Sekela-Sihlalo, Baphathiswa abakhoyo apha, malungu onke eli Bhunga leSizwe laMaphondo, manene namanenekazi, ndiyanibulisa. Egameni labantu bePhondo loMntla Koloni, siyibulela kakhulu into yokuba le Ndlu iye yasuka apha, asayibona kumabonakude kuphela, koko saya kuyibona ikhona ekhaya eKgakalagadi.
Loo nto iye yabonakalisa elubala ukuba ngokwenene urhulumente okhoyo ngurhulumente wabantu, ofuna ukulawula ngokwezimvo zabantu. Ibingekho ke indlela ebiya kwenzeka ngayo into yokuba siqhube le nkqubo ngokupheleleyo ngaphandle kokuba siye ebantwini. Eyona nto siye sayithanda kakhulu yile yokuba nangona zikhona iindawo ezibalulekileyo nezibizwa ngamagama amakhulu kwelaa phondo ezinjengeKimberly nezinye, kodwa khange niye khona; niye nakhetha kanye le isentlango, apho kungafane kuye mntu khona. Siye sayibulela kakhulu ke loo nto thina singumzi waseKgalagadi - nam ndingumhlali wakhona - ukuba kanti nathi nangona sihlala emaphandleni, kodwa singabantu kwaye sinamalungelo neemfanelo njengabanye abahlala ezidolophini. Loo nto ke icacisa ukuba ngokwenene sizimisele ukuqhuba inkqubo yentando yesininzi.
Ekufikeni kwethu phaya siye safikela kwizinto ngezinto, ezinye zazo izizinto ezintle, ezenzelwe abantu bethu ngurhulumente wethu okhululekileyo, ezifana nokuziswa kweenkonzo ebantwini. Ezi zizinto ebezifudula zingenziwa ngurhulumente wamandulo, kodwa namhlanje sele kucacile ukuba ngokwenene bakhona abantu esele beqalile ukuxhamla kwezi nkonzo.
Ndingabalula ukuba amanzi sele ekhona kwiindawo ezithile, into eyayingekho ngaphambili. Abantu bakuthi bathathwa nje baya kulahlwa phaya entlango, apho kwakungekho manzi khona, kodwa namhlanje abanye babo bayawafumana.
Umbane yenye yezinto ebezisoloko zingekho. Besisithi ukuze sibase phaya kufuneke sihambe siye kuchola iinkuni, phambi kokuba kufike lo rhulumente ngonyaka ka-1994.
Kambe ke, mawethu, singabantu bePhondo loMntla Koloni, ngakumbi eKgalagadi, sithi kusekuninzi okusafanele ukuba kwenziwe kulaa ndawo. Nanjengokuba ebesecacisile uMphathiswa wethu ukuba ayikabi ngabo bonke abantu baseKgalagadi abasele bexhamla kwezi nkonzo ndithetha ngazo ezifana namanzi nemibane. Ngoko ke kufuneka siqinise, ngoba sele sisemgaqweni ofanelekileyo, sinyanzelise ukuba bonke abantu bakuthi babe nokufikelela kwezi zinto.
Sifuna ukugxininisa ngakumbi kwezempilo nezemfundo. Siyazi ukuba ngokubhekisele kwezempilo zikhona iinzame ezenziwayo, ezinjengezithuthi ezisetyenziswa njengeeklinikhi, iimobile clinics, ngabula makhumsha, esithe saqala ukuzibona ukufika kwalo rhulumente ukhokelwa nguKhongolosi.
Siyayibulela into yokuba zibe zikho izinto ezifana nezi. Nangona zingekafikeleli kakuhle kwezinye iindawo, uye uthi nakwezo ndawo zikhoyo kuzo ufumanise ukuba azisebenzi ngokwanelisayo, ebusuku nasemini. Siyacela ke ukuba noko masibonelelwe ukwenzela ukuba sifumane isidima sethu esifanelekileyo.
Ngokubhekisele kwezemfundo, eyona ngxaki yethu kukuba izikolo esinazo phaya zizikolo abazakhela ngokwabo abantu ngezitena zomhlaba, ekuthi kwakufika iimvula ezinkulu zikhukuliseke ziwe ezinye zazo. Noko ke kuyafuneka ukuba abasemagunyeni baqinisekise ukuphuculwa kwazo.
Enye into efuna ingqwalasela yeyokuba abantwana baseKgalagadi bahamba imigama emide ukuya ezikolweni, maxa wambi ngeenyawo kungekho zithuthi. Siyacela ukuba babonelelwe ngezithuthi, inxalenye yemali yazo ihlawulwe ngurhulumente, ukwenzela ukuba babe nomdla wokuhamba isikolo.
Kukho nezikolo ezikumgama oli-150 leekhilomitha kungekho zithuthi zikawonke- wonke. Loo nto ibonisa ukuba kuyanyanzeleka ukuba singurhulumente siqinisekise ukuba izithuthi zikawonke-wonke ziba khona. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Mr N GALELA (Northern Cape): Deputy Chairperson, Ministers who are present here, members of the National Council of Provinces, ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all. On behalf of the people of the Northern Cape province, we are very grateful that this House came to visit us, so that we do not only watch it on television, but we also managed to see it in Kgalagadi.
This clearly indicates that indeed the present government is a people's government and that it wants to govern in accordance with people's ideas. It would not have been possible to implement this programme in full without taking it to the people.
The most admirable thing is that, even though there are important places with big names in that province, like Kimberly and others, you did not go to them; instead you chose to come to this deep rural area, a place where people rarely visit. We express our sincere gratitude as the Kgalagadi community - I also live there - that, though we live in the rural areas, we are still regarded as people with rights and needs, just like those who live in urban areas. That clearly indicates that we are truly committed to promoting democracy.
On our arrival we witnessed a number of things, some of which were the good things done for our people by our liberated government, such as service delivery to the people. The previous government did not provide these services, but today it is clear that there are indeed some people who have already started to enjoy the fruits of service delivery.
Let me highlight that there is the provision of a water supply in certain areas, something that was not there before. Our people were dumped in deep rural areas, where there was no water supply, but today there is.
An electricity supply is one of the services that was not provided. Before we could make a fire, we would go and collect wood; this was before this government took over in 1994.
But, as people of the Northern Cape Province, particularly of Kgalagadi, we still believe that there is a lot that needs to be done in that area. As our Minister has already indicated, not all the people of Kgalagadi have enjoyed some of the fruits of service delivery, such as water and electricity. Therefore, we need to work very hard, as we are on the right track, by ensuring that all our people are able to access these services.
We want to put more emphasis, especially, on health and education. We know that with regard to health, efforts are being made, such as the availability of vehicles that are used as clinics, mobile clinics, as the educated call them, which we only started to make use of when the ANC-led government came into power.
We are grateful that we have services of this nature. Though they are not available in other areas, we have come to realise that even in areas where they exist, they sometimes do not work satisfactorily, and are not available for a 24-hour service. Therefore we request that provision should be made to ensure that we are accorded the dignity that we deserve.
In relation to education, our most problematic issue is that the schools that we have there are schools that the community members built with mud bricks which disintegrate during heavy rains and some of these buildings fall down. There is a need for authorities to ensure that those schools are developed.
One other issue that needs special attention is that some learners from Kgalagadi walk long distances to school due to the lack of transport. We humbly request that they be provided with transport and that part of the money be subsidised by the government in order to motivate them to attend school.
There are other schools, which are 150 km away, to which there is no public transport. This clearly indicates our obligation as government to ensure that we make provision for public transport.]
The issue of unemployment opportunities was raised sharply in these particular meetings. It is indeed one of the aspects that we need, obviously, to look into to ensure that the people of Kgalagadi, who are surrounded by mining houses, are also able to participate in the mainstream of the economy in this particular area.
We acknowledge the kind of initiatives that the government of the ANC is taking to ensure that our people are part and parcel of the mainstream economy. We propose, obviously, that we identify the issue of co- operatives, and make sure that we facilitate and establish them in this particular area so that those people that have been marginalised from participating in the economy of the area are able to do so.
We also want to acknowledge that there are certain projects that have been able to take our people forward and also restore their dignity. These include, among others, the Expanded Public Works Programme. This is one of the programmes that has been initiated and implemented effectively in this particular area.
We are saying that those particular projects must be consolidated to ensure that ultimately all our people are able to participate in them.
However, we obviously need to raise a number of issues, particularly in relation to the physical infrastructure in that area. Very little is being done in terms of developing infrastructure in the area itself, which, therefore, requires of all of us to put together resources in order to be able to facilitate that process.
But, apart from that, there is also the issue that resources are not made available to maintain infrastructure once it has been developed in an area, and that is one of the areas that we need to look into.
We also want to acknowledge the dipodi, dikgomo and other related agricultural projects that, obviously, have been of assistance to our people in that particular area. However, we are saying that funding and resources must be made available to ensure that these projects become successful in creating jobs for our people.
Every municipality in the area must have an integrated development plan that finds its expression and content from the provincial growth and development strategy and other national development strategies to ensure that government's vision for 2010 and other target dates is realised.
The disabled persons, youth and women of this area must be skilled so that they are able to participate in economic programmes in the area. We request the establishment of three co-operatives comprising mostly women, persons with disabilities and the youth through the Apex Fund by 2007.
``Taking Parliament to the People'' is a democratic process to clearly understand the needs of our people on a face-to-face basis. Our government is where it is because the people put it there and, therefore, it must, from time to time, go back to the people that elected it. I thank you. Thank you. Dankie. Enkosi. Ke a leboga. [Applause.]