Hon Minister, just a minute. Our apologies for the translation services. We said to them 10 minutes, but they are not yet back from their 10-minute break. Somebody is attending to it. We really want to apologise, but continue, Minister, in whatever languages that you speak.
Thank you, hon Chair.
In terms of land redistribution, we will, as a medium-term intervention, take a closer look at the relevant legislation currently before this House, including the Land Use Management Bill, as directed by the President yesterday. Furthermore, we will finalise the review ... Perhaps "review" is too strong a word, but we will certainly take a closer look at the willing- buyer, willing-seller model of land redistribution, as well as investigating other less costly alternative models of land redistribution. It is clearly not possible over the next five years, particularly under the current economic recession, to raise R71 billion to fulfil this requirement. This is an imperative intervention in ensuring that we find mechanisms to speed up land reform processes.
It is our considered view that we need to get into close interaction with those South Africans who are privileged enough today to control land resources in our country to ensure that we debate this issue and collectively find solutions that will be favourable to all South Africans.
With regard to tenure reform, we will review policy and legislation relating to tenure security and in particular patterns of land ownership. This relates to the point I have made above. We will enhance the capacity of the state to effectively respond to challenges of land administration, to create certainty and unlock development potential in these areas. Our view is that some of the blockages are more internal institutional problems that need to be resolved.
It was imperative for us to take bold steps to deal effectively with hunger and poverty. No South African should go to bed hungry when we have the possibility of optimal use of and benefit from our relatively vast natural resources. We shall, therefore, through the rural development programme, improve social and economic infrastructure, public amenities and facilities.
I have said what the President thinks, but I heard the secretary-general of the ANC say: "We want you to build dams. Construct dams, provide fences, mechanisation, shearing shears, and all these kinds of practical issues." I have also heard the Deputy President say: "Why don't you look at all the boarding schools that are closing down?" Some of the buildings are still there, but they're dilapidated. "Why don't you go and look at them, renovate them and turn them into centres of excellence in education? Get the best coaches to train children in sports. Get the parents to plough the land and grow vegetables to cook for their children." These are elements of a model of rural development, one from the President, another from the secretary-general and yet another from the Deputy President of the country. Their wish is our command.
We are talking about rural development as a cross-cutting function. We are looking at working together with other departments, municipalities and South Africans in the private sector, NGOs, to look at issues such as clean water, sanitation and even ICT hubs. It is not fair that children from rural areas must go to cities to go to the cinema or the theatre. We are looking at livestock and crop farming, electricity, communal and household gardening, on- and off-farm roads, small-scale irrigation schemes, recreational facilities for young people, revival of land that is lying fallow, and conservation for local economic development, as well as human development. This is what we want to do as part of our mandate - social cohesion and development.
When we are talking about development, we really refer to shared prosperity: equity, full employment and cultural progress in the long term. This will be the bedrock and the measure against which the success of this programme should be measured. We have to reverse the creeping fragmentation of rural communities and restore the spirit of ubuntu. Umntu ngumntu ngabantu. [I am because of you.]
In fast-tracking the implementation of all our land reform programmes, working together with the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, we will ensure that the Water for Growth and Development Strategy is implemented and that water allocation reform is an integral part of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme to ensure equitable distribution of this scarce natural resource. For every community plan and every land reform project, we will ensure that sufficient water is secured for that purpose and that there is optimal use and management of this natural resource.
It is of critical importance that during this difficult period of economic recession we strive to put in place measures to harness and streamline available rural development financing to make sure that it is accessible, affordable and effective. We are currently developing a national template which will serve as a framework to guide all spheres of government in the implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. We have identified the greater Giyani Local Municipality, especially the villages of Muyexe, Dingamanzi and Gon'on'o, as pilot sites. As we speak, all three spheres of government are working together with the people of Giyani, concretising their Comprehensive Rural Development Programme priorities and costing them. In addition to Giyani, we will, in the next three months, roll out the programme to other provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the Eastern Cape and the North West. Next week we are going to Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape to interact with that community to better understand their developmental needs and thus work together with them and other departments and other stakeholders to bring about change in their lives. The Riemvasmaak community, which in the past received more that 75 000 hectares of land, shall be receiving a further 46 000 hectares through the restitution programme during this Land Month of June. As we interact with them next week, we want to understand the best interventions and initiatives to effectively deal with the prevailing poverty in that area.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme is not another social security programme. Its key objective is social cohesion and development. It is therefore important that communities organise themselves, and that we assist them to organise themselves as well in the spirit of "Vukuzenzele! Hi ti hluvukisa!" [Get up and do it for yourself! We develop ourselves!]
I have committed myself as part of development, because I need to develop in this regard. I have committed myself, with the traditional leaders of Giyani, that every time we visit there over the next two years, we will be involved with them, that we will have 30 minutes and that I will learn the language.
Order! Hon Minister, unfortunately your time has expired.
Thank you, hon Chairperson. [Applause.]
Before I call the next speaker, I just got information that the interpreting services have been there the whole time. However, they are experiencing technical problems. Please do not crucify them for my earlier remarks. They are experiencing technical challenges.
Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President and colleagues, the ACDP welcomes President Zuma's state of the nation address, which we believe was positive and daring, and instilled hope in many of our people. We further welcome his acknowledgment that our country has entered a recession and his intention to have government act speedily to minimise the impact of this economic downturn on those most vulnerable - particularly by protecting jobs.
When highlighting some of the steps that will be taken by government in response to the economic crisis, the President left us with questions that need answers and statements that should be clarified.
As an example, the President said, and I quote:
Workers who would ordinarily be facing retrenchment due to economic difficulty would be kept in employment for a period of time and be reskilled.
While acknowledging that the President did say that discussion on the practical detail is continuing, the ACDP wants to know whether all workers in all sectors, including mining, will benefit from such an arrangement and whether the reskilling the President spoke about will also benefit those doing low-paying jobs, such as cleaners and domestic workers.
We also want to know whether there are sufficient funds to help all companies that are in distress. What will the criteria be for funding a company in distress, and will small businesses also benefit from such a programme?
The ACDP also welcomes plans to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses, which will reduce the cost of doing business in South Africa. This, we believe, will help to attract new investment opportunities that are urgently needed during the recession.
The President also said, and I quote again:
We are mindful of the need to link social grants to jobs or economic activity in order to encourage self-reliance among the able-bodied. The ACDP believes this link is important as it will prevent our country from turning into a welfare state that robs people of initiative, dignity and independence. What we want to know is when this need to link social grants to jobs or economic activity will become government policy; by when will it be implemented and will government have the capacity to make it a success?
We commend the President for admitting that the quality of health care is deteriorating very fast. We were unfortunately not told what this administration is going to do about that. We trust that government will move from the position of just being concerned, to actively reversing the deterioration. Our people who have been promised a better life deserve quality and professional health care and they deserve to be treated with compassion and respect.
Mr President, the treatment given to some patients, particularly the elderly, is appalling and is nothing but abuse. This practice has to stop and the elderly must be given back their dignity and the respect they deserve. There was a shocking story on the front page of the Pretoria News which told of a helpless patient who described the ordeal he allegedly suffered at the hands of Steve Biko Academic Hospital nursing staff as "hell on earth". How can nursing staff be allowed to get away with letting a patient lie in his own faeces for almost three days? If the President has not heard about this shocking abuse, he must please get a copy of the relevant article and read first-hand about the dire extent of the deterioration of service in some public hospitals. The ACDP believes that the culture of proper caring, compassion, respect for the rights of patients and love for those who are suffering must be restored in all our hospitals.
While we understand that our health workers are underpaid, overworked and under a lot of pressure, we find it totally unacceptable that a patient who is crying in pain and in need of help and painkillers should be told by health workers that they are on their tea break or having lunch. Where is ubuntu in all this? Urgent attention must be given to the bad attitude and work ethic of some of our health workers.
Having said the above, the ACDP believes doctors and nurses should be paid well, to minimise the poaching that is taking place and to ensure that we do not lose any more doctors. We believe the salary demands made by doctors are not unreasonable and that the occupation-specific dispensation should be finalised as soon as possible.
Mr President, we believe doctors must be paid well because we need them and we do not want to lose them to the private sector or to countries that will show them more appreciation.
As far as crime is concerned, the ACDP believes that police powers must be revisited and more teeth must be given to law enforcement officers. We have been assured many times before that particular attention will be given to combating the theft of police case dockets, but this is still happening. Is there anything new that this administration intends to do to ensure that the theft of case dockets comes to an end?
Mr President, the Forensic Procedures Amendment Bill was not finalised by the Third Parliament, notwithstanding it being referred to an ad hoc parliamentary committee for urgent attention earlier this year. It is disgraceful, we believe, that the SA Police do not have access to the fingerprints contained in the databases of the Department of Home Affairs, which contains about 31 million prints, and that of the Department of Transport, which has a further six million prints. It is no wonder that so many offenders are not apprehended.
The Bill also sought to enhance DNA profiling. It is irrefutable that the effective use of fingerprints and DNA evidence helps to track down criminals and, once apprehended, ensures that the prosecution's case succeeds in court. We heard the hon Minister of Police saying that this Bill would be finalised within a year. We trust that it will be done as a matter of urgency, sooner rather than later.
It is not enough, Speaker, to merely say that the most serious attention will be given to combating organised crime as well as crimes against women and children. Has this not been said before? Reported stories about sexual abuse of boys are worrying. According to reports, children's clinics around the country are struggling to cope with the huge increase in the sexual abuse of boys, some as young as three years old.
Mr President, government is failing our children. Not a single day passes without one hearing about a child who has been raped, and many of these incidents are not reported to the police.
The ACDP has been saying for years now that pornography is harmful and should be removed from street corners and shops. Those who defend pornography still claim that there is no scientific proof linking pornography to rape. I am sure, Mr President, you will agree with me when I say that pornography is the theory and rape is the act. What other conclusion could there be to explain why a baby of a few months old is raped by an adult, or why a 65-year-old grandmother was raped by a 16-year- old boy, as happened in Mthata this past weekend? I urge the President to bite the bullet and declare that pornography is dangerous, harmful and addictive, and that its easy availability has contributed immensely to the unacceptably high incidence of rape in this country.
Could you please tell us how this government is going to protect our children and babies from the scourge of rape? Let us not only talk about loving our children, but let us go, if necessary, even to what some might call extreme measures in order to protect our children. [Time expired.]
Madam Chairperson, hon President, my colleagues: Thank you very much, Mr President, for the speech you delivered at the opening of the fourth democratic Parliament. It was a speech that was easy to comprehend and that had targets. This speech is going to make it easy for us to assess the performance and achievements of your government. It will be easier, as well, to remind you that these targets were not met or were met, and what could have been the obstacles or the problems in meeting them. We will know who is performing and who is not, and corrective measures will be put in place timeously.
The President has hinted to the people of South Africa that South Africa cannot escape the consequences of the present economic meltdown and he has admitted that the country is facing a recession, and that the government is joining hands with its social partners to come up with plans to minimise the impact of this recession. This is a step in the right direction. However, we wish the hon President could have revealed what plans are in place so that we could engage in robust debate on the successes and the limitations of these plans.
In numerous speeches, the President has indicated that he is willing to work closely with opposition parties, and we would like to be engaged in the formulation of plans so that we own them, and not later blame the ruling party for having failed South Africa.
An amount of R787 billion is a good amount of money that could be used to improve on the dilapidated infrastructure throughout the country and move on with the building of new structures. But the question is: How will the rural areas benefit from the R787 billion in infrastructure development? If we do not cater for the rural areas, we will be perpetuating the economic imbalance as it exists in South Africa now. We hope and trust that the National Planning Commission in the President's Office will address the issue.
We congratulate the President for coming up with intervention strategies to address health problems, including the introduction of the national health insurance scheme, and paying attention to the issue of the remuneration of health professionals.
On the second issue of the remuneration of health professionals, the government must take a holistic approach rather than a piecemeal approach solution. Is it not time that the whole salary structure of the public sector be reviewed, so as to avert strikes and picketing by unions that affect service delivery and the economy of the country?
The President has indicated that he will be meeting with school principals because of the lack of discipline, the lack of work ethics, ill-mannered learners, the low morale of teachers and teachers who sexually abuse learners. In doing this, if I am not wrong, he will be the first head of state to meet with the teaching fraternity, and this is another step in the right direction. [Applause.] If he can solve the problems facing the education system in South Africa, it will be a giant step forward. More often than not, research reveals that our learners are rated the lowest in reading and writing skills. It is high time educators were reminded of their responsibilities, and it is in meeting with these professionals that their responsibilities would be spelt out.
The President, in meeting with these teachers or educators, must remind them that reading makes a man, and reading and writing at the same time make a full man. Therefore, no time wasting, like the President said: If you don't deliver, give way.
There are two Ministries of Education now, and we hope that these Ministries will not perpetuate the fragmentation that exists in the education department, the system of unco-ordinated directorates.
We humbly submit that the curriculum be looked into. It should not change from one Minister to the other. Since 1996, we have had Curriculum 2005, or OBE, which changed to the Revised National Curriculum Statement, or RNCS, which also changed to the New Curriculum Statement, or NCS. These changes confuse educators, who are not properly trained to deal with them, thus resulting in the low morale of educators and the poor products of our education system, that are less competitive in the international educational arena.
Hon member, your time has expired.
When the Americans landed on the lunar surface for the first time, there was a saying: One giant step forward! And the Rural Development Ministry is such a giant step forward. I thank you. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, dumelang bomme le borre! [Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.] [Interjections.]
Yesterday, the hon President warned us that the global economic downturn should not cause us to change our plans to improve the lives of the poorest of the poor. Instead, it should urge us to implement our plans with speed and determination.
It is in this spirit of the address of the hon President that we will speed up economic growth and transform the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.
Here we will encourage small business development, the development of co- operatives, the creation of "green" jobs, investment in appropriate public infrastructure, as well as agricultural broad-based black economic empowerment and the national youth service for agriculture.
In the same breath, we will work together with our people in the rural areas to ensure a comprehensive rural development strategy that is linked to land and agrarian reform and food security, as already outlined by the Minister.
This is also reiterated in the manifesto and the Polokwane resolutions, which appeal for food security to ensure that not a single person goes hungry. We will also reduce our dependence on food imports, and develop access to food at affordable prices, especially as it relates to the poor. We further need to expand access to food production schemes in rural and periurban areas and advance land and food production in schools.
Our co-operation with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform will begin to address a massive programme to build economic and social infrastructure, to ensure the realisation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. To this end, we will unfold and massify a programme of fencing in rural and farming areas which will create a sizeable number of jobs through the Expanded Public Works Programme. We will also, in light of co-operatives, hand out the massification of the Nguni cattle project, which to the surprise of many members will give co-operatives ten pregnant heifers and one bull, to assist the bull and to give the bull a head start in the production of Nguni cattle. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
The vision of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme is about enabling rural people to take control of their destiny, thereby dealing effectively with rural poverty through the optimal use and management of natural resources, thereby creating and maintaining an intricate balance between human civilisations and Mother Nature.
Madam Chairperson, more than two thirds of Sub-Saharan Africa's population are employed in agriculture, yet the sector contributes only about a third of the region's gross domestic product.
However, China's overall political and macroeconomic packages enabled their agricultural policy package to realise its objectives in the economy. In this regard, amongst others, the Chinese developed a unique rural pathway, namely "village industrialisation", which is the setting up of township enterprises to provide jobs for the rural population. This is exactly what we seek to do in Riemvasmaak through our Comprehensive Rural Development Programme.
On 19 June we will be commemorating the Native Land Act of 1913. This year, on the very 19 June, we will be descending on Riemvasmaak to launch the Riemvasmaak Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. We will be taking the hon Derek Hanekom down memory lane.
Efforts to bring the people of Riemvasmaak back to their land got momentum in 1993. The decision to give 74 000 hectares back to the people was taken in February 1994, and this became the first land restitution project in the new South Africa, under the able leadership of President Nelson Mandela. Most of the original residents were back on the land at the end of 1995. In 2002 the people of Riemvasmaak received title deeds to the plots they live on, a milestone for those who were landless for so long. However, economic development has evaded this poorest of the poor community for more than 15 years.
Through our project, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the IDC will partner with Citrogold on 80 hectares, on behalf of the community, and R200 million of investment will be utilised for this purpose. Citrogold's once-off investment of R200 million will immediately include the creation of 280 permanent jobs. [Applause.] Mr President, you can subtract that from the number of jobs you wish to create. The figure is further expected to double during the peak season.
On that same day, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform will hand over about 46 000 hectares as the last phase of the settlement of the claim. Together, we can do more! [Applause.] We will use agriculture, forestry and fisheries as a catalyst to chip away at the vestiges of rural poverty. Step by step we will create jobs in rural areas through agricultural intervention.
Madam Chairperson, energy has always been perceived as widely abundant and forever available for use. Human societies over the years have failed to pay attention to the sustainability and importance thereof. It is evident that an ignorant approach to energy sources will not just stall human development, but indeed can cost us dearly as nations of the world.
Significant improvement in research and development of technologies over the years has enabled us to access energy from different sources to power human civilisations. We need to creatively exploit energy sources that are mutually beneficial to the environment and human life.
The recent economic concerns raised by our President, such as the depletion of resources, have called for the development of urgent plans to develop our own renewable energy needs. In our case, we will follow through the proposed industrial strategy for biofuel production, which was approved by Cabinet in 2007. Through bio-fuel and our other strategies for renewable energy, we envisage creating more than 500 jobs in the forthcoming financial year. This would be 500 sustainable, permanent jobs in the industry.
South Africa cannot ignore the global drive towards green fuels. Our approach will have to take into consideration the effects of climate change and also look into creating green jobs and the application of scientific technology in the production processes.
In doing so, the options proposed should create a balance between economic development and national food security.
Deur saam te werk met ander departemente soos Mynwese asook Wetenskap en Tegnologie, sal ons in staat wees om die gebruik van hernubare hulpbronne van energie maksimaal te kan benut. Ons moet konstant aandag gee aan en bewus wees van energiebesparing en die gebruik van alternatiewe vorme van energie as dit kom by landbouproduksie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[By working together with other departments like Mining and Science and Technology, we will be in a position to utilise renewable energy resources maximally. We must constantly pay attention to and be aware of saving energy and utilising alternative forms of energy when it comes to agricultural production.]
Through the forestry sector, the effects of desertification will be receiving our attention; amongst other things, we will continue to intensify the drive to plant more trees to protect the environment. In addition to the implementation of the National Industrial Policy Framework, particularly in the forestry, pulp, paper and furniture sectors, we will establish ways of increasing our forestry resources for trade purposes.
Pressure on our marine environment is mounting. Careful planning and good policy decisions necessitate our taking a fresh look at fishing quotas as they have been handed out on the West Coast, particularly as these pertain to poor rural communities. [Applause.] Our approach will be to continue supporting food security, with a specific bias to giving fishing quotas and reassessing fishing quotas to the rural poor. [Applause.]
The developmental state must have the technical capacity to translate broad goals and objectives into practical programmes and projects and ensure their implementation, which requires effective training, appropriate orientation and leadership skills. Our structures and systems will effectively facilitate the implementation of programmes that have been decided upon. I think the President's speech called on us to have this kind of practical implementation of our programmes that he has spelt out.
An alliance between the state, civil society and business will be a fundamental necessity, where the state takes the role of leader in effecting a developmental agenda. Our strong government, through your leadership, hon President, is a prerequisite for the developmental state we are building, with the capacity to be responsive to changing conditions and the ability to lead and manage our economic relations.
South Africans have it in their power, as a people, to continually change the environment in which we operate in the interests of a better future. However, we will have to display remarkable ingenuity if we wish to succeed as a nation. But, as demonstrated by the vision in your speech, we have broken the back of poverty.
Die rottang is alreeds geknak. [The cane has already been broken.]
Silufezile ugqatso! [We have succeeded!] [Applause.]
Chairperson, we could say that freedom is the autonomous and self-generating ability to do what needs to be done. President Zuma spoke yesterday about what needs to be done. He is to be congratulated for firmly placing service delivery, and especially so for poor people, in our line of vision and sight.
Government can count on our wholehearted support for the service delivery project. We cannot prosper, we all realise, unless we make poverty history. And the question, of course, is how. There is no straightforward answer to this, especially at a time when the growth that confirmed the macroeconomic dogma has come to a recessionist halt. Still, we do know that education matters and it matters enormously. It matters to our changing position in the global economic order as we seek to move from a resource-based export economy to a knowledge-based one.
Education matters to our efforts to modernise our communications, our energy and our science-based health sectors. It matters immensely to the quality of our democracy, for a dynamic one cannot function effectively without having educated citizens who are accustomed to thinking for themselves. Most of all, it matters to our young people, for education remains the most powerful route to moving from the tyranny of survival to the freedom of self-actualisation.
We therefore applaud President Zuma and his government's embrace of education as a priority. But we need to go much further than simply emphasising teacher discipline, important as that may be. At the heart of what needs doing in our country is the professionalisation of the vocation of teaching. We often say that teachers are the most important people because we entrust our children's education to them, and then we proceed very easily to treating them very badly indeed. We should stand firmly behind the good teachers, of whom there are many in this country.
The hon Minister of Higher Education and Training must ensure that teacher training becomes excellent, because it is not. Set aside attractive bursaries; make teaching a worthwhile career; provide incentives for improving their academic education; strengthen the professional associations; shield the teachers from the distraction of self-serving, instrumentalist and reckless trade unions. Please do not put teachers through another round of curriculum reform. Refine, focus and support teaching, and ensure that the basics - reading, writing and arithmetic - are there.
Young people from poor areas struggle to get access to higher education. The educational quality of entry undergraduates is not very good at all. The dropout rate is much too high. There are not enough science, engineering and medical graduates. We are not graduating enough doctorates, in some critical fields, to replace the ageing professorial populations.
Let the institutions of higher learning play to their strengths. Let the community colleges graduate adults with Grade 12 and some employment- related diplomas. Let the undergraduate universities offer a well-rounded four-year bachelors degree. Create professional colleges for teacher, nursing and agricultural science training. Let the postgraduate divisions of the major research universities expand and pull these universities closer to the Department of Science and Technology with their elaborate and sometimes aloof science councils. And, yes, do this in a financially sustainable way. The hon Minister of Higher Education and Training should therefore talk to the hon Minister of Finance before he declares his unwise favour of free undergraduate university education.
President Zuma was silent on science and technology applications when it comes to poverty and development. There are new technologies for waste removal, for sanitation, for water supply and irrigation. There are low- cost energy panels for people living in informal settlements under development. Many of these innovations take into account some critical global warming and climate-change issues.
There is a world of biology that yields new diagnostic and predictive biomedical technologies. There are new ways of using genome-based science to make vaccines for animals and human infectious diseases. Remember that as a country we are not very good at discovery science, but we are very good at adapting discoveries made elsewhere for local use.
Most of all, I would like this government to stop the ambivalence it has when it comes to science and technology, and to start owning what is the largest science and technology infrastructure on the African continent.
I end by introducing you to Ruqshana Parker. She is from Mitchells Plain and she is a student at the University of Cape Town working towards a BA in English. I asked her to come to Parliament today. I want to say that there are thousands of Ruqshanas in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Langa, Kraaifontein, Soweto, Eldorado Park, Chatsworth, Uitenhage and the many places we, hon members, represent, waiting to have their talent discovered and nurtured. We owe it to them and to our children to use taxpayers' money to give them the best education, using the best science and technology that there is, leading into the future. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Mr President, hon members, in Azapo we listened with appreciation, Mr President, to your timely call to join hands, not only to survive the present crushing economic squeeze, but to progress, to develop our country, to create jobs, to defeat poverty and to create a more caring society. It is particularly at difficult times such as these that the whole country looks up to you for leadership.
The story is told of a prisoner in Pretoria Central Prison in the sixties who called himself Long John Silver. He was the boss in his cell and, naturally, had the best blankets and could get the prisoners to amuse him in whatever way he desired.
They would run in a circle, singing his favourite song:
"Mmutla ka bohlale o tlogetse bana ba hae, o tlogetse bana ba hae." [The hare, because it is clever, left its children, left its children.]
Sitting in his corner Long John Silver would be going: "Krr ... Qah! Krr ... Qah!" At some point he would stand up and ask: "Ngubani lo?" [Who is this?] And they would say: "ULong John Silver." [It is Long John Silver.] "Ngubani lo?" [Who is this?] "ULong John Silver." [It is Long John Silver.]
Udlani na? Udla imealie rice, isinkwa no shukela, USilver wabantwana. [Uhleko.] [What is he eating? He is eating mealie rice, bread and sugar, Silver for the children. [Laughter.]]
The point is that he was locked up in this cell like the rest of them and he didn't have the key to get out.
The vast majority of us in this House, together with our compatriots in the townships and villages, are in a giant cell, without a key. Some of us might have better blankets or afford "imealie rice, isonka ne shukela" [mealie rice, bread and sugar] ... but, fundamentally, we are all in a cell.
That might explain why we would smash up a university if we were angry with the vice chancellor; why we would trash the city and vandalise as many things as we could find if we were in disagreement with the council or the mayor; why we would burn the train if it arrived late at the station. There is no sense of ownership of the city, Metrorail and its trains, and, of course, the university.
The terribly skewed ownership of the economy, the huge inequalities and the crushing levels of poverty all combine to deny us the strong clue required to unite the country - that is the workers, peasants, business and government - to work together to save our country from the ravages of the global economic meltdown that you referred to.
We agree with you, Mr President, that we must cultivate and nurture patriotism amongst all our people, but the content of that patriotism must be a more equitable ownership of the economy of the country. That's the missing key, and we must find it. Otherwise, how do we continue to ask people to save an economy from which they feel alienated?
We are pleased that education and skills have been prioritised. Without a functioning, effective and efficient education system, we will not get anything right - not the economy, not social infrastructure, not crime. As long as we fail as a society to give our youngsters skills and good character through education, the criminal justice system will continue to battle difficult odds.
We also hope, Mr President, that we will take advantage of these economic difficulties to develop, fund and commercialise new South African technological innovations, so that when the upturn arrives, we are ready to trade with the world in goods and services containing our own intellectual property. The talent and know-how are there, needing only support, recognition and encouragement. Increasingly, let our "Krr ... Qah!" take place outside the cell. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, hon President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, hon members, the ANC remains guided by the Freedom Charter that states:
The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened! The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life. All the cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all, by free exchange of books, ideas and contact with other lands.
In the words of this extract, we will ensure that, indeed, we open our arts and culture doors to all.
It is this knowledge and understanding that only freedom of expression and freedom of creativity can serve to deepen democracy, and that only free and fruitful exchange can build a more unified and dynamic society that underpins the ANC's policy on culture. Yesterday President Zuma gave us a call to build a more cohesive society.
The President reminded us that our vision remains that "of an inclusive society, a South Africa that belongs to all, a nation united in its diversity, a people working together for the greater good of all".
Let us embrace this rallying cry by promoting unity in diversity and developing a shared value system, based on the spirit of community solidarity and a caring society. In the spirit of ubuntu we shall work in this regard with the moral regeneration movement to reach all our communities, including the religious and faith-based communities.
Our task must be to strengthen the gains of our national democratic revolution and to continue to work towards a truly nonracial, nonsexist and united South Africa.
In this regard, arts, culture and heritage will play a significant role in social regeneration, unity and reconciliation. As we transform our country, we need to ensure that we build cohesive, sustainable and caring communities. The Department of Arts and Culture is tasked to lead and co- ordinate efforts to promote national identity and social cohesion.
We pledge our full support to the campaign to celebrate and commemorate Mandela Day on the 18th July every year. We call upon all South Africans to spend 67 minutes of their time on this day doing good deeds in the spirit of ubuntu, serving their communities and assisting others in order to strengthen our values and our resolve to work together for a better life for all our people.
In the next quarter, Mr President, we shall consolidate our work in building a more cohesive society and in nurturing our people's culture. We shall pool our efforts by encouraging national dialogue and community mobilisation towards a more caring society.
In the second half of this year we shall hold the first national conference on social cohesion that will be hosted in KwaZulu-Natal. The theme of the conference is "Building a Caring Society".
Ziza kujula ke iingxoxo apho. Sizakube sixoxa khona ngokwakha isizwe. Le nkomfa iza kudibanisa iinkokeli zethu zemveli, iinkokheli zethu zakwalizwi, iinkokheli zethu zoluntu, ulutsha, amakhosikazi nabantu abakhubazekileyo. Sisonke sizakube sixoxa sinenjongo enye yokuba siwakha njani na uMzantsi Afrika, sisakha njani na isizwe sethu saseMzantsi Afrika. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Debates will be intense. We shall be debating about building the nation. This conference will bring together our traditional leaders, our religious leaders, our community leaders, the youth, women and the disabled people. We shall all be debating with one aim, which is how do we build South Africa and how do we build our South African nation.]
We shall continue to strive to make the arts accessible to all. We shall focus our attention on what needs to be done, including amending legislation as well as modifying our policies in order to create a more enabling environment for the flourishing of the arts.
We shall look at ways of strengthening the work of our councils and institutions so that they can better serve the needs of our people.
Through our national legacy projects, the department is broadening access to heritage resources in the country. The Sarah Baartman project, in particular, seeks also to provide opportunities for South African architects to design a memorial and interpretation centre in the Eastern Cape. [Applause.]
We shall also promote the people's arts within our communities and especially our rural areas, including community arts centres, local theatre groups - a favourite of Minister Nkwinti - music groups, local cultural forms of expression and creative work in all our national languages, including traditional dance and music, our poetry and literature.
We shall improve arts, culture and heritage education and training programmes by placing 400 artists in schools and community arts centres. We shall also assist with programmes at community arts centres.
We shall increase access to arts, culture and heritage by providing at least one programme for women, children and people with disabilities in all 27 arts, culture and heritage institutions in the country.
Through investing in the culture programme we will ensure that our investment results in thriving communities which ultimately can stand on their own and grow.
Culture must be rooted in the realities of our people, in their daily lives, struggles and victories. Creative industries are critical for our country and for nation-building. They create critical opportunities to uplift and empower our people, especially the youth and rural women.
We shall work together with cultural workers and our communities to ensure that we use the opportunities to do more and to create a better life for our people, including the youth, women and people with disabilities.
We shall focus on creating sustainable jobs through supporting initiatives in training and skills development, and by expanding opportunities for cultural workers. We are also eager to expand our contribution to economic growth.
The arts, culture and heritage sector prides itself on its potential to create sustainable jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, even in areas where people have minimum or no formal education at all. We shall work towards the nurturing of sustainable jobs in the sector and be part of the national effort to fight poverty and unemployment.
During the Expanded Public Works Programme, Phase 1, the Department of Arts and Culture, through its Investing in Culture programme, created 7 374 job opportunities. Of these 51% were for women, 44% for the youth and 5% for people with disabilities.
In the next five years, we shall redouble our efforts to match the expansion requirements for the Expanded Public Works Programme, Phase 2, in promoting sustainable job opportunities and ensuring skills transfer for unemployed arts, culture and heritage practitioners.
We shall place particular emphasis on encouraging women in rural communities to produce high-quality products for both domestic and export markets. This year, the department established the annual national craft awards, where no fewer than 60 crafters across the nine provinces received awards and recognition for their contribution to craft development.
Through the national craft awards the Department of Arts and Culture hopes that South African crafters will become global players and will develop high-quality products for the export market.
Our private sector partners have also been instrumental in providing infrastructure and other resources to assist this sector. We shall continue to strengthen our relationship and build stronger public-private partnerships in the future.
In our efforts to bring arts and literature to our people in all our communities, the department is engaged in the recapitalisation of community libraries. This focuses on extending library services to previously disadvantaged areas, including our rural areas.
The department is also encouraging the development of reading material in all our official languages. The national library is republishing classics in African literature. Thus far, 24 classics have been republished, including the work of AC Jordaan, and the national library is also embarking on the second phase of this project. This will include, among others, the Sesotho classic, Chaka by Thomas Mofolo, and Insila ka Tshaka by John Langalibalele Dube.
We are also awarding language bursaries, especially in African languages, to help build capacity in the language sector.
We shall finalise the name changes. We shall continue to work together on the matter of name changes of our towns and cities. It is indeed our collective responsibility and interest to ensure that we do not only liberate ourselves but that we also liberate our cities and towns and other geographical areas. Angeke sithi siwuqedile umsebenzi wethu wenkululeko kusekhona izindawo ezibizwa abo Kafferfontein. [We cannot say we have finished our work of fighting for freedom if there are still places called Kaffirfontein.]
We continue to encourage the development of local content. We call on the SABC to do more to support local content and local artists. Investing in culture is also investing in artists and creating an enabling environment for our artists to lead a healthy, long, productive and prosperous life.
The other challenge that faces us in this sector is the fact that the entertainment industry is dominated by only a few multinationals, who dominate the profit, yet cultural workers who are the real creators of music, films, drama and poetry in our country are exploited throughout their lives, and they end up being given a pauper's funeral.
We shall work with the unions and artists towards ensuring that social security becomes a reality for the arts and culture community. We must work together to fight for transformation and equity in the creative and entertainment industry. We must work together towards transforming the entire industry, where black artists also must have ownership rights throughout the value chain of this important industry, and where black artists, not multinationals and business managers, decide what to produce and decide what they want to create.
It is important, therefore, that our interventions assist in broad-based black economic empowerment in the arts and heritage sector. We can also do this by developing co-operative production facilities which can provide employment opportunities for more of our artists.
We must also guard against the fake tapes, CDs and DVDs that we buy on the street. If we do that, we are actually stealing from the livelihood and the bread of our artists and cultural workers.
In line with our vision of developing sustainable cultural industries, the department bought the Downtown Music Hub in November 2008 from Gallo/Avusa. We believe that the Downtown Music Hub will become a unique and innovative music production entity that will empower our stakeholders in the music industry, especially previously disadvantaged artists. The Hub will be in partnership and involves corporate and community-based entities. We believe that, working together with our artists and the private sector, we can do more in creating a better life for the arts.
The department is also working together with the Department of Sport and Recreation on the 2010 World Cup. As South Africa prepares to welcome guests for the Confederations Cup and the 2010 Fifa World Cup, let us recognise that the cultural component is also very important in sharing our arts and culture with our visitors, the fans and the players that will be coming to our country and also ensuring that we leave a legacy for the future.
The department has initiated a project that will seek to document the history and culture of host cities in South Africa and in the SADC region as a whole.
Internationally, we shall continue to play an important role in ensuring that we strengthen South-South co-operation. We shall continue to be part of projects that foster relations between Africa and its Diaspora. We have seen the great success of the first Nepad cultural projects in January this year, with the launching of the new library building for the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu in Mali. The South Africa-Mali project should also pave the way for further Nepad cultural projects that seek to preserve ancient heritage for the purpose of new and future generations. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, to achieve our goals we must hold ourselves to the highest standards of service, probity and integrity. Together we must build a society that prizes excellence and rewards effort.
This is what President Jacob Zuma said in his inauguration speech at the Union Buildings. The DA wholeheartedly agrees with these principles of achieving high standards and rewarding excellence.
However, Minister Richard Baloyi, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, recently acknowledged that there are difficulties in reaching these ideals when he said, "The quality of service the public receives needs much improvement in many areas." The DA also agrees with the Minister on this score.
Sadly, the Public Service Commission revealed that between 2006 and 2007 there was a 46% increase in cases of corruption reported to the national anticorruption hotline. Therefore, we were glad that President Zuma highlighted his commitment to fighting corruption in the Public Service.
Further, year after year, the Auditor-General highlights financial mismanagement by various departments, seemingly without consequence. These problems are linked to not signing performance contracts with senior management staff. A Public Service that cannot measure the performance of its officials cannot hold them accountable for failures. It also cannot acknowledge the hard work done by the many dedicated officials. A responsive government will ensure that senior managers enter into performance contracts and are held accountable for service delivery.
In sy staatsrede het president Zuma gehaltedienslewering juis verbind met Batho Pele - mense eerste. Wat 'n treffende beginsel! Hoe kan ons dit ten beste uitleef? Deur by elke gemeenskap se unieke behoeftes aan te pas. As owerhede eiesoortige stelsels in die verskillende provinsies toepas, sal 'n mens sien watter metodes werk die beste. Stelsels wat werk vir die Noord- Kaap is nie noodwendig die antwoord vir Gauteng nie. Die diversiteit van gemeenskappe moet lei tot die diversiteit van stelsels.
Die gedagte van een gesentraliseerde staatsdiens vir al drie sfere van regering waarin minister Collins Chabane - ek sien hy's nie nou hier nie - die mag gaan h om prestasie in 9 provinsies, 56 distriksmunisipaliteite, 6 metro's en 283 munisipaliteite landwyd te moniteer, is egter gevaarlik. [Tussenwerpsels.] As Ministers dienste in hul eie departemente nie kan verseker nie, hoe gaan een sentraal beheerde staatsdiens vir nege provinsies dit regkry? [Tussenwerpsels.]
Hiermee haal die regering homself 'n las op sy hals wat selfs die kommunistiese Sowjet-Unie met miljoene amptenare nie kon baasraak nie. [Tussenwerpsels.] Kort voor lank stort alle dienste in duie. [Tussenwerpsels.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[In his state of the nation address, President Zuma specifically linked quality service delivery to Batho Pele - people first. What a striking principle! How can we best realise this? By adapting to the unique needs of every community. Should the authorities apply distinct systems in the various provinces, one would be able to ascertain which methods would be the best. Systems applied successfully in the Northern Cape are not necessarily the answer for Gauteng. The diversity of the communities should bring about diverse systems.
The idea of having a single centralised public service for all three spheres of government where Minister Collins Chabane - I notice that he is not present at the moment - would have the authority to monitor performance in 9 provinces, 56 district municipalities, 6 metros and 283 municipalities throughout the country, however, is dangerous.[Interjections.] If Ministers are, however, unable to guarantee service delivery within their own departments, how could this be accomplished with a single centralised public service that caters for nine provinces? [Interjections.]
The government will hereby saddle itself with a burden that not even the communist Soviet Union with its millions of officials could cope with. [Interjections.] Before long, all services would collapse. [Interjections.]]
The biggest problem with service delivery is at local government level. Minister Baloyi once again acknowledged this when he said, "It is clear that local government faces a challenge that is sometimes met by filling posts with people who do not have the suitable skills." Once again the DA agrees with the Minister. Service delivery depends on having the right people in the right positions. We must fill the many vacancies with suitably skilled people.
In provincial government, at senior management level there was a 16% vacancy rate in the North West, 19% in the Free State and 31% in the Northern Cape. In local government in January this year there were 32 vacant municipal manager posts. Often these positions are not filled because there are no suitably qualified candidates in the required racial category. Surely, it is better to fill the position with a suitably qualified person of any colour in the interests of service delivery. [Applause.]
In conclusion, the DA follows the three principles I have emphasised here, namely accountable performance, diversity and merits. In fact, President Zuma pleaded for this once again when he said:
We do not seek conformity. We set ourselves a task of ensuring that we create a state that is responsive to the needs of all the people of the country, a state that will ensure that basic services were available to all regardless of race, colour, gender or creed.
President Zuma also gave sound advice when he spelt out his vision. He said: We must build a society that draws on the capabilities, energy and promise of all its people.
Mr President, if you ensure that proper services are provided by all the people, regardless of race, colour, gender or creed, to all the people, regardless of race, colour, gender or creed, the DA will support you. Siyabonga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]
Mr Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, members of the executive and hon members, the arrival of Cope on the political scene has forever altered the political landscape of South Africa. [Applause.]
Its emergence is an affirmation of our democracy. The hon President has asserted in his speech that we have a strong and fully functional constitutional democracy system, and that what we witnessed yesterday in this House was a celebration of what makes this democracy work.
These are fine words, but it is with a heavy heart that I must refer to the personal persecution that members of Cope have suffered in recent months ... [Interjections.] ... persecuted for doing nothing more than expressing their democratic choice, and in a supposedly free and democratic country. [Interjections.]
Hon member, can you just take your seat for a moment? Hon members, can we allow the hon member to make her speech without being disturbed, please. [Applause.]
Thank you, Mr Chairperson. If I may proceed, on 15 December 2008 the National Post and The Star reported the following statement that was made by the president of the ANC:
It is better when you have an enemy that you do not know than the one that you know.
The one that you know is more difficult. In Zulu we refer to a form of witchcraft called "ukuphehla amanzi", where your enemy would mix dirt from your body in a calabash and stick a spear into the mixture to cause you sharp body pains. [Applause.] When the witch is a family member, we know that it is more dangerous than an enemy from outside. [Applause.]
In November of last year, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Themba Ndaba, the chairperson of the Sedibeng ANC Youth League, was reported to have said, and I quote:
People like Terror Lekota and all those people who want to destroy the history of our organisation behave like cockroaches and they must be destroyed. [Interjections.]
Mr Chairperson, we cannot choose to have our cake and eat it. If we are proud of our democracy, then we must uphold that democracy with the responsibility and integrity that it deserves. And this must not happen some of the time, but all of the time.
In a democracy, those who choose to be in opposition cannot be termed witches, traitors, dogs, snakes or baboons. [Applause.] When the rhetoric of politics descends to this level, it becomes a blight on our democracy and diminishes the soul of our great nation. Madiba would never have countenanced this. [Applause.]
Polokwane is behind us now. [Interjections.] The common road that many of us walked ... [Interjections.]
Order! Hon member, there is a point of order!
Chairperson, on a point of order: We understand that this is the maiden speech of the hon member. However, there are certain conventions in the House when a maiden speech is being delivered, and that is that we will respect the input of the member, unless it is provocative. And it is provocative at this stage. And we ask you to rule on that matter, please. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Mr Chairperson, I have said that the common road that many of us have walked together ... [Interjections.]
Order! Order, hon members! I am going to appeal once more to hon members. The hon President will be responding next week, and I am quite sure that the President wants to hear what each and every member has to say. [Interjections.] So, can we simply tone down our expressions and utterances?
Mr Chairman, may I just say that the DA doesn't find this provocative at all. [Applause.]
Can you continue, hon member?
Thank you very much, Mr Chairman. The common road that many of us have walked together in the search for freedom diverged at Polokwane. [Interjections.] For many of us, the treatment that was meted out to former President Mbeki was regrettable. We are deeply hurt at the handling and the timing of his recall. The removal of a President must never, ever happen like that again. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
This Parliament must ensure that the power to remove a President must reside here and nowhere else. [Interjections.] [Applause.] The Constitution of South Africa should never, ever be trumped by the constitution and processes of any political party. [Interjections.] Our nation's Constitution must reign supreme. Therefore, Parliament should ensure that its authority ... [Interjections.]
Chair, on a point of order: I think hon member Frolick did ask for your indulgence in terms of ... [Interjections.] Chief, keep quiet, please. [Interjections.]
Order! Order, please!
The hon Frolick has asked for your indulgence in terms of the relevance of what the member is saying. She is giving us information. Can she now inform us if hon former President Thabo Mbeki is Cope's member? [Interjections.]
No, that is not a point of order. [Applause.] Can you continue, hon member? [Interjections.] Order!
Mr Chairman, our national Constitution must reign supreme. Therefore, Parliament should ensure that its authority is not denuded in this way again.
Cope wishes to bend its back to alter the bleak and tormented lives of millions of our people. We wish to co-operate with the ANC on a professional and dignified basis. [Interjections.]
We wish to do so because our forebears have left us the legacy of ubuntu, and it is incumbent upon us to work in the spirit of ubuntu. [Interjections.]
We want to hold the President responsible for ensuring that our Constitution is upheld at all times and that everyone acts accordingly. Hon President, we cannot compromise on this. This is what South Africans expect of you and this House demands of you. [Interjections.]
It is very unfortunate that we have been so reckless in damaging and degrading the environment as though there is no tomorrow. The hon President has correctly pointed out that South Africa, being a dry country, requires urgent action to mitigate adverse environmental changes and to ensure the provision of water to citizens.
But, hon President, that is only part of the problem. The big issue is that of our climate change, which is already here. Within a decade or two, the western half of South Africa will begin to dry up even further and the ocean could rise to submerge parts of Cape Town. [Time expired.] [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa, Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, members of the National Assembly, ladies and gentlemen ... ndi masiari [... good afternoon].
I think my colleague, hon member Ndude, is going to learn with the process that we should focus on the ball and not on the people. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Mongameli wezwe, intsha yoMzansi Afrika iphumile ngobuningi ngomhlaka 22 Apreli iyovota, ivotela uKhongolose wabantu futhi yethemba ukuthi ikusasa layo lizoqhakaza ngoba ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[President of the country, the youth of South Africa went out in their numbers to vote for the African National Congress on 22 April, hoping that their future will be bright because ...]
They believed that "ANC rocks for sure!" and that "ANC is cool!" [Applause.] This was to defend the gains of our democracy and our revolution.
In 11 days' time, we will be commemorating 33 years of the June 16 Uprising. The launch of this agency on June 16 gives hope to young people in South Africa in terms of what has been raised as concerns around the issue of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the National Youth Commission and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund. It is a signal that the ANC-led government is able to listen to young people.
This launch signals new hope for all young people of South Africa, black and white. [Applause.] It gives the young people of South Africa an opportunity to grow, develop and learn. The mandate of the institution itself will be to initiate, design, co-ordinate, evaluate and monitor all programmes aimed at integrating youth into the economy and into the society at large. The agency will play an instrumental role in ensuring that young people are self-reliant and do not rely on government alone to be able to have a better life.
It will ensure that departments develop policies that are friendly towards procurement from young people, and also that, as government, we take young SMMEs seriously, so that we continue to create jobs for young people. The success of the agency will be measured by the extent to which young people contribute positively to the developmental state, and hence it will be critical to ensure support for young entrepreneurs.
I would also like to appeal to provincial governments to fast-track the repeal of the National Youth Commission legislation, so that they make way for the implementation of the National Youth Development Agency Act, 2008. We cannot delay the development of young people any longer. [Applause.]
We have seen the success of the first phase of the Expanded Public Works Programme and the National Youth Service Programme, as a tool to absorb young people into the economic system. More than 20 000 young people have received offers locally, and 700 have been placed internationally in the work placement programme. We are looking forward to the success of the second phase of the EPWP, which will create 500 000 jobs by December this year, and 4 million jobs by 2014. We believe that the ANC-led government is going to deliver on this. [Applause.]
Hon members, rural development will not be sustainable if young people do not become a key element of it. We need to ensure that we cut the cycle of poverty in rural areas and that young people do not inherit poverty, but are able to be absorbed within the economic system in their own areas. Young people in rural areas are often forced to leave their areas in search of better opportunities in urban areas such as Johannesburg. They end up being exploited and abused. This needs to stop, as we are encouraging them to be part of the rural development in their areas. We appeal to young people that, as these rural development projects come to their areas, they should take the opportunity to develop their own areas.
In 1953, when Hendrik Verwoerd was addressing the Senate, he said, and I quote:
The native will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for him. There is no place for the Bantu child above the level of certain forms of labour. Until now, he has been subjected to a school system which drew him away from his own community and misled him by showing him the green pastures of European society in which he was not allowed to graze.
We need to deal with the legacy of apartheid in our education system, in basic and tertiary education. The Freedom Charter promises that the "Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened to all". [Applause.] Working together, we can do more in our societies in terms of education. We need to work together, parents fulfilling their responsibilities, taking the initiative and being part of the school governing bodies; teachers being in classes, being responsible and doing what they are expected to do; and learners themselves being responsible and committing themselves to their education. This can be achieved if we work together as a society.
Bont?i bja baswa ba Afrika-Borwa ba phela ka tlase ga kgatelelo le tshokolo. Bont? i bja bao ba lego dinagengmagae ba fet?a mphato wa marematlou gomme ba palelwa ke go t?wet?a dithuto pele ka lebaka la gore ba sa kgone go fihlelela thuto ya ka godimo. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Most South African youth are subjected to oppression and poverty. Most of those who live in rural areas are unable to further their studies after completing matric because they cannot afford higher education.]
Mr President, tertiary education cannot continue being a luxury in our country. There is a need to have serious engagement with institutions to ensure that students do not drop out of institutions because of lack of financial support. [Applause.] The National Student Financial Aid Scheme also needs to exhaust its entire budget allocation each and every year.
In the previous financial year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme was not able to exhaust its funds, despite the fact that a lot of young people continue to drop out of tertiary institutions because of financial exclusions. This is cause for concern. We need to look into this institution to ensure its effectiveness and review it so that it is able to support young people.
Resourcing of training institutions and refocusing them is a critical tool that we should use for young people who are dropping out of high school and are not able to be absorbed back into the education or schooling system. This category of young people is also an important group in society, because this group mainly falls between the ages of 20 and 29. They are out of the schooling system, they are not absorbed by the tertiary education system, and they are unskilled. If we don't focus on them, we will face a bleak future because these are young people who need to contribute to the economy of South Africa. So we need to look at this.
Mr President, I am happy that you spoke about resourcing and revitalising the training institutions as well. Despite many efforts to ensure youth development and empowerment, many young people are still facing challenges, one of which is experimentation with alcohol and drugs. Often, this leads them to being involved in crime. The implementation of the Child Justice Bill is critical, as it will assist with the issue of children in conflict with the law. We need to ensure that these children are rehabilitated and that they don't eventually become hardcore criminals. It is their constitutional right that children should not be detained, except as a measure of last resort. I know, Mr President, that this Bill was passed last year, and therefore it is critical that, as Parliament, we ensure that its implementation becomes a success.
The President, yesterday, committed to improve implementation of the comprehensive plan for treatment management and care for HIV and Aids, and further to reduce new infections by 50% by 2011. Young people can play their part by being responsible and ensuring that we strive to achieve an HIV-free generation. We need to work together with the ANC-led government in ensuring that this target becomes a reality. [Applause.]
Maitshwaro a rona jwaloka batjha ke ona a tla etsa hore re kgone ho fihlella mona. [As the youth, it is our behaviour that will enable us to reach this point.]
As part of social cohesion and promoting a healthy lifestyle, there is a need to ensure that all sporting codes exist, even in previously disadvantaged communities. We need to ensure that young people, even in black communities, are exposed to sporting codes such as tennis and cricket. These should not continue to exist elsewhere and not in these communities. We cannot continue perpetuating the legacy of apartheid, where black South African children were only exposed to sporting codes such as soccer and netball.
The hon President highlighted yesterday that sport should become part of the curriculum. I hope that indigenous sporting codes will also become part of the curriculum, as part of restoring and promoting our heritage and culture as South Africans.
South Africans will be hosting the 2009 Confederations Cup in less than 10 days. We need to come out in numbers with our energy and vibrancy as young people to support this tournament and make it a most memorable one for our guests and Fifa. We are a truly unique country, rich in diversity and heritage. This is the South Africa that the world should experience when they come here.
Sepedi se re moeng tla ka ge?o re je ka wena. [There is a saying in Sepedi that it is always a pleasure when visitors are around.]
Young people need to make use of the opportunities that will exist during this tournament and grab them. We need to come out in numbers to support our South African team, Bafana Bafana. We wish them well in the tournament. We trust that they will do us proud during this tournament.
In conclusion, as we move forward, it is important that we understand that a true national, democratic society can only be achieved when the youth have been fully emancipated from the fetters of the past which continue to truncate their development. There should be a clear intention which manifests itself in progressive programmes to empower the youth. The youth of our country have always been loyal to the objective of the revolution. They need to be harnessed, mobilised and engaged in the journey to a truly united, democratic, nonracial and nonsexist South Africa. It is the duty of the ANC to reverse the damage done to the youth by the apartheid system. Ndza khensa. [I thank you.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, on a point of order: I wish to refer to the speech by the hon member from Cope before the last speaker, when she was very loudly booed. I submit to you, with respect, that booing is unparliamentary. I request you to consult, if necessary, with the Speaker and to make a ruling by the Presiding Officers on whether booing is parliamentary or not. [Interjections.]
We will look into that, hon member.
Hon Chairperson, the DA supports sustainable and equitable land reform and rural development. We view this as both a moral necessity to correct the imbalances of the past and as a fundamental condition to growing our economy to benefit all South Africans.
We would also like to congratulate the President for recognising the need to address problems in the rural areas by appointing a Minister and setting up a new department to deal specifically with both rural development and land reform. The appointment of Minister Nkwinti shows how crucial this portfolio is. We extend a hand of co-operation to his department, while also assuring him of our critical engagement when things go wrong. We will not be doing this for cheap political point-scoring but in order to ensure that all South Africans enjoy and share the wealth of this country.
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform faces numerous challenges. It inherits one of the poorly functioning departments under the previous Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs.
The reality is that many landless people feel neglected in the democratic dispensation. Our collective task will be to address, as a matter of urgency, the target of reaching 30% of land redistribution by 2014, which seems unachievable. The previous administration sought to introduce manifestly unconstitutional laws, such as the Expropriation Bill, to accelerate land redistribution, but this was not going to work and would scare off investors.
We need to develop legally justifiable laws that will speed up land reform processes to ensure that new landowners are provided with adequate post- settlement financial and material support. It is indeed an indictment that over 50% of land reform projects are failing because the state does not provide adequate support to the land reform beneficiaries. South Africa cannot afford this when millions of our people face the danger of food shortages and go to bed without food.
We need to accelerate the settlement processes of over 4 000 land restitution claims which still remain unsettled; we need to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks which hinder the settlement process; and we need to upgrade land titles to freehold titles to as many South Africans as is legally and economically feasible. Indeed, it is an anomaly that there are still South Africans who hold their land under the apartheid-type title deeds while we are 15 years into democracy.
The hon Minister must take swift steps to ensure that vacant posts in his department are filled by efficient and properly qualified people. We cannot afford the policy of cadre deployment when our people go hungry and remain landless.
Morena Modulasetulo, set?haba sa ge?o sa dinagamagae se dut?e godimo ga kgatelelo e kgolo ya go hloka thu?o go dinaga t?eo ba di filwego. Dit?haba t?e di nyaka thu?o ya ma?eleng le thlahlo gore ba kgone go t?wet?a temo pele. Nakong ya pu?o ya pele, balemi ba makgowa bao ba filwego dinaga ba be ba thu?wa ka ma?eleng le thekgo ya mahlale a temo. Re le ba DA re ka thabela go bona Tona ya t?a Tlhabologo ya Dinagamagae le Mobu a ?omi?a tsebo yeo ya boradipolase bao ba tlogelago dipolase t?a bona. Re rata go bona tlhabologo ya motheo naga ka bophara.
Re le ba DA, re dumela gore naga ke ya batho bohle, gomme dit?haba t?ohle di swanet?e go hlabollwa ka go lekana. Re re dikgoba t?a thlabologo a di fiwe batho kamoka ba Afrika Borwa.
Dit?haba t?a dinaga magae di lla ka kabo ya ditirelo t?a motheo. Dit?haba t?e di nyaka meetse a go hlweka, ditsela t?e kaone, mohlagase le me?omo. Dit?haba t?e t?a dinagamagae di rata go bona thlabologo dinageng t?a bona. Ke ka fao ba ilego ba t?ea karolo ka bont?hi dikgethong t?a naga. Ga go Mopresidente yo a ka thopago dikgetho ntle le thekgo e kgolo ya badudi ba dinagamagae.
Re le ba DA, re hlompha le go amogela di poelo t?a dikgetho gomme re holofet?a set?haba gore re tla se ?omela ka potego le boikgafo. Re tla dira bonnete bja gore ditshepi?o di phethagale ka go hlokomela gore mmu?o o aba ditirelo go batho bohle ba Afrika Borwa. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mr Chairperson, our people in the rural areas are under severe pressure as they do not benefit from the land that was given back to them. These people need financial assistance and training so that they can continue with farming. During the previous regime, white farmers who were given land were supported with training in farming and were assisted financially. As the DA, we will be glad to see the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform using the knowledge and experience of farmers who leave their farms. We would like to see basic development in general.
As the DA, we believe this country is for all people, and therefore all people must be developed equally. We are saying, let all the people of South Africa get opportunities for development.
People in the rural areas are complaining about basic services. These people need clean water, better roads, electricity and job opportunities. They would also like to see development in their villages. That is the reason people took part in large numbers during the general elections. There is no President who can win an election without the tremendous support from the people in the rural areas.
As the DA, we respect and accept the election results and therefore we promise the nation that we will work for them with honesty and determination. We will make it a point that the promises are fulfilled by making sure the government delivers services to all people.]
We will need to develop economies that are integral to development in the rural areas.
Once more, Mr Chairperson, the DA will support the new administration and we will gladly make available all our policy inputs on land reform. We hope that this will be reciprocated with the co-operation it deserves. Our role as the official opposition party will continue, but the interests of South Africa's land reform will inform all our critical engagement with the administration. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Deputy President of the Republic, Cabinet Ministers present, hon members of the House, guests in the gallery: Firstly, I want to address myself to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Trollip, on the issue of appointing people who were involved in the travel issue as chairpersons. The issue here is that the DA as an organisation is always talking about the rule of law and respect for the rule of law. Not only that, they talk about respect for the Constitution. In this matter, when we were dealing with the Scorpions, the parliamentary legal services pronounced on the issue, but not only that. Mr Hugh Glenister took the matter to court, even to the highest court of the land. They failed. The members who were involved in the travel issue are members of the House and they can participate in all parliamentary processes. [Applause.]
Now they are talking about respect for the rule of law while they are undermining the Constitution and the Constitutional Court, which says these members have the right to participate here. They talk about morals and respect for the law and the Constitution when it suits them. What I was saying is that, even thereafter, the Electoral Court handled the matter and pronounced on it. You can't awake ghosts on matters that were finalised by the courts if you respect the rule of law. We must speak the same language. [Applause.]
What we probably should do is to have some sort of induction for new Members of Parliament on decisions that were taken by the previous Parliament, so that they do not repeat the same ground in that respect. [Interjections.]
The second issue that was raised by the Leader of the Opposition was that of the ANC in the Western Cape. He said that the ANC in the Western Cape was adverse to being in opposition; they are uncomfortable. That's what he said. Since 1994, the ANC has been in opposition. We know about this. When the then National Party and the then Democratic Party formed a coalition of convenience, in that situation the ANC was an opposition and we never had any problem with that. Even today we will continue to be an opposition representing almost 700 000 people in the Western Cape. What we are saying is that, as an opposition, we will be effective and robust.
What is more important, is that Mr Trollip said that the leadership of the DA here represents all the people of the Western Cape. We want to challenge you, Mr Trollip, that the leadership here doesn't represent all the people. If you did, why do you have an all-male cabinet? Where are the women of the Western Cape if you are taking that position? [Interjections.] Do you mean that you are representing them? [Laughter.] Therefore, you can't speak in the way that you are speaking.
He continued to say that there was corruption in the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. No corruption whatsoever has ever been recorded in this department. If you have evidence, present it; we would like to attend to the matter. [Applause.]
The hon Rev H M Dandala raised an issue. He said that the Ministers in The Presidency must come here and educate parliamentarians on the issues of oversight and monitoring. Hon reverend, in terms of parliamentary processes and the institutions in South Africa, there is a separation of powers. The executive accounts to Parliament. You can't have a situation where the executive teaches parliamentarians on how to monitor and do oversight. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The other issue that he raised was that the President was supposed to have given details in his speech. Of course, hon Dandala, I think you would know that there are time limits on what you can do. Not only that, but there is a space and a time when Ministers are able to speak on their policy debates. You will get the details at that time. You can wait patiently. You will be able to get the information on what is going to happen. [Applause.]
Another issue was raised by the hon Rev Dandala. He talks about members of Cope who are hounded out of jobs and out of positions. People can talk about the issue of the vice chancellor of Unisa: If you'll recall, long ago, there was a disagreement, even then, between the then Minister of Education and the vice chancellor on issues. This government has not pronounced whatsoever on the issue of the vice chancellor.
Regarding the issue that Rev Dandala raised about Mr Nkhuhlu in the Eastern Cape, that issue relates to a difference between the MEC and Mr Nkuhlu. When Mr Nkuhlu was requested to come and account to the MEC as an executive authority, he could not do so. If he then defies an elected leader and does not want to account, what must one do? [Interjections.] Therefore, I think we must put things in context when we talk about this.
I would be happy if you presented empirical evidence to the Minister for the Public Service and Administration and myself. As we are responsible for governance and the administration cluster in government, we will be able to handle and process these issues. There is nobody, to our knowledge, who has been hounded because of their political affiliation. If there is evidence to that effect, please present it and we will take it up.
The other issue that was raised by hon Inkosi ... uMntwana wakwaPhindangene ukhuluma ngodaba lokuthi kube nobugebengu nenkohlakalo endabeni yokhetho. Manje-ke into esiyi shoyo uthi yena lokho kwabonakala ngokuthi ubaba unobhala-jikelele um hlonishwa, uMfundisi uZondi waye waseshwa.
Sithi-ke thina ngokomthetho wezwe lakithi, ukuthi abantu bayalingana ngaphambi komthetho. Okusho ukuthi amaphoyisa anelungelo lokusesha noma ubani uma kunento angayiboni kahle. Akukhethwa ukuthi uyisikhulu seqembu elithize manje ungayekwa ngalokho. Ngaleyo ndlela leyo sithi-ke thina, amaphoyisa enze ngendlela efanele - ngendlela ekufuneka kwenziwe ngayo ngoba siyalingana emthethweni welizwe lakithi ngendlela esibona ngayo. Kodwa ukhuluma ngendaba yenkohlakalo, umbuzo wukuthi: ubani oye waboshwa eboshelwa ukuthi kuye kwatholakala izinto zeKhomishane Ezimele Yokhetho futhi uphuma kuliphi iqembu ngizoshiya lowo mbuzo Shenge. [Uhleko.]
Ukhukhalima impambuko: Mhlonishwa ngithanda ukumtshela ukuthi ngingamfundela.