Speaker, government supports and respects the right of people to express themselves through peaceful means, whether these be mass protests, marches, pickets, or any form of peaceful demonstration. Our Constitution and other laws of the land promote active citizenship by providing opportunities for people to participate in policy development and other matters that concern their lives.
At the same time, those engaging in mass demonstration have a duty and responsibility to ensure that their action is peaceful and does not result in the violation of the rights of those who may choose not to be part of the action, or who may hold different views. It is of concern to us if violence is becoming normalised to the extent that it is considered to be a viable and legitimate way of resolving problems and asserting or protecting one's interests.
Our efforts are aimed at strengthening our capacity as a nation to live, work and develop together. This can be achieved through improving individual attitudes and actions, based on respect for the rule of law and shared values, and a commitment to a strong social fabric. I thank you for your attention.
Speaker, many people who are observers of our situation at this time have progressively come to this conclusion: that the major cause of the problems in our communities now erupting into violence is as a result of the infighting over resources within the ruling party and its structures ... [Interjections.] ... that lack of accountability and manipulation, in particular, of the tenders and resources involved lead to factions within the ruling party fighting amongst themselves; that houses of the councillors elected by the supporters of the ruling party are being burned down by the supporters of the ruling party; and that this is, in fact, spreading the disease of corruption even deeper in all spheres of government.
With government totally immersed in this monster of endemic corruption, how does the Presidency, as the head of the executive, propose to take government out of that and place it on a platform to change this situation? [Time expired.]
Speaker, hon Lekota, you did not actually get a chance to complete your question, but I think the first part of it is how the Presidency plans to deal with or to root out corruption. All the other remarks you made about an organisation are unknown to me. I will not go into that.
This alone may be said, and I want to say it with all the conviction of its truth: The instruments, legislative and otherwise, the agencies that have been established to root out corruption, have teeth and are dealing with corruption on an ongoing basis. The participation of members of the community as whistleblowers is very impressive. That is why we are getting all these reports about acts of corruption coming out into the open. It is because we are steadily making progress. More people are participating in ensuring that those that act in a corrupt manner are brought to book. That is something that we should recognise and give more strength and fillip to.
On this issue, there certainly is commitment on the part of our government and the Presidency to ensure that we eliminate any acts of corruption. Of course, as I have said on previous occasions in this House, it takes more than just the institution's agencies and laws to root out corruption, because corrupt acts are committed when there is collusion between those inside and outside of government to manipulate processes. That is why it is so important to support the instruments that are in place to continue eliminating acts of corruption. I think that answers the bit of the question that I heard and you were able to make after the long peroration. I thank you.
Speaker, Mr Deputy President, do you know the expression, There is no smoke without fire? It seems to us that very often government seems to be caught by surprise when things go wrong. People are very angry, but it is only when the smoke is billowing and yet another building is being burned down, or another councillor's house is gone, or another crisis has occurred, that government realises, in fact, how people really feel about things and how bad things are. So, my questions to you are twofold: Firstly, does government actually have a finger on the pulse of the mood of the nation? Does it know how people feel? Secondly, has government got a plan to be more proactive in anticipating how people are going to react, as opposed to just wading in afterwards and shooting from the hip? I thank you.
Speaker, government can only be effective to the extent that it is held accountable by an active citizenry. Once the citizenry is active as whistleblowers, public representatives raising issues in the House and on other public platforms, then government would be held accountable. As I said, there is, indeed, room for improvement, because there are all these structures, like constituency offices, community development workers, and so on. All of these are located within communities, and so if or whenever there is a matter of grave concern to a community, that ought to be raised and government should be expected to respond swiftly to concerns so raised. The fact that matters of concern to communities end up being communicated through smouldering buildings, and so on, is something that we should all be concerned about and do everything in our power to prevent. I thank you.
Somlomo, Sekela Mongameli ngiyavumelana nawe uthi abantu banelungelo lokwenza imibhikisho ngokuthula. Ngiphinde ngivumelane nawe uma uthi abantu abakithi abanalo ilungelo lokwenza imibhikisho enodlame. Kufanele siye emiphakathini sibatshele lokho.
Mhlonishwa Lekota, wumsebenzi wami nawe, njengamaLungu ePhalamende ukuthi siye ebantwini sibatshele ukuth uhlelo lukahulumeni lalo nyakamali luthi sizokwenza lokhu, nalokhu nalokhuya. Uma singaphumelelanga siphinde sibuyele ebantwini sibatshele ukuthi uhulumeni uhlulekile kulo nyaka ukwenza lokhu, nalokhu nalokhuya. Lokhu kuzonciphisa lokhu kubhikisha okudlame okudlangile.
Sekela Mongameli nginombuzo wokuthi: Kuyo yonke le mibhikisho enodlame ekhona kuleli lizwe, ingabe uMnyango wezokuPhepha kweZwe walapha eNingizimu Afrika uyakubheka yini ukuthi asikho isandla semfene kuyo yonke le mibhikisho? Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Ms D G NHLENGETHWA: Speaker and Deputy President, I agree with you that everyone has the right to demonstrate peacefully. I also agree that the public does not have any right to violent protests. It is therefore our duty to inform our communities of that.
Hon Lekota, as Members of Parliament, it is our duty to inform the public of the programme that our government has proposed for each financial year. When we fail to complete the tasks set out in the programme for each year, we must again inform the public. That will curb the widespread violent protests. Deputy Speaker, I have this question: Has the Department of State Security considered the possibility that there might be a third force fuelling all these violent protests in this country? Thank you.]
Hon Speaker and hon members, yes, indeed, the role of Intelligence is to gather intelligence timeously, so that it is effective. Once information is gathered after the fact, it then becomes the work of investigators from the law enforcement units. Intelligence is meant to be streets ahead of any happenings, so that they can be prevented from taking place. That is work that is unfortunately not the same as the work done by the uniformed investigators, and so on. I do thank the hon member for explaining and emphasising the point that demonstrators ought to be persuaded to demonstrate peacefully and in an orderly manner without trampling on the rights of others.
Speaker, Deputy President, the problem of service delivery is well known, but some of the people who are masquerading as leaders of these protests are just hooligans, they are not leaders. I cannot comprehend how the burning of a school will result in the building of a road, or how stopping children from going to school will result in a mayor's resignation. [Applause.]
The question I have is: Do we have leadership, as far as Intelligence and the Police Service are concerned, because none of these people are prosecuted? No information is gathered to ensure that these events are pre- empted. Why can you not you fire the Ministers of Intelligence and the Police Service? [Interjections.]
Speaker, I agree with the hon Kganare that, indeed, it may very well be that some of the people participating in the demonstrations are hooligans. However, the reason we recognise and accept that people have the right to picket and demonstrate is that there are genuine demonstrators who have genuine issues to raise. As for the other part about firing Ministers, unfortunately, I am only a Deputy President, so I also serve in Cabinet by invitation. [Laughter.] I thank you very much.
Rail, road, maritime and information technology infrastructure development
16. Mr X Mabasa (ANC) asked the Deputy President:
What measures are being put in place by the Government to contribute to (a) rail, (b) road, (c) maritime and (d) information technology infrastructure development with a view to achieving greater economic and social development across the African continent?