Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, MECs present, members of the House, distinguished guests, let me first start by thanking the Minister and the Deputy Minister for participating in the NCOP Taking Parliament to the People programme in Limpopo in March. We appreciate the commitment you have shown and the work that you are doing.
I would like to reassure you that we will do our best to ensure that you have the resources you need to do your work. We will also continue to engage all relevant role-players to join in ensuring that we improve the living conditions of our people, especially in rural areas. Towards this end, the Chairperson of the NCOP will be convening a planning meeting in Polokwane this weekend with a view to facilitating oversight on commitments made during our visit to the Greater Sekhukhune district in March. We will also be engaging the national departments so that the provincial and local governments are assisted to respond to the expressed needs of the Limpopo people.
During the fourth term of our Parliament, we have committed ourselves to ensuring that we play a significant and clear role in promoting the principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations.
Rural development and land reform, which is one of the priorities of government, is indeed on our own priority list when it comes to our oversight work. By the end of this term, we would like to see a marked improvement in how government responds to developmental challenges in rural areas. This is important because we need to stop many of our people moving from rural to urban areas, only to realise that they do not have the skills to participate in the urban economic life.
On 13 April 2010, as the committee, we received briefings from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform on its policy and Budget Vote No 32. The key objective of the department is the achievement of vibrant and sustainable rural communities. As the committee, we will be monitoring, among other things, the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, which is an important intervention towards the realisation of the department's objective.
Minister, we believe that the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme should include, but should not be limited to the following: the improvement of economic infrastructure; the development of access roads in rural areas; fencing for agriculture, including community gardens for the purpose of securing food production; and ensuring that every family has food.
Informed by the mandate of the ANC obtained during the national and provincial elections last year, we have emphasised, through the committee, the fact that the department needs to support the development of sustainable and vibrant rural communities with all amenities which are necessary to support the quality of life in a rural area.
The committee also believes that an ideal rural community must have access to water, electricity, irrigation schemes, information and communications technology, or ICT, systems, business centres, schools, adult basic education and training, or Abet, centres, libraries, clinics, community halls, and sports facilities. It is a fact that many of our rural villages today do not have many of these amenities. In fact, these facilities are associated with urban life and not with the needs of the people, irrespective of where they reside. A well-known farmer and philosopher once said:
If the land is to be used well, we must have people on the land who know it well, who know how to use it well, have time to use it well, and are able to afford to use it well.
This teaches us about the comprehensive nature of land and agrarian reform as we pursue it in South Africa. Therefore, with rural development, the exodus to cities will come to an end as rural areas will be self- sustaining.
Land is central to the implementation of government's comprehensive rural development strategy. In this context, allow me to remind the Minister that the issue of land claims is still a challenge to the development of the Greater Sekhukhune district. This needs our undivided and collective attention.
In conclusion, I want to thank the Minister for the wonderful work that he has done for the Sisonke District Municipality in my province, KwaZulu- Natal, by assisting the community during the Sisonke district pilot project on rural development. Your assistance has contributed immensely to better equip the community of the Sisonke District for rural development. I have no doubt that the people of Sisonke will be able to handle matters differently as they go forward in fostering rural development as the key element of all strategies to combat poverty.
Chairperson, when we talk about rural development, we are referring to rural communities that were always left behind with no focus. We urge an urgent and quick response to our concerns. The ANC supports the Budget Vote of the department. I thank you.