Therefore we have to say, sadly, hundreds of thousands of deserving students were left without the support they could have got. Likewise, the R200 million that was spent at Inkandla could have been used to give bursaries to 10 000 to 20 000 matriculants. Today those children are walking the countryside of Inkandla, Mthunzini and other areas, without education or any support because one house had to be built for one individual or one family. I still have a question in my mind that I have not been able to answer: Why was former President Nelson Mandela not also given some R200 million? [Applause.][Interjections.] Why was former President Thabo Mbeki not also given R200 million? If Public Works did that, we want an account. Tell us. Let Public Works tell us that it spent similar amounts on former Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
The time has come for the ruling party to account for its actions. There cannot be this lack of equality before the law. This situation, where certain individuals lord it over the entire nation, cannot be accepted. Otherwise the years we spent in exile, in jail and all of that are worth nothing. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
I say again that I will not be silenced. I will not be silenced whilst those who are now privileged forget that they come from the townships of Soweto, Umlazi and Mdantsane; that they come from nowhere. Now that they have climbed to seats of power, they forget the people they left behind; they forget the homes from which they came. They forget their own people. Indeed, they forget that once we sat together in prison, eating mealies promising ourselves that when the day came, we would be loyal to the wishes of our people; we would prioritise the people and make sure that there is a better life for all, as former President Mandela first told us on Robben Island and then told us from this podium - better life for all. Where is that better life for all? Look at our people in Olievenhoutbosch, Diepsloot and Mdantsane; where is the better life for all? Aren't we ashamed of what we have done? What has become of us?
In any event, most significantly, now we are being told that we are going to be taxed some more. But we have not been told what is government doing to recover the R45 billion lost? They are not telling us about that. They tell us about how much tax we must pay. What are you doing to recover the R45 billion that disappeared. What are you doing now, today, to recover our R200 million that went to Inkandla? What are you doing now to ensure that each and every one of these people who are being arrested for corruption pay for that? Instead, they are elected to the leadership of the ruling party. They go into the national executive committee and all of that.
The NEC is full of people who have stolen this and that, who are involved in the Travelgate scandal and so on. [Applause.] But they are all in the national executive. [Applause.] Instead of punishing people who commit crime, the ruling party rewards them with higher positions, not only in the party, but also in the government. We must tell these truths. If we do not tell these truths, we will be betraying the young people of our country. Generations to come will condemn us. So, I refuse to be silent. [Interjections.]
The Minister will come and set up a commission. Well, government said he would have to set up a commission to revise our tax and so on. We will have to pay more, but we are not told of what is being done to recover the money that has been lost under the watch of this government. The President has no answers to those issues, because he said nothing about them. He went dead quiet about it and spoke about other things that are irrelevant when it comes to the question of the survival of the people.
On the issue of the Right2Know Campaign, other things are happening, and I must say these things come quickly, before the dark days come. The Right2Know campaign has drawn our attention to the fact that the ruling party is pushing for even more secrecy than before. The Right2Know campaign reported on a 2012 survey by the SA History Archive, which facilitates and tracks the Promotion of Access to Information Act. Of the 159 requests made, the archive noted that 102 were refused outright or received no reply. The more we ask questions, the more silence we get. That is the government's track record on accountability and transparency.