Chair, let me add the condolences of the EFF to the passing of Nomhle Nkonyeni. She has led an entire generation of artists and we send our condolences and respect.
IsiXhosa:
Ulale kakuhle Sisi Hlehle Nkonyeni.
English:
Minister, let me start by saying that we welcome the decision by the ANC, finally, to amalgamate the two Departments of Communications and Telecommunications. [Applause.] It's an overdue decision and we don't understand why they were separated in the first place - actually we do know - but we welcome the decision.
We think that immediately after announcing the amalgamation, the President should have also introduced the operation of the Post Bank as a full bank because it is an extremely important pillar of the economic emancipation of our people. It is important that the Post Bank must take advantage of the Financial Matters Amendment Act and start operating as a fully licensed bank now that the Banks' Act has been amended to allow SOEs to carry and operate under the banking license. The EFF is proud to have initiated this process through its Private Members' Bill of the 15 May.
So, back in 2017, the Post Bank applied for a license to operate as a bank. When it did so, it should have had a business plan and that business plan would have outlined shareholders, operations strategy and all of that. Your department comes to the committee last week and says; now that the legislative environment allows for the bank to operate, they are now speaking to shareholders and they understand the modus operandi. So it means that they don't have a plan as yet.
Since 2017 up until the announcement of the amendment on the
23 May, this year, there was no plan. This is what characterises the Department of Communications, generally. So, we have a few suggestions. This is how you do it. Because you have a Public Investment Corporation, PIC, you have the Industrial Development Corporation of SA, IDC, the National Arts Festival, NAF, Sassa, you have government department, you have the ANC account, and even the EFF will throw their money into that account of the post bank. You then have a strong leverage ... [Interjections.]