Hon Speaker, Their Excellencies the President and Deputy President of the Republic, hon members and distinguished guests, I am honoured and humbled to be afforded this opportunity to take part in such an important debate as discussing this state of the nation address.
The President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, in his closing address quoted words from one of the greatest leaders who paved the way to the freedom we are enjoying today, uTat' uRholihlahla Nelson Mandela, who is an icon, not only in this country and on the African continent, but also internationally. His words are still relevant even today. He said, and I quote:
We understand it still, that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well, that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation- building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.
Speaker, the governing party reaffirmed its continued commitment to mobilising communities to deepen participatory democracy and people-centred governance. The backbone in this commitment is progressive popular participation in socioeconomic and political matters. Communities need to be mobilised to participate in decision-making matters that directly affect them.
State organs should reflect people-centredness and these organs should be brought closer to the people. Our Thusong centres across the length and breadth of the country are a testimony of our commitment, as the ANC-led government, to bring state organs to where the people are.
What we need to do, as this government, is to strengthen these organs of people's power so that through them we can assist our people to contribute to their own development and governance. Through organs of people's power, our people have the power to hold public representatives and public servants accountable in a constructive manner.
I need to remind members of this august House that our call to leadership is fundamentally and foremost a call to servanthood. A clear depiction of servanthood is reflected in the Bible - the Book of John 13. In preparation for the Last Supper, Jesus ends this passage by saying:
I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
As public representatives, we have been sent here by the electorate to act on their behalf. Therefore, let us serve diligently, for we are no greater than the masters who voted us into power. [Applause.] As servants of the people, we need to ensure at all times that the collective and progressive will of the people shapes our agenda.
In this regard, Members of Parliament should not just conduct oversight in the public interest, but on a continuous basis which seeks to understand what the people's needs and aspirations are through a dynamic connection with the people.
In these days of modern technology, it is in our own interest to use all platforms of engagements to our best advantage so as to be informed of the views of all sectors of our societies. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become the fashionable tools of engagement lately. Our people who are able to use these tools are engaging with their government through these means. The time has come for public representatives who were born before this kind of technology to follow the President, whom I believe was also born before it, to start using facebooking and tweeting. [Applause.]
Our Fourth Parliament is expected to be an activist Parliament, which must be more effective with regard to oversight. As Members of Parliament, we need to have a shared understanding of what constitutes this oversight, because some formations of civil society have a different understanding of oversight premised on somewhat racial stereotypes.
Parliament should ensure that it does not only listen to the voice of the vocal rich minority, who are able to pay for round trips to Parliament. We must also have a listening ear for the majority of our poor communities who, because of their inability to finance round trips to Parliament, have no opportunity to visit it.
This Parliament of the people, by the people and for the people, which dates back to 1994, conducted public hearings in communities on Bills which, in turn, allow poor communities and individuals to express their views on particular pieces of legislation.
This is the year for consolidating people's power for the national democratic society, as we move towards 100 years of the selfless people's struggle. The ANC, as the leader of society, and the alliance as a whole have to harness all the contemporary major mass struggles towards transformation.
We need to build strong organs of people's power, as well as strong accountability of government structures, including local councillors. The ANC is fully aware that building people's power forms the basis for the forthcoming local government elections. We are once again leading from the front by taking our members who are to be councillors to communities to get their buy-in. [Applause.]
We must harness popular power to drive transformation, instead of labelling sectoral struggles subjectively, creating a distance between activities and communities.
Participatory democracy can only be enhanced by ensuring that government documents are simplified and produced in languages understood by communities at large. The engagement with state machinery and oversight over government should not be left with the powerful elite whose aim seeks to represent narrow interests.
The centrality of our communities is at the core of the state of the nation address. The speech of our President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, points to all the key priorities of our government. We must, as public representatives, play our crucial role to achieve all the priorities as outlined by the President. We dare not fail our people in this regard. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, we need to and we must build power for the people for the benefit of our democracy. The popular participation of our people in governance must lead to transformation and it must lead towards attaining a united and prosperous South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]