No, no, I didn't ask you; you are not Madam Chair! [Laughter.]
May I point out that we passed the Municipal Systems Act here unanimously. That is a developmental system of local government. We have provided for integrated development plans, IDPs. We have said that those IDPs ... Let me quote from a government department, and let me in fact quote from the Municipal Systems Act to remind you of what you agreed to:
It is the principal strategic planning instrument which guides and informs all planning and development, and all decisions with regard to planning, management and development, in the municipality.
The second section says that it binds the municipality in the exercise of its executive authority.
And thirdly, it says that it should be a product of intergovernmental and intersphere planning. If you look at the ethos of local government, at least in theory - it is not working in practice, the Minister himself acknowledges this - that is what we are seeking to do across the three spheres. So when we talk of a developmental state, let's discuss it. In our own department, we haven't fully discussed it.
Let me throw out a few elements of a developmental state for discussion in this Parliament, in the public out there and, not least, within the majority party. We want to be very clear. We don't mean, by a developmental state, some commander-status notion of planning from above. But for the many reasons that you as opposition parties complain about local government, we need to have far more developmental planning across all three spheres. The IDPs, as you know, are technocratic; the ward committees' needs are not necessarily reflected in them, they are not coterminous with provincial growth and development strategies and so on. In fact, in the Municipal Systems Act, we say that not only should ward committees shape IDPs, but IDPs should also in turn reflect provincial and national plans and strategies, and they are not doing that, of course, which is what we want to stress when we talk of a developmental state.
With regard to a development state, then, firstly, it is not some notion of a commander status imposed from above. Secondly, it is strategic planning we are talking of right now. Thirdly, it is embedded in the notion of mass participation, just as you have in Chapter 7 and in the Municipal Systems Act, except we are talking of a national planning framework and we have a specific Minister in the Presidency to deal with that.
In this country there is a very rare phenomenon. Whether you agree or disagree with this, the fact is that it is a rare phenomenon, that we have a 65,9% majority vote for the majority party in a 70% election. In this day and age, that is rare for democracies. There is a momentum that has been aroused there. There is patience, as I said earlier, that is not endless. We need to build on that momentum, whether those people out there voted for our party or not.
We are saying that there are limited resources against the background of this economic crisis. We cannot afford the duplication and wastage that regrettably we as government must take some measure of responsibility for; but Parliament, if it had exercised its oversight role more effectively, including me when I was the chair of a committee and a backbencher, could have avoided this. We are very clear that a developmental state is a state that intervenes in the economy. It serves the basic needs of the people of the country around certain non-negotiable needs such as water, electricity, education, health and so on - the very socioeconomic rights that I think all of us agreed to in the Constitution. But crucial to this notion of a developmental state, we must emphasise, is local economic development and the idea that municipalities too, precisely because they are so challenged, have to plan more effectively, to manage their limited resources better and to create decent jobs.
I want to go on to say that there is nothing particularly socialist - so as to avoid frightening you - in the notion that we have of a developmental state, and many of its elements are there in the Constitution and in the Municipal Systems Act.
I also want to stress that if you look at the way in which we have been managing IDPs, there is a need for a major review of that. In fact the department itself carried out a study some two years ago, if I am correct, on the functioning and performance of ward committees and the public participation process in shaping IDPs and its relationship to the provincial and national spheres. The department itself in its report has admitted that there are many weaknesses. But the basic principles, the basic features that we have in the Constitution and in the Municipal Systems Act, in my view - let's throw it open for discussion - remain valid. What we need to do, is to see how we can draw on those good features, add more features and work to ensure that there is development planning across the country.
In any case, in successful economies like Brazil and China, they all have a national plan and a national planning commission of some sort or another. We want to stress that our department will play a very crucial role, as the Minister explained. And no doubt, if he has the time, he will explain further this afternoon, in working closely with the National Planning Commission, led by Mr Trevor Manuel. We will work very closely with the monitoring and evaluation Ministry in the Presidency of Minister Chabane.
So our department is actually going to ensure that while there is this national planning, the role of the provinces and the role of local government are not excluded, and that decisions are not taken from above. So if you are opposed to a status notion of development planning, it is important for you to work with this department, this Ministry and this portfolio committee.
I want to conclude by congratulating the chairperson of the portfolio committee, Lechesa Tsenoli, on being elected chairperson of this committee. For those of you who do not know, the reason why he and I are where we are is that we are people who shaped this model that has many weaknesses, we admit, some 15 years later. To punish us, the President decide to make me Deputy Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and the ANC in Luthuli House decided that Lechesa Tsenoli would be the chairperson of the committee, so that we can learn from our own mistakes!
So let us begin by noting that people who in some or other way played a role in shaping this very model of co-operative governance are themselves playing key roles. Not least, mind you, the Minister. He was a local government MEC at the time - 1994 to 1999. For those of you who don't know, he served on the White Paper. And I want to publicly remind him that some, if not a lot, of the legislation we passed emerges from the very model that he and the hon Lechesa Tsenoli shaped.
So let me say to you: We are in for a very exciting five years. We are going to accelerate service delivery and development. The choice is yours: Are you going to take part or not? But we certainly are determined to deliver. Thank you very much. [Applause.]