Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy President, hon members, I want to dedicate my speech to the late president of the ANC, Comrade Oliver Reginald Tambo.
Ingqungqumbana engqukuva njengesheleni, umde ngeentonga, inkunzi abayikhuza ukuhlaba ingekahlabi, uMachi, uGoba, uMbusi, uVezi. [The one who is stout built, the valiant one regardless of his height, the one who strikes fear in opponents' hearts even when he is not aggressive, Machi, Goba, Mbusi, Vezi.]
As we all know, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, was presented in this House in October, the month in which the late Comrade O R Tambo was born. Comrade O R Tambo was a warm and generous human being. He had courage, modesty, sensitivity and, above all, dedication to a revolutionary cause. He was, and remains, a hero of our people, an architect of our national unity, a freedom fighter, an upholder of justice and a revolutionary.
He was a gentle intellectual giant who never flinched, never relented in the fight for the liberation of the poor and the oppressed. He was highly disciplined, never lived above others and never defied his organisation and the people.
Comrade O R was a man of his people. He was living in the future of a united people in the struggle against social ills. The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement we are debating today responds directly to that and consolidates the issues that he pursued during his fight, his struggles and his long journey that he travelled. He left us a glorious legacy.
Hon Chairperson, as you know Comrade O R was loved and admired throughout the movement. He combined the best qualities of a revolutionary patriot and dynamic international person. Because of his clear understanding of the factors underlying national oppression of the South African masses, he was able, in his own unassuming manner, to guide, unite and inspire others to commit themselves fully to the struggle for the noble ideals of freedom, democracy and a just social order.
During his leadership of the movement he was involved in the front ranks of our struggle, inspiring everyone around him and those inside the country, young and older generations. He was first amongst the volunteers in situations that threatened life, arrests, torture and imprisonment. He was never found wanting whenever there was a struggle to be waged. Most important of all, he led by example, led from the front.
The allocation in the MTBPS carries forward his vision of a developmental, united, nonracial and nonsexist South Africa. In the context of the MTBPS, government's cyclical fiscal stance is maintained. Expenditure continued to grow in real terms, encouraging a stronger recovery with an economic support package, which measures bolster job creation and continued public investment in infrastructure. The budget deficit rises to 5,5% in the 2011- 12 financial year as a result of the lower than projected revenue, though moderating towards 3% by 2014-15.
The MTBPS recognises the need to shift the composition of spending towards the creation of long-term public assets through infrastructure investments, a precondition for economic recovery.
The House has adopted the indicative allocations as presented by the Minister of Finance. The issue now is ensuring the effective, efficient and economic usage of these resources. The MTBPS counsels that available resources are not unlimited. This requires this legislature to continue to undermine any corrupt perceptions in government.
This MTBPS introduces universal access to health care services through the piloting of the national health insurance. This is the cornerstone of the liberation as envisaged in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The liberals oppose this noble cause and expose their true colours of being antipoor. That party does not want the majority, who do not have access to medical aid, to have access to health care services. O R Tambo stood for universal access to health, education and other public services for the poor, otherwise the struggle would have been in vain.
The difference between the ANC and the DA is that the ANC wants ordinary people to have access to all public health services rendered by government. Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth says the liberals want to maintain the status quo, where only certain services are a preserve of the elite.
In line with the priorities of government led by the ANC, the MTBPS increases allocation to the rural people by strengthening allocation to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and to the rural development, so that lending to smallholding farmers by the Land Bank is improved and supports establishment of food gardens for purposes of food security. Also welcome is the launch of the zero campaign by the President.
The MTBPS raises concern about the pace at which the wage bill is growing, but takes solace in the fact that engagement is taking place at Nedlac. However, the issue that needs to be attended to, hon Minister of Finance, seems to be the occupation specific dispensation, OSD, which in many cases has not been implemented in line with the policy.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the committee, the staff and my secretary who worked beyond the call of duty to ensure that the report is produced on time.
The Hon George raised the matter of the parliamentary budget office. However, I wish to remind him that though he did not take part in the study tour, he does know that study tours were taken to countries to learn about the parliamentary budget process. The workshops, thereafter, were held in order to ascertain exactly the type of the parliamentary budget office that this Parliament would want.
The ANC supports the MTPBS and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. Thank you.