It is established convention that a speaker who is giving a maiden speech is not provocative in order to avoid retaliation. [Interjections.] So, we encourage the hon speaker to be considerate in the way in which he addresses the ruling party. Thank you. [Applause.]
Order! Order, hon members! That certainly is a tradition. Hon member, please proceed, bearing that in mind.
Mr Speaker, Good officials who placed the interests of the province first were moved aside to be replaced by more compliant cadres. Like proverbial vampires, the members of this network have sucked the very life blood out of the province and grown fabulously wealthy at the expense of the marginalised. [Interjections.] Obviously, the truth hurts, hon Manuel. [Interjections.] As a result, service delivery in key departments such as health, education and transport has ground to a halt - and the poorest and most vulnerable have been left to suffer the consequences.
This is the real tragedy in this matter, because as the connected cadres of the crony circle get fat on the profits of their misdeeds, the poor slip further into hunger and poverty every day. As politicians and their friends quaff French champagne, the poor are forced to share drinking water with cattle; as tenderpreneurs and politicians flash around in their luxury blue- light convoys, the poor and the marginalised are pushed further and further off the road of opportunity. [Applause.]
Instead of decisive action over the past three years, this administration has sat on its hands, while at least three multimillion-rand bridges built by crony company SGL Engineering were washed away within weeks of their completion. An amount of R400 million was squandered on irregularly procured goods and services. Most schools did not receive textbooks and learning material or any of their allocated funding, bringing education to a grinding halt. The province dished out a tender of R14 million for photocopiers to an ANC benefactor and connected crony of Premier Cassel Mathale. The price was a full R10 million higher than the next tenderer.
Premier Mathale has run his province into the ground and, despite presiding over the greatest crisis of governance in South Africa, the man and his team remain in power. [Interjections.] Now the President can fiddle around the edges amending this regulation, reworking that agency, tweaking another rule, but unless we take a hard line against the politicians and officials at the top who do wrong, our nation will continue to be dragged below the surface by the weight of their corruption and greed.
But, Mr Speaker ...
Speaker, I rise on another point of order.
What is your point of order?
Is it parliamentary for an hon member to say the things he is saying about a premier of one of our provinces, given the fact that ... [Interjections.]
Order, hon members!
... given the fact that he is a member of a legislature? I don't think it is appropriate for members of this House to attack hon members of other legislatures. Could you make a ruling on that matter?
I will study the Hansard and come back with a ruling. Proceed, hon member.
Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
What is your point of order?
Speaker, is it parliamentary for the hon Manuel to say "shut up" when the member is at the podium? [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Hon members, if indeed the member said "shut up" it is not parliamentary, but I didn't hear him. Again, I will study the Hansard and come back with a ruling. [Interjections.] [Applause.] Order, hon members! Order!
I will wear the hon Manuel's scorn as a badge of pride. Just last week the widely awaited Manase forensic report into ANC-run eThekwini Municipality was released. The report revealed that for years politicians and deployed cadres in the administration had been involved in dodgy tender deals and irregular activities amounting to over R2 billion.
The report has recommended that criminal charges be instituted against the officials and the politicians concerned. One wonders if the ANC are going to have the power to do the right thing and to sack the officials and councillors involved, and to press those charges. Or are they going to be recycled only to appear in other government departments?
This was certainly the case in the matter of the erstwhile municipal manager of the Bitou Municipality who was dismissed for serious cases of violating the Municipal Financial Management Act, MFMA, yet was appointed as a municipal manager in another ANC municipality. This beggars belief. People like these should be fired, criminally charged and barred from serving in our Public Service ever again. [Applause.]
The DA will be introducing private members' legislation in this Parliament which will seek to have public officials found guilty of corruption, fraud and maladministration, blacklisted and prevented from being public servants again. It is essential that we prevent this slide into a failed state.
But it doesn't have to be like this. The DA has shown the way by example in the Western Cape, namely that clean and accountable government can be achieved and that clean and accountable government attracts investment, both locally and internationally. [Interjections.]
Order!
It also shows, in stark contrast to ANC-run administrations, that there is a causal link between clean and accountable government and vastly improved service delivery. This government must take heed and stop the rot in our provinces and municipalities.
Perhaps when the President replies to this debate on Thursday, he will include a commitment ... [Interjections.] ... by his administration - he's ignored corruption long enough, hon Manuel - for bold new actions in the fight against corruption, cronyism and maladministration.
The President has an opportunity to side with the people of South Africa, particularly the poor, marginalised and vulnerable who feel the sting of corruption the hardest. South Africa needs protection from politicians and officials who abuse the trust placed in them and who line their own pockets and misdirect state resources for personal enrichment. [Interjections.]
If the government fails to deal with the tide of corruption then it will undermine and wash away all the virtuous ends of what the President announced in his address to the nation. It will infect every infrastructure project you have outlined and will devour the funds earmarked for desperately needed social upliftment and relief. Mr President, the time for talk is now over. It is time for action. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, hon Ministers and hon members, there is a "newspeak", a new language, about Africa today; it's about hopeful Africa. This "newspeak" resonates directly with the President's call to us to create a new story for South Africa.
The President said last week on Thursday that we would begin to write a new story about South Africa, the story of how, working together, we drove back unemployment and reduced economic inequality and poverty. I would like to suggest here that we can do this best if we look carefully at what is happening on our continent and recognise this as an opportunity to grow our own economy and bring prosperity to all our people.
The Economist of December last year lead with the story entitled, "Africa rising, Africa's hopeful economies". This is a dramatic change in tune for The Economist, which in 2000 labelled Africa "the hopeless continent". I quote from the article:
The politics of the continent's Mediterranean shore may have dominated headlines this year, but the new boom south of the Sahara will affect more lives. It continues:
From Ghana in the west to Mozambique in the south, Africa's economies are consistently growing faster than those of almost any other region in the world. At least a dozen have expanded more than 6% a year for six years or more and Ethiopia will grow 7,5% this year, without a drop of oil to export. Once a byword for famine, it is now the world's 10th largest producer of livestock.
Further on, the article says:
Since The Economist regrettably ...
That itself says it -
... labelled Africa "the hopeless continent" a decade ago, a profound change has taken hold. Labour productivity has been rising. It is now growing by, on average, 2,7% a year. Trade between Africa and the rest of the world has increased by 200% since 2000. Inflation dropped from 22% in 1990 to 8% in the past decade. Foreign debts declined by a quarter, budget deficits by two-thirds. In eight of the past 10 years, according to the World Bank, sub-Saharan growth has been faster than East Asia's. ...
And the continent's impressive growth looks likely to continue. This is a good story. The question is: Are we ready to take advantage of Africa's hopeful signs? Are we able to rise to the challenge to benefit our people and to further lift the prospects for our continent?
I believe the announcements of infrastructure roll-out by the President on Thursday suggest that we are indeed well placed for this new African story to impact in a meaningful way on our country.
I would like to highlight three major areas of work that need our focused attention in the coming period. These areas are key policy positions of the ANC and are evident in government priorities and extend from the domestic sphere into our international work, as one is inextricably linked to the other.
The first, directly linked to the government's domestic infrastructure plans, is cross-border infrastructure, including other instruments to improve intra-Africa trade. The second is developing our greatest asset, our young people, to meet the challenges. The third is strengthening sound governance practices in governments and in businesses across the continent and defeating corruption.
In terms of the first focus area, development of cross-border infrastructure, the plans announced by the President have included some of these - the North-South corridor from the heart of our industrial cities reaching north into the heart of Africa, improvements to the Durban-Gauteng rail corridor opening up links to the region and the manganese export channel through the port in Nelson Mandela Bay. These are examples where these programmes are already in process.
The White Paper on Foreign Policy for South Africa, published last year, emphasises the strengthening of regional economic communities as building blocks for African integration and recognises that future African economic prosperity will only be realised to the extent that the continent is able to rationalise and streamline these communities. This will include, of course, cross-border infrastructure programmes, thus creating seamless routes and connections for trade and interaction for goods and services to be bought and sold, and for people to move freely.
In January leaders of the continent met in Addis Ababa at the African Union, in terms of the theme or the title "Boosting Intra-African Trade". I would like to quote again from the article in The Economist. It says:
Trade barriers have been reduced at least a bit and despite the dearth of good roads, regional trade - long an African weakness - is picking up. By some measures intra-African trade has gone from 6% to 13% of the total volume. Some economists think the postapartheid reintegration of South Africa on its own has provided an extra 1% in annual GDP growth for the continent, and will continue to do so for some time. It is now the biggest source of foreign investment for other countries south of the Sahara.
So, although much of this work is under discussion on regional and continental levels, I believe there is still much work to be done.
The second area of focused attention is our young people. Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world. It is our greatest asset as a country and indeed as a continent. We must spend every effort to make sure our young people are educated and acquire the requisite skills to take advantage of what The Economist defines as a boom in sub-Saharan Africa.
Here again The Economist makes a comparison with Asia. It says:
There is another point of comparison with Asia: demography. Africa's population is set to double from 1 billion to 2 billion over the next 40 years. As Africa's population grows in size, it will also alter in shape. The median age is now 20 in Africa compared with 30 in Asia and 40 in Europe. With fertility rates dropping, that median will rise as today's mass of young people moves into its most productive years. The ratio of people of working age to those younger and older - the dependency ratio - will improve. This "demographic dividend" was crucial to the growth of East Asian economies a generation ago. It offers a huge opportunity to Africa today. We need to be ready, therefore, to take advantage of this demographic dividend.
The third area I mentioned that I believe needs this attention is entrenching good governance models on the continent. The efforts made thus far have resulted in more countries in Africa having held democratic elections in the past decade than ever before. For the past 17 years our foreign policy's number one priority has been our African agenda, with much work focused on developing solid continental institutions.
Looking at the achievements of our own policies and of other developments on the continent, there has been steady, even dramatic, progress. It is only 10 years since the launch of the African Union in Durban in 2002. This union at its heart aspires to bring unity to a huge and diverse continent and to spearhead the continent's development through its New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, programme.
The AU's organs include, amongst other organs, the Pan-African Parliament, which is headquartered here in Gauteng; the African Court of Justice; and the African Peer Review Mechanism - that innovative and unique system of peer review among nations.
We can be justly proud that this body is now strengthened by the appointment of former Deputy President and current national chairperson of the ANC, Baleka Mbete, to the panel of eminent persons. These are very good developments and there are many others.
We must, of course, also recognise the difficulties the AU and its organs have confronted as they develop, but the start has been made and in the grand scheme of things considerable progress has been made in a relatively short space of time. The European Union, for example, is still battling with some of these problems 50 years down the line.
All this is encouraging and even exciting. So the question again is: Are we as a county ready to grow and build with the rest of the continent? In addition to writing a new South African story, are we ready to be part of writing a new African story? Do we fully recognise the desirability and indeed the necessity for us to link our growth to that of the continent?
Let me relate a little story that happened during the first stages of the economic crisis in 2008 when I was watching, like everybody else, those dramatic events unfolding. Banks were collapsing, markets were tumbling, the United States and other governments were pumping money into their respective economies to prevent total collapse. Huge amounts of money with many noughts were being discussed, and it's even difficult to conceive of some of the sizes of the budgets and cash that were being made available. And this all flashed across the television screens as trillions of dollars were pumped into economies to stave off disaster.
I watched as politicians abroad were interviewed, saying that this injection was needed and that, indeed, it was hoped it would prevent a total collapse. One commentator, on hearing this, said: "Yes, but hope is not a strategy." I agree with him.
Hopeful Africa, yes, but hope is not enough. We need focused and realistic strategies, diplomatic and other, to build our regional communities, to improve our intra-Africa trade, to entrench models of good governance and defeat corruption, and to upskill our young people to meet the challenges.
We need close working relationships with our African neighbours. We need diplomatic strategies to overcome our differences ...
Hon members, you are making it very difficult for those who want to listen to hear the speaker. The noise level is very high. Continue, hon member.
We need diplomatic strategies to overcome our differences and to work in a more united way in our union. Our neighbours may well be competitors, but we should welcome this as their strength can only improve our own prospects in a race to benefit people right across the continent. The White Paper on Foreign Policy, which is entitled "The Diplomacy of Ubuntu", underscores this point. It states that South Africa's relations with individual African countries remain central to its foreign policy practice and that of the region. South Africa, it says, will also pursue closer synergy between its bilateral and multilateral engagements, thus linking our regional work with our work with individual countries.
This is further encouragement then, but let us not forget some of the most urgent of our challenges that the President has also spoken to: the issues of poverty and disease. In this regard, the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations give us targets to aim for to improve these chronic curses.
The article in The Economist, which I have referred to, concludes in the following way:
Progress towards achieving the MDGs is slow and uneven, but it is not negligible. The mood among the have-nots is better than at any time since the independence era. True, Africans have a remarkable capacity for being upbeat. But it seems this time they really do have something to smile about.
In concluding, I would like to pay tribute to a great South African internationalist, Johnny Makhathini. The President announced last week that the diplomatic guesthouse in Pretoria would be named after Johnny Makhathini. I never knew him, but I wish I did because I have heard much about him. In the eyes of his comrades and friends he was a legendary figure in international engagements and he was the ANC's permanent representative to the UN from 1977, amongst other roles. He was a gifted and eloquent debater on international issues during the dark apartheid years. He was, by all accounts, a fascinating person.
The guesthouse named after him is a beautifully renovated house on Waterkloof Ridge, looking out over the African savannah. It is a place that is perfectly suited to remember his contribution to our country. I hope that he would smile at what has been achieved and at the encouraging prospects of what we still have to do. I thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members and hon guests, the PAC of Azania welcomes the President's admission that the "willing-robber, willingly robbed" land distribution policy does not work. [Applause.] [Laughter.] Our forebears took up arms to defend the land and its riches.
Ya lla koto, ya kgutla naha, mobu le matekwane a yona. [The land returns, the soil and its plants.]
The return of the land must be the first prize of the revolution. Let democracy be a bonus. Any liberation minus the return of our land, the liberation of every grain of soil, is a Mickey Mouse liberation - the ultimate, laughable, make-believe liberation. Africa always was and always will be the African land. Until such time that the land question is decisively resolved in favour of Africans, the whole of the liberation struggle would be in vain. Until that happens, the African people will remain the drawers of water and hewers of wood in the land of their forefathers and foremothers.
Lehumo le t?wa t?hemong, ga le t?we lefaufaung. Ebile molato wa t?hemo o sekwa t?hemong. Ga o sekwe ka ngwakong goba ka mafuri. [Disego.] [Nothing falls from the sky. No one must earn what they did not work hard for.]
At first, the colonisers gave us the Bible and usurped the land. Today, the neocolonisers have given us the Constitution, and retained the ownership of the land. [Laughter.] They even call it the best Constitution under the sun. Our Constitution glorifies land robbery and justifies colonial looting through the property section. [Laughter.]
Nxamalala, xa uthetha ngomhlaba uyinyathele emsileni. [Uwelewele.] Uliqule uligangathe mfo kaMsholozi, andikuthelekisi xa ndisitsho. [Kwahlekwa.] Usikele uPoqo enqatheni xa uthetha ngomhlaba. [Kwahlekwa.] [Nxamlala, when you speak about land, you are stirring up trouble. [Interjections.] You must be ready for war, son of Msholozi, but I am not waging war. [Laughter.] You must share with the PAC when you speak about land. [Laughter.]]
Hon President, the PAC welcomes the good news that the government seeks to eliminate all forms of abusive practices inherent in labour broking. The present slave traders, euphemistically known as labour brokers, have exploited job seekers long enough. [Applause.] They take as much as 70% of their victims' monthly income. That is slavery.
Hon President, we welcome the creation of 365 000 jobs during 2011. The PAC wants to know how many jobs were created as a result of the multibillion rand arms deal.
While we welcome heritage projects regarding Sobukwe's home and grave, we are concerned that the ruling party never honours heroic PAC leaders and events, except for one leader: Sobukwe. [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Order!
Even then, they say they honour him because he was once their member. [Laughter.]
In 1967, long before the Matola Raid, a unit of the Azanian People's Liberation Army, Apla, fighters under commander Gerard Kondlo, was intercepted by Portuguese forces in Mozambique. What followed was the celebrated battle of Villa Peri. The South African ... [Interjections.] Well, that is true, unless you don't know your history, hon Minister. [Laughter.] The South African government had to send reinforcements to help overcome the freedom fighters. Why is only the Matola Raid memorialised in Mozambique? Why is there a conspiratorial silence over the PAC-inspired Poqo uprisings? Why is there no mention of the Lion of Azania, Zephania "Uncle Zeph" Mothopeng? The heritage project is fundamentally flawed, because it is biased and partisan. It smacks of party-propaganda posturing. Of the 134 people who were executed for political reasons, 94 were PAC members, and that is beyond denial. Bhekaphansi Vulindlela, a PAC member, was executed at the age of 18, making him the youngest person to be executed for political reasons. I am teaching you a history lesson, hon Minister. [Interjections.]
The oldest person was also a PAC member, Hlathi Blayi, who was executed at the age of 63. Jafta Masemola spent a longer time than any other person on Robben Island as a political prisoner. [Interjections.] David Maphumzana Sibeko pioneered the cause of the South African struggle at the United Nations. In fact, after he had delivered his speeches, African diplomats used to carry him shoulder high. He was a giant. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members and honoured guests, as a young boy growing up, my father taught me the evils of gambling. Under threat of punishment, my older brothers and I were told not to gamble. In our area, gambling was largely in the form of cards and a dice. I obeyed my father's instructions, except that one day I found myself at a place where other boys were gambling. I did not gamble; I just stood there and watched.
Unfortunately that day we were ambushed by the then South African Police, and they apprehended us. I protested that I did not take part in the gambling, but I was told ... "Maar julle staan en kyk." [But you are standing there, looking on.] [Laughter.]
As a young boy then, I concluded that the system was unfair, for how could it lump gamblers and spectators together? Later in life, a lawyer friend of mine explained to me that to law-enforcement officers the fact that I stood there meant that I derived pleasure from what was happening, but if I had not, I should have gone to report that a crime was being committed. [Laughter.]
A moulana also taught me that according to the teachings of the prophet - peace be upon him - I should have received double punishment, because I had received enlightenment, and yet I did not share it with the gamblers. He told me that I was the worst offender. [Laughter.] We will come to this story later.
Mr President, your speech was by and large clear and coherent. The new infrastructure plan had clearly defined activities. The idea of major geographically focused areas is commendable. The plan has the potential to change the face of South Africa for the better and to create the much- needed jobs.
Let us talk about risk analysis, Mr President, and what can go wrong and therefore put this plan in jeopardy. Number one is corruption. Corruption, Mr President. We suspect that as you were addressing this House and making mention of the money allocated for the infrastructure, there were those who were already salivating, who took out their calculators to compute how much they could make for themselves. [Laughter.]
What is going to be the role of the Presidential Infrastructure Co- ordinating Commission, PICC, in ensuring that tenders are awarded to deserving bidders and that appointed contractors do not do shoddy work and leave us with poor infrastructure that will collapse at the mere mention of the words wind or floods? [Laughter.] What is the PICC going to do to ensure that there is no underspending, as there has been in the Eastern Cape, where the department of education only spent 28% of its allocated infrastructure grant between April and December 2011 - this, in a province that still has mud schools?
Hon President, you referred to the lesson learned from project management of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup build programme. Very well, sir. Azapo will be watching and we will speak out if we see things going wrong. Otherwise, history will judge us harshly and say to us ... "Maar julle staan en kyk." [Gelag.] [But you are standing there, looking on. [Laughter.]]
Azapo also welcomes the plan to refurbish hospitals and nurses' homes. Some of the infrastructure in our hospitals has deteriorated to unacceptable levels, mainly because of poor maintenance or no maintenance at all. We are disturbed by reports we get of nurses and other health professionals staying in dilapidated buildings. Azapo welcomes the plan to integrate road and rail. The plan, if successful, will reduce the damage that is done to our roads and remove dangerous substances being transported daily on our roads. It will also reduce the number of accidents on the roads of our land. And as you think of these plans, Mr President, Azapo urges you to seriously look at empowering the Department of Public Works to roll out some of these projects or to consider creating another state-owned enterprise to roll out the plan. It is called "Public Works", so let it work.
We thought, Mr President, that in your address you would say something about the situation of hospitals being unable to pay the National Health Laboratory Services, which resulted in the closure of some of the laboratories, temporary as it were, thus leading to the unavailability of services provided by those laboratories. How was the situation allowed to reach those levels?
Azapo has noted with appreciation that you have requested Eskom to seek options on how the electricity price requirements may be reduced. We agree that it is important that Eskom remain financially viable while electricity remains affordable. That is why we call upon the shareholders to increase their investment in Eskom. If this does not happen, many poor people will simply resort to firewood as fuel and, in the process, destroy the forests.
In the state of the nation address, Mr President, you declared 2011 as the year of job creation and promised the creation of 500 000 jobs; 350 000 people have been employed, so how do we calculate this? Is this the difference between the jobs that were created and the jobs that were lost? We need to understand. In the same breath, you also promised that fully- funded vacant posts in the Public Service would be filled. What is the outcome?
We support you and congratulate teachers, learners, parents and communities on the increase in the matric pass rate. In terms of the Eastern Cape, Mr President - yes, section 100(1)(b) to assist - we are disturbed by reports of a stand-off between the national team and provincial officials. Provincial officials are reported to be blocking and frustrating efforts by the national team to bring order. They've effectively shown them the wrong finger. The province is an integral part of South Africa and not some breakaway or secessionist republic. Do something to bring the Eastern Cape into line, for the sake of our children in that province. We have heard the tough talk, Mr President. Azapo now calls upon you to walk the talk.
We agree that the willing-seller, willing-buyer system has not been the best option. As we interact with the Green Paper, Azapo will call upon expropriation as a last resort where everything else has failed.
You want to eliminate all the harmful and abusive practices in labour broking. Well, you can't, Mr President, because the system itself is inherently abusive. It has no single benefit for the workers, because it was never designed to assist them. The solution, in Azapo's view, is a complete ban on labour brokers who are the modern form of slave owners.
We welcome the heritage project announcement, hon President, more especially the inclusion of other heroes from outside the ruling party. [Applause.] We have noted the inconclusive vote by the African Union to elect a Chairperson of the AU Commission. We have also noted that hon Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will still be a candidate at the next summit. Azapo wishes her well, but then, Mr President, you have not really taken us into confidence on why it is important for the AU, for the Southern African Development Community, for South Africa, and for the hon Minister to be at the helm of the commission. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr President, Deputy President, Speaker, hon members of this House, in his state of the nation address President Zuma reminded us all that:
The year 2012 is also special because it marks the 16th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic, which gives full expression to our democratic ideals.
The President said further:
The Constitution is South Africa's fundamental vision statement, which guides our policies and actions. We reaffirm our commitment to advance the ideals of our country's Constitution at all times.
It is the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa that is our guide as we advance in our quest to create a national democratic society. In its preamble, the Constitution enjoins all of us to:
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
As we celebrate 100 years of selfless struggle by the ANC, it is important to reflect on how the history of the ANC struggle sought to advance human rights and equal opportunities for all people of South Africa. The struggle for freedom has always been a struggle for human rights, a struggle for justice.
It was, therefore, no coincidence that in 1923 the ANC was the first organisation in South Africa to adopt the Bill of Rights. Its main themes in 1923 were that human rights should be universal, that all South Africans be given the right to ownership of land, that there should be equality before the law, and that there should be equal political rights.
These fundamental principles were rooted in contemporary democratic thinking and applied to our own specific South African conditions. These fundamental principles laid the basis for the adoption of the Africans' Claims in South Africa document by the ANC in 1943.
The Africans' Claims committed to the following, amongst other things: the abolition of political discrimination based on race, the right to equal justice in courts of law, freedom of movement and the repeal of pass laws, the right to freedom of the press, the right of every child to free and compulsory education, and equality of treatment with any other section of the South African population.
It is also of significance that the Africans' Claims were adopted ahead of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It did not end there. The continual struggle for freedom culminated in the Congress of the People, a countrywide campaign that led to the birth of the Freedom Charter, which became a profound policy document that ultimately became and formed the bedrock of our current Constitution in the Republic of South Africa.
The masses of our people, when assembled in Kliptown in 1955, pledged to fight side by side, throughout their lives, until they had won our liberty. It has taken close to half a century for these freedoms and these liberties contained in the Freedom Charter to be realised in a protected, painful struggle for freedom led by the ANC.
Allow me, also, to remind this House that many in the liberation movement suffered the consequences of fighting for the constitutional values that we enjoy today. In this regard, many were imprisoned, many were exiled, many suffered various atrocities at the hands of the repression by the South African security forces. Many paid the ultimate price to ensure that this fundamental vision statement that the President talked about represented and found expression in every sphere of our endeavours as South Africans.
As you would know, these historical documents formed the basis of the mandate of the ANC leaders who led the negotiation process for the free democratic South Africa that we have come to witness today, representing the views and aspirations of millions of South African people. The unbanning of the ANC and other political parties and the release of former President Nelson Mandela and other political leaders set the tone for the negotiated settlement. The Groote Schuur Minute and the Pretoria Minute set the conditions for the negotiations between government and all political formations led by the ANC.
These negotiations, as we all know, ushered in our esteemed Constitution, which was eloquently described by former President Mandela as follows:
This is our national soul, our compact with one another as citizens, underpinned by our highest aspirations and our deepest apprehensions. Our pledge is: Never, never again shall the laws of our land render our people apart, or legalise their repression or oppression. Together we shall march hand in hand to a brighter future.
Therefore, this Constitution is founded on the values that the ANC stands for: nonracialism, nonsexism, respect for human rights and prosperity for all. It enshrines a justiciable Bill of Rights which, in terms of section 7 of the Constitution, is the cornerstone of our democracy. It enshrines the rights of all people in this land and affirms democratic values, human dignity and freedom.
The independence of the judiciary and the rule of law are the pillars on which the constitutional order is anchored. The separation of powers embodied in our Constitution provides checks and balances to safeguard these values. Each of the three arms of the state has been conferred a mandate by our Constitution.
These mandates are not meant to result in unhealthy competition or conflict with one another, or to put the three arms into antagonistic positions against each other. Instead, the Constitution creates a complementary framework in terms of which powers are exercised in a manner that would entrench the overall text and spirit of the Constitution as a whole.
We should bear in mind that the judiciary, by and large, must, as the late Chief Justice Mahomed would attest, interpret laws that seek to buttress our democratic order in line with the general injunction of the Constitution. These laws are instruments enacted by the legislature. This is a very important principle because the crafters of our Constitution had full knowledge of the inherent tension in the interplay amongst the three arms of the state, hence the powers to make laws do not reside with judges but with the legislature.
Similarly, the power and mandate to interpret the law does not reside with the legislature or the executive but with the judiciary. On the other hand, the executive is charged with political administration to ensure transformation and development, and not the judiciary.
The Constitutional Court continues to have a significant role in the transformation of society ...
Mr Speaker, on a point of order ...
Hon Minister, just hold on for a second. Yes, sir?
Babanga umsindo laphaya, sikhathele umsindo. [Uhleko.][They are making a noise over there; we are tired of the noise. [Laughter.]]
Hon members of the IFP on that side ... [Laughter.] ... and all members in the House, we want to hear the speaker. Proceed.
The Constitutional Court continues to have a significant role in the transformation of society, which is underscored by a series of landmark judgments by the highest court in the land. These judgments include, amongst other judgments, the Makwanyane judgment which outlawed the death penalty and reinforced the values of human dignity and ubuntu; the Grootboom judgment which gave effect to the right to housing enshrined in the Bill of Rights; as well as the Treatment Action Campaign, TAC, judgment which gave effect to the right to basic health care and access to antiretroviral drugs.
Our evolving jurisprudence championed by our Constitutional Court should always strive to advance the values of a democratic society to improve the quality of life of all our people. It is within this context that the judgments of the courts, in particular of the Constitutional Court, will generate debates and criticism, not unusual in a constitutional democracy.
However, any criticism in this regard will always be welcomed as stated by the late former Chief Justice Mahomed:
What they are entitled to and demand is that such criticism should be fair and informed; that it must be in good faith, that it does not impugn upon the dignity or bona fides and, above all, does not impair their independence because judges themselves would not be the only victims of such impairment.
The assessment, therefore, of the impact of judgments of the Constitutional Court on the transformation of the South African society seeks to evaluate the impact of our jurisprudence on the democratisation process. This must, therefore, not be viewed as an attempt by government to undermine the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law which are entrenched in our Constitution.
The ANC government continues to implement laws and programmes to safeguard the constitutional values that advance the national democratic principles that underlie our rainbow nation. The Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Bill, its accompanying Superior Courts Bill currently being debated in Parliament, and the President's proclamation that establishes the Office of the Chief Justice as a separate independent entity, seek to affirm our commitment to the independence of the judiciary.
The measures we have introduced are not an ideological onslaught on the independence of the judiciary, as some of our detractors argue, but are constitutional imperatives entrusted to our government. This includes the obligation to establish a judiciary that reflects the racial and gender demographics of the South African society. The transformation of the judiciary extends beyond the racial and gender composition and includes changing the mindset of the members of the distinct arms of the state and the transformation of the legal order to advance the attainment of our national democratic society.
In striving for a better life for all, underpinned by our vision of a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous society, we have persistently encountered obstacles, mainly due to the legacies of more than 300 years of colonial oppression, which produced an economy predominantly led and owned by white males. Our agenda is informed by a framework for a mixed economy, where the private sector and our developmental state interplay to resolve the legacy of colonialism and apartheid.
This journey towards a national democratic society is and will not be easy as the first president of the ANC, John Langalibalele Dube, told us in January 1912:
Many are the difficulties I foresee in our way - enemies without, fierce and frank; dangers within, undersigned perhaps but still more harmful. It will be an uphill fight, but our watchword shall be "Excelsior!" - onward, higher; cautiously, ploddingly! ... by the nobility of our character shall we break down the adamantine wall of colour prejudice and force even our enemies to be our admirers and our friend.
On this occasion, Mr Speaker, allow me to make a call that we should look beyond our differences and ensure that we all work towards the vision of a national democratic society that is envisaged in our Constitution. We will continue to build a stable, peaceful, democratic, nonsexist and prosperous society, in which the fruits of our country are enjoyed by the people as a whole, as outlined in the Freedom Charter and further consolidated in our guide, the Constitution. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker, Comrade President, Deputy President, comrades and hon members, I rise on behalf of the APC to congratulate you, hon President, on your state of the nation address. You spoke to some of the issues critical to taking us forward as a country with clarity, focus and detail.
Our Constitution enjoins us to honour those who suffered for justice in our country. In this year of the centenary of the liberation movement, the APC wants to reiterate that yes, we have a future as much as we have a past. Yes, we had a brutal colonial system of white minority rule that oppressed and exploited the African majority politically, economically and culturally, and that as we live and enjoy this freedom, let's not forget where we come from.
Rural development, land reform and agriculture must be elevated to a higher pedestal as areas of possible and easy competitive advantage. Africans must consume what they produce. Productive land should not be allowed to lie fallow.
The APC agrees fully with you, Comrade President, that land reform has to be done differently. Land reform must be seen not only as a matter of historical redress, but also as a matter of social justice. It cannot be that white South Africans should own land out of proportion to their population figures. It is not sustainable.
We equally make a call for the development of the rural areas. People in rural areas bear the brunt of underdevelopment and grinding poverty. In many instances they lack basic amenities like water, proper roads, etc.
We also make the call that the role of traditional leaders in socioeconomic development needs to be clearly articulated and properly implemented. The APC, Comrade President, remains concerned that the issue of the remuneration of headmen and headwomen remains a dream deferred.
Despite the half-hearted recommendations of the Seriti commission in August 2011, there has been no implementation. So, headmen and headwomen in Limpopo continue to earn R13 000 per annum, whilst those in the Eastern Cape earn about R86 000 per annum.
Comrade President, the APC calls upon you to hear the pleas and heed the plight of headmen and headwomen, who are both the motive force and underclass of the Institution of Traditional Leadership. The APC submits that the way in which issues of traditional leaders are handled still leaves much to be desired.
The APC has always articulated and striven for a society that is democratic in form, nonracial in character and socialistic in content. The APC therefore welcomes and supports an enhanced role of the state in the economy. The difference in economic development between India and China, as observed by Robert Sobukwe in 1959 and which still holds true today, is the difference between a state playing a key role in the economy and the opposite.
The APC wants to congratulate SADC on taking a firm stand against French neocolonialism. We must continue our challenge for the chairpersonship of the AU Commission. The APC has full confidence in Dr Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma. [Applause.] We also wish to applaud Comrade Baleka Mbete on her appointment to the African Peer Review Mechanism. We want to see South Africa playing a more prominent role in the continent's affairs.
The unfolding events in the Syrian Arab Republic are a matter of concern for the APC. However, the APC believes that South Africa must only support the Arab League if it has norms and standards to which it subjects all member states, and not just some because they happen to be ruled by non- Sunnis.
How do oligarchs who do not allow women to watch a soccer game in a stadium or drive vehicles lead a charge to demand human rights and democracy in Syria? South Africa should not allow itself to be used. [Applause.]
Finally, as the APC, we say to the ANC: Happy birthday! The APC loves you. [Applause.]
Hon member, you still had another minute to go.
Mr Speaker, while the announced super-spending on infrastructure development is good news, Cope is concerned that the roll- out of this programme may be impeded by the escalating public wage bill, which already consumes 42% of government expenditure. Furthermore, we are concerned that the President said very little about critical issues that impact on South Africa's positioning as a developing country and an attractive investment destination. These include education, skills development, service delivery and the rooting out of the scourge of corruption.
Remarkably, the President was also silent on the information and communications technology, ICT, sector and its role in building public- private partnerships for investment in communications infrastructure, which is a key cornerstone for economic growth.
I will deal with a few issues that could place us on a trajectory to development and which could eradicate poverty and inequality. If we, however, fail to address these challenges, we will fail the nation as a whole, in particular the youth of the country.
In 2009 President Zuma gave South Africa an undertaking that teachers would be in their classes in schools on time and that they would be teaching. Yet, after a crippling teacher strike in 2011, which left thousands of matric learners at their own mercy, the President said this year that we had had remarkable success in basic education on the basis of an upward trend in the matric pass rate, a trend of which the credibility and the quality of the matric results are being questioned by many independent education experts.
Cope, like many thousands of parents in South Africa, believe that the South African public school system suffers from the dangerous effects of irresponsible career unionism, which is the major source of teacher absenteeism. This sad state of affairs is contributing to a dangerous inequality gap - those who matriculate from schools where teachers are committed to quality education and those who have to fend for themselves when teachers go on strike and when union leaders use teacher strikes to advance their own standing in the ruling alliance. And then the President thanks them for resolving the crisis they themselves created.
Within the first four weeks of the new academic year in the Eastern Cape, which is the province with the worst matric results in the country last year, seven million teaching hours had already been lost, and then the President congratulates the union leaders on resolving the crisis.
The question is: Does the President support his Minister of Basic Education and her efforts in the section 100(1)(b) intervention? Why did he deliver her to the detractors who have no real interest in the wellbeing of the learners of our country? Is the President really serious about quality education and the future of our youth, or are learners in the Eastern Cape knowingly sacrificed in the crossfire on the road to Mangaung? [Applause.]
The President's scant reference to improvements in the fight against crime and corruption was also unsatisfactory. Private sector initiatives can help, but government should lead this fight. Government needs to send a strong signal. We need public sanction for people in high offices who are caught in corrupt practices.
Why are the harsh sanctions prescribed in the Public Finance Management Act not implemented? Are there too many sensitivities and loyalties that prevent its strict application? Or is it a lack of political will? How many errant officials have been made to pay back the spoils of corrupt practices? According to the Auditor-General, none so far.
When the noose tightens, those guilty of misappropriation of state resources simply resign or they get redeployed somewhere else in the Public Service. Members of the Ethics Committee of Parliament recently let a former member of the executive off the hook because he resigned from Parliament. But what message does that send, sir, if a member of the executive can escape sanction by simply resigning? Must we resign ourselves to a general perception that bribery and corruption have become a South African way of doing business? No, sir, we should not. As a nation, we need to stand up.
Every day individuals and organisations around the world stand up to corruption, from accountants to school teachers to journalists - people with diverse backgrounds, but with a single message: corruption shall not and will not be left unchallenged, showing that it is possible for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. But it is a lot easier if government plays its part through introducing the necessary penalties in the Executive Members' Ethics Act and other laws that govern the public sector.
We know that where there is power and money, there will be attempts at corruption. The only variable is how serious it becomes and what is done to expose it. We don't need limp-wristed reprimands or redeployment, depending on the individual's potential influence in Mangaung. We need firm action from the government, irrespective of the individuals concerned.
South Africans also expected more concrete emphasis on measures to arrest the intensifying collapse of service delivery at local government level. Damning findings by the Auditor-General indicate widespread unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in local government. Nearly R10 billion of public funds could not be properly accounted for, with much of it potentially being lost through fraud and corruption. Why did the President not express his concerns about this trend? Or does the shadow of a collective voting strength of ANC cadre councillors in Mangaung cloud the issue of local government service delivery failures?
Cope's challenge to the President and the government is to fight corruption with decisiveness. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mnr die Speaker, verhoudings is meestal inherent ingewikkelde konsepte. Jy kan nie van verhoudings ontvlug nie. Die hele lewe is deurspek met verhoudings. Vra maar vir enige mens hoe moeilik of maklik dit kan wees. Verhoudings kan die mens laat blom van geluk of dit kan vernietigend wees as dit misluk. Hoe dit ook al sy, verhoudings verg aandag. Dit moet daagliks onderhou word. 'n Goeie verhouding kan ook nie net van een kant af kom nie. Beide partye moet elke dag hard werk om die verhouding te laat slaag, mekaar dinge gun wat die ander se menswees laat blom.
Die mens se verhouding met die staat is een van die belangrike verhoudings in sy bestaan. Die veeltalige, multikulturele aard van Suid-Afrika maak eenvoudige, ongekompliseerde verhoudings tog moeiliker, maar dit skep ook unieke geleenthede vir versoening.
Mnr die Speaker, die President se toespraak het op belangrike makro- ekonomiese sake gefokus, maar mnr die President, u het gefaal om met ons te praat oor sake wat ons harte raak en ons nasie saamsnoer en versoening aanwakker.
Ons is bly die President het 'n versoenende gebaar gerig aan die Khoi-mense deur te verwys na sekere erfenisgebiede. Ongelukkig was dit net 'n druppel in die emmer. Die President moet weet, en ek wil nie die saak onredelik vereenvoudig nie, die gewone mens meet die regering se agting vir hom as mens op grond van die regering se houding teenoor sy taal en kultuur. Die verskillende taal- en kultuurgroepe waak jaloers oor die eie en wat die ander kry.
Alhoewel ons as individue almal lede van die wonderlike Suid-Afrikaanse nasie is, is ons vanwe natuurlike faktore tog losweg in verskillende taal- en kultuurgroepe gevoeg. Die groepe is soos die land se kinders: Jy kan nie vir die een iets gee en nie vir die ander nie. Jy kan ook nie iets by die een wegvat en vir die ander gee nie. Die regering kan ook nie iets belowe en dit nie gee nie. Ons moet ook so optree dat dit nie gesonde nasieskap ondergrawe nie.
Alhoewel daar groeperinge is, moet ons dit nooit uit die oog verloor dat ons saam 'n toekoms moet bou nie. Die toekoms het genoeg ruimte vir almal. Dit is juis oor die toekomsbeskouing waar apartheid so jammerlik gefaal het. Die DA sien 'n wonderlike gesamentlike toekoms vir ons almal onder een sambreel, so 'n mooi bloue. [Tussenwerpsels.]
Die Grondwet is ook so geskryf om as versekering te dien dat alle groepe se taal- en kultuurerfenis beskerm word. Dit moet ook bevorder en gevier word. Die regering moet alles moontlik bydra om Suid-Afrika se kultuurerfenisgebiede te beskerm en te bewaar. Ons sal beoordeel word volgens die wyse waarmee ons met historiese artefakte en die geskiedenis gehandel het.
Dit is nou onverstaanbaar dat die regering onrus en woede stook met die wetsontwerp oor tale, die South African Languages Bill. In sy huidige vorm is die wetsontwerp ongrondwetlik en sal die DA alles in sy vermo doen om elke taal van ons land te beskerm. Taal en kultuur is en bly een van die hoekstene van versoening. Versoening hou ook nooit op nie. Ons sal nooit 'n dag in ons land kan h waar ons sal kan s dat versoening nou bereik is, dat alle verskille bygel is nie.
Ons moet elke dag onsself afvra: Het ek vandag so opgetree om verdeeldheid, onreg en liefdeloosheid weg te boender? Is ek 'n ware versoener? Ons moet elke dag daarna streef om die taal wat ons moeders aan ons gegee het met sorg te praat, dit blink te poets en ook 'n besondere poging aan te wend om onsself meertalig te maak sodat ons kan deel in die trefkrag en darteling van ons inheemse tale. Gaan lees gerus weer 'n mooi gedig in jou taal en raak van voor af verlief op jou eie taal. Dit is tog immers Valentynsdag.
Ons hoor die pragtige Afrikaanse gedig, D J Opperman se Sproeiren, as een voorbeeld: (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
My nooi is in 'n nartjie, my ouma in kaneel, daar's iemand ... iemand in anys, ... daar's 'n vrou in elke geur!
As ek 'n stukkie nartjieskil tussen my vingers buig of knak, breek uit die klein sproeiren wat geurend om my hand uitsak, die boorde weer van Swartfoloos en met die nartjies om my heen weet ek hoe dat 'n vrou kan troos.
O my nooi is in 'n nartjie, my ouma in kaneel, daar's iemand ... iemand in anys, daar's 'n vrou in elke geur!
[Mr N J VAN DEN BERG: Mr Speaker, relationships are mostly inherently complex concepts. One cannot escape relationships. Life as a whole is interspersed with relationships. Ask anyone how difficult or how easy they can be. Relationships allow one to blossom because one is happy or they can be destructive if they break down. Be that as it may, relationships require care. They should be sustained on a daily basis. A good relationship also cannot come from one side alone. Every day both parties have to work hard in order to for the relationship to succeed, allow each other things which will enable the other's being to blossom.
One's relationship with the state is one of the important relationships of his existence. Yet the multilingual, multicultural nature of South Africa makes simple, uncomplicated relationships more difficult, but it also creates unique opportunities for reconciliation.
Mr Speaker, the President's speech focussed on important macroeconomic matters, but hon President, you failed to speak to us about matters which are close to our hearts and which unite the nation and foster reconciliation.
We are glad for the President's conciliatory gesture towards the Khoi people when he referred to certain heritage areas. Unfortunately it was only a drop in the ocean. The President should understand, and I do not want to unduly simplify the matter, that the ordinary person measures the government's respect towards him as a human being on the grounds of the government's attitude towards his language and culture. The different language and cultural groups jealously guard over their own and what the others receive.
Although we as individuals are all members of the wonderful South African nation, we are still, owing to natural factors, loosely linked into different language and cultural groups. These groups are like the children of the country: One cannot give something to the one group and nothing to the other. One also cannot take away from the one group and give it to the other. The government cannot promise something and not give it. We should also conduct ourselves in such a manner as not to undermine healthy nationhood.
Although there are groupings, we should never lose sight of the fact that together we should build a future. The future has enough room for all. It is precisely apropos of its approach towards the future that apartheid failed dismally. The DA sees a wonderful future together for all of us under one umbrella, a beautiful blue one. [Interjections.]
The Constitution is also written in such a manner as to guarantee the protection of the language and cultural heritage of all groups. This heritage should also be promoted and celebrated. The government should contribute in all possible ways to protect and to promote South Africa's cultural heritage areas. We shall be judged according to the manner in which we dealt with historical artefacts and history.
It is incomprehensible that the government foment unrest and anger by means of the Bill on languages, the South African Languages Bill. In its present form the Bill is unconstitutional and the DA will do everything in its power to protect each language of our country. Language and culture are and remain one of the cornerstones of reconciliation. Reconciliation never ceases. We shall never be able to have a day in our country where we would be able to say that reconciliation has now been achieved, that all differences are settled.
We should ask ourselves every day: Did I behave today in such a manner that discord, injustice and a lack of compassion have been eradicated? Am I a true conciliator? Every day we should strive to speak the language which our mothers gave us with care, to make it radiant and also to make a special attempt to become multilingual so that we can share in the effect and the playfulness of our indigenous languages. By all means go and read again a beautiful poem in your language and fall in love with your language all over again. As you know, it is St Valentine's Day today.
We listen to the beautiful Afrikaans poem Sproeiren by D J Opperman, for example:]
My nooi is in 'n nartjie, my ouma in kaneel, daar's iemand ... iemand in anys, ... daar's 'n vrou in elke geur!
As ek 'n stukkie nartjieskil tussen my vingers buig of knak, breek uit die klein sproeiren wat geurend om my hand uitsak, die boorde weer van Swartfoloos en met die nartjies om my heen weet ek hoe dat 'n vrou kan troos.
O my nooi is in 'n nartjie, my ouma in kaneel, daar's iemand ... iemand in anys, daar's 'n vrou in elke geur! Afrikaans, will you be my Valentine? Ek dank u. [Applous.] [I thank you. [Applause.]]
Hon Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President and hon members, I know that I'm literally standing between the hon members and their Valentines commitments. So, I shall waste no time.
The hon President has already outlined what was an extensive and very visionary state of the nation address, beckoning us to do more together and united in our diversity to advance our historic mission of total emancipation and construct a national democratic society with a high rate of growth and shared wealth.
Never has a vision been so eloquently articulated through concrete projects as in what the President outlined in such a comprehensive fashion and with such admirable thoroughness such that words alone, no matter how beautiful, would seem wholly inadequate.
The central theme of the President's message was that we need to act urgently and concretely to get South Africa working, growing and moving. The vision advanced by the President beckons us to pursue a growth- enhancing economic response path that places at its core infrastructure development and that deals directly with structurally entrenched industrial weaknesses, amongst which is investment in social and economic infrastructure.
The developmental state paradigm has no space for fatalism, but encourages pragmatic creative policy thinking which takes into account the strategic focus of the state, the institutional architecture, the organisation of the state, technical capacity and the political will to take hard decisions that powerful actors or interest lobby groups would otherwise evade.
The state of the nation address is predicated on the government's willingness to correct capital market failures through infrastructure investments as a mechanism to facilitate economic transactions.
As outlined by the President, the state-owned companies are but one of the vehicles for the achievement of the national objectives. The programme outlined in the state of the nation address could potentially position South Africa as a manufacturer of capital and intermediate goods through investment in localisation programmes.
The programme seeks to meet the global demand for our natural resources, exploit economic opportunities in various routes and present a new opportunity in particular for the manufacturing industry to create downstream linkages, whilst the electrification programme is responding to our growing economy and seeks to ensure security of supply, with a long- term objective of reducing the carbon footprint by 2030, and building technical expertise that can be converted into a national asset for a global south electrification programme.
Already, through the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations, the socioeconomic impact of Eskom in these communities is massive. The next step is to encourage provincial and local governments to use the technical capacity created by this investment to stimulate local economic development. By its nature, the developmental state is the manager of the strategic sectors of the economy and of the reallocation of resources to productive sectors.
Infrastructure is critical for South Africa to break free from the minerals complex economy and to diversify - to build a dynamic economy. We believe that through the public infrastructure programme, we are not only testing our ability to facilitate cross-pollination between the public and private sectors, but we will be writing a story on growth that is unique in the South African context.
In that regard, government is determined that it should provide the leadership requisite for infrastructure roll-out to take place, including through resolving all bureaucratic impediments to the speedy and successful implementation of projects. For example, we have acted swiftly to eradicate the obstacles that might impede the implementation of the coal corridor expansion from the Waterberg by engaging with our Swazi colleagues at ministerial level to ensure the commencement of the work towards the 146- kilometre Swazi rail link.
Ministers in the Cabinet understand that the successful implementation of these projects is not merely the responsibility of the relevant state- owned companies, so they are taking the lead. Furthermore, we understand that the Department of Public Enterprises must intensify its focus on its three functions as the shareholder, stakeholder and change manager. The issue of organisational capacity requires that we continue to pay attention to the strength of our state-owned companies, their internal leadership capabilities as well as financial viability.
Transnet has strong and solid leadership and has been enjoying positive results recently, which have strengthened its balance sheet and enabled it, as the President has stated, to review its capital expenditure plan from R110 billion in five years to R300 billion in seven years.
This emboldened capital expenditure plan is intended to satisfy validated demand and, more importantly, to shift the Transnet capex spend away from focusing on investment backlog, as is currently the case, towards expanding capacity to meet market demand by enabling volume growth, capturing operational efficiencies, expanding funding sources and expanding South Africa's economic transformation by supporting the New Growth Path.
The focus of this market demand strategy is on growth in order to reposition South Africa as a key global coal, iron ore and manganese supplier, as well as the leading logistics hub for sub-Saharan Africa and the global reference point for container and heavy-haul operations. This will make Transnet one of the largest employers in South Africa, one of the top five global freight railways and one of the top five South African companies in terms of revenue. Its overall headcount will grow by 25% by 2019, from 59 102 workers currently to 73 962, whilst indirect jobs are estimated to increase to 194 303. An amount of R7,7 billion will be spent on training in the next seven years to upskill the workforce, and the intake of apprentices will increase from 500 to 886 per annum by 2019.
The purpose of this market demand strategy is to reduce the cost of doing business and to facilitate job creation, localisation and regional integration. An amount of R31 billion will be spent on local suppliers for locomotive spend over seven years. The investment for the revitalisation of the rolling stock fleet is R125 billion over seven years. Of course, this strategy is financially sound and most of the growth will be internally funded, off Transnet's strong balance sheet, and only a third of this will require external funding.
In implementing this strategy, opportunities for private sector participation amounting to about R5 billion in various sectors, such as containers, dry bulk, break bulk, liquid bulk and automotive, will be pursued. Further private sector participation will also be pursued towards the construction of the dig-out port at the old Durban International Airport.
In addition to this, Transnet has been in extensive discussions with the Ports Regulator of South Africa on the issue of port tariffs to effect a R1 billion rebate - as the President indicated - for exporters of manufactured goods. Accordingly, we expect that the Ports Regulator will issue the record of decision or tariff decision, which will be effective from 1 April 2012.
The automotive sector is one of the key customer sectors that will benefit from the rebate. In this regard, Transnet has signed an agreement with Toyota on 14 December 2011 to rail all its cars from the Durban Harbour to Gauteng, and from their Prospecton manufacturing plant to the Durban Harbour for exports and to do other value-added services inland and in Durban.
Further to this, Transnet will create additional container handling capacity, particularly in Durban, in order to ensure that it is able to meet the demand. An amount of R12 billion will be invested to expand the Richards Bay Terminal and a coal terminal will be constructed at the East London Harbour to support coal mining in the Eastern Cape. In addition, Ngqura will finally be officially opened by the President on 16 March 2012 to be positioned as a trans-shipment hub. It is important to continue operating the container terminals as a complementary system in order to optimise the volumes that can be handled through the South African port system.
At the same time, after engaging the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, Eskom should be able to report to the President, government and the public within four weeks about the electricity pricing path favourable to economic growth and job creation. This has been made possible by Eskom's strong financial and operational position, which has enabled some flexibility in how it funds and spends its capital and allowed it to introduce internal efficiency measures not previously possible.
Because of this, the company has refined its capital expenditure numbers, re-evaluated its debt-funding approach and performed a detailed interrogation of the future energy demand forecast to enhance its accuracy. However, for this to happen, we must manage the electricity demand, and all South Africans must work together to reduce their electricity consumption by 10% through more efficient usage.
In this regard, we will need a pact, especially with big business, not only to use electricity more efficiently to reduce consumption, but also, it is hoped, to maintain current production levels. We will also need to gain more certainty around Eskom's input costs, especially coal price increases over the next five years. A pact will be needed with the suppliers of coal to limit price increases to the absolute minimum, preferably to single- digit percentages year on year.
Eskom will also need to engage with rating agencies to ensure that its investment outlook remains stable. In this light, and to provide more certainty to the investor community, Eskom might have to revise its price path going forward without jeopardising its commitments. The Medium-Term Risk Mitigation Plan shows that the electricity supply-demand balance will remain tight until both the Medupi and the Kusile power plants begin operating.
In the interim, we need efforts to be made from all sectors of society to ensure that the balance is maintained and that load shedding does not happen. We are determined that load shedding can be prevented if businesses, households and government work together to implement supply and demand measures, thus creating a safety net that can see the country and the economy through this period. Additional capacity of 3 000 megawatts is needed to ensure a comfortable reserve margin.
South Africa aims to "keep the lights on" and prevent rotational load shedding. These goals are non-negotiable. The current instability in operating the power system is not acceptable. We need to move from crisis management to reliably providing electricity with scheduled window periods for maintenance. This moment calls for responsible citizenship on the part of individual and corporate citizens of South Africa.
To this effect, we are implementing the 49M energy-saving campaign aimed at mobilising individual South Africans to save electricity in their households. To achieve these objectives, an emergency plan has been developed between the Department of Public Enterprises and Eskom for consideration and approval by government. We are co-operating with the Department of Energy and other stakeholders on these plans.
Mr President, your state of the nation address has elicited an overwhelmingly positive response and communicated a message of profound hope, vision and leadership to the rest of the country. So thorough were you, sir, that others used the occasion of this debate to present their own gimmick state of the nation addresses. [Laughter.]
As expected, today we have been treated to the yearly refrain from the opposition, rehearsed and rehashed with the same short-sighted enthusiasm each year, that the President's address did not address this or that, selected by those who lost the general election and therefore the popular mandate. Frankly, we should now be spared such hollow and tired rhetoric and simply be referred to previous years' archives; maybe then we could have finished early enough to be able to attend to our Valentine's commitments. [Laughter.]
Aristotle once said that criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing. On the contrary, since the ANC insists on saying something, doing something and being something, we should accordingly expect criticism. Failing to curb her inexplicable eagerness, the camera-prone hon Mazibuko had to please her constituency eager for doomsday news and criticise the state of the nation address a week before it was delivered.
On the contrary the DA leader, the hon Helen Zille, applauded the President's focus on infrastructure and correctly challenged the government to cut red tape in order to create jobs. Quite clearly, you have the starkest contrast between the DA leader, whose stint as premier has exposed her to the challenges and intricacies of running a government, and the hon Mazibuko whose only experience is as an opponent who has never had to lift a finger to do anything. [Applause.] Of course, they say the devil finds work for idle minds.
The hon Leader of the Opposition is not only grossly inexperienced, she is also hopelessly clueless. [Applause.] Today she amended her ill-informed remarks made on Thursday night in haste. Her speech in this House earlier was a mere pipe dream and incoherent wish list that reminded me of where we were in 1994, and how far we have progressed since then, when we still stood at the dawn of our freedom. On the contrary, the President's speech built on the proud edifice of 1994 and took South Africa into a future where the economy grows, people work, and the youth are skilled; a South Africa that is growing, working and moving.
The opposition should not limit their understanding of being in this House purely for the sake of opposing. If this were the case, I can assure them that they do not need so many seats just to perpetually say "No". The hon Lekota's speech had a pitfall. He spoke so eloquently about job losses and people taking other people's jobs that I nearly believed him, until I was reminded of Mr Shilowa and wondered why his job was taken and who has taken it. [Applause.]
The hon Steenhuisen was quite opinionated for a newcomer. He told us about the beautiful Western Cape model. But what does this model tell us? It tells us of R1 billion in corruption in the communications advert tender; it tells us of no transformation; it tells us that women must stay out of government and probably remain in the kitchen. [Interjections.] He says that the President must side with the poor. The President did this long ago when he joined the struggle to defeat the system that the hon Steenhuisen continues to benefit from, and which he defends so vociferously. The President chose the poor long before Mr Steenhuisen was even an idea in the minds of his parents. [Applause.]
The late US President Mr Theodore Roosevelt once said:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. [Applause.]
Those amongst us whose constituencies exist beyond the boundaries of suburban comfort understand that we are obligated to create a country that allows all its citizens access to opportunities and a dignified standard of living.
We face a stubborn set of structural challenges, which the President accurately and most comprehensively addressed in his state of the nation address. We must muster the foresight collectively to galvanise our people towards a future of prosperity for all.
If this dispensation - our mandate - is to be successfully fulfilled, it is towards this end that we must act collectively as this august House, rather than allow ourselves to be prisoners of a calamitous ideology and a paralysing despair towards which our opposition constantly strives to drag us. The realities that face our country need serious people who understand that we are here to work. Merely criticising is not enough. Hon members, "Happy Valentine's". [Applause.]
Debate interrupted.
Hon members, that brings us to the end of the list of speakers for the day. We will resume the state of the nation address debate tomorrow at two o'clock sharp. The House is adjourned. Enjoy what remains of Valentine's Day! [Laughter.]