Thank you very much, Chairperson. I would like to thank all members for engaging in this debate and say that they showed a lot of insight. What I can say is that we will actually look at Hansard and respond to the issues raised in this debate. I think you've spent a lot of time preparing, looking at matters, and these issues must be taken seriously and attended to by the department, so that next year we don't plough the same ground and repeat the same issues. We must be able to be responsive and attend to matters.
Therefore I am saying that I will not be able to respond to everything raised, but I want to highlight some of the issues. One of the most important things is that the leadership of the DA, Cope and the IFP could not raise any issue of substance against what we are doing.
What we had is a situation where Mr Doman had to be supervised by Mr Athol Trollip, as a leader of the party, as to whether he speaks the language of the master. Not only that, with Cope you had Ms Kilian come to supervise Mr Botha and ascertain whether he's speaking the language of the master in this debate. Also, in the IFP, you see Mr Smith is supervised by Mr Oriani- Ambrosini. [Laughter.] Now we have a situation where the relationship between members of the committee and the department is so good that people feared that if you left them, they would not say and speak in the master's voice. That is why they had to be supervised.
Having said that, let's look at what was raised by hon Doman. He raised the issue of power struggles and instability. The most unstable municipalities in South Africa are in the Western Cape, because we have municipalities where they change partners like nobody's business. [Interjections.] They enter into partnerships all the time. This is the Western Cape - you don't have that phenomenon anywhere else in the country. Even in KwaZulu-Natal things have changed.
Where are the problems of political leadership? Are they in other municipalities or in the Western Cape? They are here. The issue of Bitou Municipality was also raised. The DA, as a party, has double standards. They always say "no interference between the spheres of government" but because Bitou municipality is under ANC leadership in the province of the Western Cape, they want to dictate to it on how it utilise its personnel and its resources.
The Constitution says the appointment of officials at local government level is the duty of the council of the municipality. Don't interfere. It's not your business, because the agreement is entered into between the municipality and national government, to ensure that we support other municipalities where there is a need. To us there is nothing wrong with that, unless you want a situation where there is no development of other areas. You are an island of excellence surrounded by a sea of problems. Now we are saying that you shouldn't be able to say this.
The other matter that has been raised refers to why I always say "let's not politicise local government; let's focus on the issues". Let's look at what is happening in the DA, in what it claims is the best-run municipality. When we were building the stadiums for 2010 in Soweto, Orlando Stadium, they spent R280 million on the 40 000-capacity stadium. The Cape Town Metro spent over R4 billion on the 70 000-capacity stadium. The variation on the tender was over 60%. What does it tell you? It means that for 60% of the cost they didn't know what they were going to do exactly. That's what it means. The municipality of the DA must go and check the facts. [Interjections.]
If you look at all the stadiums, Cape Town stadium was the most expensive stadium with a 70 000 capacity. Durban has a cheaper 70 000-seat stadium than the one in the Western Cape. Now, where is value for money when you don't know what is going to be done with 60% of the tender? You can't give specifications. Not only that, go and check the way they misled the public on the Bus Rapid Transit system, BRT. Billions have been "understated". Go and investigate that.
Not only that, there is also the issue of them building toilets without covering them. What do you call that if you say you are the best-run municipality? There are many other mistakes that you can raise regarding the DA. That is why we say, don't throw stones if you live in a glass house. Let's not politicise these matters. Let's focus on the issues. [Applause.]
I can go on and on, but I hope next time around we will focus on the issues. What we are saying as the ANC-led government is that problems are everywhere, and they are not based on parties. If you look at the Cape Town municipality, they have cleansed blacks from their ranks. The last blacks were removed - 130 managers were cleansed - and they are appointing whites instead, and not only at that level. In the Western Cape provincial government, they have cleansed coloureds and Africans. They are placing whites as heads of department in this province.
Now I am saying don't politicise the issues of government; let's focus on the issue and accept it. I am still waiting. [Interjections.] No, you must listen because we listened to you and never interrupted. I am still waiting for a situation where the DA, as a party, admits its mistakes and deals with them. They have never done that. They are so defensive in the way they handle government matters.
For us to be able to reach each other, to be able to take this country to another level, we must be honest, candid and able to attend to the issues and so ensure that we change the face of government. [Applause.] I don't want to elaborate further, but I am saying let's work together. We are extending a hand of friendship from this side of the House.
The other matter is the issue of co-ordination that has been raised by, among others, the hon Botha. It is an issue that we are addressing and attending to. If you look at the Ten Point Plan, we are talking about a window for co-ordination so that we don't put the burden and stress on local government.
At the same time, Mr Smith raised the issues of extending the time. Yes, we are a responsive department. If we see things becoming unrealistic because of objective and subjective conditions, we must change them. But I can assure you, we are on course, because our deadline is to ensure that the budgets that are implemented by July are based on these plans. Therefore, there's no reason to worry; we are moving forward. But equally, we believe that from our side things are on course, and we will never fail our people and never betray their trust.
We want to thank the leadership of the committee under the hon Comrade Lechesa Tsenoli for their robust engagement and also their friendship, because outside this theatre, you are so nice, all of you. You are nice people, but when you act here in the House, you become something else. [Laughter.]
We also want to thank the officials in the department for their hard work and working with provinces and municipalities in the development of a turnaround strategy. We thank the members who are here, who came and sat up this late to listen to this discussion. We can assure you that South Africa is going to change. It is heading for improvement. There is no doubt in our minds, and we believe that working together with you, things will be better and faster, as we go forward.
We would also like to thank the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs team, the MECs who are always with us and willing to work, Salga and all other formations that we work with. Continue with the good work. You must make South Africa proud because local government is the most important sphere of government in South Africa. We also want to thank the friends of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs who are present and say that we are happy to invite you to join us for the gala dinner tonight. Thank you very much. [Applause.]