Chairperson, transformation in a South African context requires an integration of the mass populace into economic activity. But, for there to be integration, the economic activity of South Africa needs to be expanded.
The word "expanded" means that our actions reflect a will to grow our economy. We can achieve this through the extension of our labour market, diversifying our industries, encouraging foreign direct investment and creating legislation that enables small, medium and micro enterprises to operate effectively and efficiently.
However, our baseline of service provision in light of Eskom loadshedding and poor water provision will not ensure effective transformation and growth. These are the basics that any economy needs to survive. In some of our allied Asian countries, the failure to provide such basics is not acceptable, as such failure is viewed as a fundamental indicator of their government's performance,
In South Africa, this is not the case. Government lacks the sheer will to even hold itself to a minimum standard - as can be seen through the irresponsible act of bailing SOEs out in order to save face rather than addressing the real needs of our beloved country.
Colleagues, when will we build the courage to recognise that the country is in dire need of addressing our fundamental problems before we embark on exercises of excess? That is precisely what SAA is to us today.
As Parliament we debate the issues frequently, but we make slow progress in this regard. To ensure true transformation, we must look at creating a wide basket of basic services.
What do I mean by this? We need to look to new and renewable sources of energy so that we can eventually phase out our current models of
energy production. There needs to be multiple sources that work together to ensure that energy supply is efficient and abundant. In doing this, government will be more responsive to individual communities and landscapes. Energy can be generated from areas in South Africa, but that ... but ... that are coastal for hydrogen or energy harnessed from the sea or sunlight ... inland areas through solar.
Finally, we need to address the water shortages as water is a basic human right and the source to all life. Government must maintain and fix their water losses caused by aging infrastructure and must tap into more sources of water generation. In some countries, attention to these issues has paid off and people only pay a nominal service fee for water purification and not for the amount of water used.
Once we get these basic models to work well, we will start to make the case for investment and assist our citizens to drive their economy. I thank you.