THURSDAY, 6 APRIL 2000
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                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:03.

The Deputy Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Mr S D MONTSITSI: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that today is the 21st anniversary of the unjust execution of a young South African patriot, Kalushi Solomon Mahlangu;

(2) salutes this young revolutionary, his mother and the rest of the youth of South Africa for their role in the struggle to defeat apartheid;

(3) pledges that such injustice will never again be meted out against the youth;

(4) acknowledges that the struggle that Kalushi Mahlangu died for still continues today;

(5) calls on the youth to intensify the culture of learning, to support the national youth service programme, and to intensify the struggle against racism, crime and the spread of HIV/Aids; and

(6) also calls for urgent interventions to address the social injustices still suffered by the youth, such as joblessness, crime and poverty.

[Applause.]

Mr K M ANDREW: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that at the next sitting of the House I shall move on behalf of the DP:

That the House -

(1) records its alarm at the rapidly deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe which has already led to deaths, economic chaos and constitutional instability;

(2) observes that the Zimbabwean crisis will have seriously adverse economic, social and political consequences for South Africa and the whole Southern African region;

(3) notes that foreign investment is being frightened away as Afro- pessimism overwhelms any dreams people may have of an African renaissance or an African century;

(4) notes the deafening silence of the South African Cabinet on this issue; and

(5) notes that the Speaker has declined to agree to a request from the DP for a special debate on Zimbabwe; and

therefore calls on the President of South Africa to inform Parliament what the Government has done, or intends doing, about the crisis in Zimbabwe.

[Applause.]

Prof L B G NDABANDABA: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:

That the House -

(1) notes that the Judicial Services Commission bears stupendous responsibility in appointing the best candidate for the position of Judge-President in the respective provinces;

(2) further notes that the candidates chosen should have high integrity and be acceptable to all South Africans as worthy bearers of the judicial mantle;

(3) applauds the proposed national code of conduct for judges adopted at a meeting of senior judges this week; and

(4) conveys its good wishes to the Judicial Services Commission and desires that it will fulfil what this House anticipates.

Mr B H VILAKAZI: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that the Africa-European conference held in Cairo was a significant step in forming a strategic partnership between Africa and the European Union;

(2) further notes the remarks of President Mbeki that our two continents have been in constant interaction, even earlier than the age of the Roman Caesars, which interaction very often has brought us bitter fruit; and

(3) welcomes the agreement, in principle, to the African proposals that European countries take steps to ensure that money stolen by African leaders and deposited in European banks is returned to the countries from which that money was stolen.

[Applause.]

Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the New NP:

That the House -

(1) notes that the neglect by the former Minister for Welfare and Population Development to identify and act upon the underspending of 78,5% of her budget is solid proof that the ANC lacks the capacity and ability to carry out its election promises to the people of South Africa;

(2) calls on that Minister, instead of blaming the officials, to explain to this House why she did not exercise her political oversight of the department in a responsible manner;

(3) agrees that the acknowledgement by the director-general, Ms Angela Bester, that the department lacked the capacity at management level to drive the process, is a sad reflection on the ability of the Government to appoint and train people who really understand the need for the Government to transform the department;

(4) notes that the efforts of the department to try to explain away the fact that the money was not spent owing to various reasons does not take away the suffering of those people who were supposed to benefit from the poverty alleviation programme - the poor and the destitute are still suffering; and

(5) wonders how long it will take to implement the programmes that were envisaged four years ago, as the implementation of the backlog will put even greater demands on the department in terms of capacity and the budget in the future.

[Interjections.] [Time expired.] The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! May I request members to stick to the one minute they have for notices of motion. Your notice of motion will be printed in full, but please oblige when the Chair asks you to take your seat. [Interjections.]

Mr N M RAMODIKE: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that at the next sitting of the House I will move on behalf of the UDM:

That the House -

(1) notes with dismay and trepidation the squandering of millions of rands for housing projects by unscrupulous developers in the Western Cape;

(2) notes with grave concern that these merciless and unscrupulous elements have fraudulently coerced the desperate beneficiaries of the housing projects to confirm in writing that the projects have been completed and are ready for occupation in order to get subsidy payments;

(3) notes, in conclusion, the alarming homelessness and abhorrent health hazards at these unfinished housing projects; and

(4) calls upon the Minister of Housing to take steps to stamp out corruption and mismanagement of funds earmarked for housing projects in this province.

Ms M P COETZEE-KASPER: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that the process of reregistering welfare grant recipients went off smoothly in the Goldfields social welfare regional area;

(2) commends all the officials involved in the process in this area for upholding the principle of Batho Pele;

(3) expresses its sincere thanks for the positive attitude and helpful manner in which they dealt with, in particular, the elderly; and

(4) appeals to officials everywhere to emulate this example and show more compassion, understanding and general goodwill in their interaction with people on a daily basis.

[Applause.]

Mrs P DE LILLE: Madam Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the PAC:

That the House -

(1) notes with deep concern the statement by the Minister of Health regarding nevirapine and clinical trials being conducted in South Africa;

(2) finds it unfortunate that she has used the tragic event of deaths during the trials to make a political point that justifies her doing nothing to stop mother-to-child transmissions;

(3) is of the opinion that the control of drug trials in South Africa is useless as the Medicines Control Council and the ethics committees have admitted that they cannot monitor these trials after they have approved the protocols;

(4) notes that the Minister did not make it clear in her statement that there is a profound difference between using a single dose of nevirapine to prevent mother-to-child transmission and as part of a triple cocktail aimed at preventing Aids;

(5) calls on the Minister to be consistent and take nevirapine off the shelves of private pharmacies until the long-term toxicity has been established;   (6) notes that nevirapine has been registered by the Medicines Control Council for two years;

(7) calls on the Minister to withdraw the registration so that there will be equity …

[Interjections.] [Time expired.]

Mr M A MANGENA: Madam Speaker, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House I shall move on behalf of Azapo:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  women qualify for old-age pension at the age of 60 while men
       qualify for the same pension at the age of 65;

   (b)  this is a source of much dissatisfaction among men, especially
       in this era of high unemployment that has hit older men very
       hard;

   (c)  this amounts to discrimination against men on the basis of their
       gender; and

   (d)  it is a violation of the Constitution that outlaws
       discrimination against anyone on the basis of gender or sex; and

(2) calls upon the Welfare department to treat men and women as equals by rectifying this anomaly as a matter of urgency.

[Applause.] Mnr J F VAN WYK: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die ANC sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) kennis neem van die vorming van ‘n alliansie tussen die AEB, die IVP, die UDM, die FA en die Nuwe NP om die plaaslike regeringsverkiesings in die Noord-Kaap te veg;

(2) ook kennis neem daarvan dat die meeste van die partye in hierdie alliansie die voortsetting van die wit bevoorregting van die ou orde steun en fundamentele transformasie in ons land teenstaan;

(3) glo dat so ‘n alliansie sal misluk in sy poging om die steun te wen van die meerderheid mense in die Noord-Kaap, wat die ANC en verandering in ons land steun; en

(4) dus ‘n beroep doen op alle opposisiepartye wat demokratiese verandering steun om hulle aan die alliansie te onttrek en met die ANC saam te werk om verandering in dié provinsie te bespoedig.

[Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr J F VAN WYK: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes the formation of an alliance between the AEB, the IFP, the UDM, the FA and the New NP to contest local government elections in the Northern Cape;

(2) further notes that most of the parties in this alliance support the perpetuation of white privilege of the old order and fundamentally oppose transformation in our country;

(3) believes that such an alliance will fail in its attempt to win the support of the majority of the people in the Northern Cape who support the ANC and change in our country; and

(4) therefore calls on all opposition parties who support democratic change to withdraw from this alliance and co-operate with the ANC to accelerate change in this province.

[Applause.]]

Mr B G BELL: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DP:

That the House is of the opinion that while Ms Faith Sithole has received a magnificent golden handshake and Mr James Nkambule remains on the payroll of the Mpumalanga province, no one will take seriously the ANC’s commitment to fighting corruption.

[Applause.]

Mr M A MZIZI: Madam Speaker, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:

That, whereas -

(1) winter is approaching and thousands upon thousands living in informal housing will again use braziers and open fires to keep warm; and

(2) the absence of planning has led to dwellings being built too close to one another without adequate roads for easy accessibility and without a regular water supply,

the House therefore calls upon the Minister of Housing to -

   (a)  make an urgent assessment of the fire hazard in such areas;

   (b)  provide guidelines to informal dwellers on how to keep warm this
       winter;

   (c)  provide minimum planning standards which have to be observed in
       respect of, inter alia, the size of the plot, the extent of
       building and the size and layout of roads; and

   (d)  provide for a management committee for each such area.

Mnr P A GERBER: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die ANC sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) daarvan kennis neem dat die dogter van genl Constand Viljoen gister in die landdroshof in Mpumalanga verskyn het op ‘n aanklag dat sy ‘n werker by haar slaghuis verneder het deur haar rond te stamp en haar te forseer om haar klere in die openbaar uit te trek;

(2) verder daarvan kennis neem dat dit na bewering die gebruik is by dié bepaalde slaghuis dat werkers soggens voor werk en smiddae ná werk geweeg word om vas te stel of hulle vleis onder hul klere wegsteek;

(3) erken dat hierdie soort verwerplike aantasting van mense se menswaardigheid nog algemeen in Suid-Afrika is; en

(4) ‘n beroep op alle Suid-Afrikaners met ‘n sin vir geregtigheid en respek vir hul medemens doen om sulke gebruike aan die kaak te stel en met hand en tand te beveg.

[Tussenwerpsels.] [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr P A GERBER: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that I shall move on the next sitting day on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that the daughter of Gen Constand Viljoen appeared in the magistrate’s court in Mpumalanga yesterday on a charge that she had humiliated a worker at her butchery by pushing her around and forcing her to take off her clothes in public;

(2) further notes that it is allegedly customary at this particular butchery to weigh workers before work in the morning and after work in the afternoon to establish whether they have hidden meat under their clothes;

(3) acknowledges that this sort of objectionable assailing of the human dignity of people is still the order of the day in South Africa; and

(4) appeals to all South Africans with a sense of justice and respect for their fellow humans to expose such practices and to fight them tooth and nail.

[Interjections.] [Applause.]]

Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die Nuwe NP sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) daarvan kennis neem dat grootskaalse intimidasie van opposisiekiesers in Zimbabwe reeds in volle swang is;

(2) die internasionale gemeenskap versoek om toe te sien dat die komende verkiesing in Zimbabwe wel vry en regverdig is; en

(3) die Suid-Afrikaanse Regering versoek om ‘n veelparty-afvaardiging as deel van ‘n internasionale waarnemingspan voor die verkiesing na Zimbabwe te stuur. (Translation of Afrikaans Notice of Motion follows.)

[Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Madam Speaker, I give notice that I will move on the next sitting day of the House on behalf of the New NP -

That the House -

(1) notes that large-scale intimidation of opposition voters is already taking place in Zimbabwe;

(2) requests the international community to see to it that the forthcoming election in Zimbabwe is indeed free and fair; and

(3) requests the South African Government to send a multiparty delegation to Zimbabwe as part of an international team of observers, prior to the election.]

Dr G W KOORNHOF: Madam Speaker, I give notice that at the next sitting of the House I will move on behalf of the UDM:

That the House -

(1) notes the reported statements of SACP secretary-general, Blade Nzimande, on 2 April 2000, that his organisation would seek to shape budgetary priorities that are more aligned with their vision and, furthermore, that economic growth requires an economically active state willing to co-ordinate and discipline the capital resources of society; and

(2) calls on the Cabinet, specifically the Ministers of Finance and of Public Enterprises, to distance themselves from the view of nationalisation expressed by its alliance partner, which is in direct contradiction to the expressed views embodied in the Budget speech and the medium-term Budget policy statement.

[Interjections.]

                         APPROPRIATION BILL

Debate on Vote No 32 - Trade and Industry:

The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Madam Speaker, Deputy President, members of the National Assembly and members of one of my best teams, Mr Khaya Ngqula from the Industrial Development Corporation and his team, I am very privileged to once again have the chance to present the budget of the Department of Trade and Industry for the consideration of the House. The portfolio committee has examined the budget and its report is available to members. The coming period will be an important time for the work of the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Minister and Deputy Minister responsible for this department.

As the President indicated in his opening address to this Parliament, we have never been better placed as an economy to achieve sustainable and more equitable economic growth. But this is not guaranteed, and all major economic actors, including the DTI, will have to ensure a maximum effort to translate this potential into a reality. The DTI has reflected long and hard on its performance in, and on the experience of, the years of our democracy. Much has been achieved, but much has to be done.

This year, we are going to carry out an important reorganisation of the operations of the DTI in order to better focus our efforts and to improve on our capacity to deliver the economic services that we are responsible for providing. In doing this, it is essential to reflect on what we are trying to do, the context in which we are doing it and the prospects for rapid success. Against this we can measure what we have, in fact, achieved.

The range of work covered by the DTI is very extensive, and I will not be able to cover it all here. We have tried to improve the quality of information on all aspects of the work and to make it more accessible to members. Most of the basic information on the DTI’s budget and how it is expended is set out in the small booklet which I think members have available to them. There was additional information in the presentation made to the portfolio committee.

I am pleased to say that our work is very professionally and thoroughly monitored and assessed by Dr Davies and the portfolio committee in the House, and by Mr Moosa and the select committee in the NCOP. I would like to thank them for keeping us on track, and doing so in a very supportive, but frank, way.

In the commentary from all quarters on the work of the DTI, the three most frequent criticisms that are made is that we have no industrial strategy, that we are not creating enough jobs and that we are failing to generate enough small and medium enterprises. These criticisms are certainly focusing on the correct area as these are without a doubt at the heart of the work of the DTI. As Minister I would accept that in each case the DTI would like to be able to say that there is no cause for criticism, but I cannot say this.

The task we face is immense, and we always want to do better. In trying to evaluate the impact that the DTI can and does have on the economy, we have to try to be as accurate as possible in our assessment so as to take the correct adjustment measures. I am confident that the basic policy approach adopted is correct in our circumstances. Given the massive structural problems that we are dealing with, the effects of a policy change will take a number of years to be felt.

We can now see that we did underestimate the depth of the structural problems and, accordingly, the time that it would take to bring about change. The impact of the international financial crisis was severe and came just as we were gathering momentum. However, adjusting for this underestimation, we are doing well. But now is the time to increase the tempo of positive change and to utilise the greater policy space that we have built for ourselves.

What did we set out to do? In short, we had to induce a major restructuring of our economy. This could not be dealt with by the DTI alone, and our work both complemented and required changes in finance, labour, agriculture and the public sector. These other areas of change have all proceeded in the consistent and effective way that has been required.

In this massive campaign to turn around the whole economy, the DTI had to focus on a particular set of fronts. The real economy that we faced in 1994 can be succinctly described as being overly protected, dependent on primary and commodity exports, having high costs of domestic production, characterised by extreme wealth, racial and geographic inequality, and a crisis of investor confidence. The few support measures used by the old regime were unfocused and fiscally unsustainable.

South Africa is essentially a trading economy. This is a product of the imperial period, but now also a requirement of our continued growth efficacy in the context of the world economy. This basic feature of our economic life is increasingly understood by economic actors, and the economy is adjusting to this self-knowledge in a very positive way. There are those who have not understood this, and they are vocal. In a few short years, I am quite sure that they will not be active in this economy, because they will have failed their stakeholders, be they shareholders, constituencies or members.

When an economy exports some 30% of its production and imports a little more in exchange, then it is part and parcel of the world economy in all aspects of its economy. As I have stressed in previous budget debates, the distinction between the traded and nontraded sectors of an economy is no longer of great policy significance. The link between the traded and nontraded as inputs and outputs for each other is too great to make the separation. Globalisation, that imprecise term but very real phenomenon, has meant that economies the size of South Africa’s can only follow an inward-looking economic policy at great cost to their economic wellbeing.

To accept this as the basic starting point for action, one should not see globalisation as some panacea or new utopia. Like all processes of political economy, it holds both potential and threat. This is because it is a process of change. If there is a defining dimension of the present process, then it must be the speed with which change can now be effected and knowledge disseminated. This holds great opportunity and equally great threat.

To take advantage of this requires adaptability in the economy, and at the level of the individual. Rigidities in the structure of an economy or public and private sector institutions are a danger, as they resist change. This could be said to be the case for the market. However, since the market now acts on the world scale, its inherent weaknesses are elevated to the world economy as well.

The market is adaptable, but in the absence of institutional direction, it is expedient and short-sighted. This has an aggregating and often herd-like effect on economic activity. The speed with which the market can now respond makes it adapt fast, but it also increases the magnitude of the mistakes. Mistakes are now punished rapidly, and the recovery is slow unless the state plays an active and positive role.

This has being graphically illustrated in the recent crisis in Southeast Asia. The recoveries there have been led by decisive and well-considered state action. This highlights the role of the state in the economy. This role is certainly going through profound changes. The challenge facing a modern state, particularly one responsible for an economy the size of South Africa’s, is to ensure that the market does not just move to where it is easier to go. If it does this, it will concentrate economic activity and exacerbate poverty and inequality. However, previous remedies to deal with this problem are not automatically applicable.

The demands made on the state to actually facilitate growth and development are more complex than ever before. The state has to define its role and then carry out the necessary institutional changes to effect this role. We must avoid the futile policy debates as to whether the state is good or bad and whether it should directly intervene in economic activity or not. The state has to change, if it is to have a positive impact on the economy. It has to change the composition of its resources and the quality of its actions.

The state will intervene, and the form and content of this intervention will range from direct intervention in production processes to legislation, financial support, and providing a vision and persuasive leadership. The restructuring of the inherited apartheid state is an absolute requirement for development in South Africa, but the same applies to private corporations and trade unions in South Africa. This is why we have to work together in Nedlac to address these very fundamental challenges.

As for the DTI, we have to become more intelligent and the quality of our interventions on all matters has to rise. This requires the correct deployment of our human resources and a higher quality of management systems. It is also for these reasons that we have been so active in international trade matters. This ranges from bilateral agreements to the role of the WTO and Unctad. This is not some external preoccupation, but a realisation that events in these fora can play a decisive role in our economy. The challenge of all leadership is to identify the need for change and then to undertake it with determination, but also with compassion for those who may be adversely affected by the change. There will always be those who are hurt by change, and that is why democracy is now so fundamental to governance in the world economy as it develops. Leaders must be freely chosen and their propositions on change freely debated and interrogated.

The DTI is charged with the following responsibilities in this very complex but essential process of transition: To facilitate, firstly, the access to sustainable economic activity and employment through a restructuring of the economy; to facilitate and encourage higher levels of investment, both national and international; to increase market access for South African products; to strengthen our status as a trading nation; and to establish a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace for business, workers and consumers.

These objectives in turn require programmes and strategies that will lead to these desired outputs. Accordingly, the following are the main thrusts of the work of the DTI: Adding value to the economy, so that it is capable of providing more and better quality employment opportunities; contributing to the international competitiveness of our economy, remembering the injunction that I outlined earlier, viz that a division between traded and nontraded sectors is no longer an accurate understanding of the economy; promoting SMMEs so as to ensure greater participation in the economy, more employment opportunities, greater efficiency and more equitable distribution of wealth; and ensuring that there is black economic empowerment to overcome the economic destruction and reduction of capacity that has been caused by racism.

All this requires many different actions, but let me say to those who see this as an unnecessary cost and burden that is driven by racial politics that they are probably part of those who will not be successful in this new economy. Maximum growth can only be achieved by empowering all our people to be part of our economy in all its dimensions. Like all fundamental causes it is better for being an essentially just cause for our society.

Next, the DTI focuses on the building of the SADC region since we cannot grow if our neighbours are not growing. We are not a large enough economy to be able to ignore the importance of the total economic potential of this region. This is, of course, the very obvious reason why this Government is particularly concerned about the position in Zimbabwe. But this is also part of the wider realisation that Africa needs to get out of its present predicament itself. It is this self-realisation, driven by a pragmatic need, that is the hallmark of the renaissance that is slowly flowering.

Finally, it is our task to reduce wealth inequity. Poverty may provide the base for low wages, but, as we see everywhere, do not generate growth and development. The past has created excessive wealth disparity and distorted our economy. This is a very dangerous position as it will be reinforced by a global market that seeks immediate opportunity and takes no responsibility for the long-range development of society.

Over the next two years, the DTI will begin to present our budget in a manner that coincides more readily with these strategic objectives and programmes. Our policy documentation will also align with this approach. In the short booklet made available, we have made a start on this by presenting the budget information in a slightly different way.

Regarding the question of whether the DTI has an industrial strategy, the answer is: Yes, but it is a far from simple formula for success. In fact, it is part of a larger development strategy, which makes it more complex. Actions on an industrial strategy can range from detailed negotiations on investment projects in the auto and steel industries and ecotourism to industry programmes for the auto, steel or clothing industry, as well as automacro interventions such as tariff reform or competition law. We are working to make this information more accessible to all. We have also realised that the management of such a strategy needs a new institutional structure and more efficient means of delivering the services we provide.

The size of the rollovers that have characterised the DTI budget over the last years has been one of the major causes for us to begin focusing on the efficiency of our delivery mechanism. Can we create jobs in this economy? The level of unemployment in the economy is quite unacceptable. What that level is remains imprecise, as does the extent of the structural employment change in this economy. These latter two issues are crucial in determining how we may need to adjust policy, but they do not detract from the urgent need to create more jobs.

The Government made a strategic choice to restructure the economy in a very profound way. The DTI is responsible for a large part of that restructuring process that has to take place in the private sector. I have spelt out the reason for this above. In taking this decision, we knew that there would be job losses as the inefficiency - and at times the outright decrepitude - of the old economy was exposed. There can be no doubt that, in general, the hundreds of thousands of new jobs created since 1994 are of a more sustainable quality than before. There is a caveat to this, and that is the extent of casualisation that is occurring in some sectors. Casualisation that is designed solely to reduce wages is a shortsighted response.

The employment situation is undergoing deep structural change. We have, I believe, made major and positive structural changes in the old formal sector of the economy. The employment situation in the more dynamic sector of the economy is stabilising and its income level has improved. This formal sector now has to grow at higher rates in order to make a significant and positive contribution to employment. This will come from the internal growth of the economy and increased exports.

New sectors and geographic areas of the economy now have to receive priority. The structural base for employment creation has been laid and the dangers of rapid de-industrialisation have been avoided. However, to build on this, we have to work together. There are many who are still whining because they cannot see the opportunities that exist. They have been used to an easy life and cannot see the possibilities that are now facing them. I think it would also be correct to say that the current campaign by Cosatu against job losses is understandable, and it is to their credit that they represent the interests of their members with vigour.

However, we must not go too far down this road, as it is a cul-de- sac that can end up as a self-fulfilling prophecy. We need to ensure a co-ordinated and collective response that does not deny the rights of each and everyone, but combines our strengths. It is for this reason that I am very pleased that the discussions with both business and labour and the DTI have intensified considerably in the last months. With regard to small and medium enterprises, our past is coming home to roost. The destruction of the wealth of the black peoples of this nation has meant that our ability to increase the rate of growth for small and medium enterprises was severely hamstrung. The pressure on institutions such as Khula and Ntsika is immense, and I must say that the formal banking sector has not made a major contribution in this area. Their aversion to risk and their lack of understanding of the sociology of black areas and poor areas has made them sluggish, to say the least. We, as the DTI, intend to intervene more decisively and will make announcements on this matter later in the year.

In conclusion, I want to refer to some other matters. As I said, it is not possible to cover everything in this address. Let me take a matter such as the great grappa saga. The first of the joint councils with the European Union has now taken place. Nothing will be easy, but it never is in trade relations. However, I think it is a major achievement that we now have such a comprehensive agreement with our major international economic partner. I would like to thank the House for its cross-party support. Sonqoba simunye

• together we overcame. [Applause.]

The lottery, which is a very topical matter at the moment, has been launched and some of us are richer and some of us are a little poorer. Everyone, of course, wants the money from the lottery. I need to say quite clearly that it is obvious and clear that to pay out from the lottery from day one is structurally impossible. One has to build up a sufficient accumulation of funds so that when one begins paying out to the multiplicity of good causes, one does not pay each of them one cent at a time; one has to pay them realistic amounts.

Most other countries have taken six months before they started the payments. Realistically, we will take not less than three months and possibly a bit more. This is not some attempt to tuck the money away; it will be paid out. Let me also stress and state quite categorically that the lottery will not pay out money through cumbersome bureaucratic structures. It is our intention to pay directly to the good causes themselves so that they can benefit.

I want to say to my hon colleagues that this will be an exacting year for the DTI. We have to perform better than we did in the past. I would like to thank the hon the Deputy Minister and the new director-general, Dr Alistair Ruiters, and his new team, including my special adviser, Dr Rustomjee. I also want to thank my colleagues in the provinces. It is going to be a tough year, but as usual, we shall overcome. [Applause.]

Dr R H DAVIES: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, Ministers and colleagues, strong and effective institutions are those that are, from time to time, able to examine themselves critically and move beyond their comfort zones, challenge established practices and take tough decisions about transforming themselves.

It is precisely this that we are demanding from productive enterprises operating in our economy. It is essential that this takes place if we are to achieve the goal of placing our economy on a higher development- orientated growth path in a rapidly changing global environment. I would contend that we have every right to demand no less from Government departments, and particularly those that have major responsibility for leading and facilitating the process of economic transformation.

The Department of Trade and Industry has an absolutely critical role to play in the transformation of our economy. Many commentators are now agreed that one of the most important challenges we face in South Africa at present is to accelerate micro economic transformation, that is to say, transformation in the productive economy, transformation both of relations and of forces of production.

The former World Bank chief economist, Mr Joseph Stiglitz, has reminded us that, despite the crisis of 1998-99, the Asian model delivered more in terms of growth and development over a shorter time span than did any other. Central to this model, I need hardly remind the House, was an effective and efficient industrial and small, medium and micro enterprise development policy in which well-designed government programmes facilitated and led economic restructuring.

As the hon the Minister has indicated, the DTI is currently in the midst of a major review and restructuring exercise. I believe that most members of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry strongly support its aims and objectives. It is not that the department failed between 1994 and 1999. On the contrary, the department, under the leadership of Ministers Manuel and Erwin, and under the direction of the former director-general, Dr Zav Rustomjee, had a number of significant achievements to their credit.

They took over a department whose role had been to featherbed vested interests of the old order and which had, quite frankly, ran out of ideas about what to do in a rapidly changing global environment, and brought about significant transformation in it. They recruited and placed in key positions a number of highly talented individuals, some of the brightest and best in our country, including many who would have been denied an opportunity to play such a role in the past because of their race or gender. They assembled a highly effective team of trade negotiators who have in difficult and complex trade negotiations earned widespread respect, and enabled South Africa to punch way above its weight in achieving important successes in trade negotiations.

They undertook a major redesign of policies and support programmes which, at the conceptual level, are among the best in the world. They succeeded in engendering a widespread sense within industry that change and transformation were essential, and had significant successes in leading real transformation in some key industries, such as the motor industry.

My own perception is that progress over these years was uneven, and that there were a number of problems of co-ordination and implementation, particularly with regard to programmes to support the domestic economic reconstruction. Several of these were identified in reports that were tabled by the portfolio committee in the past Parliament.

The successes achieved in the motor industry development programme, for example, have, in my view, yet to be translated into an effective and comprehensive industrial strategy that reaches across the economy, and which creates sufficient jobs. There is some uncertainty about precisely who the various incentive schemes are targeted at, and we have encountered a number of complaints about bureaucracy and red tape in accessing them.

The small, medium and micro enterprises programme, excellent in its design and conception, has yet to achieve what it should in terms of practical implementation. It tends to be ghettoised around the new institutions that we have created and needs, in our view, to command greater priority attention of the department as a whole. The portfolio committee has prepared a report on the Department of Trade and Industry budget for 2000-01 which was published in the Announcements, Tablings and Committees bulletin on 3 April 2000. In it we indicated our support, both for the current review and restructuring exercise and for the new focus on transformation of the domestic economy, with a hard focus on small, medium and micro enterprises promotion, empowerment and investment.

These are clearly critical priority challenges if we are to achieve our goals in economic policy. We have, however, added a proviso. We face, as a country, critical challenges in trade negotiations in the World Trade Organisation and in the implementation of the EU and SADC trade agreements. We cannot, therefore, afford to ignore or downplay trade negotiations. Rather, the challenge is to improve co-ordination, focus and implementation of domestic economic support programmes while simultaneously retaining and, indeed, strengthening our capacity in external trade negotiations.

In view of what we are demanding of productive enterprises and Government departments, we can hardly demand less of ourselves here in Parliament. The Department of Trade and Industry’s restructuring exercise has forced us in the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry to re-examine critically our own role, and to ask ourselves what is it that we can contribute towards making the Department of Trade and Industry’s restructuring exercise a success. This has forced us to begin to rethink what is meant by the task of oversight assigned to us by Parliament. I believe many of us have come to feel that it simply is no longer adequate merely to receive an annual report on the department’s budget; write our own report on this, and then engage in a plenary debate like this one.

We are moving towards outcomes-based budgeting in which Parliament is being challenged to play a more constructive and effective role. Outcomes-based budgeting requires not just defining vague outcomes and the objectives of policy but also to identifying measurable outputs against which the various programmes’ performance can be measured. In this way the budget must become a more effective tool to give effect to policy choices.

The DTI has told us - and the Minister has repeated it now - that it regards the present budget as work in progress and that it intends progressively aligning its resources around the three overlapping priority areas I mentioned earlier. This we have seen in the committee as a hook to plan what we hope will be more effective oversight. At the beginning of May this year, we intend to begin a programme of roughly quarterly engagements with the department, involving several days of quality time interactions to monitor progress in achieving declared objectives of realignment, to identify problems and, most importantly, to help identify solutions.

We regard these engagements also as work in progress in which we hope to define a more effective model of constructive oversight. We hope that, eventually, these experiences may be of some more general value as we in Parliament reflect on the issue of budget reform.

Finally, I would like briefly to mention some of the concerns which were highlighted in our report. We have been informed that the DTI underspent a sum of some R600 million in the 1999-2000 financial year. A recently published report of the Auditor- General indicates that the DTI also seriously underspent in the previous three years, and the Minister acknowledged that just now. It is, perhaps, small comfort that the amount underspent in 1999-2000 was somewhat less than the R996 million that was surrendered to the Treasury in 1998-99.

We understand and appreciate that a sizeable part of the department’s budget involves transfer payments that cannot always be accurately predicted in advance. We accept, too, that the overspending this year should be seen as a source of opportunity and earnestly hope that the Department of State Expenditure will agree to the request for a roll-over of some of these funds to finance, among others, Khula and the taxi recapitalisation programme. At the same time we sincerely hope and trust that this problem will be addressed in the future.

With these few remarks, I have pleasure in supporting Vote No 32. [Applause.]

Mr N S BRUCE: Madam Speaker, we in South Africa have chosen to be part of the global economy and hope to reap some of the substantial material benefits it offers. That is certainly what the direction of our economic policy indicates, apart from our labour and equity laws.

Some important implications flow from that choice. Firstly, we cannot limit our participation; it is all or nothing. Quite contrary to what a losing organisation like the ILO may say, we have to put on what Thomas Friedman calls a golden straitjacket, which in turn means that we have to constantly streamline our economy to meet global competition - in other words, participate in a perpetual revolution.

If we fail, we shall be abandoned to marginalisation and poverty, but if we are successful the next implication is that the golden straitjacket narrows the political and economic choices open to Government. It does not matter whether it is to the left or to the right, all Government’s policies choices are going to have to be roughly the same.

Secondly, as prosperity burgeons, so politics shrinks. This is because it is not ordinary votes but large institutional investors and those who save through them who increasingly call the shots, and they have no sentiments. Ask them to correct the imbalances of the past, and like fickle lovers, they will have their way and then leave.

What they are seeking are competitive returns in a stable business environment, which means fair competition and a swift and equitable justice system. They are not motivated by greed, as the hon the Minister of Labour so foolishly said on Tuesday. No, they need to generate surpluses to invest back in the business, so that they continue to innovate and thus survive. Employees who help them to do that by increasing levels of productivity inevitably find that their incomes are rising too. No country that has embraced globalisation has seen the poor get poorer, although income disparities may widen.

Thirdly, to meet the challenge of globalisation, Government has got to get smaller and smarter. No longer can it set all the rules, for globalisation erodes sovereignty, but it needs to see that the exuberance of business does not mean chaos. Apart from supplying the services that the private sector cannot provide, Government has to do this less by exercising its authority and more by encouraging competitive forces. That is the challenge faced primarily by the Department of Trade and Industry, and its success will be judged not by whom it employs or what development projects it launches, but by what progress South Africa makes up the productivity league from our very low position now.

That means that trade and industry issues must take precedence over political ones, both domestically and abroad. My impression is that had we gone to the European Union free trade negotiations without first flourishing a begging bowl and asking for even more aid and Lomé membership, we would have had a swifter deal negotiated between two parties that recognised each other’s maturity and differing needs.

Our desire to force the pace of establishing the SADC free trade area is another case in point. The political need to do the deal to bolster the President’s notion of an African renaissance appears to be superseding the trade advantages. Indeed, there are two dangers in rushing into a trade pact when the area patently is not yet ready for such an initiative. It will be ready when the economic policies of the member states begin to converge. Particularly, there should be a convergence of the foreign tariffs of the member states and adequate rules of origin capable of being policed. Without that, imports will come into the enlarged market through those countries with the lowest tariffs and, without sufficient value being added in the entry country, pass unhindered into South Africa.

Moreover, no doubt disturbed and recalcitrant, South Africa is lowering its tariffs within the boundaries of the proposed free trade market quite far in advance of other members, despite, in some commodities, especially textiles, a fair balance of trade already existing without adequate reciprocity. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves in the free trade area at substantial cost to our own balance of payments and, through inadequate or leaky rules of origin, allowing competitors from outside easy access to our market.

We appear to be singling out Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where democracy is more an illusion than a reality, for special concessions. For instance, as far as textiles are concerned, instead of a two-stage conversion and 60% value added, we understand that a one-stage conversion is under consideration. Of course, what happens in neighbouring economies is important, although some appear to have political problems for which there are no economic and political answers. But globalisation opens the world to us and we should not be blind to the opportunities on offer because we have not lifted our eyes from the horizon.

According to a recent survey by A T Kerney on investor attitudes to South Africa, the more investors know about South Africa, the less they expect SADC to create additional investment opportunities. So we welcome the Minister’s initiative, after Seattle, in galvanising other sizeable and more compatible trade partners into a bloc capable of mature negotiation over the realities of especially textile and agricultural access to the dominant Western markets.

What is certainly disturbing, however, about the Minister’s budget is that, despite spending increases, some services of his department are still deteriorating. The Office of the Registrar of Companies appears to be in chaos. One of its problems, apart from a new computer system, is inadequate human resources - an inadequacy which will be aggravated by the recent dismissals of several temporary employees. Last year, it took one to two months to open a closed corporation. It now takes more than four.

There are allegations that the Registrar of the Usury Act cannot cope with the normal inspection process and contraventions are going undetected. The former registrar, Herman le Roux, who held the post for 10 years, has been at home on full pay since 1992. Neither the Finance department, which used to administer the Act, nor the Department of Trade and Industry, which does so now, will accept responsibility for a settlement.

It is not the speed of payout from the lottery, which the hon the Minister mentioned, that concerns my party, it is who the charities are that will receive that payout and on what basis they will get the money. Until the department can demonstrate the efficacy of its managerial endeavours, the DP would have difficulties supporting a budget that contains any increase in departmental spending. [Applause.]

Mr H J BEKKER: Madam Speaker, the IFP in general is supportative of the Trade and Industry Vote. For several years, we have worked in close co- operation with the department and particularly with the Minister and the Deputy Minister. Where we have been critical on certain matters, we have always found an attentive ear from the Ministry and due acknowledgement for our concerns.

The IFP, over the years, has noticed that many of our fundamental economic principles have, to a certain degree, been adopted by the Government and particularly by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance. On a lighter note, the more the ANC steals IFP policy from us, the more South Africa will benefit. [Interjections.]

Of course, we should deregulate much more and have fewer boards of control in our fledgling economy. The ongoing saga of the taxi recapitalisation programme cannot be ignored. In previous parliamentary debates and in media statements the IFP expressed its concern that certain taxi organisations with a substantial representative base had alleged that Government had not consulted with them with regard to the taxi recapitalisation project.

The IFP at that time urged Government, and particularly the Departments of Transport and of Trade and Industry, urgently to undertake information and consultation programmes with these taxi organisations, alternatively, that Government, via the Portfolio Committees on Trade and Industry and on Transport, should engage in a programme of public hearings. The IFP has therefore welcomed the approach of the Deputy President to engage in discussions with some of these associations. The IFP is confident that our constructive and co-operative approach with regard to the taxi recapitalisation project played a major part in defusing, at least to a certain extent, this very volatile situation.

Ironically, Sataco, the Government-created organisation, is now distancing itself from the taxi recapitalisation programme. The belligerence that is now resurfacing between the Government and the taxi bodies, particularly Sataco, is cause for concern. It was surprising that Sataco could just reverse its previous position, whilst for a long time the Government sought to convince the public that it was dealing well with them. The Government insistence on going ahead with the taxi recapitalisation programme despite protestations by other taxi bodies was based on the supposed progress that Government claimed to have made with Sataco, which was proclaimed as the legitimate representative of the taxi bodies.

This latest development vindicates the IFP’s warning that the Government should not steamroller its taxi recapitalisation programme when dealing with such a sensitive matter. This must underline even more why the Government and Sataco must ensure that negotiations are inclusive of all stakeholders. Any display of an aggressive attitude by either side must be rejected by all peaceloving citizens. When all is said and done, it is the public, and particularly the commuters, who become the victims.

The IFP will support every move that can improve the safety of commuters transported daily by the taxi fleet of our country. We therefore agree that the taxi fleet must be upgraded and properly regulated. The necessity of an upgrading programme is therefore essential for the ageing part of the taxi fleet. The IFP, in the interests of the public, passengers and the taxi industry, has engaged in discussions and consultations with role-players in the taxi industry, in order to consider an acceptable taxi transport system for the affected community, being the commuters and the taxi industry. The IFP in this regard has consulted and will continue to consult, facilitate and negotiate with stakeholders in order to achieve a more satisfactory position. The IFP has embarked on a consultation programme with different taxi associations in different provinces of South Africa.

The IFP, as a strong proponent of private enterprise, has great appreciation for the role being played by the South African taxi industry, which has developed into a mega industry by sheer determination and without Government subsidies. Any future taxi recapitalisation programme must thus ensure that the basic ownership of taxis remains with small enterprises and individuals, whilst caution must be taken that newly established groups and big business do not take over or compete with this multifaceted small business enterprise.

Substantial industrial development and job creation may occur with an acceptable recapitalisation project, with the many benefits that such an upgrading project will have for the entire South African economy. It is therefore important that South Africa should create such an acceptable taxi recapitalisation programme.

Consideration should also be given to legislating minimum vehicle specifications in order to compel existing South African vehicle manufacturers to comply with such minimum prescribed specifications. Surely the existing manufacturers in South Africa can play an important role in producing suitable transport vehicles that will be safe, durable, affordable and veritable, according to these prescribed specifications. The IFP, however, also realises that any scheme introduced without proper and appropriate law enforcement will never be successful.

In the long-term interest of the transport industry, it is imperative that the concern of taxi stakeholders, and particularly the safety of commuters, should be taken into consideration. Obviously Government should give greater attention and consideration to the concerns of all the relevant stakeholders. The IFP therefore welcomes the statement of the Minister of Transport that the bolts and nuts of the taxi recapitalisation project could be reviewed. We take it that, from the Minister’s side, the Department of Trade and Industry also subscribes to this more moderate approach.

With regard to the threats of disruption by certain taxi groups, the IFP clearly stated its position. We recognise that in terms of the Constitution there is a right to demonstration and mass action, but the IFP would be against any violent or disruptive demonstrations. Such demonstrations and threats of possible disruptions must be condemned and all responsible bodies and parties should distance themselves from such actions. We trust that this contribution will be accepted in the spirit in which it has been given.

Mrs B M NTULI: Madam Speaker, Ministers, hon members, the President made a strong statement on growth and economic empowerment in his state of the nation address earlier this year. Similarly, the Minister, Comrade Alec Erwin, has today also reiterated and highlighted our Government’s continued support for the development of a vibrant small and medium enterprise environment, which will ultimately contribute to sustained growth rates and black economic empowerment.

The task of the trade and industry portfolio committee today and for the rest of the financial year will be to examine this commitment within the context of available resources. The committee has interacted on several occasions with a host of institutions within the stable of the department. We are going to be focusing particular attention on the smooth functioning and improved delivery of these organisations. These institutions represent the first point of contact between Government delivery and our people. We intend to continue these meetings with the express purpose of improving oversight.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the new administrative head and accounting officer, Dr Alistair Ruiters, to his new post of director-general in the Department of Trade and Industry. He will receive our continued support and we encourage him to develop a critical but co- operative relationship with the portfolio committee. He can be assured of our continued oversight. Our doors remain open.

The common vision and direction shared by so many stakeholders over the past six years is the result of the formulation of difficult but essential policy choices that Government has introduced and implemented over this period. We have not deviated from the policy course but have been true to the joint commitment made by our partners and us. Continuity and consistency in policy implementation have been the hallmarks of this period. The policy implementation process has involved the phasing out of demand-side assistance schemes, which tended to be inefficient and produced very little value to the economy. This was replaced with a targeted package of assistance schemes that focused on adding value to the productive process, improving efficiency, diversifying production, enhancing technological development, improving price competitiveness and encouraging investment in South Africa, both domestic and foreign.

However, access to finance and lack of collateral remain obstacles to the development of SMMEs, especially with regard to black people. Banks are still reluctant to finance SMMEs. In the department’s budget presentation to the portfolio committee, the director-general highlighted the department’s delivery focus as being the promotion of small, medium and microenterprises, empowerment and promoting investment.

Sesikhulume kakhulu kwanela ngokuthi kufanele sikhuphule ezomnotho kumabhizinisi amancane. Sesifuna izenzo manje. Mawabekhona-ke la mabhizinisi amancane. Mawabonakale akhiwa futhi esebenza. [We have said enough about the need for us to develop the economy through small business. Now we want action. Let these small businesses happen. Let us see them being started and working.]

As a committee we will be measuring the success of the department in relation to these set objectives. We would like to see how the activities of the department add value to the trade and industry sector, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Let us tackle the promotion of SMMEs and black empowerment with greater determination.

The department has established a range of delivery instruments intended to make these objectives a living reality. Some of these programmes have been established over time, others are in the process of being established. The task of the department is to co-ordinate the clustering of these programmes, so that combined optimal results are achieved. We, as a committee, are also tasked with continually measuring the effectiveness of these programmes and providing counselling to the Minister and Deputy Minister.

Ngeke-ke sizakhe uma kuzothi minyaka yonke sakhe izinhlelo noma izikhungo, kuphinde kudilizwe kwakhiwe okunye. KuMnu Alec Erwin, ngithi-ke ngiyethemba ukuthi lokhu kuhlela kabusha akusho lokho. [We will never develop ourselves if every year we create new programmes and structures, only to destroy them and start afresh all the time. To Mr Alec Erwin, I would like to say that I hope that this reorganisation does not mean that.]

We must remember that these programmes are instruments and that they are not written in stone. They must act as a vehicle so that we can meet our collective objectives. The department’s delivery instrument must be sensitive to the volatility and the fluctuations of structural challenges, and not act in response to situations. Our task is to foresee unfolding economic development and prepare, where appropriate.

Singalindeli izinkinga ukuthi zibe khona bese kuba yikhona siqala sithi siyalungisa. [We should not wait until problems develop and only start then to rectify things.]

In order to promote SMMEs the following support programmes are available to our entrepreneurs: sectoral partnership funds, small exporters assistance, franchising support, financial and nonfinancial support services, technological support, industrial innovations, preferential procurement and cluster studies.

Yini-ke enye efunekayo kule zikhungo ezikhona? Aziqale zibonakale zisebenza lapho zidingeka khona, ikakhulukazi ezindaweni zasemakhaya. [What else is expected of the existing structures? They should start showing that they are functioning in places where they are needed, particularly in rural areas.]

It is our responsibility, as public representatives, to familiarise our constituencies with the support available. Support must filter to where it is most needed. Similarly, with a view to achieving empowerment, the department has established the National Empowerment Fund, the industrial participation programme, the Competitiveness Fund and the Sectoral Partnership Fund, as well as technology transfer, and financial and nonfinancial wholesale assistance.

Institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation, Khula Enterprise Finance Ltd, Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency, the CSIR and many others administer many of the above programmes. This means that large portions of this department’s budget flow to these organisations. This is the time to deliver, not to add other institutions. These institutions have, over time, developed a range of technical skills around supply-side measures. They have an important role to play. Personnel in these organisations are crucial to the success of the Government’s delivery.

We are happy about the success of the two national advisory centres, Permac in Port Elizabeth and Dumac in Durban, that were set up by Ntsika. Halala Ntsika, halala! This places certain responsibilities on its shoulders and calls for a certain level of commitment to the objectives of promoting the empowerment of and investment in SMMEs.

Yes, bottlenecks do currently exist, but we are addressing them. The challenge facing us today is to continually refine what we have and to see if it works. Our task is to make it work better and to benefit more people. We are talking about all these institutions and their problems. Let us make them work and not simply establish new ones.

Mr Alistair Ruiters described the weaknesses in the department and said it was his plan radically to restructure the department. I am glad that he is not new to the department. He knows all the problems; he has been part of the whole SMME strategy. Let us address the problems relating to SMMEs seriously and very urgently.

Ngiyakholwa-ke ukuthi uMnu u-Alistair Ruiters uzothatha isinyathelo esiqinile. Ngiyakholwa nokuthi uNgqongqoshe wezoHwebo nezeziMboni uzokwenza ukuthi lesi sinyathelo sokuthuthukisa amabhizinisi amancane sisebenze ngokuphuthuma okukhulu. Sethemba ukuthi lokhu kuzoba yimpumelelo enkulu. Siyasemukela lesi Sabiwomali. (Translation of Zulu paragraph follows.) [I believe that Mr Alistair Ruiters will make a strong move. I also believe that the Minister of Trade and Industry will be able to ensure that this step of developing small businesses starts working as soon as possible. We hope that this will be a great success, and we support this Vote.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Before I call on the next speaker, please lower your voices. The noise level in the House is a bit too high.

Mnr F BEUKMAN: Mnr die Voorsitter, die Direkteur-generaal van Handel en Nywerheid het op 29 Februarie 2000 tydens die departement se vooruitskouing van die Begroting die volgende as die departement se hooftake bestempel:

… to facilitate access to sustainable economic activity and employment; higher levels of investment; increased market access; and a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace for business and consumers.

Die Nuwe NP steun hierdie missiestelling as ‘n gesonde basis om ekonomiese groei te verhoog. Wat egter in ag geneem moet word, is die makro-omgewing waarbinne hierdie doelwitte bereik moet word. Dit is juis die Regering se vermoë om sy aandeel in die ekonomie tot die minimum te verklein sodat entrepreneurskap die katalisator vir groei kan word, wat die toets gaan wees. Die Minister het ook in sy toespraak verwys na die rol van die staat in die ekonomie.

Die bekende sakeman adv Christo Wiese het verlede week tydens Die Burger se lesingreeks op Oudtshoorn aangedui dat entrepreneurs, die kern van ‘n land se welvaart, tot sy reg kom wanneer die regering sy aandeel in die ekonomie tot die minimum verklein. In sy rede het adv Wiese aangevoer dat faktore wat aandag moet geniet as Suid-Afrika globalisering tot sy maksimum voordeel wil benut, hoë arbeidskoste en die gepaardgaande lae produktiwiteit is. ‘n Land moet so aantreklik moontlik vir buitelandse maatskappye en sy eie vervaardigers gemaak word as hy die voordeel van globalisering wil benut. Dit doen hy deur produksiekoste so mededingend moontlik te hou en ‘n sakevriendelike omgewing te skep.

Die Nuwe NP is van mening dat die mikpunt van die Regering met betrekking tot investering nie behaal gaan word indien alle rolspelers, wat die Kabinet van die Minister van Arbeid tot die Minister van Veiligheid en Sekuriteit insluit, nie ook hulle deel bydra om ‘n vriendelike beleggingsomgewing te skep nie. Die belangrikste is egter dat die agb Minister se kollegas in die Kabinet sodanig moet presteer dat beleggers deur die vooruitsig op hoë winsmarges en groei op kapitaal Suid-Afrika as ‘n laerisikobeleggingsbestemming sien. Dit begin dus op Kabinetsvlak, waar die politieke en ekonomiese prioriteite vir uitvoering bepaal word.

Die Nuwe NP verwelkom dit dat die departement op entrepreneurs gaan fokus. Dit is daarom van kardinale belang dat die huidige reëls en regulasies vir die ontwikkeling van klein besighede hersien moet word. Inisiatief en kreatiewe pogings moenie deur ontoepaslike arbeidswetgewing en penaliserende heffings aan bande gelê word nie.

Die nuwe regulatoriese hersieningseenheid, wat volgens die Minister ‘n meer wetenskaplike benadering sal hê om die impak van huidige reëls op klein besighede te ondersoek, se werk is van groot belang. Indien daar nou ooit ‘n Regeringsinstansie was waarvan die werksaamhede ge-``fast-track’’ of versnel moet word, is dit hierdie betrokke eenheid. Die Nuwe NP wil dit weer eens aan Minister Erwin beklemtoon: as hy nie die ander staatsdepartemente en Ministers se samewerking vir die optrede van hierdie eenheid gaan kry nie, gaan die skepping van ‘n verdere papiertier met min tande en min byt die gevolg wees.

Gear gaan staan of val by die skep van ‘n groei-omgewing vir die klein sakeman. Die Nuwe NP wil dus vandag ‘n beroep op die Minister doen om meer aandag te gee aan programme soos die kleinuitvoerder-bystandsprogram, die sektorale vennootskapsfonds en die franchise-ondersteuningsprogram. Instellings soos Khula, Permac en Ntsika se bestuur moet deur prestasiekontrakte geëvalueer word om te bepaal in watter mate hul daartoe bydra dat klein ondernemings kan slaag. Ongeveer 35% van die departement se begroting gaan vir die bevordering van KMMO’s.

‘n Ander belangrike kwessie is dat die klein en medium onderneming wat op uitvoer fokus, veral in die agri-nywerhede, die nodige bystand van die departement moet kry. Die Minister het nou self in die onderhandelings oor die EU-SA-handelsverdrag gesien wat produkbeskerming vir lande soos Portugal, Italië en Griekeland beteken. Produsente se belange word onbeskaamd en sonder huiwering deur die regerings bevorder. Daar is nie veel sentiment vir die belang van ontwikkelende lande in die bepaling van die handelsagenda van nywerheidslande nie. As die Minister ‘n deurbraak by die WHO kan maak oor die oopstel van markte, sal die Nuwe NP die eerste opposisieparty wees om hom geluk te wens.

Dit bly ‘n feit dat die jaarlikse landbousubsidie van $30 miljard wat die EU aan sy produsente verskaf, die speelveld ongelyk maak. Die Regering moet dit dus nie moeiliker maak vir Suid-Afrikaanse produsente om te kan kompeteer in die oorgesubsidieerde wêreldekonomie nie. Vir Suid-Afrikaanse sagtevrugte-, wyn- en graanboere wat spesifiek op die uitvoermark fokus en derduisende werksgeleenthede skep, is toepaslike bystand ‘n prioriteit.   Die Minister sal die leiding moet neem om Suid-Afrika en die ontwikkelende lande se saak by die volgende rondte te gaan stel. Daar sal veral op intensiewe gesprekke met die VSA gefokus moet word, aangesien die kwessie van subsidies tussen die EU en die VSA bepaal gaan word. Hieroor moet ons geen illusies hê nie. Die Nuwe NP sal, as ‘n pro-Suid-Afrikaanse party wat lojaal en positief oor die land is, stappe steun wat die ekonomie kan laat groei vir alle Suid-Afrikaners. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mr F BEUKMAN: Mr Chairperson, on 29 February 2000, during the Department of Trade and Industry’s projection of the Budget, the Director of Trade and Industry described the following as the main tasks of the department:

… to facilitate access to sustainable economic activity and employment; higher levels of investment; increased market access; and a fair, efficient and competitive marketplace for business and consumers.

The New NP supports this mission statement as a sound basis to increase economic growth. However, what we must take into account is the macro- environment in which these objectives are to be achieved. The test will in fact be the Government’s ability to reduce its share in the economy to the minimum so that entrepreneurship can become the catalyst for growth. In his speech the Minister also referred to the role of the state in the economy.

Last week during the series of lectures presented by Die Burger at Oudtshoorn, the well-known businessman Adv Christo Wiese indicated that entrepreneurs, the heart of a country’s prosperity, come into their own right when the Government minimises its share in the economy. In his speech Adv Wiese argued that factors which must receive attention if South Africa is to exploit globalisation to the maximum advantage, are high labour costs and the concomitant low productivity. A country must be made as attractive as possible to foreign companies and its own manufacturers if it is to exploit the advantage of globalisation. This can be done by keeping production costs as competitive as possible and by creating a business- friendly environment.

The New NP is of the opinion that the Government’s aim with regard to investment will not be achieved unless all role-players, including the Cabinet from the Minister of Labour to the Minister of Safety and Security, also contribute their share in order to create an investment-friendly environment. However, the most important point is that the hon the Minister’s colleagues in the Cabinet should perform so well that investors see South Africa as a low-risk investment destination owing to the prospect of high profit margins and capital growth. It therefore starts at Cabinet level, where the political and economic priorities are determined for implementation.

The New NP welcomes the fact that the department is going to focus on entrepreneurs. It is therefore of paramount importance that the present rules and regulations for the development of small businesses are revised. Initiative and creative endeavours must not be restricted by inappropriate labour legislation and penalising levies.

The work of the new regulatory revision unit which, according to the Minister, will have a more scientific approach to investigate the impact of present rules on small businesses, is of great importance. If ever there was a Government institution whose activities should be fast-tracked, it is this specific unit. The New NP once again wants to emphasise the following to Minister Erwin: If he does not obtain the co-operation of the other state departments and Ministers for the functioning of this unit, the result will be the creation of yet another paper tiger with few teeth and not much of a bite.

Gear will stand or fall according to whether or not an environment of growth is created for the small businessman. The New NP therefore wants to call upon the Minister today to pay more attention to programmes such as the small exporter assistance programme, the sectorial partnership fund and the franchise support programme. The management of institutions such as Khula, Permac and Ntsika must be evaluated by means of achievement contracts in order to determine to what extent they contribute to the success of small businesses. Approximately 35% of the department’s budget is being spent on the promotion of SMMEs.

Another important issue is that small and medium enterprises that focus on exports, especially in the agri industries, should receive the necessary assistance from the department. The Minister has now seen for himself during the negotiations on the EU-SA trade agreement what the protection of products means to countries such as Portugal, Italy and Greece. The governments promote producers’ interests unashamedly and without hesitation. There is not much sentiment for the interests of developing countries when the trading agenda of industrial countries is being determined. If the Minister can make a breakthrough in the WTO regarding the opening of markets, the New NP will be the first opposition party to congratulate him.

The fact remains that the annual agricultural subsidy of $30 billion which the EU provides to its producers makes the playing-field uneven. The Government must therefore not make it more difficult for South African producers to compete in the oversubsidised world economy. For South African deciduous fruit, wine and grain farmers who focus specifically on the export market and create many thousands of job opportunities, appropriate assistance is a priority.

The Minister will have to take the lead to put South Africa and the developing countries’ case at the next round. The focus will have to be especially on intensive talks with the USA, as the question of subsidies will be determined between the EU and the USA. We must have no illusions about this. The New NP will, as a pro-South African party which is loyal to and positive about the country, support steps which can contribute to the growth of the economy for all South Africans. [Applause.]]

Man N R SHOPE: Eka Mutshami wa Xitulu, vakulukumba va Palamende hinkwenu, ndza mi losa. Ku yima ka mina laha a ndzi yimeri swin’wana handle ka ku ta vulavula emahlweni ka Huvo leyi yo hlonipheka, leswaku mina na Nhlangano wa hina wa ANC hi seketela Mpimanyeto lowu ku vulavuriwaka ha wona namuntlha wa ``Department of Trade and Industry, Vote No 32’’.

Hambi leswi wu vonakaka ingi wa kalarisa hikwalaho ka ku tshikiwa ka swin’wana swa xiave, ku nghenisiwe tin’wana ta tindlela ta ku pfuna va nwamabindzu lava lavaka ku rhumela swilo swa vona ku ya swi xavisa ematikweni ya le handle, xikombiso ``exporting companies in the textile and clothing industry’’. Swipfuno leswi vuriwaka supply side measures swo fana na ku antswisiwa ka thekinoloji na ku leteriwa ka vatirhi, na ku seketeriwa hi timali eka swilo leswi yisiwaka ematikweni man’wana.

Mhaka yin’wana leyikulu hi leswaku kwala xikarhi ka migingiriko ya yona Ndzawulo leyi, yi endle mhaka ya kahle ngopfu hi ku veka munhu loyi a langutaka ofisi ya rimbewu (gender). Gender co-ordinator'' u na vutihlamuleri eka mulawuri jenerala. Sweswo swi veka timhaka ta vamanana emilon'weni yadepartment’’ hinkwayo na laha tikweni. Futhi yi tlhela yi tivisa hofisi ya Presidente leswaku timhaka ta vamanana tiva tiri kona tiri karhi ti langutiwile. Leyi hi yona mhaka leyikulu hikuva loko hi nga seketeli bajete leyi, timhaka ta mintirho ya mabindzu ya vamanana a ti nga swi koti ku langutiwa hikuva ku ta va kuri hava mali.

Vamanana va lava mali loko rixile. Hi swona loko ku vulavuriwa hi ikhonomi ya tiko vamanana va fanela ku yingiseriwa swinene va tlhela va pfuniwa hi mfumo wa tiko. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)

[Mrs N R SHOPE: Chairperson, Deputy President, all members of Parliament, I greet you! I am standing here today to say before this honourable Assembly that my party, the ANC, and I support this budget of the Department of Trade and Industry, Vote No 32.

Even though the funds are insufficient, due to certain aspects of the Vote which were left out, other methods were used to assist our businesspeople involved in the exportation of goods to foreign countries, ie exporting companies such as the textile and clothing industries. Supply-side measures such as the development of technology, the training of workers, and financial support have been given in respect of goods which are exported to foreign countries.

Another very good and important point with regard to this department is the appointment of an officer who is responsible for gender co-ordination. The gender co-ordinator has a certain responsibility and reports to the Director-General. This places issues pertaining to women in a better position to be heard and understood by everyone. He also reports to the Office of the President, and this enables matters pertaining to women to be considered. This is very important, because if we do not support this budget the businesses of our women may not function properly as money will not be available.

Women need money every day. And when there is a discussion on the economy of a country women should be listened to very seriously and they should be assisted by the Government of our country.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon Sybil Seaton, computers - laptops or otherwise - are not allowed in the House. Hon Jan Slabbert, the debate will do you a lot of good educationally. Please continue, hon member.

Mrs N R SHOPE: Thank you!

A ku na wansati loyi a nga twananiki na timhaka ta ikhonomi na mali hikuva hi wundla vana na mindyangu na ku lahla vafi na ku ongola vavabyi. Hikwalaho ke, hi fanela ku seketela ndzawulo hi tlhela hi navela leswaku yi tiyisisa swinene timhaka ta mabindzu ya vamanana. Naswona ku fanela kuva ku langutisisiwa swinene na lawaya ya le matiko-xikaya lomuya ka tindhawu to fana na le ka Nwamitwa na kun’wana lomu vavasati va nga na vutivi byo karhi byo endla swilo kambe va kayivela swipfuno na tindhawu to xavisela eka tona na ku rhumeriwa ka swilo swa vona swa vutshila ematikweni yan’wana.

Hi navela leswaku ``gender co-ordinator’’ axa matihlweni. Leswi ndzi vula leswaku a tlhariha, loko ku vulavuriwa timhaka hikuva i na mpingu lowukulukumba wa ku rhwala timhaka ta nhlayo leyikulukumba ya vamanana kumbe ya vanhu va tiko ra Afrika Dzonga.

Se, hikwalaho ka mhaka yaleyo, hi navela ku vula ku swa hi tsakisa ku kuma ari kona loyi a tirhaka timhaka ta vavasati na timhaka ta ``gender’’ hinkwato, hikuva i ta veka timhaka ta hina vavasati emahlweni. Na kona u fanela ku tlhariha hi n’wu kombela swinene leswaku a tlharihisa matihlo. A xiya-xiya kun’wana na kun’wana lomu timhaka leti ti vulavuriwaka kona kuri ku nga sali nchumu. Nakona a tlhela a byela lava a fanelaka kuva byela hinkwavo ku vavasati swi ta va pfuna leswi kumbe a swi nga va pfuni, leswaku hi ta kota ku tiva ku hi hina hi nga la hi vulavulaka timhaka ta vavasati hi kota ku hi pfunana na yena.   Leswi, swi ta ya swiri karhi swi hlamuseleka loko ndziri karhi ndzi vulavula ndzi ya emahlweni. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)

[There is no woman who dislikes matters related to the economy and money. This is the case because we raise our children and look after our families. We also bury our dead and look after those who are ill, with money. Therefore, we should support the department and also request it to improve matters relating to the business of our women. Consideration should also be given to those businesses in rural areas, such as Nwamitwa and elsewhere, where women are equipped with special skills and are able to produce or manufacture things but lack assistance and places to sell their produce. They do not have the means to transport or send their goods to other countries.

We ask that our gender co-ordinator be very active. By saying this I mean that he must be very alert and attentive whenever issues are being discussed. This is so because he has the very great responsibility of working with a large number of people in South Africa. Therefore, that being the case, we wish to say that we are very happy to find ourselves having someone who is responsible in working with women’s affairs and all matters related to gender. He will be able to place women’s matters on his priority list. And he must act wisely and work very diligently. He must be very observant during discussions and nothing should be omitted. He should also make appropriate reports and inform everyone on important matters, which can be of great assistance to women, or unimportant matters. By so doing, we who are present here, discussing matters related to women shall be in a position to work hand in hand with him.

This will become self-explanatory as I progress with my deliberation.]

Another matter that the department is busy with is the review and restructuring of SMME supporting institutions, so that they can effectively develop the entrepreneurial activities of our people.

Though I would like to emphasise attention for rural people, and women in particular, there are many more measures which the Department of Trade and Industry and its institutions have taken which make it possible for me to feel that this Vote should be supported, for example, the environmental support fund that was initiated to assist industries in achieving the objectives of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998. The technology and human resources for industry programmes grew from 5,6 million to 100 million in 1998 and the support programme for industrial innovation and participation of companies with asset values of less than R1 million grew to 59% of the number of projects in 1999, resulting in income tax that was four times the amount originally estimated by the Government.

Two projects were launched: the Feasibility Study Support to facilitate entry by SMMEs during 1998 and the Partnership in Industry Innovation during 1999. Today the DTI has 42 offices overseas and 10 export councils were launched in partnership with sectoral firms.

While supporting this budget, I would like to remind Parliament of its oversight function. We should interact more actively with the department and the various institutions. If we as members of Parliament are informed, we will be in a position to assist in communicating all opportunities that are created by the department.

It is also a significant point that the DTI plays a central role in the integrated development strategy. Through its activities, our strategies and policies become all the more clear, such that the private sector finds space to participate in bringing a better life to our people.

For the reasons I have mentioned above, I support Vote No 32 for the Department of Trade and Industry. [Applause.]

Mr C T FROLICK: Mr Chairman, hon members, the budget of the Department of Trade and Industry is divided into four programmes. The UDM’s participation in this Vote will focus on two of these programmes, namely Programme 2 and Programme 4.

Before dealing with these programmes, the UDM wishes to compliment the Minister and officials of the department on the constructive role they have played to ensure beneficial bilateral trade agreements, especially the complex European Union trade agreement which is a credit to the DTI and the Minister. However, we should guard against over-reliance on direct foreign investment at the expense of trade and industrial development in our own country. Consequently, it seems as if the other priorities, such as SMME promotion, suffered in the wake of the department’s intense involvement in conducting bilateral trade agreements. This is unfortunate, as the result is underspending in the department.

Approximately R600 million, which constitutes more than 25% of the total amount allocated to the department in the 1999-2000 budget remained unspent at the end of the financial year thus the request from the DTI for these funds to be rolled over. The opinion of the Auditor-General with regard to the department’s unspent funds, which has been characteristic of the DTI’s budgets for the past four financial years, is well documented. It seems that our ability to raise Government revenue exceeds our ability to spend it. An astonishing increase in the collection of taxes has been experienced by the SA Revenue Service, but we continue to face an uphill battle in getting these much-needed funds to the SMMEs, who desperately need it to eradicate poverty and unemployment and to create the much-needed employment everybody is waiting for. The request by the DTI for roll-overs to support the taxi recapitalisation programme and the recapitalisation of Khula and to support SMMEs is a sad reflection on the ability of the department to provide for such key strategic activities in the main Budget. Similarly, there seems to be a lack of focus and commitment with regard to SMMEs. The argument of the department regarding overlapping spending on priority activities will be difficult to monitor. The UDM expresses the hope that lack of delivery on SMME promotion will not be justified by claiming that investment did occur, as it is an overlapping priority.

The future of Ntsika as the small business promotion agency of Government is vital for accelerated entrepreneurial development. Reports that the organisation is in a continual state of disarray is a source of concern and these allegations must receive priority attention. Simultaneously, Khula is facing budgetary constraints and will be forced to reduce its activities without additional funding. Khula indicated that without recapitalisation funds it will not be able to operate beyond July 2000. The focus of Government on SMMEs should not be allowed to flounder due to budgetary constraints and managerial problems. The UDM advocates a policy of enterprise development to empower all and to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The economic cake must be enlarged so that the poor can be enriched without impoverishing the wealth creators. We believe that this can be achieved by unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit inherent in all South Africans. Unless opportunities are created on a massive scale for all South Africans, real empowerment will never occur.

According to the department, the increase in Programme 4 in excess of R80 million is mainly for establishing and running the competition commission and tribunal. Irrespective of concerns about the necessity for such a huge increase, it cannot be disputed that the existence of such a commission and tribunal is of great importance to trade and industry in a free-market society.

The UDM supports the department’s refocusing of its activities for this financial year, which includes SMME promotion, empowerment and investment. We hope that the department, under the leadership of a new director- general, will embrace this mandate of SMME promotion with vigour and enthusiasm. It will be difficult for the department to return to Parliament in future and repeat the behaviour of previous years by requesting substantial roll-overs or reporting substantial unspent funds.

In conclusion, the UDM supports and will vigorously encourage the right of all individuals in South Africa to make a difference through their entrepreneurial contribution, their decent work ethic, their belief in themselves and their willingness to take responsibility for the economic growth of this country, because this is an essential step of nation- building. The UDM supports this Vote. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! The next speaker is the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, formerly Ngwane, but now Ms Hendricks. Please note that. We welcome her and wish her well. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson, hon members, colleagues, CEOs of the DTI families - Ntsika, Khula and the IDC - comrades, it is indeed my pleasure and privilege today to participate in my first budget debate on the Department of Trade and Industry. Seeing that this is my maiden speech, I am going to try not to be controversial. Hence I will not respond to a few things that were said by some people on my left unless, of course, I have time left later on.

Members heard the Minister of Trade and Industry share with them what we have done, as a department, and what we hope to achieve during this year and in the future. The Minister has outlined, in broad terms, the changes we are engaged in at the department in order to allow us to better deliver on the challenges facing our nation. It is true that a major restructuring is under way at the Department of Trade and Industry, and its sole purpose is to achieve maximum service delivery.

I wish to direct the attention of members to the areas that we have elected to focus on. The new restructured Department of Trade and Industry has a new management structure which consists of the policy board, the executive committee and the management committee. These different levels of management meet at different times and feed to each other decisions taken at various levels.

In its new form, the department is going to collapse a multitude of programmes into three main programmes, namely the development of international trade and investment; the development of enterprise, commerce and industry, which is fairly new although it encompasses a lot of other areas that we deal with; and group services. These new divisions are led by three deputy directors-general, a level of management we have reintroduced into our corporate governance structure. In our new form, the department is focused on adding value to the economy, contributing to international competitiveness, promoting small, medium and micro enterprises, achieving black economic empowerment, developing the SADC region and reducing the wealth inequalities.

Because our fundamental task and strategy is to grow our economy through facilitating access to sustainable economic activity and employment, promoting higher levels of investment, creating increased market access for our producers in international markets and through creating a fair, efficient and competitive market place for business and consumers in our country, the new DTI is restructuring its relationship with itself and our sister institutions and creating greater alignment with the economy. This will enable our institutions to become implementors of policy, and the DTI to become the policy planning, programme development, monitoring and evaluation unit that it is supposed to be.

In order to generate investment in our economy, which is necessary for economic growth, we are focusing more intensely on promoting internal investment and foreign direct investment. In this regard, we have developed national, regional and international strategies which members can read about in the documents that we have provided and can find out about from the demonstration in the lobby.

Locally, we are further strengthening the paradigm shift from demand-side measures to supply-side measures in our support schemes for industry. We are improving our industrial policy to better direct our economic activities and to strengthen our support of technological development and innovation in commerce and industry.

The department addresses the needs of our people through empowerment and sustainable development by focusing on entrepreneurs and research into development, growth and equity. We are bent on achieving empowerment by leveraging the economy through the National Empowerment Fund, promoting our industrial participation programme, small exporters assistance, the Competitiveness Fund and the Sectoral Partnership Fund. We are intent on reducing wealth inequalities by promoting socioeconomic stability through preferential procurement, encouraging partnerships in industrial innovation, and providing export marketing assistance for small exporters through our small, medium and micro industry support mechanisms.

Among our notable achievements this past year, the highlight to date, other than the ones mentioned in the booklets, is the great shift in the demographic composition of the department. The racial composition in the department has shifted more towards reflecting the racial composition of our country. If one looks at the 1993-94 composition of the DTI, the department was 90% white and 10% black. Figures for 1999-2000 show that we are now 46% white and 54% black.

We are obviously not happy with the gender representivity in the department, and this year we intend accelerating this transformation process by attracting suitable women to top positions in the department, but we are also going to concentrate on training women that we have in the department and elsewhere in our agencies so that they can take up positions of leadership wherever they are capable.

Part of the transformation in the DTI included addressing the issue of poverty as a strategy towards achieving economic growth. This meant establishing programmes to address issues of social empowerment. So far, this has included, among other things, the establishment of women-exclusive programmes and also consciously identifying them as beneficiaries of our SMME programmes. As members would see if they were to look carefully at the beneficiaries of the Khula schemes, most of the beneficiaries have been women and are mostly those who are in the rural areas.

The challenge we face at the moment is to how to broaden this by making sure that other previously disadvantaged groups such as the youth and those with disabilities are included in our programmes. We hope to achieve and monitor this by establishing an integrated social empowerment programme, which will be accountable to the Ministry through the office of the director-general. That same programme will also oversee gender equality and gender transformation in the department.

As members may recall, we established a dedicated institutional framework for small business development in 1995. As a result, significant progress has been made in addressing the needs of small businesses. A network of support institutions has been established to ensure access to a range of essential services for SMMEs. We have the Centre for Small Business Promotion, Khula Enterprise Finance Limited, Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency and the provincial SMME desks. We have also had, as has already been stated here, major successes with our manufacturing advice centres based in Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Maybe I should just pause here to say that the issues that members are raising, especially the issue of problems with support for small business, are issues that the DTI is well aware of. The latter is an issue that is well documented. Part of the strategy in the restructuring is to address exactly those programmes. Some people are asking about the future of Ntsika, which ``is in disarray’’. I do not think that that is true - Ntsika is not in disarray. Ntsika is well and functioning, and it has never been stronger than it is at present.

What we are trying to do through the restructuring and our focus on small business is to ensure that the very good work that our agencies are performing gets to be known by people, but more than that. We want the packages, schemes and initiatives we have for small business to be known by the people whom we want to target and support.

We must admit that transformation and access to information about what small business is and what it must do, has been a problem. Our focus is going to be on sharpening those areas and getting the information to the right people, to make these agencies focus on providing services to the people whom we want to target, specifically women, the previously disadvantaged and blacks in rural areas and urban areas where we think there is a need for renewal. So instead of small business promotion not being fully provided for, we are going to accelerate provision for and promotion of small business with this restructuring.

Through these institutions and the financial and nonfinancial support schemes offered to small business, we were able to service and support a great number of small, black, women-owned businesses, and the disabled, particularly in the rural areas. The successes of these programmes have enabled us to learn from practice and experience and we are currently, as I have said, in the process of reassessing our impact. Based on our findings, we are going to improve our efforts in these areas.

The restructured DTI will see us expanding our support for this sector and concentrating on where the target recipients are. Further, we have redoubled our efforts to develop the SADC region because, as the Minister said, it will not be useful to us to think that we are the strongest in the region while our neighbours are suffering, as that will lead to a lot of social ills, some of which are a lot of illegal immigrants and refugees.

We are working with our neighbours on the Spatial Development Initiates and the development of the various corridors we established with them. We are actively involved in establishing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements within SADC, improving trade policy and actively restructuring our tariff regimens. We are engaged in infrastructure development at a world-scale project level with our regional partners.

Only last week - I do not know if Mr Bruce is here - the SADC Ministers responsible for Trade and Industry met in Sandton and targeted 1 September 2000 as the implementation date for the SADC Free Trade Agreement. For him to say that we speeded up this free trade agreement because of political imperatives - to try to bolster the President’s dream of an African renaissance - is a figment of his imagination. If there is any South African who does not appreciate that the region has to be strong for South Africa to be strong, I do not know where that person comes from. [Interjections.]

At the beginning of this year Ministers from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as the European Union, met in Brussels to negotiate and conclude a successor agreement to the Lomé Four Convention which expired on 29 February 2000. Again I heard criticism here that we rushed to finalise our agreement with the EU when, in fact, we could have gained more by trying to finish our negotiations regarding the successor to Lomé Four. All these things are happening at the same time, so I just do not understand what the criticism was all about. But I know that the person who knows best will be able to respond to the people who were raising those criticisms.

In February, the Minister and I led a South African delegation to the 10th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Unctad, where the Minister handed over the presidency to Thailand. Unctad’s role of aiding developing countries was reaffirmed at this session, thereby continuing its contribution to developing countries and their participation in multilateral fora. South Africa made major interventions at the conference and we had the distinct honour of having our Deputy President participating in the high level heads-of-state forum of the conference. I will not touch the WTO, for the Minister has already spoken about it.

As we have heard, the DTI has taken the challenge of meeting the needs of our people and the country a step further. The changes mentioned here are indicative of an institution that has taken stock of the issues that are confronting our people, and developing the best possible solutions to these issues by creating the vehicles necessary to deliver on these. The budget we present today will enable us to meet these challenges.

In conclusion, I wish to thank the Minister, the previous Deputy Minister in absentia, who has been very supportive to me, the Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry, Dr Alistair Ruiters, and the chairpersons of the standing committees in the National Assembly and the NCOP for their support. [Applause.]

Miss N B SIGABI: Mr Chairperson and hon members, on the surface the Government has done everything to attract investment and for job prospects. The President himself has taken control of the Cabinet committee on job creation, but underneath the surface, the current is flowing in the opposite direction.

The South African economy has shed 1 million jobs since 1994, introducing hundreds of thousands of poor impoverished households and individuals to the poverty trap. The Government needs to realise that foreign direct investment is not the panado for all our ills; so much of what is wrong is internal.

SMMEs should be the primary means of empowerment for all South Africans. This sector is important to the South African economy as a strategic balance in addressing job creation. These entrepreneurs will pave the way for the formation of multisectoral industries in the country. SMMEs provide scope for young aspirant entrepreneurs to become agents of transformation and growth. The current policies for black empowerment and small business development perpetuate top-down dependence, and not economic and entrepreneurial freedom.

The black empowerment infrastructure breeds uncompetitive and unproductive businesses which today, in the global context, will never realise their potential as mechanisms for job creation. [Interjections.] The SMMEs have the biggest potential for growth and can be the biggest role-players in the alleviation of poverty and unemployment. It needs capacity-building, institutional strengthening, coherent development of strategic interventions mechanisms, efforts at upgrading the status of the entrepreneurs and benchmarking efforts for impact evaluation.

We have done some selling and we are looking good on paper. But when it comes to action, it happens elsewhere. [Applause.]

Mrs C DUDLEY: Mr Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, sanibonani [greetings]. The two minutes that the ACDP is normally allocated has now miraculously turned into six minutes, and all of a sudden I am a little bit more relaxed than I normally am!

Two minutes obviously does not give the ACDP much time to adequately comment on any budget, so I have decided to focus on two particular issues. But as things stand, perhaps I will get to comment on more than that.

The two issues which we believe have enormously detrimental effects on our economy and the welfare and development of this nation are liquor and gambling. It is estimated that South Africans consume more than 6 million litres of alcoholic beverage every year, close to 10 litres of pure alcohol per adult per year, placing us among the highest alcohol-consuming countries in the world. [Interjections.]

A large portion of the population does not drink, therefore the per capita consumption and risky drinking, particularly over weekends, is very high amongst those who do consume alcohol. [Interjections.] Studies show that a repeated link is made by commissioners between crime and substance abuse, particularly alcohol, and that the road accident rate in relation to drunken driving in South Africa also leaves much to be desired. [Interjections.]

Health services are also negatively affected through use of trauma services and treatment costs. The Government has once again sadly failed to adequately use the alcohol excise tax as a means of addressing these abuses. While Government is credited with imposing sin tax, the hon the Minister of Finance has, in fact, only increased duties on all alcoholic drinks in line with forecast inflation. In other words, the real change in excise duty will be 0% and, as far as sorghum beer is concerned, -5,5%.

The argument implied by the 1999 Budget Review is that increasing the excise tax on sorghum beer would affect the poorest sectors of society. It could, however, equally be argued that the Government has a duty to reduce alcohol consumption and related problems among this sector, and that increasing the excise tax on sorghum beer might assist in reducing alcohol abuse. [Interjections.]

As things stand, the economic costs of alcohol misuse are likely to exceed the revenue gained from taxes and VAT by at least three times. In the light of this, the ACDP calls on Trade and Industry to see to it that adequate duties and levies are applied to these products and that the money be used … The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon members, please lower the noise level in this House. Hon member, please continue.

Ms C DUDLEY: Thank you, Chairperson. The money should be used to educate the public with regard to the danger of alcohol abuse and in setting up youth centres, sports and health facilities.

The licensing of shebeens, bottle stores and liquor outlets is another major concern. These are mushrooming in every community, and even local cafes are selling alcohol right outside school premises. Our youth are vulnerable and communities have no say. Ordinary people do not read the Gazette. We call on Trade and Industry to urgently review the licensing process and to see that communities are fully consulted before liquor licenses are awarded.

The ACDP is also opposed to the Lotteries Act and the National Gambling Act, as hon members know. [Interjections.] We believe gambling is destructive and cannot contribute to building the nation. The idea that gambling creates jobs is false. The lottery does not create wealth, but rather consumes it. If people did not spend money on gambling, they would spend it on something else, creating more useful jobs in other sectors. The lottery is of no benefit to our economy. [Interjections.]

Mr J H MOMBERG: Rubbish!

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Hon Jannie Momberg, please allow the member to have her time at the podium, sir.

Mr J H MOMBERG: But she is talking rubbish!

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Even if she is, do not worry about it. You will have your turn. Hon member, please continue.

Mr J H MOMBERG: Ekskuus, antie! [Excuse me, ``auntie’’!]

An HON MEMBER: Skaam jou, Jannie! [Shame on you, Jannie!] The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order!

Ms C DUDLEY: Will I lose some seconds? [Interjections.]

An HON MEMBER: Jannie, moenie pla nie! [Jannie, don’t be a nuisance!]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Please withdraw the remark that she is talking rubbish.

Mr J H MOMBERG: I withdraw it.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Thank you. Hon member, please continue. [Interjections.] [Laughter.]

Ms C DUDLEY: To add insult to injury, Government is now involved in the selection of good causes to which the pittance gleaned from the lottery will go. Proverbs 23:21 clearly states that ``drunkards and gluttons become poor’’, and 1 Corinthians 6:9 says:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral … nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards … nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

[Interjections.] The ACDP calls on the leaders of this House to lead by example.

Zimbabwe is featuring in the news at present and causing great concern. Our Government is, however, curiously quiet. Since this issue obviously affects the SADC region, we want to know from the hon the Minister to what extent our trade with Zimbabwe is affected at present or is likely to be affected in the near future. To what extent is this crisis likely to reverse the gains that he has made in strengthening the trade between SADC and other trade blocs? Does the Minister think that the Government should move quickly to try and resolve this crisis for the sake of the economic growth of the entire region; and if not, for what reasons? I hope the Minister will refer to this in his reply.

In conclusion, I just want to comment that the strategic objectives of the Department of Trade and Industry are commendable, and that the efforts to develop small, medium and micro enterprises are encouraging. The ACDP is happy to support these efforts and objectives, and looks forward to seeing positive results. After all, commitment and hard work is what it is going to take.

In addition, the Minister’s confident handling of … [Interjections.] The ACDP will vote in favour of this budget. [Time expired.]

Mr K M ANDREW: Mr Chairperson, on a point of order: When you asked the hon Momberg to withdraw, surely the hon member should have shown sufficient respect by standing up as opposed to lounging back in his seat and just saying: ``I withdraw.’’ [Laughter.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Thank you. [Laughter.] Order! Hon members, the next speaker will be making her maiden speech. Please, allow the speaker the courtesy of the House so that she can make her maiden speech in peace. [Applause.]

Ms C C SEPTEMBER: Mr Chairperson, Minister Alec Erwin and Deputy Minister Hendricks, we surely welcome the new director-general of the department, Dr Alistair Ruiters.

I rise to support the Trade and Industry Vote. The aim of the Department of Trade and Industry is to lead and facilitate access to sustainable economic activity and employment for all South Africans through higher levels of investment, and to increase access for South African products in international markets. The department also aims to create a fair, competitive and efficient marketplace in South Africa for domestic and foreign businesses and consumers with particular reference to the global competitiveness of the industry, small, medium and micro enterprises’ development and economic empowerment. This is, of course, a tall order for the department, and we can only wish them well in their work.

My colleagues have already dealt with all the different programmes of the Department of Trade and Industry. I would like to examine two aspects. One will deal with commodity prices and trade balances, and the other will deal with global integration and development.

Most economies of developing countries are oriented towards the production of primary agricultural products, as opposed to secondary activities. These primary commodities form the main exports to other countries, developed and less developed. It is estimated that for most developing countries, primary products account for over 60% of all exports. Basic foodstuffs, nonfood cash crops and other raw materials account for a large portion of exports. Developing countries that export oil and other scarce minerals are in a better position. It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, primary products account for over 94% of the total export earnings. In South Africa primary commodities, mainly minerals, account for two thirds of our country’s exports.

Most developing countries need to obtain foreign exchange, in addition to promoting domestic savings, in order to finance a domestic growth strategy. For many developing countries much of the foreign exchange earned through exports in the 1980s went to pay the interest on earlier borrowing.

Exports form a large share of income for developing countries, but it has not been able to keep pace with the growth of exports from developed countries. In addition to the decline in the quantity of market store, the prices of products from developing countries have been steadily decreasing.

The overall share of world trade for developing countries has been declining. Developing countries continue to depend on industrialised countries as a result of low foreign exchange flows, declining export earnings and commodity prices, and ever decreasing foreign aid. By 1988 the terms of trade for developing countries deteriorated by about 29% compared to the 1980 prices. The falling commodity prices caused a massive transfer of resources from the developing countries to the developed countries, and some studies have even estimated that this accounted for a transfer of about $83 billion between 1981 and 1986 alone.

International commodity prices for raw materials can be characterised as unstable, with erratic fluctuations. Many sub-Saharan countries fared better between 1997 and 1998 in the commodities market. However, this trend was reversed during 1999.

The Asian crisis, of course, exacerbated falling commodity prices following some growth from 1994 to 1996, and this decline can be attributed to the reduced raw materials, energy intensity of production, substitution by other materials and the fall in commodity prices. Technology changes and advances in agronomics also changed the structure of production and international trade.

Falls in agricultural prices were more a result of overproduction than reduced consumption. Several agricultural products were increased in production by over 10% between 1996 and 1999. This has far exceeded previous production records.

The production of metals and minerals also grew significantly without any significant growth in consumption. Increased production has been attributed to an increase in investment and technological improvements in refining between 1995 and 1999. Prices for most commodities continued to decline in 1999.

Developing countries are further faced with market protectionism against exports of strategic interest to their growth. These include agricultural products, wines, textiles, steel, petrochemicals and processed tropical goods, as we have seen in the European Union agreement.

Protectionism, as practised by the developed countries, aggravates the difficulties faced by developing countries. Protectionism takes the form of voluntary export restraints, common agricultural policy for the European Union and orderly marketing arrangements. These measures have the effect of preventing entry into the market, even for the most efficient producers. Developing countries are relying on income earned from exports. Declining commodity prices also contribute to a fall in national income and revenue earnings. The impact on income and expenditure tends to negatively affect the vulnerable and developing countries, and the result may, of course, be the deterioration of the quality of life of many people.

Commodities still remain the bulk of South African exports. Primary commodities, mainly minerals, account for about two thirds of our country’s exports. I wonder if the DP knows this. [Interjections.] Policy-makers have frequently emphasised the importance of improving South Africa’s international competitiveness in manufactured products. [Interjections.] I am glad that the DP is awake now. [Laughter.]

A healthy and competitive manufacturing sector will provide the impetus for sustained economic growth. Of course, they do not know what I am talking about. [Laughter.] Several developing countries have begun to promote export diversification that reduces the reliance on a few products. [Interjections.] Cosatu wrote this for me. The objective of commodity diversification is to spread the risk exposure to a wider range of commodities with the distribution and development of new products, and to cushion countries from external shocks or price fluctuations.

On the question of global integration and development, there are glaring imbalances in the trading system which stifle the growth prospects of developing countries. The Unctad report of 1999 explains that the closer integration of developing countries into the global trading and financial system is not bringing faster growth, but increases external deficits and instability.

Developing countries have been striving hard, often at considerable cost, to integrate more closely into the world economy. However, protectionism in the developed countries has prevented them from fully exploiting their existing or potential competitive advantage. Governments in the North must expand trade with the south. Market access in the developed countries must form the centrepiece of a positive trade agenda. [Applause.] [Time expired.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Before I call on the next speaker, hon members, please lower your voice levels. There is too much noise in here and it is difficult to hear. Hon member Kotwal, as a new member, I advise you, sir, to listen to the debate, and you will be a good member later on! [Laughter.] [Interjections.]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Chairperson, hon Ministers, and members, may I take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Minister Ngwane-Hendricks and Connie September on their maiden speeches. Well done.

The failure to breach the gap between the developed and developing countries is due to the lack of organisational structure. Although, on a global level, steps have been taken to promote trade investments and entrepreneurial development, issues of trade between developing and developed countries cannot be viewed in isolation from the problems facing the international monetary system, especially the devaluation or revaluation of currencies which are used as tools for trade policies.

South Africa is an economic forerunner on the African continent. The challenges of the South African industrial policy are to nurture a coherent vision, to target industries that have potential competitiveness in order to build a strong, dynamic base for the economy as a whole, and to correctly determine the linkage between the demand and supply of commodities. Practical strategies must be implemented to increase physical investments. Policy co-ordination must give attention to the relationship between the Government, private business and international investments. Proper administrative and institutional capabilities are important to prevent the system from becoming frustrated.

The objective is to facilitate employment creation and to promote the manufacturing industry so that conditions are sustainable for overall economic growth. The slow growth in the manufacturing sector is a key component of the satisfactory performance of the South African economy. Therefore, initiatives taken by the Government to develop small, medium and micro businesses will stimulate trade orientation and secure competitive advantage through improving productivity.

Huge manufacturers, such as the alcohol and motor industries, must have their benchmarks and some notion of international competitiveness. The testing of products on the world market is proof of establishing prominence. South Africa’s participation in the Asian and Western Europe trade blocs will enhance foreign investments. Active implementation of the European Union-South African trade agreement is urgent to promote and develop the economy. South Africa must facilitate, with the assistance of Government and private investment, the manufacture of its own products instead of depending on the importation of finished goods.

The closure of numerous clothing industries has resulted in major retrenchments, which is to the detriment of the economy and job creation. Monopolisation of industrial and commercial institutions must never be accepted, because it prevents the man in the street from advancing himself effectively in the respective industries. To promote entrepreneurs amongst our citizens is of paramount importance in order to intensify trade in South Africa. Implementation of effective measures to reduce the crime rate in South Africa is an attractive motivation for foreign investment, provided that the labour force, at all levels of the economy, is given priority so that the per capita income in households is increased. Speeding up the process of black empowerment is crucial to economic growth and the levelling of the playing fields. The MF supports Vote No 32. [Applause.]

Dr A I VAN NIEKERK: Chairperson, hon Minister, I would like to participate in this debate and to congratulate the Minister, who is capable and doing a good job, especially on the gruelling European trade talks, where he showed his worth. I think it was good that he did that, even with negotiators who did at times go back on their word. He did a very good job in that regard.

When I therefore put some points on the table, they represent positive criticism in areas which I think do need attention. That would be with regard to imports of agricultural products. South African agriculture is not highly subsidised. Compared to the rest of the world I think we are the least subsidised. When we sell our products overseas they are sold in a distorted market. We can compete with the farmers overseas, but we cannot compete with Uncle Sam’s subsidies, which are tremendous, and the surpluses they produce eventually come into our market. When they come to our market they destroy the profit potential within South Africa and eventually that affects big, small and even emerging farmers.

We can look at poultry imports. I have seen small farmers who are devastated by a small shop next door which sells imported poultry from America, whereas their poultry does not have a price which allows them a profit. It is the same with meat. If one looks at the sugar industry at the moment, where the industrials are importing or buying imported sugar because there is a dispute with the South African sugar industry, it can have devastating effects on small farmers in KwaZulu-Natal and everywhere else. So somewhere something is wrong and I think attention has to be given to putting tariffs in place to prevent these illegal imports or those imports which originate from highly subsidised countries to protect our industry and to give direction to our agricultural resources here to be used optimally.

If one looks at the statistics over the past ten years, the importing of agricultural goods increased by 17,3% every year. If we look at job creation within the agricultura; sector, in 1990 there were 1,4 million jobs in agriculture, and at the moment there are about 700 000. If we link these two together we will find that there is something which causes these job losses.

I also want to look at other areas which I think are important. In terms of border control there is a serious need to control the influx of any agricultural products at our border posts. The information that I have is that only 1% to 2% of the agricultural imports are physically inspected by officials. That means that 98% comes through on the face value of their accompanying documents. What is even more disturbing is that the officials who inspect these agricultural products admit that they do not really know what they are inspecting or looking for, because it is not their field. I think a solution of these matters should be urgently attended to.

One of the other aspects which I also think one should look at is the protection of intellectual property rights. Forged items to the value of approximately R5 billion are being dumped on South African markets by Chinese and other Oriental and Mafia-controlled companies. The Minister, as the responsible Minister, has held talks with concerned groups who have expressed their concern as to the lack of implementation of measures that would prevent the dumping of these goods on South African markets. I think action is needed here.

Another worrying aspect is the red tape involved in the registration of trademarks. In some cases it takes up to three years to even start processing a trademark registration application, while the registration of these trademarks could take even longer. In the event that South Africa succeeds with its bid for hosting the Soccer World Cup in 2006, those companies which wish to register trademarks for those purposes must register now if they want to use trademarks during the Soccer World Cup. This is an unacceptable state of affairs.

Wat die ekonomie betref, sal ons ‘n bydrae probeer lewer, maar dan sal die departement die bedryf moet help om so wyd as moontlik … [Tyd verstreke.] [As far as the economy is concerned, we will try to make a contribution, but then the department will have to help the industry as widely as possible … [Time expired.]]

Mr D LOCKEY: Chairperson, in the RDP and Gear we, in the ANC, committed ourselves to restructuring our economy, achieving high levels of investment in sustainable labour-intensive activities and enhancing growth and employment creation.

The Department has reported progress on the following projects, which have contributed to new investments and job creation. Up to December 1999 projects were established through the tax holiday scheme with a total investment of R8,5 billion and a projected creation of 20 000 jobs. Regional industrial development programmes have established 1 333 projects with a total investment amount of R20,6 billion. The small, medium and micro manufacturing development programme has supported 1 514 projects with an investment of R5,6 billion and an estimated direct creation of 48 200 jobs.

The Minister said today that the task we face is immense, but these figures certainly prove that we are on course. It is our hope, as the ANC, that in the coming financial year we will see an acceleration of this process, with greater emphasis on SMME development and black economic empowerment. This department has, together with other economic departments, laid the macroeconomic foundations which have seen the South African economy in its healthiest state in more than 30 years. What is now required is a greater emphasis on those issues that impact on our people’s daily lives, which require a greater focus on SMME development and job creation. We welcome the director-general’s commitment in this financial year to focusing on three critical areas, namely SMME promotion, black economic empowerment and the stimulation of new investments. We also welcome his promise for an organisational structure with more simplicity and greater accountability in the pursuit of these objectives. We have noted that under Programme 1 of the budget there is an increase of R20 million to provide for a greater staff complement in the executive management office. Unlike the DP and Mr Bruce, we believe that this will enhance the administrative capabilities of the department and, in particular, will improve its planning, efficiency and co-ordination.

This is vital, because 83% of the department’s budget comprises transfer payments made to the following institutions: the IDC, Ntsika, Khula, the SABS, the Competition Commission, Investment SA, the CSIR and the Board on Tariffs and Trade. It is important to ensure that the mandates of all these institutions are aligned with the stated objectives of the department. We hope that the new office will institute greater control measures to ensure that budget expenditure is monitored throughout the year so as to prevent a reccurrence of large sums of unspent funds at the end of the financial year.

Unlike the DP we in the ANC are committed to working for wealth creation throughout the SADC region and the continent. We will endeavour to do so through trade and investment, co-operation, tourism, environmental protection, human resource development, culture, sports, science and technology.

We know that there is still a lot of work outstanding in the facilitation of trade liberalisation among fellow African countries. Despite the proliferation of regional trade agreements throughout the continent, trade between African countries today is less than it was in 1970. Studies have shown that an inhospitable macroeconomic environment, particularly with regard to overvalued exchange rates and currency inconvertability, is a serious obstacle in the expansion of inter-African trade. This trend runs contrary to the integration of commodity, capital and financial markets that is now taking place under the process of globalisation.

South Africa currently generates 31,6% of the GDP of the continent, and 80% of the GDP of the SADC region. We are, therefore, in a very strong position to make an important contribution to the economic reconstruction of Africa. It is through instruments like the Maseru protocol on trade that we can contribute most. This protocol commits SADC member states to progressively establishing an economically integrated region within which 97% of taxes will eventually be eliminated within five years. The advantage of such a free-trade agreement lies in the opening of new markets and the stimulation of new investment flows. As the strongest economy in the SADC region we stand to gain the most in investment and trade flows that will result from this agreement. However, if we want to optimise the potential of this agreement, we must provide for a comprehensive regional infrastructure and industrial development strategy also to accompany this process.

There are already many examples of spatial development initiatives, for example the Maputo and Trans-Kalahari Corridor developments. In this process of regional economic integration we must strive to build greater synergies between the economies of our region. We must seek to complement each other, rather than compete in the areas where we are strong. Our focus for competition must be directed at penetrating the global market. Exports from the Southern African Customs Union - which is predominantly South Africa - to the rest of the SADC region increased threefold, from R5,8 billion in 1993 to R16,2 billion in 1998. Imports from SADC into SACU over the same period increased from R1,3 billion to R2,6 billion. The gap in the trade balance has thus widened in our favour, from R4,521 billion in 1993 to R6,221 billion in 1998.

There are those in this Chamber who have called for economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, despite the fact that not a single person in that country has asked for this. Zimbabwe is South Africa’s tenth largest trading partner. If there is an economic collapse in Zimbabwe, there will no doubt be serious economic repercussions for those South African companies that are trading with Zimbabwe and subsequent job losses in our economy. It is clear to us in the ANC that South Africa cannot prosper while fellow Africans are languishing in poverty, hunger and degradation. It is only through working together that we will ultimately realise our objective of economic growth and reconstruction.

There are many challenges that are facing us in our endeavour to build a vibrant SMME sector in our economy. The hon Sigabi’s ignorance, displayed here by her statement on black economic empowerment, is astonishing, given the fact that she is supposed to be part of those who had suffered under apartheid. The massive social and economic inequalities created by decades of the exclusion of our people from the mainstream of the South African economy remains an important stumbling block. Unlike Mr Bruce and the DP, we believe that it is only through the correction of these past imbalances that we will be able to provide for sustainable economic growth and social stability in this country.

However, we do not expect better from either the hon Sigabi or Bruce, because what else can one expect from the DP, given the fact that their main spokesperson on trade and industry believes British colonialism is the best thing that ever happened to South Africa. [Interjections.] The fact remains that our economy is still dominated by conservative financial institutions. They still function like an old boys’ club. Without the right lineage and the right connections, it is virtually impossible for our entrepreneurs to gain access to venture capital.

In the review of the SMME strategy that is now being undertaken we must address the issues of funding, as well as the economic revival of the townships. We must develop policies and instruments to deal with the practice of the redlining of townships by financial institutions. The fact remains that millions of our people live in these areas. We have a duty as a Government to ensure that these areas become part of the mainstream of the South African economy and we must ensure that development in these areas takes place and benefits our people.

The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Mr Chairperson, I would like to respond to many of the speakers, but before doing so I would like to thank all those parties that supported the budget. I notice that even the DP had some difficulty finding a reason to oppose it, but nonetheless did so in the end.

I can assure Dr Davies and his committee that we will not ignore trade negotiations as we adjust many of our activities. These remain fundamental and critical. I was also pleased to hear - I think it is a challenge that we all face - that the portfolio committee itself is thinking of how it can work in a different way. I am also quite convinced from our recent experience that the role that Parliament can play in shaping and redirecting much of our policies and work is an extremely positive one. I am very grateful for the support we get.

Concerning roll-overs, for us this has been one of the most difficult problems by far. Part of the problem is that we are offering a benefit to the private sector. The private sector is not taking up that benefit to the extent that would use the funds. We would make the assessment, therefore, that we must get out and offer to more people, that we are not getting out to enough people. But on the other hand, it is fairly clear that the economy is so structured, as I indicated, that it is very difficult for small and medium enterprises to actually even enter the economic arena. That is what I was referring to in my opening address.

With regard to the input from the hon member Mr Bruce of the DP, I think one can very clearly see the difference between the ANC and the DP in the input. The ANC has a perspective that embraces all of South Africa’s people. It has a compassion, a sympathy for those who suffer, for those who are unemployed and for those who are not absorbed in our economy. We do not believe that economic laws must be slavishly abided by, because they are not laws that force people to do things they do not have to do.

However, we realise that economies work in a particular way, and I think the ANC has shown itself to be extremely adept at analysing economies, both nationally and internationally, and adjusting to those. We do it with the objective of benefiting ordinary people, not with the objective of following so-called economic laws. I think this is a profound difference, and it is why the ANC will govern and the DP will never govern. [Applause.] No matter how much they dream, it will never happen. [Interjections.]

With regard to the rules of origin in SADC, I also find it disturbing - and I hope we change this - that when it comes to Europe we are full of criticism of their protectionism, but when it comes to SADC we suddenly want to introduce the same protectionism. This is unacceptable and must change.

The so-called one-stage rule that was referred to is quite clearly not understood. It is ridiculous to ask countries in our neighbourhood that do not have the industrial capacity to make a two-stage transformation, to do so. To do so is merely to condemn them to continuing to produce raw materials only. What we have done is propose an extremely workable proposition, in co-operation with them, and that is to do what is often done - the processes of production must be described. If the DP wants a lesson on rules of origin, I would gladly oblige because we should all work together on this, and not make stupid sniping comments when we are trying to build a region, and we are not going to build it by trying to enforce unrealistic rules of origin.

I agree with, I think, Dr Kraai Van Niekerk, that we will obviously have to be vigilant and careful at our border posts. This is a matter we are going to have to put more effort into. We have put some effort into it already and we have had some successes on this matter. But he is correct. If we are going to trade in a free-trade area, the trade must be conducted according to the rules of the free-trade agreement, and that must apply to everybody.

Members may have watched the recent events in Malawi - not a pleasant or attractive prospect, but we are not going to condone criminality by South African companies. They violated the agreement and they are going to be punished for it. If that means there is some disruption in Malawi, we will do our best to mitigate the effects. But we are not going to condone criminality by our own companies, no matter whether they are trading out of Malawi, South Africa, Mozambique or anywhere else. [Applause.]

With regard to the Companies Office and the Registrar of Patents, we would have to accept that the performance here must improve. We accept that. One of the problems we have is that these are essentially processes. These require processing systems which the Public Service has never used before. This is going to be one of the main instances of restructuring the Department of Trade and Industry will carry out.

Wherever we are required to use modern processing methods, we are going to do it. It is pointless putting people who are analysts and specialists into managing processes. One has to put the right people in the right place and that is the DTI’s approach to restructuring. I am quite confident, as we have already done in some parts of the company’s office, that we will make good progress in this regard.

With regard to the hon member Bekker’s comments on the taxi recapitalisation issue, I have spoken on this before. We must separate a few things here. Firstly, we need a vehicle that is safe, that meets our specifications and is affordable to ordinary taxi drivers. He is quite right on that. That is the project that we in the DTI take responsibility for. We will seek to find such a vehicle and a delivery mechanism to provide that vehicle to taxi owners.

The arguments that we have with Sataco will continue. There are many vested interests in Sataco. We would only ask of them that they should conduct themselves with a modicum of responsibility. Our doors have been open. We have spoken, and the notion that we have suddenly broken off the partnership is something that has emanated from them, not from Government.

The fine details of this taxi recapitalisation scheme will always be open for discussion, as was indicated by the Minister of Transport. It is one of the most complicated restructurings that we have attempted in South Africa. It is vital and fundamental that we succeed in it, and that requires everybody to work together.

Let me then deal with the issues of labour policy and the WTO which were raised by the hon member from the New NP. I think we should be clear that within Government there are not different views held by the different Ministries. We have a very clear perspective on how, as I indicated in my opening address, the policy on finance links with the policy on trade and industry, links with the labour market policy and links with the agricultural policy, as well as the restructuring of state assets. This is an interconnected set of policy initiatives.

Now we have chosen, as South Africa, not to try to match other economies for cheap labour. We will never do it. It is not going to work. So what we need is a labour market that functions on the basis of equity, negotiation and, if that hon member reads our policy carefully, the principle of so- called voluntarism, that is, the two parties, labour and business, are encouraged to solve their differences without incessant and continuous government interference. It is a very clear strategy.

The Minister of Labour has said time and time again, in recent times, that as we developed this programme over the past five years, we all acknowledge

• business, Government and labour - that there are things that we are learning and about which we are all prepared to sit down and negotiate. This is a perfectly pragmatic, sensible approach. The attempt to veer from one pillar to the other, and hammer the unions here or hammer labour there, is not what Government is going to do. Government is going to manage this process in the best interests of this economy.

Finally, with regard to agriculture, I think that this is an important area on which I would like to make some comments. South Africa has made amazing changes in agriculture. These have not been without a cost, as the hon member correctly indicated. Where we can identify an international commodity price, we have linked the tariff to the international commodity price. That is the general rule we have tried to use. One cannot do that on commodities such as cheeses and poultry and other items. If one attempts to do that, one is going to get hammered in the WTO. The American poultry problem is a particular and specific problem that we have to grapple with.

However, I think that we are ahead of most other countries. What we need to introduce is a combined effort to restructure our production processes. We can already see it. In agriculture, we are beginning to diversify our exports and to expand into other markets. It is not an easy process, but it is one that I think we can work on together. The doors are open. The processes are there to interact and deal with this.

Nothing is easy when changing an economy. I am grateful, and I think the Government is grateful that, in general, we get massive support across the board, because the economy does not belong to a political party; it belongs to our people. We had better all build it together. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

                      SADC REGIONAL INTEGRATION

                      (Subject for Discussion)

The SPEAKER: Hon members, the next item on the Order Paper is the subject for discussion, namely SADC regional integration. This subject is of fundamental importance to South Africans, to our present conditions and to the achievement of many of the objectives and aspirations which we have espoused so often in this Chamber.

Integration at a regional level is indeed a prerequisite and a building block for both African unity and the African renaissance. Lasting unity cannot be based on emotions or simply be an aspiration. It has to be rooted in the recognition that we need our neighbours now more than ever before. No nation can thrive in isolation. South Africa can never be an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty. Our development can only be enhanced by, and it is dependent on, the economic development of the region.

Globalisation has accelerated the emergence of powerful regional organisations which can better assert regional interests in the face of more powerful and domineering economic and political blocs. Thus, we need to move closer to our neighbours and to work together for agreed common objectives. A decade ago we were still at a stage when the apartheid regime had tried to perpetuate old colonial relationships in which development was concentrated in the colonies of white settlement, namely South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, while the rest of the region was maintained as a labour reservoir from which cheap labour could be drawn to the mines, plantations and industries.

Democratic South Africa acceded to SADC in 1994. Before that the region had come together against the apartheid regime which had tried to assert political, economic and military dominance over Africa south of the Sahara. In July 1979 a Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference was established to harmonise economic development among the countries in Southern Africa, to reduce their dependence on apartheid South Africa, and to counter the imposition of its hegemony. The then SADCC countries played a significant role in the liberation of our country and the end of Southern Africa’s destabilisation; and for this, as we know, they paid a heavy price.

Renamed and rejuvenated, SADC now encompasses 14 countries, including South Africa, working on a regional basis to increase economic integration and regional security. The old SADCC achieved a lot, but perhaps its greatest achievement has been the establishment of a firm foundation for regional integration in Southern Africa on which the new SADC has built.

The treaty establishing SADC was signed in Windhoek in 1992 and provided for the harmonisation and rationalisation of policies and strategies for sustainable development in all areas of human endeavour. The treaty commits member states to the fundamental principles of the sovereign equality of member states, solidarity, peace and security, human rights, democracy, the rule of law, equity and the mutual benefit for all its peoples.

The objectives of SADC are many and they include to achieve development and economic growth, to alleviate poverty, to enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and to support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration. It refers to the evolution of common political values, systems and institutions, and goes on to include things such as the sustainable utilisation of natural resources, the effective protection of the environment, and the strengthening and consolidation of the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links amongst the peoples of the region. I believe these ideals, that are in the treaty, have been put forward and are recognised as the common objectives of this new South Africa.

Last year this Parliament ratified the SADC Trade Protocol, which now has to be implemented. SADC is now the most vibrant economic organisation in Africa, one with a combined GDP of nearly $180 billion. We should note, however, that the combined GDP of all the countries south of the Sahara, which goes beyond SADC, only constitutes 1% of the world’s GDP.

Addressing the Southern African World Economic Forum last year, President Mbeki said:

As a country we are very interested that we do achieve the objective of the balanced economic development of our region. We are, therefore, keen that the productive capacity of our fellow member states of SADC should increase so that trade integration is complemented by investment flows to the smaller economies to mitigate their adjustment costs.

In this regard we commend our own private sector for the interest it has shown in the economies of the countries of the region, with over $1 billion invested in 1997 alone, half of which was direct investment.

As governments, we will continue to encourage this process, among others through such spatial development initiatives as the Maputo Development Corridor which brings together Mozambique and South Africa, and the Lebombo SDI which brings together Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.

As we are aware, SADC defence Ministers have agreed to set up a regional, rapid-deployment peacekeeping force which will be designed to contain conflicts within or between member states.

The recent floods and cyclones in our region have illustrated that nature recognises no political borders. Waters and winds have flowed across frontiers, just as droughts have done in the past. There are now new suggestions that we consider establishing within SADC a co-ordinated disaster response force.

As I have already indicated, there are many other areas of regional integration on which we have to move. Parliamentarians cannot lag behind as co-operation is developed. International agreements will have to be ratified and we need to do so on an informed basis and, ideally, we must be part of the process through which agreements are reached. This Parliament has joined the SADC Parliamentary Forum which brings together the parliaments of the region. Last year we sent observers to the elections in Mozambique and Namibia and will be doing so for other elections this year and next. In 10 days’ time the forum will be meeting in Cape Town to develop its new programme. This will be followed by a plenary session in which one of the debates will be on a Pan-African parliament.

These are just some, and a very minor part, of the formidable challenges that really lie ahead, and in these challenges Parliament and members have a very significant role to play. Let us in today’s debate look ahead and exchange ideas on these challenges, identify them and begin to put forward ideas on how we should meet them in the years ahead.

I will now call on the first member to contribute to this debate, apart from myself that is, and that is the hon Magasi.

Ms M N MAGAZI: Madam Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, the world we live in today stresses the interdependence of countries and people. No country can survive on its own. We are all members of the global village. South Africa knows it, and no one will deny it.

Our country is what it is owing to the labour of our neighbours. The discovery of gold and diamonds in the 19th century forced the mining magnates to recruit labour from Southern and Central Africa to come and work in the mines of Johannesburg and the surrounding mining towns. This still goes on. The regional integration we are talking about today must be an integration which benefits all the member countries of Southern Africa, not South Africa only as was the case before.

The President has declared this century the African century. The African renaissance is the cornerstone of this African century. Revival and rejuvenation of our continent must take place within this century. Regional integration is an essential building block for this renaissance. Regional integration must encompass many areas that are essential for our very survival. I will deal with a few of these areas, which are the area of environmental and nature conservation, the area of peace and security, and the area of the encouragement of industrial development for the entire region, to mention but a few.

The area of environment and nature conservation is one important area that was neglected for many years and, hence, in recent times we have experienced unfamiliar weather patterns. This calls on us to think in an integrated way when we think about and plan our development. We must identify all the areas in which there is the potential for growth in tourism.

We need to protect endangered species, such as the rhino and the elephant. We must not only deal effectively with poachers, but we must also educate our people about the importance of preserving these animals for the purposes of the tourism industry. Our people must be made to understand that for every eight people that visit our country, a job is created for a South African. Preservation of the natural environment can put us in the unique position of unlocking the secrets of nature. We need to share expertise in all areas of our mutual interest to enhance our capacity to protect our environment. We need to encourage joint projects, such as the Witbank-Maputo Corridor, which will facilitate communication and industrial development between the two countries involved.

The question of peace and human security is one critical area in our planning for development and co-operation. The region will not know peace while there are still millions who swim in the sea of poverty, when senior civil servants, entrusted will delivering welfare to ordinary citizens in their countries, decide to rob them and deny them their basic human rights. As long as this is happening, we will not know peace. The African renaissance will remain a dream and we will remain a laughing stock the world over.

The biggest challenge facing the region is ensuring that we eradicate poverty in all its manifestations, and this cannot be done by one country alone. The region must rise in unison when dealing with this. [Applause.]

The SPEAKER: Order! I now call on the hon Mr Eglin, who is one of our representatives on the SADC Parliamentary Forum.

Mr C W EGLIN: Madam Speaker, I would have liked to use this occasion to have a leisurely look at the process of development and integration of the SADC region as you did - the achievements, the shortcomings, the obstacles and the way ahead. However, I am of the opinion that SADC and its hopes for development and integration are faced with an immediate challenge. This challenge has to be dealt with before it is too late.

The founding treaty and protocol of SADC signed, as you said, in Windhoek in 1992, contained a fundamental political commitment, and I quote:

… the need to involve the peoples of the region centrally in the process of development and integration, particularly through the guarantee of democratic rights, the observance of human rights and the rule of law. In 1996, when the SADC organ was created, it also had a set of guiding principles, one of which was the observance of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The question we can ask is: Have the countries comprising SADC, either individually or collectively, done enough to ensure that this democratic commitment, which is central to regional development and integration, becomes a reality? I can only quote what President Mandela thought of this way back in 1997 when addressing a summit meeting of SADC in Malawi:

We, collectively, cannot remain silent when political or civil movements are harassed and suppressed through harsh state action.

Can we continue to give comfort to member states whose actions go so diametrically against the values and principles we hold so dear and for which we struggled so long and so hard? Where we have, as we sadly do, instances of member states denying their citizens these basic rights, what should this organisation do or say?

That was Mr Mandela in 1997. Today, I believe, the states of SADC are faced with a new and greater challenge in this field resulting from the disturbing, deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, a situation that could rapidly develop to crisis proportions. There are two interrelated components of this challenge to SADC. The one is economic and the other is political. The economy of Zimbabwe, which should be one of the key components in the regional economic integration, is in dire straits and in the process of melting down.

I do not want to give hon members all these sorry statistics, but they are very, very sad indeed. The reasons? The costly involvement of Zimbabwe in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and, secondly, the political decisions taken by President Mugabe with reckless disregard for the economic consequences. I shudder to think what the Mugabe-inspired illegal invasion of farms is going to do to Zimbabwe’s agricultural production and the threat it poses to investor confidence, not just for Zimbabwe but for the SADC region as a whole.

The collapse of the Zimbabwean economy will have dire consequences for the whole Southern African region. However, added to this economic tragedy, there can be no doubt that President Mugabe’s government - and, indeed, the President himself - are violating the basic democratic provisions enshrined both in the SADC founding treaty and the protocols of the SADC organ. Just to recap, these are the guarantee of democratic rights, the observance of human rights and the rule of law.

We believe that the Mugabe-approved invasion of farms, the destruction of farming businesses, the assaults on peaceful protestors, and the violence meted out to its opponents by President Mugabe’s ruling party are all violations of the SADC commitment to uphold human rights. We believe that the failure of the Zimbabwean police to act against those who are breaking the law, the failure to protect individuals who are taking part in peaceful protest from brutal attacks from the cohorts of the Zanu-PF party and the injunction of President Mugabe to his political cohorts to invade the farms

• and the subsequent injunction to stay on the farms in defiance of the court order that these people should leave the farms - are all violations of the SADC commitment to upholding the rule of law.

However, the Zimbabwean democracy itself is being threatened. Opponents of the ruling party are warned with death should they present opposition to Mugabe’s policies. President Mugabe’s veteran cohorts threaten a war should the ruling party lose the election. Opponents of Zanu-PF are being harassed and assaulted, supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change - the opposition party - are threatened when they go and try to register as voters. These are all violations of the SADC commitment to maintain democracy, and they all cast doubt on whether President Mugabe, in his desperation to cling to power, will permit the coming general elections of Zimbabwe to be genuinely free and fair.

And the question is: What should SADC be doing about all of this? I return once again to the speech, which I referred to, made by President Mandela. To quote him further:

These are difficult questions, but we have to ponder them seriously if we wish to retain our credibility as an organisation genuinely committed to democracy, human rights and good governance.

Mandela told his fellow heads of state that democracy and human rights were regional concerns, not national ones protected by the principle of noninterference. They are regional concerns, not just national ones protected by the doctrine of noninterference. We believe that the time has come for the South African Government, through President Mbeki, to state quite clearly where this country and this Government stands, as a member of SADC, in relation to the violations of the founding principles that have been perpetrated by the government in Zimbabwe. [Interjections.] Secondly, we believe that the SADC states should act collectively, because we have a collective responsibility. We call on President Mbeki to urge President Chissano, who is the present chairperson of SADC, to call an urgent summit meeting of SADC so that the member states, in their commitment to uphold the founding principles of the protocol, can come to a collective decision on how to act on the crisis that President Mugabe has thrust on this region. We believe that SADC owes it to the people of the region, and I call on the Government of South Africa, as a major player in this region, to take an initiative. Somebody has to take the initiative: why not South Africa?

Thirdly, at the very least, South Africa, collectively with other SADC countries, but possibly even on its own, should take steps to see that there is effective monitoring of the electoral process in Zimbabwe. This monitoring should not be delayed to the last few days before the election. Indeed, with the registration of voters, the election process in Zimbabwe has already commenced and so should be monitored.

South Africa should do what it can to ensure that democracy is upheld and that the elections are free and fair. But if it finds that it is not, it should have the courage to say so. President Mbeki, at the SADC Electoral Commission meeting in Tanzania, stressed the importance of the fundamental right to free and fair elections in maintaining democracy in Africa.

We in the DP subscribe to that as well, but we do wish to tell the South African Government that South Africa, as the leading state in this part of Africa, has a special regional responsibility. We call on the Government to face the realities of the threat which the meltdown in Zimbabwe holds, not just for Zimbabwe, but for the region as a whole. In facing these realities, it must act with wisdom and courage. [Applause.]

Rev K M ZONDI: Madam Speaker, we in the IFP welcome this debate because it serves to highlight the important role of SADC in promoting and fostering regional economic and social integration. In the normal run of things, it does not dawn on most people how much work has been done within the ambit of SADC to bring about socioeconomic and regional integration among the countries of Southern Africa.

The established trend in the world today is that of setting up regional economic communities in order to make it possible for countries in a particular region to have a meaningful share of the global economic slice. Southern Africa has, through the establishment of SADC, also sought to promote co-operation covering various areas and aspects of life. Such co- operation is dominated by trade in goods and services, and cross-border investment. There has, therefore, to be an ongoing development of trade and investment if the economic integration of the region is to be achieved. Upon the realisation that it would be a completely unacceptable situation to have South Africa as an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty, as mentioned by the Speaker, it therefore becomes imperative for us as a country to strive to make SADC work, taking into consideration the dominant nature of the South African economy in the region.

SADC is a community of developing countries and, therefore, represents a diversity of economic realities. Most of these economies face daunting challenges of economic reconstruction and a plethora of other problems which impact negatively on the efforts of these countries to pull their economies out of various difficulties. Wars and conflicts of various natures and origins further complicate the situation, and thus militate against socioeconomic progress. Apart from wars and conflicts and a lack of political stability and democracy in some of the SADC countries, there are problems arising out of the HIV/Aids pandemic and natural disasters.

It is, therefore, heartening to note that, in keeping with the SADC objectives of promoting regional economic integration, a SADC Trade Protocol has been put in place. This trade protocol is a very important instrument at the disposal of countries of Southern Africa to pull together, with a view to realising the aim of an integrated regional market that will create new opportunities for a dynamic business sector within the SADC countries. It also creates a useful framework of trade co-operation based on equity, fair competition and mutual benefit which will help to create a viable development community in Southern Africa.

This equitable sharing of economic benefits of regional economic integration promises tangible benefits to countries of the region, especially in view of the different levels of economic development of the member states of SADC. SADC, through this trade protocol, is poised to link the liberalisation of trade to a process of viable industrial development and co-operation in the areas of finance, investment and other sectors of the economy.

One of the important roles of SADC is to work towards the realisation of the objectives of the Abuja treaty, which calls for the establishment of regional and subregional economic groupings as building blocks for the eventual creation of the African economic community. Until that happens, the unacceptable economic imbalance between the rich north and the poor south will persist, much to the disadvantage of the poorer nations of the south. This economic imbalance cannot be allowed to continue forever, hence the importance of SADC as the regional economic grouping of Southern Africa.

Our commitment to SADC must be one of the key policy objectives of our Government. We must begin to think in regional terms and begin to see the problems of our neighbours as our own. We must begin to see the problems of Zimbabwe as impacting on our own economy. We must see the problems of countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, etc, as our very own problems, because we are part of the region.

The search for solutions to such problems should be our own concern, for the long-term prosperity and success of Southern Africa is dependent on our collective efforts as member states of SADC. Indeed, the long-term economic success and prosperity of our very own country, South Africa, is linked to the progress and success of our neighbours in SADC. [Applause.] Dr P J RABIE: Madam Speaker, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members …

Suid-Afrika en al die ander SAOG-lande bevind hulle vandag in ‘n ekonomiese wêreldorde waarin die ekonomiese speelveld veronderstel is om gelyk te wees, maar waarin welvarende lande die ekonomiese spelreëls so dikteer dat dit die welvarende lande bevoordeel ten koste van ontwikkelende lande. Die hele SAOG-groep kan as ontwikkelende lande bestempel word, en die onlangse onderhandelings rakende die EU-handelsooreenkoms toon dat sommige ontwikkelde lande die doelpaal sal skuif as dit hulle pas.

Vergun my die geleentheid om die woorde van die bekende nyweraar dr Anton Rupert te gebruik wat soos volg lui: ``As jou buurman honger ly, is dit moeilik om rustig te slaap.’’ In Suid-Afrika, die grootste sogenaamde nywerheidsland in die SAOG, moet ons besef dat duisende van ons bure in die omliggende lande werkloos is. Dit is ‘n morele verantwoordelikheid waaraan ons in Suid-Afrika nie kan ontsnap nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[South Africa and all the other SADC countries currently find themselves in an economic world order in which the economic playing field is supposed to be level, but in which prosperous countries dictate the rules of the game to such an extent that prosperous countries benefit at the expense of developing countries.

The entire SADC group can be labelled as developing countries, and the recent negotiations with regard to the EU trade agreement indicate that some developed countries will move the goal posts if it suits them.

Allow me the opportunity to use the words of the well-known industrialist Dr Anton Rupert, which are as follows: ``If your neighbour is starving, it is difficult to sleep peacefully.’’ In South Africa, the biggest so-called industrialised country in the SADC, we must realise that thousands of our neighbours in surrounding countries are unemployed. This is a moral responsibility which we in South Africa cannot escape.]

Within the global socioeconomic environment, economic prospects remain problematic for the SADC subregion as a whole. The decline in prices of commodities, slower world trade growth over the past two years and stiffer international competition, particularly from countries with favourable exchange rates, have had a negative effect upon the exports of the SADC subregion.

Endemic adverse weather and poor agricultural conditions prevailed in the past year in the SADC subregion. Questionable land reform programmes in countries such as Zimbabwe have resulted in the sharp increase in poverty income. Primary school enrolment rates have increased globally over the past decade. Indications, however, are that Zambia and Mozambique both suffered declines in enrolment in the nineties. Mozambique rates third lowest in the world regarding access to safe potable water.

Een van die grootste enkele ekonomiese gevare wat die SAOG-streek vandag bedreig, is die ontstellend hoë toename in die voorkoms van die HI-virus. Suid-Afrika is die grootste nywerheidsland in hierdie streek, en ek moet die gegewe syfers noem wat die voorkoms van HIV uitspel. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[One of the largest single economic dangers threatening the SADC region today is the disturbingly high increase in the incidence of the HI virus. South Africa is the largest industrialised country in this region and I must mention the relevant figures which indicate the incidence of HIV.]

Allow me to quote the estimated figures of HIV in 1997. A total of 2,9 million people were living with the Aids virus in South Africa, and 97% of these people were in the age group 15 to 49 years, 48% were women in the same age group and 3% were children in the age group 0 to 15 years. By the end of 1998, 50% of all the new Aids infections in Southern Africa occurred in South Africa, which has attained a similar status to that of countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

According to the present trend, 0,25 million South Africans will die of Aids each year by the year 2002, rising to upwards of 1 million by 2008. Average life expectancy will decline from 60 years to approximately 40 years by the year 2008. Estimates are that by 2005 there could be in excess of 900 000 Aids orphans in South Africa alone. If the present trend of HIV infections continues, 18% of the South African workforce will be HIV- positive by the year 2005 and 21% by the year 2010.

The spread of HIV/Aids has the potential to aggravate poverty and to inhibit socioeconomic development within our entire subregion. If I may draw the attention of hon members to the consequences of Aids, first and foremost is the possible disruption of the family income bases through the death of one or more of the breadwinners. Secondly, thousands of Aids orphans in this particular subregion, many of them infected with the disease, will become a burden upon the extended family. In the absence of care-givers, they will become the responsibility of the state. It is of the utmost importance that all the respective governments within this particular subregion take proactive steps across boundaries to stem this particular pandemic which is threatening the wellbeing of the entire subregion.

Op die oomblik bevind miljoene burgers van die SAOG-lande hulle in Suid- Afrika omdat dit die enigste gebied is wat ‘n werklike heenkome aan hierdie mense kan bied. Ons moet eenvoudig die werklikheid aanvaar: Suid-Afrika kan nie ekonomies vooruitgaan as die lande binne sy invloedsfeer - die SAOG- streek - nie ook saam met hom ontwikkel nie. Gisteraand, terwyl ek die toespraak voorberei het, het ek in die Financial Mail gelees dat die hoof van die pediatrie-eenheid by die Universiteit van Kaapstad meld dat een uit elke vyf babas in die Kaapse Metropool HIV-positief is. Die tragiek hiervan is dat hierdie streek beskou word as die gebied wat die laagste HIV- prevalensie het in die SAOG-streek. Die verdere tragiek hiervan is dat die persone wat nou sterf, die werkers, die leiers van die toekoms is. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[At the moment millions of citizens of SADC countries find themselves in South Africa because it is the only region which can offer these people a real refuge. We simply have to accept the reality: South Africa cannot prosper economically if the countries within its sphere of influence - the SADC region - do not also develop with it. Yesterday evening, while preparing this speech, I read in the Financial Mail that the head of the paediatrics unit at the University of Cape Town reported that one out of every five babies in the Cape Metropole is HIV-positive. The tragedy of this is that this region is considered to be the area with the lowest HIV prevalence in the SADC region. The further tragedy of this is that the people who are dying now are the workers, the leaders of the future.]

The Actuarial Society of South Africa, in its presentation to the parliamentary budget committee, mentioned the following. The very small allocation of R500 million over three years by the present Government, of which only R75 million will be made available in the first year, appears to indicate that the Government has not grasped the enormity of the HIV/Aids crisis facing the country. The Actuarial Society’s Aids model, ASSA 600, suggests that South Africa can expect well in excess of 150 000 Aids deaths in this year. The hopeful and somewhat optimistic projection of medium-term economic growth appears not to take into account the possible impact of HIV on the economy.

The SADC region will have to face the threat of Aids. The only solution is to use more antiretroviral medicine, and not only AZT. I realise that we do not have the money to pay for everyone, but I think we have a moral duty to use antiretroviral medicines, especially for the younger infants. [Time expired.]

Mr M E MABETA: Madam Speaker, hon members, the debate on SADC and integration is an important one, for it signifies the regional, continental and global possibilities available to SADC member states for development and the alteration of dependency relationships with developed countries.

We are aware that these possibilities will always be constrained or limited by the pervasive persistence of the colonial experience and the apartheid legacy in the political economy of the SADC member states. The resultant state of human misery, political instability and uncertainty common to all these countries is well documented.

Our point of departure should be the acceptance of this painful colonial experience common to these countries, because it is this experience which defines the moral basis for solidarity amongst these countries in their quest for sustainable strategies in the integration agenda. South Africa’s role should be seen in the context of this historical experience, for her own capacity to contribute to integration initiatives is equally defined by this past experience of a brutal, oppressive and exploitative special type of colonialism. South Africa’s enormous material resources, her advanced infrastructure and general universal acceptance as a regional leader with credible moral standing must be placed in that context.

The political understanding within SADC is that regional integration initiatives are not defined by hostility to a South Africa whose foreign policy is informed by ambitions for economic and military hegemony, but by a strong and deep desire to prevent regional dependence on South Africa and to activate mutually beneficial co-operation in all socioeconomic and military spheres as a foundation for regional and continental self- assertion in South Africa’s relations with the developed world.

The UDM accepts and supports the following objectives which define the integration agenda and South Africa’s role in it. These are: South Africa’s role in terms of leadership, co-operation and good neighbourliness; the partnership with her neighbours in development and wealth creation; regional security through solidarity and good governance; the alleviation of poverty and technological co-operation; the promotion of human rights; and the promotion of multilateral and bilateral relations between SADC and EU community members.

There are obstacles which include the absence of firm institutional mechanisms to promote co-operation wherein sectorial co-operation tends to generate competition rather than co-operation. Membership of multiple organisations directed at promoting regional co-operation and integration produces competition. Political instability from economic problems prevents capital investment flows, marginalises the region and limits its ability to compete in the global markets.

The reluctance of member states to expunge dictatorships and human rights abuses from the face of the continent is yet another problem. This particular problem is exacerbated by a state-centred approach in the SADC relations. In our view, a people’s approach would help to facilitate intervention by member states in the affairs of other member states without such interventions being seen as undermining the basic sovereignty of any of these states.

In Africa, regional integration is viewed as a means to self-reliant economic growth, but in the developed world it is viewed as an integration into the world economy. The point that the UDM wants to emphasise here is that a state-centred intervention into the affairs of other states might be prevented through the promotion of a people-centred form of intervention at civic levels, so that such interventions are not seen as serving the so- called national interest of any particular state, but in the context of a United Nations or OAU-based universal humanitarian approach to problems that are faced by other countries.

We need to reinforce these differences from a state-oriented paradigm to a people-oriented paradigm so that initiatives by nonstate actors can be given support materially, morally, legally and otherwise. This will help to change our own attitude towards the people in these other countries that we deal with, and thus helping to inform our governments in their approach to problems that confront them commonly within the region.

Dr R H DAVIES: Madam Speaker, this a very timely and appropriate occasion to have a debate on this subject. Last week the negotiations provided for under the SADC Trade Protocol were concluded and a draft agreement to establish a free-trade area in the SADC region within eight years will be presented to the SADC summit later this year.

Events in currency and capital markets in the past week have also indicated that investors are factoring into their decisions about investment in South Africa the potential impact on us of events in the region, and this has underscored a fundamental reality. Whether we like it or not, our destiny is inextricably linked to that of the rest of the region of which we are a part.

When we joined SADC in 1994 we became part of an organisation programmatically committed to promoting regional integration. A number of studies conducted in the early 1990s identified an appropriately structured programme of regional integration as potentially contributing significantly to growth and development throughout the region. SADC, though committed since the 1992 Windhoek Treaty to embarking upon a programme including trade integration, envisaged this as a component of a broader process which it described as development integration.

The essential point of departure of the development integration approach is a recognition of two related, but not identical, points. The first is that we have in our region economies with very different sizes and levels of development and the second is that many of the major barriers to the promotion of interregional trade are not tariffs or regulatory regimes, but underdeveloped production structures and inadequate infrastructure. From these follow two fundamental conclusions, firstly, that a trade agreement must take account of the different sizes of the economies and therefore be asymmetrically structured in favour of the less-developed partners, and secondly, that the process of trade integration must be accompanied by and indeed become a spur to more effective programmes of sectoral co-operation and investment promotion.

The draft trade agreement just concluded provides for significant asymmetry. The Southern South African Customs Union, of which South Africa is part, will remove duties on 97% of imports from the rest of the region over five years - 69% immediately upon the coming into effect of the agreement. Less-developed partners will have longer, up to eight years, to implement less onerous tariff phase-downs. In the final rounds of negotiations, our negotiators have also made a further concession. We agreed to soften the stance which had previously insisted on two stages of manufacture under the rules of origin for clothing products in the region to allow those from less-developed countries to come in with only one stage of manufacturing.

I am aware that both the asymmetry and this latest concession will be a matter of concern to some vested interests in our country. But I want to add my voice to the Minister’s and say that I believe that we were right in agreeing to this. Between 1993 and 1998 our exports to SADC, other than SACU countries, increased nearly threefold, whilst imports increased much more modestly from a much lower base. Though the agreement may create some challenges for some of our sectors, I believe that it is, as the Minister said, right that we act fairly towards our less-developed neighbours. We must, as he said, surely be consistent in what we demand of the developed countries in multilateral or bilateral negotiations and what we do in relation to our less-developed trading partners in the region. How can we, for example, champion and support, for good reasons, proposals in the WTO to provide duty-free access for products of all the 48 recognised least developed countries if, at the same time, we refuse to make a concession to those least developed countries in our region?

Mr Eglin raised the issue of Zimbabwe and I would like to make a few remarks on this. There is clearly good reason for us to be concerned about the worsening economic situation in Zimbabwe, and about certain aspects of the political scene in that country. There is clearly an increasingly fluid and contested political situation emerging in Zimbabwe. I want to remind the House that on 4 April the ANC introduced a notice of motion, which noted with concern the developments in Zimbabwe,'' and, while reaffirming our close relationship and respect for that country's sovereignty, called on the government and the people of Zimbabwe toabide by the rule of law, respect the independence of the judiciary and constitutional framework and seek creative, democratic and just means to address the crisis’’.

The central question, of course, is: What should we be doing about the situation in Zimbabwe? There is a growing mood in some donor countries in favour of withdrawing development assistance and other forms of co- operation with Zimbabwe. Those of us who attended the ACP-EU joint assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, last month were confronted with a motion supported by almost all the EU delegates, calling on the EU Commission to seriously consider suspending all forms of nonhumanitarian aid.

This raises a question which I believe all South Africans need to ponder. Are we right to continue to act to promote economic stability in Zimbabwe? I believe decisively that we are. Firstly, as Mr Lockey said earlier on, there is no credible political force in Zimbabwe that believes that its cause will be enhanced by provoking further economic collapse. I am certainly not aware of any coherent call for sanctions from any serious force in Zimbabwe, let alone any call for the withdrawal of development assistance.

More than that, the fact that we are in an increasingly integrated region means that the destiny of all of us is impacted on by developments in any one country in the region. That is why I believe that our President and Government are right to explore ways in which we can assist in arresting the economic decline in Zimbabwe, which, after all, is the second strongest economy in our region.

This decidedly does not mean that we are not concerned about the developments in Zimbabwe. It decisively does not mean that we are propping up one side in the political struggle in Zimbabwe. It is an initiative which is based on the recognition of a fundamental reality that further economic decline is not in the interests of the people of Zimbabwe and will do nothing to enhance democracy or good governance in that country. Since we are now in an increasingly integrated region, economic collapse in one country would also impact on the region as a whole, including on ourselves. We are therefore also in this regard, I believe, acting in our own enlightened self-interest. [Applause.]

Adv Z L MADASA: Madam Speaker, globalisation and regionalism are two sides of the same coin and are inextricably interwoven with each other. There have been different economic waves globally - the USA and Japan - but all this is passing by. Regionalism began in Europe, initially as a defence mechanism, but has since turned into economic muscle. Asia, South America, SADC, etc have since become trade blocs. Meaningful trade is no longer done nation to nation, but bloc to bloc.

South Africa might be a giant in Africa, but it is a dwarf in the world. Our production lines are too short to compete globally. Regionalism, in this case through SADC, increases our lines and productive capacity for outward investment with concomitant attractive inward investment. The more we regionalise, the more we globalise. The two are not mutually exclusive. SADC is an imperative for South African and neighbouring states’ economic growth. The international economic players look at us as a region and not as individual states. When trouble erupts in the region, we are all affected because to outsiders there is trouble in the region, not in a particular country.

If South Africa, as it is, is to become an effective and respectable leader in this region, then we must state our position loud and clear when there is a crisis in the region, as is the case in Zimbabwe. The crisis in Zimbabwe strikes at the heart of the development of the region and threatens all of us, economically, politically and socially. Zimbabwe is strategically situated at the centre of the region. It gives access to the economies of the north. South Africa must begin to play an effective role in ensuring that elections are free and fair in Zimbabwe. Everybody wants to hear what the country is saying about the situation there.

I submit that we must not confuse the fact that President Mugabe was democratically elected to power with the cry by Zimbabweans for liberty. Power and liberty are two different things. The silence by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the Zimbabwean issue is appalling, to say the least. We must emerge from underground tactics. We are a government which has to say something about the Zimbabwean situation. What are we saying and doing about Zimbabwe? [Time expired.] [Applause.] Dr P W A MULDER: Madam Speaker, John Naisbitt is a writer who predicts future political and social scenarios. His latest book’s title is Global Paradox. On page 11 he explains the title Global Paradox as follows:

The world’s trends point overwhelmingly toward political independence and self-rule on the one hand and the formation of economic alliances on the other.

From these comes the paradox.

Afrika is reeds in die wêreld gemarginaliseer. Suid-Afrika en Suidelike Afrika word daagliks meer gemarginaliseer. As ons as lande van Suidelike Afrika nie na onsself gaan kyk nie, kan ons nie verwag dat enige ander land hom oor ons sal bekommer nie. Daarom is ekonomiese en ander samewerking in Suidelike Afrika uiters noodsaaklik.

Ek dink die huidige leiers in Afrika kan in twee groepe ingedeel word: eerstens is daar die realistiese jonger leiers wat Afrika se swakhede en probleme besef en daadwerklik iets daaraan wil doen, soos president Mbeki, en tweedens is daar die ouer Afrikaleiers wat met bravade die wêreld uitdaag en glo die wêreld en veral die Westerse skuldgevoel teenoor Afrika sal Afrika se probleme oplos, soos president Mugabe. Dié twee staan teenoor mekaar. Kaïro het dit die beste getoon.

Die Weste laat hom nie meer bluf nie. Die lewensverwagting in Zimbabwe het, sedert president Mugabe aan die bewind gekom het, met 17 jaar gedaal. Die land bevind hom in ‘n ekonomiese krisis … [Tussenwerpsels] … ‘n brandstof krisis en ‘n mediese krisis, en ek kan nog ‘n klomp ander krisisse vir agb lede opnoem. As dié agb lid vir Mugabe wil opkom, moet hy dit buite hierdie Raad gaan sê. Ek dink hy maak ‘n groot fout.

In ‘n debat oor buitelandse sake het ek die Minister gevra wat Suid-Afrika se standpunt is oor die huidige gebeure in Zimbabwe. Ek het geen antwoord daarop gekry nie. Nou sê ek, as Suid-Afrika en die SAOG geloofwaardigheid wil opbou in die oë van die wêreld, sal ons nie moet terugdeins daarvan om die waarheid te praat teenoor ons buurlande nie. Dit sluit Zimbabwe, Angola en die DRK in. Hulle raak ‘n verleentheid vir die streek.

Die een se probleme is almal se probleme. Leiers moet hul eie selfsugtige belange op die agtergrond plaas ter wille van die groter geheel. Ons is vas aanmekaar. As die skip sink, sink ons almal saam. Ons gaan nie een-een sink nie, en dit moet aan mekaar gesê word sonder om daaroor te huiwer. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Africa has already been marginalised in the world. South Africa and Southern Africa are becoming more marginalised by the day. If we as countries of Southern Africa do not take care of ourselves, we cannot expect any other country to concern itself with us. That is why economic and other co-operation is vital in Southern Africa.

I think the present leaders in Africa can be divided into two groups: Firstly there are the realistic younger leaders who are aware of Africa’s weaknesses and problems and really want to do something about this, such as President Mbeki, and secondly there are the older leaders in Africa, who defiantly challenge the world and believe that the world, and especially the Western feelings of guilt toward Africa, will resolve Africa’s problems, such as President Mugabe. These two stand opposite one another. Cairo indicated this the best.

The West can no longer be bluffed. Since President Mugabe has come into power life expectancy in Zimbabwe has declined by 17 years. The country finds itself in an economic crisis … [Interjections] … a fuel crisis and a medical crisis, and I can mention quite a number of other crises to hon members. If that hon member wants to come to Mugabe’s defence, he should go and say that outside this House. I think he is making a big mistake.

During a debate on foreign affairs I asked the Minister what South Africa’s standpoint was in respect of the current events in Zimbabwe. I received no reply to that. Now I want to say, if South Africa and the SADC wish to retain their credibility in the eyes of the world, we must not shy away from speaking the truth in connection with our neighbouring countries. This includes Zimbabwe, Angola and the DRC. They are becoming an embarrassment for the region.

One’s problem is everyone’s problem. Leaders should keep their own selfish interests in the background for the sake of the greater whole. We are connected to one another. If the ship sinks, we all sink together. We are not going to sink one by one, and we should tell one another this without any hesitation.]

Mr I S MFUNDISI: Madam Speaker and hon members, South Africa and our Southern African neighbours are moving away from a harsh past of destabilisation to a future of mutual co-operation and regional development, which is intended to be in the interests of all our countries.

South Africa believes in being at peace with her neighbours and hence the concern about what is going on in Zimbabwe. To this end, one of the priorities after the inauguration of the first democratic Government was to accede to SADC in August 1994. In 1996 heads of states of 11 SADC countries signed a trade protocol in Maseru which created the framework for negotiating a free-trade area and, unfortunately, South Africa assented to this only last year.

Member countries of SADC continue to receive technical assistance from South Africa. Such assistance serves as an instrument to promote economic development, peace and stability in the region. Assistance is wide-ranging and includes visits by agriculturalists, the conservation of the environment, the rendering of medical assistance and technology exchange programmes.

South Africa is a torch-bearer in tariff liberalisation in the region. It is for this reason that South Africa has to liberalise tariffs faster vis-à- vis the SADC partners, while the other SADC member states will bide their time vis-à-vis their liberalisation towards South Africa.

SADC recognises that to enhance human capital is of critical importance in order for member states to participate effectively in an increasingly integrated and knowledge-based economy. Countries within SADC hope that within a reasonable timeframe they will be able to offer universal primary education, reduce adult illiteracy, eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, improve the quality of education and strengthen linkages between education and employment.

To this end, the success of the region depends on the following: Firstly, establishing and maintaining a sound macroeconomic policy framework and an open economy based on continued and enhanced economic reforms; secondly, ensuring sufficient physical infrastructure through regulatory reforms; thirdly, prompting regional integration by removing obstacles in the way of cross-border trade and investment, including harmonising tax and investment … [Time expired.]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, the integration of the 14 member countries of the Southern African Development Community into the global economy has prompted the Industrial Development Corporation to undergo a gradual renaissance. The restructuring and transformation of the region’s economies encourage open-trade markets to expand, which is necessary for the speeding- up of economic growth in underdeveloped countries. However, built-in control mechanisms must be used to ensure that the free-market process is not detrimental to job creation.

The concept of globalisation is a worrying factor to underdeveloped countries, for they are in an economic and moral dilemma with regard to submitting to the pressure from the First World countries. These countries may manipulate or monopolise the developing countries’ economic policies in exchange for writing off their foreign debt. The MF’s fundamental concern is that in the process of globalisation the unemployed are neglected. The poor face eviction and live in an unhealthy economic environment which is not conducive to their upliftment.

All countries participating in the activities of SADC have the enormous task of strengthening the economy of the southern hemisphere. The collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy is not a good sign for SADC. The creativity of manufacturers of commodities is necessary to ensure active participation in globalisation.

South Africa is the economic leader in respect of science and technology in SADC. Therefore it will be instrumental in leading SADC into economic competitiveness with the rest of the world. South Africa must be able to sustain a flexible economic growth so that it will be in a position to survive any economic collapse in the world.

Mnr C AUCAMP: Mevrou die Speaker, die spreekwoord lui: ``As jou buurman honger is, slaap jy nie rustig nie.’’ Dit is absoluut waar ten opsigte van Suid-Afrika se situasie in die subkontinent van Afrika. [Tussenwerpsels.] Daarom steun die AEB die beginsel van subkontinentale samewerking en koördinering, in die besonder binne die SAOG-opset. Ons is deel van hierdie Afrika en ons kan dit met trots wees. As Afrikaner kan ek ook Suid- Afrikaner wees, en ook Afrikaan. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, the saying goes: ``If one’s neighbour is starving, one cannot sleep peacefully.’’ This is absolutely true as far as South Africa’s situation on the subcontinent of Africa is concerned. [Interjections.] For this reason the AEB supports the principle of co- operation and co-ordination on the subcontinent, and in particular in the context of the SADC. We are part of this Africa and we can be proud of it. As an Afrikaner I can also be a South African, as well as an African.]

Of course, South Africa, as a leading country on the continent of Africa for the past decades has an obligation to the continent as a whole, and to the subcontinent in particular. On the other hand, we must remember that charity begins at home. Let us first make sure that the 21st century will be known as the South African century, with a modern dispensation in which all the peoples of this country can co-operate on the one hand, but live their diversity on the other, within their own institutions familiar with their customs, traditions and beliefs.

Dit is vir my ‘n ernstige probleem; Suid-Afrika reik die hand na ‘n bedeling waarin verskillende lande van die subkontinent met behoud van eie integriteit saamwerk vir ‘n gemeenskaplike doel. Dit is goed en reg so, maar ons het nog nie self die oplossing gevind om die verskeidenheid in eie midde sinvol te hanteer nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[To me this is a serious problem; South Africa is reaching for a dispensation in which different countries of the subcontinent, while retaining their own integrity, co-operate to attain a common goal. This is all very well, but we ourselves have not yet found the solution to deal meaningfully with the diversity in our own midst.]

To give another warning, the constitution of the SADC Parliamentary Forum states explicitly in its preamble:

… determination to promote respect for the rule of law, individual rights and freedom, and to promote peace, democracy, security and stability in the subregion. Every single commitment of this preamble has been broken severely by the Zimbabwean government. The rule of law was thrown out of the window with respect to the court ruling on the unlawful occupation of farms.

Individuele regte is aangetas deurdat die regering nie eens respek toon vir kaart en transport nie. Veiligheid en stabiliteit is oorboord gegooi toe daar van regeringskant af gewelddadig losgebrand is op vreedsame optoggangers. Die demokrasie is belaglik gemaak deur mnr Mugabe se dreigemente teen die opposisie.

Ek sluit af. As hierdie Regering en ander SAOG-lande nie ernstig optree teen wat in Zimbabwe gebeur nie, is hierdie ooreenkoms nie die papier werd waarop dit geskryf is nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Individual rights have been assailed in that the government does not even show respect for title deeds. Security and stability were thrown overboard when the government violently opened fire on peaceful protesters. Democracy was made ludicrous by Mr Mugabe’s threats against the opposition.

I conclude. If this Government and other SADC countries do not take serious action against what is happening in Zimbabwe, this agreement is not worth the paper on which it was written.]

Mr M A MANGENA: Madam Speaker, hon members, some of us were indeed disappointed when the SADC protocol, designed to ease, facilitate and promote freer trade amongst Southern African countries, failed to kick in on 23 January 2000 as anticipated. We do understand that there are many intricate and difficult technical problems involved in matters like these.

Nobody will argue that issues such as the rules of origin and their verification are easy to formulate and implement; that, considering the uneven economic development of our region, it is easy to work out tariff structures that are fair and equitable; or that we will not have tariff arrangements that favour the more developed countries in our region and condemn others to the status of mere economic provinces of the richer countries. The existence of a customs union that has run for several years and includes only some members of SADC is an important factor in the whole question of economic integration in the SADC region.

What we seem to lack most is a strong political will on the part of all of us in SADC to push this integration forward. With such a strong collective political will, these problems could have been solved yesterday. We cannot afford not to have the required strong political will, because Africa is economically weak. Our weakness shows whenever we interact with others in the WTO. It showed when Africa met with Europe recently in Cairo. It showed when this country negotiated a trade deal with the EU. We are always the weaklings who are bullied and generally pushed around.

One way in which we can strengthen ourselves and, by so doing, improve the economic status of our people and our bargaining position in respect of the rest of the world is to make a success of free trade in our region. However, for that to happen, we need an iron political will. We hope September 2000 and beyond will manifest this.

Mr D J SITHOLE: Madam Speaker, hon members, this debate presents a challenge to those who see themselves as Africans and share the hardship of this continent. We, as South Africa, have the responsibility to contribute our skills and human resources to the betterment of our continent. During the apartheid era, we all know that this Chamber was also used to hatch plans to destabilise our neighbouring countries, and to make sure that they did not survive and that they did not see the day. Lesotho, Botswana and Mozambique were all destabilised by apartheid. Today we are here to debate our contribution to the rebirth and the integration of the region. This continent was not only destabilised at the level of politics, but the self-confidence, dignity, culture and consciousness of its people were also destroyed. We were made to believe that Africa had not achieved anything except sponsored war and underdevelopment. Today we have the challenge to promote African achievements for the coming generation and for ourselves. If we do not do that, we will be prone to believing that those who wanted to portray us as failures have indeed succeeded. Africa is engulfed by wars that are sometimes imposed on us by outsiders who benefit from them.

The OAU, SADC and other continental bodies were formed to encourage and to build unity and solidarity among African states. These institutions are occupied with finding solutions for African problems. The challenge is to make such bodies strong enough to make decisive interventions when they are needed.

When SADC forces entered Lesotho in defence of democracy, we were condemned by those who saw an opportunity to make cheap politicking out of a dangerous and explosive situation. When we propagate the revival of self- confidence, self-reliance and putting our continent first, those who benefited from our misery accuse us of wanting to become a big brother.

The truth is that leaders on this continent have the responsibility to promote and entrench democratic values and institutions. The building of respect for the rule of law and human rights should not be subjected to debate. It should be our core responsibility as leaders in this region.

We acknowledge the fact that organs of the OAU and SADC have not performed well in their endeavour to ensure that those who are accused of human rights abuses are dealt with firmly. I am aware of the fact that the OAU now rejects governments which come to power through unconstitutional means. We need to support the implementation of such resolutions and translate into these action, thus ensuring that Africa can live in peace and have the opportunity to create prosperity.

We, as South Africa, having been able to engage in the transformation of our country peacefully, have the obligation to build and place before the world the African agenda, while at the same time ensuring that the leadership to shift this continent away from the mess of charity and hand- outs lies with Africa itself. The fact that today Europe accepts paying back the money stolen from Africa by corrupt politicians and officials, is a step in the right direction. We are a rich region, but our riches have been used to develop Europe. It is no secret that wars that have engulfed Europe also involved Africa. This applies to the two World Wars.

What we need to learn from these wars and the suffering they left behind is how to use reconstruction strategies and to enhance and strengthen our institutions of democracy and co-operation. It has been proved a number of times that going alone does not bring progress, nor does it create peace. Countries in this region depend on one another, therefore, co-operation and partnerships are crucial prerequisites for our success.

When this House debated the issue of floods in our country and our neighbouring states, some people used our assistance and the misery of those who were affected by floods as an opportunity to engage and test their political theories rather than addressing what was confronting the humans involved. It is our ambition to ensure that South Africa, together with other countries, can respond in time with humanitarian assistance and that we are combat ready to deal with those who seek to intimidate us with their guns.

We in the ANC and Government have always realised that unless we place our people at the centre of development, no transformation will take place. We wish to build the institution of civil society so that it is able to assist the continent in dealing with the problems and we move from poverty to a better life. Those who elected us to this Parliament have entrusted their lives to us. We dare not fail them.

The developed nations are aware that they left their colonies damaged. What they left will take us centuries to correct. We need to build a spirit of tolerance and teach our people that military options are not always the panacea for their problems. The conflict in the DRC, Angola and Burundi and other problems on the continent should be a wake-up call to all leaders of the region that all is not well. We have to build our capacity to perform peacekeeping and, in fact, perform peace enforcement. SADC has to build its conflict management capacity to deal with conflicts before they escalate. It must also ensure that member states are bound by its decisions. The control and elimination of diseases, the creation of sustainable employment and growth, and proper utilisation of human resources are priorities for this continent if we want peace.

We need to build a continent that can provide social security and a good welfare system to eliminate hunger. Crime committed either by politicians or by officials is something that challenges this continent. For us to be able to unite and integrate the continent, we cannot avoid committing ourselves to fighting crime and corruption. Irrespective of whether this crime is committed by heads of state or bureaucrats, we must indicate to them that crime is a thing of the past.

We must also ensure that women and children are protected from abuse. The empowerment of women and their liberation are intricately linked to the peace and prosperity of this continent. Unless we do that, we will not be able to integrate the continent and we are therefore prone to fail. [Applause.] The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Madam Speaker, one of the most important and fundamental achievements of our democratic transition in 1994 was that it allowed us to begin the fundamental and crucial task of regional integration. I must agree with Adv Madasa - this is one of the few times that I have done so with an ACDP speaker - who pointed out, quite correctly, that regionalisation, regional integration and globalisation are part of the same phenomenon.

It is essential, as I also indicated in my opening remarks in the previous debate, that in the world economy today one has larger and more integrated economic capacity, and in Southern Africa we have one of the greatest repositories of natural resources in the world. Our task is to develop these to the mutual benefit of all. This will require us to go through complex and difficult processes of industrialising our economies, building infrastructure, harmonising our economic programmes and policies and harmonising our political and social structures.

This process, as we see in Europe and elsewhere, is one of the momentums and one of the logics of what will happen in the world economy in the coming century. However, to do this one has to move with a degree of determination and with a long-sightedness and patience that is fundamental. We are dealing with nation-states that have their own histories and structures. Bringing such nation-states together cannot be done by fear and force, but it has to be done by a process of coming together.

I think in SADC we do not often realise just how much had already been achieved before South Africa came in, and how much we have been able to achieve since South Africa came in. We are one of the few regional blocs that, in fact, have protocols far beyond trade and economic matters. We have protocols dealing with health, transport, electricity, water, crop sciences and agriculture, and we are talking about movements of natural persons. It is an extremely extensive exercise in co-operation, and it will take not just one or two years, but a long time.

We as the South African Government have also taken additional steps in the past two and a half years to try to intensify and increase the level of economic integration, and two-way trade and investment into this region. These have taken the form of somewhat unique structures where the President of South Africa and the former Deputy President, and now both the President and Deputy President, lead bilateral meetings and delegations to talk to our neighbouring countries.

In our discussions with Mozambique, for one, we now deal continuously on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis with some 30 or 40 major economic projects, ranging from ecotourism in the Lebombo Corridor, as the Speaker mentioned, through to the possibilities, or the reality soon I believe, of pipelines transporting gas from Mozambique to South Africa. Projects such as Alusaf, or the Mozal project in Maputo, are examples of what can be achieved by intense and detailed co-operation.

These bilateral meetings have then been extended to Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. There are endless and continuous bilateral meetings between South Africa and Malawi, and we meet with Zambia on many occasions. These processes are designed to further deepen the economic interaction between ourselves.

One of the fundamental requirements of building a successful regional bloc is absolute respect for the rules and processes of the regional bloc. Therefore I am disappointed that the DP puts forward propositions that are completely jumbled and which are complete violations of the rules of the bloc. I am particularly disappointed that such an experienced leader as Colin Eglin put those forward. Interjections.]

If we are going to say things like that, we are merely going to alienate the very people we should be talking to. What are the rules of SADC? Firstly, the rules are that there is an organ for safety and security. The matters that are set out for discussion in that organ should be discussed in that organ. Secondly, there are structures, there are councils of Ministers, there are sectoral Ministerial meetings and there is a summit. The assumption made by the DP that nothing is happening in regard to Zimbabwe is fundamentally wrong. [Interjections.]

What is happening is that they are making a noise for election purposes. What is happening, actually, is the following. [Interjections.] Hon members should listen. Firstly, the President took a delegation of Ministers, who have more capacity to deliver than the delegation of opposition politicians floating around the farms, to Zimbabwe. We had detailed discussions with Zimbabwe on the fundamentally important issue of the Zimbabwean economy. Its collapse will not help the Zimbabwean people. It will not help South Africa or SADC. The number one priority at the moment is not to make noise; it is to move actively to rebuild that economy.

There are, without doubt, mistakes being made in Zimbabwe. We have not been shy to indicate that, but we have not done it from the pulpits. We have been talking to people and indicating, as we ourselves have experienced, that to rebuild confidence in an economy is a time-consuming and difficult process. The cost of taking decisions which could backfire should not be underestimated. We have talked about detailed proposals bilaterally.

The heads of state meeting in Maputo, if members followed events, discussed Zimbabwe. The assumption made that South Africa must take the lead because President Chissano is doing nothing is an act of arrogance. President Chissano has taken a number of steps to intervene and to talk. [Interjections.] The rule of regional integration is clear. If one is going to use the structure, one must use the structure. We, as South Africa, complained - correctly - that what happened in the DRC was a violation of the procedures of the SADC structure. Now we are told that we must act unilaterally if we think it is the right thing to do. This can never build regional integration.

What has to happen now is, firstly, that the use of SADC structures must be first and foremost on our agenda. Secondly, we have to keep a cool head because what is at stake here is some, potentially, extremely serious damage to our neighbour. That is in no one’s interests, and it is certainly not going to be solved by a lot of chirping and advice which is completely contrary to the rules of SADC, which is contradictory in its own logical terms, because we are told that we should build SADC but then we must also act unilaterally. What are we? The united states of Africa? [Interjections.]

We must act with circumspection, wisdom and patience. This is not an election campaign. This is about the people of our region, and making sure that the people of our region have a better life. It is not about getting the DP into the municipal government! [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The House adjourned at 17:55. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bills were introduced in the National Assembly on
     6 April 2000 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for
     classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Council for the Built Environment Bill [B 16 - 2000]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Public Works - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of
              Bill and prior notice of its introduction published in
              Government Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]

     (ii)    Architectural Profession Bill [B 17 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and
              prior notice of its introduction published in Government
              Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]

     (iii)   Landscape Architectural Profession Bill [B 18 - 2000]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Public Works - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of
              Bill and prior notice of its introduction published in
              Government Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]

     (iv)    Engineering Profession Bill [B 19 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and
              prior notice of its introduction published in Government
              Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]

     (v)     Property Valuers Profession Bill [B 20 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and
              prior notice of its introduction published in Government
              Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]

     (vi)    Project and Construction Management Professions Bill [B 21
              - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio
              Committee on Public Works - National Assembly)
              [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
              introduction published in Government Gazette No 20994 of
              24 March 2000.]

     (vii)   Quantity Surveying Profession Bill [B 22 - 2000] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Public Works
              - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and
              prior notice of its introduction published in Government
              Gazette No 20994 of 24 March 2000.]