Chairperson, hon Ministers, and Deputy Ministers present, hon members, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to start with a quote from Antjie Krog's book entitled, "A Change of Tongue":
In times of fundamental change people tend to find a space, lose it and then find another space as life, and the world, transform around them. What does this metamorphosis entail and in what ways are we affected by it? How do we live through it and what may we become on our journey towards each other, particularly when the space and places from which we depart are, at least on the surface, so vastly different?
It is, amongst other things, because of assertions as the ones above uQamata, that our hon President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, kicked off his state of the nation address by alluding to the fact that, and I quote: "Our nation has over the past two years gone through very challenging times."
I want to commend the Minister and the department for a visionary strategic plan and budget for the department, especially in these challenging times that we currently live in. These are times in the history of humankind when governments are called upon to inaugurate change. There are also imperatives that demand that the change be structural and revolutionary, rather than marginal and evolutionary and that it proceed with unusual urgency.
Under our Constitution people are created equal and the inequalities which continue to affect our people today, are the product of history, the history of colonialism and apartheid. It is, therefore, our contention and commitment as public representatives, and also as a government chosen by the people, to facilitate and assist in bringing to function "the dream of a better life for all", and we have an inescapable moral obligation to persevere.
This, in essence, complies with section 92, Chapter 3 of the Constitution, which states that Members of the Cabinet must provide Parliament with full and regular reports concerning matters under their control. This, then, meaning the strategic plan and the Budget Vote, creates a platform from which we can measure the performance of the department and hold them accountable at the end of the financial year.
Our manifesto has placed large-scale creation of decent work opportunities on the agenda of this ANC-led government, to deal with the challenge of unemployment and inequality.
The ANC, in the recent national and provincial elections, received a strong mandate to better the lives of all people by working together with communities and all development partners. We can therefore not betray the will of our people but instead have to restore their dignity and confidence in this ANC-led government.
Change, in our context now, means the empowerment of the previously disadvantaged and dispossessed communities, especially those living in rural areas. Empowerment is liberation taken to the next level. It is expanding people's horizons and opportunities. It is taking off the chains of deprivation, self-doubt and self-denigration or self-degradation. The people need to be empowered to be co-creators of their own wealth.
Omnye kwimingeni yethu, nosondele kakhulu entliziyweni yam, ngethamsanqa ... [One of our challenges, and the one that is very close to my heart, fortunately ...]
... it is a key priority, the development of the rural poor, who remain divided amongst well-developed commercial farming areas, peri-urban and impoverished communal areas. The Department of Public Works directly and indirectly controls funding for the infrastructure sector and for infrastructure development.
Cognisance should be taken of the fact that infrastructure expansion remains key to a growth and development path in our country and, according to Messrs Hassen and Horton, has a potential of creating assets for the poor as a key lever for eradicating poverty and reducing income inequality through the provision of viable and sustainable assets for the poor. Secondly, infrastructure lowers transaction costs by facilitating flows of information and goods, and interaction between markets.
Thirdly, infrastructure investment creates the potential for economic linkages; in particular the ability to move goods makes investment viable. Fourthly, the provision of infrastructure concentrates economic activity spatially, thus supporting backward and forward linkages. Fifthly, depending on the quality of infrastructure delivered, economies undergoing restructuring are able to respond to shocks, competitive pressure and value- added production.
Sixthly, access to infrastructure services could improve the capacity for producing goods and services in communities, especially those in rural areas. Seventhly, irrigation systems, transport routes and other infrastructure outcomes hold the potential for creating viable assets and markets. Lastly, infrastructure expansion creates jobs both during construction and for maintenance by supporting other economic activities in the long run.
This, then, beyond any doubt indicates that infrastructure expansion is the correct path for this department and our government to pursue in this budget, for key infrastructure programmes should not be declining in order for us to succeed in bettering the lives of our people. This also signifies the critically important role of the department to overcome a range of potential constraints inclusive of the planning, procuring and maintaining of the infrastructure.
Note should also be taken of the fact that our construction industry is emerging from decades of declining investments that have decimated its capacity into a period of sustained growth. The challenge is immense, and construction output is currently growing at a high rate annually. South Africa will need to double its construction outputs in less than 10 years, as also public sector construction delivery is doubling over a five-year period.
The department should, through this Budget Vote, demonstrate a determination in seeking to influence the direction and pace of economic development by directly intervening in the development processes rather than relying on the unco-ordinated influences and vagaries of market forces to reallocate resources.
This budget therefore should be made to be a clear demonstration that we as government take upon ourselves the responsibility to establish social and economic goals, which will guide the process of development. Despite the advances we have made in the past 15 years of our freedom, as we unequivocally state in our election manifesto, a lot still needs to be done before we can say we have eradicated the embedded impulses that militate against social cohesion, human solidarity and national reconciliation.
Chairperson, hon Ministers and members, in conclusion I must reiterate that this freedom was achieved through the revolutionary struggle of the masses, imprisonment and death of its leaders and cadres. We will be in imminent danger of losing it if we are to accept a spurious and false notion that says we must not change the status quo. We must not upset the apple-cart on reconciliation. We must forever have our domicile in the second economy and put all our efforts into the eradication of poverty and unemployment. The ANC supports this budget. I thank you.