Mr Speaker, while the announced super-spending on infrastructure development is good news, Cope is concerned that the roll- out of this programme may be impeded by the escalating public wage bill, which already consumes 42% of government expenditure. Furthermore, we are concerned that the President said very little about critical issues that impact on South Africa's positioning as a developing country and an attractive investment destination. These include education, skills development, service delivery and the rooting out of the scourge of corruption.
Remarkably, the President was also silent on the information and communications technology, ICT, sector and its role in building public- private partnerships for investment in communications infrastructure, which is a key cornerstone for economic growth.
I will deal with a few issues that could place us on a trajectory to development and which could eradicate poverty and inequality. If we, however, fail to address these challenges, we will fail the nation as a whole, in particular the youth of the country.
In 2009 President Zuma gave South Africa an undertaking that teachers would be in their classes in schools on time and that they would be teaching. Yet, after a crippling teacher strike in 2011, which left thousands of matric learners at their own mercy, the President said this year that we had had remarkable success in basic education on the basis of an upward trend in the matric pass rate, a trend of which the credibility and the quality of the matric results are being questioned by many independent education experts.
Cope, like many thousands of parents in South Africa, believe that the South African public school system suffers from the dangerous effects of irresponsible career unionism, which is the major source of teacher absenteeism. This sad state of affairs is contributing to a dangerous inequality gap - those who matriculate from schools where teachers are committed to quality education and those who have to fend for themselves when teachers go on strike and when union leaders use teacher strikes to advance their own standing in the ruling alliance. And then the President thanks them for resolving the crisis they themselves created.
Within the first four weeks of the new academic year in the Eastern Cape, which is the province with the worst matric results in the country last year, seven million teaching hours had already been lost, and then the President congratulates the union leaders on resolving the crisis.
The question is: Does the President support his Minister of Basic Education and her efforts in the section 100(1)(b) intervention? Why did he deliver her to the detractors who have no real interest in the wellbeing of the learners of our country? Is the President really serious about quality education and the future of our youth, or are learners in the Eastern Cape knowingly sacrificed in the crossfire on the road to Mangaung? [Applause.]
The President's scant reference to improvements in the fight against crime and corruption was also unsatisfactory. Private sector initiatives can help, but government should lead this fight. Government needs to send a strong signal. We need public sanction for people in high offices who are caught in corrupt practices.
Why are the harsh sanctions prescribed in the Public Finance Management Act not implemented? Are there too many sensitivities and loyalties that prevent its strict application? Or is it a lack of political will? How many errant officials have been made to pay back the spoils of corrupt practices? According to the Auditor-General, none so far.
When the noose tightens, those guilty of misappropriation of state resources simply resign or they get redeployed somewhere else in the Public Service. Members of the Ethics Committee of Parliament recently let a former member of the executive off the hook because he resigned from Parliament. But what message does that send, sir, if a member of the executive can escape sanction by simply resigning? Must we resign ourselves to a general perception that bribery and corruption have become a South African way of doing business? No, sir, we should not. As a nation, we need to stand up.
Every day individuals and organisations around the world stand up to corruption, from accountants to school teachers to journalists - people with diverse backgrounds, but with a single message: corruption shall not and will not be left unchallenged, showing that it is possible for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. But it is a lot easier if government plays its part through introducing the necessary penalties in the Executive Members' Ethics Act and other laws that govern the public sector.
We know that where there is power and money, there will be attempts at corruption. The only variable is how serious it becomes and what is done to expose it. We don't need limp-wristed reprimands or redeployment, depending on the individual's potential influence in Mangaung. We need firm action from the government, irrespective of the individuals concerned.
South Africans also expected more concrete emphasis on measures to arrest the intensifying collapse of service delivery at local government level. Damning findings by the Auditor-General indicate widespread unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in local government. Nearly R10 billion of public funds could not be properly accounted for, with much of it potentially being lost through fraud and corruption. Why did the President not express his concerns about this trend? Or does the shadow of a collective voting strength of ANC cadre councillors in Mangaung cloud the issue of local government service delivery failures?
Cope's challenge to the President and the government is to fight corruption with decisiveness. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]