House Chairperson, let me start with the good news. We are considering two Bills here: the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill and the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill. The Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill went rather well in committee. We had some issues around warrantless search and seizure, and assessments by Sars. They were dealt with in a very proactive manner by the members and Sars themselves, and I think that credit is due all round.
We cannot say the same about the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill. The hon Ross has already expressed the problems with research and development. We should not be limiting the incentive to investing in research and development. We are spending only about 1% of GDP on research and development. We should be spending much more, and incentivising much more.
We have problems with the fact that we are taking a unilateral position on VAT and e-commerce. We should be co-ordinating with other countries to ensure that South African consumers retain choice when it comes to buying online. We also had the usual set of complaints about the retrospective application of the tax laws. Those are the major problems that we had with the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill.
However, it is important, as the hon Ross said, to get our tax right, because it probably has the biggest impact on economic activity in a positive or negative way. Broadly, across our provinces, tax is consistent.
However, let us we look at the performance of provinces, as I want to do. Oh, I note that hon Manuel has left the House again. I hope it was not something that I said, because every time I stand up to speak, he leaves the House! [Interjections.]
When we are looking at these provincial comparisons - which the hon Manuel and the Deputy Minister seem to have some trouble getting their heads around - they are essentially saying that if somebody has given up looking for work, then they are no longer regarded as unemployed. I do not think that that is legitimate. I think that this is the reason why Limpopo miraculously has the lowest unemployment rate in the country! [Interjections.] I do not think that is a fair way of looking at the problem of hopelessness in this country. [Interjections.]
So let us look at it another way, using Statistics SA's figures from this week. If you take the percentage of discouraged work seekers - people that have given up looking for work - as a percentage of the labour force among our provinces, and I do not think that the Deputy Minister or hon Manuel have a problem with this number, it is very easy to understand. In the Northern Cape and the Free State, 7% of the labour force have given up looking for work; in Mpumalanga, 16%; in KwaZulu-Natal, 17%; in the Eastern Cape, 20%; in the North West, 21%; in Gauteng, 23%; and in Limpopo, 30% of the labour force have given up looking for work. One in three people in Limpopo's labour force has given up looking for work. [Interjections.]
What could the number in the Western Cape be? It gives me great pleasure to say that the number in the Western Cape is 1%. One out of a hundred people in the labour force in the Western Cape has given up looking for work! [Applause.] That is the DA difference; that is the difference between provinces governed by us and provinces governed by you. [Interjections.]