Hon Chair, let me thank Parliament for the opportunity it has given the hon Minister and the Deputy Minister. As the ANC we support this debate, we do not support it just because we have any other hiccups.
Clearly, even if you call it the democratic revolution or you don't call it the revolution, we have a responsibility. We also have the responsibility of helping you to understand why we say the National Development Plan, NDP, is the centre of our policy.
Without being opportunistic and without being negative, the opposition should agree that it is we who have evolved this particular policy - nobody else. It is we who have put in the resources of the government. And after we have made a thorough analysis of the progress that we have made after 20 years, we have been able to bring the NDP to this government under the administration of President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.
So there is progress and there is no way you can doubt that the ANC knows what it is doing. It has made an assessment. As others are struggling to tell us, as Members of Parliament, that they don't understand the relationship between the executive and Parliament, it should be embarrassing. Members of the opposition should be feeling that they don't understand how to take responsibility because Parliament is here.
What the chairperson of our committee did ... [Interjections.] I don't talk about people who do not participate in the committee.
The chairperson of our committee continued to enquire and made sure that the executive come to the portfolio committee. After she had, through the processes that are quite normal in any process, made sure that there's an understanding that the executive could not make it on that particular day, she presented that information to the portfolio committee and the committee accepted it.
Now, what is disingenuous is when you come to Parliament and abuse that honesty and the process which has been followed by this institution to make sure that the executive's absence has been acknowledged. There is no way that the executive has not been able to articulate through the chairperson, because not everybody is chairing. There is only one chairperson here and she is the one who has taken cognisance of the fact that it is her responsibility to make sure that she understands what is going on.
The responsibility also lies with Members of Parliament. It is pathetic for Members of Parliament in this institution, new or not new, to show such a lack of understanding of how the processes of Parliament work. We will definitely be able to give you a lecture on that, because that is what is important since you do not understand what you are doing. That is what is embarrassing the institution.
If you listen to Agang SA, the EFF and the DA, there is no understanding of how the institution works. Our membership has been able to present itself quite firmly on the Budget Vote itself. Where is our focus? We have been saying that the Budget Vote that deals with the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, has been shifted away and we do know, as a matter of fact, that it belongs to the Presidency. Any other development is supposed to be gazetted, but it is typical that you do not understand what is going on within the institution.
We should be embarrassed that we went with you to the elections. We campaigned and continued talking to the public, but when you come inside the institution you cannot understand how the system works. You sit here in this particular forum and continue misleading the public on how the institution is working.
That should be embarrassing to our own people. That should be embarrassing to the voters. The manner in which you are conducting yourself should be embarrassing the voters and they must wonder why they voted you in. It is embarrassing. [Interjections.]
You keep on shouting, but you have been saying the ANC is shouting. You have been saying the ANC does not understand how Parliament operates. You have been saying the ANC does not understand the Constitution. We definitely understand what the role of the executive is. We definitely understand what Parliament's role is and we have definitely articulated our policies that we have put in front of you.
You don't understand, because you keep on complaining about the executive. However, you are being given an opportunity, an opportunity during the Budget Vote for you to listen to the executive during these Budget Votes. It is not to sit, or run and come here to complain. We have been trying to ask you to put your policies in front of us so that you won't complain to us.
Seemingly the only thing you have done is to keep on complaining about the executive. Correctly so, because you think that an African cannot articulate without having written speeches. [Interjections.] I can articulate, because I understand how the system operates.
What I am saying is that the manner in which the opposition is conducting itself is bad. It is bad in that the opposition is not able to use the Budget Vote in a manner that could be aimed ... [Interjections.] You see, one of the things we should continuously do in the Rules Committee is to tell you that you, as Members of Parliament, should not come here, running around repeating your speeches everywhere you go, given the fact that you have not even been able to win the votes out there. [Interjections.] You are unable to tell us what is wrong with our policies, even though we have been waiting for you to tell us. Nothing is forthcoming; they are pleading with us that we must implement the NDP. That is definitely what we are going to do and that is what monitoring and evaluation is about. The department is about making sure that we implement the NDP, because this is what is in our manifesto. This is what we have gone out and called upon the voters to talk to us about.
Now we are ready. When the Minister said that this is how the reconfiguration has been done, you don't understand what reconfiguration has been done. You keep on talking about the NYDA, which is not even the responsibility of this particular Ministry, and you keep on creating confusion about how the institution is operating. This is embarrassing. You continue saying to us ... [Interjections.]