Hon Speaker, the UCDP joins the nation in celebrating the commemoration of the release of former President Nelson Madiba Mandela on 11 February 1990. He remains a national and international hero who sacrificed his freedom to bring change to our lives.
Kgosi Mangope, the leader of the UCDP, is one of the people who also called for the release of this icon. It was a message that was received by the hon former President Mandela himself and he thanked him for his input.
As we debate this state of the nation address for 2010, we are reminded of what President Zuma said last year on 3 June. He said that between then and December 2009, they planned to create about 500 000 job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP. On Thursday last week the hon President announced that by the end of December 2009, 480 000 Public Works job opportunities, which is 97% of the target set, were created.
According to the bureau of the Labour department, nonfarm payroll dropped sharply in early December. The payroll employment fell by another 524 000 in comparison to 533 000 in November. The number of unemployed persons increased by 632 000 to 11,1 million. Furthermore, the number of the long- term unemployed, that is 27 weeks or more, increased to 2,6 million in December.
Statistics SA said unemployment fell to 24,3% in the third quarter with the economy creating 89 000 new jobs during the final three months of last year. Most of the jobs created - I want to reiterate that - were in the informal sector and unskilled work.
This points to tough conditions existing in the formal industries. In other words, we need to be concerned about the 2,6 million formal job employment opportunities that South Africa still needs. Poor service delivery has led to protests in some municipalities. The many reasons for these protests include dissatisfaction with the delivery of basic municipal services, such as running water, electricity and toilets, especially in informal settlements; unemployment; high levels of poverty; poor infrastructure and lack of houses; and corruption and nepotism.
The ousting of six mayors, Speaker, some members of mayoral committees and MMCs in Rustenburg, Mafikeng, Mamusa, Moretele, Taung and Klerksdorp could exacerbate the poor service delivery in the North West province. What could the new appointees do in twelve months that the ousted ones couldn't do in four years of service?
These service delivery protests are symptoms of sociopolitical instability, which could develop into a fully fledged revolt if allowed to continue over a prolonged period. Speedy solutions to the socioeconomic conditions in many communities are needed.
The official pass rate for the 2009 matric examinations was 60,7%; down from 62,5% in 2008, and 65,2% in 2007. Out of all the provinces Mpumalanga performed the worst with only 45,9% of matrics passing. According to the department, 18 schools, half of them in Limpopo and four in KwaZulu-Natal, had a 0% matric pass rate.
Major factors influencing the poor matric rate are: low morale of teachers, poor quality teaching, ill discipline of teachers, inequitable distribution of resources, poor parental support, rapid changes in school curricula, mismanagement and lack of guidance in schools; and don't forget the inadequate pre-service and in-service training of teachers.
Your Excellency, you are reiterating the words of the National Commissioner of Police when he boasted that, comparatively speaking, South Africa has the largest police force in the world and that in the next three years you will be increasing the force by 10%.
Hon President, what change will the large police force bring? Is it only the visibility of the police in the streets? The present police force cannot perform because they are either not well equipped with resources, or are not properly trained to respond to the call of duty, or they are irresponsible, using the lack of infrastructure and resources to do their work as an excuse.
Police stations are poorly managed. The performance audit on 10111 and other lines of communication revealed that police are often not available for emergencies and sometimes turn up two to three hours later.
I would like to be a bit personal when coming to the matter. On Thursday night during the time when the hon President was presenting the state of the nation address my house in the North West was attacked. Attempts were made to call 10111, three calls were made, none were answered and the police only arrived four hours later. They found that the thugs had already vanished. They had fled the scene.
We would like to say that these vehicles of the police should be at the right place at the right time in order to rescue the people that are in need of their services. I thank you.