Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, we appreciate your invitation to civil society, business and nongoverning political parties to come to the table.
Ek waardeer ook u poging om Afrikaans te praat. Ek kan help met 'n paar lesse! [Gelag.] [I also appreciate your effort to speak Afrikaans. I can assist with a few lessons! [Laughter.]]
It is our hope that this is not just a symbolic invitation to us, because we in the ID are ready to engage with you to find solutions to the challenges that we face.
The global recession means that we need a plan around which all South Africans can rally, a plan that can tap into our collective patriotism, skills and wisdom, and bring us together as a nation.
Mr President, in your state of the nation Address you shared the beginnings of such a plan. Your list of goals and priorities is laudable, but we've heard some of them before and the key issue, as always, will be implementation.
The ID has always said that without implementation and monitoring the best plans will come to nothing, which is why we need to hear the details about the National Planning Commission, how it will work and its role, so that we can get the job done.
The ID is pleased to hear that for the first time there is going to be monitoring and evaluation of the performance of Ministers. We have repeatedly said that Ministers should be held accountable and responsible for their actions. We hope that you will make these performance indicators public every three months, so that we as a nation can be kept abreast of delivery, achievements and failures.
It is our hope, Mr President, that you will become the first President to fire a Minister for incompetence and failure to spend their budget. [Interjections.] This is one time when "Mshini Wam" would be relevant and we in the ID will be prepared to sing with you. [Laughter.] [Applause.] Mr President, we think there are several issues that you should address. You have called upon our nation to cut our cloth according to our means, but you have made several promises and commitments which pose the question: Where will we get the resources from?
We are also concerned about the large-scale mismanagement of our state- owned enterprises at a time when we cannot afford it. The SAA, SABC, Denel and the pebble bed modular reactor have cost taxpayers billions of rands which we urgently need for health, education and rural development.
We are also concerned about the effect this recession will have on BEE as a whole. Often in the past we have relied on economic growth to fund BEE deals and the current economic outlook means that this funding has fallen away. The ID would like to see targets and timelines for BEE and affirmative action. Leaving these processes open and without sufficient targets has produced a few wealthy individuals while the vast majority of our people continue to be excluded.
Mr President, our public health system is in a state of disrepair and has been starved of financial and human resources. While the ID applauds your goal of delivering ARVs to 80% of Aids patients in need by 2011, this cannot be achieved unless there are drastic improvements in the sector as a whole.
The ID supports the idea of a national health insurance scheme and we urge Cabinet to devise a comprehensive plan for its implementation. We recognise the complexities involved, but the first step must be an injection of funds into the health sector and massive improvements in the way it is managed.
We also urge you to intervene in the dispute with the doctors in the public sector, who, we must all agree, are underpaid and overworked.
We welcome the emphasis on rural development and we support your comments that teachers must be in the classroom teaching. However, this commitment will only be realised if you are able to get the support of teachers, children, parents and the unions.
The economic crisis we are facing will require innovative thinking. It is our belief that we can turn this crisis into an opportunity, and the ID Member of Parliament Lance Greyling will present to this House ID solutions in this regard tomorrow. I thank you. [Applause.]