... I refer specifically to the mandate to improve the professionalisation of service delivery by government to the people of our country. Batho Pele principles embody the ideal that people come first, and as such, people relations should be foremost in the minds of government employees and officials.
Hon Chairperson, the IFP has said it before, and we are saying it again today, that 20 years ago unfortunately there were many people in this country who felt that we, as black people, were not capable enough to rule a country and administer a democratic government.
That was one of the major fears during the negotiation process. Some people felt that it was in the DNA of black people to be inefficient, inept and corrupt. But we refused to believe this, and we pressed on.
Yet, how do we explain the many nurses in our public hospitals who just do not feel the inner duty to respond to the needs of suffering patients? And what are we to say about teachers who do not feel the calling to spare no energy and to double their dedication to teach the children so that, through better education, they may finally be emancipated from all that oppressed South Africa before?
If the call of duty is not felt in these two fields, it is no wonder that throughout the Public Service productivity and commitment is so low, which translates into poor service delivery. What has disrupted the moral fibre and discipline of our people? We know the answer, but refuse to acknowledge it.
The continued politicisation of unions is the greatest threat to the professional functioning of the Public Service. The politics of the tripartite alliance have often spilled over into the operational discourse of the Public Service, bringing service delivery to a painfull grinding halt, to the expense of communities, patients and learners.
Sadtu, in particular, ranks at the very top of the threats facing education. The passion, dedication, altruism and commitment to develop the black child is something that is foreign in the vocabulary of Sadtu. This union is the unmatched bane of our education. The ease to strike and to leave learners wanting is a clear indication that Sadtu does not care about the black child.
So, hon Minister, the IFP will support the initiatives aimed at entrenching Batho Pele and professional administration in all spheres of government and at all sectors of public administration. South Africa deserves an impartial, transparent, competent, accountable, efficient, effective, nonpolitical, nonpartisan and trustworthy Public Service.
Hon Chairperson, it is often said that failing to plan is planning to fail. Therefore, even though we have walked this path of plans before, the IFP welcomes the department's plans to get our Public Service working and functional. Hon Minister, your plans are noble on paper, and will be great in action. You dare not fail.
All of us must now take up our rightful place in the greater scheme of things and bring these plans to fruition and shape up the Public Service.
In the interests of the fisherman in Cape Town, the mineworker in Marikana, the learners in mud schools in the Eastern Cape and the patients in Natalspruit Hospital in Gauteng, the IFP will support this Budget Vote - for the sake of the people. I thank you. [Applause.]