Hon Chairperson, I trust we can enjoy that six-pack at about 5 o'clock this afternoon ... [Laughter.] Hon Minister, with you being the host - you and the Deputy Minister - I think we are all looking forward to the six-pack at about 5 o'clock. [Interjections.]
Let me start off by saying to the hon Mufamadi, yes, South Africa is doing well, but we can do better. And we can only do better if we recognise the challenges and deal with them decisively, and the emphasis is on decisive. It is for that reason that I appreciate the frankness of the hon Minister when he indicated that many of the municipalities are in trouble and we really need to get them out of trouble.
Let me put the horse before the cart - normally, people put the cart before the horse - and start with the SA Revenue Service, Sars. Without money, you can't distribute the money. So, Sars is the most important aspect of this Vote 10. It is also indicated when you look at the budget. Almost 37% - R9,8 billion - of the budget of vote 10 goes to Sars.
The IFP and I want to commend Sars, the commissioner and his staff on the excellent work that they are doing and continue to do. In particular, I want to say well done to them on their outreach programmes. I am very much in touch with the office in Durban and want to express appreciation for the work done by people like Ms Venessa Pather, who leads a team called Operation Taxpayer Engagement. They go out and meet teachers, policemen and ordinary citizens and talk to them about their responsibilities of paying tax and how, by paying tax, you are improving the lives of ordinary citizens in this country and improving your own life. So, that intervention goes a long way in boosting taxpayer confidence. However, it is a bit of a concern - and the hon Koornhof referred to service delivery - that in the Sars document that we received, their annual performance plan, they said the following: Perception about the quality of service delivery is equally a serious concern. Recent protests about service delivery bear testimony to this. The media has published articles questioning the need for citizens to fulfil their tax obligations, when parts of the state are allegedly corrupt or incompetent.
Sars says these factors affect its ability to achieve compliance. These factors affect Sars' ability to achieve compliance! So, we need to deal very, very seriously with this issue, and perhaps, Minister, you can tell us to what extent the whole question of corruption and mismanagement among some of our organisations leads to this noncompliance amongst taxpayers.
Another issue, I think, that Sars needs to grapple with is the porous borders. Now, it is not their problem. Borders are not controlled by Sars, but we received a briefing in one of our committee meetings that almost 50% of our borders are porous. The fences are down and people are just entering and exiting. We saw recently what happened at the Lesotho border, where people were caught with products that they were taking in through the border. Well done!
We saw here a Sars report about illicit tobacco. They said - and I was shocked to read these results, Mr Minister - there are over 10 million kilograms of raw tobacco entering Sars-controlled warehouses for export that have not been accounted for. So, we think that Sars should get more money. Sars should get more than the R9,8 billion that is allocated to them so that they can have more enforcement to ensure that people who bring in these illicit cigarettes, and all sorts of things, and evade tax, get caught and are put behind bars.
This morning I was at another meeting. One of the concerns that we have in this committee that I serve on is underspending. One wonders sometimes whether it is plan, and then money, or is it the President saying something, then money, and then plans. If you look at the rural housing infrastructure grant, you look at the Jobs Fund, and you look at many of these other areas, you find that there is gross underspending. It shows a lack of planning by these departments. I think National Treasury really needs to be on top of this so that these departments that underspend get money taken from them.
I know a colleague from the Department of Justice. I hear they constantly complained about a lack of funds within the Department of Justice. They talk about the courts; they talk about all sorts of inadequacies within the department. Let us give money to those departments and take it away from those departments that are not performing. That is something that we need to do. Regarding the support to municipalities, I was scratching my head earlier on there, hon Mufamadi. You know, you get teasers, which are questions that are difficult to answer. Many of the municipalities are in trouble. The Auditor-General has reported that only 22% received clean audits. I was scratching my head thinking and asking myself about the party that's in control of most of the municipalities. I know the answer and you know the answer. [Laughter.]
We must deal with these issues apolitically. We must ensure that the civil servants that are employed in these municipalities are capable of doing the job, because, in many instances, it is the civil servants that give the politicians a bad name. People think that the politicians are corrupt and mismanagement takes place at the level that we are on, but it is actually taking place at the lowest level, and we need to tighten up on that aspect.
We are also a bit concerned about the civil pensions and underspending. Hon Minister, I don't know whether ring-fencing is still policy within National Treasury, because for many of these things there should be this ring- fencing.
Lastly, I must say ...