Chairperson, hon President, premiers, special delegates, it is quite interesting - and one cannot just continue with this debate without reflecting on this - that, unfortunately, the hon Watson has become a very active member of the ANC today.
When he so emphatically argues against cadre deployment of the ANC, perhaps it is important for us to ask the hon Watson a question, because very senior members of the DA, such as their excellencies Sandra Botha, Sheila Camerer, Tony Leon and Douglas Gibson have been deployed by the ANC, the President and the government to very senior positions.
Perhaps it is important that the DA tells us if they are against that kind of deployment or whether the President should consider the recall of those deployed cadres of the DA.
The second issue is that it is quite interesting to find that, while the Cape Town City Council was under the leadership of the hon Premier Helen Zille, they encountered so many problems. Even today we are still struggling to find the exact amount that is required for the rapid transit system - or should we smell a rat with this kind of calculation that comes with the history of the time when the hon member was the mayor of the city?
The strategy and tactics of the ANC, of course, command us to create a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa and central to that is the liberation of our people from economic bondage.
We take into account the strategies initiated by government to create an environment for jobs and business opportunities, but we also acknowledge that there are serious challenges that need to be addressed.
Government recognises that some citizens will continue to require state and social assistance. As of 31 March 2009, more than 13 million people received social grants, of whom more than 8 million were children. This is a very important matter which we have to look at.
The environment must be cultivated to allow for these initiatives to unfold. State-owned enterprises, for instance, and development finance institutions have to play an integral role in achieving the goal of a better life for all our people. Hon Chairperson and Mr President, these institutions must have a clear and concise developmental mandate, without there being any confusion. They need to change their corporatisation and BEE approach, which does not assist the objective of government to fight poverty, but instead enriches a few.
The ANC has been clear on its position, which is shared by many who value the principles of ubuntu, that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. All citizens, without any discrimination, have the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who is employed has the right to just and favourable remuneration, ensuring themselves and their family an existence worthy of human dignity, supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
This is why the NCOP, through its committees and programmes, such as Taking Parliament to the People, reiterates its position that mines, for example, cannot be seen to violate the rights of workers and their families by subjecting them to pathetic working conditions and the practices of labour brokers. These are practices that are not consistent with our principle objective of building a better life for all and of creating a caring society.
We are aware of government's commitment to ensuring that a comprehensive package of measures is introduced to promote beneficiation programmes, particularly in mining areas, that will ensure that the natural wealth of the country is shared and developed locally, thus accelerating the creation of decent work opportunities in the manufacturing and services industries or sectors.
As part of doing some of these things differently, the ANC calls on some of these companies to change their approach to beneficiation. We think that this is a very important matter that we should argue for.
In the main, their beneficiation programmes take the form of building poor quality roads and a clinic, and then leaving with the natural resources which have been extracted from that particular area. We say that central to the beneficiation programmes there should be the building of human settlements and the building of local economies through the transfer of skills and resources for the benefit of the local people.
In actual fact, it is of critical importance for us to understand and accept that the notion of fighting corruption did not just start anywhere, but was started by the ANC through its resolutions. The ANC made it a point that that particular resolution, of fighting corruption, finds expression through those government institutions that are geared towards fighting corruption.
Unfortunately, it is interesting that as we argue against this particular issue of corruption, our focus tends to be very limited, and that limitation is about the state and local municipalities. We don't speak about the private sector or the white-collar crime that is taking place. For instance, if today we spoke about price-fixing, the media, and also the opposition parties, won't see it as corruption, but as price-fixing when, in actual fact, at the heart of it, it is the worst form of corruption and one would have expected other political parties to speak out against it.
After all, if you fix the price of bread, you are denying the poor access to basic food and denying children the opportunity of going to school with something in their stomachs. If you engage in price-fixing of bread, you are actually denying emerging farmers the opportunity to ply their trade in a fair environment.
Right now there is a lot of hype against the implementation of the national health insurance scheme. This is not corruption, because the ANC is fighting for health to be accessible to all the people, including the poor. But who are the people who are against that? It is the very same DA that knows so much about corruption, but only when it comes to local government and processes of that nature. [Applause.]
It is for this reason that the ANC is going to step up its institutions, capacity and vigour to ensure that it fights corruption. To us, corruption involves stealing from the poor; corruption is about preventing the poor from having access to services. That is why the ANC will continue to fight and expose corruption and ensure that a better life is created for all our people. Thank you. [Applause.]
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo baba uMahlangu, Phini likaSihlalo lakuleNdlu mama uMemela, Msholozi, nabahlonishwa oNgqongqoshe bezifundazwe, oNdunankulu abakhona bezifundazwe zosishiyagalolunye. Isiqubulo sanamhlanje sithi, 'Kufuneka kubekhona ukuhlanganiswa kwezandla, ukuze sikwazi ukuba nempilo engcono, singabantu abamnyama kuleli izwe'.
Ngithi kuwe Msholozi njengomzukulu kaMaphumuzana, kunezinto ezinzinyana engithi mhlawumbe ungene kulesi sikhundla mhlawumbe izembe lishisa ngoba umnotho wezwe ungemuhle kahle. Abantu abaswele umsebenzi babalelwa ku 40% njengoba nawe ukushilo lokhu kwinkulumo yakho ukhuluma nesizwe sonke saseNingizimu ne-Afrika, ukuthi kumele kwenziwe okuthile ukuze bonke abantu bathole imisebenzi ngoba uyazi ukuthi uma ulambile awukwazi ukuthi uphume Msholozi uhambe ume ngaphandle, nokuguqa nangamadolo endlini ebusuku wenze abantu awukwazi uma ulambile.
Msholozi ngithe-ke ezintweni eziningi kukhona lapho kufuneka sibhekisise khona ukuthi laba ohulumeni basekhaya baseduze kwabantu bakithi noma basezinhlizweni zabantu bakithi. Laba ohulumeni basekhaya kufuneka kubhekelelwe uma ngabe iMinyango yezifundazwe ingenelela. Kufuneka ingenelele ngendlela yokwakha. Ngoba izimali zisuke zingadliwa amakhansela kwesinye isikhathi, lezo zimali zisuke zidliwa ngabasebenzi eMinyangweni. Uma kungenelelwa amakhansela abe eseyeka ukuqhuba umsebenzi ngoba iMinyango isingenelele. Kuye kube lukhuni ukuthi kutholakale izinsiza ukuthi iminyango isuke ezindaweni, isibonelo, njengakithi nje ukuthi ePietermaritzburg ihambe iye kobona ukuthi eNkandla kwenzekani, kwaNongoma kwenzekani, oPhongolo kwenzekani. Akulula ukuthi kwenzeke kalula lokho kanti lo hulumeni useduze kwabantu.
Ngithi ke mina kumele sibe nendlela yokuthi sibambisane sisonke kanye nani njenqembu elibusayo, ukuba sikwazi ukuhlanganyela ukuthi lapho kunenkohlakalo khona bakithi kuliwe nenkohlakalo.
Masengigcina Msholozi ngoba kungaba inkinga enkulu kabi ukuba ngingakukhumbuzi ukuthi, ngikhathazeka kabi mina Msholozi uma ngabe kukhulunywa ngemit hetho ethinta abaholi bomdabu. Asinayo indlela thina njengosopolitiki yo kunqumela abaholi bomdabu ukuthi benzeni. Kodwa kumele sibameme sibe ndawonye sisungule imithetho esazodingidwa noma esazophasiswa (imithetho ehlongozwayo) ezobusa bona, ngoba izokhunga futhi ibuse bona.
Ngithi ubaba omkhulu iNkosi uCetshwayo wayezobusa khona la, iboshwe ngabelungu beyigqilaza emva kokuba isibashayile eSandlwane. Kuthi ubaba omkhulu
INkosi yasoSuthu, UMawonga woSuthu, UMawonga akabulali uyasizila, Uqotha imbokodo nesisekelo,
Waboshwa St Helena wayeka ukuguqa ngamadolo enzela obaba mkhulu ekhaya eboshelwe lona leli lizwe. Ngithi amakhosi abanomnikelo omkhulu kuleli lizwe Msholozi. Ngikhuluma nawe njengendoda yakwaZulu, ngikhuluma nawe njengomntwana wasebukhosini bakwaZulu. Ngicela lokhu nikwazi ukukubhekisisa kahle ukuthi kwenzekani. Ubaba mkhulu ulele kini eNkandla. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prince M M M ZULU: Hon Chairperson Mahlangu, hon Deputy Chairperson, Ms Memela, hon members of the executive council, and premiers of all nine provinces present here today, today's theme is, "We need to come together as the black people of this country in order to have a better life".
I say to you, Msholozi, as the grandson of Maphumuzana, that there exist some challenging situations, which may prove to be tough and were already in a bad state when you came into this position, because the country's economy was not in a good state. The percentage of unemployed people is estimated at approximately 40%, as you also mentioned in your state of the nation address, and something needs to be done so that all the people can have jobs. Msholozi, you know that when you are hungry you cannot go and stand outside; you cannot even engage at night in order to reproduce.
Msholozi, I want to say that we need to ensure that these local governments are accessible to the people or are central to our people. These local governments should be taken care of when the provincial departments intervene. Their interventions should be constructive, because funds are sometimes not embezzled by the councillors, but by the workers at the different departments. If there is some form of intervention from these departments, councillors tend to relax and stop doing what they are supposed to do. It becomes difficult to get resources in order for these departments to go to different places. For example, it is not easy for the department in Pietermaritzburg to go and enquire as to what is happening at Nkandla, Nongoma and Pongola. It is not easy for this to happen whereas this government is people centred.
I suggest that we all find a way to co-operate with you, as the ruling party, so that we are able to fight corruption as one, where necessary.
Msholozi, in closing I need to remind you about an issue that concerns me a lot. I become very worried when I hear talk about the laws concerning traditional leaders. As politicians, we don't have a mandate to decide on what these traditional leaders should and should not do. Rather, we need to invite them when we create laws that will be debated upon or that are still going to be passed and which will govern them, because they will bind and govern them.
My forefather, King Cetshwayo, would have reigned here, but was arrested and enslaved by the whites after defeating them at Isandlwana.
INkosi yasoSuthu, UMawonga woSuthu, UMawonga kabulali uyasizila, Uqotha imbokodo nesisekelo,
He was exiled to Cape Town for our forefathers and this very country. Msholozi, chiefs made a great contribution to this country. I'm talking to you as a Zulu man; I'm talking to you as a Zulu prince. I urge you to look into this matter and get to the crux of the matter. King Cetshwayo was laid to rest in the village where you come from, Nkandla. Thank you. [Applause.]]