Hon members, the War on Poverty campaign is part of the comprehensive antipoverty strategy of government. It is an urgent and intermediate intervention against poverty.
Progress reports on the War on Poverty campaign are submitted to the national war room, which in turn briefs the Presidency. We do not just receive reports, but we also undertake regular verification visits to areas where the War on Poverty campaign has been launched to review progress for ourselves.
According to our monitoring reports, all municipalities have indigent policies. Municipalities complete a template every quarter which reports on whether they have indigent registers, how many people are registered, and the number of persons benefiting from free basic services. Free basic services such as water and electricity are examples of local government programmes that are targeted at the poor and are being implemented in most municipalities.
National government, through the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, currently has three programmes that support municipalities with initiatives that target the poor. The municipal infrastructure grant enables municipalities to roll out basic services to poorer communities. The Siyenza Manje programme provides technical hands-on support to municipalities.
The Community Work Programme is an initiative designed to provide an employment safety net by providing participants with a predictable number of days of work per month, thus supplementing their existing livelihood and affording them a basic level of income security through work. The programme is targeted at unemployed and underemployed people of working age, including those whose livelihood activities are insufficient to lift them out of poverty. The programme currently has 75 000 participants. More details on these programmes can be obtained from the Minister for Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
In addition to this, government has a plethora of programmes that address the social marginalisation of the poor. For example, we have significantly increased the number of no-fee schools, school feeding programmes, early childhood development facilities and many other programmes.
The Department of Social Development has programmes for child-headed households. These include foster care and monitoring by social workers and justice officials, as per the Children's Act and the provisions of our Constitution. We also work in partnership with nonstate actors to address the issues of children in our country.
With regard to senior citizens, per capita grants are given to institutions that provide residential care for senior citizens. Social programmes to keep our senior citizens involved in the social life of our communities are being implemented across the country. We have also taken a conscious decision to include the affairs of senior citizens in all our new programmes such as the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. Most recently, a South African female senior citizens football team represented the country abroad. Thank you.
Ndiyabulela, Sekela-mongameli. [Thank you, Deputy President.] I want to know, Deputy President, whether the government encourages or accepts shared service delivery arrangements with poor communities and households such as the one we witnessed when the City of Cape Town built open toilets for the community of Makhaza with the expectation that the community would find means to cover themselves even if it means using blankets.
Hon members, I think that for any shared services to work - we have seen that in the provision of RDP houses in a number of communities - or when that kind of service is to be provided to any community, it is best when the community is involved from the planning phase and is also organised accordingly. Then it is possible for residents in a street comprising a number of households to know that they can, together, build a home - or a toilet, if it is a toilet that has to be built - for each household.
If it is not done with their involvement and in that fashion, it is bound to result in problems and a sense of not being provided with the requisite service or support. It only works when it is done in the spirit of letsema or "let us do it together". That way it works better because those who are on the waiting list then know that they are on such a list, and they also know the product and its quality because they are involved in its construction and delivery, as it were.
I think that the case you are referring to suffered from that weakness because the community, as I followed the story, were made to sign some documents which purportedly recorded their acceptance of the toilet seats that were not covered. We believe that had the community been engaged and involved in the provision of those structures, they would have done it sequentially. We also believe that at the end - whatever time it would have taken - all of them would have ended up with covered toilets. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairperson. Deputy President, I think your government must be commended for your efforts - which you have just explained to us - of alleviating the strife of those who are mostly poverty- stricken in our country, as well as your efforts of addressing the issue of joblessness. But the ancillary problem in this regard is, of course, corruption.
I would like to know what your government is doing in all those many ANC- controlled municipalities across the country where you, as the government, have put in so much of the efforts to alleviate poverty. Those funds are corrupted and stolen by corrupt officials, as was evidenced just this week in the "City of Choice", Msunduzi Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province. Do you have plans in place to stop this flow - I want to say, this tide of corruption - that steals the money meant for the poor and indigent?
Okay, that looks like a secondary question to the initial question, but I wouldn't like to deny the Deputy President the opportunity to share some ideas if he wants to respond.
Hon members, the government has five priorities. The first is education, because it has many problems. Yet, education is the real equaliser in society. So that's a priority. Health is the second priority. We know that public hospitals need to be improved. The third priority is the creation of jobs because unemployment, poverty and all the attendant problems remain stubborn. In fact, the number of people who are dependent on social grants has risen to 13 million, and that figure is unsustainable if it relies on the fiscus. We've got to find a way of creating jobs to reduce that figure.
The fourth priority is rural development because, unless we attempt development in rural areas, the migration into urban areas and the resultant increase of informal settlements will remain a problem. The fifth priority is the fight against crime and corruption. Corruption, by whatever name we call it, must be fought and eliminated. Where we have evidence and so on, there are specialised units, over and above the law enforcement units, that can deal with such cases.
Indeed, the government is committed, and that is why you see this high turnover of those who are caught with their fingers in the till, so to speak. I can only repeat the fact that it is a societal problem and it affects all of us. That is why whistle-blowers are important in this regard. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairperson. Deputy President, after how long does the government require reports from municipalities regarding their progress in this regard?
I did not get the essence of the question, hon member. Can you please elaborate a bit?
The government offers assistance to the municipalities through the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. My question is: After how long does the government require reports from the municipalities on the progress that they are making with the assistance that is offered to them by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs?
Well, municipalities are there to render services to communities. The national department assists them to, firstly, obtain unqualified audits. That's the first goal of the assistance. The number of municipalities that are now receiving unqualified audits has increased. The department has a target to eliminate those that still receive qualified audits. That's the broad measure, otherwise it's very difficult to say.
The department does not wait for reports from the municipalities. It is out there generating data on the weaknesses that are found in the municipalities in order to introduce corrective measures. That's an ongoing interactive process, but the broad tool used for checking progress is the audit.
Hon Chairperson, through you to the Deputy President: Deputy President, you are to be congratulated on the Community Work Programme and creating 75 000 jobs under these economic circumstances. That's tremendous. My question is: With the emphasis on decent jobs, would those jobs be classified, in your opinion, as being "decent jobs"?
The second part of my question relates to the restriction on work opportunities, in particular the textile industry, with its minimum wage rates that resulted in the controversy. This is something which, I'm sure, you are aware of, particularly in my province in Newcastle. I would like to know about the restriction imposed on job creation by minimum wage rates in line with these job opportunities here. On the one hand, you are doing a fantastic job of creating job opportunities, but, on the other hand, should we not be looking at opening the opportunities where we have restrictions such as minimum wage rates which chase the work overseas or to other countries?
Hon Lees, the minimum wage is not restrictive because it determines the barest minimum that should be paid to a worker in a particular sector. That is why employers - those who set up factories, and so on - are free to employ anybody at the barest minimum prescribed by law. The minimum wage has been introduced even for domestic servants. Therefore, in itself it's not a restriction.
If the employers want to use prison labour, that is now being outlawed in South Africa. In the past, there were opportunities for employers to employ prisoners. When one employed prisoners, she or he paid Correctional Services a certain fee. The prisoners worked and Correctional Services fed, housed and clothed them. That way, one almost got free labour.
However, in the labour market, a minimum wage has been set, and other employers pay far more than that. Therefore, if you employ people and you are happy with their work, they should also be happy about what they earn even if it is a minimum wage. There is no need for inspectors to impose any higher wages than what is prescribed as a minimum. The situation that you are referring to regarding the factories in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, involves employers who get workers into "sweatshops". In other words, the conditions in those factories are hazardous, and so on.
On that point, we recall cases where some of those employers locked up employees in the factories at night. And, as a result, some of them died. They did not even allow their employees to leave the factory. Now, those kinds of conditions are not allowed in terms of our labour laws.
The Ministry of Labour, therefore, sent the inspectors to check the situation in those factories. I don't think it was a minimum wage issue; it was more the overall working conditions that impelled the labour inspectors to close down those factories. Thank you.
Details regarding infrastructure investment in ensuring supply and preservation of clean water, water storage and distribution, and clearing out national water infrastructure backlog in Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga
24. Ms N D Ntwanambi (ANC) asked the Deputy President:
Whether any part of the R300 billion the government has been spending annually on infrastructure investment includes investment in ensuring (a) the supply and preservation of clean water, (b) water storage and (c) distribution, especially in clearing out our national water infrastructure backlog in communities of the rural areas and townships of Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga that have been battling with drought, inconsistent water supply, contaminated water and/or still use natural water streams and dams; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO561E
Chairperson, hon members, as with many other basic services, the provision of water to the people of South Africa is severely influenced by the application of unequal policies in the past. Some rural communities are in the catchment areas for water supplies to the big cities and, although they watch the water being piped off to the cities, they themselves do not have access to potable water.
We now look at managing water in its entirety in our Water for Growth and Development Framework. This is a sector approach to water management, instead of having water resources and water services as separate disciplines.
While "water rights" was the term used in the old Water Act of 1956, the current National Water Act of 1998 refers to "water use entitlements". The Act makes provision for rural communities to apply for a water use license. This replaces the riparian rights principle which excluded an estimated 90% of blacks from obtaining water and which was the basis of the Water Act of 1956.
With regard to your question, hon member, the answer is yes. Through its regional bulk infrastructure grant and Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs is investing up to R5 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework to reduce the current backlog in the supply of bulk potable water for socioeconomic and developmental needs in all provinces of South Africa.
Hon Ntwanambi asks specifically about the rural areas and townships of Limpopo, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. Starting with Mpumalanga, government is attempting to address the challenge by installing water treatment package plants in the communities of Ntunda, Louisville, Skhwahlane, Brooklyn and Draaikraal.
During my visit to the Mpumalanga province on 30 October this year I had the honour of opening a 2 megalitre package plant costing R2,8 million in the Ntunda village, and a pipeline to reservoirs costing R1,4 million. This project now supplies potable water to at least 7 000 people in the Ntunda and Skhwahlane villages.
Through the bulk infrastructure grant in the Limpopo province, the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs allocated an amount of R228 million in the 2009-10 financial year for the funding of nine water supply projects. An additional allocation of R28,66 million in the 2010-11 financial year from the community infrastructure programme ensures that reticulation takes place in the municipalities.
In the Eastern Cape, R23 million has been invested for the supply of water and to address water-pollution-related issues. In the Northern Cape, a total of R8,37 million has been invested in three municipalities to cater for the Northern Cape waste water and sewerage pump stations refurbishment and water supply.
A number of municipalities were declared drought-stricken areas in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Limpopo provinces in late 2009. In consultation with the affected municipalities, these provinces have conducted assessments to quantify the needs and the resources required to bring about drought relief.
The interministerial committee approved a sum of R86 million for the Eastern Cape and R185,2 million for the Western Cape. Of this amount, R53,7 million was transferred to the Western Cape during November 2010, and a further amount of R141,5 million for the 2010-11 financial year. An amount of R54 million was approved for the Limpopo province in January 2010. Funds were made available from 1 July 2010.
With regard to initiatives to address acid mine drainage, Cabinet appointed an interministerial committee to address the serious challenges related to acid mine drainage in the Witwatersrand. Subsequently, a team of experts was appointed and they presented their report to the interministerial committee on 21 October this year. The interministerial committee has asked the team of experts to look at the cost implications of their recommendations and other options to resolve acid mine drainage. I thank you for your attention.
Thank you very much, Chair. Deputy President...
... ndifuna ukuqonda ukuba njengoko umbane nawo unyuke kangaka, ingaba urhulumente usabambelele kulaa mbane uzikhilowathi ezingama-50 indlu nganye? Ingaba awuzokunyuswa na laa mbane umntu awuphiwayo? [... since the electricity price has also increased this much, I would like to know whether the government will continue to subsidise each household with the free 50 kilowatts of electricity? Will that free electricity not be increased?]
We are now mixing water and electricity ... [Interjections.] ... All right. [Laughter.]
Ngokolwazi lwam, urhulumente akakalihlaziyi inani leekhilowathi elinikwa abantu bakuthi ngaphandle kwentlawulo. [As far as I know, government has not yet reviewed the number of free kilowatts that are subsidised for our people.]
Chairperson, Deputy President, there is general concern in a certain community that by 2025 the country will be in short supply or in dire need of clean fresh water. Does the government have a long-term strategy to avert this foreseeable calamity, such as pumping or piping desalinated water from the coastline, or perhaps going as far as the Great Lakes?
As I indicated in my initial response, government is seized with efforts to address the challenge of ours being a water-scarce country. There are a number of ways in which government is responding to this challenge. Key amongst those is, first and foremost, to harvest as much water as we possibly can and keep it in reservoirs and dams, as well as to purify water that is available in many streams across the country. The example of the Ntunda community that I visited last month is instructive in this regard. Here is a plant that does not cost anything more than R6 million. It pumps the water out of a river, purifies it, makes it potable, and pumps it to take care of the communities.
The reality is that supply is not enough just on its own. We have to explore the possibilities of recycling water. We also have to embark on massive education of our people. For example, in many instances where there are only three grains of rice in the sink we open the tap to flush them down instead of picking them up. This reflects that we are not aware of the fact that this source of life, clean water, is in short supply, because people just use water recklessly.
So, this is a challenge that we, as government, are seized with. We are quite aware of this challenge and we are doing everything possible to ensure that we do not end up with severe water shortages. Without water there is no sanitation and there is no life. All kinds of complications will arise here. Thank you.
Chair, my question to the Deputy President is: What mechanism does the government have in place to ensure that when dams are built people from surrounding areas benefit from that water? Currently, that is not the case. You find that water is being transported to industrial areas and people in the surrounding areas do not benefit from those dams. Thank you.
Chairperson, under the current National Water Act, what I referred to as water use entitlement seeks to address precisely this problem. Communities live close to massive dams and yet they have no access. This is because the old Water Act gave rights to certain commercial farmers, to the exclusion of local communities. That is what this water use entitlement seeks to address. That is the legal instrument for addressing precisely that challenge here. Thank you.
Chair, in the province I come from, there are a lot of problems with the municipalities with regard to them not spending money on the maintenance of infrastructure. By that I mean sewerage plants and water purification plants. Whilst the municipalities do get the bulk infrastructure grants, they tend to be more for new projects. There is talk that municipalities are supposed to spend money on maintaining their existing infrastructure. In addition, there has been talk that certain amounts of money will, in future, be ring-fenced to ensure that money is spent by the municipalities on maintaining infrastructure, particularly with regard to water supply.
Hon Worth, you have put your finger on the nub of the problem. This does not only apply to water, it applies to all bulk economic and social infrastructure, whether it is a school, a road, or any infrastructure. The weakness that is common is that we do not make provision for maintenance.
In addition, as you know, a city such as Cape Town, for example, is old. At some point, the pipes are bound to show old age and, therefore, wear and tear, unless the municipality, the Metro, intervenes. In Gauteng, this is what people are experiencing. Through seepage, lots of water is lost and it goes to waste.
So, indeed, the key to solving all these problems is that, after delivering any major project, there must be a maintenance team in place to maintain that infrastructure. If we do not do that, it will always cost us a fortune to repair and reconstruct. Essentially, just by maintaining it, most bulk economic infrastructure can give us good service for almost 50 years. However, if there is no maintenance, it means every second term or so you have got to reconstruct from scratch. And that goes, as I said, for all infrastructure - the schools, the hospitals, the clinics. With maintenance, paintwork and all of that, on an ongoing basis, we would save a lot, actually. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
Hon Chair, hon Deputy President, the problem we found at the municipal level is that the government is giving money for infrastructure projects, but there is very little money going towards maintenance. For example, you can spend millions on low-cost housing projects, but there is no follow-up funding from the government to maintain municipalities. It then becomes a municipal responsibility, and that makes it very difficult.
If we can get the municipal infrastructure grant, as you have said - and for that we are very grateful - we can have a long-term funding model to support the government's initiatives regarding infrastructure building. It will make a huge difference because a municipality's income comes from the residents. That is the only source of money that they actually have. How can you maintain poor people's houses if they cannot pay rates and taxes? Due to poverty relief measures, many people are dependent on equitable shares and on grants from the municipalities to keep them alive.
So, I do not think that is really a question, it is just an opinion I am expressing. Maybe we must really look to support our municipalities more with maintenance money. Thank you, Mr Deputy President.
That was an input and a contribution, not a question.
I agree with him.
Yes, and the Deputy President agrees with you. [Laughter.]
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.