Thank you to the Chairperson and the Minister for a good presentation that indeed spoke to the needs of the people, and thank you to the Minister for bringing us his counterpart Minister from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It shows that indeed the African Peer Review Mechanism will move.
The Minister has indeed given us a budget that shows a sterling effort within the required attributes of a developmental state. Indeed, you were confirming a requirement that the Polokwane resolution said we must come and fulfil because, underlying that, your presentation is a transformation of public administration and service, and a modernising of it because it has indeed inherited, through the sunset clause, what the father of the gentleman from the DA was saying.
His father was here for 40 years. He created some of these things. Because of the sunset clause, some of them were comfortable with some of these attributes, but now, through your agenda and programme, we will be in a position to remove some of them.
The budget of the Minister will turn the tide on the problems and binding constraints that the state has. In the developmental state, when we say the developmental state will meet the objectives of governance, it is when the Public Service's attitude has been geared towards the transformation agenda. Currently, we are working with some elements which would want to make the ANC government appear corrupt, when it has to do with elements of the transformation of mental attitudes to the manifesto of the ruling party. As such, we need to overhaul this administrative system. We thank the Minister because the programme of his budget will speak to that without failure.
The other element which the Minister's presentation has given to us is the fact that this budget - Budget Vote No 9 - as we said, is a developmental state budget. It will not only speak to issues of Batho Pele, but is also going to speak to issues of departmental activities which were inherited and became an obstacle in the Ministry, hence the problem with the occupation-specific dispensation. It is this Ministry that began to engage hands-on with OSD issues, and we hope that things will be done. Of course, this is not just hope: As the select committee we are prepared to engage and work with the Ministry. If needs be, as the Minister moves from province to province, an invitation can be extended to the House so that we are able to come and make sure that we oversee those things.
While the presentation is good for us as the select committee, there are certain nocturnal areas that need to be scrutinised. They are dark and need bright light to shine on them from your plans to make sure that interventions are made in those areas.
For example, we have the issue of norms and standards. I think they go beyond the Batho Pele principles. It was once said that they would be in a position to dictate daily to those who are working in the Ministries across the spheres, in the parastatals and entities, how they should respond to the people out there. Norms and standards will again empower the people to make sure that they are held accountable when certain things are not done in the process of giving services to the people.
I think that area needs to be clarified and unpacked within the broad context of Batho Pele principles. But, on a daily basis, what is it that must be done when I go to the office and find a counter clerk not responding to these elements? We therefore need that type of scrutiny. It is important that the department look into that. The other issue is that of whistle-blowers. We give them toll-free numbers every time, and they indeed blow the whistle. They are holding red cards against their seniors; mostly, they are juniors. After red-carding their seniors, they are then dismissed from work. What is it that the department is doing to protect these people? Security is not a privilege; it is a right.
Therefore, from a junior to whomever, everyone must enjoy the security of the Ministry and the department so that they are not victimised simply because they are doing their duty. In that way, whistle-blowing is essentially the protection of the taxpayers' money and of the people's property. The government, departments, municipalities and everything are the people's property and we therefore need a mechanism that will ensure how these people are protected.
On the issue of a single Public Service, I think we will await the process so that we can make an input. In fact, we can't keep on singing about something which we know is there. We are just waiting for that time because, procedurally speaking, when we say things will come, we don't mean now; we mean there will be plans, input, drafts and all sorts of things. But it must be speeded up; it has to. You have spoken well about Batho Pele. Some of us are educated enough to go beyond knowing all those things as concepts. Now we also understand the attitude within every aspect of Batho Pele.
However, I would want the department and the House to look into this bureaucracy. I think this is a concept we inherited through the sunset clause. We need to move and create our own concept, that of "revocrats". I understand this to be revolutionary managers in a revolutionary government and Parliament. "Revocracy" says that people must go according to the ruling party's manifesto. People must change every day and must understand change as ongoing and not static.
Bureaucracy is like a tortoise: you have to break it to change it. If you don't, it will remain like that. We, therefore, need to check whether or not, as part of the summit, we can come up with a concept that will make a logical impression with the administrative understanding of the politics of the ruling party. It's very important.
The other element that we need to look into with my friend and leader Comrade Nzimande - and he has always acted on this - is the issue of job access. [Time expired.] [Applause.]