Thank you very much, Chairperson. I want to indicate that in life there is something we call a "golden rule", and it states that right-minded people will give credit where it is deserved. [Interjections.] You agree with that.
However, we know that unfortunately it may not be in the political diary of hon Dreyer to do exactly that. The phrase "credit where it is deserved" does not exist. I know that she might have that in her diary, but the problem is that the chief prefect, hon Ellis, is here to ensure that she complies, and complies subjectively.
We know that as the ANC government it is we who indicated that we needed to do things differently, and doing things differently meant that we needed to respond and address the challenges that there were in our Public Service. Of course, it is only those who know what credit is and when it is the right time to give it who will actually acknowledge that. We indicated that.
It was this Ministry that actually introduced it and addressed this portfolio committee. Hon Dreyer was there, and we then said, "Watch the space! The turnaround strategy as far as the Sita is concerned is a reality." We indicated - and unfortunately it will not be correct, more especially when the chief prefect is here - that Ms Dreyer should agree and acknowledge that it was this Ministry that had a meeting with the premier of this province on the functioning of the Sita. The premier of this province acknowledged that since this Ministry has introduced a turnaround strategy, where we were going was clear. We know it cannot be said, because saying it here would suggest that she was putting the leadership, or the premier and the chief prefect present here, in a certain context. We know that.
I want to stress that as hon Members of Parliament we are here to represent the people; it may be that you represent the people from the opposition side, but the issue is that patriotism has to be there. We do not have to pretend that we do not see when good things are achieved simply for cheap political point scoring; it does not work.
It is this Ministry that introduced ethics and integrity, and we then said we were going to enforce it as part of the performance indicators, so that when we do performance assessments, we have to check whether these people are upholding the ethical code that we are expecting from our public servants. It is this Ministry that introduced it, but we know that it is not be possible for Ms Dreyer to acknowledge this, and we sympathise with you, madam.
It is this Ministry that dissolved the PSETA board. We dissolved it and addressed this hon august House and said we were dissolving it because of the irregularities that were there. We have not ended up in desolation - we are following it up, and there are people whom we are sure are going to be arrested. That is going to happen through our leadership. We know that, unfortunately, it cannot be acknowledged, for there may be a problem, hon Dreyer. [Interjections.]
We have indicated, here too, that our fight against corruption is a real fight. We have indicated that there are cases that the unit we have introduced have already started to investigate. Watch the space! These cases are affecting people even at the highest possible level. We might be just at the doorstep in regard to some of the public servants in this province, but we are saying what we are doing. However, of course, unfortunately that cannot be acknowledged, for the sake of cheap political point scoring. [Interjections.]
It is this Ministry that trained Public Service prosecutors. We now have prosecutors at the Public Service level to make sure that we fast-track the finalisation of disciplinary cases in the Public Service. We have started doing that. We reported this in the portfolio committee but unfortunately, of course, that may not be noted.
I do not want to miss the point you raised, Mr Williams. I would like to thank you for the call you made. We in this Ministry will make ourselves available to give a blow-by-blow account of where we are regarding the turnaround of the Sita. We are going to do that, because we cannot share it in the 20 minutes we have, during which time the Deputy Minister and I have to address all the issues that are our competency and give due consideration, give an account and respond as far as these issues are concerned. Thank you for that call. We will address these issues.
In fact, it is sometimes not good to talk about yourself, but we in this Ministry started this project when we were still members of this portfolio committee, saying we needed to build a new cadre of public servants.
I know, Dr Van Schalkwyk, that the problem you have with the Public Service cadres is not with the people themselves, but with the word "cadre", because you heard it for the first time from the ANC. [Laughter.] So your hatred of the ANC is limiting your understanding of what we are doing.
We are very proud of this, and I can even give a free lecture on what we mean when we say we will create Public Service cadres. We will do that in the presence of hon Ellis, so that maybe one day he will learn not to restrict people and then say you cannot amend your speeches. Your speeches were, unfortunately, prepared for you - you had to come and address those things.
But listen to what the ANC government is saying about a Public Service cadre. We are saying that there are eight attributes that our Public Service cadres should have. These are the attributes that we want, and that is what Palama is addressing.
We are saying one of those attributes, Dr Van Schalkwyk, is a public servant who breaks ground. I know you can read and because I do not have time, I will just give this to you as a present. Please do not let Mr Ellis see it, because you might get into trouble! [Laughter.] The next time I appear before the portfolio committee, these are the issues that we are going to address. We want to hear the DA joining us in saying we need Public Service cadres. The word "cadres" ... [Time expired.]
Debate concluded.