Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members, officials of the department, comrades and friends, it is a great pleasure for me to extend my greetings to you all.
I feel honoured for having been awarded this opportunity to address this House again. I am tempted to say that the recent national general elections, held on 22 April 2009, were historic and reflected the will of the people. Hence, they came in large numbers to confound those who have consistently claimed that, as we move away from the historic events of April 1994, our people will lose interest in the democratic process. Our people came out in numbers, in defiance of those prophets of doom who were a common feature before the elections.
We are an organisation that represents and listens not only to its constituency but to the entire South African nation. We therefore incorporated these views in our manifesto. It is for this reason that we are proud and confident today that the ANC manifesto represents the views and concerns of the masses of our people.
Xa ndithetha ngomhlaba noMphathiswa, kuza kufuneka sijonge ukuba zisekho na iindawo ezisahleleleke kakhulu ezisafuna ukuba uMphathiswa azihambele ukuze ziphuhliswe.
Njengoko ndisazi isakhono soMphathiswa kwezolimo nakuphuhliso lwamaphandle, akufakwanga mntu ungayaziyo intlupheko yabantu kuba uphuma kwelona phondo lakhe lahlupheka. Xa isabelo sikaMphathiswa siphinda sibekwa, kuza kufuneka acele sibe ngathi sithi chatha kuba ziseninzi izinto ekusafuneka zenzek ile. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[When I mention land to the Minister, we need to establish whether there are places which are severely marginalised that need the Minister's visit in order to be developed.
I know the Minister's strengths on agriculture and rural development; he is the right choice because he knows about people's suffering as he is from the poorest province. The Minister will have to ask for an increase in the next budget allocation because there are many things that still need to be done.]
The Minister has alluded in his address to the total of 635 settled claims, inclusive of 108 claims which were dismissed.
Siyabulela, Mphathiswa, kuba kuyabonakala ukuba eli sebe lizimisele ukusebenza kakhulu. [We thank you, Minister, because it is obvious that this department wants to work hard.]
The Minister also reported in his Budget Vote speech that the department will be in Riemvasmaak, restoring 46 000 hectares of land to the community. Together with the community, we shall celebrate the return of their ancestral land. The community will once again be the custodians of land that once belonged to their ancestors.
We acknowledge that, despite significant progress made over the past 15 years, people living in rural areas continue to face the harshest conditions of poverty, and lack of access to land and basic services. We are also committed to a comprehensive and clear rural development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform.
As members of this House, especially those on the select committee, we have a role to ensure that people living in the rural areas access all relevant services through the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, for the next five years. The strategy for the implementation of the CRDP and land reform is agrarian transformation, meaning rapid growth and sustainable development.
While we work on the national programme, it is the provinces who have to implement this programme. The ANC has represented its standpoint and approach to rural development, land reform and agrarian change. It has resolved, among other things, to implement an integrated programme of rural development, land reform and agrarian change based on these pillars.
Xa ndiza kuvala, ndibulela uMphathiswa ngohlobo azinikele ngalo emsebenzini wakhe. Zise khona iindawo ezineeprojekthi ezisafuna ukulandelwa kuba zisifa, kuba kaloku akukho bantu bazijongileyo. Kuza kufuneka ukuba ezi projekthi ziphinde ziqwalaselwe, kujongwe ukuba yintoni ebangela ukuba zife okanye yintoni ebangela ukuba abantu bangakwazi ukuziqhuba. Lilonke, Sihlalo, ndiyasibulela isabelo sakho Mphathiswa. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[In conclusion, I commend the Minister for his dedication to his work. There are still places with collapsing projects that need follow-up because there is no one doing the monitoring of these projects.
These projects will have to be reviewed to establish the cause for this and the reason for the failure to run these projects. In all, Chairperson, I support the Minister's budget. Thank you. [Applause.]]