Ngqongqotjhe, Sekela likaNgqongqotjhe, malunga ahloniphekileko, angikulotjhise nawe Sihlalo. [Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members, and greetings to you, Chairman.]
Minister, from the President's speech it is clear that your department is responsible for the creation of some, if not all, of the 500 000 jobs by December 2009, and all eyes will be on your department to ensure that those jobs are created. The most important questions are: How and where are those jobs going to be created in such a short period of time? Sihlalo, kuqakathekile kobana sivule amathuba amanengi wemisebenzi enarheni yekhethu. Akunamraro nanyana kungaba matorho namkhana misebenzi yasafuthi. Okubuhlungu khulu kukobana abantu abanengi abanamsebenzi. Engakhe ngakubona endaweni yangekhethu kukuthi akusibo abantu abatlhagako abathola imisebenzi le, kodwana itholwa ngilabo abazanako nemindeni.
Ekujameni komkhandlu kamasipala, sinamakhansela wamawadi lawo alawula yoke imisebenzi esemawadini wabo. Nangabe kunehlelo lemisebenzi, i-projekthi, ekufanele iyenziwe endaweni yaloyomasipala nanyana kuwadi leyo, kuba ngilo lelokhansela elenza umsebenzi wokucatjha abantu. Kulapho-ke umraro uthoma khona, ngombana malunga womndeni nabangani kwaphela abazakucatjhwa. Akuyingokuthi umumuntu owela ngakuyiphi ihlangono yezepolitiki, kodwana nanyana ungasilo ilunga lehlangano yepolitiki awutjhejwa.
Malunga ahloniphekileko, akusiboboke abantu abafuna ukuzibandakanya kwezepolitiki begodu abantu abatlhagako angekhe babenemali yokujoyina iinhlangano zepolitiki. Labo babantu abangayitholiko imisebenzi ngitjho nofana kungaba matorhwanyana. Kufane sikubalekele lokhu.
Lokha nasizokuvula amathuba wemisebenzi emakhulu amabili endaweni yabantu abatlhagako, kutjho kobana kufanele kube mindeni emakhulu amabili ethola imisebenzi. Kungabi mindeni elitjhumi kwaphela njengobana kwenzeka esikhathini samanjesi. Asiqinisekiseni kobana yoke imindeni ilala idlile. (Translation of isiNdebele paragraphs follows.)
[Chairman, it is imperative that we create many job opportunities in our country. It does not matter whether these jobs are temporary or permanent. The most painful thing is that many of our people are jobless. And what I have experienced in our area is that such jobs are not given to poor people but are given to people who are related to those that are in charge.
In a local municipality council, we have ward councillors that control all the jobs in their wards. When there is a project to be done in that municipality or ward, the very same councillor takes over the employment process. That is where most of the problems start because it is only friends and family members who will get those jobs. It does not matter to which political party you belong, even if you do not belong to any political party you will still be ignored.
Hon members, not everyone wants to be involved in politics, because poor people will not have the money to join political parties anyway. These are the people who do not get these jobs even if those jobs are temporary. We have to stop this practice.
When we create 200 job opportunities in places where poor people live, it means that 200 families must get those jobs, and not 10 families as is happening now. Let's make sure that all families get food before they go to bed.]
Minister, the Council for the Built Environment, the CBE, has indicated that one of their challenges is funding and that some councillors are operating from the streets. I agree with them, but every entity of government being funded from public money must take responsibility for managing those funds. It doesn't sound okay to ask for more funds while you cannot manage the very limited funds you are given to manage.
There are no internal controls, no monitoring, no compliance with Treasury regulations and the Public Finance Management Act. Therefore the CBE must get its act together and convince you that they do account for every cent given to them. But reading from the auditor's report, there is still much to be done by the CBE.
Coming to your department, Minister, the Auditor-General has emphasised certain matters. I'll only mention one which I feel needs to be cleared from the records as a matter of urgency because it emanates from previous years. I am referring to unauthorised, fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure amounting to R314 million, R38 million and R39 million, respectively. The words mentioned above are not nice words, especially if the Minister is committed to turning the department into a business entity. There are officials who are enriching themselves with taxpayers' money. They must be investigated, arrested and locked up in jail.
Minister, the problem at Marievale Military Base has been there for a long time now. I am not sure why the Department of Defence left the place like that, never mind not maintaining the place like any other government property. It is now going to cost the department millions of rand to bring it to normality.
There are people who have been residing at that military base since 1978, and now they are being abused by some members of the military. It must be made clear whether they are renting or not; it cannot be correct that someone will come and tell them they must start renting and after a few months no one collects the rental. Are we sure that the money collected is paid over to government, or is someone putting the money into his or her pocket? I suspect corruption here.
Last time they were served with eviction letters and at the last minute they were told to ignore the eviction letters, as these were not legal. Who is fooling whom here? Minister, something must be done about Marievale Military Base. These are government assets and they belong to your department. You are the one to take the necessary steps.
Gauteng has a huge housing backlog and land availability is a problem. This is an opportunity, Minister. My suggestions are as follows. Firstly, the military base is situated between Springs and Nigel. We want to see people staying next to their places of employment. Therefore, it would be crucial to give the land to the Department of Human Settlements to develop the area for housing allocation. There are already people staying in the area, so it will not take long.
Secondly, the Department of Public Works can sell the golf estate to companies who are prepared and willing to develop the area into a business. This would be another opportunity for business. What is crucial is that the land must add value to government rather than being a liability. Currently it is dead land. In the hands of the Department of Defence the area is deteriorating, and it cannot be business as usual.