Chairperson, hon members, thank you for the opportunity to open this debate. Before I do so, allow me to congratulate the following members: Hon Sogoni, who has been appointed as Chairperson of the Joint Budget Committee; hon Mkhaliphi, who has been elected as Chair for the Select Committee on Provincial and Local Government; hon Sibiya, who has been elected as Chair of the Economic and Foreign Affairs Select Committee; and hon Faith Mazibuko, who has been elected, firstly, as the provincial Whip of Gauteng and, secondly, as the deputy chair of the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women. [Applause.] I wish you good luck in your present positions. These are deployments with many varied and difficult tasks. But I have no doubts that you will manage well and make it.
This afternoon we present, for consideration by the House, the report on Taking Parliament to the People - a visit to the North West from 10 to 14 March 2008, as published in the ATCs of 14 October 2008. As you know, this was the 10th visit undertaken by this House under our public participation and outreach programme - Taking Parliament to the People. The programme was initiated to serve as a means through which this House can interact with communities with a view to promote public education and to enhance public participation. Since its launch, we have been able to create an opportunity for people to be informed about Parliament and the kind of service delivery they would like to see.
Through this programme, we have linked Parliament with communities from within and around. You would be aware that we have already visited all nine provinces. We now end this programme by visiting the Eastern Cape, where we started in 2002. These communities can bear testimony to Parliament's attempts, through the NCOP, to fulfil the aspirations of the Freedom Charter by practically ensuring that "all people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of the country." The programme has assisted Parliament to lay building blocks for the creation of a people's Parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people towards realising a better quality of life for all the people of our country. Some of these successes of the programme in the Third Parliament will be indicated in this report.
The term of the Third Parliament has seen the intensification of the Taking Parliament to the People programme through, among other things, follow-up visits to monitor responses to issues raised by our people, and continues to focus on key service delivery areas such as education, health, housing, social development and the public works programme. We have witnessed huge support given to the NCOP by people during these visits that highlight the need for this institution to continue acting as a bridge between the people and government. As a consequence of the success of this programme, we have the responsibility to remain committed to representing their interests in the consideration of laws and resources for the betterment of the quality of lives.
As a true public representative, we cannot afford to create false hope that the difficulties people continue to experience can be resolved in one day. The fact is that challenges that face our poor communities have a long history and are therefore deep-rooted. To address these challenges needs time and resources. There are no quick-fix solutions to all these problems. We know, as this House, that addressing service delivery challenges needs the careful co-ordination of services by the different spheres of government. On the other hand, we need to move faster in assisting our people where resources are available. We have the authority to intervene where there are problems with implementation.
Some of the issues that were raised in the North West province were as follows: Firstly, under education, school nutrition programme, scholar transport, shortage of water, school safety and shortage of maths and science teachers were raised. Secondly, under health, the lack of medication in public hospitals, long hours that people spend in queues to get assistance and the need for the expansion of services for TB and HIV were raised. Lastly, under youth, the lack of sport facilities, accessibility of services targeting the youth and entry requirements into formal employment were raised.
The report also notes appreciation by communities of some positive developments in some of the above-mentioned areas of service delivery and, more particularly, with regard to interventions being made by government, such as in the provision of resources for community health needs. This is important because when looking at service delivery, there is often a tendency to undermine the positive things that happen in our communities. This is not only unfair, but it also destroys the hope of those who need service delivery the most, because of their circumstances that remain largely unchanged.
Members will certainly agree with me that the issues raised in the report are not new. We have heard them being raised in some of the provinces we visited before the visit to North West and during committee oversight activities. Committees will do their work and check what is happening on the ground. The question we need to answer is whether, as the NCOP, we are willing to do all in our power to ensure that the resources that are made available are deployed and utilised effectively and on time. This is because if we can do so, we will make a difference in speeding up service delivery.
We also need to ask ourselves whether we have the necessary capacity to adequately manage the work of the NCOP that is generated through programmes such as Taking Parliament to the People. If not, what will it take for us to ensure that we have the necessary capacity? In this respect, I must indicate though that we have taken some of the recommendations you made as a House that are related to this question, especially during last year's summit on intergovernmental relations, to relevant political structures for further consideration. We will continue to engage all relevant structures on issues we think should be addressed towards strengthening the NCOP for better service delivery to our people.
In terms of the follow up on the North West visit, given the fact that we are now nearing the end of the third term of Parliament, the reality is that as a House, we may not have sufficient time to conduct a proper follow up on issues we picked up in the North West. Therefore, we need to take up these issues and find a way of ensuring that we continue to respond to them beyond the term of this current Parliament. I intend to ask the House when we come back next year - when we consider the report of the NCOP during this term of Parliament - to consider this question and to find ways of ensuring that we process all the issues we would like the next Parliament to pay attention to. Your views will definitely assist a great deal.
As a House, we have just adopted the resolution to sit in the Eastern Cape in Lady Frere for a week next month as part of the Taking Parliament to the People programme. This will surely be our last such activity in the Third Parliament. You will certainly realise that this is one of the communities in our country that is deserving of such a visit, given the challenges caused by poverty. It is my wish that our presence there will bring hope to this community and add impetus to the developments that are already planned.
Members will recall that we have often referred to the need for a study on Taking Parliament to the People with a view to enhance the NCOP's interventions through this programme. A lot of work has been done towards this. As soon as administration finalises all procurement issues, we will begin this process. Our intention is to have the results ready when we come back next year in order to be able to reflect on them so that they form part of our handover report. We will give you the details once a team of researchers has been appointed to do this work.
On that note, I submit the report on our visit to North West earlier this year for consideration by the House. I thank you. [Applause.]