Chairperson, firstly I want to thank all the participants in this debate, as well as everybody who attended this debate. I won't respond to all of the issues that were raised, but I just want to respond to some of them.
I want to appeal to the hon members that when we start presenting the budget debate, as the department, some of them must really listen very carefully; particularly when it comes to some of the issues that we raised during the budget speech.
One such issue relates to the processing of claims. Yes, we did acknowledge the pace with which the claims were being processed. We have said that the turnaround strategy is in an advanced stage and we are decentralising the processing of claims. That will ensure that the claims are processed more quickly.
Another issue that we need to look at is inspections. We do inspections to make sure that workers are protected and that they work in a safe environment. At the same time, however, we do inspections to assist the companies or employers so that they are aware as to whether or not the conditions in which they are doing production are environmentally friendly.
We can prevent a lot of injuries, provided that the employers also take part in making sure that the workers are aware of or are trained on safety measures in the companies. With regard to whether or not the department is delivering for all, the answer is yes, because whenever we do inspections, we assist both the workers and the employers.
On the issue of Public Service employment, we are not going to wait for the proposed amendment to be finalised, because we have a responsibility to register job seekers, as well as those who were retrenched. We also have the responsibility to try and counsel the job seekers on career paths, because you will find that some of them took certain subjects during their schooling days, but applied for positions that do not talk to what they studied. That is what we are doing as the department.
At the same time we try to match and place those job seekers in various places. Therefore, we can't wait for the proposed amendment that is before Nedlac. We are also going to attend to that particular issue, because I think that it has taken a very long time for Nedlac to finalise that process. I know that there are people who are speaking on behalf of other people. I don't think that we can come here or go wherever in public and say that this is what is going to happen, because I'm still waiting for the report from our social partners in Nedlac. I respect the responsibility of all those social partners. The other issue that I want to address is that of saying that this legislation is based on what Mr Manyi said when he was ... [Interjections.] No, it's not over. I've got 10 minutes. Unfortunately I was the House Chair previously, so I know how these clocks work. [Laughter.] Sometimes they do their own thing at the wrong time.
I just want to respond on the issue of what was said by Mr Manyi. I think that we must determine the capacity in which Mr Manyi said what he said at that stage. Yes, he was the director-general, but Mr Manyi was addressing the Black Management Forum, BMF, which he addressed in his capacity as its president, not as the director-general of the department.
Therefore, we must determine that and not push Jimmy Manyi to wear a hat that he was not wearing. [Applause.] I think that the hon members should get the footage of the SABC ... [Interjections.] Then it means that you did not listen to what Manyi said from the beginning, particularly what he said in KwaZulu-Natal. He was there as the president of the BMF, not as the director-general of the department. Therefore ... [Interjections.]