The ever-deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is entrenching the social and economic difficulties in many communities in South Africa that have shown that they have the potential to ignite ethnic and xenophobic confrontation. This situation requires the political will to grasp the nettle that is Mugabe.
Mr President, speaking of political will, let me inform you that in the one area where you have shown some will, meddling with the Judiciary, the JSC and judicial appointments, your actions and those of your emissaries have not gone unnoticed, and are a source of grave concern.
There are apparently some bulletproof jurists and legal practitioners that have the unconditional support of your government, despite how compromised they may be. The fact is that Mr Mpshe seems to have been rewarded for juristic compliance, and so too Mr Simelane. Also, Mr Ngobeni provides legal services to the ANC, you and the Department of Defence, despite his very apparently compromised position as a legal practitioner.
The latest revelations about Mr Seth Nthai's alleged solicitation of a financial reward to make a legal challenge go away or to go one way or another, are all examples that compromise the independence of the Judiciary and contaminate the profession as well as the government, due to these people's unhealthily close relationship with the governing party's leadership.
Mr President, you must give unambiguous leadership about how we're going to create jobs and stimulate our economy as we pull out of this recession. Some ideas from someone who has always shown post-recession capital growth, namely Richard Branson, are instructive. He clearly states that optimism and instinct are no substitute for hard work. He recommends that leaders should surround themselves with trusted and talented people; keep them happy and motivated; be innovative; provide and maintain a certain quality of service; and ensure value for money. You, sir, have failed in all of these to some extent or the other. Your government must now look for solutions not excuses.
Many aspersions have been cast on the productivity of South African workers. This is fallacious, because who do these gainsayers think actually built the magnificent 2010 football stadia? And they did so on time, in fact, far ahead of time, better than some of the so-called most productive nations in similar situations.
It is not the South African work force that holds us back; it is the government's restrictive and convoluted labour laws that keep South Africans out of work. [Applause.]
During a recent visit to Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, I met with retrenched textile workers and none asked for government handouts. Mrs Dolly Yeriah held up her hands to me and said she has perfect hands and wants to put them to use in order to provide for her own family. This re-enforces the fact that self-provision and independence are a source of self-respect and personal human dignity.
The Presidential Hotline has been a supreme public relations fiasco, as its very existence is an indictment of all three spheres of government and all its implementing agencies. Furthermore, the few examples of success are the exception rather than the rule. My office has evaluated this hotline closely, and the catalogue of frustrations reads like a comical version of Animal Farm.
South Africa will host a unique and successful World Cup. We will welcome the world to visit our amazing country and have fun in the sun. The visitors must be treated like royalty, not robbed or fleeced by unscrupulous hospitality providers, because their experiences will determine whether or not they return and become tourism multipliers.
The eyes of the world will see us through lenses never ever seen on international TV, and this image will decide the prudence of our enormous investment in this event. We cannot allow ourselves to be embarrassed by any unintended disappointments.
Iintloni ezifana nombane ophela esithubeni nje ngokuhlwa kwango Lwesihlanu azamkelekanga. I-DA ithi phambili Bafana Bafana, phambili! Phambili Mzantsi Afrika, phambili! Siza kubabonisa abantu baphesheya ukuba i-Afrika iyaqaqamba. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Disappointments such as a power failure on a Friday evening are not acceptable. The DA says, forward Bafana Bafana, forward! Forward South Africa, forward! We will show our overseas visitors that Africa is shining.]
Posterity will judge the DA and other opposition parties on whether or not we had the courage to speak truth to power, and to be a realistic political counterweight. The DA has done this most effectively to date. Imagine being an opposition to uTat' uMandela and even Thabo Mbeki - not easy.
We have grown, nonetheless, and if you do the math you will all know that the Western Cape was not won by the 18% of white voters. The DA is a real alternative and the electorate has recognised this. In 1994 we had seven members; in 2009 we have 77 members.
We are solution-oriented because we do not want to inherit a bankrupt or scorched earth. Therefore, we will contribute in every way we can to ensure a prosperous South Africa; certainly not to entrench the ANC. Our political growth has been assisted by the quality or lack thereof of leadership in the ANC at all levels of government because leadership is as leadership does.
The reality is that the current crop of ANC leaders is being found wanting compared to the previous generation; certainly compared to the person we are paying tribute to in this debate.
In conclusion, I want to say that if you feel that I was being unfair or prejudiced in this response, if you read the newspapers from Friday to today, you will see that the people of this country are unhappy with the direction that is being given by the leadership. The people of this country want exemplary leadership, and I appeal to all of us in this House who are in positions of leadership to give that exemplary leadership. Thank you. [Applause.]