Hon Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, hon members: Sanibonani! [I greet you!] Mr President, your administration takes office during one of the toughest economic times in living memory. South Africa is facing its first recession in 17 years and we are witnessing global economic conditions last seen during the great crash of the stock market in 1929 and the depression that followed. This is a reality we must accept. Thanks in part to the health of our public finances, however, this is not a paralytic reality. We remain committed to the goal of a better life, inclusive economic growth, decent jobs, and dignity and social justice for all our people.
Adversity and challenge have always inspired South Africans to reach greater heights. Ours is a long-standing culture of resilience, creativity and a passion to deliver and to overcome the odds.
The new challenge you put to us is to focus on better delivery, and to work together in the spirit of co-operative governance and partnership with all sections of our society. We remain mindful that the collective sum of a well-directed programme of action is far greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Mr President, you have inspired us to ask tough questions of ourselves, to be humble and reflective about our shortcomings. The current challenges require us to find new ways of doing things and not just stick to old accustomed ways. We must be willing to shift or transform our paradigms, as difficult as that might seem, so that we can be more focused and effective in delivering the priorities that you have outlined in your speech.
According to the IMF, and I quote:
The global economy is in a severe recession inflicted by a massive financial crisis and an acute loss of confidence. While the rate of contraction should moderate from the second quarter onward, world output is projected to decline by 1,3 per cent in 2009 and to recover only gradually in 2010, growing by 1,9 per cent. Achieving this turnaround will depend on stepping up efforts to heal the financial sector, while continuing to support demand with monetary and fiscal easing.
That is the world context in which we live and to which we are umbilically tied. The global crisis is not of our own making as South Africans. However, the virus of this crisis affects the whole globe. The damage has spread from the financial sector in developed countries to the real economy all over the world. It is now accepted that the crisis we are facing today can be traced back to the early 80s, when the deregulation of many financial institutions took place. Some institutions became "too big to fail". Today in particular the American government is pouring trillions of dollars into saving these institutions. Unconstrained greed and the failure of risk management and corporate governance are hallmarks of this crisis.
The impact of the financial crisis on the real economy and the depth of uncertainty have evoked questions and debates about existing economic models. There are now calls for a fundamental change to the relationship between governments, citizens, capital markets and the rest of the economy. The crisis is challenging conventional wisdom amongst economists and many others about ratings agencies and their role, and the financial sector itself. Deputy President Motlanthe and Minister Manuel have engaged with the G20 and other institutions to develop a global response, and have raised the South African voice in that context.
Like the rest of the world, South Africa has not escaped the effects of the global recession. Since the last quarter of 2008, our economy has been in decline, export earnings have fallen and jobs have been lost. Nonetheless, we should remember that we are better off than many countries in the world.
The immediate implication for fiscal policy in South Africa is that, despite the best efforts of our Revenue Service, tax revenues, after adjusting for inflation, are expected to decline. Needless to say, there will be limitations to what we can spend. Our ability to borrow from the capital markets is now limited by higher borrowing costs. We are compelled, therefore, to separate in the programme of action those things that need to be done urgently from those that will have to await a more favourable economic outlook. We must also ensure that every rand that the government spends achieves the set goals and has the desired impact.
In February this year, taking account of this global economic slowdown, my predecessor Minister Manuel tabled South Africa's most expansionary budget in our short history. As a result our economy is weathering some of the devastating storms only because of the decisions that as government we took earlier.
As we weather the storm, we must also address more fundamental issues impacting on job creation. We must "never waste a good crisis". The current global contagion presents us with an opportunity to transform and restructure our economy so that we can take full advantage when the good times return.
The Budget provided for a deficit of 3,8% of GDP, and together with the borrowing requirements of state-owned enterprises, the public sector borrowing requirement is set to reach R186 billion. Foremost amongst our responses to the economic crisis is our infrastructure investment programme, valued at R787 billion. In general, the major projects are on track. The National Treasury is working with Eskom, Transnet, the National Roads Agency and our water authorities to ensure that these enterprises can borrow the required funds in the capital markets with state support, where necessary.
The Budget also announced a significant step up in the spending on public works programmes. I want to reaffirm a commitment made by my predecessor in this regard. If the programmes under Phase 2 of the Expanded Public Works Programme spend their allocations, we will ask Cabinet to review the allocations made to these programmes.
Our approach will continue to ensure fiscal sustainability. We will find creative ways of funding government's programmes. We are determined to root out, in that process, corruption and inefficiencies. We will ensure that government gets value for the money it spends and we will create better synergies and effective partnerships, both within government and with other stakeholders.
In addition to these measures, National Treasury is working with sister departments to implement recommendations made by the Joint Presidential Economic Working Group in response to the global economic crisis. Job creation is the joint outcome of many things: industrial and trade promotion, labour market arrangements, skills development, macroeconomic management, investment in technology, rural development, land use planning, housing and urban development. So, job creation is our collective responsibility.
Parliament has revived the Appropriation Bill, allowing for the 2009 Budget proposals to take effect. Other legislative procedures include the revision of the list of department names - in terms of section 14 of the relevant Act - which Minister Baloyi is finalising. Government's spending programmes for the present year are all under way.
At the same time we have also identified the need for strategic alignment between state-owned enterprises and development finance institutions in order to maximise capital investment in the domestic economy. The capital resources and delivery mandates of development finance institutions will be better co-ordinated to facilitate and give impetus to the development programmes in our economy. Better alignment of these institutions is crucial to ensure that government's strategic priorities will be strengthened and that our developmental agenda will be delivered. In the course of this year, I will table proposals to a committee of Ministers overseeing our development finance institutions to use them to draw private sector financial institutions into appropriate co-financing and risk- sharing arrangements, in support of infrastructure investment and broader access to credit.
Over the past decade considerable progress has been made, hon Speaker, in improving our tax system and broadening the tax base. You can see I cannot get away from talking about tax! Government is still required to raise revenue, even in these difficult times. This will require of all of us, both within this House and outside, that we pay our fair share of taxes, and stop the abuse of our tax system. I am happy to report to this House that as at 31 May 2009 we have seen a 10% increase in the number of tax- compliant employers who have to participate in the employer tax season in order to make the tax season for 2009 effective. The SA Revenue Service will intensify its efforts to detect and contest noncompliance. This is in accordance with international best practice. For example, the President of the United States has granted permission for the internal revenue service to hire 10 000 more auditors to raise more taxes and, in particular, to combat off-shore tax schemes!
It is imperative that we deal with all forms of leakage from the state, and not only talk about where money has to be spent, especially at a time when every cent needs to be properly used for its intended purpose. Accordingly, the National Treasury will establish a unit to monitor and investigate corruption in public procurement processes. It will focus on both government employees and private sector involvement in these crimes. This will be one way of ensuring, Mr President, that we get value for money and that the leakage in the tender system within the state is stopped.
Let me turn briefly to some of the areas of public expenditure and service delivery that will enjoy priority in the period ahead. One of the strengths of our current fiscal structure is the social assistance system that brings relief to households that would otherwise be without income support. Considerable work has been done by an interdepartmental task team on options for improving both savings and contributory social security in partnership with the financial services sector. I look forward to working with my Cabinet colleagues and this House on a more integrated social security system that encourages savings and broadens the coverage of risk benefits.
Of particular importance is the approach we take to financing health services. We face immense challenges in this area, not just because of the burden of diseases associated with HIV and tuberculosis, but also because modern comprehensive health services are expensive and highly complex. We have to find cost-effective solutions to the challenge of providing and managing health services, and we have to find better ways of working together with the private sector in building the infrastructure required, managing services and training professional staff. Following the state of the nation address, and in consultation with my colleague Minister Motsoaledi, I have set up a task team at the National Treasury to work with health officials to explore models for broadening public-private partnerships in the health sector.
We are fortunate, hon Speaker, that our fiscal position is strong, public debt is moderate and the foreign reserve position of the SA Reserve Bank is in good health. [Applause.] I think you need to give additional applause to Minister Manuel, who made all this possible. [Applause.] These are considerable blessings, due in large measure to the foresight and wisdom of my predecessor. These strengths mean that we are able to continue with the expanding infrastructure investment programme announced in recent budgets and overseen by the boards of Eskom, Transnet, the National Roads Agency and other public entities. And we are able to continue with the broad-based social assistance programmes that are provided for in the national Budget. These are fiscal strengths, to which we should add the technological and financial capability of the South African business sector, and the collective vision and mobilising power of organised labour and civil society. To these formidable strengths, Mr Speaker, we can surely add the great disciplines of modernising societies - hard work, a culture of savings, respect for social institutions and shared family values, nurture of the land and the natural environment and - of course, you would expect me to say this - payment of taxes when they are due.
Our development path is about building state capacity, and about strategic alliances with partners - with business, labour and civil society. We hope to build strategic partnerships that will more effectively enable the state to deliver. Our development path is about restoring economic growth, decent jobs and livelihoods, and about a clear understanding of the respective roles of government and the private sector that support the dynamic of an enterprise-based economy while continuing to invest in the institutions and enabling arrangements of a just and inclusive society.
Mr Speaker, we confirm our commitment to finding lasting solutions, wiping away the hunger and fear on our children's faces and eliminating the hopelessness and despair of being jobless. This is our commitment to South Africa. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker, Mr President, fellow members, after the President's first state of the nation address on Wednesday, it is clear that the government and the DA have some different ideas about how best to approach economic policy in the years ahead. And I trust we will find it within ourselves to debate this subject with open minds.
The state is at the centre of the government's approach. The President promised more social spending, a state-directed approach to industrial policy - focused on industries chosen by government - and an extension of the preferential use of government procurement policies, the effect of which is to drive up costs to the taxpayer.
And, of course, it is tempting in the depths of a recession to spend money on those most vulnerable to the downturn, and indeed we must, which is why the DA has always advocated a welfare safety net for those who can't provide for themselves. But we must also have the courage and the discipline to ensure that the steps we take now do not undermine our ability to take full advantage of the upturn which will follow the recession, hopefully next year.
The actual extent of our budget deficit is not known right now, but it's likely to far exceed expectations. We must remember that borrowed money has to be paid back, and every rand spent on servicing or repaying debt is a rand that could have been put to more productive use in our economy. President Zuma promised to spend and spend on Wednesday, but we simply cannot run up a deficit that undermines our ability to remain competitive and which, in the medium term, reduces the capacity of the state to deliver services, especially to those who most need them.
We must, however, despite the recession, continue to spend on infrastructure - I'm pleased to hear Minister Gordhan saying that we will do that - because these investments will generate growth when demand increases to the domestic and global economies. But we should even now start looking for private partners who can help to fund that infrastructure spending. We know that credit is hard to come by right now, but, in the long run, there is no need for the taxpayer to fund single-handedly all the projects currently planned or under way.
And rather than focus all our spending on consumption, we should urgently introduce a wage subsidy scheme that makes it cheaper and easier for employers to bring first-time job seekers into the labour market.
The Expanded Public Works Programme is a kind of welfare, with precious little skills transfer taking place. A wage subsidy is much more than that: it has the potential to bring unemployed people into the labour market permanently through a transfer of skills while, in the short term, also helping to stimulate domestic demand. Of course, those who advocate a more interfering state are emboldened by the current global recession, and have long argued, with some justification, that the economic policies pursued under President Mbeki's leadership failed to provide enough jobs.
Now the truth is that our economic performance during the boom years preceding this recession was no better than okay. Our growth was driven by high commodity prices and cheap credit, underpinned - it must fairly and correctly be said - by judicious monetary and fiscal policies.
But the truth is that macroeconomics is actually the easy part. What we failed to do when we had the chance was to focus and follow through enough on a restructuring of our economy to support sustainable growth.
The solution now is not to fantasise about a so-called developmental state. The conditions do not exist in South Africa today to emulate what took place in Europe or Japan after the Second World War or in parts of Asia more recently. Our state lacks critical management capacity. We live in a globalised economy that is more open and more competitive than ever, and we can't use trade barriers to protect our industries.
The solution lies in unleashing the creative and productive power of the South African people. We must make economic growth the single most important objective of economic policy, especially the kind that absorbs large numbers of unskilled people into the labour market, because that is the nature of our workforce.
We must accept that the private sector is the engine of economic growth. Yes, regulation to ensure competition and to mitigate against excess is required, but we must not talk or act in a way that suggests that the private sector is a necessary evil that needs to be tolerated begrudgingly and constrained as much as possible.
We must implement a counter-cyclical fiscal policy that remembers to be counter cyclical once the recession is behind us and revenues increase once more. We must stand fast behind a monetary policy that counters the real threat of inflation, because inflation makes everyone poorer, with the biggest impact being on the poor. And that is why inflation targeting remains an important and essential instrument of monetary policy.
Our industrial policy must not seek to pick winners, even at industry level. Rather, it should focus on creating the conditions in which those companies that can compete successfully are given the space to grow and create jobs. The market - that is to say, ordinary human beings - must decide which industries fly and which fail.
The DA has long advocated export processing zones in which business, both local and foreign, makes use of infrastructure, a much freer labour market, low taxes and a minimum of red tape to create opportunities for growth and jobs.
In the face of a global recession, we must avoid turning to protectionism. Our future lies in embracing free trade and exporting goods and services abroad. We can't do that in an environment in which we make it difficult to export to us.
We must up-skill our workforce by allowing the people who have proven their ability to run successful enterprises to set the training agenda, not bureaucrats and Setas which have proved merely that they can't manage the money the taxpayer gives them. Companies should be able to claim back the costs of their own legitimate training through the tax system, and Setas should be abolished.
We must - we absolutely have to - make excellence the overriding objective and value of the education system. We need to identify every obstacle to excellence in education and then systematically eradicate them all. The government must seek to unite parents, principals and teachers behind the excellence agenda and not let up until our children are getting the world- class education they deserve. And we need to accept the need for environmentally sustainable policies that acknowledge the reality of climate change and respond to it creatively.
The ANC has always claimed to be people-centred. Well, why not empower South Africans to participate freely in the economy? Why not make it possible for entrepreneurs, for managers, for workers and for the unemployed to make the choices they believe best suit them and their needs? We do not need to fear our own citizens and we should not patronise them either.
Politicians, almost by definition, have an excess of faith in their views and abilities and a terrible fear of losing control. [Interjections.] We must overcome these deficiencies to embrace the idea that free people, adequately supported by a government that knows its place, will build South Africa with greater success than the people sitting here today can by controlling and interfering in their lives.
We face a choice. We can choose to empower the state, stuffed as it is with politicians and bureaucrats, or we can choose to empower the people and provide our citizens with a less interfering, more efficient, empowering state.
Let's put people, not the state, at the centre of economic policy. That is the path to growth, to opportunity and to dignity. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, hon President and colleagues, Cope agrees with the hon President that creating decent jobs, supporting African development, fostering South-South partnerships and placing Mandela Day on the calendar are very important objectives to be attained.
On the other hand, the hon President's speech was an inadequate response to the recession our country is experiencing at present. The recession has been a reality for more than nine months now and the hon President has not given the country a clear and detailed response of how a turnaround in the economy will be effected. The plans which are mooted by government with its social partners look as though they are aimed at simply avoiding retrenchment, rather than at lifting the economy to a healthy plane. In the words of the President, and I quote:
We take as our starting point the framework for South Africa's response to the international economic crisis, concluded by government, labour and business in February this year. We must act now to minimise the impact of this downturn on those most vulnerable.
We reiterate that this is inadequate. The most glaring omission in the President's speech, however, related to what exactly the new planning commission, under the leadership of Minister Trevor Manuel, was going to be doing. In our view, this will become a missed opportunity unless the hon President remedies this omission in his closing reply. Are we going to have a top-heavy bureaucracy in our country in which paper shuffling will be the order of the day? Will government's plan of getting Ministries to work in a cohesive manner unfold into a gigantic battle for turf? Will this new mountain bring forth a mole? This country needs an assurance that more government is going to mean efficiency, cost- effectiveness and delivery. We shall be watching with great interest. [Interjections.]
The President also indicated that the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, had developed a programme to fund companies in distress. [Interjections.]
Hon members, order! Order, please! Allow the speaker to be heard. Continue, hon member.
The President has also indicated that the IDC has developed a programme to fund companies in distress. Had we been separately furnished with details, we would have been able to judge the merits of the plan. On the face of it, we believe that the industries that were identified for support are reactive and will not provide innovation and sustainable jobs, let alone decent work.
According to the President, the lead sectors already identified were automobiles, chemicals, metal fabrication, tourism, clothing and other sectors. In addition, attention will also be paid to services, light manufacturing and construction, amongst other things, in the quest to create decent jobs. It seems that the IDC has already developed a programme to fund companies in distress.
The notion that our factories should produce items from start to finish in one operation, in one factory needs to be reviewed. In this case, one factory could be outmoded and another could be counterproductive. We are now living at the end of the industrial economy as we have known it. Factories must now participate in a collaborative value chain in which they produce one, two or three parts or items on a massive scale to meet world demand. In this way, our factories will look for competitive advantages and then exploit those to the optimum level. As this country is rich in resources and minerals, we indeed need to encourage many of our factories to become genuine global players and, therefore, competitive producers of parts or items rather than the whole.
As an example, with our abundance of iron ore resources we could try to be the world leader in the production of chassis for motor vehicles, buses and trucks, and then supply these to other manufacturers in other countries on a competitive basis.
For me, this is how Cosatu can play an effective and positive role in the growth of the economy of this country, rather than toyi-toying for the Reserve Bank's Tito Mboweni to be dismissed. [Applause.]
Remember the statement: "I'm afraid, very afraid." This is actually the time to be very afraid. "They came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up." They came for others, I was quiet. This is going to haunt us as South Africans for many, many years.
Turning to the government's declaration to buy goods and services locally without our global competitiveness and pushing up costs beyond acceptable levels, Cope endorses that. [Interjections.] In this regard, manufacturers need a lead time, and therefore the planning commission should be charged with the responsibility to synthesise all government orders so that small businesses can come in at a competitive price and deliver on time.
Hon President, how are you going to deal with those provinces that, since the new government came into power, froze all payments to SMMEs? Most of those SMMEs are going under as a result of that. This does not go hand in hand with what you said in the state of the nation address, and I quote you: "We will reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses".
This is standing in the way of service delivery. If we talk service delivery, we must make sure that, as government, we are the first to ensure that we do not actually freeze service delivery and cause our communities to suffer, especially those we want to uplift.
As Cope, we welcome the creation of the new Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities and hope that this department will not be used as a dumping place for those marginalised sectors of our country.
We agree that the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, must be used to alleviate poverty, especially in these sectors. But as it stands, it seriously needs to be reviewed. The planning commission should pay attention to these issues.
The Gundulashe Pilot Project, which was launched in 2004, proved to be a disaster even before it saw the light of day. This is because the local council concerned neglected this road. Actually, this very road has gone back to the condition it was in before repairs. This does not look good in terms of the Expanded Public Works Programme, because it should actually filter down to council to do what they are supposed to be doing.
Another project is the tunnel farming project in Qwaqwa, which had huge capital funding, but is now a white elephant as we speak. These are some of the examples of why a review of the Expanded Public Works Programme is necessary.
No nation, in terms of the last state of the nation address, has been fed as many promises as South Africa has. This is probably the most ambitious statement ever made in this Chamber in view of the problem our country is facing of a 6,4% decrease in GDP.
In this case, when we deliver we need to start at home. How are we going to talk to the private sector, when government is actually not paying those small businesses? Who is going to champion them, if we are not champions ourselves? We are supposed to be leaders in that. I think the President needs to take that into consideration. I thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon President, Deputy President, colleagues and hon members ...tsha u thoma ndi tama u tanganedza mulaedza wa vhudivhudi we ra u newa maduvha mavhili o fhiraho nga Phuresidennde wa Afurika Tshipembe, Vho Jacob Zuma. Ndo imela dzangano lashu la ANC ndi khou tanganedza mulaedza wavho. Arali ndi vhe ndi khoroni, ndo vha ndi tshi do amba zwauri "livhuya a li fhindulwi", nda di dzulela fhasi, mushumo wa vha wo fhela.
Hone, zwo vha zwi tshi do tou vhilingana kana ra tou zwi nanisa arali rine vhamutivhili ro vha ri tshi do toda u swika zwifhoni zwa vhamusanda ngeno ri si vhakololo. Sa musi ri tshi zwi divha zwauri a hu na mupengo a si na thama, nga fhasi ha demokirasi, vhafuwi vhane vha vha Phuresidennde washu, vha a tenda uri vhapengo na vhone vha kone u diambela na u vha sema. [U vhanda zwanda.] Vhapengo vha a kona uri khavho: Muhulisei, naa vhone vha fa lini, rine ra sala ri tshi wana vhasadzi vhavho.
Hune nda vha hone, vhathu vha nga di vhudzisa uri fhungo lihulwane le la ambiwa musi Phuresidennde vha tshi vula Phalamennde ndi lifhio. Rine vha dzangano la ANC musi ri tshi fhindula, ri do ri: Zwe ra zwi pfa kha vhafuwi, ndi zwauri "muimawoga shaka ndi nnyi, muthu ha shumi e ethe". Zwine zwa amba uri munwe muthihi a u tusi mathuthu. [U vhanda zwanda.]
Haya ndi one maambele ane a elana na nyambo khulwane dza Phuresidennde. Rothe ro rambiwa uri ri dzhenele dzunde la vhukuma la u shumisana na muvhuso wavho. Tsha vhuvhili, vho ri kha rine, a hu na nwana ane a do pala luvhondo. Sa vhadzulisani, kha ri shumisane nahone ri nwatelane thoho ya nzie musi ndala yo dzhena mudini. Ri songo tenda ndala i tshi dzhena mutani wa zwishai ngauri nwana wa munwe ndi wau, nahone mubebi wa munwe na ene ndi mubebi wau. (Translation of Tshivenda paragraphs follows.)
[Firstly, I would like to accept the good message we were given by the President of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, two days ago. On behalf of the ANC I accept his message. If I were in the tribal court I would say "the good is not questioned", and take my seat, and the work is done.
Actually, there would be confusion if us commoners wanted to get to the chief's sacred place whilst we are not of royal blood. As we all know, there are people who will support something uncalled for; in our democracy the chief, who is our President, also accepts that the madmen should speak for themselves and scorn him. [Applause.] The madmen would say: "Hon, when will you die, so that we can take your wives."
Where I am people may want to know the main issue spoken by the President in the state of the nation address. We, the ANC, will respond and say what we heard from the chief, which is: "No man is an island" which means that one finger cannot lift a pebble. [Applause.]
This is in line with what the President has said. We are all invited to participate in his government. Secondly, he said to us that no child will ever go hungry. As people living together we should work together and share what we have, however little it may be. We should not allow hunger to be get into the house of the poor, because someone's child is your child and someone's parent is your parent.]
In our language, culture, tradition and practice in our villages there is no such thing as a street kid. It is a phenomenon that is only associated with urbanisation. Therefore, to us it is un-African. Indeed, we agree with our hon President that no child should walk about, wander about, or go to sleep on an empty belly. In 1994, just before the democratic elections were held, the ANC and its alliance partners, together with other mass democratic organisations in wider civil society asked, not for the first time, the question: "What kind of a society do we envisage as we assume the reins of power in government?"
In responding to this question, this is what we said in the words of our icon, Ntate Madiba:
From 26 to 28 April, each one of us has a right to exercise a choice, without doubt one of the most important choices any of us will ever make. That choice will determine our socioeconomic future and that of our children. Join us in the patriotic endeavour to ensure that all of our people share in that future.
These were the words in the preface to our Reconstruction and Development Programme document, a document that laid the foundation and the programmes of the first democratic government. It is evident that right from the beginning the ANC always believed in an activist Parliament and an active society. It always believed in partnerships and patriotism. Fifteen years into democracy, the people of this country, once again, exercised that most important choice, and for the fourth time, elected their democratic Parliament.
Once more, their organisation and government of choice placed before them a coherent, viable and sustainable programme to meet their aspirations, and they said to us, "Together we can do more." The President has placed before the nation a programme that seeks to mobilise all our people and country's resources towards the final eradication of the apartheid legacy. Our President and his government say to the people and the nation as a whole: "Join us in partnership to create decent and sustainable livelihoods. Join us in restoring the dignity of working people."
The question we asked and answered during our election campaign was, and still is: What are the socioeconomic conditions of the people of South Africa today, especially the poor, the vulnerable and the working people in general? It is evidently clear that despite the many successes we have registered in the areas of provision of basic services, much more still needs to be done. We need a strong activist Parliament, we need a strong developmental state that can push the frontiers of poverty to the periphery, and we need a developmental economic agenda driven by the state that will place the five key commitments at the centre of our government programmes.
We are pleased that the economic ministries have already begun to interrogate what kind of policy mix we need to respond to the real challenges of the global economic downturn. We urge that such intervention should not only be based on short-term responses of cyclical swings in the economy. What we need is coherent and sustainable economic policies aligned to putting South Africa on a path that would see sustainable growth. Therefore, we call upon the speedy alignment of our macroeconomic policies, fiscal and monetary policies, to advance the developmental agenda of the state and the people.
In the meantime, the dialogue between business, labour, civil society and government should be encouraged in order to save jobs, and to create new ones under these difficult conditions. Together we can restore the dignity of workers by creating quality jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
The integration of rural economics into the mainstream economy, or first economy, is not a choice but an imperative for the upliftment of the people of South Africa. Through our priority social and economic infrastructure programmes and spending, co-operatives must be formed to strengthen local economic development and to ensure that training and retraining programmes do take place at a local level.
In conclusion, a developmental state must have the capacity to plan, monitor and evaluate the impact of all government programmes in all three spheres of government. It is, therefore, more than necessary that the planning and monitoring commission co-ordinate all government programmes, not just at the level of the executive.
The coming into operation of a single public sector will enhance our ability to have a common database of what skills we need, what skills we have and the kind of training programmes we need to put together. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Madam Deputy Speaker, hon members, firstly, I would like to congratulate our new President, the hon J G Zuma, on his ascension to the highest office in our land, and to congratulate the new Leader of the Opposition and all other members. I had the privilege of working closely with the hon President for many years when we both served as MECs in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. I see, Mr President, that you have left boys like me behind and steamed ahead. I wish you well, Msholozi. I know that you have a very difficult and challenging road ahead.
Before I turn to the state of the nation address I would like to just touch on a few current issues, one being the fact that today is World Environment Day. I think it is important for all of us in this House and for the President and the executive to reflect on what we have done as legislators to ensure that our natural resources are protected and preserved for future generations.
Whilst I do understand that we have progressive environmental legislation in place, the area of enforcement is still something that we all have to address. To this end, Mr President, and hon members, one of the areas, I think, that has to be given careful attention is the Durban South Basin. I remember very clearly when the then hon President Mandela and Deputy Minister Holomisa went to the Durban South Basin to address the issues of the people in that area. There is a high incidence of leukaemia and cancer, the incidence of which has been proven. I think we have to make sure that industries in those areas are made to comply with environmental regulations. If they can do so in other countries around the world, they must also do the same here in South Africa.
The second issue is the doctors that have been on strike and that have grievances. I think, Mr President, you have your work cut out for you in ensuring that your government gives serious attention to the concerns of these medical officers. As it is, we have a much-fractured health sector and we need to ensure that it doesn't fracture even more.
The third current issue is about what is going on in the SABC. The shenanigans in the SABC are not something that we as legislators can be proud of. We call, therefore, Mr President, for an urgent commission of inquiry into what is happening in the SABC, so that we can restore some faith in the public broadcaster by the citizens of South Africa.
Turning to the recession, when I stood here in February I said that in the past when the USA sneezed the rest of the world would catch a cold. But, unfortunately, they caught the cold first. We were sneezing four months ago, but now we have caught the cold and we have to find creative ways of dealing with this recession which is now impacting very, very seriously on all of us South Africans as well.
Concerning the state of the nation address, the aims of the new leadership as communicated are welcome. I think that we all, as servants of the people, aspire, amongst other things, to helping create an environment that is conducive to eradicating poverty, providing the masses with affordable good-quality housing and providing enough jobs to meet the demands of our growing population.
However, the difficulty lies in the ability to turn these and other noble objectives into reality. The hon President and his executive have the task of ensuring that the almost R657 billion per annum collected in taxes from South African taxpayers, through direct and indirect taxation, is used effectively. Taxpayers want value for money, and we trust that this executive will rise to the challenge, for we, as parliamentarians, will certainly be the watchdogs - the emphasis being on "watch" and not "dogs".
I think it is also important for us not to run the risk of number crunching - of throwing out numbers like 500 000 jobs, a million houses, etc, etc. Let us look at land reform. It is quite easy for us to be tempted to say that millions of hectares of land have been restored to people who were previously dispossessed of their land, but what we have to answer is: When that land was restored to those people, was sufficient support given to them by government to ensure that they have sustainable livelihoods; were poverty traps set for those people? That is the question.
When we look at the number of houses that are being built and that will be built, we shouldn't say that we have built a million houses. We should be looking carefully at the quality of the houses. Do people feel safe in those houses, when there is wind, when there is rain, when there are storms, do they feel safe? [Applause.]
When we talk about the number of jobs, I hope, Mr President, that your hon Ministers have already created some 8 000 jobs between the day of your speech and today, because if we look at the number of working days to the end of December, it is about 4 000 jobs a day that they need to create. [Applause.]
When we look at policing, it is good enough to say that we will have extra policemen and women on the beach, but is the quality of service acceptable to us as South Africans? We have to focus on quality. We have heard numbers before: "One settler, one bullet!" Well, we are glad that that is a thing of the past. But there has also been: "One food parcel, one vote." [Applause.] And that must be a thing of the past. We need to ensure that we instil pride and self-worth in South Africans. We must not have a culture of dependency. People need to be given the tools and instruments to allow them to develop themselves. This is going to be the responsibility of this government.
I want to say to the former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, now the Minister of Transport, that I think, Minister, you have been given a poisoned chalice in trying to deal with the bus rapid transit system. But we wish you well and hope that you can deal with that sooner rather than later.
In conclusion, as I said on behalf of the IFP, we support the aims as espoused by the hon President, but we will be watching very carefully, monitoring and evaluating the performance of this executive. I thank you. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, in the President's opening remarks of the state of the nation address he made reference to the recent challenging times our country experienced and how we overcame them with dignity. Sir, there is another challenge which is threatening our country which we need to also overcome. I refer to HIV and Aids.
It is estimated that for every one Aids death, there are two new infections. HIV and Aids count among one of the big five killer diseases in the world and South Africa has the highest rate of infection in the world. With an estimated 5,7 million people infected with HIV in South Africa, many of whom don't know their status, this pandemic presents all of us with a tremendous challenge.
The ANC government has only recently emerged from the coma of denial and finally agreed with the rest of the world that HIV indeed causes Aids. Now while it is a medical fact that recovery from a coma can be relatively slow, given the seriousness of the pandemic and its impact on all our lives, we need to inject a sense of urgency and put in place prevention and treatment programmes which can substantially reduce infections.
In view of this, then, Mr President, I was rather disappointed with the meagre two lines in the state of the nation address on the topic of HIV and Aids. It is quite unfortunate that you chose to merely read out a few lines from the 2007 national strategic plan in respect of the Millennium Development Goals and ARV roll-out. You offered no solution or hope whatsoever to the thousands of people who are HIV-positive or living with full-blown Aids. That, Sir, is irresponsible.
Within six days of exposure to HIV, the virus overcomes the body's initial defences and spreads rapidly through the blood, turning HIV into the biological equivalent of a runaway train. These six days are a window of vulnerability, but they can also be a window of opportunity, if there is strong political leadership. It is my considered opinion that you missed that opportunity in your address, and I want to just give a few examples to qualify my statement.
You missed that opportunity when you did not categorically end the hostility towards antiretrovirals, when you did not stamp out quackery and the promotion of false cures of HIV, when you did not address the fact that R80 million from the Global Fund remains inaccessible because government does not have the proper structures in place to administer it, and when you did not take responsibility or acknowledge the dire consequences of the shortage of formula milk for babies of HIV-positive women, resulting in these women having to breastfeed their babies and increasing the risk of transmission of HIV to innocent children.
The shortage of milk formula stems from a default in payments to Nestl to the tune of R15 million. So, as a result babies are doomed to die because your government can't pay its bills. That is a shocking state of affairs, Mr President, and the buck stops with you. [Applause.]
The consequence of this situation, Sir, is no different from the moratorium on ARV initiation in the Free State in November last year. At least 30 people per day died as a result of this moratorium. And yet you didn't allude to any of this in your state of the nation address.
The DA is in total agreement that the debate on HIV and Aids should be depoliticised. We ask you to consider allowing the SA National Aids Council, Sanac, to take a more direct role in the state's responses to HIV and Aids. However, Sanac continues to be top heavy with ANC politicians, and you would do well to include members of the opposition in Sanac as we have a valuable input to make and to give credibility to your statement of "Working together, we can do more."
There is currently no Aids vaccine on the horizon so an efficient and comprehensive ARV programme is key to treatment. Roll-out and unblocking of funding has to take serious priority if we are serious about tackling the pandemic head-on. We also should start treatment earlier, when the CD4 count is 350, as advocated by the World Health Organisation.
Mr President, all lives have equal value under our Constitution, including HIV-positive persons and people living with Aids. Thousands in South Africa are not getting the chance to live a healthy productive life because of this disease and government's slow reaction.
Now is your opportunity to provide a detailed road map to engage with this potentially nation-destroying virus. I hope you grab it with both hands and give validity to your inauguration speech in which you said, "For as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable disease, we shall not rest and dare not falter." [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, I rise to support and thank you, President, for the leadership you gave in the state of the nation address. I must confess that I'm heartened by the way in which you demonstrated your firm commitment to bettering our education system. I think you referred to education many times - more than any other sector - and for that we are very grateful.
I agree with you, President, that education is the single most important tool for our people to develop our young children, and also for the future of our country. It is a tool that will help us as a country to confront the many challenges facing our beautiful and beloved country, which include, and are not limited to, poverty; unemployment; the burden of disease; class and gender imbalances; underdevelopment; the list goes on. We are confident, President, that if we get it right in education, most of our problems will be addressed.
First and foremost, again, I want to thank the President for establishing the Ministry of Basic Education, not only because this gave me a job, but also because I think it's a very useful Ministry that will help us focus and dedicate our attention to schooling. This kind of attention is required, given the size and the complexity of our education system, which is still recovering in many areas from the historic years of deliberate neglect. We will not shy away from the task and won't disappoint the nation. We will handle the task with the commitment and dedication it requires.
In the state of the nation address, the President charged us to ensure that we plan, implement and monitor our work and evaluate all our different activities. More importantly, he charged us to ensure that teachers teach, learners learn and parents parent their children, and that we go back to basics.
We were also challenged in that our most valuable resource in education, that is teachers, must conduct their business in the most ethical and exemplary manner and desist from any behaviour that harms their learners and the profession itself. Any form of ill discipline must be dealt with decisively.
We were also charged with making sure that our schools are made to be running schools. Again, we are committed to making sure that that happens. You charged us with doing our business with the utmost dedication and producing quality outcomes which ensure that our schools are nothing less than thriving centres of excellence.
The other challenge was around breaking the back of illiteracy. Again, we are committed to making sure that we do that. One of the most important points that the President has raised, even in other forums, is to ensure that all South African children from rural areas, farming areas and poor communities are provided access to quality education and are given an opportunity to really grow and develop their potential to the full.
I think what is more important, President, is to make sure that we - and I think the new Ministry enables us to do just that - redefine what we mean by "basic" in the country. "Basic" would be anything between Grade R and Grade 12, unlike in the past where "basic" would be interpreted as Grade 9 being an exit point. In that respect, we will make sure that all our learners who are drop-outs, that is, children who have not reached Grade 12, are assisted to complete matric, to make sure that indeed they have basic education, as required.
Hon member Wilmot James, I couldn't agree with you more; you are right, the bottom line in education is about getting the curriculum right. That is the core business. We must be able to transport our learners to school. We can keep them in safe structures, we can feed them and we can protect them, but, if there are still outstanding matters around the curriculum, then, I think, we are wasting our time and our resources. [Applause.]
Education is about pedagogy in the classroom. It is about the interaction between the learner and the teacher. It is about what they learn.
Our curriculum needs to be streamlined even further, and all other frills that tend to distract teachers from the core business of teaching and learning must be removed. We must go back to basics. The minimum requirement, which has been evading us in many of our schools, is to make sure that our learners can read, write and count as the bottom line.
Yes, the noble principles of the outcomes-based curriculum cannot be wished away and thus remain great and noble. Our children, as future citizens, need to be equipped with skills which will enable them to be well-rounded adults that can solve problems, that can think laterally and that can work as teams. However, the bottom line is that they have to be able to read and write in that context, and that we are committed to.
Mr President, when I was first appointed as an MEC of education in Gauteng, I undertook road shows to familiarise myself with the work that I was meant to do. I met a number of principals and some of your best educators, and all of them, without fail, raised issues about the curriculum. When I became a Minister, the first thing that I did in office was to say: Now I'm here; let's talk about the curriculum.
I was very excited to find that my predecessor had already set up processes and systems to make sure that indeed, Mr Wilmot James, we address the curriculum. We can assure the nation that I have told the committee the previous Minister set up that the urgency of the matter would start in July. Come 2010, we will be working on a streamlined curriculum that will make sure we have clear outcomes without any frills. [Applause.]
These initiatives are all intended to achieve one goal: an improvement in the quality of learning outcomes. We are now testing, as a department, Grades 3 and 6. Only Gauteng and the Western Cape ran these tests. Following the state of the nation address, I have given the instruction that all schools in the country run these tests - that we test our Grade 3s as an exit point, and Grades 6 and 9 to make sure that throughout the system we can assess our outcomes on an ongoing basis, and this will take place.
I can assure the member from the UCDP that the tasks that have been beating us as South Africans, come 2011, we will be ready for. We will have improved our outputs. [Applause.]
Again, President, we were instructed to make sure that by 2010 our children are tested for hearing and visual defects, and also have their teeth tested. When you see newspaper people running around, President, you must know that we are doing our work with Dr Motsoaledi. We have agreed to put a task team in place which will make sure that by 2010 - a ke re Ntate Motsoaledi? [Isn't it so, Mr Motsoaledi?] - we will be able to test all our Grade 1s before they start schooling. Mr Motsoaledi is looking at me - Re dumellane, a ke re? [We did agree, didn't we?]
The other issue, Mr President, was around making sure that we remove all the mud schools and dangerous structures. Again, regarding that task, President, we are in discussion with Minister Doidge. We will be putting together a team which will make sure that we work with our provincial structures and that indeed we give you a full plan by 30 June, to really give you a sense of how we are going to confront that.
Unlike many other departments that do not have counter departments, Education is one department which is blessed with many people to do the same work. So, we are confident that together with the different MECs, we will be able to pull it off.
During all our meetings, the Deputy President keeps on reminding us, especially as ANC cadres, that since Polokwane, the ANC has prioritised education as priorities one, two and three. We are quite confident that, together with all the able MECs that the ANC has deployed in different provinces, we will be able to pull it off.
We are also already involved with the Western Cape, which is one of the best-run education provincial departments. It was run by the ANC in the past. [Applause.] It was run by the DA before. But it is definitely the best-run provincial department. So, we are in discussions with them. [Interjections.] We will be visiting them to ask them not to reverse the good things we have left for them in that province. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
So, I will be visiting the Western Cape next week - we will also be visiting the different provinces - to make sure that indeed we align our forces in the province. We think that, as the education sector, we have the necessary muscle and force to pull it off. With the MECs deployed throughout the country, as I said, without exception, we are confident that we will pull it off.
You challenged us to expand our early-childhood education, and I agree with you, hon President, that the benefits of a structured pre-school year are enormous to both the child and the system. Again, we will make sure that we meet the deadlines.
We are putting in place an instrument to ensure that we can track our learners or track every child from the day they begin school to when they finish. This will enable us to manage the transfer between schools, identify slow progress and intervene where necessary.
At the same time, we have initiated a review of adult basic education. We are working very closely with the Minister of Higher Education and Training to streamline and, again, make sure that we are in line with the instruction to break the back of illiteracy.
Our schools do indeed need a lot of attention, especially those that continue to fail our communities. These are not limited to the urban or rural setting and often have little to do with the wealth of the school or its community.
A recent report by the Ministry of Education of schools at work showed conclusively that the issues were not complex and did not depend so much and solely on resources. A singular focus on teaching and learning is a prime ingredient of a successful school, with learners, teachers and parents recognising that this is very central to education. This recognition has brought about the Quality Learning and Teaching campaign of the department, which has brought all stakeholders under the umbrella of non-negotiables. This means, as you said, President, teachers being in class on time, teaching; learners being in class on time, learning; and parents doing their part.
Teachers are required to be in school for at least seven hours a day, as well as one extra day for preparation. In support of this, we will be strengthening the accountability and performance management system throughout the sector.
Apart from the Integrated Quality Management System which is now being externally moderated, we intend, this year, to begin with the establishment of the national education evaluation and development unit. It is a unit that our masses called for in the conference of the ruling party in Limpopo.
Qualified and committed teachers remain the mainstay of our system of education. In 2009, for the first time, we will be phasing in the allocation of grants to teacher unions to undertake developmental programmes for their members - Tat' Thulas Nxesi - to make sure that there is also professional development and professional engagement amongst our teachers.
The President has instructed us to convene a meeting of principals. I can assure you, President, that we have already made contact with them and there is great excitement about it. We are just waiting for the date. But, I can tell you that yesterday already, after the state of the nation address on Wednesday, we made contact with the national structure of principals and they are ready and they feel ...
... bawelwa yintoni lento befunwa ukubonwa ngumntu omdala kangaka. [... what a great opportunity it is that somebody of high calibre wants to meet them.]
They are very excited about it. So, we will be doing that. And I can assure you, principal - I mean President ... [Laughter.] ... that schools stand and fall on principals. When I used to visit schools, I could see them coming and would say, "Ae, Nna ha ho kwae komeng" ["Well, there isn't much one can expect from them."] ... just by the way they walked. But sometimes a good principal can turn things around and make a school work. So, I think it is a brilliant start, President, and we are looking forward to that meeting between you and the principals.
Let me conclude by indicating that we are deliberately called public schools and not state schools. This is a signal that we belong to the people and not to the government. The instrument through which the public has been given the right to run these schools is the school governing body, which has extensive powers and functions, including the recommendation of staff appointment, the development of the code of conduct, the raising of school fees, and the determination of language policy. I don't think there is any other system that concedes so many powers to the public as we do.
It is essential that all patriotic South Africans participate in these governing bodies. The opportunity is now; we are currently running school governing body elections. These are the second biggest elections outside national and provincial elections. During this period, we are looking for nearly more than 200 000 governors to run our schools. The elections are on, and we are calling our communities to participate in these elections.
Again, the President has tasked us to ensure that schools become centres of excellence. Our research shows that there are three elements to a successful school: Good and committed teachers; spending the proper amount of time on tasks; the support of decent textbooks - and that is why, again, when we meet with the provincial MECs, we'll be working with them and with Finance to make sure that indeed, come 2010, we resource our schools adequately. It doesn't help to say that teachers have to be in class, if there is nothing that they can use as their teaching support material.
So, we'll be resourcing all poor schools in 2010 to make sure that, indeed, there are basic resources for every child to be able to read. Again, we commit ourselves to working on this. If we can make these three things happen, we can claim that basic education will be on the road to success.
The next big task facing the education sector is ensuring that we build a post-school sector that will not only develop the technical skills needed for the economy, but also the social and other skills and attitudes required for a developmental state. Our FET colleges may well be the core of such a system, but we would want to expand these to ensure a diverse range of programmes offered in a variety of institutional settings across the country.
The linking of the skills development structure with education should ensure a much greater alignment of effort and provide a solid basis for the implementation of the national human resource development strategy.
The President asks us to ensure that poorer students are not denied access to higher education. Our primary instrument for this is the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFA, which allocates over R2 billion every year to poor and deserving students. Added to this is the amount that is now being recovered from students. We are paying back these loans, and that money is recycled into the system. Last year alone, the NSFAS was able to recover almost R300 million from learners who were paying back the loans that were given to them.
We know that there are still problems of access, and I can report on behalf of the Minister of Higher Education and Training that already he has initiated a review of the scheme and has committed himself to reporting back to Parliament as soon as this is concluded. Again, the linkages between NSFAS funds and the National Skills Fund, which will in future be under one roof, will be explored to ensure maximum benefit.
Let me finish with a good news story, following the President's wish for us to revive school sport. In the first half of this year, over 80 000 children participated in the Schools Confederation Cup. Each of the provinces participated as one of the countries in the Confederation Cup, including being able to render the national anthem of that country. The finals were held last week, with the Western Cape, representing Iraq, as the eventual winner.
The same competition will be held for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and I must encourage everyone to support their schools, where some very exciting sport is being played. Ke a leboga. [I thank you.] [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, let me commence by congratulating the President on his maiden state of the nation address. Let me also congratulate you, Mr President, on your rain-making magic. [Applause.]
Sonke lesikhathi bengicabanga ukuthi usuka eNkandla, awusitsheli ngani ukuthi uvela KwaMhlabuyalingana. [Uhleko.] [All this time we were thinking that you were from Nkandla, why did you not tell us that you were from KwaMhlabuyalingana? [Laughter.]]
This is my maiden speech and I am advised to avoid being controversial. This is like avoiding politics in Parliament, when controversy is essentially part and parcel of politics.
The PAC thinks the President's speech was totally silent on the continued control by a minority of the means of production, including land, financial institutions and technology to the exclusion of indigenous Africans.
The President's focus seemed to be on the consumption and distribution of wealth. Eskom is a classic example of consumption unaccompanied by the creation of wealth. In the frenzy of distribution of electrical power to the far corners of Azania, we forgot to generate more capacity by building additional power stations. The PAC has observed with grave concern that the capacity to create wealth is not effectively extended to indigenous African people.
While we praise the President's attitude of zero tolerance of the neglect of work at our schools, there is no hint of admission that some teacher unions use their power recklessly to protect lazy and corrupt officials.
The President overemphasises a reliance on government handouts, despite a diminishing tax base and the woefully corrupt Public Service. Teaching people how to fish is the essence of freedom and liberation. Teaching people how to fish will come in the form of the provision of high-quality education, skills training and financial support.
The President continues to trumpet black economic empowerment. In principle, this is a good thing to do. However, experience has taught us that this is only an enrichment scheme for the politically well-connected elite.
A unified, single Public Service is a good idea and the PAC welcomes it. We also applaud the President's promise of transformation of the judiciary. Our Constitution, too, should not escape change. We cannot afford a clause in the Constitution that glorifies land theft. The property clause must go. Thank you. If I still had time, Madam Deputy Speaker, I could go on and on. Thank you. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, His Excellency the President and colleagues, the hon President has received a more favourable reaction than a negative one for his historic state of the nation address. The MF joins the accolades, but will make certain constructive suggestions.
We are very glad that the hon President has adopted a no-nonsense approach - let us make South Africa a country of hardworking people. We are glad that the government wants excellent competence in Ministers, even in the provinces, and that there must be a high measure of economy.
The MF proposes that the monitoring and evaluating of politicians take place very strongly, both at provincial and local government level, and that any Minister or councillor be removed if they are not worthy of their responsibilities.
The MF proposes that at every level a special force be created, either in the SA Receiver of Revenue or in the SA Police Service, to deal with unaccounted-for enrichment, like the Central Bureau of Investigation of India where there is a no-nonsense approach. There should be zero tolerance in respect of corruption amongst political office bearers. Mr President, India has been hit hard by recessions, but has a growth rate of 6%. At one stage, agriculture contributed 20% to the GDP; now it is a dismal 3%.
At a time of recession, the government's highest priority must be expenditure on a very, very thrifty scale, and infrastructure development is going to be the key. We suggest that the President keeps a very watchful eye on infrastructure development. One of the finest decisions was to establish a planning commission, but in our considered view there is one important weakness: Planning commissions have succeeded only when they are supervised by a politician, but not headed by a politician.
We submit this suggestion to you, Mr President, to review the situation. I suggest that you invite to South Africa the chairman of the planning commission of India, Professor Montek Ahluwalia, who turned around the economy of India.
Mr President, you have achieved what no President has achieved: You received very high praise from the Leader of the Opposition in the House. We are glad that you are adopting a multiparty approach.
To the SACP I say that you must learn from communist China. Communist China has a White Paper on multiparty democracy, a copy of which I have with me, Mr President, and will hand to you at the end of my speech. [Interjections.] China is controlled by the Communist Party, but a multiparty system exists and there is strong multiparty co-operation and co- ordination.
Mr Wan Gang is the Minister of science and technology and belongs to one of China's minority-interest parties. Mr Chen Chu is the health Minister and is an independent. From 1998 to 2003, Mr Rong Yiren was Vice President and belonged to the China Democratic National Construction Association. Two of these Ministers were appointed from minority parties. [Interjections.] I see no reason why this cannot be done at provincial level. [Interjections.]
Mr President, the MF will support you, but will also disagree with you in a very, very constructive way. [Interjections.] What you have done is outline the points contained in the election manifesto. We are going to judge the country by the budget and the performances of each Ministry and its department. The country is watching you when you say that you are not going to tolerate incompetence.
May I suggest to the new Minister of Finance to note that former members of the tricameral parliament, former Bantustan leaders, have been appointed as Ministers at the national level and that he should not live in the past.
At a time of recession, government's expenditure is of the outmost importance, but you must make sure you concentrate on rural development also. The release of government money is very vital. Therefore, the President's monitoring mechanism must play a crucial role.
Madam Deputy Speaker, may I please ask the hon member a question, namely: What job are you trying to get this time? [Laughter.]
That is not a point of order, hon member.
Mr President, there are a number of fundamental areas relating to addressing poverty and job creation which have not really been addressed. You seem to be silent about the magnitude of the high failure rate in the country. This increases unemployment and poverty, yet there is no mention of how government is going to take this process forward.
I still have not heard what the number is of the people that cannot go to university, whether or not they are going to get there and what your plan and contribution is going to be. I did not hear in your speech the extent to which you were going to subsidise basic commodities in this recession and ensure that the social grants and pensions were maintained in order for the unemployed to buy bread. I still have not heard how the poor and unemployed are going to access those 500 000 jobs. When are those jobs really going to be available, and where and how are people going to access them?
Baba Mongameli, ngikufisela impumelelo ekulweni nobumpofu. Ngiyabonga. [Hon President, I wish you success in fighting poverty. Thank you.] [Applause.]