WEDNESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2004 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

                                ____ The House met at 14:01.

The House Chairperson (Mr N P Nhleko) took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS – see col 000.

DIWALI, HINDU FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS AND END OF MUSLIM MONTH OF RAMADAAN

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms S Rajbally: Thank you, Chair. I move without notice:

That the House -


(1)     notes that -


     (a)     on Friday, 12 November 2004, Hindus all over the world
          will observe Diwali/Deepawali, also known as the festival of
          lights, and that this event marks the victory of good over
          evil, the enlightenment that service and duty must remain the
          hallmarks of both governors and the governed and that evil and
          injustice must be fought wherever they are found; and


     (b)     the Muslims' fasting month of Ramadaan ends this coming
          weekend and that Muslims, having gone through Ramadaan, have
          experienced a sense of revitalised spirituality and empathy
          for humanity, especially the poor and destitute; and


(2)     wishes the Muslim and Hindu communities in South Africa and the
     world over, Eid Mubarak and a joyous Eid-ul-Fitr, and a happy
     Diwali/Deepawali.


Agreed to.


              DEATH OF GIBSON KENTE ON 7 NOVEMBER 2004


                         (Draft Resolution)

THE CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Thank you very much, House Chairperson. I move without notice:

That the House -

(1) notes with profound sadness the death of Mr Gibson Kente, who passed away on 7 November 2004;

(2) recalls that Mr Kente, who was born in East London in 1932, began his long career in the field of arts in the early 1960s;

(3) acknowledges Mr Kente’s contribution in the nurturing of many of South Africa’s artistic talent;

(4) believes that he leaves behind a culture of excellence in the arts that will serve to inspire many generations to come; and

(5) conveys its condolences to his loved ones and the Kente family.

Agreed to.

DIHLABENG YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND MORAL REGENERATION AWARDS HON WINKIE DIREKO WITH BEST HIV AND AIDS GRANDMOTHER EDUCATOR AWARD

                         (Draft Resolution)

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Thank you, House Chairperson. I move without notice: That the House -

(1) notes that -

     (a)     the Dihlabeng Youth Development and Moral Regeneration
          will on 27 November 2004 confer the Best HIV and Aids
          Grandmother Educator Award on the Hon Isabella Winkie Direko;
          and


     (b)     this award is in recognition of hon Winkie Direko's
          untiring efforts in educating the youth about HIV and Aids;

(2) believes that hon Winkie Direko’s work among the youth sets a shining example of the active role parents need to play in the all- round effort against HIV and Aids; and

(3) congratulates hon Direko on being awarded the Best HIV and Aids Grandmother Educator Award.

Malibongwe! [Praise!]

Agreed to.

SUSPENSION OF RULES FOR PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING SECOND READING DEBATE ON SECOND REVENUE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL (Draft Resolution)

THE CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Thank you, House Chairperson. I move the motion printed in my name on the Order Paper, as follows:

That the House, for the purposes of conducting the Second Reading debate on the Second Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 25 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75) -

  (a)   suspends any Assembly Rule that may delay the conducting of such
       debate; and


  (b)   subject to the concurrence of the National Council of Provinces,
       suspends Joint Rules 154 and 159.


Agreed to.

PILLARS OF THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE CELEBRATING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF AFRICAN WOMEN TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN DESTINY

                              (Debate)

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon House Chairperson, when we grew up on the dusty streets of our beloved townships, we used to sing and remix songs such as…

Mampe mpelegele ngwana ke a lema. Wa mpona ke a lema. Ke lema ke le nosi. Pina e ga e re wa mpona ke a lema, ke lema le rrago. E re wa mpona ke a lema. Ke lema ke le nosi. (Translation of Tswana paragraph follows.)

[Mampe, please look after the baby; I am ploughing. You are aware that I am busy. I am doing it alone. The song does not say I am ploughing with your father. It says you are aware that I am ploughing. I am doing it alone.]

In West Africa, they sing:

  Ha nye zu fia mu logo
  Fia de to mu logo
  Kinka zu fia mu logo.

The above song means ``my songs take root and grow in the Kinka community until they become a weapon which can topple even the mighty and powerful’’. Allow me to cite one of the greatest poets, who says in one of her poems, titled Still I rise:

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Those are the words of Maya Angelou.

In his writings, Thomas Sankara stated:

   This vast and complex combination of pain and joy, solitary and
   forsaken yet creator of all humanity, suffering, frustrated and
   humiliated and yet endless source of happiness for each one of us;
   this source of affection beyond compare, inspiring the most
   unexpected courage; this being called weak but possessing untold
   ability to inspire us to take the road of honour; this being of flesh
   and blood and of spiritual conviction; this being is women; this
   being is you.


   You are our mothers, life companions, our comrades in struggle and,
   because of this fact, you should by right affirm yourselves as equal
   partners in the joyful victory feast of the revolution. We must
   restore to humanity your true image by making the reign of freedom
   prevail over differentiations imposed by nature and by eliminating
   all kinds of hypocrisy that sustain the shameless exploitation of
   women.

Ladies and gentlemen, women in Senegal, Togo, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa and, in fact, all over the continent, continued to fight for emancipation, in most cases as victims of discrimination, racism, class discrimination and religious discrimination, but also as disciplined cadres for the freedom of their families, in the first instance, and themselves as women. They soldiered on. As disciplined cadres, they constantly shake off the dust and they rise.

        Mampe mpelegele ngwana ke a lema.
        Wa mpona ke a lema.
        Ke lema ke le nosi.

This is a song of a woman, a mother who is concerned about her children and that when the rain falls, the field should be ready. Women have always been crucial in all matters of transformation, in all matters concerning the recovery of the continent. There can be no African recovery unless women are part of developing the plans and implementing the plans, if they are to benefit from them.

Women are beginning to claim their part on the stage. They are no longer spectators but participants, locally, on the continent and internationally. There are great men who have long been calling for the emancipation and the involvement of women in decision-making. The generation of giants such as Thomas Sankara, Samora Machel, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo, have pointed to the correct path, that the liberation of women is not an act of charity but a prerequisite for the triumph of any revolution. In fact, in Oliver Tambo’s words, and I quote, “We who have walked with giants know that the women of Africa belong in that company too.”

Before placing a focus on the role, position, status and active involvement of women in the African Renaissance, an overview of the meaning of the African Renaissance should assist in addressing the contribution of women to the transformation of the African continent. The African Renaissance is about reclaiming the heritage of the people of the African continent, and it is about the socioeconomic and political renewal of Africa. To those living in Africa, the African Renaissance therefore means pushing back the frontiers of poverty, underdevelopment, famine and ignorance, and reconstructing a better life for all.

In modern African politics and political life, the African Renaissance is at the heart of a renewed focus on the continent’s sustainable development, economic participation in a globalised world, and the active participation of all Africans in the social and political activities of countries throughout Africa, and respect for the desires and contribution of all sectors of society, including the notable contribution of women to the development of Africa.

There is no doubt that women are a pivotal part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which puts into sharp relief the challenges I have mentioned above. The women in our ancient societies wielded a lot of power in the affairs of their communities. In both reproduction and production, they were the custodians of our culture and language.

However, the power of women has been eroded by the wave of colonialism which gradually undermined our culture and our values. This power was also eroded by the conflicts and wars which turned them into refugees. They became prey to preventable diseases. Women on this continent constitute the bulk of the poor, the refugees and the sick, including those suffering from HIV/Aids. Research shows that 80% of women who are infected are faithful to their partners.

As Maya Angelou said:

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. What actually is the role of the African woman and what part does she play in the social, cultural and religious aspects of the African society? A proverb from Ghana declares that a woman is a flower in a garden and a man is the fence around it. [Applause.] This proverb is a picture of women in African society and basically sums up the position of the women across the African continent. Women are the centre of society. Most women keep the families together and they also bear enormous responsibilities for their families.

Economic activities such as trading are more often than not in the hands of women. Women also play an important role as distributors in their communities. They constitute an important reservoir of wage earning, agricultural labour and are in general the backbone of socioeconomic activities in Africa. Culturally, women are also considered equals; in certain regions, they are even wealthier than men. In the Akan society of Ghana, relationships are determined by blood. Every person is considered to belong to his mother. In this case, without a woman, the man is without foundation because one belongs to the mother’s family.

Because of this central role, women are also economically potent because they inherit property and hand it over to their children. So, basically women in this society have economic independence, economic potency and the social standing that recognises their value because they are the people that create and hold society together.

Proudly African and conscious of the imperative for the peoples of Africa to take responsibility for their destiny, in her Beijing paper, Wangari Maathai wrote:

  Africans were deculturised in ways intended to demystify, demean and
  devastate their personality and leave them unclear about their
  identity, values and spirituality. Many foreigners even believed and
  thought that African culture and spirituality were an impediment to
  progress and should be discarded. This has given the African an
  inferiority complex, which in turn legitimates holding them in
  contempt and demeaning and discrediting everything about them.

Professor Maathai won the award for founding the Green Belt Movement, one of the world’s most successful programmes to combine community development with environmental protection. The movement has built the self-reliance and self-confidence of tens of thousands of people who are living in poverty. It has convinced them that planting trees will make a difference in their struggle to improve their lives and those of future generations.

On 8 October 2004, the Norwegian Nobel Committee informed the world that it had decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 to Wangari Maathai for her contribution to sustainable development. Our grandmothers have always been known as a strongroom of ideas and wisdom. Even the poet and writer who is a South African member of Parliament, hon Ben Dikobe Martins, in his poem Keepers of the law refers to a grandmother’s wisdom challenging judges dressed in red and white, assessors in black and white, and prosecutors in a hostage smile. Yet, Maya Angelou says: “I will rise”. We wish you could write more, Ben Dikobe, because you give us a lot of knowledge through your pen. [Applause.]

The basic traditional systems of African culture are matriarchal systems; yet, over the years, a subtle conversion has taken place that has slowly turned African systems - not necessarily their men but the systems - into macho systems. Here lies the debacle of the African woman. If this is the case, then the question arises: Is the success of the African Renaissance inwardly interwoven with the emancipation of African women? This is an African century. It is 100 years in which the African woman has to be at the front of the struggle for the renewal of our motherland. Surely, as the day follows the night, so shall the cold and the dark past of Africa make way for a brighter tomorrow.

That is the context in which the concept of the African Renaissance must be understood. Some of the important pillars on which the African Renaissance rests are the reconceptualisation of the role of the African Union, the Pan- African Parliament and the bringing into life of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Nepad.

We are confident that the African continent, which is the cradle of humanity, will rise to this challenge. The collective will of our ancestors saw the end to this slavery. We decolonised and liberated our entire continent. And, in South Africa, we defeated and destroyed the apartheid system.

The 21st century has to be an African century. Therefore, the creation of a nonsexist continent is a prerequisite for the success of the continent. These struggles have to be fought by both men and women, side by side. The continent cannot claim the 21st century until the women are truly liberated. Like they sing in East Africa:

  Safari yaki sihi
  Entching inini

This song means, “Indeed, I will rise”.

A way ahead needs to be found to overcome the pernicious effect of the markets’ exploitative division between the North and the South. However, it must be borne in mind that empowering women entails more than merely enabling some women to become leaders. Without resources, their leadership is meaningless. True gender equity entails addressing the needs of women as a whole. Thus not only should more women have access to power, but more women leaders should also have access to sufficient resources.

I want to conclude by quoting President Mandela. He once said:

  Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
  that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our
  darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be
  brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Who are you not to be? You
  are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There
  is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel
  insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We are
  born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not
  just in some of us, it is in every one of us. And as we let our own
  light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the
  same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
  automatically liberates others.

Mampe mpelegele ngwana ke a lema. Wa mpona ke a lema. Ke lema ke le nosi. [Mampe, look after the baby; I am ploughing. You are aware that I am busy. I am doing it alone.]

  Out of the huts of history’s shame
  I rise
  Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
  I rise
  I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide.
  Welling and swelling I bear in the tide
  Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
  I rise
  Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
  I rise
  Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
  I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
  I rise
  I rise ...because I am a woman of Africa. [Applause.]

Hon MEMBERS: Malibongwe![Praise!] [Laughter.]

Mr M RAMGOBIN: Order! Chairperson, I will call for order on your behalf, if you don’t mind. [Laughter.]

Chair, Mr Deputy President, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, inherent in the subject for discussion is the presumption that for far too long our people, especially women, have suffered so much and endured so many hardships, denials and assaults on their beings that one will fail to describe them to the young of today. Indeed, our destiny had been, and is, even today, being compromised by selfish rulers from the days of colonialism and apartheid.

We have achieved political liberation, but for us to summon ourselves for the rebirth of our continent is indeed to summon ourselves to the second liberation or revolution of our continent. Whilst I acknowledge that not always were the women of Africa in a state or position, nor were they allowed the power, to predetermine the cause of events, in broad terms, it is my belief that women today constitute a major pillar for the regeneration of Africa.

In paying tribute to those mothers and martyrs of our struggle, from the Jamila Bopashas of Algeria to the Lillian Ngoyis, Helen Josephs and Valiamas of South Africa, our discussion today must indeed be an undertaking and a commitment to re-empower the masses of Africa. In re- empowering the people, there will be mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, as already presented in the protocols of the AU and the programmes of Nepad. In the words of our former President, Nelson Mandela, when he addressed the UN:

  We must fight against and defeat the deification of arms: the
  seemingly entrenched view that to kill another person is a natural way
  of advancing one’s cause or an obviously correct manner by which to
  resolve disputes.

Again, as the ANC will put it, in the words of President Thabo Mbeki:

We must make the point that the engagement of women in these processes by which the people determine their destiny must be central to our determination as to whether we are succeeding or otherwise in the struggle to make the masses of the people their own liberators.

He goes on to say:

We must make the abuse of political power to gain material wealth by those who exercise that power foreign to our continent and systems of governance.

And he adds:

We cannot speak of an African Renaissance where we permit that corruption remains an endemic feature of the private and public sectors of our continent.

…that the cancer of self-enrichment by corrupt means constitutes one of the factors which accounts for the underdevelopment and violent conflicts from which we seek to escape.

And he concludes:

Many of us will be familiar with instances in which wars have dragged on seemingly without end, because soldiers and their political accomplices find the situation of conflict profitable as it opens up business opportunities for them to earn commissions on arms purchases, to open possibilities for criminal syndicates to loot and to rob…

Why do I say this in a debate on women’s rights? I say this because, for me, women are better equipped to stem these antipeople tendencies, for they do not seek, with some exceptions, to appropriate power spaces for themselves, as most of us men do.

We need to address the issues of globalisation and the adjustment programmes of the 1980s in respect of Africa. In Africa, women account for more than half of the population, and most adult women are engaged in agricultural activity, growing and processing the bulk of the food consumed, and marketing the surplus.

In Africa, women suffer the double burden of poverty and discrimination. In some countries they do not have the right to own land, and are denied access to credit. They have limited access to productive resources such as irrigation water, fertilizers and technology. Health services and educational facilities are not equally available to them. Thus it is easy to note that women suffer disproportionately from poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition.

As a pillar to realise the regeneration of Africa, social movements under the leadership of women, the mobilisation of workers, peasants, intellectuals, commerce and industry, in partnership with them, must begin to question the fundamentals of globalisation and structural readjustment programmes and, if need be - especially if these questions become impediments to the realisation of the African Renaissance - act against them.

There is no doubt in any rational mind that economic, social and cultural factors have combined and continue to produce the situation wherein most development efforts have tended to discount the real and potential contribution of women, and it must be clear to all of us who seek the realisation of the African Renaissance that women must not remain where they are and be satisfied to be the beneficiaries of welfare programmes.

Who among us can deny that the adjustment programmes of the 1980s have worsened the position of women, especially in the rural areas where most of them live? Many have lost and continue to lose their jobs in the formal sector. Of course some have started certain new activities in the more flexible informal sector, but the lack of capital and credit, coupled with the absence of training and education, are added restraints. Increases in food prices, the cost of education, health care and housing, both in the rural and urban areas, intensify the severe pressures on women.

Indeed, we remain jubilant that the project and processes for the mobilisation of women as equal partners in development activities will get priority attention in the Nepad programme. This consensus is in keeping with the value system that we in South Africa proclaim, and which I do not hesitate to proclaim from here, namely that we will never be free for as long as one half of us, males, keep the other half, females, in perpetual economic, social and cultural bondage.

This consensus, for me, is a compelling call to action; action for development which should not be and is not just a political imperative, but also a basic condition for sustained economic and social progress based on ethic. If we were to dispassionately reflect on the past 40 odd years on our continent, we must come to a conclusion, and urge our people to critically look at, and make compulsory, reading the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, as presented in Maputo last year. I do hope that these rights are translated into as many indigenous languages as possible, and I believe that it should be made an integral part of the curriculum in our schools.

It is indeed important for us to celebrate the achievements of African women taking responsibility for their own destiny. But this is not enough. We need to celebrate this every day by invoking the AU protocol and by applying it in our daily lives.

Without any ambiguity, our Parliament under the leadership of the ANC has in fact implemented ANC policy positions on the rights of women. With equal unambiguousness, the policy of the ANC on women’s rights is a profound forerunner of all the declarations made from Addis Ababa to Maputo. It is our duty now, with the instrument of political power in our hands, to ensure that these rights, with all other human rights, are implemented. We must protect them, if need be, with our lives.

I want to conclude with something that the hon Deputy Speaker started off with when she referred to the “motherland”. In their wisdom, or because of the lack of it, I was also brought up in a tradition where my country was referred to as the motherland, and the gender question comes into play. For record purposes I would like to state the way one refers to mother and motherland in the language in which I was brought up. The manner in which one said it during the days of liberation in the late 1940s and early 1950s was: Vande maataram - Salutations to you, oh mother, my motherland. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Ms C-S BOTHA: Hon Chairperson, our natural inclination is to consider the achievements of African women as limited to the accolades accorded the very public figures, such as the Nobel Prize winner from Kenya, Wangari Maathai, and Mrs Getrude Mangella of Tanzania, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament. However, the continent is not new and the fact of African women taking responsibility for their own destiny has sustained the people of Africa for centuries.

Therefore, I would like to interpret the use of the word “Renaissance” as the belated recognition, re-evaluation, rediscovery and resurrection of the ongoing saga of African women started, as a matter of fact, with the African Eve. The recent revelations of the DNA trail, which lead back to one African mother uniting us all in a shared ancestry, merely serve to confirm the fundamental and ancient importance of the African woman to all mankind.

But we also need to take a global perspective when we celebrate our remarkable achievements. We need to guard against expressions of complacency or superiority. We are amongst the achievers of the world, but we are not alone and we must not allow our confidence to make us arrogant and exclusionary.

Vele merkwaardige individue kan vandag uitgesonder word. En vele meer verdienstelikes sal anoniem bly, maar ek wil tog ’n paar noem.

Ek is grootgemaak met die storie van Racheltjie de Beer wat 12 jaar oud was toe sy haar lewe vir haar sesjarige broertjie opgeoffer het deur hom in ’n uitgeholde miershoop te sit, haar eie klere ook vir hom te gee en haarself ter beskerming van hom voor die opening te plaas. Ek dink aan Olive Schreiner, gebore in 1886, wat beide lof en verwerping in haar leeftyd gesmaak het vir haar uitgesproke feminisme in daardie tyd, haar anti- imperialisme en haar anti-rassisme.

Daar was die merkwaardige mev De la Rey wat haar man, die generaal, deurentyd vergesel het tydens sy militêre bedrywighede in die Boere-oorlog. Daar was die vreeslose vakbondaktiviste van die dertigerjare soos Anna Scheepers en Ray Alexander.

En daar is steeds die uitstaande mev Helen Suzman wat, ten spyte van die feit dat sy meestal man- of vrou-alleen in die Parlement was, openlik en onophoudelik die beleid van die Nasionale Party teengestaan het, en die regering aangemoedig het om onderhandelinge met die vryheidsbewegings aan te knoop. Sy bly tot vandag toe nog so uitgesproke. Daar is Mamphela Ramphele, die eerste swart vrou en die eerste vrou wat baas van die Universiteit van Kaapstad was en daarná ’n direkteur van die Wêreldbank geword het. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Many remarkable individuals can be singled out today. And many more deserving will remain anonymous, but I still want to name a few.

I was raised with the story of Racheltjie de Beer, who was 12 years old when she sacrificed her life for her six-year-old brother by placing him in a hollowed-out ant heap, giving him her clothes and placing herself in front of the opening to protect him. I think of Olive Schreiner, born in 1886, who experienced both commendation and condemnation in her lifetime for her forthright feminism during that period, her anti-imperialism and her antiracism.

There was the remarkable Mrs De La Rey, who always accompanied her husband, the general, during his military activities in the Boer War. There were the fearless trade union activists of the thirties such as Anna Scheepers and Ray Alexander.

And there is the outstanding Mrs Helen Suzman who, in spite of the fact that she was mostly man or woman alone in Parliament, openly and continuously opposed the policies of the National Party and urged the government to initiate negotiations with the freedom movements. Up to this day she remains just as outspoken. There is Mamphela Ramphele, the first black woman and the first woman to be the boss of the University of Cape Town and who went on to become a director of the World Bank.]

I would rather bring to the attention of the House the nameless and faceless individuals who took part in events which did not necessarily gain them recognition as individuals, but whose courage, vision, integrity, tenacity and morality have undoubtedly formed the foundation on which later achievements were built and whose sacrifices will sustain the future of the nation. None of these women subscribed to the fashionably politically correct stance of the day.

Nie een van hierdie vroue, wil ek herhaal, het hulle onderwerp aan die tirannie van wat die populêre politieke mantra van die dag was nie.

Dit sluit in die Franse vroue wat uit hul bekende Europa gevlug het in die 17de eeu omdat hul godsdiens vir hulle meer belangrik was as hul heimat. Dit sluit in die nageslagte van voortrekkervroue wat met hul gesinne die onbekende hinterland in getrek het omdat hulle hulle nie wou onderwerp aan die Britse imperialisme nie. Dit sluit in die swart vrouens wat reeds in 1913 geweier het om ’n pas te dra en daardeur hierdie vernederende staatsbeheer tot in die laat vyftigs ontduik het. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[None of these women, I want to repeat, subjected themselves to the tyranny of the popular political mantra of the day.

This includes the French women who fled from their familiar Europe in the 17th century because their religion was more important to them than their fatherland. It includes the descendants of Voortrekker women who moved into the unfamiliar hinterland with their families because they did not want to be subjected to British imperialism. It includes the black women who refused to carry passes in 1913 already, thereby managing to evade this humiliating government control until the late fifties.]

This includes The Black Sash movement, which started at a tea party in the early 50s, and has remained a beacon of morality for all of us to emulate; and it is embodied in the big march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria in 1955.

When the late Bram Fischer was arrested for the first time, his mother assured him not to worry since, she said: “We, the Fischer family, have been there before.” The experience of being on the receiving end of public disdain for their political beliefs was familiar and respectable for the Fischer family. To the eternal credit of his parents, a great intellectual openness marked his upbringing, and his wife shared their uncompromising commitment to racial equality in South Africa.

Hierdie benadering van diens bo self was ‘n essensiële impetus vir morele optrede dwarsdeur ons geskiedenis. Dit het nog nooit verouderd geraak nie of in onbruik verval nie. Om die waarheid te sê, geen renaissance of wedergeboorte kan daarsonder plaasvind nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[This approach of service above self was an essential impetus for moral behaviour throughout our history. It has never become obsolete or fallen into disuse. To tell the truth, no renaissance or rebirth can occur without it.]

There is an old truism that “No people can rise above the standard of its own women.” We must bear this in mind while we are confronted by the terrors which still threaten the pillars of our Renaissance: the dreadful fact of domestic violence, the high incidence of rape, the destructive force of Aids, and the indignity of poverty.

Fortunately, we have seen the immense resilience of African society, which is giving us an increasing impetus for assuming responsibility for our own destiny.

It would be wonderful if we could sing the following women’s song, which was recorded in Lesotho in 1836 but which is also heard on the border with Mozambique: “Oh, how I should love to plait a string and go to heaven. I would find rest.” But that time has not yet come for us. Thank you. [Applause.]

Dr M G BUTHELEZI: Hon Chairperson, His Excellency our Deputy President, hon members, we have discussed the notion of an African Renaissance for years and today we are relating it to the efforts made in the past 10 years to promote the condition and liberation of women. We may not have given enough analytical attention to defining what we really mean when we speak of an African Renaissance.

On this occasion, I wish to stress how our African Renaissance and the economic and social liberation of our women are indeed one and the same. I conceive of our Renaissance as being a move forward, rather than merely looking back at the past. For me, an African Renaissance means the opportunity of carrying into the future the sense of humanity, compassion and empathy that is so inherent in our African culture and traditions. In doing so, we open ourselves to new horizons of human growth and social development.

Renaissance, I believe, is about maintaining our culture of ubuntu and a sense of humanity, and those profound community ties of social solidarity in the new context in which we live today, a context in which no woman should ever experience the heart-stopping fear of being physically, morally and psychologically abused or even merely being put down by her father, or her husband, or her employers or by members of her community.

Renaissance is about ensuring that men change their attitude in the communities, families and workplaces and begin looking at women as equals and worthy of their full measure of respect and consideration. Within this context, the heroines of our Renaissance are indeed the many women who in their families, communities and workplaces are conducting a silent and continual struggle to promote their dignity and assert their equality as human beings, as partners, as workers, as spouses, as mothers and as children.

This revolution in the making is taking place at all levels of our society, a revolution that is bound to transform our lives in forms that are perhaps deeper and more effective than the change brought about by the legislation which we have adopted in this House.

We have passed many laws which have promoted, assisted and supported this silent revolution. We have in place a legislative framework that protects women in their families, workplaces and communities and severely punishes violence, discrimination and abuse against women and children. However, the gap between reality and legality is still vast and will not be bridged by government action alone. I plan to dedicate a great amount of my future political efforts and career to promoting a new campaign that I want to become one of the flagship issues of my party, which will be aimed at changing the attitudes of our male population.

I can speak for many men when I say that each of us has a lot to learn about what needs to be done to eliminate the many insidious and subtle forms of violence, abuse and discrimination which women are still subjected to in workplaces, communities and families.

The silent revolution of women must be met by a silent revolution of men who will change their attitudes and so become themselves agents of progress and transformation. This change is difficult and hard, and this is what makes it both rewarding and worth pursuing. In the years to come, I wish to join hands with all those who want to pursue this campaign, because I know that we have only skimmed the surface of what needs to be done.

That is why, in this debate, I have sought to shift the emphasis from individual examples of extraordinary women to ordinary women and men who are making daily changes, both of whom are part of this process of transformation, and to those who are finding grave difficulties in coping with it.

Let us reach out to both men and women through changed attitudes to bring about a real Renaissance where it counts, namely in the spirits, in the hearts and in the minds of all our people. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]

Nkszn N M MDAKA: Mhlalingaphambili, siyakhahlela koomama baseAfrika kuba enyanisweni bayintsika yebuyambo yaseAfrika. Sizingomba isifuba ngempumelelo yabo nabathi bayizuze kwimisebenzi abayenzela ihlabathi, ingakumbi kwizinto ezidla ihlabathi, besenza njengamanye amaqhawekazi athi aqaqambe phakathi kwethu. Siyavuyisana noomama abanjengoLilian Ngoyi kwanabanye abathi benze imisebenzi emihle imihla nezolo nethi, ngelishwa, ingaqapheleki.

Ndibhekisa koomama abajongene nentlupheko emakhayeni abo, besenza unakonako ukuba iintsana zabo zilale zityile. Nditsho oomama abalwela uxolo, apho kugquba iimfazwe babe ootata bezinikele ekubulalaleni. Sibaqhwabela iizandla oomama abathi bangalahli themba naxa bedlwengulwa, bexhatshazwa umhla nezolo. Ndithetha ngoomama abasagwetyelwa ukufa ngokuxulutywa ngamatye.

Ndingathanda ukukhankanya umama uWangari Maathai nothe kule nyanga iphelileyo … [Laphela ixesha.] Ndiyabulela, Mhlekazi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of Xhosa speech follows.)

[Ms N M MDAKA: Chairperson, I would like to commend the women of Africa for the role they played and for continuously presenting themselves as pillars of hope and unity on the continent of Africa. We are proud of their successful efforts all over the world. We have tireless women amongst us, such as Lilian Ngoyi and others, who continue to work hard, but their efforts unfortunately go unnoticed.

I am talking about those women who face poverty every day of their lives but who always struggle to make ends meet in order to feed their little ones. I am talking about those women who continue to fight for peace where there is war and where there are men who are senselessly killing one another. We applaud the women who do not lose hope even when they are raped and abused. I am talking about women like those who are sentenced to death by stoning.

If I may make mention of Mrs Wangari Maathai who, last month… [Time expired.] I thank you, hon Chairperson. [Applause.]]

Ms F BATYI: Chairperson, women have achieved much, if one looks at representation in the Pan-African Parliament. They should continue to pursue gender mainstreaming in the operational policies and programmes of the PAP. In terms of Nepad, women entrepreneurs need to invest in projects that have more women beneficiaries.

However, while some women have risen to great heights in leading organisations and continental projects, poverty affects a disproportionate part of women, especially in the rural areas.

The role of women in conflict resolution and also in affairs of the continent is a crucial one. We should therefore support the fact that at least one of the five representatives of each country will have to be a woman. African women have a lot to contribute and are already playing a key role in governance on this continent and should be present in the continent’s legislature.

Women have proved instrumental in building bridges rather than walls. They have also been crucial in preserving social order when communities collapsed. Conflict resolution and prevention calls for creative and flexible approach. In all these areas we have seen examples of women playing an important role. Yet, their potential contribution to peace and security was undervalued and they are still underrepresented at the decision-making level.

Gender equality issues are absolutely essential for the success of any peace operation. In order for women to participate fully, they must be informed, knowledgeable and their social consciousness must be raised so that they can better dismantle the constricting structures… [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Nk B T NGCOBO: Sihlalo, Phini likaMongameli namalungu onke, siyazi sonke ukuthi abantu besifazane bayindlu yamandla. [Ms B T NGCOBO: Chairperson, Deputy President and hon Members, we are all aware that women are powerhouses.]

African women and women in general are powerhouses.

Njengoba-ke sikhuluma ngabantu besifazane namhlanje, ngizokhuluma ngibhekisise kosomqulu abenziwa ukuze abantu besifazane bakhombise indlela abanamandla ngayo. Kwakuyinhlalayenza nenjwayelo ukuthi abantu besifazane bahlangane baxoxe ngezinkinga abanazo nangempumelelo abanayo. Ngokuhlangana kwabo babambe iqhaza ezweni lonke, baze bazithola sebebhekeleke nakosomqulu asebakhiwe.

Ngizokhuluma kakhulukazi ngosomqulu ababili abasemqoka: lowo esithi phecelezi i-Cedaw nalowo futhi esiwubiza nge-Beijing Platform for Action. Ngikhuluma ngalabo somqulu ngoba imithetho eyenziwe emazweni onke ase- Afrika nezindlela osekuqale ukuthi kusetshenzwe ngazo e-Afrika kubhekelwe yile mithetho. Abantu besifazane base-Afrika, ngokubamba kwabo iqhaza kuzwelonke, bakwazile ukwenza imithetho ikwazi ukwenzeka kangcono nokuthi ishintshe.

Indlela esibone ngayo ukuthi abantu besifazane ubuntu babo buphindele endaweni okufanele ukuthi bube kuyo, yindlela okusetshenziswe ngayo labo somqulu emazweni esihlala kuwo. Kusho ukuthi, “We are thinking globally and acting locally”.

Uma singase sibheke izinto esezenzakele, sizokhumbula ukuthi indaba ka- Unity Dow yayisematheni kakhulu eBotswana. Ngokusebenzisa imithetho ekusomqulu, i-Cedaw, yakwazi ukuphumelela. NaseZambia ngokunjalo sizokhumbula ukuthi emahhotela amakhulu, ko-Intercontinental Hotel, kwakungavumelekile ukuthi umuntu wesifazane angene ehamba yedwa. Kwakufanele angene ehamba nomuntu wesilisa - okusho ukuthi-ke edonsa inqola yakhe. Kodwa, ngokusebenzisa lo somqulu, manje abantu besifazane sebeyakwazi ukuthi bangene emahhotela amakhulu njenge-Intercontinental Hotel, eZambia, bengaphelezelwa muntu kodwa bangene beyibo.

Sizokhumbula ukuthi eTanzania naseZimbabwe abantu besifazane babengakwazi ukuthola amafa. Ngokusebenzisa labo somqulu, izinkantolo zathi uma ngabe zithatha izinqumo zazithatha zibhekele labo somqulu. Okusho ukuthi abantu besifazane, ngokuhlanganyela, bakwazile ukuthi basebenzise labo somqulu.

Kodwa-ke nakhu okunye okusemqoka: ENigeria, abantu besilisa babethi uma amadodakazi abo eshada eyodwa mayingashadi ngoba kufuneka ihlale ekhaya ibheke lo wesilisa ibuye imzalele izingane, ikakhulukazi ezabafana. Ngokusebenzisa usomqulu, inkantolo yathi, “Cha, abantu besifazane banelungelo lokuthi bayogana uma bethanda, futhi bagane abantu ababathandayo uma bethanda ukuyobagana. Ngakho-ke ngeke nakwenza lokhu.” Kusho ukuthi isithunzi somuntu wesifazane lapho sigcineke kahle ngendlela efanele.

Sizokhumbula futhi ukuthi i-Afrika phela iyindawo enezimpi eziningi kakhulu. Abantu besilisa bayashona ezimpini babuye balimale, baphinde futhi babuye nezifo. Njengokujwayelekile, abantu besifazane ngokuphila kwabo bajwayele ukuthi babheke imindeni nabantu abagulayo. Yibo kanye-ke abantu besifazane abakade besala ekhaya benze imililo ilokhu ivuthile ukuze amakhaya aqhubeke nezingane zikhule, kuphilwe, kudliwe ngesikhathi obaba besempini, beshona futhi bebuya sebegula.

Sizokhumbula-ke ukuthi abantu besifazane base-Afrika babeneqhaza elikhulu kakhulu abalibambe ezintweni eziningi. Njengoba sikhuluma nje, siyazi ukuthi kuleli sonto elizayo, maduzane nje, kuzobe kuqala umbhidlango wokuvimba ukuthi lungenziwa udlame olubhekiswe kubantu besifazane. Ezikhathini zasemandulo, umuntu wesifazane ubengashaywa futhi engathukwa, ngakho-ke njengoba kuzoba nalo mbhidlango obhekela ukuthi abantu besifazane banganukubezeki, i-Afrika yonkana izobe ibambe iqhaza ekubhekeleni ukuthi abantu besifazane bangabi bikho odlameni.

E-Afrika sithole kubalulekile ukuthi asingalokhu sikhuluma nabantu besifazane, ake sibuyise futhi obaba nabesilisa ngapha bese sithi, “Njengoba sihlale sibuka abantu besifazane njengalokhu esithi ama-victims, ake sibuye sibheke nabantu besilisa laba esithi abaphehli bodweshu ngoba bona bazokwazi futhi ukuveza izisombululo uma ngabe kuhlanganwa, kuxoxiswana.” Akekho umuntu wesifazane ongathi nje eyedwa azenzele udlame futhi akekho nowesilisa ongathi eyedwa azenzele udlame. Nabomamezala nabo bayahlupha ngoba baye bathi, “Qinisela mntanami” kodwa-ke angikho lapho. [Uhleko.]

Uma sibheka izinto ezifana namasiko nokunye, akhona amasiko amahle kakhulu okufuneka agcinwe ngempela, njengamasiko asizayo ekwakheni intsha nokuthi kube khona imiphumela emihle ngezinto ezenziwayo. Kepha futhi akhona la masiko esiye siwabongele kanti awamahle. Njengoba sekukhona i-African protocol, sengathi neNingizimu Afrika izoyisayina iyivume khona manje.

Abantu besifazane base-Afrika bahlanganile bakhuluma ngokuthi kukhona izinto ezenzekayo kubantu besifazane ezingezinhle, njengalokhu esikubiza nge-female genital mutilation. Kuyajabulisa-ke ukuthi inkosi u-Abilba III waseGhana wathi, phecelezi, “We are fighting against all these outmoded customs. To speak forcefully, we say: God put it there, why take it away?” Kusho ukuthi kubalulekile ukuthi lawo masiko angemahle kumele nje siwayeke.

Sizokhumbula futhi abantu base-Afrika ngemizamo yabo yokugcina isithunzi somuntu wesifazane. Kungekudala, bekunesimo sokuthi ngoba u-Amina Lawal wathola umntwana ngaphandle komshado, emuva kokushona komkhwenyana wakhe, ngakho lokho kuphikisana nenkolo yendawo. Abantu base-Afrika, ikakhulukazi amakhosikazi nabantu bakwezinye izindawo ngaphandle kwale ngabadi, babhekelele ukuthi umuntu angeze abulawa ebulawela lokho. Impilo yakhe leyo futhi akukwazi ukuthi angabulawa, kangangoba-ke wazithola engasabulawanga.

Ngishilo-ke ukuthi izimo ezenza ukuvuseleleka kobuntu kukhule futhi kuqhubeke, akufanele neze ukuthi zona sizibuyisele emaceleni. Sizokhumbula ukuthi umhla ka-15 Okthoba ubuwusuku olukhulu lokubhekelela abantu besifazane basezindaweni zasemakhaya. Siyabazi laba bantu besifazane abasezindaweni zasemakhaya ukuthi bawo Florence Nightingale ezindaweni abakuzo, ngoba benza umsebenzi omkhulu kabi esiye siwubukele phansi.

UPhini Somlomo uzokhumbula ukuthi ngathi, ngomhla ka-15 Okthoba, mhlawumbe kuyafuneka ukuthi siyiPhalamende ke silethe abantu besifazane abavela ezindaweni zasemakhaya, sibandizise futhi sibalalise e-Holiday Inn, sizwe ukuthi bathini - kodwa singabatsheli ukuthi sicabangani ngoba kuningi kabi esingakufunda kubo. [Ihlombe.] Lokhu-ke akupheleli eNingizimu Afrika kuphela, kodwa kuphumela nangaphandle.

Okhulume ngaphambi kwami uke wakhuluma nangephalamende, iNdlu yesishayamthetho yase-Afrika, lapho abantu bethu besifazane nabamazwe ase- Afrika bebambe iqhaza elikhulu khona. Kuvuleke ithuba-ke lapha lokuthi abantu besifazane baphinde futhi bahlangane bashaye inguyazana yokuthi, njengoba-ke sebebambile ekuphathweni kwe-Afrika, bangenzenjani – lokho bekukhuluma namazwe abo. Siyayincoma iNingizimu Afrika ngokuthi-ke sibe khona futhi sibe baningi kangaka lapha ePhalamende, singabantu besifazane. Uma ngiqalaza ngibona bebaningi kakhulu.

Emazweni ase-Afrika-ke abantu besifazane bayalwa ukuze bakwazi ukuthi babe khona kohulumeni nasezindaweni zokuphatha ngobuningi babo, kangangoba onke amazwe ase-Afrika ayazama ukuthi abeke lokhu esithi ama-gender machinery. Angiwazi ukuthi asebenza kanjani-ke ezindaweni zase-Afrika kodwa-ke bayawabeka. Kanti futhi siyazi ukuthi nasezindaweni zemfundo ephakeme e- Afrika, bayazama ukuthi kube khona ama-gender study programmes lapho kuzofundeka kakhulu nakangcono ngezimo zokubhekana nobulili.

Uma sesiphumela ngaphandle kwe-Afrika njengoba ngithe, “We think globally and act locally”, ngokwamazwe omhlaba-ke i-Afrika ibhekelekile, ikakhulukazi kubantu besifazane. Ngeke-ke ngisakhuluma ngoMathaai Wangari ngoba bese kukhulunyiwe ngaye neqhaza alibambile. Ngizokhuluma ngokuthi abantu besifazane base-Afrika bacatshangelwa kangcono emazweni aphesheya nanganeno ngeqhaza abalibambayo njengabasebenzi, ababhali, abantu abawochwepheshe nanjengamakhosikazi abantu bakhona. [Kwaphela isikhathi.] [Ihlombe.] (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[As we are talking about women today, I will concentrate on charters that were created and which the women applied to show how powerful they are. It was a normal procedure for women to come together to discuss issues affecting them as well as their achievements. It was through such meetings that they ended up assisting in the creation of these charters.

I will talk about two important charters: the one we call Cedaw, and also the Beijing Platform for Action. I mention these charters because all laws passed in African countries and their ways of doing things are based on these charters. The African women have played a significant role and as a result laws are better and have changed. The way in which these charters are applied in our countries has restored the dignity of women to the correct place. This means: “We are thinking globally and acting locally.”

We will remember what happened with regard to the famous story of Unity Dow from Botswana. The application of laws contained in the charter called Cedaw was a successful issue. We will also remember that at big hotels such as the Zambia Intercontinental Hotels a woman was not allowed to enter alone. She was supposed to be accompanied by a male, meaning her partner. The application of this charter now allows women to go to these Zambia Intercontinental Hotels without being accompanied by males, but as women.

We remember that in Tanzania and Zimbabwe women were not allowed to receive an inheritance. The application of these charters helped the courts to take decisions based on these charters. The women therefore have succeeded to use these charters. The other important issue is that in Nigeria males were deciding for their daughters when to get married. The one daughter would get married and the other would remain at home to look after the male and give birth especially to male children. The court decided that women have a right to get married if they want to, and to marry persons of their choice. They applied these charters and as a result the dignity of women was properly restored.

We are aware that Africa is a continent of many wars. Males are injured and die in wars. They come back with diseases. It is well known that the women looked after their families and the sick. It is the women who remained at home helping to bring up the children, making fire and providing food whilst the males were at war, dying or coming back sick.

We will also remember that African women have played a significant role in many things. In the coming week we shall start the campaign for the prevention of violence against women. In ancient times a woman was neither assaulted nor insulted. As we hold these campaigns to stop violence directed at women, the African continent as a whole will participate in ensuring that women are not involved in violence.

We in Africa have decided not to concentrate on women only, but to rope in the men. In most instances we concentrate on women, the victims. Let us also look at the males as perpetrators, because they will be able to come up with solutions if we work together. Neither a woman nor a man can cause violence alone. The mothers-in-law also worsen the matter, as they normally encourage one to persevere, but that is another subject. [Laughter.]

On the issue of customs there are good customs that should be preserved. We have customs that help the youth and that yield good results in the things that are being done. There are customs that are practised that are not good. There is an African protocol and we hope South Africa will sign it soon.

African women have come together to discuss things that continue to happen to them, such as female genital mutilation. It is pleasing to note what King Abilba III of Ghana said: “ We are fighting against all these outmoded customs.” To speak forcefully, we say: “God put it there, so why take it away?” It is important to stop carrying out those bad customs.

We will also remember the attempts by Africans to restore the dignity of women. Recently Amina Lawal fell pregnant after the death of her husband and that was against the religion in her area. People of Africa, especially women, and the outside world ensured that a person cannot be put to death for that. That was her life and she could not die for that. As a result she escaped death.

I have already mentioned that things that revive human values should continue and must not be put aside. We remember that 15 October was a celebration for women in rural areas. We are aware that these rural women act like Florence Nightingale in their areas. Sometimes we don’t appreciate their great work.

Deputy Speaker, you will remember that on 15 October I said it was necessary for us as Parliament to invite rural women to come here, using flights and accommodation at Holiday Inn, so that we can hear their suggestions. We should not tell them what we think, because we can learn a lot from them. [Applause.] That should not end in South Africa; but we should expand it outside our borders.

The speaker before me has mentioned the Pan-African Parliament, where our women played a significant role. This has opened a chance for women to have discussions about what else they could do so as to play a role in governing Africa. They will discuss that within their countries. We commend South Africa for having such numbers of women in Parliament. Looking around I see there are many.

Women in African countries are struggling to be included in government and in spheres of governance as a result all African countries having what is called gender machinery. I do not know how it functions, but it is in place in their countries. We are aware that in institutions of higher learning in Africa attempts are made to have gender study programmes where they could learn more about addressing gender issues.

When looking beyond the borders of Africa, we should think globally and act locally. Africa is expected to do something, especially about women’s issues. They have spoken about Wangari Maathai, but I will not say anything about her role. What I would say is that women from Africa are respected better abroad for their role as writers, as specialists and as mothers by people from these countries. [Time expired.] [Applause.]]

Ms C B JOHNSON: Chairperson, hon Deputy President and hon members, over the weekend there were many reports in the newspapers as to whether or not there is still sexism in South African politics. There was one specific article that did a survey as to whom the newspaper thought was the best- dressed or worst-dressed female Cabinet Minister.

Now, in my view that, by its very nature, is sexist. So, just to set the balance straight, I have consulted some of my female colleagues to try and establish who the best dressed male Cabinet Minister is, and the result is unanimously that it is the hon Minister of Labour. [Applause.]

The African Renaissance seeks to address socio-economic development issues in Africa, and it is broadly based on five pillars: economic recovery, political democracy, people-driven economic growth and development, the review of certain neocolonial links between Africa and economic world forces and, finally and most importantly, the mobilisation of the people of Africa to take their destiny in their own hands.

Now, for women, in a society which - and this is of course debatable - to a greater or lesser degree is still a patriarchal society, to take their destiny into their own hands is ultimately a matter of choice and a matter of conviction. It is about choosing to be part of the solution and to be part the African Renaissance. But we also know from history that taking one’s destiny into one’s own hands is not always the easiest option to follow or the smoothest road to take.

Therefore, in my three minutes, I want to pay tribute to those women who have courageously contributed continuously to the prosperity not only of South Africa, but of Africa as a continent, despite numerous hardships, personal sacrifices and setbacks. There are many women in society at large and also women in this House who have made sometimes very painful and sometimes very personal sacrifices for what they believe in and for the struggle for the liberation of our people.

Sometimes people say things to me in the House just simply in passing, but it stays with me for a very long time. Somebody recently said to me that she was not able to see her children grow up, because she was in detention or in exile. That stayed with me for days. I think that we sometimes forget that behind the female politician is a person who is a wife and a mother, and to them I want to pay tribute. [Applause.] In my view any sacrifice, particularly a sacrifice of such an immensely personal nature, deserves enormous respect and admiration, because I believe that it is ultimately the biggest contribution that one can make to this country, to this continent and to the African Renaissance as a whole.

Another contributing factor to the success of the African Renaissance is the setting of certain targets for female representation in public office. There are people who criticise the setting of targets. But why it is important? It is not a simple game of numbers or statistics. It is more than that.

International studies have shown three very interesting conclusions, and the three conclusions are that once you reach a certain critical number of women in public office, three things happen in relation to good governance: Firstly, the public’s attitude with regard to women in power changes. Secondly, political ideas change as women’s ideas are incorporated; and, thirdly, the system, whether it is patriarchal to a greater or lesser degree, begins to transform its values accordingly.

Therefore, somebody said to me recently that a pupil wrote an essay… [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Rev K R J MESHOE: Madam Speaker, all over the continent of Africa, women are working towards a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. They are women of courage, like my lovely wife; women who speak up against injustice, who work hard and improve the lives of others. Most are unknown and unsung heroines, mothers and wives who fight continually against insurmountable odds to keep their families and homes together.

We salute them for keeping our society from falling apart by imparting good family values and meeting their families’ needs, even in the face of poverty. There are also single mothers who are forced to be both mother and father to their children, grandmothers raising orphaned grandchildren on tiny pensions, women who create jobs by sewing, building houses or growing and selling vegetables and fruit.

The thousands of women who contributed to the growth and wellbeing of the African continent and who are still with us today, and those who have gone before them, all had one thing in common: They saw the potential of Africa. They believed that Africa had a great future and they worked hard towards that peaceful and prosperous Africa. They contributed their blood, sweat and tears in the pursuit of freedom, justice and socio-economic stability in their respective countries.

May the selfless courageous and hardworking women of Africa continue to make a positive difference on our continent. May they continue to uplift their communities and to shape the destinies of our children.

Tswelang pele bomme re motlotlo ka lona. [Go on ladies, we are proud of you.] I thank you. [Applause.] Mr I S MFUNDISI: Speaker and hon members, there is no doubt that women of the continent of Africa have to be given the recognition they have earned and deserve for the development of the continent. This they have displayed through their fundamental contributions in their households, food production systems and national economies within Africa and internationally.

Ms Soukeyna Ndiaye Ba, President of Women’s Development Enterprise in Africa, was spot-on when she said:

  If you want to develop Africa you must develop the leadership of
  African women.

Many rural and urban women belong to women-only mutual aid societies, benevolent groups in churches, co-operatives and market women’s groups. Some of these groups allow women to pool resources to reduce their workload and to invest in saving societies or co-operative ventures.

Such co-operative societies have provided women access to resources, for example, the Corn Mill Societies in Cameroon, the Six-S Associations in Burkina Faso and the General Union of Co-operatives in Mozambique, which supplies most of Maputo’s fruit and vegetables. In Benin an estimated 90% of women participate in traditional women’s savings and credit groups.

Because of their human kindness and culture regarding social spending, women have been forced to take on an increasing burden of unpaid work in caring for the sick, obtaining food and ensuring the survival of families.

No doubt, therefore, given their rights, women can fly high and prove that all they need is training and the means to bloom. I thank you. [Applause.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Madam Speaker, the achievements of African women must be celebrated under African restoration. Women must take their responsibility under African restoration. The term African Renaissance is too much under the shadow of the European Renaissance, whose consequences for Africa were colonialism, racism and Africa’s underdevelopment.

The term African Renaissance is therefore an unfortunate mimicry and a distortion of world history. Africans are not awakening. They had their renaissance long before Europe. The first human civilisation on earth was created by Africans. The first human government on this planet was established by Africans. Much African epistemology has been destroyed. Some of it lies stolen in the museums of Europe. It must be repatriated so that the African people can see how high their ancestors rose on the ladder of civilisation. This was up to the 15th century, when slavery and colonialism began to destroy Africa.

The PAC has great confidence in the women of Africa. We say that education is liberation. Knowledge is power. The PAC advocates free education for all our women. Women can take responsibility for their destiny more effectively only when they are armed with education. With education, our women can achieve much more than they are doing at present. Long live the women of Africa! [Applause.]

Hon MEMBERS: Malibongwe! [Praise!]

Ms S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, today I stand here, a proud South African woman, knowing that so many of my sisters are liberating themselves into becoming the architects of their own destiny. Women are making their presence known and felt in all sectors of our economy and society. Today, after 10 years of democracy, South Africa can boast a multiracial society, free of discrimination and working hard at attaining gender equality.

The previously male-dominated industries have welcomed change gradually, and it is up to us women to take this change to the top.

Mothers, sisters and daughters of our African Renaissance that know sacrifice and perseverance so well, we embrace you. Thank you, and I hope that you shall accept the invitation, because the open doors of democracy are open for you too. Today no colour, creed or hardship shall stop you from being all you can be and more.

The MF supports gender equality and supports the advancement of all women. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Ms S D MOTUBATSE-HOUNKPATIN: Ke a leboga Seboledi sa Palamente, ke leboga kudu diboledi tše di boletšego ka mo pele gaka, kudu tša batho ba banna, go swana le bo Mna Ramgobin, Mna Buthelezi, Mna Pheko. Ka moka taba tša rena lehono di a tsebagala ka gore lehono re bolela ka lentšu le tee. Re bolela ka lentšu le tee, e se gore ga go na moo re fapanago gona, eupša re leboga bothakga bjoo re bo bonago bo direga, e sego mo nageng ya rena fela, eupša Kontinente ka botlalo.

Gape se ke hweditšego se nthabiša kudu, ke go kwa banna e le bona ba lebogago mešomo ya basadi. Ka gore, lege o ka ya kae kapa kae, ga e gona naga yeo e lego gore e na le banna fela ga e na basadi. Ga e gona mo lefaseng. Gomme banna ka moka ba belegwe ke basadi, gomme ba swanetše gore ba ba hlomphe ka lebaka leo.

Ke leboga gape diboledi tše dingwe ka gore therešo ke gore batho ba basadi ge ba šetše ba tsene ditulong, go na le bothakga le tsela yeo ba šomago ka yona, yeo e leng gore gantši ga e hole motho ka gore e le yena a nnoši, eupša e hola setšhaba ka moka.

Spikara, lehono ke tla thoma polelo yaka ka go laetša mabaka ao e sego a therešo, kapa go hloka nnete ka kgethollo yeo re e bonago, goba yeo basadi ba hweditšego ba le ka tlase ga yona. Gantši re botšwa ka ditumelo, ge ke bolela ka ditumelo ke ra ka Sejakane, e ka ba bao ba balago Baebele kapa bao ba balago Koran. Re botšwa gore kgatelelo e tšwa mo tabeng tše tša sedumedi. Eupša ke manyami gore ge re lebelela madireng a Afrika, kae le kae, kapa yona Baebele ge o ka e tšea wa e bala ka nnoši, ga e na gona mo e rego mosadi o swanetše a gatelelwe.

Eupša batho ba šomiša Baebele kapa yona Koran ka tsela yeo bona ba nyakago ka gona, gomme ba e šomiša ka tsela yeo e sego ya tshwanelo. Bothata ke gore setšo seo ba bolelago ka sona, seo e leng gore ke setšo sa kgatelelo, ke se se tšwago kae, ge e se gore ke sona setšo sa diabolo sona ka bo sona. Ga se gona setšo sa mohuta woo, le Baebele le yona ga e sepelelane le tšona dilo tšeo ka moka.

Ke nyaka go bowa gape mo dithutong tša Afrika ka gore ditsebi tšona di re di tšwela pele di a ngwala, di phatlalatša mešomo ya tšona. Ge re lebelela tsela yeo Afrika re šomago ka gona, gantši re šoma ka hlomphano. Ge o lebelela ge o etšwa setšong sa ga bo rena, a e gona Kgoši yeo e no go go tšwelela ya laela batho ya re dirang sa gore le gore. Banna ba kgobokana ba boledišana ya re ge ba kwane, ba kgona go tšwetša tšeo ba kwanego ka tšona pele. E seng gore motho a no tšwa a šupe ka monwana, sa go šupa ka monwana ga re se tsebe, ke seo se tlilego le bao ba tlilego mono. Ke realo ka gore ge batho ba ga bo rena, baetapele ba rena, bao ba bego ba re emetše, ba be ba swarwa ka tsela yeo e sego ya tshwanelo. Ke ra ka tsela yeo ba bego ba gobošwa ka yona, ga na gobošwa bona fela e le batho, eupša go gobošitšwe le tsela tšeo rena re bego re šoma ka gona, ke ka fao lehono re nago le bothata.

Gomme ke ka fao re bolelago ka tsošološo ya mekgwa yeo ka moka. Ge re bolela ka tsošološo re bolela ka tsošološo yeo ya tsela ya go sepediša ditaba. Ke nyaka go boela gape mo tabeng ye ya rena ya tsošološo, ka gore ditsebi ge di lebelela, ba re ge o lebelela Afrika, pele ga ngwagakgolo wa 1450, Afrika e be e šetše e tšwetše pele. Mebušo ya go swana Monamotapa ka Zimbabwe, ba be ba tseba tšeo ba di dirago.

Le gona pele batho ba rena mono Kontinenteng ba thupšwa, go be go na le tšwelopele yeo e bego e le gona. Ge o lebelela ka Ghana ma-Ashanti ba be ba na le tsela yeo ba sepedišago tša ekonomi, tsela yeo ba sepedišago mmušo wa bona ka gona. Kae le kae, ge o etla mono Afrika fase gape, o lebelela tšeo di bego di direga ka Lesotho, ka tsela yeo Morena a bego a šomišana le batho ba gagwe ka gona, go be go na le tsela ya go hlomphana, tsela ya go sepediša dilo ka tshwanelo. Eupša tsela ye ya go goboša le kgatelelo, ke tsela yeo re e rutilwego ke batho ba go tšwa kgole. Ga se tsela yeo rena re be go re phela ka yona. Tsela ye ya go goboša e tlile morago ga 1884 le 1885, morago ga gore batho ba rena ba thupšwe. Bjale re re tsela ye ga se ya loka, tsela ye ga e botse. Re swanetše gore re no e lahla re boele setšong sa rena re kgone go šomiša taba tša rena ka tsela ye e swanetšego. [Magoswi.]

Ka ngwaga wa 1960, re kwa gore basadi ba ile ba kgobokana, ba re ge ba dutše ba ahla-ahla ba lebelela Kontinente ye ya rena, ba bona gore go na le seo ba ka se dirago gore tše tša gore re thupiwe, re hlwe re gobošwa ke bašemanyana dio swanetše go no fela. Eupša ge o lebelela basadi ba thomile go ba le kopano pele, ebile go hlongwa Organisation of African Unity. Ba ile ba kopana pele ba bontšhana ba leka gore ba lokiše ditaba, eupša manyami ke gore kopano ye ya basadi ebile le mathata a tšhelete le a dilo tše dingwe tšeo di bego di direga mo Kontinenteng.

Eupša ga se re fele pelo, ka gore morago ga gore Afrika Borwa e boele sekeng, kae le kae moo o sepelago gona o le moAfrika Borwa, o no hwetša ba re šate, šate. Lege ba bangwe ba re šate ka dipelo tšeo e lego gore di a baba, eupša ba fela ba reta le bona. Gomme ge ba reta ka tsela ye, re le basadi ba Afrika Borwa, kudu ka mono go ANC, ga ra ba le manyami gore re ka kgona go bolela le tšeo di bego di re kweša bohloko, le tšeo di bego di sa sepetšwe ka tshwanelo, gore re boledišane le basadi ba bangwe bao ba tšwago mo dinageng tše dingwe, gore go tle go be le tšwelopele le mo dinageng tša bona.

Ke realo ka gore re a gopola ka moka ga rena gore Mohumagadi wa yena MoPresidente wa rena, o ile a leka gore ge basadi ba le kua Sun City ka nako ya poledišano tša DRC, le rena basadi ba Afrika Borwa, re ye re boledišane le basadi bale. Ge basadi ba Burundi ba be ba e na le mathata, le bona re ile ra boledišana le bona, go laetšana tsela yeo rena re sepetšego ka yona, le gore tema yeo re e kgathilego ke ya mohuta mang.

Gomme lehono re kgona go ema mo re thabile ge re labella ka tsela yeo Rwanda e šomilego ka gona, gore morago ga dipoledišano tše ka moka, Rwanda e kgonne gore e fihlelele 49% yeo e nago nayop lehono. Tše ka moka ke gore di tlišitšwe ke ge re kgona gore re šomišanre le batho bangwe mo Kontinenteng, gomme ke tše tšošološo e bolelago ka tšona gore ge re kgona go laetšana, re kgona go bontšhana tšeo di agago, e sego tšeo di senyago, go ba le tšwelopele mo Kontinenteng ya rena.

Se sengwe seo ke ratago gore ke bolele ka sona Spikara, ke tsela yeo tsela ya segagaborena e šomišwago ka gona, indigenous knowledge. Lehono re kgona go bona dilo tša segagaborena di šetše di le ka mapokisaneng di rekišwa, re kgona go bona dilo tša segagaborena di šetše di etšwa dinageng ntle di tlišwa go rena gape. Eupša, a re šomišeng tsebo ye ya rena go agana, re šomiše tsebo ye ya rena gore e tle e be le mohola go rena ge go etla ikonoming. Ke realo ka gore ke a tseba gore ge re lebelela mo go NEPAD, gore basadi ba šetše ba eme ka dinao gore ba tlo kgatha tema, basadi ga ba sa tšhaba selo, ba kgonne gore ba tsene dipolotiking, gape ba kgonne gore ba ihlame e le basadi ba boledišane gore ke eng seo se ka ba tšwetšago pele. A se ka phošo lehono ge re bona MoPresidente wa Pan African Parliament e le motho wa mosadi.

Gomme seo se thabišago ke gore ga se motho wa mosadi fela, ke motho yoo a kwešišago le gore dinyakwa tša basadi ke eng. Gomme ka lebaka leo go re fa kholofelo gore basadi mo Kontinenteng, ba tla kgona go kgatha tema, ba tla kgona gore go be le tšwelopele. Tšwelopele yeo e sa tšwelego mohola motho yo tee fela, eupša e tšwela setšhab ka moka.

Ge ke ruma polelo Spikara, ke a bona gore nako yaka e šetše e ntšhiile, ke leboga gape diboledi tšeo di bego di le ka pele, eupša ke nyaka gore ke tle mo nhleng ya bohlokwa, yeo ba šetšego ba boletše ka yona gore gantši ge re tsene ka mojako re tswalela mojako re tswalelela ba bangwe ka ntle. Ge re tswalela mojako, re gopole bao ba lego ka kua ntle. Ge e le gore tshwanelo ke gore re o tlogele op butšwe, a re o buleng gore ba bangwe le bona ba kgone go tsena. Ke a leboga. (Translation of Sepedi speech follows.)

[Ms S D MOTUBATSE-HOUNKPATIN: Thank you, Speaker. I am more grateful to the previous speakers, especially men like Mr Ramgobin, Mr Buthelezi and Mr Pheko. What we are saying today makes a lot of sense because we are speaking from a common ground. Not that we do not have disagreements, but we are grateful for the perfection that we have come across, not only in our country, but on the continent at large.

The other issue that made me very happy is to hear men praising women’s work. No matter where you go, there is no country with men only. For that reason, women should be respected.

I also thank other speakers, because the truth is once women have taken up positions, there is perfection in the way they work, which, in most cases benefits the whole nation rather than the individual.

Speaker, today I will start my speech by pointing out some issues that are unacceptable or dishonest with regard to the kind of discrimination we come across, or rather, that which women find themselves in. We are mostly told about religion, by that I mean beliefs, by those who read either the Bible or the Koran. We are told that oppression originates from religion. It is a shame, though, that when we look at the news about Africa, wherever, the Bible itself says nowhere that women should be oppressed. People use the Bible and the Koran in ways that suit them, which is wrong. The problem is that the tradition of oppression they talk about is that from the devil himself. There is nothing like that kind of tradition and the Bible does not agree with all of that.

I would like to come back to the lessons in Africa, because experts are writing and publicising their work. If you look at the way Africa operates, it is always with respect. In our culture no chief would just come and dictate to people what to do. Men would come together to discuss what had to be done and proceed with what had been agreed upon. Not that anyone should dictate to them what to do. That we do not know; it came with those who came here. I am saying that because our leaders, who were representing us, did not treat our people accordingly. I mean the way that they were defamed. This happened not only to them as people, but also in the way in which things were done. And this is why we have a problem today.

That is why we are talking about a revival of our ways. By that we mean the channels we followed when certain issues were discussed. I would like to go to the issue of revival. When experts look at Africa before 1450, it had already developed. Governments like Monamotapa in Zimbabwe knew what they were doing. Before the people on our continent were taken into slavery, there was development already. Looking back at Ghana, the Shanti’s had a way with their government. Wherever you go in Africa, looking at what happened in Lesotho and the way the King worked with his people, that is the way things are supposed to be.

This way of defaming and oppressing people is a foreign way. It is not the way in which we lived. This defamation came about in 1884 and 1885, after our people were enslaved. Now we are saying that this is neither correct nor good. We must just do away with it and return to our traditional ways so that we can work accordingly.

We hear that women came together in 1960 to discuss our continent. They decided to put an end to slavery and defamation. The Organisation of African Unity was formed after these women met. The women met to assist each other to rectify these issues. Unfortunately, they experienced a shortage of funds and other things that were happening around the continent.

We were not, however, impatient. As South Africa goes back to its roots, there are sounds of joy everywhere, even though some rejoice with broken hearts. When we rejoice like this, as South African women, especially in the ANC, we are not ashamed to talk about what has hurt us and what did not go well. Whenever we speak to women from other countries, we encourage development in their countries.

I am saying that because we can all remember that the President’s wife encouraged us to go and talk to the women who were at Sun City during the DRC talks. We also spoke to the women from Burundi when they experienced problems, to show them the route we’ve travelled and the kind of progress we have made.

Today we are able to rejoice in the progress Rwanda has made. After all the talks, Rwanda managed to reach the 49% it has today. All these things are the result of working together across the continent. This is what revival is all about; to be able to show each other what builds us and not what destroys development on our continent.

The other thing I would like to mention is the way in which our indigenous knowledge is being used. Today our products are packaged and sold. They are even exported and imported back to us. Let us use our knowledge to build each other so that we can boost our economy.

I am saying that because when I look at Nepad, women are getting ready to participate. They are not afraid of anything and are able to discuss the way forward. We are not surprised to have a woman President for the Pan- African Parliament. She is not just a woman; she is someone who understands a woman’s needs. We therefore hope that women on the continent will play their role, to strive for development, not only for themselves but also for their nation as a whole.

Speaker, in conclusion, as I can see that I am running out of time. I thank the previous speakers. I would, though, like to come to this important point which has already been mentioned. In most cases when we come in and close the door, people are left outside. Let us, then, remember them. If it is acceptable to leave it open, let us do so, so that others may come in too. Thank you.]

Debate concluded.

                      UNPARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE


                              (Ruling)

The SPEAKER: Hon members, before we go on to the next item on the Order Paper, I would like to make a ruling. During the debate on the Second Reading of the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill on Tuesday, 19 October, the hon member A C Nel raised a point of order regarding remarks made by hon Morkel that could reflect on the integrity of the Minister of Minerals and Energy, hon Ms P G Mlambo-Ngcuka. I undertook to study the Hansard and to rule on the matter at a subsequent sitting of the House.

Having now had the opportunity to study the relevant Hansard, I wish to rule as follows: Mr Morkel’s remark suggested that certain persons had access to the Minister and in having such access, could benefit when the Minister issued service station permits. Although he indicated that that was what people are saying, Mr Morkel, in repeating the suggestion, has brought before the House the possibility of improper conduct on the part of the Minister. The remark in question is unparliamentary and is not less so for being attributed to other people. I must therefore ask Mr Morkel to withdraw the remarks.

Mr C M MORKEL: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, very much.

                     REVENUE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL


                       (First Reading debate)

DR H DAVIES: Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The two Revenue Laws Amendment Bills that we have before us this afternoon deal with a number of subjects. I am going to concentrate my remarks on some of the main new anti-avoidance measures provided for in these Bills. And my comrade Joan Fubbs, who will be speaking later, will deal with other issues.

Chairperson, in his book The Roaring Nineties, Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz perceptively analyses how a stock market bubble was created on the back of the boom in the US economy in the 1990s; a bubble which burst with serious consequences for the entire world economy in the new millennium. Stiglitz writes:

In the go-go environment of the nineties while market values soared, human values eroded, and the playing field became terribly unlevel.

One of the most prominent of what Stiglitz called the new forms of deception that emerged during the roaring nineties was the stock or share option scheme for senior corporate executives. This is an arrangement in which senior executives are rewarded not with salary increases or even with the straightforward awarding of shares, but rather with the awarding of an option to buy shares at today’s prices in the companies they manage at some future date. This created a strong incentive for senior executives to ensure that the share prices of the companies they managed were continually rising, regardless of whether or not this is underpinned by real improvements in the performance of those companies. When the US stock market bubble finally burst in the new millennium, the fact that senior executives had so much of their own wealth dependent on the rising stock market price was a major factor underlying the emergence of what is now termed Enron accounting - massaging figures to disguise the widening gap between inflated share prices and decline in the real performance of companies.

Precisely because they are complicated and not very transparent arrangements, executive share option schemes have also contributed to a widening of the gap between pay levels of top executives and those of ordinary workers, not just in the USA, but also in many parts of the capitalists world where they have now become common. It is now not unusual to find senior executives, largely through bonus and option schemes whose full implications are not fully appreciated upfront, receiving hefty increases way above inflation and way above the performance of their companies. An article by Ann Crotty in the 18 October edition of Business Report, based on an analysis of recent company reports, indicates that South Africa is far from immune from such trends.

She writes that -

  The latest annual reports continue to highlight that the one
  consistent theme in executive remuneration is that it always moves
  upwards. It seems that regardless of whether a company reports an
  increase or decrease in profits, the top executives are always granted
  an increase. It is also apparent that those increases are considerably
  greater than the prevailing inflation rate.

Another feature of executive share option schemes is that they offer many opportunities for tax avoidance. This arises largely because such schemes defer benefits to a later date, and also because they convert income into a capital gain, which is an advantage in jurisdictions like ours, where capital gains are taxed at a lower rate.

Tax is a very funny thing. If you are an ordinary worker or salaried person and you do not pay your tax, it is called tax evasion, and is subject to criminal penalties. If, however, you are rich and powerful you employ skilled professionals to shift your income or capital gains into activities that either do not attract tax or are taxed at a lower rate. That exercise is called tax avoidance and it is seen as a respectable occupation that many of our best and brightest aspire to engage in after studying for many years to qualify as lawyers or chartered accountants. It is a David versus Goliath contest. Every year the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service deploy some of their best and brightest, probably numbered in the tens, to try to close loopholes in tax laws that have been exploited for tax avoidance purposes. And every year many more skilled professionals numbering more than 100 in one firm alone advise clients on how to exploit newly identified loopholes.

Many of the provisions in the two Revenue Laws Bills before us today are about putting a little more spring into David’s catapult. What is significant about this year’s Bills is that for the first time they specifically target executive share option schemes. Taxpayers in receipt of share options are now required, once they have unrestricted access to them, to declare the gain or loss measured by market value. This amount is then subject to tax at the full income tax rate and not at capital gains rate.

Another important innovation this year is the extension of anti-avoidance measures to what is called hybrid financial instruments. These are arrangements between groups of companies or subsidiaries in which shares are exchanged for debt or physical assets in complex, multi-faceted transactions. Although there is apparently some economic rationale for some of these transactions, there is no doubt that many are constructed as vehicles for tax avoidance.

The present Bill provides for these transactions to be taxed on the principle of identifying the underlying substance of the transactions concerned; an exercise that will involve SARS in a lot of work in some cases, but will at least draw some into the tax net. The potential significance of the measures in today’s Bill is considerable. We were told in the committee that between R3 billion and R6 billion was being lost to the fiscus through tax avoidance, oriented executive share options and hybrid financial schemes. While I am sure that the avoidance industry is already working hard to find ways around the new provisions, recovering even part of that sum will be important for the fiscus.

In the time I have left I want to raise a broader issue. While the ANC, and I personally, are more than happy to support legislation that tightens up anti-avoidance provisions, particularly those exploited by highly resourced individuals and corporates, I am of the view that we need to find other ways to address some of the issues raised in the annual David versus Goliath round of closing avoidance loopholes followed by the inevitable discovery of others.

Earlier this week members of the Portfolio Committee on Finance paid a highly informative visit to the SARS assessment centre in Bellville. I emerged, from some of the discussions we had there, more convinced than ever that we need to be thinking more out of the box if we are to reap the potential benefits of the next generation of tax administration reforms. While SARS has achieved much, we could still gain more from the introduction of a far simpler tax system, which is more conducive to the use of Information Communications technology.

This needs to be accompanied by a broader debate about our approach as a society to issues of tax morality, and particularly the role in this regard of tax consultants and advisers. We need to ask some hard questions about the role of this industry of tax consultants, staffed by people whose skills are in very short supply. What role is this industry playing? Should its ethos continue to be governed, as it appears to be at present, by trying to help the rich and powerful to beat the system? Or should it rather come to see its main functions as being to advise and assist clients to meet their compliance obligations?

In supporting these Bills today, I also want to signal my own personal view that the Portfolio Committee on Finance must find time in the course of next year to hold hearings on some of these broader issues.

I thank you for your attention, and the ANC supports these two Bills. [Applause.]

Dr P J RABIE: Madam Chair, hon Minister and hon members, the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill is a money Bill and the Second Revenue Laws Amendment Bill will be introduced as a Section 75 Bill. These two Bills are highly technical and the Bills cover a wide range of tax related amendments.

I will try to cover a number of important amendments that relate to broad- based employee share holding, executive equity schemes, hybrid financial instruments, deferred instalment of sales, relief for interest bearing investments held by Namibian, Swaziland and Lesotho investors, eliminating tax preferences for JSE and the Bond Exchange, stamp and transfer amendments, VAT amendments, capital gains tax and withholding on property transactions by nonresidents. The legislation also provides for advanced tax rulings.

One of the positive aspects of these pieces of amended legislation is that it provides for tax incentives for employee share ownership. It is my considered opinion that this clause will contribute to wealth accumulation and it is bound to create stability in the share ownership requirements for the various BEE charters.

Madam Chair, South Africa is becoming part of a global economy. It is therefore of crucial interest that our tax regime adhere to internationally accepted tax norms and standards. A substantial number of the amendments will promote better tax compliance and will ensure that taxpayers receive advice consistent with tax legislation.

The finance committee this morning had a very constructive meeting, with submissions from various financial sectors of the retirement industry. Some of the statements made by some speakers during the meeting regarding administrative charges, costs and penalty claims, may affect the financial viability of pension fund members, especially those at the lower entry levels. The DA will support any attempt to investigate and to clarify any issues that will enhance consumer protection for members of pension funds.

I have said before that it is important that the South African pension funds benchmark themselves with other international funds, though we acknowledge that interest in inflation rates may differ from country to country. Any debate regarding the retirement industry and pension funds cannot be isolated from the present tax rate of 18% on pension funds. This rate adversely affects the end return of the pension fund members, which in return will increase the number of people dependent upon welfare grants.

An urgent appeal is therefore made that a further reduction in the present tax rate on pension funds be made in next year’s budget. The DA supports these amending Bills. [Applause.]

Mr T E VEZI: Madam Chair, since the IFP supports the two Bills I will not repeat what my colleagues before me have already stated.

The Revenue Laws Amendment Bill should be seen in the context of the South African tax and fiscal policies that continue to stabilise. Although tax policy and administration should remain consistent to ensure certainty, challenges of potential tax avoidance are real and should be addressed. The challenge is still the development of capacity and skill levels for the successful implementation of tax policy proposals and revenue collection.

The IFP applauds the hon Minister in that he has never been intimidated when dealing with tax reforms. Let me use this opportunity to correct the wrong perception that the African has always been a tax burden. I will do this by quoting from a book by Leon Louw, South Africa: The Solution.

When the blacks started acquiring more land, a number of levies and fees were imposed on blacks, with the result that they paid a higher percentage of their income than whites in taxes. The Land Act of 1913 brought all these pressures to a logical conclusion.

Unfortunately, the motive here was not to fight poverty and unemployment, but to impoverish the blacks, so that they could provide cheap labour, which was required at the time. The IFP undertakes to assist the Minister as far as possible in his fight against poverty, unemployment and HIV/Aids.

Under the leadership of Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi people in KwaZulu-Natal, with virtually no tax base at all, imposed a voluntary tax upon themselves and as a result they built hundreds of schools, using the rand-for-rand system. We have a history of helping ourselves and of taxing ourselves.

The indication that National Treasury is considering a system for small business and medium term enterprises to pay their tax on a cash basis is welcomed by the IFP.

In conclusion, Madam Chair, fairness, equity and administrative efficiency are always essential in the execution of any tax policy and administration. The criteria involve giving the taxpayer relief where it is due.

The IFP supports the two Bills.

Mr K D S DURR: Chairperson, I have one minute, hence I will deal with one issue. Minister, I wish to say something about withholding tax on payments made by purchasers of immovable property to sellers not resident in South Africa. We have no argument with this tax; it is right. We believe, however, that the obligation placed upon the purchaser to make provision for the seller’s tax obligations is unreasonable in the extreme.

There is no nexus between the purchaser and the conveyancers. The seller employs them and neither does the purchaser trigger the tax event. The purchaser has no hold over these professionals, because they are mandated and paid by the seller. Although I am not sure whether this measure is unconstitutional, it certainly invades the rights of the purchaser. The imposition of penalties on the purchaser is simply inequitable as the residency status of the seller is usually not known by the purchaser but is known by the seller’s professional community.

In addition, estate agents and conveyancers are used to acting for the state. They are already doing it in a host of ways. They collect all kinds of things, including duties of various kinds, taxes, refuse and everything else. They have their professional bodies that will call them to account and they are subject to regulations. The purchaser has none of these things. Minister we support this legislation, but I do ask you to consider that when you have time. Thank you.

Ms S RAJBALLY: Madam Chair, in view of this Revenue Laws Amendment Bill it is noted that the department has once again derived a strategy to stabilise tax and fiscal policies. The MF accepts and supports all the amendments to income tax.

As a government we do not aim at making the poor poorer and the rich richer, but to give all taxpayers relief where it is due. Such relief should be incorporated in all fairness, equity and administrative efficiency in the execution of any tax policy and administration.

Further amendments made to foreign discretion trusts as well as urban development zones, are found applicable and supported. Capital gains tax and real property withholding is found equitably devised as in the industrial development zones adjustments. The MF wants the public at large not to look at tax as an unfair burden, but as an investment into a better life for all. The MF supports the two amendments Bills. Thank you, Madam Chair. [Applause.]

Ms J L FUBBS: Hon Chairperson of the House, colleagues and comrades, the challenge for the state in this second decade of freedom is to improve the quality of state intervention in both the first and the second economy to meet the imperatives of shared prosperity and an inclusive society.

The Revenue Laws Amendment Bill seeks to bring about a broad-based economic equity for workers. This is a deliberate move away from the established pattern of simple economic empowerment.

This Bill also opens the door for workers to the core benefits. Firstly, as the real producers of wealth the ordinary worker will share in the wealth he or she creates. Secondly, as directors of the company, workers will play a direct role in the governance of the company. Policies then can be influenced and even changed. Thirdly, the income of workers can indirectly be influenced and can directly increase through both the leverage of capital and through an ownership stake. Up to now black economic empowerment has been an area entrenched in exclusivity with a few discreet invitations to a select few who by their very numerical limit on the board find themselves constrained to effect change.

This Bill is another plank in the platform to implement broad-based black economic empowerment, which President Mbeki confirmed in May this year as the pivotal element of government policy. So this Bill puts a powerful tool in the hands of our people, but it will also be an effective instrument to fight poverty.

Companies will, in Minister Manuel’s words -

… be permitted to provide shares of up to R9 000 in value to employees over a three-year period without any fringe benefit tax consequences, provided these arrangement meet prescribed conditions.

However, as part of the equity principle, tax benefits from share options for high-income earners will face more stringent limitations.

But this Bill also seeks - because now it is two Bills - to encourage compliance while broadening the tax base. Among the instruments developed in this Bill to close the tax gap, while developing a culture of compliance, is the registration of tax professionals. This set of clauses will promote better compliance and ensure that taxpayers, both individuals and companies, receive advice consistent with tax legislation.

Another important issue is that companies will indeed benefit from increased profits arising from increased production. Surely, for those companies who keep on demanding more and more incentives, the increase in production and increased profits is in itself an incentive.

Notwithstanding the monetary rewards that are sometimes sought by constraining production to meet or maintain artificial price levels, another positive aspect, which companies should consider, is the significant financial spin-offs derived from compliance rather than actively seeking avoidance. There is a very cynical argument that we hear expressed on occasion - and one reads it in the media - that millions can be saved by employing aggressive tax avoidance specialists. This is a very short-sighted move, especially in this international environment that is fast cutting down on such escape routes to safe havens. More and more countries are realising the benefits to be gained by endorsing international tax accords and embracing a culture of international compliance.

There is general agreement when you go to these businessmen clubs - because very few women are members - that fairness and good governance should be the order of the day. However, such companies have turned tax avoidance into a new Olympic sport. I believe that there is a shift - it is imperceptible perhaps - by some South African companies and individuals who are moving towards greater compliance, and certainly the numbers who took advantage of the foreign exchange amnesty gives evidence of that.

I want to appeal to companies, their executives and their professionals to consider for a moment the following scenario. In an environment assailed by international shocks and a global economy that knows no borders, surely nothing could give companies a greater sense of security than a domestic environment that is financially sound - as all speakers concurred only yesterday in this House - and a politically stable society; furthermore, that such a society is underpinned by an electorate willing to wait for progressive service delivery. Surely, our captains of industry and business bulls could not ask for a more conducive environment to make money and still pay the state the revenue it is due. It will be revenue to continue to sustain this stable and peaceful democracy that has been hailed in this House by all parties as the forerunner of a new era in fiscal citizenship and corporate good governance.

So, I am asking myself why companies persist in pursuing policies and employing tax professionals to avoid paying tax, when they could simply be paying. In short, I am referring to yet another financial sport. I suppose a lot of these folks have got what you call “corporate tummies”. They don’t exercise and they practise these sports. I am referring to this practice by certain groups of companies claiming tax deductions in excess of normal claims in respect of loans. This is done by creating a circular cash flow, or several such circular cash flows. Loans are inflated and taxation is avoided within the confines of the legal framework. But is there no other way to direct your energies, to create wealth in a way that will sustain political stability and continue to support an environment of financial resilience and robustness?

Then there are the advanced tax rulings. SARS has decided to give companies, people with this money, a little bit more guidance. So the Bill provides for three types of rulings, namely binding general rulings, binding private rulings and class rulings. If that is not enough in trying to reach out a helping hand, what do we get from companies? They want their applications considered; they don’t want to see any of their applications refused for such ruling.

Well let me tell you, that you are lucky you are not in Germany, Australia and a number of other countries including the Netherlands and the United States.

An HON MEMBER: Why?

Ms J L FUBBS: I will tell you why. Australia is not even prepared to rule on products with a potential to create tax. The ANC supports the Bill. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Thank you very much, Deputy Chairperson, and to all the parties for supporting the Bills. I just want to restate what I said yesterday, that the Joint Tagging Mechanism had sought, in the context of the legal opinion that they had, to split the Bill into two. Probably, in the light of the amendments to section 77 of the Constitution last year, it is a correct view.

However, I think that what is fundamental, as expressed by a number of contributors in the debate here this afternoon, is that tax administration and tax rates are part of exactly the same thing. So I would like to ask that at some point in time we should amend section 77 to effect this reality in the Constitution and, therefore, in the context of law-making going forward.

The hon Rabie asked for a further reduction of tax rates. I would have thought that the shock of the debate this morning would still be very strong in his mind, that the ease with which the institutions palm off the responsibility on to the tax authorities is a red herring. That the responsibility on the part of the institutions to ensure that those who save with them have their savings protected is actually a greater part of this debate, and I hope that the Portfolio Committee on Finance will join us in that endeavour, going forward.

The hon Vezi quoted from Leon Louw. I’m not quite sure, hon Vezi, whether hon Kalyan, quoting from Isidingo, is better or worse for quoting from Leon Louw. But I think your point is well taken.

The hon Durr raised questions about what he described as something that may invade the rights of the purchaser, the withholding of tax on the sale of real estate. There is a context to this, and the context is in fact provided by the reality that all over the world financial transactions must now be more accounted for. It is for that reason that, in the context of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, estate agents and conveyancers are accountable institutions.

Part of what has happened in different parts of the world is that property bubbles are driven by speculators, and speculators know no boundaries. So they cross borders and drive up prices, and this has no impact on them. They try to take out the money as soon as possible.

Section 35(a) is, to my mind, very clear because the focus is on accountability. Therefore it is the foreign seller who would be required to pay the tax. The provision is made in the Act that if a South African real estate agent or conveyancer is used, there is an onus placed on them to ensure that the purchaser would part with the money. If a seller chooses a foreign conveyancer or a foreign estate agent, then that seller is left to his or her own devices.

I think this is something that we need to deal with in the context of responsible and accountable governance, ensuring that financial transactions, especially given the magnitude of these transactions, are properly accounted for and that we can actually begin to build a little buffer against the risk of a speculative property bubble.

Hon members, this being the last time I stand here before you this year, thank you very much for your contributions. For those of you who will rest over the Christmas festive period, enjoy it. Thank you. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Bill read a first time.

                     REVENUE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL


                       (Second Reading debate)

There was no debate.

Bill read a second time.

                 SECOND REVENUE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL




                       (Second Reading debate)

There was no debate.

Bill read a second time.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY – PUBLIC HEARINGS ON NATIONAL WATER RESOURCE STRATEGY

Ms C C SEPTEMBER: Thank you, hon Pieterse.

House Chairperson, hon members and hon Lee, it is common knowledge that the human body can only survive three days without water, and so too it is common knowledge that 60% of the body weight is water.

The body is chemically balanced, which is controlled by the kidneys, and if the water level drops due to dehydration the chemical levels automatically increase, thereby placing the body in hypervolemic shock, meaning there is too little water. On the other hand, if a person retains too much water due to an increase in sodium or also cardiac failure the human body develops oedema commonly seen in the lower and upper limbs, and also the lungs. This places the human body in hypervolemic shock, meaning there’s too much water. Both these conditions render the human body incapacitated and, if not corrected, it could be fatal.

The earth’s surface consists of about 70 – 75% water and if not managed and maintained the various ecological systems will become dysfunctional, causing changes in the earth’s gravity and in the climate. As a result floods will occur, as well as droughts in the extreme circumstances.

It is clear that management of water is essential, from the above analysis that I have given you now. Therefore, government has responded to these challenges of the management of water in South Africa. In September, when Cabinet adopted the National Water Resource Strategy, the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry saw the need to call for public hearings on the strategy document. We have done so in order for Parliament to familiarise itself with the strategy and also to allow additional participation by those who have to assist us in the management of water – the people.

The tabling of the National Water Resource Strategy by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has enabled South Africa to be one of the first countries to have met the WSSD 2002 obligation, and for this we say, well done, ANC.

Die strategieë verskaf die nasionale raamwerk vir waterbronbestuur en sal lei tot die voorbereiding van strategieë om water te bestuur in die 19 gebiede gegrond op die opvangsgebiede waarin die land verdeel is.

Die betrokkenheid van alle staatsdepartemente, gemeenskappe en die oorgrote meerderheid van ons mense, wat nooit seggenskap gehad het oor hoe om water te beheer nie, word nou verwesenlik. In 1994 was die situasie so erg dat slegs 12 miljoen mense toegang gehad het tot water as natuurlike bron vir drinkwater, en 21 miljoen nie toegang gehad het tot sanitasie nie.

Op Vrydag 12 Oktober vanjaar, in die Noord-Kaap, word daar aan die tienmiljoenste persoon sedert 1994 water verskaf. Daarvoor sê ons baie geluk aan die ANC vir die dienste wat gelewer is aan ons mense wat nooit vantevore toegang gehad het tot water nie.

Dié strategieë sal bydra tot die beskerming van waterbronne om volhoubaarheid te verseker, die toegang tot water te verbreed en om gelykheid te bevorder, soos gelyke toegang tot waterbronne vir opkomende kleinskaalboerderye soos vir kommersiële boerderye. Suid-Afrika is ‘n waterskaarse land en daarom moet daar gereeld na strategieë gekyk word om te bepaal wat die huidige waterstand is, en wat ons in die toekoms gaan benodig om aan die land se behoeftes te voldoen.

Die departement se rol in die bestuur van waterverwante rampe is ook ‘n belangrike deel van die strategieë. Die doelwitte van die heropbou- en ontwikkelingsplan om water te beheer is natuurlik, eerstens, om voorsiening te maak vir elke persoon se gesondheid en funksionele behoeftes; tweedens, om landbouopbrengste te verhoog; en, derdens, om ondersteuning te gee aan ekonomiese ontwikkeling. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The strategies provide the national framework for water resource management and will lead to the preparation of strategies to manage water in the 19 areas based on the catchment areas into which the country is divided.

The involvement of all state departments, communities and the majority of our people, who never had a say in how to manage water, are now being realised. In 1994 the situation was so bad that only 12 million people had access to water as a natural source for drinking water, and 21 million did not have access to sanitation. On Friday, 12 October this year, water will be delivered to the ten millionth person in the Northern Cape since 1994. We congratulate the ANC for the services delivered to our people who never before had access to water.

These strategies will contribute to the protection of water sources in order to ensure sustainability, to extend access to water and to promote equality, for example equal access to water sources for emerging small scale farming as for commercial farming. South Africa is a water scarce country and therefore we should regularly look at strategies to determine what the current water situation is, and what we will need in future to meet the needs of the country.

The role of the department in the management of water related disasters also forms an important part of the strategies. The objectives of the reconstruction and development plan to manage water is, firstly, of course, to provide for every person’s health and functional needs; secondly, to increase agricultural production; and, thirdly, to support economic development.]

Our recommendations, as a committee, should therefore be seen in line with what the reconstruction and development objectives are. And while we are saying that the decisions on water resources must be transparent our recommendations are that the National Water Resource Strategy should be published in all South African languages, it should become a people- friendly document, and the National Water Resource Strategy should have been published in the Government Gazette; if not, it should be done now.

We also think that what we ought to do is to redetermine how free basic water is provided. In April last year the CSIR said that 26 million people, who comprise about 57% of the total population, are benefiting from free basic water. Only 29% within the poor sector of the population are benefiting. In some areas the free basic supply is 10 kilolitres per month, whilst in others it is less than 6 kilolitres per month.

The RDP stated that its short-term aim should be to provide every person with adequate facilities for a range of things, whether it is 20-30 kilolitres of water a day to, in the medium term, 50-60 kilolitres of water, until such time as we can say as the we have been able to provide for every South African to have accessible water and sanitation in the long term.

The importance of balancing water conservation and water demand should be understood in the context of “people first”. And as we considered a water- pricing strategy Eskom raised some concerns in the public hearings. It was our view in the committee that it would be beneficial to include other stakeholders too, but more than that, we should be guided by our RDP principles on tariffs and ensure that every person has an adequate water supply.

The national tariff structure should include the following things: a lifeline tariff, to ensure that all South Africans are able to afford water services sufficient for health and hygiene requirements; in urban areas a progressive bloc tariff to ensure that the long-term cost of supply to large-volume users are met, and that there is a cross subsidy to promote affordability for the poor; and in rural areas a tariff that covers operating and maintenance costs of services and recovery of capital costs from users on the basis of a cross subsidy from urban areas, in cases of limited rural affordability.

I want to say, in conclusion, as the National Water Resource Strategy is being implemented – and as the ANC we welcome this – the committee would want to know what the implementation strategy of the department is, and whether indeed sufficient allocation has been made for it. Also, as a committee we would want to know how constituencies can and will be accommodated to form part of the implementation strategy.

We want to thank those who have participated in the public hearings, and we want to thank the department for the support that they have given to us during the public hearings. We want to support those in our country, the many organisations that came and contributed to the public hearings, and enabled us to bring this document before this House today. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr D K MALULEKE: Madam Chair, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, contains both our Bill of Rights and the framework for government in South Africa. There are two provisions of the Bill of Rights that are particularly relevant to the management of water resources. These are Section 27 and 24, which state, that:

Everyone has the right to have access to have access to
sufficient food and water...

and -

The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within
its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each
of these rights.

Secondly -

Everyone has the right –

  ... to an environment protected, for the benefit of present and future
  generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that –
           i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
          ii) promote conservation; and
           iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of
                natural resources while promoting justifiable economic
                and social development.

The DA couldn’t agree more; we support such ideals. The reconstruction and development programme and the Constitution provide the impetus for a complete review and revision of the policy and law relating to water, and resulted in the development of the National Water Policy for South Africa in 1997 and the National Water Act, 1998. The policy and the Act were founded on principles of equity, sustainability and efficiency, each of which is important for different reasons.

South Africa’s previous legislation, the Water Act, 1956, was not in itself racist, as was the Land Act, 1913. However, access to water was tied to land. The riparian system enshrined in the former Act gave access to water mainly to those across or alongside whose land it flowed, or under whose land it was found. Since access to land was determined along racial lines under the apartheid system, access to water was thus similarly determined by skin colour.

We have come to understand the interdependence between human beings and ecological systems, and that our activities often affect the quality and quantity of available water. We have also recognised our obligation to protect the natural environment, while at the same time promoting development that will meet the needs of not only current generations but future generations as well.

During the hearings some concerns were raised by Eskom – it had to do with the water-pricing strategy – and it was explained that there is no intention whatsoever for there to be any double charging with regard to infrastructure development or any other aspect of the pricing strategy.

An explanation of the return-on-assets charge in relation to projects funded off-budget was offered to Eskom representatives. However, Eskom still had reservations, which was unfortunate. It was comforting to hear that the pricing strategy established in 1999 is currently under review, and there will be opportunities to thrash out this issue, and others, in the coming months. All stakeholders should be brought into the discussion to hear opinions on the matter.

It would be interesting to know what portion of the free basic water is allocated to the sanitation programme, as we all know that most sanitation are water-borne systems. If that has not been taken into account, it really creates major accounting problems for many local municipalities that are currently not reflecting free basic water allocation on their statements, as guaranteed in the Constitution. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr M W SIBUYANA: Chair, hon members, the National Water Resource Strategy was established in accordance with the National Water Act, which states that a national water resource strategy must be established, but that it must be phased in in separate components over time.

This strategy is a framework in which all the different strategies needed to manage our water resources can come together in a structured way. I find that the National Water Resource Strategy is a very comprehensive document that has considered every aspect of South African water resources.

Although South Africa is considered a dry country, with relatively small rivers and low rainfall, I still believe that our present water resources are capable of meeting the current needs of our population. If people and the various industries and organisations that use water as part of their production processes use water resources more efficiently and wisely, I think that there will be enough water to meet the population’s needs. Therefore, I am pleased to see the public education and awareness issues that have been taken into consideration, through complementary strategies, as they can ultimately have a positive impact on the water resources of the country.

No matter how good or comprehensive the strategy is, I believe that its success will ultimately depend on the management and distribution of water. These are two aspects that should be afforded particular attention, as they impact directly on the lives of many people, especially those in rural areas. If there is mismanagement, or a problem with the distribution or supply of water, it is the poor and people in rural areas who seem to bear the brunt.

The supply of water has a major role to play in the eradication of poverty and the upliftment of the lives of many people. Therefore, we… [Time expired.]

Ms S N SIGCAU: Chairperson, hon members, water is such a basic element for the sustainable existence of human society that it is often taken for granted. However, a number of factors mean that we in South Africa can never afford the luxury of complacency regarding water.

Ours is essentially a dry and water-scarce country. We have a growing population and a growing economy, and millions of people were previously deprived of the most basic water services in terms of potable water and sanitation. These factors combine to create a huge demand for water, where the supply is already severely restricted.

It is in this context that a National Water Resource Strategy is of such vital importance. We applaud the creation of a single integrated strategy that deals holistically with the legislative, social, economic and administrative aspects of water management and usage in South Africa. It also ensures the sustainable availability of this resource for future generations. We hope that the strategy in conjunction with the National Water Act… [Time expired.] Thank you.

Mr L W GREYLING: Chairperson, South Africa is a water-scarce country and the situation is only getting worse. Climate changes will exacerbate the situation, and its effect is already starting to be felt, as evidenced by the recent spate of droughts. At the same time the water supply is dwindling, the demand for water is increasing. Therefore, it is clear that a mind shift is needed in South Africa, where water is truly valued as the precious commodity that it is.

High-volume users must be forced to pay more for this precious resource, so that there can be an economic incentive to conserve and recycle water. At the same time, those who cannot afford to pay must be entitled to a free basic lifeline. Twenty-five litres of free water per person falls below the international norm of 50 litres. We should therefore look at increasing this basic lifeline for our people. Water is not only a constitutional right; it is a basic human right essential for survival.

The ID believes that while dams might in some instances be the only solution, they must at all times be the last solution. It is far better to institute demand-side measures that can conserve water than to build a dam to collect water. As a country… [Time expired.]

Ms M N S MANANA: Chairperson, hon members, two years ago the international community gathered in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and drew up a plan to eradicate poverty and protect resources for the benefit of the planet.

This year in September, the government and civil society organisations from across the country gathered in Johannesburg for the Johannesburg Plus 2 Sustainable Development Conference to assess the country’s progress in reaching these goals.

The development of the National Water Resource Strategy brings South Africa into full compliance with one of the first targets of the Johannesburg plan of action, which was adopted at the 2000 WSSD, namely, the National Water Management Plan. The first edition of the National Water Resource Strategy describes how South Africa’s water resources will be used, protected, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in accordance with the requirements of the policy and the law.

Sections 24 and 27 of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa of 1996 state that everyone has a right to access other rights, such as sufficient food and water, and that -

The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within
its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this
right. Everyone has a right to an environment that is not harmful to his or her health and wellbeing, and to have an environment which is protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation, promote conservation, secure sustainable development and use the national resources, while promoting justifiable economic development.

The objective of managing water resources is to ensure that water is used to support equitable and sustainable social and economic transformation and development. Water is important for human life. South Africa’s water belongs to its people. But it is the task of the government to care for it and to distribute it fairly, and to facilitate its use wisely, among other things, for socioeconomic development and transformation. Such development is vital to ensure that poverty is eradicated, as it starves our country.

During the apartheid era, development benefited a small white minority, while black townships and homelands were underresourced and underdeveloped. The introduction of the strategy will facilitate, among other things, the distribution of water among the people of South Africa. Too many people are poor, and water is a tool to eradicate poverty by providing a way for the poorest of our people to survive and make a living, a burden that rests upon women in society.

Mangikusho ukuthi kungumsebenzi kahulumeni ukuqinisekisa ukuthi abantu bawasebenzisa kahle amanzi ukuze wonke umuntu awathole. Njengoba uMthetho kaZwelonke wezaManzi, National Water Act, uthi amanzi afanele aphathwe kahle ukuze anelise bonke abantu, enze umnotho uthuthuke futhi avule amathuba emisebenzi, ukwenza lokhu ube ubhekisise ukuthi imvelo ivikelekile.

La masu azozama ukuthi sonke sithole amanzi ngokulingana kanti futhi azozama ukulwa nenhlupheko. La masu azomisa umhlahlandlela wokuthi amanzi azosetshenziswa kanjani. Bonke abantu abeza kulezi zimbizo zomphakathi bavumelana nala maqhinga namasu omnyango oza nawo, ngaphandle kokusho ukuthi lo mbhalo kufanele wenziwe nangezinye izilimi ukuze bonke abantu baseNingizimu Afrika bawazi. Ziningi izinkinga ezibhekene nezindaba zamanzi lapha eNingizimu Afrika. Kodwa siyethemba ukuthi lawa masu ayisiqalo sokuya phambili.

Sengigcina, ngithanda ukuhalalisela uMnyango wezaManzi naMahlathi ngokuphumelela kwawo maqondana nokuthi emva kweminyaka emibili kwaba khona le ngqungquthela yomhlaba lapha eNingizimu Afrika ngo-2002, i-WSSD, ukwazile ukuphuma nomhlahlandlela wokuthi uzozama kanjani ukubhekana nezithembiso owazenza kulo mhlangano owawumkhulu kangakaya.

Sengivala, ngithanda ukusho ukuthi thina singuKhololose siyawamukela futhi siwesekela la masu azanywa uMnyango wezaManzi naMahlathi. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[I must say this, that it is the task of the government to ensure that people use water wisely so that everybody can get it. The National Water Act states that water should be managed economically to ensure that everybody gets it, to make the economy grow, open up job opportunities and, whilst doing all this, to make sure that nature is conserved as well.

These strategies will try to ensure that we all get water equally and it will also try to fight poverty. These strategies will develop a way as to how water should be used. All the people who came to the izimbizo (public gatherings) supported these strategies from the department. They also said that these should be in other languages so that all people in South Africa can understand it. There are many problems related to water affairs here in South Africa. But we hope that these strategies are the beginning of the way forward.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry in succeeding, in the two years since the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to come up with a way in which it would try to face the promises it made in such a big meeting.

In conclusion, I would like to say that we, the ANC, accept and support these strategies which are tried by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. I thank you. [Applause.]]

Mr S SIMMONS: Chairperson, I rise in support of the National Water Resource Strategy. Water is essential for human life, and the National Water Resource Strategy describes how the available water resources of South Africa will be protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in accordance with the requirements of the policy and law.

Water is central to all economic activity, but the first priority is to ensure that water resource management supports the provision of water services; that is, potable water and safe sanitation to all people in South Africa, especially the poor and the previously disadvantaged.

A wide range of role-players, which included many nongovernmental organisations, were consulted. Some felt that 25 litres of water per person per day do not meet basic human needs. They were of the opinion that 50 litres of water per person per day, a figure recommended by the World Health Organisation, would be a better allotment. [Time expired.]

Mr K D S DURR: Chair, my congratulations to the department for the excellent National Water Resource Strategy document. It was a really interesting document. I commend them for that.

I would like to say in the brief time I have left that we don’t only need a national strategy, Minister, but we also need a subcontinental, or at least a regional, strategy for water. Just as we have a subcontinental power grid at the moment with Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe up to Malawi, so we need a subcontinental water grid. We can swap cheap power where we can give that advantage to our neighbours and then we can draw what we require, that is water from our neighbours.

These water pipes can flow along the power lines. They already exist. If iron ore trains can run downhill from Sishen with one horse pulling a train that is a mile long because it flows by gravity, then piped water from the Orange River can flow down the same railway route. The unused, fresh and impounded water of the Orange River is about 60% unused. [Time expired.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Chairman, without water life would come to a complete standstill. A way must be found to accumulate water during the rainy season and to preserve it. Our scientists in this field must be assigned for this task. Can there be more dams? Can a way be found to stop water that is wasted in the rivers to simply flow into oceans or elsewhere?

It becomes logical that a caring government cannot privatise water. Water must remain a national property. No monopoly companies or rich individuals must be allowed to control our water. At the same time, top scientists and the most qualified people in water studies, must be employed by the government to assist with regard to the conservation of water and how more water can be acquired. More scientific knowledge about water must be taught in our schools and communities so that there could be maximum appreciation and care for water in the nation by everybody. Thank you.

Ms S RAJBALLY: Chairperson, regarding the drought and low levels of rainfall this annum, many South Africans are in a frenzy of concern about the supply of clean water. With the earth being made up of mainly water, it is hard to understand the prevalence of drought and water shortage in so many areas.

In view of poverty, not only is access to water a concern, but many also depend on agriculture as a means to an income and survival. The accessibility of water for this industry and all forms of life is extremely crucial.

Our National Water Resource Strategy needs to be well devised to place confidence in our people to whom we aim to deliver. In view of the National Water Resource Strategy, it is evident that there are many challenges. Our water situation is a concern that needs to be earnestly addressed.

The MF finds the National Water Resource Strategy a valid contribution to the water situation and management of water in South Africa. The MF supports the National Water Resource Strategy. Thank you.

Mr J D ARENDSE: Agb Voorsitter, gedurende tydperk toegelaat vir openbare insette rakende die Strategie vir Nasionale Waterbronne het die verskeie rolspelers die strategie oor die algemeen goed ontvang. Sommige van die rolspelers het wel teenkanting uitgespreek teen sommige areas van die strategie, veral op areas in hoofstuk 3, paragraaf 8 en 9. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[Mr J D ARENDSE: Hon Chairperson, during the period allowed for public input into the National Water Resource Strategy the various role-players generally received the strategy well. Some of the role-players did express opposition to some of the areas of the strategy, particularly regarding areas in Chapter 3, paragraphs 8 and 9.]

The information on possible infrastructure development contained in Chapter 3, part 8 and 9, does not - and it’s quite clear in the National Water Resource Strategy - constitute a proposed or indicative programme of construction. What the information does indicate is that the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry is carrying out its mandate of solving possible problems of water shortage in a comprehensive manner. This misconception by some presenters and also by the press clearly illustrates the dangers of reading only tabular information in the National Water Resource Strategy and not also reading the accompanying explanatory text.

Since 1994, the ANC has led the way in providing an integrated, holistic approach to major socioeconomic questions including the provision of infrastructure. One of the ANC’s major tasks when it came to power was to conduct a massive survey of infrastructure needs in the face of the obvious backlogs that we faced. In this survey, we found that there was an infrastructure backlog of about R170 billion in our country across all areas of activity. A number of resolutions adopted at the Mafikeng conference identified specific areas of activity and infrastructure development that was linked to job creation and skills development.

Agb Voorsitter, daar is ’n duidelike verskil tussen die voorsiening van groter en kleiner damme. Met die opgaar van water in groter damme, sal dit meer effektief wees in waar dit geleë is, juis om die groeiende, meervoudige behoeftes van ons industrie te bevredig.

Dit is ’n sigbare byvoordeel, veral in die voorsiening van krag naby ons stedelike en industriële gebiede; ook dien dit tot bystand vir ons landbou- ontwikkeling.

Met die daarstelling van basiese, kostelose watervoorsiening deur ons regering, gelei deur die ANC, sal dit verder help met die doelstelling om die voorsiening van water te vergemaklik en te versprei, en sal groter damme ons in staat stel om hierdie voorsiening te vergemaklik.

Met die doelwitte soos uiteengesit in die HOP, is die einddoel van die ANC- regering om die nasie te bou. Sentraal tot ons krisis in die land is die oneweredige verspreiding en die verdeeldheid wat deur apartheid gelaat is. Moenie dat ons die verdere verdeling van ’n Eerste Wêreld en Derde Wêreld bevorder nie. Bou voort om die ongelykhede van gister in ’n beter lewe vir almal te verander. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Hon Chairperson, there is a distinct difference between the introduction of larger and smaller dams. With storage of water in bigger dams, they will be more effective with regard to where they are situated, particularly to satisfy the growing multiple needs of our industry.

It is a visible added advantage, particularly in the provision of power close to our urban and industrial areas; it also serves to assist our agricultural development.

With the provision of basic, free water by our government, led by the ANC, it will further help with the objective of facilitating the provision of water supply and distribution, and larger dams will enable us to facilitate this provision.

With the objectives as spelled out in the RDP, the ultimate aim of the ANC- government is to build the nation. Central to our crisis in this country is the unequal distribution and divisions left behind by apartheid. Let us not promote further division between a First World and a Third World. Continue to build and change the inequalities of yesterday into a better life for all.]

Using this unifying RDP in an integrated manner to facilitate infrastructure development and to meet the basic needs of all our people is the mandate of the electorate.

Water is a natural resource and should be made available in a sustainable manner to all South Africans. Gone are the days when access to water resources was dominated by a privileged minority, while the majority of the population enjoyed little or no water security. There are many projects in rural areas that collapsed because of uneven distribution of water. That must come to an end. Seventy per cent of the people of this country said, “enough is enough” and voted for the ANC to speed up the pace of service delivery. I thank you. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: Thank you very much indeed, hon members. It has been interesting to listen to all of you and your positive comments. I would like to express special appreciation to the House for giving time to this very important strategy. This confirms the seriousness of both government and Parliament towards realising the human rights and the Bill of Rights enshrined in our Constitution. We must not forget that water is life and that access to water is a human right.

On behalf of our department, I would like to say that we would appreciate continued monitoring and evaluation by Parliament during the implementation of the strategy. This will be very important to ensure that the interests of the people are taken on board effectively.

Let me remind this House that the objectives of the National Water Act of 1998, amongst other things, are to ensure that water resources are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable and equitable manner; and that water is allocated equitably and used beneficially in the public interest while promoting environmental values.

This then puts an obligation on all of us to make sure that the strategy is not only a document but also a programme to transform the water sector in general and, most importantly, to transform our own attitudes that water will always be in abundance and always be available. We must begin to appreciate that we are a water-scarce country and change our behaviour with regard to the manner in which we use water.

Let us take the strategy as but one of the measures that underpin our Batho Pele principles and values. We should take it as one of the vehicles through which our government realises the people’s contract to fight poverty and create jobs.

Despite the achievements and successes of the first decade of democracy, we all agree that the debate taking place today is still seen in the context in which the greatest challenge is to extricate the majority of our people from abject poverty.

It is an undisputable fact that water is central to the eradication of poverty. We need a sufficient amount of clean water to wash, to cook and to live with basic dignity and health. We need water even during dry times to grow the food that our nation needs to become strong and healthy. We need water for industry to create jobs, to broaden and strengthen the first economy in order to lift up those who are in the second economy.

The National Water Resource Strategy provides our blueprint for survival. I cannot stress sufficiently the importance of this document. It sets out the way in which we will manage our scarce water resources to meet the challenges I have outlined in a manner that is environmentally and socially sustainable. Amongst other things, it sets out how we intend to meet what is perhaps the most important challenge facing our water managers today: how to achieve equity in the benefits derived from using water for productive purposes.

This is a multifaceted strategy. If I may respond to the “how”: The strategy itself is an integrated approach to dealing with the management of water resources. As a result, it addresses the issues of pricing, of regulation and of how we should develop our water. It establishes institutions that will help us to manage water. So, in that way, the strategy looks at all the things we use water for in life generally to ensure that we have water for everything forever. The strategy seeks to make sure that the competing interests for water are all served.

Currently, access to water for productive purposes, for farming and for industry – and to the benefits derived from that water - is largely concentrated in the hands of the minority. The strategy proposes a way in which to deal with all these things.

However, we need to stress and caution that we have tried to bring about transformation by giving licences - in response to Mr Maluleke – in terms of ensuring that the riparian rights are removed from our system. What we have done is to give licences to what we call water users. But this is often abused so as to exclude our people, bringing back, in a way, the riparian rights. However, the strategy, again, does suggest what we should do in this regard.

The implementation of this strategy is not only a challenge for government; government can definitely not meet this challenge alone. We will require a partnership between government, Parliament, civil society, the private sector and, most importantly, all of us as South Africans to ensure that this is implemented.

In my view, part of the implementation aspect of the strategy should be to embark on a campaign, a well-thought-through programme of action that aims to target schools and broader civil society in the spirit of a people’s contract and co-operative governance. I would like to stress that this is not just a document, but also a vehicle to change our behaviour and attitude.

I think that the document will also help us to understand why we should not waste water, why government charges for water, why it is important not to pollute water, why we have established structures like the CMA and water users associations, what is meant by equity and water-resource management, and to understand the processes of licensing and many other processes.

I would encourage all of us to read the document. I am quite happy to hear that one of the hon members has taken an interest. It is quite a voluminous document. We are aiming to simplify it, making it readable and friendly to everybody.

We have met the target well in advance, as already indicated here. This was the target of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and we are proud to say that we are one of the first countries to meet this particular target. [Applause.]

In conclusion, let me respond to Mr Durr on the regional strategy he proposed. There is the African Ministers’ Council on Water. This matter was tabled in that there should be a regional policy to look at water resource management strategies. However, currently we do co-operate in the region. There is what we call the SADC protocol on shared water courses. Under that protocol, we still co-operate. The issue of integrated water resource management does come into that particular forum.

In conclusion, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all of you and to all those South Africans who commented on the strategy. We conducted an extensive consultation process, with workshops being held in all nine provinces with a wide range of stakeholders. Over 2 000 written submissions were received, which influenced the contents of the strategy.

We can safely say that this is a people’s strategy. I also urge you to be part of the process when the strategy is reviewed. It is hoped that we will all be back here because the strategy will be reviewed after five years. So, hopefully, we will come back to this House even when we are using walking sticks.

Our water is precious. Let us use it well, and let us use the strategy to build a wetter life for all forever. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, we move that the Report be noted.

Motion agreed to.

Report accordingly noted.

                 MEDIUM-TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT



     (Consideration of Report of Portfolio Committee on Finance)

There was no debate.

The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move that the Report be adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report accordingly adopted.

The House adjourned at 18:43. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. Membership of Committees

 (1)    Ms M R Morutoa has been elected Chairperson of the Joint
     Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status
     of Women with effect from 10 November 2004.


 (2)    Mrs S E Mabe has been elected Deputy Chairperson of the Joint
     Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status
     of Women with effect from 10 November 2004.

TABLINGS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Minister of Communications

 (a)    Report and Group Annual Financial Statements of the South
     African Post Office Limited for 2002-2003, including the Report of
     the Independent Auditors on the Group Annual Financial Statements
     for 2002-2003.

 (b)    Report and Group Annual Financial Statements of the South
     African Post Office Limited for 2003-2004, including the Report of
     the Independent Auditors on the Group Annual Financial Statements
     for 2003-2004.

1. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development

 Report on the removal from office of Magistrate P P Mkalipi on account
 of his incapacity to carry out his duties of office efficiently.

National Assembly:

1. The Speaker

 (a)    Letter from the Minister of Communications dated 9 November 2004
     to the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section
     65(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of
     1999), explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Reports
     of South African Post Office Limited for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004:

     Dear Madam Speaker

     TABLING OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE'S 2002/03 AND 2003/04
     ANNUAL REPORTS

     I hereby table the annual reports of the South African Post Office
     for the financial years 2002/03 and 2003/04 in terms of section 65
     of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999.

     The delayed submission of the 2002/03 Annual Report was initially
     due to the entity's inability to finalise the statements on time
     due to the unresolved issues around SAPO's recapitilisation.
     However, these statements were further delayed due to concerns
     raised by SCOPA and the Auditor General on the same statements.
     These issues had to be addressed by the entity before the release
     of the reports. The annual report in respect of the 2003/04
     financial year has been delayed due to the factual
     misrepresentation that was picked up in the report.

     Kind regards,

     signed
     IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI, MP
     MINISTER


 (b)    Letter from the Minister of Communications dated 9 November 2004
     to the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section
     65(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of
     1999), explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Reports
     of The Universal Service Agency and the Universal Service Fund for
     2003-2004:

     Dear Madam Speaker

     TABLING OF THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE AGENCY AND UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND
     2003/04 ANNUAL REPORTS

     I would like to sincerely apologise that the Universal Service
     Agency / Universal Service Fund's (USA/USF) Annual Report and
     Financial Statements for 2003/04 financial year were not tabled in
     Parliament within six months after the end of the financial year
     as required by the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act no 1
     of 1999).
     The delay in the submission of the USA/USF's annual report is due
     to the entity's inability to finalise these as the result of the
     exodus of key finance personnel.

     I would like to assure you that I would, in future, ensure that
     the annual reports of this entity are tabled timeously.

     Kind regards,

     signed
     IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI, MP
     MINISTER

COMMITTEE REPORTS

National Assembly

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 24 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 77), dated 10 November 2004:

   The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 24 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 77), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a Money Bill, reports that it has agreed to the Bill.

2. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Second Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 25 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 10 November 2004:

   The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Second Revenue Laws Amendment Bill [B 25 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.

3. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry on the National Small Business Amendment Bill [B 23 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 10 November 2004:

   The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, having considered the subject of the National Small Business Amendment Bill [B 23 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill with amendments [B 23A - 2004].

4. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security on Draft Notice for Declaration of Amnesty, dated 10 November 2004:

   The Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the Draft Notice for Declaration of Amnesty in terms of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60 of 2000), referred to it, recommends that the House, in terms of section 139(2)(a) of the Act, approve the said Draft Notice.

 Request to be considered.