Thank you, hon Chairperson. If you do not tell people what they want to hear, they are always going to make a noise. [Interjections.]
Having said that, I think it is high time that we inject practical meaning into the words "value for money" and "efficiency". Value for money and efficiency cannot continue to be used as mere notions that we use during the disbursement of funds to government departments, municipalities and state institutions. Hon members, I agree that we have used these noble terms many times in our respective speeches, but I wish I could say the same when it comes to their practical application during the implementation of budgets in the course of the financial year.
Local government, being the sphere at the coalface of service delivery, should apply the notion of "value for money" with the utmost seriousness. For me, this cannot happen unless there are clear consequences for wrongdoing, mismanagement and the misappropriation of funds.
We welcome the fact that infrastructure financing across government, including state-owned companies and other public entities, is estimated to amount to R274 billion in the 2015-16 financial year alone. However, success in the building of infrastructure will not and cannot be a success as long as there is poor co-ordination among state-owned companies and national, provincial and local government. The delivery of infrastructure should find clear expression in the integrated development plans across all municipalities and such co-ordination must be strictly enforced by the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission.
Hon Chairperson, it is high time that municipalities collect what is owed to them, because if they continue to write off millions in debt, they will not be in a position to find sustainable revenue and will burden the state even further.
We support the Division of Revenue Bill. Thank you. [Applause.] [Time expired.]