Modulasetulo, Letona le kgabane, ke boka dikgomo. [Chairperson, hon Minister, thank you.]
From the outset let me assure you, hon Minister, that the PAC supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]
As the PAC, we feel that making national service noncompulsory is not the best option, because compulsoriness and democracy are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Something can be compulsory and yet be essentially democratic. We all know that in Australia to elect is not a matter of choice; every citizen is compelled to elect, yet Australia is called a democracy.
One of the most shining examples of democracy in Africa is Botswana. We all know that in Botswana, national service - Tirelo Setshaba - is compulsory. So much as our fear is understandable because of our painful past, I don't think making this very important aspect noncompulsory is going to be an improvement for us. More so, it could also be open to political manipulation. As the PAC, we feel that it should be reconsidered and made compulsory instead. With regard to skills training, discipline, education, etc, the PAC thinks that our youth really need these.
On the question of military veterans, I think the ex-combatants of the liberation movement are not getting a good deal. In fact, they are getting a raw deal, because most of them, as the Minister rightly indicated, are dying in shacks in squalid conditions. This is because they don't have medical cover, they hardly have a pension and, actually, they are condemned to living in poverty.
We welcome your announcement that they are going to get more money from 15 May 2010, but they deserve something more than money, and that something is land. The ex-combatants of the liberation movement must be entitled to land. This wouldn't be the first time in this country that people who come from war are given land. [Time expired.] [Applause.]