Speaker, the tragic events that have been unfolding in the mines, beginning at Marikana, are a cause for very serious worry and deserve to be tackled and eliminated. The underlying social determinant of these problems is no doubt the migrant labour system itself. One good thing that should result from this whole painful saga is the elimination of the migrant labour system. I believe it is possible to eliminate the system by ensuring that, first and foremost, the mining companies allow its workers to go home once the terms have been negotiated by the parties. For example, if the workers come to the mines and work for four or five weeks, they should be allowed to go home for two weeks and come back or whatever could finally be agreed upon so that the notion of home could be clear to all.
At the moment, due to the migrant labour system, miners are separated from their loved ones and families for 12 months. They are only able to go home at the end of the year for a week or two. It should actually be happening at regular intervals of not more than five or six weeks of absence. That way, it would then be the task of government, as I have indicated through the Infrastructure Development programme, to ensure that the areas where they come from are provided with basic infrastructure, potable water, electricity, tarred roads, proper amenities, schools, clinics and so on.
At the moment, as we all know, the President has established a judicial commission of inquiry, which is seized with the task of inquiring into what actually transpired at Marikana. It is advisable to await the report and recommendations of that commission. The processing thereof, of course, would have to involve all parties, because this is a societal problem. It does not affect only one section of the population, but all sections. I am sure that the ad hoc committee that will be established to see to the implementation would be necessarily an all-inclusive structure. Thank you.