Chair, may I address, firstly, the matter of the ports and, secondly, the matter of a UNDP report. Let me say that I think this matter has been dealt with in the responses from Transnet and Public Enterprises, in that there have been specific conditions in recent periods in Durban around servicing the container terminal, mainly wind conditions. The question of whether there would or would not be a surcharge is a matter that will be dealt with amongst the shippers and our liaison with them as Portnet and port operations. Let me say that the Durban container terminal is now moving record volumes of containers. We are very cognisant of the need to increase our container capacity. I think you sit on the portfolio committee, and you would have also been aware that we are going to expand pier one and have a range of other plans.
As we have indicated all along, we are very open to partnerships, and the final port master plan has been before the Transnet board. We have also looked at it as the Department of Public Enterprises, and we are quite open to forming partnerships. But, certainly, it is not as simple as you try to make out: that we should just bring in port authority. To promote any one organisation against all others is not correct. This would have to be a negotiating process. We will have to decide on what basis, how, where and who we would bring in as partners.
I think we are definitely making progress. The efficiency levels are improving and, of course, it is very good to be dealing with the problem of economic success as opposed to economic failure.
That brings me to the second issue. Fortunately, this government has access to many advisers. I think many of you are familiar with the group of economists we loosely call the Harvard group, which is a very systematic research project that has access to government information, where we exchange views with them. We have no shortage of access to advice or advisers.
Of course, we would welcome any study if it were done under the auspices of the UNDP. We would look at these matters. But, at the end of the day, governments must govern; they can't change policies every five minutes when they get some new research group giving them advice. These may have mirrored, or they may not.
But I think you would already know that there is a very firm view in South Africa - and it has been part of the tremendous success of our fiscal and economic policy - which is that, generally speaking, we are not in support of subsidies. These can be exceptionally dangerous economic interventions. If your economy starts spiralling in various ways and your subsidies get bigger and bigger, you place yourself in an exceptionally dangerous position.
Now, we do have certain support measures for learnerships. We do have certain support measures for employment conditions, which the Minister of Finance has announced on a number of occasions in recent budgets. But the general approach of the South African government is to make sure that you have an exceptionally robust and defensible fiscal system. That means we don't like lots of tax incentives, we don't like lots of subsidies, and we can be pretty confident that this is a formula for success, because the economy is performing better than it has ever performed before.
So, we welcome advice, we listen to it, but we can't govern on the advice of every adviser. We would have chaos. We govern through a proper policy- making process within the majority party. We govern through a process of consultation and with a wide range of experts and, of course, we come to Parliament. Economic policy cannot chop and change.
Everyone is an expert on economic policy. The opposition claims every success, but never admits any failure. Of course, you all would never have a failure, because you have no responsibility for government. So, you've got no failures. [Interjections.] We will see where you do govern, how you will go. I am sure you will do exactly what we did - you will have a few failures.
Thank you, hon Minister. Your time has expired.
Could I just thank them for their advice? We have listened but, of course, we take it with a pinch of salt. Thank you.