We are privileged to be given an opportunity to serve such a nation: a nation of leaders, a nation that does not have the word "problem" in its vocabulary, but a nation that has challenges to overcome.
This is one of the few nations in the world where the descendents of the slaves and the descendents of the slave owners sat down together around the table to shape the history of their country. We are privileged to be their public representatives. We dare not fail them.
Today as South Africans we are respected the world over owing to our ability to overcome adversity and find common ground to beat the odds and achieve more than expected.
Amongst our achievements as a nation are the following. General Jan Christiaan Smuts is credited with crafting the preamble to the United Nations Charter in 1945. The late President of the ANC, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, becoming the first African ever to receive the prize. The most famous statesman ever, Nelson Mandela, was our first President. The Mandela brand competes with the best in the world. The first heart transplant was done by Dr Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa. The South African national rugby team, the Springboks, has won the Rugby World Cup twice already and, a few days ago, won the test series against the British and Irish Lions. Our soccer team won the African Cup of Nations on its second attempt. The supremely talented Patrick "Ace" Ntsoelengoe was inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003. Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron is known as one of the greatest actresses of our time. Ladysmith Black Mambazo has won more than two Grammy Awards.
There are also many unsung heroes and heroines who are doing volunteer work, assisting people less privileged than themselves. We were the founders of the World Federation of Trade Unions in 1945. We have listed all these individuals and collectives irrespective of their political persuasions to demonstrate the ability of South Africans to defy all odds.
We are a nation of warriors that Hintsa and Sekhukhune led, the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, and the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom.
Fellow South Africans, we know that there are challenges, ranging from the economic meltdown to unemployment, but our fighting spirit as a nation will not allow us to despair because we know that freedom or death, victory is certain.
Exactly one week ago our people countrywide celebrated the 54th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People gathered in Kliptown in 1955. The first consultative conference of the ANC held in Morogoro in 1969 stated the following in analysing the Freedom Charter:
The Parliament of South Africa will be wholly transformed into an assembly of the people. Every man and woman in our country shall have the right to vote for and stand as a candidate for all offices and bodies which make laws.
Today our people's aspirations, hopes and desires are anchored in the firm foundation of the Constitution, which is legal expression of the noble ideals contained in the Freedom Charter.
The decisive majority the ANC received in the last poll is an indication of the trust and belief our people have in their movement that it will transform their country into what their forebears envisaged in the Freedom Charter in 1955.
The concept of a People's Parliament has been at the centre of the ANC's political vision. The ANC understands that a strong, democratic Parliament is one of our best instruments in defence of our democratic state and our dynamically evolving society. Parliament, as the primary institution of democracy - the voice of the people - must ensure that the principle of working together with our people is entrenched.
Before the end of the year, the ANC will have developed an assessment tool to measure the performance of its Members of Parliament. This assessment will be done annually. The ANC Members of Parliament will be drivers of an activist Parliament.
To us, Parliament is not the buildings of Parliament but the work done by members of this House to improve the lives of our people. The ANC Members of Parliament will not be servicing constituency offices, but constituencies. This means that we will not be waiting for people to come to our offices, but going to our people. [Applause.] We will not be served by our people but will serve them. We will not find solutions for our people; we will find solutions with them.
Our collective values should guide us and take precedence over our individual interests. As we are called upon to be servants of the people, we will, as such, be judged by the people not on how much we know, but on how much we care about them. We will use information gathered during the election campaign to ask Ministers questions, generate statements, evaluate policies, and even develop new policies. The people of South Africa will see themselves through their public representatives.
Therefore, our view as the ANC is to transform our institutions of democracy and enhance their capacity to deliver basic services in order for us to be able to push back the frontiers of poverty.
We propose that Parliament consider the following urgent matters for implementation. Committee budgets in Parliament are structured around committees. This cannot be correct. Budgets should, in the main, be structured around the programmes of committees and not the institution of a committee.
Executive secretaries to chairpersons of committees should be linked to the term of office of the particular chairperson. Chairpersons of committees should not be required to use secretaries that they are not comfortable with. [Applause.]
As a matter of principle, we agree with the Speaker that Parliament is not a department but an arm of state. In respect of the budget of Parliament, it must reflect the status and role of Parliament as an institution that exercises oversight over government. In this regard, it can only be correct to accommodate Parliament's needs as part of the top-sliced portion of revenue to be agreed upon between the presiding officers and the Treasury committee.
Today we sit with a funding formula that was last adjusted in 2005. It is important that the formula be revisited. Clearly, the criteria which determine how the budget is allocated are administratively driven. The provision for party-political research is a mere R2 200 per annum. The allocation of the budget confuses the political research done by Parliament's information services with party-political research. Nonpartisan research and party-political research are completely different and the appropriation of each budget by Parliament needs to reflect this.
It is the responsibility of party-political research to shape and strengthen the ideological capacity of Parliament in debate, a function that Parliament's information services do not perform. There should be money set aside for the disestablishment and establishment of party- political caucuses.
Whips are fundamental to the functioning of Parliament, yet in the budget allocation to parties there is no serious reflection of this. The political office bearers need to receive adequate and necessary support from Parliament. Support for whips cannot be relegated to a party-political issue. Parliament must recognise that funding the Whippery is a necessary part of the functioning of a constitutional democracy and not see it as an additional expense. The procedure for the appointment of senior officials should be reviewed. Given the fact that presiding officers constitute the executive authority of Parliament, they should be involved in the process of appointment of senior officials. [Applause.]
It has become abundantly clear that the practice of employment until retirement in Parliament is not having the desired impact on performance. If anything, it mitigates against performance. It needs review, and the process of realigning the term of office of staff with Parliament's needs requires discussion. Once agreed, implementation needs to be done in a staggered manner so that we don't have a disruption at the end of each term of Parliament.
The definition of tools of the trade should be revisited. Tools of the trade cannot be limited to cellphones, laptops and desktops. They have to be located within the paradigm of the overall and combined resources that are necessary and needed for a member with constitutional responsibilities. This must lead to our reviewing members' benefits, particularly how members undertake their constituency and oversight work. Rules will have to be revisited in this regard.
Progress has been made with regard to the representation of women, the youth and people living with disabilities. However, Parliament does not have an aftercare facility that members with young families can use when the need arises. We strongly recommend that such facilities be organised by Parliament. We should continue to give support to people living with disabilities. In so doing, we should not decide what they need but work with them to determine their needs.
A lot has been done to transform Parliament into a people's Parliament. However, participation is still dominated by those who have the means. Therefore, this fourth Parliament should devise ways and means of engaging the rural poor and other sectors of our society.
The ANC supports Parliament's Budget Vote, firm in the conviction that the work we continue to do remains consistent with the people's ideals of realising a vision of a united, nonracial and nonsexist South Africa.
Fellow South Africans, we have taken the first step of a long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa, in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity without regard to race, gender and social status.
We wish to thank the Whips of all parties for their co-operation to ensure the smooth running of Parliament. We wish to thank the Leader of Government Business for his support and efforts to improve co-ordination between Parliament and the executive. We wish to thank the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, the Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chairperson, and the House Chairpersons of the NA and NCOP for providing support and leadership.
We thank all members for their work and dedication. And we thank the staff of Parliament and the staff of all political parties for their support. We thank the media for reporting on our activities.
Let us intensify the struggle against poverty as we advance in unity towards the realisation of a better life for all. Working together, let us build a people's Parliament. Siyathokoza. [We thank you.] [Applause.]