On behalf of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, I move -
That the Report be adopted.
Declarations of vote:
Deputy Speaker, out of the four findings of the report, there are three that raise serious concerns about why the President has still not approved the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, board. The National Youth Development Agency has been without a board for the larger part of this year. My question is: How is an entity supposed to function effectively without a guiding authority?
The DA Youth wrote to the President in August this year, expressing its concern about the situation. We received acknowledgment of receipt at the beginning of September indicating that our concerns are noted and will be brought to the attention of the President. We are approaching the end of November and there is still no functional NYDA board.
We also object to the draft proposal that the board should comprise primarily of the ANC and its alliance partners' members' representatives. It is our considered opinion that the board should be demographically representative. The board must, in essence, represent civil society and businesses. If you look at the findings, it talks about the lack of dialogue amongst the youth of South Africa. This is a clear indication and also a major reason why the NYDA is largely politicised.
The National Youth Development Agency also experienced challenges with regard to the recouping of loans. We are talking about R160 million that has been written off and it is completely unacceptable to us. Also, the 40% of the total budget regarding personnel costs is of great concern to us. We cannot condone a report for a completely dysfunctional entity, which is without any executive body to manage its funds. I thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The essence of the establishment of the National Youth Development Agency ...
... kukukhupha uMaMpehle etyotyombeni umfake endlwini yesamente. [... is to take MaMpehle out of a shack and put her in a cement house.]
The responsibility of the National Youth Development Agency is to respond to the plight of the ordinary young people in our country who do not have jobs or access to bursaries, and who want to build up businesses. The ANC government have failed and left that gap unattended because of its own problems.
Today, the youth of South Africa have no leadership, no board and no people who advocate issues that relate to youth in this country on their behalf, because the President, as a leader of this country, has failed to appoint leadership that will give guidance to the youth of South Africa. It has been seven months now; the youth of the country does not have leadership. You can blame the NCOP, and you can blame the National Assembly; it is your responsibility to lead. We need the youth. The youth of this country today is roaming around the streets burning. There is no youth leadership that is able to stand up, guide them, and say that they want to build a youth that will contribute productively to public dialogue in our country.
The youth of this country is not involved in the discussions, and it is your fault. Because of your own internal problems in the ANC, you do not want to appoint the board. [Interjections.] We, as Cope, believe that you continue to fail ... [Interjections.]
Order! Order, hon members, please.
... the youth of South Africa. Just recently, you failed to impact on the debate on the youth wage subsidy because there is no leadership that is able to speak on those things. [Interjections.]
We demand that this President, President Jacob Zuma, not postpone the interest of the youth because of his own Mangaung issues. We demand that there be a board elected with immediate effect. [Interjections.] Leave your own issues and the problems of Mangaung. We demand a board!
There is a point of order, hon member.
Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: The member standing in front of us, the hon Mbanga, is misleading the House. He knows very well as a member who was serving on the NYDA board that the appointment process has not been concluded in Parliament. He can't say to the public that the President needs to have appointed the NYDA board. So, my point of order is that he is misleading the nation.
Sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker, that is not a point of order. She is disputing the content of the speech again.
Yes, it's a point of dispute. Continue, hon member.
Madam Deputy Speaker, can I ask a question? Is His Excellency, J G Zuma, not the head of government? Is he not the political head of government? [Interjections.]
Continue, hon member.
You must stop defending things that are not defendable. It is you who are responsible for running this government in this country. If your NCOP and this National Assembly fail to ... your President for seven months ... it's seven months, almost eight months. You are failing to appoint a board. We demand a board! [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, the bottom line is we can't come here and pretend all is well. The President needs to appoint a board. Either he shapes up or ships out. [Interjections.]
Sixty percent of the people in this country are young people, and they are sitting there waiting for the President to offer direction and give hope, and he has failed to do so for seven months. Then adults, yourselves, come here and howl about a serious matter. Young people need hope. If you are saying young people must grow up, it must begin with the members of this House giving direction. That is what is needed. [Interjections.]
The NYDA cannot, under any circumstances, hope to move forward in the absence of a board. About R160 million was wasted on a festival in Johannesburg. Recently, we have been talking about wasteful expenditure on barriers and all sorts of other nonsense that you can think of. Yet, the President of this country is going all over everywhere else and failing to appoint a board. It speaks to failure of the highest order on the President's part. And because some of you are trying to allay anxieties about Mangaung, we expect you to give the impression that you are howling because you want to be reappointed to Cabinet after the conference. [Interjections.]
But the bottom line is, since 1998, these ad hoc approaches that you, as the ANC government, have put in place have not worked. That is why you disbanded the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the SA Youth Commission. Until you put together a youth Ministry, you are not taking youth development seriously in this country. What is it that people must do for government to take them seriously? They have done everything they had to do; yet, you are failing to appoint a board.
If you can't appoint a board, then I'm afraid that you can't do other things, because a board needs to be appointed and the major thing ... [Interjections.]
Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: The Rules state that a member engaged in a debate must be relevant to the debate. How does Mangaung have anything to do with the debate? Let the member stick to the debate. [Interjections.]
Continue, hon member.
Mangaung has got everything to do with this debate because you have postponed all developments until Mangaung has come! [Interjections.] You have put people on the back foot for your own selfish interests. You are unfair to the youth; you are unfair to South Africans. So, shape up or ship out! [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, the ANC wants to place on record that the hon members on my left do know, as well as we do, that this House passed the board of the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA. The President can only appoint the board of the NYDA when the Parliament has passed it and handed over that recommendation to the President. The President cannot appoint the NYDA Board members, unless the Parliament has done its work. [Interjections.]
Also, hon Deputy Speaker, the ANC is the only party that is serious about youth development. [Interjections.] The NYDA is one instrument amongst many other instruments of youth development. The ANC has established a National Youth Service, a rural development programme, skills development programme through the Setas, in order to improve the lives of the young people. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Now, everyone hon Deputy Speaker ...
Order hon members! I need to hear the speaker, just like you need to hear him, please. Hon Sogoni.
Thank you very much, hon Deputy Speaker. Lastly, the ANC is proud that on 16th December we will be going to Mangaung. But other parties, instead of going to Mangaung, go to courts. [Applause.] That is where their conferences are, they are in the courts. [Interjections.] The ANC established democracy in this country. It is not afraid to face the electorate. Many other parties postpone and postpone, and I do not want to mention many of them here, hon Deputy Speaker. Thank you. [Applause.]
I put the question again, are there any objections to the report being adopted?
Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want ...
Is that a point of order?
Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want to assure the hon member that, certainly, we will have our conference next month. [Laughter.]
Okay, let us get back to the business of the House. Are there any ... you want to confirm that you are having a conference as well?
Yes, hon Deputy Speaker, I just wanted to say on 22nd November we are also having a conference. A very democratic process and very open as well.
Fine, is ID going to have a conference as well?
[Laughter.] No, Deputy Speaker, it is an objection. [Laughter.]
And Cope is having a conference?
They are taking you to court on this matter. [Laughter.]
But as soon as the court is over, we will have our congress. Madam Deputy Speaker, we are objecting. [Laughter.]
Okay, so we really should not have an interest in Mangaung, if we are all going to our conferences.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I do not know whether I have mentioned, amongst all, that we are also raising an objection against that report. Thank you.
The objections will be noted.
Motion agreed to (Independent Democrats, Congress of the People, Democratic Alliance dissenting).
Report accordingly adopted.