. Making poverty history is a campaign; let us make it a reality. Thank you.
Chairperson, hon Members of Parliament, comrades and friends in our country, Africa and elsewhere, beloved members of Cosatu, SACP, Sanco and ANC, it gives me a great pleasure to address you on the theme Working Together out of Poverty. This is a deeply sad and emotional topic that continues to set many nations against one another, brothers against sisters and husband against wife. Poverty is the single greatest burden of South Africans and is the direct result of the apartheid system and the grossly skewed nature of business and industrial development that accompanies it.
Poverty affects millions of people, the majority of whom live in rural areas and are women. It is against this background that Cosatu, SACP, Sanco, ANC and other progressive liberation movements were formed to better the lives of others. Many of our comrades in our country and elsewhere had to die because of destitution and hunger. Many in our midst are still unemployed without bread to eat. Many of our sisters are on street corners to sell their bodies because of poverty. This poverty is man-made and can be undone in the same way through persuasion to release the land. This will lessen crime in our country. Peace and comfort will prevail and we shall all be happy.
In celebrating October, Month of Heritage and dealing with the apartheid past without pointing fingers, let those who immensely benefited from the skewed distribution of wealth in the past, transfer the land for free to the poor so that they can be acknowledged and recorded for their noble contribution to transformation and the eradication of poverty.
The Department of Arts and Culture plays an important role in alleviating poverty in our country. The department has the Investing in Culture Programme aimed at ensuring realisation of sustainable empowerment opportunities through training and job creation in the arts, culture and heritage sectors.
The department is striving for the development of capital by allocating resources to ensure a return on investment that will fulfil its key objectives and broader government imperatives. Between April 2005 and March 2006, 1 612 job opportunities were afforded to beneficiaries, of whom 68% are women, 43% are youths and 8,2% are disabled people.
In the North West province, the department, in conjunction with Barolong boo rraTshidi, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the North West Parks and Tourism Board and the two municipalities of Mafikeng, is busy building the cultural heritage recreation facility at Letlamoreng dam. There will be temporary jobs that will be created until the facility is completed and more than 20 people will get permanent employment. There is additional funding needed to build the chalets and the department has requested us to assist in this regard.
A resource for the promotion and production of arts and culture is being made available and accessible to all. The democratic arts councils are being established in each region. Arts and culture form part of school and all other educational curricula. We need to develop the skills and talents of our people. We need more libraries. We need more museums, galleries, monuments and historical sites, which will reflect our different cultures and be accessible to communities to generate funds for our poor. We also need to mobilise our people to take charge of their own destinies.
Motswana a re mokoduo go tsoswa o o itsosang. [There is a Setswana saying that God helps those who help themselves.]
The Freedom Charter and the RDP documents are focused on our people's most immediate needs and rely, in turn, on their energies to drive the process of meeting their needs; regardless of race or sex, rural or urban, rich or poor, the people of South Africa must together shape their own future.
Development is not about delivery of goods to a passive citizenry, but about involvement and growing empowerment. In taking this approach we will be building on many structures and negotiation to ensure that our people are involved throughout the land. This programme is people-driven and is critical to alleviating poverty in our midst. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I was asked what do we do on International Poverty Day, and I replied:
We unite. We unite against all the elements that house poverty, against all the elements that retard our progress, and we unite to set our people free from the shackles of poverty.
Last week we debated the spirit of ubuntu and this week the MF reaffirms our belief in the Zulu proverb, "umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu", meaning, "people are people through other people." The MF strongly believes that unity and the principles of ubuntu are the key to poverty alleviation, social development and an effective democracy.
A duty is incumbent upon government, all citizens and the public and private sectors to induce efforts that will create opportunity for the destitute and deliver us from poverty. But to work together we need to have a common vision, and that vision is for a strong, healthy and wealthy South Africa, where its entire people share in its fruits and all strive for its good.
The MF supports the principle that the road to poverty alleviation is through working together. I thank you.
Chairperson and hon members, when I heard there was a debate on poverty alleviation I went out of my way to see poverty-stricken areas to find out what was being done. On speaking to the people, I found that they were not impressed and said the better life for all was a dream and poverty was just getting worse.
Every Ministry must take responsibility for the lack of alleviation of poverty - the Department of Home Affairs for not supplying ID books timeously so people can apply for jobs and grants, and the Department of Labour for not levelling the playing fields and encouraging job creation. The Minister would do well not to make job creators his enemies, but his attention should rather be focused on the ineffective Setas, which cost a lot and are not up to expectation.
Winning the bid for the 2010 World Soccer Tournament was welcomed by all as a means to poverty alleviation, but the statement by the chairperson of the organising committee, Franz Beckenbauer, that organisers are working against one another rather than with one another should be taken note of. It is time the relevant role-players changed their mindset of, "What is in it for me?" to rather, "What is in it for South Africa?"
The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs must start reviewing her strategy. I was personally involved in two projects in the Groblersdal area.
The Hereford irrigation farmers, who successfully restored an irrigation scheme about eight years ago, are keen farmers. The promises by the then hon Minister Hanekom on a visit some six years ago never led to them getting security of tenure, as he had promised. They are about to lose a R7 million project because they have no collateral.
The Sedi Trust, on the other hand, was given a very successful farming project five years ago. This farm is now fallow and has not produced anything for two and a half years. They have security of tenure, but no knowledge of farming, and seemingly no interest. They prefer to let the buildings as an easy, but minimal source of income.
The Minister for Provincial and Local Government should look at ineffective municipalities. There are many jobs to be done, but without capable people to organise and plan there will be no delivery and no jobs. We do a lot of talking about equal rights. There are no equal rights when everything depends on who you know and not what you know.
We can only hope that with the Deputy President behind Asgisa, there will be some alleviation of poverty. South Africa cannot afford any more experiments and we cannot afford to let projects such as 2010 slip through our fingers. Social engineering has not worked anywhere in the world and I don't think it has a chance of working here. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I thank the ANC for giving me this opportunity to participate in this debate on poverty, which has particularly been my experience as a youth in South Africa. [Interjections.] I lived in poverty in my youth and I'm very thankful, despite this lot sounding off on my left.
I want to believe that poverty is a worldwide problem. Indeed, there is therefore no need to moan about it. Instead, we have to combat it. The purpose is not to alleviate it, but to eradicate it. By the look of things it is a dream that cannot come true in light of the status quo. It is a daily experience to see people who have built shelters under bridges and others who have built fragile shelters on pavements, especially here when you walk around the urban areas of Cape Town.
We seem to stand by and look on helplessly, but this is because of the magnitude of the problem. We must therefore answer the following question: What is the world doing about it and what is South Africa doing about it?
The world, through the United Nations' Habitat programme, has pledged that nobody should be without a roof over his or her head. Housing as a shelter is not meant for the rich only, but for the poor as well. The Global Forum of Parliamentarians on Habitat is meeting on a yearly basis to resolve this worldwide problem of housing. According to the World Bank study on poverty, people flock to cities and cause congestion that aggravates poverty. The answer is to develop rural areas to diminish the flocking to the cities.
Leano la tsa Matlo le supa hore, matlo a bafutsana le a basebetsi a tshwanela ho ba haufi le dibaka tsa mosebetsi. Ho na le bo-Mmasepala ba phethahatsang leano lena. Mane ho la Foreisetata, metsana e kang bo- Ngoathe, bo-Matlwangtlwang, le boMmamahabane, kaho ya matlo e atameditswe haholo mesebetsing, le ha di-indasteri di eso ka di ba teng metseng eo ha jwale.
Moralo ona o supa maikemisetso a ho bontsha hore Afrika Borwa ke naha ya bohle ba dulang ho yona, ba batsho le ba basweu, ho ya ka lengolo la tokoloho. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.) [The strategy on housing shows that the poor and the working masses should be housed near their places of employment. Already there are municipalities who are implementing this plan. In the Free State, in small towns such as Ngoathe, Matlwangtlwang and Mmamahabane, housing has been developed near places of employment, even though industrialisation has not yet started.
This strategy indicates the intention to show that South Africa is a place for all who live in it, both black and white, as outlined in the Freedom Charter.]
As ons oor die hele wreld kyk, dan sien ons dat armoede geen kleur ken nie. Baie mense is maar brandarm, ongeag hulle kleur. Ons moet dus saamwerk om armoede te bekamp. Die ANC het genoeg programme om armoede te bekamp, maar ons moet saamstem dat onbekwaamheid 'n groot rol speel om dienslewering te vertraag. Dis waarom Asgisa die antwoord is.
Die President het onderneem om sommige bekwame amptenare weer aan te stel, soos die VF Plus versoek het. Ons weet dit sal nooit genoeg wees nie. Almal sal saamstem dat swartmense ook opgelei moet word om regstellende optrede te bewerkstellig. Dit moenie beskou word as diskriminasie, soos sommiges dink nie. Ons kan nie die onregverdigheid van die vorige bedeling teenoor swartmense verontagsaam nie. Dit is die waarheid en dit moet definitief sevier. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[If we look all over the world, we see that poverty knows no colour. Many people are indeed very poor, irrespective of colour. We therefore have to work together to combat poverty. The ANC has ample programmes in place to combat poverty, but we should agree that incompetence plays a major role in retarding service delivery. That is why Asgisa is the answer.
The President has undertaken to reappoint some competent officials, as requested by the FF Plus. We know that it will never be sufficient. We will all agree that Blacks should also be trained to effect affirmative action. It should not be regarded as discrimination, as some people think. We cannot ignore the injustices of the previous regime towards black people. That is the truth and it must definitely reign supreme.]
Ha ke tadima bahlomphehi ka ho le letshehadi ka mona, ke fumana hore ba a lla, ebile sello sa bona se thiba letsatsi, empa mme Weber ke yena ya batlileng a bua, hobane o bua ka tsela ya mokgatlo wa hae hantle.
Ke ne ke maketse ha ntate Masango a eme mona, a bua ntho e kareng e na le kelello, empa ba hlaha nqa e le nngwe. Jwale mme Weber o bontshitse hore seo a se bonang ke lefifi feela la bo-nka-ntjana ka hare ho naha ena ya Afrika Borwa, ha ho letho leo a le boneng le letle le entsweng. Ha a bone matlo a ahetsweng mafutsana, ha a bone mesebetsi e ntseng e etswa, ha a bone letho, le hore dintho di fetohile ka hare ho naha ena, hobane o tsamaya moo a ratang teng hobane o re o tsamaya bofutsaneng.
Jwale rona bafutsana re tseba hore mme Weber ha a soka a matha ka mochupu wa metsi ha ntlo ya hae e nela. Ha a soka a matha ka sekotlolo sa ho hlapela ntlo ya hae e nela. Haesale a robala dikobong tse majabajaba tseo a sa tsebeng le ho itlhatswetsa tsona, tse hlatsuwang ke motho e mong. Jwale ke kahoo a tla tla bua mona ka bofutsana boo a sa bo tsebeng, boo a sokang a bo phela le ho bo phela.
Ho bontsha feela hore o mpa a lelekisa letsetse ka terene ha a nahana hore bafutsana ba tla mo sala morao. Ba a tseba hore hohang ha ho na sebaka sa bona pelong ya hae. Le hona jwale o ntse a itshupa ka ho bua mona. O tlameletsa ntate Hanekom ka leano la hae leo a neng a tshwanetse hore o le sebedisitse, jwalo ka ha batho ba mo tshehetsang haholo e le barui. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)
[Therefore when I look at the hon members on my left, I see that they are in a grievous mood, and yet Mrs Weber is the one who chooses to speak because she sounds like a typical member of her party. I was really surprised when Mr Masango stood up here, saying something that nearly made sense, and yet they belong to the same party. Therefore, Mrs Weber has shown us that what she sees in South Africa is darkness only, she does not see anything good or positive that has been done. She does not see the houses which have been built for the poor, nor the fact that things have changed in this country, because she goes to some places which she believes to be poverty-stricken areas.
However, we, the poor, know that Mrs Weber has never run around with a bucket of water when her house is leaking during the rain. She has never run around with a small basin when her house takes in water. She has always slept under expensive blankets which she doesn't even know how to wash, which are washed for her by someone else. And yet she comes here and talks about poverty which she knows nothing about and has never experienced at all.
What it shows is that she is attempting the impossible if she thinks that the poor will buy her story. They know very well that she does not have their interests at heart. Even now she is busy railing, putting the blame on Mr Hanekom for the strategy which she was supposed to implement as a result of the support that she enjoys from the rich.]
Ja, die mense wat haar steun, is die ryk mense. Nou begin sy haar party ontwrig deur na die mense te hardloop wat niks van haar dink nie. Dit is die probleem. Aan die "Minister van Travelgate" wil ek s: Dit is jou storie oor Travelgate, en jy sal dit ook een van die warm dae eet en sluk! Baie dankie. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Yes, those supporting her are the rich. Now she is starting to disrupt her party by running to the people who have no regard for her. That is the problem! To the "Minister of Travelgate", I wish to state that it is your version of Travelgate and that one of these hot days you will also have to eat and swallow it! Thank you. [Applause.]]
Debate concluded.