Chairperson, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gill Marcus, warned the committee in April this year that South Africa would be confronted with a toxic mix of low growth and high inflation. She indicated that our economy was not in a good place and that we require certain interventions to address our stagflation problems. The challenge for us today, and also during the year, will be how to improve growth and to contain inflation in a better way.
In this regard, statistics fulfil - and we all know this in the committee - a vital role in decision-making and should be used as a base for planning and policy development, specifically when it comes to these challenges of low growth and high inflation. Economic statistics, I believe, such as the consumer price index, CPI, and producer price index, PPI - and the Minister has alluded to that - provide the evidence we use to monitor progress and evaluate fiscal performance. The unfortunate reality is, however, that South Africans continuously face the burden of increasing costs. The increases in electricity, fuel, food and public transport have all made the cost of living more expensive. Many more increases, unfortunately, are on the way. E-tolling, increases in rates and taxes in municipalities and increases in the cost of water are likely to hit in the near future. The reality is that the poorest of the poor are the ones hardest hit by these factors.
How do we address this - this slow grind of poverty that my colleague Tim Harris alluded to? How do we address this, and how do we bring hope to the poorest of the poor in this country? The National Development Plan, NDP, gives us a way forward. It envisages that South Africa can eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. The recent economic downturn in the South African economy triggers the demand for quality statistical information, if the 2030 vision is to be realised. Then we can look at the work programme of our committee. In this regard, I would indicate that Statistics SA in the 2013-14 financial year focuses on the implementation of the NDP strategy and commits to the publishing of monthly, quarterly and annual industry statistics. This information is vital in the growth policy implementation, and we are very grateful for this. I was therefore encouraged by the proposed implementation of the strategy by Statistics SA in improving statistical themes for statistical production in the areas of economic growth, prices and sustainable resource management. It will be most helpful as a base for our planning in the future.
The NDP further envisages the economy almost trebling in size by 2030 - and I know the hon Manuel has worked very hard in this regard - a target that requires an annual economic growth rate of 6,2%. The unfortunate reality is once again, however, that South Africa has an economic growth rate of only 2,5%. It is a steep climb for us and there are steep goals to be achieved. South Africa created about 1,1 million jobs between 2004 and 2008. South Africa now faces high unemployment levels, as figures released by Statistics SA last week show that unemployment increased by 100 000 between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2013.
Since 2008, 400 000 jobs have been lost. Indeed, as many analysts and experts indicate, it is a disaster. If somebody saw The Justice Factor on Sunday, that was also the word Justice Malala used. Statistical information with regard to unemployment indicates now that two out of every three persons under the age of 24 are unable to find and sustain a job. It is indeed scary stuff. Vital information in Statistics SA's latest report measures unemployment at four to six million persons. It depends on what definition you look at. The value of these statistics indeed fulfils a vital role in decision-making, and we can use that as a base for planning.
Chairperson, the next issue that I would just like to touch on is with regard to the release of the Census 2011 results. May I say that the DA was extremely concerned about Statistics SA's decision to grant government early, exclusive access to its findings. It effectively stonewalled the media, opposition and civil society from informed comment, specifically noting that this was just before consideration of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, as we all know. The upshot of this move was that government would have had the opportunity to review the Census 2011 results, whilst all other interested parties were left out of the loop. Whilst we think it sensible for the census results to be released early - and we were grateful that the results were released early - given the importance of evidence-based decision-making, we were of the belief that the findings should be made available to all South Africans.
I am therefore today encouraged, however, that our committee took a decision in terms of our recommendations that a policy should be developed with regard to the release of the census results. We champion this as a victory for transparency to the South African public. We would also like, as the DA, to thank the Minister for meeting with the party to discuss our concerns before the release of the results.
The DA remains, however, also very concerned about the qualified audit received by Statistics SA. It is indeed a huge setback for building credibility for Statistics SA. In stark contrast to the previous five years, the financial management and organisational structure did not perform as well as we thought it should have been performing in this financial year. I think material losses amounting to R34,4 million were written off as irrecoverable, and that, we believe, is unacceptable.
We learnt with shock that late allocations from Treasury in terms of budgeted amounts for the census - very much needed to conduct a good census - to the extent of R200 million were experienced. The total budgeted amount for the census was R3,4 billion and allocations made were R3,2 billion. It was a last-minute request - that was our information - for R200 million, and a roll-over allocation of R286 million was then made to see that we effectively run the census.
We would like to wish the department well in the next census, and we hope that we can rectify these mistakes. We trust that Statistics SA will learn from its past mistakes and not repeat the issues with regard to the qualified report. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, the airbus is taking off. Hon Minister and Deputy Ministers present here, my colleagues, Members of Parliament, distinguished guests and team Statistics SA, as the ANC we support Budget Vote No 13.
We support it because first and foremost, Statistics SA, from its inception hitherto, has distinguished itself as a success story of note. It has evolved into an institution capable of generating a wide range of economic, social and political service information at all levels. Intriguing enough, as shown in this Budget Vote, is its ability to produce such statistical information at ward level.
We agreed, as the ANC, that this Vote deserves all our support, including that of our maverick counterparts who, with their recent actions and utterances, have shown a keen and deep-seated appreciation of the ANC policies. But the most unfortunate aspect of their approach is that their narrative of the ANC as a rudderless movement militates against an open endorsement of the ANC's policies. That's a contradiction.
This Budget Vote deserves our support because it continues to enable us to know how we are performing, as a country, in ensuring that all our people have access to essential services like water, electricity, sanitation, jobs, housing, public transport, adequate nutrition, education, social protection, quality health care, recreation and a clean environment.
Believing that health is not only a medical issue, this Budget Vote provides for statistical infrastructure to support the Department of Health to undertake a demographic and health survey. Production of such statistics is a prerequisite for any successful health system. We urge all to throw their unconditional support behind this Budget Vote because it forms the basis for a progressive and sustainable health system.
How can we not support this Budget Vote if, inter alia, it is meant to ensure that the following take place? Firstly, there is continuous production of annual statistical information on education, through the general household survey, whereby we are reminded that education is a national priority. Through its annual victims of crime survey, Statistics SA plays a critical role in providing information needed for the crime- combating decision-making process. As the ANC, we believe that personal safety is a human right, a necessary condition for human development, improved quality of life and enhanced productivity; hence as a caring organisation, we find it easy to concur with this Budget Vote.
We are further delighted, as the ANC, by the fact that this Budget Vote provides for the rebasing of the consumer price and producer price indices. We might be reminded here that this was recommended in our last committee report. We are convinced that this will ensure provision of a more accurate picture about prices.
As a matter of concern, we have noted that statistical co-ordination is still a challenge. Leading the development and co-ordination of statistical production is Statistics SA under the leadership of the Statistician- General. As cited by the Minister, the legal mandate is derived from the Statistics Act.
It is important to remember that we have a system of national statistics with an array of role-players. Key policy issues are wider than the remit of any single government department and must be tackled on a government- wide basis.
These cross-cutting issues clearly indicate a need for a set of national statistics within a co-ordination framework where statistical units, data items, classifications and standards are harmonised across government. In terms of the Act, co-ordination of production involves aligning the production of statistics by other organs of state to user needs to ensure relevance and avoid duplication.
It is also important to know that the government's tight fiscal position, as a result of the current global economic outlook, places major constraints on the enhanced performance of Statistics SA over the Medium- Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, hon Ross. Failure to provide funding to build statistical capacity across the organs of state will definitely perpetuate the daunting challenge of the generation of quality statistics where it matters most, at local and departmental level.
Hence our call as a committee for development and implementation of innovative ways in which more can be done with less during this challenging fiscal cycle. Maybe, hon Harris, provision for violence-based statistics will be realised. But remember, as a committee we place emphasis on prioritisation of updating existing programmes because it's like having an apparatus that you are unable to maintain if you are unable to update your current programme.
Notwithstanding the Minister's acknowledgement of the negative audit outcome, we reiterate our call to Statistics SA to make a submission of their action plan, detailing how they intend to deal with the Auditor- General's concerns. We believe that this will help us a great deal in executing our oversight role. Unlike one committee rebel who is hell-bent on projecting Statistics SA negatively, we commend the council for addressing all claims made by the so-called senior staff member. These, I must indicate to this House, as reported to the committee, were dealt with in a transparent and acceptable manner. I wonder why the hype?
Accompanying this Budget Vote is a work programme which accurately enumerates the performance targets which Statistics SA will attempt to achieve, given allocated resources. Taking a closer look at this programme makes an interesting revelation. How can we not support this Budget Vote if the colours of our glorious organisation, the ANC, are visibly reflected in its work programme? Black, green and gold permeate the work programme. A programme that tells how Statistics SA intends improving the lives of South African people, that represents black. It tells how Statistics SA, through its agricultural statistics, will ensure that there is sustainable usage of land. The land represents the colour green. Through its system of environmental-economic accounting, SEEA, it tells how South Africa must find a way of using its rich endowment of natural resources; that represents the colour gold. Black, green and gold permeate this work programme. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
This is a fact; listen to this. It is unlike propaganda peddled to the vulnerable, unsuspecting young people by a party whose essence and foundation is a blue lie. Unfortunately, all my efforts to find other colours were in vain, hence our call on others to join us in supporting this noble cause. Refrain from being bad ambassadors of our beloved country and its service delivery instruments. This will stop the negative projection that is hitting our economy hard. [Interjections] [Laughter.] Feel free, you are all welcome. The airbus has landed. Thank you. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, I thank the House and all the hon members who spoke this afternoon. One of my dear, and now late comrades, Steve Tshwete, had a wonderful phrase. He used to say, "You shouldn't praise a fish for swimming because it would die if it stopped swimming." I listened very carefully to the grudging support from some quarters of this House.
I want to say to the hon Harris and hon Ross that if the only things you can come up with are reruns of what you have raised before, then we are not in such a bad place, are we? We have heard all of this before. It is a rerun; it is like the SABC which still broadcasts the Cosby Show. It is exactly the same.
Let me deal with some of the issues they have raised. I think that in an area such as statistics and in the particular area that involves actuaries, there are always differences of opinion. It is an established fact and you do not have to look at the work done on census. Go and look at the modelling done for the Actuarial Society. Some of the individuals have actually been involved in differences of opinion even there. When this happens it does not come as a surprise. I think that what we have opted to do is not to have rows with the distinguished professors in public. There have been private discussions to persuade them, and those discussions involved a number of other people of the same craft who could look at numbers, methodology and persuade each other.
If you asked Statistics SA to have stand-up rows with the people who have been involved with the organisation, in the council and so on, over a long period, it would not be the style in which you would choose to operate. In respect of the issues of Dr Arrow and Ms Pistorius, I want to indicate that there is an incomplete disciplinary hearing and it would be incorrect of me to comment on those matters until the disciplinary hearing has been cleared. I think that in deference to somebody who is still a staff member, in the case of Ms Pistorius, I ask Parliament to allow those processes to run their course. It would be wrong to do it in any other way. In respect of the interns, the pay scales of interns are administered by the Department of Public Service and Administration, DPSA. I think that members who had been part of the oversight of Statistics SA for a longer period would know that in a different time the DPSA had also regulated pay scales for people who are temporarily employed for surveys and staff like that. This created a huge problem for Statistics SA. I think that, in a similar way, the regularisation of the rates of interns is a matter for the DPSA and no department has the individual right to fix those rates, and that is what happened there.
In respect of the qualifications, let me just deal with the issue again. I do not think that it is comparable to look at the payments through the South African Social Security Agency, Sassa, and those 60 000 small businesses in a very short time. The systems are differently structured, and I was the first one to raise the fact that we assiduously checked that the 30-day rule was complied with. When there was no compliance, we were the ones who actually raised the flags about it. It wasn't you, sir; it was I who raised the issue, because we sat with Statistics SA and worked through these issues systematically. [Applause.] The reason was that BAS could not deal with the problem, and it was a BAS problem and not Statistics SA's problem. I have also indicated this, and this is why the hon Van Rooyen mentioned this.
We have asked Statistics SA to ensure that it has the capacity to deal with the accounts and all invoices coming in. However, when you have a surge like the one you had during the census, then it would need special measures. What Statistics SA need to put on the table before the committee is an action plan on how they plan to deal with the next large activity. This activity may be the community survey or the next census. Statistics SA is duty-bound to do that because those are unique circumstances. You cannot build an organisation at the high water mark of the census because there will be too many underemployed people in the organisation. This is just a peculiar challenge. People who run organisations will appreciate this.
The other part of the accruals was a consequence of the fact that a number of parts of what transpired during the census came from other government departments. Statistics SA would be dependent on the Department of Public Works for the hiring of buildings across the country, just like they would be dependent on the departments of transport in provinces to provide motorised transport and later bill them. If the billing is out of sync, you then get these kinds of accruals. That is what the Auditor-General found and the details would be revealed. Earlier I said that when the process by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa, is organised I am pretty sure that we would be able to deal with these issues.
The last issue that I would like to deal with is the quarterly labour force survey, QLFS. In my earlier address I said that it is important to deal with the issues about the business register and, hon Harris, all departments are equal. We convene, but it would be churlish not to recognise that the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, CIPC, lived through a general problem during the year before last, occasioned by the IT systems that they have now been coming through. This last period, with the introduction of the big changes in the new Companies Act, has produced an enormous challenge for the CIPC. There have been some challenges in the process, and if we are not going to get this thing marching in sync, then I think that it will be particularly difficult.
We have now had a classification system up and running for the past fortnight. We will be able to work on this on a continuous basis. Now it is a date that we need. We need it because we need the proper frame from which to sample so that the quarterly employment survey and the QLFS continue to represent far more similarities than we have seen today. I was not in control of CIPC or the circumstances that affect them.
In respect of discouraged workers, the number is 2,3 million. It is a big number but it is a 2,3 million number and it is something we will have to continue to work on. I am not sure how this will happen, but most of the Members of Parliament sit through Parliament's boring speeches like this one, playing on their iPads. All of the information is now available there. [Laughter.] Perhaps what we need to do is to work out ways of Parliament utilising the data differently.
In fact, it is not a budget discussion. We need to structure different kinds of discussions and inform ourselves with debates around a series of different issues. Employment is one of those challenges. I continue to believe that it is not a party-political challenge. It is a national issue that we should all be concerned about, because there are too many young people who will become exceedingly disaffected if we do not deal with these matters.
Let me conclude by again expressing appreciation for the support. Even the grudging support is important, and we can now move forward to the next phase of our work. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.