Please, help the nation and understand the following. Do you believe that nothing is going wrong when over 40 mineworkers died, just before they went to see their families for Christmas, in Marikana last year, protesting over poor wages and appalling treatment at the hands of mine owners who make billions every year in profits, yet do very little for their workers?
Protests by disgruntled South Africans are common cause in South Africa due to a lack of government action or attention. We see millions of rands being spent by almost all departments defending the government in courts to force it to deliver the basic services enshrined in the Constitution.
Daily, we read headlines of fraud of the highest order; a lack of policing; an insensitive justice system that is sympathetic to criminals, leaving victims' rights violated; a country suffering from an aggressive society bent on brutality; a deteriorating prison and rehabilitation system; and collapsing municipal management. The National Development Plan, which we all support, as presented yesterday by the Minister in your office, will never see the light of day under these circumstances.
This is a sign of a failed state, Mr President, and not a developmental state, as you want us to call it. By the end of October 2009, 83 major protests had been recorded, impacting on the country's credit ratings and foreign direct investment, putting thousands of jobs on the line. Do you still believe that there is nothing wrong?
As for the vexing land question, South Africa has not learnt from other African countries how to claim back what is theirs. South Africans still remain tied to the tribal authorities and land tenure Acts that do not empower them. Unemployment in South Africa is a ticking time bomb and unemployed South Africans are likely to fight for jobs, like the youth of Egypt and Tunisia. Mr President, with your praise singers, are you still saying ... the best- trained is hon Minister Blade Ndzimande.
Any government that seriously cares for its people will begin by aggressively addressing these problems before any other. This surely has to be the first priority for the government, has it not, Mr President?
The Minister of Finance, in his Budget Speech in 2012, spoke about the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and that the middle class has not done any better. Are you saying again, Mr President, that there is nothing wrong with this country and the way it does things? Surely, Mr President, you should admit that there is nothing good about it. The good that we should be enjoying has been derailed by the tsunami of failures and blunders we are experiencing under your administration. [Interjections.]
With the kind of support we keep seeing from your back-benchers and Ministers, Cope wonders what will become of this country. [Interjections.] I want to say, Mr President, we would like to support you in developing this country. But, unfortunately, you give us no opportunity to do that because all your praise singers do, instead of helping you, all they do ...
... kukubonga, ziyabonga. [... is praise.]
... as they do every day. This country urgently needs an action plan, properly detailed, and focusing only on issues that matter. Thank you. [Applause.] [Time expired.]