National Assembly - 26 February 2004
THURSDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2004 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 14:02.
The Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
MEMBERS' STATEMENTS ANC VS DA CAMPAIGN SPEECH
(Member's Statement)
Mr S ABRAM (ANC): Madam Speaker, a parliamentary conference on multilingualism was held on Monday this week. Political parties such as the DA, the FF Plus and the NA, which purport to speak up for language rights, were conspicuous by their absence, thus betraying their diminishing numbers of supporters. South Africa needs a people’s contract, and the ANC-led Government has proved that it can do best for all South Africans. The choice on April 14 is between the ANC, which has delivered and can deliver, and the opposition parties, which are of nuisance value and irrelevant.
The ANC-led Government has made tremendous strides towards building a single nation united in diversity, whilst other parties, and especially the DA, are contributing to the polarisation of the people in our country. [Applause.] Down with the DA! [Applause.]
HON MEMBERS: Down!
The SPEAKER: Order! Order! Order!
LEVEL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS
(Member's Statement)
Mr C M LOWE (DA): Madam Speaker, thank you very much. Contrary to the last speaker’s statement, may I say that yesterday’s HSRC report, which showed that only 37% of South Africa’s 400 000 school-leavers find jobs, is a shocking indictment of the ANC-led Government’s job creation and education policies. The appalling level of science skills among matriculants, with fewer than 30% passing mathematics, means that only 9% of South Africans are qualified in science and technology, far lower than any other emerging market and far below our main competitors for foreign investment, such as Brazil and China.
The Government’s education policy has been epitomised by inefficiency and underspending. The dummying down of the matriculation curriculum and the failure to instil entrepreneurial skills in learners has only added to the 8 million unemployment queues. To address the unemployment crisis, the DA calls for a new focus on job creation and education within the three spheres defined by the HSRC, and for a strategic effort to drastically increase the number of learners studying and passing mathematics and science at school. South Africa deserves better. Thank you. [Applause.]
PATIENTS REFUSED TREATMENT IN WESTERN CAPE HOSPITALS
(Member's Statement)
Mr L K JOUBERT (IFP): Madam Speaker, hospitals are meant to be places which people can rely on and turn to in times of medical emergency. When you go to a hospital you at least expect to be assisted. The last thing you expect is to be refused admission.
Recently, in two separate incidents at different hospitals in the Western Cape, people who were refused medical attention on religious grounds died. The loss of life is always sad, but it is a totally unacceptable situation when people working in a hospital who are supposed to help patients and save lives simply do nothing. We cannot allow a situation to develop where people are refused medical attention and are left to die. We urge the Minister and the department to investigate such allegations thoroughly when they occur, and take action against the culprits. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN SA AND SWITZERLAND IN BURUNDI
(Member's Statement)
Ms S D MOTUBATSE-HOUNKPATIN (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC is heartened by the news of the planned extensive co-operation between South Africa and Switzerland, aimed at the social integration of women and child soldiers in Burundi. During the civil war that plagued Burundi for more than a decade, women and child soldiers, most of whom were kidnapped, formed a large number of rebel troops. This initiative seeks to include the issue of skills development to ensure that those rehabilitated are properly integrated into society.
It is in the light of this that the envisaged co-operation will not only help to heal the deep-seated scars of wars, but will also promote the objective of a better life for all. The ANC commends the government of Switzerland and of the Republic of South Africa on this humane and responsible endeavour.
Sithi ibuyile iAfrika [We say Africa is back]. [Applause.]
THEUNS BOTHA'S RACIST REMARKS
(Member's Statement)
Mrs M E OLCKERS (New NP): Madam Speaker, actions speak louder than words. That was something the DA was hoping to achieve by launching their election manifesto in Soweto, in an attempt to gain black support and to convince the voters that the DA is nonracial. Once again, the DA’s true white colour shone through in the form of Mr Theuns Botha’s racist remarks with regard to the premiership of the Western Cape.
Mr Botha has used the DA’s swartgevaar tactics by warning people against another party that might put up a black candidate for Premier. Not only is Mr Botha fuelling racial conflict, but he is also conveying the DA’s message that only certain race groups are acceptable as potential Premier candidates. If the DA places such great emphasis on skin colour when deciding on potential Premier candidates, can we assume that they are of the opinion that skin colour is also important in terms of the Presidency? If so, does the DA have a problem with our black President?
Mr Botha’s remarks are concrete proof that the DA is becoming more right- wing, and that the liberal elements of nonracialism within the DA will disappear. The New NP strongly condemns and rejects Mr Botha’s remarks and the DA’s swartgevaar campaign, and we call on the voters to do the same. I thank you. [Applause.]
UNEMPLOYMENT AND JOB CREATION
(Member's Statement)
Ms N C NKABINDE (UDM): Madam Speaker, the UDM notes with dismay the latest report by the HSRC that at least 51% of school-leavers every year join the ranks of the unemployed. This translates into millions of unemployed young people over the past 10 years. One third of all unemployed people are younger than 24 years of age. This is a disaster of monumental proportions. Vast numbers of the generation that needs to build and grow this country further in future are locked out of the economy. This is a socioeconomic timebomb that we ignore at our own peril.
These millions will struggle to care for themselves and their children, and thus the cycle of poverty is entrenched generation after generation. It is crucial that Government places much greater emphasis on job creation and skills development.
This is also a serious indictment of Government’s economic policies that have destroyed a million jobs in the past year, and that have failed to grow the economy enough to absorb new entrants into the labour market. It is time to acknowledge that Government must do much more when it comes to job creation, because unemployment undermines the people’s freedom. [Interjections.]
HIV AND AIDS CARE MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT PROGRAMME
(Member's Statement)
Mrs M M MALUMISE (ANC): Madam Speaker, on Tuesday the Portfolio Committee on Health received a detailed briefing by the Department of Health on comprehensive HIV and Aids care management and a treatment programme for South Africa. We would like to express our gratitude to the Department of Health for their technical and administrative support in the process of developing and implementing this excellent plan.
This programme is a massive undertaking that will overhaul our health system completely. It includes the development of provincial implementation plans and resource and training centres to ensure high quality treatment and care for people infected with HIV and Aids. It also involves the procurement and production of medicines at the lowest prices and includes measures to increase capacity and security for the distribution of drugs. Provision is made for the establishment of a robust system to monitor the efficacy of drugs, resistance patterns, improvements and co-ordination and patient information systems. Human resource needs are also addressed in the plan to ensure that services are delivered where they are most needed. Budgeting requirements are set out for the next five years, as well as communications strategies for health providers and the public, including what to expect from the proposed treatment programme.
We urge all South Africans to support the Department of Health and our Government as they implement this programme. This programme is yet another example of the ANC-led Government’s commitment to improve the quality of life of our people. The ANC has established a people’s contract with all South Africans, nothing less than a better life for all. [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: Order! Are you rising on a point of order?
An HON MEMBER: Madam Speaker … [Interjections.] The SPEAKER: Order! I will call on the DA when it is their turn. [Interjections.] Order!
POLICY REGARDING STAFF AT PREPRIMARY SCHOOLS
(Member's Statement)
Mr C AUCAMP (NA): Madam Speaker, I am not going to touch on the “Swart gevaar”, but on the “Asmal gevaar”. [Laughter.]
Die NA wil langs hierdie weg die situasie met betrekking tot personeelvoorsiening aan preprimêre skole onder die aandag van die Minister van Onderwys bring. Die voortbestaan van talle preprimêre skole, wat ‘n reuse bydrae lewer in die opvoeding van kleuters, word tans op groot skaal bedreig deur die beleid van provinsiale onderwysdepartemente om personeelvoorsiening by sulke skole te staak.
Etlike sodanige gevalle, veral in Gauteng en Mpumalanga, is onder die aandag van die NA gebring. In een geval in Mpumalanga word 10 uit die 12 personeellede deur die ouers besoldig en twee deur die departement. Hulle het nou ‘n nul staat van die departement ontvang, wat hierdie twee poste in gedrang bring.
Die wyse waarop dit geskied is onbillik en onprofessioneel, aangesien kort kennisgewings en selfs summiere staking van salarisvoorsiening vooruitbeplanning onmoontlik maak. Hierdie beleid is kortsigtig, aangesien dit tot gevolg het dat die bestaande fasiliteite onderbenut gelaat word. Dit is ook diskriminerend teenoor veral vroue wat op dié wyse die geleentheid ontneem word om sonder kommer oor hul kinders die arbeidsmark te betree.
Die NA verneem graag van die Minister wat die amptelike beleid van die Regering is met betrekking tot preprimêre skole, waarom bestaande dienste afgeskaal word en wat die ratio agter die Regering se kortsigtige beleid is. Die NA sal die aangeleentheid verder persoonlik met die Minister opneem. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[In this way the NA wants to bring the situation with regard to the provision of staff to preprimary schools to the attention of the Minister of Education. The continued existence of many preprimary schools, which make a massive contribution in educating pre-schoolers, is at present being seriously threatened by the policy of provincial education departments to discontinue providing staff at such schools.
Several such cases, especially in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, have been brought to the attention of the NA. In one case in Mpumalanga 10 of the 12 staff members are being remunerated by the parents and two by the department. They have now been informed by the department that henceforth no staff will be provided for, which means that the continued existence of these two posts is threatened.
The way in which this is being done is unfair and unprofessional, as short notice and even the immediate discontinuation of salaries make it impossible to plan in advance. This policy is short-sighted, as it results in the existing facilities being left underutilised. It is also discriminatory especially against women who in this way are denied the opportunity to enter the labour market without worrying about their children.
The NA would like the Minister to tell us what the official policy of the Government is with regard to preprimary schools, why existing services are being scaled down and what the rationale is behind the Government’s short- sighted policy is. The NA will discuss the matter further with the Minister in person. I thank you.]
HOUSING IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE
(Member's Statement)
Rre L M KGWELE (ANC): Ka Mosupologo wa 23 Tlhakole 2004 Tona ya Matlo, Motlotlegi Mme Bridget Mabandla, Mokhuduthamaga wa Pusoselegae, Ditlhabololo le Matlo, Motlotlegi Rre Darkey Africa le ba lekgotlatoropo la Madibeng ba neetse baagi ba metse ya Letlhabile, Oukasie, Damonsville le Mothutlung matlo a le 3 321. Matlo a, ke bontlhabongwe jwa diketleetso tse 8 593 tsa boleng jwa dimileone tse R80 tse di reboletsweng baagi ba Madibeng ke Puso e e eteletswent pele ke ANC go thusa batho ba rona ba ba sotlilweng ke mebuso ya dinwamadi le kgatelelo.
Ke ANC fela e e kgonneng go busetsa bagaaborona serodumo le tlotlo e e ba tshwanetseng. Re lebogise lekgotlatoropo la Madibeng ka phitlhelelo e, le baagi gareng ga bangwe, Mme Anna Motshabi wa dingwaga di le 75, yoo la ntlha mo botshelong jwa gagwe a filweng senotlolo sa ntlo e e leng ya gagwe.
Fa o tshegetsa ANC mo ditlhophong ka 14 Moranang, o tla bo o re tiisa go go direla ka natla le go lwantsha botlhokatiro le lehuma, le go tswelela lenaneo la ditlhabololo go fitlhelela batho botlhe mo mafelong a bona. Maitemogelo a rona mo pusong a re naya tsholofelo ya gore mmogo re tlile go fenya dikgwetlho tse di re lebaneng. [Legofi.] (Translation of Setswana member’s statement follows.) [Mr L M KGWELE (ANC): On Monday 23 February 2004 the Minister of Housing, the hon Bridget Mabandla, the MEC for Local Government, Development and Housing, the hon Darkey Africa, and councillors of the Madibeng Municipal Council allocated 3 321 houses to the residents of Letlhabile, Oukasie, Damonsville and Mothutlung. These houses are part of the 8 593 susidised houses worth R80 million which were given to Madibeng residents by the ANC- led Government, to help our people who have suffered at the hands of the apartheid regime.
It is only the ANC that can restore the dignity and respect that our people deserve. We are grateful for the achievements of the Madibeng Municipal Council and the residents, including 75-year-old Mrs Anna Motshabi, who received the keys to her own house for the first time in her life.
If you vote for the ANC in the coming elections, which will be held on 14 April, you will be empowering us to work hard for you in fighting unemployment and poverty, as well as to continue with our development programme and reach out to all the people in all areas. Our experience in Government gives us hope that together we will conquer the challenges facing us. [Applause.]]
VICTIMS OF CRIME
(Member's Statement)
Mnr I J PRETORIUS (DA): Ja, ek was so ‘n bietjie entoesiasties, Speaker. Die waarheid is, mense is siek en sat daarvoor om besteel, verkrag en vermoor te word. Vanoggend het mnr Tony Leon en die DA geluister na die hartseerverhale van mevroue Jacobs en Lanie van Mitchell’s Plein. Hulle geliefdes is vermoor en verkrag.
Maar wat doen die Regering wanneer ons oor hulle probleme praat? Hulle snoer die monde van polisiewoordvoerders en beskuldig die opposisie van swart gevaar-politiek. Skande op skande. Pleks daarvan dat miljoene rande oorsee spandeer word op militêre sendings, sal die DA sorg dat daardie geld hier by die huis aangewend word. Ons sal sorg dra dat daar genoeg opgeleide en toegeruste poliesiebeamptes op straat is om die misdadigers vas te trek en ons sal die regstelsel opknap sodat die slagoffers van misdaad nie in die steek gelaat word nie, want mevrou Lanie verdien beter, mevrou Jacobs verdien beter, Mitchell’s Plein verdien beter. Suid-Afrika verdien beter! Stem DA. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)
[Mr I J PRETORIUS (DA): Yes, I was a little bit enthusiastic, Speaker. The truth is that people are sick and tired of being robbed, raped and murdered. This morning Mr Tony Leon and the DA listened to the sad stories of Mrs Jacobs and Mrs Lanie of Mitchell’s Plein. Their loved ones were raped and murdered.
But what does the Government do when we talk about their problems? They silence the police spokesmen and accuse the opposition of ``swart gevaar’’ politics. Shame upon shame. Instead of millions of rands being spent overseas on military missions the DA will see to it that that money is utilised here at home. We shall see to it that there are enough trained and equipped police officers on the streets to apprehend the criminals and we shall upgrade the judicial system so that the victims of crime are not left in the lurch, because Mrs Lanie deserves better, Mrs Jacobs deserves better, Mitchell’s Plein deserves better. South Africa deserves better! Vote DA. [Applause.]]
CONDITIONS IN MOHALE CITY ON THE WEST RAND
(Member's Statement)
Ms N D NGCENGWANE (ANC): Thank you, Madam Speaker. To many South Africans … [Interjections.]
The SPEAKER: Order! Order, hon members. Please proceed.
Ms N D NGCENGWANE (ANC): Thank you, Madam Speaker. To many South Africans, 10 years of democracy means improved quality of life, and a better life for all, which impacts on health, education and environmental issues and above all infrastructure development, which includes water and sanitation, housing etc. But unfortunately, for some people in the rural and farm areas of Mohale City on the West Rand, life has not changed even after 10 years of democracy.
The main challenge facing Mohale City is the establishment of sustainable rural settlements for rural communities of this area. Many people live on privately owned land where they are working as farm labourers. In some cases, the landowner denies the occupiers basic services, for instance the water supply is disconnected. Some farm owners increase rentals so as to make it impossible for the occupiers to pay and, as a result, they are evicted and become landless. In some cases the homeless are allowed to occupy old, filthy pigsties and stables and are charged exorbitant rentals.
The local council of Mohale City is fully prepared to address the imbalances of the past by specifically targeting the rural areas for development by building agri-villages, but there is a lot of resistance from the farm owners. Farmworkers are also human beings and they do not deserve to be treated like that. Forward with the people’s contract to create work and fight poverty. Forward! [Interjections.] [Applause.]
MR LEON AND THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
(Member's Statement)
Mr J DURAND (New NP): Thank you, Madam Speaker. In South Africa, we are faced with challenges such as crime, HIV/Aids, poverty, unemployment and racism, matters that require our urgent attention, and issues that can only be dealt with effectively through a combined effort from all relevant parties. [Interjections.]
When a country is faced with such challenges, one would expect the Leader of the Official Opposition to set aside political differences, to unite opposition parties and to approach Government and offer assistance in order to overcome these challenges, because these challenges do not distinguish between supporters of the New NP, ANC, IFP, DA and other political parties. They affect all South Africans.
But what does the Leader of the Official Opposition do? He creates chaos. We have all come to know the DA’s motto: What is bad for South Africa, is good for the DA. We have two choices. We can choose to say: It is the Government’s problem, they must fix it. Or we can choose to be part of the solution and say: We will fix it. The New NP has made its choice, because we believe in the future of South Africa and under the leadership and guidance of our leader, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, we will continue to play an active role in facing South Africa’s challenges and be part of South Africa’s future.
The Leader of the Official Opposition does not deserve a third term. Therefore we call on the voters and the DA: Give the hon Leon the boot. South Africa deserves better. We need real leaders who can pull their weight. I thank you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: Order! Order, hon members. We still have a few hours before your campaigns start in the streets. Hon members, we have three … [Interjections.] Order, hon members. We have three slots which have not been filled. So I will now give them to the ANC, the DA and the ANC, in the order in which they have arisen.
ADJOURNMENT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TOMORROW
(Member's Statement)
Mr L J MODISENYANE (ANC): Madam Speaker, tomorrow, 27 February 2004, this House, the National Assembly, will rise to conclude the business of the second term of a free and democratic South Africa. In so doing, the House will also be concluding the work of our first decade of liberation.
We, the ANC, wish all parties success in their election campaigns. We bid a most respectful farewell to those of us who will not be returning and we wish them and their families all the best. We know we speak on behalf of everyone in this House when we convey our thanks, and love, to the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the chairperson and the deputy chairperson of the House. We thank the Presidency, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and we say: Let us all combine our efforts to create work and push back the frontiers of poverty. The ANC salutes you all. [Applause.]
NEW NP NO LONGER RELEVANT IN SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS
(Member's Statement)
Mr D H M GIBSON (DA): Madam Speaker, the House listened with interest to the hon Mr Durand making his farewell speech in the House.[Laughter.] He referred to the fact that if we are going to have solutions in South Africa, what is needed is for all relevant parties to pull together.
I want to say that that excludes the New NP because they are no longer relevant in South Africa. You do not have to believe me, all you had to do was watch e-tv which conducted a poll after the hon Durand’s leader, Mr Van Schalkwyk, appeared on television and all the viewers had to vote. You will not be surprised to hear that he got a 30% favourable rating and 70% negative rating. [Applause.] After watching Mr Van Schalkwyk talking for half an hour, 70% of the viewers rejected him.
In contrast, when the DA had the opportunity of addressing South Africa, the viewers voted 87% in favour of the DA. [Interjections.] [Applause.] What is really important in South Africa is that we come up with real alternatives. People want solutions to the problems of joblessness, crime and Aids.
That party that has just talked, has no solutions and the ANC also does not because the President told us that no new policies or new initiatives are necessary. What he is saying is: steady on, we will just carry on the way we have done for the last 10 years. If he does that we will fail. South Africa deserves better. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
VIOLENCE IN KWAZULU-NATAL
(Member's Statement) Mr B A D MARTINS (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC is deeply angered by the continued murder of our members in KwaZulu-Natal. Last Saturday, Sifiso Msomi passed away after having been attacked and shot at by five men, two of whom were identified as IFP activists.
Over the last few months, our people in KwaZulu-Natal have experienced several political attacks similarly resulting in loss of life and dozens being injured. We reject this violent and barbaric political approach as an unacceptable relic of the colonial apartheid legacy, reflecting careless contempt for human rights and utter disregard for the inestimable value of human life.
The ANC calls on all political parties to respect their own commitments to peaceful elections and freedom. We further call on the SAPS to act swiftly to bring to book those criminals responsible for death and mayhem. The ANC expresses its heartfelt condolences to the Msomi family and friends. [Applause.]
LEVEL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker, there are two distinct statements here. For the first time in 10 years, I regret to say, I have to treat with absolute contempt the intervention made. I regret this very much. Hon Mr Lowe has all the subtlety and the care of a speed bump in his blustering manner. I have read the report of the HSRC. The trouble that they have three spokespersons on education is that one does not know what the other does in the DA.
Let me start off by saying that yesterday I explained that international comparisons are invalid because they do not take the specific factors into account. In our case, the specific factor is the extraordinary legacy left behind. In 10 years’ time, I will show what we have done. A pipsqueak like hon Mr Lee from Port Elizabeth … [Interjections.] They are pipsqueaks! [Interjections.] Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, somebody with the stature of the hon Minister should not go around calling other members pipsqueaks.
The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker, that is not a point of order. To be a pipsqueak has nothing to do with stature and size, it has to do with mental capacity. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] The first point is that there is no proper basis for international comparisons. Secondly, let me remind the hon Lowe, he says that we are dummying down the matric curriculum, the same curriculum you have had in existence in South Africa for 50 years. There was no dummying down; that is why I say that we will treat with contempt the extraordinary errors of judgement and of facts.
The second point is that they want to create, you may say, a character. You are a music hall character with chorus girls behind you to support you. We have them here. We have new job creation now. We have 80 000 people in our learnership programmes; 80 000 people we are trying to get in. Secondly, the whole skills levy takes time. There are no dramatic changes it is bringing about. [Interjections.]
Thirdly, the very things they sought to steal from us in the education for liberation, we are doing now. The matric examination, ad nauseam, will no longer be an academic examination. For 50 years we have had that. None of them, and I looked at the Hansard, ever, in the last 30 or 40 years condemned the fact that apprenticeships were not open to Africans in this country. I cannot find anything in the Hansard. You should be ashamed of yourselves that you come from that background. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
May I say, therefore, that obviously there is a large element of aggravated behaviour in education. We are not responsible for the large layers of ignorance because we are trying to develop the intermediate skills and we are trying to make the skills in higher education relevant for our needs.
These are all things that are in the process of being completed now. The higher education reform is something that no other country has been able to do to the extent that we have. So, the DA must now realise that you cannot play to galleries of your own making. I think it is important to remember that there is a strategic effort being made which they asked for. You have heard of 30 000 teachers who have now been trained in mathematics. You have heard of the 103 schools that will be concentrating on mathematics and science.
These are matters that are being attended to and completed now and that is why you see the results of that education on a long-term basis.
The next question …
The SPEAKER: No, hon Minister, you have used four minutes on dealing with the first …
The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker, you should have warned me before I finished the first one, I regret to say.
The SPEAKER: Hon Minister, you started by telling me that there were two interventions. So, you had four minutes and your time is up. I regret to say that.
The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker, I will talk to you outside.
VICTIMS OF CRIME
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Hon Speaker, sometimes my heart bleeds when I look at liberals in the DA like the hon Colin Eglin. This happens because the story of the DA, as it was told, amongst others, by the hon Martha Olckers, is of a party that is moving very swiftly to the right. I don’t know therefore what they are doing. I know that the English language says it is empty barrels that make the most noise, but when it is a sack of potatoes that makes the biggest noise, I am flabbergasted.
Just the other day, the Film and Publications Amendment Bill served before this House and was opposed by the DA. Now that the Bill discusses an issue, namely child pornography, that has been proved to be directly linked to the issue of rape. But they opposed it and they come before this House now as a pious group and they are talking about a purely operational matter that relates to policing, which has nothing to do with our policies. The policies are quite clear. Everybody knows what our attitude is to the abuse of women and children. They know that all the police officers we have, have a mandate to safeguard the interest of our people across the board. We have a particular programme that deals with the abuse of women and children.
Those who oppose progressive legislation like this particular one pertaining to child pornography - legislation that those children in the gallery deserve to have in this country - but who then come here and speak as if they are opposed to rape, indicate that there is something wrong. Thank you very much. CO-OPERATION BETWEEN SA AND SWITZERLAND IN BURUNDI
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF DEFENCE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to add a rejoinder to the statement by the hon Motubatse in relation to the developments in Burundi. I wish to remind hon members and our country that when we were at the head of the contingent of the nations of our continent who went into Burundi to assist in the peace process there, it was in order to make sure that we put a stop to the war. We wanted to create conditions that would make it possible for the United Nations to get in and, of course, create conditions under which the people of Burundi could live in peace.
So far, we have advanced to the extent that the majority of the warring parties have signed. But there is a major outstanding need which will be addressed by the agreement between ourselves and the Swiss. It is that young Burundi combatants that are returning from the disarmament camps are finding themselves without resources and without support to resume their lives in a free and peaceful country.
Indeed we are faced with conditions in which there can be no human security, unless efforts, such as the one between ourselves and the Swiss, take effect. We do need to create conditions there before we come back, if peace is to be sustainable. We need to create conditions in which the retraining of young people will arm them with skills that will allow them to live without killing anybody. We need that kind of support from increasing numbers of nations so that we can walk away from Burundi satisfied that there will be no recurrence, no flaring up of the tensions again.
I therefore add my voice to that of the hon Motubatse on the efforts of both Switzerland and the Republic of South Africa. I think our Parliament and our nation can take pride in the fact that we went out there. We have now created conditions in which the international community, in increasing numbers, can support the total and longlasting stabilisation of Burundi. I thank you. DEBATE ON PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT
Mrs M A A NJOBE: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the inauguration of the Pan-African Parliament, which is to take place on 18 March 2004, represents a quantum leap in the long and arduous history of our continent. I would like, therefore, with your indulgence, Speaker, to take everybody present here today further down the road much travelled already.
Our journey can be traced back to the Abuja Treaty, which was signed by African leaders in Abuja, Nigeria, in June 1991, and which came into force in May 1994. After the Abuja Treaty, the fourth extraordinary session of the heads of state and government held in Sirte, Libya, from 8 to 9 September 1999, adopted the Sirte Declaration. Among other things, the Sirte Declaration called for the speedy establishment of the institutions - including the Pan-African Parliament - provided for in the treaty establishing the African Economic Community that was signed in Abuja.
A subsequent meeting was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 17 to 21 April
- It was convened by the Secretary-General of the OAU, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, and was composed of legal experts and parliamentarians who considered a draft treaty that paved the way for the establishment of the African Union and the draft protocol of the treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament. At the subsequent 36th ordinary session of the assembly of heads of state and government of the OAU in Lome, Togo, the draft Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Pan-African Parliament was approved.
During the period 5 to 17 November 2000, about 191 delegates from 41 African countries, comprising Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, ambassadors representing member states of the OAU, clerks, parliamentary staff and officials from the Ministries responsible for foreign affairs, assembled in Pretoria to attend this historic meeting. This gathering was the first of its kind to be organised specifically for parliamentarians from member states of the OAU since its founding 37 years ago.
During that gathering delegates expressed support for the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament as a way of involving the African people in the ongoing process of political and social integration on the continent. They were, therefore, prepared to chart the way forward by determining the type of Pan-African Parliament that would enjoy the support and confidence of the African people, and not an elitist parliament.
The need for the establishment and existence of a Pan-African Parliament cannot be overemphasised. Article 2, clause 2 of the protocol states that the Pan-African Parliament shall represent all the peoples of Africa. This will enable them to have a common platform where they can air their views and be involved in discussions and decision-making about the problems and challenges facing the continent.
They will have a say in how they are governed, and how they should be governed. Also, they will have a say in the development and integration of the continent within the framework of the African Union. The Pan-African Parliament will facilitate and monitor effective implementation of the policies and objectives of the African Union. Thus, among other tasks, it will promote peace, security and stability. It will strengthen solidarity and build a sense of common destiny among the peoples of Africa.
During the first five years, the Pan-African Parliament will assume consultative and advisory powers. This will be an experimental period. But, ultimately, the Pan-African Parliament will be a full legislative body. It will work closely with parliaments of regional economic communities, such as SADC in our case, and also national parliaments of member states, such as our national parliament. This will ensure participation at grassroots level in the laws affecting their future. The establishment of this continental body, once operational, will indeed be a giant step forward. Allow me to shed some light on the form and scope of procedures that will guide and underpin proceedings of the Pan-African Parliament. It shall adopt its own rules of procedure, on the basis of a two-thirds majority of all its members.
Regarding the presidency of the Pan-African Parliament, it shall elect, at its first sitting, by secret ballot, from among its members and in accordance with its rules of procedure, a president and four vice presidents representing the five regions, that is Southern Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, North Africa and East Africa.
In this Pan-African Parliament, the term “President” can be compared to “Speaker”, in our case, and the term “Vice President” can be compared to the rest of the presiding officers in our Parliament.
It is important to note that women shall, at least in terms of the protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament, have at least one seat among the officers of the Pan-African Parliament. The election shall, in each case, be by simple majority of the members present and voting.
The terms of office of the president and the vice president shall run concurrently with the national parliament, or the deliberative organs which elect or designate them. At its first sitting, before proceeding with any other matter, the Pan-African Parliamentarians shall take an oath or make a solemn declaration. It shall meet in ordinary session at least twice a year, within a period to be determined in the rules of procedure. Each ordinary session may last up to one month.
During recess, after people out there had learnt that Parliament had elected five delegates that would represent South Africa in Ethiopia, the people who know me and had heard my name being mentioned were saying: “Oh! We see! So now you are going out to Africa. You will no longer be one of us.” I’m just stating this point because many people think that the five delegates will be seated permanently in Addis Ababa. It is not so. Parliament will sit at certain times and only for a limited period. Otherwise, they will be here in the country most of the time.
Furthermore, the operations of the Pan-African Parliament are clearly defined. The protocol provides for an annual budget, which constitutes an integral part of the regular budget, and shall be drawn up by the Pan- African Parliament in accordance with the financial rules and regulations of the OAU, and shall be approved by the Assembly, until such time as the Pan-African Parliament shall start to exercise legislative powers.
Moreover, the protocol has dealt with the vexing language question admirably. The official languages will be Arabic, French, English and Portuguese. Where possible, African languages will also be accommodated.
Up to now, the planning and preparatory work have been carried out by a steering committee and its substructures. One of the substructures was a technical team, consisting of representatives that were seconded by the national parliaments to prepare rules for the inaugural and first sessions of the Pan-African Parliament. South Africa was represented in this structure by Mr K Mansura from our Parliament and by Prof Shadrack Gutto from the Centre for African Renaissance Studies.
These draft rules have now been adopted by the steering committee and will be considered further by the Pan-African Parliament during its first sitting. Also, a draft programme and procedures for the inaugural session have been drawn up. Proceedings are essentially similar to those we have seen in our national Parliament, for example the proceedings that took place when our first democratically elected Parliament was set up in 1994 and for the second Parliament in 1999.
The inaugural session will be presided over by President Chisano of Mozambique in his capacity as the current Chairperson of the AU. This is quite significant in the sense that he is the Chairperson of the African Union and therefore he is the person who is fit to inaugurate the Pan- African Parliament. He will administer the swearing-in of members who will either take an oath or make a solemn declaration.
After the swearing-in is concluded, the election of the President of the Pan-African Parliament will follow. The election will be by secret ballot and, as in any such election, spoilt ballot papers will be discarded by the returning officer. However, I want to assure the members of this House that the South African delegation will make sure that there are no spoilt votes from it.
The president having been duly elected will take an oath or make a solemn declaration and will be asked to take a chair. This part of the programme also accommodates an address by the President of Ethiopia, the host country; by President Chisano, the chairperson of the session; by the newly elected Pan-African Parliament president; and there will be a vote of thanks by one of the Pan-African Parliament members. I think we can see here that there are a lot of similarities between what happens here in our Parliament and what will happen in Addis Ababa. That is an indication also of the contribution that has been made by the African Union Working Group of this Parliament, in other words by South Africa.
The first session of the Pan-African Parliament will then continue and will be presided over by its new president. This session will adopt rules, elect the four vice presidents, constitute the bureau, adopt the programme of work, and constitute the three proposed committees, namely the rules, budget and credentials committees.
The election of the four vice presidents will ensure that at least one will be a woman. Thus, the ballot paper for the vice presidents ensures that this is achieved by having two lists. On one ballot paper there will be two lists, one with the names of women nominees only, and the other with the names of all the nominees, men and women. Every member is compelled to vote on both lists. If no cross is made on the women’s list - on the women only list - such a ballot paper will be deemed spoilt. We’ve ensured that everybody votes for women.
Should no women be elected on the second list, then the woman with the most votes on the first list will replace a man coming from the same region. The president and the four vice presidents constitute the bureau.
In his state of the nation address to Parliament in 2001, President Mbeki appealed to Parliament to be involved in matters of the African Union. Consequently, in February 2002 Parliament established the Working Group on the African Union, which has since carried out its tasks consistently and has brought us to the stage at which we are today, that is at which we are ready to send a democratically and procedurally elected delegation to Addis Ababa. We know some people are complaining about the composition of the delegation because they got themselves out of that delegation; it was not Parliament. But as far as this Parliament is concerned, the procedures were correct and the elections were democratic. The Working Group on the African Union together with its support staff - the group that was chaired by the Speaker - is to be congratulated on the sterling work it has done over the past two years. What now remains is for the next Parliament to consider recommendations made by the working group in its eighth report, and, as amended, in its tenth report.
We know that both reports were adopted by this House. One of the recommendations made by the working group was for this Parliament to consider establishing a joint committee to process and deal with issues emanating from the African Union and from the Pan-African Parliament. The committee would then be able to table reports to Parliament. This committee could also be a forum to discuss with the executive its engagement with the African Union. I think this recommendation, if implemented, could form the basis of - and be encouragement by - this Parliament for the work of the five delegates who are now going to take over all work in connection with the Pan-African Parliament.
The inauguration of the Pan-African Parliament is taking place during a significant year for South Africa, 2004 being an election year and the year in which the people of this country are celebrating 10 years of democracy and the great achievements of the democratic Government led by the ANC.
I have no doubt in my mind that on 14 April South Africans will vote the ANC back into power to ensure that … [Applause.] … the democratic process already begun is strengthened, not only in South Africa but throughout Africa, throughout our continent. This will ensure that we participate in the African Union, in Nepad and also, as I’ve already said, in the Pan-African Parliament.
I’m sure that even the DA will be in a position to support the five members of the delegation in their work throughout their period of office. Of course, our own period of office is a very short one. It will end with the end of the life of this Parliament, but, as we know, the next Parliament that will come into power after the elections will therefore have the duty of electing, once again, five members that will represent South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament. The membership of members of the Pan-African Parliament exists as long as that particular parliament is in power, but once that particular parliament has been dissolved then the membership of the five delegates also ceases. Madam Speaker, with these few words, I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr C W EGLIN: Madam Speaker, it would appear that 2004 is likely to be another extremely important and busy year for the African Union. Three important organs of the union, the Peace and Security Council, the African Court of Justice and the Pan-African Parliament, are due to start functioning.
In addition the Peer Review Mechanism of Nepad has already started its work with Rwanda, the first country to come under review procedure. In respect of each of these organs, a lot of preparatory work has been done, but more preparatory work still has to be done and substructures have to be put in place. For instance, as far as the Peer Review Mechanism is concerned, substantial preparatory work has been done, but a decision has still to be made by the AU as to what organ or authority within the AU will action the recommendations in the report of the Peer Review Mechanism on follow up intervention.
In respect of the African Court of Justice, decisions still have to be made on how or to what extent the jurisdiction of the court will be allowed to intrude on the constitutional sovereignty of individual states. In respect of the Peace and Security Council, a finalisation of the protocol still has to take place as well as the setting up of rapid deployment units on both a country and regional basis.
In respect of the Pan-African Parliament, much preparatory work has been done. I believe the Pan-African Parliament owes a debt of gratitude to Speaker Ginwala, who has chaired its steering committee for the past year. No doubt there will still be some birth pains when the PAP meets for the first time in a couple of weeks time. Not least of these will be the practical application of Article 4.3 of the protocol, which states that the representation of each member state much reflect the diversity of political opinions in each national parliament or deliberative organ. Within the various parliaments there may be differences of opinion on the application of this provision, as indeed there is in our Parliament. However, let me say that the final decision on this matter lies not with individual parliaments, but with the PAP’s credentials committee. It alone will have to decide whether or not the protocol has been complied with by each individual state. So we will await the certification of the Pan-African Parliament’s credentials committee.
Another question that will have to be resolved in relation to PAP is the significant difference between the boundaries of the regions of Africa as determined by the AU and the boundaries of the regional economic units, such as SADC and ECOWAS, which are already functioning as viable economic and developmental units. May I just mention that in the Southern African region, in terms of the AU there are 10 states and in terms of SADC there are 14 states. Somehow or other this is going to have to be resolved in relation to PAP or some other organ. Another thorny question is going to be the location of PAP. I know South Africa has put in a bid - I don’t know whether it’s a financial or a moral one. I believe other states will be competing for that as well.
And then as far as the AU is concerned, there are still one or two overall question marks that will have to be erased. To what extent is the continent of Africa manageable as an integrated economic entity? Do the leaders of Africa, with their diverse views and at times competing priorities, have the collective will to put the lofty principles of the AU into practice? Is there the will in Africa at leadership level to make the AU work?
I hope that the answer to both these questions proves to be, yes. I believe that all of us in this House want the AU to succeed, for if it succeeds, there is hope of Africa succeeding and with this the prospect of real progress for the millions of our people who live on our continent. In the success we hope for, the PAP can play a very important supplementary role. It can do so by monitoring the activities of the various organs, including the council of the AU. It can do so by advising, as it is entitled to in terms of the protocol. It can do so by backing up the other organs in many ways. It can do so by promoting unity amongst diversity in Africa. Most important of all, it can do so by speaking up, not for the governments and not for the countries, but for the people of Africa.
And so we of the DA and of this House I believe as a whole wish the PAP well. We will observe its activities and we are going to monitor its progress with great interest.
As this is the last occasion when members of the House will have the privilege of listening to me and I have the privilege of addressing them, I would crave your latitude and your indulgence when I make a few personal comments. As I said, this is the last speech I am making in Parliament. Some 46 years have elapsed since as a nervous backbencher I made my first speech in 1958. Yes, you’ll say, Eglin you’ve been around a long time. I was elected in 1958 and in 1961, with 11 of my colleagues in the old Progressive Party, I was voted out of Parliament by the white voters. They resented the fact that we were saying that racism was wrong and that apartheid had to go. They resented the fact that we said sooner or later the representatives of all the people of South Africa must negotiate a new nonracial and democratic constitution.
I was re-elected in 1975 and I’ve been here ever since. But it might be interesting for members to know that I fought in the last 11 successive general elections. I have served during the terms of office of the last seven presidents and prime ministers, from Strydom through to Verwoerd to Vorster to Botha to De Klerk to Mandela and Mbeki. And you might think that constitutions last forever. I have served in Parliament under five different constitutions - the union constitution, the republican constitution, the tricameral constitution, the interim constitution and now the final democratic constitution.
I have taken part in many bruising political debates. I’ve shared the joy of victory at times and at times I have savoured the disappointment of defeat. I leave Parliament with a kaleidoscope of memories, but I shall leave with no regrets. You might ask me, what was your most satisfying moment and undoubtedly it was 9 May when this Parliament endorsed our new democratic constitution after, many of you will recall, a very hectic night of 8 May when we sat right through the night trying to reach the final compromises. [Applause.]
And to me to have had the privilege of taking part in the constitutional process was satisfying in itself. But I realised when the constitution was adopted, that the close on 40 years of my opposition to the National Party’s policy of apartheid and authoritarianism had not been in vain. That was the cherry on top. Like many of you I have enjoyed my 10 years in the new democratic Parliament. It is very different from the old parliament, although we still meet oddly enough in the same large chamber. It is fundamentally different in its composition, both of race and gender. [Applause.] It is fundamentally different in the procedures through the development of the committee system. It is different in the sense that it is less concerned about ideology than the old parliament was and much more concerned about people. [Applause.]
There is, however, a worrying similarity in the sense of the increasing dominance of the executive over Parliament and its members. I believe that good governance requires that members of Parliament, irrespective of their party-political affiliations, unite in ensuring that the rights of Parliament are protected, both to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. If I am disappointed about anything in this House, it is the fact that although there are very many well-prepared speeches, some of us read them out with very little passion.
There have been very few real debates. There is very little constructive interaction across the floor of this House on matters of vital concern to the people. On occasion, when the debates started looking like they were getting underway, speakers on the podium were greeted by a barrage of noisy and intolerant interjections.
I believe that Parliament in the next session will be much better and it will enjoy more esteem amongst the members of the public, if in future there are fewer speeches and more debates and less noise and more tolerance. [Applause.] I must conclude by saying I want to thank all the members who have enriched my experience as an MP. To the members of Parliament and to the members of staff go, in general, my thanks for their courtesy and friendship. Of course I wish you all a peaceful election.
I will participate, but watch with interest. And of course to the members of my own party, I trust that you will return to this House in great numbers to play a constructive role in strengthening multiparty democracy and ensuring that good governance prevails in South Africa. I have another hope and that is that in the next Parliament there will be a common recognition that the underlying threat to our democratic order, lies not so much in personalities or parties or party politics, but in the existence in our country of pervasive poverty, rising unemployment and the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. I believe in these three elements the risk is there and in these three elements is the challenge for all of you who are coming back next session.
I want to thank you once again. I wish you well - I say `sterkte’. I say hamba kahle. [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: I just want to note that I think most of us are quite intrigued by a vision of you as a nervous new member, hon Eglin! I am sure all members will join me in wishing you well over the long years ahead, with time to write, so that we may share your kaleidoscope of memories.
We look forward to seeing you in the gallery. We know you will be with us in spirit, but we want you here in person as well. [Applause.]
Prof H NGUBANE: Madam Speaker, hon colleagues, my party was given seven minutes to speak on this topic. We have decided that I will take three minutes and my colleague, the hon Mrs Mbuyazi, will use four minutes. Within those three minutes I particularly want to use this opportunity to thank this House for selecting us to go and be part of such an important historical event. By selecting us, we have been given a tremendous trust and confidence. When I think back on the whole of my life, I could not think of a better honour than being part of the continent, attempting to build itself, to put itself together and determine its future together. I want to say: Thank you very much. [Applause.]
We have been very lucky also that in South Africa we have had a democracy, and that we are well aware of women’s participation in the democratic process. [Applause.] We are taking those two things with us to this new parliament. We are taking these things proudly, because we feel that at home, these things operate truly and in a good spirit. Some of us have had the opportunity of being invited by women in Africa, who wanted to know what muti or charm we as African women have had over the men, which enabled African women in this country in particular to be part of the various levels and positions in the country. [Applause.]
In this I was lucky to share this experience with Lulu Xingwana and we used to return from these trips and report to women in general. As a result we as the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus were the first on the continent to have that. Ultimately more parliaments wanted to be part of this and in the end now we can speak of the SADC Parliamentary Caucus.
So we go to this august meeting on 16 March feeling very proud and very strong. We have a leader, who has had the experience of serving as our Speaker, and who has been part of the steering committee right through in the development of the AU Pan-African Parliament. The ad hoc committee has always been briefed on this and so we have gathered already what my colleague, hon Njobe, was talking about, in these ad hoc committee meetings. We are proud that we go there as a team of five, two men and three women. [Applause.] Already we are setting an example.
We are also proud that it has been agreed that whatever the form and size of the body that would form the leadership, there must be at least a woman representative. We are hoping that it may happen that through our efforts and other people’s efforts in the Southern region, we might be able to have more than just one woman in the leadership of the Pan-African Parliament. So, again, I want to repeat myself and say: We are aware that being part of a foundation something is able to grow because its foundation is strong. If a house or whatever is formed does not have a strong foundation right from the beginning, it will crumble. Again, thank you very much for giving us this opportunity through a very unusual democratic process. Thank you. [Applause.] Dr B L GELDENHUYS: Madam Speaker, the hon Colin Eglin expressed the wish that his party would return to this House in greater numbers. All that I want to say to that is: wishful thinking. The hon Eglin was named by Leadership Magazine as the parliamentarian of the century. In my view, it is a well-deserved nomination and allow me to salute a parliamentarian par excellence, who served his country well over many years. [Applause.]
I do not wish to participate in a debate as to whether or not the Official Opposition should have been included in the South African delegation to the Pan-African Parliament. Suffice it to say, the protocol to the treaty establishing the Pan-African Parliament is quite clear on this matter. Article 4.3 says:
The representation of each member state must reflect the diversity of political opinions in each national parliament.
It does not specify “the official opposition” and the South African delegation does reflect diverse political opinions. [Applause.]
Allow me a few remarks on articles 2 and 6 of the protocol. Article 2.3 says:
The ultimate aim of the Pan-African Parliament shall be to evolve into an institution whose members are elected by universal adult suffrage.
I think the idea of an election, based on universal adult suffrage, should be revisited for the following reasons: In order to ensure that Pan-African Parliamentarians shall represent all the peoples of Africa as envisaged in article 2.2, there should be the closest possible link between the Pan- African Parliament and the national parliaments, but should the Pan-African Parliament be elected on the basis of universal suffrage, one creates an institution which has virtually no links at all with national parliaments.
It may even happen that the majority of members elected on the basis of universal suffrage may have opposite political opinions to those of their peers in the national parliaments, as currently often happens in the EU Parliament. This will undoubtedly create an untenable situation. The best way therefore to ensure that Pan-African parliamentarians represent all the peoples of Africa, is that they should be elected by their respective national parliaments, as the protocol currently provides for.
The concept of the closest possible link between the Pan-African Parliament and the national parliaments is supported by the provisions of article 5.3 of the protocol which says:
The term of a member of the Pan-African Parliament shall run concurrently with his or her term in the national parliament.
Article 6 is also problematic. It says:
The Pan-African parliamentarians shall vote in their personal and independent capacity.
I have a slightly different interpretation of this article. It could never have been the intention of the authors of the protocol that the Pan-African parliamentarians should discard the mandates of their parliaments as represented by majority parties when they vote in the Pan-African Parliament. In my view, this article should be read in conjunction with article 4.3. That article provides for a diversity of political opinions in each delegation. To vote in their personal and independent capacity therefore means that minorities in a delegation need not support the majority, but that they can vote independently as mandated by the policies of their respective parties. If the aforesaid interpretation is wrong then, in my view, this article needs to be amended in future.
I need clarity on the issue whether parliaments, which have failed to deposit the instrument of ratification, should participate in the forthcoming meeting of the Pan-African Parliament. I would argue against it.
Speaker, volgens die Abujaverdrag, in terme waarvan die Pan-Afrika Parlement gekonstituteer word, sou die PAP die laaste stap gewees het van ses fases wat oor `n tydperk van 34 jaar strek. [Tyd verstreke.] [Speaker, according to the Abuja Treaty in terms of which the Pan-African Parliament was constituted, the PAP would have been the last step in a series of six phases stretching over a period of 34 years. [Time expired.]]
Mr W G MAKANDA: Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, I wish to express our sincere appreciation of the contribution the hon C Eglin made in that committee. We shall always treasure your wisdom. You are no doubt the product of the old school of labourers, which has played no small part in shaping this democracy. We wish you Godspeed. [Applause.]
The African Union has been launched and it is therefore a reality. It is the realisation of a dream, a vision, by the African luminaries of the last two centuries. These are Marcus Garvey, George Padmore Williams, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Robert Sobukwe, Samora Machel - the list is endless. These stalwarts conceptualised and defined the doctrine of Pan Africanism, formulated, strove and inspired others to struggle and sacrifice for the redemption of the African continent. Many paid the supreme price in their endeavour to restore national self-determination and dignity.
It has been a long and arduous crusade to shed the shackles of physical, mental and spiritual bondage of centuries of slavery and colonialism. The savage experience of slave trade and colonialism has scarred and traumatised several generations of Africans. They have destroyed the African social, cultural and spiritual fabric. They dehumanised both the victims and perpetrators alike, and thus handed down to succeeding generations, of the oppressor and the oppressed, an abnormal and perverse legacy.
This scourge pervades the entire continent. It has brought widespread poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and lack of skills. This is the face of underdevelopment, which the African Union, through its vehicle, Nepad, is confronting.
Africans have rallied to the clarion call of the African Renaissance, spearheaded by the President of the ANC and the Government, Thabo Mbeki, and his comrades-in-arms in Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria and others. This African awakening, the African revival is about rolling back the scourge of poverty with its grim face. It is about development of the African continental economy in a manner that reaches the roots in the city slums and the rural backwaters. It is about the eradication of the multiplicity of diseases that plague and retard our continent.
We are challenged to provide quality education and skills to the multitudes from whom these have been withheld. We are called upon to provide decent shelter, water and energy, and to remove the squalid settlements that disfigure our beautiful landscape.
The ANC has played a pivotal role in the conceptualisation, definition, shaping and establishment of the African Union, Nepad and other organs. The shuttle diplomacy of the presidency and the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to underscore the ANC’s conviction that South African cannot be an island, isolated from the rest of the continent.
Such an insular perspective fails to recognise that whatever relative prosperity we enjoy in South Africa would be submerged in a deluge of the poverty bordering our frontiers. In order to achieve the noble goals of the pioneers of this millennium initiative, in which our ANC leaders feature prominently, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development was established, even before the African Union was launched. Nepad is the programme of action of the African Union, whose primary objective is the economic development and therefore the social, cultural and spiritual upliftment of the African people.
This vision envisages a partnership between the African underdeveloped communities and the developed first world economies of the North. We believe that it is in the mutual interest of both parties to engage with sincerity and commitment in the task of the economic, social and political transformation of the continent.
We are, of course, aware that the globalised economy is structurally flawed as a historical consequence of deliberate imperial policies, which created vibrant metropolitan core economies, which were sustained by the exploitation of indigenous colonial resources with little or no regard to the developmental needs of these peripheral economies.
Thus we have two worlds, of the very rich and the very poor, separated by a yawning chasm. This dichotomy translates into the emerging former colonial economies where wealth is concentrated in a few hands in the metropolis, while the vast majority of the masses are marginalised in the poverty- stricken countryside and informal settlements.
This history is bound to put obstacles in the way of finding common cause and a meaningful commitment to an egalitarian symbiotic partnership between the North and the South and in our domestic situation. However, all is not lost. Whatever the difficulties, real politics dictates that Africa seriously engages the rich. We must persuade, pressure, cajole and bargain against all odds. We cannot do this with any chance of success as a divided global sector. Strong bonds must bind the continent together and create an environment for a thriving intra-African economic and political interaction.
This must extend to South-South trade and investment that transcends the traditional North-South corridors of spheres of influence. This has become very urgent in the wake of recent oil discoveries in Africa, which could be the source of a latter day scramble for this much coveted resource.
We are encouraged by the emerging détente between Brazil, India and South Africa in the wake of the Cancun Conference. It is hoped that this could be a gravitational point around which an axis of the just could rally and contribute to a progressive realignment and balance of forces.
The Pan-African Parliament is due to be launched on 18 to 20 March 2004, with 35 states having ratified the protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament. PAP will liaise with regional economic blocs, as well as national parliamentarians of the AU. Initially this parliament will have no legislative powers, although this is visualised in the future. These are the first tentative steps in the political and economic integration process in Africa. This is vital for the building of a viable continent that can wield a reasonable clout in the engagement with the developed North.
It must be stressed that the PAP is meant to devolve to the grass roots, whose concerns it is charged to address. It should never be an elitist, esoteric talk shop. Much progress has been made in bringing investment into South Africa since 1994, notwithstanding the lack of a spectacular economic growth rate. Our Government has concluded numerous bilateral trade treaties and conventions with countries in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia- Pacific.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is stepping up the opening of diplomatic missions in Africa in line with our national policy guidelines in favour of a robust afrocentric involvement on the continent. The Presidency, the DFA, the DTI and the Department of Defence, in particular, are visible in Africa in political and trade interaction as well as in conflict prevention, management and resolution. Strides have been taken in the establishment of some of the organs of the AU out of the envisaged total of 18.
These are: the Assembly as the supreme organ. The Assembly is composed of the heads of state or their duly accredited representatives. The Assembly meets at least once a year in ordinary session although it will meet in extraordinary session at the request of any member state and approval by a two-thirds majority of member states. Decisions are taken by consensus, failing which, by a two-thirds majority of member states. Decisions of procedural matters will be taken by a simple majority.
The Executive Council is a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs or other Ministers delegated to discharge the responsibility of dealing with the AU. This body makes recommendations to the Assembly.
The Permanent Representative Committee is composed of permanent representatives and other plenipotentiaries to the Union. They work closely with the Commission. They are involved in their nomination and appointment. This organ feeds into the Executive Council.
As stated above, the protocol establishing the Pan-African Parliament has already been ratified by a sufficient number of member signatories to enable it to be launched on 18 to 20 March 2004.
The protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union has been ratified. This is a key organ as a body responsible for conflict prevention, management and resolution. The ANC-led Government has charted a noteworthy course in putting out fires in several turbulent spots on the continent, for example the DRC, Burundi, the Indian Ocean Rim, West Africa, etc. We are keeping a close watch on the peace process and progress in Sudan. It is also a matter of grave concern to read about the recent massacre in Uganda, which is attributed to the Lord’s Resistance Movement.
Members of the Commission are appointed by the Permanent Representative Committee, and this is the organ responsible for the administrative and secretarial functions of the Pan-African Parliament. The vision of the AU is that of a developed, prosperous, healthy, happy and creative continent, capable of shaping its own destiny unhindered and unfettered. We look ahead to a time when we shall have sovereign economies optimally utilising our bountiful resources as we choose for the benefit of the broad masses of our people. We are committed to the realisation of this vision. Only the ANC can lead South Africa to victory in this quest.
Let us rally behind the movement of the people - the architect of decolonisation and self-determination. We acknowledge the challenges of a globalised world. We are very mindful of the dangers of unipolar hegemony. As a continent we will stand together and make our contribution to the restructuring of multilateral institutions and the shaping of a new and better world order. I Afrika! Mayibuye! [Africa! Let it be restored to its owners!] [Applause.]
Adv Z L MADASA: Madam Deputy Speaker, I will address myself to what I perceive, from the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the protocol establishing the Pan-African Parliament, to be the vision of the Pan- African Parliament. In my view the vision, as can be gleaned from the protocol, is to ensure representation of African peoples by universal suffrage directly to the Pan-African Parliament.
The current provisions therefore in the protocol, in my view, are not a legal requirement, and should be seen as transitional as far as representation in the Pan-African Parliament is concerned. Although it is desirable that delegates to the Pan-African Parliament should be accountable to the national parliaments, it’s quite clear from my reading of the protocol that they are free to exercise their conscience. In my view the mischief that the protocol seeks to prevent is a situation which may arise, and does arise in some countries, where the delegates are dictated to in those countries by their executive. That is why the protocol says representation in the Pan-African Parliament is not compatible with the executive function.
Therefore it’s quite clear, in my view, that the protocol envisages a situation in the future in which Africa shall have a united states of Africa, as we see the developments in Europe towards the centralisation of power and now the discussion to have a European Union president. It’s quite clear, in my view, that this is the direction that the Pan-African Parliament will take in future, because how else can you explain representation by universal suffrage if what is foreseen is not centralisation of executive power? It’s quite clear that that is where the emphasis will lie in future.
Therefore I disagree with my colleague from the New NP that what is foreseen in the protocol is to ensure that delegates are accountable to their political parties. On the contrary; what is emphasised, in my view, is the accountability of the delegates to the Pan-African Parliament to the people who elected them by universal suffrage.
When it comes to the delegation that we have, I want to thank the working group of the African Union for the work that has been done, the leadership that has been shown and the delegates that have been elected by this Parliament. I agree with the previous speakers that the protocol, strictly speaking, does not require a particular representation with regard to the sizes of opposition parties, but the diversity of political opinion. Also, we must agree that it would have been desirable that the largest opposition should have had representation, but sadly this is not a legal requirement. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Mr G T MADIKIZA: Madam Deputy Speaker and hon members of this House, the inauguration of the Pan-African Parliament is fast approaching. It will indeed be an auspicious occasion that all of us will celebrate. Symbolically, it is a tangible manifestation of the growing independence and unity of Africa. As a continent, we are increasingly demonstrating our commitment to democracy and our ability to govern ourselves. Practically, the Pan-African Parliament creates a forum for communication between this House and other African Parliaments, and will hopefully lead to greater co- operation on fundamental issues that face all of us.
Our experience as an established but still young Parliament can add much to the growth and development of the Pan-African Parliament. The members on whom the honour and duty falls to represent South Africa in the Pan-African Parliament must embrace this opportunity with enthusiasm and dedication because they have to represent the best of what this House has to offer to the continent. We cannot settle for mediocrity because that would be to doom the Pan-African Parliament to the status of a glorified talk shop.
The citizens of our country and, of course, our continent deserve our best talent and expertise. To the members who have been elected to represent the South African Parliament at the Pan-African Parliament, we have this to say: “You have our unwavering support as a nation and we are sure you will do us proud. We wish you Godspeed in your onerous task.” I thank you.
Mr C AUCAMP: Hon Deputy Speaker, first of all, on behalf of the NA, I want to thank the hon Colin Eglin for the contribution he has made over more than half a century in different Parliaments in South Africa. This place will be poorer without the aristocratic figure of Colin Eglin. His wisdom and experience will be missed. The NA wishes him all the blessings with his new career and his young wife. We salute a respected figure who made a huge contribution and who has been a parliamentarian par excellence. Hamba kahle [Go well].
The NA supports the founding of the Pan-African Parliament on certain conditions. First of all, it must not mean Pan-Africanism in the ideological sense of the word. It must really be an institution that looks after the interests of all the peoples of this continent, and also those who arrived here 400 years and less ago.
Tweedens, dat die selfstandigheid en die onafhanklikheid van elke deelnemende staat erken sal word. In die verband steun die NA die standpunt van die agb Boy Geldenhuys, naamlik dat die parlemente van die verskillende state die samestellende dele van die Pan-Afrika Parlement sal wees en dat daar nie `n nuwe liggaam van individue bo-oor die bestaande jurisdiksie van state gestig sal word nie.
Derdens, dat die Parlement die lesse van die ou OAE ter harte sal neem, en nie ideologiesgedrewe sal wees nie, maar ontwikkelingsgedrewe. Hiervoor is nodig dat, vierdens, die portuurtoesigmeganisme effektief sal wees. Lidmaatskap moet nie outomaties wees nie, maar moet onderskraag word deur gesonde demokrasie en skoon administrasies. Vyfdens, dat spesifieke aandag gegee sal word aan die regte van veral minderheidsgemeenskappe van Afrika.
In die verband wil ek graag wys op n resolusie tydens die Wêreldberaad vir
Volhoubare Ontwikkeling, naamlik dat kulturele sekuriteit n voorvereiste
is vir volhoubare ontwikkeling. In die laaste plek steun die NA Suid-Afrika
se bod vir hierdie parlement, en ons hoop dat dit net so suksesvol sal wees
soos die 2010 sokkerbod. Alles van die beste vir die Pan-Afrika Parlement.
Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Secondly, that the autonomy and independence of every participating state will be recognised. In this regard the NA supports the view of the hon Boy Geldenhuys, namely that the parliaments of the various states should comprise the components of the Pan-African Parliament and that a new body of individuals should not be established over and above the existing jurisdiction of states.
Thirdly, that the parliament should take to heart the lessons of the former OAU, and should not be ideologically driven, but development-driven. For this reason it is necessary that, fourthly, the peer group review mechanism should be effective. Membership should not be automatic, but should be supported by sound democracy and clean administrations. Fifthly, that specific attention will be given to the rights of especially minority communities in Africa.
In this regard I would like to point out a resolution during the World Summit on Sustainable Development, namely that cultural security is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Lastly, the NA supports South Africa’s bid for this parliament, and we hope that it will be just as successful as the 2010 soccer bid. Everything of the best to the Pan- African Parliament. I thank you.]
Mrs L R MBUYAZI: Deputy Speaker and hon members, it gives me pleasure to participate in this debate when the preparations are under way for the inaugural session of the Pan-African Parliament in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, next month. Members will take the oath in the four official languages of the African Union namely French, English, Arabic and Portuguese. We also want to welcome the decision of the steering committee to allow three observers to the inaugural session.
The IFP would also like to congratulate the South African delegation to the PAP, Dr Frene Ginwala, Mr Mahlangu of the NCOP, Mrs Njobe, B Geldenhuys and Prof Ngubane. May I also give them a piece of advice for nothing njengomakoti eya kogana [as is given to a bride before she is married off]. You are not going there as individuals but you are going there to represent us and also to represent this Parliament, your parties and the people on the ground.
May I also take this opportunity to look into the vision of the PAP. It is to promote good governance, transparency and accountability; promote democratic principles; strengthen African democracy; facilitate co- operation and development on the African continent; promote peace, security and stability; and, ensure full participation of all African peoples and organisations in the development of Africa.
We hope that the Pan-African Parliament will also have strong links with the regional parliaments, national parliaments and grass-roots organisations. The Pan-African Parliament will be a forum where the voices of the people can be heard. Article 17 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union stipulates that the Pan-African Parliament shall be established in order to ensure full participation of African peoples. This will deepen democracy and address the aspiration of the African peoples. The interest of the people should be prioritised.
Civil society’s participation in the accountability mechanism of the Pan- African Parliament is very important. This will enable parliamentarians to engage with communities in order to ascertain the problems that the communities are experiencing. The Pan-African Parliament should also consider the issue of instability within national parliaments as this could hamper its functioning.
There are also other issues that are facing the continent that need to be addressed by the PAP, such as reducing poverty in Africa, budgeting issues and HIV/Aids. Nepad is also aimed at promoting democracy, peace and development in the continent. These include reducing the poverty gap and attaining sustainable economic growth.
One of the roles the Pan-African Parliament could play in relation to the Peer Review Mechanism would be to provide members with the tools to measure performance in their own countries as part of the oversight function. This would also promote greater unity and solidarity between African countries and the people of Africa.
The Peer Review is a product of Nepad and the first of its kind. The Peer Review Mechanism is voluntary. So it means that those members who will serve on the PAP will try and find measures to popularise the Peer Review Mechanism.
Lastly, I would just like to touch on mandates, accountability and reporting. We know that article 6 of the protocol states that the Pan- African parliamentarians shall vote in their personal capacity, as one of our colleagues has rightly said. However, we will appeal to our delegates to keep in mind that the PAP represents respective parliaments. For this reason, they should be accountable for the position they take in the PAP. Remember to come back to us, to this Parliament and to your parties for your mandates.
The IFP wishes all our delegation well in the first inaugural session of the PAP in Addis Ababa next month. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mdi S D MOTUBATSE-HOUNKPATIN: Motlatša-Spikara, mohlomphegi Motlatša- Presidente, anke ke thome ka gore ANC e be e sa dire phošo ge e be e re: Afrika ke Nako! Le hlabile, a re le oreleng ka gore la ka moswana ga re le tsebe. Ke rialo ka gore ge re be re re ngwagakgolo wo ke wa Afrika, re be re sa lore; re be re ra ka gore ditiro tša rena di šupile lona leo.
Maabane Mna Jeff Radebe o be a šupetšsa pukwana yeo e laetšago botse le bothakga bjo lefapha la gagwe le šomilego ka gona go kgonthišiša gore poelano le tšwelopele ya Afrika e tlogela go ba toro; eupša e a phethagatšwa. Mananeo a lefapha lekhwi a re thabišitše kudu ge re be re a lekola maabane. Ka boripana, ka tlase ga lefapha lekhwi, ba kgonne go thuša go tsenya motato go la Lesotho; ba kgonne go thuša tshepetšo ya mohlagase go la Malawi, Angola le Namibia le go hlwekiša le go hlokomela polokego ya gase go la Botswana.
Ruriruri tše e sa le dinyane; dikgolo di sa etla, gobane mošomo wo ka moka o sa dirilwe ke lehlakana le tee fela, elego Eskom. Ga se ra tšwa re lebelela mošomo wo mafapha ka moka a Mmušo a nyakago go o dira lenyaga. Re leboga tshepedišo ye ya Mna Radebe ka mokgwa wo e bilego ye botse ka gona.
Lehono mo Afrika-Borwa re na le dinagamabapi - baagelani bao re bapilego le bona. Re thomile go ba direla botse; re sa etše dingangele tšela tša maloba. Le tla gopola ka moka gore maloba dinagabaagišani tša rena di be di se na khutšo ka baka la mmušo wa rena wa Afrika-Borwa. Maila-botse, maila- tšwelopele ya motho yo moso, a be a dira gore dinaga tšeo di hlake ka go di hlokofatsa kudu le mo go sego gwa swanela ka ge go be go šomišwa kgethollo.
Ke rialo ke laetsa gore tšeo di bego di dirwa maloba, di fetile gomme di ka se hlwe di sa boeletšwa. Re amogela baagišani ba rena. Re le ba ANC, re šomišana le dinaga tšeo di lego kgauswi le rena go kgonthiša gore maphelo a batho ka moka a a kaonefala, e bile go ba le tšwelopele mo tikologong ya rena ya SADC.
Dinyakwa tša batho ba lefase ka moka di a swana, go sa kgathalege gore mmala wa gago ke o mo bjang; go sa kgathalege gore o sekobo goba o yo mobotse. Tokelo ya go kgetha baetapele le go ba le lekoko leo o le ratago ke ye nngwe ya tšona. Tokelo ya go hwetsa thekgo go mmušo wa gago gore bana ba kgone go ya sekolong; o hwetše kalafo ge o babja le go ikhweletsa mosomo ke tšeo batho ka moka ba di labalabelago. Batho ka moka dinageng tša bona ba nyaka go phela ba lokologile le gona ka lethabo, ba sa tšhabe selo, go na le khutšo mo dinageng tša bona. Ye, ke tshwanelo ya batho ba rena ka moka. Gape ke seo African Union e lego sona.
Ka kgwedi ya Julae 2002 re bone lesea lekhwi ge le belegwa kua Durban. Gomme lehono re re lesea le le godile. Ke ka fao le hlatlamišwago; ke ka fao Palamente ye e swanetšego go tšeya mosomo wa yona. Ge re ya ka Palamente ye, re lemogile gore tirišano ya yona ke ye kgolo kudu gomme tšeo e swanetšego go di dira ke go lemoga gore batho ba Afrika ka moka ba a šomišana, e bile ba a thekgana. Re lemoga gape gore tlhokomelo le tšhireletšo ya dinagamabapi, re sa tlogele go hlompha mellwane ya rena, ke taba ye bohlokwa kudu. Tšwelopele le tshepedišo ye botse ke tšeo re di nyakago mo kontinenteng ya rena. Re tshepa gore Palamente ye e tla kgonthišiša gore tšeo ka moka di a phethagala. Re a tseba gore melao ya rena ga e swane; eupša maloko ao re a kgethilego mo a Palamente, a tla dira gore melawana ya rena, re le dinaga, e a nyalana gomme ra kgona go šomišana ka gore re tla be re sepela ka mošito wo tee.
Sa bobedi, re tla kalokana re le maloko a Palamente gore karolo mo tshepedišong ya tša mmušo e tšewa ke setšhaba; setšhaba le sona se kgona go lahlela lentšu. Re a kgethile maloko, re le Palamente ya Afrika Borwa. Bjale mošomo wa rena ke gore re a thekge gore a kgone go phetha mošomo wa wona ka tshwanelo.
Nka se fetše ntle le go leboga Mmagorena Sepikara le Mothuši wa gagwe ka mošomo wo mobotse wo ba o dirilego ge ba be ba re eta pele, ba re thekga, ba re laetša tsela nakong yeo re bego re šogana le thari ye. Ke leboga gape le makoko a kganetšo ka bothakga le tšhomišano ye botse yeo a e laeditšego nakong ya go ahlaahla dingwalwa tše ntši tše, tša gore re lokiš etše Palamente ye ya rena gore e kgone go amogela ditumelelano tšeo di bego di bewa kgauswi le rena.
Ke rata go leboga Mna Eglin ka mahlale ao a a laeditšego. Sepedi se re rutang bana ditaola le se ye natšo badimong. Ke seo ke tlago se kgopela Mna Eglin ka gore mahlale ao a a laedit šego nakong yeo re bego re šomišana le yena ke ao nkago thabela gore lekoko la Democratic Alliance le ithute go yena. Ke leboga gape ka tsela yeo le yena a bonego gore lekoko e swanetše go ba leo le agago, e sego leo le fo go senya polelo.
Ke leboga Professor Ngubane ka mošomo wa gagwe le mantšu a mabotse ao a a beilego mo gore bjale mosomo wo o lego gona ge ba šomišana kua Palamenteng ya Afrika ba tla kgona go laetša dnaga tše dingwe gore aowa mosadi o kgona go e swara ka bogaleng gomme naga ya tšwela pele.
Re leboga Mna Geldenhuys ka kudu gomme re tshepa gore tšeo a di laeditšego mo ge lengwalo le ahlaahlwa gape, tšeo re boletšego ka tšona di tla kgona gore di fetolwe gore ka moka re kgone go šomiša mangwalwana akhwi a go theya popano ya Afrika gabonolo.
Ke leboga ka kudu mokgwa wo le diboledi tše dingwe di boletšego ka gona, gagolo Advocate Madasa le Mna Aucamp. Mono Afrika ga re na taba ya gore batho ke ba bantši goba nomoro ya bona e fase; se segolo ke gore ge o le motho o motho ka batho ba bangwe gomme batho le bona ba tla go swara ka botho. [Legofsi.] Ka gona, ke a tshepa gore ge re kwana mo Palamenteng ya rena, re tla kgona go šupetša Afrika tsela yeo rena re le Maafrikaborwa re swaranego ka gona. Khutšo yona re a e nyaka; kgotso re a e rata. Siyafuna ukuqhubekela phampili. Ibulile I-Afrika! [Legofsi.] (Translation of Sepedi speech follows.)
Mrs S D MOTUBATSE-HOUNKPATIN: Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, let me start by saying that the ANC was not mistaken when it said, “Africa’s time has come! The sun has risen, let us enjoy it while we still can”. I say this because when we said that this was Africa’s century, we were not dreaming; it was because our actions pointed to that.
Yesterday Mr Jeff Radebe showed us a booklet, which shows the good work done by his department to make sure that reconciliation and development of Africa are no longer a dream, but a reality. In short, under this department, they were able to install telecommunications in Lesotho; they were able to help with the electricity in Malawi, Angola and Namibia, and to clean and safeguard the storage of gas in Botswana.
This is only the beginning; much is still going to be done, because this was done by one institution only, namely Eskom. We have not yet looked at other projects that all departments of government want to do this year. We thank the leadership of Mr Radebe for the good work that he has done. Today here in South Africa we have neighbouring countries. We have started to do well for them, unlike our predecessors. You will all remember that in the past our neighbouring countries did not have peace because of our South African government. It was against good things, against the development of Africans, and ensured that those countries remained poor by punishing them through segregatory policies.
I say this in an effort to indicate that what used to happen in the past will no longer happen. We accept and welcome our neighbours. As the ANC, we work together with neighbouring countries to make sure that the lives of all people are bettered, and that there is development in the SADC region.
The needs of all people in the world are the same; regardless of one’s colour, or regardless of whether one is ugly or beautiful. The right to elect the government and to belong to any political party is one of them. The right to get support from one’s government for children to be able to go to school; to get treatment when one feels sick and to get employment, is what all people need. All people want to be free and to be happy in their own countries, without fear, and to have peace in their own countries. This is a right for all our people. And this is what the African Union stands for.
In July 2002 we saw this baby being born in Durban. Today we say this baby has grown. Hence it is nursed; and hence Parliament has to carry out its responsibilities. When we look at this Parliament, we realise that it plays a very important role, and it has to know that all African people work together and that they support each other.
We also realise that it is very important to safeguard and defend our neighbouring countries, not forgetting to respect our boundaries. Development and proper governance are what we need on our continent. We believe that this Parliament will make sure that all that is implemented. We know that our laws are not the same, but members who have been elected to Parliament will make sure that our laws as different countries agree, so that we can be able to work together and be on the same level.
Secondly, we will try our best as members of Parliament to make sure that our community plays a role in governance. We have elected members, as the Parliament of South Africa. Now what we have to do is to support them so that they will be able to do their job properly.
In conclusion, I would like to thank Madam Speaker and Madam Deputy Speaker for the good job that they have done so far. They supported us, and showed us the way during our term. I would also like to thank the opposition parties for their good work and for the way they worked well with us when we were holding these deliberations in preparation for this Parliament, and in enabling us to accept the agreements that we reached.
I would like to thank Mr Eglin for his contribution. In Sepedi there is a saying that parents should teach their children what they know so that they will be able to survive once the parents die. That is what I will ask from Mr Eglin because the vast knowledge that he showed during our discussions is what Democratic Alliance members could learn from him. I also thank him for his realisation that a political party should build instead of being destructive.
I also thank Professor Ngubane for her work and for what she said, namely that what is left for them is that when they work together in the Parliament of South Africa they will be able to show other countries that women can also lead and develop a country.
I thank Mr Geldenhuys and hope that what he contributed will also be used when we discuss this issue again, when we can make better use of these ideas of establishing the African Union.
I also thank other speakers for what they said, especially Advocate Madasa and Mr Aucamp. In Africa we do not care about the number of representatives in Parliament, but what is important is that if you treat people with respect, they will also do that in return. [Applause.] I believe that if we are on good terms here in Parliament, we will be able to be an example to Africa through the way we treat each other as South Africans. We need peace, and we love peace. We want to go forward. Africa is back! [Applause.]]
Debate concluded.
CONSIDERATION OF ELEVENTH REPORT OF WORKING GROUP ON AFRICAN UNION
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move: That the report be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SECOND AMENDMENT BILL
(Second Reading debate)
The MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM: Madam Deputy Speaker, Deputy President and hon members, today Parliament will be passing the last of a long list of pieces of environmental legislation that Parliament considered over the past 10 years. I must say that having passed this legislation, I am completely satisfied in my own mind that this Parliament has been true to our Bill of Rights, which requires the protection of the environment and which grants citizens the right to a clean and decent environment, and future generations the right to inherit a protected environment. In a short space of 10 years, we are now a country that has environmental legislation that is more advanced than that of many of what I refer to as “advanced democracies”.
The piece of legislation before the House today deals with environmental impact assessments. This is a matter that was first dealt with in 1989 with the passing of the Environment Conservation Act. However, the EIA provisions were never implemented. It was only in 1997, when my predecessor, the then Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, hon Pallo Jordan, passed the EIA regulations that this became law.
Over the past six years a very, very large number of developments were subjected to environmental impact assessments - all sorts of local, provincial and national developments. An environmental impact assessment basically requires assessment as to whether the impact that any development has on the environment is justified, taking into account social and economic needs and the need to protect the environment.
In every case provinces and national Government implemented this, I must say, with a great deal of diligence. But, of course, in many ways it was experimental. What we found was that after a number of years of practising the EIA regime, a need arose for us to tweak and improve the system somewhat. Just to give you an example: If a cellphone provider is constructing a cellphone mast on the top of Table Mountain and another one in the centre of the city, do both jobs require exactly the same kind of environmental requirements?
The law, as it stands now, requires rigorous environmental impact assessments for both, and obviously this does not make sense. What the amendment now does is that it allows for a situation in which, for certain categories of development, EIA requirements may apply only in particular geographical areas but not in others. It also provides for a more detailed list of EIAs and different categories of EIAs that may have to be conducted. Some developments may need a more detailed EIA and others may require a less detailed EIA.
One of the challenges we found was that provinces end up with thousands and thousands of EIA applications. Often provinces do not have the capacity to process these in good time or to process them adequately. Therefore the Bill now provides and allows for cost recovery, that is the developer that is applying for EIA permission could be charged a certain level of fee in order to allow for provinces, in particular, to be able to fund the capacity that is needed to process these EIAs.
Of course, one of the things that has happened over the past six years is that a whole category of environmental practitioners or environmental professionals has emerged in this country, that is people who do the EIAs for developers. This profession has never been properly regulated. There hasn’t been registration or certification of EIA practitioners, and often developers have found fly-by-night people who do not give them value for money and provide them with a proper service.
For the first time now, it will be possible for environmental practitioners to become more professional because there will now be certification and registration of practitioners. This will also allow Government to introduce proper transformation measures. Many of the environmental practitioners that we have now come from the white community and we do not have an even spread across the racial groups in South Africa.
Finally, this piece of legislation provides for various kinds of penalty procedures for dealing with contraventions of the regulations and legislation.
I want to thank the hon Gwen Mahlangu and the portfolio committee members for having done a great deal of hard work to process this piece of legislation and various other pieces of legislation. I should also thank the Leader of Government Business for having allowed for this and other pieces of legislation to be introduced, even at this eleventh hour in Parliament.
In fact, there are two important pieces of legislation that, thanks to the suspension of certain Rules by Parliament, are still on the table. One is the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Bill that has already been processed by the National Council of Provinces. The new Parliament will continue processing legislation from where the portfolio committee has left off at this point in time. The portfolio committee conducted public hearings and it was quite clear that certain improvements to the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Bill were necessary.
There is also the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Amendment Bill, which is before Parliament. Of course, it won’t be possible to deal with it by tomorrow morning, Deputy President. The portfolio committee has decided that that Bill will stand over. So I want to really express my gratitude. I think that only a few people know the extent of the hard work that this portfolio committee has put in. And I must say to hon Colin Eglin, that where he talks about executive dominance, in my case I think it has been portfolio committee dominance. They change everything that I bring to them. Thank you, very much. [Applause.]
Ms G L MAHLANGU-NKABINDE: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I want to dedicate my speech to the late ANC Whip of this committee - the late Comrade Ntombi Shope. The late Comrade Ntombi was committed and dedicated to her work. Her contribution to our freedom will be missed. She still had so many plans for her country. She led with the same commitment as she did as a student activist, as a UDF leader and Federation of South African Women organiser.
Robala ka kagiso moeteledipele. Re tsamaya mo motlhaleng wa gago. [Legofi.] [Rest in peace, our leader. We are following in your footsteps. [Applause.]]
At his inauguration in Pretoria, almost 10 years ago, President Mandela said:
Today all of us do by our presence here, and by our celebration in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud. Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.
Indeed Comrade Rholihlahla Mandela the tide has turned and the future for all South Africans is brighter today than ever before. Commenting on the extraordinary story of South Africa, President Mbeki, amongst other things said:
As we campaign for the democratic renewal of our mandate and the consolidation of a people’s contract, we must continue to tell the truth about yesterday, today and tomorrow in a fair and balanced way as we pursue our quest to build a better life for all.
Yes, we must tell the truth. We must mention that today we boast of having the third cleanest tap water in the world. We must tell the truth that we are proud of having the world’s most progressive democratic Constitution. We are the world’s fastest growing tourism destination. We are the second largest exporter of fruit in the world. We boast of having 403 protected areas. Today we have two environmental courts, one in Hermanus and the other one, launched two days ago, in Port Elizabeth. [Applause.] The list is long, ladies and gentlemen. Long live the ANC-led Government!
Indeed no one can deny the fact that the environment was hardly a concern for Government before 1994. Conservation, specifically nature reserves, received attention, but the importance of broader environmental issues was never focused on. South Africa’s Constitution is widely acclaimed as the finest liberal democratic Constitution in the world. The right to a safe and harmless environment is enshrined in this Constitution. This is something no one would have dreamt of before the democratic dispensation.
It became very clear that to give proper meaning and effectiveness to section 24, we had to do away with backward environmental legislation. That is why we changed so many things. This legislation was viewed at best as being incomplete, ineffective and fragmented. It was in 1995 that the consultative national environmental policy process was launched. For the first time, South Africans came forward with ideas on how to preserve the environment for generations to come. It was barely a year since democracy was ushered in, yet the nation was called upon to exercise their democratic rights to speak out on issues affecting them.
To this day, this policy development process is regarded as being one of the most participatory national policy development processes experienced both locally and internationally. The end result of the workshop, seminars, hearings and debates to this consultative process led to the National Environmental Management Act, that we are amending today. Before we can measure how far we have come in the first 10 years of freedom in building a safe and healthy environment, we must acknowledge where we started and what we inherited.
A quick story about how South Africa was targeted as a dumping ground for world toxic waste may be a good way of setting the scene. In the 1980s, various industries in South Africa were either considering or implementing plans to import large quantities of toxic waste into South Africa. An example is the vast stockpiles of extremely toxic mercury in Cato Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal by Thor Chemicals. Workers were poisoned and the surrounding areas contaminated. Other companies wanted to build massive incinerators on the West Coast, where they planned to burn thousands of tons of imported toxic waste nobody else in the world wanted.
Many South African patriots were not going to let our country and its people become the world’s dumping ground. With the support of the anti- apartheid movement’s public protest against toxic waste importation mounting, perhaps also sensing the winds of political change, the apartheid regime in 1990 publicly announced the banning of all toxic waste imports. This story is but one example of the environmental injustices meted out against the South African people by various industries and parastatals with the tacit or even explicit support of the apartheid government.
Today we say, gone are the days when South Africans would be poisoned by pollution without recourse. Not only do we have good legislation, but we now also guarantee implementation and enforcement for the first time. The department now has specialised regulatory service provision, including a well-resourced and highly skilled enforcement unit - the so-called Green Scorpions.
In 1997, the EIA regulations were passed in terms of the Environment Conservation Act of 1989. These regulations required environmental impact assessments for listed activities. These regulations have been implemented for six years. During this period, we have built on experience, to such an extent that we are now able to identify the problem areas and fine-tune them to ensure that we enter the next 10 years of freedom with confidence that we are doing well at ensuring compliance with the constitutionally entrenched environmental rights.
As a responsible member of the global community, South Africa is an active party to numerous multilateral environmental agreements and conventions, dealing with pollution and waste. As such, South Africa has been at the forefront of efforts to protect our ozone layer, working to prevent the dumping of toxic waste on the poor or powerless, working to mitigate global climate change and removing persistent organic pollutants from society. As we celebrate our achievements in a decade of transformation - one that is restoring the dignity of all South Africans, particularly black people - we are proud to do so, using our resources sustainably. This earth, lent to us, must be preserved for generations and generations to come.
Let me thank members of the portfolio committee. It has been a very good period that I spent with you - a period where I learnt a lot and was in the driving seat to members who are experienced academics but who, with patience, allowed me to lead them. I want to single out two members who won’t be with us in the portfolio committee and Parliament. Firstly, Mr Moorcroft. I have never seen a person coming from the opposition putting so much effort into working with the ruling party putting the nation before everything else. I want us to give him a big hand. [Applause.]
I also want to thank a young man who is leaving us, a trade unionist, an organiser, a man who helped organise the franchise action council. He is one of the principal founders of the South African Coloured People’s Congress and one of the treason trialists jailed in 1960 during the state of emergency. He was jailed again in 1961 for helping to organise the May 1957 stay-at-home strike. He fled the country like all other good men and women did when pressure was on them. While in exile, he served as chief representative of the ANC for Western Europe: a disciplinarian, a believer in close supervision, a comrade who is loved and respected by many, a true patriot of his country, a mentor, a father, a comrade and a friend. He now wishes to be excused from active politics. He has done a very, very good job. He has run a very good race and he did that with excellence - and that person is Reggie September. [Applause.]
Uncle Reg, you know that we have not disappointed our people. We were there for them. We listened and made necessary interventions on their behalf. Above all, we dealt with the department and Ministry that saw our intervention for what it was and not as interference.
Ours is a success story. And I am proud to be associated with this success. I would have mentioned if Wilhelm said he was leaving. I met him at the last portfolio committee meeting. He told me that he is still so energetic and that he still wants to serve Parliament. But if he has changed his mind, I would like to wish him well also. So I am very sorry that I did not hear about it. I hope that you still want to come and serve. The experience that you have gathered over the years would help the new Parliament as soon as it is constituted. I want to take a moment, Minister, to say that you did what you could do. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr E K MOORCROFT: Madam Deputy Speaker, I should like to thank the hon Gwen for her very generous tribute to me. Coming from you, Gwen, that was praise indeed. Thank you.
The Bill before us seeks to bring the regulation of environmental impact assessments and related management tools under the control of the National Environmental Management Act or Nema, rather than under the Environment Conservation Act where such regulations currently reside.
The rationale behind this change can be found in Chapter 5 of Nema, which establishes a new framework for environmental impact management. It then follows that the entire responsibility for EIAs fits more comfortably and logically in Nema. This change has also provided the opportunity to introduce long-needed amendments, providing a range of necessary, integrated management tools.
In addition, the Bill seeks to provide for, firstly, the listing of activities that require an environmental authorisation; it provides for offences when listed activities are undertaken without, or in contradiction to, authorisation; it requires the registration of associations of environmental assessment practitioners; and, it requires cost recovery for services delivered by competent authorities.
The DA welcomes this attempt to make the regulation and functioning of EIAs more effective, and we support the Bill. For some time now, there has been a growing realisation that EIAs have not been functioning as well as they should. This has been illustrated by the growing number of scandals involving the building of golfing estates and other similar multimillion- rand developments in environmentally sensitive areas. These developments have been vigorously opposed by environmentalists, but, despite their justifiable objections, the developments have gone ahead regardless.
There is a strong suspicion that there is a sleaze factor at work which involves not only corrupt politicians, but also compliant EIA agencies which are either unwilling or unable to operate effectively. It is hoped that these amendments will go a long way towards improving the situation, hence our support for the measures.
As the hon Gwen mentioned, after having served as a member of Parliament for 22 years I shall not be returning to the new Parliament. So, this is then my swan song. There was an ancient belief that swans sang before they died. Hence, the expression which is applied to the situations such as the one I now find myself in. I’m also aware of another related saying which goes something like this: “Swans sing before they die - ‘twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing.” I hope that that does not apply to me.
Madam Speaker, then allow me please to say some thank yous before I step down. Being a member of Parliament is a huge privilege and I have enjoyed my years in this place immensely. What I have enjoyed more than anything is the friendship and camaraderie, which I have experienced from colleagues in all parties in this honourable House. My thanks go to all hon members with whom I have had dealings. My particular thanks go to the hon Minister who, regretfully, is also leaving us.
In the past this Ministry was all too often regarded as a bit of a joke and a pasture where good old boys could be rewarded and put out to graze. You, Mr Minister, changed all that, and I congratulate you on the success of your term of office. [Applause.] I do not know, Mr Minister, what new pasture you will be grazing in when you leave Parliament, but I trust that it will be green and pleasant.
To the chairperson of our portfolio committee, the hon Gwen Mahlangu, my thanks go to you for the exemplary way you have conducted the affairs of the committee. Our meetings were a joy to attend, because we did our work and we did it properly in a very pleasant atmosphere. My thanks go to you and to all members of the committee. [Applause.]
Lastly, and most importantly, to my own leader and members of my caucus, thank you for your unwavering support and friendship. This was the best caucus it has ever been my privilege to serve in. I wish you luck and every success in the new Parliament. You deserve it; South Africa deserves it. May your labours be blessed. Ungadinwa nangomso. [Keep it up.] [Applause.]
Mrs L R MBUYAZI: Deputy Speaker and hon members, the IFP rises in support of the National Environmental Management Second Amendment Bill. I would like to begin my speech with a proverb, which goes like this: We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. How true that is. So we have to constantly remind ourselves of this and the special environmental attributes of our country. In other words, we need the amendment to Nema to enable effective implementation. At the core of the Bill is the streamlining of the EIA process, the registration of environmental assessment practitioners and cost recovery.
I would like to highlight the fact that the right to meaningful participation is contained in Chapter 1, section 2. This allows for dialogue with the communities who very often don’t know about their environmental rights and environmental justice. There is just one concern, which is that of monitoring. Too often monitoring has simply become lip service. So, hon Minister, if we are serious about monitoring, then it has to be done. It has to be done.
I would like to go back to the proverb I referred to at the beginning of my speech - we have borrowed the land from our children. Terms like “sustainable development” and “environmentally productive economy” will simply be words if we don’t enforce and implement our policies.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hon Minister for his excellent leadership and for steering the department forward. We wish you well in your endeavours and my advice, Mr Minister, is to go with a green heart wherever you go and to enjoy the green pastures.
I would also like to acknowledge the role that has been played by our chairperson, Ms Gwen Mahlangu. She has been extremely competent. We thank her for the sterling work she has done.
The IFP supports the Bill. There is no greater challenge than adding value to our EIA process. There is no doubt that this Bill will definitely do just that. I thank you. [Applause.]
Prof L M MBADI: Sekela-Somlomo namalungu ale Ndlu ihloniphekileyo, thina maXhosa asibuthandi ubukhwange. Ngoko ke andinakumosha mazwi am, ndiphinde okuthethwe nguMphathiswa nangusihlalo wale komiti.
Ewe, kambe nto kaMoorcroft ndiyabulela. Ndibulela nokuteketa isiXhosa. Kakade usuk’ emaXhoseni. Andazi ukuba kutheni ube ulahleka uthetha ezinye iilwimi. [Kwahlekwa.] Enkosi, mntakwethu, sisebenzisene kakuhle kakhulu kule minyaka. Uze uhambe ke uye ebantwini. Ungayi kwabakokwenu qha, uye ebantwini. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Ndifuna kwatanci ukubamba ngazibini kuMphathiswa wesebe eli, into kaMoosa, uValli, ndithi kuye: Amaqobokazana angalal’ endleleni yazini kunyembelekile. Oko ndikutsho egameni lekomiti le yethu yesebe, ngendlela ubudlelwane bethu obebuncuthu mazangwanga ngayo ngalo lonke ixesha lentsebenziswano nokusebenza phakathi kwethu naye, neofisi yakhe nesebe eli liphela. Maz’ enethole, nto kaMoosa!
Egameni lekomiti, nakubeni ndingathunywanga, mandilitsolise ndithi kuwe, ubusisiquququ, umabizwasabele kuzo zonke iindawo ebezifuna iingcebiso zakho kwezendalo nokhenketho. Akukho mntu ungakwaziyo kweli, ubonakala mihla nezolo koomabonakude.
Kumnandi ke Sihlalo, namalungu ale Ndlu ahloniphekileyo, ukuba ndazise kwasentloko ukuba kulaa komiti yethu yezeNdalo noKhenketho senze ukuba indalo ibe ngumhlobo womntu wonke, nokuba ungowaliphi na iqela lezopolitiko. Yiyo loo nto kuyo yonke imiba yokusebenza kwethu bekungekho mpikiswano nakruthakruthano. Indalo ingqonge thina sonke. Bekungekho calulo ngokweqela lezopolitiko. Kananjalo, abakhenkethi abeza kuMzantsi Afrika abezi kwiqela elithile kuphela labemi beli. Beza kubo bonke abantu beli.
Kwakhona, malungu ahloniphekileyo, sikhahlela ngazo zozibini kuMphathiswa weSebe lezeNdalo noKhenketho ngokuletsheza okombane ukusebenza athobe izibilini, amavalo namaxhala, nehayi-hayi kuluntu lwamaMpondo asempuma kwiMpuma Koloni ngethuba beluphantsi kwesithwakumbe sokugunyaziswa kwenkampani yase-Australia ukuba imbe umgodi weTitanium kwelo. Ibikukhathaza le nto, mntakaMoorcroft. Ngenxa yokuba uRhulumente lo neli Sebe lezeNdalo noKhenketho benobugqi bamanyange ekusebenziseni umthetho ebesisandul’ ukuwuphumeza kule Palamente, usebenzise wona ke uMphathiswa lo ukubhengeza loo mmandla njengokhuselekileyo, kwaba ngolo hlobo indalo, abantu nezilwanyana ziyakhuseleka.
Ukusekwa komgodi weTitanium kwelamaMpondo, malungu ahloniphekileyo, ngaphandle kwamathandabuzo bekuza kuyitshitshisa tu indalo kulaa mmandla, kwaye nabantu balapho bebeyibona inobuzaza le nto kodwa bebotshwe izandla neenyawo ngento abanokuyenza. Ngaphandle kwamathandabuzo, amaMpondo ayakhahlela ngesi senzo. Nathi ngokunjalo sizeka mzekweni. Yiba nomfanekiso wovuyo namatshamba kubantu ababesele bequle baligangatha belinde loo ma- Australia ebeze kunyiba ubutyebi babo. Yiyo loo nto ke, malungu ahloniphekileyo, sinecandelo 24(2)(a) ukuya ku-(d) kulo Mthetho uYilwayo uphantsi kwengqwalasela ngoku, apho kwenziwa isibonelelo sokugunyaziswa kwayo yonke imisebenzi yokusingqongileyo ekufuneka yenziwe. Esi sisixhobo sokuncedisa abahlali ukuba bayiqonde yaye bayibone njengomhlobo indalo.
Kula macandelo kukwakho nogxininiso kwintsebenzo efezekileyo njengoko iligunya elifezekisiweyo kuphela elinakho ukunika ugunyaziso lwaloo misebenzi okanye emakwenziwe. Kanti njengoRhulumente wesininzi, asivulli nje zibhuqe okanye ngelinye icala sibe nguzwilakhe. Inkongo iphinde yavulwa yokuba xa unganeliswanga sisigqibo esenziwe ligunya eli, walathiswe kwabangentla onokubhena kubo.
Lo Mthetho uYilwayo ukhuthaza abantu bakuthi ukuba bakuthobele okuqulethwe kuwo. Kungoko onke amagatya alo Mthetho uYilwayo elungiselelwe bona. Kwakhona, unezibonelelo ezibuhlungu zolohlwayo oluqatha kwabo bangooDingezweni abenza unothanda bechasene nezibonelelo zalo Mthetho uYilwayo wakube umiselwe njongomthetho.
Njengoko sisiya kunyulo, sinethemba lokuba ugalelebhayini uza kubaqokelela aqulathe zonke iindidi zabantu, kuquka amagqirha namagqwirha. Masiyeni ebantwini, mawethu, sikhangele ukuba bathini na ngesithe sakwenza kule minyaka ilishumi sinabo. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa speech follows.)
[Prof L M MBADI: Deputy Speaker and the honorable members of this House, we Xhosa people do not like repetition. Therefore I will not waste my words and repeat what the Minister and the chairperson of this committee have already said.
By the way, Mr Moorcroft, I must thank you. Thanks for trying to speak isiXhosa. You are from a Xhosa-speaking community anyway. I do not understand why you have to bother yourself by speaking other languages. [Laughter.] Thanks my brother, we have worked very well together during all these years. Now you should go to the people, not only your relatives, but also to all the other people. [Applause.]
I want firstly to thank the Minister of this department, Mr Valli Moosa, to whom I say: He deserves a round of applause. That I say on behalf of our portfolio committee, about how beautiful our working relationship has been with his office and himself including the whole department. Mr Moosa, thank you very much.
On behalf of the portfolio committee, even though they did not ask me to say that, you have been a very diligent person, you were always there to give advice on nature and tourism issues. Everybody knows you in this country, since you are always on TV.
It is my pleasure then, Chairperson, and the members of this House, to announce that, through our Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism, we have managed to make nature everybody’s friend, regardless of your party-political affiliation. That is why while we were working, there were no arguments and quarrels. The environment surrounds all. There was no discrimination about political affiliation. And because when the tourists come to visit South Africa, they do not only come to a certain group of people. They come to all the people of this country.
Again, hon members, we sincerely thank the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for working tirelessly and managing to calm down the Mpondo community of the Eastern Cape who were otherwise panicking and worried, when a certain Australian company was authorised to establish a titanium mine there. This obviously was troubling you, Mr Moorcroft. Because the Government together with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism are excellent in implementing the law that was just passed by this Parliament, this is the law that was used by the Minister to declare this area safe and that is how the environment, people and the animals were protected. The establishment of a titanium mine in Phondoland, hon members, would definitely destroy the environment in that area; even the community there anticipated this, could not do anything. Therefore, without doubt the Mpondo people are thankful about this gesture. We would also like to express our gratitude.
You can imagine the joy and happiness among those who were initially angry and ready to fight those Australians who were feared to have come to steal their wealth. That is why now we have section 24(2)(a) to (d) in this new Bill of which part is going to authorise and cater for all environmental projects that need to be done. This is an instrument that will assist the communities to understand and see the environment once again as a friend.
In these sections there is also emphasis on complete commitment to work, since it is only through official mandate that those projects could be run. Furthermore as the democratic Government, we are neither submissive nor autocratic. You are always welcome to complain about your dissatisfaction about decisions taken, to the ultimate authorities that you can lodge it with.
This Bill encourages our people to abide by its contents. That is why all clauses of this Bill are specially drafted for them. There are serious sections within it, which prescribe severe punishment for the transgressors and those who deliberately disobey its contents, after it is passed as law.
As we approach elections, we hope that the ANC will collect everybody’s vote including witchdoctors, witches and wizards. Let us go to the people and listen to what they have to say about us in the last ten years. [Applause.]]
The MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM: Thank you very much, Prof Mbadi. Thanks once again to the portfolio committee and the parties that have once again supported this Bill. I don’t know what’s happening to this portfolio committee, because I too will not be returning to Parliament. However, this is not because, as it has been said in the media, I am retiring. I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of retiring.
I have been an active member of the ANC for a very, very long time. In fact, it is interesting that I am stepping down from Parliament on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the democratic republic because my very first act of active participation in the struggle was on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the apartheid republic, in 1971. I was then truly green, a high school boy. They told us to raise the apartheid flag at every school, and assemble and sing the apartheid anthem, Die Stem. Of course, in many of the schools all hell broke loose. As I said, that was really my first act of active participation.
I’m not retiring, because the process of change in this country is one which takes place from many, many vantage points, and that’s the reason the ANC talks about “a people’s contract for change”. Parliament is one arena of change. Parliament is one arena in which development cadres and change agents are based. But Parliament on its own cannot change everything without the active participation of people from all walks of life.
Out there in the sporting fields, religious leaders, people in the rural communities, young people, students, the judiciary and, of course, people in the private sector - everybody has a role to play if we are truly to change this country, and I am not retiring from that. I will remain a loyal member of the ANC. That’s my life, and that will remain my life. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.
NATIONAL GAMBLING BILL
(Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move:
That the Bill be passed.
Motion agreed to.
Bill accordingly passed.
PREVENTION AND COMBATING OF CORRUPT ACTIVITIES BILL
(Consideration of Bill and of Report thereon)
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move:
That the Bill be passed.
Motion agreed to.
Bill accordingly passed.
SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIAL SECURITY AGENCY BILL
Mr M J ELLIS: Mr Chairman, on a point of order, sir, if you don’t mind, I think we are passing the amendments and not the Bill as a whole. These are bits of legislation that have come back from the National Council of Provinces. If we’re going to vote on the Bill, some of these amendments the DA voted against last time. But, we’re happy to support the amendments as they come back from the NCOP. Could you just clarify that, please, Mr Chairman?
The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: I am advised, Mr Ellis, that it is the Bill as amended. Can we continue?
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move:
That the Bill be passed.
Motion agreed to.
Bill accordingly passed.
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE BILL
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move:
That the Bill be passed.
Motion agreed to.
Bill accordingly passed.
The House adjourned at 16:43. _______
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Classification of Bills by Joint Tagging Mechanism:
(1) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 26 February 2004 in terms
of Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bill as a section
75 Bill:
(i) National Environmental Management: Protected Areas
Amendment Bill [B 2 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75).
- Bills passed by Houses - to be submitted to President for assent
(1) Bills passed by National Assembly on 26 February 2004:
(i) National Environmental Management Second Amendment Bill [B
56B - 2003] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76);
(ii) National Gambling Bill [B 48D - 2003] (National Assembly -
sec 76);
(iii) Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Bill [B 19D
- 2002] (National Assembly - sec 75);
(iv) South African Social Security Agency Bill [B 51D - 2003]
(National Assembly - sec 76); and
(v) Social Assistance Bill [B 57D - 2003] (National Assembly -
sec 76).
(2) Bill passed by National Council of Provinces on 26 February
2004:
(i) Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and
Provincial Legislatures Bill [B 74 - 2003] (National Assembly
- sec 75).
National Assembly
- Messages from National Council of Provinces to National Assembly in respect of Bills passed by Council and transmitted to Assembly:
(1) Message from National Council of Provinces to National Assembly:
Bills, subject to proposed amendments, passed by Council on 26
February 2004 and transmitted for consideration of Council's
proposed amendments:
(i) Communal Land Rights Bill [B 67B - 2003] (National
Assembly - sec 75) (for proposed amendments, see Minutes of
Proceedings of National Council of Provinces, 26 February
2004, p ).
The Bill has been referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Agriculture and Land Affairs of the National Assembly for a
report on the amendments proposed by the Council.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Home Affairs
A list of approved early naturalisation applications in terms of
section 5(9) of the South African Citizenship Act, 1995 (Act No 88 of
1995) for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003.
Copies of the list are available from the Office of the Clerk of
Papers.
- The Minister of Housing
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 17 - Department of Housing for
2002-2003.
National Assembly
- The Speaker
World Summit of Attorneys-General of Public Ministries, Prosecutors and
Ministers of Justice on The Fight Against Transnational Organised Crime
and The World Assistance and International Cooperation for Justice
(Antigua Declaration) - Antigua Guatamala, February 5th, 2004.
Copies of the declaration are available from the Office of the Clerk of
Papers.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
CREDA INSERT 1ATC2602E
National Assembly
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Appropriation Bill [B 3 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 77), dated 26 February 2004:
The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Appropriation Bill [B 3 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 77) and related documents, referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a Money Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill.
CREDA INSERT 2ATC2602E
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on Financial Administration of Parliament, dated 26 February 2004:
With reference to the resolution passed by the House on 23 September 2003, namely that the Portfolio Committee on Finance “consider the subject of the financial administration of Parliament with a view to introducing a bill dealing with the matter, in accordance with the Assembly Rules”, the Committee wishes to report as follows:
Due to the Committee's heavy legislative workload during the fourth quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, the Committee was unable to give due consideration to this matter. The Committee therefore wishes to recommend to the House that this matter stands over for consideration by the new Parliament.
Report to be considered.
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs on the Communal Land Rights Bill [B 67B - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 26 February 2004:
The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the Communal Land Rights Bill [B 67B - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75) and proposed amendments of the National Council of Provinces (see Minutes of Proceedings of National Council of Provinces, 26 February 2004, p ), referred to the Committee, reports the Bill with amendments [B 67C - 2003].
Report to be considered.
CREDA Insert 3ATC2602e
- Report of Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry on Annual Report:
CREDA INSERT 1ATC2602-ARe
- Report of Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology on Annual Report:
CREDA INSERT 2ATC2602-ARe
- Report of Portfolio Committee on Social Development on Annual Report:
CREDA INSERT 3ATC2602-ARe
- Report of Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security on Annual Report:
CREDA INSERT 4ATC2602-Are