Deputy Speaker, that was a tough act to follow. Thank you so much, chairperson, for concretising the issues so clearly for us!
The DA supports this Bill, but not without reservations. Minister Gordhan and Deputy Minister Nene must literally lie awake at night, tossing and turning at the thought of all the new government agencies and organisations that this Parliament so frequently boasts of.
Hon members, listen carefully. The Bill we are debating today provides for the establishment of no less than a Co-Operatives Tribunal, a Co-Operatives Development Agency, a National Apex Co-operative for South Africa, an S A National Co-Operatives Council, nine provincial branches of the Co- Operatives Development Agency, a provincial interdepartmental liaison committee and provincial to national interdepartmental liaison committees. Phew! [Interjections.] All of these things require chairpersons, offices, directors, commissioners and other equally highly paid people. They will all require flights, accommodation, trips and training, and all this before they deliver a service!
Above all, this requires a huge pot of money. If every department in government subscribed to the belief that every problem could be solved by a new government agency, we understand that it simply wouldn't be sustainable. However, the department has assured us in committee that this is all affordable and manageable. We will take them at their word but, given Trade and Industry's other massive responsibilities and the important work they do in connection with our economy, I certainly hope that they are right! Government budgets are in any one year a zero-sum game. In order to move money to a new programme, money must be taken from another, and so I certainly hope they can manage all of these new commitments.
The number of new government agencies created to deal with co-operatives was our first significant concern with this Bill and something we discussed often in committee. This is especially so when some of these agencies seem to duplicate functions.
This leads neatly to our second concern. The establishment of the single National Apex Co-operative for South Africa was not originally in the Bill. It was an amendment proposed by ANC members. Despite our constant enquiries, neither the department nor the ANC members who proposed the amendment could quite clarify what the point of the apex co-operative was, beyond advising on policy and playing an advocacy role.
However, the Bill also provides for the establishment of a national council to advise the Minister on policy and play an advocacy role! It would seem that the roles overlap entirely. Moreover, while the job of the council is explained in detail in the Bill, the role of the apex co-operative is not. The irony is that, while it was the intention of the ANC members on the committee to ensure that there was only one apex co-operative advocating on behalf of co-operatives at the national level, there will now be two!
When we visited Mpumalanga in the public participation process, we met one of three members of the Emakhazeni co-operative which farms with vegetables. Recently, they secured a small contract with the local Fruit and Veg City branch, which offered to buy as much produce as they could supply. This co-operative, established just to meet the basic needs of its members, now brings in an annual income of R50 000 for each of its members. This is the model we should seek to replicate, as these ladies are hardworking and industrious. However, we must also heed their caution that government often makes it too difficult for them to succeed because of complex rules and reporting requirements. Far from offering them a hand up to success, government all too often stands in the way of small entrepreneurs like these. Another hot debate in the committee was on the imposition of labour legislation on worker co-operatives. The Bill, as it came to the committee, contained a ham-handed provision which provided no scope for exemption or leniency in cases where it would be financially impossible for small co- operatives to comply. Apparently, this provision was inserted at the personal insistence of Minister Patel, who I see has left the House, in yet another display of his profound misunderstanding of what it takes to create and keep jobs in the real world.
With those reservations there was a lot of very healthy debate and there are a lot of positives that bring clarity and proper regulation to the way in which co-operatives are governed.
I wish to thank the Chief Director, Jeffrey Ndumo; Elize Koekemoer; the Registrar of Co-operatives; Rector Rapoo; Adv Idensohn, whom I see in the gallery; and Dr Waema for their excellent and very hard work in the committee. A special word of thanks goes to the hon Xitlhangoma Mabasa for his leadership and passion in processing the Bill. Despite those reservations, the DA supports the Bill. Thank you.