Hon Chairperson, I am deeply hurt that this Parliament decided to delegate its members to go throughout the country in order to hear what people are saying are the causes of the problems that we were seeing as Parliament. The debate started very well at the beginning, with those who were present and those who went around and did what Parliament sent them to do. Until such time that those that were not part of this work started to come to this podium, things turned around and the debate degenerated.
But the reality is that the ANC-led government inherited a politically, socially and economically skew society from the apartheid regime in 1994, in which very few people, particularly whites, were economically empowered. They had access to better education and lived in beautiful and big houses with electricity and sanitation. On the one hand, they had infrastructure of the first world class, and on the other hand the majority of the nation, predominantly black people, were living in horrifying, rural and very poor areas of this country with no electricity and/or sanitation at all. They depended on wood fires as energy, later paraffin and coal stoves, and candles.
Those who stayed near the cities and towns were forcefully removed and dumped in remote areas far away from the developed areas. Those who found employment in mines, factories and shops were given no accommodation, but were expected to be at work on time, and give the best of their ability without even adequate training. This later resulted in migration into these areas as money was the source of life for their families. Subsequently, informal temporary settlements engulfed entire urban areas of our country, a challenge we are still continuing to grapple with in South Africa. The hard reality is that this challenge cannot be overcome overnight, though government is doing its best in this regard.
The previously disadvantaged section of our society, which forms the majority of the people of South Africa, is getting impatient with the slow machinery of the state to deliver services. That is the hard reality. Let me take this opportunity to focus my attention on the portfolio of energy, to which I am deployed, particularly as it affects the previously disadvantaged people of South Africa and beyond.
Remember, energy is regarded as the cornerstone of economic development in our society. The Department of Energy reported that much work has been done in the area of electrifying households to the extent that we are left with 20%-25% to reach the universal access to electricity countrywide. This, however, is not without challenges: Firstly, in the deep rural areas of our provinces, electricity is still a dream to come true in that there is no infrastructure, at this stage, for them to access it, and this is what we inherited.
Secondly, the informal settlements in urban areas have people who are engaging in very dangerous activities of illegal electricity connections. This was evident during our recent visit, as the parliamentary Ad hoc Committee on Co-ordinated Oversight on Service Delivery, to such areas.
Thirdly, internationally, universities and other key institutions of science, engineering and technology are engaging each other. This is to exchange ideas and develop technologies in various areas of energy and efficiencies, such as reliability and resistance, cleaner coal grid energy and the development of grid energy in the form of alternative sources like solar, wind, hydro, natural gas, nuclear and others, which are still at infancy level. These initiatives are aimed at ensuring that our children should find a foundation as regards energy supply and demand challenges as the society grows in years ahead.
Finally, coming back home, I wish to draw the attention of our august House to this extract from the Ad hoc Committee on Co-ordinated Oversight on Service Delivery. Local government is the centre of gravity. Integrated development plans should be central in development planning. An intergovernmental structure like the financial and fiscal commission needs to be established to consider plans, synchronise and budget. This will ameliorate the concern that departmental officials do not attend the independent development planning, IDP, meetings or junior officials, who do not have authority to make concrete decisions, are sent to attend IDP meetings. This intergovernmental structure will ensure co-ordinated planning and implementation against developmental trajectory. Thank you. [Interjections.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]