TUESDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2001 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:00.

The 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.

                     COPY OF PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

                           (Announcements)

The Speaker announced that she had received a copy of the President of the Republic’s address delivered at a Joint Sitting on Friday, 9 February 2001, and that the speech had been printed in the minutes of the Joint Sitting.

                             NEW MEMBER
                           (Announcement)

The Speaker announced that the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr L Luyt had been filled, in accordance with item 6(3) of Schedule 6 of the Constitution, 1996, by the nomination of Mr J P I Blanché, with effect from 1 February 2001.

The member had made and subscribed the oath in the Speaker’s office.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Ms P N MNANDI: Madam Speaker, I hereby 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 people of South Africa voted an overwhelming victory for the ANC in last year’s local government elections …

[Interjections.]

(2) believes that this reflects the confidence of South Africans in the leadership role of the ANC and its agenda of transformation;

(3) commends and thanks the majority of our people for having voted for the ANC during these elections, thereby confirming that the ANC is the leading agent for change in South Africa; and

(4) calls on our people to continue to actively participate …

[Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr J SELFE: 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 -

(1) notes the exceptional performance of the Democratic Alliance in the local government elections of 5 December 2000 in which 1 347 DA councillors were elected around South Africa …

[Interjections.]

(2) further notes that in this election the ANC’s support dropped from 66,3% in the 1999 election to 59%, while the DA support grew from 16,9% to 23%;

(3) notes the determination of the DA to deliver to all the people in the 26 councils it controls, alone or in coalition with other parties, in stark contrast to the ANC’s record of delivery only to a connected elite; and

(4) records the fact that South Africa has now moved to a two-party system in which the DA represents the real and much better alternative to the current Government.

[Interjections.] [Applause.]

Mr V B NDLOVU: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move on behalf of the IFP:

That the House -

(1) is appalled by a media report that two members of a police vehicle theft unit in Mpumalanga were arrested while transporting parts of a stolen car in a government vehicle;

(2) compliments the traffic officers that followed all the leads and pulled out all the stops that led to the arrest of these police criminals; and

(3) appeals to all members of the public who witness criminal activity to report this so that the law can take its course.

[Applause.]

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

(1) notes with satisfaction the state of the nation address delivered by our President, Thabo Mbeki, on 9 February 2001;

(2) further notes that the speech received widespread acceptance from all progressive and right-minded South Africans;

(3) calls on all patriots to heed the clarion call towards a unified offensive to eradicate poverty, fight corruption, and accelerate the pace of transformation and development; and

(4) commends the President for his visionary leadership.

[Applause.]

Mnr F BEUKMAN: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die Nuwe NP sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis - (1) met kommer kennis neem van die toename in voorvalle van moord, roof en ander geweld op die N2-roete vanaf Kaapstad na Somerset-Wes, wat die veiligheid van motoriste en passasiers in gedrang bring;

(2) sy simpatie uitspreek teenoor die familie en naasbestaandes van mnr Bertie Louw van Firgrove wat in ‘n aanval op die pad gedood is;

(3) die Wes-Kaapse regering bedank vir die stappe wat gedoen is om die teenwoordigheid van die veiligheidsmagte op die roete te versterk;

(4) ‘n beroep op die sentrale Regering doen om meer hulpbronne beskikbaar te stel ten einde die veiligheid van padverbruikers op die roete te verseker;

(5) ‘n beroep op die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Padowerheid (SANP) doen om die nodige stappe te doen om die foutiewe noodtelefone te herstel en nie-werkende beligting in orde te kry; en

(6) ‘n beroep op die SANP doen om ‘n statusverslag oor die betrokke roete aan die Parlement as ‘n saak van openbare belang voor te lê. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr F BEUKMAN: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the New NP:

That the House -

(1) notes with concern the increase in the number of murders, robberies and other violent incidents on the N2 route from Cape Town to Somerset West, which is jeopardising the safety of motorists and passengers;

(2) expresses its sympathy with the family and next-of-kin of Mr Bertie Louw of Firgrove, who was killed in an attack on the road;

(3) thanks the Western Cape government for the steps which have been taken to strengthen the presence of security forces along the route;

(4) appeals to central Government to make more resources available in order to ensure the safety of road users along the route;

(5) appeals to the South African National Road Authority (SANRA) to take the necessary steps to repair the faulty emergency telephones and restore all malfunctioning lighting equipment; and

(6) appeals to SANRA to present Parliament with a status report on the route in question as a matter of public interest.]

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

That the House -

(1) notes with dismay and disappointment the meddling of the executive in the work of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts midway into the investigations into the alleged malpractices in the R43 billion arms deal; (2) notes with shock the impasse between the executive and Scopa, which led to the replacement of highly qualified and competent members of the committee;

(3) is concerned that the actions of the executive and their interference in the work of the committee may be prejudicial to the findings and recommendations of Scopa, and that the undue influence and interference in this matter raises a strong suspicion of a huge cover- up of possible malpractices and flawed procedures with regard to the appointment of contractors as reported by Scopa in the National Assembly’s preliminary report; and

(4) calls on the executive to refrain from meddling in and tampering with the work assigned to committees appointed by the House and further to refrain from undermining the integrity of this House.

[Applause.]

Mrs Z A KOTA: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC: That the House -

(1) notes the reports that the Office of the Deputy President’s is requesting Government Ministers, provincial premiers and mayors to sign performance contracts with the Office to ensure that rural development projects are implemented;

(2) further notes that the President’s state of the nation address reflected on concrete programmes and areas where there will be pilot projects on rural development;

(3) believes that this is further proof of the Government’s commitment to providing a better life for all;

(4) commends the Deputy President for this initiative; and

(5) calls on our people to join the Government in realising the objectives of rural development.

[Applause.] Ms C DUDLEY: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move on behalf of the ACDP:

That the House -

(1) notes with concern that the House of Lords in Britain has added its approval to that of the House of Commons for the use of embryo cells in research on cloning;

(2) further notes that any cloning of humans is morally repugnant and an unjustifiable intrusion into human life, which is sacred, since no matter what the intention behind it, the consequences for society and individuals are ominous;

(3) acknowledges that the ACDP has previously submitted a Private Member’s Bill with regard to the prohibition of human cloning in South Africa in 1998, and that this Bill was rejected on the grounds that the issue was dealt with in the draft National Health Bill which, to date, has not been tabled in Parliament; and (4) calls on the Government urgently to reassess the need for a separate Bill prohibiting human cloning, as the timeframe for the tabling of the National Health Bill is not clear.

Mnr C AUCAMP: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die AEB sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis hom uitspreek teen die onheilspellende tendense wat blyk uit die reaksie van die Minister van Veiligheid en Sekuriteit op die vreedsame optog en petisie deur veral lede van die Portugese gemeenskap van Suid-Afrika, naamlik dat -

(1) persone of gemeenskappe se reg op petisie en vreedsame betoog ingevolge artikel 17 van die Grondwet selektief toegepas word;

(2) hierdie reg, sowel as die reg van ‘n gemeenskap op veiligheid (artikel 12), afhanklik gemaak word van die mate waarin so ‘n gemeenskap die ou bestel van apartheid en/of kolonialisme beveg het al dan nie;

(3) die Regering die geregverdigde aanspraak van Suid-Afrikaners op die regeringsplig ingevolge die Grondwet verwar met minagting van die Regering en die President;

(4) mense wat hulle aansprake teenoor die Regering verwoord met die troefkaart van rassisme gedemoniseer word in stede daarvan dat hul aansprake ingevolge die Grondwet vervul word; en

(5) die moontlike pleeg van misdaad deur lede van ‘n gemeenskap klaarblyklik daardie gemeenskap se reg op beskerming teen misdaad relativeer. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the AEB:

That the House expresses itself against the ominous trends which are apparent from the reaction of the Minister of Safety and Security to the peaceful protest march and petition particularly by members of the Portuguese community of South Africa -

(1) the right of persons or communities to petition and peaceful protest in terms of section 17 of the Constitution is being selectively applied;

(2) this right, as well as the right of a community to safety (section 12), is made dependent on the extent to which such a community opposed the old system of apartheid and/or colonialism, or not;

(3) the Government is confusing the justified demand of South Africans that the Government do its duty in terms of the Constitution with contempt for the Government and the President;

(4) people who express their demands to the Government are demonised with the trump card of racism, instead of their demands in terms of the Constitution being met; and

(5) the possible commission of crimes by members of a community apparently relativises that community’s right to protection against crime.]

Mr M R BALOYI: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes the sterling contribution made by the Fedmis Company by constructing a school with eleven classrooms worth R270 000 for the community of Makhushane Phalaborwa in the Northern Province;

(2) further notes that Fedmis is also involved with mathematics and science projects in the same area in partnership with the Phalaborwa Mining Company;

(3) commends Fedmis and the Makhusane community for this initiative;

(4) acknowledges that this demonstrates community and private sector partnership for the development of our communities; and

(5) calls on other companies to follow the example of Fedmis and contribute toward a better life for all. [Applause.]

Mr M L DA CAMARA: 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 -

(1) notes with disgust the contemptuous attack on the South African Portuguese community by Minister Steve Tshwete …

[Interjections.]

(2) further notes that the Minister’s attack constitutes his only response to a peaceful and legal march by law-abiding citizens in their attempt to demonstrate their frustration with the epidemic levels of crime they face;

(3) therefore calls on the Minister to -

   (a)  refrain from vilifying patriotic citizens with unsubstantiated
       accusations based on arbitrary grounds of a shared heritage and
       language;


   (b)  acknowledge the right of citizens to petition their government
       peacefully on any issue of their choosing, regardless of their
       heritage or whether they support the ANC or not; and


   (c)  apologise unconditionally to the organisers and the Portuguese
       community in general.

[Interjections.]

A comunidade Portugesa Sul Africana é Leal á A(‘)frica do Sul. [The South African Portuguese community is loyal to South Africa.] [Applause.]

Mnr B M DOUGLAS: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die IVP sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) kennis neem van ‘n toename in bende-oorloë op die Kaapse Vlakte, waarvan skoolonderrig en kinders op fisieke en sielkundige wyse die vernaamste ongevalle uitmaak;

(2) sy medelye betuig met die familie en naasbestaandes van ‘n SAPD-lid, inspekteur Johan van Rooyen, wat in een voorval tussen bendes in Hanover Park noodlottig gewond is; en

(3) die Manenberg Peace Organisation gelukwens met hul sukses om vrede tussen strydende bendes te bewerkstellig. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.

[Mr B M DOUGLAS: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the IFP:

That the House -

(1) takes note of an increase in gang wars on the Cape Flats, with schooling and children physically and psychologically constituting the primary casualties;

(2) expresses its sympathy with the family and next of kin of an SAPS member, Inspector Johan van Rooyen, who was fatally wounded in an incident between gangs in Hanover Park; and

(3) congratulates the Manenberg Peace Organisation on their success in achieving peace between warring gangs.]

Mr N P NHLEKO: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC and the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration:

That the House -

(1) notes -

   (a)  the framework agreement that has been signed by the Government
       and labour during the job summit on 29 to 31 January 2001 at the
       University of the North, Pietersburg;


   (b)  the sense of responsibility and commitment that has been
       displayed by both parties with an intention to transform the
       Public Service; and


   (c)  that the agreement itself is a progressive step in creating a
       platform setting out objectives for transformation,
       restructuring and labour relations;

(2) congratulates the Department of Public Service and Administration, in particular, and the public sector unions for their commitment to the acceleration of service delivery through transformatory strategies reflected in the framework agreement signed; and

(3) calls on the parties to respect and honour the agreement for the benefit of the ordinary South Africans.

Dr R T RHODA: Madam Speaker, I hereby 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 with shock that -

   (a)  another gang-related attack occurred in Eerste River yesterday,
       which left four more people dead and one person seriously
       injured;


   (b)  earlier this year, 14-year-old Karen Adriaanse was caught in the
       crossfire during a gang fight in Manenberg Road and died in
       hospital;


   (c)  more and more young and innocent children are becoming victims
       of these senseless killings; and


   (d)  last year, the SA Army had to move in to patrol vulnerable
       schools in Manenberg and some schools look like prisons in order
       to protect children from gang violence;

(2) believes that -

   (a)  all children have the right to be brought up in a safe
       environment; and


   (b)  gang activities have been terrorising communities for far too
       long and must be stopped now; and

(3) urges the Minister to deliver on his promise that special attention will be paid to gang violence during 2001-2002 and take the necessary measures to rid communities of gang activities.

[Interjections.]

Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: The motion preceding the last motion was moved by a member of the ANC and was stated as being on behalf of the ANC and a portfolio committee. Is that in order? I do not think so.

A party motion cannot be on behalf of the committee. We know they rule the committee, but it is not a good idea to state it so openly here! [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER: Order! The point of order is well taken. Motions are moved on behalf of a party.

Chief N Z MTIRARA: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the UDM:

That the House -

(1) notes with grave concern issues raised by the Leader of Government Business in a letter addressed to Madam Speaker on 31 January 2001 which was tabled in this House on 6 February 2001;

(2) is alarmed at the Deputy President’s attempt to undermine the integrity and competence of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts;

(3) notes, in conclusion, that Scopa is accountable to the National Assembly and not to the Leader of Government Business; and

(4) calls on the Deputy President to refrain from attempts to govern by orders and intimidation rather than by legislation and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

[Interjections.]

      EXTENSION OF TRIAL-RUN PERIOD OF QUESTIONS FOR ORAL REPLY

                         (Draft Resolution)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move the draft resolution printed in my name on the Order Paper, as follows:

That, with reference to the resolution adopted by the House on 13 October 2000, the period for the trial run of questions for oral reply be further extended until 28 February 2001.

Agreed to.

                        MOTION OF CONDOLENCE

  (The late Mr P F Mbongo, Ms C C Mahlalela and Mr I B Ntshangase)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move: That the House -

(1) notes the premature deaths of the honourable Petrus Fihli Mbongo, the hon Cengi Christine Mahlalela and the hon Isaiah Boy Ntshangase since the adjournment of the House in November 2000;

(2) recognises the valuable contribution that the hon members made to our democratic Parliament, also as dedicated members of the parliamentary committees;

(3) believes that the hon members served the people of South Africa with selfless dedication;

(4) mourns the passing of our fellow members; and

(5) extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased and expresses the wish that they be filled with strength and fortitude in their time of sadness.

Hambani kahle, maQabane. [Go well, Comrades.]

Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Madam Speaker, as this House adjourned for an extended period of constituency work and local government elections at the end of last year, none of us thought that during this recess we would lose three members of this House.

On 7 December, the ANC learned with shock and sadness of the untimely departure of the hon Cengi Christine Mahlalela from the Mpumalanga province. Three weeks later, we also learned with shock of the untimely departure of the hon Petrus Fihli Mbongo from the Gauteng province. A few weeks later, the hon Isaiah Boy Ntshangase slipped into a coma and passed away on 4 February.

The ANC deployed these comrades to this House because of their qualities, virtues and experience in the traditions of the organisation they espoused. They were deployed to this House to advance a transformation agenda that the ANC and its allies are implementing.

They knew their responsibilities and made their contribution as individuals and as part of the ANC collective, to build a society that is free from racism and racial prejudice, to address the massive inequality of our society, to bridge the divides in our society and build a united nation, a nation that is composed of individuals who understand that they are united by the fact that we are all human beings, sharing a past and working towards a common destiny and future.

Comrades Ntshangase, Mbongo and Mahlalela knew what the ANC expected of them and they did not fail the movement to the very end. It is sad that we only remember the significant contribution of our comrades to society when they are no more. Would it not have been better if these comrades were with us today, so that they could hear what their comrades, colleagues and elected representatives from all political persuasions in Parliament think of their contributions of creating a better life for all?

They will always be in our minds for their contribution in the struggle for national liberation in our country. They carried out this task with zeal and commitment. Their efforts bore fruit with a number of transformative policies debated and adopted by this House.

It is appropriate for us to commemorate these three gallant fighters of our nation by coming to terms with the lessons that we need to learn from them and their achievements. They gave selflessly during the struggle and continued to do so in this new era. This commitment must inspire us to ask the question: What can I do to contribute towards the social change in our country?

It is in response to this call that these comrades took an unwavering stance and consistently pursued the agenda of a better life in their communities and in Parliament. We also learned from these comrades the need for ANC comrades to adapt to new realities and sharpen our strategic intervention. The ANC dips its revolutionary banner in honour to these fallen heroes. We vow to continue with the ideals that these comrades lived for.

We further extend our heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and loved ones. They are not alone in their hour of darkness, sorrow and grieving. Their pain is ours, their loss is ours. [Applause.]

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, I wish to associate the DP with the motion moved by the hon Chief Whip.

There was a time when the death of a member of Parliament was a rare occurrence but, unhappily, this is no longer so. Increasingly, this House has been called upon to pass motions of condolence, and the present one is particularly sad. Having to mark the passing of no less than three colleagues who have died since we last met, is a bitter experience. They have all gone long before their normally expected and allotted time. We salute the memory of these three MPs and we extend our sympathies to their families, their party, and all those who loved them.

Mr E J LUCAS: Madam Speaker, the IFP wishes to associate itself with the motion of condolence in respect of the late Mr P F Mbongo, Ms C C Mahlalela and Mr I B Ntshangase. We believe that these hon members served the people of South Africa with dedication.

Furthermore, the IFP wishes to express its sincerest condolences to the spouses, families, relatives and friends of the deceased. May they be filled with strength and fortitude in their time of sadness. May God grant them peace.

Mnr C H F GREYLING: Mevrou die Speaker, ons vereenselwig ons graag met die voorstel van roubeklag soos dit deur die Hoofsweep van die Meerderheidsparty op die Ordelys geplaas is as ‘n voorstel sonder kennisgewing.

Namens die Nuwe NP wil ek graag ons opregte meegevoel betuig met die naasbestaandes, vriende en kennisse van die oorledenes. Alhoewel ek die oorledenes nie persoonlik geken het nie, weet ons almal dat dit ‘n baie traumatiese ervaring vir die naasbestaandes bly wanneer so ‘n gevoelige verlies ervaar word, en ons spreek ons diepe spyt uit oor die dood van die drie lede wat kollegas in hierdie Huis was.

Ons wens die familie, vriende en ANC-partygenote van die ontslape kollegas sterkte toe en vertrou dat hulle vertroos sal word vir die groot en onmeetbare verlies wat hulle gely het deur die afsterwe van die drie lede. Ons eer hulle nagedagtenis. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mr C H F GREYLING: Madam Speaker, we would like to associate ourselves with the motion of condolence as placed on the Order Paper by the Chief Whip of the Majority Party as a motion without notice. On behalf of the New NP I would like to express our sincere sympathy with the next-of-kin, friends and acquaintances of the deceased. Although I did not know the deceased personally, all of us know that such a great loss is always a very traumatic experience for the next-of-kin, and we express our deepest regret at the demise of the three members who were our colleagues in this House.

We wish the family, friends and ANC party associates of the late colleagues strength and trust that they will be comforted in the great and immeasurable loss they have suffered through the demise of the three members. We honour their memory.]

Dr S E MZIMELA: Madam Speaker, I rise to express the UDM’s support for the motion which has just been put and to express our own deepest sympathy to the bereaved families of Messrs Mbongo and Ntshangase, as well as Ms Mahlalela.

Our sorrow is accompanied by faith and prayer that the deceased may find eternal rest. To each of our departed colleagues we say: requiescant in pace [Rest in peace.]

Adv Z L MADASA: Madam Speaker, the ACDP was sad to hear of the deaths of the following members: Mbongo, Mahlalela and Ntshangase. We pray that God will comfort their families at this time.

Dr C P MULDER: Mevrou die Speaker, dit is vir ons in die VF altyd jammer en hartseer as daar ‘n medekollega en lid van hierdie Raad te sterwe kom. Dit is dinge wat ons almal hartseer maak en wat ‘n party sleg tref.

Ons wil van die VF se kant af vandag ons steun uitspreek vir die voorstel soos ingedien deur die agb Hoofsweep van die Meerderheidsparty. Ons dink vandag nie net aan hierdie kollegas wat ontslaap het nie, maar ook veral aan hulle families wat agterbly en wat hartseer is. Ons vertrou egter dat hulle vertroosting en aanvaarding sal vind. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Dr C P MULDER: Madam Speaker, to us in the FF it is always regrettable and sad when a fellow colleague and member of this House passes away. This is something that causes us all grief and hits a party hard.

On behalf of the FF we want to convey our support today for the motion as introduced by the hon Chief Whip of the Majority Party. We are thinking today not only of these colleagues who passed away, but specifically of their families that remain and are sad. We trust, however, that they will find comfort and acceptance.]

Mr G E BALOI: Madam Speaker, the UCDP expresses its condolences to the families of the late Mahlalela, Mbongo and the very young and talented Mr I B Ntshangase, who passed away during the parliamentary recess. About Ms Mahlalela and Mr Mbongo, I cannot say much because I did not know them very well. As for Ntshangase, much can be said. He was still in his early years and very active. He was jocular and always smiling. His political career was promising. It ended in a very short space of time.

South Africa, with its new democracy, is being crippled by the death of young people. Although God is never wrong, He plans His things accordingly. These youngsters are the ripe corn that should be reaped and stored.

We as the UCDP wish to say to the families of the deceased that they must have faith in the living God. Ma Bathembele kuYehova qha; uyaphilisa. [They should have faith in the living God; He can heal.]

These beloved children died while in the service of their mother country, South Africa. Let their souls rest in peace forever.

Dr S E M PHEKO: Madam Speaker, this is not the first time since I came to this Parliament 18 months ago, that we have been informed of the deaths of three hon members in one day. The PAC is saddened by the unexpected bad news of the passing away of the hon Petrus Fihli Mbongo, the hon Cengi Christine Mahlalela and the hon Isaiah Boy Ntshangase. The PAC conveys its deepest condolences to their families, to all their relatives and to the ANC. This is a national loss for all of us. It is devastating but we must derive inspiration from their lives and their dedication to national service.

Ha ba tsamaye hantle. Ba bolelle Shaka, Hintsa, Moshoeshoe, Sekhukhune le Makhado, mmoho le bahale bohle ba rona, hore naha ya rona le moruo wa yona ha di so be matsohong a bana ba thari. Boitseko bo tswela pele. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.) [Let them go well. They must tell Shaka, Hintsa, Moshoeshoe, Sekhukhune and Makhado, and all our heroes, that our country and its economy are not yet in the hands of the Africans. The struggle continues.]

Dr A I VAN NIEKERK: Madam Speaker, the FA would also like to extend its condolences to the family and friends of our late colleagues. Although we belonged to different political parties, we interacted in a positive manner as colleagues in the various portfolio committees and in this House, in order to seek and build a better South Africa. We honour their memory.

Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, hon members, it is sad that we have to stand here and express our condolence on the loss of three important members of our Parliament, namely I B Ntshangase, C C Mahlalela and P F Mbongo. Their faith in South Africa never diminished and they patriotically championed the cause of democracy.

Our late comrades used their skills and leadership qualities to develop the sociopolitical status of South Africans. The MF conveys its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, friends and the ANC. May God give them courage and fortitude to bear the loss of our great comrades.

Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, the AEB associates itself with the motion by the Chief Whip. It is an extraordinary loss to lose three members of the House in such a short period. I express the condolences of myself and my party to the families, the next-of-kin and the friends of the deceased. May the good Lord bless them in this period of great loss. May I also ask our colleagues to think in their prayers today of the hon Mr Paul Ditshetelo of the UCDP and his wife. Their eldest son died in a motor car accident on Friday. The funeral will be on Thursday. Let us also think of our colleague at this time.

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Mohlomphegi Speaker, re re homotšegang go ba malapa a gaMbongo, Ntshangase le Mahlalela gammogo le ba Lekgotla la ANC gobane le ge re tseba gore lehu le bohloko, ntle le bophelo le lona ga le gona. Motho a ka se ke a hlokafala e le gore ga se a ka a phela. Gape motho a ka se ke a phela ge e le gore ga a tle go hlokafala. Seo re swanetšego go se swarelela ke mešomo ye mebotse ya bao re ba ratago yeo e tlago dira gore re hlohleletšege gomme re tšwele pele ka bophelo le go dira tše botse tšeo ba di dirilego. (Translation of Sepedi speech follows.)

[The DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker, we would like to extend our condolences to the bereaved families of Mbongo, Ntshangase and Mahlalela, as well as the ANC, on the loss of their loved ones. Furthermore, we note that although death is a devastating phenomenon, we should derive inspiration from the fact that it can only occur where there was life, and that no one can die without fist having lived. Therefore, what remains for us to do is to continue their heroic and self-sacrificing contributions to the national service which they have rendered so unselfishly.]

Agreed to unanimously, all the members standing.

                         PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

                      (Subject for Discussion)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, fellow members of the National Assembly, on Friday we were given an inspiring address by the President of our nation, an address that has received acclaim from all quarters, an address that has given us a firm understanding of the priorities and strategies of Government for the coming year.

This positive framework has inspired the nation, providing us with a focus to carry us forward in our task of transformation. We, the ANC, the majority party in this House, want to focus in this debate on issues and ways of taking the country forward. We do not want to be engaged in unproductive mudslinging. Rather, we, as the elected representatives of the people, must seek solutions for the myriad of problems that challenge our nation.

We must measure our successes by outcomes, rather than acclaim. Our President, in his address, dealt with a wide range of issues, but certain issues stand out. The first is the unity of our people. Our President has called for unity in action for change. He has reminded us that, as a people, we share a common legacy, a legacy of division which we must work together to eradicate. As a nation we must stand together, fighting for change in the daily lives of ordinary people in the fight against disease, illiteracy and prejudice, seeking to build a national consensus as we move towards prosperity.

Of major significance in the address was the shift in focus from macro to microeconomic issues to hasten economic growth now that we have achieved a framework of fiscal stability. We all know that poverty is the current challenge facing our country, that without a concerted and united war against poverty, we will not achieve the transformation of the lives of the people, of the lives of those who were so disadvantaged by our history.

The people have been patient, they have waited for a long time, through hardship and famine. They cannot wait much longer. We must move with speed and efficiency and resist the temptation to make political capital out of poverty. We, therefore, particularly welcome the plans for rural development and urban renewal in townships across the country. But, as the President has pointed out, the success of these plans will depend on the extent to which the people can be mobilised to participate actively in the development of their own communities.

Indeed, it is in this regard that we, as members of Parliament, must play a leading role. It is in our constituencies that we must be the link between Government and the people. It is we who must build the commitment of the people to participate in the programmes of Government, building their futures, with Government as the facilitator rather than the benefactor.

On 8 January the ANC celebrated its 89th birthday. In its statement on this day, the national executive committee of the ANC reminded us that:

Over the centuries, slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism, have ravaged the African continent …

The situation has to be corrected by rebuilding Africa’s economies to ensure that they are able to generate the necessary volumes of wealth, work for the people and the capacities that will ensure that we take our rightful place within the global economy.

It went on to say:

The new world order that it being born must be defined, in part, by the fact that Africa and her people play an equal role with other people in shaping that new and more equitable global political, economic and social order.

It further outlined the ANC’s commitment to urban renewal and rural development, and the close co-operation of all spheres of government in the implementation of all these programmes. It calls on community-based organisations to be involved in this important and exciting work, and calls on us to intensify our efforts to ensure that our population, as a whole, is educated and armed with the right skills.

Next year the ANC will celebrate its 90th birthday - an important milestone in the evolvement of the ANC throughout the different historical periods into a genuine people’s movement and an agent for change. Since its inception, the core philosophy of our movement has been to unite and fight against racism. From 1912 to date our core philosophy has been, in the words of the Freedom Charter:

South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people. In 1911, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, first treasurer-general of the ANC, said:

The demon of racialism must be buried and forgotten. It has shed among us sufficient blood. We are one people. These divisions, these jealousies, are the cause of all our woes and of all our backwardness and ignorance today.

At our NEC legotla, as we entered our 89th birthday, we reaffirmed this commitment in our very first resolution. Included in this resolution is the commitment to -

… a mass campaign to raise public consciousness on racism, tribalism and xenophobia, and to unite the people of South Africa to end all racial disparities in our society.

In 10 years’ time the ANC will be 100 years old. No other movement has such a consistent commitment to equality and a nonracial democratic society. [Applause.] We cannot predict the future, but I know one thing as sure as I stand here, namely that the ANC will remain committed to nonracism, and nonsexism, in its abhorrence of exploitation and discrimination. The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: As will the opposition.

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Today, having fought for democracy, we are faced with the mammoth task of fighting poverty, illiteracy and disease. This task does not rest with Government alone, nor does it rest with the majority party alone. It is the responsibility of all South Africans. None of us should become spectators, waiting for Government to dish out benefits, programmes and solutions. None of us should become spectators, waiting for Government to make mistakes. We all need to become participants in the battle against poverty. Those in need must be empowered to become active participants in building a better life for themselves.

Racism infects all our lives, coming as we do from a racially divided past. Our prejudices are complex and deeply ingrained, often far beneath the conscious mind. When we attempt to unpack this issue, it is often interpreted as a fight against whites or as harping on the past. We, the ANC, are not interested in a fight against whites, or any other sector of our population. We are committed to the fight against exploitation and prejudice; exploitation based on racial differences, class differences, gender, religion and creed … [Applause.] … exploitation of the aged, the disabled, the weak and the poor. It is on this that we base our commitment to fight against poverty.

We have seen President Thabo Mbeki emerge as an international ambassador in the fight against poverty. He receives recognition form the world’s most distinguished leaders. He is invited to all the most crucial international forums. Just the other day he was telephoned by the President of the United States, George Bush Jnr, who assured him of his and his new government’s commitment to our continent.

We must all recognise that we cannot fight for our prosperity in isolation from our neighbours, and that, without the rebirth of our region and our continent, we cannot hope for a prosperous future. We are blessed, in this quest, to have a leader with the vision and commitment of our President.

It is sad that so many of our compatriots find it necessary to bad-mouth our country abroad. Of course, people have the right to criticise. We, the ANC, fought for this right, for which many of our comrades lost their lives. I urge all those who are falling into the habit of negativity to pause and ask themselves: Whose interests am I serving by my pessimistic view of our new South Africa? What are the long-term effects of my negativity? Do I benefit my country in any way?

Whatever our political beliefs, we must ensure that nothing we say or do harms the prospects of our country. We must ensure that we are responsible and constructive in our criticism, and that we engage in debate rather than in slander.

We are privileged to serve our nation in this democratic Parliament. As the majority party, we enjoy a mandate from the people. As ordinary members of Parliament, we have the responsibility to ensure that the programmes of Government are implemented. It is our task, as the majority party, to ensure that Government fulfils the mandate of the people who elected the ANC to govern in accordance with its policies and manifesto. It is our job, as the party that has been chosen by the people to lead the nation, to be at the forefront of guarding against inefficiency, maladministration and corruption. Increasingly, the focus of this House will be on oversight, especially now that we have put in place the legislative framework of our democratic constitutional state. As members, we must interact with our communities, monitoring the implementation of legislation and policy. The work of our parliamentary committees must also focus on going out into our communities, of strengthening the links between Parliament and the people so that we can build a truly participatory democracy.

Of course, it does happen that tensions do arise between the executive and the legislative arm. Some people may disagree with me on this matter. This is the nature of a parliamentary democracy. However, such tension must not be allowed to obscure our wider objective of transforming the lives of the people, nor undermine the relationship between and the integrity of the different arms of government. These healthy tensions should also not be blown out of proportion.

Our commitment has always been to the people, the poor and the dispossessed. History has shown us that if one is close to the people, no force on earth, no matter how powerful, can dislodge one. Our President continues to have the fullest support of the ANC and the people of this country as he leads a nation facing the challenge to transform itself into one nation, united in its diversity, united in prosperity and united in its commitment to making this the African century. [Applause.]

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, Mr President, colleagues, I would firstly like to begin today by acknowledging Mrs Helen Suzman in the gallery, who is an object example of excellence in public service and courage in pursuit of principle. [Applause.]

I wish to begin today with a proposition that I believe is beyond argument or appeal, that South Africa today is a better place than it was 10 years ago. There is a simple but profound reason for this. The mace of personal dignity, which is the moral core of liberal democracy, has created, in the breasts of our people, hearts filled with hope for the future. The hope of a better life was the essence of the contract struck between this Government and the people of South Africa in 1994.

On Friday last week, the people of South Africa waited, some with their hopes still intact, others with a battered, fading hope, and some perhaps with their hope shrouded in a looming despair, for the state of the nation address. The tone of the President’s speech was, in my opinion, a relief after last year. The President, to his enormous credit, preached the harmony of unity, not the discord of division. I applaud him for that and promise faithfully that the DA will stand as one with the Government in a joint endeavour to forge one nation in South Africa.

The President also listed a number of achievements that deserve praise, and there are plenty of praise singers who will no doubt draw attention to them in this debate. He also announced a set of new initiatives designed to liberate our economy, and we support these with enthusiasm. All these positives we acclaim. However, in treating some of the greatest ills afflicting our land with silence or slighting them into insignificance, the President failed to face up to the terrible fears that haunt our nation.

Unemployment, crime, Aids and corruption are the great issues on which this Government is judged. They ride across our land like the dread four horsemen of the Apocalypse. And there is ultimately only one judgement that counts, and it is not the judgment of the Leader of the Opposition or any other member of what is, frankly, a small elite caste of politicians, business people and journalists. The judgment that counts is the judgement of the people of South Africa. It was with the people that the ANC struck their agreement in 1994. It was the people who traded hopes for a better life for votes in 1994. Again, in 1999, as we have just heard, they voted for the renewed promise of delivery.

I must be very straight about this: the ANC Government is perilously close to being found in breach of contract by the people of South Africa. [Interjections.] The ANC may deny it, but the results of the local government elections were an unmistakable warning to this Government, because at the end of the day, the ANC will have to deliver, or it will be replaced. [Interjections.] That is the truth, because the judgement of the people will not be merciful or understanding, but it will be just. [Interjections.]

To put it bluntly, on a matter that is related and which we have had a great deal of noise about, I do not want to waste any energy or time on an auction of patriotism. I believe I lead a party wholehearted in its commitment to South Africa, its constitutional order and all its people. The patriotism we embrace is a patrimony of the whole which includes the whole nation, not any one section of it at the expense of any other.

However, I believe, as well, that a patriotic leader’s primary duty is to tell the truth to the people. The first essential step in delivering a better life is to acknowledge, not the state of the nation in abstract terms, but the state of the people in concrete terms. I am talking about our homeless, our jobless, our communities terrorised by crime, our families devastated by Aids, our struggling businessmen and women and, yes, young professional people, some of whom are poised reluctantly to leave their homeland. They despair and they leave, not because of what I say, but because of what the Government does and does not do.

I mention these people, not to trumpet the negative, but to say to members very frankly that, on several fronts, we are facing a crisis. Yet, the President’s speech seemed designed to veil the fact that, in significant respects, we are in a crisis. It was a speech that read - in large measure, and I agree with much of it - like a speech of a managing director. But in times of crisis nations need leadership, not simply management.

This then raises the question: What is leadership? We are now in the new age after the collapse of both apartheid and communism. We live in a new world. Allow me to quote from a biography of a leader, president Harry Truman, who lived and worked in another new age, the period just after the devastation of World War II. It was said of him:

He was not a hero, or a magician, or a chess player, or an obsession. He was a certifiable member of the human race, direct, fallible, and unexpectedly wise when it counted.

He did not require to be loved. He did not expect to be followed blindly. Congressional opposition never struck him as subversive, nor did he regard his critics as traitors.

He walked around Washington every morning - it was safe then. He met reporters frequently as a matter of course, and did not blame them for his failures. He did not use his office as a club or a shield, or a hiding place. He worked at it … he said he lived by the Bible and by history. So armed, he proved that the ordinary American is capable of grandeur and that a president can be a human being …

My point is that South Africa today is crying out for leadership that sees with a clear eye, that speaks with an honest voice and that acts with swift resolution for the good of all the people; leadership that faces difficulty without flinching and does the right thing even if that goes against narrow partisan interests; leadership that shoulders responsibility, that never seeks scapegoats to blame or invents enemies to hate, that gives clear direction and that trusts people and wins their faith in return.

Where the President of South Africa provides such leadership he will have the support of the whole nation, and of my party as well. But let me add that it is not the President alone that must provide such leadership. All of us in this House have a duty to live up to the same standard.

Let me speak about these great unmentionables - HIV/Aids. It is wrong to pretend, as the President seemed to do in his address on Friday, that Aids is just another disease of poverty. It is not. It is a national catastrophe of unimagined proportion. The people who are dying are not only the poor, although the poor bear the brunt of the onslaught, because young people with good living conditions are also dying in our country today before they turn forty. Babies receiving the best of care are also dying in their infancy.

For every Nkosi Johnson - who we understand was hospitalised today, and whose bravery has caught the imagination of the whole of our nation - there are thousands upon thousands of South Africans dying in pain, misery, loneliness and obscurity. We have to heed the parable of the Good Samaritan. We cannot walk by on the other side of the road.

We can devise the best prevention policy in the world and we can treat as many people as possible, but unless the fight against HIV/Aids is fuelled by inspired and committed leadership, it will fail. We need leadership here. Frankly, that leadership has to come from the President. We also need focus. To this end, the Democratic Alliance proposes that the Government establish a Deputy Ministry within the Ministry of Health dedicated entirely to the fight against Aids.

While the Government must shoulder the blame for the terrible mishandling of HIV/Aids, my party also wishes to acknowledge some responsibility in this regard. The terrible human cost of Aids outweighs, in my view, a legitimate attachment to narrow definitions of intellectual property rights. Therefore, the Democratic Alliance’s historic opposition to legislation that would allow parallel imports and compulsory licensing of HIV/Aids drugs will cease from today, conditional on Government declaring Aids to be a national emergency in terms of the Trips Accord and without compromising medicines control.

The people of South Africa also want leadership in the struggle against crime. Here I regret to say that I am compelled to state that the Minister of Safety and Security is failing to provide that leadership. On the contrary, instead of taking the fight to the criminals, he has declared war, in the most vile and racist terms, on the law-abiding Portuguese community of South Africa. His contempt for his own citizens is palpable, his arrogance is despicable and his damage to our country is incalculable.

The hon Mr Tshwete’s letter, which I have read carefully, is staggering in its contempt for those South Africans whose only crime is to look to the President and his Cabinet for leadership in the struggle against crime. If they cannot look there, where are they meant to look? And yet the Minister accuses the organisation of holding the Government in contempt, defining itself as an opponent of the Government, racist and colonialist. It defies belief.

The Government’s contempt for the people, so naked and glaring in that letter, is reflected also in its refusal to publicise the official crime statistics. I listened carefully to what the President said on Friday. He said he expects to able to lift the moratorium in June. It is not good enough. We know just how often expectations on crime have been dashed by Government. The Constitution grants each of us - crime victim and parliamentarian alike - a fundamental right to know. It is not in Government’s gift to withhold or bestow this right at its whim or pleasure. We will take action to enforce this right.

The people are desperate for leadership in the fight for jobs. On Friday 10, the President quoted Statistics SA selectively, with respect, saying that total employment increased from 1996 to 1999. But what the hon the President did not say is that this increased was caused entirely by the informal sector which is usually a source of tiny and fitful income. We should ask the people of South Africa whether they prefer to sell tomatoes and wire toys at the roadside or to work for a salary in a formal job, because the same survey from Statistics SA reports that employment in the formal sector had actually dropped from 5,2 million to 4,8 million in the very period that the President referred to.

One of the problems that we have - and this has been said a hundred times - is with the labour laws. I do not need to make the case, once again, that the cost of labour and all its costs inhibits economic and job growth. The President himself seems to be of the same view. But why then did he merely commit himself to consulting'' about reforming the labour laws. This was an even weaker stand than the one taken last year from this podium by the President when he promised amendments, which are like the Loch Ness monster: much spoken about, but never sighted. The people need leadership on this front and I am afraid it was not provided on Friday. We also need to move ahead swiftly with privatisation to ensure investors and industrialists a stable and predictable economic future. I applaud the President for committing himself toa managed liberalisation of state assets’’. I sincerely hope that he puts more emphasis on the noun and less on the adjective. But here again, bold leadership is required. The people cry out for food on the table, decent hospitals, reasonable shelters and proper schools. Yet, as Thomas Aquinas once reminded us:

Even God himself cannot make two and two equal other than four.

So, let us be frank and honest with the people. The President must tell them that he cannot hold down the budget deficit. He cannot reduce debt and massively uplift the poor through an increase in growth rates, unless and until he goes for a massive downsizing of the Public Service and wholesale privatisation. The people must be told that he will liberate R15 billion - and not the projected R6 billion - of state assets annually. He must tell them that the jobs summit of two years ago was an exercise in self- deception which has produced precious little in the way of results.

He should take the people in his confidence. They must be told that he will lead by example, with an employer-initiated retrenchment tool in the Public Service, starting with the so-called supernumeraries whom we are now told cannot be removed from their posts. He must tell the people that he will use the proceeds of both these great exercises to get the interest rate down, help extend credit and boost job creation. [Interjections.] If I were that hon Minister, who so failed on the poverty front, I would keep quiet! [Laughter.] These two steps, boldly taken, would go a long way towards liberating our economy and with it the people of South Africa. We do not need, as the President promised, just steps down the information superhighway. We need a flying leap just to keep pace, not even to get ahead.

The steps announced by the hon the President on Friday are welcome and long overdue. But let us also tell the truth about the new technology. One cannot try to harness it through control, centralisation and overregulation. We need a highway of incentives and not a roadblock of Telkom exclusivity or interference in the third cellular licence, the confiscation of mineral wealth or the threatening of investors with prescribed assets.

The people are crying out for principled leadership of political parties. Yes, as the hon the Chief Whip of the Majority Party said, racism exists and it exists in all parties. But it is instructive to contrast the way in which the DA and the ANC deal with racism when it emerges in their own ranks. One must just ask ex-councillor Yvonne Wood how quickly the DP moved to expel her from her party - my party - when evidence surfaced of her making racist remarks. [Interjections.] It took 24 hours.

I can tell hon members that if Dumisane Makhaye, one of the ANC’s Ministers in KwaZulu-Natal, had been a member of the DA and had acted in the racist way he did in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature last week, he would have been kicked out of his job and out of my party in 24 hours. [Interjections.] As it is, he has received no censure from his party at all. [Applause.]

Finally, as the President reminded us, Africa needs leadership. [Interjections.] The President said on Friday - and obviously those members there disagree with him - that no African child should ever walk in fear of guns, tyrants and abuse''. To that we can only sayamen’’. But this is just what African children and adults, including judges, MPs and newspaper editors, fear today and every day in Zimbabwe under the terror and lawlessness of Robert Mugabe, whom President Mbeki has failed so conspicuously to confront, let alone to condemn. [Interjections.] And, to a lesser extent, we see the denial of basic freedoms in Swaziland and we see its delay in Lesotho. We see a new imperialism …

The MINISTER OF HEALTH: [Inaudible.]

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Israel was not in Africa when I last checked, but your knowledge of geography is so brilliant I will defer to it. [Interjections.]

We see a new imperialism and even a new colonialism, albeit of an African type, in the current carve-up of the Congo, where Angola is swallowing up the southwest, Zimbabwe and Namibia entrenching their southeastern interests, Uganda in the northeast and Rwanda in the east. [Interjections.]

For Africa to rise there must be one universal standard of justice, liberty and democracy for all and for everyone. When any African country fails to live up to that standard, it must be denounced unequivocally, isolated and despatched as a pariah, unworthy of the appellation ``African’’.

Great leadership looks on times of enormous adversity as a special challenge. Now is the time for this Government to honour the contract entered into with the people of South Africa more than six years ago. Now is the time to go back to the people, to trust them, to speak to them, to listen to them, to give them the means and the opportunity to realise their own talents. [Interjections.] The people, free from restraint, will make South Africa great. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Madam Speaker, Comrade President, Comrade Deputy President, hon members, Comrade President’s state of the nation address was spot-on in its delineation of the challenges that face us as Government, a nation and, indeed, a continent. Equally proper and fitting were the strategies and policy position he outlined as core issues that we should embrace for the realisation of the said goals. The prevention, investigation and prosecution of crime are matters that immediately come to the centre of that overall struggle to change and transform our country into a better place for all our people. The pursuit of that ideal cannot and should never be seen as the exclusive preserve of the Government and the law-enforcement agencies. Indeed, the biggest majority of our people, coming from all sectors of our population - business, organised labour and other organs of civil society - have taken the position that much as they fought at the forefront of the struggle against the menace of apartheid tyranny, they are not, this time around, going to define their role in the fight against crime and the creation of a safer and more secure environment for all merely as one of political posturing and finger-pointing, such as we have just seen from the hon member here. [Interjections.]

On the contrary, they see themselves as active participants in the overall effort to rid the country of the scourge of crime. As they do so, they are, in ever-increasing numbers and across the racial divide, watching those demagogues and charlatans who have, in pursuit of petty party-political goals, decided to occupy a cosy seat somewhere in the pavilion, vainly praying that the Government will fail. Guided by the criminal justice departments, this broad array of forces against crime is putting in resources of all sorts, such as CCTVs, vehicles, funds, expertise, etc, for the consolidation of the community policing fora across the face of the country to ensure the success of a massive mobilisation campaign of all our people against crime. Furthermore, all the law enforcement agencies are in full swing, giving criminals no quarter.

As a result, the successes are immense and clearly visible to all those who have eyes to see. Between March last year and February this year, total arrests stand at 462 502, with 154 929 of those being for serious crimes. [Interjections.] Over 18 000 illegal firearms were confiscated, and over 14 000 stolen vehicles were recovered.

Through undercover and conventional operations we eliminated over 200 syndicates, and arrested, prosecuted and convicted over 2 300 of their members. We busted illicit laboratories, we seized counterfeit goods and medicines, and prosecuted thieves and criminals involved in commercial crimes, stocktheft, and theft of diamonds and gold, and effected seizures and arrests related to endangered species.

With regard to family violence, child protection and sex-related crimes, we secured 1 551 convictions in which children were victims, and 369 involving adult victims. [Interjections.] The total period of imprisonment in respect of the specific offences amounted to 22 551 years.

Over and above all these successes, the Police and the Scorpions recovered billions of rands and seized properties worth billions of rands belonging to thieves and criminals of all kinds. Given this record of resounding success in just one year, only a fool, a liar and a braggart can stand up and declare: ``This Government lacks the political will to deal with crime and criminals.’’ [Applause.]

In the course of this year we shall redouble our efforts to score even better results. [Interjections.] The automation of criminal and civil justice processes in the Johannesburg and Durban courts, their branch courts, selected police stations, prisons and facilities belonging to the Department of Social Development have been set for completion by March

1. During the same period a national photo image system will be implemented to increase the investigating capacity of the SAPS by creating a digital photo album for identification and exhibit management purposes.

An inmate-tracking system which will alleviate blockages associated with identification, verification and monitoring of prisoners in various correctional services, social development and SAPS facilities should be completed by March 2004. Already a contract has been agreed upon for the introduction of an Automated Fingerprint Identification System which will enhance the speedy and cost-effective identification of fingerprints.

Other projects include the implementation of an electronic data interchange system whereby Correctional Services will notify the SA Police on the release of sentenced prisoners; the extension of access to the SAPS Crime Administration System and the Criminal Record Identification System to the Departments of Justice, Correctional Services and Social Development, the establishment of communication technology infrastructure, and the establishment of a detention control system.

We shall continue with operations such as roadblocks and cordon-and-search operations as part of Operation Crackdown, establish special training teams to arrest persons for whom warrants of arrest have been issued for serious and violent crimes, implement a zero-tolerance approach towards less serious crimes, and improve our intelligence capacity around the profiling of criminal syndicates.

The SA Police will increase its capacity at station level to sustain the successes achieved through Operation Crackdown. Fifty fully equipped crime prevention units will be established this year in order to implement sector policing. A new specialised crime prevention training course will also be introduced. Air-supported reaction forces will be established in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape in order to decrease the response time for crimes such as vehicle hijacking, armed robbery and other serious crimes.

The first of these reaction forces was established in Gauteng during January this year as part of Operation Tshwane. The reaction force contributed to the arrest of more than 20 hijackers during the first two weeks of the operation. SAPS aircraft will also be fitted with tracker systems for the purpose of tracking hijacked vehicles.

We will ensure the expansion of the organised crime approach during this year by establishing additional organised crime task teams. For this purpose, more than 500 SAPS specialised investigation units are being transformed into two new types of units, ie organised crime units and serious and violent crime units. Existing specialised units such as Sanab, vehicle crime, commercial branch and stock theft units are now becoming part of the organised crime units.

Correctional Services will expand its accommodation capacity through the completion of new prisons in Qalakabusha, Empangeni, Kokstad, Devon, Bloemfontein and Louis Trichardt, and new parole boards will soon be replacing the present system. A White Paper on Correctional Services is being developed and is aimed at formulating long-term policies in order to address the major issues facing the department.

Furthermore, and as part of our overall drive to bring communities on board, a single structure between communities and the relevant cluster departments will be established to ensure an integrated approach to community involvement in the integrated justice system. The cluster will launch a major community mobilisation programme in the 124 priority police station areas in co-operation with community structures. In relation to the stabilisation of public order-related flashpoints, the cluster will establish a rapid development stability force this year that will be used in the event of serious incidents.

Violent crimes on farms will also receive special attention. I have already agreed to appoint a committee comprising academics, persons from the legal profession and other experts to investigate the causes of these crimes. Major operations will be launched this year in the areas where most of these crimes are occurring. One of the purposes of these operations will be to recruit farmers and farmworkers into structures such as reservists and other appropriate structures in order to establish a farm cell on each and every farm. The SA Police Service will purchase four additional helicopters to the value of R40 million in the course of this year to improve our reaction time in rural areas.

Finally, the cluster will tackle the problem of corruption head-on. It is, we must admit, a serious scourge, which has for some time now frustrated the efforts of our Police Service, the courts and prisons to deal with criminals as swiftly as possible.

On the issue of our statistics, I am making this point for the umpteenth time: we are not going to release faulty statistics, precisely because we want the public to consume what is reliable, so that the advice they provide to the police and other departments in the security cluster is advice that is based on reliable information. We are not going to allow a situation where we are just going to be pushing merely because we want to satisfy the egos and whims of the Sheilas … [Interjections.]

Mrs S M CAMERER: Madam Speaker, will the hon the Minister take a question?

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, will you take a question?

The MINISTER: Madam Speaker, the hon member should have gone to my press briefing yesterday. Everybody was free to ask questions there. We are not going to be listening to and satisfying the whims of the Sheilas and the Tonys of this world, who are now the leaders of this party here, and who never bothered to ask Vorster and Vlok.

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Vorster’s dead now, and I used to ask Vlok.

The MINISTER: He is leading you from the grave. [Laughter.] That is why you are so ``deurmekaar’’ [confused].

We are never going to allow that kind of situation to develop. Those members never asked the NP government about any statistics and they were content with that situation. Some of them were praise singers of the tyrannical machinery of the SA Defence Force. They were there, serving them, and they never bothered to question them about statistics. [Applause.] Now they want statistics, because they are abusing … [Interjections.]

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: It is your job! [Interjections.]

The SPEAKER: Order! Hon Minister, your time has expired. [Applause.] The DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Madam Speaker, the IFP is approaching this debate with a keen awareness that South Africa has now reached a crucial point at which the elements of our possible future success must be brought together, kept together and aimed in the direction of victory. If we fail to do it now, we will be remembered as those who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

The social and economic picture portrayed to us by the President in his state of the nation address points out that a lot has been done to move the country forward towards the intended goal of generalised and equitable social stability and economic prosperity. However, the President has also pointed out that a lot remains to be done to achieve this goal.

During his address of last year, the President indicated that our country was on course and at work. This year he told us about the progress made and the chartered course we intend to pursue. We share the same objectives and, with a few exceptions, we support the course and direction adopted. They are in fact those that the IFP has advocated for many years and consistently pursued through its political action in government and at grass-roots level. However, we have concerns and reservations about the pace at which we are moving along our chosen path and the techniques and instruments we use to make progress. Our achievements cannot be measured against the levels of the needs we must satisfy, for against such benchmarks we are always bound to fall short. However, our achievements must be evaluated against the full measure of speed, efficiency, integrity and efficacy with which we operate. Measured against this, we must critically accept that our results still fall short and that what we have not done which we could have done, still overshadows our achievements. We need the motivated contribution of all to do more, better and faster.

The President has mentioned the restructuring of state assets in certain critical fields such as telecommunications. This is an example of where we could have done more from the beginning and where what we plan to do still remains insufficient until we have enabled the full liberalisation of this segment of our economy to enable South Africa to acquire and produce services which can keep up with rapidly growing international standards.

The entire issue of privatisation, unfortunately, remains one of the fields in which our policy initiatives in Government action have underperformed. We could identify other areas where similar considerations could apply. For instance the IFP greatly appreciates the emphasis the President has placed on combining the macroeconomic focus of economic growth with the microeconomic approach, which calls for bottom-up development stemming from community work, self-help and self-reliance.

For two decades the IFP has placed emphasis especially on the need to promote the microeconomic level, starting from our communities, by empowering ordinary people to become the engines of bottom-up development. For two decades we have pointed out that social development is also economic development. We further argued that in our context our economy grows every time the basic social conditions of our people improve. In this respect we could also point out how much of what has been done can be done better and increased in quantity by drawing more on the experience and political philosophy of the IFP, which combines the emphasis on development with the belief that more can be achieved by empowering people, decentralising, liberalising and stimulating rather than controlling. However, it is not our intention to place the Government at the coolface of criticism, nor to work against a Government in which we proudly participate. Our commitment is that of working within Government to improve on governance. But in order to do so, we must acknowledge the realities and shortcomings of governance in South Africa and have the confidence and serenity to debate them openly. We need to create a climate in which shortcomings may be pointed out as constructive criticism levelled by all sides with the earnest intention of making a contribution. It should also be received with the greatness and humility of someone who knows that under the dramatic circumstances of our country, no one and nothing is beyond improvement and everyone’s contribution is needed.

The debate on the President’s speech is a debate about the Presidency and the leadership that the Presidency has given to the country in the governance of South Africa. We therefore wish to avoid focusing on policy details in respect of which we may differ or which we may see as open to further contributions from all sides. We would rather place emphasis on the tone and overall policy profile of the President’s state of the nation address. In this respect we must express our full satisfaction on how the President has introduced this debate and the tone and policy profile with which he seems to be approaching the arduous task of governing the country this year. It is an approach which enables us to confront the many crises with which our country is seized.

The harsh reality is that there are many crises which need to be turned into challenges and then into opportunities. We need a collegial and inspired leadership which can bring about the difficult alchemy of transforming crises into opportunities. The IFP wishes to be one of the catalysts of this alchemy, working together with Government to produce lateral thinking and innovative solutions to see how we can turn around even what seems to be an insoluble crisis.

To us the most important part of the President’s speech is that which infuses the confidence that we can change any crisis which the country is now confronting if we change our attitudes. Some of us are our own worst enemies when we fall prey to unjustified pessimism and a cannot-do attitude. To us the most important portion of the President’s address is that which suggests a take-charge and can-do attitude, which can indeed turn around crises into opportunities and break the vicious cycle of impotence and hopelessness in our communities up to the highest levels of government.

The crisis which is causing us most concern is the crisis of delivery which was highlighted by the results of the local government elections, in which large segments of those who were entitled to vote opted not to vote - a mere six years after the enthusiasm and glory of a liberation election. This is a sign of discontent we dare not ignore. It spells out a problem within the governance of South Africa which must be acknowledged.

We believe that the President’s speech is the key to addressing these crises, as it places emphasis on turning discontent into initiatives at community level, in which people can bring about change and progress through their own efforts and initiatives. The IFP is eager to make this contribution and become a catalyst to bring to the fore anyone else who can help turn crises into opportunities.

The tone of the President’s speech suggests that this is the time to build bridges so that we can begin to trust anyone who is willing to help. If we recognise that we are in a crisis, as the country still is, we cannot reject contributions just because they do not come from within our own inner circles. On the other hand, if someone comes to help put out a fire, he should carry water like everyone else, rather than nit-pick over the water which may be spilled by those who rush to the rescue.

We should not polarise the solution of the crisis confronting the country into an artificial division between Government and opposition, between black and white, between rich and poor or urban and rural. We will need many bridges across these many divides. We have our identity, our entrenched policies and political philosophies and, without the need to change them, we need to use them in building bridges and become a bridge ourselves whenever necessary. Bridges must be built from both banks.

It is necessary to transform negativism, pessimism and pure unproductive criticism into constructive contributions, proposals and then to work with Government for governance, for the benefit of the community as a whole rather than merely against Government for short-term party political gain. [Applause.]

Ms N N MAPISA-NQAKULA: Madam Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President and hon members, just over 45 years ago the ANC placed on the national agenda in South Africa a political programme that was designed to transform the country into a democratic dispensation of equal opportunity and responsibility, of nonracism and nonsexism, and of freedom, peace and justice.

The programme, spelt out in the historic Freedom Charter, was immediately attacked by those who were opposed to change as a communist plot to subvert the authority of the apartheid regime. Even those who claimed to be liberal rejected the charter which political scholars depicted, and continue to do so even now, as one of the best foundations for a better future for this country’s citizens, their children and their grandchildren. In fact, reference to the document became a treasonable offence.

History will not be kind to those South Africans across the colour divide who refused to be party to the congress of the people in 1955, despite invitations from the ANC to formulate a policy that would have created the necessary conditions for a better life for all our people. Had we all seized the opportunity as a people we would have avoided the subsequent years of strife and tribulation.

I know that there are some fellow human beings who do not like it when we recall this history, but we need to recall our past in order to understand our present and secure our future. The painful memories of the past will not become our nightmare. Instead, they will become our lodestar to a better life for all, and will prevent a relapse into that terrible past, if we continue to consolidate our democracy. I would like to tell Mr Van Schalkwyk that when all is said and done, the democracy that we are enjoying at this time was defined in the Freedom Charter.

Consolidating our democracy means the fulfilment of our democratic goals. It means we must accelerate our transformation programme. The ANC’s democratisation programme is anchored around the establishment of a strong, efficient developmental state which will use the resources at its command to meet the needs of all the people, especially the poor. We move closer to the completion of the building of the developmental state by strengthening local government, as Comrade President asked us to do when he opened this session of Parliament last Friday. Umkhomba-ndlela oqulathwe kuSomqulu weNkululeko othi `` abantu baya kulawula’’ uya kuzalisekiswa xa amaqumrhu asekuhlaleni (ward committees) emiselwe. Ngawona aza kwenza uqhakgamshelwano nonxulumano phakathi koluntu, ekuhlaleni kwakunye nooceba (councillors). Ke, nawo amalungu ePalamente anoxanduva lokuba yinxalenye yokwakha nokuqinisa la maqumrhu. (Translation of Xhosa paragraph follows.)

[The meaning of the clause in the Freedom Charter that says: ``The people shall govern’’, will be realised when ward committees have been established. These ward committees will provide for good communication between communities and councillors. Members of Parliament have a responsibility to be part of them so as to strengthen them.]

Our people will not just be the end users and consumers of the services that local government structures will deliver. They will be part of the decision-making processes, and, in keeping with the policy of the ANC, will be at the centre of the task of building our developmental state. They will be organised for this task wherever they might be - at their workplaces, sports organisations, churches, schools and so on - so that as a united people, who are united in action for change, as Comrade President said, they set forth to defeat hunger, homelessness, and all the diseases that are the direct result of ignorance.

We have covered a lot of ground, from the days of our negotiations at the World Trade Centre, in building our young democracy. It is a mark of our collective belief in our common destiny that we have moved with such speed in transforming the lives of our people and the face of our country. Our very first act of transformation was to abolish apartheid and give freedom to all our people. We said in the words of the Freedom Charter:

South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.

It was through the will of the people that we articulated the interim Constitution and the electoral law that gave us the first-ever democratic election in our country in 1994. It was the will of the people that took us to the finalisation of our Constitution which political scholars have described as one of the most progressive in the world.

A number of developments have taken place over the past decade. Admittedly, a lot more needs to happen before we can say we have satisfied all the requirements of our democratic transformation. Indeed, there are people who still suffer from want, poverty, homelessness, and preventable diseases. There are many, especially within the African community, who are illiterate. But some who were landless yesterday have land today. Some of those who relied on wood and cow dung for energy have electricity now. Some of those who have shared the water in our rivers and streams with animals have clean drinking water. It is, obviously, not enough. More must be done, as Comrade President told us on Friday, and more will be done this year to bring more services to our people, especially those who live in the countryside, where basic facilities were a rare commodity in the past. The provision of the new service will result, in many instances, in the creation of jobs for the jobless.

Isimemelelo asenze ngoLwesihlanu uMongameli sinika ingqiniseko yokuvulwa kwamathuba emisebenzi kwabo bangekho ngqeshweni. [The provision of the new service that the hon President talked about on Friday, gives the assurance that there will be the creation of jobs for the jobless.] Our World Trade Centre peace talks will go into the annals of our history as the time when we came to our senses and pulled back our people from the abyss of self-destruction. The international experience is by and large different from what happened in our country. Transitions elsewhere became an orgy of blood-letting of serious proportions. We should never forget that it was in the main the representatives of the struggling masses of our people who were prepared to make concessions to take forward the negotiation process.

We knew that there would be side effects. We knew that we would create a bloated Public Service as a consequence of the sunset clauses. The leadership knew that some of the agreements would not be popular with the masses. But, all the weaknesses of the negotiated settlement pale into insignificance when compared to the bloodshed that would have been our lot had we not done what we did.

We need to build on this experience and establish a firm programme of nation-building that will be pervaded by an abiding sense of oneness. There are many people of goodwill out there who will participate unreservedly in such a project. Those are people who believe in our country and who want to be part of the building blocks of a new country and a new nation. They are proud to be called agents of change.

Among these are white farmers who go out of their way to help develop black farmers in their neighbourhood. They are white teachers who organise classes for black children and their parents to defeat illiteracy. They are white business people who help their black fellow human beings to enter the economic mainstream as equal participants in the transformation of that sector. In doing so, they are contributing towards the demolition of the economic walls that kept this country’s wealth in the hands of the few.

Unfortunately, these stories do not hit the headlines regularly. They are deliberately ignored. Fortunately, those who render the services do so out of conviction and a deep sense of commitment and do so while not seeking publicity for themselves. Their commendable advances contribute to the ideal of affirmative action. The ANC has always recognised that affirmative action does not mean that the principles of diversity and capacity building should not be used to promote and advance the interests of our people. Our democracy is based on equal citizenship, equal opportunity, equal protection and equal responsibility. However, the process of raising our people to the same level is very difficult. In the circumstances, affirmative action is a necessary instrument to address inequality.

The challenges that we face are formidable. Those who want us to fail will accelerate their programme of destabilisation but the forces for change are strong under the strong and respected leadership of our President. They will complete the work of transforming our country where selfless service to the people will be the norm. We will meet the challenges to educate and train our people for development. We will raise the country’s standard of living and we will provide a better life for all.

This is what the President has committed himself to and the whole world recognises the potential that South Africa has under his leadership. Our peace-loving people - remembering the stipulation in the Freedom Charter that our country will never be prosperous until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities; and that only a democratic state, based on the will of the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex and belief - will unite in action for change as requested by Comrade President. [Applause.]

Mr M C J VAN SCHALKWYK: Madam Speaker, all of us would like South Africa to succeed. All of us here would like to ensure that when it is our children’s turn to take over the reins of power in this country, they will inherit a successful country and a proud nation based on optimism.

The desire to succeed in our country cuts across all the divisions. We must keep that flame alight. Sometimes that flame is dimmed but the potential is there to reignite it and channel the desire for excellence. Similarly, there is also a deep-seated patriotism that needs to be nurtured.

If we talk about stumbling blocks that we must still overcome, fault lines in our nation that we must address, this must always be done against the background of the successes that we have had up to now. Special efforts are needed in our country, with its history and the make-up of our nation. We must avoid a situation in this country, where the people of the country unite and work together while the leaders are still squabbling and creating artificial divisions. If we look at how apartheid came into being, it was a process which was laid, brick by brick, over many decades. The foundation for it was laid in earlier centuries. Then another layer was added and another law was passed and, eventually, we were left with this whole edifice. One looks back and asks oneself: How did we get here?

This is comparable to what we find today and what many people experience with regard to racial polarisation. Let me tell you how we experienced the debate on race and the two nations concept. It started out with incidents like the so-called campfire song, the hon member Peter Mokaba’s kill the boer, kill the farmer''. That was followed by remarks such as those by the hon member Mluleki George in 1998, the introduction of racial quota laws in almost all spheres of life and, eventually, we are confronted with the formal concept ofWe are two nations. One black and one white.’’ [Interjections.]

One asks oneself: How did we get here? Because we were not supposed to end up here. How did we end up in a situation, once again, where some people feel that there are first-class citizens and there are second-class citizens, with race being reintroduced as the determinant of one’s status in the nation?

In the hon the President’s speech on Friday, he said:

We share a common destiny from which none of us can escape because, together, we are human, we are South African, we are African.

If this means that the hon the President has now abandoned the two-nations concept, then it means …

The MINISTER IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT: no!

Mr M C J VAN SCHALKWYK: Mr Pahad says no. Then it means that all the ingredients are there to restart the process of reconciliation. Maybe Mr Pahad should stop speaking for the President. It will only do good in this country. [Interjections.]

The cement that binds the wall that some people wanted to erect between the two artificially defined nations is still wet. The hon the President will find many hands on this side of the House willing to assist in tearing down that wall and willing to use all our energy in building one South African nation.

We are encouraged by the hon the President’s undertakings to play his role as President, to share a common destiny. I have to remind the hon the President that on 10 June 1997, he proposed the concept of a national agenda and a national consensus on certain national issues. The hon the President said, and I quote (Hansard 1997, col 3645):

… we as a people must travel together as the new Voortrekkers.

Regrettably, not much came of that. On 10 November 1998, in the NCOP, the hon the President talked about a common nationhood that we share in this country, but two years later, the concept of two separate nations was introduced. So, if this time around the hon the President truly commits himself as we do, to share a common destiny from which none of us can escape because together we are human, we are South African and we are African, then there must be a new sense of urgency and of action.

If it had not been for the vicious attack in the latest edition of the ANC’s newly launched publication, the ANC Today. I would not have referred, today, to my visits to the Pietermaritzburg station, the Cradock Four Cenotaph and Chief Albert Luthuli’s hometown. After the initial welcome of the visits by a national ANC spokesperson, the vindictive and venomous attack certainly requires a response. The essence is that all leaders at all levels, from all political persuasions, have a duty in this country to contribute towards reconciliation if they are true patriots.

For myself, I would like to say that unfounded criticism will certainly not deter me. Well-intentioned criticism I welcome. The problem with the kind of attack launched by the ANC yesterday in that publication is that the message to many South Africans out there who want to reach out to their fellow South Africans is ``You are damned if you do and damned if you do not’’. [Interjections.]

People are criticised in this country for not doing enough for reconciliation, but when they do, the ANC’s propaganda machine rolls into action in an attempt to discredit everything that is not according to an ANC script. ‘n Ruimheid van gees [A generosity of spirit], which people always thought was the hallmark of the ANC when it comes to the issue of reconciliation, has been replaced by a vindictiveness and narrowmindedness from some quarters.

People are free and should be free to join whichever party they support and identify with. In that regard, I have been struck by the bitter criticism by some of the white ANC members and supporters in recent news reports. I would specifically like to exclude people like Mr Alec Erwin, Mr Kasrils, Mr Momberg and others.

However, one cannot escape the impression that some members of the ANC have appointed themselves as gatekeepers and high priests, attempting to monopolise the moral authority to decide whose reconciliation is genuine and whose is not. These self-appointed gatekeepers are more of a hindrance than a help to the process of reconciliation.

What these self-appointed gatekeepers must understand is that success in the new South Africa will only be achieved if all of us, from different backgrounds and different political histories, work together to make South Africa a success. South Africa cannot succeed if only those who were part of the struggle of one political party are allowed through the gates.

We want Government to rule with all races, for all races and not against any race. We want to belong to one nation, and not to two. And Government, therefore, must be for all the people. Government must not ever be - or become - a narrow partisan activity. Mr S’bu Ndebele, leader of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, said in December:

To all Africans, coloureds and Indians who voted for the DA, be warned there is going to be consequences for not voting for the ANC. When it comes to service delivery we will start with the people who voted for us, the ANC, and you will be last.

[Interjections.] He, too, remains high in the saddle, securely in place and unreprimanded by his party or his leader. Yet this is a monstrous subversion of democracy. This is a fundamental breach of our contract. This is a denial of the achievement which has made us all proudly democratic South Africans.

The ability to hold the Government accountable and the ability to criticise it, are two vital building blocks of a healthy democracy. Unfortunately, criticism of this Government is often seen as unpatriotic, disloyal and racist. We just have to look at the latest tolerance of the hon Ministers Tshwete and Maduna directed against the Portuguese community. Earlier the Chief Whip of the ANC said it was a priority for the ANC to fight xenophobia. And now?

Kaizer Nyatsumba recently referred in an article to what he called -

… a crisis of confidence, where more and more people across the colour line increasingly take whatever the Government says with much more than a pinch of salt.

These are strong words. Mr Nyatsumba makes a very telling point by observing that -

… the vast majority of those criticising the President and the Government love their country deeply, are fully committed to it, and they do so out of exasperation and in the hope that their criticism would be taken seriously and that it would make a difference.

Certainly, the hon the President will agree that these are patriotic sentiments.

Let us also talk about credibility. In his speech, the President talked about intensifying the fight against corruption, but in practice we are confronted with the Heath unit saga and the Feinstein incident. The question to the President is: Where is the credibility?

A second example is contained in the President’s speech on Friday in which he said:

During the past year, the economy also continued to improve in an impressive manner.

To substantiate this, the President quoted from the December 2000 Quarterly Bulletin of the SA Reserve Bank, but he omitted the important but more sobering aspects contained in the same bulletin, for instance -

… the formal labour market recorded a further decline in employment numbers in the first half of 2000.

And:

… foreign investment in real sector job creating projects remained low.

I wish to ask the President: Where is the credibility?

Thirdly, we were promised a renewed fight against crime but what we got was a veil of secrecy over the crime statistics. Where is the credibility?

Fourthly, our Constitution promises accountability of Government to the elected representatives of the people, namely this Parliament. But more and more we see the steady and calculated erosion of parliamentary accountability. Where is the credibility?

When we say: Look at the whole picture, both the good and the bad, it is not talking down the country as the President said in his interview on Sunday. It is rather a case of levelling with the country. Mevrou die Speaker, wat betref lewering, begin meer en meer Suid-Afrikaners vra: Watter party aan bewind, kan sy beloftes uitvoer en die dienste lewer wat die mense graag wil hê? Dit is goed vir Suid-Afrika dat daar plaaslike en provinsiale regerings is wat in die hande is van meer as een party, sodat mense in die toekoms partye se rekords van toe hulle aan bewind was, met mekaar kan vergelyk.

In die Wes-Kaap waar ons die regering vorm, was die matriekslaagsyfer 80%. Die tweede plek word beklee deur ‘n provinsie met 13% minder as dit, terwyl die nasionale gemiddeld staan op 58%. Die ekonomiese groei in die Wes-Kaap is ver hoër as die nasionale gemiddeld. Die Wes-Kaap het die laagste werkloosheidsyfer in Suid-Afrika en dit het die grondslag gelê vir die feit dat die Wes-Kaap nou vir twee jaar agtereenvolgens die PMR-toekenning gekry het vir die besbestuurde provinsie.

Die patrone van verlede jaar se plaaslike regeringsverkiesing het begin uitwys dat goeie regeringsbestuur ou lojaliteite begin inhaal wanneer mense hul kruisie trek. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Madam Speaker, with regard to delivery, more and more South Africans are beginning to ask: Which party in power can execute its promises and deliver the services that people would like to have? It is good for South Africa that there are local and provincial governments in the hands of more than one party, so that people will in future be able to compare the records of parties when they were in power.

In the Western Cape, where we form the Government, the matric pass rate was 80%. The second place is filled by a province with 13% less than that, whilst the national average is 58%. The economic growth in the Western Cape is far higher than the national average. The Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, and this is the foundation for the fact that the Western Cape has now, for two consecutive years, received the PMR Award for the best managed province.

The patterns of last year’s local government election have begun to indicate that good governance is starting to overtake old loyalties when people cast their vote.]

In conclusion, the DA said last week that the relationship between itself and the Government should be one of constructive co-operation. For constructive co-operation to work to the advantage of all the people, the governing party must show a willingness to engage the opposition. It is not helpful if the Government, despite its large majority, feels so insecure that it is oversensitive to criticism and suggestions.

Too many people in the ANC cannot distinguish between so-called ``counter- revolutionary behaviour’’ and true patriotism. The DA is a party for all people. It is a party born out of true patriotism. [Interjections.] The time has arrived to act on Mr Mandela’s advice that true patriots in all parties - the good men and women - must stand up to make this country a success. [Applause.]

Mr J H MOMBERG: Madam Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President, I did not intend to react to the hon Mr Van Schalkwyk’s visit to Cradock and KwaZulu- Natal. May I say to Mr Van Schalkwyk that there is no anti-feeling because he has visited these areas. The feeling, however, is that he went there to gain cheap political points. [Interjections.]

If he had gone to those areas on his own and not with an entourage and a small train, he would have achieved much more. In 1992 I went to Cradock at the invitation of Comrade Goniwe. I sat with the widows of the Cradock Four. In 1985 I was one of the people who perpetrated crimes against those people. I went to those widows and said to them that we were sorry for what we did to their husbands. I did not take reporters and photographers along with me. I think it should be welcomed that the hon Van Schalkwyk went to Cradock and KwaZulu-Natal. However, the issue is that he went there to gain cheap political points. [Applause.]

I want to thank the hon the President for the dignified way in which he has led our country over the past years, despite the most vicious campaign ever conducted against a leader of this country. I suppose it says a lot for our democracy that it tolerates such vilification. Not even at the height of the Botha repressive years did political parties and leaders ever stoop as low as we have experienced over the past year.

I believe that a major contributing factor to this campaign of vilification is the unexpressed opinion, mostly of whites, that, because the President is black, he is not supposed to be a good president. Therefore, it is in order for every Tom, Dick and Harry to vilify, misinterpret and misquote him. [Interjections.] They were part of those people who left an almost bankrupt Third World South Africa to the ANC in 1994. Now they seem to be angry at the President for not waving a magic wand to turn us into a First World country.

I want to deal today with the debate concerning the declaration of commitment by white South Africans which was initiated by Carl Niehaus and Mary Burton on 16 December 2000. It is crucial that we all understand exactly what the declaration entails. It seems as if many people misunderstand this declaration on purpose in order for them not to sign it.

The declaration makes no reference to an apology and does not infer that anybody is guilty of a criminal deed. It merely states that whites acknowledge that apartheid caused massive social, economic, cultural and psychological damage to black South Africans. It commits whites to redressing these wrongs. That is all it is.

Die verklaring vra dat blankes moet erken dat die blanke gemeenskap as geheel verantwoordelik was vir die instelling en instandhouding van apartheid. Geen blanke kan tog weier om sodanige erkentenis te maak nie. Ons weet mos dat apartheid uitbuitend en onderdrukkend van aard was, dat blankes die stelsel geskep en in stand gehou het …

‘n AGB LID: Jy het hom geskep.

Mnr J H MOMBERG: … dat blankes deur die stelsel bevoordeel is en swartes daardeur benadeel is, dat ‘n groot deel van die swartes steeds onder die nadele van apartheid gebuk gaan en dat blanke bevoordeeldes steeds die voordele daarvan geniet.

Enige blanke wat eerlik en opreg gewillig is om die waarheid oor ons apartheidsverlede vierkantig in die oë te kyk, het geen ander keuse as om met hierdie verklaring saam te stem nie. Mense wat nie bereid is om hierdie opsigtelike waarhede rondom apartheid te erken nie, is hardvogtig, selfsugtig en kortsigtig.

Die onreg wat oor 300 jaar teenoor swartmense gepleeg is deur die stelsels van kolonialisme en apartheid is waarskynlik so groot dat dit nie deur ons geslag volledig reggestel kan word nie. Soveel te meer is dit ons plig om te erken dat ‘n onreg gepleeg is en dat ons ons vir die onmiddellike regstelling daarvan sal beywer. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The declaration asks that whites acknowledge that the white community as a whole was responsible for the creation and maintenance of apartheid. Surely no white person could refuse to make such an admission. Surely we know that apartheid was exploitative and repressive, that whites created and maintained the system …

An HON MEMBER: You created it.

Mr J H MOMBERG: … that whites benefited from the system and that blacks were prejudiced by it, that a large number of blacks are still suffering the disadvantages of apartheid and that privileged whites are still enjoying its advantages.

Any white who is honestly and sincerely willing to face up squarely to the truth about our apartheid past has no choice but to agree with this declaration. People who are not prepared to acknowledge these conspicuous truths concerning apartheid are callous, selfish and shortsighted.

The injustice that black people have been done over 300 years by the systems of colonialism and apartheid is apparently so huge that it cannot be fully rectified by our generation. It is all the more our duty to admit that an injustice was committed and that we will strive for its immediate rectification.]

It is funny: I thought that now that the hon Leader of the Opposition has got married, he would at least look friendly, but he is still unfriendly. [Interjections.] [Laughter.]

Die vraag ontstaan of hierdie regstelling vrywillig moet wees of deur staatsoptrede behoort te geskied. ‘n Magdom apartheidswette is van 1910 tot 1970 deur die blanke parlement in die Wetboek geplaas. Aangesien die uitbuiting dus statutêr was, behoort die billike regstelling daarvan ook statutêr te wees. Dit is my oortuiging dat die Parlement volle verantwoordelikheid vir restitusie sal moet aanvaar.

Dit tref my dat jongmense dikwels geneig is om te sê: ``Maar ons het geen aandeel aan apartheid gehad nie.’’ Niemand verkwalik hulle daarvoor nie, maar dit is dieselfde jongmense wat gretiglik die voordele wat apartheid aan hul ouers en grootouers gebied het, aanvaar as deel van hul eiendom. Hulle moet ‘n slag gaan stilstaan en besef daardie voordele is nie so verdiend soos hulle graag wil hê dit moet wees nie. Die voordele vanweë kolonialisme en apartheid oor ‘n tydperk van 300 jaar in wit hande, is nie so verdiend soos wat baie blankes graag wil glo nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The question arises whether this rectification should be voluntary or whether it should take place through state action. A myriad of apartheid laws were placed on the Statute Book by the white parliament between 1910 and 1970. Since the exploitation was therefore statutory its fair rectification should also be statutory. It is my conviction that Parliament should accept full responsibility for restitution.

It strikes me that young people often tend to say: ``But we had no part in apartheid.’’ No one blames them for this, but these are the same young people who eagerly accept the benefits that apartheid brought their parents and grandparents as part of their property. They should stop for a moment and realise that those benefits are not as deserved as they would like them to be. The benefits arising from colonialism and apartheid over a period of 300 years which are in white hands are not as deserved as many whites would like to believe.]

It is therefore with a feeling of despair that I witnessed the reaction of some leaders of the DA to this declaration. The hon the Chief Whip of the DP, Mr Douglas Gibson, earned himself the title: ``Mampara of the Week’’, for his astonishing statement:

I am not going to say I am sorry that I am white, I am not responsible for apartheid, and I do not think I benefited from apartheid.

What utter rubbish! [Interjections.] [Applause.] I am not even going to talk about the pathetic response of the hon Dene Smuts. [Interjections.] A lot was said about the visits of the hon Marthinus van Schalkwyk. I believe that if the hon Marthinus van Schalkwyk had signed that declaration, he would have made a far greater impact than by going to those places. [Interjections.]

In conclusion, may I say that only when whites accept the fact that they were beneficiaries of apartheid, and that blacks were the victims, will we be able to start building a true nation. As Carl Niehaus once said:

An unalienable characteristic of apartheid was self-promotion and pride. However, in the new South Africa it is demanded of us whites to learn what it means to be modest, to integrate in our very existence a real sense of humility. One must be prepared to confess one’s guilt without preconditions, and be prepared to correct one’s mistakes.

On behalf of those whites who are prepared to admit to their share of the evils of apartheid, I say to you: Continue on your road to building one nation, we will be right behind you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]

Mr B H HOLOMISA: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and hon members, we in the UDM recognise the President’s speech as a restatement of the positive aspects of Government policy which seek to build a united nation, alleviate poverty, build a domestic skills capacity, stimulate economic growth, etc. We are in full agreement with most of what the President had to say in this regard. We also commend the President for his realistic approach in terms of which he set achievable goals.

We recognise those achievements which the Government believes represent their commitment to deliver on their past promises. [Interjections.] However, the President will have a difficult task convincing the multitudes of the unemployed and disillusioned school-leavers who are cynically beginning to believe that our education system is delivering a generation of unemployable misfits, that there have been improvements in the economic situation. It is also not reassuring to our poor millions that there have been real increases in incomes, as the President has claimed. If there have been any, it would be necessary to quantify them and show in what sections of the population these gains have been experienced.

We have also sensed a recognition, by the President, that all is not well with the Gear policy. For the first time he has made reference to microeconomic strategies. It is hoped this train of thought will be developed further, in order to identify practical measures to deal with unemployment and job creation on the ground.

The President touched on the crime crisis, and was not convincing in defending the Minister of Safety and Security’s gagging of the publication of crime statistics. He also did not cover any ground-breaking proposals on how crime should be reined in.

Any attempt to downplay crime levels in the country would be grossly misleading the South African public. Political expediency must not be allowed to deny the gravity of the crime situation, neither should wishful thinking impair our judgment and militate against Government resolve to take responsible decisions and adopt effective measures to deal with criminals decisively, as well as create an environment conducive to security and safety. Wishful platitudes depicting decreasing crime levels are hurtful to the kith and kin of crime victims who have been mugged and murdered in their driveways, gunned down or raped in their homes as well as the hundreds of victims of antiwitchcraft purges and ethnic cleansing in the rural communities.

We welcome the current vibrant public debate on arms procurement and can state categorically that democracy has been a winner in this process, because our country and the world witnessed a free expression of ideas by different political parties. It is no exaggeration that our democracy was effectively tested. Government must now ensure that this debate is brought to a conclusion so that its integrity and credibility does not continue to be questioned as is currently the case.

Government should not be seen or perceived to be protecting and defending perpetrators of corruption. The public is justified in believing that the executive is doing just that because it has been instrumental in generating the current tension between itself and the legislature over the arms procurement probe. It is cause for concern when the President and his executive demonstrate so much anger and hostility at the prospect of the involvement of the Heath Special Investigative Unit in the probe, as originally recommended by Parliament.

At this juncture the UDM would like to call for the following cautionary measures in the hope that they will assist the process. We call for honesty and sincerity from members of this House by adhering to decisions once they have been taken. It is especially important for the role of our Parliament in its oversight responsibility that it is not forced to play a subversive role against its own members. We have individually and collectively, from the Speaker of the House to a member of the smallest party, a moral and legal responsibility to protect our democracy and all the independent institutions against any kind of intrusion from the executive. We must govern by legislation, not by regulation.

The current debate on arms procurement, the participation in it by members of the Cabinet, the Presidency and political parties, public institutions and the Speaker of the House, have focused attention on the issue of the separation of powers and the supremacy of our Constitution more than ever before in our new democracy, and we dare not falter. It is unfortunate that in this debate the role of some participants is perceived to be dubious and ambiguous, to say the least.

The vibrancy exhibited by the media and individuals in this debate clearly indicates that our democracy is at its best. But it is unfortunate that the issues causing the exciting vibrancy have been cleverly clowded so that the debate appears to be about the hon Mrs De Lille, her alleged attack on our Government and the resulting demonisation of this member of Parliament by the all-powerful ruling party that appears too nervous to let the course of the investigation go uninterrupted. [Interjections.]

The outcome is that the public is misled into thinking that the debate is about the hon Mrs De Lille, Judge Heath and the President, when in reality it is about the Auditor-General’s report which was tabled last year. Therefore, for the executive to publicly castigate and challenge the authority of the Auditor-General without engaging his office is tantamount to rejecting the authority of our very Constitution.

It was this report that led Scopa to recommend to this House that an investigation mechanism be created to look into the awarding of tenders in the procurement processes and whether any conflict of interest existed. Inevitably, the existence of any conflict of interest would have to indicate whether the beneficiaries thereof were certain members of the executive, friends or relatives of the executive, certain military personnel, the ruling party itself and individuals in the ruling party.

Last year all parties in this House accepted the brief and the terms of reference on the investigation. However, if one reads the letter from the Presidency emanating from the Deputy President and utterances by some Cabinet Ministers, it becomes clear that they are questioning the parliamentary consensus on the desirability of the investigation.

This situation has been exacerbated by the actions of the Speaker of this House when she joined the bashing of Scopa by the executive without giving the chairperson of that committee a hearing. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, the President himself has cast aspersions on those who have shown a passionate interest in this investigation as if they were not interested South Africans, but hostile foreigners with a subversive agenda against our very national interests.

The behaviour of the executive in the arms procurement saga instructs us to be vigilant and cautious of their willingness to respect and uphold our constitutional bodies that are put in place to protect and entrench democracy in our society. For example, despite the continuous revelations by the media that intricate networks of friends, relatives and business partners, closely linked to some of the executive members, have ties to the arms industry, the executive has not challenged these allegations. The fact that these allegations go unchallenged, even though they contradict the executive’s own statements on arms procurement, is further proof that the credibility of the executive is questionable on this matter.

From our point of view we cannot discount the executive’s role in forcing the ANC to renege on a parliamentary decision to establish four units - including the Heath Special Investigating Unit - to investigate, and instead demand that only three units be established. What the ANC cannot explain is how they obtained the mandate to reject a parliamentary resolution and replace it with a new one that is favourable to them.

A close scrutiny of the players involved in the arms procurement saga indicates that there is a cabal of clever manipulators who are holding our highly respected leaders in the struggle to ransom and are thus able to drive empty companies under the guise of black economic empowerment. It is the same group that has embarrassed this country in the third cellular licence saga.

The important question for us is: In what other transactions is this cabal involved? Could it be the same group that was paid some R100 million by Government to secure an arms deal between South Africa and Saudi Arabia? Has the same cabal donated millions to any political party in South Africa? How I wish we could widen the terms of reference to also include their involvement in the cellular licence saga, so that the people who seem hellbent on looting the resources of this country could be brought to book.

Some of the people involved in these cabals are friends and relatives of some of the executive members. Since the Auditor-General’s report on arms procurement cites a conflict of interest, the executive, which presided over the proceedings in the allocation of tenders, cannot investigate itself and therefore Parliament must devise a mechanism such as a judicial commission or the four units, as agreed, to undertake a wider, credible investigation of the place and role of some of the executive members in the networks behind the arms procurement deals. The media, without any denial from the ruling party, has come out with names of relatives and close associates of some prominent executive members who are alleged to have benefited in the awarding of arms procurement tenders.

This, in our view and in the minds of many South Africans, amounts to a conflict of interest where these politicians are concerned. It reinforces the suspicion that the executive has something to hide, which explains the scurrilous accusations levelled at the Heath Special Investigating Unit, Scopa and the Auditor-General. The executive, and the President in particular, owe it to the RSA to keep their hands off the probe and allow unfettered investigation to get to the root of the problem. If the executive is aware that some of their relatives and associates are involved in some of the bidding companies, common decency obliges them to recuse themselves from any decision-making process where the granting of tenders in the procurement of arms is concerned.

The executive cannot set conditions for its own investigations, because it is the subject of this investigation and therefore has no moral or constitutional standing to insist on any preconditions. In view of the fact that they have already excluded the Heath Special Investigating Unit, which alone has the power to cancel any tainted contracts, they are under a compelling obligation to review their earlier decision.

Ndimvile naye engxola apha uMphathiswa wezoNxibelelwano. Akakayisombululi indaba le imayela neecellular. Sithi kuye makaphande abaya bantu bakwizixhobo kunye nabaya bakwiCellular, aze akhangele ukuba kuqhubeka ntoni na. (Translation of Xhosa paragraph follows.)

[I heard the hon the Minister of Communications making a noise, too. She still has not resolved the issue of the granting of the licence for the third cellular network. We want her to investigate the arms deal saga as well as those people involved in the granting of this third cellular network licence.]

Die MINISTER VIR DIE STAATSDIENS EN ADMINISTRASIE: Mevrou die Speaker, mnr die President, mnr die Adjunkpresident en lede van hierdie Huis, ons verwelkom die President se alomvattende toespraak aan die Suid-Afrikaanse nasie. Dit is een wat klem lê op aksie; aksie vir verandering, aksie vir die konsolidering van ‘n nie-rassistiese, nie-seksistiese Suid-Afrika. Dit fokus ook op die noodsaaklikheid van aksie vir ontwikkeling op die vasteland van Afrika.

Dit is egter ongelukkig so dat ons vandag weer eens deur toesprake van verskeie lede van die opposisie - en nogal diegene wat as leiers beskou word! - herinner word dat hulle geensins verstaan wat nie-rassisme in ‘n nasie beteken nie. Hulle het klaarblyklik nog steeds nie die vryheidsmanifes van die ANC gelees en definitief nie bestudeer nie. Daarom verstaan hulle nie wat dit beteken nie as ons sê Suid-Afrika behoort aan almal, swart en wit. Hulle sal dus ook nie ten volle verstaan wat dit beteken wanneer ons sê die mense regeer nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Madam Speaker, Mr President, Mr Deputy President and members of this House, we welcome the President’s comprehensive speech to the South African nation. It is a speech which emphasises action; action for change, action for the consolidation of a non-racial, nonsexist South Africa. It also focuses on the necessity for action for development on the African continent.

Unfortunately today we are once again being reminded by speeches of various members of the opposition - and those who are regarded as leaders what is more! - that they have no idea what nonracialism in a nation entails. Obviously they have still not read the Freedom Charter of the ANC, and they have definitely not studied it. That is why they do not know what it means when we say that South Africa belongs to everyone, black and white. They will therefore also not fully understand what it means when we say that the people govern.]

The Public Service is a microcosm of the South African society. It embodies all the potential and strengths of our society. But at the same time it reveals all the weaknesses and challenges that are facing society in general: The challenges of overcoming racial and gender divides in the workplace; the difficulty of balancing the demands for a highly skilled, technological, knowledgeable, adaptable and professional workforce and managerial core versus the socioeconomic responsibility of the largest employer in the country inheriting a public service that was not recruited and maintained in a manner that supports the current demands; the demands of keeping up with global and supranational governments which are rapidly advancing in technological spheres versus our own constraints where in many instances public servants at lower levels are hardly literate, let alone e- compliant.

These are but a few of the dynamics in the Public Service. In my contribution to this debate today, I would like to look at improved service delivery and transformational challenges for the Public Service. These are obviously closely related. In fact they are two sides of a coin. We cannot achieve the scale, extent and nature of service delivery that we seek to achieve in our political and policy programmes without transforming the Public Service. We will not be able to ensure responsiveness to the needs of our nation if our Public Service does not mirror the same diversity.

We will not be able to spread the fruits of our policies to those who were previously excluded by the state if we do not consciously find ways of making our resources go further, working in new organisational forms where our role is one of levering resources, setting up frameworks and becoming a strong player in various service delivery networks.

We will not be able to provide services in an empowering way if we do not manage to shift the mindset of officials from being self-important and all- knowing to that of embracing the spirit and meaning of serving and working in a developmental way, willing to learn and act, and reflecting on the effect of the activities and processes followed on those who are supposed to benefit from them.

In terms of improving service delivery, we adopted an approach that could broadly be captured under the banner of developmental democracy. This is to ensure that we have a developmental state and Government in place. We know the situation was such that we could not just get away with improving existing services and policies. We had to cut to the fundamental value base of society at the time, and our first term of office was largely spent on the task of getting our policies aligned to the value systems of an equitable, nonracial democratic society and we still need to deepen this as we are not quite there yet.

However, we have members such as Mr Leon who advocate a massive cut of the Public Service. What does he mean by this? If he and Van Schalkwyk cannot even get their speeches in synergy and avoid duplication, how on earth do they imagine that they can conceptualise this thing he calls massive cuts'' of the state? Absolute bloodletting! Much like that poster of theirs which stated,Nail and jail them’’ without contextualising it. I believe this is a blatant disregard of the intelligence of the broad electorate. If one lies to them and say it nicely, they might just believe it.

Further, our ideal is to put a nonracial and nonsexist society in place, and the Public Service needs to make this happen. We have spread the net of our services much wider than was previously done. We believe that we have begun and gone some way up the road in putting the necessary building blocks in place that will allow us to achieve notable successes in the medium term and increasing more effective service delivery. I highlighted some of these in the media briefing of the governance cluster yesterday, on behalf of the cluster as a whole. I will merely talk about some of these.

We are aligning strategic planning and budgetary frameworks. A strategic planning framework has been developed that takes due consideration of the sequencing of different decision-making processes. In this way, the political agenda will be the primary driver of Government programmes and the Budget will become an instrument in executing policy rather than a policy statement in its own right.

The multidepartmental and the interdisciplinary review process that we will strengthen midyear when the medium-term expenditure committee sits, has multiple purposes. It will assist in decision-making and prioritisation of public expenditure.

It will simultaneously assist in identifying risks either through programmes and projects beings pursued with insufficient resources allocated to it or look at trends of previously over-stated activity and subsequent underspending. In this regard the review process can create opportunities for departments through peer review processes to assist in a constructive way by putting in place the necessary capability that can support implementation at key moments. A process like this had the added spin-off of serving as an incentive to departments to increase performance since their relative performance will be exposed to their peers.

Integrated planning and budgeting further allows us to make significant strides into making programmes the key vehicles for delivering our policies rather than hoping that various projects that line departments may conceive in isolation, will in the end all add up and allow us to deliver against our goals and objectives.

The people we serve are not interested in dealing with the structural dysjunction in the various agencies of Public Service delivery. To them Government is a largely monolithic institution and hence we need to ensure that we facilitate service delivery in line with those justified expectations.

A better, integrated strategic planning and budgeting framework also permits us to prioritise easier and more clearly and make some clean and hard decisions regarding the allocation of skills resources, and we have seen the effect of these in the President’s speech when the President outlined a clear sequencing of the role out of the integrated rural development strategy and the urban renewal strategy. These frameworks and the support processes and legislation that underpins it will also, in view of the agreements that were made at the recent jobs summit, contribute to our human resources public service being more easily redeployed where it is necessary.

It is very easy to get overwhelmed by the immense need that faces so many of our people on a day to day basis. However, we have learnt that to spread ourselves too thinly results in bewilderment in the administration, loss of focus and commensurate inability to get on with the job. So tighter focusing of our efforts, with a very clear targeting of programmes on those who are most in need whilst maintaining on-going activity, we believe, is the recipe for successful implementation.

The transformational challenges of the Public Service go deeper than only changing the face of the institution. However, achieving a different composition is a necessary prior step to many more far-reaching transformation processes to kick in. As we have said so many times before, the critical issue is to achieve a skills and competency profile that supports the developmental tasks that the Public Service we are striving for should deliver upon. Only if it has that kind of profile can it underpin the developmental state appropriately. It is not about a knee-jerk massive cut that is uninformed.

The targets that have been set in the White Paper on the transformation of the Public Service have been that after five years 50% of managers will be black and 30% of appointments should be filled by women. These targets pertained to the managerial level.

Comrade President correctly reminded us that we have not managed to meet the targets in terms of gender representation. I would like to dwell on this very briefly. When we took office in 1994 only 4% of women in the Public Service were found on levels which we currently capture as senior management - that is to say, directors and above. Of the 4% in the then Public Service the most senior were 10 chief directors.

No women were appointed either as directors-general or as deputy directors- general. The bulk of the 4%, which is 75 to be exact, were at director level. We need to take on the challenge to take this further, as we have committed ourselves to doing, and we will do so under the leadership of Comrade President.

Now, this brings me to the topic that causes much discomfort to some people, as we have heard in this House earlier today. That is the issue of ensuring that we build a nonracial society. Clearly, the Public Service should be nonracial, because we know that if we do not fully transform the Public Service, the centre of what was institutionalised racism, we will not achieve what is required by the developmental state. It is not simply about bringing people together in the workplace. It is not simply about changing the faces. It is about introducing a new culture.

There is still much to be said, but I would like to conclude by saying that it is under the leadership of this President that, as the ANC, we improved on our majority in the general election of 1994. It is, secondly, under the leadership of this President that the ANC further deepened the commitment it made in the Freedom Charter - the commitment to delivering service to all South Africans. It is under the leadership of this President that the Public Service, trade unions and governments came together and acknowledged, for the first time in the history of our country, ``… that they share a common commitment to a broader interest of serving the South African nation.’’

The President’s name, Mvuyelwa, captures what we experience under his leadership. The South African nation is truly happy to have him at its helm. [Applause.]

Mr L M GREEN: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, Ministers and hon members, when we refer to our history and our past as a painful past, it is indeed true. But we must do so without allowing any bitterness to permeate our lives, because bitterness cannot effect true transformation. Yes, when we are reminded of our sad history, we must acknowledge the mistakes of the past; we must take from the past what is good, and when we refer to mistakes made by our previous governments, we must do so not merely to condemn, but mainly to learn how not to repeat those mistakes. We must not develop the tendency or spend too much time continuously highlighting our obvious legacy, but we must, as a nation, spend most of our energies on building a better South Africa for all our people.

The President is correct when he says that we should not be -

… discouraged or overwhelmed by the litany of negative messages about our country …

As patriotic citizens of our country, we should not paint a picture of doom and gloom of the transformation process that is taking place in our nation. We should be realistic without being negative. We should be critical without being destructive.

We in the ACDP are committed to the constructive process of building a better South African society and, of course, we bring to this process a unique dimension. Like the present Government, we also believe that it is imperative that we improve the quality of life of all our people, but especially that of the poorest of the poor, the widows, the orphans and the outcasts of society. We, however, believe that true transformation begins with the renewal of our minds, which then leads to acts of transformation.

We also believe that transformation begins at home. The qualities that we want to see in a new and better South Africa must be promoted by us in our homes. If we want justice, fairness, respect for our elders and parents, and if we want peace and harmony in our nation, we must begin by implementing this in our own families, because the family is the microcosm of the broader South African society.

If we have a breakdown of law and order in our families, if children defy the authority of their parents and elders, if we utter racist and xenophobic remarks at the supper table and if we continually denigrate others at home, then we must not be surprised if our society broadly reflects the same values. If we truly desire transformation, let us begin at home.

Transformation is not the duty of Government only but it should be a process which permeates our whole society. It is for this reason that we, in the ACDP, have emphasised the central role played by family structures. We get this from biblical law and that is why we do not want Government to pass any law that undermines the authority of the family.

Four of the 10 commandments deal directly with the family. These laws command us, firstly, to honour our parents. Secondly, they command us not to commit adultery. Thirdly, they command us not to steal and lastly, not to covet anything that belongs to our neighbours. These are not the laws of Moses which he wrote by himself but they are laws which come directly from God to bless not only the nation of Israel but every nation which obeys God.

I would like to say to the President that if our nation decides today to start obeying these four basic commandments, we will see a remarkable improvement in our society. The family which consists of mother, father and children is not a primitive institution, but God’s plan for humanity.

Regarding the issue of local government elections and the establishment of new municipal councils, we wish to congratulate all those councillors who have been elected to office. We are mindful that the challenges to new councillors will be enormous. Not only will the structures be new, but programmes to improve the quality of life of all our citizens will also be challenging. We are also aware of the fact that due to the lack of resources, many of these programmes remain on the blackboard. Perhaps the time has come for this Government to review the equitable share of the national budget to local government.

On the issue of the fight against poverty and underdevelopment, it is our view that we cannot measure progress alone by counting the amount of houses built or under construction, and the amount of homes receiving electricity and clean water. Of course, these things are all good and they help in the fight against poverty. But they do not transform a family from a family of poverty to one which can sustain itself. Thus the answer lies not just in the provision of these goods and services, but in developing a culture of self-sustainability. Perhaps this is where we as a nation and not just Government should put all our efforts. Let the people be empowered with the skills to build their own homes and create their own employment when they cannot find jobs.

Crime must be exposed and rooted out where it is prevalent in the areas where they stay. We welcome the importance that the President has placed on economic growth and job creation. The President struck a positive role when he emphasised - … Government’s resolve to rein in Government spending as part of a broader strategy … conducive to enhanced economic growth …

Two weeks before the opening of Parliament we attended workshops on macroeconomic policy and performance budgeting. We want to encourage Government to change its method of reporting on the Budget and concentrate on outcomes and performance. We therefore commend Government on signing performance contracts with directors-general of various departments.

In conclusion, I would like to say to the President that his opening speech struck a positive note with national and international business. There are, however, certain critical issues to which my colleague, Adv Madasa, will respond when he takes this podium. [Applause.]

Mr K M N GIGABA: Somlomo, siyabonga kuMzizi ngomhlahlandlela asiphe wona kuleli sonto elidlule. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Mr Mzizi for the guidelines that he has given us.]

The youth of our country are the happier for all the programmes we announced to ensure their participation in the development of this country. Indeed, the President was correct to argue that gradually, step by step, our country proceeds further away from its painful past. For that journey to succeed, our people are dared to act as masters of their own destiny, to act in unity and unite in action for change.

Having taken it upon themselves to dismantle apartheid, our people must commit further sacrifices to build the future that they want. In this effort, our youth must act like a generation at work to build a better life. So, because youth interests are inseparable from those of their people as a whole, we must always act in a manner consistent with this understanding of what our people see as their interests.

Accordingly, we must know that our patience for arts, culture, sports, recreation, education and jobs is all intricately linked with the achievement of the goal of a better life. Conscious of this, I am hopeful that our youth will rise to the call and act for their own development, as well as that of our nation as a whole. Some of the problems observed from our youth are derived from the continuing challenge of youth underdevelopment as well as the achievement of the democratic victory which has fostered an attitude of mind among some that they must sit and wait impatiently for their needs and aspirations to be addressed by Government and society, without any contribution on their part.

Again, we must reiterate the statement that youth interests are inseparable from those of their people as a whole. At the same time, it is urgent that this country should develop a deeper understanding of youth as a sector. Often, in our society, we apply shallow and conservative methods to understand the youth and, hence, fail dismally to make sense of them and mobilise them.

Nonetheless, we still have a challenge to mobilise the youth to be active in the transformation process. Such a challenge calls for the active participation of all to instil in our youth a greater sense of social discipline, social responsibility, national service and civic duties. Therefore, we must not delay in introducing the national youth service programme, to mobilise and engage youth in literacy, adult basic education and training, Aids and other campaigns.

Further, there must be no delays in introducing civic education as part of the mandatory school curriculum. Ways must be found to strengthen and provide capacity to youth organisations, to enable them to fulfil their task of inculcating the youth with the culture of national service and civic consciousness. The youth must come to know that it took inordinate sacrifice to liberate this country from the evil of apartheid.

Of course, so too must they know that any action on their part, contrary to what we have outlined above, will result in the prostitution of the heroic legacy of our liberation struggle by some that wish to demean it and its icons.

Of course, Marx was correct in saying:

… whilst in everyday life, every shopkeeper is well able to distinguish between what somebody professes to be and what he really is.

Our historians have not yet won this trivial insight. They take every windbag at its word and believe that everything it says or imagines about itself is true. Sadly, to this day, we still have not mastered this trivial insight with regard to political parties and persons. Thus we are rendered gullible to all manner of manipulation.

In the theatre of social action it is no fiction that each party or person has particular concrete material interest that they represent through their policies and programmes. Accordingly, we have an obligation to look beyond what they say or imagine about themselves.

To be a party for all the people, any organisation must - and in the context of South Africa - be a party for nonracialism, nonsexism, unity, democracy and a better life for all. And it will not be such a party simply because it itself says so, but because its policies, principles and programmes are so and the South African people see it as such.

The fact is that our people do not think that the DA is racist simply in spite, or because it calls itself so. They do so in spite of it disclaiming to be racist. Of course, its leadership derives its careers, titles and politics from the persistence of racism. At its inception, it defined its political niche as defending white interests.

Accordingly, it is a party deeply steeped in the defence and resuscitation of the past. Necessarily, and having thus defined its political niche, it must act in the principled, opportunistic, divisive and offensive manner that has become so characteristic of this new hybrid. It is this sheer and brazen opportunism that has no regard for decency that led the hon Mr Martinus Van Schalkwyk to visit the sites he visited, obviously, out of opportunism dressed up as reconciliation.

Ngokwesiko lama-Afrika, amaliba abakithi abangasekho ayindawo ehloniphekileyo engasetshenziselwa nje inzuzo yeze yezombusazwe. Akufanele ukuthi amaliba amadlozi esizwe enziwe umdlalo.

Isenzo sikamhlonishwa, uMnu Van Schalkwyk, sibonisa ngokusobala ukuthi leli qembu lakhe alikawahloniphi futhi liwenza inhlekisa ama-Afrika kanye namasiko awo. Ngithi kuMnu Van Schalkwyk, ngokwesiko, umuntu akavele nje antaze aye emalibeni abalele engazange agunyazwe ngabomndeni, azithobe phambi kwabo futhi bakhipha abazomphelezela.

Lesi senzo siyichilo elibi futhi eliyinhlamba kulezi zigagayi zomzabalazo wenkululeko iqembu lakhe elazibulala, lazilahla isitimela sihamba, lazimuka izikhundla zazo futhi lazidingisa. Kepha nakalokhu, alikaze licele uxolo nentethelelo kubo bonke abamnyama. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[According to African tradition, graves are sacred places which cannot be used for mere political gain. The graves of the nation’s spirit should never be toyed with.

Mr Van Schalkwyk’s behaviour shows clearly that his party has no respect; instead it jokes about the Africans and their customs. I would like to tell Mr Van Schalkwyk that according to African tradition, a person cannot just roam around the graveyards without first asking and this then being sanctioned by the family of the deceased, which will send somebody to accompany him to the graveyards.

His action is a great humiliation and insult to the freedom fighters who were killed by his party, as it threw them on the railways, demoted them from their hereditary positions and then exiled them. In spite of this, his party has never asked for forgiveness from all black people.]

This gimmick continues to invite rage from the victims of the policies pursued by the NP and the DP, for which there has been no apology. Of course, it is correct and necessary that the white community should acknowledge the past and identify with these icons of the struggle against apartheid as their own icons. For such freedom icons as these lived, fought and died so that the gift of freedom could be conferred on all - oppressor and oppressed. And such such, they deserve our collective national homage.

The hon Mr Van Schalkwyk’s visit to the graves of these icons becomes vain, opportunistic, hypocritical and, hence, an insult to those who struggled for freedom and democracy in the conspicuous absence of an apology from either the New NP, DP or DA for the crimes of apartheid for which all these organisations are co-responsible. [Interjections.] To this day, they did nothing to mobilise material resources for reconstruction and development, given the cold truth that the colonial and apartheid policies resulted in grave outcomes for this country and continent. White supremacy, necessarily, was achieved at an unbearable cost to the black majority. The future South Africa is being erected precisely upon this correct understanding of the gross racial and social disparities borne by the colonial and apartheid past. And this is a programme for all the people.

On the contrary, as a bulwark for white privilege and capitalist class interests, by definition the DA represents the overwhelming minority. To be a party for all the people, it must first shed its very core principles and, accordingly, the principal reason for its own existence.

To the hon Mr Leon, even a leader of a racial minority has at least some decency in him, which he obviously lacks. [Applause.]

Mr W J SEREMANE: Mme Mmusakgotla, Motlotlegi Mopresidente, Motlatsa-Tautona le batlotlegi mo Ntlong eno … [Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and hon members of this House …]

… the nation eagerly awaited the President’s address. Everyone was all ears, so to say, and the anxiety and expectations ran high. The address has been received in a variety of ways. In a democracy this is not unexpected. People are entitled to their own views and interpretations. Of course fanatic zealots are intolerant of different views, except of the views of their party.

We, the DP and our alliance partners, listened very attentively and carefully to the President’s delivery. We did not rant and rave in the uncouth manner in which some of the ANC members are in the habit of doing, thus tarnishing the dignity of rational debate, as well as the dignity and image of this august body, Parliament.

We give the President his due credit for taking heed of different voices that prevail in this House and in our society in general. Indeed, humility rather than a haughty hubris is a mark of good leadership.

We shall be pointing out these issues and aspects that we see as not watertight or good enough. We shall praise and admonish with vigour and honesty when such a need arises. We are the legitimate voice of the voters too. We owe nobody any apology for being the opposition, so as to provide that essential element of a true and working democracy. Let me remind all of us, and the country at large, that the DA has arrived and is destined to be the alternative government driven by its liberal democratic core values and principles. [Interjections.]

We, together with the President, are willing to fight and expose corruption, nepotism, crime, poverty, woman and child abuse and the scourge of HIV/Aids. Unemployment is a nightmare that needs to be eradicated. Our stance shall be genuinely critical from the very onset, because we intend separating the chaff of rhetoric from the grains of transformational reality.

Uncritical collaboration and total unconcern are no-nos'' for us. We are going to speak out and create public opinion if needs be, despite the bellicose diatribe of our detractors and theGoebbels-orientated’’ spin doctors on the other side.

To the hon the President and the House at large I wish to say that I am certain that they have not forgotten the wisdom of Paulo Freire when he asserts that -

… human existence cannot be silent, nor can it be nourished by false words or hollow promises but only by true words with which men and women transform the world. To exist humanly is to name the world; to change it because saying true words is not the privilege of some men and women, but the right of every person - including that of the opposition.

Scribes and commentators say that the President’s address was ``a mild mixed bag of messages kindling hope’’. That may be so; but it should be like that, especially after the wells of human or race relations have been poisoned by senseless short-sighted party zealots and fanatics perpetuating neo-racist stereotypes and hatred towards anybody who is not black or belongs to the ANC.

We condemn racism in all its forms and manifestations. We cannot combat racism selectively from one side of the spectrum. Racism is a human malady or cancer that knows no colour. Bigots come in all colours, shapes and sizes. Racism is the twin brother or sister of ethnicity or tribalism. Let us not also shy away from xenophobia, which is the cousin of these two kinds of vermin.

Unity in action can only be realised if the pillars of justice, fair play and reconciliation, in their undiluted forms, are in place and are lived up to and practised to the letter, not merely as a form of expedient mobilisation, a rhetorical tool or a slogan. Issues of diversity, nonracialism, and freedom of belief and expression and association do not cease to be real issues of life and death simply because uhuru has dawned. Sustainable and consistent conscious effort needs to be made by all in our society, including bigheaded loud vessels. Unity in action'',a better life for all’’, ``equity and opportunity’’ should be the slogans of our nation and country.

We all have a special role to play if we are open to it. That special purpose, albeit a burden, is almost divine and can therefore never be taken away from one, given the sense of divine mission. The ruling party should therefore begin to be tolerant of other parties’ democratic right of participation in debates and their concrete contribution intended to shape the character and soul of our country. If this is not the rubric of national discipline,'' Francisco Claver would say,then I believe there is nothing to hope for from our people’’. Much of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s tasks remain unfinished business, especially reparation to the victims of gross human rights violations. The skeletons of inadequate disclosure or nondisclosure are still in the airtight cupboards of the ANC. [Interjections.] This militates against profound forgiveness and reconciliation despite ``izindlobongela’’ [hooligans or thugs] who are making noise.

Let us desist from playing the race card and the short-sighted political pyrrhic victories. I want to say to the hon the President that he should unite this nation, and not divide it, that he should heal the nation and not poison race and human relations. All citizens, irrespective of their culture, race, colour, gender, belief and political affiliation, or lack of same, are citizens of this country, deserving to be treated as such. [Applause.]

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The hon Minister of Justice, during the speech which was just being made … [Interjections] … saw fit to imitate Mr Dumisane Makhaye, whose actions in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature were mentioned here today, by holding his nose and waving like that. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] Some people think it is amusing, other people think it has a very unfortunate racist connotation. [Interjections.] I ask you to make a ruling that it is unparliamentary and that you should order the hon Minister of Justice to behave himself. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Gibson, by no stretch of the imagination can I say that when a person holds or touches his or her nose it is unparliamentary. [Interjections.] I mean, I did not see that … [Interjections] … and the House is full of members of all races. It can therefore not be said that this was directed at any particular group. [Interjections.]

Ms S C VOS: Madam Speaker, hon colleagues …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Yes, hon Doidge?

Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Madam Speaker, my apologies to Ms Vos, who was taking the podium.

I am not sure what this word ``izindlobongela’’ means. Is it parliamentary?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Izindlobongela'' are not animals. What is unparliamentary is to refer to any member as an animal.Izindlobongela’’ are not animals.

An HON MEMBER: Hooligans.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It means hooligans, yes, or thugs. [Interjections.]

Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Madam Speaker, the previous speaker at the podium did use that term.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Doidge, I do not believe that we can really say that izindlobongela'' is necessarily unparliamentary. I do not think so. I will therefore make the ruling that we should leaveizindlobongela’’ alone.

Ms S C VOS: Madam Speaker, hon colleagues, Mr President, the IFP listened very closely to the citizens of this country during the recent local government elections. We listened very closely to the President’s message too, and now, more than ever, we are determined that the IFP is going to continue to be a party to providing constructive solutions to our nation’s needs. We know we have a vital contribution to make, and we intend to attempt a multifaceted approach to the development of our land and its people. The IFP and the ANC alliance share a constituency which embraces the majority of South Africans, and together we seek to serve men, women and children who, irrespective of race, creed or colour, desperately need us to help them help themselves.

There are policies, programmes and priorities about which our parties differ. Together in government, and here in the opposition benches, we will work to effect creative compromise. The IFP believes it has its own unique contribution to make in building a new and better South Africa, and we intend, while working with you, to achieve our common goals, and to redouble our efforts to prove that the IFP message is indeed the right message. [Interjections.]

Listening to you, evaluating what Government has been able to achieve since 1994 and recognising the areas in which it has failed, we are more than ever convinced that responsible and effective Government delivery can only be achieved if our citizens recognise that self-help and self-reliance are the keys to their social, economic and spiritual salvation. Our many hundreds of elected IFP officials, representing national, provincial and local governments, have been ordered to effect responsible, honest government in their promotion of development, more development and more development, and to reflect in all that they do the priorities of citizens in the circumstances in which they find themselves.

They are required to reach out and to work with our traditional, religious, business and community leaders in all spheres of social and economic upliftment. But specifically, we are asking that they stress that we do not just want more houses, more roads, more clinics and more hospitals, and so on. We want more houses for families who love and protect each other, and for parents who appropriately nurture their children. We want homes, not just houses, for people who value the wisdom of their elders and genuinely care for the aged and the infirm. We want roads to effect development, but we want roads for the use of people who obey the law and drive safely. We want hospitals where staff do not steal and care-givers do not abuse their patients. We want to see communities working together in hope and taking pride in their societies, and we want them to have the integrity and the courage to be able to co-operate with our criminal justice system to eradicate from their midst all those who sow misery and destruction, and impede human and socioeconomic development.

We are insisting that a message is spread that all spheres of government have responsibilities and obligations, but so, too, do citizens. If we do not work as equal partners with our communities, the future of this country will be placed on a perilous path, and we all know it. If we do not spread the word that there will be effective and severe consequences for all who are dishonest and who stand in the way of the upliftment of their fellow South Africans, we stand no chance of succeeding in our noble quest.

We want to see delivery and more delivery, but we do not believe it will be possible without individuals and communities also trying to make very real efforts to improve themselves and their circumstances in a variety of ways. [Interjections.] It is for this reason that the IFP is calling for a serious debate on values in our nation. If we are not a nation imbued with moral values, how do we really believe we can achieve anything?

The rot of entitlement, spawned by the deprivations of apartheid, will curse our country for generations to come if we do not inculcate in hearts and minds that only hard work brings rewards, that the real value in any society is that of its citizens who reflect, in their daily lives, honesty, compassion, integrity and diligence in all that they do.

Apartheid was an evil which produced an evil. It bequeathed us a sick, traumatised, poverty-stricken society which, in itself, is manifesting other kinds of evil: murder, robbery, gratuitous violence, the rape of women and children, rampant domestic violence, abandoned children, growing evidence of sexual deviation amongst our youth, children who produce children and parents who neglect the obligations and responsibilities of parenthood.

This trauma has produced dysfunctional homes and communities and all of the President’s and our grand plans will come to nought, unless we not only offer and effect appropriate socioeconomic delivery, but also equally demand that individuals and communities look to themselves and their own behaviour. Here, too, we must effect delivery and recognise the need for help in the healing process. There must as well be swift action and stigmatising and stamping out antisocial behaviour.

Last week the front page of the Sowetan showed a picture of a woman lying abandoned, all alone on a street, dying of Aids. Nosipho Xhape, 29 years, of Doornkop informal settlement, died only hours after that picture was taken. She had been thrown out of her home by her partner when he learned the reality of her illness. She was told that she was useless as she could no longer cook and clean. As I said, she died only hours later, the day before the President’s address, and her last words were of her love for her children.

That this can happen to one woman is shocking enough in our society. Welfare officials will tell hon members that it is happening across the length and breadth of our land. Millions live in fear of the ruthless behaviour of their fellow South Africans throughout our land, and we know that poverty and unequal power relations are primarily to blame.

Elderly black women are tragically the most physically and economically abused persons in South Africa. Their pensions feed the unemployed, their homes nurture the homeless, their goodness reaches out in caring for their children struck down by HIV/Aids, and they care for the orphans that are left behind. But the fact remains that they, too, are brutalised in their homes, and nobody is listening to the last victims of apartheid. What are we doing to help the last victims of apartheid?

The fact remains, we cannot build this new society that we want to build if brutality in all its forms undermines all that we attempt to do. Let us help each other to change this. [Applause.]

Mrs J CHALMERS: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President and members of the House, I should like to begin by congratulating the President on his state of the nation address. It was a speech well received by South Africans and the outside world. For me what was particularly important and encouraging was the focus the President put on microeconomic issues, for those are the issues that impact directly on the poor. These are development issues, issues that can make a difference in the creation of jobs, particularly in the rural areas.

The President made the point that we the people of this land share a common legacy of a painful past. He also emphasised that this was a legacy that we did not desire and that we are therefore committed to moving away from it. Poverty is an unwanted lodger in 60% of all South African households, and our country is battling to emerge from a scenario of huge differences between the haves and the have-nots. Seventy per cent of the poor, ie those living below a minimum living level, stay in the rural areas, and even now poverty remains closely related to race. ``Why?’’ I ask, for ours is a land blessed with rich natural resources.

Suffice it to say that for many long years our people were deprived of their birthright, their land and their voice, and the ugly spectre of poverty became their lifelong companion on their journey of life. The ANC understands what this means, for a great many of my colleagues on this side of the House have first-hand experience of what deep poverty means, something those on the immediate left can hardly lay claim to. [Interjections.] The ANC understands what poverty is all about and can identify with the desperate need people have to climb out of the poverty trap. Yet, ours is a rich land with an extraordinary wealth of natural resources, above and below the ground. We have many rich and varied cultures, we have technical and business expertise that is respected worldwide. We have schools, technikons and universities, we are producing a wealth of agricultural products, yet 60% of our people are living below the poverty line. Turning this around is going to take a commitment from every citizen of this land - the wealthy, the middle income groups and the poor alike.

Many of us have been touched and damaged by the problems that confront us, but each of us also knows something of the creativity, the courage, the caring and the energy that manifests itself in all sorts of ways as we move around the country and we are hugely encouraged by the delivery that is happening. We are encouraged too by what is happening in our schools for it was in the classrooms that past education systems condemned our children to remain locked into a state of serfdom and poverty, and it is there that they are beginning to shake off the shackles.

Mine is a rural constituency where, in terms of the new local government dispensation, three small towns have been amalgamated into one council. There is high unemployment there - 90% in one of the towns. Each town has special attributes - one a main railway line, another is historic and picturesque with good water and a third is surrounded by game farms. They have stable communities, little crime, schools, good roads, many homes now have electricity, water and sanitation. In fact, they are a lot better off than many South Africans. There is great potential for tourism, agriculture, crafting or producing goods for local markets. As one young comrade said to me: We are a mine waiting to be mined. But the cry goes out: There are no jobs, we appreciate the new services but we cannot pay for them.

I have spent long hours discussing with my comrades: ``What can make it happen?’’, and I would like to recount something of what I have been hearing! Firstly, there is a lack of channelling of resources to the rural areas - and I do not just mean money. The practice of funding projects in remote rural areas and then leaving people to fend for themselves has been extremely destructive, especially to people’s confidence and hopes. Serious thought should be given to enabling communities through appropriate interventions and sustained backup from dedicated advisors to tender for local projects and development instead of allowing such job-creating intiatives to go to outside consultants and contractors. This happens too often with the result that I hear them saying: money is moving out of our area and is being disinvested.

Secondly, we have to acknowledge that in many areas the incoming councillors are taking over bankrupt municipalities. The desire has been expressed to me for an audit - certainly of the more needy municipalities - to ascertain their financial strengths and administrative capacity with a view to helping them start on a sound footing. Communities across the board are a rich source of knowledge about poverty and methods to combat it, and it follows that technologies and methods to combat it should be matched to the strengths and needs of local communities.

Thirdly, of major concern, is the fact that banks, clothing chain stores and now the post offices - certainly in their present form - are leaving the small towns. The reason given is that there is insufficient money circulating to keep them there. Cosatu’s proposal of a bank citizens’ grant is still very much in its infancy, but interesting. It could provide a more substantial safety net for the poor and inject a regular amount of money into society. It is worth our consideration. Fourthly, is the concern that there seems to be an ongoing inability at provincial level to ensure that resources are well-managed and appropriately used. There is a substantial gap between decisions taken and delivery and a worrying lack of co-ordination between need and capacity. And the communities bear the brunt of this dysfunctionality.

Lastly, I would make a plea for a number of causes. Tourism is a huge job creator, yet there is virtually no funding for the ``off the track’’ small towns, however attractive they may be, to promote those attractions. Creative ways must be found to assist the new municipalities sell their towns, possibly the Department of Education and Training could come up with guidelines to make this happen.

There are deep concerns in the rural areas about the escalation of the money-lending scenario. It is becoming nightmarish, seriously inflationary and now a real factor in the lives of the poor. It is clear that people need money, but other options should be made available to them, building on community strengths. Those options do exist. I would hope the rural development programmes make them a priority focus. There is also a critical need for a regrowth of road and rail public transport if we are to come back from isolation and provide support for and access to markets for our rural communities.

Finally, when civil society attempts to assist a community, whether they be churches, farmers, housewives or whoever, let us aid, empower, that group and not obstruct it with red tape and bureaucracy. NGOs too are an essential part of the fight for empowerment in management skills and, most importantly, for ways to conquer the HIV/Aids epidemic. Public and private partnerships are a necessary aspect of the battle. To quote our President:

We march into the new era of the African Century as Africans who have made the determination that this century will be a hundred years in which we cease to be victims of our circumstances, but become victors.

Our President has made that commitment and it is now up to all of us to follow his lead. [Applause.]

Mr J J DOWRY: Madam Speaker, Mr President and Deputy President, before I start with my speech, I would like to react to Mr Gigaba, who made a vicious and racist attack on Mr Van Schalkwyk, using the IsiZulu language, knowing that it would not be understood by Mr Van Schalkwyk. It is a trademark of somebody who does not have backbone. So, I would like to tell him that his facts are totally wrong. Mr Van Schalkwyk went to the families of the icons, of those people, before visiting the graves. He had the blessing of Mrs Goniwe and she actually allowed him to go to the grave and do what he wanted to do. He did the same with Chief Luthuli’s grave. So, it is totally wrong to attack him without having the necessary facts.

Die agb President se openingsrede van Vrydag het in ‘n aantal opsigte hoop gebring. Daar was egter ook heelwat leemtes ten opsigte van kritieke vraagstukke wat ons in die gesig staar.

In dié toespraak het die President nie sy kras ontleding van Suid-Afrika as ‘n land van twee nasies herhaal nie. Die onderliggende toon van sy toespraak was baie meer versoenend as verlede jaar s’n. Ons sal egter nou graag wil sien dat hierdie versoenende toon verder gevoer word, en ons sal oor ‘n jaar wil terugkyk en sê daar is werklike inhoud gegee aan versoening en nasiebou in hierdie land.

Hier moet ‘n mens ook dadelik iets byvoeg oor nasiebou. Een van die dinge wat mnr Gigaba ook hier gesê het, is dat daar voortdurend verskoning gevra moet word. Om ‘n nasie te bou moet ‘n mens ook in jou binneste die vermoë vind om te kan vergewe. ‘n Mens moet kan vergewe. Daar moenie net aanhoudend om verskoning gevra word nie. ‘n Mens moet darem ook in ‘n stadium probeer om te vergewe. Mahatma Gandhi het eenmaal gesê: ``The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.’’ Ek wil aan die hand doen dat agb lede hier ook moet probeer vergewe sodat hulle ook as sterk mense gesien kan word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The hon the President’s opening address on Friday brought hope in a number of ways. However, there were also quite a number of shortcomings with regard to critical issues facing us.

In this speech the President did not repeat his extreme analysis of South Africa as a country of two nations. The underlying tone of his speech was far more reconciliatory than last year’s. However, we would now like to see this reconciliatory tone taken further, and a year hence we would like to look back and say that real content was given to reconciliation and nation- building in this country.

Here one must immediately add something about nation-building. One of the things which Mr Gigaba also said here is that apologies must constantly be tendered. In order to build a nation, one must also find the ability within oneself to forgive. One must be able to forgive. One must not constantly ask for forgiveness. Surely at some stage one must also try to forgive. Mahatma Gandhi once said: ``The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.’’ I want to suggest that hon members should also try to forgive so that they can be seen as strong people.]

There are a number of major omissions from the President’s address. South Africa faces huge problems with the rapid spread of the killer disease HIV/Aids, fighting the scourge of poverty and the unacceptable levels of crime. The South African Government also suffers a credibility problem because of its kidglove approach to corruption. We expected the President to give leadership and also to deal with burning issues like the ``armsgate’’ scandal. However, he only mentioned some of these issues in passing, as if they were run-of-the-mill issues.

I want to refer specifically to the issue of job creation. It is a while ago that the ANC-led Government announced its intention to selectively review labour legislation. Despite this commitment, little has been done and one of the major obstacles to job creation remains intact. With an unemployment rate of more than 36%, it is a priority to review labour legislation and to remove those aspects that create an unnecessarily rigid labour market.

If we want to deliver human dignity to our people and fight poverty, we must create jobs through economic growth. Not only must we remove the obstacles to job creation, but we must also create an environment that is attractive to foreign direct investment in general. We cannot expect a foreign investor to invest in South Africa if he has to fear for his own life or that of his family. Other major areas of job creation that we have to focus on are creating a spirit of enterprise, encouraging SMME development and developing the tourism sector.

Die Wes-Kaap, wat in verskeie opsigte reeds die toon aangee met goeie regering, is nie verniet die provinsie met die laagste werkloosheid, laagste vlakke van korrupsie en buitengewoon hoë ekonomiese groei nie. Dit is omdat ons in hierdie provinsie weet hoe om te regeer en hoe om ‘n omgewing te skep wat vir buitelandse toeriste en beleggers aantreklik sal wees.

Wat ons in die Wes-Kaap doen, doen ons baie beslis nie net om die een Golden Arrow-toekenning na die ander in te palm nie, maar omdat ons werklik omgee vir al die mense. Suid-Afrikaners verdien meer as om in voortdurende armoede of in vrees vir hulle lewe voort te leef of om van hulle menswaardigheid gestroop te word omdat hulle nie werk het en kos op hulle tafel kan sit nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The Western Cape, which in various respects already leads the way with regard to good governance, is not the province with the lowest rate of unemployment, lowest levels of corruption and exceptionally high economic growth for nothing. It is because we in this province know how to govern and how to create an environment which will be attractive to foreign tourists and investors. What we are doing in the Western Cape we are certainly not doing merely to snap up one Golden Arrow Award after another, but because we truly care about all the people. South Africans deserve more than to live in continuing poverty or in fear of their lives or to be stripped of their human dignity because they do not have work and cannot put food on their table.]

In the telecommunications field we welcome the hon the President’s announcement of the establishment of two bodies to assist the Government, to avoid falling far behind the rest of the world in this sector. We hope that a third cellular licence will also be announced as soon as possible, as this will be in the interest of the consumer, the economy, and will also enhance job creation in our country.

Die aanwending van moderne kommunikasie- en inligtings-tegnologie is ‘n moet vir skole en veral vir die handel, en daarom verwelkom ons die President se belofte dat die Regering spoedig aandag aan dié sektor sal gee. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[The implementation of modern communication and information technology is a must for schools and for commerce in particular, and we therefore welcome the President’s promise that the Government will soon give attention to this sector. [Applause.]]

Ms N E HANGANA: Madam Speaker, Comrade President of the people and members of Parliament, …

… ndingathanda ukuthi kuMongameli, abagxeki, abanyelisi nezibhoxi bangamthuka, bamnukuneze, bamthini, kodwa, bona abantu abayaziyo inyaniso bayamlandela. Makabakhokele ke ngoko uMongameli kuba bamthembile. [I would like to say to the hon the President that those whose intentions are simply to criticise and deride development processes, can hurl as many insults as they like at him, but those who know the truth will always stand by him. The hon the President must lead them, for they have confidence in him.]

Ride on, Comrade President, the nation is fully behind you. [Applause.]

The people have reaffirmed their confidence in the ANC. The ANC’s resounding victory in the last local government elections confirms the confidence the South African people have in the ANC. The ANC was the only organisation which contested all 237 municipalities and it won an outright majority in 162 municipalities. [interjections.] The ANC’s overall share of the vote increased slightly from the previous local elections from 38,8 to 59,4%. [Applause.] It has increased, inyukile [It has gone up].

An HON MEMBER: They do not understand.

Ms N E HANGANA: They are too stupid to understand.

The majority has clearly demonstrated the confidence they have in the ANC in continuing to lead the struggle for a better life. This in turn places the responsibility on the ANC to consolidate and redouble its efforts to bring about fundamental change in the South African society.

The masses of the people expected the ANC, amongst others, to continue to champion their cause, to be tough in carrying out our transformation programmes, to mobilise them into developmental initiatives and to improve their lives. Therefore the ANC will intensify its programme for reconstruction and development and conduct a sustained campaign against poverty and underdevelopment by using instruments of the state and that of the people.

Among those priorities are the finalisation of the industrial strategy to promote job creation, assisting SMME’s and co-ops with access to capital, building capacity through Government procurement policies, speeding up rural development and urban renewal strategies, expansion of the infrastructure and development programmes, diversifying its ownership of resources to the new Minerals Bill and speeding up of the comprehensive social security policy.

The ANC is the only organisation attempting to achieve a fundamental nonracial society. [Interjections.] Nonracism gets lost when we attack racism and we are perceived as being anti-white. I am unpacking the two nations analysis and our ideal of building one nation which is united in its commitment to prosperity for all and working for the benefit of the many, and not just a few.

The ANC improved its overall percentage vote in the Western Cape. [Interjections.] It achieved a 3% gain from the last local government elections. The ANC now controls three councils in the province, compared to the DA’s eight, with 14 councils hung. [Interjections.] The DA’s share of the vote fell by 1,6%.

One of those ANC councils in the Western Cape is the town of Beaufort West which, after the President’s visit to launch the ANC manifesto in the area, won with a resounding victory of 63%. [Applause.] At that launch the President made fundamental commitments to the poor of this country - free water and electricity … [Interjections.]

An HON MEMBER: Thanks to the pretty girl.

Ms N E HANGANA: That hon member was not one of them.

That commitment of Comrade President has been implemented by the ANC council in Beaufort West and all the poor communities in that area are saying: ``The President has given this to us’’.

Let us look at the DA-controlled unicity by way of considering the two scenarios before us. When the councillors tabled a question which enquired about the implementation of the programme relating to free water and electricity, the answer they got from the DA-led council, which appeared in the Cape Argus, read as follows: Why is the ANC in a hurry?

Here it is in the Cape Argus! Now why is the DA not treating the basic needs of the poor as a priority? Have they already forgotten their campaign slogans, such as … ``Keep the ANC out’’? They managed to instil fear in the hearts and minds of whites by ringing the alarm bells on equal rates.

The gap between the rich and the poor is ever widening, and in the Western Cape it is going well for the wealthy. These are the two nations we are talking about. The apartheid economic plan like the Canal Walk and the Grand West are all concentrated in the north-western part of the area. The fact of the matter is that the majority of the communities live in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, which have no infrastructure that empowers communities. [Interjections.] The poor in the city earn less than R1 000, and constitute a third of the city’s people.

Let me quote from an article in yesterday’s Cape Argus, which refers to what the ANC will be doing for the poor in this province: ``Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha set for Mbeki’s operation upgrade.’’ How do they like that? [Interjections.] It clearly illustrates that the ANC respects the mandate it had been given by the voters. We do not use the suffering of our people for political gain.

In his address, the President very briefly touched on past imbalances and human rights violations, a past of high levels of crime, violence and corruption. The Leader of the Opposition was pained by the President’s dwelling on the past. Let me tell him one or two things. This Government is at pains to try to address the garbage of the past and we shall continue talking about our painful past until they drop dead. [Interjections.] The DA is desperately trying to create the impression that they, particularly Mr Tony Leon and Mr Douglas Gibson, are the crusaders of democracy. They have now recently been joined by another chihuahua from the PAC, Patricia de Lille. [Interjections.]

Mr Gibson arrived in South Africa as a foreigner during the late 1960s. Is that right? Am I correct? And he is familiar with the history of what black people went through in this country. Is that correct? I now want to ask him and the rest of the phoneys where they were when the oppressed of this country were crying out loud, maimed, killed, jailed and forced into exile?

In the late 1970s and 1980s, hundreds of white young men refused to be conscripted into the apartheid army. [Interjections.] They were very brave young white men who were prepared to be imprisoned by Jimmy Kruger and Adriaan Vlok. Where were Mr Tony Leon and Mr Douglas Gibson? [Laughter.] We who were on the receiving end of the brutal army never heard them utter a single word. Tony Leon went and served gracefully in an apartheid army that raided and killed black people in the townships. [Applause.]

The DA always claims that the Western Cape is the best run province. Let us look at how it is run. The Western Cape Province, which is led by the DA, has the highest number of TB cases in the whole country amongst the poor. Secondly, it has the highest crime rate. Ndiyaxoka Thangana? [Am I lying, Thangana?] [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Just over three weeks ago, school kids were shot dead in gang-related violence. Where was Mr Tony Leon? He never uttered a word. He was silent. He is never vocal on issues affecting the safety and welfare of the poor. Mr Leon will never become the president of this country. [Time expired.] [Applause.] Mr K M ANDREW: Madam Speaker, besides the hon member Hangana, one of the factors which contributes to South Africa’s economic problems is the Afro- pessimism which partly arises from the levels of corruption in some countries. However, our own Government’s handling of the proposed arms deal inquiry could not have given a better impression of a cover-up if it tried.

After the Auditor-General reported material deviations from generally accepted procurement practice, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts decided unanimously to call for further investigations. The Auditor- General, the Heath Special Investigating Unit, the Public Protector and the Office for Serious Economic Offences started planning how to co-ordinate their activities.

After allocating responsibilities among themselves, they summarised their progress and included the following statement:

Heath Special Investigating Unit - The team requires the special skills and experience of the Unit, and therefore requests Scopa to make a recommendation to the President to approve a proclamation for the Unit, as the contribution of the Unit to the investigation could be significant.

However, early in January this year, Government clearly decided to take action and do its best to discredit Judge Heath, the Auditor-General’s Review and Scopa. The Ministers of Defence, Finance and Trade and Industry, and for Public Enterprises made dramatic appearances on TV and referred to:

… the ill-informed conclusions drawn from the Auditor-General’s review and the Scopa report.

A week later, the hon the Deputy President, Mr Zuma, wrote an astonishing letter attacking Scopa and its chairperson. Much of his letter was based on the following assertion:

Scopa states that it is interested to carry out an investigation because our Government, foreign governments and the prime contractors, major international companies, are prone to corruption and dishonesty.

That was a statement which Scopa never made. Further on in his letter, the Deputy President said: We hope this strange manner of proceeding was not driven by a determination to find the executive guilty at all costs, based on the assumption that we have already mentioned, that the executive is prone to corruption and dishonesty.

This is an astonishing statement to make in respect of a parliamentary committee, the majority of which are the ANC’s representatives!

What seems to escape the Deputy President and other Cabinet Ministers is that a number of the allegations are made in respect of improper behaviour or corruption on the part of people who are close friends, colleagues or relatives of the executive itself. For anyone to believe that the executive are therefore impartial in this matter is stretching credulity a bit far.

On the same day, the President made a special live television broadcast. By using selective quotes and false information the President made a fool of himself and embarrassed South Africa in the process. His dramatic display of an organogram which he falsely linked to Judge Heath was just one of his blunders. He correctly pointed out that two advocates had indicated that, on the basis of the documents which they had seen, and I quote:

… at this stage there is no prima facie evidence in law that any person or persons committed a criminal offence.

What he withheld from the public is the fact that the same advocates had also reported that, and I quote:

We are of the view that the preparatory criminal investigation being conducted … is warranted and justified.

In addition there are sufficient grounds for a special investigating unit to conduct an investigation, and, in our our opinion, such an investigation is warranted. We agree with the conclusions of …

and they referred to it as the special committee on public accounts

… namely that the investigation would be best conducted by a multidisciplinary team consisting of the Office for Serious Economic Offences … the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit. Due to the scope of the investigation, it is, in our opinion imperative that all the agencies referred to above should be involved at the earliest possible stage.

But even that was not the end of it. Ten days later, the Chair of the ANC’s Scopa study group was summarily dismissed and a group of ANC heavies was brought in. Furthermore, the ANC Chief Whip, who is one of those against whom accusations had been levelled, has indicated that he will personally be attending some of the study group’s meetings. What Government has succeeded in doing is to destroy the credibility of Scopa, the investigation into the arms deal and their professed commitment to rooting out corruption.

In his farewell speech to Parliament on 26 March 1999, former President Mandela said, and I quote:

You have ensured that this Parliament is no rubber stamp in the hands of Government and given birth to a new democratic political culture.

How hollow those words would sound today. This ANC Government has done grievous harm to South Africa’s reputation, our prospects for investment, economic growth and job creation. They have given Afro-pessimists all over the world an opportunity to say: I told you so. [Interjections.] They must have known that their words and actions would harm South Africa. Yet, they went ahead anyway. The only conclusion that one can draw is that they fear that if the whole truth were to be revealed, the harm to the ANC and its Government would be even greater. [Interjections.] [Applause.]

The SPEAKER: Order!

Adv J H DE LANGE: Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order: As you heard, Mr Ken Andrew accused the President of basing and saying certain things on false evidence. That is definitely unparliamentary. I ask that that be immediately withdrawn. I would like to inform you that there is a possibility that the ANC will look into the matter and also whether this should not be investigated further as an accusation of a decision based on false evidence by the President. [Interjections.]

The SPEAKER: Order! Adv J H DE LANGE: Madam Speaker, that member does not have any brains thus he should just ``shup’’. I ask that the words that it was based on false evidence be immediately withdrawn.

The SPEAKER: Order! Mr De Lange, I heard the word false'' attached to information’’. I may be wrong. I will consult Hansard and report to the House first thing tomorrow morning.

Adv J H DE LANGE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. [Interjections.]

Mr V G SMITH: Madam Speaker, Comrade President, hon members, from the onset let us indicate that the majority of members in this House and, indeed, the majority of members in South Africa salute the hon the President for his vision as encompassed in his state of the nation speech on Friday.

Public interest on the role of portfolio committees of Parliament, Parliament itself as an institution and the relationship between Parliament, the executive and the judiciary has been at an all-time high, thanks to people like the hon Andrew and the hon Holomisa. This interest or focus was, to a large extent, brought to the fore as a result of the report to the National Assembly by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts late last year. We will not comment on the actual procurement, its merits or otherwise. However, we wish to focus this discussion on the perceptions created and signals sent to the public at large by various individuals and organisations for reasons best known to themselves.

We wish to deal with these perceptions within the context of the President’s state of the nation address last Friday, where he observed, and I quote:

We share a common destiny from which none of us can escape because, together, we are human, we are South African, we are African.

Despite this call, there seems to be a golden thread throughout recent comments, and even today, that seeks to distinguish the efforts and capabilities of individuals at the expense of the greater collective. Added to this seems to be the desire to show up this Government as one that possesses no will to stamp out corruption or, at worst, to be corrupt itself. History will show to all that care to be objective that never before has there been any political party or any other institution in South Africa that can claim to have championed the fight against corruption like the ANC. [Applause.]

Prior to 1994, the notion of transparent and open government did not exist in this country. Those that, today, claim to be custodians of these impeccable standards and morals had the ability to remove corrupt officials and governments in the past, yet stood by and, indeed, in some instances were members or active participants of these organs of state that were corrupt to the core, including the homelands.

When, at the beginning of this year, the New NP and its partner, the DP, overhauled the entire team that served on the public accounts committee, with exclusively white members, their expressed intention, according to their spokespeople, was to introduce individuals that were seen to be party heavyweights and, therefore, up to the task. One wonders why this action was not seen for what it really was: That of ensuring that the party line on certain matters would be projected and, therefore, by definition, in my own view, politicising the Standing Committee.

The media, print and electronic, and all the other critics were silent. When the majority party embarked upon a similar operation all hell broke loose, because independent thinkers within the party were being sacrificed in preference to party loyalists, according to the opposition. Furthermore, one of these very opposition party members who were redeployed to the public accounts committee is on record in a morning daily newspaper as having remarked that the committee was … ``running a grave risk of reaching the end of the nonpartisan consensual style that marked its operations’’, simply because of interventions made by the ANC to its own membership on the public accounts committee.

All kinds of dangers were suddenly to emerge, not least that of threatening the culture and apolitical nature of this committee, thereby diminishing the committee’s ability to provide acceptable levels of oversight. I think it is important, at this point, to remind this House that all members of Parliament are here on the ticket of a political party. It is strange and, in fact, nonsensical to be a member of Parliament on a ticket of a political party and then expect to act independently of the party that made it possible for one to be a member of Parliament in the first instance. [Applause.]

The suggestion that the standing committee will be more effective if its character is apolitical cannot go unchallenged. I want to reiterate that the ANC, as a political movement, has, since its inception fought for, achieved, and will defend, the principle of transparency and noncorruption within Government and beyond. Why is there today a perceived threat of rampant corruption under the leadership of this Government? Why is it that these people who led the liberation of this country for decades cannot be trusted? Why is there the sustained effort to undermine the Government and the leaders of the majority party?

Mr M J ELLIS: Why was Andrew Feinstein told to resign?

Mr V G SMITH: To the hon Tony Leon, why are those who had the ability to correct these very actions prior to 1994 today the ones who make the most noise?

On Wednesday last week the nation was assured by the convenor of the joint team that is responsible for the investigation of the arms procurement deal, consisting of the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the Office for Serious Economic Offences, that, indeed, the investigation was on track and, more importantly, that their competencies were sufficient to cover every aspect of the investigation.

Yet, there are still elements within and outside this Parliament that insist on the inclusion of the special investigating unit. The perception that the investigation conducted by the three components, in the absence of the participation of the special investigating unit, cannot produce a report of integrity, is very disturbing.

In addition, to insist, as some do, that the special investigating unit in its current form must be part of the investigation flies in the face of the recent ruling by the highest court in this land, namely that the inclusion of the special investigating unit in its current form is unconstitutional. Therefore, the President was correct in refusing to sign a proclamation authorising the inclusion of such a unit at this time. [Applause.] Yet again, one must question the motives that drive these sentiments. Is this not yet another attempt to undermine the collective, because of the absence of an individual organisation? Surely, no one can question the determination and capability - academically or otherwise - of the three agencies, as well as this Government, involved in the investigation. The question is why then is there a consistent message send out by certain individuals and organisations that there has to be a cover-up, by this Government, of corruption, despite the reassurances given to the public accounts committee and the nation last week? I suspect, as bitter a pill as it might be to swallow, that these perceptions are informed by an element of racism, despite the correct call by the President for all the people of this country to unite in action for change. [Interjections.]

The integrity, morals and abilities of the three agencies responsible for the investigation, as well as that of the Government, are being questioned. Is it because the leadership of these three agencies and that of the current Government happen to be black? [Interjections.] The majority party and Government have been consistent in saying that the investigation must continue as rapidly as possible. The majority party and Government are on record as having said that wherever corruption is uncovered, those implicated must be dealt with unconditionally and in accordance with the law of the land. Let everybody, including the hon Holomisa, who have reason to believe that there is corruption in the arms deal, assist by providing concrete evidence to the investigating team, instead of being mischievous and destructive.

The people of this country liberated themselves even from an evil as great as apartheid. We have no doubt that the people of this country will liberate themselves from corruption and crime wherever it exists. This will all be achieved without the help of those prophets of doom that are hellbent on undermining all attempts to see this country develop to the potential that South Africa and its people possess. Hon members, comrades, the struggle to achieve a better life for all continues. Victory in this regard is certain, and we the people shall overcome all obstacles despite the DA. Maatla! [Power!] [Applause.]

Debate suspended.

The House adjourned at 17:55. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

                      TUESDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2000

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Reports of the Auditor-General on the -


     (a)     Summary of Statements of Moneys kept in Trust in the
          Guardians' Funds for 1998-99 [RP 162 - 2000].


     (b)     Financial Statements of the Health Donations Fund for 1999
          - 2000 [RP 164 - 2000].


     (c)     Financial Statements of the Council on Higher Education
          for 1999 - 2000 [RP 165 - 2000].


 (2)    Reports of the Public Service Commission on -


     (a)     Management of Probationary Appointments within Public
          Service Departments at National Level [RP 153 - 2000].


     (b)     The State of Representativeness in the Public Service [RP
          154 - 2000].


     (c)     Career Management in the Public Service [RP 152 - 2000].

1. The Minister of Finance:

 Government Notice No R.1025 published in the Government Gazette No
 21671 dated 27 October 2000, Amendment of the Regulation 5 of the
 Regulations under the Associated Institutions Pension Fund Act, 1963,
 made in terms of section 2 of the Associated Institutions Pension Fund
 Act, 1963 (Act No 41 of 1963).

National Assembly:

Bills:

1. The Minister of Education:

 (1)    Wetsontwerp op Basiese Onderwys en Opleiding vir Volwassenes [W
     42 - 2000].


     The Adult Basic Education and Training Bill [B 42 - 2000]
     (National Assembly - sec 76) was introduced by the Minister of
     Education on 15 August 2000 and referred to the Portfolio
     Committee on Education.


     The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism:


 (1)    Wysigingswetsontwerp op Lewende Mariene Hulpbronne [W 68 -
     2000].


     The Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill [B 68 - 2000] (National
     Assembly - sec 75) was introduced by the Minister of Environmental
     Affairs and Tourism on 12 October 2000 and referred to the
     Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

                     WEDNESDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2000

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Assembly:

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs on Fresh Deciduous Fruit Industry, dated 1 November 2000:

   The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the application by the National Agricultural Marketing Council for the implementation of proposed statutory measures in the fresh deciduous fruit industry, reports, in terms of section 15 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, 1996, that it has approved the recommendation of the Council, provided that the levy collected be paid to a statutory trust or body that has ministerial representation.

2. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs on Dried Deciduous Fruit Industry, dated 1 November 2000:

   The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the application by the National Agricultural Marketing Council for the implementation of proposed statutory measures in the dried deciduous fruit industry, reports, in terms of section 15 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, 1996, that it has approved the recommendation of the Council, provided that the levy collected be paid to a statutory trust or body that has ministerial representation.

                   FRIDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2000
   

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Home Affairs:

 Reports and Financial Statements of the Film and Publication Board for
 1998-99 and 1999-2000,  including the Reports of the Auditor-General on
 the Financial Statements for 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

                     THURSDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 16
     November 2000 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
     for classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment
          Bill [B 71 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 76) - (Portfolio
          Committee on Provincial and Local Government - National
          Assembly). 2.    The Speaker and the Chairperson:


 (1)    Pursuant to an appeal having been received against the outcome
     of a disciplinary hearing which resulted in the dismissal of the
     former Head: Institutional Support Division in the Administration
     of Parliament, the Speaker and the Chairperson have appointed a
     committee to consider the appeal and make a recommendation thereon
     to both Houses, the committee to make its recommendation by 20
     November 2000.


 (2)    The committee consists of:


     National Assembly:  National Council of Provinces:


     Cassim, M F   Surty, E
     Doidge, G Q M
     Selfe, J
     September, C C

TABLINGS:

National Assembly:

Bills:

1. The Minister of Finance:

 (1)    Wisselwysigingswetsontwerp [W 47 - 2000].


     The Bills of Exchange Amendment Bill [B 47 - 2000] (National
     Assembly - sec 75) was introduced by the Minister of Finance on 16
     August 2000 and referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance.

                      FRIDAY, 17 NOVEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The announcement on 16 November 2000 that the Local Government:
 Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill [B 71 - 2000] (National
 Assembly - sec 76) had been introduced in the National Assembly was
 incorrect: The Bill could not be introduced as section 154 of the
 Constitution had not been complied with in respect of the Bill.

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
     following Bills:


     (i)           Local Government: Municipal Systems Bill [B 27B -
              2000] - Act No 32 of 2000 (assented to and signed by
              President on 14 November 2000); and


     (ii)    Construction Industry Development Board Bill [B 59B -
              2000] - Act No 38 of 2000 (assented to and signed by
              President on 13 November 2000).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:
 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
     Development and the Select Committee on Security and
     Constitutional Affairs for information:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Summary of Statements of
     Moneys kept in Trust in the Guardians' Funds for 1998-99 [RP 162-
     2000].


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Select Committee on
     Social Services for information:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Health Donations Fund for 1999-2000 [RP 164-2000].


 (3)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Education and the Select Committee
     on Education and Recreation for information:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Council on Higher Education for 1999-2000 [RP 165-2000].


 (4)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Public Service and Administration and the Select Committee on
     Local Government and Administration:


     (a)     Report of the Public Service Commission on Career
          Management in the Public Service [RP 152-2000].


     (b)     Report of the Public Service Commission on Management of
          Probationary Appointments within Public Service Departments at
          National Level [RP 153-2000].


 (5)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Public Service and Administration and the Select Committee on
     Local Government and Administration. It is also referred to the
     Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and
     Status of Women and the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement
     of Quality of Life and Status of Children, Youth and Disabled
     Persons:


     Report of the Public Service Commission on the State of
     Representativeness in the Public Service [RP 154-2000].


 (6)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Finance and the Select Committee on Finance:


     Government Notice No R.1025 published in Government Gazette No
     21671 dated 27 October 2000, Amendment of Regulation 5 of the
     Regulations under the Associated Institutions Pension Fund Act,
     1963, made in terms of section 2 of the Associated Institutions
     Pension Fund Act, 1963 (Act No 41 of 1963).


 (7)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Home Affairs and the Select Committee on Social Services. The
     report of the Auditor-General contained in the following paper is
     referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for
     consideration and report.


     Reports and Financial Statements of the Film and Publication Board
     for 1998-99 and 1999-2000,     including the Reports of the
     Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 1998-99 and 1999-
     2000.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Members of African Parliaments at a meeting in Pretoria, from 7 to 10
 November 2000, agreed on a Draft Protocol to the African Economic
 Community (AEC) Treaty relating to the Pan-African Parliament.


 The Protocol will be submitted to the Council of Ministers and
 thereafter to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Heads of States
 for adoption in 2001.


 DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE AFRICAN ECONOMIC
 COMMUNITY RELATING TO THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT


 PREAMBLE


 The Member States of the Organization of African Unity State Parties to
 the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community:


 Bearing in mind the Sirte Declaration adopted at the Fourth
 Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
 held in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 9.9.99
 establishing the African Union and calling for the speedy establishment
 of the institutions provided for in the Treaty establishing the African
 Economic Community signed in Abuja, Nigeria, on 3 June, 1991 and the
 establishment of the Pan-African Parliament by the year 2000;
 Noting, in particular, the adoption by the Assembly of Heads of State
 and Government meeting in its 36th Ordinary Session in Lome, Togo, from
 10 to 12 July, 2000, of the Constitutive Act of the African Union,
 thereby giving concrete expression to the common vision of a united,
 integrated and strong Africa;


 Further noting that the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament is
 informed by a vision to provide a common platform for African peoples
 and their grass-roots organisations to be more involved in discussions
 and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the
 Continent.


 Conscious of the imperative and urgent need to further consolidate the
 aspiration of the African peoples for greater unity, solidarity and
 cohesion in a larger community transcending cultural, ideological,
 ethnic, religious and national differences;


 Considering the principles and objectives stated in the Charter of the
 Organization of African Unity;


 Further considering that Articles 7 and 14 of the Treaty establishing
 the African Economic Community provide for a Pan-African Parliament of
 the Community, whose composition, functions, powers and organisation
 shall be defined in a related Protocol;


 Recalling the Cairo Agenda for Action which was endorsed by the Thirty-
 first Ordinary Session of the Assembly held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
 from 26 to 28 June 1995 (AHG/Res. 236 (XXXI)), and which recommended
 the speeding up of the rationalisation of the institutional framework
 in order to achieve economic integration at the regional level;


 Recalling further the Declaration on the Political and Socio-Economic
 Situation in Africa and the Fundamental Changes Taking Place in the
 World, which was adopted by the Twenty-sixth Ordinary Session of the
 Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethopia, on 11 July 1990;


 Considering that by the Algiers Declaration (AHG/Decl.1 (XXXV)) of 14
 July 1999 the Assembly reaffirmed its faith in the African Economic
 Community;


 Determined to promote democratic principles and popular participation,
 to consolidate democratic institutions and culture and to ensure good
 governance;


 Further determined to promote and protect human and peoples' rights in
 accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and
 other relevant human rights instruments;


 Conscious of the obligations and legal implications for Member States
 of the need to establish the Pan-African Parliament;


 Firmly convinced that the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament
 will ensure effectively the full participation of the African peoples
 in the economic development and integration of the continent;


 HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:


                              Article 1
                             Definitions


 In this Protocol the following expressions shall have the meanings
 assigned to them hereunder:


     "Assembly" means the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of
     the Community;


     "Bureau" means the office-bearers of the Pan-African Parliament as
     provided for in Article 12(6) of this Protocol;


     "Community" means the African Economic Community;


     "Council" means the Council of Ministers of the Community;


     "Court of Justice" means the Court of the Community;


     "General Secretariat" means the General Secretariat of the
     Community";


     "Member of Pan-African Parliament" or "Pan-African
     Parliamentarian" means a representative elected or designated in
     accordance with Article 5 of this Protocol;


     "Member State" or "Member States", unless the context otherwise
     prescribes, means Member State or Member States of the Community;


     "OAU" means the Organization of African Unity;


     "President" means the Member of the Pan-African Parliament elected
     to conduct the business of Parliament in accordance with Article
     12(2) of this Protocol;


     "Region of Africa" shall have the meaning assigned to it in
     Article 1 of the Treaty establishing the African Economic
     Community;


     "Secretary-General" means the Secretary-General of the Community;


     "Treaty" means the Treaty establishing the African Economic
     Community.
                              Article 2
             Establishment of the Pan-African Parliament


 (a)    Member States hereby establish a Pan-African Parliament the
     composition, functions, powers and organisation of which shall be
     governed by the present Protocol.


 (b)    The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall represent all the peoples
     of Africa.


 (c)    The ultimate aim of the Pan-African Parliament shall be to
     evolve into an institution with full legislative powers, whose
     members are elected by universal adult suffrage. However, until
     such time as the Member States decide otherwise by an amendment to
     this Protocol:


     (i)           The Pan-African Parliament shall have consultative
              and advisory powers only; and


     (ii)    The Members of the Pan-African Parliament shall be
              appointed as provided for in Article 4 of this Protocol.
                              Article 3
                             Objectives


 The objectives of the Pan-African Parliament shall be to:


 (a)    facilitate the effective implementation of the policies and
     objectives of the OAU/AEC and, ultimately, of the African Union;


 (b)    promote the principles of human rights and democracy in Africa;


 (c)    encourage good governance, transparency and accountability in
     Member States;


 (d)    familiarise the peoples of Africa with the objectives and
     policies aimed at integrating the African Continent within the
     framework of the establishment of the African Union;


 (e)    promote peace, security and stability;


 (f)    contribute to a more prosperous future for the peoples of Africa
     by promoting collective self-reliance and economic recovery;


 (g)    facilitate cooperation and development in Africa;


 (h)    strengthen Continental solidarity and build a sense of common
     destiny among the peoples of Africa; promote the principles of
     human rights and democracy in Africa;


 (i)    facilitate cooperation among Regional Economic Communities and
     their Parliamentary fora.

                              Article 4
                             Composition
Member States shall be represented in the Pan-African Parliament by an
equal number of Parliamentarians;

Each Member State shall be represented in the Pan-African Parliament by
five (5) members, at least one of whom must be a woman;
The representation of each Member State must reflect the diversity of
political opinions in each National Parliament.

                              Article 5
                   Election, Tenure and Vacancies


The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall be elected or designated by the
respective National Parliaments or any other deliberative organ of the
Member States, from among their members.

The Assembly shall determine the beginning of the first term of office
of the Pan-African Parliament at its session immediately following the
entry into force of this Protocol.

The term of a Member of the Pan-African Parliament shall run
concurrently with his or her term in the National Parliament concerned.

The seat of a Member of the Pan-African Parliament shall become vacant
if he or she:
     (a)     dies;
     (b)     resigns in writing to the President;
     (c)     is unable to perform his or her functions for reasons of
          physical or mental incapacity;
     (d)     is removed on grounds of misconduct;
     (e)     ceases to be a Member of the National Parliament
          concerned;
     (f)     is recalled by the National Parliament; or
     (g)     ceases to be a Pan-African Parliamentarian in terms of
          Article 19 of this Protocol.
                              Article 6
                                Vote


 The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall vote in their personal and
 independent capacity.


                              Article 7
                           Incompatibility


 Membership of the Pan-African Parliament shall not be compatible with
 the exercise of executive or judicial functions in a Member State.


                              Article 8
      Privileges and Immunities of Pan-African Parliamentarians


    The Pan-African Parliamentarians, while exercising their functions,
     shall enjoy in the territory of each Member State the immunities
     and privileges extended to representatives of Member States under
     the General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the OAU
     and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.


    Without prejudice to Paragraph (1) of this Article, the Pan-African
     Parliament shall have the power to waive the immunity of a member
     in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.
                              Article 9
                      Parliamentary Immunities


    The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall enjoy parliamentary immunity
     in each Member State. Accordingly, a member of the Pan-African
     Parliament shall not be liable to civil or criminal proceedings,
     arrest, imprisonment or damages for what is said or done by him or
     her within or outside the Pan-African Parliament in his or her
     capacity as a member of Parliament in the discharge of his or her
     duties.


    Without prejudice to Paragraph (1) of this Article, the Pan-African
     Parliament shall have the power to waive the immunity of a member
     in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.

                             Article 10
                              Allowance


 The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall be paid an allowance to meet
 expenses in the discharge of their duties.


                             Article 11
                        Functions and Powers


 The Pan-African Parliament shall be vested with legislative powers to
 be defined by the Assembly. However, during the first term of its
 existence, the Pan-African Parliament shall exercise advisory and
 consultative powers only. In this regard, it may:
    Examine, discuss or express an opinion on any matter, either on its
     own initiative or at the request of the Assembly or other policy
     organs and make any recommendations it may deem fit relating to,
     inter alia, matters pertaining to respect of human rights, the
     consolidation of democratic institutions and the culture of
     democracy, as well as the promotion of good governance and the
     rule of law.


    Discuss its budget and the budget of the Community and make
     recommendations thereon prior to its approval by the Assembly.


    Work towards the harmonisation or coordination of the laws of
     Member States.


    Make recommendations aimed at contribution to the attainment of the
     objectives of the OAU/AEC and draw attention to the challenges
     facing the integration process in Africa as well as the strategies
     for dealing with them.


    Request officials of the OAU/AEC to attend its sessions, produce
     documents or assist in the discharge of its duties.


    Promote the programmes and objectives of the OAU/AEC, in the
     constituencies of the Member States.


    Promote the coordination and harmonization of policies, measures,
     programmes and activities of the Regional Economic Communities and
     the parliamentary fora of Africa.


    Adopts its Rules of Procedure, elect its own President and propose
     to the Council and the Assembly the size and nature of the support
     staff of the Pan-African Parliament.


    Perform such other functions as it deems appropriate to achieve the
     objectives set out in Article 3 of this Protocol.

                             Article 12
  Rules of Procedure and Organisation of the Pan-African Parliament


    The Pan-African Parliament shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure
     on the basis of a two-thirds majority of all its members.


    The Pan-African Parliament shall elect, at its first sitting
     following its election, by secret ballot, from among its members
     and in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, a President and
     four (4) Vice-Presidents representing the Regions of Africa as
     determined by the OAU. The election shall, in each case, be by
     simple majority of the members present and voting.


    The terms of office of the President and the Vice-Presidents shall
     run with the National Parliament or the deliberative organ which
     elects or designates them.


    The Vice-Presidents shall be ranked in the order of first, second,
     third and fourth initially, in accordance with the result of the
     vote and subsequently by rotation.


    The President and the Vice-Presidents shall be the Officers of the
     Pan-African Parliament. The officers, under the control and
     direction of the President and subject to such directives as may
     be issued by the Pan-African Parliament, shall be responsible for
     the management and administration of the affairs and facilities of
     the Pan-African Parliament and its organs. In the discharge of
     their duties, the Officers shall be assisted by the Clerk and the
     two Deputy Clerks.


    The Pan-African Parliament shall appoint a Clerk, two Deputy Clerks
     and such other staff and functionaries as it may deem necessary
     for the proper discharge of its functions and may by regulations
     provide for their terms and conditions of office in accordance
     with the relevant OAU practice as appropriate.


    The President shall preside over all parliamentary proceedings
     except those held in committee and, in his or her absence, the
     Vice-Presidents shall act in rotation, in accordance with the
     Rules of Procedure which shall also deal with the powers of the
     person presiding over Parliamentary proceedings.


    The Office of the President or Vice-President shall become vacant
     if he or she:


     (a)     dies;
     (b)     resigns in writing;
     (c)     is unable to perform his or her functions for reasons of
          physical or mental incapacity;
     (d)     is removed on grounds of misconduct;
     (e)     ceases to be a Member of the National Parliament or the
          deliberative organ concerned;
     (f)     is recalled by the National Parliament; or
     (g)     ceases to be a Pan-African Parliamentarian in terms of
          Article 19 of this Protocol.


    Removal on the grounds stipulated in 8(c) or (d) above shall be on
     a motion to be decided on by secret ballot and supported at the
     end of debate by two-thirds majority of all the Pan-African
     Parliamentarians. In the case of removal under the ground
     stipulated in 8(c), the motion shall, in addition, be supported by
     a medical report.


    A vacancy in the Office of the President or Vice-President shall be
     filled at the sitting of the Pan-African Parliament immediately
     following its occurrence.


    The quorum for a meeting of the Pan-African Parliament shall be
     constituted by a simple majority.


    Each Pan-African Parliamentarian shall have one vote. Decisions
     shall be made by consensus or, failing which, by a two-thirds
     majority of all the Members present and voting. However,
     procedural matters, including the question of whether a matter is
     one of the procedure or not, shall be decided by a simple majority
     of those present and voting, unless otherwise stipulated in the
     Rules of Procedure. In the event of an equal number of votes, the
     person presiding shall have a casting vote.
    The Pan-African Parliament may establish such committees, as it
    deems fit, for the proper discharge of its functions and in
    accordane with its Rules of Procedure.


    Until the Pan-African Parliament appoints its staff, the General
     Secretariat of the OAU shall act as its Secretariat.


                             Article 13
                           Oath of Office


 At its first sitting, after the election and before proceeding with any
 other matter, the Pan-African Parliamentarians shall take an oath or
 make a solemn declaration which shall be set out as an Addendum to this
 Protocol.


                             Article 14
                              Sessions


    The inaugural session shall be presided over by the Chairperson of
     the OAU/AEC until the election of the President of the Pan-African
     Parliament who shall thereafter preside.


    The Pan-African Parliament shall meet in ordinary session at least
     twice a year, within a period to be determined in the Rules of
     Procedure. Each ordinary session may last up to one month.


    Two-thirds of the Pan-African Parliamentarians, the Assembly or the
     Council, through the Chairperson of the OAU, may, by written
     notification addressed to the President, request an Extraordinary
     session. The request shall provide a motivation for and details of
     the matters to be discussed at the proposed Extraodinary session.
     The President shall convene such a session which shall discuss
     only the matters stipulated in the request. The session shall end
     upon exhaustion of the agenda.


    The proceedings of the Pan-African Parliament shall be open to the
     public, unless otherwise directed by the Bureau.


                             Article 15
                               Budget


    The annual budget of the Pan-African Parliament shall constitute an
     integral part of the regular budget of the OAU/AEC.


    The budget shall be drawn up by the Pan-African Parliament in
     accordance with the Financial Rules and Regulations of the OAU/AEC
     and shall be approved by the Assembly until such time as the Pan-
     African Parliament shall start to exercise legislative powers.
                             Article 16
                 Seat of the Pan-African Parliament


 The seat of the Pan-African Parliament shall be determined by the
 Assembly and shall be located in the territory of a State Party to this
 Protocol. However, the Pan-African Parliament may convene in the
 territory of any Member State at the invitation of that Member State.


                             Article 17
                          Working Languages


 The working languages of the Pan-African Parliament shall be, if
 possible, African languages, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.


                             Article 18    The Relationship between the Pan-African Parliament and the Parliaments
      of Regional Economic Communities and National Parliaments


 The Pan-African Parliament shall work in close co-operation with the
 Parliaments of the Regional Economic Communities and the National
 Parliaments of Member States. To this effect, the Pan-African
 Parliament may, in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, convene
 annual consultative fora with the Parliaments of the Regional Economic
 Communities and the National Parliaments to discuss matters of common
 interest.
                             Article 19
                             Withdrawal


 The Pan-African Parliamentarians from a Member State which withdraws
 from the Community shall automatically cease to be Pan-African
 Parliamentarians.
                             Article 20
                           Interpretation


 The Court of Justice shall be seized with all matters of interpretation
 emanating from this Protocol. Pending its establishment, such matters
 shall be submitted to the Assembly which shall decide by a two-thirds
 majority.


                             Article 21
                     Signature and Ratification


 This Protocol shall be signed and ratified by the Member States in
 accordance with their respective Constitutional procedures.


 The instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with
 the Secretary-General of the OAU.
                             Article 22
                          Entry into Force


 The Protocol shall enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit
 of the instruments of ratification by a simple majority of the Member
 States.
                             Article 23
                              Accession


 Any Member State may notify the Secretary-General of its intention to
accede to this Protocol after its entry into force. The Secretary-
General shall, upon receipt of such notification, transmit copies
thereof to all Member States.


For any Member State acceding to this Protocol, the Protocol shall come
into force on the date of the deposit of its instrument of accession.


                             Article 24
                Amendment or Revision of the Protocol


 This Protocol may be amended or revised by the decision of a two-thirds
majority of the Assembly.


 Any Member State party to this Protocol or the Pan-African Parliament
may propose, in writing to the Secretary-General, any amendment or
revision of the Protocol.


 The Secretary-General shall notify the proposal to all Member States at
least thirty (30) days before the meeting of the Assembly, which is to
consider the proposal.


 The Secretary-General shall request the opinion of the Pan-African
Parliament on the proposal and shall transmit the opinion, if any, to
the Assembly, which may adopt the proposal, taking into account the
opinion of the Pan-African Parliament.


 The amendment or revision shall enter into force thirty (30) days after
the deposit of the instruments of ratification with the Secretary-
General by two-thirds of Member States.


                             Article 25
                       Review of the Protocol


 Five years after the entry into force of this Protocol, a Conference of
the States parties to this Protocol shall be held to review the
operation and effectiveness of this Protocol, with a view to ensuring
that the objectives and purposes of this Protocol, as well as the
vision underlying the Protocol, are being realised and that the
Protocol meets with the evolving needs of the African Continent.


 At intervals of ten years thereafter, further Review Conferences of
States Parties to this Protocol may be convened with the same objective
as stated in Paragraph 1 above. Such Conferences may be convened at an
interval of less than ten years, if so decided by the Pan-African
Parliament.

1. The Minister of Finance:

 (1)    Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the United States of America regarding
     mutual assistance between their Customs Administrations, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (2)    Explanatory Memorandum on the Agreement.

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 (a)    Report and Financial Statements of Ntsika Enterprise Promotion
     Agency for 1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-General
     on the Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


 (b)    Report and Financial Statements of the Competition Commission
     for 1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
     Financial Statements for 1999-2000.

                      TUESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
     following Bills:


     (i)           Education Laws Amendment Bill [B 48B - 2000] - Act
              No 53 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 17
              November 2000); and


     (ii)    Higher Education Amendment Bill [B 55B - 2000] - Act No 54
              of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 17
              November 2000).


     The Speaker and the Chairperson:


 The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Trade and Industry and the Select Committee on Economic Affairs.
     The reports of the Auditor-General contained in the following
     papers are referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts
     for consideration and report:


     (a)     Report and Financial Statements of Ntsika Enterprise
          Promotion Agency for 1999-2000, including the Report of the
          Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


     (b)     Report and Financial Statements of the Competition
          Commission for 1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-
          General on the Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


 (2)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Finance and the Select Committee on Finance:


     (a)     Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South
          Africa and the Government of the United States of America
          regarding mutual assistance between their Customs
          Administrations, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
          Constitution, 1996.


     (b)     Explanatory Memorandum on the Agreement.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 Report and Financial Statements of the Industrial Development
 Corporation of South Africa Limited for 1999-2000.

1. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism:

 Government Notice No R.1129 published in Government Gazette No 21736
 dated 17 November 2000, Amendment of Regulations, made in terms of
 section 77 of the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No 18 of
 1998).

1. The Minister of Safety and Security:

 Report of the Independent Complaints Directorate for 1999-2000 [RP 176-
 2000].


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security and the
 Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs.

National Assembly:

Bills:

1. The Minister of Transport:

 (1)    Wetsontwerp op Finansiële Reëlings rakende die Suid-Afrikaanse
     Spoorpendelkorporasie Beperk [W 64 - 2000].


     The South African Rail Commuter Corporation Limited Financial
     Arrangements Bill [B 64 - 2000] (National Assembly - sec 75) was
     introduced by the Minister of Transport on 21 September 2000 and
     referred to the Portfolio Committee on Transport.

                     THURSDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Decision taken by the meeting convened in terms of Joint Rule 62
 (Policy matters requiring decision during recess)


 The Speaker and the Chairperson of the Council convened a meeting in
 terms of Joint Rule 62 on Monday, 20 November 2000, to consider the -


 (1)    pending closure of Acacia Park Primary School; and


 (2)    report of the committee to consider the appeal by former Head:
     Institutional Support Division in the Administration of
     Parliament.


 The pending closure of Acacia Primary School:


     Mr G Q M Doidge reported to the meeting that the Gauteng
     Department of Education was no longer prepared to fund the Acacia
     Park Primary School which was used by children of members of
     Parliament who during session time reside at Acacia Park
     Parliamentary Village. The school would therefore have to be
     closed with effect from 1 January 2001, unless Parliament was
     prepared immediately to take over responsibility for its
     operation. After discussion the meeting decided that -


     (i)     in principle the Acacia Park Primary School should remain
              open;


     (ii)    the Presiding Officers, assisted by management of
              Parliament, explore the funding aspects, including
              subsidisation by Western Cape Education Department; and


     (iii)   in conjunction with the existing governing body of the
              school, a report on all relevant implications be drawn up
              for circulation to members by the middle of January 2001.


 Report of the committee to consider the appeal by former Head:
 Institutional Support Division in the Administration of Parliament:


     The meeting, having considered the report of the committee,
     reports that the appeal has been denied.


 F Ginwala    G N M Pandor
 Speaker of the    Chairperson of the
 National Assembly National Council of Provinces

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Trade and Industry and to the Select Committee on Economic
     Affairs:


     Report and Financial Statements of the Industrial Development
     Corporation of South Africa Limited for 1999-2000.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Environmental Affairs and Tourism and to the Select Committee on
     Land and Environmental Affairs:


     Government Notice No R.1129 published in the Government Gazette No
     21736 dated 17 November 2000, Amendment of Regulations, made in
     terms of section 77 of the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act
     No 18 of 1998).

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Housing:

 Report and Financial Statements of the National Housing Finance
 Corporation Limited for 1999-2000.


                      TUESDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2000

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Housing:

 Report and Financial Statements of the National Housing Finance
 Corporation Limited for 1999-2000.


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Housing and to the Select
 Committee on Public Services.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 (1)    Half Yearly Report of the Public Service Commission for the
     period April to September 2000.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and
     Administration.


 (2)    Resolutions of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for
     2000 and replies thereto obtained by the National Treasury -
     Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Report, 2000.


     Referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

                       FRIDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
     following Bills:


     (i)           Council for the Built Environment Bill [B 16B -
              2000] - Act No 43 of 2000 (assented to and signed by
              President on 26 November 2000);


     (ii)    Architectural Profession Bill [B 17B - 2000] - Act No 44
              of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 26
              November 2000);


     (iii)   Landscape Architectural Profession Bill [B 18B - 2000] -
              Act No 45 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              26 November 2000);


     (iv)    Engineering Profession Bill [B 19B - 2000] - Act No 46 of
              2000 (assented to and signed by President on 26 November
              2000);


     (v)           Property Valuers Profession Bill [B 20B - 2000] -
              Act No 47 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              26 November 2000);


     (vi)    Project and Construction Management Professions Bill [B
              21B - 2000] - Act No 48 of 2000 (assented to and signed
              by President on 26 November 2000);


     (vii)   Quantity Surveying Profession Bill [B 22B - 2000] - Act No
              49 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 26
              November 2000);


     (viii)  Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied Health Service
              Professions Second Amendment Bill [B 66B - 2000] - Act No
              50 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 26
              November 2000);


     (ix)    African Renaissance and International Co-operation Fund
              Bill [B 65D - 2000] - Act No 51 of 2000 (assented to and
              signed by President on 21 November 2000);


     (x)           Second Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B 67 - 2000]
              - Act No 55 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President
              on 26 November 2000);


     (xi)    Bills of Exchange Amendment Bill [B 47B - 2000] - Act No
              56 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 29
              November 2000);


     (xii)   South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill [B 62 - 2000] -
              Act No 57 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              29 November 2000);


     (xiii)  Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 70 - 2000] - Act No 59 of
              2000 (assented to and signed by President on 29 November
              2000);


     (xiv)   Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill [B 68B - 2000] -
              Act No 68 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              29 November 2000); and


     (xv)    Redetermination of the Boundaries of Cross-boundary
              Municipalities Bill [B 69 - 2000] - Act No 69 of 2000
              (assented to and signed by President on 21 November
              2000).

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Bills:

1. The Minister for Intelligence:

 (1)    Algemene Wysigingswetsontwerp op Intelligensie [W 36 - 2000].


     The General Intelligence Law Amendment Bill [B 36 - 2000]
     (National Assembly - sec 75) was introduced by the Minister for
     Intelligence on 24 May 2000.

                      THURSDAY, 7 DECEMBER 2000

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
     following Bills:


     (i)           National Health Laboratory Services Bill [B 52B -
              2000] - Act No 37 of 2000 (assented to and signed by
              President on 5 December 2000);
     (ii)    Competition Second Amendment Bill [B 41D - 2000] - Act No
              39 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 5
              December 2000);


     (iii)   Adult Basic Education and Training Bill [B 42D - 2000] -
              Act No 52 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              5 December 2000);


     (iv)    Council for Medical Schemes Levies Bill [B 61 - 2000] -
              Act No 58 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              5 December 2000);


     (v)           National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill [B 39B
              - 2000] - Act No 61 of 2000 (assented to and signed by
              President on 5 December 2000);


     (vi)    Judicial Matters Amendment Bill [B 63B - 2000] - Act No 62
              of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on 5
              December 2000);


     (vii)   Sea Transport Documents Bill [B 28B - 2000] - Act No 65 of
              2000 (assented to and signed by President on 5 December
              2000);


     (viii)  Abolition of Lebowa Mineral Trust Bill [B 49B - 2000] -
              Act No 67 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              5 December 2000); and


     (ix)    Tourism Amendment Bill [B 50F - 99] - Act No 70 of 2000
              (assented to and signed by President on 5 December 2000).

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Assembly:

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, dated 21 November 2000:

   The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the shortlist of candidates nominated to be appointed to the National Agricultural Marketing Council, hereby recommends to the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, in terms of section 4(4)(e) of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, that the following candidates be considered for appointment to the Council:

   Category A: Mr D P Dall Mr W A Fourie Mr M C Heyns

   Category B: Mr M E J Bezuidenhout Mr S Luthuli Ms D Ndaba

   Category C: Mr P Govender Prof J F Kirsten Mr M G Rathogwa

   Category D: Mr B Maketha Ms S E Moolman Ms M G Njoni

   Category E: Dr C Buthelezi Mr M W Mvabaza Mr M A Tanda

                   MONDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2000
   

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Short title of Act No 8 of 2000 and of Act No 70 of 2000:


 (1)    The Tourism Amendment Bill [B 3 - 2000], which was introduced
     early in 2000, was passed by both Houses in March 2000. After the
     President had assented to it, it became Act No 8 of 2000, with the
     short title: Tourism Amendment Act, 2000 .


 (2)    The Tourism Amendment Bill [B 50F - 99], which was introduced in
     1999, was passed by both Houses in November 2000. After the
     President had assented to it, it became Act No 70 of 2000, with
     the short title: Tourism Second Amendment Act, 2000. 2.    The Speaker and the Chairperson:


 (1)    The Minister of Finance on 29 November 2000 submitted a draft of
     the Pension Funds Amendment Bill, 2001, as well as the memorandum
     explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker
     and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been
     referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select
     Committee on Finance by the Speaker and the Chairperson,
     respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Assent by the President of the Republic in respect of the
     following Bills:


     (i)     Cross-Border Insolvency Bill [B 4B - 2000] - Act No 42 of
              2000 (assented to and signed by President on 8 December
              2000);


     (ii)    Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Bill [B 53B - 2000] -
              Act No 63 of 2000 (assented to and signed by President on
              8 December 2000); and


     (iii)   South African Rail Commuter Corporation Limited Financial
              Arrangements Bill [B 64 - 2000] - Act No 64 of 2000
              (assented to and signed by President on 8 December 2000).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Housing and to the Select Committee on Public Services:


     Report and Financial Statements of the National Housing Finance
     Corporation Limited for 1999-2000.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Transport and to the Select Committee on Public Services:


     Report and Financial Statements of the South African Civil
     Aviation Authority for 1999-2000.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 The following paper has been tabled and is now referred to the
 Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development:


 Documents, in terms of section 9(1) of the Promotion of National Unity
 and Reconciliation Act, 1995, regarding remuneration, allowances and
 other employment benefits of the staff of the Truth and Reconciliation
 Commission.

1. The Speaker:

 Pursuant to the amendment of the title of the portfolio of the
 "Minister for Welfare and Population Development" to "Minister of
 Social Development" in October 2000, the Speaker has, in terms of Rule
 199(c), determined that the name of the Portfolio Committee on "Welfare
 and Population Development" will change to Portfolio Committee on
 "Social Development" with effect from 22 January 2001.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal Commission and
     the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of
     the Financial and Fiscal Commission for 1996-97.


 (2)    Report and Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal
     Commission for 1998-99, including the Reports of the Auditor-
     General on the Financial Statements for 1997-98 and for 1998-99.


 (3)    Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal Commission and
     the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of
     the Financial and Fiscal Commission for 1999-2000.

1. The Minister of Finance:

 (1)    Rider No 2 to the Financing Agreement between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the European Commission
     concerning the Cato Manor Development Programme, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (2)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Municipal
     Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF) Program, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (3)    Amendment Number Two of the Bilateral Agreement between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Local Government
     Support Program, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local
     Government and to the Select Committee on Local Government and
     Administration.


 (4)    Rider No 1 to the Financing Agreement between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the European Commission
     concerning Reinforcing South Africa's Participation in the Maize
     and Wheat Improvement Research Network (MWIRNET), tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (5)    Grant Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the Government of the United States of America acting
     through the United States Agency for the Increased Commercial
     Viability of Existing Small and Medium Agribusiness, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land
     Affairs and to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry.
     Referred also to the Select Committee on Land and Environmental
     Affairs and to the Select Committee on Economic Affairs.


 (6)    Bilateral Agreement between the Government of the Republic of
     South Africa and the Government of the United States of America
     acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development on Skills Development, tabled in terms of section
     231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Labour and to the Select
     Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises.


 (7)    Grant Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the Government of the United States of America acting
     through the United States Agency for International Development on
     Fiscal Management of Urban Environmental Infrastructure, tabled in
     terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.
     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
     Tourism and to the Portfolio Committee on Provincial and Local
     Government. Referred also to the Select Committee on Land and
     Environmental Affairs and to the Select Committee on Local
     Government and Administration.


 (8)    Grant Agreement Amendment Number Four between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United
     States of America acting through the United States Agency for
     International Development for the Primary Education Results
     Package (formerly the South Africa Basic Education Reconstruction
     Project), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


 (9)    Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Tertiary Education
     Linkages Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (10)   Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United
     States of America acting through the United States Agency for
     International Development for the Support to Tertiary Education
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Education and to the Select
     Committee on Education and Recreation.


 (11)   Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the Government of
     the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United
     States of America acting through the United States Agency for
     International Development for the Support for Economic Growth and
     Analysis and Mandela Economics Scholars Program, tabled in terms
     of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and to the
     Portfolio Committee on Education. Referred also to the Select
     Committee on Finance and to the Select Committee on Education and
     Recreation.


 (12)   Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
     Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development for the Equity in Integrated Primary Health Care
     Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Health and to the Select
     Committee on Social Services.


 (13)   Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Three between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa acting through the
     Ministry of Health and the Government of the United States of
     America acting through the United States Agency for International
     Development for the Institutional Development Program under the
     Shelter and Urban Development Support Project (SUDS) and
     Environmentally Sustainable Housing and Urban Development Project
     (ESHUD), tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution,
     1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Housing and to the Select
     Committee on Public Services.


 (14)   Project Grant Agreement Amendment Number Five between the
     Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of
     the United States of America acting through the United States
     Agency for International Development for the Administration of
     Justice Project, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
     Development and to the Select Committee on Security and
     Constitutional Affairs.


 (15)   Government Notice No R.1112 published in Government Gazette No
     21726 dated 8 November 2000, Regulations relating to banks, made
     in terms of section 90 of the Banks Act, 1990 (Act No 94 of 1990).


 (16)   Government Notice No R.1149 published in Government Gazette No
     21751 dated 10 November 2000, Amendment of the Rules of the
     Government Employees Pension Fund Law, 1996, made in terms of
     section 29 and 6A of the Government Employees Pension Law, 1996
     (Proclamation 21 of 1996).


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and to the Select
     Committee on Finance.

1. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism:

 Government Notice No 4477 published in Government Gazette No 21778
 dated 24 November 2000, Establishment of the Greater St Lucia Wetland
 Park and Authority, made in terms of the World Heritage Conservation
 Act, 1999 (Act No 49 of 1999).

                       MONDAY, 22 JANUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bills have been introduced in the National
     Assembly since 1 January 2001 and referred to the Joint Tagging
     Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Financial Intelligence Centre Bill [B 1 - 2001] (National
          Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Finance -
          National Assembly) (introduced on 8 January 2001) [Explanatory
          summary of Bill and prior notice of its introduction published
          in Government Gazette No 21513 of 29 August 2000.]


     (ii)    South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill [B 2 -
          2001] (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
          Sport and Recreation - National Assembly) (introduced on 22
          January 2001) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of
          its introduction published in Government Gazette No 21549 of
          15 September 2000.]


 (2)    The Minister of Finance on 11 January 2001 submitted a draft of
     the Pension Funds Second Amendment Bill, 2001, and the memorandum
     explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker
     and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been
     referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the Portfolio
     Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Finance,
     respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers were tabled on 18 December 2000 and are now
 referred to the relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following papers are referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. They are also
     referred to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select
     Committee on Finance for information:


     (a)     Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal
          Commission and the Report of the Auditor-General on the
          Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal Commission
          for 1996-97.


     (b)     Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal
          Commission and the Report of the Auditor-General on the
          Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal Commission
          for 1999-2000.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Finance and the Select Committee on Finance. The reports of the
     Auditor-General contained in the following paper are referred to
     the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and
     report:


     Report and Financial Statements of the Financial and Fiscal
     Commission and the Reports of the Auditor-General on the Financial
     Statements for 1997-98 and for 1998-99.


 (3)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Select Committee on Land
     and Environmental Affairs:


    Government Notice No 4477 published in Government Gazette No 21778
     dated 24 November 2000, Establishment of the Greater St Lucia
     Wetland Park and Authority, made in terms of the World Heritage
     Conservation Act, 1999 (Act No 49 of 1999).

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 (1)    The following member vacated his seat with effect from 2
     November 2000:


     Naidoo, S.


 (2)    The following member vacated his seat with effect from 5
     December 2000:


     Makunyane, T L.


 (3)    The following member vacated his seat with effect from 6
     December 2000:


     Leeuw, S J.


 (4)    The following member vacated his seat with effect from 6
     December 2000:


     Mkatshwa, S.


 (5)    The following member vacated his seat with effect from 6
     December 2000:


     Vilakazi, B H.


 (6)    The following member passed away on 6 December 2000:


     Mahlalela, C C.


 (7)    The following member passed away on 29 December 2000:


     Mbongo, P F.
 (8)    Dr L Luyt will vacate his seat with effect from 1 February 2001
     and the vacancy will be filled with effect from 1 February 2001 by
     the nomination of the following member:


     Blanché, J P I.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Report and Financial Statements of the Special Investigating
     Unit for 1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
     the Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


 (2)    Report and Financial Statements of the Pan South African
     Language Board for 1999-2000.

                      TUESDAY, 23 JANUARY 2001 TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Truth and Reconciliation Commission for 1999-2000 [RP 180-2000].


 (2)    Interim Report of the Auditor-General on Transversal
     Environmental Audit of certain aspects of Freshwater Resources and
     Water Services [RP 181-2000].


 (3)    Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General completed at the
     Public Investment Commissioners [RP 172-2000].


 (4)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     South African Human Rights Commission for 1999-2000 [RP 187-2000].


 (5)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     South African Medical Research Council for 1999-2000 [RP 177-
     2000].


 (6)    Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Meat Board for 1998 [RP 186-2000].

                      THURSDAY, 25 JANUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 25
 January 2001 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for
 classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     Unemployment Insurance Bill [B 3 - 2001] (National Assembly - sec
     75) - (Portfolio Committee on Labour - National Assembly)
     [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its introduction
     published in Government Gazette No 21563 of 11 September 2000.]

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers were tabled on 22 January 2001 and are now
 referred to the relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Justice and Constitutional Development and to the Select Committee
     on Security and Constitutional Affairs. The Report of the Auditor-
     General contained in the following paper is referred to the
     Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration and
     report:


     Report and Financial Statements of the Special Investigating Unit
     for 1999-2000, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
     Financial Statements for 1999-2000.


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and to the Select Committee
     on Education and Recreation:


     Report and Financial Statements of the Pan South African Language
     Board for 1999-2000.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 Ms S C van der Merwe was designated as the Parliamentary Counsellor to
 the President of the Republic in terms of Rule 319 of the Rules of the
 National Assembly with effect from 24 January 2001. She replaces Mr C
 Nqakula.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 Report and Financial Statements of Khula Enterprise Finance Limited for
 1999-2000.

1. The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs:

 Report and Financial Statements of the South African Veterinary Council
 for 1999-2000.

                     WEDNESDAY, 31 JANUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers were tabled and are now referred to the relevant
 committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following papers are referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
     Development and the Select Committee on Security and
     Constitutional Affairs for information:


     (a)     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
          of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for 1999-2000 [RP
          180-2000].


     (b)     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
          of the South African Human Rights Commission for 1999-2000 [RP
          187-2000].


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism,
     the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and the
     Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs for
     information:


     Interim Report of the Auditor-General on Transversal Environmental
     Audit of certain aspects of Freshwater Resources and Water
     Services [RP 181-2000].


 (3)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on
     Finance for information:


     Performance Audit Report of the Auditor-General completed at the
     Public Investment Commissioners [RP 172-2000].


 (4)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Select Committee on
     Social Services for information:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     South African Medical Research Council for 1999-2000 [RP 177-
     2000].


 (5)    The following papers are referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs and the
     Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs for
     information:


     (a)     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
          of the Meat Board for 1998 [RP 186-2000].


     (b)     Report and Financial Statements of the South African
          Veterinary Council for 1999-2000.


 (6)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Trade and Industry and the Select Committee on Economic Affairs:


     Report and Financial Statements of Khula Enterprise Finance
     Limited for 1999-2000.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson: (1) Reports of the Auditor-General on the -

   (a) Findings identified during an Audit of the Salary Bill at National and Provincial Departments [RP 163-2000].

   (b) Financial Statements of the President’s Fund for 1998-99 [RP 179-2000].

   (c) Financial Statements of the Compensation Fund for 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 [RP 185-2000].

   (d) Financial Records of the Special Pension Board for the period 1 December 1996 to 31 March 1999.

   (e) Financial Statements of the Maize Board for 1999-2000 [RP 192-2000].

 (2)    The Human Rights Commission's Second Economic and Social Rights
     Report for 1998-1999.

1. The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology:

 Report and Financial Statements of the South African Council for
 Natural Scientific Professions for 1999-2000.

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 Report of the Department of Trade and Industry for 1998-99 [RP 178-
 2000].


 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry and the
 Select Committee on Economic Affairs.

1. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:

 (1)    Government Notice No R.1426 published in Government Gazette No
     21939 dated 22 December 2000, Determination of Magistrates'
     salaries for the purpose of the Magistrates' Act, 1993, made in
     terms of section 12(1) of the Magistrates' Act, 1993 (Act No 90 of
     1993).


 (2)    Proclamation No R.77 published in Government Gazette No 21891
     dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in terms of
     sections 2 and 10A(1) of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions
     of Employment Act, 1989 (Act No 88 of 1989).


 (3)    Proclamation No R.78 published in Government Gazette No 21891
     dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in terms of
     section 2(2)(a) of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions of
     Employment Act, 1989 (Act No 27 of 1989) (Bophuthatswana).


 (4)    Proclamation No R.79 published in Government Gazette No 21891
     dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in terms of
     sections 2 of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions of Service
     Decree, 1990 (Decree No 19 of 1990).


 (5)    Proclamation No R.73 published in Government Gazette No 21806
     dated 29 November 2000, Commencement of the Promotion of
     Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No 3 of 2000) with the
     exception of sections 4 and 10, made in terms of section 11 of the
     Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No 3 of 2000).
 (6)    Government Notice No R.1297 published in Government Gazette No
     21814 dated 29 November 2000, Determination of salaries of Deputy
     Directors of Public Prosecutions and Prosecutors for the purposes
     of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998, made in terms of
     section 18(1) of the National Prosecuting Authority Act.


 (7)    Proclamation No R.68 published in Government Gazette No 21732
     dated 10 November 2000, Amendment of Proclamations issued under
     the Special Investigating and Special Tribunals Act, 1996, made in
     terms of section 2(4) of the Special Investigating and Special
     Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of 1996).


 (8)    Proclamation No R.69 published in Government Gazette No 21742
     dated 10 November 2000, Referral of matters to existing Special
     Investigating Unit and Special Tribunal, made in terms of section
     2(2) of the Special Investigating and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
     (Act No 74 of 1996).


 (9)    Proclamation No R.66 published in Government Gazette No 21700
     dated 1 November 2000, Commencement of the Recognition of the
     Customary Marriages Act, 1998, made in terms of section 14 of the
     Recognition of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998 (Act No 120 of
     1998).


 (10)   Government Notice No R.1101 published in Government Gazette No
     21700 dated 1 November 2000, Regulations relating to the
     Recognition of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998, made in terms of
     section 11 of the Recognition of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998
     (Act No 120 of 1998).


 (11)   Government Notice No R.1110 published in Government Gazette No
     21719 dated 3 November 2000, Amendment to the determination of
     Professional Controlling Body in terms of section 1 and
     designation of a body for purposes of section 5 of the Contingency
     Fees Act, 1997 (Act No 66 of 1997).

1. The Minister of Health:

 (1)    Proclamation No R.59 published in Government Gazette No 21610
     dated 29 September 2000, Commencement of the Tobacco Products
     Control Amendment Act, 2000, made in terms of section 11 of the
     Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, 1999 (Act No 12 of 1999).


 (2)    Government Notice No R.975 published in Government Gazette No
     21610 dated 29 September 2000, Notice relating to smoking of
     tobacco products in public places, made in terms of section 2 of
     the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, 1999 (Act No 12 of
     1999).


 (3)    Government Notice No R.974 published in Government Gazette No
     21610 dated 29 September 2000, Notice relating to the maximum
     permissible yield of tar, nicotine and other constituents in
     tobacco products, made in terms section 3A of the Tobacco Products
     Control Act, 1993 (Act No 83 of 1993).


 (4)    Government Notice No R.976 published in Government Gazette No
     21610 dated 29 September 2000, Regulations relating to the point
     of sale of tobacco products, made in terms of section 3 and 6(1)
     of the Tobacco Products Control Act, 1993 (Act No 83 of 1993).


 (5)    Government Notice No R.977 published in Government Gazette No
     21610 dated 29 September 2000, Regulations relating to provision
     for exemption for unintended consequences and phasing out of
     existing sponsorship contractual obligations, made in terms of
     section 3(5) and 6(1) of the Tobacco Products Control Act, 1993
     (Act No 83 of 1993).


 (6)    Government Notice No R.1052 published in Government Gazette No
     21671 dated 27 October 2000, Amendment of regulations relating to
     milk and dairy products, made in terms of section 15(1) of the
     Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54 of
     1972).


 (7)    Government Notice No R.1108 published in Government Gazette No
     21711 dated 3 November 2000, Amendment of regulations defining the
     scope of profession of optical dispensing, made in terms of
     section 33(1) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa
     Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (8)    Government Notice No R.1109 published in Government Gazette No
     21712 dated 3 November 2000, Designation of facilities for the
     surgical termination of pregnancies, made in terms of section 3 of
     the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No 92 of
     1996).


 (9)    Government Notice No R.1150 published in Government Gazette No
     21736 dated 17 November 2000, Regulations defining the scope of
     profession of oral hygiene, made in terms of 33(1) of the Health
     Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (10)   Proclamation No R.70 published in Government Gazette No 21754
     dated 20 November 2000, Commencement of sections 12, 13, 14, 15,
     16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 27, 29 and 30 of the Pharmacy Amendment
     Act, 1997, made in terms of section 46 of the Pharmacy Amendment
     Act, 1997 (Act No 88 of 1997).
 (11)   Government Notice No 1154 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Date of commencement of regulations
     relating to performance of pharmaceutical community service and
     community service, made in terms of regulation 2 of Regulations
     relating to the performance of Pharmaceutical Community Service.


 (12)   Government Notice No 1155 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, List of approved health facilities
     for the purposes of performing community service by pharmacists in
     the year 2000, made in terms of regulation 2 of Regulations
     relating to the performance of Pharmaceutical Community Service.


 (13)   Government Notice No 1156 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations for the pharmacy
     education and training, made in terms of section 33 and 34 of the
     Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


 (14)   Government Notice No 1157 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to the
     performance of pharmaceutical community service, made in terms of
     section 14 and 14A of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


 (15)   Government Notice No 1158 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulating relating to the practice
     of pharmacy, made in terms of section 35A of the Pharmacy Act,
     1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


 (16)   Government Notice No 1159 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to the
     management of a person registered in terms of the Pharmacy Act,
     1974, unfit to practise for reasons other than unprofessional
     conduct, made in terms of sections 4, 38 and 49(1)(q) of the
     Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


 (17)   Government Notice No 1160 published in Government Gazette No
     21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to registration
     of persons and the maintenance of register, made in terms of
     section 14 of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


 (18)   Government Notice No R.1198 published in Government Gazette No
     21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating to examination
     for medical practitioners and dentists who have applied for
     registration in terms of section 26 of the Health Professions
     Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (19)   Government Notice No R.1199 published in Government Gazette No
     21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating to examination
     for medical practitioners and dentists applying for exemption from
     the restriction relating to their registration, made in terms of
     section 61(5) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa
     Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (20)   Government Notice No R.1200 published in Government Gazette No
     21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating to registration
     of persons as general practitioners and family physicians in
     medicine, made in terms of section 24 of the Health Professions
     Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (21)   Government Notice No R.1201 published in Government Gazette No
     21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating to registration
     of persons as general practitioners in dentistry, made in terms of
     section 24 of the Health Professions Council of South Africa Act,
     1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


 (22)   Government Notice No R.1203 published in Government Gazette No
     21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating to registration
     of persons who qualified outside South Africa as interns, medical
     practitioners or dentists, made in terms of section 25 of the
     Health Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
     1974).


 (23)   Government Notice No 1308 published in Government Gazette No
     21825 dated 1 December 2000, Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied
     Health Service Professions Second Amendment Act, 2000 (Act No 50
     of 2000).
 (24)   Government Notice No R.1321 published in Government Gazette No
     21830 dated 8 December 2000, Correction notice to the regulations
     relating to the Pharmacy Education and Training (R.1156 of 20
     November 2000), made in terms of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53
     of 1974).


 (25)   Government Notice No R.1348 published in Government Gazette No
     21873 dated 12 January 2001, Regulations in terms of
     Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied Health Service Professions
     Second Amendment Act, 1982 (Act No 63 of 1982).


 (26)   Government Notice No R.1353 published in Government Gazette No
     21879 dated 15 December 2000, in terms of the National Health
     Laboratory Service Act, 2000 (Act No 37 of 2000).


 (27)   Government Notice No R.1362 published in Government Gazette No
     21868 dated 15 December 2000, Annual Fees payable to the Council,
     made in terms of section 49 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979
     (Act No 19 of 1979).


 (28)   Government Notice No R.1363 published in Government Gazette No
     21868 dated 15 December 2000, Regulations relating to registration
     of dental laboratories and related matters, made in terms of
     section 50 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979 (Act No 19 of
     1979).


 (29)   Government Notice No R.1405 published in Government Gazette No
     21910 dated 22 December 2000, Amendment to the rules specifying
     the acts or omissions in respect of which disciplinary steps may
     be taken by a professional board and council, made in terms of
     section 49(2) of the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
     1974).

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 Documents relating to Parliament's oversight of the Strategic Defence
 Procurement Package:


 (1)    A letter from the Speaker to the Leader of Government Business,
     dated 29 January 2001 (Annexure A).


 (2)    A letter from the Leader of Government Business, dated 19
     January 2001, addressed to the Chairperson of the Standing
     Committee on Public Accounts (Annexure B), with attachments,
     namely:


     (a)     The January 12, 2001 Government Statement of the Defence
          Acquisition (Annexure C); and


     (b)     The January 12, 2001 letter to the President of the
          Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development on the
          issue of the "Heath Unit" (Annexure D).


     Annexures (letters referred to above) not yet part of this
     document electronically (only available in PDF)


 Referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration
 and report on the issues that are within their competence and that
 relate to their investigation.

1. The Speaker:

 President of the Republic submitted the following letter, dated 11
 January 2001, to the Speaker informing Parliament of the employment of
 the South African National Defence Force:


 Dear Madam Speaker


 EMPLOYMENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE IN COMPLIANCE
 WITH THE INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
 TOWARDS THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION AND THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN
 UNITY


 This serves to inform the National Assembly that I authorised the
 employment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel to
 fulfil the international obligations of the Republic of South Africa
 towards the UN and OAU Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE and
 OLMEE).


 This employment was authorised in accordance with the provisions of
 Section 82(4)(b)(ii) read with Section 227(1)(d) of the Constitution of
 the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No. 200 of 1993), [which
 Sections continue to be in force in terms of Item 24(1) of Schedule 6
 to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108
 of 1996)], read further with Section 3(2)(a)(v) of the Defence Act,
 1957 (Act No. 44 of 1957).


 A total of 12 personnel will be deployed to Ethiopia and Eritrea as
 follows:


 (a)    UNMEE- 10 x UN Observers/Staff Officers
 (b)    OLMEE- 2 x Military Liaison Officers


 The SANDF members will be deployed for a total of two years with a
 rotation of all personnel after six months.


 The expected costs for the deployment of personnel to the mission area
 are as follows:


 A.     ERITREA


 Costs per person per year are as follows:


 i.     US$2 409.00 special daily allowance.
 ii.    R7 592 standby allowance.
 iii.R2 401.70 danger allowance.
 iv.    R3 598.90 special danger allowance.
 v.     The total cost of one person deployed to Eritrea for one year
    amounts to R34 117.28. Calculations are based on an exchange rate
    of R7.52 to the US$ and include the special danger allowance.


 B.     ETHIOPIA


 Costs per person per year are as follows:


 i.     US$7 665.00 special daily allowance.
 ii.    R7 592 standby allowance.
 iii.   R2 401.70 danger allowance.
iv.          R3 598.90 special danger allowance (if confirmed).
 v.     The total cost of one person deployed to Ethiopia for one year
       amounts to R78 898.40. Calculations are based on an exchange
       rate of R7.52 to the US$ and include the special danger
       allowance.


 Other costs to be incurred are as follows:


 (a)    4 x 4 vehicle driver orientation courseR56 000.00
    (Allows for training of rotation personnel also)
 (b)    Stationery required for mobilisation every six monthsR1 000.00
 (c)    Rations during mobilisationR1 600.00
 (d)    Subsistence and travel during mobilisationR32 000.00
 (e)    Immunisation of initial and subsequent groupsR12 000.00
 (f)    Photographs for passportsR1 000.00
 (g)    Uniforms and personal equipmentR192 000.00
 (h)    Rotation every six months- air tickets for own cost (24 return
     tickets)R144 000.00
 (i)    Provision for eight one-week visits over two years
      Four return ticketsR48 000.00
      Daily allowance @ US$70.00 per dayR28 224.00
      Hotel costs @ US$120.00 per dayR48 384.00


 TOTAL ADDITIONAL COSTSR564 208.00
 TOTAL COST FOR TWO-YEAR DEPLOYMENT


 The total cost of a two-year deployment amounts to:


 (a)    9 x members to EthiopiaR1 420 171.20
 (b)    3 x members to EritreaR204 703.68
 (c)    Additional costs for mobilisation, equipping, rotation, S&T,
     staff visits, etc R564 208.00


 Total Expense for Participation: R2 189 082.88


 The Department of Defence is responsible for the costs of this
 Deployment.


 I will also communicate this report to the National Council of
 Provinces, and wish to request that you bring the contents of this
 report to the notice of Members of the National Assembly.




 Regards






 T M MBEKI

                       MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry on 24 January 2001
     submitted a draft of the National Forest and Fire Laws Amendment
     Bill, 2001, and the memorandum explaining the objects of the
     proposed legislation, to the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms
     of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been referred by the Speaker and
     the Chairperson to the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and
     Forestry and the Select Committee on Land and Environmental
     Affairs, respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).


 (2)    The Minister of Correctional Services on 25 January 2001
     submitted a draft of the Correctional Services Amendment Bill,
     2001, and the memorandum explaining the objects of the proposed
     legislation, to the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms of Joint
     Rule 159. The draft has been referred by the Speaker and the
     Chairperson to the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services
     and the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs,
     respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 The following papers were tabled and are now referred to the relevant
 committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration
     and the Select Committee on Local Government and Administration:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Findings identified during an
     Audit of the Salary Bill at National and Provincial Departments
     [RP 163-2000].


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
     Development and the Select Committee on Security and
     Constitutional Affairs:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     President's Fund for 1998-99 [RP 179-2000].


 (3)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Labour and the Select Committee on
     Labour and Public Enterprises:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Compensation Fund for 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 [RP 185-2000].


 (4)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on
     Finance:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Records of the
     Special Pension Board for the period 1 December 1996 to 31 March
     1999.


 (5)    The following paper is referred to the Standing Committee on
     Public Accounts for consideration and report. It is also referred
     to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs and the
     Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs:


     Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of the
     Maize Board for 1999-2000 [RP 192-2000].


 (6)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Justice and Constitutional Development, the Select Committee on
     Security and Constitutional Affairs and the Joint Monitoring
     Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women:
     (a)     Proclamation No R.66 published in Government Gazette No
          21700 dated 1 November 2000, Commencement of the Recognition
          of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998, made in terms of section
          14 of the Recognition of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998
          (Act No 120 of 1998).


     (b)     Government Notice No R.1101 published in Government
          Gazette No 21700 dated 1 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to the Recognition of the Customary Marriages Act, 1998, made
          in terms of section 11 of the Recognition of the Customary
          Marriages Act, 1998 (Act No 120 of 1998).


 (7)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Justice and Constitutional Development and the Select Committee on
     Security and Constitutional Affairs:


     (a)     Government Notice No R.1110 published in Government
          Gazette No 21719 dated 3 November 2000, Amendment to the
          determination of Professional Controlling Body in terms of
          section 1 and designation of a body for purposes of section 5
          of the Contingency Fees Act, 1997 (Act No 66 of 1997).


     (b)     Government Notice No R.1426 published in Government
          Gazette No 21939 dated 22 December 2000, Determination of
          Magistrates' salaries for the purpose of the Magistrates' Act,
          1993, made in terms of section 12(1) of the Magistrates' Act,
          1993 (Act No 90 of 1993).


     (c)     Proclamation No R.77 published in Government Gazette No
          21891 dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in
          terms of sections 2 and 10A(1) of the Judges' Remuneration and
          Conditions of Employment Act, 1989 (Act No 88 of 1989).


     (d)     Proclamation No R.78 published in Government Gazette No
          21891 dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in
          terms of section 2(2)(a) of the Judges' Remuneration and
          Conditions of Employment Act, 1989 (Act No 27 of 1989)
          (Bophuthatswana).
     (e)     Proclamation No R.79 published in Government Gazette No
          21891 dated 12 December 2000, Remuneration of Judges, made in
          terms of sections 2 of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions
          of Service Decree, 1990 (Decree No 19 of 1990).


     (f)     Proclamation No R.73 published in Government Gazette No
          21806 dated 29 November 2000, Commencement of the Promotion of
          Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No 3 of 2000) with the
          exception of sections 4 and 10, made in terms of section 11 of
          the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No 3 of
          2000).


     (g)     Government Notice No R.1297 published in Government
          Gazette No 21814 dated 29 November 2000, Determination of
          salaries of Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions and
          Prosecutors for the purposes of the National Prosecuting
          Authority Act, 1998, made in terms of section 18(1) of the
          National Prosecuting Authority Act.
     (h)     Proclamation No R.68 published in Government Gazette No
          21732 dated 10 November 2000, Amendment of Proclamations
          issued under the Special Investigating and Special Tribunals
          Act, 1996, made in terms of section 2(4) of the Special
          Investigating and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
          1996).


     (i)     Proclamation No R.69 published in Government Gazette No
          21742 dated 10 November 2000, Referral of matters to existing
          Special Investigating Unit and Special Tribunal, made in terms
          of section 2(2) of the Special Investigating and Special
          Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of 1996).


 (8)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Health and to the Select Committee on Social Services:


     (a)     Proclamation No R.59 published in Government Gazette No
          21610 dated 29 September 2000, Commencement of the Tobacco
          Products Control Amendment Act, 2000, made in terms of section
          11 of the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, 1999 (Act No
          12 of 1999).


     (b)     Government Notice No R.975 published in Government Gazette
          No 21610 dated 29 September 2000, Notice relating to smoking
          of tobacco products in public places, made in terms of section
          2 of the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act, 1999 (Act No
          12 of 1999).


     (c)     Government Notice No R.974 published in Government Gazette
          No 21610 dated 29 September 2000, Notice relating to the
          maximum permissible yield of tar, nicotine and other
          constituents in tobacco products, made in terms section 3A of
          the Tobacco Products Control Act, 1993 (Act No 83 of 1993).


     (d)     Government Notice No R.976 published in Government Gazette
          No 21610 dated 29 September 2000, Regulations relating to the
          point of sale of tobacco products, made in terms of section 3
          and 6(1) of the Tobacco Products Control Act, 1993 (Act No 83
          of 1993).
     (e)     Government Notice No R.977 published in Government Gazette
          No 21610 dated 29 September 2000, Regulations relating to
          provision for exemption for unintended consequences and
          phasing out of existing sponsorship contractual obligations,
          made in terms of section 3(5) and 6(1) of the Tobacco Products
          Control Act, 1993 (Act No 83 of 1993).


     (f)     Government Notice No R.1052 published in Government
          Gazette No 21671 dated 27 October 2000, Amendment of
          regulations relating to milk and dairy products, made in terms
          of section 15(1) of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and
          Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54 of 1972).


     (g)     Government Notice No R.1108 published in Government
          Gazette No 21711 dated 3 November 2000, Amendment of
          regulations defining the scope of profession of optical
          dispensing, made in terms of section 33(1) of the Health
          Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
          1974).


     (h)     Government Notice No R.1109 published in Government
          Gazette No 21712 dated 3 November 2000, Designation of
          facilities for the surgical termination of pregnancies, made
          in terms of section 3 of the Choice on Termination of
          Pregnancy Act, 1996 (Act No 92 of 1996).


     (i)     Government Notice No R.1150 published in Government
          Gazette No 21736 dated 17 November 2000, Regulations defining
          the scope of profession of oral hygiene, made in terms of
          33(1) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa Act,
          1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


     (j)     Proclamation No R.70 published in Government Gazette No
          21754 dated 20 November 2000, Commencement of sections 12, 13,
          14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 27, 29 and 30 of the Pharmacy
          Amendment Act, 1997, made in terms of section 46 of the
          Pharmacy Amendment Act, 1997 (Act No 88 of 1997).


     (k)     Government Notice No 1154 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Date of commencement of
          regulations relating to performance of pharmaceutical
          community service and community service, made in terms of
          regulation 2 of Regulations relating to the performance of
          Pharmaceutical Community Service.


     (l)     Government Notice No 1155 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, List of approved health
          facilities for the purposes of performing community service by
          pharmacists in the year 2000, made in terms of regulation 2 of
          Regulations relating to the performance of Pharmaceutical
          Community Service.


     (m)     Government Notice No 1156 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations for the pharmacy
          education and training, made in terms of section 33 and 34 of
          the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


     (n)     Government Notice No 1157 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to the
          performance of pharmaceutical community service, made in terms
          of section 14 and 14A of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of
          1974).


     (o)     Government Notice No 1158 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulating relating to the
          practice of pharmacy, made in terms of section 35A of the
          Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


     (p)     Government Notice No 1159 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to the
          management of a person registered in terms of the Pharmacy
          Act, 1974, unfit to practise for reasons other than
          unprofessional conduct, made in terms of sections 4, 38 and
          49(1)(q) of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


     (q)     Government Notice No 1160 published in Government Gazette
          No 21754 dated 20 November 2000, Regulations relating to
          registration of persons and the maintenance of register, made
          in terms of section 14 of the Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of
          1974).


     (r)     Government Notice No R.1198 published in Government
          Gazette No 21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to examination for medical practitioners and dentists who have
          applied for registration in terms of section 26 of the Health
          Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
          1974).


     (s)     Government Notice No R.1199 published in Government
          Gazette No 21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to examination for medical practitioners and dentists applying
          for exemption from the restriction relating to their
          registration, made in terms of section 61(5) of the Health
          Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
          1974).


     (t)     Government Notice No R.1200 published in Government
          Gazette No 21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to registration of persons as general practitioners and family
          physicians in medicine, made in terms of section 24 of the
          Health Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No
          56 of 1974).


     (u)     Government Notice No R.1201 published in Government
          Gazette No 21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to registration of persons as general practitioners in
          dentistry, made in terms of section 24 of the Health
          Professions Council of South Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of
          1974).


     (v)     Government Notice No R.1203 published in Government
          Gazette No 21792 dated 28 November 2000, Regulations relating
          to registration of persons who qualified outside South Africa
          as interns, medical practitioners or dentists, made in terms
          of section 25 of the Health Professions Council of South
          Africa Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).


     (w)     Government Notice No 1308 published in Government Gazette
          No 21825 dated 1 December 2000, Chiropractors, Homeopaths and
          Allied Health Service Professions Second Amendment Act, 2000
          (Act No 50 of 2000).


     (x)     Government Notice No R.1321 published in Government
          Gazette No 21830 dated 8 December 2000, Correction notice to
          the regulations relating to the Pharmacy Education and
          Training (R.1156 of 20 November 2000), made in terms of the
          Pharmacy Act, 1974 (Act No 53 of 1974).


     (y)     Government Notice No R.1348 published in Government
          Gazette No 21873 dated 12 January 2001, Regulations in terms
          of Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied Health Service
          Professions Second Amendment Act, 1982 (Act No 63 of 1982).


     (z)     Government Notice No R.1353 published in Government
          Gazette No 21879 dated 15 December 2000, in terms of the
          National Health Laboratory Service Act, 2000 (Act No 37 of
          2000).


     (aa) Government Notice No R.1362 published in Government Gazette
          No 21868 dated 15 December 2000, Annual Fees payable to the
          Council, made in terms of section 49 of the Dental Technicians
          Act, 1979 (Act No 19 of 1979).


     (bb) Government Notice No R.1363 published in Government Gazette
          No 21868 dated 15 December 2000, Regulations relating to
          registration of dental laboratories and related matters, made
          in terms of section 50 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979
          (Act No 19 of 1979).


     (cc) Government Notice No R.1405 published in Government Gazette
          No 21910 dated 22 December 2000, Amendment to the rules
          specifying the acts or omissions in respect of which
          disciplinary steps may be taken by a professional board and
          council, made in terms of section 49(2) of the Health
          Professions Act, 1974 (Act No 56 of 1974).
 (9)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and the Select Committee on
     Education and Recreation:


     Report and Financial Statements of the South African Council for
     Natural Scientific Professions for 1999-2000.


 (10) The following paper is referred to the Joint Standing Committee on
     Defence:


     Letter from the President informing Parliament of the employment
     of the South African National Defence Force in compliance with the
     international obligations of the Republic of South Africa towards
     the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity.


 (11) The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committees on
     Justice and Constitutional Development, Education, Environmental
     Affairs and Tourism, Health, Housing, Agriculture and Land
     Affairs, Social Development, Water Affairs and Forestry, and
     Correctional Services. It is also referred to the Select
     Committees on Security and Constitutional Affairs, Education and
     Recreation, Land and Environmental Affairs, Social Services and
     Public Services. It is also further referred to the Joint
     Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and
     Status of Women and the Joint Monitoring Committee on the
     Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Children, Youth and
     Disabled Persons:


     The Human Rights Commission's Second Economic and Social Rights
     Report for 1998-1999.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 The swearing in ceremony of Mr Johannes Petrus Izak Blanché, who became
 a member of the National Assembly with effect from 1 February 2001,
 took place in the Speaker's Office on 1 February 2001.

1. The Speaker: The following changes have been made to the membership of Committees, viz:

 Public Accounts:


 Appointed: Beukman, F; Blaas, A (Alt); Bruce, N S (Alt); Clelland, N J
 (Alt); Doidge, G Q M; Makwetla, S P (Alt); Masithela, N H (Alt);
 Mothoagae, P K (Alt); Nel, A C (Alt); Taljaard, R (Alt).
 Discharged: Bell, B G; Fankomo, F C; Hogan, B A; Odendaal, W A.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

Report of the Board for Manufacturing Development for 1999.

1. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism: Government Notice No R.1428 published in Government Gazette No 21948 dated 29 December 2000, Amendment of regulations, made in terms of section 77 of the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No 18 of 1998).

 Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and
 Tourism and the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs.

                      TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 6 February 2001 in terms of
     Joint Rule 160(6), classified the following Bills as section 75
     Bills:


     (i)           Financial Intelligence Centre Bill [B 1 - 2001]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Finance - National Assembly).


     (ii)    South African Sports Commission Amendment Bill [B 2 -
              2001] (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee
              on Sport and Recreation - National Assembly).


     (iii)   Unemployment Insurance Bill [B 3 - 2001] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Labour -
              National Assembly).

National Assembly:

The Speaker:

1. The following members have been appointed to serve on the Committee mentioned, viz:

 Ad hoc Committee on Filling of Vacancies in Commission for Gender
 Equality:


 African National Congress:


 Bhengu, N R; Bogopane, H I; Dithebe, S L; Gigaba, K M N; Govender, P;
 Gxowa, N B; Hangana, N E; Mahomed, F; Makasi, X C (Alt); Maloney, L
 (Alt); Malumise, M M; Mnandi, P N; Mtsweni, N S; Newhoudt-Druchen, W S
 (Alt); Ramakaba-Lesia, M M; Sotyu, M M; Xingwana, L M T.


 Democratic Party:


 Sono, B N; Semple, J A.


 Inkatha Freedom Party:


 Mbuyazi, L R.


 New National Party:


 Camerer, S M.


 United Democratic Movement:


 Mndende, O N.


 African Christian Democratic Party:


 Southgate, R M.


 Freedom Front:


 Viljoen, C L.


 Azanian People's Organisation:


 Mangena, M A.


 United Christian Democratic Party:


 Baloi, G E.


 Minority Front:


 Rajbally, S.


 Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging:


 Aucamp, C.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote 18 -
 Improvement of Conditions of Service for 1999-2000 [RP 127-2000].

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 (1)    Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South
     Africa and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
     tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the Constitution, 1996.


 (2)    Explanatory Memorandum to the Agreement.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker:

 Document relating to Parliament's oversight of the Strategic Defence
 Procurement Package:


 Letter from the Leader of Government Business, dated 31 January 2001,
 in response to the letter of the Speaker, dated 29 January 2001:




 The Speaker of the National Assembly
 Dr F.N. Ginwala
 P.O. Box 15
 CAPE TOWN
 8000


 31 January 2001


 Dear Madam Speaker


 I wish to thank you for your response to my letter in which you
 addressed some of the issues I had raised in my letter to the
 chairperson of the Standing Committee On Public Accounts.


 Your letter has assisted in clarifying the background to the issues,
 and the procedures followed by the National Assembly, which led to the
 preliminary report adopted by the National Assembly on the 3rd November
 2000.


 I further wish to concur with your observations that there are more
 issues that SCOPA needs to address before final conclusions are reached
 on the best way forward. In this regard, I appreciate your efforts to
 guide SCOPA in the process of finalising this matter.


 I am also pleased to learn that the National Assembly is due to receive
 a report from this Committee, and that you have also requested them to
 respond to my letter of the 19th January 2001. I also hope that in the
 pending report to Parliament, SCOPA would be able to address the
 matters raised in the first National Assembly report with more clarity.
 Amongst the issues that SCOPA would have to respond to are the
 following:


 _ What evidence was gathered by this Committee, upon which it bases its
     assertion that defence acquisitions are usually attended by
     malpractice, with the purchasing countries being victims of such
     malpractice?


 _ What evidence does the Committee have that in this specific instance,
     such malpractice occurred, as well as evidence of the resultant
     harm to South Africa?


 The National Assembly's preliminary report further makes allegations
 regarding flawed selection procedures with regard to the appointment of
 contractors. It would be helpful therefore if the Committee, in the
 subsequent report, answered the following questions:


 _ On what information does SCOPA base its conclusion that improper
     influence might have been exerted in `certain of these
     selections'?


 _ Which of these selections are being referred to and who are the
     influential parties?


 _ What evidence caused SCOPA to reach the conclusion that influential
     parties might have influenced the choice of sub-contractors?
 _ Why did SCOPA omit to invite the Ministers who were involved in this
     process to clarify and answer questions, prior to the finalisation
     of the National Assembly's preliminary report?


 Madam Speaker, I am certain that, if the Second Report of SCOPA to
 Parliament responded to these questions, that will assist the National
 Assembly in its earnest search for the truth in this matter.


 Yours sincerely


 Jacob Zuma
 Leader of Government Business


 Referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for consideration
 and report.

                       FRIDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Minister of Defence on 30 January 2001 submitted drafts of
     the Termination of Integration Intake Bill, 2001, Constitution of
     the Republic of South Africa Amendment Bill, 2001, and
     Demobilisation Amendment Bill, 2001, and the memorandums
     explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker
     and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The drafts have
     been referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the Portfolio
     Committee on Defence and the Select Committee on Security and
     Constitutional Affairs, respectively, in accordance with Joint
     Rule 159(2).


 (2)    The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development on 1
     February 2001 submitted a draft of the Special Investigating Units
     and Special Tribunals Amendment Bill, 2001, and a memorandum
     explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker
     and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been
     referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the Portfolio
     Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development and the Select
     Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs, respectively, in
     accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).


 (3)    The Minister of Safety and Security on 2 February 2001 submitted
     a draft of the Security Industry Regulation Bill, 2001, and a
     memorandum explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to
     the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The
     draft has been referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the
     Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security and the Select
     Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs, respectively, in
     accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following Bills were introduced in the National Assembly on
     9 February 2001 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
     for classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment
          Bill [B 4 - 2001] (National Assembly - sec 74(3)(a)) -
          (Portfolio Committee on Defence - National Assembly)
          [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
          introduction published in Government Gazette No 21599 of 22
          September 2000.]


          NOTE:
          The Portfolio Committee on Defence has been instructed by the
          Speaker in terms of National Assembly Rule 249(3)(c) to
          consult the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
          Development on the Bill.


     (ii)    Demobilisation Amendment Bill [B 5 - 2001] (National
              Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Defence -
              National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior
              notice of its introduction published in Government
              Gazette No 21599 of 22 September 2000.]


     (iii)   Termination of Integration Intake Bill [B 6 - 2001]
              (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
              Defence - National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill
              and prior notice of its introduction published in
              Government Gazette No 21599 of 22 September 2000.]

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote No 3
 - Parliament for 1999-2000 [RP 112-2000].

1. The Minister of Trade and Industry:

 Annual Report of the South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of
 weapons of mass destruction for 1998-1999.

National Assembly: Papers:

1. The Speaker:

 Written comments received from the public and/or the provincial
 legislatures on the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
 Amendment Bill [B 4 - 2001] and submitted by the Minister of Defence in
 terms of section 74(6)(a)  of the Constitution.

                      MONDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2001

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    On 12 February 2001 the following Bill, at the request of the
     Minister of Housing, was introduced in the National Council of
     Provinces by the Select Committee on Public Services. It was
     referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification
     in terms of Joint Rule 160:
     (i)     Housing Amendment Bill [B 7 - 2001] (National Council of
          Provinces - sec 76(2)) - (Select Committee on Public Services
          - National Council of Provinces) [Explanatory summary of Bill
          and prior notice of its introduction published in Government
          Gazette No 21556 of 8 September 2000.]


 (2)    The following Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 12
     February 2001 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
     for classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Correctional Services Amendment Bill [B 8 - 2001]
          (National Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on
          Correctional Services - National Assembly) [Explanatory
          summary of Bill and prior notice of its introduction published
          in Government Gazette No 22020 of 25 January 2001.]

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker: (1) The following private member’s legislative proposal was submitted to the Speaker on 12 February 2001, in accordance with Rule 234:

   (i) Draft Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Amendment Bill (Mr F Beukman).

   The legislative proposal has been referred to the Standing Committee on Private Members’ Legislative Proposals and Special Petitions by the Speaker, in accordance with Rule 235.

 (2)    List of candidates submitted by interested parties to fill
     vacancies on the Commission for Gender Equality, received from the
     Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, is referred
     for consideration to the Ad Hoc Committee on the filling of
     vacancies on the Commission for Gender Equality established by
     resolution of the National Assembly on 1 November 2000.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces: Papers:

1. The Minister of Finance:

 (1)    Government Notice No R.1414 published in Government Gazette No
     21936 dated 28 December 2000, Conditions for the conducting of the
     business of a bank by a foreign institution by means of a branch
     in South Africa, made in terms of section 90 of the Banks Act,
     1990 (Act No 94 of 1990).


 (2)    Government Notice No R.1422 published in Government Gazette No
     21941 dated 28 December 2000, Designation of the institution of
     which the activities do not fall within the meaning of "the
     business of a bank" ("Financial Service Co-operative") made in
     terms of paragraph (dd)(i) of the definition of "the Business of a
     bank" in section 1 of the Banks Act, 1990 (Act No 94 of 1990).


 (3)    Government Notice No R.1423 published in Government Gazette No
     21936 dated 28 December 2000, Designation of the institution of
     which the activities do not fall within the meaning of "the
     business of a bank" ("The National Housing Finance Corporation
     Limited"), made in terms of paragraph (dd)(i) of the definition of
     "the Business of a bank" in section 1 of the Banks Act, 1990 (Act
     No 94 of 1990).

1. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:

 Draft Regulations made in terms of section 40 of the National
 Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998 (Act No 32 of 1998) submitted to
 Parliament in terms of section 40(3)(c) of the Act.

1. The Minister of Minerals and Energy:

 Report and Financial Statements of the Atomic Energy Corporation of
 South Africa for 2000.

National Assembly:

1. The Minister of Finance:

 Resolutions of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for 2000 and
 replies thereto obtained by the National Treasury - Twelfth and
 Thirteenth Report, 2000.

                      TUESDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2001

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provincies:

Papers:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

Reports of the Auditor-General on the -


 (a)    Financial Statements of Vote No 32 - Statistics South Africa for
     1999-2000 [RP 141-2000].


 (b)    Financial Statements of Vote No 2 - Deputy President and the
     National Youth Commission for the period 1 April to 31 May 1999
     [RP 111-2000].