Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, distinguished members of this House, in his inaugural address in 1994 our icon, Nelson Mandela, laid a firm foundation for nation-building and social cohesion when he reminded us of the need to work together as a nation. He said:
We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people for national reconciliation, for nation-building, for the rebirth of a new world.
President Mandela elevated the spiritual philosophy of ubuntu to an overarching value system for the desired new nation. In 2007, the ANC observed that the darkness of apartheid was receding, making room for the birth of a nonracial, nonsexist, united, democratic and prosperous society in which the value of every citizen is measured by our common humanity.
On 22 April 2009 millions of South Africans went out to cast their votes, encouraged by a South Africa that belongs to all, a nation united in diversity, a people working together for the greater good of all. Hon President, you linked the recovery of the humanity, ubuntu, of all South Africans, both black and white, with the five ANC priorities in the following words:
The recovery of the humanity of all has been a guiding tenet of the ANC for many decades of its existence. It will be a central feature of our shared efforts over the term of this government, because we know that working together we can do more to build a great South Africa ... Decent work and the steady improving quality of life are essential for the recovery of the humanity of all our people. So too is empowerment through access to quality education and skills development. Safe water, affordable energy, decent shelter, and cohesive, secure and vibrant communities are similarly all important for the recovery of this humanity. To be treated with respect and dignity by one's fellow citizens, and by those who have the responsibility of providing a Public Service, is important for the recovery of our humanity. Central to this is also the need for access to economic opportunities and to earn a living.
This statement revealed the President's loyalty and commitment to the fundamental values of the ANC, its five priorities and programmes. In its January 8 Statement, the ANC made job creation a priority "... to ensure that the demand that all shall share in the country's wealth is met."
The statement also said that political emancipation without economic transformation and economic freedom is meaningless. Spurred on by this commitment of the ANC, hon President, you told the ANC lekgotla that -
... everything we do this year must be designed to help us achieve this goal. Therefore we must make economic transformation our national project, and we have to rally the whole country behind this national priority as we did with education, health, and the fight against crime.
The achievement of this goal will also, we submit, require the transformation of this Parliament into one that is truly a people's institution - that is efficient, effective, responsive and activist in character. Our democracy is both representative and participatory.
The ANC believes that development is not only about the delivery of basic services to a passive citizenry. The people must be involved and participate in the legislative processes and development of programmes aimed at benefiting them. In taking this approach, the ANC seeks to give effect to the principle of participatory democracy, which requires us to take Parliament to the people.
The ANC defined the Fourth Parliament as an activist Parliament: responsive, efficient and an effective people's tribune. In building an activist Parliament, we need to review the structures and programmes that were established to educate the public, for instance, the Parliamentary Democracy Offices, PDOs, and sectoral parliaments, including the youth, women and religious parliaments.
Sectoral parliaments were created to provide a national platform for marginalised communities to interact with their public representatives on critical issues that affect their lives. These structures have not made the desired impact. Their resolutions were never channelled into parliamentary processes and Parliament's response to the issues raised were never communicated to the communities or referred to the executive for implementation.
The People's Assembly, which is intersectoral, is supposed to sit twice a year, but has thus far failed to meet for the past two years. Sectoral parliaments and the people's assemblies are political programmes and should not be annual events driven by officials.
These programmes must indeed be realigned and transformed into effective and powerful tools for parliamentary oversight and community participation in line with the objectives of an activist Parliament.
We need to ensure that these programmes are totally accessible to ordinary people, including rural youth and women, and that Parliament and the executive branch of government take the issues they raise forward and report back. They must serve as catalysts for real change and development in the lives of our people. In short, they must become organs of an activist Parliament.
An activist Parliament intercedes, and intervenes, with the executive, organs of the state and business on behalf of the people. It seeks to ensure the delivery of faster change in the lives of the people.
Such a Parliament challenges public representatives to work faster, harder and smarter to meet the legitimate demands and expectations of the people. It requires public representatives, including MPs, MPLs and councillors, who constantly seek to improve their capacity to serve the people. Such public representatives should strive to be in touch with the people all the time, listen to their views and learn from them. They should be accessible and flexible and not arrogate to themselves the status of being the source of all wisdom.
The ANC and the people need activist public representatives who form part of a collective of visionary and revolutionary men and women whose task is to steer Parliament toward the attainment of our five priorities and, in particular, the national project of creating jobs and transforming the economy. Such Members of Parliament should be instrumental in transforming this institution into what our people expect of it - an activist Parliament.
It is for this reason that the ANC is, today, recommitting itself to deepening and entrenching the robust oversight role it plays in regard to the executive and all organs of the state. In doing so, the ANC will put the interests of the people of South Africa first and ensure that all people, whether they are members of the public, government officials, members of the executive or business leaders, are treated with respect, without compromising the constitutional responsibility of MPs to conduct robust and fearless oversight.
It is also expected that those appearing before portfolio committees, including Ministers, officials and members of the public, irrespective of their standing in society, should treat Members of Parliament, and this institution, with respect. Thus mutual respect will characterise all interactions in our parliamentary work.
The ANC has the responsibility of leading the entrenchment of the ethos and values of activism within this Parliament. It has to ensure that it leads this institution in playing a critical role of conducting robust oversight over the executive.
Parliament will use this constitutional right to monitor the adherence of government departments to the five priorities, in particular, job creation and the transformation of the economy by government.
Parliament's oversight work will complement the performance monitoring and evaluation by the Presidency and enhance the principles of co-operative governance. This will also require policy co-ordination and interaction of programmes across the three spheres of the legislative sector.
What are the organs of an activist Parliament? Sectoral parliaments and people's assembly programmes alone cannot achieve the objectives of an activist Parliament. Traditional roles of portfolio committees are also not adequate to carry out the objectives of an activist Parliament. The ANC wants this Parliament to conduct its oversight role even more robustly than ever before.
Parliament is elected to represent the people and ensure government by the people under the Constitution. Thus, Parliament has a responsibility to ensure that the public forms part of the democratic processes by understanding the role of Parliament and their involvement in parliamentary processes.
This places an obligation on this institution to ensure that democratic processes are well known and reach all citizens of the country. By its nature, Parliament is a nation-building institution. It seeks to transform the entire society. To this end, the ANC will ensure the transformation of its structures to enhance Parliament oversight capacity through public involvement, participation and education. There can never be an activist Parliament without strong, well-resourced and effective structures of Parliament. An activist institution will therefore ensure that this institution plays a meaningful role in community interaction to curb violent service delivery protests such as the one currently taking place in Ermelo in Mpumalanga.
In this regard, we wish to appeal to the protesting community of Ermelo for calm. We also condemn the violent nature of the protest, which includes destruction of property and attacks on journalists and their property by the protestors. We call on the protestors to give authorities a chance to address their grievances.
Regarding nation-building and heritage, Parliament has an obligation to provide a public platform for the consideration of issues, debates and education. To this end, Parliament has transformed the Parliamentary Millennium Project, PMP, into the Nation-Building and Heritage Committee that will promote reconciliation, tolerance and the creation of an inclusive society.
This committee is tasked with the following additional responsibilities: to serve as a consultative mechanism to drive the activist Parliament; to reach out to the marginalised sectors of our society, especially rural youth and women; to provide a platform for public debates and education; to promote Parliament, legislatures and councils as instruments of nation- building and heritage development; to monitor progress with government's nation-building initiatives and the development of an inclusive South African society based on reconciliation, tolerance and mutual understanding; and to monitor efforts of the executive to foster a shared South African and African identity.
The Nation-building and Heritage Committee will ensure that Parliament does not solely rely on government reports for its oversight work. It will interact with communities and let them speak for themselves on whether or not jobs are being created and the economy is being transformed.
The ANC will also ensure that the committee develops and harnesses the African cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge systems for job creation and economic transformation. It will become an important driver of programmes such as Africa Day and Nelson Mandela Day as part of African renewal, advancement and development. In this regard, the ANC will rekindle the spirit of progressive Pan-Africanism and mobilise all sectors of society to participate in these processes.
With regard to one-stop centre parliamentary constituency offices, PCOs, constituency work is at the centre of the work of an activist Parliament as it serves as an opportunity for public representatives to interact with the people through local constituency and public forums. We have, therefore, restructured our constituency offices to make them one-stop centre parliamentary constituency offices which bring together public representatives under one roof to promote policy co-ordination and integration of programmes for community outreach. Satellite offices will be established, where necessary, to ensure that we reach out to the remotest areas of our country.
The one-stop centre PCOs will ensure that community issues obtained by public representatives are formalised in Parliament, legislatures and councils and raised with the executive for consideration and response in all three spheres of government.
The ANC will ensure that the separation of powers is effected at the local level to enhance robust oversight. We will then resource our PCOs and appoint competent administrators and researchers. This means that we need to resource these PCOs adequately, staff them with capable people, train the current staff and develop better management and co-ordination systems.
The PCOs are the face of Parliament within communities. The image of our PCOs must change for the better and Parliament has a responsibility to make resources available for better infrastructure. The ANC believes that caucuses, not the administration, need capacity to track responses to the issues raised by public representatives and ensure that information on issues from the public is formally processed in Parliament, legislatures and councils and reported back to the people.
In deepening and entrenching ubuntu values and principles, our icon, Nelson Mandela, observed quite correctly that social and economic transformation cannot be achieved without spiritual transformation. He placed the overarching value of our common humanity at the centre of this spiritual transformation.
We said in the 8 January Statement of 2010 that human development has both spiritual and material aspects, and undertook to work together with the National Interfaith Leaders' Council, NILC, to promote spiritual and social transformation.
Speaker, on 5 January 2011 the NILC and the National Religious Leaders' Forum met at O R Tambo International Airport and resolved to form a single national interfaith organisation. They declared that they have common objectives relating to moral regeneration, nation-building and social cohesion.
The interfaith movement has also identified job creation and skills development as top priorities. They also agreed to make their infrastructure available for skills development and cultural and creative industries in partnership with government.
The seeds for collaboration between the interfaith movement and government were laid at the National Conference on Reclaiming and Living Out the Values of a Just and Caring Society held on 31 August 2010. The conference resolved to launch the Ubuntu Alive Campaign and to call on government to identify a national Ubuntu Day, which does not need to be a holiday, to celebrate and cultivate the values of a just and caring society.
The Ubuntu Alive Campaign will address, among other challenges, all manifestations of moral degeneration, including drug and alcohol abuse.
The conference also deliberated on the Bill of Responsibilities produced by the Department of Basic Education. The department, together with Lead SA and the National Interfaith Movement, will launch the Bill of Responsibilities in March this year.
The Bill seeks to inculcate the values of rights and responsibilities among school children. In particular, the Bill focuses on the respect for human dignity and the work ethic. It is particularly important for building the character of children, deterring teenage pregnancies, the use and/or abuse of drugs and alcohol.
We welcome the invitation of the President to civil society to form partnerships with government in the fight against substance abuse and teenage pregnancies. In this regard, the ANC urges government to partner with the National Interfaith Movement and the media to drive the Ubuntu Alive Campaign in the fight against these social ills.
In conclusion, Speaker, ubuntu values and principles are the glue that will ensure the creation of cohesive, caring and sustainable communities. The ANC will mobilise all sectors of society to throw their weight behind the Ubuntu Alive Campaign for the deepening and entrenching of a human and people's rights culture.
The ANC, therefore, welcomes the state of the nation address by the President and gives it our full support. I thank you. [Applause.]
Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President and ladies and gentlemen, the state of the nation address delivered by you, Mr President, last week presented our nation with two choices: on the one hand, the choice to choose a path to poverty and, on the other hand, the path to prosperity.
Today we must ask ourselves the question: Will we choose the path to poverty, the path of cronyism and corruption, the path of increasing inequality and decreasing opportunity; or will we choose the path out of poverty, the path towards a future where the circumstances of one's birth no longer dictate one's future and where each South African is afforded the opportunity to fulfil his or her own potential?
The ANC government's path, the path where the narrow interests of a few takes precedence over the interests of our nation, is the path to poverty. The DA's path, the path that parts of the country have started to travel where the DA is in government, is the path to prosperity.
This is the path where job creation, service delivery, health, education and safety are the focus. This is the path where promises become plans, and plans become actions. Thus far, the ANC's path has been one of weak leadership and broken promises.
Mr President, last week I launched a document outlining 50 key promises that you have made to our nation and that have subsequently been broken. Our nation's generosity of spirit threatens to turn to impatience because of this. As the official opposition, it is the DA's role, and indeed the role of all opposition parties, to oversee the activities of the executive through analyses such as this. Former President Mandela referred to this as "holding up a mirror to government".
However, as a party of government, and one that is more and more becoming a credible alternative to the ANC administration, the DA followed this expos with the release of a document outlining 100 proposals that we believe can help build a better South Africa.
We released these 100 proposals, Mr President, because the time for yet more sweeping promises has long passed. We released this document because the DA is a party concerned with solutions and setting our country on the path to prosperity. We believe our government should be too.
Now is the time for the ANC government, and for you, in particular, to demonstrate its commitment to tackling the issues that really matter. Now is the time to prove that this administration is committed to action.
Mr President, through you, Mr Speaker, allow me to commend you for dedicating so much of your state of the nation address to the seminal challenges in our country, that of unemployment and job creation. It is also encouraging that you announced a number of policies that were included in our 100 proposals and which we have been advocating for a long time.
Firstly, the DA welcomes your establishment of a R9 billion jobs fund. We welcome this announcement because, on the basis of what Mr Mantashe told the press last week, this appears to be a repackaged youth wage subsidy. This is a brave decision, but the right one. It is brave, because we have all seen the vicious infighting within the tripartite alliance, which caused Minister Gordhan's wage subsidy policy to be stopped in its tracks; and it is right, because for every Cosatu member, there are three unemployed South Africans.
There is no time to be acting in the interests of a few, when maintaining the status quo will deny life opportunities to the many. It is sustainable jobs that our people need, not temporary Expanded Public Works Programme job opportunities, or the dreaded "lwamatoho" that you referred to.
Mr President, we will support your jobs fund, because this is a measure that will combat South Africa's most urgent problem head-on. It will address a problem that Mr Mantashe rightly described as an affront to the dignity of our people, and we believe if implemented correctly, it can create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and cultivate the skills and knowledge needed to compete in a 21st century global economy.
Secondly, we believe that the decision to introduce R20 billion in tax breaks to incentivise investment and expansion in the manufacturing sector is a step in the right direction. This is a sector that provides employment for many thousands of South Africans and can employ thousands more.
We can and must be globally competitive, and we agree that the state has a productive role to play in creating an environment in which our manufacturing and beneficiation sectors can succeed. We now believe that similar measures should be extended to small and medium-sized businesses in the sector as profitable businesses, through taxes, provide the only nonborrowed revenue to combat poverty in South Africa.
It is worth noting that in his 2006 state of the nation address, former President Thabo Mbeki committed his administration to consolidating programmes focused on the small, medium and micro enterprises sector, SMME, such as the Apex Micro Credit Fund, Mafisa, the Small Enterprise Development Agency, Khula, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the Industrial Development Corporation's Small Business Initiative and so on.
He also promised that government would ensure that it paid for its purchases from SMMEs promptly. Does that sound familiar? It is five years since these commitments were made, and yet the current ANC government in your speech continues to repeat the same promises. We are marking time, hon President. Implementing critical policies such as these must now take centre stage.
At the first time of asking, Minister Gordhan's wage subsidy proposal was blocked by your alliance partners. We have lost another year - another 12 months in which millions of South Africans remained unemployed; all, I fear, because of the influence of Mr Vavi's members at Polokwane.
So will it be jobs or power, Mr President? Will you protect the needs of South Africans or your own position? Will you deny our citizens jobs to protect your own? That is the essence of your dilemma; and one path will be the path to prosperity, the other path to poverty. What I believe is that there is only one principled decision that can be made and that is to make those difficult decisions that will place us on the path to prosperity.
To achieve this, we must begin by revisiting the way in which we hold our government accountable. Indeed, we must begin by redefining what accountability means and how the instruments of government are used to achieve an open, honest and effective state.
In the first place, the establishment of an entire Ministry dedicated to performance monitoring and evaluation has thus far failed to improve government's ability to deliver. Indeed, Ministers have not even been required to make their performance agreements public. How do we hold those people to account if we don't know what their performance agreements mean?
Secondly, last year's Cabinet reshuffle, rather than illustrating a sincere commitment to accountability, proved to be an opportunity for political scores to be settled and favours bought. Despite lip service being paid to a renewed commitment to improve delivery, many of the Ministers that should have been fired weren't, and those who should have been retained were fired, like Barbara Hogan because -again - she spoke out about corruption. [Applause.]
Thirdly, Mr President, if this truly is an administration committed to accountability, the DA's proposal for the establishment of a presidential portfolio committee should be wholeheartedly welcomed, instead of being buried deep inside interminable parliamentary processes.
An administration committed to accountability would recognise that Parliament cannot fulfil its constitutionally mandated responsibility of conducting effective oversight of the executive if the Presidency, the body at the apex of the executive with transversal responsibilities, is not subject to the same degree of oversight as all other departments.
Mr President, it is imperative that the ANC government departs from those philosophically misguided concepts that are at the heart of the ANC's approach to governance and that act as a powerful barrier to our country's advancement. Cadre deployment has broken our Public Service, fuelled corruption and deepened public mistrust.
Whilst democratic centralism is anathema to our constitutional democracy, these sorts of outmoded ANC policies need to be replaced with a programme of action that advances individual choice, prioritises merit and excellence, and expands opportunities and basic freedoms.
Mr President, The Economist recently said of our system of governance:
Most [ANC] MPs are aware that they must toe the party line or risk finding themselves banished from the list of election candidates. The same fear underpins the ANC's system of "cadre deployment", under which loyal party members are given plum posts and critical ones sacked. Mr Zuma has repeatedly promised to reform the system, but has never quite got around to it.
The time has come, Mr President, to implement those reforms that you obliquely referred to in your speech on Thursday evening. New principles of accountability are urgently needed, but these must also be matched with a new ethos of government.
The National Youth Development Agency's disastrous hosting of a totalitarian youth festival at the end of last year, which was essentially a state-funded ANC Youth League event with a R100 million price tag, is a powerful illustration of the urgency with which this blind spot needs to be addressed.
An administration serious about poverty alleviation would not even have entertained that public funds be dedicated to such an event. An amount of R100 million spent on a festival, Mr President, is R100 million less spent on alleviating poverty.
As various ANC leaders mull over proposals to nationalise mines and ban labour brokers and fight over wage subsidies, millions of South Africans face a daily struggle for survival. At least one of your Ministers understands the scale of the deprivation facing our country. Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, echoed the sentiments of development economist Amartya Sen when he wrote earlier this year that "poverty is not just a lack of income".
Minister Manuel also drew attention to the unsustainable cycle of dependency engendered by the cash grants system, stating that -
If we fail to change the quality of services delivered to the poor, we reduce the state to an ATM, only capable of handing out cash.
An effective poverty alleviation strategy must, on the one hand, deliver immediate relief to those in need. On the other hand, it must create opportunities for people to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The ANC has, thus far, failed on both counts.
It is my sincere hope that the work being done by the National Planning Commission, which Minister Manuel heads, will incorporate these observations into its efforts to develop a future vision for our country. It is also my hope that the new growth path, which appears to have been prematurely inspanned as the draught horse of economic transformation and job creation, will be adapted to complement the product of this important commission's endeavours.
Daar is nog ongelooflik baie werk wat gedoen moet word, en ons kan net eenvoudig nie verder bekostig om ons plig te versuim deur mense aan te stel wat nie bereid is om tot diens te wees tot die bevordering van ons land en veral die opheffing van die ellende waarin die armes van ons samelewing bly nie.
Daar is net te veel mense wat misbruik maak van die staat se goedgunstigheid - wat die staat beroof, mense in die gemeenskap afskeep, en net weier om hul verantwoordelikhede na te kom. Hierdie mense sluit in politici op alle vlakke, staatsamptenary, onderwysers, gesondheidswerkers, polisiemanne en - vroue en mense in die strafregtelike beroep.
Indien ons nie ontslae raak van die mense wat deur mnr Vavi beskryf word as "roofdiere wat op die staat toesak" nie, sal ons land en ons mense nooit vooruitgang geniet nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[There is still an unbelievable amount of work to be done, and we simply cannot afford to neglect our duty any longer by appointing people who are not willing to serve the advancement of our country and especially the abolition of the wretchedness in which the poor of our society live.
There are just too many people who abuse the goodwill of the state - who steal from the state, neglect people in the community, and merely refuse to shoulder their responsibility. These people include politicians at all levels, government officials, teachers, health workers, policemen and - women, and people in the judicial profession.
If we do not get rid of the people who are decribed by Mr Vavi as "roofdiere wat op die staat toesak" [beasts of prey that descend upon the state], our country and our people will never enjoy progress.]
To realise the potential of each South African and thereby unlock the potential of our nation, many difficult decisions will need to be made. It will require you, Mr President, to bring an end to ambiguity regarding issues such as nationalisation; to balance the sometimes competing forces of business, workers, the unemployed and environmental sustainability; and to deliver on promises to implement new innovative solutions such as renewable energy to meet our country's needs.
Mr President, you must also take notice of the severe environmental headwinds that are gaining momentum against us, such as acid mine drainage, global warming and the resultant increasingly unstable weather patterns that have a profound impact on our economy and the wellbeing of our people.
In this regard, it is important to reiterate the DA's concerns about the involvement of the ANC's investment arm, Chancellor House, in state projects such as Medupi Power Station, and its fixation with coal-generated energy production.
That Chancellor House has significant interests in state projects appears to be a gross conflict of interest and clearly blurs the line between party and state. Chancellor House's activities are a powerful illustration of the ANC government's attitude towards accountability and transparency.
The DA regards the promotion and protection of basic democratic values such as these as central to good governance and as core components of the path to prosperity. Where we are in government, the DA has made significant strides in embodying these values and demonstrating to South Africans that where the DA governs, it governs well.
The DA welcomes the announcement by the Auditor-General earlier this year, that the DA-run Western Cape is the first province whose financial statements of all of its departments and public entities are financially unqualified. [Applause.]
The fact that the DA accomplished this in its first year of provincial leadership bears testimony to our dedication to clean financial management and efficient administration. These are enormously successful achievements and all the people of the Western Cape will benefit from these.
Ezinye iinkokheli ze-ANC ziyiqaphele impumelelo yorhulumente we-DA. uMnu Mantashe, iNkulumbuso yaKwaZulu uZweli Mkhize, iNkulumbuso yaseMntla Ntshona uThandi Modise, bathi kucacile ukuba i-DA iyakwazi ukulawula nokusa iinkonzo kubantu bonke. [Kwahlekwa.](Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Some ANC leaders have noticed the success of the DA government. Mr Mantashe, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Mr Zweli Mkhize, and Premier of North West Ms Thandi Modise have said it is obvious that the DA could govern and deliver services to all people. [Laughter.]]
I will today return the favour, Mr President, and wish to commend you and your Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, for the commitment his department has displayed to addressing our country's health crisis, particularly regarding the HIV/Aids pandemic that is devastating poorer communities.
Kodwa umzekelo endifuna ukuwenza namhlanje, wokuqeshwa kwabantu abangenalwazi lokwenza umsebenzi ekufanele bewenzile, ngowasesibhedlele iFrere, apho kuqeshwe khona uceba womasipala wesixeko i-Buffalo uMnu Mosana, nongenalwazi lokuphatha isibhedlele. Imeko ikekele kwesa sibhedlele, nabantu bayafa phaya, Mongameli. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.) [But the example I want to make today is with regard to the employment of people who do not know what they should do in their work. At Frere Hospital the councillor of Buffalo City Municipality, Mr Mosana, is employed and he does not know how to manage the hospital. Things are bad in that hospital and people are dying there, hon President. [Applause.]]
The DA remains, however, deeply concerned about the state of our country's education system, particularly with regard to the ANC government's refusal to tackle the increasingly disruptive role of the teachers' union, Sadtu.
Siyayamkela eyokuba ootishala banelungelo lokuqhankqalaza, kodwa ngeke siyamkele eyotishala abaqhankqalazayo bade baye kwezinye izikolo, bafike baphazamise abantwana kunye nootishala abafuna ukufundisa. Ayamkelekanga tu loo nto. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We accept that teachers have the right to strike, but we will not accept it if the striking teachers disturb other schools; where they arrive and disturb learners and teachers who want to teach. That is not acceptable at all. [Applause.]]
The situation is so dire in the Eastern Cape that Sadtu has gone from being poacher to gamekeeper.
Bathi abasoze bayamkele imeko yemfundo phantsi kweSebe lezeMfundo kwiMpuma Koloni. [They say they will not accept the education system under the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape.]
Even the Minister had to apologise last week about the state of affairs of education in the Eastern Cape.
Mongameli, abantwana bethu, xa sithetha malunga nooT bakho abathathu, basengxakini ngoba ootishala abanamdla wakubafundisa. Abantwana bethu abanazincwadi zokufunda ngeli xesha sithethayo apha, nootishala abayi esikolweni. Loo nto injalo kwaye icacile. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Hon President, our children, when we are talking about your three T's, are experiencing a problem because teachers do not have an interest in teaching. Our children do not have books to read as we are talking here, and even teachers do not go to school. That is a fact and it is crystal clear. [Applause.]]
At a recent event in East London, Rhodes University Vice Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat, identified effective leadership and management as key determinants of the success of historically black schools. This is a lesson we can extrapolate to the South African context more broadly. Now is the time, Mr President, when our nation needs the kind of effective leadership and management your administration has thus far failed to provide. President Zuma, on that note, your recent comments that sought to employ religious threats for political ends, have no place in our constitutional democracy. [Applause.] They were an example of the very worst kind of politicking - that which seeks to divide along religious lines, rather than unite behind a common goal. The name of God and heaven should never be used in vain.
Akudlalwa ngegama likaYise. [Kwahlekwa.] [We must not play with God's name. [Applause.]]
Regarding matters facing the African continent, we cannot allow historical ties to liberation movements to render us silent on matters of human rights and oppression in Africa.
We were too slow to support the rightfully elected president of Cote d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara. We were too slow to support prodemocracy protests in Egypt and the departure of Hosni Mubarak. And we have continued to engage lethargically with neighbouring states like Zimbabwe and Swaziland, where democratic reforms are desperately needed and human rights abuses continue unabated.
The appointment of Equatorial Guinea's leader, Teodoro Obiang Nguema as the new chairman of the African Union, is a shameful endorsement of undemocratic principles by a body that was originally established to promote good governance and democracy in Africa.
Recent developments in both Tunisia and Egypt have served as a powerful reminder that governments ought to serve the will of the people and not the other way round. Mr President, respect for accountability remains central to courageous leadership.
With a successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup last year, we learnt some salutary lessons.
Saphumelela ukuzimasa la ndebe, ukugqiba kwabo ukudlala eJamani, sabala iintsuku kwizikhululo zeenqwelomoya, kwabhalwa ukuba kusele iintsuku ezili- 1000, saze sabeka amatye sisithi ngexesha elithile kufuneka sibe sendaweni ethile. Wafika uFifa ezokwenza ulongamelo, sanconywa. Akukho namnye owathi besingenamakhono besiphazanyiswa yimvula okanye ucalucalulo. Sasebenza ngempumelelo kulo Ndebe yeHlabathi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We were successful in hosting the Fifa World Cup. When they finished playing in Germany, we were counting the days in our airports - the 1 000 days which we were left with was written down; we started building and told ourselves that by a certain period we should have achieved this much. Fifa arrived to do the inspection, and they praised us. Not even a single one said we do not have the skills, that the rain and/or discrimination disturbed us. We worked successfully during that Fifa World Cup. [Applause.]]
It was one of our greatest moments. President, your administration needs to respect the people of this country in the same way that it respected Fifa.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to one of the great heroes of our nation. I wish to echo what President Zuma has said of Madiba. I trust that we as a nation will respect his personal dignity now and in the future, and that we will always strive to achieve his vision for this country.
It is by ensuring that South Africa becomes a beacon of peace and prosperity, where every citizen has the opportunity to fulfil his or her own potential, that we can best begin to honour our former President's legacy.
Mr President, true leadership is not only about having a clear vision for the future, a stated outcome or a list of objectives; it is also about having a plan, a detailed map of how to get there.
Your map has two paths and you now have to choose. This choice will define your presidency and define your place in history. You can either choose the path to poverty or the path to prosperity. Thank you. [Applause.]
Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, and members of the House, when we approach the debates in this House, and especially this debate, we must do so with a measure of trepidation.
The direction our nation is taking is worrisome. I am very glad that the President, in dealing with the state of the nation address, declared this year "the year of job creation", because if there is one single grave and serious problem confronting our country, it is that of unemployment.
When people are out of jobs, Mr President, it has a deep psychological impact on them. They lose their self-respect and dignity. Physically they suffer the pangs of hunger and deprivation. Eventually they lose control of their cognitive capacity. Eventually this degradation leads to a situation in which people resort to desperate means, and then all of us may find ourselves engulfed by disaster.
Nevertheless, it is important to say, sir, that following so many promises you have made to our nation about job creation, the situation you left us in last week was not inspiring. First of all, the moment that you suggested to us to wait for the budget speeches of Cabinet members, it created the impression that you were promising us something that even you yourself did not know about. [Applause.]
We came to the state of the nation address to hear you tell us what decisions had been made, what plans and programmes had been adopted that were now to be implemented. So, now we have to wait for another promise to hear about those speeches some time in future. That was really unfortunate.
Secondly, it was exciting to hear of the billions of rands R9 billion set aside by government, R10 billion by the IDC. These figures are exciting, but what do they mean? In practice we didn't hear what they were going to do and who was going to do what with this money.
How much of this money is going to go into government programmes? How much of it is going to incentivise the private sector because that is what we needed to hear? We had heard the same promises the two previous years or so. Now we wanted to hear practical steps that needed to be taken urgently because we cannot afford the excitement of promises and then the disappointment later on, year after year.
I speak on these issues, and on this particular issue I speak as one who has also been part of these processes. I do believe that it is important that promises are translated into reality and are not repeated again and again.
Job creation is a function of entrepreneurship, but what we have been seeing in the economy of the country is that tenderpreneurs have been created, but no entrepreneurs. [Applause.] We are not seeing men and women who take money, men and women who take capital and invest it in ventures that grow into their own and generate a profit of their own.
I speak of these issues because all of us in our communities are faced with the difficulties where money seems to be going to tenders, but there are no bridges, there are no roads, there is nothing. [Applause.] So I have to speak out on these issues. Only where there are entrepreneurs - competent entrepreneurs - who receive those tenders, if there are tenders given out, can we see production that actually changes people's lives. I mean, all of us could have said let's go for the tenders and get the money, but you do not know what to do with the money, and that money is then lost to our people.
Now, the rise of destructive tenderpreneurs seeking short-term gains for themselves through tender manipulation is a tragedy. As a result our country is going down the slippery slope rather than rising from the poverty and squalor in which large numbers of our communities find themselves.
We should be building on that which we inherited from our cruel past. We shouldn't be making worse that which we inherited earlier on. Roads that used to be without potholes are now full of potholes. Traffic lights that used to work no longer work. That is the work of the tenderpreneurs that I am talking about. It makes no sense.
On the day that democracy arose in this land, the people of our communities expected that we would take taxpayers' money and use it. They expected we would save our salaries in our pockets and the rest of the budget should have begun to address the needs of the rest of the people in society. But that is not what happened. [Applause.] So, Mr President, I support your position that this must be the year of job creation.
This is a correct call, Mr President. Jobs have to be created, but they will not be created if the money you have set aside goes to those in positions of power instead of making it available to competent, knowledgeable, trained entrepreneurs. They take that money to their family, friends and so on.
Therefore, during the course of your speech, Mr President, one should have heard your address speak more about how this capital you are talking about, these funds that you promised the nation, would find their way to those men and women in the private sector who have the necessary discipline and the commitment to create jobs. That is because they know that if they do not create those jobs, if their companies don't make a profit, they will have no food to eat tonight.
Those who are in government positions and are manipulating these tenders know that, whether they do their work or not, they will still get their salaries. [Applause.] This is a disaster that the country is confronted with.
Order, hon members! Order!
I speak without shame, because I paid the price to create the situation in which today all of us exercise political power, but let's exercise it in the interests of the majority. Let's not exercise it in the interest of the "Johnnies-come-lately" who can shout but do not know what they are talking about. [Applause.]
Mr President, something should have been said and perhaps must be addressed as we move into the future. How do we make sure that our country catches up with the technological advance that has been made around the world? There are lessons to be learned from the experience of other nations.
A look at the end of the Second World War indicates that countries like Japan and Germany after the war were forced to ride the new wave of technology because their industries had been smashed to smithereens. Though they had lost the war, they achieved economic triumph by technologically leapfrogging other nations.
This country, this South Africa, has a chance. If we tame the youth of our country, we can catch up instead of going the long route Europe went. We can bypass them and leapfrog them by linking up with the technological advances that are being made today. But, of course, with the state of our education being what it is, the lack of training and all of that, we are unable to slot in with regard to this.
We are not making sufficient effort to train large numbers of young people in this country so that they can access these opportunities. We, who missed those opportunities, must make them available for the younger ones, and that is something that should have been said.
Will South Africa, for instance, follow Nissan's lead and put the Joule into full-scale production to compete with the Nissan Leaf, which won the Car of the Year award in Europe? Will South Africa, for the foreseeable future, be merely technological emulators or technological innovators? [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Speaker, Your Excellency the President, Your Excellency the Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers and hon members, within the opening moments of his state of the nation address, our President indicated that his administration is building on the foundation laid by the former President, His Excellency Nelson Mandela.
In certain respects this is true, but in one fundamental way that foundation is being quietly eroded and systematically destroyed. If I fail to point this out, I will find myself complicit in our country's failure.
Quoting former President Mandela's inaugural address of 1994, in which he called on South Africa to work together, the President admitted that government cannot achieve its goals alone. I applaud the President for announcing this as the year for job creation, and I concur with his intention to rope in the private sector and other components of our society. One must compliment the President for placing the focus on resolving this most dire crisis, unemployment.
In the past we have tended to rely too heavily on the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, which has created temporary jobs rather than a sustainable employment blueprint. We need to become serious about addressing job creation by working together as a team across all spheres, even spanning political divides. This will require a measure of attitude adjustment within government, and the courage to reconsider our hostile labour laws.
If we want to create jobs, we must create industries that are viable in the long term and do not require a constant stream of state subsidies to survive. Unless this is done, South Africa will remain a welfare state, rather than the developmental state that we dream of. The inescapable reality of a welfare state is that it cannot survive in the long run.
I agree that we need to seek wisdom from former President Mandela's words in 1994, not by taking sound bites that suit our rhetoric, but by taking to heart the message of national reconciliation. Former President Mandela and I, as the leaders of our respective parties, did our utmost to achieve reconciliation.
We worked together for the sake of unity and peace, knowing that our example would be emulated and that the message of reconciliation would filter down to the grassroots communities, where violence and conflict had been the norm for too many years. I believe that when government does the right thing, the people will follow.
I worked with former President Mandela in the Government of National Unity and supported the work of our country's leadership. Even when former President Mbeki dropped me from his Cabinet ... [Laughter.] ... I continued to support the work of government. Even when former President Mbeki was maligned by some of you, I supported him as Head of State.
Last year, during the state of the nation debate, I confirmed again that I would support our President, because I know that his failure would be the failure of our country. I reiterate that undertaking that I will support our President when he does the right thing for the people of South Africa.
Former President Mandela laid a foundation for reconciliation. I have given my heart and soul to reconciliation. Yet, under President Zuma's leadership, reconciliation has been muscled off the agenda. This is not an easy criticism to make, but I have committed myself to speak truth to power, regardless of how unpopular it might make me. And at this time in our history, it is no longer a question of popularity or diplomacy. There comes a time when it is necessary to simply speak the truth.
I have been criticised and ridiculed for what some call a diversionary tactic, when I complain that some leaders within the ANC are deeply embroiled in the rift that developed in my party ... [Laughter.] ... which eventually led to our former national chairperson's splitting away and the formation of a new party.
Yilaba abanonembeza ababanga umsindo. [Those who are making noise are the guilty ones.]
But I am not the one to cry wolf, particularly when tensions between the ANC and IFP contain the nascent threat of taking us back to a time of violence and bloodshed. I know that even my mention of this will be misinterpreted. Before the eruption of the internecine, low-intensity civil war that raged in this country between supporters of the ANC and IFP, I repeatedly warned that we were heading for disaster.
The ANC's determined pursuit of political hegemony then threw our communities into turmoil and tensions were mounting. Whenever I spoke about the imminence of violence, however, I was labelled a warmonger; as though I could make the future happen simply by predicting it. I pray this is not the case, because I stand before you today predicting that if our leadership does not honestly commit to reconciliation, then democracy in South Africa will perish. [Interjections.]
There is clear evidence that some leaders - some leaders - of the ANC have provided their political assistance, massive financial resources and moral support to the efforts to destroy the IFP and oust me as its leader. [Laughter.]
Some may think that this has nothing to do with the state of the nation address or how we regard the ANC as the ruling party and Mr Zuma as our President. Yet it is part and parcel of how we, as a nation, are to read, receive and believe in what was said last Thursday by our President.
Can Mr Zuma be trusted as the President of South Africa while he is distrusted as the President of the ANC? [Interjections.] Can we believe in his commitment to democracy while he is involved in undermining it at grassroots level? [Interjections.]
Listen! Why do I say these things? Listen! On 16 July 2010, at his invitation, I met with President Zuma at King's House in Durban. He advised me that, due to the ructions in my party, I should step down as the leader of the IFP. I respect our President as the head of state and thus took no exception to his suggestion. Yet I replied that his advice would carry more weight were it not for the ANC's role in our problems.
I told the President of the extensive evidence I have of the ANC manipulating the internal democratic processes within the IFP and using dirty-trick techniques to undermine me. Massive sums of money were changing hands, promises were made and violence was once again resorted to to subjugate people or elicit their allegiance.
I mentioned public remarks made by the hon Minister of Human Settlements, Minister Tokyo Sexwale, that the IFP was persecuting its national chairperson. I also pointed out interference by the ANC Women's League in KwaZulu-Natal, particularly Mrs Gcabashe, who were all saying that we were persecuting our national chairperson.
The President seemed surprised by what I was relating to him, although these were documented incidents, which were widely covered by the media. He committed to confer with the Deputy President, His Excellency Kgalema Motlanthe, and said that they might reproach Minister Sexwale together. Yet on 18 August 2010 I met with Deputy President Motlanthe after I had requested him to give me an appointment, and he was taken by surprise by the things I told him. The President had not apprised him of our conversation. They had not discussed it at all.
Matters had deteriorated since my meeting with the President, as members of the ANC Women's League had taken advantage of the Women's Parliament hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature to hurl insults at me and declare their support for Mrs Zanele Magwaza-Msibi. They sang, "Zanele is ours". [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! We must hear the speaker, please.
They asked, "What kind of a man is afraid of a woman?" [Laughter.] This was not done behind closed doors, but in the public eye.
The Deputy President expressed deep concern over the incendiary behaviour of the ANC. Thus, last month, when I attended the launch of the local government elections on 12 January 2011, I asked the Deputy President what progress had been made in resolving these problems. The short answer was; none. [Laughter.] I cannot help but wonder how serious the President's advice to me on 16 July 2010 was. What do I make of what has happened since then?
When Mrs Magwaza-Msibi took the IFP to court ... [Laughter.] ... in November 2010, she was supported by hordes of ANC members, including some of the political luminaries of the ANC such as Pastor Vusi Dube in Pietermaritzburg.
Since she lost that court case and launched her own party, violence has escalated. The violence stirred up by the "Friends of V Z", who supported Mrs Magwaza-Msibi in destroying the IFP, took its toll. The "Friends of V Z" have officially become the National Freedom Party and some ANC leaders are bankrolling their campaign.
Tensions are mounting. People have died in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. On Sunday, this last Sunday, we buried an IFP councillor, Mr Simon Shange, who was assassinated in Mandeni as a result of these ructions.
The rift that opened in the IFP may have begun with her personal ambition, but certain ANC leaders saw the fracture, took up a chisel and dealt a terrible blow to the IFP. They did it with money and propaganda. They did it to finally destroy their old opponent and they did it while laughing at me, believing they had finally defeated Buthelezi.
My question, looking back on 17 years of democracy, and even further back to the role I played in the liberation of this country, is why some people are still intent on destroying me and the IFP. How can a weakened opposition possibly bode well for democracy in South Africa?
The ANC's Premier in KwaZulu-Natal, who is also the leader of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has arrogantly proclaimed that the IFP must not drag the ANC into its problems. Yet Dr Mkhize knows well who dragged these problems into the IFP. He himself was seen by several people meeting with Mrs Magwaza-Msibi in Maritzburg, Durban, before she made the decision to tear away from the IFP. It is disingenuous of the ANC to claim that evidence of their interference in the IFP is bogus and counterfeit.
This was their outcry when a copy of what was alleged to be the ANC minutes was anonymously sent to my office, in which the ANC's support of Mrs Magwaza-Msibi was clearly spelled out. Now I have received another copy of what is purportedly "strictly confidential and sensitive information".
I want to put it on record, hon Deputy Speaker, and will read it in its entirety:
It has been resolved that local ANC branches in all KwaZulu-Natal districts must ensure that Mrs Zanele Magwaza-Msibi is receiving enough support as well as protection wherever or in whatever area she visits.
Members of the ANC throughout the province need to be alert and aware that our rival IFP has a history of defeating the odds and winning back their ravaged areas. Therefore, the ANC President is calling on all comrades to be cautious not to take their road mobilisation and recruitment lightly especially within IFP strongholds, because the IFP has strong strategic values as proclaimed by Comrade Magwaza-Msibi during the briefing on 5 December 2010.
I have a concern about Mr Vithi that he is an asthmatic person. The NEC has suggested that the comrades must select someone else to lead the MK members around KwaZulu-Natal for the protection of both the ANC as well as Magwaza-Msibi.
I have approached the Umtata Comrades to send us an alternative comrade to Empangeni team. It has been reported that some members of the IFP especially in Zululand are mobilising and planning for the let down of Mrs Magwaza-Msibi in her endeavours to campaign in Zululand and surrounding areas. Comrade Phindiwe Solani will control the secret funding of such operations by Comrade Vithi's team. No comrade will be allowed to brief or answer any questions from the media except Comrade Sizakele Dyantyi from Umzimkhulu, because Comrade Magwaza-Msibi together with the PEC members have already concluded a deal with one of the KwaZulu-Natal newspapers to ensure that no negativity is published against Magwaza-Msibi because that will hamper her efforts to get more people, members, from the IFP. The incentives for this media editor have already been handed over.
Comrades, we have to coerce a number of journalists into our bag otherwise if we fail the IFP will rise stronger than before. After the launch by Magwaza-Msibi the NEC will assess the situation and decide whether to put more funds in her efforts or whether she should just be asked to stand on her own or dissolve the new name and wear the ANC cap without any conditions from her.
The last briefing will take place at the South Coast Sun Hotel on 5 February 2011. The security has already been arranged for that date and for Magwaza-Msibi. Comrades, mayiwe Inkatha! Mayiwe! Amandla!
That is the end.
Now after all the shouting, what am I supposed to make of this? And what am I to think of sworn affidavits from the mayor, the Speaker and the caucus chairperson of uMvoti Municipality, attested to by a senior police officer, that during a selection committee meeting on 1 February ANC Councillor P G Mavundla said that he had given financial assistance to the "Friends of V Z" and was now funding the new National Freedom Party? This was in an official committee!
As Your Excellency knows, Councillor P G Mavundla is the chairperson of the ANC in the Bhambatha region and a close confidante of both the President and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
He is a strange person because, before I came here, Zamokuhle Mkhize, a young chap, who defected from the ANC and joined us, was telling me on the phone, desperate, that she had said publicly that his days are numbered. That's what Ms Mavundla has said.
The Mayor of uMvoti states - and this is in the affidavit:
Clr P G Mavundla then offered me some money should I follow others to the National Freedom Party and even offered me the diplomatic post either in China or India.
The Speaker states that he heard, in an affidavit, Councillor Mavundla stating that -
... he had paid for the accommodation of National Freedom Party members at the Battlefields country Lodge, in Dundee.
I have approached the President, and I have waited for his response, and I have seen that there is no genuine will to stop the patronage of certain leaders in what is supposed to be the final assault on the IFP.
I admire former President Nelson Mandela. He had the integrity to be honest. In April 2002 he said:
We have used every ammunition to destroy Buthelezi, but we have failed. And he is still there. He is a formidable survivor. We cannot ignore him.
I admire his honesty. I wish that today's leaders were indeed building on the foundation Former President Mandela laid; for he recognised the role the IFP played in our liberation and he grasped the role we have to play in the strengthening of our young democracy.
South Africa's democracy is on the threshold of adulthood. We are a generation away from our painful past. Yet when the President of our country stands before the nation and urges everyone to participate in building a stronger, healthier, safer and more prosperous democracy, does his invitation include opposition parties?
Quoting former President Mandela's words has no meaning when President Zuma has become part and parcel of destroying the IFP. In her book, Chasing the Rainbow: South Africa's Move from Mandela to Zuma, Dr Anthea Jeffery highlights how the ANC regards opposition parties as illegitimate and unnecessary. To the ANC, we are little more than an obstacle to the success of the national democratic revolution.
Why is it so important to the ANC to destroy the IFP and push Buthelezi out of politics? Why is the ANC, with a 66% majority, so obsessed with me - at my age! [Laughter.] I am obviously a stumbling block, but on which road? Perhaps I am a stumbling block on the road to the ANC's intended and long- planned national revolution, or one-party state.
To get back to the President's address, let me say I cannot endorse the ANC's dream of redressing the many imbalances of our society without paying any cost. To create jobs, we must pay the social cost of creating maximum flexibility in the labour market. To create a new industrial basis, we must accept the political cost of displeasing the trade unions, curbing expectations and being honest with our people.
Our people can be patient, but they have a low tolerance for lies. If the ANC wishes to nationalise mines, it should say so openly, without playing semantic games between owning and controlling mines and minerals.
There is no reason to believe that government can do a better job of extracting and selling minerals than the private sector. Neither can the ANC use the state to reach for control of our country's strategic minerals, to hand it over to foreign potentates in secret deals for its own financial and political enrichment.
I have no doubt that the nation is asking, "Can we trust our President? Can we trust our government? Can we trust the ANC?"
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
The President cannot endorse the notion of nationalising mines while also seeking to create job opportunities. He cannot take several courses of action that are in conflict with one another in the hope of pleasing everyone. This is an issue of integrity.
One cannot compartmentalise integrity. I do not believe there is such a thing as 98% integrity, for that in fact means 2% dishonesty. Integrity comes at a very dear political and personal cost. It requires taking a course of action that inevitably pleases some, and displeases others.
Any action carries the huge opportunity cost of all the other alternative actions that could have been taken in its place. There is no integrity, there is no leadership, there is no moving forward when one tries to please everyone at the same time and to be everything to everyone, because you end up being neither fish nor fowl. [Laughter.]
The President needs to take a single course of action and have the courage to pull the entire country through it at a fast pace, because history will judge his success or failure. But he cannot avoid this responsibility by paralysing the country into inaction, or by taking a decade to do what must be done in a matter of months.
As I say this, I must compliment those in the ANC - they are in the government benches, as I speak, they are on that side of the aisle - who are not involved in the last-ditch attempt to destroy the IFP in my lifetime. Some leaders of the ANC have spoken to me and expressed their regret over what is being done to us. I appreciate their concern and support and I appreciate their integrity.
This is not about my legacy; it is not about Mangosuthu Buthelezi or my reputation. It cuts to the heart of our democracy and begs the question whether the ruling party even believes in democracy at all.
Our country has suffered a political setback. Opposition politics has been weakened and people are dying because of what has been done. What is the use of sending 2 000 peacekeeping soldiers to the DRC and Sudan while we are still doing this to each other in this country? What is the point of that? This is not building on a foundation for reconciliation. Rather, it is dragging South Africa into the deadly undertow of the ANC's need for power. I thank you, Deputy Speaker. Msholozi! [Applause.]
It is well known, Mr President, that you care about the education of our children.
Jeremy Gordin quotes you as saying:
Without education one is like a warrior without weapons.
The fact is that there is a gap that lies between what you say and what your education officials do. You say teachers should be at school; many walk the streets. You say that teachers should be on time; many arrive late and leave early. You say that every child must receive textbooks on time; the workbooks, this year, arrived three weeks late. The 2010 strike had teachers absent from school for several weeks. For many, a slack attitude to work persists.
Mr President, you celebrated the 2010 matric examination results, but we all know that those results are suspect. Schools kept the weak Grade 11 students back. The total of 80 000 students were turned from full-time to part-time. Part-timers do not count in the statistics. Umalusi practised grade inflation by pushing up marks to make many pass who would otherwise fail.
Universities will have to cope with more underprepared students. Instead of refining the minds of competent students, lecturers are turned into remedial teachers trying to fix a problem created by the schools.
There are very good schools and they are not all in middle-class areas. There are very good teachers and they are not all in former model C or private schools. The fact is, though, that schooling is crippled in many parts of our country. The fact is, schooling is poor where the trade unions are strong.
The president of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union, Sadtu, Thobile Ntola, says, "Many managers managing the Department of Education are from our fold." And, to his own surprise he says, "Yet things are falling apart."
He says that schools are dysfunctional and then makes the startling admission that most of them are managed by "us"! Mr Ntola says that teachers should be measured, not by how well they teach, but rather by whether they are revolutionaries or not.
Mr Ntola says that children missing school is a mere inconvenience to the population. Mr Ntola says negotiations are used to create a state of panic in the employer, and in the public sector panic is the creation of instability. Mr Ntola says that Minister Motshekga's education management has mastered all the evils of bureaucracy. "We have dishonest management," he says, "deceitful and talentless; useless and lazy."
The fact is, Mr President, your provincial education Ministers in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga are undermining your education agenda by doing a deal with Sadtu. This results in teachers being absent from school, teachers who are late for school, teachers who take endless amounts of leave - in short, teachers who neglect their duty and who cannot teach.
You have to stand up to Sadtu, Mr President. You cannot remain silent on Sadtu. You have to face down Sadtu, Mr President. You must boldly support Minister Angie Motshekga and rescue her department from the stranglehold of the ever-present and interfering Sadtu. Mr President, you need to stand up for parents who want a good education for their children, and not stand up for the union bosses of Sadtu.
You have to stand up for students who want to learn so that they can grasp opportunities, and not for the bosses of Sadtu. You need to stand up for teachers, Mr President, who are committed to educating our children, and not for the bosses of Sadtu.
Most of all, you need to stand up for our children, without whom there is no future, no democracy and no growth; and not stand up for the union bosses of Sadtu who treat them as mere fodder in their revolution.
What is to be done, Mr President? Appoint a salaries commission for teachers. Pay merit salaries to those who excel. Reward teachers who obtain additional qualifications. Work the bad teachers out of the system. Train better teachers, and more of them. Put teachers in front of a classroom of reasonable size in working, functional schools. Mr President, you've put teacher development on the table and that is a very good start, but it is not good enough.
Mr President, if you really care about education then, please, tell us in your reply what you are going to do about Sadtu. Tell us what you are going to do about the service conditions, salaries and the wage bargaining system for teachers that cripple our education. Tell us, Mr President, the nation needs to know; the nation deserves to know; and the nation is entitled to know. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, Comrade President, Deputy President, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and our dear guests - the students from Cape Town High School, "Heita da". [Applause.]
Education is an important weapon in genuinely empowering our people. It is for this reason that the slogan, "People's Education for People's Power", remains as relevant today as it was in the 1980s.
The entire edifice of what we refer to as colonialism of a special type was built on the foundation of depriving the black majority of education. It is precisely in the education terrain that we must also seek the total liberation of the majority of our people from poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and skills paucity.
Education must be at the centre of skilling our people, to prepare them for employment, for decent work and sustainable livelihoods. Skills development is also central to job creation and decent work, as was ably articulated by the President in his address.
However, education is more than just preparation for employment; it is also about empowerment for meaningful participation in society, for knowledge, scientific and technological advancement as well as for innovation. Precisely because of these features, education must of necessity reflect us as a people; who we are and where we want to be.
Our education system must also teach and learn from the story of our colonial and apartheid past, about the heroic struggles for national liberation. It must prepare our people to tackle our developmental challenges, envisaged growth path, globalisation and how we wish to participate in the world.
It is for all of these reasons that this government has placed education as one of its five priorities. We must reaffirm the correctness of the President's decision to create two separate education departments focusing on schooling and post-school education and training, respectively.
It may still be too early to evaluate all the achievements of having two education departments, but the President's decision to make this split is beginning to bear some fruit by allowing a greater focus on the key challenges in two sectors.
The education system at all levels has made considerable progress over the past 17 years and continues to do so. The most obvious gain has been the advances we have made with regard to improving access to education. Approximately 96% of children now have access to schools in South Africa. [Applause.]
In 2009, the gross enrolment ratio for Grades 1 to 12 was 92% and the gender parity has already been obtained. The National School Nutrition Programme is now reaching some eight million school children. In Higher Education, the numbers have almost doubled since 1994, with the total enrolment now nearing 900 000 university students. Between 2000 and 2009, the growth in enrolments was approximately 50% and the growth in graduates was 64%, meaning that the throughput rate has been improving, although it still has a long way to go. We now have more female than male students in our university system. [Applause.]
The biggest challenge identified by the Department of Basic Education is that of improving the quality of education, and virtually all the interventions of the Department of Basic Education are aimed at achieving this.
In line with the President's directive on the three Ts - teachers, text and time - the biggest priority of the Department of Basic Education is the improvement of learning outcomes in maths, science and literacy through a variety of activities. These include assessment tests in Grades 3, 6 and 9; increasing Grade R enrolment; one textbook per child per subject; workbooks for all students; targeted teacher education that focuses on areas identified in tests as requiring attention; training of principals; adequate district support to schools; and infrastructure development.
In addition, the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit, Needu, will be launched to ensure that the schooling system is effectively monitored and evaluated. This will also include specific interventions where there are problem areas, as we are currently doing now in the case of the Eastern Cape. [Applause.] Hon W G James, don't come here and tell us about the problems that we already know about and the many challenges that we have. Rather tell us how to implement these measures, because we are concrete, and the President in his state of the nation address was also very concrete - here is what we want to do! You are not engaging with that.
Don't have sleepless nights about Sadtu. We don't stare down Sadtu; we engage Sadtu and we will move along with Sadtu to transform education in this country. [Applause.]
These initiatives will assist us to improve the quality of schooling. As the quality of schooling improves, it in turn improves the capabilities of students entering universities and colleges or entering learnerships and apprenticeships.
The 2010 improved matric results are a testimony to the fact that we are beginning to put our schooling system on an even better footing. But unfortunately, from the media and the opposition benches, we have the same ritual every year. If the matric results are bad, this is taken as a proof that this government of "darkies" is incapable. [Applause.] If the matric pass rate goes up, it means the results have been manipulated by these "darkies". [Applause.]
In either case, the sneering, arrogant tone of this discourse, which, frankly, is often racist, is aimed at undermining the confidence of our people in both our education system and our government - and they will not succeed in that. [Applause.]
In the field of Higher Education and Training ... [Interjections.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: Is it parliamentary for the Minister to use the derogatory term "darkies" in the House? [Interjections.]
No. Is "darkies" derogatory?
Madam Deputy Speaker, I think a lot of people would argue that, like some words which have been used as derogatory terms against black people in the past, it may be appropriate to say this kind of word in casual sittings. But in this House, where we are required to behave with a modicum of decorum, it would be unparliamentary. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker ... [Interjections.]
Who said "Deputy Speaker" now?
Deputy Speaker, on the same point of order: I am not aware of the specific Rule that the hon member is invoking to raise the point of order. This is because all that the Minister did was simply to quote people who have negative sentiments. I don't know the specific point of order that she is raising. [Applause.]
Thank you very much. Can you ... [Interjections.] No, no!
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I will clarify this for my hon colleague. I am asking if it is parliamentary for the Minister to use the word "darkies" in the House. [Applause.]
Can you continue, Mr Minister.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Interjections.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I would like to request a ruling on this matter. Is it parliamentary for the Minister to use the word "darkies" in Parliament?
Order! Hon member, you will speak when I am pointing at you to speak.
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I would like to ask that a ruling be made on the following issue. If a member of the opposition criticises the government, is that a justification for calling them racists; because I am African, for instance. [Interjections.]
No, no! I have behind me members of my party who are white. They will criticise government policy. Are they doing this because they are racist, or is this done on the merits of the matter? [Interjections.]
A ruling must be made to indicate whether white members of this House may not criticise the government because they will be called racists. Some ruling must be made on that issue. [Applause.]
Order, hon members! I will consider the matter and rule later. Hon Minister, continue.
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Kuyahlupha kwesinye isikhathi ukungakhuleli elokishini [Uhleko.] [Ihlombe.] abantu bazoqala ukuba badala ngoba sebengamaLunga ePhalamende [Ihlombe.] [Sometimes it is a problem to not grow up in the townships ... [Laughter.] [Applause.] ... because some people start being adults when they become Members of Parliament. [Applause.]]
In the field of Higher Education and Training, we are tackling the challenge of creating a coherent but differentiated post-school system that is responsive to the training needs of youths and adults. To this end, over the past year, we have made some significant strides in putting in place mechanisms to facilitate the critical transition of our youth from school, college and university to the workplace.
The anchor of government's intervention on the skills development front has been the adoption of the National Skills Development Strategy 3, NSDS 3, early this year. This strategy essentially seeks to build a closer relationship between the sector education and training authorities, Setas, the public FET colleges, the Universities of Technology and employers in order to shift the focus of the country towards trade and occupational programmes so that we increase the production of artisans and technicians, as well as to facilitate workplace training.
We are pleased, Madam Deputy Speaker and Comrade President, that last week, working together with Minister Patel, we reached a very important agreement with labour and business, agreeing that by the end of this month we will have targeted all additional training capacity in both private companies and state-owned enterprises in order to train more artisans and technicians. [Applause.]
Also, the National Skills Development Strategy 3 provides for Setas and the National Skills Fund to support the training needs of co-operatives and small enterprises, as well as supporting NGO community- and worker- initiated Skills Development Training Programmes.
The government will work to ensure that every cent of the R8 billion in the Seta system will be directed towards meaningful skills development for our youth, adults and workers. This is also as a response to your call, President, for more education and skills development.
At the centre of our strategies are plans and initiatives already under way to strengthen and grow the public FET colleges and also to strengthen the partnership between public FET colleges and employers. Ideally in our country we want a situation where every FET college graduate must get some workplace exposure. That is what we are working towards. Co-operation between colleges and employers facilitated by the Setas is being actively promoted in order to improve the quality of learning.
In 2011, we have created 60 000 new study opportunities in public FET colleges. This government is committed to progressively introducing free education for poor students up to undergraduate level, as the President has already announced. [Applause.]
It is for this reason that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, is being strengthened and additional resources are being given to it in order to progressively fulfil this commitment to ensuring that no capable student is denied access to education for lack of money.
Sekela Somlomo nawe Mongameli, abanye bayabuza-ke ikakhulukazi laba abangapha. UMongameli ukhulumile wathi abafundi abenza unyaka wokugcina sizobanika imali elingana nemali abayidingayo esikoleni, uma bephasile bangabe besayibuyisela leyo mali. Sathi abafundi abakumakolishi ama-FET abenza izifundo ze-NCV nezinhlelo zezifundo zo-N abasezukukhokha nhlobo nhlobo. Bona-ke labo ntaba kayikhonjwa laba [Uhleko.] bathi iyokwenzeka nini lento eshiwo nguMsholozi? Ngifuna ukuthi-ke Mongameli njengoba ngikhuluma nawe nje iyenzeka, njengamanje abafundi bayangena ezakhiweni ngalolu hlobo [Ihlombe.]
Okunye esesikwenzile wukusiza abafundi ngolwazi lwemisebenzi abangayifundela nezifundo okufanele bazenze, lokhu esithi yi-Career Guidance, yisonto lesithathu-ke leli siqale izinhlelo nenhlangano yokusakaza kulelizwe i-SABC, ngezilimi eziyisikhombisa okwamanje esizozandisa. Njalo kanye ngesonto kunezingxoxo zokubonisa abafundi ukuthi yiziphi izifundo abangazithatha nanokuthi uma befuna ukuba yizinto ezithize, bazokwenzenjani. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Deputy Speaker and President, some are asking a question, especially those from the other side. The President spoke and said students who are in the final year will be given money equal to their tuition fees for that year; if they pass they will not need to reimburse that money. We said those who are in FET colleges and enrolled for NCV and other N courses will not pay a cent. Now some, I cannot pinpoint who ... [Laughter.] ... are asking, when is this going to happen? I want to tell you, President, right now as I am talking to you, it is happening! Right now students are being enrolled in this manner. [Applause.]
What we have also done is to provide information about courses that students can do, which is called Career Guidance. This is now the third week since the programmes, which are broadcast by the SABC in seven different languages, started. We are still going to add one more language each week. They discuss different courses that students can study if they want to take certain career routes.]
This is all part of our determination to realise education as a priority, as the President has articulated. On the university side, we have a number of good universities in this country; we must not and we will not run them down. The task is to make sure that they are more accessible to black students and that they also transform some of our programmes to be in line with what I said earlier.
We will pay special attention to our historically disadvantaged institutions, the former Bantustan universities, which, in the main, are in the rural areas. We therefore are calling upon all our people, including our young people, to rally behind the call made by the President to make use of these expanded education and training opportunities.
We want to say to our youth, in particular, make full use of these opportunities - no tender or expensive social party will empower you more than education. [Applause.]
Uthini-ke uTrollip njengoba uMongameli ekhuluma kanje nathi sisho kanje? Uzoxoxa inganekwane emini ilanga libalele [Uhleko.], ngithemba ukuthi-ke akuzushiwo ukuthi sengiphule inqubo nemigomo yasePhalamende. Uyangixaka Baba lunga elihloniphekile, Mhlonishwa uTrollip. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[What does Trollip have to say if the President and we are saying such things? He is telling a fairytale in broad daylight. [Laughter.] I hope no one will say I am unparliamentary. I am really dumbfounded by what hon member Trollip was saying.]
Because all that you have been doing and saying here is just politicking with local government in front of you. You are being selective, you are trying to project the DA as if it were this best thing. We have open toilets here which are an affront to the dignity of our people; you actually launched security to go and shoot innocent workers in Hout Bay because they are too close to a whole range of areas. [Applause.] Your own Premier stopped the minstrels here in the Cape from actually having a celebration ...
Hon Minister, there is a point of order.
Hawu, u-Ellis uhlale ekhuluma njalo nje. [Uhleko.] [No, Ellis is always talking anyway. [Laughter.]]
What is the point of order, hon member? [Laughter.] Order, members! I cannot hear the speaker.
Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: The hon Minister is standing there and deliberately inciting us by referring to us as "shooting people in the townships".
It is absolutely impossible that somebody can stand up in Parliament and make that kind of statement. I am sure what he has said, Madam Deputy Speaker, is totally and utterly unparliamentary. I ask you to rule on that, too.
Order! I will look at this and rule on it at a later stage. I am not sure about the ruling at the moment. Continue, hon Minister.
Thank you.
Uma ishaya khona induku iyezwakala, nisukuma nikhale [Uhleko.] [I see you can feel the beating; you are up and wailing at the pain. [Laughter.]]
Through you, Madam Deputy Speaker: hon Trollip, I will not believe the DA when it talks about jobs. I will believe you the day you condemn the daily casualisation of workers, the slave-like conditions of farmworkers in agricultural areas. [Applause.] The slave wages that they are being paid - you are silent about that.
Then what do you want us to do? You want us to trade decent quality jobs that workers already have for the types of jobs that we do not know what you are talking about. We are not going to do that! Right here, you have a tot system, right under the nose of the government that you are running here and you are doing very little, if anything, about that.
It is amazing, hon Trollip: You say the ANC is so bad, but when you want to prove that the DA is doing well, you say "the ANC Secretary-General has endorsed us", "the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal has endorsed us".
Yona yimbi le ANC kodwa futhi uma senifuna ukuba bahle futhi nifuna ukunconywa yiyona [Uhleko.] [So this ANC is bad, but when you want to look good, you want this ANC to endorse you. [Laughter.]]
Engage the very practical and concrete issues that the President has raised.
I do not even want to talk about Cope. [Laughter.] The leader of Cope says he is worried about the direction that the government is taking. We are worried about the direction that Cope is taking! [Applause.] What is happening in Cope now is giving our politics and democracy a bad name.
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
I don't even know -for some of the things you are saying, where did you get the mandate; from your national executive committee or from the Gauteng High Court? [Applause.] I am really amazed that you were actually not quite listening to what the President was saying, maybe ...
... ngiyaxolisa bantu, nanihleli kabanyana lapha ngaleliya langa, nina le nsizwa engingeke ngiyibize ngegama. [... I should apologise because you were quite uncomfortable there on that day, with that gentlemen whom I will not mention by name. [Laughter.]]
What are Cope's practical proposals?
Ngicela-ke ukuphetha ngokuthi ke ngikhulume nawe Shenge, Sokwalisa; Ngikhulume nawe njengomuntu ongangomzali wami. Ngiphatheka kabi uma uphinda uzama ukuthi sikhulume ngaleya ndaba yokuchitheka kwegazi ngoba inzima, ayinzima kuwe kuphela, inzima nakithi. Bengicela-ke ukuthi noma ngabe kuthiwa kukhonani engasiphethe kahle kodwa singakhulumi ngaleya ndaba yokubuyela emuva. Ngifuna-ke ukuchaza futhi ezinye zalezi zinto engizozisho kuwe namhlanje umdala ngikuhlonipha, ngizifundiswe wuye lo Mongameli esixoxa le ndaba abeyibeka lapha.
UMongameli kunezinto ezimbalwa angifundisa zona, nami ngisashiselwa yigazi, Sokwalisa, ezinye ngangingamuzwa ngithi "nango-ke uMsholozi ufuna ukuzosifaka umoya wokuthi singalwi" kodwa ngafunda kuleyonto ukuthi okokuqala nje uma ningabaholi nihleli nibonisana nihleba, akungabikho omunye umholi ozosukuma ayoyisho esidlangalaleni leyonto [Ihlombe.]ngoba uMongameli uyokwazi kanjani ukuthi ngelinye ilanga azohleba nawe ngokweqiniso ngoba eqonde ukwakha.
Into yokugcina engifuna ukuyisho, siyi-ANC, asifisi ukuthi iphele, i-IFP; i- IFP ayibe khona siyihlule nje okhethweni ilanga libalele kodwa ibe khona.[Ihlombe] Inkinga yakho Shenge, ngizokusho lokhu, hhayi ngokukudelela, ngicela nami ungangizwa kabi, inkinga ye-IFP ayihlukile neye- Cope, yileya-Congress nje enginayibambi Sokwalisa; edale zonke lezi zinkinga. [Uhleko] Bheka ekhaya, ungabheki kuKhongolose, thina sizibhekele izindaba zethu. Ngiyabonga kakhulu ukuthi ngithole leli thuba. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[May I conclude by talking to you, Shenge, Sokwalisa; let me talk to you as my parent. I am aggrieved when you try to raise the issue of the blood that was shed in the past because this is a difficult issue, not only to us, but to you as well. I would like to request that even if we may be aggrieved by whatever issue, let us not go back to that. I would like to explain that some of the things that I am going to say to you as my superior whom I respect, some of the things that I am going to relay to you, are things that were taught to me by this President, with whom we are discussing matters that he laid on the table.
The President taught me a few things while I was young and hot-blooded. I would not understand and say: "There goes Msholozi, spoiling a good fight." But out of that I learnt that if you are leaders, sitting, discussing and deliberating issues, no one should take these issues and declare them to outsiders ... [Applause.] ... because how then will the President be able to trust and confide in you?
Lastly, as the ANC, we do not wish for the IFP to dissolve. The IFP must be there so that we will defeat them fair and square in broad daylight! [Applause.] Your problem, Shenge - allow me to say this, not out of disrespect; please don't misinterpret me - is that the IFP's challenge is not different from Cope's, it is that congress you failed to contain which has caused all these problems. [Laughter.] Tend to your problems. Do not worry about the ANC's problems. We are only concerned about our problems. I thank you.] [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, former President Nelson Mandela once said:
Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.
Education is at the heart of our nation's development. For decades the majority of students in our country were unable to receive a decent education because of the racial discrimination of an illegitimate, minority government.
Mr President, you have often claimed that education is one of the central pillars of your administration. You have devoted massive resources to it and have mentioned its importance in many of your major addresses of state. Despite the welcome admissions of fault from your Minister of Basic Education, your government has mostly refused to address some of the most glaring and, indeed, rectifiable problems in South African education today.
It largely remains the case that, apart from the isolated cases of children who excel in poor communities, there still remains huge inequalities in education in South Africa. If you are a child from a poor home, it is almost guaranteed that you will receive an inferior education in comparison to those from wealthy communities.
There are still thousands of children who walk long distances to school in rural areas. There are still thousands of schools in South Africa that do not have basic library facilities. Teachers still strike and organise union meetings during class hours.
Perhaps no other province better displays these problems than the Eastern Cape. This is clearly illustrated by the recent out-of-court settlement reached with seven mud schools in the province, with the education department agreeing to spend R8 billion on building new schools and revamping all mud hut schools across the country over the next three years.
This happened after numerous pledges from successive ANC governments that such conditions would not be tolerated. The most notable example is former President Mbeki, who made what was eventually an empty pledge to ensure that no child would be taught under a tree.
Furthermore, the Eastern Cape Department of Education overspent by R624,5 million on compensation of employees at the end of September 2010. It is projected that overexpenditure on compensation of employees for the whole financial year will be a staggering R1 952 billion!
A total of R17 372 billion was budgeted for personnel expenditure, which represents 70,6% of the total budget of R22 680 billion for the department for the year 2010-11. One of the main reasons for the overexpenditure was irregular salary increases given to office-based educators in 2009, which pushed up the average employee cost.
The provincial education department recently terminated more than 4 000 temporary teachers' contracts because of the financial crisis. It also suspended its pupil transport programme due to financial constraints. Unfortunately, the litany of crises does not stop there. The Eastern Cape has 108 of the 506 dysfunctional schools, where less than 20% of pupils pass matric.
Eastern Cape schools require almost one million chairs and 750 000 desks. The Eastern Cape has the most schools in the country without libraries and laboratories. Furthermore, the province has the highest number and percentage of schools with more than 50 students in the classroom.
This is, Mr President, to be sure, a shameful state of affairs in the province from which Madiba hails. We applaud Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, for apologising for the state of education in the Eastern Cape. However, one Minister's delayed repentance is not enough; not for this House and certainly not for the students of South Africa in general, and the Eastern Cape in particular.
Mr President, your commitments are commendable, but what we and the students need is action. We urge you to translate this pledge into measurable action for the sake of our country's future and the wishes of Madiba.
Mr President, I have noted every time when you refer to or talk about apartheid, you refer to this side of the House, while on this and that side of the House you have Ministers and Deputy Ministers of the former New National Party. So, I suggest you say, "Apartheid, apartheid, apartheid, apartheid!" to both sides. [Applause.] Thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and hon members, the UDM welcomes the President's seemingly renewed focus on the question of job creation.
Unemployment has been the single biggest challenge facing the nation for the past two decades. The President repeatedly referred to decent jobs, and one is obliged to observe that there is nothing decent about having no job at all.
We would argue that when labour policy is reviewed, government and labour must consult and compromise on acceptable entry levels into the job market to avert a situation that permanently excludes our unemployed workforce from jobs, while admitting illegal immigrant workers at low wages.
Over the past 16 years, predecessors of President Zuma and eloquent speakers from the ruling party had also stood at this same podium and made promises of economic development, but sadly without these promises translating into job creation. There are genuine doubts that this time around these promises will be fulfilled, when the millions of jobs previously promised did not appear.
When some of us called for an economic indaba to review the current economic fundamentals, among other things, we were shouted down, on the one hand. On the other hand, the gap between the haves and have- nots escalates.
The imbalances and backlogs of the past inform UDM policy under the heading, "Government must do more". I remember some years ago in this House, when we called upon the government to do more, the then Minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manuel, shouted that such an approach was outdated. However, the truth is that not only the early 20th century Afrikaners resolved their so-called "poor white" problem with intensive government investments in the economy. Similar examples of state intervention in the economy can be found throughout history up to this day in major economies across the globe, including the so-called architects of capitalism. They understand that it is the duty of government to support local business and create local jobs by providing adequate infrastructure.
Another example of government intervention in the economy occurred during the recent international credit crisis, when a country such as the USA spent trillions of US dollars to prop up its private banking system.
The truth of the matter is that the majority of South Africans have long endured an artificial recession because they have been excluded from the economic mainstream. As I said on previous occasions, it would be immoral for this government to leave the fate of South Africans to the whims of the market forces or markets alone.
The billions of rands for job creation that the President announced are a step in the right direction. It is the private sector that is most successful at creating jobs, but it is only in countries with a government that actively invest in their economies where the private sector flourishes and produces the wealth and jobs that society requires. South Africa has often been incapable of properly combining different facets of circumstances and policy into holistic development. It is our view that one such overarching opportunity will present itself towards the end of this year when South Africa plays host to the International Conference on Climate Change, known as COP 17. The recent devastating nationwide flooding should serve as a timely reminder to all of us that climate change is a massive socioeconomic reality.
During this conference the eyes of the world will be focused on our country yet again. Given the historic neglect of environmentally-related issues in this country, especially in areas occupied by disadvantaged communities, there is an opportunity to use the forthcoming conference as a rallying point to inform and to mobilise our communities around issues of the environment.
The UDM would strongly recommend that the Presidency should take a lead in such initiatives. Something tangible which we could showcase to the delegates of this conference is an annual national orator's competition on environmental issues for school children. It would raise awareness and if the private sector comes on board, it could also serve as a first step for deserving students to qualify for bursaries to study environmental science and related topics.
In conclusion, this conference also provides an excellent opportunity to stimulate local job creation initiatives in disadvantaged communities, which could be combined with afforestation and greening projects to alleviate household food insecurity and improve the biodiversity and beauty of the environments that communities live in.
We could, for instance, launch green battalions to create jobs for people within the community, which will be responsible for such environmental projects. Such initiatives would go a long way to counter carbon emissions and would be another way to showcase our country's commitment to fighting climate change.
Siyabonga, Nxamalala, ndivile ukuba uthe aba bakwiqela eliphikisayo ngabahedeni, kodwa ndiye ndeva ukuba elinye lamagosa akho lityholwa ngokuba limoshe ingqungquthela yalapha eNtshona Koloni. Uyakhala uSkwatsha, kwaye kuthiwa igama lalo mhedeni nguTrevor kodwa andiyazi ukuba ngubani ifani yakhe. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Thank you, Nxamalala. I have heard that you said members of the opposition are heathens and I have also heard that one of your trustees is alleged to have destabilised the conference of the Western Cape. Skwatsha is crying foul and the name of this heathen is said to be Trevor, but I do not know his surname.]
Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and hon members, on Thursday evening, President Zuma set out a vision for South Africans that placed jobs at the centre of our efforts as government and called on all South Africans to join hands and work together to achieve that vision.
Mr President, you set the tone in the state of the nation address with the call for action and implementation.
We heard earlier that the Leader of the Opposition was setting out his party's philosophy. I accept his view that we need policies that promote the path to prosperity, but not prosperity only for the few, the privileged and those with no idea of what it means to have no bread or earn too little to feed their families. South Africa cannot afford to go back to those policies that benefit the minority. We have been there in 1994 and before.
The constituency of the ruling party is the poor, the unemployed and the low-paid in society. For this reason, we have chosen a path to prosperity, but one founded on bringing more South Africans into employment to achieve the goal of five million new jobs by 2020. This year, we will take steps that will facilitate immediate job creation and also lay the basis for long- term sustainable job creation.
Our strategy is to build on our natural resource base, our location on the continent and our technological capacity and know-how in order to enhance national wealth creation and employment. Our focus is to rebuild the productive sectors of the economy, to use the major investment commitments in the private sector and public enterprises to support a new growth path and to connect policy, resources, institutions and partnerships into a coherent package.
We have seen a historic rebalancing in the global economy, with a shift of growth and economic power to major developing countries, and we are positioning South Africa to benefit from this. We will focus on the opportunities on the African continent. It has one billion consumers. In a recent survey, the continent's additional growth potential was estimated to be R7 trillion by 2020, with growth in consumer goods, infrastructure, mining and agriculture. We are positioning ourselves to seize these opportunities.
Our approach recognises that programmes that combat poverty, inequality and unemployment are sources for economic growth and that, aside from the intrinsic benefits to the poor, the marginalised and the excluded, well- designed measures to promote development also support and stimulate growth and employment.
The state will clearly play an important role in the new growth path, but we can only achieve the five million new jobs if we also unlock the employment-creating capacity in the private sector. I would like to share with hon members some elements of our strategy that addresses the "how" of job creation and growth.
Let me use the example of the auto sector, where government's industrial incentive schemes and the solid platform for investment we created are now attracting investment by major multinational corporations. Mercedes Benz will use South Africa as one of only four locations globally to build the next-generation, popular C-class vehicle at its East London plant, creating about 1 500 new jobs in supplier industries. [Applause.]
General Motors will produce the Spark entry-level passenger car at its Port Elizabeth plant, creating 500 additional jobs. Volkswagen is now producing the new Polo left-hand-drive in Uitenhage for export markets.
Ford Motor Company will produce a new-generation pick-up truck at its Pretoria plant and increase the local content of its vehicles from 35% to more than 60%. [Applause.]
BMW will produce the new 3-series all-wheel drive in South Africa from this month and, in fact, the first vehicles are coming off the production line this week. [Applause.] Toyota has announced a major expansion of its warehouse capacity to take on the opportunities elsewhere on the continent.
These announcements involve close to R10 billion of new investment and will create additional decent work opportunities. It is also a massive vote of confidence in the economy. We are now working to deepen the component manufacturing sector that supplies the major auto manufacturers.
In other sectors, too, companies have announced major investment projects, one of the largest being the R350 million Proctor and Gamble expansion of its manufacturing plant for baby care products. My colleague, Minister Rob Davies, is leading government work to create conditions for faster growth in manufacturing. Indeed, the Industrial Policy Action Plan, whose implementation he co-ordinates, is now the critical platform that we are using to drive the manufacturing goals of the new growth path.
President Zuma noted that we are changing from analogue to the more advanced, digital signals for radio and television broadcasting. We are now incentivising the manufacture of set-top boxes, locally, that can convert old technology televisions to the new digital platform. This is where our approach on jobs and localisation comes in.
Minister Padayachie has finalised the standards for set-top boxes and production will start in South Africa within 12 months. More than 2 000 jobs will be created in the sector in manufacturing, packaging, distribution and installation, and in the associated initiatives in the communication and creative industries. It will also boost small businesses and is a good opportunity to bring young people into decent employment. Private investment is held back in a number of cases by constraints and bottlenecks in energy, transport, water and communication infrastructure.
Baie Suid-Afrikaners word uit die ekonomiese hoofstroom gehou as gevolg van leemtes in infrastruktuur, 'n gebrek aan paaie wat landelike gebiede met markte verbind en die kragnetwerk wat nie alle gebiede bereik nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Many South Africans are kept out of the economic mainstream as a result of deficiencies in the infrastructure, a lack of roads that link rural areas with markets and the fact that the electricity network is not reaching all areas.]
We need to fix this. We will use infrastructure as a key trigger for growth and jobs. Over the four years to 2014, our infrastructure expenditure estimates provide for more than a quarter trillion rands a year. Money is not all we need. It also requires careful planning and execution to ensure we achieve the largest number of jobs and promote economic sustainability.
To give effect to this, national departments, state-owned enterprises and development finance institutions are beginning to work in a much more strategically co-ordinated way. My colleague Minister Gigaba has led a discussion with a number of state-owned enterprises in transport, energy, aerospace manufacturing, broadband provision and mining and forestry, to spell this out.
Our mandate to the state-owned enterprises are clear: speed up the core areas, build roads and railway lines, construct power stations, provide flights that link us to key economic zones and reduce the cost of broadband.
However, it also involves building a South African supply base that can manufacture the turbines, boiler components, locomotives and train carriages for the infrastructure programme and so deepen the level of localisation. The industry that emerges from this initiative will be able to supply the massive infrastructure programmes on the African continent as a whole, worth an estimated R1,4 trillion annually by 2020.
We have now set clear goals for artisan training, jobs to be created and projects to be completed. For example, by 2015, Eskom will have enrolled 8 000 apprentices and expects to have 6 800 new qualified artisans. I wish to emphasise that the jobs that Eskom and Transnet will directly create are part of a broader role. By providing a solid and reliable energy supply and transport networks, they unlock investment projects that will create decent jobs on scale.
Infrastructure can also play a key role in expanding farming output and drawing smallholder farmers into the economic mainstream, as Minister Nkwinti is pursuing. However, we will also need finance, competitive market conditions and focused support if we are to become a larger food producer.
This support package, co-ordinated by Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, will include help with seeds tractors and storage facilities such as silos; setting up rural co-operatives; and identifying access to water.
Organised agriculture has welcomed our focus and committed to partnering with us. Complementing our efforts on the farms, we will support efforts to expand agro-processing industries for our domestic market as well as for exports.
Investment is critical. The Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, will therefore make R5 billion available over the next five years for investments in the agro-processing activities in partnership with the private sector. Nestl is building factories for the manufacture of cereal, noodles and specialised proteins in a half-a-billion rand investment that will create hundreds of new jobs. Pioneer Foods is increasing its investment to R2 billion over the next two years.
What this indicates is that the business community recognises that we have laid the platform for solid growth and strong job creation. We have created the platform and the investment is flowing now. We have initiated successful efforts through the Competition Commission to combat price fixing and monopoly behaviour and improve competition in the food sector, with actions on fertilisers, bread, flour, poultry, maize and wheat.
Minister Shabangu is working with the mining sector to expand mineral output, and I note that the latest mineral production statistics have shown the first year-on-year rise in output since 2005. According to the chamber of mines, mining created about 17 000 new jobs in 2010. Further increases to our mining output require that we address infrastructure and skills bottlenecks, which we are doing now.
In order to achieve the greatest employment and development benefits, we cannot simply rely on selling raw materials to the rest of the world. Government is finalising a beneficiation strategy to incentivise the greater processing of minerals locally, where possible to final consumer or capital goods. Some of the key value chains include iron ore, coal and platinum.
We are working on a project to set up the world's first integrated metals plant beneficiating titanium, zirconium, vanadium, magnesium and silicone which, if it is confirmed through the feasibility study currently being undertaken, will involve a R15 billion investment and can create more than 7 000 jobs in construction as well as the operation of the plant. There are also significant job opportunities in sectors such as the green economy, which is growing on the back of the new tide of green industrialisation that is reshaping industries and energy generation across the world. Minister Peters is finalising the Integrated Resource Plan, IRP 2, and it includes a substantial commitment to renewable energy. The regulatory framework for renewable energy feed-in tariff will be implemented during this year. We have compiled a database of potential projects in green energy, manufacturing, waste-management, eco-tourism, agriculture and mining.
In order to address funding challenges in this new sector, the IDC will allocate R25 billion to new investments in the green economy over the next five years. In addition to this, Minister Gordhan will next week announce further financial commitments that will be made in the Budget Speech to promote opportunities in this sector.
There are some immediate successes we can show. We have started with the installation of solar water geysers in new low-cost houses and to date 25 000 units have been installed in a partnership that includes the IDC. With a further 170 000 units planned, this project will contribute to employment creation, strengthen the local manufacture of components and provide renewable energy. This is an example where we are moving from vision to action.
The spending by the state is a big driver of economic activity. We are therefore finalising a major overhaul of our procurement system to place more focus on local procurement. The state will require major supplies for infrastructure, state agencies and government departments to be manufactured locally. Longer-term contracts are envisaged in order to provide investors with certainty and with the necessary scale to make it attractive to establish manufacturing facilities in South Africa.
As President Zuma indicated in the state of the nation address, we expect development finance institutions to step up the pace of job creation. Investment is a key driver of growth and of jobs and the IDC will be a critical agency to provide co-investment and loans to entrepreneurs.
I am pleased to note that the first of a series of development bonds was issued by the IDC during 2010 for the sum of R2 billion. It has had a positive impact, with R1,2 billion already approved, which will account for 9 000 new jobs created and 5 000 existing jobs saved.
We, however, expect more from the IDC. It has been asked to review its pricing of loans and the period it takes to finalise applications and to ensure that it has an optimal internal structure to achieve our ambitious goals.
I am pleased to advise this House that our development finance institutions will focus and expand the investment across all the priority sectors identified in the state of the nation address, in addition to the R10 billion new facility announced by President Zuma.
We have taken steps to make the resources available. It will, however, require viable projects and we invite the private sector to work closely with us to identify such opportunities and to tap into these resources.
Cutting across all the job drivers is the emphasis on skills development. We have set concrete targets for state-owned enterprises; and Minister Nzimande has referred to the very important dialogue we had with both business and labour recently and the commitment they have made.
In the past year the President has emphasised the importance of youth employment and the urgent need to draw young people into training, community service and employment. We have identified a number of measures and will be rolling these out in the course of the year. In some cases, these will be done in partnership with the private sector and consultations are under way. We will also work with all social partners to ensure that good ideas about youth employment find the necessary support from the state.
In the year ahead, we will promote enterprise development, cut unnecessary red tape and support small businesses and entrepreneurs in the informal economy. President Zuma has announced the merger of three small business funding and microfinance agencies.
In the next phase we see a better connection between these funding agencies and the mentoring and support services such as in the Small Enterprise Development Agency, Seda, with the intention eventually to combine these into a one-stop shop.
But why are we doing so? It is to make access easier for small businesses and the many South Africans in the informal economy. Through a single infrastructure, we will cut down on administration costs, avoid waste and duplication and make sure that more money reaches the small entrepreneur. Together with this, we will roll out a new direct small business funding programme this year on a pilot basis, with details to be announced next week.
All these elements will benefit from partnerships. A week ago, we held a meeting with our social partners - the leaders of business, labour and community organisations. The meeting confirmed the joint commitment to create five million new jobs by 2020 and to work together to achieve this.
We agreed we would start with some low-hanging fruit - areas where we could immediately work together. Business and labour made commitments on skills development, the green economy and strengthening the schooling system. This is an important step in mobilising society behind the vision of jobs as the key priority.
Instead of policies that we are urged by some to adopt, that will plunge us into decades of industrial strife and conflict, we seek instead to develop partnerships at the workplace, founded on improving productivity, promoting innovation and supported by skills enhancement. Therein lies the opportunity for South Africa to build a shared commitment to what is required to achieve five million new jobs by 2020.
In this debate and in the budget speeches over the next few weeks and months, government will provide members of this House with more details of the actions we are undertaking to achieve our goals, including in other important areas such as tourism, the creative industries, the social economy and co-operatives, public works and action by the competition authority.
In responding to the vision set out in the state of the nation address, Mr President, in government we are rolling up our sleeves and getting South Africans working. Thank you.
Business suspended at 16:30 and resumed at 16:48.
Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, and distinguished guests, it is worth noting that South Africa, as a nation, faces a number of developmental challenges, of which poverty and unemployment remain the most critical.
This is as a result of colonialism and apartheid that were rooted in the dispossession of the African people of their land, the destruction of African farming and the super-exploitation of wage labourers, including farmworkers and their families.
Furthermore, poverty, inequality and joblessness are the consequences of centuries of underdevelopment and exploitation consciously perpetrated on the majority of the population. Consequently, the structural faults that characterised the apartheid rural economy remain with us to this day.
While the ANC-led government has implemented a number of initiatives to address the scourge of poverty and unemployment in South Africa, it has to be acknowledged that these can only be achieved if integrated service delivery remains a priority. This means that rural areas should receive equal attention. We should, however, note that reference to a rural area does not necessarily imply villages, but also includes rural towns.
Research cautions us that a narrow focus on income and financial assets denies other dimensions of poverty, which are indeed determinants of deficiency and need. In this regard, it points to the importance of considering issues such as food security, education, health, levels of service delivery and infrastructure, etc. Interventions such as the Integrated Rural Development Programme have made significant progress.
It is a reality that social grants are also making a significant contribution to pushing back the frontiers of rural poverty, fighting hunger and improving potential for economic growth in rural areas. To date, as the President has announced, 15 million South Africans are benefiting from social grants. However, in the struggle to build a better life for all, grants are no substitute for a broader strategy of rural development and employment creation.
It is important to note that high levels of rural poverty and inequality inhibit the growth of the country's economy and undermine government's efforts to ensure that growth is more equitably shared amongst our people. To respond to the latter, the 52nd ANC national conference held in 2007, identified rural development and agrarian reform as one of the key priorities. The conference drew its inspiration from the prime source of its policy orientation, which is the Freedom Charter.
South Africa, having been declared a developmental state, has a central role to play in leading and sustaining rural development. This includes leading the process of land reform, promoting sustainable change in social and economic relations, and supporting the goals of growth and development in the rural economy. Therefore, mobilisation of communities is central to all of these objectives.
As we are aware, South Africa's rural areas are characterised by deep levels of poverty, exclusion from the provision of services and food insecurity on an almost daily basis. Over and above the backlog in the provision of water, backlogs in sanitation, health services, high schools, etc, are predominantly located in rural areas. In addition, the rural population experiences severe difficulty in locating any form of employment, and faces high transport costs to the nearest urban centres.
Therefore, the commitments made in the 2009 ANC election manifesto, placing rural development, and land and agrarian reform as one of the five key priorities for the government in the five-year term, are more than welcome. The ANC manifesto commits the ANC government to promote food security with affordable food prices, rural development and security of tenure for farm dwellers.
On rural and agricultural development, the manifesto commits government to intensify land reform, to give more land to the rural communities and, therefore, to provide technical skills and resources for productivity on the land. All these commitments provide the necessary foundation to drive rural developments for the benefits of the overwhelming majority of our people.
We can, however, be proud of the fact that in our predominantly rural-in- character provinces, with mainly towns and villages, we have promoted the development of sustainable human settlements. This is illustrated by our achievements to date in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. Our focus of attention is that in our towns and villages our people must have sustainable livelihoods and an improved quality of life.
The hon President, in his state of the nation address, correctly mentioned that the country is making significant progress in the provision of basic services. Coupled with that, the 2010 review of South Africa's progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, suggests progress in accelerating access to basic services to the poor.
Ezi zibalo ebezichaza apha uMongameli zinjengokuba ebesitsho ke. [These figures that the President has mentioned here are correct.]
It is evident that, as a country, South Africa has either already achieved these MDG targets or may possibly do so by the required target date.
In 2009, the government conducted a review of the capacity of local government to deliver to the people and published the State of Local Government Report. The report provides an honest and sobering review of achievements and challenges hampering service delivery. The ANC government acknowledges that some provinces and municipalities still experience infrastructure backlogs. These challenges are currently receiving priority attention through the rural development programme.
The ANC's work to intensify the land reform programme has taken long strides to ensure that more land is in the hands of the rural people. This includes providing the rural poor with technical skills and financial resources to productively use the land and to create sustainable livelihoods.
In response to the challenges identified in rural areas, government has undertaken the following interventions through the rural development department and other departments.
The Recapitalisation and Development Programme was introduced to respond to the challenges of collapsing land reform projects, defunct irrigation schemes in the former homelands and farms in distress belonging to private individuals.
Some of the irrigation schemes identified include Ncora, Thaba Nchu, Taung, Makhathini Flats, uMkhanyakude, etc. The core principles of the programme are mentorship, co-management and share equity. The objectives are to increase production to guarantee food security, for small farmers to graduate to commercial farmers and create employment opportunities within the agricultural sector. Other initiatives that have been achieved to date are the following.
Zakhiwe iindlela eMuyeshe [Muyexe] neekliniki zaphuculwa, izindlu zakhiwa kwasungulwa neemanyano zoshishino, kwabakho namatanki okugcina amanzi emvula, kwakhiwa neendawo zokukhulisa iimveku kwakunye neekhretshi phaya.
Kwaphinda kwanikezelwa nge-10km zocingo lokubiyela indawo yokutya imfuyo. Kwakhona, kunikezelwe ngocingo lokusika umda phakathi kwepaka yesizwe yezilwanyana iKruger kunye neelali. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Roads have been constructed at Muyexe and clinics have been renovated. Houses have been built and economic organisations have been established. There are tanks to retain rain water and crches and nursery schools have also been built.
A fence to barricade grazing pastures for 10 km has been erected. Again, fencing has been erected to set a boundary between the Kruger National Park and the nearby villages.]
Moreover, people were given reservoirs and drinking troughs, as well as plunge dipping tanks and animal handling facilities. About 1 000 poultry houses were built and paving and brick-making machines ...
Lwaphinda lwakhula olu phuhliso, hayi luyabaleka lona, lwaya kutshona eDiyatalawa eFreystata, apho sele kwakhiwe indawo yeemveliso yobisi, kwathengwa neenkomo ezingama-240, kwaze kwakhiwa nendlela.
Kuhanjiwe kwayiwa eMsinga, eMkhondo, eMhlontlo, eRiemvasmaak, naseVyrheid apho kwakhiwe iindawana zokuqandusela amaqanda eenkukhu. Waphinda lo rhulumente waya Freyistata naseMnta Kapa apho kwakhiwe iiprojekthi zokuphucula amanzi kunye neendawo zokuthengisa iimfuyo. Waphinda waya, eMoses Kotane kweloMntla Ntshona, neseMpuma Koloni imizi yemveliso yokutya ngokwezolimo iphaya. Ndibala ntoni na? Uluhlu lude, ndizama ukubonisa ukuba aba bathi urhulumente akenzanga nto, oku kungqina ukusebenza kwakhe. Hayi, ke nantsi ingxaki enkulu nendifuna ukuyibeka: (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[This development continued to grow at a rapid rate and it spread to Diyatalawa in the Free State where a dairy has been built, 240 cattle have been purchased and a road has been constructed.
The development has spread to Msinga, Mkhondo, Mhlontlo, Riemvasmaak and Vryheid where commercial egg production and processing farms have been built. This government has also improved the Free State and Northern Cape provinces through establishing projects to purify water and a market place to auction livestock. Factories producing food and agricultural products can be found at Moses Kotane in the Northern Cape. What am I counting? The list is long. I just want to indicate to those who say this government has done nothing, that this is testimony to its functions. But, here is a problem that I want to bring to your attention:]
The Nguni Cattle Project is an initiative which aims to reintroduce Nguni cattle into rural communities. Its long-term goal is to turn emerging farmers into commercial Nguni beef farmers and establish Nguni stud breeders amongst the rural poor.
Le ke iprojekthi iseMpuma Koloni, eLimpopo, eMntla Ntsona, kuMntla Koloni, naseFreyistata. Ikude asinakuyibamba kwangoku. Iyintsebenziswano phakathi komanyano lophuhliso lwezoshishino-IDC kunye norhulumente. Hayi, iyabaleka le nqwelo.
Intetho kaMongameli siyiqhwabela izandla, kuba icace gca! Kwaye inika umhlahlandlela namandla, ingakumbi kumalungu ale Ndlu ehloniphekileyo ukuba azibophelele ekwenzeni umsebenzi wawo.
Loo nto ke iyancedisa kakhulu, xa sidlala indima ekuqapheleni ukuba iinkozo, kwakunye neenkqubo zikarhulumente ziya ngqo ebantwini, kananjalo nobomi babo bubangcono. Ukuba besisenkonzweni, ngekuba sithi itekisi okanye umyalezo mnye, noba ukurhulumente wesizwe, ukurhulumente wephondo okanye kurhulumente wasemakhaya, ithi, "makwakhiwe amathuba okudala imisebenzi nophuhliso lwezakhono, qwaba!
Siyavumelana noMongameli xa esithi iingxaki ziseninzi kodwa masilitsho litsole elokuba azinguwo umqobo nakancinci kwindlela eya empumelelweni, nto nje kufuneka ukukhuthala, inyameko, nendzondelelo.
Siyababulela ke nabantu booMzantsi Afrika ngokuphikelela beyithemba i-ANC, nangokuba bezondelele ukwenza oku. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[This project is being run in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and the Free State. It has been going on for a very long time and it is unstoppable. It is a result of co-operation between the Industrial Development Corporation and government. It is progressing at a very fast pace.
We applaud the hon President's state of the nation address because it was crystal clear. Furthermore, it charts the way forward and gives strength, especially to the hon members of this House, to commit themselves to performing their duties.
That is very helpful, especially when we play the role of noticing that services and government programmes directly reach the people and thereafter their lives become better. If we were in a church, we would be saying the scripture or the message is one, whether to the national government, provincial government or local government, namely "let there be opportunities for job creation and skills development, period!"
We agree with the hon President when he says there are many challenges, but let us state it categorically that they are not obstacles, even in the tiniest way, on our path to success. However, we must be diligent, patient, and persevere.
We thank our fellow South Africans for continually trusting the ANC, and for being persistent in doing so.]
To respond immediately to issues, whenever possible, is very important, rather than deferring our response to a later period. This in itself is an important method of convincing people about the ANC-led government's commitment to a better life for all.
Ukuzalisekisa iimbophelelo ezikhankanywe kwiNtetho engoBume beSizwe kaMongameli, sikhuthaza oomasipala ukuthi baqinise iinkqubo zokuxhasa iinkqubo ezaziwa njenge-LED support programmes.
Urhulumente neenkampani zabucala kufuneka benze utyalo-mali kwiiprojekhti ezandisa, zixhobise uluntu, ukuze lukwazi ukuzimela. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.) [To fulfil the commitments mentioned in the hon President's state of the nation address, we encourage the municipalities to strengthen their programmes to support the LED support programmes.
The government and private companies must invest in projects which expand and empower the public in order for them to be independent.]
Communities should be trained to become proficient in essential skills such as food gardening, baking, sewing, etc. The key is self-help projects that expand communities without making them dependent. The fruitfulness of the initiative can be related to the old proverb that says: Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.
The hon President placed emphasis on the establishment of co-operatives. The following initiatives can be undertaken to accomplish the call by the President.
Abantu mabakhuthazwe, kwaye bancediswe ekwakheni iindibaniselwano zamashishini amancinci, ukuze bakwazi ukungenela iinkqubo zokwakha iindlela nezokuzigcina zikwimo entle, bakhe neebhulorho. Bakhuthazwe ukuqhubeka neenkqubo zokondliwa kwabantwana ezikolweni; ukuvelisa imifuno kwiigadi ezikolweni, ezicaweni, ezikliniki, kunye naseziibhedlele; ukuthunga impahla zasezibhedlele kwakunye nezasezintolongweni; ukutyalwa kwemithi namahlathi endalo; inkqubo yokuvelisa izimbiwa emakhaya, okanye i-small-scale mining; utyalo lwemithi yeziqhamo kunye nokuvelisa izitena zokwakha njalo njalo.
Thina sikhule oomama besebenzisa iibhotile kodwa ngoku siyahamba siye kuthenga izinto ezisezinkonkxeni, kantu ukuba abantu bangafundiswa ngokupheleleyo ukusebenzisa iibhotile inene uqoqosho eMzantsi Afrika lungahamba phambili.
Makukhuthazwe ukwandiswa kolwakhiwo lwezindlu zangasese nococeko; nokwakhiwa kwamadama amancinane okanye le nto kuthiwa yi-water harvesting. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[People must be encouraged and assisted in establishing co-operatives, so that they can join in the construction of roads and the maintenance thereof, as well as building bridges. They must be encouraged to continue with the school feeding scheme through the production of vegetables in the school gardens, churches, clinics and hospitals. They must be further encouraged to sew hospital bedding and sleepwear and prison uniforms, to plant trees and natural forests, and to produce minerals locally or do small-scale mining, plant orchards and produce bricks for building purposes, etc.
When we were growing up our mothers used bottles to preserve food, but nowadays we buy tinned foodstuff. If people could be taught how to use bottles to preserve the food, I'm sure the South African economy would grow.
Let us encourage the expansion of building toilets and improving sanitation and the construction of small dams or what is known as water harvesting.]
Housing co-operatives, which can also enhance the resource base in poor rural communities, should also be encouraged. Access to funding is most critical for this.
Sesivile ke ukuba ininzi imali, uMongameli usinikile imali apha. Abantu mabakhuthazwe ukuba bathathe inxaxheba nakwezinye iinkqubo zikarhulumente ezaziwa njengoo-mass participation programmes ngoba zenza nempilo yethu ibentle siphile kakuhle singabantu baseMzantsi Afrika. Makubekho iinkqubo ezifundisa izakhono zokuqeqesha nokuba ngoosompempe, iinkqubo zokufundisa ukubiyela, kwakunye nala midlalo yemveli oopuca, siwazi sonke. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[We have heard that there is sufficient money; the hon President has allocated the money. People must be encouraged to participate in other government programmes known as mass participation programmes because they make our lives better as the citizens of South Africa. There must be programmes to impart coaching and refereeing skills, and fencing programmes and indigenous games must be encouraged.] We also have to acknowledge that small-scale mining serves as an example of what can be achieved through the application of home-grown resources, capacity and self-reliance. Small-scale mining has led directly to job creation for the poor in rural areas in all nine provinces.
Across all nine provinces, we have a total of 1 270 small-scale mining operations, which have created about 10 160 jobs. In addition, these small- scale mining operations contribute to further economic activity through the procurement of goods and services from local suppliers.
With regard to visible policing, there have been noticeable strides made in fighting crime in rural villages. Progress is particularly evident, for example, on the border between South Africa and Lesotho - where I stay - with attempts to reduce stock-theft through the deployment of the Operational Response Services.
I-ANC iyayixhasa iNtetho engoBume beSizwe kaMongameli. [The ANC supports the hon President's state of the nation address. [Time expired.]]
Mr Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and members of this House, the growing national consensus that unemployment is a serious threat to this country is encouraging. The biggest challenge, however, is creating those jobs. In this context I believe that millions of jobless people would rather have their heaven on this earth, by being gainfully employed, than in the hereafter, whether they carry an ANC membership card or not.
This is simply because having a job will restore their dignity and their self-esteem. They will be able to support themselves and their families and not depend on government handouts. They will also be able to resist unscrupulous, political blackmail.
According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate has dropped overall by 1,3 percentage points to 24% between the third and fourth quarters of 2010. Regrettably, the report also shows that the economy has lost 712 000 jobs in the last two years.
Furthermore, and this is the scary part, the survey indicates that more than six million South Africans are said to be unemployed, if we use the broader definition that includes discouraged job seekers.
Ke ka moo Morena Sepikara ke dirago boipilet?o go mmu?o wa ANC gore o tlogele go fela o tshepi?a Ma-Afrika Borwa gore mmu?o o tla ba direla me?omo. Batho ba lapile ebile ba itlhobogile, ka lebaka la go hloka me?omo. Gomme go a nyami?a gore mmu?o o t?welepele ka go ba tshepi?a seo o ka se kgonego go se dira. Seo ke boradia, gomme ditlamorago t?a mokgwa wo di ka re bakela mathata le masetlapelo a go ?ii?a ge mmu?o o t?welapele ka go se hlokomele taba ye. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Hon Speaker, I therefore make an appeal to the ANC-led government to stop making empty job promises to the South Africans. People are fed up; they have lost hope on job promises. It is therefore really sad that the government keeps on making empty promises. This is dangerous and it will have bad repercussions. Government needs to be careful on this matter.]
Mr Speaker, President Zuma once again made big promises last Thursday night during his state of the nation address, as is his wont to do. I sincerely pray that his lofty words will turn into thousands of sustainable jobs because the country needs them.
However, the ANC government needs to have a radical mind-set shift to appreciate that it is not the job of government to create jobs. The government's primary responsibility and duty regarding jobs is to create an economic environment that sets every South African free to unleash their potential to create employment for themselves and for as many of us as possible.
This country needs entrepreneurs and other job creators like we need air to breathe; to create as many small businesses as we can to give many of our millions of desperate South Africans jobs. In this regard I have to defer to Minister Patel who referred to the number of jobs that are being created by the private sector. He just proves a point.
The ANC government's doublespeak does not help the situation in this regard. How is it possible for the government to plead for the creation of jobs and, in the same breath, to contemplate the banning of labour brokers? You cannot create jobs by obliterating a whole industry. This is but one stark example of such unhelpful contradictions.
Poverty is choking most of South Africa and crime is making the situation worse. The antidote to these enemies among us is gainful employment. We need all our smarts to destroy these enemies that have the potential to destabilise our young democracy. Unfortunately, instead of crafting and implementing imaginative plans to make it conducive for the nation to create the millions of jobs we need, the ANC government and its alliance partners are preoccupied with banal philosophical debates and arguments about jobs versus decent work, the nationalisation of mines or state ownership of a mine or an oil company.
This fruitless haggling creates uncertainty and sends the wrong signals and messages to potential investors. Anglo American Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll has warned that companies will not invest in South African mines if they are nationalised.
Mr Zola Skweyiya, one of our former comrades here and now South Africa's High Commissioner in London, has said that each time calls are made to nationalise the mines here, his job in the international community to encourage investors to South Africa is made more difficult. These voices must not be ignored.
The Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, should hold firm to her earlier position that nationalisation of mines will not happen in her lifetime. While this talk is happening, unemployment continues to get worse as thousands of young South African school leavers enter a jobless world. Their disappointment and frustration cannot be described without a lump in the throat or a tear in the eye.
My DA colleague, Tim Harris, has thrown a number of suggestions into President Zuma's idea box that could create millions of jobs. Without detracting from what the President has said in his state of the nation address, I would like to commend them to the President.
These suggestions are as follows: He should put his full political weight behind the youth wage subsidy he announced this time last year; announce drastic reforms in the wage bargaining arrangements; announce the immediate withdrawal of the four proposed labour Bills; request Parliament to undertake an urgent review of all existing labour laws to relieve small businesses from more onerous provisions - and I again nod my head to Minister Patel because he has referred to this; and he should also intervene in the economic policy standoff that is developing in the Cabinet because of the new Department of Economic Development.
Speaker, dit is 'n tragiese skande en baie hartseer dat die armes en die werklose mense van hierdie land net voor elke verkiesing met kospakkies gekoop word om hulle stil te hou en hul stemme te kry. Dit gebeur terwyl die familielede van die ANC se magskring bevoordeel word deur omstrede swart ekonomiese bemagtigingstransaksies. Suid-Afrikaners neem kennis van hierdie transaksies en die bevoordeling van sommiges en sal nie langer mislei word nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Speaker, it is a tragic shame and very sad that the poor and unemployed people of this country are being bought with food parcels just before each election to keep them quiet and to secure their votes. This takes place while the family members of the ANC's power circle are benefiting from controversial black economic empowerment transactions. South Africans are taking note of these transactions and the fact that it is beneficial only to some, and will no longer be misled.]
Mr Speaker, our country is at the crossroads of success or failure. I, like millions of South Africans, want to live in a peaceful and prosperous South Africa in which every man, woman and child is free from poverty, disease and crime; where every South African who needs to work can be gainfully employed.
I do not know whether we will achieve this ideal. What I do know is that with the current ANC government policies on the labour market and job creation we will never make it. Empty promises will most certainly not get us there. The time for talking is over. We must make the tough choices now and get South Africa working.
Hon Speaker, Their Excellencies the President and Deputy President of the Republic, hon members and distinguished guests, I am honoured and humbled to be afforded this opportunity to take part in such an important debate as discussing this state of the nation address.
The President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, in his closing address quoted words from one of the greatest leaders who paved the way to the freedom we are enjoying today, uTat' uRholihlahla Nelson Mandela, who is an icon, not only in this country and on the African continent, but also internationally. His words are still relevant even today. He said, and I quote:
We understand it still, that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well, that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation- building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.
Speaker, the governing party reaffirmed its continued commitment to mobilising communities to deepen participatory democracy and people-centred governance. The backbone in this commitment is progressive popular participation in socioeconomic and political matters. Communities need to be mobilised to participate in decision-making matters that directly affect them.
State organs should reflect people-centredness and these organs should be brought closer to the people. Our Thusong centres across the length and breadth of the country are a testimony of our commitment, as the ANC-led government, to bring state organs to where the people are.
What we need to do, as this government, is to strengthen these organs of people's power so that through them we can assist our people to contribute to their own development and governance. Through organs of people's power, our people have the power to hold public representatives and public servants accountable in a constructive manner.
I need to remind members of this august House that our call to leadership is fundamentally and foremost a call to servanthood. A clear depiction of servanthood is reflected in the Bible - the Book of John 13. In preparation for the Last Supper, Jesus ends this passage by saying:
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
As public representatives, we have been sent here by the electorate to act on their behalf. Therefore, let us serve diligently, for we are no greater than the masters who voted us into power. [Applause.] As servants of the people, we need to ensure at all times that the collective and progressive will of the people shapes our agenda.
In this regard, Members of Parliament should not just conduct oversight in the public interest, but on a continuous basis which seeks to understand what the people's needs and aspirations are through a dynamic connection with the people.
In these days of modern technology, it is in our own interest to use all platforms of engagements to our best advantage so as to be informed of the views of all sectors of our societies. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become the fashionable tools of engagement lately. Our people who are able to use these tools are engaging with their government through these means. The time has come for public representatives who were born before this kind of technology to follow the President, whom I believe was also born before it, to start using facebooking and tweeting. [Applause.]
Our Fourth Parliament is expected to be an activist Parliament, which must be more effective with regard to oversight. As Members of Parliament, we need to have a shared understanding of what constitutes this oversight, because some formations of civil society have a different understanding of oversight premised on somewhat racial stereotypes.
Parliament should ensure that it does not only listen to the voice of the vocal rich minority, who are able to pay for round trips to Parliament. We must also have a listening ear for the majority of our poor communities who, because of their inability to finance round trips to Parliament, have no opportunity to visit it.
This Parliament of the people, by the people and for the people, which dates back to 1994, conducted public hearings in communities on Bills which, in turn, allow poor communities and individuals to express their views on particular pieces of legislation.
This is the year for consolidating people's power for the national democratic society, as we move towards 100 years of the selfless people's struggle. The ANC, as the leader of society, and the alliance as a whole have to harness all the contemporary major mass struggles towards transformation.
We need to build strong organs of people's power, as well as strong accountability of government structures, including local councillors. The ANC is fully aware that building people's power forms the basis for the forthcoming local government elections. We are once again leading from the front by taking our members who are to be councillors to communities to get their buy-in. [Applause.]
We must harness popular power to drive transformation, instead of labelling sectoral struggles subjectively, creating a distance between activities and communities.
Participatory democracy can only be enhanced by ensuring that government documents are simplified and produced in languages understood by communities at large. The engagement with state machinery and oversight over government should not be left with the powerful elite whose aim seeks to represent narrow interests.
The centrality of our communities is at the core of the state of the nation address. The speech of our President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, points to all the key priorities of our government. We must, as public representatives, play our crucial role to achieve all the priorities as outlined by the President. We dare not fail our people in this regard. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, we need to and we must build power for the people for the benefit of our democracy. The popular participation of our people in governance must lead to transformation and it must lead towards attaining a united and prosperous South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, the layout of the state of the nation address was meant to take us from the known to the unknown. It started with the feel-good rhetoric and not giving details on pertinent issues. For instance, it is good that it stated that 81% of households now have electricity. Maybe what the UCDP could ask the hon President is: What do we do about the remaining 19%?
The President dwelled so much on the unemployment issue, but there seems to be very little that could be yielded by the promises. The UCDP appreciates that real money is attached to the creation of jobs, but it is a shock to note that only a meagre 7 000 jobs were saved by the R7 billion scheme, when almost one million jobs were lost.
When the President listed the five priorities, he also said that we had done well in these areas. I ask: On what do we base such a conclusion? Out of the 1,2 billion households living in informal settlements, we are told that only 400 000 will have security of tenure and basic services by 2014. I find this appalling. It is more appalling when you view it in the light of the unanswered question by Portia, as quoted by the hon President, when she asked: We give you the same vote, but why do you treat us differently? I would so much have liked to hear the hon President's answer to Portia's question.
Efforts to fight corruption are appreciated, but the focus cannot be on such easy-to-track cases such as the R44 million recovered from public servants. Important as it is, we need to get rid of corruption perpetuated by politicians and decision-makers, especially in tender processes.
Poverty has reached critical stages in our communities and we expected the President's acknowledgement of this and a concrete plan to curb it. Half the households in our population survives on a mere R525,00 per month and the President does not think this deserves his utmost attention. There is no mention of how poor households will be cushioned against the scheduled massive increases in water and electricity.
The President states that social grants will be linked to economic activity and community development, but no details are given as to how this will be done and by whom.
We do celebrate the increase in the 2010 matric results to 67% and we say that it is well done. In the same breath we say, "Let us look at the quality of the standard of education, the quality of the matric results as well as its quantity."
We have looked at the analysis thereof and realised that senior certificates are still more than the exemptions. We have also seen that our learners are still doing badly in Mathematics, which is one of the core subjects in the development of our future leaders.
We would like to call for more and more training for our teachers to address these issues. As the UCDP, we would like to say that plans that are not implemented will never do South Africans any good. I thank you.
Muchaviseki Xipikara, muchaviseki Presidente wa tiko ra Afrika Dzonga, muchaviseki Xandla xa Presidente na vachaviseki va Swirho swa Palamende, Pan Africanist Congress, PAC, ya mi xeweta. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[Mr L M MPHAHLELE: Hon Speaker, hon President of the Republic of South Africa, hon Deputy President and hon Members of Parliament, the Pan Africanist Congress, PAC, salutes you.]
Hon President, the PAC welcomes the good news of the revival of land reform projects and irrigation schemes in the former homelands and also the farms in distress owned by individuals. Mr President, we appeal to you to re-open the process of land claims as many legitimate claimants were left out due to poor communication and the remoteness of their abodes.
The rural areas desperately need all-weather roads, speedy postal services, banks, manufacturing plants, wind power generators, water canals for irrigation, forest plantations, hydroelectric stations, dams and the rehabilitation of land for agricultural purposes.
People flock to the cities because there is no meaningful economic activity in the rural areas. We need to decentralise development. The PAC welcomes a decrease in most crimes as shown by the crime statistics. However, it is disturbing that crime seems to be increasing in the rural areas.
Stock theft is ruining both subsistence and commercial farmers beyond recovery. The rural areas are underpoliced. Stock theft is deepening poverty because people no longer farm with animals. Instead, they opt to join the multitudes of grant-recipients.
The government should also up the gear to combat cross-border stock theft. Witchcraft and ritual-related matters continue unabated in the rural areas. Besides dispatching the police to the crime scenes, the government seems to be running out of ideas to fight this scourge.
We have never debated witchcraft openly, except in informal, whispered conversations. Now is the time for the nation to debate witchcraft openly and honestly. I move from the premise that no one can use a broom to fly or use dead human organs to attract customers to their business. We need to save the lives of many rural dwellers, mostly old women and their grandchildren, waiting to be sacrificed to the greedy goddess of ignorance.
Our schools must play an educative role. Education, worthy of the name, should liberate communities from this primitive belief in witchcraft. No amount of policing can stamp out witchcraft killings, but a certain amount of education can arrest the situation.
A promotion of the African agenda, like charity, begins at home. For us in the PAC, the African agenda is all-encompassing and includes the preservation and promotion of African languages; a knowledge of Africa, present and past; and respect for African humanity.
As things stand now, South Africa is still trapped in the Eurocentric orbit. For example, the SABC radio and TV never fail to update the nation on European football leagues. One may think that no football is played in Lesotho, Zambia and Libya. Why are we bombarded with Hollywood productions that glamorise violence and infidelity?
Resolving conflicts is good, but it is better to prevent them. The conflicts in Africa won't stop for so long as we have Lusophone Africa, Anglophone Africa and Francophone Africa. The PAC believes that the unification of Africa is a remedy to the African socio-politico-economic ills.
The promotion of an African agenda must reaffirm the ownership of Africa by Africans. Every ounce of African gold, every bale of African cotton and every kilogram of African coffee must be owned, controlled and priced by Africans themselves. African unity must be at the top of the African agenda.
The PAC welcomes the establishment of a special anticorruption unit. Corruption is a cancer afflicting all organs of our society. Unfortunately, the ruling party has institutionalised corruption through a cadre deployment policy. There is no honour among the corrupt. The ruling party members are killing each other over the loot.
Corruption is eating into the soul of our nation as the ruling party captures state resources for the benefit of the rulers and their relatives. Those honest members of the ruling party must stand up and join the relentless struggle against corruption.
It is good to renovate hospitals and clinics, but the attitude of some medical professionals needs some renovation and refurbishment! Thank you.
Uyizwile weMsholozi. [You heard it, Msholozi.]
PERFORMANCE MONITORING, EVALUATION AND ADMINISTRATION: Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members and dear guests, during the 2009 fourth democratic elections, the ANC promised the people of South Africa that it would deliver services better, faster and smarter. [Laughter.] After the elections, we made the commitment through President Jacob Zuma that we will build a performance-oriented state.
Guided by these two important imperatives, government has put in place a range of initiatives to ensure that we have a Public Service delivery that is effective and efficient in order to respond to the overwhelming mandate we received from our people.
One of the first steps we took was to reconfigure the macro-organisation of the national government, with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of government operations. This reconfiguration process has been successfully completed on time, and the reconfigured departments are now fully focused on delivering on their mandates.
Amongst these changes was the rationalisation of the education and training functions through the creation of the Departments of Basic Education, and Higher Education and Training. This change has already had a marked, positive impact on the effectiveness of the education and skills development functions of government, as the Minister of Higher Education and Training has said.
The changes also involved the creation of the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation and the National Planning Commission in the Presidency, with the aim of addressing gaps in co-ordination, planning, monitoring and evaluation. The two institutions are now well established.
The National Planning Commission in the Presidency is on course to meet its target of producing a draft long-term plan by November this year. In this address, I will speak to a number of initiatives that government is engaged in to improve performance of the Public Service.
Informed by the five priorities we chose to guide our work, namely education, health, the fight against crime and corruption, the creation of decent work and rural development, we introduced the outcomes approach to improve the performance of the state.
The outcomes approach is aimed at addressing various weaknesses, including the lack of a strategic focus in government; difficulties with interdepartmental and intergovernmental co-ordination; the tendency towards working in silos; a lack of rigour in planning; and weaknesses in implementation.
The outcomes approach is not a short-term programme. It is part of the process of the transformation of the state into result-oriented machinery, capable of delivering on the electoral mandate. It is about introducing improved short-, medium- and long-term planning, co-ordination and management practices in government.
We have developed detailed implementation plans or delivery agreements for the 12 outcomes, and departments are now focused on their implementation. They are also in the process of ensuring that their departmental strategic plans reflect their commitments in the delivery agreements.
The delivery agreements themselves are a major achievement. This is the first time that we have had outcome-oriented implementation plans, which cut across departments and other spheres of government. However, we are fully aware that the delivery agreements are just the first step in the process. The difference will be in the implementation; and for this reason, we have elevated monitoring to the highest level.
Starting from this month of February, on a quarterly basis, Cabinet will be paying attention to reviewing progress reports. This process will result in an improved strategic focus of the work of government and should assist with addressing some of the implementation challenges that we might have experienced. These reports will be made public for our people to monitor progress.
We are of the view that political accountability must cascade down into implementation and administrative accountability systems after the signing of performance agreements between the President and the Ministers. In this regard, the Department of the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, is leading a process of reviewing the performance management system for officials to make it more effective and results-oriented. This must include ensuring that there is greater accountability for poor performance.
In order to ensure that our limited resources are focused on achieving our desired outcomes, the government will be instituting comprehensive expenditure reviews. These reviews will be aimed at evaluating expenditure programmes to identify ways of increasing value for money and reducing spending on noncore activities. We will co-ordinate these comprehensive expenditure reviews with National Treasury.
The House is acutely aware of the challenges that government is experiencing with regard to financial management, as illustrated by the ongoing challenge of qualified audit reports. In this regard, National Treasury is assisting departments to improve their financial management practices. For example, it has been working closely with the national and provincial Departments of Health to assist them with addressing the financial management challenges in this sector.
We expect improvement in this priority area. Efficient and effective administration machinery is a prerequisite for a developmental state and the achievement of the outcomes.
To ensure that the public interface with government is hassle-free, we have undertaken to monitor our frontline service to our people. We are in collaboration with the Department of the Public Service and Administration and the offices of the premiers in putting in place various mechanisms, including citizen-based monitoring, citizen satisfaction surveys and visits to service delivery sites by members of the executive, to systematically measure key frontline service delivery indicators and physical verification.
This work has started to bear fruit. An illustration of this is the remarkable success of the Department of Home Affairs project to improve the turnaround time for processing applications for ID books. The average waiting period for ID books has dropped from 130 days to 40 days. This remarkable turnaround is also being applied to passport applications. We must take this opportunity to congratulate the department for this sterling work. [Applause.]
In addition to monitoring frontline service delivery, we have to ensure that the backroom of government is fully functional. The Presidency and the offices of the premiers will also be monitoring the performance of individual departments. The intention is for performance monitoring of departments to become a mechanism for improving management practices and operations in government.
We are working on a performance assessment tool, which will include an assessment of departments' performance against their strategic plans. The tool also looks at governance processes; supply chain management; financial management; human resources management; organisational design; programme and project management; communication and stakeholder management; and risk management.
In developing a comprehensive tool to assess the performance of departments, we are building on the work already done by the Department of the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, and National Treasury to ensure that we have a comprehensive view of the department's strength and weaknesses. This will ensure that national departments are better able to identify and implement support interventions where necessary.
In particular, the National Treasury's Financial Management Maturity and Capability Model is an example of a tool that provides us with a basis for determining the levels of financial maturity and capability of a government department. This analysis sets a benchmark for existing capacity and identifies areas of weakness where targeted support and interventions from the centre of government can be directed. This important work will be undertaken with the DPSA, National Treasury, the Auditor-General and the office of the Public Service Commission.
We are also paying particular attention to getting basic administration right, right across government, particularly in areas such as the efficient location of decision-making powers; ensuring clarity regarding mandates and roles, and responsibilities; and improving human resources management and development.
We have begun with an assessment of the management practices in the Presidency itself as a pilot project. This assessment has revealed a number of weaknesses in human resources management and supply chain management, including frequent noncompliance with the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, requirement to pay suppliers within 30 days. The results are assisting us to put in place plans to address these weaknesses and lead by example.
As the President said in the state of the nation address, we will be monitoring the process of filling vacant posts in government. We have already identified some of the challenges with regard to human resources development, which include inappropriate service delivery models, organisation designs, high vacancy rates and poor management of performance and discipline.
There are also challenges in the inability to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of skilled personnel in key positions and inadequate training and development of employees. We need to improve the management of the Persal information management system within departments, and use this information as strategic management information.
The drive to clean up Persal is being coupled with that of reducing the turnaround time to fill funded vacant posts from nine to four months, and the vacancy rate from 19,2% to 10% within a short period.
In his state of the nation address, the President declared 2011 a year of job creation, given our unacceptably high unemployment and persistent poverty, despite recording reasonable economic growth.
Our department will co-ordinate and monitor the job creation efforts within government, and will also be working with this House to ensure that the identified targets are met as it does its oversight.
In the area of discipline, the Department of the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, is in the process of reviewing the disciplinary and incapacity codes with the view of increasing their effectiveness as tools for managing discipline.
The Department is also providing much more proactive support to departments to manage disciplinary processes more effectively, with the aim of ensuring that 80% of disciplinary cases are finalised within 90 days of the initiation of the disciplinary process by 2014.
As mentioned by the President, the DPSA has set up a new unit to enable us to provide this proactive support with a particular focus on improving disciplinary processes related to the cases of corruption. This is being coupled to a strong focus, by the various law enforcement agencies, on criminal investigations and prosecutions related to corruption in the Public Service; and a strong focus by the National Treasury and provincial treasuries on stamping out corruption in government procurement processes.
In conclusion, all the initiatives that I have described are part of a bigger process of changing the culture of the Public Service. We need to change from an inward bureaucratic culture to one which is focused on improving service delivery to citizens.
While we will be putting more energy into the Batho Pele programme to improve the attitudes of public servants, I have no doubt that most of the public servants at the coalface of service delivery want to serve the people well and be proud of their work.
We are, therefore, also focusing on the practical measures to improve the way in which government works in order to create an enabling environment for public servants to perform better, faster and smarter. We are indeed building a performance-oriented developmental state.
For those of you who have not been listening, let me come to you now. [Laughter.] I understand the difficulty that hon Lekota is having. It is very difficult to be a member of the opposition and when the government is performing well, you might not know what to say. It is better to support where necessary.
I also understand his incapacity because he is handling a lot of problems. These problems are so immense that he couldn't even listen to the speech of the President to understand what he was saying. [Applause.]
With regard to the issue of corruption, which is constantly raised, it is our humble appeal to hon members that they should use the same vigour when identifying them to report them to the relevant authorities so that action can be taken. [Interjections.]
It is very interesting that members of the House sometimes choose when to believe in the state institutions and when not to. When it suits them, they will say that the state institutions were doing nothing and also that they were not doing well. It is important for this House to give confidence to the institutions which we have created to fight corruption and crime in the country.
Therefore, as members of the House, if you see anything which is corruption- related, we are asking you to refer it to the relevant authorities for action. [Applause.] [Interjections.] I can lend you my minutes, don't worry! We are proud to say that we are on course. With the support of the House, we believe we will do more. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, guests, there is general agreement in the country that poverty and underdevelopment are some of the biggest challenges facing South Africa.
In the build-up to the state of the nation address, a lot had been said about job creation, and many of us had expected details on how the country would create half a million jobs in the coming financial year. Mr President, you declared 2011 as the year of job creation, and directed us to the budget speeches of the Ministers for details. We will wait.
Azapo welcomes your undertaking that all funded vacant posts in the Public Service sector would be filled. We want to explain why we are sceptical, Mr President.
In 2007, the state as employer and trade union parties to the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, PSCBC, signed Resolution 1 of 2007. The resolution included the filling of all funded vacant posts in the public sector. There were problems with implementation because some of the government departments were either unable or unwilling to provide information on where the vacancies existed, so implementation became a nightmare. In the context of joblessness, it is impossible to explain why a post, for which there is a budget, is vacant.
We welcome the setting aside of several millions of rands for new job creation initiatives, tax allowances to promote investments and tax deductible allowances. There is, however, a need to monitor the use of such funds to ensure that they are used for job creation and not to pay hefty bonuses to executives. We have witnessed this happening during the economic meltdown, when companies in the West used some of the bail-out money to reward their executives.
You have told this House that the focus in basic education this year would be "Triple T" - teachers, textbooks, time. Azapo would like to add proper classrooms, chairs, tables and desks.
It is a sad state of affairs that in this country we still have learners who learn under trees and in mud classrooms. We do not know how they must have felt when their plight could not find space in the state of the nation address. It is also very sad that some of the schools had to approach the courts in order to have the Ministry of Basic Education agree to erect proper schools and classrooms for them.
Yes, teachers must be at school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours per day. Azapo supports this clarion call.
In October 2008, the then Education Minister, the hon Naledi Pandor, launched the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign, the QLTC. It is a social compact by stakeholders in education. The QLTC identifies in very clear terms what the departmental officials, teachers, learners, parents and communities need to do to make our education system work. The compact calls upon teachers to be in class, on time, teaching.
Teachers, particularly those who work very hard, feel aggrieved that most of the time they are singled out and that very little, if anything, is said about departmental officials, learners, parents and communities.
So, as you call upon teachers to be in class, on time and teaching, it would be helpful to say a line about other stakeholders, otherwise we might be communicating a message to teachers that they are solely responsible for all the problems in our education.
We have seen pictures in newspapers of learners who drink during school hours and are in the streets during school time. We have heard of one school in Limpopo where about 57 learners are pregnant, and we are glad that you have said something about learner pregnancy. This, we can assure you, does not happen at school; it happens elsewhere, and something must be said to our communities, our parents and to communities that sell alcohol to learners and juveniles.
We agree with you that there is a need to appoint suitably qualified people to the right positions and we are saying this should have happened a long time ago.
In Azapo's view, some of the problems of the country are caused by downright incompetence, which is a result of nepotism in appointments, where people were appointed because of family and/or political connections. We hope that there will be action to match your undertakings in this regard. The continent has expressed confidence in, and has given a huge responsibility, to South Africa.
South Africa has again been elected as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council. You have informed this House that South Africa will serve a two-year term on the African Union's Peace and Security Council, and that we will chair the Southern African Development Community, SADC, Organ on Politics, Defence and Security from August 2011. Good news, indeed, good news! We have noted your assurance to this House that South Africa would use these positions to promote the African agenda, peace and security. We are saying that in this responsibility, we should stay away from populist positions that lead to instant gratification. We agree with you that regime change is the preserve of the citizens of a country.
As we said previously, cowboys moved into Somalia and removed Siad Barre and later Farrah Aidid, more than 30 years ago. Somalia is still on fire. They went to Afghanistan and removed the Taliban. Afghanistan is still on fire. They did the same to Saddam Hussein. There are still problems in Iraq.
We have also noted the list of countries in which you said South Africa would be involved. We call upon you not to forget the people of Palestine as they struggle for national self-determination. Their plight must be put back very high on the international agenda.
In conclusion, the last word about corruption and nepotism: We have echoed your words that people should be appointed to positions without regard to family or political affiliations. Now we hear that you have promised people heaven if they belong to or vote for your party, and that they will be voting for the devil if they vote for other political parties! I thank you. [Interjections.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, firstly, I am very sorry to see that hon Blade Nzimande is not in the House. I just wanted to say to him and also to hon Chabane that we, as Cope, will not take advice from either these two Ministers on when and how to have our congress. We will do so in our own time.
We need the least advice from the ANC because after 99 years, they are still grappling with these very same issues - which explains what happened in the North West and Western Cape Provinces.
The President placed a lot of emphasis on job creation. [Interjections.]
Order, order, hon members!
But we are very disappointed to say that he failed to spell out how the human capital of our country will be developed. We know about jobs, but where will the necessary skills come from? We are disappointed; we would have expected the President to raise the bar beyond issues and definitions of any job, decent job or no job at all. By now, South Africans would have expected their President to present a long-term vision that would go beyond putting bread on some tables for now, especially during an election year, and which would actually take the country forward beyond a life of subsistence farming and temporary job opportunities.
The fact is, the President remained silent on a very critical lever for economic growth and job creation - freeing Internet access. This powerful leverage propelled countries like India and the Republic of Korea into economic and social prosperity.
We expected the President to tell us what his vision is; how to advance our nation into the international knowledge society where young people of our country could compete with the best in the world.
We expected the President to announce a broadband presidential lead programme, which would be driven from the Presidency, through the National Planning Commission under the leadership of Minister Trevor Manuel, to free up the Web for all communities, rich and poor. Unfortunately, it did not happen in the state of the nation address.
And what is the reality? Our position as South Africa today is deteriorating: Whereas we were in the top 25 of the developing countries in 2004, we are now ranked in position number 98 by the International Telecommunications Union, ITU. That is very sad. We should examine and learn from the information and communications technology, ICT, success stories in some of the other developing nations.
Why did India become the world hub for call centres, which created millions of direct and indirect jobs for their country? The question is, why did South Africa not get it? Just like India, we are also an Anglophone country and we are better placed in terms of time zones vis--vis major economic powers in the East and in the West. According to leading academics in the field, we lost out on the basis of two main reasons; firstly, inflexible labour laws and, secondly, the high cost of international Internet bandwidth.
Affordable, accessible Internet bandwidth is the lifeblood of the world's knowledge community, which will breach the digital divide. The Republic of Korea learned that very quickly. In 1995, that country had 1 Internet user per 100 000 of its population. With their president's intervention and the presidential lead programme driven through vision, they mastered just about the impossible.
Within a mere seven years, they moved towards the end of 2002 to becoming the worlds' fifth largest Internet market with 26 million users. And what happened is that that country is producing motor vehicles and people have access to information and knowledge.
To the contrary, North Korea did not free up access to Internet. They controlled this path. Yes, unfortunately, the hon Blade Nzimande is not here. Today, those two countries seem to be poles apart in terms of economics, people and ICT development.
Enabling broadband Internet access for households in South Africa, schools, government and businesses is a must for our country to advance to the next level of development. But we have to take care of Telkom, which is one of the major problems in the telecommunications industry. It's a dominant player and government is the majority shareholder. Let them move.
There can be no doubt that the state has a major role to play in our developmental economy. However, a state cannot always be the most effective driver.
Cope calls on you, Mr President, to drive the vision for broadband access for all communities, rich and poor, for our schools and our government services, but it must be driven from the central point. Take the first bold step to turn things around. Let it be your personal legacy. You may be forgiven for omitting this issue during your speech last week, but you will never be forgiven if you fail to heed the importance of mastering technology that would expand the horizons of poor communities way beyond what is now regarded as decent jobs.
In conclusion, failing to position and maintain our rightful place in the world of technology will deprive the coming generations of knowledge, skills and education. And if there is no hope, the reality of your Tahrir Square is less than a decade away. Thank you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, before I start my speech, I must just address a point made by Minister Patel. Mr Patel, I have not heard that kind of a whopper in ages!
Minister Patel came here to tell us extensively how we were going to turn the President's jobs plan specifically into a programme that was going to help create jobs and that he was going to give us some details. However, then he told us about Mercedes Benz, BMWs, Volkswagens, etc - cars that had started coming off the production line in many cases before the President even came up here to speak.
How can that possibly be the result of the President's speech? In fact, that is the result of the motor industry development plan if we really think about it. Then he told us about Nestl and its massive expansion plans. Well, that was also planned long before the President came up here to speak.
The he went on to speak about the power stations. Unfortunately for the logic, the Medupe power station is already half-completed and the President only came to speak to us last Thursday night! So I am not sure how exactly those are results of the state of the nation speech or even of the new growth path. However, let me get to the point, hon President: The creation of jobs is harder than we think.
South Africans want to be working people; nobody wants to be unemployed or sit on the side of the road and beg, which is a travesty that we see every day. To give people real dignity means, for most, to be gainfully employed, to have a job.
Visiting the sheltered employment factories last year with the portfolio committee, we were able to see how a disabled person could build furniture and get a meaningful job and in that way earn an income to enable them to look after themselves to a degree.
It was just a pity to hear how, over the past decade, the number of people who are employed in the sheltered employment factories have dwindled by a couple of thousand, but that project can be a light at the end of the tunnel for many people who are unemployed.
Hon President, the country does salute you for putting the emphasis in your speech this year on job creation. With over 35% of our adult employable people out of work, unemployment is our biggest national crisis and a President who did not acknowledge and emphasise that would be a national embarrassment.
In that vein, the DA welcomes the R20 billion in tax breaks outlined in the state of the nation address: the R10 billion from the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, to stimulate jobs growth and the R9 billion jobs fund to be established through the Finance Minister's budget later this year. These are all steps in the right direction.
In fact, we have had as a DA policy proposal a DA youth wage subsidy since 2004. If these funds are used for that purpose, amongst other things, then we, of course, must and will support this plan, Mr Manuel. We've had it as a policy for seven years already; we look forward to the youth getting jobs as a result.
However, the new growth path tabled by Cabinet points out some details that have to be borne in mind when we are sloshing around in all this cash for jobs in the way that the state of the nation speech does.
The framework calls for a very specific kind of jobs growth, through "jobs drivers" and securing strong and sustainable growth in the next decade. I quote:
Most of the projected new jobs will come from the private sector.
Five million of those new jobs! Now, Speaker, we need to ask the President this question: Sir, how exactly does the R39 billion translate into private sector jobs? Of course, policies and budgets and speeches must work together or we won't create jobs at all.
As we heard before, let us not forget that President Barack Obama threw over US$700 billion at saving jobs by bailing out banks. And where is that money today? Many jobs were lost anyway, and much of that money ended up being paid in bonuses to Wall Street executives instead of saving the jobs of ordinary workers.
We have only R39 billion, which is a lot less. If the tax breaks induce the likes of an Alcan to set up that elusive aluminium smelter at Coega, then a few thousand permanent jobs could be created and the money may be well spent. However, what South Africa was expecting in the state of the nation speech was some direction on how to create jobs, Minister Patel.
More specifically, we had just witnessed the war of words that had broken out between Gwede Mantashe, the general secretary of the ruling party, the new Minister, hon Oliphant, and Cosatu on the direction of the new labour laws and the conundrum over whether we should focus first on better quality jobs or more jobs.
The hon Minister was quoted as weighing in on the debate by saying:
Decent employment can only be successful when all stakeholders constantly keep in mind ... the context of the South African and global economies, social realities such as poverty, inequality and education levels, and the long-term goals for South Africa that must be weighed against short- term costs.
And -
A living wage, yes, at a later stage it's going to be part of these things.
She then later realised the storm that had begun and added:
Let us not get into an either/or debate. We want jobs and we must strive for decent work.
But hon President, there is a debate raging in South Africa, a very valuable debate, and South Africans are looking for direction on this issue. Mr Mantashe saw it quite clearly. He said:
Our view is that jobs must be created. Once created, then those people can engage on conditions of employment. If you first negotiate conditions before you are in the job then you are putting the cart before the horse.
The reason that this debate is so important is because it goes to the heart of why there has been such limited job growth in South Africa when the economy was actually growing. The labour laws proposed under the previous labour Minister, and tabled in December for comment by Minister Oliphant, now come along.
The reason for the huge public outcry against these laws is that they will destroy jobs just at the time that you, Mr President, are trying to create jobs. At the heart of the problem lie the unrealistic demands of Cosatu. The other labour unions, and even Fedusa, had different proposals for the new legislation. However, Cosatu cried wolf with words like "ban labour broking" and "end all temporary work and outsourcing in the Republic" - all for a few new union subscriptions and membership numbers for Cosatu. Sis!
Cosatu spokesman, Mr Patrick Craven, confirmed this live on radio when debating with me recently on the subject. He said: "Mr Ollis has a point." He then went on to explain that Cosatu does believe that the shutting down of labour brokers and the limiting of temporary work will make it easier for Cosatu to unionise members and grow their organisation, and that this was the reason for their demands on labour brokers and temporary work. This is a travesty.
The new labour laws will kill many, many jobs to create just a few new Cosatu members. What a disaster for the New Growth Path!
Mr Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, I listened very carefully to Minister Chabane when he was talking about performance agreements within government. I have a suggestion. Let us have a performance agreement on the DA. Let us see whether or not they too can work faster, better, smarter. [Interjections.]
I have a problem, because I am supposed to act as a sweeper in this debate, and the performance of the DA leaves me ... [Interjections.]
Order, hon members!
... speechless and wordless, because I have no performance to talk about, with the exception of the hon Mike Ollis. I enjoyed his speech. I think he should be promoted to leader of the DA, and then we will have a performance agreement on him.
I have very little to say about the opposition speakers as a whole. [Applause.] However, I do want to say to Comrade Lekota: I really am fond of you. I appreciate you and I think you should come back this side. Really, because the problems in Cope are so enormous and so embarrassing, and a man of your status and history ... Really, come back here. [Applause.] [Laughter.]
It is too bad that the hon Kilian doesn't want to take our advice, because she needs it very badly.
What I want to talk about are the many tributes that have been paid to Nelson Mandela today. We appreciate them very much. We appreciate them, because Madiba is an icon, not only of the world, but particularly of this House, and in particular of the ANC.
The ANC is particularly concerned with the impact that Mandela had on South Africa and the world. It's not just a matter of being an icon; it's a matter of what impact that icon has on society. It seems to me that we should be very clear about the basis of that impact on South Africa and on society.
I would suggest that the reason Madiba has made this huge impact is because he was a freedom fighter, first and foremost. [Applause.] He was a fighter of the ANC, a fighter for freedom. The international statesman and so on came after the victory of the ANC. Before that he was a freedom fighter, and he was an inspiration to all of us on this side of the House. I don't know about that side of the House. [Laughter.]
I was privileged to be in the treason trial with Madiba. I was privileged to be working with him in uMkhonto weSizwe, so I understand the very fibre of the man, where he came from and what he was fighting for. He was above all a freedom fighter as part of the masses. When we talk about him as a statesman and an icon, let us not forget that there was a foundation for the work of this man and there continues to be a foundation for this man, and that is the fact that he was a freedom fighter.
When I was watching TV over the past few weeks and saw the masses in Egypt, I thought: If Madiba was a young man and he was in Cairo, would he not be part of those masses? In fact, I, myself, would have loved to be part of those masses in Cairo; part of the mass struggle. That is what Madiba was - a freedom fighter, part of the masses, not only in South Africa, but internationally. If he had not been locked up on Robben Island, Madiba would have been a freedom fighter representing the ambitions of people everywhere. I think that we should pay tribute to the people of Egypt who have stood up against dictatorship and authoritarianism. [Applause.] I am quite sure that Madiba would want us to pay tribute to those people in the same way.
Let me ask the hon leader of the DA, if you were in the position ...
He's not here.
Oh, he's not here?
Order, hon members, order!
Kindly convey my greetings to him, and ask him, if he were a young man in Cairo today, whether he would be part of those demonstrations. [Interjections.] I wonder, you see; I don't think so. That makes the difference between us and you. [Applause.] It makes the difference.
The hon Trollip complained that government was too slow to recognise the Egyptian revolution. But you see this business of revolution, of struggle, is deep in our souls, so we identify with the people who struggle in the way that the people of Egypt did.
Madiba would have done it; I am not at all sure that the gentlemen and ladies who are making noise here are in the same mould. In fact, I am sure that they are not.
What did Mandela stand for and what does he stand for? I think that we can sum up what he stands for, and I use the present tense, in a simple phrase: Mandela stands for and has always stood for the transformation of South Africa into an inclusive society; transformation into an inclusive society. I would hope that as we go to our centenary celebrations ... [Interjections.]
Order, hon members!
... we would allow Madiba, once again, to say to us, in his own way, that what South Africa needs is transformation into an inclusive society. I hope very much that he will be able to join us in the centenary celebrations for the transformation into an inclusive society. [Applause.]
What do I mean by that? I think we all understand what an inclusive society means. It's in the Constitution. It means a democratic participatory society, based on nonracial and nonsexism principles. That's what it means. I think we all understand - both sides of the House and all parties in the country - that we stand for an inclusive society.
The problem lies in the word "transformation". The ANC and Mandela have always had the view that transformation is central to the objectives of the ANC and the needs of the country. Transformation - it's in the Freedom Charter, it's enshrined there. It is in what Mandela said during the treason trial; what he said in his role as leader of uMkhonto weSizwe and so on.
Let me say that the way Mandela understands transformation and the way we understand transformation show that Mandela was never a soft-pedalling liberal. He was never a soft-pedalling liberal. When you talk about transformation, you talk about it as soft-pedalling liberals.
When we talk about transformation, it's a revolutionary notion of the transformation of South Africa from what it was to what it should be.
A week ago, a think tank which I shall not name, which is very close to business and to the DA, produced a document on the question of transformation.
Name it!
No, why should I name it? Why should I give you or them publicity? No, no, I won't do that. That's a cheap shot. Undertakers should know their place, please! [Laughter.] [Applause.] What the article argued is that the central issue in South Africa is: Do we want a society that promotes equality of opportunity or equality of outcomes? These are rather critical questions. When you talk about equality of opportunity ... When Helen Zille was here, she always talked about merit, and the hon Trollip also talked about ... [Interjections.]. I was going to say trash, but no. [Laughter.] He has to talk about merit. The hon Trollip was talking trash and merit. So, what did they say and what does the DA and this think tank stand for? They stand for equality of opportunity.
Now imagine that you have a very brilliant, young, black scholar or learner in a poor rural school - brilliant she is. Then you have a medium-talented white person from a privileged model C school in Cape Town. The two apply for a job. Who is going to get that job? If you apply the question of merit, brilliant as she is, the merit will come with the person who has had a particular background, particular opportunities, whereas the black child, brilliant as she is, will not make it. And so ... [Interjections.] And so sit down. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
Order! Hon Ben Turok!
Yes.
Please take your seat.
Sir, will the hon Turok take a question on the DA's affirmative action policy ... [Interjections.]
Yes, let's have it. Let's have it out. [Interjections.]
... which is everything you are ... [Interjections.]
Tell me what you mean. I'll tell you what. You asked me a question and I ... [Interjections.]
Why don't you tell us what will ... [Interjections.]
Order! Look, we don't want a dialogue here.
Oh, I see. Okay. [Laughter.]
Continue, hon member.
Now the truth is that, given the history of South Africa and given the awful background that children in the rural schools, particularly, had and have - it continues, if you talk about merit and equality of opportunity, there is an unequal race between two applicants. So when the DA continues to harp on equality of opportunity and merit ... [Interjections.]
Hon members, order!
... what you are doing is that you are perpetuating disadvantage in this country. [Applause.] We will have historically disadvantaged people forever if we take the line of equality of opportunity without qualification. Of course we want merit. Who is going to argue with that? But we must have merit based on equality of training ... [Interjections.]
Hon Turok, kindly take your seat, there is a point of order.
Speaker, on a point of order: I just want to know whether the hon member is having a debate with himself, because he obviously hasn't read our policy. He is living in an antediluvian world. He needs to actually read our policy.
Take your seat. That is not a point of order. Order, hon members!
I think Mike Ellis should come back as Chief Whip. This is very poor. [Laughter.]
Speaker, on a point of order: Mr Ellis has never been a Chief Whip. [Laughter.]
Well, maybe he should have been. [Laughter.]
What I'm saying is that on the one hand the ANC is committed to equality of outcomes.
We want a South Africa in which all people are equal. We say that this business of harping on merit and equality of opportunity will never create an equality of outcomes. We need affirmative action and all kinds of measures to ensure that we overcome our history and create a society of equals. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker!
On what point of order are you rising?
I want to ask if the hon Turok would take a question.
Not from you; sit down. [Laughter.]
Why not, Ben?
He won't take a question.
You see, we listen very carefully ...
Maybe I could ask him again. Just one more ...
Please take your seat, hon member. [Interjections.] Order, hon members!
Now, the hon Trollip made a strong appeal that the DA will lead us on a path to prosperity. Whose prosperity? On the basis of equality of opportunity? [Interjections.] Who will have the opportunity, and who will have the prosperity? [Interjections.] The same people whom you represent and those you come from will have the advantages and the prosperity, while the rest of South Africa suffer. [Applause.]
Let me go further and say this. You and the people you represent should not only talk about equality of opportunity, but you actually have an obligation to promote the transformation of South Africa. The reason for that obligation is the legacy that you perpetuated and stand for now. [Applause.]
Now, what did Mandela stand for, and what did he do? You see, what you don't understand - and we seem to lose you on these issues - is that Mandela led a liberation movement, not a political party. [Interjections.]
Why do we say that? The reason is that South Africa requires transformation and it won't come through normal political party banter; it comes through the liberation process and the struggle of people. This is what the ANC stands for. Let me explain something to you. [Interjections.] Just listen, just listen. [Interjections.] I'm giving you a lecture. [Laughter.] You see, when we talk about liberation and transformation, we lose the DA.
Speaker, on a point of order: The hon Turok has just indicated that he is giving us a lecture. This is not a lecture room, but a Chamber for debating. I believe that he is out of order in giving us a lecture.
Continue, hon member.
You see, hon Ellis, in a normal parliament, people debate. However, when we have people like you, we have to lecture. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
Order, hon members, order!
Let me make it absolutely clear that the liberation movement that Mandela led and still leads - he is still our leader - stands for a nonracial and a nonsexist future. [Interjections.] It's in the Constitution and the aims and objectives of the ANC.
Now, it's quite extraordinary that a liberation movement for the liberation of black people - and Africans in particular - should stand for a nonracial future. It's a bit odd. Why should these black people stand for a nonracial future? One would expect black people would start a liberation movement for themselves or to establish what used to be called a "black republic". But not this ANC, and not Mandela. So, why is it that the ANC says they stand for the liberation of black people, but they also stand for a nonracial future? What is this?
It seems to me that the DA and people like you don't understand this. [Laughter.] What we are saying to you - I'm going to try and explain it to you in this debate. [Interjections.] You see, there is absolutely no prospect of a nonracial South Africa without the liberation of black people. It can't happen because, as things are structured now and were before, there is no prospect that you can have a nonracial society without the liberation of black people.
You people, where you are in power, do not favour the creation of a nonracial society. You talk about it, but you keep promoting merit and you keep talking about equality of opportunity. This means that the historically disadvantaged people of this province will never make it into equality. [Applause.]
The hon Trollip said: "Where the DA governs, it governs well." Let me tell you that I live in Cape Town; I grew up in Cape Town. We have a DA city and DA province, and it does not govern well. [Interjections.] If you don't believe me, come with me to Military Road, Lavender Hill and to all those ... [Interjections.]
Order!
Come with me and I will show you how the DA governs Cape Town. It's a disgrace! [Interjections.]
Come to Johannesburg and let me take you around!
We can't depend on a DA city council or a DA provincial government or Helen Zille because they do not govern well. [Interjections.] What they do is govern well in Bishopscourt. [Interjections.] Yes, they govern very well in Constantia. But come to Military Road, Seawinds, Lavender Hill, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu; do they govern well?
HON MEMBERS: No!
The masses have spoken. [Applause.] You see ...
Hon Speaker, on a point of order.
What point of order are you rising on, hon member?
May I ask hon Turok whether he has ever been to Gugulethu and Khayelitsha? [Interjections.]
That's not a point of order. Hon members, please take your seats.
It's a question which I'm very happy to answer. I was in Gugulethu last week and I can tell you exactly where I was. So that point of order is out of order. [Laughter.]
Mr Speaker, the reason that the DA does not understand the relationship of liberation and the aspirations of Mandela ...
There is a point of order; please take your seat, hon Turok.
Speaker, the point of order is directed to the hon member who just stood up here. I understand the hon member is on bail for rape, and he is sitting here with us. Is that transformation? Why do we have a Member of Parliament who is on bail for rape sitting with us here? [Interjections.]
Hon member, take your seat, that's not a point of order. [Interjections.]
Mr Speaker, on a point of order: She actually reflects on a member of the House. Now, I remember one of your previous rulings where you asked a member to withdraw derogatory remarks against a person in the House, and I ask you to follow your ruling through.
I will study the Hansard and come back with a ruling. [Interjections.] Order, hon members, order! Order!
Allow me to sum up. It's quite late so allow me to sum up. South Africa is at a turning point where the whole of society has to examine itself, its mission and its vision. All the parties in the House, including the ANC, must examine their policies and role in our society on the basis of Mandela's aspirations for a society which is in transformation - an inclusive society.
How do we handle this? It seems to me that the ANC and the government are struggling extremely hard against a legacy which I believe was much worse than we understood it to be.
When we were in the struggle and in exile, we often used to talk about the violence of the apartheid regime, the oppressive character of the regime, colour discrimination, all those sorts of things. In international fora and at the United Nations our spokespersons used to talk about those things: prisons, the oppression, and so on.
We talked very little about what apartheid did to the black people of South Africa. We didn't talk about what they really did to the people, especially those in the rural areas, the schools and the conditions in which children grew up. We did not talk about that.
As the education Ministers grappled with that legacy - and it's a huge legacy - the difficulties of overcoming teachers who don't teach because they were never taught to teach ... Many of them had no university education, but second-rate certificates. [Interjections.] As we try to overcome this self-perpetuating system of underdevelopment, of a dual economy, a dual society ... It's an enormous uphill battle to overcome that.
What this government must do is not talk primarily about equality of opportunities, but how we overcome the legacy and disadvantage. That disadvantage is still here. [Interjections.] You see it everywhere.
The disadvantage of the legacy is massive. [Interjections.] That is why the key concept that I want to put forward here as representing the views of Mandela ... [Laughter.] ... is the transformation into an inclusive society. [Laughter.] The hon Ellis is on his way out; please leave! [Laughter.]
Order, order!
Now, now, now.
Now, yes, now.
I want to conclude by saying this. I'm offering, free of charge, a series of seminars to the DA on transformation in South Africa. It's free of charge and you are all invited. Just come and take notes. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Order, hon members, order! Please take your seats; the House is not adjourned yet. Hon members, that concludes the speakers' list for today. I wish to remind members that the debate on the President's state of the nation address will resume tomorrow at 14:00.
Debate interrupted.