WEDNESDAY, 18 JUNE 2003 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:03.

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.

The SPEAKER: Hon members, hon President, I gather there was a slight disturbance before I arrived. I do not have to rule it out of order but may I add my own good wishes to you on your birthday. [Applause.]

                  BIRTHDAY WISHES TO THE PRESIDENT

                         (Draft Resolution) The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I  move  without notice:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  today, 18 June 2003, is the 61st birthday of our head of state,
       President Thabo Mbeki, who was born at Idutywa in the Eastern
       Cape in 1942; and


   (b)  this year's birthday is celebrated on the road with the people
       of South Africa, marching to a better tomorrow;

(2) hopes that, within an ever-demanding schedule, our people and the President will pause briefly in the shade to again share the ever- present gift of hope and goodwill; and

(3) together with the people of South Africa, says: ``Happy birthday to President Thabo Mbeki!’’ Agreed to.

                         APPROPRIATION BILL

Debate on Vote No 1 - The Presidency:

The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker and members of the House. The Deputy President has just told the Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party that he has just disclosed a state secret. [Laughter.] And therefore I trust the police will take the necessary action! [Laughter.]

Madam Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon leaders of our political parties, hon members, distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for affording us the opportunity to address Parliament on the occasion of our Budget Vote.

As is customary, the Deputy President will also address the House on various issues the Presidency deals with, including the important matters of Aids, the legislature, elements of our international work and moral regeneration of our society. The Minister in the Presidency will speak to Parliament on the issues of gender equity, the rights of people with disabilities, the rights of children and matters relating to the youth.

On 28 December last year, Andrew Gerber, who turned 28 last Friday, overcame the cold and difficult conditions of the Antarctic to reach the South Pole on foot, the first South African to do so. [Applause.]

In January of this year, Marion Cole captained the loveLife yacht, sailing with a young black crew in the Cape to Rio Yacht Race. These young South Africans traversed the forbidding waters of the Atlantic Ocean as bearers of the torch of freedom in the quest to mobilise global action against the common health challenges of our time. [Applause.]

On 26 May this year Sibusiso Vilane conquered Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, becoming the first black person to do so. [Applause.] Sean Wisedale also did South Africa and Africa proud by reaching the top of Mount Everest. [Applause.]

Only two days ago, on our national Youth Day, Fusi Nhlapo whose birthday we celebrate today - happy birthday, Fusi! [Applause] - gave further inspiration to all of us when he won the Comrades Marathon. [Applause.] Quite correctly, yesterday this House conveyed its congratulations to Fusi and the other runners who led the thousands of participating athletes into the Kingsmead Stadium on Monday.

According to its outstanding principal, Dave Robinson, Bryanston High School in Gauteng has a stated aim as a community school to contribute positively to our wider community. The learners are encouraged at all times to think of others and to translate their sympathy for those less fortunate into action. He says:

Our Grade 11 group, in particular, is encouraged to take part in charity committees. Through the representative council of learners and related leadership projects we have helped various organisations over the past three years. The teacher in charge of these projects is Mrs Gill Fulscher, one of our heads of department, who has been an inspiration to the learners in terms of vision and devotion.

As a result of the exciting programme carried out by this school to contribute positively to the wider community, two of its learners, Kevin Tregurtha and Tasmin Nash, decided to do something about the street children of Hillbrow, Johannesburg. This is what Kevin has written in this regard:

I saw a programme on e-tv about children sleeping under boxes on the streets, and I decided that I want to help in a different way. I then approached our grade controller with the idea and asked Tasmin if she would be willing to help.

From there on it took us lots of phone calls to various companies, but finally things started to come together and the big night, the 3rd of June, arrived. At about 6:30 pm we arrived at the Hillbrow police station with our four blanket-filled cars. After about an hour we had the police escort we had been waiting for.

We then made our way to our first stop, where, as the car stopped, people started rushing towards us. We then moved on to our next stop. They had already been told we were coming. We then offloaded the bakkie. We saw only hands and faces which were desperately pulling on our clothes, our boxes and the blankets we were giving out. Once the bakkie had been cleared we then moved on to our next stop. As we were leaving, people were knocking on the car’s windows, trying to prevent us from leaving.

Once we had left Hillbrow, we could then reflect on what we had seen; children sniffing glue, the way that people actually lived and little girls walking around with one-month-old babies on their hips. That night sincerely touched our hearts. The people had tears in their eyes and we could see that they appreciated what they had been given. We would do it again.

[Applause.]

We have an image of what things are going to be like and nothing could have prepared us for what we have seen, and we’ll be hoping to do more projects like this.

[Applause.]

Palesa Mohapi is 18 years old. In May she won the international English- Speaking Union debate in London in competition with her peers from across the world. In her award-winning speech Palesa spoke of the role of women in the African Renaissance. Among other things, she said:

In the pursuit of these things women have an important role to play - women like my grandmother, who worked at two jobs in order to send her children to the best schools.

Having described the successful poverty alleviation programme in Swaziland run by women, she continues:

These women, like my grandmother, are making positive change, and this is a fundamental part of the African Renaissance.

[Applause.] I agree, and I’m sure this House agrees, and thank you very much, Palesa, for your wise words.

Andrew Gerber, the young people who sailed with Marion Cole, Sibusiso Vilane, Fusi Nhlapo, Palesa Mohapi, Kevin Tregurtha and Tasmin Nash have, through their distinguished achievements, spoken for all of us. They are saying the tide has turned and Africa’s time has come. It must surely be a matter of great pride to all of us that these messages are conveyed to us by the youth of our country. What they have done has served to answer those in our country who regularly present both a false and negative picture of our youth and a pessimistic view of the future of our country.

Their achievements tell the story that we have many young people in our country who are full of initiative, who are highly intelligent, brave and disciplined, determined to live in and contribute to the building of a winning nation and ready to engage this task with the patience and persistence of a marathon runner. When we say the tide has turned and that Africa’s time has come, we say so because we are confident of the role that the youth are playing and will continue to play to ensure that our country and continent continue along the difficult road that will lead all of Africa to stable democratic systems, to peace and stability, to prosperity and eradication of poverty, and the restoration of the dignity of all Africa’s women, children and men.

As we observe June as Youth Month, the month of Youth Day, once more we extend our salute to our youth and ensure them that we’ll continue to work together with them for the improvement of their conditions of life, focusing on the challenges of youth development and empowerment.

I’m very pleased and honoured that we have in the House today the young heroes and heroines I’ve mentioned. These are Sibusiso Vilane, the conqueror of Mount Everest; Palesa Mohapi, a victor in the conveyance of the challenges of the African Renaissance; Marion Cole, representing the youth who sailed the oceans to link us with the Americas and communicate an important message concerning the health of our youth and country; Fusi Nhlapo, who has refused to be deterred by the loneliness of the long- distance runner and discouraged by the fact of unemployment, and Kevin Tregurtha and Tasmin Nash, who brought warmth and hope to the street children of Hillbrow and all our towns and cities. Andrew Gerber is currently out of the country, otherwise he too would have honoured us with his presence. [Applause.] And here they sit.

Together with them, I would also like to welcome to the House Mr Mike Bernard, representing the sponsor of Sibusiso Vilane; Sibusiso Vilane’s wife and child; the Reverend Mohapi, Palesa’s father; Sean Wisedale and his partner, Joy Simmonds; Brian Cole, Marion’s husband; Mr and Mrs Gerber, the parents of Andrew Gerber, and Dave Robinson, the principal of Bryanston High. They also … [Applause.] To all of them I’d like to extend our profound thanks for everything they’ve done to inspire and support the young patriots and achievers we are privileged to salute today. What you have done has enabled our country also to stand tall among the nations because we stand on your shoulders which have carried the young people who sit in the gallery to the pinnacles of achievement they have attained.

Madam Speaker, Sibusiso and Sean gave me this flag. This is the flag that Sibusiso took to the top of Mount Everest … [Applause.] … and that Sean then brought down from the top of Mount Everest. [Applause.] What they said was that this flag should belong to the Museum of Parliament, so I will hand it over to you, Madam Speaker, when I have finished speaking. [Applause.]

We’ve also spoken of the need for all of us to join hands in a people’s contract for a better tomorrow. In this regard I’m pleased that after much preparatory work, the social partners at Nedlac came together on 7 June at the Growth and Development Summit to adopt the extensive agreement negotiated by the social partners. I’m happy to commend this agreement to this House and urge hon members to see in what ways they can contribute to its implementation and the implementation of its various programmes, continuing to be inspired by the practices of Letsema and Vukuzenzele.

In the past some in our country called for an economic Codesa. This reflected a genuine and understandable desire on their part that we develop a national consensus on economic questions. In this way we would come together in a people’s contract for economic growth and development, for the liquidation of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and for the eradication of poverty. The agreement arrived at in the Growth and Development Summit says, among other things:

During deliberations, it was agreed that a vision for growth and development should be adopted, a set of priorities for joint action identified and a process set in place to ensure that the identified programme of action is carried out.

It goes on to say that:

… the Summit is launching a process for a longer-term dialogue that will require the Nedlac Executive Council to continue to focus and engage on as well as consider how to address the key challenges and options at hand - above all, job creation, economic growth and overcoming the massive inequalities left by apartheid … The constituencies of Nedlac - government, business, labour and the community - reaffirm their commitment to social dialogue and working together to address the economic and development challenges our country faces.

It goes on to say that:

Nedlac chambers and structures will have standing items on their agendas dealing with the GDS agreements and receive regular reports on the progress of the implementation of the agreements. Constituencies commit to an annual review by the Executive Council of Nedlac, of the success of the GDS agreements and to making adjustments where necessary.

Some in our country predicted that the GDS would fail. Without even seeing the documents negotiated by the social partners, they stated that the GDS had failed even before it took place. In its aftermath they found it necessary to assert that they have proved their prowess as soothsayers.

However, even a cursory reading of the GDS agreement will indicate that the summit achieved the goals that had been set. It has provided us with a central and decisive element of the national consensus on the challenges of economic growth and development that some of our compatriots had called for. Beyond this, as demonstrated by the passages from the agreement we have cited, the Nedlac social partners have committed themselves to a process to monitor and ensure the implementation of the agreements they have reached. This indicates the seriousness with which the social partners approach the responsibilities with which they were charged.

This House, and our national Parliament as a whole, would also do well to interest itself in the implementation of these agreements in a constructive manner, focused on helping to achieve the results decided at the GDS. Beyond what we have said, the Growth and Development Summit represented a concrete and important response to our call to all our people to enter into a people’s contract for a better South Africa.

In this regard, I would like to extend our profound appreciation to business, labour and the community organisations for responding to the call made by Government that we should join forces in the people’s contract we need to ensure that we make faster progress towards the achievement of the socioeconomic goals that stand at the centre of our objective to create a people-centred society. This response has helped to consolidate the critically important process in our country in terms of which we are further strengthening the unity in action of our country and people. This is not only emerging as a distinct feature of our democracy, consistent with the vision that the people shall govern, but constitutes a vital contribution to the continuing struggle to build a nonracial and nonsexist society, and achieve national reconciliation.

It was indeed inspiring to see gathered at the GDS our people in all their races and colours and with significant numbers of women, all united to implement an eminently practical programme of action to address the common challenges we all face as South Africans, regardless of colour and race and gender and class.

As I’ve already said, we are currently observing Youth Month dedicated to the advancement of that important section of our population, the youth. It was very good that the GDS ensured that it paid the necessary attention to the matter of youth development and empowerment. In this regard, among other things, the GDS agreement says:

The majority of the unemployed are young. It is increasingly difficult for young people to find work - partly because there are not enough jobs, and partly because the young do not have the skills that are in demand in the labour market. Women, people with disabilities, and those living in rural areas face additional obstacles to finding employment and developing their skills. Currently too few young people are given opportunities to improve their skills in areas that will enhance their employability.

Running through the GDS agreement is a necessary focus on programmes to meet the identified challenges of skills and employment opportunities that face our youth. What this means is that just as we said of our youth that they must act to change our country and continent for the better, as the young people who’ve honoured us with their presence in the House today have done, so we too have an obligation to ensure that we respond to the challenges facing the youth of our country.

In this regard I would like to extend our sincere thanks to those in the private sector who are responding to these. Specifically, among others, I would like to thank Absa Bank for the enthusiasm and readiness with which it entered into an agreement with the youth concerning its SMME Incubator Fund, co-operation with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund on youth economic empowerment programmes and the National Youth Commission on youth learnerships in finance and information and communication technology. [Applause.]

Another financial institution, First National Bank, has also responded to our call to assist with the skills development of our people, particularly the youth, by embarking on a learnership programme in line with the National Human Resource Development Strategy. From January next year the bank will take on 1 200 matriculants for the purpose of learnerships, phased over three years. Currently there are other learners being taken through a CIDA City Campus degree programme and given on-the-job training with the help of professionals from the bank and the rest of the private sector. [Applause.]

These important financial institutions have set an example in terms of what can and needs to be done. I trust that others within the private sector will follow their excellent example.

The Growth and Development Summit said:

Constituencies note the intention of the youth sector to invite contributions towards a voluntary youth solidarity fund, where all employed youth will be invited by youth organisations to contribute one day’s gross salary to youth development programmes.

I trust that these employed youth will respond to this call with the same enthusiasm with which Absa and First National Bank responded to the request of the youth to enter into partnership with these important players in the private sector. Since I am part of these employed youth … [Laughter] … Zanele Mbeki and I have agreed that I should contribute one day’s gross salary to the projected youth solidarity fund. [Applause.] This I will do during this, our Youth Month.

It is in the context of the foregoing that we are happy to report to this House about some of the work that the Presidency has done in the past year, to add to the efforts of many South Africans as they participate in the people’s contract to build a better tomorrow.

In this regard, I would like to make a special reference to the process of izimbizo. Through the Imbizo campaign we have continued to engage our people about the work that we are doing together to transform our country and bring about a better life.

We visited Gauteng and the North West since we reported to Parliament last year. Again, we have encountered in these provinces, as has been the case in others, the masses of our people ready and eager to participate in the processes of changing their living conditions for the better. Levai Mbatha Health Centre in Evaton demonstrated the implementation of the principles of Batho Pele. Mailakgang School in the North West has given meaning to the spirit of Vukuzenzele. The housing project in the village of Makgola in Zeerust embraced the ethos of Letsema.

The Imbizo campaign has become the feature of government at all levels. What is important is that we must be able to make prompt and appropriate interventions once we have interacted with our people and be prepared to act swiftly on desperate and urgent matters that confront them.

We have to improve the system of monitoring the extent and quality of Government’s response to the issues that are raised during the Imbizo campaign, so that these interactions do not become routine gatherings which do not help to effect change.

As the Growth and Development Summit decided, an important part of building this better tomorrow is constantly and critically to examine the progress we are making to change the conditions of our people for the better.

In this regard, the Presidency is currently engaged in a 10-year review, the objective of which is to assess the impact all of us have made on our development and challenges of transformation during our first decade of freedom.

Though this work is not yet complete, one of the things that is clear is that the welfare of our people has improved through the deracialisation and radical improvement of social service delivery. More people now get health care, education, pensions, electricity, clean water and housing, and as a result, we are succeeding to improve the quality of life of our people.

Further, the review shows that despite impressive gains in almost all aspects of government, the Public Service must be further transformed if the state is to sustain the improvement of the life of the poor and the marginalised in our society.

Financial, human resource and asset management have to be improved to make further advances in the process of government integration and better delivery across all spheres of government.

Further to improve on our performance, this year’s Government budgeting cycle will see the formulation of a Medium-Term Strategic Framework led by the Presidency, with the participation of all departments of Government.

The Medium-Term Strategic Framework encapsulates the key challenges confronting Government in the medium term that need to be taken into account in deciding on the Budget. Further, it is informed by the global socioeconomic and political climate and the possible risks for the country.

This will further strengthen the co-ordinating role played by the Forum of South African Directors-General or Fosad, the sector Clusters of Directors- General, and the President’s Co-ordinating Council that brings together the provincial premiers and the President. To expedite the realisation of our policy objectives, the DG Clusters have been charged with the preparation of implementation reports, which are then submitted to the appropriate Cabinet committees, for subsequent assessment by the Cabinet.

Further, the Presidency has formulated a National Spatial Development Perspective on the basis of a study of the country’s social and economic environment and spatial trends over the past decades.

The objective of this perspective is to develop guidelines to ensure that Government’s infrastructure investment and development spending programmes have better spatial outcomes than are currently being achieved.

We reported last year that we have seen positive developments in the functioning of Government as a whole. The work of improving the functioning of Government is an ongoing one, and we will continue to identify inefficiencies and blockages, until we arrive at the point where all public representatives and public servants are truly defined by the ethos of Batho Pele, of hard work, selflessness, dedication and service to the people.

We will continue to increase the capacity of local government and embark on a deliberate and conscious effort of deploying the best people at that sphere of government and implement a systematic programme of training, retraining and improving the skills of all the workers. This we must do so that we can implement our programmes more efficiently and effectively.

In the past year, the economy continued to grow reasonably well, in spite of the tightening of monetary policy that was necessitated by the sharp rise in inflation that resulted from the temporary weakening of the rand, and the slowdown in the global economy.

We are confident that the decisions taken at the Growth and Development Summit, and other interventions, will enable our country to perform even better than it has done, creating the possibility for all of us to respond more effectively to challenges we face together.

The system of the Presidential Working Groups and the International Advisory Councils has sufficiently matured in the past year. In these forums, we have continued to discuss and seek solutions to the fundamental issues that cut across the entire business of Government and the overall development of South African society.

Together they constitute an important part of the people’s contract we are building at home and abroad, which unites millions of people and important decision-makers in the common effort to achieve the reconstruction and development of our country.

We are pleased that we have now established the Higher Education Working Group that brings together the vice-chancellors of universities and technikons, and Government. The critical challenge for this working group is to contribute to the development of a shared agenda for the transformation of the system of higher education and to reposition the institutions in this sector to play a more meaningful role in the transformation of our society.

We are working seriously to establish the youth working group that the youth themselves have suggested and requested.

Of great importance also is the fact that both the International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development and the International Investment Council suggested that, in addition to their general advisory tasks, they would like to participate more specifically in contributing to our country’s development programmes. This has positioned them as important players within the inclusive people’s contract for a better future.

Together we must work to implement what we have agreed with regard to the TRC, always conscious that we have a continuing responsibility to build on the advances we have made with regard to the task of national reconciliation.

As you are aware, we had the honour of hosting the important meeting of the transformation of the Organisation of African Unity into the African Union in July 2002.

Next month we will be handing over the chairpersonship of this continental organisation to President Chissano of Mozambique. We would like to convey our thanks to this House for the important work it has done to ensure that we make our contribution to the advancement of the African Union. [Applause.]

In particular, I would like to thank the hon members for attending expeditiously to the matter of the Protocol on the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council, so that together with our brothers and sisters in various African countries, we can work systematically within the Union to bring peace and stability to our continent.

We are also encouraged by the role that this Parliament has played, under the leadership of the Speaker, which contributed to the progress that has been made on the process towards the formation of the Pan- African Parliament. [Applause.]

I would also like to thank our Minister of Foreign Affairs, the hon Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad, and the Department of Foreign Affairs for the enormous amount of work they have done to make the Union operational. [Applause.]

All of us are aware of the enormous challenges facing our continent as we work for its renewal. Prominent among these is the task of successfully addressing the issues of poverty and underdevelopment.

Through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the development programme of the Union, we continue our efforts to work for the development and regeneration of our continent.

As we know, South Africa is hosting the Secretariat of Nepad and the Presidency has taken this extra responsibility, with Prof Nkuhlu heading the Secretariat, which is tasked with the day-to-day leadership of the Nepad process. I must say thank you very much to the professor for what he is doing, and I am glad he is here with us today. [Applause.]

Through the Nepad process we have ensured that Africa takes ownership of its development agenda. The process has also ensured ongoing dialogue among African leaders on the critical matters of peace and security, democracy, political and economic governance, and socioeconomic development. It has also provided a new paradigm in terms of our interaction with our development partners, including the identification of Africa’s development priorities.

I also thank our Ministers and Deputy Ministers, directors-general and state corporations for the important contributions they have made within their specific areas of competence to advance the Nepad process.

In our capacity as the chair of the African Union, we have been called upon to attend to the important matters of peace and security on our continent, always working with other leaders as well as our regional structures.

As a result, we have all seen important progress in Madagascar, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the DRC and Angola. What remains to be done with regard to these and other matters will be done. As I have said in this House before, I am certain that the people of Zimbabwe will find a solution to their problems.

Today we have three other important visitors in the House. These are the three presidents who lead the islands that make up the Comoros, Mr Abdou Soule Elbak of the Grand Comoros, Mr Mohamed Said Fazul of Moheli, and Col Mohamed Baker of Anjouan. They are in our country and this House to see what they can take from us as they work to consolidate democracy and peace in their country. [Applause.]

We would like to assure them that we will continue to work with them and Federal President Azhali on these and other matters, as we have been doing for some time already.

We are ready to respond to the requests that have already been made by various representatives of the Iraqi people to work with them as they strive to build a democratic and stable Iraq. Similarly, we will continue to work with other nations to ensure that the United Nations is strengthened and plays its role as defined by its charter.

We continue to pay the closest attention to the vital issue of the implementation of the road map for peace between Israel and Palestine, and will make such contributions as may be necessary and possible towards the achievement of this goal.

We are pleased that through our foreign ministers, Brazil, India and South Africa have taken the first step to build a partnership among themselves as part of the process of strengthening South-South relations. [Applause.]

Again, last year we hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development and made our contribution to the important outcome contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Government, through the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, continues to play a central role in following up the decisions of the summit.

We meet during a month in which we remember the role played by the youth of this country in our liberation. Again, we are happy that the youth of today continues to inspire us and in many ways challenge us to strive towards higher achievements.

We have a duty to respond to this challenge and give further substance to our conclusion that the tide has turned, and concrete proof of our commitment to do more to bring a better life to all our people.

I would like to thank the Deputy President, the Minister in the Presidency, the director-general and our entire staff for working hard to ensure that we discharge our responsibilities to the best of our abilities.

I would also like to thank all other departments, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, premiers, the provincial and local governments for working with the Presidency to ensure that we consolidate policy development and implementation throughout Government.

I am honoured to commend the Budget Vote of the Presidency to the House. I thank you. [Applause.]

The MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Mr President, today you have shared with us in this august House your Budget Vote. In it you outlined what your office, the Presidency, has been able to achieve and hopes to achieve in this last year of this term of office before our elections.

In the final analysis, ours as a country and a people is, as Mongane Wally Serote said, “a tough tale’’ for, truly, we have come a long way. While, indeed, not spotless white shirts, we are really khaki and the rain, dust and wind did it all. Under your stewardship as President we, indeed, have come a long way in delivering democracy and its benefits to our people. In our labours to deliver a better life for all, we are not spotless white shirts.

We have had to roll up our sleeves and walk the dusty road at the crack of dawn. We have had to weather the storms with limited resources; and balanced our expenditure to best meet the needs of our people in the cities, townships and remote villages of our vast land.

When we read about pensioners who die in queues while waiting to receive their pension grants in some rural villages of our country, we are painfully reminded that ours is and has been a tough tale. But, through your leadership, you have made us look for solutions to these problems that we face and never give up.

The interventions that have been made by the Departments of Social Development and Public Service and Administration, working with the nongovernmental organisations, have made us turn the tide. The celebration of Children’s Day in Port Elizabeth by Government, civil society and religious communities was one such example that showed us that in working together with our people we can find a solution to even the most challenging problems that we face. Indeed, it is this resilience that has made your cadres in the Public Service work tirelessly to produce change in the quality of our service that we deliver to the citizens.

The various Ministers and Deputy Ministers, in their Budget Votes in this House, have indicated how they and their public servants, together with the resources that have been given to them, have worked to ensure that we make a difference in the quality of life of all South Africans. In the same breath, we rejoice when we see how we have been able to reach those who were the forgotten souls in the land of their birth. In partnership with religious communities, we have brought social security delivery closer to those who need it. As a caring Government, we have provided relief in the form of food parcels and funds to those who lost their goods during the natural disasters that befell our country last year in various provinces. We have done that through working with local government, traditional leaders and communities. We cannot but appreciate how far we have gone in building a people’s contract for a better tomorrow.

Again, Serote also told us that every birth has its blood and that ours would be no different. In our delivery from our not-so-distant past, we have spilt our blood to reach our salvation and deliver democracy and development to our people. This has been a public process and an experience known by all in our country. But, like births which are the special preserve of women, the pain has been felt more acutely by the impoverished in our land. These are still disproportionately our mothers and fathers in rural areas and children who depend on them. But the delivery of democracy to our country, to our people, and the accompanying pain, the rupture of tissue and the spilling of blood to deliver a new life in all its beauty and glory would have been so much more traumatic without a midwife, which is what you and your office have been. With you at the helm, we have been able to turn such a physiologically traumatic exercise into euphoria and elation - an experience perhaps only a woman would know, perhaps only a mother would know and perhaps only the ANC would know. [Applause.]

As this House votes on your budget for this year, we must take note of the journey that we have travelled and the distance that we have covered. We must register the road ahead; lay bare the provisions that we will need to successfully negotiate the future so that we reach our destiny. In 1999, Mr President, when you took office you called all South Africans to work in partnership with Government in order to transform this society for the better. In the year 2000, during your Budget Vote in this House, you reminded us of the unfinished business in our country, Africa and the world, the challenge of poverty and underdevelopment and what we need to do as a country to extricate ourselves from this very challenge. In 2002, you gave us hope that no matter how tough the challenge may be, we as citizens, working with Government, have the capacity to push away the frontiers of poverty by taking the initiative to do things that can change South Africa for the better. You forced us to dare to dream, pushed us to the limit to do things that, otherwise, we might have thought impossible. In an integrated and focused way, the Public Service has dared to go an extra mile in delivering Government services to the citizens and, indeed, has made Batho Pele a reality.

The progress that has been made in building synergy can be seen in the way in which departments, through the clusters, are working and making an impact. The work of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster has improved our capacity to deal with crime in our society. The Integrated Nutrition Programme is another example of how, within the social services cluster of Government, we were able to respond to the crisis of food prices in October last year. In the context of integrated sustainable rural development, of which you were a pioneer, progress has been made indeed in a number of nodes. I can just name an example by mentioning Kgalakgadi in the Northern Cape and North West. The Diputi enterprise which remains an anchor project has seen the expansion of the Bendel women’s project to other areas of Taung in the North West where, today, about 42 co-operatives have been set up and comprise 200 people, the majority of whom are women who are now breeding and rearing goats for the market. All of them have been trained and are now in full production. [Applause.]

Rural infrastructure projects have also commenced. We are seeing the construction of roads that link the villages in that node. We have seen the establishment by Eskom of the energy centre which has ensured that people are able to purchase their energy sources closer to where they are. In other nodes, we have seen the impact of the Community-Based Public Works Programme where the building of the local infrastructure that supports both social development and economic growth has been undertaken. This programme, which remains one of the important job creators of Government, has seen, to date, the creation of about 106 000 job opportunities in rural communities, some of which are temporal in nature while others have created a possibility for long-term employment in the area of maintenance.

The community production centres, on the other hand, have helped rehabilitate some of the infrastructure that is critical for sustainable production in rural areas of our country such as Ncora, Keiskammahoek and Aribie in Limpopo. All these have made it possible for the rural development initiatives of Government to make an impact in fighting poverty in our country. If asked, “How have we been able to do all of this?” I would answer, “You said: Masivuke sizenzele [Let us wake up and do things for ourselves].” You made us become volunteers of change in our own society. From this we have laid the foundations of a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better world.

Indeed, this call has been heard by a vast majority in our country, and some of that majority are the youth that we see in this House. When Mama and Tata Ludidi, in Elukholweni village at Mount Frere, in the Eastern Cape, decided to contribute to a sustainable food production programme at their local level by purchasing two tractors for their village, and built a school for the children in that community; when we see the young people in Langa Township working as volunteers to clean up Langa Stadium with the Minister of Sport and Recreation; and when we see the images on the SABC of the young people in Soweto and elsewhere who have volunteered to look after the orphans and the elderly in their community, we can truly say that we are building a people’s contract for a better tomorrow and a caring society. [Applause.]

This is contrary to what we sometimes hear from those who still wish us to fall and fail and use the challenges that we face which sometimes are reflected in our failures and say, “We told you so.” But South Africans who want to build a better society are the ones who have come up and said, “We can lend a helping hand to push away the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment.” It is those people who have said, “We are willing to become volunteers for reconstruction and development.” One such example has been the partnership that was developed between Government and the private sector through the Business Trust which, among others, has made critical interventions in the area of education, tourism and health - particularly in the fight against malaria in the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative.

The partnership that has developed between farmer organisations and Government through the development of the agricultural sector strategy has ensured that many South Africans within this sector are able to develop partnerships, and share experiences and expertise in order to achieve the best for our country. It has also created a framework from which we can deal with challenging issues that our society still needs to face, such as land reform.

Mr President, in your debate you have also raised the important role that this Government and your office, in particular, have placed on youth development. A number of departments have attempted in their areas of work to impact on young people in a manner that strengthens their existing capacity and capabilities. They also appreciate that, as young people, they are also aware what their needs and responsibilities are as citizens of this country. The various departments have put in place learnership programmes within the National Skills Development Strategy that introduce learnerships as a mechanism to address the problem of skills and unemployment. For example, the Department of Labour has reported during its budget debate in this House that about 8 159 young people have benefited from these programmes.

Only yesterday, the Minister for Intelligence showcased some of the young cadres who have made a choice to defend our democracy by ensuring that indeed, as she said yesterday, “We can sleep peacefully and have an ordinary day while they don’t sleep and have an extraordinary one in order to make us safe.” [Applause.] The work that the National Youth Commission is doing together with the Land Bank and Umsobomvu Fund in the creation of young farmers is but just another example of how the South African youth are seizing the opportunity that our democracy has created.

Mr President, in your leadership, you have affirmed the role of women in our society. Your office has focused on the challenges that women face and demanded that the whole of Government and our society should work with women as equal partners in development and peace initiatives. Through your office, which also includes the spousal office, we have seen a growing movement for peace and democracy. Within the ambit of the Congolese dialogue, the spousal office convened a meeting which brought more than 120 women from the Congo who represented political parties, religious bodies, business, traditional leaders and nongovernmental organisations to South Africa in order to have a dialogue with their counterparts on how we can build bridges for peace in the Congo.

I am happy to say, Mr President, that some of those women are here in the different political parties. The delegation was led by Comrade Lulu Xingwana and Mama Harriet Ngubane. [Applause.] The South African delegation was able to share their own experience of how they have participated in the political process that has led us towards our own liberation as a country. This is a form of solidarity work that is aimed at supporting the Congolese women in their own transition but, more importantly, to ensure that they become ambassadors of peace in their own country. A follow-up meeting was held in partnership with Unifem in Kinshasa to ensure that these experiences can reach the majority of Congolese people and, indeed, the people of the Great Lakes region.

The spousal office has therefore decided to also convene another meeting, in July this year, of the South African women where we can all reflect where we have come from as women of South Africa, what we have been able to achieve, and what it is that we can do in the context of Nepad to develop our country and to contribute to the development of Africa so that indeed through this experience South African women can become a beacon of hope for peace and development in our own country and the world.

We have come a long way, being khaki, not spotless white shirts. Indeed, with your leadership, you as the midwife and the ANC as our mother, we will be able to deliver a better life for our people. [Applause.]

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, since I am not Marilyn Monroe, let me say, rather than sing: Happy birthday, Mr President. And I would like to compliment the hon Minister of Agriculture. I am sure that was a very career-enhancing speech. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]

Antjie Krog once wrote that ``reconciliation is not only a process; it is a cycle that will be repeated many times.’’ Now, I heard the hon President say today that those who had been critical or doubtful or skeptical about the recent GDS were wrong; that the GDS was a success. I do not know, frankly, how anything can be a success or a failure two weeks after it has happened when it projects growth rates and job rates, without actually knowing if they are going to happen or not. Surely it is not conferences and seminars that will determine job creation in this country, but our political will and our economic policies. In the four years that we have been in this Parliament and the five years before that and the four years of President Mbeki’s Presidency, we have moved from MERG to the RDP to Gear and now to the GDS and its protocols. And with all those movements, we have also moved from job creation to job shedding. And the only success of this or any other policy is whether it delivers on its promises. Motive, background, saying, gainsaying are actually irrelevant to actual delivery on the ground.

To go back to what Antjie Krog said, I am sure all will agree that all South Africans wish to avoid a cycle that becomes a downward spiral in which smouldering resentment has fanned into burning anger. The last time President Mbeki addressed this Parliament, on 5 June, he issued us with a warning. He said - and he took the warning from General Viljoen: “I would like to advise those who find it politically and strategically expedient to perpetuate the negative stereotype of the African, which we inherited from our past, to take the greatest care that they do not start a fire they cannot put out.”

But the question then becomes: On whose watch has South Africa moved from the politics of rainbow nationism and reconciliation to the politics of race-labelling, race-holding and even race-baiting? [Interjections.] I believe that when the President attacks us, as he did by inference today and, more explicitly, last time he was here, on pessimism and doom saying, he, in fact, should lead by example. Because, when the leader of this country - and he is leader of the whole country, not just of the ANC - uses racism in order to silence his political opponents, I believe that you re- ignite the fires of hatred and despair that South Africa has worked hard to extinguish. Let us consider an acute case that was dealt with only in one sentence today - the case of Zimbabwe. [Interjections.] There is a new book. Well, some of these people do not like Zimbabwe. We do! [Interjections.] There is a new book that has just hit the shelves, in which the President of South Africa is quoted as saying the following - and I quote from the book: The reason Zimbabwe is such a preoccupation'', President Mbeki said,here, in the UK, in the US and in Sweden, is because white people died and white people were deprived of their property. All they say is Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe.”

It is certainly true that some people - black people and white people - have viewed events in Zimbabwe through a racist lens. But, if that explains why some people are making a noise, it does not tell us why the President himself is so quiet. Why is he quiet about Africans - black and white - who are being dispossessed of their property? Why is he quiet about the black leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe who is deprived of his liberty? Why is he so quiet when it is reported, in the latest edition of Africa Confidential, that our hon Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the arrest and detention of Morgan Tsvangirai really amounted to a question of: “Let him take his own medicine”. [Interjections.]

Now, last week in Parliament, the hon Graham McIntosh, an MP over there, from the DA was chastised by the hon Minister of Defence for raising this issue in Parliament. And the Minister of Defence relied on a stock response by mentioning the white government of the old South Africa in an attempt to discredit and delegitimise Mr McIntosh.

But what are the realities of that situation and that hon member? In 1977, the hon Mr McIntosh then represented Pinetown for the Progressive Federal Party. And he performed what, by the likes of the times, was regarded as a fairly drastic and dramatic action at the time. He and his wife went on an eight-day hunger strike, starving themselves for the same length of time that black consciousness leader, Steve Biko had been in police hands. He and his wife, who joined this protest, wanted to demonstrate that Steve Biko could not have died of starvation, as claimed by the former Minister of Justice of the National Party, Mr Jimmy Kruger.

Now that protest, for what it was worth, carried a political cost to Mr McIntosh. A few weeks later, at the next election, Mr McIntosh lost his seat to a member of the National Party.

In the same year, 1977, at the same time, the staunchest supporter of Mr Jimmy Kruger was his son, Eitel, who was at university when I was at another university. When we met at a SRCs conference, he used to persecute anyone who held mildly progressive views that were to the left of them, including me. [Interjections.] Now that same man, that same man … [Interjections.] It was before you had converted yourself to the realities of the market economy, and you were not so right-wing, Trevor! That same man today, Mr Eitel Kruger, is a leading member of the ANC in Pretoria. Mr McIntosh is in the DA!

This ANC party … [Interjections.] And you were in the tricameral Parliament then. This ANC party has sworn into this Parliament a politician who happens to be black, who took his money from the apartheid department of military intelligence in order to go to the United States in order to denounce the concept of black majority rule in Washington.

I am mentioning these illustrations about real live people around us here, because where does race-based politics take us? What does race tell us about a person, about his motivations, about her background? I do not believe it tells us the truth about South Africa. I believe it rekindles fear and does not advance democracy or the wellbeing of ordinary South Africans.

We must ask ourselves what place it has in a modern, democratic country that has committed itself by word and by deed and in its Constitution to reconciliation. But again, for all the other attributes of this Presidency, and I am happy to acknowledge them - the President has enough praise singers in his presence today on the programme - the President has used race to deflect legitimate criticism.

Aids has turned into an issue which will dwarf all other issues, if by the year 2010 6 million of our South Africans die. Aids has been converted from a medical emergency into a racial issue. In May last year, Prof Makgoba, then President of the Medical Research Council, said that the President’s Office had waged a campaign of vilification against him for challenging the President’s views on HIV/Aids. According to Prof Makgoba, the President’s Office appealed: “… to a very basic instinct. I am an African like them and therefore I should be in their camp and I am not. I am a stooge of whites. I am less of an African.”

Yet HIV/Aids cannot be an issue of black and white. It surely is a matter of life and death, with 35 000 South African children who died in 2001, because we did not give them nevirapine at the cost of what would have been a few rand.

But, there is another tactic and it is to be found on the Internet. It is the tactic of flaming. On the Internet, flaming is when someone uses a barrage of inflammatory, hostile or derogatory messages in order to provoke or intimidate another person. And we have had flaming, unfortunately, from the Presidency. The most grotesque stereotypes of African people are conjured up in the President’s imagination and presented to the South African public, telling us these grisly ideas of the things that the critics, the legitimate constitutional critics of Government policy, embrace and endorse.

We had this recently in respect of the arms deal and my colleague, Raenette Taljaard, will deal with that at greater length. But we did not just have it on the Internet. We had it in this House recently. The President said that those who stand up against Government corruption are merely “fishers of corrupt men”. But the President himself, with respect, insists on fishing for racism in the minds and hearts of all his opponents.

Now, I would say that if we are going to succeed, then the most alarming suggestion that has been made by the President was that we should make use of the worst stereotypes in measuring our progress. The President said recently: “We must constantly assess our behaviour critically to determine whether in fact we are not acting in a manner that confirms the stereotype of the African, as described by those who denied to us our humanity.” Why should Africa be defined by the worst images of its detractors? Why should we, as Africans, live forever in the shadow of “those who denied us our humanity”?

The reason that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development is so supported across the board, is because of its pledge to “promote peace and stability, democracy, sound management and people-centered development and to hold each other accountable in terms of the agreements outlined in the programme”.

Those are forward-looking standards by which we must judge ourselves, not by the racist hysteria of the past. If we want South Africa to become a real democracy, we are going to have to face the real issues: poverty, joblessness, crime, HIV/Aids, and yes, because it is on our doorstep, Zimbabwe as well. [Interjections.] We need to have a dialogue about the questions that matter most.

I was very struck the other day, Madam Speaker, by a speech which you yourself made in this Parliament in which you said we must embrace unity and inclusivity and gave some very powerful examples of that. But if we are going to make all questions of national importance into matters of race, then we are going to be in a dead-end street. I believe we need to get out of that cul-de-sac of racism and return to the inspiring vision of the rainbow nation.

It is a criticism of this elected Government and my party as the elected opposition, that there is not much of a dialogue or discourse between us. I believe that criticism has validity and I believe there should be, but I do not believe any dialogue is going to happen if we simply stereotype and typecast each other or project onto each other. I believe we must abandon the politics as they have been practised, and undertake a serious dialogue about the fundamental changes that we all need in this country as we begin a second decade of democracy. I thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Madam Speaker, His Excellency the President, His Excellency the Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon members and the hon the Leader of the Opposition, the debate on the budget of the Presidency calls upon this House to assess the contribution of the Presidency towards the building of our democracy and the proper and effective governance of our country. In other words, we are here to audit his performance inasmuch as our performance as line-function Ministers is also audited by this House.

This is the time in which the legislature, including its members from the ruling party, is to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of holding the President accountable to the people he has been elected to represent. This is the time in which we must praise the achievements of our Presidency and also highlight any of its shortcomings. If we fail to do so across political divides, then the constitutional machinery breaks down its most sensitive component. This is the time when we give substance to every opportunity to fully comprehend that the higher the public office, the greater its responsibility, and most intense must be the scrutiny to which it is subjected and its accountability, failing which democracy has failed and the spectre of tyranny and autocracy is ready to rise.

We must praise our President for any of his great achievements we may identify, but we must not hold him to be above and beyond criticism. If our respect for him prevents us from criticising, we can very well start drafting the funeral oration for our ailing democracy. [Interjections.]

The Presidency performs the fundamental role in our constitutional system as it combines two demanding offices, that of the Head of State and that of the Head of Government. Our Presidency has been indirectly involved in a variety of issues which affect the whole of our society, even when the actual implementation of issues has been carried out by us as line-function Ministers of the President. This is appropriate as this type of collegial government which our Constitution entrenches, leaves with the President the ultimate responsibility and accountability for the exercise of the whole of the executive power.

In the past year, specific matters have received the guidance and leadership of the Presidency, ranging from health issues to defence policy, while in other matters the Presidency did not provide its leadership when it perhaps should have. We are here also to assess in what respect the Presidency provided or failed to provide in its leadership.

Amongst the matters which more directly received the guidance of the Presidency, and directly that of our President, has been foreign affairs, especially in respect of our continent. We praise our President for the leadership he provided in formulating a blueprint for the future international integration of our continent. The formation of the African Union was an important step in that direction which worked hand in hand with the formulation of a blueprint for the formation of the social and economic development of our continent through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Nepad will forever carry the mark of President Mbeki’s initial leadership. In order to attend to these matters of great and historical importance, the President had to spend a substantial amount of time abroad. We perfectly understand that, but we have missed his leadership in respect of pressing crises at home.

Many important matters require presidential leadership in order for good intentions to become actual policies and plans of action which can transform our country. For me the most important items on the agenda remain measures aimed at stimulating economic growth and promoting employment generation. Our economy is not growing fast enough. Too many people remain unemployed and poverty is rising throughout all marginalised areas of our society and territory. This is the first priority, in my view, to which we must attend. Unless our economy is put into overdrive, all other problems will not find a solution. Reform of the labour market to introduce greater flexibility and employment-generation ideas has also seized the intermittent attention of the Presidency.

The Presidency has been seized with the issue of the moral regeneration of our society, which lies at the foundation of our effort to fight crime and set back the rising wave of corruption. The battle against crime is of vital importance to all our citizens. We have not made sufficient inroads in fighting the culture of crime, rebellion and lawlessness which unfortunately is gaining ground in many of our communities. We must bury this growing phenomenon before it acquires such a momentum that it may exercise influence over the very structures charged with the responsibility of eradicating it.

We must praise the Presidency, especially President Mbeki himself, for the efforts made in promoting national reconciliation. We should not underestimate the enormous contribution to reconciliation and national stability which President Mbeki rendered when, on his own initiative and will, he opted to allow the IFP to participate in the Government of the country even though he was no longer obliged to do so after the June 1999 elections. Our issue would have been very different after June 1999 had the President not chosen to take heed of the lessons of other African countries and broadened the bases of support of his Government to include me and my party.

In our African context, the consolidation of democracy is an arduous and long task, especially when democracy is to flourish on the polluted soil of ancient bloody and fratricidal conflicts. Democracy in South Africa could have taken root just by virtue of the fact that a somehow free and fair election was held. It would not have taken root because of that election on one day on 27 April 1994. Democracy is not an event but a process, and President Mbeki has nourished this process, realising how much it needed to be fed with reconciliation.

I would like to say, however, that the path of reconciliation has not been concluded and the process may not reach its intended destination. The IFP and the ANC have spent much time discussing the nature and purposes of reconciliation. Reconciliation is not about eliminating the normal tensions and dialectics of democracy to force consensus and political militarism, but is rather about creating conditions of mutual respect, peace and good faith in which ordinary tensions, conflicts and dialectics of democracy may take place without tearing apart the fabric of democracy.

The purposes of reconciliation were primarily aimed at redressing the legacy of past conflicts, vilification and propaganda which still bedevil interparty relations and the political discourse. In the final analysis, only through this type of reconciliation may our country receive the blessing of an effective democracy where opponents are respected without becoming enemies, and dissent and criticisms may flourish and be fully accepted. This foundation of mutual respect and trust has not yet been laid down. Past problems have not been addressed and they continue to bedevil our future. I still get very concerned when the robust debate which is accepted in parliaments throughout the world, and the heckling here goes on beyond that and becomes intimidation, as you have just seen now. It is still difficult to have open, frank debates and strong criticisms in this House. Our democracy is so much the weaker because of this. For me this remains perhaps one of the most saddening aspects in the unfinished agenda of the Presidency.

I also regret that our Government has not seen its way clear to fulfilling the many promises that were made to traditional leaders. As a member of this Government, I feel embarrassed to have been directly part of such promises, such as the written one which was solemnly signed on 20 November 2000 just before the holding of the December 2000 local government elections. In the document signed by His Excellency the Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who was mandated by the President to lead the committee of Ministers charged with the task to negotiate a solution to the issue of traditional leadership, it was promised that chapters 7 and 12 of the Constitution would be amended to make provision for local government powers of traditional authorities as soon as possible, but this never happened. A system of municipal government is now being consolidated in such a fashion that no allowance has been made and no longer can be made for traditional authorities.

When I discuss with traditional leaders that next year we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of our liberation and democracy, I am often asked by them what liberation has done for traditional leadership. Now, it is possible that our first black Government has damaged traditional leadership more than any previous white government in spite of the promises contained in the Constitution, disregarding each of the features of traditional leadership from land administration to indigenous law, from local government to family matters. [Interjections.] We need to build the social stability and economic prosperity of South Africa on the basis of the honourability and the reliability of our institutions of government and those who lead them. We need to list more clearly our national priorities to give content to our promises of a pluralist and multicultural society, ranging from the preservation of a role for traditional leadership to the protection of the cultures of our various communities. I am aware that in the present season the pressures to move ahead with the process of development and modernisation are enormous, not only in our country but across the world. Opportunities are not waiting for us and those who stay behind are just going to be left there for a very long time to endure their ancestral poverty and underdevelopment. However, while we commit ourselves to moving forward at maximum speed, and if need be, to leapfrogging ahead, we must also have a clear understanding of what we are to carry with us and what we are to leave behind. We must move forward carrying with us the features of our being African and of our being part of that unique African experience that is South Africa, a land of general multiculturalism and indigenous diversity.

My concern is that our priorities’ agenda is not sufficiently focused on speeding up the process of moving forward which depends on development, development and development, which in turn is a function of economic growth, the fight against crime and our international credibility with the affluent population of developed countries. None of these three aspects has been sufficiently prioritised. We need not only focus on physical development, but first and foremost on human development which means to transform our people to enable them to move from an underdeveloped world to a fully developed one in such a fashion that they are the agents and promoters of this development rather than its casualties and victims. Unless we focus on this type of comprehensive and holistic development, the pursuance of visions at an international level or other domestic agendas are bound to be in great jeopardy.

Our people need the full measure of attention which our Government can give them and we hope that the Presidency will be able to provide its tested and strong leadership to move the country forward on the path of development at a much faster pace and on the basis of a vision which allows us to draw value from being Africans born and bred in the unique country of South Africa. Mzizi! Dlamini! [Applause.]

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, the President of the Republic, hon members, special guests in the gallery, let me begin by expressing my very best wishes to the President on his birthday. As we are of the same age … [Laughter] … I know exactly what a wonderful feeling it is to enjoy maturity. [Laughter.]

As we will be celebrating 10 years of democracy in April next year, I think it is important that in discussing this budget today we bear in mind a number of things. When we adopted our Constitution in 1996, we laid a firm foundation for a democratic and open South Africa, which belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and for a government based on the will of the people. I am reminded of this as next Thursday marks the 48th anniversary of the Freedom Charter which set out the vision of our democratic society.

Indeed, as we celebrate 10 years of democracy in April next year, we will do so with great enthusiasm given how far we have travelled in pursuit of our goals. The restoration of human dignity and freedom to all our people is an achievement we should all treasure.

We now have a stable democracy, a growing economy, and peace and stability. Most importantly, access to a better life and the provision of basic needs are being expanded day by day to citizens. As a nation we have also perfected the art of working together and forming partnerships to deal with any challenge, be it social, economic or political. These partnerships are a recipe for continued success.

With regard to Parliament, we have achieved a lot in nine years. If we look, in particular, at the accountability of the executive to Parliament, we will see that things are remarkably different compared to what they were before the advent of democracy. I see a Parliament that performs effective oversight, whether through interaction with Ministers or officials in committees, or outside Parliament by looking at how laws and policies are being implemented.

Parliament subjects legislation introduced by the executive to extensive scrutiny and, in most cases, amends the Bills before it. It also holds the executive to account in the form of, amongst other things, parliamentary questions and Budget Votes.

This very Budget Vote on the Presidency comes at the end of an extensive and thorough process of examining the work and budgets of all the government departments. I am told that in the National Assembly alone, 78 hours and 34 minutes were spent in plenaries debating the different Budget Votes. This excludes the time spent in the National Council of Provinces and the extensive work done in the portfolio or select committees in considering the budget. Truly, we have a system of government in which the people really govern.

This does not mean that there is no room for improvement. I am therefore encouraged by the work that Parliament has done in examining how it should implement the concepts of oversight and accountability. I look forward to the finalisation of that process.

I believe that in affirming the type of government we are developing, we need to move away from the notion that accountability and oversight can best be performed by an opposition that has to be unnecessarily antagonistic to the executive. What is required is an opposition that is constructive in its engagement with the executive and which will help us build this country. We need to see executive accountability and parliamentary oversight as a partnership that is aimed at leading to improved government for our citizens. [Interjections.] The new system of members’ statements at the end of which Ministers have a chance to respond has added a new, dynamic dimension to the interaction between the executive and Parliament. I am aware that the system of questions still needs to be refined, but it is fair to say that the system we have gives an opportunity to all parties to ask the executive whatever questions they want to, regardless of their size.

It must be acknowledged, however, that the number of unanswered questions has substantially decreased from the levels seen earlier in the life of this Parliament. The executive remains aware of the need to ensure that all questions are answered at the end of each year.

I believe we have to constantly re-evaluate the effectiveness of parliamentary questions and see how, in the spirit of parliamentary oversight and executive accountability, the system can be improved.

I have no doubt that in the second decade of our freedom, this dynamic and vibrant House will continue to grow from strength to strength. As said earlier, the thread of partnership runs through our activities as a nation, even more so with regard to rebuilding the moral fibre of our society.

The moral regeneration movement, a partnership between Government and civil society, has been leading the national moral renewal effort since its launch in April last year. We are delighted with the progress made so far. In line with the holistic and intersectoral approach of the moral regeneration movement, moral regeneration has become integral to the work of government departments.

Some of the programmes implemented by government departments include, amongst other things, the following: by the Department of Social Development: promoting a caring society, building stronger family structures and encouraging respect and assistance for the vulnerable members of our society; by the Department of Correctional Services: rehabilitation programmes for prisoners; by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology: the Ingoma Choral Project and a wide range of initiatives promoting values through music, theatre and other disciplines; by the Department of Health: promoting a healthy nation, and care and support for people living with HIV/Aids, cancer, tuberculosis and other illnesses through the Khomanani/Caring Together HIV/Aids programme; by the Department of Communications: encouraging debate about the role that the broadcast media and the advertising industry can play in building a new value system, free of violence, stereotypes and other negative influences; by the Department of Safety and Security: promoting and strengthening partnerships with communities in building safer neighbourhoods; by the Department of Justice: mobilising the community against violence directed at women and children, and strengthening the courts to deal with such cases; by the Department of Education: the Values in Education Project, promoting good values from an early age; by the Department of Public Service and Administration: promoting Batho Pele principles within the Public Service; and by the Department of Foreign Affairs: promoting the regeneration of Africa.

The moral regeneration movement is also working with other national initiatives, for example with the Freedom Park Trust in cleansing and healing ceremonies that seek to symbolically repair the soul of the nation. These initiatives will assist the nation to come to terms with the legacy of the colonial and apartheid systems, genocide, slavery, wars of resistance and the struggles for liberation. The Government is leading this process to deepen reconciliation and national unity.

Three such ceremonies have been held already - in the Eastern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga. This countrywide process will culminate with national events on the Day of Reconciliation, 16 December.

The moral regeneration movement is also collaborating with the South African chapter of the African Renaissance and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems of South Africa in linking moral regeneration with the indigenous knowledge project.

I have been heartened by renewal programmes that individuals and various groups have initiated. I am sure that many in the country have been moved by the campaign against the abuse of women and children by the group called “Isililo: A Mother’s Cry”, led by, among others, our renowned opera and Afro-jazz performer, Sibongile Khumalo.

Isililo was formed as a result of the brutal rape and murder of six-year- old Lerato from Alexandra last year. Its objective is to remind women - mothers in particular - that they must play a major role in providing the moral fibre that holds families and communities together.

Another noteworthy initiative is the establishment of the Makeba Centre for Girls by our goodwill ambassador, Miriam Makeba.

The broadcast media often get criticised for espousing what is seen as negative influences in programming. We must therefore acknowledge the positive influence of programmes, such as All you need is love on SABC 1, which promotes the strengthening of families as the rock upon which our communities are founded. I hope more such programmes are being planned.

We would run out of time if I were to enumerate all the various initiatives and programmes undertaken by South Africans to achieve moral renewal. We encourage all initiatives of this nature. They give us hope.

We are most effective when we work together in partnerships when facing challenges, especially those of the magnitude of HIV/Aids. As we all know, there is still no cure for Aids, and it is our belief that our response to the HIV/Aids epidemic must be holistic.

Our five-year strategic plan takes into account and focuses on prevention, treatment, care, support and research. Although challenges remain, we are beginning to see good results, as outlined recently by the Minister of Health in both this House and the National Council of Provinces.

Having engaged various stakeholders as chairperson of the SA National Aids Council, Sanac, I strongly believe that we have national consensus on the National Strategic Plan for HIV/Aids. We may have some differences in emphasis with regard to implementation by one or two sectors, but we all agree on the need for a holistic response, as enunciated in the national plan. It therefore becomes crucial that we engage each other regularly and work together as various sectors to harmonise our response.

Sanac is fulfilling this role. It has completed its restructuring and has become more representative of various sectors. The new membership of Sanac includes representatives from labour, the faith-based sector, the SA Business Coalition Against HIV and Aids, the hospitality sector, traditional leadership, traditional healers, people living with Aids, sport, disability, the Men’s Forum, NGOs, the human and legal rights sector, local government, higher education, financial institutions, women, and the youth. The inaugural meeting of the new council is scheduled to take place next month. The task ahead of us remains huge, and it is important that we focus all our energies on an effective response to the epidemic.

We believe in the need to address the root causes of conflict and in the promotion of lasting peace and sustainable development in Africa, as part of the regeneration of the continent.

We are, as members are aware, involved in a number of peace initiatives on the continent, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and others, as the President has outlined.

As I previously reported to this House, Burundi is finally experiencing a real possibility for peace after decades of turmoil. The peace process is on track, and the changeover of power at the presidential level in April indicated, once again, the resolve of the Burundi people to move forward. The African mission in Burundi is also making good progress in its mission of monitoring and assisting in the implementation of the ceasefire agreements.

The preparation for the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants of the various armed groups is in progress. Restricting combatants to assembly points is critical in preventing ceasefire violations. The commitment displayed by the Burundi people makes us confident that the second phase of the transition will go smoothly, leading to democratic elections in just over a year.

This year has also seen us making progress in promoting multilingualism. As hon members are aware, the National Language Policy Framework was launched late last year. As a follow-up, a well-attended consultative conference was held on 12 June focusing on implementation. We await the final report so that we can move this process forward with urgency. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the further development and enhancement of our indigenous languages. I said at the beginning of my address that we have much to be proud of in the first nine years of our democracy. We have moved a long way to forge a common nationhood, and all South Africans have good reason to be confident about the bright future of this country.

We are pleased to see the optimism of the youth. The SA Reconciliation Barometer has found, in results from an October 2002 national survey, that eight out of 10 youths are confident about a happy future for all racial groups in South Africa. [Applause.]

There are many other reasons why we can boldly proclaim that we are proud to be South Africans. For example, over the past two years we have been privileged to host two United Nations conferences, one on racism in Durban in 2001 and the other on sustainable development in Johannesburg in 2002.

We also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The success of these events further proved the technical prowess of our country. As members are aware, we are competing with four other African countries for the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We are confident of success and are aware of the enthusiastic support of all South Africans for the bid. Certainly, the situation has changed for the better since 1994 and continues to change. [Applause.]

We have come this far and triumphed over adversity, because we have been able to put our country first and because we continue to work together to build a better South Africa. As we move towards the second decade of freedom, let us continue to consolidate the gains we have made.

We will succeed as we have a clear vision of the kind of society we are building together. Yes, the situation has changed for the better and will continue to change. I thank you. [Applause.]

Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Deputy Speaker, it is an honour to follow the hon Deputy President in this debate. His hard work in the best interests of South Africa does not go by unnoticed. Deputy Speaker, hon President, many happy returns of the day. Now according to the stars of the hon President as reported in The Argus of this afternoon, he should not worry about work today but should rather use the opportunity to take time out. So if the President leaves now, we won’t blame him. [Laughter.]

Adjunkspeaker, die apostel Paulus skryf in een van sy briewe: ons is in hierdie wêreld, maar nie van hierdie wêreld nie. Ongelukkig het talle Suid- Afrikaners, veral die gemeenskap waaraan ek behoort, ook baie jare lank gedink dat ons in Afrika is, maar nie van Afrika nie. Vandag besef die meeste Suid-Afrikaners dat ons nie net in Afrika is nie, maar ook van Afrika. Die enigste uitsondering is miskien die DA. Dit wil sê, as Allister Sparks gelyk het in sy boek, Beyond the Miracle. Luister wat skryf hy: (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[Deputy Speaker, the apostle Paul writes in one of his letters: We are in this world, but not of this world. Unfortunately many South Africans, particularly the community that I belong to, have also thought for many years that we are in Africa, but not of Africa. Today many South Africans realise that we are not only in Africa, but also of Africa. Now the only exception is perhaps the DA. That is to say if Allister Sparks is correct in his book Beyond the Miracle. Listen to what he writes:]

Mbeki and Leon are diametric opposites. Mbeki is essentially African in seeing himself as part of a political community with a common purpose. Leon, by contrast, is essentially eurocentric, with not an ounce of emphathetic sensitivity to traditional African ways of debate and conflict resolution.

[Applause.]

Omdat die meeste van ons van Afrika is, spreek dit vanself dat Suid-Afrika se lot onlosmaaklik verbind is met die lot van Afrika. Misluk Afrika, gaan Suid-Afrika ook uiteindelik misluk, maar slaag Afrika, sal Suid-Afrika ook slaag. [Tussenwerpsels.] [Because most of us are of Africa, it stands to reason that South Africa’s destiny is inextricably linked up with the destiny of Africa. If Africa fails, South Africa will eventually also fail; but if Africa succeeds, South Africa will also succeed. [Interjections.]]

If the 21st century is to belong to Africa as envisaged by the hon President, the objectives of the African Union, as contained in Article 3 of the Constitutive Act, will have to be pursued relentlessly and Nepad will have to bear fruit. The G8 countries recently pledged an additional R60 billion for development aid in Africa. It would, however, be wrong for Africa to depend solely on outside help for its development.

In an article in the June edition of New Africa it was suggested that Africans should tap into the African way of life for their own upliftment. “Sousou” as practised in Ghana and “stokvel” as practised in South Africa are cited as examples in this article. In terms of these practices, communities build capacity by contributing sums of money on a monthly basis which is then given to a selected contributor at the end of the month. And this practice should now be refined and utilised with regard to nations, where every country contributes a periodic fixed sum for a big capacity- building project in one country. The author flaunts the idea that instead of going cap in hand, every African country should contribute $1 million a month, for example, from export earnings. Thus, a total of $52 million a month could be raised for capacity-building in a specific country. Now in my view this is not a bad idea. It should be considered.

It was pointed out that rarely does the global media refer to a country’s foreign policy as a grand doctrine. Yet that is exactly what The Economist did in its edition of 10 May. It describes South Africa’s foreign policy as the Mbeki Doctrine and in terms of this doctrine South Africa cannot impose its will on others, but it can help to deal with instability in African countries, by offering its resources and its leadership to bring rival groups together and to keep things calm until an election is safely held. In other words, the model of peace, power-sharing and reconciliation that worked in South Africa a decade ago can be applied elsewhere. The Mbeki Doctrine, so far, worked well in Burundi and the DRC.

Hopefully it will produce results in Zimbabwe, because Zimbabwe’s political, social and economic institutions are on the edge of collapsing, leaving that country a failed state with devastating consequences, also for South Africa. In the meantime, President Mugabe should take a hard look at South Africa’s history with a view to learning a thing or two. Even the most harsh action taken by the former security forces could not stop the advance of liberation movements to freedom. [Applause.]

With the weapons of mass destruction still at large in Iraq, each country, including South Africa, should earnestly re-evaluate the effectiveness of its intelligence services. The worst possible scenario for the United States would be that Bush would lose the next election and Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden pop up somewhere unscathed. [Laughter.]

Could the hon President inform the House what South Africa’s relationship is currently with Iraq? Do we still have official ties with the previous regime? In other words, is the ambassador appointed by the Hussein regime still executing his duties in South Africa, or have we suspended our ties with Iraq until a new government is in place?

The UN Millennium Summit resolved to have the number of the world’s poor halved by 2050. Africa south of the Sahara needs growth of about 7% annually to achieve this objective. It has further been estimated that the economy needs to grow by 5% a year for South Africa to half its unemployment rate from 30% to 15% during the next ten years. It is crystal clear that with an economic growth rate of just 3% a year, we won’t be able to push back the frontiers of poverty. A thorough investigation by Government, labour and business as to why the economy is not growing sufficiently can no longer be postponed and the recommendations of such an investigation should be applied fearlessly.

In reaction to Deputy President Zuma’s remark that criminals should not be able to hide behind the Constitution when they have violated the rights of others, the Human Rights Commission suggested that an indaba be held to decide how the rights of criminals should be weighed up against those of victims of crime. I fully support this proposal. I am also convinced that the time has come to reopen the debate on the death penalty in a responsible manner.

Die toespraak van die agb President gedurende die debat oor die WVK se finale verslag was ‘n belangrike mylpaal op die pad van versoening in Suid- Afrika. Sy skerp teenkanting teen die beplande eishofsake in die VSA teen Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye wat voordeel sou getrek het uit apartheid, asook sy verwerping van ‘n welvaartbelasting, sal ongetwyfeld binnelandse beleggersvertroue versterk, wat weer ‘n hupstoot sal wees vir ekonomiese groei. Die Nuwe NP doen ‘n dringende beroep op alle Suid-Afrikaners om mildelik by te dra tot die spesiale vrywillige vergoedingsfonds wat gestig gaan word om slagoffers van apartheid te ondersteun en om verdere ontwikkeling te stimuleer. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The speech by the hon President during the debate on the final report of the TRC was an important landmark on the road of reconciliation in South Africa. His strong opposition to the planned claims court cases in the USA against South African companies who were supposed to have profited by apartheid, as well as his rejection of a wealth tax will undoubtedly reinforce domestic investors’ confidence, which will be a boost for economic growth.

The New NP is urgently calling on all South Africans to contribute generously to the special voluntary reparation fund that is going to be established to support victims of apartheid and to stimulate further development.]

Against the backdrop of reconciliation and amnesty, I have a special request for the hon President. Kevin Woods, Michael Smith and Philip Conjwayo, also known as the “Harare Three”, are currently serving life sentences in a Harare prison. They were recruited by the old SA Defence Force working as undercover agents and operators in Zimbabwe. They fully revealed their involvement with the previous government and defence force, which perhaps qualifies them for the same amnesty dispensation that had been negotiated at Kempton Park. All countries and states in Africa, I believe, honoured the agreements at Kempton Park, except Zimbabwe. I was part of a government that let these men down. All that I can do now is ask the hon President to try to negotiate an amnesty deal for them. If amnesty cannot be granted, a transfer to a South African prison would also be appreciated. Kevin Woods has already served nearly 20 years in prison and is, in any case, a dying man.

Om verder sigbare beslag te gee aan die proses van politieke versoening, het die ANC en die Nuwe NP, wat mekaar bykans 90 jaar lank uit die politieke loopgrawe uit beveg het, besluit om ‘n samewerkingsooreenkoms te sluit. In ‘n gesamentlike verklaring wat deur die leiers van die twee partye uitgereik is, word gesê:

Dwarsdeur die 20ste eeu was ons politieke organisasies die hoofopponente in die stryd om die toekoms van die land te bepaal. In die 21ste eeu sal ons saamwerk om die nuwe, verenigde nie-rassige, nie-seksistiese, demokratiese en voorspoedige Suid-Afrika te help bou waartoe die oorweldigende meerderheid van ons mense verbind is.

Die Nuwe NP is entoesiasties daartoe verbind om van hierdie ooreenkoms ‘n sukses te maak, omdat dit ‘n wenresep is vir Suid-Afrika en al sy mense. Die Nuwe NP steun die begrotingspos. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[To give further visible effect to the process of political reconciliation the ANC and the New NP, who have been fighting one another from the political trenches for almost 90 years, have decided to come to an agreement of co-operation. In a joint statement released by leaders of both parties, it is said that:

Throughout the 20th century our political organisations have been the main opponents in the struggle to determine the future of the country. In the 21st century we will co-operate to assist in building the new, united non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa to which the overwhelming majority of our people are committed.

The New NP is enthusiastically committed to making a success of this agreement, because it is a winning recipe for South Africa and all its people. The New NP supports the Budget Vote.]

Rev K R J MESHOE: Happy birthday, Mr President. Deputy Speaker, I am going to highlight some concerns that are raised by Christian churches and organisations in our country today. I will start by quoting verbatim from a recorded message given by Bishop Gaston Botwana, a friend of the director- general, earlier this year. He said:

I believe the struggle for liberation in South Africa was genuine. Political parties, whilst they were still freedom fighters forming themselves to fight against the apartheid regime, called on men of God and prophets of God. Meetings were held in churches, prayers were made to God in the name of South Africa. People cried tears, and blood was shed for the sake of the liberation of this country. There are things that our forefathers have said to God about the liberation of South Africa. They were speaking to God. They appealed to Him to help us and He did. Now we have forgotten Him. We want Him out of Parliament. We want Him out of our courts. We want Him out of our schools. We want Him out of society, because we think He was part of apartheid. We are like Jacob. God has blessed us. We are free now but we are not going back where we made a commitment. We are going to strange altars and strange gods. For as long as we do not go back to God, this country will continue to go down. God takes words seriously, especially when men of God are involved.

If people call abefundisi to come and pray for us, to come and pray for the country, and the men of God come and call on the Lord their God and God hears them, and the leaders make promises, saying: When we are free we will serve you, Lord, then God will set you free. If you no longer serve Him, then nature, creation, heaven and earth will stand in judgment against you. This is the message that Christians must bring to South Africa because when I look at the history of our struggle, much praying was invested. Today we are free and people glorify themselves. They glorify their ancestors, their guns and the sanctions that took place as though God has done nothing.

Mr President, these are not my words. These are the words of Bishop Botwana from Soweto. These words must be heeded by all South Africans who asked God to help during the bad days of apartheid. We must not forget where we come from, and all the promises we made to God when we were in trouble. This Government will not solve all the problems of South Africa without His assistance. Instead of legislating against Him, we must acknowledge Him in all our ways so that He can ensure that we prosper.

We are aware of the debate that has started outside Parliament on whether Christmas and Good Friday should continue being public holidays, as they are religious holidays. Those that are saying that they must be done away with, as Government is trying to ban prayers and morning devotions at school, are misguided and going against the wishes of the majority of South African voters. May I warn this House that any attempt by Government to remove Christmas and Good Friday from our calendar will be political suicide for the ANC. When this Government legalised abortion on demand, they disregarded the wishes of the majority of our people and they got away with it. When they abolished capital punishment they again ignored what the majority of South Africans said and got away with it. If they again ignore what the majority of our people say about the mentioned public holidays, Mr Asmal, then they will not get away with their arrogance this time round. Anyone who tries to remove the memory of Christ from the South African calendar and history is making a very costly mistake. [Interjections.]

In conclusion, I am going to quote from the President’s letter in ANC Today, Volume 3, No 21 of 30 May to 5 June 2003, where he was responding to Government critics on the arms deal - and I agree with the President that our country needs facts and not boundless allegations. What was most interesting to me in his letter was his reference to what he called the Biblical Gospel according to St Matthew, where it is said:

Jesus Christ saw Simon Peter and his brother Andrew fishing in the Sea of Galilee. He said to them to follow Him and He would make them fishers of men.

Taking a cue from this, the President concluded that:

Some in our country have appointed themselves as fishers of corrupt men.

If any government commits itself to clean governance, transparency and anti- corruption then they open themselves to scrutiny by both the public and the media. Those who want to satisfy themselves that there was no backdoor deals, personal gain or benefit or even corruption in the whole arms deal process should be allowed to do so, without being called names like ``fishers of corrupt men’’.

The ACDP will always support those who want the whole truth to come out. Mr President, may God bless you on your birthday. [Applause.]

Ms ANNELIZÉ VAN WYK: Hon Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, members of the House, may I first take the opportunity to congratulate the President on his birthday.

Mongameli, ngosuku lokuzalwa kwakho sithi: Mpilonhle, mpilonde! Ukhule uze ukhokhobe! [Ihlombe.] [President, on your birthday we say: Long live, long live! Live until you are old enough! [Applause.]]

Many hon members, when they stand in front of this House, claim to be speaking on behalf of a specific group. If you analyse whom they say they represent, it becomes clear that many of them claim to be speaking on behalf of the same group. This in itself is not wrong; it is not even ironic; it simply is the reality of who we are. What is ironic, however, is that they all claim to be representing and speaking exclusively on behalf of the very same people.

I would like to avoid this trap today and would much rather speak with a group of people. Many in this House often define this group as the minority

• minority as determined primarily by race, and secondarily by language. I am not going to try and define this group. In fact, I believe and would argue that it is this very definition that marginalises this sector of our society.

Daar is ‘n doelbewuste beweging, fyn uitgewerk en strategies gefundeer, om hierdie groep te laat glo dat hulle, as minderheid bedreig word en dat hulle, as minderheid, gemeenskaplike, geregverdigde vrese het. Die gewildste onder die meesters van hierdie vreestaktiek is misdaad. Bykans op ‘n daaglikse basis, moet ons aanhoor dat die ANC-regering nie die wil het om misdaad te bekamp nie, dat misdaad buite beheer is, dat misdaadstatistiek bekend gemaak moet word, asof die bekendmaking van misdaadstatistiek ‘n einde aan misdaad gaan bring. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[There is a deliberate movement, carefully worked out and strategically based, to make this group believe that they, as a minority, are being threatened and that they, as a minority, have justified fears in common. The most popular amongst the masters of these fear tactics is crime. Almost daily we have to hear that the ANC Government does not have the will to combat crime, that crime is out of control, that crime statistics should be disclosed, as if the disclosure of crime statistics would put an end to crime.] What are the facts about crime? What is fiction? The truth is that the ANC Government, under the leadership of the President, has prioritised the fight against crime as one of the country’s national priorities. This is reflected and embodied within the administrative structure of the Presidency, through the director-general and in the Chief Directorates. This inputs into government policies and strategies and forms an important part of the Integrated Planning Framework. It is clear that, under President Mbeki, crime is dealt with in a holistic manner.

The efforts of all the different Government agencies from Intelligence, SAPS and Justice are co-ordinated and focused on having a lasting effect and putting an end to crime.

An HON MEMBER: Where are the results?

Ms ANNELIZÉ VAN WYK: There are numerous successes because of this approach. [Interjections.] Luckily you are not … [Interjections.] There are numerous successes because of this approach and none more than the impact that was made on transnational crime syndicates.

The success of the Scorpions is something no one is denying. But, when the Scorpions was first established, it was received with a great deal of skepticism and was, among other things, described as the palace guard. For the first time in South Africa’s history, we have a President that has his finger on the pulse of the fight against crime. He involves himself and, through his involvement, takes co-responsibility for the situation. [Applause.] This, Deputy Speaker, hon President, is fact. Fiction, Deputy Speaker, is that this ANC Government is losing the fight against crime. Fiction is that this ANC Government does not have the will to fight crime. This, Madam Deputy Speaker, is fiction of the cheap kind.

Never before in South Africa has so much been done to fight crime, neither in terms of spending, nor in terms of commitment. Fiction is that crime is unique to South Africa and that it started only after the new dispensation and under a black government.

The basis for our crime problem can be found in the eighties, when the old regime was so preoccupied with oppressing the black uprising that they failed to heed a significant shift in the patterns of crime throughout Southern Africa. [Applause.] This was the time when organised crime syndicates established themselves on the African continent. In 1987, the Commissioner of Police’s annual report indicated that the number of vehicles smuggled across South Africa’s borders increased by a staggering 22% in one year. It was said that this was due to the increased number of vehicles on the street. Please!

The truth is that in those years the special branch was given the bulk of the resources and all of the special training. Regular detectives were ignored and even seconded to border duties, where they had to patrol borders, not to fight crime, but to ensure that the ANC terrorists did not cross our borders. This, Madam Deputy Speaker, is a fact. [Applause.]

While crime statistics represent for the opposition a propaganda tool, another brick to throw at the incompetent black government, for the ANC, they represent the reality of the seriousness of the responsibility we have to fight crime and the commitment we need to succeed in doing so. You can continue.

Bemors jou eie stoep. Ons fokus sal nie afgetrek word van die taak ter hand nie. [Foul your own nest. Our focus will not be shifted from the task at hand.]

We cannot allow that fear be used as a marginalising and paralysing tool in the political agenda of some. For many years it was the fear that was instilled in us that allowed us to be separated from one another. And it is that same fear that still exists, latently within some of us, that denies us the opportunity to become part of the wonderful building of the South African nation. Fear is more than often a fear of the unknown. Sadly, this fear represents how we were kept apart and, as such, remain in many ways strangers to one another.

Getting to know one another is a wonderful and liberating experience. It liberates you from your misconceptions, your fears and opens up to you the fact that we share the same fears, we have the same dreams and expectations.

Of jy Afrikaanssprekend, Zulu, Sotho, of Xhosa is, jy wil veilig wees in jou omgewing; jy wil weet dat daar werkgeleenthede vir jou is. Jy wil graag hê dat jou kind goeie onderwys ontvang. Jy wil ‘n beter toekoms vir jou kind hê as dié wat jy gehad het. Het dit nie nou tyd geword dat ons ons vrese oorwin en klem lê op die gemeenskaplikhede wat ons deel nie? Breek vry, besef dat jou mede-Suid-Afrikaners dieselfde behoeftes, verwagtinge, vrese en vreugdes as jy het. Begin deel daarin. Reik uit en werk saam daaraan om daarvan ‘n werklikheid te maak.

In Die Stem is daar ‘n strofe wat lui: “Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe, ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika”. Ek onthou, as kind wanneer dit gesing is, want dan was dit asof dubbel soveel mense hulle aansluit wanneer daar by die versie uitgekom word. Die passie en oorgawe, die ongelooflike lojaliteit om te kan sterf vir jou land! Dit is tog die grootste opoffering wat elkeen kan doen. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Whether one is Afrikaans-speaking, Zulu, Sotho, or Xhosa, one wants to feel safe in one’s environment; one wants to know that there are job opportunities for one. One would like one’s child to receive a good education. One wants one’s child to have a better future than one had. Has the time not come for us now to overcome our fears and emphasise the commonalities that we share? Break away, realise that one’s fellow South Africans have the same needs, expectations, fears and joys as oneself. Start sharing these. Reach out and work together to make this a reality.

In The call of South Africa there is a stanza that goes: “At thy will to live or perish, O South Africa, dear land”. I remember that when I was a child and it was sung, it seemed as if double the number of people joined in when we got to that verse. The passion and commitment, the unbelievable loyalty to be able to die for one’s country! That is surely the greatest sacrifice anyone can make.]

I believe the challenge now is to live for our country. That is the most difficult sacrifice to make. South Africa and her people need us now. It needs all of our talents, our commitment, our love and our passion. We need to live for our country. We need to live for South Africa. That is the highest sacrifice that we can now make. And the question is: Are we living for our country? What is that we are doing to build South Africa? What am I doing to build South Africa? How am I involved in pushing back the frontiers of poverty? [Interjections.] I am not talking about paying my taxes, being a law-abiding citizen or going to work. Yes, those things are important, but they are what is expected of me and everybody else as part of being good citizens. I am talking about what it is that each and every one of us is doing to keep this miracle democracy that came to us in 1994 alive and healthy.

Hierdie demokrasie wat nou in `n broeikas lê en van elkeen van ons se optrede afhanklik is om dit aan die lewe te hou en te laat bly groei.

Wat doen ons om ons volwaardige plek in hierdie land, ons land, in te neem? Deel jy jou talente? Is jy betrokke by die gemeenskap? Reik jy uit na mede- Suid-Afrikaners wat steeds onbekend aan jou mag wees? Is jy trots om ‘n Suid-Afrikaner te wees? Daar is soveel om op trots te wees. Ek het gebars van trots toe die President die besonderse Suid-Afrikaners in die galery bekend stel. Hulle is deel van Suid-Afrika. Húlle het inderdaad die gety laat omkeer. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[This democracy that is now lying in an incubator and depends on the actions of each one of us to keep it alive and to let it keep growing. What do we do to fully take our place in this country, our country? Do you share your talents? Are you involved in the community? Do you reach out to fellow South Africans who may still be unknown to you? Are you proud of being a South African? There is so much of which to be proud. I blossomed with pride when the President announced the exceptional South Africans on the gallery. They are part of South Africa, they have indeed turned the tide. [Applause.]]

It cannot only be the President and the ANC Government that continuously reaches out. I saw the President participate in the “volkspele” [folk dances] on Monday and I want to tell him that many see this, appreciate it and it warms their hearts with pride. [Applause.] You are indeed everybody’s President.

So ook moet die ATKV gelukgewens word met sy aksie op Jeugdag by die Goudini Spa. Dit is aksies soos hierdie wat Suid-Afrikaners in staat stel om oor kleur-, godsdiens- of politieke grense keen met mekaar die gemeenskaplike te deel wat Suid-Afrikaners van vreemdelinge verander in vriende.

Daar is ook die samewerkingsooreenkoms tussen die NG Kerk Randburg en die arm swart VGK kerk by Orange Farm - ‘n Geleentheid vir Afrikaners om deel te wees van die herstel van die samelewing. ‘n Geleentheid om te kan help bou aan Suid-Afrika en aan sy mense.

Neels Jackson, in ‘n onlangse rubriek in Beeld, maak die punt dat waar witmense gewillig betrokke raak by reparasie, by die herstel van die samelewing, dit nie net swart mense is wat voordeel daaruit trek nie, maar dat daar vir witmense self ook ‘n gevoel van genesing is.

Die tyd het aangebreek om te vra wat my rol kan wees en hoe ek betrokke kan raak. Watter bydrae kan ek lewer om die grense van armoede terug te skuif? Dit is jou reg; dit is ook jou voorreg. Daar is groot uitdagings vir kerke, skole, die media, besighede en individue. Die georganiseerde samelewing het ook ‘n rol om te speel, ‘n bemiddelende rol op die minste, om dit moontlik te maak vir groepe om by mekaar te kan uitkom en om te kan bou.

S M Mofokeng, ‘n Basotho-digter, het ‘n toneelstuk geskryf waarin hy fokusseer op die onmoontlikheid van volledig mens te wees as jy alleen is. Die mens kan slegs mens wees, wat hy behoort te wees, as die hele gemeenskap menslik is. Dit is die kern van ubuntu: ‘n mens is ‘n mens deur ander mense. Antjie Krog het dié gedig in Afrikaans vertaal, en ek wil net twee stukkies daaruit aanhaal: Die gedig se naam is ``Senkatana’’: (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Similarly the ATKV must also be congratulated on its action on Youth Day at the Goudini Spa. It is actions like these that enable South Africans to share with one another beyond the barriers of colour, religion or politics that which we have in common that change South Africans from strangers into friends.

There is also the co-operation agreement between the Dutch Reformed Church in Randburg and the poor black VGK [United Reformed Church] in Orange Farm

• an opportunity for Afrikaners to become part of the restoration of society, an opportunity to be able to help build South Africa and its people.

In a recent column in Beeld Neels Jackson made the point that where whites willingly get involved in reparation, in the restoration of society, this is not only to the advantage of black people but white people themselves also experience a feeling of healing.

The time has come for me to ask what my role can be and how I can become involved. What contribution can I make to push back the frontiers of poverty? It is one’s right; it is also one’s privilege. There are huge challenges for churches, schools, the media, businesses and individuals. Organised society also has a role to play, a facilitating role at the very least to make it possible for groups to be able to get together, to be able to build. S M Mofokeng, a Basotho poet, wrote a play in which he focused on the impossibility of being a complete human being if one is alone. A human being can be what he is meant to be only if the whole community is humane. That is the essence of ubuntu: One is a human being through other human beings. Antjie Krog translated this poem into Afrikaans and I would like to quote just two extracts from it. The poem is entitled Senkatana:]

``waar is almal? waar is die oë van al die ander wat bewonderend saam met myne kan kyk na hierdie prag? waar is die gesigte van al die ander wat glimlag stilweg glimlag omdat hulle sien wat ek sien?”

“geen blydskap is volmaak as n mens alleen is nie vir vryheid is elkeen van ons geskape, dis ons reg elkeen van ons is geskape om met die ander te lewe om met mekaar bewonderend te kyk na die dinge wat ons bly maak om met mekaar verheug te wees, met mekaar te leef sonder mekaar is vryheid leeg is vryheid die bron van droefheid en trane is vryheid nie vryheid nie! maar n pynlike band was gevange hou

duisternis in die oortreffende trap duisternis wat in lig wandel droefheid in blydskap geklee gehuil in vreugde gehul honger te midde van groot weelderigheid”

Allister Sparks so eloquently puts it: “South Africa needs healing and for this it needs a lowering of voices and a climate of restraint and constructive engagement to enable the different groups to find one another and to build mutual trust … “ Something that the opposition seems unable to grasp. [Interjections.]

I would like to invite that group who often are described as the minority to break free from the mental shackles of minority. You do not need to be a minority in your own country. You need not be sidelined. [Applause.] Not now; not ever again. It was President Mbeki who said “… that we refuse to accept that our Africanness shall be defined by our race, colour, gender or historical origins.” [Interjections.]

Breek vry en word deel van ‘n trotse Suid-Afrikanisme waarin ons saam vreugdes van ons verskeidenheid en die eendersheid van ons ooreenkomste kan vier. Ek dank u. [Break away and become part of a proud South Africanism in which we can celebrate the joys of our diversity and the sameness of our similarities together. I thank you.]

Ms R TALJAARD: Hon President, best wishes on your birthday. We wish you the best.

As we debate the Budget Vote of the Presidency, the centrepiece must be executive accountability. In a telling editorial in January 2001, the Mail and Guardian stated the following in respect of the arms deal probe:

If the ability of the institutions of state to pursue the investigation is undermined, then the media and private citizens will conduct the probe. And do it we will. Like the leaders of the apartheid regime before them, the leaders of the ANC will find the truth will come out - if not now, then next week, in five years or even in 50 years time.

South Africa’s ``Armsgate’’, like Watergate, shows that the cover-up attempts often prove even deadlier than the original crime. In recent weeks the furore about the arms deal and its investigation has again dramatically appeared on the agenda of this House. As was the case with the information scandal in 1978, truth has a habit of biding its time. But the lesson of history is that it cannot and will not be suppressed forever. It simply won’t go away, Mr. President. There is much that you need to explain.

The executive accountability of the Republic of South Africa vests in the Presidency in terms of the Constitution. In addition and more materially, you chaired the decision-makers in the Cabinet subcommittee that oversaw the arms deals procurement. You are the key authority that made crucial decisions in respect of the arms probe. You decided on the exclusion of the Heath Special Investigating Unit in the probe in January 2001. You stand centre-stage in the controversy that surrounds the editing of the JIT report in accordance with section 4(6) of the Auditor-General’s Act of 1995

• an editing process that took place before this report reached Parliament. The Auditor-General is Parliament’s agent and he is accountable to this House. While it is entirely appropriate for the Auditor-General to clear up why he failed to share with Scopa the fact that it was given misleading evidence by Mr Chippy Shaik in October 2000, we have to hear the executive side of this sorry saga.

The Auditor-General has stated in a recent release and in a recent report in Business Day in respect of the changes, and I quote: ``The President did not ask me to change anything.’’ While the Auditor-General will account to Parliament, the buck stops with you, Mr. President. You must account for the article 4(6) consultation. You must explain exactly what transpired in these interactions. You can answer for yourself, Mr. President. You do not need the Auditor-General as an interlocutor. Did you or did you not ask the Auditor-General to alter any aspect of the JIT report? Did you have any meetings with the Office of the Auditor-General throughout the course of this investigation? If so, when and what was discussed? You must explain, Mr. President. You are constitutionally accountable to this House and to the people of South Africa and you need to place your actions on record.

Aiming to account via ANC Today on the Internet is wholly inappropriate. You must account in this House, not online. You must answer a number of crucial questions in your capacity as the former chair of the Cabinet subcommittee. Did you ever question or say no to any suggestion that came from Mr Chippy Shaik who bizarrely acted as Cabinet Secretary on these occasions despite having a clear conflict of interest? Did you ever probe interventions by former Defence Minister Joe Modise, who was setting up an array of defence industry-related businesses that would benefit directly from the arms deal and its offsets in any of the Cabinet meetings during the course of the procurement process? Did you ever query any of the processes, structures or decisions where there were no clear procurement policies or conflict of interest codes in place? Did you question the inflated BAE/SAAB and other industrial participation proposals presented to Cabinet? Did you question the symbolic submarine contract signature by the late former Minister Joe Modise? Did you express concerns about the affordability team’s reports on risks in the context of the Minister of Finance’s clearly expressed concerns in not only one meeting?

May I remind you, hon President, there are members of this House - not Mr Bruce, I am afraid - who have meticulously studied every Cabinet minute, every contractual clause and subclause of this procurement and know exactly what interventions were made in the discussions and what specific decisions were taken by the Cabinet subcommittee on which dates. [Interjections.]

As we gather to debate your Budget Vote here today, the House of Commons foreign affairs committee has heard evidence from former secretaries of state, the Rt Hon Robin Cook, MP and Clare Short, MP, in their inquiry into the decision to go to war in Iraq and are preparing extensive further hearings. Across the Atlantic alarm bells are also ringing for those whose actions will be the subject of extensive congressional investigations and interrogations of the intelligence that informed the Bush administration’s decision to wage war on Iraq.

These are pivotal moments in which the executive comes face to face with the legislature in seminal moments of accountability and they are thus seminal moments of accountability whether it is in Whitehall, Washington or Cape Town. Whether it is Whitehall, Washington or Cape Town, the name of the game, Mr President, is executive accountability. Despite your damnedest efforts to distort the simple principle of accountability by shrouding it in the rhetoric of race with the aim of emasculating and delegitimising criticism, South Africa’s ``Armsgate’’ remains a clean and clear question of executive accountability. Any suggestion that legitimate criticism of the executive is racially inspired and subversive is itself a subversion of the multiracial democracy under construction in this country.

Since gathering here to debate the state of the nation address, the litany of former Cabinet Ministers and current Cabinet incumbents who have found themselves either under criminal investigation or in an embarrassing conflict of interest situation has grown. To the already impressive list of former Ministers Maharaj, Modise and Naidoo and the current Deputy President Jacob Zuma, we now need to add Ministers Lekota and Mufamadi and Premier Stofile as the oil slick has rapidly replaced the arms deal quagmire. While Parliament has acted against Minister Lekota, as head of state, hon President, you have legal duties to exercise in terms of the executive ethics Act. If you fail to do so, you yourself may be in breach of the law. When will you act, Mr President? The buck in this regard also stops with you.

South Africa’s Arms gate now has to compete for column space with another disastrous scandal threatening to engulf the Presidency - the Nigerian oil deal. Here too the question is one of executive accountability - a familiar concept. You need to explain what role the Presidency and the Government played in lobbying the Nigerian government for the oil deal. The South African oil company is abundantly clearly not a government entity under a government-to-government contract.

Mr President, you have to release all correspondence between the Presidency and the office of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and any correspondence with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company as a matter of great urgency and public importance. The Nigerian oil scandal is yet another cloud of suspicion hanging ominously over this Government and must be cleared up without any delay. In respect of both the arms deal and the oil deal scandals, the crucial unanswered question is whether the ANC as a party received any funding from any winning bidders in respect of the arms deal or any contributions from the South African oil company in respect of the oil deal. You are not only the President of the ANC. As President of this country, you are accountable to us all. You owe Parliament and the people of South Africa answers to these crucial and critical questions. [Interjections.] That is what open and transparent government is all about. [Applause.]

Mr G T MADIKIZA: Madam Deputy Speaker and hon members, allow me first to wish the hon President a happy birthday.

Turning to the Budget Vote before us, we unfortunately see little to be happy about. Despite millions being spent on policy development, for instance on the economy, no actual development takes place. Instead we are assured, year in and year out, that policy is cast in stone and with it the unemployment and poverty that it perpetrates. The hon President has assured us that corruption is a priority, but woe betide the person who raises the issue. The hon President is eager to remind us that he is an African, and those who expose corruption or query questionable government behaviour are inherently anti-African. It is about being in a position of power and trust and living up to that responsibility.

This Budget Vote provides in excess of R27 million for policy co- ordination, the National Youth Commission and a Minister in the Presidency. The UDM believes that these functions are not producing tangible results. The latter two should be scrapped and the former reduced, and this funding should be allocated to a new department specifically tasked with small business development. Further funding is available in the Umsobomvu Fund and in the budget of the Department of Trade and Industry and its agencies Khula and Ntsika. Such a new department of small business can focus specifically on creating employment opportunities for the youth and women who constitute the majority of the unemployed. It would be a much more productive application of taxpayers’ money to address the single biggest challenge facing this country - the unemployment crisis.

This is but one example of how the Government can make a tangible difference to the lives of ordinary South Africans. It is a question of political will. Government must do more. It is an unfortunate feature of this Presidency that it is associated with hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ rands being spent on foreign trips and large summits that change nothing, not with the suffering that we have in virtually every South African neighbourhood.

The UDM, however, supports the Budget Vote. I thank you.

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Madam Deputy Speaker, Comrade President, Comrade Deputy President, hon members, however unwelcome the passing years might be to all of us, we are once again able in this debate to offer President Thabo Mbeki our warmest birthday wishes on reaching another milestone. And the same to you, Deputy President, although your birthday was earlier. As we approach the 10th anniversary of our democracy, it is worth noting how far the building blocks of progressive statehood have been put in place. Things are vastly better and those South Africans small in mind and numbers who wish to hark back to the old days should appreciate their luck in sharing in one of the world’s recognised democracies, which is forging ahead, instead of living in a country which a former editor of Die Burger described as the ``polecat of the world’’.

This harking back increasingly rears its head as some fire their first election campaign salvos. For example, last Sunday the Leader of the Official Opposition got onto a podium and made claims regarding what he termed too high a cost for the President’s security. I need not deal with the gross anomalies in his so-called facts. He himself must calculate whether the vast amounts he pays researchers are worth it, in this case, to feed him misinformation regarding the Johannesburg metro police budget.

A basic misreading of a speech by the Johannesburg mayor, it seems, led the hon member to proclaim that the total budget of the metro police for 2003- 04 is only R14 million, when indeed this budget is over R400 million, after a 22% increase on the previous year. Even a cursory reading of the mayor’s speech shows that the mayor merely indicated that as part of this 22% increase, R14 million is allocated and set aside for capacity-building for metro police officers. The issue is the security of the President of the Republic. To compromise on this in the least, I would argue, would be to undermine the stability we sought to build since 1994.

The Leader of the Official Opposition may wish to hog the headlines on any issue, as is his wont, but I do not think he seriously would like our Government to compromise the security of his President, our President. The question is: Is the life of a black president less valuable than even that of former apartheid presidents? [Applause.]

Despite these efforts to hark back and misinform, there are everywhere firm signs of progress. The tide has turned. Let me give a few instances of integrated and interactive governance led by the Presidency. The Imbizo programme, as the President outlined in this House on 5 June …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order! Hon Minister, there seems to be a point of order.

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Just on a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker: The running commentary from the side of the Leader of the Opposition actually is an interruption to the member speaking, and therefore that shouldn’t be allowed. Secondly, he also deserves to treat us in this House with some degree of respect. Thank you.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order! Hon member, let me just respond. On the issue of commentary, of course, heckling is something that is allowed. However, hon members, please let’s not have a running commentary, because heckling is different from a running commentary. A running commentary is obstructive and in fact prevents us from really following what the speaker is saying. But, of course, it’s acceptable to me that there is heckling here and there. That’s something that is acceptable. So, may I please ask hon members to just bear with us and respect this particular debate.

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Since 2001, no fewer than five provinces have had this special attention by the President and four by the Deputy President. Ministers, Deputy Ministers, premiers, provincial MECs, mayors and local councillors have played their part too, including in four national focus weeks, not to speak of provincial executive outreach programmes. It has indeed become a way of life for this Government.

I believe the real effect of this imbizo way of life is still to be fully understood and will form part of many a postgraduate study and research topic regarding communications and governance in the years to come. One has but to see the enthusiasm of our people when presented the opportunity to interact with and directly question our President and Deputy President or others in the executive. Our people seem to more eagerly speak their minds and raise difficult issues.

Things happen when people and Government interact directly that we do not see anywhere else, whether in political meetings or at conferences. The Presidency has a good tendency, sometimes, to respond and intervene on the spot. Recently, in the North West, to the consternation of his security contingent, Rev Chikane and myself, he jumped from the stage in response to a speaker living with HIV who had been struggling to meet his MEC on HIV/Aids issues. There in the hall, while the imbizo was proceeding, he brought the MEC and this person together and had the MEC agree to a meeting. That meeting has already taken place and the issues are being resolved. [Applause.]

Equally, the young man who said to the President at another imbizo in the North West, ``We need projects; we have hands, we can do it ourselves’’, was expressing sentiments heard over and over again at Imbizo, as a people’s contract for development takes shape in the spirit of Vukuzenzele and Letsema. The success of Imbizo and its rapid growth means that we as Government will have to increasingly deal with the issues raised and the resulting action required. The working and advisory groups set up by the Presidency covering, for instance, big business, organised labour, black business, commercial agriculture, international investment and religious communities are now part of the routine back-up for executive governance in an interactive democratic setting. Indeed, they are another aspect of Imbizo.

Recently we officially launched the first Nepad cultural project between South Africa and Mali, which stems from the President’s state visit to Mali and commitments he made there last year. The South Africa-Mali-Timbuktu project is looking at ways in which to ensure that this rich part of the history of our continent and its principles and its peoples remains intact for our children and future generations.

Hon members, there is an unwritten convention in a number of countries that the leading figures of the executive, as well as leading figures in the opposition, when travelling abroad, do not deliberately, wilfully and shamelessly undermine their own country. What is worse is when the Leader of the Official Opposition, the hon Mr Tony Leon, actually parades lies and distortions as political analysis. Here are some of the comments this hon member made at a conference in Mexico in April 2003. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order, hon Minister.

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Deputy Speaker, the hon Minister knows that he’s breaching the Rules of the House when he comes with unparliamentary statements like that, and I ask you to instruct him to withdraw that comment.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, would you please withdraw?

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: I withdraw and say that he was very economical with the truth. Here are some …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, please just withdraw.

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: I have withdrawn that statement, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Fine.

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: But it’s parliamentary to say ``economical with the truth’’.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member.

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Here are some of the comments this hon member made at the conference in Mexico in April 2003. After hearing what he said, I invite this House to make up its own mind. This is what he said:

The overwhelming majority of South Africans say that they are unhappy with the way the country is governed.

That’s what he says.

The future of the DA will depend on the success of its efforts …

That is, to eat into the support of the ANC. And then he goes on and says:

… and we are making rapid progress.

Then, talking about those who have crossed the floor - not to his party, to the ANC - he says:

Many of the ANC’s new cheerleaders, by their own admission, are keen to ride the Government gravy train.

Then he says:

But, for now, the South African democracy is looking fragile. The ANC now possesses, without the aid of its coalition partners, a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. This means it has the power to amend the Constitution at will …

He doesn’t know the Constitution -

… in addition, in passing any laws it likes. If the courts declare legislation unconstitutional, well, then the ANC can simply change the Constitution.

This is what he says.

It is, in short, colonising the Constitution’s checks and balances.

He then goes on:

The ANC is now more centralised and hierarchical than ever before, complacent about its constituents’ concerns and hyperactive in extending its reach into every area of state.

He says:

Today the ANC tolerates the idea of political opposition, but insists that opposition outside the orbit of the ruling party is illegitimate. The ANC wants to select and control its political interlocutors.

I don’t know if this is unparliamentary, and if it is, I’ll withdraw it, but this is dishonourable, hon Leader of the Official Opposition.

Regarding the rights of children, gender equality and women’s empowerment, the concerns of people with disabilities and the youth, we have significantly moved forward and are ready to face the remaining challenges. [Interjections.] Fortunately I don’t have my hearing aid, so I can’t hear you. Government recently adopted a policy framework for a National Youth Service Programme and the implementation plan will soon go to Cabinet for approval. The very positive response Government departments have given will ensure that the National Youth Service Programme is implemented as part of ongoing interventions to roll back the frontiers of poverty.

The National Youth Service Programme will play a catalytic role in enhancing the skills of our youth while they are involved in community development initiatives and other programmes. The Growth and Development Summit is committed to 72 000 learnerships by 2005, 95% of which are to be under the age of 35. GDS commitments around the extended public works programme will increasingly benefit young people. In 2001 and 2002, 15% of the beneficiaries of the community-based Public Works and the Working for Water programmes were young people. The National Youth Commission further strengthened the partnership for the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the South African Youth Council. This troika interacts with Government at all levels to provide ideas and better co-ordination for interventions to benefit our young people.

The Office on the Status of Women continues to put women’s empowerment and gender equality foremost on Government’s agenda. As part of ongoing work with the Nepad Secretariat, the OSW and the Nepad Secretariat cohosted a gender and Nepad conference in April this year.

Recently, we launched the South African panel for the African Gender and Development Index. South Africa is one of thirteen countries piloting this initiative of the UN Economic Commission in Africa. It will establish a baseline across Africa against which we can measure advances and identify areas for intervention.

The gender machinery convened regular consultative meetings in the past year, promoting co-ordinated responses by all, as in last year’s very successful 16-day campaign of no violence against women and children.

Similarly, the OSW and other gender structures will constructively engage in the processes towards the 10-year celebration when they convene in August to initiate a broad-based conversation amongst women, ``Towards ten years of freedom: What it has meant to women’’. The first three-year training programme run by the OSW with the UN Economic Commission on Africa and the UNDP concluded last month. The University of Pretoria now accredits this as a certificate course, and the OSW has initiated development of a training manual on gender issues for Samdi to incorporate into public servant training modules.

Although our co-ordination framework is in place, we have not yet met all our targets for representation of women at all levels of Public Service employment. In terms of the 30% target for women employed at management level we set ourselves in 1995, the figures at the end of 2002 indicate that we have not yet reached this, and there is a 6% gap to breach before we reach this target. Government is committed to ensuring that this happens. Ensuring that the private sector mirrors these employment equity commitments remains a major challenge.

On this point, Comrade President and Comrade Deputy President, look at your ANC benches in this House, and you will see represented here in front of us the diverse nation that we are, including a more representative gender balance.

Hon MEMBERS: Yes!

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Look to my left. All I see is a collection of pale, male faces. [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Surely we need to do something to more accurately reflect, in these ranks, the race, class and gender diversity of our nation. [Interjections.]

The ANC has a minimum of one third women representatives. The Official Opposition seems woefully backward on this question. [Interjections.] Comrade Lulu, should the relevant portfolio committee not consider making this minimum one-third representation of women a statutory obligation for all parties who wish to be represented in this House? [Applause.]

The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons continues to co-ordinate the Integrated National Disability Strategy. In the past year, the office further enhanced Government capacity by training officials and providing advice on integrating disability into mainstream society. As with the OSW, Samdi will ultimately take over the responsibility for training trainers to integrate disability in all Samdi curricula.

The recent African regional consultation made decisions on implementing strategic plans for the African Decade for the Disabled. South Africa has been requested to host the secretariat for the African Decade, and we expect it to be functioning by August or September this year. We have confirmed donor funding for the secretariat and for the initial roll-out of the decade plans. South Africa’s contribution to the development of a UN convention on rights of disabled persons is well established and continues.

With the assistance of Flemish government funding, the OSDP will roll out a public awareness campaign in the coming months. As with gender equity, we must work harder to reach the target of 2% of people with disabilities employed in the Public Service over the next two years. Figures at the end of 2002 indicate that we have a 1,99% gap to breach before we are there. Important also is to ensure that, in breaching this gap, people with disabilities are also employed at management level.

The Office on the Rights of the Child was established with a mandate to monitor implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by ensuring that our Government structures advance the interests of children. Stakeholders are currently considering a draft of our second country report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

South Africa’s participation at the UN General Assembly Special Session for Children last year saw our renewed commitment to ensuring that what is outlined in the document ``Building a world fit for children’’ is implemented in our country over the next decade. Whilst legislation helps realise the rights of the child, the ORC and its partners in the national programme of action are mindful of the need for effective implementation. In this respect, 29 sexual offences courts, five one-stop multidisciplinary centres and 64 victim-friendly facilities have already been established. There has been extensive collaboration and partnership with the nongovernmental sector and structures working with children.

To help deal with the rape of children, the CSIR, in partnership with the ORC and Government departments, developed a website to capture information from volunteers. This will enhance the service to abused children, matching volunteer skills to needs of organisations. The Child Volunteer Network, which is supported by the joint monitoring committee in this House, was launched in October 2002.

Although much has been done to improve the lives of children, many challenges remain. One of the main challenges is the need to mainstream children’s rights. This requires that we design programmes, practices and responses based on the premise that the child is the most important factor. In line with this, the ORC and its partners are looking at how to strengthen the national programme of action, provincial programmes of action, and ensure that every local and district council develops a programme of action for children. Indeed, for all these vulnerable groups, steady progress has been made.

While challenges remain, we can confidently say that as we move towards 2004, South Africa is an infinitely better place today than it was before.

All instant analysts are in danger of oversimplifying the short-term and underrating longer-term trends. South Africa should take this advice to heart, and I make no apology for developing ideas I raised in this debate a year ago: If we look at the broad sweep of history, we will be vastly buoyed by what we see. We see an average real growth rate for one-and-a- half decades of around 1,5%. That is from 1976 to 1992. Then it was a percentage more for 1993 to 1999. In the past two years, it has been around 3%. Even if the current figure, under global pressure, falls back to 2,5%, this in no sense negates the medium and long-term improvement, one that measures well against global trends.

We see real per capita income increasing by 3,3%, cumulatively from 2000 to 2002, up from the 2,2% from 1994 to 1999. The point is: Let us look at the longer-term trends, and let us not look simply at cash wages, but at the whole spectrum, including the social wage, which underpins the poor and has helped to boost the living conditions of very many South Africans.

Of course, there are major pools of poverty and underdevelopment. Of course, there is a revolution of rising expectations that prompts people who now have a house instead of a shack to demand a proper ceiling, good construction, security, and so on. Naturally in life success breeds new expectations.

You find the opposition would be upset by that, because they are not going to succeed in 2004, and I am afraid many pale male faces are going to be looking for new jobs. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]

What we had was the Leader of the Opposition castigating the President on Zimbabwe. Let me ask him a question, and he must answer it. More than two million people died in the DRC. More than one million died in Rwanda. More than half a million died in Burundi. More than a million have died in Angola because of an army that he supported. The hon Leon has never said anything about that in this Parliament. [Applause.] [Interjections.] Indeed …

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Deputy Speaker, the hon Minister is misleading Parliament. Can I appeal to you, under Rule 69(1) of this House that, if a member such as the hon Minister misleads Parliament, an explanation during debate is allowed only when a material part of a member’s speech has been misquoted or misunderstood.

The hon Minister has done precisely that. I have actually addressed Parliament on the issues that he has raised, and he is therefore misleading Parliament. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon members! [Interjections.]

I would like to address the hon Leon. Hon members, please take your seats. Hon Minister, please take your seat.

Hon Leon says that what the hon Minister is saying is inaccurate, because he has addressed Parliament on those matters. It might well be that he has. I would like the Minister to consider withdrawing saying that he did not … [Interjections.] Order!

Hon Minister, if you are not prepared to withdraw, that is fine. I would like to check the Hansard about whether the hon Leon has in fact addressed the House on those matters or not. Then I will make a ruling on that. The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Deputy Speaker, we don’t have a problem with your ruling, with the exception of one thing.

We respect your ruling, but in respect of the Leader of the Opposition laying an allegation or accusation that the hon Minister in the Presidency is misleading the House, that on its own requires a substantive motion for him or anyone on his part to do that. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Chief Whip, I will make a ruling that will include that particular issue, because one of them will have misled the House. [Interjections.]

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Indeed, the hon Mr Leon is obsessed with Zimbabwe because, in his view, the most negatively affected people are whites. [Interjections.] That is why he is so obsessed with this issue. [Applause.]

Regarding the hon Taljaard, the days of white schoolmistresses are over! [Laughter.] Why do you stand here and talk to your President as if he were in a classroom? [Interjections.] If there are questions to answer, you people must answer the question, in my view, why you consistently raise matters which are not pertinent to many of the debates that take place in this Parliament. [Interjections.] If I were the hon Gibson, I would try to go for another operation. It might help. [Interjections.]

With these challenges that we have, let us as a nation put shoulder to the wheel, and do something to ensure that the disempowered are equipped to secure their share of what South African democracy has to offer, to secure their pensions and child support grants, to visit their health care facilities that are now there, to access the care now available for HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and other opportunistic infections, and at all times to put pressure on their public representatives - that’s me and you - to do more for the people.

In less than a year, the nation will celebrate ten years of freedom. The date 27 April 2004 will be both celebration and dedication; celebrating the end, a decade ago, of many years of repression and super-exploitation of labour power, and dedicating our nation to rising to greater heights.

As we move towards this important point in our evolving history, let us together build our nation and find common answers to our challenges. The preparations are under way, and we call on all groups, institutions and individuals in the land to collaborate to ensure that this milestone contributes to the future wellbeing of a united nation; indeed, to make it a national celebration.

We need, in the way we mark this historic birthday, to draw on the immense creativity of our people. We should honour the children born not in bondage, but in freedom, since 27 April 1994. They are harbingers of our hopes for the future. We wish to share our national joy and sense of achievement with others from other countries, particularly those who contributed so much to our liberation. We want to pause next year and reflect so that we can move forward, like our Everest mountaineers, our polar explorers and winners of the Comrades Marathon, to the continuing challenges that present themselves. All members of this House are part of this great process. All members will have something to offer.

My thanks and appreciation go 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. It has been a pleasure working with these committees and their chairpersons. Similarly, it has been a pleasure to work with the chairpersons, commissioners and staff of the National Youth Commission during the past year.

My deepest appreciation and gratitude is for the work and commitment of the Director-General in the Presidency, the advisers of the President, the advisers of the Deputy President, my own adviser, specifically, and staff in the Presidency in general.

Comrade President, you are a credit to this House. You are a credit to the ANC. You are a credit to the country. But, above all, you are a credit to those who have nourished you and continue to sustain you - the masses of our people. [Applause.]

Dr P W A MULDER: Madam Deputy Speaker, today is President Mbeki’s birthday. Congratulations. “Time flies or goes”, they say. Exactly a year ago we had the same debate in this House. I am convinced that it is wrong to say, “Time goes”. Time does not go, it stays. We go. A wise man said, “Old age is always 15 years older than you are.” Luckily there are still many years for both of us before old age, Sir.

According to some political commentators, two factors are causing all the problems in Africa, diversity and refusal to tolerate dissent. Kenny wrote:

Traditional African Civilisation is in several ways superior to modern Western Civilisation, but the curse of Africa is the refusal to tolerate variety and dissent.

South Africa is a diverse country. Does that predict only problems for us? Is diversity a curse or a blessing? I believe that it is a blessing. Let me give you an example of our diversity.

I live in the North West province. I wish I could speak Setswana well. The other day I listened to two Setswana speakers joking about Afrikaners. The one said:

When the Batswana people stand alongside a road and ask a motorist for a lift, they ask the motorist with a pointed finger to come and stop right here, not in front of the other hitchhikers.

He then told his friend:

You know, Afrikaners are different and a little stupid. When they stand next to me asking for a lift they do not say come and stop here. They wave their thumb and say, ``I want a lift, but pass me and pick up the other guy on the other side.’’

[Laughter.] Then the two of them had a good laugh. Sir, even the way we ask for a lift is an example of our diversity.

In 1995 the Government had a newspaper advertisement explaining the problems of writing a Constitution for a diverse society. The advert read, “South Africa, 20 million women, 8 main religions, 25 main church groups, 31 cultural groups, 14 languages, etc.”

For the peaceful future of South Africa and for Africa, one of the most important challenges is to get the recipe and balance right in addressing the problems of diversity. Up to now, we have failed.

If the aim of the former OAU for the last 40 years was to fight colonialism, then it was a success. But if the aim of the former OAU for the last 40 years was to democratise Africa and to promote human rights, then the OAU was a dismal failure.

Here is just one statistic: in 1990 after almost 30 years of the OAU, of the 53 African states, only nine could have been described as multiparty democracies. The positive statistic is that this changed drastically in the last 10 years. Today 39 states can be called democracies, but just remember that one of them is Zimbabwe with all its problems.

President Mbeki said in his speech to launch the new African Union last year in Durban:

Through actions, let us proclaim to the world that this is a continent of democracy, a continent of democratic institutions and culture; indeed, a continent of good governance where the people participate and the rule of law is upheld.

Sir, if I look at the realities of Africa today, I must conclude from President Mbeki’s quote that he is an idealist and dreamer, and so am I. I am also an idealist and a dreamer. If I were not an idealist and a dreamer, I would not have been in this Parliament enduring the daily frustrations of being a political leader.

If the President and I were not idealists, most probably we would have been in the private sector earning double our present salaries or maybe the two of us would have been professors at some university debating each other on western economic theories and their applicability in Africa.

Robert Kennedy said, “Some men see things and say why. I dream things and say, why not.” Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “You ought to believe something in life, believe that thing so passionately that you will stand up with it to the end of your days.” For an idealist to be successful, there is also a qualification.

At the death of the first Israeli president, Chaim Weizmanh, Scott wrote a tribute and he said, “He commanded the two essentials of genuine statesmanship, that rare combination of the idealistic and the severely practical.”

We may dream, but if we are not severely practical in our solutions for South Africa and Africa then we shall fail. Simplistic Westminster and British political models will not work in Africa. They tend to simplify politics to individual citizens that must be moulded into a nation.

I am not only an individual, but I am also a part of a community. Ignoring the fact that all African countries consist of individuals and different communities is one of the reasons why Africa is still struggling to get real political stability.

The writer Greer said of the English in London, “Even crushed against his brother in the tube, the average Englishman pretends desperately that he is alone.” Most Afrikaners and Africans are not like that. We are community people. At this moment, the solution that is prescribed for African countries with problems is to form a government of national unity and to send a peace force to protect this solution. My experience is that this is never a permanent solution. It is always only a transitional solution. At the University of the Western Cape, President Mbeki said, “Peacekeeping is not good. It freezes conflict; rather conflict must in the end be prevented.”

Sir, the FF believes that prevention in Africa is to develop political systems that accommodate diversity, ones that accommodate different communities. Westminster’s simplistic solutions always ignore diversity, ignore communities, and try to assimilate instead of to accommodate.

As Afrikaners, we often hear that we must not see ourselves as a minority, but must become part of the majority. Why do I have a problem with this? Because, to become part of the majority, a minority must first abandon everything that is important to them and that made them a distinct minority in the first place. That is assimilation and not accommodation.

What frustrates me is that when we argue this, ANC members always hear apartheid and racism and then no further debate is possible. There was no apartheid in Rwanda, Burundi or the DRC, but we argue exactly the same arguments and the same facts when we argue about these countries.

Even when we debate Africa’s poverty problems, the FF believes the solution cannot come from Government and big business. They may contribute, but can never solve these problems on their own. The solution is to empower communities to uplift themselves to become increasingly self-reliant. I would like to invite the President to accompany me to see an example of where this solution is successfully applied within a community.

Meneer, hoeveel keer moet ek nog die Afrikaner se vaardighede en ervaring aanbied om te help met die oplos van ons probleme? Maar natuurlik nie onvoorwaardelik nie. Danksy regstellende optrede, kry Afrikaners die boodskap dat hulle ‘n probleem is, en dit is ‘n ander boodskap as Juffrou van Wyk s’n.

In ‘n onlangse navorsingsprojek by Eskom is bevind dat 55% Afrikaners vervreemd voel; vreemdelinge in hulle eie land. Sewe en sewentig persent voel daar is nie vir hulle hoop op bevordering nie, omdat hulle Afrikaners is. As jy gelukkig is, verwag jy dat jy jou werk kan behou, op voorwaarde dat jy ander moet oplei om jou werk uiteindelik by jou te kan oorneem. As die vereistes is dat ons, as gemeenskap, moet selfmoord pleeg, het ek ‘n verrassing vir hulle. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Sir, how many more times must I offer the Afrikaner’s skills and experience to assist with the solution of our problems? But of course, not unconditionally. Due to affirmative action, Afrikaners receive the message that they are a problem, and this is a different message to that of Miss Van Wyk.

In a recent research project at Eskom it was found that 55% of Afrikaners feel alienated; strangers in their own country. Seventy-seven per cent feel that there is no hope of promotion for them, because they are Afrikaners. If one is fortunate, one expects to be able to retain one’s job, on condition that one trains others to eventually be able to take over one’s work. If the requirements are that we, as a community, should commit suicide, I have a surprise for them.]

Sir, how do we address these problems? We recently had good discussions with the President on some of these issues. We proposed positive solutions. But Sir, I must report to you that there was no real progress. It frustrates me because there was so much goodwill in our executive council when we took the decision. I have my dreams for Afrikaners and for South Africa, and the President has his.

Robert Goddard, the father of the American space programme said, “Every dream is a joke, until the first man accomplishes it.” I would rather reach old age as an idealist that dreamt and tried, than as a cynic that only criticised. [Applause.]

Mr P H K DITSHETELO: Deputy Speaker, his Excellency the President, may I also congratulate you on your birthday.

As we are about to vote for the Presidency budget, we are reminded to interrogate the activities of the Office of the Presidency, the activities of this highest office as informed by policy direction that the Presidency has adopted. It is on this basis of the policy course chosen that the resources allocated to this office are also justified in advancing the interests of South Africa, rebuilding Africa, and contributing to the achievement of global stability and peace.

e simply think that the President is preoccupied with matters outside the country, which is in keeping with what is happening today. There is no doubt that the President, together with other African leaders, has managed to firmly put Africa on the world agenda. Much cannot be said about addressing pressing local challenges, such as the issue of the economy that is not growing as expected, resulting in businesses shutting down, job losses, and unemployment. The other challenges relate to poverty alleviation, HIV/Aids, and issues of traditional leadership.

We are not convinced that the President does not have the capacity to address these issues that are very close to the hearts and minds of South Africans. We say that charity begins at home, Mr President. Let us first clean our own house before we start throwing stones.

The perception among ordinary South Africans is that our President does not care nor has the time to listen to their cries. This is a reality we cannot simply ignore. It is informed by your people’s daily experiences.

Yes, we know that South Africa is a democratic society, but if the same democratic institutions are not sensitive to the needs of our people, what guarantee do we have that such institutions, young as they are, may mature and generate our traditional institutions harmoniously without creating competition or threatening the survival of the other?

We are calling on you, Mr President, to listen and attend to the concerns raised by traditional leaders. These are institutions that will indeed make Nepad work or fail. There is no doubt that we all want Nepad to work because we embrace its broader principles.

The issues relating to Zimbabwe, the DRC, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Nigeria keep on creeping up each time Nepad and continental stability are discussed. We believe that Nepad’s success largely depends on whether other African leaders are prepared to work or not.

We also wish to ask: Whilst the President has managed to win the hearts and minds of the G8 leaders, will we be able to see the results sooner than expected or was this matter another ploy to deal with Africa so that the G8 countries continue with their normal agenda of strengthening their own grip on Africa?

Our message to the President is: Do not be hoodwinked by events that are far away from home. Take care of people who expect much from our office. We surely know what challenges South Africa is faced with since democratisation.

Tautona, ke eletsa gore o seke wa nkutlwa ka tsa ga Morakile, mmualebe wa bo a bua la gagwe. Motswana o rile kgetse ya tsie e kgonwa ke go tshwaraganelwa. Rona mo UCDP re ikaeletse go dirisana le Puso go fitlhelela maitlhomo le maikaelelo a go direla batho le go tokafatsa matshelo a bona.

Sedikwa ke ntswapedi ga se thata. Botlhokatiro bo tsala boganana le botlhokatsebe, mme go nne go sa iketlang mo lefatsheng. Mathata a otlhe a ka kgonega fa re ka tshwaragana. UCDP e amogela le go tshegetsa Tekanyetsokabo e. Pula! [Legofi.] (Translation of Tswana paragraphs follows.)

[Mr President, I would like you to understand me properly; we mean what we say. A job becomes easier when many people give their assistance. We in the UCDP aim to work with the Government to achieve the aims and objectives of working for the people and improving their lives.

Unity is power. Unemployment breeds criminality, and this then unsettles the country. All of these problems can be managed if we can unite. The UCDP accepts and supports this budget.]

Dr E A SCHOEMAN: Madam Speaker, hon President, it is a privilege to wish you a happy birthday. May you receive bountiful blessings in your endeavours to lead South Africa and the African continent.

On receiving a lifetime Achievement award from the internationally renowned Laureus Academy of Sport a couple of weeks ago, that great South African sportsman Gary Player said: “I love and adore my country South Africa.” The numerous social projects in which he is involved - amongst others, a school of over 500 learners, which he built and sustains - were mentioned and he responded: “I believe in giving of myself, because the more you give, the greater the reward.”

These words and deeds epitomise the spirit of sharing, without expecting reward, but knowing the Biblical truth of “casting your bread upon the water and it will return in multitude.” The other truism, of course, is that real giving and sharing should be voluntary; compulsion leads to resentment and a feeling of being threatened.

History abounds with examples where the oppressed of yesterday become the oppressors of today. In our own history, the oppression and humiliation suffered by the Afrikaner through British imperialism gave rise to an exclusive nationalism that went horribly wrong.

With the advent of our new democracy in 1994, the fear of reprisal was a natural reflex reaction. The miracle of our new democracy was not the miracle of an event, but rather because of a process. The shared passion for our country provided a basis for learning to trust one another. The philosophy of inclusivity, as contained in the Freedom Charter of the ANC of 1955, facilitated the process. The ANC does not see itself as an exclusive organisation, nor does it exclude anyone from becoming part of the South African nation. Indeed, South Africa belongs to all its people, black and white. [Applause.]

Those who are still obsessed with misguided fears, suspicion, cynicism and scepticism should cross the Rubicon of the mind and join hands to become part of this dynamic new nation. The Afrikaner, I believe, is ready to embark on this symbolic trek, the epic journey of the African Renaissance. Rectifying the injustices and discriminatory practices of the past must become everyone’s challenge. The world-renowned financier, Dr Anton Rupert, stated many years ago: “Nobody can sleep soundly if his neighbour is hungry.” Together we must push back the frontiers of poverty. [Applause.]

There are fears amongst many whites regarding developments north of our borders. Continual reassurances from you, Mr President, seem to go unheeded. It is quite ironic that the very critics of your international involvement are the most vociferous in urging your involvement in Zimbabwe. [Interjections.] Your principled approach regarding the Zimbabwe issue not only meets our approval, but is also recognised by senior statesmen throughout the world as being the correct one.

This year is the 90th anniversary of the infamous 1913 Land Acts which deprived the majority of South African citizens of their right to land. It is right that we continue to focus on this contentious issue. Your continued interest in agriculture and the land issue is greatly appreciated. Although the multiplier effect of agriculture contributes in the vicinity of 30% to our economy, the net contribution of primary agriculture is less that 5%, and is diminishing. This is in line with other industrialised or semi-industrialised countries. Land is not necessarily the key to wealth and prosperity. Fact is that primary agriculture’s debt exceeds R28 billion, indicating that many farmers are in an invidious financial position.

This in no way detracts from the importance of agriculture for national and household food security. Farming is a noble and rewarding profession. Our young black youth, in particular, must not be lured by bright city lights, and we encourage them to study agriculture and become part of this vital industry.

Land is an emotional issue. The renowned Afrikaans poet and author Dirk or D J Opperman, expressed his attachment to land as follows:

Ek het ‘n stukkie grond gekoop met melkhout op; dit afgekamp en teen die hek ‘n naam geverf sodat verbygangers besef: Dis Dirk se erf.

Bakkapel glip uit my melkhoutbos, verby die kruin, verby die rots, en teken op sandkolle waar hy kom oral in ouderwetse skrif:

“Alles … alles my eiendom.”

Just as we are from the soil, we will return to the soil. We never lose this bond, and we all yearn for our own piece of earth.

Our territorial imperative and need for security have led to most historic conflicts. All parties in this House seem to be in agreement that the present inequitable land ownership pattern in South Africa is unacceptable and must be rectified. It has been stated repeatedly that the Constitution will guide the land reform process in South Africa. This is, of course, the correct and the only approach. It is, however, a source of concern that after nearly 10 years, our land reform targets do not seem to be on track. Although the land restitution process has been accelerating, with nearly half of the 79 649 claims having been settled, the land redistribution leg of land reform seems to be experiencing difficulties.

By saying this, I do not wish to detract from the excellent work which has been done by our Minister, her departments and institutions such as the Land Bank. It is estimated that a capital budget of R1,7 billion per annum is required for the purchase of land, if the target to deliver 30% of commercial agricultural land by 2015 is to be met. We are aware that negotiations with Treasury are presently under way to access increased funds for land redistribution for the agricultural development programme. We trust that you will support this endeavour.

Hon President, there are many facets of land reform which are resulting in frustration. Expectations have been created amongst people who are landless. Although a firm hand to prevent land invasion is needed, Government is all too aware of the potential time bomb situation.

The private sector also has a vital role to play. The commercial farming sector, through AgriSA, has become an active role-player. Individual farmers and agriculturalists have come to offer their knowledge, expertise and land. Mr President, in Zimbabwe, the active involvement by the commercial farming sector in land reform only occurred when it was too late. A summit of all role-players to ensure successful land reform has become an imperative. The result should be an inclusive, co-ordinated and well-structured process of land redistribution, which can be monitored on a continuous basis.

Onteenseglik bestaan groot welwillendheid by baie boere wat die noodsaaklikheid van grondhervorming besef. Hierdie progressiewe individue verdien ons lof en aanmoediging. Onlangs het die Du Toit Boerderygroep van Ceres 500 van hulle werkers bemagtig deur hulle volle aandeelhouding in ‘n nuwe verkoelingsaanleg te laat bekom. Daarbenewens, word die benutting daarvan vir ten minste vyf jaar gewaarborg wat ‘n dividendinkomste reeds van die eerste jaar afverseker.

Instansies soos Distell, Capespan, die suikerbedryf, Graan SA, Agri SA, die Nasionale Wolkwekersvereniging, die Rooivleisprodusenteorganisasie, en baie ander, is reeds betrokke by bemagtingingsprogramme. Individuele suksesverhale soos die Nelson’s Creek projek in die Paarl, die Land for Peace projek van Roger Roman by Hartebeespoort, die suksesvolle vestiging van voorheen benadeelde boere op sitrusplase in Sondagsriviervallei, en baie meer, getuig van die verbondenheid tot grondhervorming en bemagtiging. Onlangs het ons ook die lofwaardige voorbeeld van die bejaarde mnr John van der Byl van Naboomspruit ervaar, wat ‘n werker, mnr William Ramatsi, wat reeds 50 jaar by hom werk, 80 hektaar van sy grond, en 22 beeste gegee het. Verdere soortgelyke inisiatiewe moet aangemoedig word.

Die mentorskapprogram, waarvolgens progressiewe kommersiële boere opkomende boere onder hulle vleuel neem, is ook besig om in momentum toe te neem. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[There is indisputably great goodwill among many farmers who realise the necessity of land reform. These progressive individuals deserve our praise and encouragement. Recently the Du Toit Farming Group of Ceres empowered 500 of their employees by granting them full shareholding in a new cooling plant. Apart from that its utilisation is being guaranteed for at least five years, which ensures an income in dividends from as early as the very first year.

Institutions such as Distell, Capespan, GrainSA, AgriSA, the National Wool Growers’ Association, the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation, and many others, are already involved in empowerment programmes. Individual success stories such as the Nelson’s Creek project in Paarl, the Land for Peace project of Roger Roman at Hartebeespoort, the successful establishment of previously disadvantaged farmers on citrus farms in the Sundays River Valley, and many more, testify to the commitment to land reform and empowerment. Recently we also saw the laudable example of the elderly Mr John van der Byl of Naboomspruit, who gave a worker, Mr William Ramatsi, who has already been working for him for 50 years, 80 hectares of land and 22 head of cattle. Further similar initiatives should be encouraged.

The mentorship programme, whereby progressive commercial farmers take emerging farmers under their wing, is also increasing in momentum.]

Political parties generally have two ways of eliciting support, namely either by generating hope, or by instilling fear amongst the voters. The DA, sadly, uses the latter approach. “Swartgevaar” has been replaced by the “Zimbabwe gevaar”. [Applause.] In essence, their message is the same, namely that this Government is going to condone land invasions and seizures, abuse powers of expropriation, and that in the agricultural sector minimum wage and land taxes are deliberate means of forcing commercial farmers to vacate land.

The DA never highlights the success stories to which I have alluded. They use land as a political tool to elicit support. They think nothing of putting a match to the powder keg, because unlike us true Africans, many of them carry two passports, and will run while we face the challenges of operating a just society. [Applause.] They suffer from the pre-1994 syndrome, conveniently forgetting about the then depressed economy, high inflation rates, empty harbours and deserted airports. Maybe we should pity them, because their small world was confined to the perimeters of Houghton, Waterkloof, Constantia and the JSE. [Applause.]

It would seem that the repeated assurances by yourself, Mr President, the Minister and Government, concerning the indispensable role of commercial agriculture, go unheard. More likely, it is a case of not wanting to listen.

It is disappointing that the application of a minimum wage in agriculture, which is an attempt to create a contented farming community, has resulted in such negative reaction. Neither the principle of a minimum wage, nor the level at which it has been set can be disputed. I do not believe that any employer with compassion can expect a worker and his or her family to survive on less. The hon Minister of Labour has indicated that he is open to suggestions, especially concerning remuneration in kind.

Hon President, we are privileged to live in this wonderful country at this point in our history. Like the proverbial rocket, ready to be launched into space, the countdown has begun. In fact, we are already in the lift-off phase. Black and white are taking hands to ensure the success of our mission. Indeed, success is assured, because we have a commander-in-chief with the insight and vision of Thabo Mbeki. [Applause.]

Dr M S MOGOBA: Madam Speaker, to our hon President, who is a good, solid 60-odd years today, many happy returns.

Ka Sepedi re re o monna-tia lehono; o monna wa banna. [You have come of age; you are a real man.]

South Africa, with all its beauty and its world-acclaimed fame of having overcome its racial curse, has one major river to cross: fear. Fear of one kind or another has woven itself like a golden thread into the fabric called South Africa. It was the fear of ``baasskap’’ [domination], which took the form of the dompas and cringing subservience.

The Afrikaner was the main prototype of this era. One would have thought that their appropriate name would have been Zuid-Afrikaner, but they took the ambitious name of Afrikaner. Their spirit was Pan-Africanist, for when they got on their ox wagons and traversed the Cape and the Free State - they went to Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Lydenburg, Pietermaritzburg - they just could n’t stop. Some went to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya.

On a recent visit by our parliamentary land and agricultural affairs committee to Zimbabwe, we visited an interesting community in the Zimbabwe Midlands. We found them gathered on a farm under the trees - Afrikaners, the English, Zimbabweans, the war veterans, the lot. They were bound together by their common love of the land. They formed a new community. The Afrikaners in the group said to us: “We belong here. We are living together here. Those who want to go away should do so. We belong here.” We later visited their fields - black and white farmers - and they had a bumper harvest. One black lady said: “I’m going to be a millionaire this year.” My heart leapt. Here was the Pan-African dream unfolding itself. No more fear. After fear, prosperity. Here was Pan-Africanism, African Renaissance and Nepad dramatically played out in a single farming community.

Why then should the Afrikaners of South Africa make themselves foreigners in South Africa and in Africa? Why do they distrust their compatriots to the point of wanting to seclude themselves in Orania and want to form a liberation army - Die Boeremag - not to liberate themselves, but to enslave themselves? Why fight against people who have stopped fighting, who have melted their swords into ploughshares?

Now, coming to the Africans we have a different scenario. They were oppressed together, killed together at Sharpeville, broke stones together at Robben Island and went into exile together. Now that the war is over, why is there a cleavage? Some even prefer joining hands with Afrikaners rather than with the Africans. What is the problem? Where lies the fear?

One ambassador from an African state once said to me: Can you explain this puzzling phenomenon? Why is it easier to form an alliance with the Afrikaners than with the Africanists of old? I said I did not know but that I thought that part of the answer may be put simply as, “the Western Cape problem.” He was not convinced. He thought that there must be something very deep, something that was a national secret or a missing link.

Put in other words or in clearer terms, can we talk of Pan-Africanism that unites all Africans except some who should not be accorded the same status and the same rights? Can we refer to an African Renaissance or Nepad when some Africans are basically ignored or wished out of existence? These are some of the questions that keep coming up and need to be clarified.

On a broad policy aspect, the question of land is a hardy annual. Whilst appreciating the progress of land distribution in recent months, we are all aware that there is a limit to what can be distributed. If one has a few slices from a loaf of bread and is distributing that, well, the question that keeps coming up is, what about the whole loaf? Not to address the question of the whole loaf is merely postponing the inevitable.

We are of the view that we need to urgently address the legal aspects of land distribution regarding compensation and canvassing the whole population about the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution. Force is unnecessary and undesirable, but surely all people who are enjoying an unfair advantage over others should be gracious enough to offer some compromise. We need peace in our fledgling democracy and cannot have peace without considerable sacrifice. It is reasonable and wise to negotiate for peace and stability. It is unwise and short-sighted to ignore the time bomb and merely hope and pray that it will go away.

Aids sufferers and potential sufferers and people without jobs are waiting desperately in anticipation of some sort of relief. The flower of the youth of the nation is being decimated. We appreciate the increase in the budget for Aids work, but we need to spare no money and resources. We should respond as if it were a situation of war. War is war.

On Zimbabwe, we are anxious to see positive change in the areas of negotiations, a government of national unity and economic recovery. We agree with our President that no amount of force can help Zimbabwe. Those who advocate force should look at the Iraqi debacle. One can win a battle but lose a war. The cost of picking up the pieces and restructuring or reviving a country that has been destroyed is immense, and all that money will be money down the drain. To negotiate is tedious and frustrating, but that remains the only way of bringing about a win-win situation. The alternative is a win-lose or a lose-lose scenario. We support negotiations, negotiations, negotiations. The PAC supports this Vote. [Applause.] Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and hon members, on behalf of the MF and the leader of the MF, the Tiger Mr Rajbansi, I would like to kindly take this opportunity and wish our hon President Thabo Mbeki a very happy birthday. May Almighty God spare you for many more years to come so that you can, hon President, watch our South Africa grow from strength to strength. Have a joyous day and, of course, a joyous evening.

The MF notes the key arms of support that this department holds towards the President, the Deputy President and Ministers in the President’s Office. The department’s management of its faculties is applauded, noting the vast spectrum of duties it covers. It is hoped that the budget allocated is sufficient to secure the department’s efficiency in co-ordinating and monitoring Government policies.

Appreciation is expressed for the attention that has been given by this department to gender equality, children’s rights and rights of the disabled. Attention and concern do notably extend from these to a broader spectrum of concern, but with the transformation of our society and the issues of poverty, attention to the three aspects mentioned is necessary. The MF is pleased with the department’s efforts in this respect and compliments the Government on its efforts to improve the quality of life and delivery and to defeat social challenges such as the Aids pandemic, poverty and crime.

Our President’s presence in society has been inspirational and promising to our people that we are in good hands. Our Government is doing its best to correct the imbalances of the past and it is encouraging that we shall be successful under the leadership of our hon President Thabo Mbeki. Our hon President and his competent Ministers have built strong ties abroad and we are treated with respect, thanks to our proficient President. Your honourable leadership is better today than yesterday, and tomorrow will be even better. You are our hope, our courage and our strength to overcome our difficulties and achieve a better life for all in South Africa. Yes, hon President, how right you were when you said in your presidential address, and I quote: “South Africa belongs to all who live in it.”

Hon President, the MF believes that one who lives in South Africa not only lives in it, but also lives for it, and that anyone who lives in South Africa and not for South Africa, does not live in South Africa. Thank you, hon President, for bringing South Africa back to us. Ibuyile iAfrika [Africa is back]. [Interjections.]

The MF has confidence in the department’s competence and supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mufumakadzana I MUTSILA: Mulangadzulo wa Mufumakadzi, ndi fhululedza Muphuresidende washu kha ḓuvha ḽavho ḽa mabebo. Kha vha ri tshilele. Ndi ḓo sumbedzisa zwine Budget Vote 1 ya Muphuresidende ya zwi ita, ndo i livhisa kha vhaholefhali. (Translation of Venḓa paragraph follows.) [Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate our President on his birthday. Long may he live! I will highlight what Budget Vote 1 for the Presidency is doing, especially the focus on the disabled.]

Most societies identify people with disabilities as being different from their non-disabled peers. This has resulted in severe isolation for people with disabilities and their families. Let me share with you what happened in my constituency. One day it was raining heavily, with thunder and lightning. The lightning struck one of the huts. Out came this figure running for dear life. When people saw it, they started chasing it and running after it shouting, Nḓadzi'' [lightning]. This figure stopped abruptly and raised its hands up and shouted at the top of its voice:A si nḓadzi ndi muthu. Ndi ṅwana wa vho-mukene.’’ ``Ni a zwifha a ni dzuli hone. Vhana vha hafho muḓini ri a vha ḓivha vhoṱhe.’’ Vhana vha henefho muḓini vhe vha vha vhe vhukati ha iḽo gogo vha tenda zwauri ndi murathu wavho. (Translation of Venḓa paragraph follows.)

[I am a human being, not a beam of lightning. I am somebody's child''. You are a liar; you don’t stay here. We know all the children from this family’’. Children from that very same family, who were present, confirmed that he is indeed their brother.]

For more than 10 years, people from that neighbourhood did not know that there was a disabled child who lived in that house. With the help of our Government, this child is attending school like other children today. [Applause.] This shows that people with disabilities are excluded from the mainstream of society and experience difficulties in accessing fundamental rights. There is a strong relationship between disability and poverty. Poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability. And disability reinforces and deepens poverty.

Muhulisei vho Nefolovhodwe, u yela Gaba, Tshifuḓi na Tshaulu hu na vhaholefhali vha re na tshivhalo. Ndo ḓo humbelwa nga vhadzulapo vha henefho zwauri ndi ḓe ndi ambe nga ha zwine Muphuresidende na Muvhuso wavho wa ANC vha nga thusa ngazwo kha lushaka. Mulaedza muhulwane wo vha wa uri Muphuresidende Mbeki vha ri: Faranani, kha ri vuwe, ri ḓiitele nahone ri shume. (Translation of Venḓa paragraph follows.)

[Hon Nefolovhodwe will agree with me that, towards Gaba, Tshifudi and Tshaulu, there are several disabled people. I was asked by that community to come and find out what the President and the ANC-led Government have in place for them. The main message was that President Mbeki said we should unite, arise, act and work.]

In that area, many disabled children were left not in their homes when their parents went to work. We discussed with the community and showed them how the President and our Government can assist them. A few women volunteered to look after these disabled children. A local businessman offered them two unused rondavels in order to start a daycare centre for those disabled children. They named the centre Ri Songo Neta'' which meansWe are not going to give up’’. Comrade Ṱovhowani Tshivhase, our MP, donated plastic chairs for the centre. Ri a livhuwa muhulisi Vho Tshivhase. [Thank you, hon Tshivhase.] [Applause.]

The volunteers told me that they wanted to write a letter to the President in Tshivenda so that they could express themselves clearly. I encouraged them to write their letter, and promised them that their letter would be answered. Indeed the letter was answered. [Applause.]

Ri a livhuwa Muphuresidede washu na tshipano tshavho tshi sa dzhieli zwithu fhasi. Vho nea vhathu vhe vha vha vho laṱiwa vhutshilo. [We thank our President and his team for not taking things for granted. They are giving life to the downtrodden people.] Mrs Merafe from the Department of Social Development from Pretoria came, and we accompanied her to Ri Songo Neta Day Care Centre for the disabled which accommodated plus-minus 38 disabled children by then.

Ri a livhuwa Minisiṱa Vho-Skweyiya. Vha songo neta. Khano i tshe khulu. Miṅwedzini yo fhelaho Muphuresidende vho wana luṅwalo lu bvaho kha mutshena wa Mu-Afurikanere, a tshi khou vha khoḓa kha mushumo une vha khou itela vhathu. Zwiṅwe zwe mutshena uyo a zwi ṅwala ndi zwauri. (Translation of Venḓa paragraph follows.)

[We would like to thank the hon Minister Skweyiya. Don’t give up. You still have a lot do. In the past months, the President received a letter from a white Afrikaner who was praising him for the big task he is doing for the people. Some of what he wrote in this letter was the following, and I quote:]

Africa is preparing to take its rightful place at the head of a new cycle in the history of humanity because it is a necessary stage in the unfolding of an anniversary spirit.

This Afrikaner acknowledges what our President is doing to change Africa, and South Africa in particular, to improve the lives of all citizens, both black and white. The apartheid regime failed to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, poverty-stricken communities and those who are illiterate.

Previously people with disabilities were denied opportunities to participate fully in society because of a lack of services and programmes which included them to meet their needs. This budget is trying very hard to change the status quo and the mess that apartheid caused. The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons in the Presidency has been established in order to facilitate, co-ordinate, monitor and evaluate all Government programmes and projects that seek to mainstream disability issues.

Offices have also been established in the office of the premier throughout the country. The office will be focusing on raising awareness and the establishment of disability units within local government. The Presidency also focuses on integrating and monitoring policies across Government.

During apartheid, disability was couched within a medical welfare framework, identifying people with disabilities as ill, whereas under our ANC-led Government, disability is repositioned as a human rights issue. The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons maintains and works closely with NGOs to work towards the transformation of society through a policy of self- representation.

In 1995, the ANC included Maria Ranto as a member of Parliament. Then, in 1999, six leaders of persons with disabilities were included in the proportional representation model and took up their seats in Parliament. Our policies promote equity and prevention of unfair discrimination on the grounds of disability. The Employment Equity Act encourages the Public Service to employ a minimum of 2% of disabled persons. The South African Schools Act promotes the inclusion of learners with special educational needs.

We encourage the IEC to make sure that voting booths and voting stations are accessible to people with disabilities. Voting papers should be available to the blind via Braille. Election campaigns on TV should be accessible to people who are deaf so that they know exactly what is expected from them.

Mutshena wa Mu-Afurikanere o isa phanḓa kha luṅwalo lwawe lwe a ṅwalela Muphuresidende ari: [This white Afrikaner continued. He said, and I quote:] ``Africa, the hopeless continent, is destined to become the hope of humanity. The darkest continent is destined to become the most enlightened. The last will be the first. Little orphan Africa is destined to become the mother of a more compassionate human era.’’

Yes, it is true that the tide has turned. We sang ``Phambili Makwedini’’ [Forward, boys!] when this land was darker than it is now. Yes, the tide has turned. Africa, the time has come.

Muphuresidende, ri khou tendelana na heyi Budget Vote. Ri ḓo vha tika nga nungo dzoṱhe, ra farana, ra vuwa nahone ra shuma. Ndi a livhuwa. [U vhanda zwanḓa.] [Mr President, we support this Budget Vote. We will support you with all our might. We will unite, rise and work. I thank you. [Applause.]]

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Hon President, hon Deputy President, and hon members, in world history there is a tendency for leaders and statesmen to become strongly associated with a specific speech of major significance which they have delivered. So it is in our country that a leader like general J B M Hertzog is thought of in terms of his South Africa first'' speech in 1912. Martin Luther King Jr is famous for hisI have a dream’’ oration in 1964. President Mandela is imprinted in people’s mind with his I am prepared to die'' statement from the dock at the Rivonia trial on 20 April 1964, and F W de Klerk for hisNegotiation in the new South Africa’’ speech on 2 February 1990. You, Mr President, are inextricably linked to your ``I am an African’’ in this Parliament on 8 May

1. That speech is as relevant today as it was seven years ago, and I wish to give my own perspective on that speech as to what its implications are for the political discourse in the year 2003.

Madam Speaker, for me as an African, who is also a South African, that speech says my destiny and future is in Africa and Africa alone. It says there is space for me and my distinct cultural life - for my mother tongue, Afrikaans, for my religion, for my values and my lifestyle - provided I grant the same space to every single other South African. It says that whilst being mindful of and sensitive to the pain and suffering and conflict of the past, and even of the present, I can play my full role in every way to help build a South Africa that is a caring and worthwhile place, and a better place for all its people.

The speech also says to me I must not only be proudly South African, but I must want this country to succeed and to play its rightful role on our continent. And so today, Madam Speaker, I would like to appeal to my fellow South Africans, fellow Africans of South Africa, to take hands in this effort, and to discard the self-imposed shackles of this joyless negativity and pessimism, and a thinly veiled racism and prejudice and suspicion, that we so often see. And I also warn them against the destructive tendency to bad-mouth our country and our continent, and the real danger inherent in the highly sophisticated but still obvious use of discredited ``swart gevaar’’ tactics of old, which one particular party tries to resort to in different ways. That road is leading nowhere, and it does not belong in the politics of the new South Africa. And, Madam Speaker, it is as these Africans, to which the hon President Mbeki refers, that the New NP and the ANC have entered a relationship which is based on a number of shared convictions, and which continues to grow.

An important milestone on this road of co-operation was reached on 27 April this year when President Mbeki and Marthinus van Schalkwyk signed a joint declaration in Pretoria. I merely wish to quote one or two sentences of that declaration, namely:

“We are inspired by the growing spirit of unity among all our people, as they work together to build a new South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.

At the same time, we recognise the fact that much remains to be done further to nurture this emerging spirit, which is informed by a new patriotism that acknowledges the diverse attributes and contributions of the people who constitute our nation.

Madam Speaker, my submission today is that this is the road of the new South Africa, and I urge my fellow South Africans to join us on that road. Precisely because it is not an easy road, we can expect obstacles and even setbacks as we move along it, also as a party. But we will continue along it, because we as a party are utterly convinced that it is the right road for South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, hon Mr President, first of all congratulations on your birthday. May God give you the strength and the wisdom to rule this country with devotion, and to fulfil your duties with distinction.

I must also congratulate you, Mr President, on your first encounter with traditional Afrikaner “volkspele”, where you joined the “volkspelers” Monday in the Jan van Riebeeck Stadium to the beat of Ek soek na my Diena. This gesture of yours is really appreciated. Even in our culture, to dance with people is to identify with them. So we want to say thanks very much, neef Thabo. [Applause.]

I hereby also extend an offer to you to help you to extend your repertoire, and at the same time to do wonders for your Presidency. I want to teach you a “volkspele” [folk dances] song which you in turn can dedicate to President Robert Mugabe. The name of that song is Vat jou goed en trek, Ferreira. [Laughter.]

Mr President, maybe the best reflection of your Presidency was the previous Thursday when it was your turn to answer questions in this House - on the whole, a professional, hands-on and balanced performance. Balanced and realistic, with sustainable views and answers on the economy, on relations in South Africa - a fresh breeze on the need for Africa to take control of its own destiny.

And then, the total opposite picture when it comes to Zimbabwe - a futile attempt to use the DRC or other countries as a decoy to avoid saying the right thing on Zimbabwe. Mr President, you and Minister Essop Pahad today again asked over and over: Why ask me about Zimbabwe? Why don’t you ask me about the DRC where many more people died?

The truth of the matter is, Mr President, that in a democracy a member of the executive, even the president, does not have the luxury to determine the agenda of matters for which he is to be held accountable. Your job here in Parliament is to answer questions, not to dictate them.

You know better than me that perceptions are the name of the game. Let me in this regard quote Tim du Plessis, the editor of Rapport. And by the way Rapport is the largest Afrikaans newspaper in the world. He wrote:

Vandag nog is Mbeki vreesloos wanneer hy sy linkse, sosialistiese kritici in Cosatu en die SAKP bydam as hulle hom uitdaag oor sy regering se ekonomiese beleid. Hoekom dan is ‘n man wat soveel politieke moed het, onwillig om reguit te praat oor die verwoestingswerk in Zimbabwe?

Meneer, die Nasionale Aksie wil dringend van u weet of u Mugabe ook geadviseer het om nie massa-optrede met brute staatsgeweld te onderdruk nie, soos wat u meneer Tsvangirai geadviseer het om hom nie tot massa-aksie te wend nie. En ons vra of onderhandelinge kan voortgaan - dié waarna u verwys het - terwyl mnr Tsvangirai in boeie is.

Terug na Suid-Afrika. Ons het ten minste twee gevalle onlangs gehad, Meneer die President, waar u Regering positief gereageer het op druk vanuit die samelewing teen beoogde beleidstandpunte. Die een was die beoogde godsdiensbeleid in skole. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.) [Sir, the National Action urgently wants to know from you if you also advised Mugabe not to suppress mass action with brutal state violence, as you advised Mr Tsvangirai not to use mass action. And we want to ask if negotiations can continue - those to which you referred - while Mr Tsvangirai is in chains?

Back to South Africa. We have had at least two incidents recently in which your Government, Mr President, reacted positively to pressure from society against envisaged policy stands. One was the envisaged religious policy in schools.]

It was met with a public outcry. The NA appreciates your encounter with religious leaders, and the latest trends, the greater role of SGBs and the re-invitation for public inputs.

Die ander geval - die Nasionale Aksie het met dank kennis geneem van u verklaring gedurende ‘n imbizo-besoek aan Noordwes, dat die kommandostelsel nie uitgefaseer gaan word nie maar “herskik” gaan word, eweneens in antwoord op ‘n groot vlaag van kritiek en verontwaardiging wat u aankondiging op 14 Februarie uitgelok het. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[The other incident - it was with gratitude that the National Action took note of your statement during an imbizo visit to the North West that the commando system will not be phased out, but will be transformed, albeit in response to a big flurry of criticism and outrage unleashed by your announcement on 14 February.]

Mr President, the National Action in this regard is not a spiteful opposition. A spiteful opposition is one that puts pressure on government to change a particular policy, and the moment government yields to their request they become triumphant: we forced them to back out or back down, whatever it may be. No, Mr President, we in the National Action say it is a good sign, it is a symptom of sound democracy to listen and to rethink policies.

But, hon President, we want to warn against a habit amongst high-ranked ANC officials and Ministers to make radical statements to test the water, to send these statements out as flyers, to see perhaps how far you can go. In the meantime a lot of damage is done, sometimes even in the field of investor confidence. Too often these statements are made by Cabinet Ministers and are never repudiated by you, not even the statement that President Bush may attack South Africa for its minerals.

Hon President, there is widespread appreciation for your willingness to negotiate with Solidarity on their proposals for an equity accord on affirmative action. The NA hopes that this meeting will soon materialise to perhaps put an end to the second largest reason why a lot of people feel marginalised and leave the country.

Mr President, the NA says no South African may be marginalised. No community may be at risk with regard to what is precious to them. No minority, hon Annelizé van Wyk, must be forced to act, believe and become like the majority in order to be recognised.

Mr President, we still have a lot of problems. The National Action will play its part positively to address and to solve these problems. Let your realistic economic policies increasingly become practice in your dealing with the rich diversity of South Africa, and maybe next time you and I can dance together to the song Afrikaners is plesierig. Ek dank u. [I thank you.] [Applause.]

The SPEAKER: The hon Aucamp, are you offering also to learn to toyi-toyi? [Laughter.]

Ms M C LOBE: Madam Speaker, comrades and friends, this Budget Vote could not have come at a more relevant time as we celebrate the heroic contribution of the youth in the struggle for liberation. During National Youth Day two days ago we commemorated the 27th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings, under the theme ``Youth action to seize opportunities of democracy’’. This clarion call is an acknowledgement of the many opportunities and challenges presented by the democratic dispensation to the youth of this country. This month therefore represents for us a milestone by the youth of South Africa to reclaim their birthright, the birthright of their people. It represents a sacrosanct, noble, revolutionary act to renounce colonialism and reassert our humanity. It is therefore a celebration of the colossal voluntary sacrifice of our people as they struggle to free themselves from the bondages of oppression and get on the pathway to emancipation.

We also welcome the move of the AU to declare June 16 the day of the African child. This inspires us as young people to volunteer to contribute immensely to the reconstruction and development of our country and the continent. This, Comrade President, therefore reminds us that the first call made by the President of a free Tanganyika, Comrade Rashidi Kawawa, was directed at the youth to assume responsibility and engage rural communities in respect of illiteracy, agriculture, health, etc. He urged the youth to serve the deprived people of Tanganyika as that was the only way to defend their revolution.

This was, amongst other things, what led the late Julius Nyerere, the president of Tanganyika, later renamed Tanzania, to introduce a concept of Ujama, which meant the reconstruction and revival of the African spirit for a better life for all. The declaration of June 16 as the day of the African child, therefore, is a call for action, and finds more expression in the words of one great African leader Comrade Moses Khotani to the youth of this country when he said: “At this hour of destiny, your country and your people need you. The future of South Africa is in your hands and it will be what you make of it.” As we salute the 1976 youth generation, and generations that came before and after it, we are humbled by their understanding that the price of freedom and justice was life itself.

We are further inspired to understand that the struggle owes us nothing. We owe everything to the struggle. We owe our very existence to the struggle. [Applause.] Comrade President, ours is therefore to take action and seize the opportunities of democracy. When I was doing my matric some 12 years ago my mom, who was unemployed, had to pay an amount of R167 for what was called a matric examination fee. Many of my peers were not as fortunate and therefore could not complete their matric. Today no learner is subjected to such humiliation, because doors of learning and culture have been opened. [Applause.]

Modulaqhowa, re thoholetsa boemo bo nkilweng ke mmuso, ba ho eketsa mephallelo ya bana, le ho eketsa dilemong tsa bana ba fumantshwang mephallelo ho isa dilemong tse 14. Re a utlwisisa hore tsena tsohle di keke tsa etsahala ka motsotso o le mong. Etswe Mosotho wa kgale o ile a nna a bolela hore `Monokotshwai o ke ke wa butswa ho latela takatso ya tshwene’. Keketso ena dilemong le mephallelong, e tla thusa ho lwantsha bofuma le ho etsa bonnete ba hore bana ba Aforika Borwa ba fumantshwa kgodiso e ntlafetseng. Ka nnete mookamedi, re a leboha. Etswe sejosenyane ha se fete molomo.

Mephallelo ena ya bana, ekasitana le ya maqheku le batho ba sa itekanelang, e bontsha kgathallo ya mmuso wa hao. Mme ebile e sehlohlolong sa ntjhafatso ya botho, boo e leng hore batho ba bangata ba tla utlwisisa ha re re moral regeneration. Ere ke nke motsotso ona bakeng sa ho leboha Motlatsa- Mookamedi le Bookamedi ka kakaretso ka mosebetsi o tswileng matsoho oo le o etsang bakeng sa ntjhafatso ya botho. Ke nnete hore botjha bo makoko, mme bo ka fanyeha pere sebataolong. Empa sena ha se bolele hore jwaloka batjha, re tlameha hore re iketsetse ke a rata, re itebatse metheo ya botho ba rona.

Ka hara tsena kaofela re utlwisisa hantle hore mokotaba ke hore motho ke motho ka batho ba bang. Mme ngwana wa ka ke ngwana wa hao. Selemong sa ho feta Motlatsa-mookamedi o ile a epa pitso mme a mema maAforika Borwa hlomamisong ya lekgotla la ntjhafatso ya botho. E nngwe ya dintho tse ileng tsa re ama maikutlo ke taba ya tshebediso ya dithethefatsi ka hare ho batjha. Mme dikopano tsa mofuta ona, di ile tsa namela diporofensing tse fapaneng, ekasitana le diseterekeng. Ho bontshang hore diphetoho ha di a qala, diphetoho di a etsahala. Ho betsa nnete phatla-matjhotjho, ntjhafatso ya botho ke ona mokotaba, ekasitana le qaleho ya kahobotjha le ntjhafatso ya naha ya rona.

Ho a lokeleha hore re hopole hore na ke eng se re etsang hore jwaloka maAforika re fapane le ditjhaba tse ding. Ke eng se neng se etsa hore ha moahisane wa hao a se na phofo, o mo qhatsetse. Mme mohlodi wa taba ena kaofela ke hore `motho ke motho ka batho ba bang’. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[Ms M C LOBE: Chairperson, we salute the Government’s initiative of providing grants to children and of raising the age limit to 14 years, during which time they should receive grants. We are aware that all these cannot be realised overnight. A Mosotho national maintains that the wild grape will never get ripe in accordance with the monkey’s wish. This raised age limit will help in the fight against poverty, and in the process of ensuring that South African children are being meaningfully brought up. Your honour, we really appreciate this initiative. Half a loaf is better than no bread. These children’s grants and, of course, those of the elderly, and the disabled show that the Government cares. And it is at the top of the agenda in the people’s development programme. Many people will therefore be able to understand what we mean by moral regeneration. Let me take this opportunity and thank the Deputy President and the whole Ministry for a job well done, which you do for the benefit of regenerating humanity. It is true that being young means being filled with pride and this can be deceptive. But this does not mean that we as the youth must do things as we wish and forget our human nature.

In all this we understand very well that the main idea is that a person is what he or she is because of other people. And my child is your child. Last year the Deputy President organised a meeting and invited all South Africans to the inauguration of the council of humanity regeneration. One of the issues which touched our emotions is the issue of substance abuse amongst the youth. Meetings of this nature therefore spread to different provinces and districts. This shows that changes are beginning and they are actually happening. To be more precise, humanity regeneration is the theme as well as the beginning of rebuilding and regenerating our country.

It is necessary, therefore, that we must remember what makes us South Africans different from other nations. What compelled you to give your neighbour some maize-meal when he or she didn’t have any? The source of the whole of this issue is that ``a person becomes what he or she is because of other people.’’]

The youth are a major human resource that has to be developed and utilised for the future prospects of our country. Recent studies indicate that the youth labour absorption by Government is twice that of the private sector, and it’s something that, as this Government, we need to acknowledge. Secondly, this absorption is more sustainable than that of the private sector. We welcome this, and further congratulate our Government on creating an enabling environment for youth empowerment and its sustainability. We are proud that our country has provided a space for youth development in its democratic processes through legislative and other means.

Today South Africa has a National Youth Policy Framework, and we are in the process of launching the National Youth Service Programme. The National Youth Commission, the South African Youth Council and the Umsobomvu Fund have achieved great strides in assisting Government to prepare the youth to contribute meaningfully to the development of our country. The National Youth Commission, the Umsobomvu Fund in this regard, has developed a partnership with the Land Bank, in which various programmes are taking place in the Free State, North West, the Western Cape and Northern Cape, where young people are given an opportunity to own farms, but above all, are empowered to manage and sustain these agricultural ventures.

This has gone a long way towards the development of young farmers, and also towards ensuring that the youth is further encouraged to participate in the agricultural sector. During 2002 more than 20 000 youth volunteers joined the Letsema campaign launched by the President. This was indeed informed by the understanding that those who want to go to heaven must accept that they must die first. Those who want to harvest crops must first plough the fields. Those who wish for or want rain must accept that it will be preceded by thunder and lightning. And those who seek change will have to accept that it will be preceded by long and bitter struggles.

It is within this framework, Comrade President, that we, as the working youth, accept the challenge caused by the youth formations in partnership with the private sector, for us to contribute to the projected Youth Solidarity Fund. [Applause.]

As we take action to seize opportunities of democracy, we also seek to highlight for all to acknowledge the immense innovation and creativity of South African youth in the field of sport, business, arts, culture, education, and even politics. My appeal is that every young South African should embrace the spirit in the words of Martin Luther King Jr: If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say `here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

As we march forward towards the second decade of our freedom, we are convinced that our challenges are many and quite complex. We are, however, inspired by the positive leadership of our President, which reminds me every day of a Japanese proverb, which, for the sake of members of this House, I won’t say in Japanese: ``Vision without action is a dead dream, action without vision is a nightmare.’’ We are grateful to be guided by a person with vision, and who always strives to realise vision through action. And we thank you, Comrade President, for that.

As young people, we see the fruits of this on a daily basis, and come 2004, we are convinced that the ANC will win the elections convincingly. And you, Comrade President, will be confirmed, once again, as that visionary, as that practitioner that will have to take this country forward.

In conclusion, I want to share a story of a 14-year-old girl. This 14-year- old girl, in 1987, was forced to cram what was then called - I know it is still called that even now - uluskietejag. Those of you who are very good at poetry will understand what I am talking about. And this young woman was given 24 hours to cram uluskietejag. Now, this woman is 30 years old today and she has only just learned that uluskietejag is about a mosquito. And the only thing she can remember about uluskietejag today - there are two things - is jou vabond'' [you rascal], the second one ispardoef, dis mis’’ [whack, I missed]. [Laughter.]. Now I am using this particular example to illustrate the kind of education background some of us come from. Even today I do not understand what pardoef'' means, but I hope Minister Manuel will help me to understand whatpardoef’’ means; ``dis mis’’ I understand.

Now, Comrade President, with that … ke batla hore mahlohonolo a hao a letsatsi la tswalo, o hole o lekane le tlou. O re holele, empa o se ke wa kgokgoba. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] [… I wish you all the best on your birthday, grow strong as an elephant. Grow old, but remain physically strong. Thank you. [Applause.]]

Mr S E OPPERMAN: Mr President, congratulations. June is also my month, and 1942 is also the year of my birth. So you are in very good company.

For me to make the statement, “I am an African” is superfluous. What I am is obvious, because I carry within my veins, within my DNA, the genes of the Khoi - the first nation of the southern tip of Africa. My patriotism and love for my continent, Africa, comes naturally, Oom Boy. To link it to political party affiliation is not only misleading, it is childish.

Ek is ‘n bruin Afrikaanssprekende Afrikaan in hierdie Huis, saam met ander bruin Engelssprekende Afrikane en talle bruin Xhosa-sprekende Afrikane. Dit is `n infame leuen dat Bruinmense net Afrikaans of Engels as moedertaal het. Talle in u eie party, Mnr die President, is bruin mense … (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[I am a coloured Afrikaans-speaking African in this House, together with other coloured English-speaking Africans and many coloured Xhosa-speaking Africans. It is a blatant lie that coloured people have only Afrikaans or English as their mother tongue. Many in your own party, Mr President, are coloured people …]

… noba bathetha isiXhosa. [… even if they speak Xhosa.]

You can look at us. There may be different shades, because we also carry as a people the nations of the world in our veins. But it is obvious that we carry the same genes. The only difference is our languages and maybe some cultural practices. May I then humbly submit to you, Mr President, that the term African, as selectively used in the South African context to determine, for example, quotas in the workplace, is not just a misnomer, it is absolute nonsense. The tragedy is that this nonsense is once again used, as in the days of apartheid, now in the days of affirmative action, to discriminate between Africans and Africans on the basis of a language as it is now prevalent, for example, in the Cape Town City Council, ruled by the ANC-New NP, where thousands of so-called coloureds, either English or Afrikaans-speaking Africans, will have to make way for the so-called African component. This will be nothing but blatant discrimination based on a misdirected and totally confused notion that you cannot be a true African if Afrikaans or English is your mother tongue.

Dit is die verantwoordelikheid van die opposisie om diskriminerende praktyke in elke sfeer van regering bloot te lê en die Regering op sy tone te hou. Dit sal ons doen in die Nasionale Parlement sonder om toestemming daarvoor te vra by die regerende party of by sy lakei, die Nuwe NP.

In die Noord-Kaap, die enigste provinsie waar die Nuwe NP die amptelike opposisie is, sê die ANC-premier op 31 Mei 2003: “Omdat die opposisie ‘n bietjie swak is in die Noord-Kaap, in verband met die werk wat hulle doen in alle gemeenskappe, sê ek dat dit is altyd ‘n `problem’ want die ANC- lede, soos ek hulle vandag sien, laat hulle stilsit en nie die werk doen wat hulle moet doen nie. En dit is ‘n gevaar vir die ANC”. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[It is the responsibility of the opposition to expose discriminatory practices in any sphere of government and to keep the Government on its toes. This we will do in the national Parliament without asking permission to do so from the ruling party or its lackey, the New NP.

On 31 May 2003 the ANC premier said in the Northern Cape, the only province where the New NP is the official opposition: “Because the opposition in the Northern Cape is a little bit weak with regard to the work that they are doing in every community, I say that this is always a `problem’ because the ANC members, as I see today, allow them to sit still and not do the work that they should be doing. And that is a danger to the ANC.”]

So one of your own premiers, Mr President, says by implication that a vibrant opposition is a stimulant for the ANC to perform. And I must congratulate the ANC for their performance in driving back the frontiers of poverty. It is no small achievement if a former ANC politician, after just a few years in business, could buy property to the value of R4 billion in cash. It is no small achievement when a few highly connected ANC members could get their fingers greased in Nigerian oil under very questionable circumstances. It is no small achievement when an ordinary ANC member, who left Parliament in 1999, can approach a farmer in my area to buy a farm worth more than R4 million, and give his diamond connections in Angola as surety. Is the history repeated where, after liberation, a select few share the family silver amongst themselves?

It is possible to use slogans and jargon to fool some of the Africans some of the time. It is impossible to fool all the Africans all of the time. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr J DURAND: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Mr President, Franz Fannon in his book, Black Complexion, White Masks deals with this phenomenon. I will not deal with that. [Applause.]

Meneer die President, dis vir my ‘n voorreg om u geluk te wens met die herdenking van u geboortedag. Ek wil vra dat God u sal seën en u die krag sal gee. Die toekoms van hierdie land is in u hande, maar ek weet die toekoms is ook in u hart. My gebed is dat God u sal seën, die krag gee, die gesondheid sal gee dat u ons na beter hoogtes kan lei. Ek wil vra dat u ook tyd sal maak vir u en u vrou om so bietjie in u besige program alleen te kan wees. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[Mr President, it is a privilege for me to congratulate you on the anniversary of the day of your birth. I want to ask that God will bless you and give you the strength. The future of this country is in your hands, but I know the future is also in your heart. My prayer is that God will bless you and give you the strength, and the health so that you could lead us to greater heights. I want to ask that you will also make the time in your busy programme for you and your wife to be alone together a little.]

You said some time ago that you are a Presidency at work to push back the frontiers of poverty. In approaching the budget debate on the Presidency, I’ve decided to take the approach suggested by a conservative businessman who said to me you should not co-operate with Government, you should fight them. And I asked if there was something I could fight Government about.

I decided to look at two aspects of your work with a very critical approach. I decided to examine aspects of your vision of excellence in governance for a better life for all by addressing the following: first of all, bringing the President closer to communities in South Africa, and secondly, supporting the increasing involvement of the President in initiatives in Africa and internationally to contribute to economic development, good governance and peace.

Mr President, you embarked on an imbizo programme as an outreach to meet with communities throughout the country to determine how service delivery is being experienced. In the North West, you visited agricultural, housing, health, educational and community-driven projects, and viewed progress in delivery of basic services, economic growth and development, and improvements under which people live. You joined in a door-to-door social security registration campaign.

As a result of your Presidential imbizo in the Free State, Lesedi Technical High School has now received more than 30 computers from the provincial department of education and Telkom.

You have listened to the people of Bekkersdal in Gauteng. You saw the effect of poverty in their lives. You acted immediately - a new initiative to introduce the new echelon of community development workers into the Public Service. Public works programmes will be introduced to create jobs and transfer skills.

Mr President, in Limpopo province you heard the passionate plea by a student on behalf of pupils, teachers and the community on their desperate need for facilities and infrastructure. Since that imbizo an administration block, an additional four classrooms and a laboratory have been constructed, A borehole has been drilled, and computers and a photocopier have been purchased.

In the limited time given to me, I want to deal with your initiatives in Africa and internationally to contribute to economic development, good governance and peace.

Mr President, in the last few months you travelled in Africa, and internationally, where you represented South Africa and Africa. For the first time we have leaders in this country that are supported by the majority of South Africans, by the majority of the African countries, and respected and hosted by the international communities. Your approach to international engagement is guided by our unhappy experiences, but also by a vision for the future that says: “The people of Africa have said that the time has come for us to move out of and beyond this terrible past. Our continent has said that the time has come that we combine our forces to overcome this legacy and see Africa on a new path of peace, stability, democracy and sustained progress and prosperity.” This was a statement by you at the Asian summit of the Non-aligned Movement Business Forum.

What was said at Evian in France when the G8 leaders discussed the African Action Plan? And I quote what they were saying about us: “We welcome the important progress made by African partners in acting upon the values and principles contained in Nepad, for example, in launching the African Union, which underscores the will of African leaders to assure joint responsibility for democracy, human rights, peace and stability and good governance throughout the continent.”

Financial assistance by the G8 has increased. Certain countries have in fact doubled their contributions. Mr President, you have played a leading role in all this. There are still challenges to meet - some are in Africa, and we are dealing with the conflict, but many are about perceptions in the international community. It is very unfortunate that we still have certain political parties and groups within the media in this country that only speak about the problems, and not about the revolutionary progress that we have made. I do not have time to deal with your entire programme for this year, but members of the media should visit the websites of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency.

In conclusion, Mr President, you have done well. You have a busy programme. I have to fight with you about one thing: you need to elect a better union, Mr President. Your salary package is bad for all the work you do. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mrs W S NEWHOUDT-DRUCHEN: Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, and hon members, firstly I would like to wish the hon President a happy birthday and wish him well.

The Presidency aims to improve the lives of all citizens. In order to do this, it has to focus on strengthening strategic leadership and the organisational structure of the Presidency to ensure better planning and service delivery in Government. It has to develop tools and institutional arrangements that will result in better planning, co-ordination and the integration of government policies and programmes.

One of the priorities of Government, where integration is seen, is the issue of HIV/Aids. As one doctor said in a letter in the book Positive Health, HIV and Aids has been given such a negative and fearful face that being invisible is the best way to cope with this infection. When hope and desire are taken away, the life force dissipates, opening the self to disease and death. To give back hope and desire is the greatest of gifts and this is what Positive Health does in the simplest of ways. Taking control of the self, relying on the self and being able to survive, dream and flourish is the mission of this little booklet. I would encourage every member in this House to read this booklet and to take it to members of your constituency.

We keep hearing members from the DA asking what Government is doing. One wonders if they just do not know, read or hear anything about what Government is doing. [Laughter.] What Government is doing about HIV and Aids is set out in a five-year strategic plan, which is in line with international trends and is the best in the world. The aim of this plan is to provide a framework for a co-ordinated response to HIV/Aids at all levels of society. The plan is structured according to the following four areas: prevention; treatment, care and support; human and legal rights; and monitoring, research and surveillance.

Government programmes that are in place are: the mother-to-child programme; a voluntary testing and counselling service; the distribution of condoms; promoting safe sexual behaviour through information, and the Integrated Nutrition Programme, which is directed at women and children to fight HIV and Aids. For the ANC, it is important that we strengthen and accelerate the implementation of the National Aids Strategy, as amplified in the Cabinet’s statement of 17 April 2002.

The GCIS is also intensifying and expanding the communication campaign in line with Government policy and programmes addressing problems of implementation, and improving our approach in line with changing circumstances.

I read about Aids in 1988, but we know that prior 1994 the response to HIV/Aids was very limited. The tide has turned. In 1994 it was the ANC Government who placed a clear emphasis on the effort to address HIV/Aids in our country. In 2000 the South African National Aids Council was established to formalise multisectoral collaboration. This council is represented by civil society sectors, Cabinet Ministers and two representatives from Parliament, and is chaired by the hon Deputy President. The establishment of Sanac was also instrumental in ensuring that sectors outside of Government have a clear understanding of the strategic plan, and their specific roles and responsibilities in implementation.

I spoke to a community health nurse focusing on HIV/Aids issues and TB. She said that the biggest problem around HIV/Aids is that people do not want to talk about it. There is a great shroud of secrecy around HIV/Aids. The only way that the health community can really help people is if they come forward to get tested, admit that they have HIV or Aids and talk about it. Together with secrecy goes stigmatisation. I often read about women who have Aids, and were thrown out of their homes by their husbands or partners. The family of the husband also chased them out. Often the woman got infected through the husband and people do not want to admit to that. Families do not want to admit or talk about it. The community must talk about it. We hear of the husband and children dying of Aids, but the hurt and the harm have already been done. Women and children are thrown out of their homes. We, as members of Parliament, when performing constituency work where we meet with people of the community must also talk about HIV/Aids and encourage others to go for testing and talk about it as well.

The ANC believes in working to mitigate the impact of Aids by rooting out discrimination and stigma against infected and affected people by building psychosocial support, providing essential medical care, providing support for families, caring for people living with Aids and orphans and developing effective workplace programmes.

The same nurse also said that we have a big problem about condoms. Parents need to come out and talk to their children about condoms, the need for the use of condoms and also about the consequences of unsafe sex and Aids.

The GCIS states that promoting public awareness and life skills is the core of the efforts to prevent transmission of HIV. We have achieved a high level of awareness - over 90%- which is beginning to have an impact especially amongst the youth. But we need to ensure that more people translate awareness into a change in lifestyle.

The GCIS also mentions that the positive and co-operative response from all sectors to recent communication by Government on HIV/Aids is very encouraging. We need to read about what our Government is doing about HIV/Aids in the newspapers regularly, if they report the issue correctly.

Our President attached priority to HIV/Aids through different programmes; in the same way women’s issues are also prioritised in the Office of the Presidency, because that is where the Office on the Status of Women is located.

The vision of the OSW is to develop an enabling environment that will guarantee gender equality, empowering women to gain equal access to opportunities and resources that will enhance the quality of their lives. The role of the OSW is to co-ordinate and facilitate the implementation of Government policies and programmes on gender. The work is to advance Government towards gender equality.

During the apartheid years there was nothing much for women. Women were considered as inferior and did not enjoy rights of their own, as women. Rural women suffered a triple burden. In spite of the discrimination women faced and being the most disadvantaged section of the population, women constitute over half of the population. On the basis of gender, women are therefore the majority of the population in South Africa. If we want to talk about a better life for all and a people-centered development, progress we make must be measured by the impact of our programmes on the social transformation of women.

It is the ANC and its allies who fought for the equality of all sections of South African society, irrespective of race, sex, culture or religion. It is the ANC-led Government who has set up laws to address the issue of women and equality that gives women of our country a new legal platform from which to proceed as they continue to struggle for their emancipation. Legislation, such as the Bill of Rights, gives equal rights to all and outlaws discrimination against anyone on the basis of gender. Other legislation includes the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, Act 4 of 2000; the Employment Equity Act, Act 5 of 1998; the Preferential Procurement Policy Act, and the Commission on Gender Equality Act, Act 39 of 1996.

There are inconsistencies and a lack of co-ordination in applying Government policy to targeted groups across the three spheres of government and the private sector. Therefore it is important that the OSW and the Gender Commission have the necessary capacity to carry out their work. They must assist government institutions to integrate the issue of gender equality and women’s emancipation in all programmes.

In SADC we should set an example in terms of the SADC declaration, which states that there should be a greater representation of women in the public and private sector. The tide has turned because today South Africa stands proudly amongst democracies with the highest number of women in Parliament

• more than 30%. [Applause.]

Nine Cabinet Ministers and eight Deputy Ministers are women. There has been a woman as Speaker of the National Assembly since 1994, and the Deputy Speaker and the Chairperson of the NCOP are women. It is not necessary for me to remind the opposition that they are ANC members. The highest proportion of women MPs, Ministers and Deputy Ministers is largely as a result of the ANC policy which adopts the one-third quota for its electoral list.

Just as we have many members of Parliament with disabilities, so we have many women MPs. I challenge the opposition to try - I emphasise ``try’’ - and match the 30% of members being women in their political parties.

A significant number of women occupy important political and civil service positions in provincial and local administration. Changes in these spheres have been accompanied by visible improvement with regard to responsiveness of service delivery to the needs of women and society as a whole. Women also head more than 10% of South Africa’s diplomatic missions. More still needs to be done in the judiciary and private sectors.

My fear is that if the DA even had the remote possibility of being in Government, all this would never have happened, as they don’t even have one third women MPs in Parliament.

We are also proud that South Africa has signed and ratified a number of international agreements that impact directly on the lives of women, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Beijing Platform of Action. Twenty-six human rights international agreements have also been signed by South Africa.

Poverty is still a problem in South Africa. All departments are working on poverty eradication. We need to overcome the scourge of poverty and underdevelopment. There is a need to improve the conditions of the lives of our women, both in rural and in urban areas. The ANC highlights issues of entrenching democracy, building a nonracial society and eradicating poverty because of their relevance to our challenge to build a nonsexist society.

Deputy Speaker, the ANC supports Budget Vote No 1, as it is the task of the Presidency to continue to assess the levels of integration, and conduct annual reviews on budgeting and programmes, and therefore push back the frontiers of poverty and make a better life for all our people in South Africa. Thank you. [Applause.]

Dr W A ODENDAAL: Agb President, dit is ook my bede dat die nuwe lewensjaar vir u baie seën, vreugde en genade sal inhou. [Hon President, my prayer is also that the new year in your life will bring you much blessing, joy and grace.]

Madam Deputy Speaker, the President neatly defined the economic challenges facing South Africa when he spoke at the Growth and Development Summit. Our remarkable annual economic growth rate of 3% will have to be accelerated to at least 5% to be able to reduce the 40% unemployment rate and cut poverty in half by the year 2014. These goals can only be achieved by further cultivating an economic climate conducive to growth and job creation. Social grants serve as safety nets to prevent people unable to fend for themselves from suffering. Only job creation can, however, overcome poverty. We need to encourage entrepreneurship to provide the necessary number of entrepreneurs who can create the jobs we need, especially from the previously disadvantaged communities.

The envisaged expanded public works programmes will provide many job opportunities for unemployed people, but will also cultivate entrepreneurship, big and small. This is the right thing to do. The drastic increase in the number of learnerships for the private and Government sectors will result in improved skills, increased productivity in the existing labour force and the empowerment of the unemployed to enter the labour market successfully. These few policy statements, I think, pave the way to a successful solution to the poverty problem in our country.

Black economic empowerment and affirmative action are essential components of growth and development and are fully supported by the New NP. The labour force in both the public and private sectors needs to reflect the racial and gender composition of our people if we want South Africa to succeed. Criticism about aspects of black economic empowerment and affirmative action has been voiced lately. Black business leaders expressed concern at the alarming rate at which major empowerment companies are reverting to white control. In some companies there has been little transfer of skills. Mr Moeletsi Mbeki is of the opinion that the current formula for empowerment creates a culture of entitlement rather than empowerment. It mostly amounts to the transfer of assets to individuals with good political connections, without the accompanying skills enhancement.

Affirmative action, it is reported, frequently means the appointment of people to senior positions without them being empowered with the necessary skills or experience to cope with the associated responsibilities. The emphasis of black economic empowerment and affirmative action has to shift from entitlement to achievement. Appointments and promotions have to be based on merit, not race or gender. People from previously disadvantaged communities should rather be equipped with the appropriate skills to compete and participate successfully in all levels of the economy. A much more encompassing, integrated and co-ordinated education and training programme has to be put in place to achieve this goal.

Medium and small enterprises contribute in a major way towards job creation and economic growth in many modern economies. This is not true for South Africa. Here small business is still perceived as bad business. We need a paradigm shift in our perception of the role SMMEs need to play in growth and development. Small business faces some daunting obstacles, such as a rigid labour market where collective bargaining may only take place between big business and big labour. Small employers are not allowed to bargain with their own employees on issues like minimum wages and working conditions. There is a hostile environment in which microfinance entrepreneurs are simply bullied into oppression by big banks, an overregulated environment of miles and miles of Government red tape that scares small entrepreneurs from entering the business arena and a serious lack of skills that leads to the failure of too many small enterprises.

Small business urgently has to be empowered for the war on poverty by liberating entrepreneurship from ignorance, liberating small business from overregulated labour markets, liberating microlenders from unfriendly financial markets and liberating small business from the stranglehold of the overregulated environment it has to operate in. If we are serious about the task ahead, we will attend to these items.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon members, before we proceed, I want to respond to the request made by the hon Mr Leon to make a personal explanation in terms of Rule 69(1). I have had an opportunity to consult Hansard. The claim made by the hon Minister Pahad was that the hon Mr Leon had never said anything in this Parliament about the millions who died in the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola. The hon Mr Leon refuted this, saying he had addressed in the House the issues the hon Minister had raised.

I want to inform hon members that Rule 69(1) provides an opportunity for a personal explanation only if, during debate, a member’s speech has been misquoted or misunderstood. It does not provide an opportunity to refer to speeches made at other times in other debates. The hon Mr Leon’s request in terms of Rule 69(1) can therefore not be accommodated. I shall study the Hansard and come back to the House with a ruling if any other matters require a follow-up.

Dr Z P JORDAN: Madam Deputy Speaker, Comrade President, Comrade Deputy President, hon members and comrades, I rise to support this budget, but permit me to preface my remarks by recalling the words of a gifted African musician and poet:

See the gathering rain clouds rise from the steaming hope of loving hearts. Warm beat, drum, drum, drum; too long the tongue has tried, nay dried; The patient desert waits, see the bodies fall like raindrops nurtured deep love-dust root intention. Now, unveiled, the Karoo blooms again, joyous comes the golden flowers, purple shrubs and sunsets green. What shall quench our burning thirst? Let me drink, let me drink, let me drink from thee, oh, beautiful Africa, forever his perpetual wisdom, succulent, sustenance, sustains my song. Water, water, water from an ancient well. Oh, beautiful Africa, that’s where I will always dwell. Water, water, water from an ancient well.

An ancient well plumbs the sands at an oasis on the edge of the Sahara in the medieval kingdom of Sangai, where an African mother drew cool water from the bowels of the earth, for the desert-parched traveller to slake his thirst. With the passage of time, the oasis took on her name, Buktu, to be known ever since as Timbuktu, or Buktu’s Place.

Buktu’s Place evolved into a village as farmers, traders and calvespersons settled around it. As the population living around the oasis grew, the village became a town and eventually a city with its own markets, schools, mosques, a university and a growing library.

Situated in the crossroads between the eastern and western savannah and along the camel routes that connected the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Guinea, Timbuktu became a prosperous centre of learning where scientists, mathematicians, physicians and philosophers congregated to practise their craft and to hone their skills. They preserved the results of the experiments and recorded their work and their thoughts in leather-bound manuscripts which have survived the ages.

These have recently come to international attention thanks to the intervention of Comrade President Thabo Mbeki, who has lodged an appeal for funds to rescue these treasures from Africa’s golden age from the termites and elements that threaten to reduce them to a pile of dust.

Renaissance Africa can today claim its rightful place among the ancient civilisations that are contributing to the corpus of humankind’s shared patrimony of achievements in the sciences, the humanities, the arts and technology. But, rather than taking refuge in Africa’s glorious past, knowledge of our ancestors’ achievements should spur us to tackle the challenges of the present, by embarking on a continental cultural revival that entails the spread of literacy, numeracy, a remastering of the sciences and modern technology to improve the quality of life on our continent.

The pursuit of the African Renaissance is the lodestar of South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy. The immediate goals of this policy thrust are pushing back the frontiers of poverty, led by a developmental state pursuing a sustainable economic growth path. Our purpose is to create the space for the countries of Africa and other developed countries to assume responsibility for themselves, and to offer indigenously evolved agendas in preference to those devised by outside powers. Nepad, a continental programme, in whose conception South Africa had a leading role, has now been embraced by two successive G8 summits as well as the Asian countries.

South Africa has attained a respected place in the councils of the world, thanks to the vision and the energy with which our President has sought out opportunities and made appropriate interventions to create new ones.

First, as Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, South Africa helped transform a forum among the developing countries that had emerged during the Cold War into an international body that still has relevance. As Chairman of the Commonwealth, Comrade President, you were in a position to assist that forum, which many regarded as a relic of British imperialism, into making itself relevant to the challenges of the 21st century. When South Africa was honoured by election to the chairmanship of the African Union, you employed that prestige to reposition the African continent in world affairs through judicious interventions in the councils of the world.

When we hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development, our country was amongst those that pressed for the adoption of a programme for the eradication of poverty with agreed targets and timeframes. The Johannesburg Declaration adopted by the WSSD will go down in the annals as a significant departure that marked the international community’s acceptance that we have a shared responsibility for the future of our planet.

If there are inordinate international demands on the President of South Africa today, that is because this ANC Government has extricated our country from the pariah status it had acquired under apartheid.

Deputy Speaker, this year, 2003, also marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the African Claims - a programmatic statement adopted by the ANC at its annual conference in 1943, applying the principles of the Atlantic Charter to the African continent. The African Claims has been described as a precocious human rights document in that they anticipate many of the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by five years.

It should be a matter of pride to the ANC and to South Africa that in the midst of the carnage of World War II, our country was able to produce so visually a statement on human rights that remains relevant even today; perhaps, especially today. The African Claims unequivocally called for full and equal rights for women at a time when policy-makers in many parts of the world were readying social policies and programmes devised to persuade women to leave the workplace and to resume a role of domesticity as submissive housewives and homemakers.

The 60th anniversary of the African Claims therefore poses a challenge to Africa in our day, and especially to African men, when indigenous culture and hollow claims of authenticity are being employed as a cover for the perpetration of gross barbarities.

African men cannot remain silent when an African woman, Amina Lawal of Nigeria, lives under the threat of being stoned to death. No amount of sophistry can disguise that this is inexcusable barbarity. [Applause.] No appeal to tradition, religious or secular, will mask the medieval savagery of such a sentence. That an African court can even contemplate passing such a sentence on another human being, no matter what the transgression, is a blight on the countries of our continent. We dare not remain silent while African womanhood is assailed in this manner. [Applause.]

Once again I want to appeal to you, Comrade President, to use your good offices to draw to the attention of your Nigerian counterpart the profound concern all South Africans have regarding this matter. [Applause.]

Statistics indicate that women on the African continent outnumber men by a small margin. The future of the continent to that measure reposes on the future we create for the African girl-child. Is it not time that African men turn their backs on traditions and customs that seek to reduce the African women to child-rearing beasts of burden, fit only to be chained to their stoves, but shut off from the wonders of the modern world?

In South Africa we are trying, but even we still have a long way to go. The African Claims quite correctly affirm that an end to racial, religious and political intolerance are prerequisites for world peace. It was in that spirit that Comrade Thabo Mbeki embarked on the Spear Initiative in an attempt to assist the two parties to the Middle East conflict to find each other through negotiation. It should be clear to anyone with eyes that the tit-for-tat-cycle of violence we have witnessed over the last week is a blind alley that can only end in mutual destruction.

The great tragedy of the Middle East is that each side has allowed itself to become the hostage of the irreconcilables. This applies particularly to Israel, whose Prime Minister seems determined to undermine the credibility of whomever emerges as the head of the Palestinian authority. The Spear Initiative is not an attempt to export a South African negotiating model to the Middle East. I do not think there is anyone amongst us so arrogant as to believe that ours is the model that fits all sizes and is appropriate for all situations of conflict.

It is, rather, an attempt to demonstrate that mutal demonisation creates closed minds and is the most fundamental blockage to a search for peace. It seeks also to assist the warring parties to the recognition that confidence- building necessarily entails risks, but these are risks with huge dividends attached. It is our earnest hope that you shall persevere in these efforts, Comrade President, not as a substitute or as an alternative to the road map to peace, but as one of many complementary efforts to facilitate that process. South Africa has invested a great deal in an effort to secure peace and stability on the African continent. Even as we speak, South African troops are engaged in peacekeeping missions in various parts of the continent and a detachment of the SANDF is deployed in Burundi as a protective service to assist the government of that country to restore stability within its borders.

The principle that government should derive authority from the consent of the government is still bitterly contested in many parts of our continent. We will be obliged to persuade many political players on the continent that democratic institutions and accountable government are not privileges, but inherent rights of all citizens. Politics, too, cannot be regarded as a zero-sum game, but must be pursued with the aim of producing win-win situations which benefit the ordinary citizen, and not rival political parties or factions.

The Pan-African Parliament can serve as a forum where such discourse can take place in an atmosphere of calm debate, characterised by a common desire to arrive at consensus. In our continued interaction with the political parties in Zimbabwe, we must continue to stress the rule of law, political tolerance, the independence of the judiciary and the abiding values of democracy, for which the National Liberation Movement waged a struggle.

As we have done in every other country on our continent, our purpose remains clear: South Africa does not seek to impose solutions; our role is to assist the Zimbabweans to arrive at solutions themselves. The recent endorsement of this approach by the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, should be instructive.

President George Bush referred to the recent US-UK war against Iraq as the first war of the 21st century. I am certain - and all of us in this august House hope - it is not a portent of things to come.

At the beginning of the 20th century, another invasion, not dissimilar to that of Iraq, the suppression of the Yu Hei Tuan or Boxer Rebellion in China, was conducted by a similar coalition of the willing. Then, too, a gaggle of carpetbaggers, eager to exploit the rich spoils, descended on China under the pretext that they were the bearers of enlightenment and modern institutions.

On that occasion too public opinion in the invading countries was brow- beaten and confused with disinformation and half-truths that made them believe that China posed a terrible threat, not only to those that had invaded her, but to humanity as such. It is pathetically interesting to observe that the phrase “yellow peril” was coined by Kaiser Wilhelm on the occasion of the suppression of the Boxers.

Madam Deputy Speaker, while everyone appreciates the profound shock the September 11 attacks represented for the people and the government of the United States, those dastardly deeds cannot be employed as an alibi for the abrogation of well-established international law by the United States and its allies. [Applause.]

Apart from the fact that Iraq was in no way implicated in those attacks, the justification for the war, disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, is becoming increasingly threadbare as US-UK armed forces fail to uncover any of these, despite nearly 10 weeks of searching. [Interjections.]

The international political environment has been dangerously poisoned by the invasion of Iraq. It cannot be in the interests of South Africa and other small developing nations that superpowers have carte blanche to invade and conquer weaker countries at will. I doubt that the world is now a safer place because Baghdad had been invested by US and UK troops. A return to unilateralism, gunboat diplomacy and an ethic that might is right will only serve to undermine the fragile international order established after the defeat of the Axis powers 58 years ago.

We therefore urge all countries to help strengthen the multilateral institutions of world governance. [Applause.] Collective security, built on mutual responsibility for world peace, remains the wisest course. South Africa should therefore continue striving for the strengthening of the United Nations and the reform of its Security Council.

The ancient wells of African wisdom and past achievement will continue to inspire us as we confidently stride into the future, but our own people and those of the rest of the continent today thirst for the fresh, clean, reticulated waters of modernity and progress, clean water that will nourish their hopes and give them the strength to strive for the realisation of their dreams.

In supporting this budget, the ANC remains confident that the path that you and your Cabinet are charting, Comrade President, will indeed push back the frontiers of poverty as we strive for a better life for all our people within a better world. [Applause.]

Lastly, let me congratulate you on joining the ranks of the over-sixties. Happy Birthday, Zizi. [Laughter.] [Applause.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON: That concludes the business of the day. The President will reply tomorrow.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 19:08. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. Assent by President in respect of Bills:

i.      Geoscience Amendment Bill [B 7 - 2003] -  Act  No  11  of  2003
      (assented to and signed by President on 3 June 2003). COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

CREDA INSERT REPORT

National Assembly:

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy on the Mining Titles Registration Amendment Bill [B 24 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 18 June 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy, having considered the subject of the Mining Titles Registration Amendment Bill [B 24

   • 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill with amendments [B 24A - 2003].