Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister and all esteemed guests, it is indeed time for tourism to make a difference.
Ke nako! [It is time!]
As a form of background, allow me to quote from our Constitution, where we, the people, in its preamble, say that it was adopted to:
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
Lay the foundation for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person ...
These are fundamental principles and values for our society going forward. They form our social contract as South Africans, black and white. This is what mainly informs the mandate of the present government that emphasises five priority areas, namely inclusive economic growth; rural development; decent work and more sustainable livelihoods; education and training; health for all; and the fight against crime and corruption. This has been reaffirmed in the state of the nation address and by the January 8 statement of the ANC that sets the tone for its government planning every year.
These are essentially an amplification of the fundamentals in our Constitution quoted above. It is the main part of our national operational mandate, which has to be overseen by Parliament. For our oversight, we look at the annual estimates of expenditure, which is informed by a strategic plan that instructs the formulation of the core of the budget.
The outputs for this should be expected to be in the annual report, and these documents, together with hearings from time to time and briefings, allow us to oversee the performance of the department. We expect more hotels, lodges, bed and breakfast establishments, restaurants, tourist guides, operators, small businesses, more demand for tourist graduates, and a higher contribution to job creation in the economic sector, especially because this sector is labour-intensive, absorbing even those who are semi- skilled and unskilled. The priorities, as pronounced by government, also require that we get a sense as to whether we are making progress in the rural areas, in training or in inclusive growth, taking into account the skewed tourism spread and the level of transformation in this terrain of operation.
We depend on milestones and quantified progress in the accommodation- related tourism sector, the hospitality sector and the travel sector. This is the information that we require in order to pronounce fairly on the performance of government in the industry.
This is what informs our position as a portfolio committee on the budget in question, whose overarching aim is to promote growth and development that is competitive, equitable and sustainable in the tourism sector, and thus contribute to the national priorities.
For South African tourism to thrive optimally, the country has to be safe, its people need to be healthy, it has to have growth that is inclusive and equitable and that is spread fairly evenly over all provinces - those that are mainly urban and those that are largely rural.
There are countries that have traditionally had a large number of tourists coming to South Africa, and it is important to consolidate and expand our current position in that regard. But, at the same time, we have to explore further. For this, we perhaps have to look at our South-South partnerships as well. We have to share best practices and use each other's comparative advantages around the alliances to realise mutually beneficial relationships.
The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa co-operation, Bricsa, is an example that exposes South Africa to possible tourism markets, which may have received less attention before, and creates opportunities for further exploration, given the fact that they are experiencing above-average economic growth as well.
We also had a memorandum of understanding between South Africa and Kenya. Colourful billboards promoting Kenyan tourism along our highways attest to this. We believe that this will deepen our destination experiences. We are encouraged by developments around Nigeria and Angola, as the hon Minister has mentioned.
Chairperson, allow me to thank the hon Minister for the recent meeting with his counterpart in Zimbabwe, which indeed gives a political signal that demonstrates our confidence in the government of national unity and the negotiation process taking place under our President and the Southern African Development Community, SADC.
We recognise that it is in our economic interests to do so, because we are neighbours who are interdependent, who have to act with mutual synergy, because the more tourists there are in Zimbabwe, the more tourists we shall have as South Africa. There shall be peace and friendship in Zimbabwe.
Moving forward - from the regional stage to the global one - and as the hon Minister said, we have 37 days to go before the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and thanks go to the leadership of our great country South Africa for being bold enough to bring this mega event to our shores. It is the right event at the right time. Our duty as a country is to make the most of it whilst it is here, because we shall not see a mega event of its magnitude again in our lifetime.
Of course, we learnt a lot about the power of event owners and, in some cases, we mitigated the negative impact of that power well by strategising carefully. The challenge now is how to optimise the legacy of this event. How do we handle reputational risk, managerial risk and security risk in a way that maximises this legacy? What is critical to us is that the global exposure we receive as a result of having the 2010 World Cup in South Africa promotes our national interest.
In this regard, we have visited many host cities as Parliament, where we observed the state of readiness of South Africa as a tourism destination. We can tell you now that the airports we have are amongst the best in the world. [Applause.] The stadia we have built are second to none on earth. The infrastructure in the host cities was more than 95% ready three weeks ago. [Applause.] Yes, we are ready. Colourful flags are already fluttering in celebration of the arrival of Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Drogba, Eto'o, Messi, Rooney, amongst others. Yes, 2010 will be a defining moment for South Africa.
The long-term impact in terms of the economy, tourism, social development and the stature, not only of South Africa, but of Africa as the whole, are too important to be left to chance. The experiences, the dreams and the memories of South Africa will surely encourage many to make repeat visits to our great country.
On the question of the readiness of the Bafana team, I guess that I need more courage and patriotism than logic. First, we have to look at who we are. We were the first to try and take out the heart of a human being and replace it with the heart of another human being. Remember, Chris Barnard! He led this battle, and he was a South African.
In 1995, we had a very successful Rugby World Cup, when everyone feared the All Blacks and Jonah Lomu. It was a question of David and Goliath but, guess what, we just went onto the playing field and tackled the hell out of the feared Jonah Lomu and took the cup home. [Applause.] The country erupted in celebration, with Mandela leading it.
Once again, when everyone was scared of Ghana in 1996, what happened? We gave them such a hiding that when we were tired of dribbling them, Doctor Khumalo stood on top of the ball and folded his arms until the referee gave him a yellow card. [Laughter.] No Ghanaian player ventured to come near for they could not believe it. Similarly, we shall mesmerise the Argentinian maestro Messi into a mess.
Yidiski le. [This is football.]
This will be the greatest event on earth ever. Halala, South Africa, Halala!
HON MEMBERS: Halala!