Thank you, Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members of the NCOP and guests. The Department of Public Works has the opportunity to create thousands of jobs in South Africa for jobless people. It is time to translate policies into programmes of action so that the infrastructure of South Africa is properly developed and people's lives are further improved.
In the state of the nation address, hon President Jacob Zuma again made promises of 500 000 jobs to the jobless citizens of South Africa. That is wonderful news for every South African and also for the DA. The DA wants to see that these jobs become sustainable and are not jobs that last for three to six months. These must also be jobs of an open-opportunity society, which means that everyone in South Africa will get a job if everyone had the opportunity to work for themselves and to the benefit of his or her family and our country.
Die DA is nie bereid om, soos die ANC die afgelope 15 jaar gedoen het, le beloftes te maak aan hulle kiesers en mede-landgenote nie: beloftes van behuising vir elke gesin, as ons gaan kyk na die strukture waarin duisende mense steeds bly; beloftes van beter en opgedateerde skole, meer onderwysers - ons kan maar gaan kyk hoeveel skole daar is wat nog van klei en modder gebou is en waar daar nog kinders onder die bome skoolgaan; beloftes van mediese dienste, hospitale en klinieke; beloftes van 'n beter polisiemag, meer gevangenisse, meer fasiliteite om ons pligte beter uit te voer; beloftes van 'n meer vaartbelynde Departement van Openbare Werke. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The DA is not prepared, unlike the ANC over the past 15 years, to make empty promises to their voters and fellow-citizens: Promises of houses for every family - just look at the structures in which thousands of people still have to live; promises of better and modernised schools and more teachers - just look at how many schools are still built from clay and mud and where children have to sit under trees to be taught; promises of medical services, hospitals and clinics; promises of a better police force and the building of more prisons, more facilities to improve our service delivery; and promises of a more streamlined Department of Public Works.]
Hon Chairperson, it is the responsibility of the Department of Public Works to see to it that the people of South Africa have clean water, proper sanitation in their houses, better school buildings, especially in the rural areas of the country, and better hospitals and clinics all over South Africa.
Government buildings are falling apart in many places. It looks as if the Department of Public Works has lost control over the maintenance of these governmental properties. Many of these buildings have been built within the past three to five years. The DA wants to know where were aspects such as quality control, professional input and skilled people when these buildings were built. We cannot afford this kind of poor quality buildings and we must always remember that the department is working with taxpayers' money. With poor quality of work we move backward, and not forward.
Agb Voorsitter, dit is presies wat die President in sy staatsrede ges het, en dit weergalm soos 'n refrein deur die department soos elke spreker en ook Minister daarna verwys. Ek haal aan:
Laat ons mekaar se hande vat...
En ek wil dit graag weer s, want die President het dit in sy openingsrede ges:
Laat ons mekaar se hande vat, en saam oplossings vind in die gees van 'n Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap. Die tyd het gekom om harder te werk.
En dit geld vir elkeen van ons wat ook in hierdie Huis sit -
Ons regering gaan vorentoe kyk, nie agtertoe nie!
Met die nodige dissipline in elke departement sal die droom van die agb President dalk verwesentlik word. Die ANC het homself verbind om hierdie doelwitte te bereik en ons moet kyk of dit volhoubaar gaan wees. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Chairperson, this is precisely what the President said in his state of the nation address and it resounds like a chorus throughout the department, as every speaker and Minister is also referring to it. I quote:
Let us take one another's hands ...
And I would like to repeat that, as the President said those words in his state of the nation address:
Let us take one another's hands, and together find solutions in the spirit of a South African community. The time has come to work harder.
And that applies to all of us who are sitting in this House -
Our government is going to look forward, not backward.
With the necessary discipline in each department the dream of the hon President will perhaps be realised. The ANC committed itself to achieve these targets and we will have to see whether it will be sustainable.]
We want to see the department starting to train people in their thousands in every province in South Africa. Give them the necessary training to become specialists in their jobs. Chairperson, a serious investigation must take place into the way this department handles the tender processes, how different entities in the department manage their budgets, underspending of budgets - and this is taxpayers' money - fraud and corruption, and the employment of families and friends in specialised posts.
The DA wants to ask the hon Minister to get control mechanisms in place to work together with all South Africans to build cohesive, caring and sustainable communities.
The positive direction the Department of Public Works has taken by uplifting people, especially those in the rural areas who are very poor, is much supported by the DA. The job opportunities provided by the EPWP will help a lot of people who are in desperate need to look after themselves in the future. The life and technical skills training will also help people to run their own businesses, earn an income and support their families.
We will take the ANC on and ensure that as the ruling party, they are responsible for the promises they made to fight corruption in the public services. The President said government had a role to play in the war against crime. To ensure delivery, government -
... will hold Cabinet Ministers accountable through performance instruments, using established targets and output measures ...
Furthermore, the President claims that he will work well with opposition parties in Parliament ... Thank you. [Time expired.]