Chairperson, hon members, thank you for the opportunity to open this debate. Before I do so, allow me to congratulate the following members: Hon Sogoni, who has been appointed as Chairperson of the Joint Budget Committee; hon Mkhaliphi, who has been elected as Chair for the Select Committee on Provincial and Local Government; hon Sibiya, who has been elected as Chair of the Economic and Foreign Affairs Select Committee; and hon Faith Mazibuko, who has been elected, firstly, as the provincial Whip of Gauteng and, secondly, as the deputy chair of the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women. [Applause.] I wish you good luck in your present positions. These are deployments with many varied and difficult tasks. But I have no doubts that you will manage well and make it.
This afternoon we present, for consideration by the House, the report on Taking Parliament to the People - a visit to the North West from 10 to 14 March 2008, as published in the ATCs of 14 October 2008. As you know, this was the 10th visit undertaken by this House under our public participation and outreach programme - Taking Parliament to the People. The programme was initiated to serve as a means through which this House can interact with communities with a view to promote public education and to enhance public participation. Since its launch, we have been able to create an opportunity for people to be informed about Parliament and the kind of service delivery they would like to see.
Through this programme, we have linked Parliament with communities from within and around. You would be aware that we have already visited all nine provinces. We now end this programme by visiting the Eastern Cape, where we started in 2002. These communities can bear testimony to Parliament's attempts, through the NCOP, to fulfil the aspirations of the Freedom Charter by practically ensuring that "all people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country." The programme has assisted Parliament to lay building blocks for the creation of a people's Parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people towards realising a better quality of life for all the people of our country. Some of these successes of the programme in the Third Parliament will be indicated in this report.
The term of the Third Parliament has seen the intensification of the Taking Parliament to the People programme through, among other things, follow-up visits to monitor responses to issues raised by our people, and continues to focus on key service delivery areas such as education, health, housing, social development and the public works programme. We have witnessed huge support given to the NCOP by people during these visits that highlight the need for this institution to continue acting as a bridge between the people and government. As a consequence of the success of this programme, we have the responsibility to remain committed to representing their interests in the consideration of laws and resources for the betterment of the quality of lives.
As a true public representative, we cannot afford to create false hope that the difficulties people continue to experience can be resolved in one day. The fact is that challenges that face our poor communities have a long history and are therefore deep-rooted. To address these challenges needs time and resources. There are no quick-fix solutions to all these problems. We know, as this House, that addressing service delivery challenges needs the careful co-ordination of services by the different spheres of government. On the other hand, we need to move faster in assisting our people where resources are available. We have the authority to intervene where there are problems with implementation.
Some of the issues that were raised in the North West province were as follows: Firstly, under education, school nutrition programme, scholar transport, shortage of water, school safety and shortage of maths and science teachers were raised. Secondly, under health, the lack of medication in public hospitals, long hours that people spend in queues to get assistance and the need for the expansion of services for TB and HIV were raised. Lastly, under youth, the lack of sport facilities, accessibility of services targeting the youth and entry requirements into formal employment were raised.
The report also notes appreciation by communities of some positive developments in some of the above-mentioned areas of service delivery and, more particularly, with regard to interventions being made by government, such as in the provision of resources for community health needs. This is important because when looking at service delivery, there is often a tendency to undermine the positive things that happen in our communities. This is not only unfair, but it also destroys the hope of those who need service delivery the most, because of their circumstances that remain largely unchanged.
Members will certainly agree with me that the issues raised in the report are not new. We have heard them being raised in some of the provinces we visited before the visit to North West and during committee oversight activities. Committees will do their work and check what is happening on the ground. The question we need to answer is whether, as the NCOP, we are willing to do all in our power to ensure that the resources that are made available are deployed and utilised effectively and on time. This is because if we can do so, we will make a difference in speeding up service delivery.
We also need to ask ourselves whether we have the necessary capacity to adequately manage the work of the NCOP that is generated through programmes such as Taking Parliament to the People. If not, what will it take for us to ensure that we have the necessary capacity? In this respect, I must indicate though that we have taken some of the recommendations you made as a House that are related to this question, especially during last year's summit on intergovernmental relations, to relevant political structures for further consideration. We will continue to engage all relevant structures on issues we think should be addressed towards strengthening the NCOP for better service delivery to our people.
In terms of the follow up on the North West visit, given the fact that we are now nearing the end of the third term of Parliament, the reality is that as a House, we may not have sufficient time to conduct a proper follow up on issues we picked up in the North West. Therefore, we need to take up these issues and find a way of ensuring that we continue to respond to them beyond the term of this current Parliament. I intend to ask the House when we come back next year - when we consider the report of the NCOP during this term of Parliament - to consider this question and to find ways of ensuring that we process all the issues we would like the next Parliament to pay attention to. Your views will definitely assist a great deal.
As a House, we have just adopted the resolution to sit in the Eastern Cape in Lady Frere for a week next month as part of the Taking Parliament to the People programme. This will surely be our last such activity in the Third Parliament. You will certainly realise that this is one of the communities in our country that is deserving of such a visit, given the challenges caused by poverty. It is my wish that our presence there will bring hope to this community and add impetus to the developments that are already planned.
Members will recall that we have often referred to the need for a study on Taking Parliament to the People with a view to enhance the NCOP's interventions through this programme. A lot of work has been done towards this. As soon as administration finalises all procurement issues, we will begin this process. Our intention is to have the results ready when we come back next year in order to be able to reflect on them so that they form part of our handover report. We will give you the details once a team of researchers has been appointed to do this work.
On that note, I submit the report on our visit to North West earlier this year for consideration by the House. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson and my colleagues, allow me to also add my voice in this august House to the report of Taking Parliament to North West, as was conducted by this upper House. I must also emphasise the fact that the focus of this round of activity was not so different from the Polokwane conference resolutions that put more emphasis on the following categories and priorities: Enhancing the quality of education; improving the provision of health care, particularly for the poor, so as to reduce infant, child and maternal mortality; reducing levels of crime and enhancing citizen safety; expanding rural infrastructure, public transport, housing, water, electricity and sanitation, with emphasis to labour- intensive projects; and the support for farmers and initiative to emerging farmers.
I must indicate, as well, that there were some generic issues raised by participants during the public hearings. Those issues were: High rate of unemployment; class discrimination in society at large; poverty and hunger; social transformation as a process towards poverty eradication; job- creation through the Expanded Public Works Programme; free education should be given; skills development should be accessed by poor communities; fostering co-operative governance; and child support grants should be extended to the age of 18 years.
I must also put emphasis on some matters that were raised in relation to the local government. It came out that there was a lack of communication and consultation between the government, people and the communities. This point of view was partly based on outstanding progress reports to update community members on progress regarding some issues affecting them. I think we have seen that during the TV footage this week around the area of Lichtenburg. I hope that the opportunity afforded to the community of North West, the officials and the politicians should have made it possible for them to address those issues.
When coming to the challenges with the Department of Education, there was a mention of drug abuse that was noted. It was noted that drug abuse as well as alcohol abuse are serious challenges in communities and they need the intervention of the government. The youth were viewed as victims of drug abuse hence they were dropping out of school before reaching grade 12 and becoming involved in crime. Some of the children were engaging in such behaviour within the school premises. Consequently, children and the youth were encouraged to go back to school. I wouldn't like to mention the shortages of teachers. I think the Chairperson has already alluded to that.
I must also mention that the following recommendations were placed before the House: The school feeding scheme should not be compromised, but rather be prioritised for the benefit of the children; an audit of infrastructure investment in farm schools and other schools in the area should be conducted; and a breakdown of the budget of the provincial departments of Education should be sent to the delegation. I hope that has been done.
There were, of course, a number of health-related matters and challenges that were put forward. I would like to indicate that there were some responses whereby the Minister of Health and the MEC stated that it was a good exercise that people were afforded the platform to put forward all those shortcomings. Furthermore, they stated that shortages of resources and training of professional nurses was an issue that was being addressed. Nurses were performing tasks beyond their control. It was noted that more support was going to be employed with the hope that it would assist in minimising such challenges.
Therefore, I have a hope that with the now revised expenditure estimate of 2008-09 as proposed through the Appropriation Bill during the Medium-Term Budget Planning, there was a hope that my North West province would benefit and prioritise challenges like the opening of new nursing colleges, so as to address all of them. I thank you. [Applause]
Hon Chairperson, let me say from the start so that there would be no confusion later of us being accused of not supporting the actions of Parliament. The Democratic Alliance supports everything as prescribed in the Constitution and especially with regard to our duties in this House when it comes to oversight and our responsibility to the voters in the different provinces. Therefore, let there be no doubt that we support the programme of Taking Parliament to the People.
But having said that let's not be remiss and think that supporting the principle means that we support everything that goes along with it. And that's where the doubt is sometimes derived from what I say, because I am normally the one who speaks about this. When I spoke some time ago in Potchefstroom, in Tlokwe, I referred to the lack of follow-up by provinces with regard to Taking Parliament to the People in reference to the Western Cape visit in which we promised to follow-up and which never took place. I was even called a liar by one very hon member from the floor, but that follow-up visit still has not taken place. And yet, hon Chair, we are debating the next visit where I was called a liar, the one to North West.
What I'm saying is that if we go and visit the people and we truly listen to their problems, and we tell them that we will come back as an institution and make sure that those things that were promised by their MECs and by their councillors and mayors are done, then we should do that. But yet again - and the hon Chairperson of the NCOP has alluded to it - time possibly does not allow this. But I think that there has been ample time and there has been too many other things occupying our time, not least of which were problems in individual parties. But let's not dwell on that.
Let me just refer to this report which has nine introductory pages and 49 pages. Are there clowns in the House? Sorry, I thought the circus has come to Cape Town. [Laughter.] Let me refer to just one page out of the 58 pages and that is the question on the provision of drinking water to the people. Just one page out of 58 has reference to the complaints and the resolutions or responses to water. And one of the main responses was that it was recommended that the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration, Finance, Safety and Constitutional Affairs, in collaboration with the relevant committees in the provincial legislature, should conduct oversight by visiting the communities in order to assess how the budget allocation impacts on community programmes and to solve the problems associated with it.
Now let me tell you, hon Chairperson, that at this very moment, I'm just talking about drinking water, there's riots in the Zeerust Municipality, where there is no drinking water ... [Laughter.] Why are you laughing? It's not my main language. You shouldn't be laughing, you should correct me. You see, that attitude is worrying to me. The substance of the report is not important, but when the speaker can't pronounce a Setswana word - that's very important. Because of the fact that there is still no drinking water, the people of Zeerust are rioting and burning tyres in the streets and obstructing the traffic on the N4 every now and again.
A similar thing is happening in the Tshing township in Ventersdorp, where there are also riots. In Delareyville in the Tswaing Municipality, a delegation by the MEC Howard Dembeza had to go and calm the community to try and solve the problems. In Letsopo in Ottosdal the sewage is running down the street and contaminating the drinking water. Similar things are occurring in Naledi in Vryburg, and in Kgetlenrivier Municipality the MEC had to once again calm the people who were rioting. I would also like to have some order.
The problem, Chair, is that if we do not follow up with these visits and solve these problems, then we will not have achieved anything. And if we do not go and pronounce upon the visits - I've had reports, and maybe this is not official - the word goes out that this is one big ANC rally. Well, maybe this is the last one. Maybe after next year's election we'll have a different picture. But we must be truthful when we say that we want to attend to the needs of the people and not make a mockery of this; and to follow-up is our duty. I thank you, sir. [Applause.]
Thank you, Chairperson. Hon members, ladies and gentlemen, when one has to come and oppose or support the report he must certainly look for other issues that are not there at that particular time. We must make a follow-up and that is our duty. You must not add salt unnecessarily, lest your food become so distasteful. You should be extra careful, Mr Watson.
We are gathered today, two days after one of the outstanding daughters of Africa and a compatriot of our people, Comrade Albertina Nontsikelelo Thethiwe Sisulu, celebrated her 90th birthday. Allow me to pay tribute and pass our birthday wishes on to this courageous hero of our people and a living symbol of our struggle for liberation. uMaSisulu has been at the forefront of the struggle for the liberation of the people of South Africa. I want to say: Her story calls on all of us, particularly the cadres of our movement, never to waiver in our commitment to the struggle for freedom and the total liberation of our people. Her story calls on all of us to guard against those with malicious intentions and to serve the cause of a principled and value-based movement for a free South Africa, and to free ourselves from those who only want to plunder and destroy what our forbearers have built with their blood and their lives.
The idea of a people's government was also enriched when we went to North West for the visiting of sites. This reminds me of how we worked in the 1980s; how women's organisations and civic structures, youth and students and shop steward councils made sure that we really got our freedom. Chair, as we emerge from our national conference in Polokwane - I hope Mr Watson watched that part - we boldly proclaimed the principles of the Freedom Charter, which continue to burn in the soul of our movement. Over the 95 years of the existence of the ANC the movement evolved into a force for mass mobilisation; a glue that held our people together and a trusted leader of the broadest range of social forces that shared the vision of a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
Indeed, our debate today also reflects the firm commitment of our movement to work tirelessly to put our people first. I hope you are listening. Our report today of Taking Parliament to the People in North West clearly attests to the ANC government's commitment to this historic vision of popular participation in self-government by our people. I want to say to our members: Let us not be distracted by a few who have selfish interests and selfish people who were not there in Kliptown and who do not have the interests of our people at heart. [Interjections.] Ours has always been that ideal of a better life for all. The report attests to the very noble principles and ideals that commit our movement to the legacy of popular power and a government by the people. It proves without any shred of doubt our historic resolve to engage with the people of South Africa in the very communities where they live. It proves that the ANC remains to be a bold beacon of hope and the only instrument for the continued liberation of our people from the trappings of the social challenges facing our people in their daily lives.
The report of our visit provokes another round of earnest assessment of our commitment to ensure a better life for all our people. We are not denying anything, Mr Watson. There is not a shred of doubt that in the past 13 years the lives of millions of our people have changed for the better and that many of our people are better off today than they were yesterday. This report attests to the historic commitment of expanding the dialogue with our people on the challenges that they face as we continue to dismantle the legacy of apartheid and its settlements.
As we visited the people of Tlokwe, which is an area that was historically reserved for a small minority that enjoyed the protection of the apartheid regime as the capital of the former Transvaal Republic, many of us were stunned by the stark reality of the legacy of apartheid settlements that still prevailed in many of our communities. I wish you could have said something around that, Mr Watson.
I must reiterate that the Premier of North West assured us during our visit in March that we will not tolerate any racial attitudes in any of our government institutions. The functioning of the machinery of government is particularly important because the overall direction and success of the democratic journey of our nation rests on its functionality and its ability to deliver effective services. Therefore, we will not allow any structures of our government to be blatantly misused to degrade the dignity imposed upon our people by the Constitution.
The people of Tlokwe also spoke about their daily struggles to access water, sanitation, employment. That is what you were saying. That is what we have discovered and that is exactly why we have a provincial government that has to do its work. [Interjections.] We were indeed humbled by the commitment of the North West government to address some of these challenges. I hope you are listening now, Watson. Some of the people of Tlokwe were not hesitant to share their stories and the hope that has been reignited by our government. Some told us how some of our government's programmes such as the social grant, the Expanded Public Works Programme, feeding schemes and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme continued to change their lives. It can't be that there is no difference.
I remember a woman who spoke passionately about a house that she had received a few months before our visit - not that it was because we were going to visit that area. It is these stories that continue to rekindle our hope and commitment for a better South Africa. We will continue to engage with the various structures of our government to ensure that the challenges that our people face are really addressed. As the ANC we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the lives of our people continue to change for the better.
Chair, because of time, I want to say that we will continue to strengthen our interaction with them in order to afford them the opportunity to contribute positively to local development and to increase their democratic involvement in matters affecting their daily lives. On behalf of the ANC I move that the Council adopts the report. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I think the hon Chief Whip, hon Ntwanambi, has actually responded to quite a number of issues. I am sure you will agree with me that the ANC government has done a wonderful job in the past 15 years. In my research, in my study and in everything I have done, I have not heard of any country that ushered in democracy and has done so many things in 15 years. I have never seen it. They have produced a Constitution which is accepted and applauded internationally. They implemented that Constitution in 15 years' time.
When we took over government in 1994, we were in an economic recession of 1% economic growth. All those who could remember 1994 - I was here. I took part in the negotiations and I took part in the transitional executive council, and I have been taking part in Parliament since 1994. The economic growth of South Africa was standing at 1% and there was an economic recession. We have built the economy of this country from then up until now to above 4% towards 5% economic growth in this country. What an achievement in 15 years! There are countries who have been 20, 30, 40 years in democracy and they could hardly move to 2% or 3% of their economic growth. We have managed to bring the debt of this country down, which was caused by the apartheid government when they were aware that the new government will come in. That big debt has been brought down and we are now enjoying a bit of a surplus in our budget in this country. What an achievement beyond that! That's the greatest achievement that you could have seen.
All that I am trying to say is that people must not think that we are going to address all the problems over one day. If the apartheid government, which separated us into different homelands, could not address all these problems during the years when they were in government, how do you expect this government to address all of these issues overnight? I mean, it's impossible.
What we should say is that our government has done a lot in 15 years, we have got challenges to face and we will continue doing those things, because our people have not achieved all the things that they need to achieve. So we will continue to do that. I think, if you have been listening very well, I said there's one thing that the NCOP should still do very well and that is follow-ups. That's what I said in my speech. I can quote my speech right now; it's in writing. I raised that because I think once we go to the people, we raise their expectations, and we must go back and make sure that those things are happening. We are in charge of overseeing the implementation of the budget that we are voting for as Members of Parliament. That is the key issue.
You vote on a budget, so that it can go and be put to work. You heard what Mr Trevor Manuel said yesterday. What are we doing about some of the underexpenditure in some departments? That's our job! We've got to say that money has got to work, because we have allocated it to that particular department and make sure that we ask questions to those who are in charge when they come to the House. I am referring to the executive, of course. What has happened? We must be alive to all the issues that the people have raised on the ground. But, Mr Watson, thank you very much today that you have actually come to the fore and said that you supported this. I am very glad that you are actually responding to the questions that you are putting. It is impossible to deal with these issues over a day; it's impossible; we can't do so. You will find those problems, but let's all stay focused. Our people should not lose hope down there. Those who have not yet got water, electricity, clinics - those things will be done. We are committed by the Constitution, because it's a constitutional obligation that we have to deliver services wall-to-wall throughout the South African nation.
Therefore, I want to thank the House for its effective and positive deliberation in terms of this report. Thank you very much. I hope you will pass the report.
Debate concluded. Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.