Hon Chairperson, hon Speaker and hon Minister, this afternoon we will be referring to matters of the heart. Minister, unemployment knows no race, it sees no colour, but it affects all of us, irrespective of your background in society. It is, however, unacceptable to see how tenderpreneuring enriches the ANC elite, while the rest of the people, especially the poor, have to suffer owing to unemployment.
In his Budget Speech, the hon Minister of Finance highlighted the key spending priorities of government to create a better life for all. One of the main focus areas raised by the Minister is job creation. The Minister quite correctly said that one in four adults seeking work is unemployed and almost half of our young people have not found work.
The DA agrees with the Minister that job creation is of the utmost importance. This is because not only will people with jobs be able to look after themselves and their families financially, but they will also be afforded the opportunity to contribute to tax revenue, create wealth in the economy, look forward to better schooling opportunities for their children, and build a sense of self esteem. The proposed allocations of R52 billion over the next three years for the Expanded Public Works Programme are therefore disconcerting. Although the aim is to create 4,5 billion job opportunities, the jobs are unfortunately of a short-term nature and, as a result, no or very little skills transfer takes place. The DA is of the opinion that the funds provided by the Expanded Public Works Programme should rather be used to extend the youth unemployment programme and to grant more assistance to small and medium enterprises.
The DA has said in the past and we will say it again: the Setas do not work. Instead, we need a system that incentivises on-the-job training and apprenticeships. Therefore, the DA urges the government of the day to reopen all nursing colleges, teaching colleges and apprenticeship training centres in order to create an environment for young people to become self- sufficient and to restore the pride of all our young people. By doing this, our skills shortage will automatically be addressed.
The fact that 267 000 South Africans lost their jobs in the first quarter of 2009, according to Statistics SA, was a clear signal that the ANC's stance on labour policy is misguided and ultimately destructive to employment creation. Meanwhile, the increase in unemployment of 31,1% in the third quarter was a clear and urgent signal to the ANC government that the status quo on labour regulation is neither workable nor sustainable.
That said, the results for the fourth quarter of 2009 further demonstrated that President Zuma failed dismally in his promise to create 500 000 job opportunities by the end of last year. Instead, under the President's administration, about half a million jobs have been lost, and during the whole of 2009 the South African economy shed 870 000 jobs. The creation of real jobs and the eradication of poverty is one of the primary challenges South Africa faces. The solution to this problem lies in embracing the free market, relinquishing control over certain key aspects of the economy, and establishing an environment in which investment is encouraged, entrepreneurship rewarded and small and medium-sized businesses supported and allowed to grow.
Unfortunately, this government is moving in the opposite direction. Under the auspices of the developmental state, it is seeking to maintain its control and, indeed, if the new industrial policy is anything to go by, increase it. This is wrong. Central to arresting this approach is the realisation that the market, and not the state, is best placed to generate prosperity and wealth.
The Compensation Fund urgently needs to get its house in order and deliver on its mandate of compensating injured workers instead of allowing fraud and corruption to run rife. Last year, the Compensation Fund received a disclaimer of opinion from the Auditor-General. However, this year it seems that the fund is not making any progress in the processing of claims. Instead, the Department of Labour has admitted before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa, that the fund has been defrauded to the tune of R24,6 million in false claims. The Compensation Commissioner told Members of Parliament that medical doctors colluded with staff to create these false claims and that 11 staff members have been arrested and prosecuted in this regard.
However, R57 million remains unaccounted for in the financial year statements. Yet, millions of prospective beneficiaries in South Africa are going without food on a daily basis due to the frustrations created by this Compensation Fund. As a matter of interest, this morning, dear Minister, a member of the public in the Western Cape wanted to commit suicide as a result of frustrations encountered owing to claims that were never resolved.
In fact, in response to a parliamentary question posed by the DA, it has been revealed by the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, that the Commissioner for Occupational Injuries and Diseases has processed less than 17% of all claims it has received in 2009, and this has been the pattern for most of the past five years.
The commission is supposed to provide cover for medical expenses of workers injured on duty. All employers contribute to the fund. This reply is therefore a shocking indictment of a government institution mandated to protect workers. There is no defence for this shocking level of neglect of such a vulnerable group. The applicants were injured while contributing to society.
The excuse, that literacy levels are to blame, is invalid. There are multiple ways to contact an injured worker and the commissioner should use creativity and initiative to do so instead of simply accepting the problems as fact. This is his job, after all. The response just goes to show that actual service delivery is nowhere on the priority list of this department.
The Minister of Labour should help those who can't help themselves by transforming the currently inaccessible system of the Compensation Fund into one characterised by a caring environment in which claims are processed in a quick and user-friendly manner.
It is clear that Cosatu is only interested in one thing: increasing their influence in the labour market and securing monthly membership fees. The real concerns of the unemployed and those who do suffer at the hands of rogue labour brokers are not a priority at all.
It is now clear that our Minister of Labour, Mr Mdladlana, has been forced by the weight of evidence to rethink his promise to ban labour brokers. In response to a series of parliamentary questions posed by the DA, nine government departments admitted to making use of labour brokers, at a cost of R123 million. This is no surprise, but the reasons given supply overwhelming evidence as to the necessity of labour brokers. The figures also show that they are necessary for the efficient running of government, which poses further questions around why certain government departments flatly deny making use of their services.
It seems as if the appeasement of Cosatu does have its logical limits. One cannot blindly reject the solid facts and reasonable arguments that show that labour brokers do have a role to play in the labour market.
The Minister of Labour has never uttered a single word on concrete policy suggestions. He only threatens to ban labour brokers. The empty rhetoric and rabid threats by the Minister have now been exposed for precisely what they are: a cheap trick to shore up support with Cosatu members ahead of the 2009 national elections, even while knowing that those threats would never have materialised.
If our Minister had been serious about the abuse taking place on the periphery, then there would have been a clear and level-headed debate. Instead the abuse of workers has been used to promote the ANC, rather than address the real issues. The DA has proposed a comprehensive plan on the problem of workers' abuse on the fringes of the labour-market industry.
The DA urges all parties, especially the backbenchers of the ANC, to properly consult in terms of the DA's proposals which are based on best practices. I thank you. [Applause.]