Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Ministers and MECs present, House Chairperson hon R J Tau, Acting Chief Whip hon Mazosiwe, SA Local Government Association, Salga, representative Cllr Mxolose, and permanent and special delegates present, I want to remind this House that since the inception of democracy our government has based its vision, programmes and policies on the 10 clauses of the Freedom Charter, which is the ANC's basic policy document, in an effort to ensure that it strengthened democracy so that there would be an acceleration of the programme of improvement in terms of the objective of "a better life for all".
Today we have achieved the just and equitable order that Comrade Oliver Tambo talked about, for which there was the ANC's commitment to the struggle. But the struggle is far from over - this is so because we have not yet achieved a better life for all of our people. We still have unacceptable levels of poverty and unemployment.
When we embarked on Provincial Week in September 2010, some of us were inspired and motivated by Oliver Tambo's words. We went on this oversight mission determined to help the ANC achieve its aim of making the lives of our people better.
We must acknowledge that Provincial Week, as a programme of the NCOP, will this year mark nine years since it came into existence in August 2002. As some of you might know, in symbolism, nine is the number of harmony. It represents inspiration and perfection of ideas.
There is no doubt in my mind that this year we as the NCOP will be inspired and will perfect this programme so that it yields the result of ensuring that the lives of our people are indeed made better. We must therefore thank those who initiated this programme before us and acknowledge its relevance and importance in the life of the NCOP.
It is no surprise that the NCOP is the House that sees the convergence of the three spheres of government. This is in line with section 40(1) of the Constitution, which provides:
In the Republic, government is constituted as national, provincial and local spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.
Section 40(2) provides that all spheres of government must observe and adhere to the principles of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations, IGR, and must conduct their activities within these parameters.
The drafters of this Constitution placed the NCOP at the centre of intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance because they knew the power that this House would possess. And it is with this that we approached Provincial Week in September 2010, as the report we are debating today attests.
When we embarked on this Provincial Week we were, of course, guided by the theme "Working together to ensure faster improvement in the delivery of services and the living conditions of our people". This is the theme that echoes the ANC's commitment to ensuring that all the people of South Africa live better lives, as the Freedom Charter proclaimed in 1955. This theme played a critical role in guiding our meetings with our stakeholders in all the provinces, guiding all the topical issues that were discussed.
In the nine provincial reports there are many common issues of concern that were raised, such as that the allocation of the local government equitable share should be reviewed; participation of Salga in the NCOP should be looked at again; there should be better co-ordination of the NCOP programmes with those of provincial legislatures; and there should be improved interaction between the three spheres of government. The third point - better co-ordination of the NCOP programmes with those of provincial legislatures - was also mentioned in Limpopo last week.
As I said, this year we would like to improve Provincial Week as an oversight and public participation tool to ensure that our people do indeed get better lives. It is through dealing with these issues that we will achieve this. I know that the ANC, the party that listens, will indeed consider them. Parliament also, guided by the ANC, will, I'm sure, consider them. There are so many other issues that have been raised in the report which I would have liked to touch on, but I will leave them to the special delegates, because of time constraints.
In conclusion, I would like to say that this Provincial Week's report sets out to provide an account of key issues and concerns raised by people in the provinces. It is also a call to the ANC to accelerate service delivery to the people, just like Comrade Oliver Tambo made a call for acceleration of the struggle in 1980, when he declared that year "the Year of the Charter". I know the ANC will respond positively, just as it always does. I move that the House adopts the report. I thank you, Chairperson.