Chair, once again the hon Minister of Finance has successfully executed his extremely important and difficult task. The various allocations are evidence of the Minister's attempt at a fair distribution of state funds. I wish to compliment the hon Minister, together with the South African Revenue Service, for the meticulous nature in which they went about their business which has resulted in the excess of R30 billion.
Dit is dus duidelik dat die regering se vernaamste probleem nie noodwendig die beskikbaarheid van geld is nie. Die vraag ontstaan dus nou oor die regering se onvermo om die meeste van sy teikens te behaal. Die antwoord hierop blyk te wees dat die goeie werk van die agb Minister en die SAID ongedaan gemaak word.
Hierdie Huis het die afgelope tyd keer op keer voorbeelde gehoor van hoe die regering veral op plaaslike vlak versuim om hul mees basiese funksies te verrig, ten spyte van voldoende geld. Waar l die probleem? Daar is redelike eenstemmigheid hieroor, naamlik dat kapasiteit die primre rede is vir die onaanvaarbare bestedingstendense by sekere staatsdepartemente. Nie eens broodnodige buitelandse finansile hulp word doeltreffend bestee nie, met die gevolg dat sulke skenkings, bestem vir maatskaplike en ekonomiese ontwikkeling, teruggegee moet word, byvoorbeeld die R131 miljoen wat aan Europese organisasies en die R130 miljoen wat aan die EU teruggegee moes word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[It is therefore clear that the government's main problem is not necessarily the availability of money. Hence the question now arises about the government's inability to reach most of its targets. Seemingly, the answer to this lies in the fact that the good work of the hon Minister and Sars is being undermined.
Recently this House has time and again heard examples of how the government, especially at local level, fails to provide the most basic services, in spite of sufficient money. Wherein lies the problem? There is reasonable consensus on this, namely that capacity is the main reason for the unacceptable expenditure trends of certain state departments. Not even badly needed foreign financial aid is spent efficiently, with the result that such donations, for example the R131 million and the R130 million that was meant for socioeconomic development, had to be returned to European organisations and the EU respectively.]
It would appear those are more or less the same departments that expose their inability to maintain healthy financial practices. The Department of Provincial and Local Government's inability to ensure that municipalities comply with primary compliance requirements is no longer acceptable. The hon Minister for Provincial and Local Government is in the habit of being reactive to matters resulting in little or no corrective measures and results, for instance his reaction towards the 48% of municipalities not meeting the submission dates for financial statements as required by the Municipal Finance Management Act.
HIV/Aids sufferers who form an extremely high percentage of the South African population are having a devastating impact on all levels of society, both private and public sectors. Despite the generous financial allocations for the fight against HIV/Aids, we still have to go a long way in setting up an adequate infrastructure to successfully fight HIV/Aids.
Agb Speaker, die afgelope kragonderbrekings in die Wes-Kaap is 'n manifestasie van nie net 'n gebrek aan kapasiteit en die gepaardgaande vaardighede nie, maar ook die afwesigheid van doeltreffende beplanning op verskeie vlakke. Die ekonomiese skade wat in die Wes-Kaap aangerig is, word op R1,5 miljard bereken. Meer kommerwekkend is die feit dat beide die regering en Eskom nie in staat is om 'n aanvaarbare aanduiding te gee van wat die omvang van die toekomstige onderbrekings sal wees nie. Hierdie toedrag van sake bedreig die teiken van 6% ekonomiese groei. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Hon Speaker, the recent power failures in the Western Cape are a manifestation not only of a lack of capacity and the concomitant skills, but also the absence of efficient planning at various levels. The economic damage caused in the Western Cape is estimated at R1,5 billion. Of more concern is the fact that both the government and Eskom are incapable of giving an acceptable indication of the scope of future power failures. This state of affairs threatens the target of 6% economic growth.]
The job well done by the hon Minister of Finance ... [Time expired.]