Hon Chair, may I start by saying that it is interesting to have noted that during the debate on the address by the President, a very interesting observation was made that a member and leader of Cope took an opportunity to quote Thabo Mofutsanyana. I found it interesting that Cope could quote, in actual fact, one of the greatest communists that this country has ever produced. Perhaps it is a lesson that, as we move forward, some of these liberalist approaches that they have would definitely not be of comfort to a great communist such as Comrade Thabo Mofutsanyana. [Applause.]
Let me also take this opportunity to pay tribute to our grandmother, Gxowa, a revolutionary, an organiser, a visionary, who joined the ANC in the early years of her life. She participated in and led the programmes leading up to the Women's March and, subsequent to that, the adoption of the Freedom Charter. It is indeed fitting that the National Council of Provinces held its programme of Taking Parliament to the People here. This exercise is a fulfilment of the vision of the Freedom Charter that the likes of Mrs Gxowa fought for.
Accordingly, the strategic objective of the ANC, which is the creation of a nonracist, nonsexist and democratic South Africa - that particular characterisation of this strategic objective - continues to teach us that, while people say that in 16 years the ANC has done nothing, fundamentally ours has been to build a nation; fundamentally ours has been to build a society that has respect for women and a society that has an understanding that in actual fact we have been divided for many decades by the very same former National Party that was mentioned by a member here earlier.
Members will remember that as the ANC we resolved that the Fourth Parliament needed to be characterised differently and that the characterisation of this particular Fourth Parliament needed to be as an activist Parliament. It needs to be a Parliament that is rooted amongst the people. It needs to be a Parliament that responds to the needs and the interests of the people. It needs to be a Parliament that must strengthen its oversight capacity in order to be able to hold the executive accountable. It is that kind of Parliament that we have here today - a Parliament that is engaging with the people; a Parliament that is engaging with the executive; and a Parliament which says: "Yes, together with our people we will march forward."
The National Council of Provinces plays a very central role in bringing the three spheres of government together. It remains the only democratic institution in the country that is constitutionally designed to bring all three spheres of government together under one roof. Through programmes such as Taking Parliament to the People, the NCOP gets an opportunity to bring together all our people under one roof. This would include, amongst others, the community, the Cabinet, the President, the MECs, mayors and everybody who is involved in the process of transforming our country for the betterment of the lives of our people. This is the reason why we need to emphasise our commitment in ensuring that at the end of each programme the lives of our people become much better.
In fighting poverty we take note of the issues raised during the visits and public hearings, including that there are fundamental challenges in supporting small business initiatives. The Freedom Charter clearly states: "The people shall share in the country's wealth."
While our organisation, the ANC, has made substantial progress in realising this goal, we acknowledge that we have not yet achieved true economic transformation, which includes fundamentally changing the structure of the South African economy and the distribution of wealth and income in our society.
The National Council of Provinces commits to monitor the promises made by our councillors, without specifically mentioning names, particularly with regard to a commitment that was made yesterday that the district has a budget set aside to assist small and emerging businesses to buy stock or embark on training and development. It would be quite an interesting aspect for us as the NCOP with our committees to do follow-ups into understand exactly what our commitment is and what it is that is happening on the ground.
We are told a lot about corruption. Yes, of course, the way that corruption is put to us and to society sounds like a new thing. As the ANC, we have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that we put systems in place that will combat corruption. We have put systems in place in government that identify and expose corruption. It is no coincidence that so many cases of corruption have been reported, so many cases of corruption have been captured. In actual fact, it is this organisation, the ANC, that went to Polokwane; that went to Durban and re-emphasised the point of the transformation of the judiciary by strengthening the instruments that are put in place in order to fight corruption. Therefore, as the ANC, we cannot be taught how to fight corruption. It is our resolve to fight corruption. [Applause.] Interestingly as well, it is quite hypocritical the way this whole issue of corruption is put to society, especially by the DA. The manner in which they put the matter of corruption to society is by saying that the ANC is corrupt, but they are not talking about the white-collar crime that is happening; they are not talking about the corruption that is happening in the private sector. Let me give an example of something that the DA never said anything ...
... ka sone, bagaetsho. A le a itse gore go na le dilo tse ba di bitsang di "cartel". Ke ditlamo tse di kopanang, mme di rerisane go baya tlhwatlhwa e e amang batho ba ba kobo di khutshwane; batho ba ba sokolang; batho ba ba tlhokang thuso mme DA ga e bue ka batho bao. Gona jaanong go ne go na le "cartel" e e bonweng molato mo borothong. Bana ba tlhoka borotho kwa sekolong. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[... about. Did you know about a thing called a cartel? It is a consortium of independent organisations formed to limit competition by controlling the price, production and distribution of a product or service that affects poor people, struggling people, people who need help - and the DA does not talk about those people. Now there is a cartel that was found guilty of price fixing on bread. Children need bread for school.]
They are hypocrites nevertheless. Thank you very much, Chair. [Time expired.] [Applause.]