Hon Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members and guests, one of the praiseworthy practices that characterise your leadership, Nxamalala, is being accessible to ordinary people. When you launched the Presidential Hotline in 2009, we all cherished the moment. For the first time, shack dwellers would have an opportunity to voice their frustrations to the highest office in the land. This was more than a hotline; it was soul therapy for the nation. It is sad that number 17737 is no longer what it promised to be at its inception. Hon President, something drastic needs to be done to salvage, popularise and resuscitate the Presidential Hotline.
Bab' uMsholozi, our country has just held local government elections. The Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, declared the election free and fair. Let me cite two incidents and leave it to you to conclude whether or not the elections were indeed free and fair.
Firstly, on 3 May 2011, schools in the Lusikisiki area were closed because Mr Zwelinzima Vavi of Cosatu visited the area to drum up support for the ruling party. He addressed a massive rally at the Sacred Heart school playgrounds. On that day, normal schooling was disrupted in the entire area of Lusikisiki itself, Flagstaff and Ntabankulu. Hon President, when your government wanted no more interference by politicians during school hours, we heeded the call. But now George Orwell's Animal Farm replays itself in our politics. Certainly, some political parties are more equal than others, and the question is: Where is the fair play?
Secondly, on 10 May 2011, Pemmy Majodina, the Eastern Cape MEC for Social Development, distributed school uniforms to poor learners at Silindini Junior Secondary School near Sterkspruit. Addressing an audience that included parents and teachers, this is what she said:
"Ze ningalibali apho nisuka khona. [Uwelewele.] Vote ANC, umbutho omkhulu."
[You must not forget where you come from.] [The great party.]
The ceremony turned into an election rally, addressed by the MEC wearing a government cap. Where is the fair play, hon President?
Free and fair elections are not only about counting at the polling stations. It is more than that. If the system is corrupted through resource allocation, the end result cannot be declared just, free and fair. If we add up what the ruling party and the official opposition party have spent in the recent elections and compare it to what the rest of the parties have spent, you end up with a two-horse race. You end up with a two-party democracy instead of a multiparty democracy. The present funding model for political parties must change.
Democracy is about security and a better life. It is about equal opportunity in accessing resources. Free speech, elections and other trappings are just elements of that jigsaw puzzle. A democracy that fails to reverse colonialism through equitable redistribution of the land and wealth is a bogus democracy. Today the indigenous African people own less than 5% of farmable land, and we are supposed to celebrate freedom of thought with empty stomachs. We celebrate freedom of movement without the means to move on. The PAC supports the Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]