Madam Chairperson, hon President, my colleagues: Thank you very much, Mr President, for the speech you delivered at the opening of the fourth democratic Parliament. It was a speech that was easy to comprehend and that had targets. This speech is going to make it easy for us to assess the performance and achievements of your government. It will be easier, as well, to remind you that these targets were not met or were met, and what could have been the obstacles or the problems in meeting them. We will know who is performing and who is not, and corrective measures will be put in place timeously.
The President has hinted to the people of South Africa that South Africa cannot escape the consequences of the present economic meltdown and he has admitted that the country is facing a recession, and that the government is joining hands with its social partners to come up with plans to minimise the impact of this recession. This is a step in the right direction. However, we wish the hon President could have revealed what plans are in place so that we could engage in robust debate on the successes and the limitations of these plans.
In numerous speeches, the President has indicated that he is willing to work closely with opposition parties, and we would like to be engaged in the formulation of plans so that we own them, and not later blame the ruling party for having failed South Africa.
An amount of R787 billion is a good amount of money that could be used to improve on the dilapidated infrastructure throughout the country and move on with the building of new structures. But the question is: How will the rural areas benefit from the R787 billion in infrastructure development? If we do not cater for the rural areas, we will be perpetuating the economic imbalance as it exists in South Africa now. We hope and trust that the National Planning Commission in the President's Office will address the issue.
We congratulate the President for coming up with intervention strategies to address health problems, including the introduction of the national health insurance scheme, and paying attention to the issue of the remuneration of health professionals.
On the second issue of the remuneration of health professionals, the government must take a holistic approach rather than a piecemeal approach solution. Is it not time that the whole salary structure of the public sector be reviewed, so as to avert strikes and picketing by unions that affect service delivery and the economy of the country?
The President has indicated that he will be meeting with school principals because of the lack of discipline, the lack of work ethics, ill-mannered learners, the low morale of teachers and teachers who sexually abuse learners. In doing this, if I am not wrong, he will be the first head of state to meet with the teaching fraternity, and this is another step in the right direction. [Applause.] If he can solve the problems facing the education system in South Africa, it will be a giant step forward. More often than not, research reveals that our learners are rated the lowest in reading and writing skills. It is high time educators were reminded of their responsibilities, and it is in meeting with these professionals that their responsibilities would be spelt out.
The President, in meeting with these teachers or educators, must remind them that reading makes a man, and reading and writing at the same time make a full man. Therefore, no time wasting, like the President said: If you don't deliver, give way.
There are two Ministries of Education now, and we hope that these Ministries will not perpetuate the fragmentation that exists in the education department, the system of unco-ordinated directorates.
We humbly submit that the curriculum be looked into. It should not change from one Minister to the other. Since 1996, we have had Curriculum 2005, or OBE, which changed to the Revised National Curriculum Statement, or RNCS, which also changed to the New Curriculum Statement, or NCS. These changes confuse educators, who are not properly trained to deal with them, thus resulting in the low morale of educators and the poor products of our education system, that are less competitive in the international educational arena.