Mr Speaker, on 9 February the President shared with us at great length what he feels is required to take us forward. There is much that is laudable about what was presented, but, sadly, the President did not deal with many of the systemic problems which are, in fact, holding us back as a country.
He paid little regard to the hundreds of local government municipalities and the number of provinces collapsing under the oppressive weight of cronyism and corruption. This must surely be one of the biggest challenges holding us back from achieving all we can as a nation. It is undoubtedly one of the most significant contributing factors to failed service delivery. And it has been proved time and time again that the effects of corruption hit the poorest in our country disproportionately harder.
The President also conveniently failed to mention the entire meltdown of governance in Limpopo. Unless the administration heeds the stark and obvious lessons from its almost total collapse under the burden of cronyism and corruption, the problem will only spread and place South Africa on the fast track to a failed state.
It is crony networks and circles of corruption which have ultimately brought Limpopo to its knees. No government business is concluded or decision made unless it feeds into a nefarious network of connected ANC comrades where mutually reinforcing relationships are forged by politicians and tenderpreneurs. [Interjections.]