House Chair, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, MPs, and colleagues, it is a well-known fact that in order to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich within our country, the ANC as a liberation movement was afforded an opportunity in 1994 to pursue economic opportunities that would enable it to distribute wealth and pursue inclusive growth and development as its core principle, to address this gap.
That is why the ANC, in order to significantly advance the pace of economic transformation within the country, amplified the role of development finance institutions, commonly referred to as DFIs, as well as state-owned enterprises, SOEs. The DFIs are not created to maximise profits or incur losses; rather their existence is for the purpose of driving the development agenda. The dual mandate of DFIs is to achieve a balance between the required level of self-funding and undertaking developmental projects that the private sector would ordinarily not. We resolve, as the ANC, that there is a need to ensure that these institutions are accessible to the majority of South Africans and are able to effectively channel financial and institutional capacity towards a variety of economic transformation objectives, including industrial diversification and development, while also looking at small businesses and small-scale agricultural initiatives.
However, the most important aspect which is at the centre of this Bill is local and regional economic development, as well as the empowerment of young people and women. You know, Chair, I am a little shocked by the performance perspective of the opposition, the DA. Their performance perspective - notwithstanding the role that we all agree that the private sector should play in the development of our country - does not take into consideration success stories and achievements which have been realised by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA, in regard to improving the lives of ordinary people.
Hon George and hon Ross, maybe you should be reminded of some of these achievements because I can see that you tend to forget easily that the report on the DBSA, which we entertained recently, indicated the following key achievements, and this really need to be applauded. Our people in Thulamela, which is a municipality, were accorded the opportunity of having a national electrification programme to ensure that 47 815 households would be electrified. I don't know if this is not an achievement to you, but this happened as a result of the intervention of the DBSA.
Maybe if this is not enough to be classified as an achievement, let me indicate that our people in Rustenburg had a pipeline of 9 200 m installed in their constituency as a result of the DBSA's intervention. [Applause.]
Maybe if this is not enough to explain what an achievement is, let me also indicate to you that as part of our commitment to education, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal the DBSA invested R450 million just to approve the issue of a loan that was necessary to supplement grant-funding of R261 million to the university's funding.
That is our commitment to education through the DBSA. I don't know if this is something that cannot be categorised as an achievement according to your perspective. [Interjections.]
In our perspective, there was a commitment through the DBSA to build 49 schools in the Eastern Cape. A total of 32 of those schools have been built and our learners in the Eastern Cape are using those facilities as part of the contribution to the bigger development agenda. [Applause.]
I don't know what it will take for you to comprehend the notion of a success story more appropriately. This is an achievement and it can't be ridiculed.
Anyway, I understand ... [Interjections.] ... why it is not regarded as an achievement by you. Maybe they are not your priority, but they are our priority. We are here to pursue the mandate that has been given to us by them, so to us it is an achievement. [Applause.]
Of course, we will continue to ensure that the private sector comes on board, but it can't be at the expense of our ordinary people. However, it does not imply that when we have some challenges with regard to drawing in the private sector, we should continue to talk negatively about our own institutions because at the centre of some of these negative perceptions is how we as politicians and public representatives talk about these important institutions.
We tend not to pay attention to the achievements that they are realising; instead, we are bringing our own agenda into this whole thing. [Interjections.]
One of the key amendments that have been proposed by the said Bill speaks to one of the most important principles of good governance, which is acquiring appropriate skills that are needed to drive the mandate of the said institution.
There is an amendment here, but I don't know if this amendment wasn't thoroughly explained to us, hon Ross. Why are we simply coming to this podium to articulate on this amendment as if these amendments are not seeking to address the concerns that you are raising or the concerns that were raised during the committee's deliberations?
With regard to the issue of cronyism as articulated by hon George, the amendment is specific about the required skills needed in order to drive the institution. It is addressed by this particular provision. Now why all of a sudden do we come here and talk as if there is nothing that is being done to address some of these challenges?
As part of these amendments, the Bill seeks to deal with the issues of good governance because, as the ANC, it is our belief that good governance informs the ethos of the way the DBSA and other institutions should carry out their business.
The bank endeavours to maintain the highest standard of integrity and ethical conduct and keeps abreast of new developments in the field of governance, hence this Act regulates the appointment of directors and the DBSA Board. The Act charges the shareholder with appointing directors based on their abilities in relation to socioeconomic development, finance, business, banking or even administration.
So I am not sure where cronyism comes in here, because this is a very, very clear articulation on how we are going to deal with the issue of the required skills to take the DBSA, as an important institution, forward.
Hon Chair, in order for the DBSA to deliver its expanded mandate, significant changes to its business model were definitely required, as well as a capital injection to rebuild its capital base. There is one hon member of the opposition here who indicated that there is no need for us to expand on measures which will help us to increase our financial base. If you agree with us that in order for South Africa to develop we also need regional development, then we definitely need to expand our financial base so that we are able to carry our mandate without any financial hindrance.
Therefore, as part of these amendments, the Act definitely seeks to enhance and enable the Minister to increase authorised share capital with the DBSA; to enable further increases in addressing the growing demand for infrastructure funding; and to enhance the DBSA's capital base - which is very, very important - in order for it to carry out its mandate.
At times, hon members, I am not sure how we approach these debates, because if we agree in the committee that the issue of the funding model of state- owned enterprises is something that needs to be reviewed, I thought all of us would wait for that opportunity when we are deliberating seriously on the review of this funding model. Also, we have called ... This morning, when we confirmed in the committee meeting, there wasn't one submission, not even from the opposition, on what it is that needs to be researched to ensure that we had a successful debate on the review of the funding model of the DFIs. However, we also indicated that we should be patient. The time will come for us to be taken on board about nonstrategic assets, which of course will be done away with. So, I am not sure why you are coming here now and raising this as if it was never deliberated and resolved in our committee meeting.