Mr Speaker, at the Nepad heads of state committee meeting this year, the President claimed that traditional models of financing and delivering infrastructure in Africa must give way to new models and different ways of financing infrastructure, with a particular focus on public-private partnerships, PPPs. But in this year's Budget we read that in South Africa in 2010 only 6,2% of public-sector spending on infrastructure happened through PPPs.
It is clear we are preaching the benefits of such partnerships at Nepad, but not using them at home. So, the DA was pleased to hear that Minister Pravin Gordhan announce in the Budget that private-sector capacity can be mobilised through construction and operating concessions in freight and ports. But then Public Enterprises Minister Gigaba poured ice on this proposal when he said that the debate on port concessioning has not been settled.
We were pleased when the Transport Minister invited the private sector to finance and build roads and dams. But then we had Mr Brian Molefe, the Chief Executive Officer of Transnet, rule out the concessioning in the private management of ports, saying there is no role for the private sector in the main channels of rail infrastructure.
Hon President, your Ministers and bureaucrats are totally deurmekaar [confused]. Please tell us what this government's official line on private- sector involvement in the infrastructure programme is. Are you with Minister Gordhan and Ndebele or with Minister Gigaba and Mr Molefe? [Applause.]