Hon Deputy Chairperson, Chairperson of the NCOP, hon premiers in absentia, MECs present, hon permanent delegates of the House, Salga representatives, distinguished guests, firstly, I must state that, as members of this House, we must read the NCOP Rules thoroughly. The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal is a member of this House and a leader of the ANC. [Applause.]
When the NCOP held its programme of Taking Parliament to the People in the city of Phuthaditjhaba, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality in the Free State province, it wanted to give the people of Phuthaditjhaba, and the Free State as a whole, an opportunity to make their voices heard and to have government committing itself to the delivery of quality services in areas that need serious intervention. The aim of our visit to Phuthaditjhaba was to promote public participation in parliamentary affairs as required by section 72 of the Constitution, as well as to assert the role of the NCOP in carrying out its oversight function.
It is now three months since our visit to the Free State. Today we are considering and debating a report that will be used as a tool to unblock the blockages of service delivery in the province of the Free State and Phuthaditjhaba in particular.
As the NCOP, we can say that we have benefited from the various issues raised by the communities about the delivery of quality and sustainable services. This has certainly enriched our oversight role and focus. We are confident that this report will assist the NCOP and its committees when they prepare for the follow-up visit scheduled later this year, as the Chairperson of the NCOP has recently alluded.
I will confine my input in this debate to issues of agriculture and rural development. Rural development is one of the five key priorities of our government. It was the main subject that dominated the programme during the public hearings and site visits. The President of the country called on the Departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Rural Development and Land Reform during his address to the NCOP in Phuthaditjhaba to revive some agricultural projects related to the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme, ISRDP, which has faltered. We are happy that the provincial department of agriculture and rural development of the Free State has committed that the agricultural projects would receive immediate attention.
We have also noted the major breakthrough that the same department has made by aligning its work in rural development with the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. This programme was launched in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality, specifically in the areas of Diyatalawa and Makholokoeng. Rural development and land reform is indeed on our own priority list when it comes to our oversight work. This is because it is the third of the ten strategic priorities of government in terms of Medium- Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, 2009-14.
The NCOP and its committees will be monitoring, among other things, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme which is an important intervention towards providing solutions to challenges of service delivery. We believe that the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme should include, but not be limited to, the improvement of economic infrastructure; the development of access roads; and fencing for agriculture, including community gardens, for purposes of securing food production and ensuring that every family has food.
The report that we are considering today reflects that the people from the rural areas of Phuthaditjhaba wish to have access to the following services: access to water; electricity; irrigation systems; support for local economic development, LED, programmes, and information and communications technology, ICT, systems. It is a fact that these rural areas do not have many of these services. In fact, these facilities are associated with urban life and not with the needs of people, irrespective of where they reside. This must change otherwise we will have perpetual migration from rural to urban areas.
We have been told that there are some developments that have taken place in areas of agriculture and rural development in Phuthaditjhaba since the NCOP visit in November. These developments are: co-ordination and implementation of the war on poverty, which the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has aligned and synergised with national practice; major work which has been undertaken in the area of rural development; food security, which has been promoted through the distribution of 10 680 seed packets; and 60 community gardens benefiting 655 participants have been established.
We are quite happy to learn about these interventions. The Freedom Charter declares that land shall be shared among those who work it. Therefore, there is no doubt that once rural areas are developed the exodus to cities will come to an end as rural areas will be appealing and self-sustaining.
In conclusion, the people of the Free State have spoken. We need to respond to their needs. In this regard, the NCOP made a number of recommendations which will require continuous monitoring to determine its impact on facilities and agricultural projects visited during the site visits. We must therefore facilitate the implementation of these recommendations and thus ensure that the people of rural Phuthaditjhaba and the surrounding areas lead the dignified lives that they deserve. Thank you. [Applause.]