Should we support the budget of the Department of Health, which underspent by an amount of R742 million against Budget during the 2010-11 financial year? Just on transfers the department underspent by R509 million. Among others, they failed to transfer R38 million to the loveLife programme and R452 million to the crucial Hospital Revitalisation Grant. This is also the department which had to pay - listen to this - R254 million just in interest to suppliers for late payment of accounts on a single project, the Zola Hospital in Soweto. Measured against set criteria, the department calculated the cost per bed for a hospital built in Limpopo at R1,5 million per bed, whereas the same bed costs R3 million in North West province. Where did the money go in North West?
Should we support the budget of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, which cannot provide the Appropriations Committee with the monetary value of the 346 court cases pending against the department, and which cases they are likely to lose? This department also does not know the extent of likely future monetary commitments on land restitution and land reform. We estimate that the court cases will be more than the entire budget of the department. Due to bad management, the department's liabilities in terms of contracts signed to purchase land far exceeds the value of its total budget. The department does not know by how much or won't say. Do we support the Budget of this department, which has purchased farms for beneficiaries but failed to provide the necessary means for sustainability, thereby leading to a situation where 90% of the farms purchased are nonproductive, which in turn seriously endangers food security?
Should we support the budget of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which underspent their budget by R115,2 million during the past financial year on, among others, crucial projects such as the Special Purpose Vehicle, aimed at supporting weak municipalities, and the Community Work Programme, designed to assist with job creation? In the debate on the Presidency last week, we heard that this department introduced a turnaround strategy in 2009. With all due respect, the only thing we have seen turning around thus far is the aeroplane of the Minister when he returned home after visiting his girlfriend at state expense in Switzerland. [Interjections.]
Should we support the budget of the Department of Police, where R36 million of their budget is spent on a once-off social party for the police, and where the Commissioner of Police enters into highly inflated lease agreements in Pretoria and Durban for new premises of which the lease agreements were found to be irregular by the Public Protector? Yet nothing has been done about it to date. At the same time, the Minister of Public Works has no problem in confirming the agreements.
Should we support the budgets of any department when we know that 5,7 direct jobs and 5,3 indirect jobs are created for every R1 million spent on the provision of infrastructure? Yet, virtually all departments underspent on their capital budgets during the last financial year and therefore on the creation of infrastructure and jobs. Do we reward provinces with additional budget when National Treasury was obliged to withdraw infrastructure grants so crucial for job creation from eight out of nine provinces recently? Do we provide further budget to poorly performing municipalities which fail to spend the Municipal Infrastructure Grants made available to them? Do we provide municipalities with money when they fail to render even the most basic services such as road maintenance, forcing farmers in the North West, for instance, to take matters into their own hands to maintain roads with their own equipment and means?
Should we support the Budget of the Department of Women, Youth Children and People with Disabilities, which has proved to be very effective in incurring travelling expenses, but very ineffective on matters such as control over the expenditure of the National Youth Development Agency? Why the National Youth Development Agency resides under this department, nobody knows, but one can only surmise that this is one of the departments left to their own devices with neither supervision nor control.
Should we support the budget of Parliament, which more than two years after the adoption of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act has failed to establish a budget office as prescribed by the Act? The Speaker tells us that the political task team is dealing with the matter, yet the task team consists of ANC members only.
Should we support the budget in which the overall salary Bill of government has increased from R156 billion to R314 billion during the last five years without a corresponding increase in productivity and/or improved service delivery flowing therefrom? No wonder the Minister of Finance has expressed concern in this regard.
After the Polokwane happening, Mr Jacob Zuma became President and had many backers to reward. This resulted in the creation of eight new government departments, costing an additional R550 million per annum and the appointment of a whole host of Deputy Ministers. An overinflated bureaucracy was created, especially in the Presidency, with no parliamentary oversight committee. The Minister of Performance, Evaluation and Monitoring tells us that if he finds something wrong, he has no teeth to take any action.
The ANC often says, "The people shall govern." Indeed, the people are governing and professional management has flown out of the window. The DA will not support the Appropriation Bill as tabled. [Applause.]