Kuthiwa khetha, Mongameli. [They are saying "choose", President.]
Mr Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, hon members, for many years resource allocation in South Africa was determined on the basis of race and ethnicity. The deleterious effects and the scars of the policy of segregation are still clearly visible almost two decades into our democracy. Since we ushered in our new democratic dispensation in 1994, the majority of citizens have pinned their hopes for a better life on the new political franchise.
Sadly, the level of inequality between the haves and the have-nots has increased rapidly. The solutions on the best way to close this gap and integrate the previously disadvantaged communities into the economic mainstream appear elusive. Apologists of this current economic regime claim that the macroeconomic fundamentals are in place and, thus, see no need to deviate from the status quo. They militate against any form of government intervention in the economy to transform it.
We question the validity of this line of argument, since the majority of citizens continue to occupy the margins of economic activity. In contrast to the minority group which controls the South African economy, the majority of citizens are victims of the ultraconservative credit policies of financial institutions because they do not own land.
The fight for economic freedom has been a bone of contention for many years and, at times, resulted in an unnecessary loss of life. You and your Deputy President spent many years on Robben Island in pursuit of precisely this economic emancipation objective, among other objectives. As students of the former University of Transkei in 1979, in the Faculty of Management and Economic Sciences, we used to grapple with the difficult challenge of finding a suitable mechanism to deliver economic freedom to Africans. Even today the solutions to this challenge are still proving more difficult to find.
We acknowledge the statement made by the Minister of Finance in the 2011 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on the need to transform the economy. However, the question remains: by whom and when?
The 2012 state of the nation address clearly demonstrates that government has finally woken up to the reality that the fate of South Africans can no longer be left to the free-market system alone. Government has a duty to invest in its economy through projects like infrastructure development. The private sector seems to have no willingness to invest in the development of the infrastructure of previously disadvantaged communities.
Even companies that have the capacity to do so, like Anglo American, delisted from our stock exchange in favour of foreign ones without any prospect of the funds coming back to the South African economy.
Perhaps, in line with your statement during the ANC centenary celebrations in Mangaung at which you called for a national dialogue on the country's pressing issues, as leaders of political parties represented in Parliament we should meet with you and the Deputy President at your offices to map out a clear strategy to deal with what you aptly described as the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment. These problems are bigger than one political party.
In the event of a consensus emerging from such a meeting, we should expand the dialogue to other stakeholders in society as well. The historical legacy of severe imbalances and backlogs cannot be adequately addressed by Nedlac, National Economic Development and Labour Council, partners alone.
The people care less about frivolous fights to augment political power through attempts to change the powers of the Constitutional Court, the building of a veil of secrecy between the state and its people through the Secrecy Bill and attempts to erode media freedom, and more about wanting to see us prioritising their bread-and-butter issues.
Many South Africans often argue that a review of the Codesa agreements - Codesa being the Convention for a Democratic South Africa - should not be done selectively, as they believe that there are other more important matters for discussion, like the sunset clauses that robbed them of an opportunity to participate meaningfully in the economy and own land. Black South Africans are still residing in the so-called reserves that were allocated to us by previous regimes, with no land ownership.
Yes, Mr President, I have yet to see a day when people protest to change the powers of the Constitutional Court. But I have seen many legitimate protests about service delivery which do not seem to receive the same attention. We have noted government's intervention in a number of provinces to rescue them from administrative collapse. This sphere of government seems to be saddled with problems.
Provinces have become centres of self-enrichment and rampant corruption for some comrades. We have seen a regression in the standard and quality of education our children receive under the watch of provincial governments. In the past, for instance, it was common for students from all over the country to go to places like the Transkei to access quality education. Regrettably, that fountain seems to have dried up.
Perhaps it is time to publish the study government instituted under former Minister Mufamadi into the efficacy of provinces. The truth of the matter is that these glorified homelands were a compromise intended to accommodate one political party. We must now assess the extent to which they facilitate or impede service delivery.
Nevertheless, Mr President, your announcements last week reinforced programmes that were announced earlier by Transnet and the Minister of Transport, which we regarded as pie-in-the-sky projects when they announced them. Both Transnet and the Minister were cagey at the time of the announcements about how they would finance these projects. We wondered whether a thorough feasibility study had been undertaken.
Mr President, you will recall that when the news about these projects surfaced, the media alleged that they would be done by Chinese companies and politically connected individuals in South Africa. However, the government flatly denied this.
We look forward to receiving more details about the government's overall implementation strategy. We would do well to adopt as stringent a monitoring mechanism as Fifa's close monitoring of South Africa's implementation of the 2010 Fifa World Cup project, otherwise these announcements run the risk of going down as just another laundry list of unfulfilled promises.
It is gratifying to see that you have heeded our call to link KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape Corridor. Planned properly, this would ease the congestion and reduce road fatalities on the N2, especially if a railway line could be built between East London and Kokstad.
With respect to the Umzimvubu Water Scheme, the former Transkei government and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Maohludi Associates and academics from the former University of Transkei conducted and concluded a R13 million study into the possibility of using the Umzimvubu Water Scheme to provide clean water for household consumption and water supply for irrigation and hydroelectric schemes. The study showed that major rivers passing through the Transkei areas constitute 28% of the water supply of the entire Southern Africa.
We urge your government to guard against wasting taxpayers' money on hiring consultants to redo the study. Rather, we should source the services of an auditing firm to carry out a thorough cost-benefit analysis of reviving the project, taking into account cost escalations over the years. This exercise should also evaluate the effects of silting caused by soil erosion. Therefore there is no need for a two-year or more study.
The Umzimvubu Water Scheme project failed to get off the ground due to the refusal by the former F W de Klerk government to release funds for capital projects to the Transkei government because of its close relationship with the liberation movements.
Senditshilo. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [I have already said this. [Applause.]]