Chairperson and hon members, yesterday this country celebrated and commemorated Human Rights Day 46 years from the day that unarmed citizens were massacred for protesting against an unjust system that oppressed the majority of the indigenous inhabitants of this country.
We celebrated because South Africa today is a different country. It is free, and the rights of all human beings are guaranteed and protected in the Statute Book and in practice. We commemorated the day because we were also paying tribute to those who laid down their lives in pursuance of this cause of building a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, without discrimination.
It is for this reason that one of our institutions supporting democracy, the Human Rights Commission, took stock of how far we have come as a country to realise these human rights, as entrenched in our Constitution. The findings of this commission are encouraging indeed. This progressive realisation of basic human rights has been made possible by the ANC government's commitment to its historical principle that has characterised this movement over decades without flinching.
The distribution of resources has been informed by the People's Charter, which categorically guaranteed equality before the law in the economy and at a social level.
It was only 12 years ago when the ANC came into power and faced daunting economic challenges of severe poverty, inequality and economic stagnation. It was beyond imagination how the ANC government was going to address these challenges, as it has done in the first decade of our democracy.
To use the wise words of Alan Hirsch in his book Season of Hope, he said that:
... the ANC government followed a consistent economic philosophy that had the following elements: ... at the centre is a social democratic approach to social reform - it is the state's job to underwrite the improvement in the quality of life of the poor and to reduce inequalities, but with a firmly entrenched fear of the risks of personal dependency on the state and of the emergence of entitlement attitudes. The state exists within a market economy that depends on private investment, and therefore a successful state creates an environment that supports high levels of private investment.
It is in the context of this emerging market economy faced with new challenges of a shortage of suitable skills, persistent poverty and unemployment, and limited uptake of investment opportunities that this year's Budget was tabled.
The economic outlook for the coming Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period remains positive and is set to continue improving. We have been experiencing higher than expected economic growth and expect an average of 5% over the medium term. The expansionary fiscal stance adopted since 2001 continues, with an increase in government expenditure in pursuit of the accelerated shared growth initiative goals.
This initiative is consistent with the ANC government's unwavering commitment to the ideals of the Freedom Charter; the Reconstruction and Development Programme; and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy, as these refocus government's efforts to the new challenges.
The Freedom Charter captured the aspirations of all South Africans, whilst the Reconstruction and Development Programme was a programme that served as the ANC's manifesto for the 1994 elections. And then the Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy was our macroeconomic policy that made it possible for this government to increase expenditure in areas that would have redistributive outcomes.
Real increases in social spending, with significant increases in infrastructure development and a renewed commitment to skills development - given that these are some of the pillars of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, Asgisa - seek to address the constraints on economic growth.
Asgisa, in line with government's main policy aims of reconstruction and development, supports the fiscal stance that offsets the impact of the commodity price cycle and the robust consumption. It further identifies that the recent growth, although welcomed, is not balanced as it is based on strong commodity prices, capital inflows and domestic consumer demand, which have increased imports and have strengthened the currency beyond desirable levels, as observed by the Minister of Finance in his speech.
The Minister further warned that the current boom in commodity prices is not sustainable in the absence of support on the production side. The economists that appeared before the committee share the Minister's view and added that, historically, economic growth has been followed by a period of recession in which commodity prices were major catalysts for growth, citing 1981 and 1994 as examples of this phenomenon.
An important feature of the government's economic management is the Medium- Term Expenditure Framework, with projections spanning over a three-year period. The committee noted that government's projections have been relatively conservative, hence the higher than expected growth rate in 2005- 06.
According to the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, inflation is expected to remain within the target range of 3% to 6% over the MTEF, further underlining the fact that the economy is on a structurally stronger growth path.
This positive economic outlook is underpinned by a number of factors, among which are: a sound and sustainable macroeconomic platform; favourable global economic conditions, particularly the growth in Japan and China, and a growing market in Africa; the improvement in policy co-ordination between National Treasury and the Reserve Bank in keeping inflation within the target range, moderate interest rates and reduced costs of capital; and a rise in commodity prices.
Inselele ekulu-ke ebhekene nalo hulumeni eyokuxosha ikati eziko nokudala amathuba emisebenzi ukuze abantu bahlomule kulolu hlelo lokuthuthukisa umnotho olusheshayo futhi olunkomo isengwa yiviyo.
Ingqinamba-ke kulokhu ngeyokungabikho kwamakhono afanele nobuchwepheshe besimanjemanje. Kungakho nje isabelo sezimali sokuthuthukisa amakhono sikhule ngokubonakalayo kulo nyaka. Ukukhula kwalesi sabelo sezimali sokwakhiwa kwezingqalasizinda nakho kuzoba nezithelo ezinhle ngoba kushaya izinyoni ezintathu ngetshe elilodwa, kunikeza amathuba emisebenzi, kususa ikati eziko futhi kunikeze labo abaqashiwe amakhono emisebenzi yezandla abangaziphilisa ngawo izimpilo zabo zonke. Izibalo zakamuva-ke zikhombisa ukuthi noma amathuba emisebenzi ekhulile kodwa izinga lokuqashwa alehlanga ngokwanele ngenxa yokwanda kwabantu abazama ukungena kwezomsebenzi.
Inhlangano ebhekene nokuqoqwa kwezibalo, iStatistics SA, iphezu komkhankaso wokulungiswa kwendlela eziqoqwa ngayo izibalo ukuze lezi zibalo zifeze umsebenzi wazo ngendlela efanele. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[The biggest challenge facing the government is poverty alleviation and job creation so that people will benefit from the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa.
The obstacle to this is a skills shortage and technology. It is for this reason that the budget for skills development has been increased this year. The budget increment for infrastructure development is also going to bear fruit because it means that we are killing three birds with one stone. It creates jobs, alleviates poverty and gives the unemployed craft skills to make ends meet.
The latest statistics show that employment opportunities have increased but the rate of unemployment has not decreased because of the increase in the number of people looking for jobs. The statistics company, Statistics SA, is in the process of changing the way in which information is collected so that statistics will serve their intended purpose in a proper way.] With the ANC having once again emerged as the only reliable champion of the poor and the vulnerable in the recent local government elections, the challenge to live up to the expectations of the masses of this country is even greater. Indeed, the people shall continue to share in the country's wealth and all shall enjoy equal human rights.
The committee is going to ensure that all matters raised during the hearings and all undertakings by the department are implemented without fail. Progress on the recommendations, as tabled in the report, is also going to be monitored on an ongoing basis. My other colleagues are going to be speaking on the aspects of oversight, social spending and tax policy in more detail.
Allow me to commend the National Treasury, under the political leadership of the Minister, Mr Manuel, the director-general and staff, the commissioner, the SA Revenue Service staff, the statistician-general and Statistics SA staff for all their hard work. I also commend committee members for their dedication and hard work, as well as the committee support staff for putting up with the pressures of the committee.
Business, labour, academia and civil society have also contributed tremendously in the hearings, and their inputs are going to inform our future engagements going forward. The ANC supports this Appropriation Bill. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]