Mr Speaker, His Excellency President Zuma, hon Deputy President, Cabinet colleagues and Deputy Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, coming after the three speakers who have spoken before me, there is a fundamental question, I think, that confronts us in this House: What binds us as a nation? What binds us as Members of Parliament? Taking account of our history, we must agree that the great social compact that is our Constitution binds us together regardless of political affiliation.
The promise articulated in the Preamble where it commits us to: "Improve the quality of life of all citizens and to free the potential of each person" is what we must all strive for. So we are bound together as members to strive for development and that, as the author Duncan Green so simply puts it:
Development is about transforming the lives and expectations of a nation's inhabitants, an ambition that goes far beyond simply increasing monetary income.
This is, in essence, what the National Development Plan is about. It is a commitment to present generations of people living in poverty that we will act to raise their living standards, and a pledge to all the future generations of South Africans that they will be better off than previous generations. I know that this sounds somewhat trite. But, I use these principles as a reminder nonetheless about what actually convenes us here.
As a government and as reaffirmed by the ruling party recently, we made a strong commitment to ensuring that we uphold the principles embodied in our Constitution. But, we understand that this cannot be done by government alone and recognise the importance of having united action by all South Africans to eradicate poverty, create employment and reduce inequality as outlined in Vision 2030 and the National Development Plan.
Our country is characterised by high levels of poverty and inequality. Governing in such an unequal country is difficult. The interests of a billionaire are obviously different from a manager earning R1 000 000 a year. The interest of that manager is different from the person earning R50 000 a year, and, yes, the interest of the worker earning R50 000 a year is very different from the unemployed women in rural Sekhukhuneland earning nothing. It is very difficult to govern in such an unequal country. It is very difficult to find common ground. But it is in our collective interest to find solutions to our problems through dialogue and change rather than violence.
Our historic task is to transcend the success of the democratic transition and build a society in which we can all have opportunity, in which the state is capable and effective, in which people are able to find work, in which the poorest children get quality education and in which business can thrive.
When President Zuma stated in the state of the nation address on Thursday that -
The National Development Plan is a road map to a South Africa where we will all have water, electricity, sanitation, jobs, housing, public transport, adequate nutrition, education, social protection, quality health care, recreation and a clean environment.
... it was the promise of the Constitution that he was referring to.
Now, we might want to pause and reflect on the imagery of a roadmap. We all have experience of a roadmap folded in the cubbyhole of a car, and when it appears that the driver is about to get lost, the map cannot easily be unfolded and there is usually a huge debate about which direction the vehicle is actually facing to start with. That cannot be the type of roadmap that President Zuma was referring me to. Trust me on this one!
He was referring to a dynamic interactive process, more like the global positioning system, GPS, in our vehicles that will shout at us when we veer off course. "I said turn left 200 metres back, why haven't you?" It's not just that the destination of the third and prosperous society that is in itself important. The route we take, the processes we follow, are equally important because uniting our country is an essential element of achieving the destination. What is important in our context is to look back at the journey that we have travelled since we adopted our Constitution here, in this House, 17 years ago and to calculate the distance to reach the kind of society described for our country. Then we can agree again with Duncan Green when he writes:
People living in poverty must take or create power over their own lives and destinies. To develop, countries need educated, informed and healthy citizens and a state both willing and able to provide these essential services on which their wellbeing depends. The state must also ensure that both the quality and quantity of economic growth meet developmental needs.
It is important that we be conscious of the need to focus both on the quality and the quantity of growth. Occasionally, one hears in the corridors a viewpoint that suggests that the country can raise the living standards of the poorest without economic growth. We should recognise that rapid growth of gross domestic product, GDP, is essential to attain the objectives of raising the living standards. No country has succeeded at raising living standards without rapid growth and we are unlikely to be the first to attain this feat.
It is for this reason that the National Development Plan, NDP, presents itself as a composite of a whole range of policies. It is not possible to look at the NDP as focusing on social policy or only on nation-building and pretend that the drivers of the economy exist somewhere else. All chapters of the plan must be addressed for implementation simultaneously.
So, as we begin to address the implementation of the plan, our early choices have to be about those, and I quote: "essential services on which their wellbeing depends", "their" being the poorest in society. However, we need a new urgency in this phase of democracy. This new phase of the implementation requires an urgency and focus that is different from anything we've had so far. This new phase requires different mindsets on how to work, greater commitment to democracy and accountability and, most importantly, a higher purpose to serve all the people of South Africa.
We need to choose what we can and must do first. For this reason, I want to ask that you support the urgent need to transform the state from what it is into one that is developmental in its orientation and capable of providing the services that will transform the lives of our people.
A capable and developmental state cannot operate in isolation. We must work in unison with strong leadership throughout society and an active citizenry supported by a supporting development and holding their government accountable. In setting out steps to shift the orientation of the state, I want to ask that we give urgent consideration to few important actions. Amongst these must be the need to change the incentive structure for those of us in public office to strengthen the accountability chain.
Firstly, we must raise the consequences for those who do not perform the functions required of them. If teachers are paid even when they haven't taught our children, it is wrong, and there should be consequences. [Applause.] When health workers make lots of money in the private sector while they are in the employ of the state, where they then report for duty only to rest, there should be consequences. [Applause.] When policemen and women avoid being involved in crime prevention, there should, of course, be consequences. And when public servants do business with their employer, there should be very serious consequences. [Applause.] If we want development, then we must recognise that we must lead the behavioural change through our own actions and through appropriate legislation.
Secondly, we have a responsibility to retrain and reorient the Public Service. It's interesting to speak after two former Cabinet colleagues who are now in intense discussion, but it's interesting to speak after them. I served along with them; I've looked at the legacy they have left behind in their respective two departments, and I ask who are you to throw stones? [Interjections.][Applause.] But - unfortunately, Minister Sisulu is not in the House at the moment - what we must do is commit together to retrain and reorient the Public Service. We need a very different set of skills, one that is focused on evidence-based decisions. If we want to use evidence, then we must train public servants to actually use available evidence, or ensure that the datasets are generated and used in decision-making. Minister Sisulu shared with me earlier that she would share detailed plans in this regard quite soon.
Thirdly, the plan points out that the present interface between members of the executive and senior public servants often results in both instability and blurred accountability that leads to poor performance. It is in the best interests of all South Africans, and I hope that every member of this House will see themselves as part of the vanguard of this, regardless of our political persuasion to build a professional and capable public service in this country. [Applause.]
The National Development Plan asks Parliament to look at the compatibility of the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Service Act with the view to clarifying the accountability chain. The National Development Plan recommends the creation of an administrative head of the Public Service. While it's fairly easy for members on one side of the House to exclude themselves from responsibility, let me make the appeal and the call on Parliament to review the Public Service Act to address these concerns.
Fourthly, the National Planning Commission has recommended changes to improve the functioning of the intergovernmental system. This includes clarifying roles and responsibility for municipal planning, urban transport systems and the suite of activities relating to the built environment, namely housing, water and sanitation.
The National Planning Commission also recommended greater differentiation in the allocation of powers and functions, based on competency, a proposal that we believe is entirely consistent with the Constitution. Simplifying the delivery chain and enhancing our intergovernmental system will both strengthen accountability and improve service delivery. Again, we appeal to Parliament to address these matters in the course of this year.
Fifthly, the Commission recommends that the public interest mandates of state-owned enterprises be made explicit and public. Furthermore, there are several areas where clarity is required on the roles of regulators, policy ministries, shareholder ministries and boards. This is an area where Parliament can take the lead in reviewing legislation to achieve tighter accountability and better outcomes consistent with the National Development Plan.
The National Development Plan also makes several proposals to fight corruption in society. These proposals focus on enforcement, prevention and educating society. There are also detailed recommendations to improve value for money in our procurement system. We must recognise that supply chain management is the Achilles heel of our democracy. So much of what goes wrong, whether these wrongs masquerade as intra-party factions or whether it is just the reality that a segment of society that has wealth whose origins the individuals cannot explain, all of these wrongs are traceable back to the fissures in our supply chain management system. Parliament can no longer ignore the seriousness of this issue.
I want to reiterate the importance of the role and position of this august House in the context of ensuring that we have a state that is both developmental and capable. The first step in improving the state is to strengthen the accountability chain. That starts here in this House. A constitutional democracy has, at its apex, an elected Parliament that holds the executive accountable. I don't know how many people have read the full executive summary of the plan but it has some harsh words for this institution. Mr Speaker, please don't throw me out for quoting these words:
Accountability is essential to democracy. The accountability chain has to be strengthened from top to bottom. To begin with, parliamentary accountability is weak, with Parliament failing to fulfil its most basic oversight role.
It is crucial that society is able to look to the skills and competencies of Parliament; good technical skills of parliamentarians backed by solid research teams are critical to stronger parliamentary oversight. The second priority is to use the outcomes approach launched by the President three years ago to build tighter accountability chains for each area of government. A ruthless focus on implementation requires detailed implementation plans across government. So, for example, if the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has a policy to reintroduce sexual offences courts, then it is incumbent upon members to ask the following questions: What lessons were learnt from the last attempt to introduce such courts? How much will it cost? What special training will be given to court orderlies in these courts? How will it be rolled out? Where will these courts be located and why? Will these courts be integrated into welfare services? Will there be appropriate facilities for women or children to testify in private? How do we know that these courts will not cherry-pick the easy cases?
Let me remind us that no change occurs if we merely think about it, or even just agree on broad policy parameters. A huge behavioural change that must occur is a shift to detailed discussions about implementation. Who does what? By when? At what cost? And how will we know that a difference is being made? These should be the kinds of questions that are repeatedly heard within this Parliament, in both Houses and in the committee rooms but also in government departments.
Without attention to such basic issues that relate to the implementation metrics, we will never be able to determine who should be held accountable for delivery or implementation failures. As we said earlier, this new phase of implementation requires an urgency and focus that is different from anything we have had so far.
The other side of an active and dynamic democracy is how the state and public representatives engage with the people we serve, and in whose interests we take decisions, and write laws. The National Development Plan underlines the importance of community-based organisations, trade unions and other organised formations of civil society to become active in the development of their communities and their country. Many of our problems, from poor quality education to violent crime, can only be solved through organised communities acting in partnership with a capable and developmental state.
Schools are often a reflection of the community. Well-organised communities can help a school achieve its objectives. But well-organised communities can also hold their schools to account if results slip below the expected standard or if teachers do not teach at least six hours a day. There has been a worrying decline in sport in many black communities. The excuse cited often relates to facilities. This cannot be true and it was not true in our case when we were growing up. The availability of facilities may be poor but it is much better than in decades past, yet many of our communities can only reminisce about days gone by when young people played football, netball or participated in track and field athletics. The state cannot organise these activities; they require communities to become organised.
Too often we hear people only when they are truly frustrated by our lack of action. We can and must change this. We must do so because of a fundamental belief that people are their own liberators and, as we quoted earlier from Duncan Green: "must take or create power over their own lives and destinies". I recognise that it may not be appropriate for the state to organise the voice of the people, but we cannot have a democracy; or indeed, attach meaning to the idea of a developmental and capable state, unless there is an organised voice that supports or points out the failings of the system of development. I want to reiterate that united action by government and the people of our country is exceedingly important for the attainment of the society that our Constitution promises. Our goals are exactly the same.
None of what I have raised should come as a surprise to you, hon members. Perhaps, by emphasis, I have reached into the deep recesses of memory in order to remind every member who we are, where we come from and what our purpose is as representatives of the people. Part of what we need is a belief in what is possible, and to act to convene even when cracks present themselves in society.
Last week, Deputy President Motlanthe and a number of Ministers met with farmers and farm workers here in the Western Cape to ensure that all parties to the dispute that claimed lives and property were heard. If the measure of success is in the ability of these contending parties to now talk to each other and raise their respective difficulties, much would have been achieved.
In his address last Thursday, President Zuma took us into confidence on the meeting he held with Sir John Parker, the chairman of Anglo American plc on their decision to retrench 14 500 workers. That process will have to be taken forward with Amplats, the affected unions and the Department of Mineral Resources. But I know that the President left that meeting with Sir John Parker confident that that leadership intervention will save many of those 14 500 jobs. [Applause.] These are examples, but two examples, of leadership demonstrated by the Presidency. We should know that our people respond positively to leadership, and frequently see this as a signal for them to become directly involved in problem solving. We will all accept that such leadership must involve taking some unpopular decisions from time to time and given the scale of our challenges, it could not be any different.
Our commitment must be to build the change that matters in the lives of our people. That is what the implementation of the National Development Plan is about. It calls on us to be far more conscious of what we seek to achieve. It allows us to initiate change across a fairly broad front of activities. It recognises that governments, through their departments, will ultimately remain responsible and accountable for the transformation. It rekindles the role of Parliament in a dynamic democracy.
There are many areas that are not covered by the NDP and many more where detailed work is required. This work must be done in a collaborative manner across society. The solution to many of our challenges lies in being able to listen to each other's concerns and to plot a way forward while taking into account such concerns.
Social dialogue is not about negotiations. Negotiations are often characterised by agreeing to the barest minimum or stooping to the lowest common denominator. Social dialogue is about finding acceptable solutions to our country's complex challenges; be they in the mining or farming sector or in fact anywhere else.
Despite what was said from this podium earlier, I've just read a National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nasa, report about something called asteroid 2012 DA 14, which poses no threat. [Laughter.] [Applause.] What we need to do is to lower the volume, put the rhetoric aside and be prepared to listen and be persuaded. Without such a spirit, we will not heal this fractured land. Yes, it is difficult to govern in such an unequal society, with strong vested interests, but it is our challenge to mobilise all of our people and social forces to work in partnership with their government for a society that is more fair and prosperous. The task of implementation has begun. I would like to end with the imploring words of the poet Nontsizi Mgqwetho, when she says,
'Masizakhe'! Le nto imbongi inochuku Kunokuyeka ukhozo lungadliwa ziinkuku Sizwe sini esi singehlisi buthongo Sigqibe izwe lonke ngamaxa obongo Nditsho ke mna, masizakhe!
For the uninitiated, we need to build for each other. We can't look past the realities around us. Despite all that, there is no reason for us to let up in our country. We can't be a nation that sees its citizens sleepless because of their circumstances. We can't live as a nation when some rot in hovels. The call from our poet is "let us build".
Somlomo wePalamente namalungu ahloniphekileyo, enkosi kakhulu. [Hon Speaker of the Parliament and hon members, thank you very much.]