In particular, the issue of emergency medical services needs to be addressed. While the provincialisation of emergency medical services has been put on hold until after 2010, it is recommended that a similar approach be taken with that of primary health care. Essentially, what is also required is an approach which promotes the co- ordination and implementation of services at local government level, with sustainable funding arrangements and not through grants.
In the 2008 national members assembly, the following were raised by local governments as factors which impacted on effective functioning: Firstly, insufficient funding for ambulances and emergency services. Municipalities had to provide for the financial gap and this in essence translated to municipalities funding provincial government.
Secondly, there is a need to approach fire, ambulance and emergency services with adequate funding as integrated services. This will allow for the provision of a critical and co-ordinated response, and efficient, effective rendering of the service as they are all interlinked. A third factor was that of the location of fire services and emergency medical services closest to communities for effective response turnaround time.
Lastly, we have to assign ambulance services to local government with sustainable funding through the appropriate delegation and agreement process.
We are very pleased to note that the delayed audit of the primary health care service and infrastructure in all nine provinces has now been highlighted as a priority for this year's budget. We would urge that the Minister include an analysis of capacity within this audit and an assessment of the communication and representation processes within the district health councils, where these are established at local levels.
Municipalities need information in order to define their parameters of action, and communities need to have clear mechanisms for raising their health issues and concerns. To this end, we welcome the department's prioritisation of strengthening the district health information system and other monitoring tools for the delivery of primary health care in all provinces.
Salga is also committed to working closely with the department and the SA National Aids Council on combating the scourge of HIV/Aids and we support the two Budget Votes tabled. Thank you. [Applause.] Dr B M RADEBE (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, thank you. May I lodge a complaint that the microphone is a bit short; it needs to be extended. [Laughter.] Deputy Chairperson, Ministers present, Deputy Ministers, my colleagues from other provinces and members, I just want to start by saying that I'm a bit disturbed, because sometimes we, as the ANC, unveil or discover fraud and corruption, but the opposition will jump up first to announce that as if they are the ones who have found the corruption.
I am not responding; I'm not the Minister, I'm just an ordinary MEC. A member of Cope spoke about corruption, but they can't tell us the first corruption which they have committed ...
... bashintsha amagama beyobhalisa kwa-IEC. [... they changed names when they registered with the IEC.]
That is the highest degree of fraud and corruption when, once you are given a list to submit to the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, then you change the list on the way. But you are not talking about that, you are talking about us.
I am standing here to support the budget speech ...
... ka-Minister [Ngqongqoshe] wethu but [kodwa] ngifisa ukuthinta lezi zinto ezibalulekile ... [... of our Minister, but I wish to touch on these important issues ...] Still talking about corruption as public representatives, there is no pension. All pensions are paid in wards where there are councillors and Members of Parliament deployed in those particular areas. What then are you doing to stop that, rather than coming to make a big noise here? What are you doing?
There are no criminals who fall from the sky. They are within the community. What are you doing, other than making a big noise in this House? I think this is an embarrassment; we are elected because people trusted us, then we come here ...
... thina sizokhuluma nge-corruption [inkohlakalo] ...[... we are going to speak about corruption ...]
... as if we are living in the sky. Let me make an example because this is already public knowledge. One of the spokespersons of my predecessor is out on bail of R30 000 for fraud and corruption. We have inherited ...
... i-corruption [inkohlakalo] ebikhona ... [... corruption that was already in existence ...]
... in the previous government. But because we are revealing this corruption, then it's us.
Izono zabazali ziyokwehlela kubantwana. [Uhleko.] [The sins of the parents fall on the children. [Laughter.]]
That is my problem. I can tell you, Chairperson...
Ukuthi... [that ...]
... I was appointed in November 2006. I only served 28 months in the last term. But this department, which one DA member was saying is corrupt, is not corrupt. I never even fired one chief-director in the department, but we were able to turn the department around. It is one of only a few departments that is respected in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
Not only did we do that, we came up with ...
... ama-ideas [imibono], ama-one stop development centre ... [... ideas such as, one-stop development centres ...]
The Deputy Minister was present when the President opened one of the one- stop development centres in Nkandla. In one shelter, Home Affairs, the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, the Department of Labour, Education and the Saps gathered. Under one roof, you could apply for your ID, social grants, disability grant and all the other grants. I finalised with the Minister of Home Affairs on Saturday that they are going to deploy ... ... abantu ... [... people ...]
... in those areas. For the first time ...
... abantu baKwaZulu-Natali eNkandla ... [... people from Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal ...]
... are able to walk in, apply for an ID and go back home without paying a cent for transport. It's for the first time ...
... abantu KwaNongoma, Mtwana, eSkokonko ... [... that people from Nongoma at Skokonko, Prince, ...]
... are able ...
... ukukhipha izinkomo bazibeke ngaphandle ... [... to take their cows to the grazing fields ...]
... and go to apply for a grant, and come back without paying a cent. It's the first time in Mboza that ...
... abantu bakhona ... [... the people from that area ...]
... are within walking distance from where they can go and apply for social grants, IDs and everything, and go back without paying a cent. What were they doing before us? Yini ekade beyenza yonke le minyaka? Yini ekade beyenza yonke le minyaka? Kukhuluma abantu abenza umkhonyovu emaphepheni okubhalisela ukhetho, bazotshela thina nge-fraud and corruption. [Ngomkhonyovu nenkohlakalo.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[What have they been doing all these years? What have they been doing all these years? Then they come here and tell us about fraud and corruption - the very same people who committed fraud on the voter registration papers.]
It's an embarrassment. It is really an embarrassment.
I also want to say to the Minister that I'm happy about your stance in trying to assist us at provincial level, especially with the working relationship between us. Our head of department, HOD, and the Sassa Executive Manager are meeting on Friday. They are now fine-tuning the working relationship in our province, and I can tell you that it will be one of the best.
We have already deployed our social workers to these one-stop development centres, which should cost us R56 million. For ...
... abantu bakithi ... [... our people ...]
... as I said, for the first time.
... umuntu waseNkandla ... [... a person from Nkandla ...]
... will never walk 96km again in order to go and make applications ...
... abesegwaziswa; futhi okunye ... [... and have to pay a bribe. Another thing ...]
... is that as public representatives we need to create a good relationship with the business sector.
Iphini likaNgqongqoshe ... [The Deputy Minister ...]
... will know an area called Ofafa. There was a disaster. We went to address and ask the business community to assist. They did not build four- roomed houses, but fully furnished five-roomed houses, free of charge. We handed over those houses ...
... kubantu. [... to the people.]
The same thing happened in Gobandlovu; the hon Gamede was present. People were sleeping in water, not ...
... ukuthi kumanzi ... [... that these houses were damp.]
We went and approached the business community. He was there when those houses were handed over - five-roomed houses with furniture and digital televisions, not the old-fashioned ones. [Laughter.] Again, this Thursday, we are going to Umkhanyakude to hand over a house to a nine-year-old child who lives with her aunt because her grandmother was burnt beyond recognition.
It was not through our competence, but if you create a good relationship with the business community, you can do more because our department cuts across almost all departments.
One initiative ...
... esiyithathile njenge KZN, ukulekelela abafelokazi. [... that we undertook in KZN, was to assist the widows.]
They are caught in the crossfire in the sense that they don't qualify for pension because of their age. At the same time, nobody is employed. They have children. I gave the example ...
... kwi-Minmec mayelana nomndeni wakwa wakwaMyeni ePaulpietersburg. [... in Minmec of the Myeni family from Paulpietersburg.]
An eight-month-pregnant woman who had three other children decided to kill herself with that child in the stomach because she could not take the pain of her children crying to her almost everyday, going out into the streets to beg, and yet she knew they had nothing to put on the table. She left a note that said that maybe when she's dead, the government would take care of her kids.
They are now forming co-operatives to make sure that, once people like her are mentored, they will be handed over to economic development to be able to survive, because the majority of them are HIV positive. The previous speaker, Dr Dhlomo, spoke about HIV and Aids. It's rife in any province.
We are hoping ...
... ukuthi sisazofika sizokhala kuNgqongqoshe. Ngoba sizocela ukuthi selekelelwe ngemali siyisifundazwe. [... that we are going to go and plead with the Minister. We are going to ask for financial support as a province.]
We have also started...
... uhlelo lukaMasifundisane i-Abet. Ngoba inkinga ekhona kulaba bantu bempesheni ... [... an Abet programme called Masifundisane, because the problem that the pensioners face is that ...]
... they go and collect their pension and get 50% of their pension. The rest will be taken away by ... ... yilabo-stick sweet abakhona. Abakwazi nokuthi bazibalele ukuthi yimalini imali ekufanele iye kubona esandleni. [... the fraudsters who are there. They even calculate the amount that they will steal.]
So I'm saying with my colleague ...
... ubaba uDlomo ... O! Ngigoqe baba? [... hon Dhlomo ... Oh! Should I conclude?