Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, before we enter into a discussion, I should like to apologise for the miscommunication and say that we thought that the message had been conveyed.
We will then clean house and, at the same time, we must take it as a valuable lesson that we have learned so that in future we are able to ensure that these activities don't happen.
We are dealing with the subject matter around co-operative governance, as well as developing a White Paper on co-operative governance in South Africa. Now, we are very excited, Mr Chairperson, and also members of the House, that we are offered this opportunity of coming back home. It is always nice when you come back home, because it shows that when we left this home, we didn't leave badly. When we left this home, we were given blessings that said, "Go and represent us with aplomb, as the product of this august House".
This institution has played a pivotal role in shaping me, as a person, in understanding the national body politic in South Africa. We will always feel very good about it; and I must say that it was taken as a given that when you are in the NCOP, people don't go to be part of the executive, because you are in the House that represents the interests of provinces. In September last year that myth was debunked, when a person went from here straight to the executive.
The lessons that must be learned here are the lessons that say nothing is impossible in life. That is the first lesson. The second lesson is the lesson that says the sky is the limit, if people work hard. The third lesson that I would think has to be learned is that the leadership is watching us with hawk eyes, as if we are here in a theatre, and will always deploy those who they think are befitting of being given that responsibility.
As cadres here, we think that we must be able to emulate that. We must be able to ensure that that is the norm going forward, that it happens and doesn't just end at a certain time. Having said that, as a way of repaying this important House - this is what is called payback time - we will spare no effort or energy.
We will look at the situation where the section 76 Bills must be introduced in the NCOP. That will give you time to ensure that you can consult properly without pressure, so that when there are issues, they are able to go to the other House, once they have been deliberated and discussed here.
We are solemnly pledging that we will make sure that we engage the powers that be, the leadership, to ensure that that approach is followed as a norm and a practice, going forward. We hope that we will be able to achieve that in our lifetime.
Hon members, let's come back to the subject matter of the day, which is the issue around the institution of traditional leadership. We believe, from our side, that this institution played a pivotal role in the lives of our people. It forms the bedrock of our young democracy. It is an institution that, in particular, services the rural communities.
In that respect, we believe that the institution was at the forefront in the wars of dispossession and became highly instrumental in liberating our people, led by the oldest revolutionary organisation, not only in South Africa or Africa but the world over.
It became a spear that pierced through a colonialism of a special type and was able to ensure that it dealt a serious blow to the apartheid system and its obnoxious laws. It became a shield that protected the working class and the peasants - Africans, in particular, and blacks in general.
Therefore, traditional leaders were and still are an important motivating force in our struggle. It is in this context that the democratic breakthrough of 1994 came. It came as a result of the contribution that was made by the institution of traditional leadership.
It is not an accident of history that we have included Chapter 12 of the Constitution, to ensure that we recognise and appreciate the valuable contribution that was made by our forbears, the likes of Bhambatha, John Langalibalele Dube - uMafukuzela, Sekhukhune, Hintsa, Ndlambe, Moshoeshoe, Shaka-ka-Senzangakhona, Mkabayi-ka-Jama, Sukude Mkhondwane, to mention a few.
I must share with you that this process was driven by a number of objectives - amongst other things, to pay tribute to the role played by the institution in the formation of the people's movement, leading the fight for the liberation of the oppressed masses of our people and to acknowledge and accept that the institution has an important role to play in the new dispensation, especially in the development of rural communities. We dare not fail our forbears.
Today we deemed it fit that we converge here to debate these two Bills as a further arsenal against those who don't accept diversity as a strength in South Africa and those who want to impose their values as the only values in South Africa.
These Bills are aimed at reversing the apartheid colonialism and its legacy. We are saying that South Africa will never be the same again. Our people's movement firmly believes that the institution is critical in reshaping and consolidating our democracy. We agree that South Africa is our country with one President and one system that we are aiming to ensure that it embraces the traditional and modern systems.
We are saying that the two systems must be able to exist side by side, without any contradictions, without any problems.
South Africa has resolved to put a constitutional and legal framework in place to ensure that the institution of traditional leadership functions in a manner that embraces democracy and contributes to the entrenchment of a democratic culture, thus enhancing their status and their standing amongst South Africans.
The transformation agenda, though, still has a long way to go. We still have to do a lot to ensure that the institution is taken forward and is able to move forward.
The Bills that we are presenting here are a stop-gap measure. They are a temporary arrangement. Next year we will be making a comprehensive assessment of the laws. We will be presenting Bills that we think must be radical and revolutionary. We must ensure that these Bills will endure and be sustainable.
That process is being led by the Deputy Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Yunus Carrim.
We believe that the NCOP must be able to engage in this process at a formative stage. It must be able to ensure that this process is at the cutting edge of the rural communities. In either way, it is development.
We want to see a situation where the voice of traditional communities is heard in policy development, the passing of laws and their implementation, planning for the country, budgeting, human resource development and service delivery to ensure that rural communities take charge of their own destiny, as people of this country.
We believe that it is in our interest, as the Department for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to ensure that councillors and traditional leaders are able to work together harmoniously, because they are serving the same constituency. There is no reason for them to have conflicts, and we believe that we will be able to ensure that we deal with this issue in our lifetime.
I must also hasten to add that, going forward, we believe that we will be interacting with all departments, such as the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, where we must be able to ensure that land allocations happen in earnest. We must also be interacting with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries around food security, as well as the Department of Health, where we must make sure that, as South Africans, we accept that there is a platform for these matters, that our people ...
... bayakwazi ukushaya amathambo, bahlole impinge. [... can assess the situation, and get to the problem.]
Those values must be accepted. We must ensure that we don't undermine or look down upon them, as issues of culture, religion and the importance of development.
I must hasten to add that the other part of the Bill is the Bill that deals with the issues of the recognition of the institution of traditional leadership. As we go forward with the commission's term, that is the Nhlapo Commission - its term ended at the end of October. We have extended its lifespan until the end of January -. by February next year, we must have another commission, a commission that is going to be driven at a provincial level and co-ordinated at a national level.
I don't understand why, in the first place, this institution allowed a situation where the Nhlapo Commission marginalised the role of provinces. I don't understand this, because traditional affairs are a concurrent function. You could not allow a commission that investigates to look into disputes that involved provinces. I don't understand how the institution of the NCOP passed a Bill that excluded it.
To me, that structure was a structure that violated the Constitution, where you find that people who were saying, "Let's participate in this issue," were not involved and were undermined. I spoke to the former MEC of KwaZulu- Natal, MEC Mabuyakhulu, who requested to do the work of the province because they understand the province. They have anthropologists. They have researchers. They can do the work for Prof Nhlapo and give it to him to decide. The Nhlapo Commission refused and did not allow them to be involved in this process. It still baffles me. I think research needs to be undertaken, and it means, going forward, the NCOP must be vigilant in looking after the interests of provinces, in ensuring that this mistake is never repeated, in ensuring that things don't happen in this way.
From our point of view, we believe that the new commission is going to have fewer commissioners at a national level who are going to actually be co- ordinating and ensuring that they supervise the work that is done in provinces. We believe that premiers and MECs at a provincial level must prepare themselves to ensure that they appoint provincial committees that are going to be running these things. We are going to have a situation where, in all nine provinces, at the same time, the issues are being looked at, from the principal traditional leader, senior traditional leader, to headmen and women, in order to take this process forward.
From our point of view, we believe that the process is going to be speeded up, because we want to conclude the issues of the recognition of traditional leaders within a period of four years. What the Nhlapo Commission has failed to do in five years, as they dealt with only 12 cases, we want to get done in the shortest possible time, because of the provinces.
We want to thank the National House of Traditional Leaders, led by hon Kutama, with its provincial houses and the organs of civil society, the public, in general, for their contribution to the two Bills. We also want to extend our appreciation to the chairperson of the select committee and the team for his good leadership, as well as the leadership of the NCOP for their support at all times.
As much as we want to thank the select committee members for their incisive input and dedication to the task at hand, we say that you can only grow. We also want to thank the MECs from provinces. I can see that Madam Dube is with us. We are saying thank you, also to the delegates of the provinces for their contribution.
I also want to thank the department, under the leadership of Mr Elroy Africa, for their hard work and availability at times when required. I also thank the Deputy Minister for the sterling work that he has done in processing the Bill to its conclusion.
I am saying to him in his absence that this is his first achievement on the tasks given to him. We hope that he is going to take this lesson to be able to emulate the process going forward.
I also want to thank my family for their solid support and say to them that they are the bedrock of my work. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to achieve what we have achieved. Thank you very much, Chairperson. [Applause.]
USIHLALO WOMKHANDLU KAZWELONKE WEZIFUNDAZWE: Ngqongqoshe, lento oyikhulume la ibalulekile. Bangishiyile kuhlu lwezikhulumi, kodwa bayazi ukuthi ngibuya ebukhosini. [Uhleko.] Bekufanele ngikhulume kulolu daba ngoba ngikuzwa kahle ukuthi uthini. Angazi noma laba abanye bayakuzwa kahle yini. Kodwa-ke, ngoba bangishiyile sengiyokhuluma ngelinye ilanga. Kulungile, kodwa ngiyayithanda lento oyikhulumile. Ngiyabonga kakhulu. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Minister, what you said here is very important. They excluded me from the speaker's list and yet they know that I am royalty. [Laughter.] I was supposed to speak on this issue because I fully understand what you are saying. I am not sure whether other people fully understand you. But, because they excluded me from the speaker's list, I will speak some other day. It's right, but I like what you said. Thank you very much.]