Hon Chairperson, members of the House, I think before I come to making my contribution to this Budget Vote, let me also just add my concern about the input of hon Walters. I thought I was somewhere else, not in South Africa. As far as I am concerned, this is a unitary state with nine provincial governments. I have never heard of one state signing a memorandum of understanding with a provincial government.
Our new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and its predecessor, the Department of Land Affairs, whose budget we are tabling in front of this House today, is central and a key issue in the realisation of a better life for all South Africans. As already tabled by the hon Minister, this department and this budget we are tabling here have to do with a very central asset of the people of this country, which is land, because without land itself, there is no way in which our people can be empowered. This is a universal truth, and it is because of that universality and fundamentality that you found many nations taking up arms against one another, because once you are dispossessed of your most valuable asset, which is land, then you are left with nothing else. We have seen this happening in various parts of the world, through conquests and colonialism, and South Africa was no exception.
It is because of these wars of conquest and colonialism that this department has been given the task by the new democratic government of making sure that we redress the wrongs of the past, and therefore has the responsibility to see to it that there is an equitable distribution of this very important asset. We know what many centuries of conquest and colonialism and apartheid have done, and the many laws which were passed to try to justify and formalise the dispossession of billions of indigenous people of this very important asset, the land.
Over the past 15 years, this department and the democratic government have taken many steps to make sure that this redress can be realised. While a lot of progress has been made in this regard, as the presentation of the Minister has indicated, there is still a lot that needs to be done, and it is very clear that we need to do this much more urgently if we are to avoid a potential ticking time bomb in terms of land hunger. I am sure all of us are very familiar with the developments across our boundaries and we don't want to find ourselves in that situation. Therefore it is in this regard that we call upon all South Africans, irrespective of their political persuasion, to work with us in finding workable solutions in the need to realise this equitable redistribution of land, and we welcome creative suggestions, as South African patriots.
As we look forward to the mandate of this fourth democratic Parliament and the National Council of Provinces and government as a whole, the expectations of our people are quite clear in terms of redressing these wrongs of the past. Determination to do that is clearly captured in the ANC manifesto, which has recently been translated into the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, and was adopted by Cabinet late in March. Both in the manifesto and MTSF we have placed rural development, linked to land reform, in the forefront of our priorities over the next five years. We are very clear that the task the voters have given us is a mammoth one, but we want to emphasise again that while a lot of progress has been made, a lot more still needs to be done.
In the area of rural development as well, over and above the question of land redistribution, we are quite conscious of the fact that a lot of progress has been made. It is there, it is indisputable for everybody to see. You just need to go around the various rural areas of our country. Where there were no roads in the past, today we have roads. Where there was no electrical power, today we have power. Where there were no clinics or hospitals, schools and other social amenities, these are there now.
But we are quite conscious of the fact that a lot more needs to be done, and therefore the decision by the ANC and the President to create a specific Ministry and Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to tackle these challenges head-on. The mandate therefore of this new Ministry and department is to consolidate the gains which have been made to make sure that, rather than just being one of the areas of attention by a myriad of departments and spheres of government, there is a champion, a catalyst who will be able to be the one to accelerate this, to make sure that the creation of a vibrant and sustainable rural community becomes a reality.
The aim of this Ministry and department is not to reinvent the wheel and do what has already been done, but to fine-tune those areas which need attention and make sure that various role-players can be brought together from within government spheres, from within national, provincial and local government, from business, from civil society, and from nongovernmental organisations, ensuring that there is a common cause on which all of us can focus.
In order for the department to succeed, we shall really have to make sure that the motto of "working together we can do more" should not just be a slogan, but should actually be put into practice. We expect, in the long term, the end result of this intervention to be rural communities that are comprehensive participants in the full life of our country, in its economic life and in its social and political life.
We are aware that for our people's energies to be harnessed, the issue of food security becomes very central, and, therefore, as our Minister has already indicated, central to this is the question of agrarian transformation. It is really our key instrument in realising the transformation of rural areas. But we want to emphasise upfront that while agrarian transformation is key to our strategy, we are looking at the comprehensive development of rural areas to encompass tourism, mining, construction and other areas of the economy, so that our rural areas are not relegated to focusing only on agricultural activities. Therefore our focus is the comprehensive revitalisation of rural areas.
To do this, it is quite clear to us that we need to rely on the empowerment of our people, because at the end of the day we can bring all sorts of resources to bear - financial, material and the land itself - but if our people are not fully empowered, this will just remain a pipe dream. Therefore the question of social mobilisation and the strengthening of various institutions of leadership in our communities become very important. It is very clear therefore that within the department itself very serious reorganisation will have to be done, and we have already started in terms of making sure that we are properly organised to focus on this mandate.
As we were busy with our campaign before the election, it was clear to us that what our people were looking for was faster delivery. The slogan out there was "akusheshwe" [make it snappy]. People want to see quick intervention and quick delivery. This is what we are committing ourselves to as a department - "akusheshwe" [make it snappy]. It will be a department for doing things fast. In this process we have already started repositioning the department in terms of our strategy, our business plan, and our operational plan, and in this regard we are making sure that we are also branded appropriately, so that people should no longer look at this department as a department of land affairs only, but as a department responsible for comprehensive rural development. We shall also be improving our communication.
In conclusion, we want to say that we are quite certain that this department and Ministry will live by the slogan of "working together we can do more". Thank you, hon Chair. [Applause.]