Chairperson, we know from the Bible that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. I regret to tell the Minister that today I am a little reluctant as a giver.
Members of the Portfolio Committee on Finance at the hearings on the Bill showed their teeth. The message was conveyed loudly and clearly to the National Treasury and the other departments concerned that a special adjustments appropriation is very special indeed and should not be resorted to lightly.
There was a feeling in the committee that some of the items in this Bill should have been foreseen and might therefore have been included in the main Budget, while the ordinary adjustments appropriation, to follow next month, could have been used for some of the other amounts. I am relieved to have the hon Minister's assurances today in this regard and I am sure that has impressed all the departments concerned.
I must say that my colleague, the hon Ms Smuts, says that the amount for Sentech could and should have been foreseen and is because the Minister and the Deputy Minister are not properly in control of their department. They don't know what is happening there. [Laughter.]
Let us deal with a few of the items. One of them is the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. This is experimental and requires continued financing. It was a political decision to continue with this project and we have now spent R4,2 billon since 1999. There is a worldwide swing towards nuclear energy. If the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor is a success it could have huge implications for South Africa. My party supports it because we are green and we therefore support clean energy. We will keep a beady eye on the PBMR to help ensure that taxpayers receive value for money.
Let us talk about Alexkor. This must be the only diamond mine in the world that makes a loss. I have a concern about whether there is a reasonable prospect of returning it to profitability. We are now entering into an arrangement in which the people of the area are going to have a share in this. I hope they are going to have a share in something that is worthwhile and not in something that makes a loss. The taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of rand in this and we haven't received any recent dividend.
As far as Denel is concerned, we have some doubts about the amount there but I intend pursuing this at a later stage when I have got more time.
Let us have a look at the Land Bank. They are receiving a big dollop of money. It is a fact that many farmers in South Africa are dependent on the Land Bank continuing and it would be a disaster for agriculture if the Land Bank were to go insolvent. But, surely, it is more than time that there was a proper turnaround strategy agreed upon, put into operation and more than that that the turnaround actually happened. A financial institution such as this should not operate at a loss.
I would like to deal briefly with the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We are prepared to support these payments to local authorities for the erection of football stadiums. It did concern me greatly to hear from National Treasury that inadequate planning has been done for the use and management of the stadiums after the World Cup. I want to suggest to the hon Minister that we need some rigorous cross-questioning of local authorities that fail to have viable plans in place when the taxpayer is providing hundreds of millions of rand to help them to construct stadiums. We must avoid having white elephants after our successful 2010 experience.
The hon Minister may be relieved to know that despite the few misgivings I have expressed the DA will vote for the Special Adjustments Appropriation Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]