Chairperson, comrades, friends and colleagues, thank you.
If the things we face are greater and more important than the things we refuse to face, then at least we have begun to re-evaluate our world. At least we have begun to learn to see and live again.
But if we refuse to see any of our awkward and deepest truths, then sooner or later, we are going to have to become deaf or blind. And then, eventually, we will have to silence our dreams and those of others. In other words, we die. We die in life.
These words were said by Ben Okri, and they were quoted in this House at the beginning of this year by Minister Manuel. May I, on behalf of the ANC, reiterate them in support of this Green Paper. Those who have never been in power may not appreciate the need to reflect on the past 15 years which the ANC government has traversed.
A great deal has been achieved, given the enormity of the challenges that have faced that democratic government since 1994. As the ANC, we view this Green Paper in three stages: the developmental state, which I will later deal with; the impact assessment; and the integrated approach towards efficient service delivery.
The developmental state has an important role to play in defining a common national agenda and mobilising all of society to take part in its implementation. This requires effective systems of interaction with all social partners to exercise leadership informed by the popular mandate derived from the electorate.
Enhancing and developing the strategic management and leadership of government should be seen in the context of building a premise on a people- centred and people-driven change. In particular, the state must have, as its primary mission, the desire and commitment to improve the quality of life of all the people, especially the poor who constitute the majority of this country.
We do not only require strategic management and technical capacity to translate all broad policy objectives into real and concrete programmes and projects, but we should also ensure implementation, monitoring, evaluation and assessment of the outcomes. The ANC has always embraced a Public Service that responds efficiently and effectively to the needs of the people, as reflected in the RDP documents.
The process of democratisation requires modernising the structures and functioning of government in pursuit of the objectives of efficient, effective, economic, responsive, transparent and accountable government. We must develop the capacity of government for strategic interventions in social and economic development. We must increase the capacity of the public sector to deliver an improved and extended public service to all the people of South Africa.
The manifesto of the ANC further states that:
The developmental state will play a central and strategic role in the economy. We will ensure a more effective government; improve the co- ordination and planning efforts of the developmental state by means of a planning entity to ensure faster change. A review of the structure of government will be undertaken, to ensure effective service delivery.
The reconfiguration of Ministries did not come as an accident, but as a result of a realisation by the ANC of the need to improve government performance by introducing a new paradigm shift in traditional ways of doing things. Central to the success of these noble ideals will be the real activist parliament as envisaged by the President - a parliament that is geared to raise tough questions on nonperformance and failure to deliver on agreed key performance areas and outcomes.
This requires that Members of Parliament should be provided with sufficient tools of the trade. It means building capacity for committees to be able to interrogate reports, carry out oversight and ensure that Members of Parliament put into practice the oversight and accountability model adopted by this Parliament. It would mean that the constituency period does not become a holiday, but an opportunity to interact with our people.
Parliament has, over the years, enacted sufficient laws and regulations to ensure that public servants account for their work. Among the tools for oversight and accountability, are laws such as the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, Act 1 of 1999; the Municipal Finance Management Act, MFMA, Act 56 of 2003; the newly elected Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act 9 of 2009; the reports of the Public Service Commission; the Auditor-General's report; and National Treasury regulations.
The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act was established in line with section 177 of the Constitution. This Act revolutionises the work of Parliament because it spells out procedures on how to amend budgets. Parliament needs to urgently empower all members to understand this Act as it impacts, in a big way, on their work and on society as a whole.
The South African electorate is not a passive recipient of services, as shown by the recent demonstrations. However, effective complaints channels must be created so that they can swiftly and effectively be addressed.
The President has already established a hotline where people can raise their complaints directly with the Presidency. The Gauteng legislature has legislated for a public participation and petitions procedure. National government and other legislators can emulate this procedure and improve on it.
One hopes that the recession we find ourselves in comes as a window of opportunity to work more economically and effectively, and to achieve more with fewer resources. The Auditor-General's reports are very important indicators of measuring the strength of our financial capacity in keeping books and financial documents.
The Auditor-General himself has raised reservations about the failure of senior officials to make themselves available when his office audits departments or public entities. If the officials are defying that office, Parliament has a duty to protect it.
We would like to welcome the evolution of auditing in our country as the Auditor-General intends embarking on auditing not only financial information, but performance information as well - that is, what the money has bought; the quality of spending; value for money; and the impact thereof. In other words, they audit the outcomes.
The financial information that has always been audited fell short on reporting on matters of service delivery. The issue of clean audits, as envisaged by the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, is not the preserve of local government, but all stakeholders who play an oversight role on matters of spending, service delivery and the structures that we set up to support that.
The Constitution, and especially section 154 and section 34 of the MFMA, are very clear with respect to the responsibility that national and provincial governments should take towards supporting local governments.
In conclusion, all Members of Parliament need to ensure that they get their hands dirty so that our people's lives are changed. The resources are there to deliver services. Working together, we can make the issue of monitoring and evaluation succeed. I thank you.