Hon House Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, guests and friends, most importantly, the South African people did not exist so that we can hold political positions. We exist to direct state resources in the best interest of the South African people.
It is very important for South Africans to know this, because all politics are about service delivery. The report of the Ad hoc Committee on Co- ordinated Oversight and Service Delivery states:
The foundation of democracy is primarily the ability of citizens to participate in their own affairs and not only limit the people's involvement in voting every five years. Since the advent of democracy in South Africa there are many forums and structures that have been established to encourage public participation.
There are numerous constraints confronting these structures which include resource availability and support. But the most critical in making these structures functional and yield the desired result is the actual participation of the people.
On 8 January 2010, on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of the founding of the ANC, its national executive committee stated that:
We must build a state that is democratic, people-driven and people- centred and we must pursue a sustained development, based on an inclusive growth path. It should be a state that unites South Africans around a vision of sustainable development and mobilises them to act as midwives to the birth of a truly united, nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous society.
The principle of a people-driven and people-centred state is not a new idea that was thought out in some committee just before the elections. The principle of Power to the People is the core of the ANC ideology. Former President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the ANC, on 8 January 1972 said:
Sixty years is a very long time for fruitless struggle for a freedom in an era in which the government of the people, by the people and for the people is an acceptable definition of democracy.
Then on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the ANC, on 8 January in 1984 former President Oliver Tambo said:
All revolutions are about state power. Ours is no exception. The slogan, Power to the People, means one thing and one thing only; it means we seek to destroy the power of apartheid tyranny and replace it with the popular power with a government whose authority derives from the will of all of our people, both black and white.
The question that begs asking is why is South Africa not participating in the running of its own country? Why are you not involving yourselves in school governing bodies, hospital management committees, community policing forums and ward committees? These structures exist for one reason and one reason only, so that the people shall govern. South Africa, you owe it to yourselves, your children and the future generations to get informed, organised and active in the running of this country.
Bob Marley sang in the redemption song, "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." In the context of this speech, the emancipation of your minds is around the understanding, the ideology and the policies of the political parties here in the Fourth Parliament - policies like the ANC community participation policy, which is derived from the ANC ideology, as previously stated.
An example of other kinds of policies that political parties have today is the ANC labour policy, which is expressed through legislation, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act and many more. Other parties have policies too. The DA also has policies around labour:
The DA will introduce a longer probationary period in which employers can dismiss under-performing workers without penalty.
Clearly that is a policy which is not in the best interest of the workers here in the Western Cape or anywhere else in South Africa. One wonders from which ideology a policy like that originated. Then again, a party that has reinvented itself more times than Madonna is very unlikely to have any consistent ideological foundation. So come on South Africa, get informed. [Applause.]
Getting organised is not as hard as it sounds. In fact, I am requesting that you, South Africa, go and speak to the person in charge of your nearest police station, the school your children attend, the hospital and your local government and tell them that Parliament has requested that you should find out about ... [Interjections.]