Chairperson, as my time is limited, I am going to make five short points.
I firstly want to thank all the members of the committee for participating in this robust debate this afternoon. I also wish to thank those who supported these Budget Votes. I am looking forward to working with the committee to further the objectives of the National Development Plan, NDP.
Secondly, a lot has been said about our nonattendance on 2 July 2014. I did write a letter of apology to the committee, which was accepted. I hereby again apologise for not attending. We could not attend because we had to attend a meeting in Pretoria. It was not our intention to snub Parliament. That has never been our philosophy as a department. It is not mine or that of the Deputy Minister either. I thought I should apologise once more so that you hear it from me. We are not going astray; we had to attend Cabinet meetings in Pretoria. In any event, the chairperson accepted our apology.
Thirdly, the hon Motau talks about the hybrid portfolio committee that deals with performance monitoring and planning. He seems to suggest that this is the responsibility of government. If I had more time, I would have spoken to him about the doctrine of the separation of powers.
This doctrine originated in France - in the work of the philosopher Montesquieu. He wrote Trias politica, a work that promoted this issue, namely the separation of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This principle has been accepted in our Constitution and the law.
Therefore, how the portfolio committee has become a hybrid one has nothing to do with government, it is you yourselves and the Presiding Officers in their wisdom who decided to do so. So please, check with your colleagues in Parliament. I'm sure they will explain why they came to that conclusion.
Fourthly, I have noticed some scepticism about our commitment, as government and the ruling party, to the NDP. I just want to reiterate once again that the NDP, this plan of development, was initiated by our President in 2009.
He appointed the National Planning Commission as an independent institution, not to provide a plan for government, but to provide a plan for the people of South Africa. I have met the National Planning Commission, NPC, and it consists of high-calibre South Africans who have given us the most dynamic plan in the history of South Africa, namely our vision for 2030. [Applause.]
In 2012 the National Planning Commission presented the NDP to the President, who accepted it. Cabinet also adopted it as its plan. Parliament did the same thing. In December 2012 the ruling party, the ANC, unanimously and wholeheartedly adopted the NDP as the plan it supports.
In May of this year, 2014, the ruling party had its Cabinet lekgotla. Even before that, the election manifesto of the ruling party and its overarching vision was the NDP. It is part of our commitment to the electorate of South Africa. We are committed to implementing this plan. The ruling party, once again in May, reiterated its commitment to the NDP, while Cabinet's lekgotla has, in principle, adopted the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, which is based on this NDP.
When the President appointed me, he gave me strict instructions that I am the executive authority to implement this plan. So there are no backseat drivers for this plan; the driver is the President. The driver is also the Deputy President, who is the chairperson of the National Planning Commission. The Minister in the Presidency responsible for planning is me.
We are driving this programme, so I do not understand where this confusion comes from - as if there are other plans. There are no other plans. There is one plan, the NDP, and we want to implement it. [Interjections.]
Lastly, Chair and hon members, you are cordially invited to the Townhouse Hotel for refreshments after this robust debate. Thank you. [Laughter.]
Debate concluded.