National Assembly - 01 March 2005
TUESDAY, 1 MARCH 2005 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 14:04.
The Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr T D LEE: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that I shall move the following substantive motion:
That this House –
(1) notes the statements by Butana Komphela, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation that:
(a) he knows nothing about sport, but he knows what the ANC’s
policy on sport is;
(b) all white sports coaches discriminated against black
players; and
(c) Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was guilty of high
treason because he called transformation in sport tokenism and
an insult;
(2) believes that Mr Komphela has brought the portfolio committee, Parliament and this House into disrepute; and
3) therefore, resolves that it has no confidence in Mr Komphela as
chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation.
[Applause.]
Mr A HARDING: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that I shall move:
That this House – debates the failure of delivery in respect of ANC housing policy, which is leading to racial tension between coloured and black South Africans, both in the Cape Town and Nelson Mandela metropoles, amongst other areas. Thank you.
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 1915-1917
(Draft Resolution)
Mrs C DUDLEY: Madam Speaker, I move on behalf of the ACDP:
That the House –
(1) notes with sympathy the world-wide commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917 carried out by the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire upon a Christian minority living under its rule;
(2) notes that more than a million Armenians were exterminated through direct killings, starvation, torture and forced death marches and another million fled into permanent exile, and thus an ancient civilization which had been in existence for some 2 500 years was expunged from its homeland;
3) notes that the European Parliament as well as several
associations of genocide and holocaust scholars world-wide have
reaffirmed the extermination of the Armenians as genocide in
accordance with the definition contained in the 1948 UN Genocide
Convention;
(4) acknowledges the moral necessity of remembering all forms of recorded genocide;
(5) conveys its sympathy to the Armenian nation; and
(6) calls on the descendants of both victims and perpetrators to work towards reconciliation, based on the recognition of undeniable historical facts, forgiveness and the will to co-operate for the wellbeing of present and future generations.
I thank you.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I don’t want to comment, nor indicate whether we support or don’t support the content of the last motion without notice, but certainly none of the parties seem to really have knowledge of that. Could I then ask that the motion perhaps be withdrawn and that we circulate it in the Chief Whips’ Forum and get agreement? I have just checked with some of my colleagues.
The SPEAKER: Actually I was supposed to still put it so that we can see if there are any objections to it. If there is no objection, I think let’s deal with it in the manner suggested by the hon Mr Nel.
Mr L M GREEN: Madam Speaker, I just want to bring to the attention of the House that this motion was indeed circulated last week, and the only response that we had was from the ANC to say that they were still studying the motion. From the other political parties we had no response. The deadline was 12 o’clock, but we did circulate it.
The SPEAKER: May I just put it to the House: Are there any objections to the motion without notice?
Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Speaker, I just wanted to say that we are unaware of that motion having been circulated amongst the parties. Certainly, the DA did not receive it.
Mrs S A SEATON: Madam Speaker, the IFP also did not receive that notice of motion.
The SPEAKER: So, clearly there is something that went wrong somewhere in the processing, and therefore perhaps it should be withdrawn and we can come back to it.
Mr L M GREEN: Madam Speaker, could we resubmit the motion to all the parties?
MULTIPARTY DELEGATION TO OBSERVE ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE
(Draft Resolution)
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice on behalf of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party:
That the House, noting that Zimbabwe is holding elections on 31 March 2005, resolves, subject to the concurrence of the National Council of Provinces, that –
(1) the South African Parliament send a 20-member multiparty
delegation to observe these elections;
(2) the delegation observes the campaign in the run-up to the
elections, the casting of votes and subsequently the counting of
the votes; and
(3) the delegation presents a full report to Parliament on its
return.
Agreed to.
MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS
BUILDING OF HOUSES ALONG N2
(Member’s Statement)
Nksz Z A KOTA (ANC): Somlomo, i-ANC iyawabulela amalungu ePalamente akwikomiti yezezindlu, uMphathiswa uLindiwe Sisulu, uMlawuli-Jikelele kwiSebe lezeZindlu uMpumie Mpofu, ngokwenza ugqogqa kwaLanga, bethetha nabantu bakwaLanga ngephulo elisungulayo lokwakha izindlu ku-N2. Ngokweli phulo, abantu baseJoe Slovo nabanxusi kumatyotyombe akhiwe ngemva eziyadini nabezinye iindawo baza kwakhelwa izindlu.
Ulwakhiwo lwezindlu luthathe olunye unyawo mva nje. Siyazi ngengxaki yezindlu eMasiphumelele eHoutbay, eAlexander, eKhayamnandi nakwezinye iindawo. Siyambulela u-SABC ngenkqubo ethi Asikhulume, ezame ukucacisa ngenkqubo yolwakhiwo lwezindlu, nabathe kuyo uSodolophu uNomaindiya Mfeketo noMphathiswa wephondo wezezindlu, uMarius Fransman, bathetha kwavokotheka.
Iyinyani into yokuba njengoko uMqulu weNkululeko usitsho: “Kuya kuba kho iZindlu, uKhuseleko nolonwabo.” Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of Xhosa member’s statement follows.)
[Ms Z A KOTA (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC thanks the members of Parliament who are in the Housing Committee, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, the Director–General of the Department of Housing, Mpumie Mpofu, for going door- to-door in Langa, speaking to the people of Langa about the campaign that is being initiated to build houses along the N2. According to this campaign, the people from Joe Slovo and people who are living temporarily in shacks that are built in back yards, as well as others from other places, will have houses built for them.
The building of houses has recently taken another turn. We know about the housing problem at Masiphumelele in Hout Bay, Alexander, Khayamandi and other places. We thank the SABC for the programme called Asikhulume that has tried to bring clarity about the programme of building houses, where the Mayoress, Nomaindiya Mfeketo, and the Minister of Housing in the province, Marius Fransman, spoke at length.
It is true that, as the Freedom Charter says: ’’There shall be houses, safety and happiness.’’ Thank you. [Applause.]]
CALL ON PRESIDENT MBEKI TO ABANDON QUIET DIPLOMACY WITH REGARD TO ZIMBABWE
(Member’s Statement) Mr W J SEREMANE (DA): Madam Speaker, the time has come for President Mbeki to realise that he cannot champion good governance in Africa without denouncing the worst forms of misgovernment, such as in Zimbabwe. [Interjections.]
As long as President Mbeki remains silent on the crises in Zimbabwe, he will actively undermine much of the good work he has done in generating international support for Africa’s renewal.
President Mbeki needs to realise that the situation in Zimbabwe mocks the progress the region has made in ending the conflict in the Great Lakes region and in promoting good governance standards through the AU, SADC and Nepad.
President Mbeki’s policy of quiet diplomacy has not stopped Zimbabwe from violating virtually all SADC protocols on the holding of free and fair elections. The situation is so dire that the opposition MDC is participating in the elections with extreme reluctance and trepidation.
No one is calling for a regime change, but simply for the President to adopt an unequivocal stance that what is happening in Zimbabwe currently is unacceptable and that South Africa will push for a peaceful, democratic resolution of conflicts in that country. This will show that Africa will push forward, if it obeys these protocols and meets the commitments made therein, for the first time, to put real pressure on Mugabe to change his erroneous ways. I thank you, Madam.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT URGED TO INVESTIGATE HIGH RATE OF ATTRITION IN
TEACHING PROFESSION
(Member’s Statement)
Mr A M MPONTSHANE (IFP): Madam Speaker, many factors contribute to the provision of quality education and chief among these is the timeous supply of teachers to schools. Of concern to the IFP is the question of substitute educators. Last year provincial departments, in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, for example, between them needed 2 000 substitute educators. This number is expected to rise this year.
This possibly points to a high rate of attrition within the teaching profession. We therefore urge the department, in its monitoring role, to urgently undertake a study of the possible reasons for this high attrition rate in the teaching profession so that remedies can be provided.
Provinces must also, in the meanwhile, be assisted through budgetary interventions to meet the demand of providing substitute teachers to schools, otherwise provinces will continue to experience the spectre of teacherless classrooms. I thank you.
HOUSES BUILT IN MAMELODI
(Member’s Statement)
Mnu D C MABENA (ANC): Sihlalo, kusukela ngezi 22 ukufikela ngezi 26 Novemba unyaka odlulileko, 2004, Ikomiti yePalamende yezindlu nabomma ababandakanyeka ekwakheni, umphakathi, amabhanka, kunye nabaqatjhi benza Ilima/Letsema ngokwakhela abantu abatlhagileko be Mamelodi izindlu ezingu 28.
I-ANC ithokoza igadangweli lika Dr Kenneth Kaunda oragele phambili ngokungadinwa ijima le Habitat for Humanity, elizaliselela isitjho se Freedom Charter esithi: Kuzakuba nezindlu, ivikeleko kanye nepilo encono kubo boke abantu beSewula Afrika. Ngiyathokoza. Ihlombe.
[Mr D C MABENA (ANC): Madam Speaker, between 22 and 26 November 2004 the Portfolio Committee on Housing, in collaboration with women who had committed themselves to building houses, communities, banks and employers, started a campaign to build houses for poor people in Mamelodi. A total of 28 houses were built.
The ANC appreciates the efforts of Dr Kenneth Kaunda to make a success of the campaign Habitat for Humanity, which fulfils the aims and objectives of the Freedom Charter that there will be housing, security, and a better life for all the people of South Africa. Thank you. [Applause.]]
INCREASE IN PETROL PRICE
(Member’s Statement)
Nks N M MDAKA (UDM): Somlomo, siyi-UDM sidanile kukwenyuka kwexabiso lamafutha eenqwelo-mafutha. Luyothusa uqikelelo lwabezoqoqosho oluthi kwezinyanga zimbini zizayo ilitha enye ingaxabisa amashumi asixhenxe esenti. Uninzi labantu eMzantsi Afrika luxhomekeke kwinqwelo-mafutha ingakumbi ezikawonke wonke (iiteksi) ukuze lube nokuhamba. Siyazi ukuba uninzi lwabemi beli lwaye lwasuswa kufutshane noshishino lwabhekeliswa kwinkonzo zikaRhulumente ngoorhulumente bangaphambili.
Kuba kungekho zinto zakuhamba zikawonke wonke ezithembekileyo nezisemgangathweni izigidi ngezigidi zabemi beli ziyanyanzeleka ukuba zibhatale amaxabiso ezithuthi, xabiso elo elichaphazela iimpokotho zabo. Eyona nto ke ithi ibebuhlungu kwezimeko kukuba oku kuchaphazela nexabiso lokuhlala komthengi kuba ukutya esikuthengayo sikukhwelisa kwakwezinqwelo. Isininzi, ingakumbi abahluphelileyo nabasebenzi, babukele bengenakunceda ngelixa imali eyingeniso kubo iye isehla.
Akwanelisi ukugxeka amaxabiso ehlabathi notshintsho kushishino kodwa kuleveki iphelileyo uMphathiswa wezemali ebesazisa ngemali yentela ayifakileyo engangesenti ezilishumi kwilitha yamafutha, ibe imeko yamaxabiso kwizinto ezisukangaphandle iyenza imeko ibenkenenkene ngakumbi. Lilonke ke Somlomo, nani malungu abekekileyo, sithi kuninzi ukuhlupheka okufihlakeleyo kolu lonyuko lwexabiso lwamafutha. Sikhala ke noko, sisithi inkqubo le ngeke iphinde ihlolwe ngokutsha. Enkosi. (Translation of Xhosa member’s statement follows.)
[Ms N M MDAKA (UDM): Madam Speaker, we as the UDM are disappointed by the rise in the petrol price. The estimation by an economist that within the next two months a litre of petrol may cost 70 cents more is shocking. Most people in South Africa depend on public transport, especially the taxis, in order to travel. It is well known that many people in this country were moved away from the industrial areas and government services by the previous regime.
Since there is no reliable and up-to-standard public transport, millions of our people are obliged to pay public transport prices which are not cost- effective at all. What is definitely unacceptable is that this affects the cost of living of people, because even our food is transported using this public transport. The majority, especially the poor and workers, are helplessly watching as the value of their income is diminishing.
It is not enough to criticise the global prices and the change in business practices. Only last week the Minister of Finance announced a tax increase of 10c per litre of petrol, whilst the import price situation is worsening. We are saying that a lot of hidden suffering is brought about by petrol price increases. We are therefore appealing for this matter to be examined afresh. Thank you.]
CONGRATULATIONS AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO MEMBERS OF SAPS
(Member’s Statement)
Adv A H GAUM (NNP): Madam Speaker, members of the SAPS are sometimes criticised for not being committed to the fight against crime. Therefore, I feel the need to single out two people who went the extra mile. Inspector Gustav Myburgh and his bride-to-be Constable Barbara Buchner arrived at church 45 minutes late after they came across a hijacking in progress on Saturday. The couple and the driver of their car, Inspector Morné Jonker, pursued the three armed robbers. They cornered the trio, arrested them and seized an unlicensed firearm. After the incident, the couple went to church and got married. [Applause.]
The NNP would like to congratulate the newly wed couple on their courage and dedication. We hope that this incident will restore some faith in our men and women in blue and show the people of South Africa that members of the SAPS are trying their best to win the fight against crime, even if it means arriving late for their own wedding. I thank you.
VIOLENCE ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES
(Member’s Statement)
Mnr W D SPIES (VF Plus): Geagte Speaker, die geweld op universiteietskampusse landwyd is bloot ’n simptoom van ’n dieperliggende probleem in die onderwysstelsel wat dringende ondersoek verg. Volgens nuusberigte is die griewe van studente wat aan betogings deelneem hoofsaaklik gebaseer op probleme met hoë registrasiegelde.
Die VF Plus het waardering vir die Minister van Onderwys se onderneming hierdie Sondag om administratiewe probleme met die samesmelting van kampusse op te los. Maar ons is ook ernstig bekommerd oor die feit dat verskeie studenteleiers op kampusse Afrikaans die sondebok wil maak vir administratiewe ontoerekenbaarheid. Die VF Plus het intussen verneem dat die DA op die kampus van die Universiteit van Pretoria ’n veldtog voer om van die studenteraadsvoorsitter, mnr Cornelius Janse van Rensburg, ontslae te raak. Dit kom voor asof die DA se studenteverteenwoordigers waarskynlik hulle visier op Van Rensburg se voorsitterskap het. Dit is jammer dat hierdie DA lede klaarblyklik hulle CVs belangriker ag as versoening tussen die uiteenlopende belangegroepe op kampus.
Die VF Plus steun ’n beroep op alle studente om hulle te verbind tot ’n oop en volwasse gesprek oor die toekoms van universiteite. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)
[Mr W D SPIES (FF Plus): Honourable Speaker, the violence on university campuses nation-wide is merely a symptom of a deep-seated problem in the education system that requires urgent examination. According to news- reports the grievances of students who are participating in demonstrations are based in the main on problems with high registration fees.
The FF Plus appreciates the Minister of Education’s undertaking this Sunday to solve the administrative problems arising from the merging of campuses. But we are also seriously concerned about the fact that several student leaders on campuses want to make Afrikaans the scapegoat for administrative inadequacies.
The FF Plus has learned in the meantime that the DA on the campus of the University of Pretoria is conducting a campaign to get rid of the student representative council chairperson, Mr Cornelius Janse van Rensburg. It would seem that the DA’s student representatives have their eyes on Van Rensburg’s chairmanship. It is a pity that these DA members evidently regard their CVs as more important than reconciliation between the divergent interest groups on campus.
The FF Plus supports an appeal to all students to commit themselves to an open and mature discussion on the future of universities. I thank you.]
EFFORTS TO BRING ABOUT PEACE IN SOMALIA
(Member’s Statement)
Dr G W KOORNHOF (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC welcomes the initiative taken by the countries in the horn of Africa, and the international community broadly, for their efforts to bring about peace in Somalia. The people of that country, as part of the human family, deserve peace.
When on 8 March the women of the world celebrate International Women’s Day, women of Somalia will also want to celebrate. When our children go to school under peaceful and conducive learning circumstances, the children of Somalia are longing for the same conditions. The recent visit by President Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi to their home country is a positive sign.
In this fiftieth year of the Freedom Charter, the ANC recommits itself to redouble our efforts to help all those involved in bringing about peace, democracy and friendship amongst the people of Somalia. I thank you. [Applause.]
LACK OF WORK OPPORTUNITIES IN PRISONS
(Member’s Statement)
Mr J SELFE (DA): Madam Speaker, there are about 134 000 sentenced inmates in our prisons, yet only 27 732 work opportunities are available in prison. Most prisoners have very little to do and many prisoners describe life in prison as one of “eet-en-lê”. The lack of work opportunities contributes to the prevalence of gangs, since the devil finds work for idle hands.
International experience shows that there is a positive correlation between busy and productive prison sentences and low levels of re-offending. The DA believes that all sentenced prisoners should do constructive work, preferably in and for the community. They should be paid an honorarium but half of it should be withheld; firstly, to contribute to the costs of their own upkeep in prison, and secondly to contribute to a fund for victims of violent crime.
In this way, prisoners who work will put back into society a little of what they took out. Working will also undermine the gangs and will make the reintegration of offenders more successful. [Applause.]
ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT NEEDED IN RURAL AREAS
(Member’s Statement)
Dr S E M PHEKO (PAC): Madam Speaker, rural development must be accelerated. Some expectant mothers give birth at the roadside in places like Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape. There are no roads at Tsekong in this district. Expectant mothers going to hospital give birth at the roadside, because vehicles move with great difficulty and at a snail’s pace.
A hearse coming to fetch the coffin of a deceased person for burial is not able to reach the home of the bereaved. Men have to carry heavy coffins up to 8km to the hearse. Patients who are critically ill cannot be rushed to hospital because there are no roads. Mount Fletcher is just one example of the underdevelopment which exists in at least eight of the provinces of our country and this is where the survivors of apartheid have been living.
Rural areas cannot be developed when important infrastructure, such as roads, is nonexistent. The situation in many rural areas is depressing and oppressive. It is not only poverty that haunts the people. In their hospitals there is no medicine, no water and no food for patients. This is the reality at Taylor Bequest Hospital in Mount Fletcher and at hospitals in many other rural areas of our country.
In Mount Fletcher, there is only one doctor. Where are our own doctors? They can alleviate suffering in the rural hospitals. The PAC proposes higher salaries as an incentive for doctors willing to work in the rural areas. Rural development would be one of the ways to stop rural people from coming to the cities for jobs that do not exist and often ending up in mikhukhus [shacks] and experiencing more poverty. Thank you. [Interjections.]
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
(Member’s Statement)
Mr S J NJIKELANA (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC applauds the initiative taken by Ms Annette Frieg, who lectures in physiotherapy at the University of Stellenbosch, and her team in highlighting the plight of and assisting people with Parkinson’s disease. People with Parkinson’s disease suffer from prejudice from other people arising from ignorance of the condition and its causes. At times they are thought to be drunk or stupid, or are viewed disapprovingly. Ignorance about their condition leads to sufferers losing self-confidence and self-esteem.
The condition is more common amongst elderly people. The symptoms of the condition are shaking, slow movement, instability and muscle rigidity. The ANC commends Ms Annette Frieg and her team, and we urge them to extend their good work into rural and other areas where the majority of the needy and the poor live. Thank you. [Applause.]
CORRUPTION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS
(Member’s Statement)
Mrs S V KALYAN (DA): Madam Speaker, the so-called turnaround strategy and zero tolerance against corruption by the Department of Home Affairs, is yet another empty ANC promise as there is growing evidence of an increase in corruption as opposed to a decrease. [Interjections.] Fat cat Home Affairs officials countrywide are exploiting refugees, who are seeking asylum permits and who are most vulnerable, by charging for section 22 permits which should be issued free of charge.
The department supposedly has a unit to clamp down on corruption, but it appears to be nonfunctional and inefficient, and the media is doing a far better job of exposing corruption. One wonders whether the inefficiency on the part of some of the Department of Home Affairs’ officials, is in fact a deliberate attempt to use asylum seekers as cash cows. Is the Minister of Home Affairs prepared to admit that corruption is rife in her department? If so, will she be prepared to conduct a forensic audit to determine the extent to which corruption prevails? [Applause.]
BAPTISM CEREMONIES IN RIVERS AND THE SEA
(Member’s Statement)
Mr V B NDLOVU (IFP): Madam Speaker, in a tragic turn of events, on a day that was supposed to be filled with joy and blessing, five men drowned on a Durban beach, during a baptism ceremony by a local church, in the early hours of Sunday morning. The tragedy occurred when a big wave pulled the men under, and swept them out to sea.
We acknowledge that churches have been conducting baptism ceremonies in rivers and the sea for a long time, and that it is an old practice, but we urge churches that follow this practice to take the necessary precautions so as to avoid such tragedies in future. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased, and pray for a speedy and full recovery for the two men who were rescued and are now recovering in hospital. Thank you.
LACK OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE AMONG BLACK FARM LABOURERS
(Member’s Statement)
Mong L J MODISENYANE (ANC): Ka hara dimpe tse bakilweng ke bokoloniale le kgethollo, ha ho se fetang tshenyo e bakilweng ke tsona ho feta ya ho thibela ntshetsopele ya setjhaba, haholoholo ho tsa thuto. Ke kahoo kajeno ho nang le diperesente tse 41 ho basebetsi ba batsho ba mapolasi ba hlokileng thuto hohang feela. Hona ho sitisa ho phahamiswa ha bona mosebetsing. Ba qeta bophelo ba bona ba hloka boiphihlelo, ha ba bang ba na le boiphihlelo kamooho.
Ho hloka thuto ho baka hore basebetsi bao ba mapolasi ba dule tlasa ditlamo, hoo ebileng ba sa utlwisiseng dipehelo tse hlahisitsweng ke molaotheo wa naha bakeng sa ditokelo tsa bona. ANC ha e phetse ho tsitlallela diphetoho ho tsa thuto le thupello ho etsa hore setjhaba se be le bokgoni e le hore se tsebe ho nka karolo ntlafatsong ya maphelo a sona.
Phatlalatso e entsweng ke lefapha la tsa temo le tsa naha, ho lwantsha ho hloka thuto basebetsing ba mapolasi, re e tjhaella monwana. Re etsa kgweletso ho bankakarolo le baithaopi hore ba tshehetse lefapha twantshong ya lona ya ho hloka thuto. “Naha e tla arolelwa ba e sebetsang,” ho tjho lengolo la tokoloho. [Applause]. (Translation of Sesotho member’s statement follows.)
[Mr L J MODISENYANE (ANC): Of all the unpleasant situations that colonialism and apartheid caused, there is none as bad as the lack of social development, especially in education. That is the reason why 41% of black farm workers today are completely without education. This situation prevents any promotion for them at work. They spend their entire lives without any form of experience, while some of them are only partially experienced.
Being without any education forces farm workers to live under constraints. This even causes them not to understand their own rights, which are stated in the Constitution of the country. The ANC never ceases to strive for changes in education and training so as to make sure that the nation gains the ability to take part in its own development.
We support the statement made by the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs, fighting the lack of education among farm workers. We call on stakeholders and volunteers to help the department in its fight against the lack of education. “The land shall be shared among those who work it,” so says the Freedom Charter. [Applause.]]
MINISTERS’ RESPONSES
The SPEAKER: We will take up to five Ministers’ responses, and they should each not exceed one and a half minutes per issue. Two minutes. I am being stringent with the Ministers.
DA MISUSES ISSUE OF HOUSING TO RAISE RACIAL TENSION
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: Madam Speaker, I note with complete disgust the statement that was read out by the DA member. It is quite clear to me that the statement was written for him. [Interjections.] I say this, because the person who wrote the statement would not have known that this past hour we were in a committee meeting with that same DA member and what he said … May I finish? The SPEAKER: Order! Order!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, the hon member, Mr Steyn, gave notice of a motion. He was not making a member’s statement, so the hon Minister is responding to a notice of motion.
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: I am not responding to a notice. I am responding to the statement he read when he asked that he be given permission to read a motion. That was a statement in his hand that was written for him, that is what I am referring to. The reason that I am saying it has been written for him is because quite clearly the person who wrote it did not know that what we discussed was completely different from what he has come here to say.
The SPEAKER: Order! Hon Minister, if what you are referring to is what the member raised as either a notice of motion or a motion without notice, then I would like to ask the hon Minister not to respond to that, because that is not responded to by Ministers in the House. We deal with it differently.
Mr T D LEE: Madam Speaker, just for the Minister’s information, the point on housing was raised by the ANC and not by the DA.
The SPEAKER: I did not hear what you said, hon member, but in any case I would like you, hon Minister, please not to proceed to respond to what the member has said.
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: Then may I respond to what the ANC has said?
The SPEAKER: Are you responding to a statement?
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: I am responding to two statements from the ANC. Firstly, I would like to thank the member of the ANC for making that statement, because it puts the record straight. We have just come back from a portfolio committee meeting where we had the opportunity to indicate that the DA is abusing its position to raise racial tensions in the Western Cape, using the issue of housing. This is completely unacceptable. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The hon member of the DA who was there in that meeting gave his commitment to the fact that we will go out and make door-to-door visits to ensure that we are speaking in one voice, making one statement, so that we do not give the DA the opportunity to spread false rumours and incite racial tension. It is unacceptable and it is a disgrace. I do not know how hon members here go to bed with a clear conscience when they know that they have raised the level of racialism in this province. [Interjections.] [Applause.] The SPEAKER: Order! Order!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: The hon Minister deliberately disregarded the ruling which the Speaker gave, and I request you to ask her to apologise and withdraw her remarks. If she is responding to what the ANC has said that is one thing, but she then continued referring to matters which were not mentioned in this debate, and purporting to answer to a notice of motion.
The SPEAKER: Hon Minister, could you please move to the next statement that you wish to respond to?
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: Madam Speaker, I have. I was responding to the hon member of the ANC who indicated that we had a door-to-door campaign in Langa to explain away the misinformation given by the DA.
The SPEAKER: No, I am saying, is there another statement you want to respond to? If there is, could you please proceed to it?
The MINISTER OF HOUSING: No. I responded to that statement. Thank you very much and I have sent the message I wanted to send. Thank you. [Applause.]
CORRUPTION IN DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS EXPOSED IN MEDIA
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Madam Speaker … Nihlekani? [What are you laughing at?] [Laughter.] Mrs Kalyan, what I wanted to say is that on the issue of corruption in the Department of Home Affairs, which was exposed in the media yesterday, I don’t think a single South African can be proud of what came out, including the Minister of Home Affairs. I don’t think anyone can be proud of that.
But, fortunately, you are a member of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, and the first step I would have expected you to take would have been to raise this matter through the portfolio committee so that the Minister, or the DG, or any other official, who needs to appear before the portfolio committee could come and do so, because the way we are handling the matter now is by way of scoring points, rather than … [Interjections.]
Yes, it’s cheap politicking if you are going to stand up and ask: Can the Minister commit herself? It would be foolish of me not to want to deal with a matter of that nature. It would be silly of me to say that I wouldn’t want to deal with the matter. Obviously, nobody can be proud of such a report, including you, including the ANC. So, to stand up and ask with pride if the Minister can commit herself, as if the Minister is contesting the issue …
The Minister can’t contest the issue, because she can’t be happy with such a record. All of us, including the Minister who was there before I was the Minister - none of us can be proud of such a track record. What you ought to have done, in fact, is to suggest to the chair of the portfolio committee that the Minister concerned and the officials should appear before the committee and come and present a preliminary investigation, arising out of the report yesterday.
To stand up here and ask if the Minister can commit herself to a forensic report audit is not going to solve the problem. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
PETROL PRICE INCREASE AND ISSUE OF DOCTORS’ SALARIES
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Madam Speaker, there are two issues I would like to respond to. The first one is from the hon Mdaka, and the second one is from the hon Pheko. In respect of the petrol price, it’s necessary to repeat before this House that it is not something that we have control over. The oil price has increased to more than $50 a barrel. It is not something that this government controls. Our tax increases are so moderate by comparison: five cents a litre by way of tax and five cents a litre for the Road Accident Fund, which, I am sure the hon Mdaka knows, is part of the social security funds and is designed to assist the poorest road users. The fund has been in a shambles for some time, and so half of the increase of five cents will go to supporting the Road Accident Fund.
It is necessary to deal with this issue, because it is too easy for members of this House to go away and blame the government for the increase in the oil price. It is not something we have any control over, and governments around the world are faced with exactly the same problem. My plea is that we take collective responsibility to explain to our people just how difficult it is as an oil- importing country to recognise the problem in respect of price changes. Thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]
The second issue is in response to the hon Pheko on the salaries of doctors. Again, it’s a matter that appears to be a populist myth at the moment, because we mentioned in the Budget Speech increases to educators’ salaries and police personnel salaries.
But hon members here should not have memories so short that they don’t recall that when we introduced the Budget in 2003, we introduced R3 billion over three years as a supplement to the incomes of health workers. It was styled a rural and scarce skills allowance. That R3 billion supplement has been implemented. It took a long while to negotiate. So the doctors in … Where is it, Minister Lekota? Mount Fletcher. The doctors in Mount Fletcher are receiving that scarce skills allowance, as are professional nurses and a number of other people.
The issue as raised by Denosa is not correct. The R3 billion supplement has been implemented, and once implemented will be supplemented in this Budget and future budgets. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]
REHABILITATION PROCESSES IN CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES: Madam Speaker, the Cabinet of our country approved the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa a week ago. It has been in front of the portfolio committee of which the hon Mr James Selfe is a member. I do hope that the proposal that he has made, which is a good proposal, will be incorporated into that.
One of the things we are doing within Correctional Services is to put rehabilitation processes at the front of what we do as the core business of the department. We are also skilling the sentenced prisoners in agriculture, metalwork, maintenance of prisons, painting and fixing, and also the running of our kitchens. We do give them a stipend for that. Because we are a cashless society, we keep that money so that we can give it to them on their release.
There are issues as well of school education, informal and formal, that we run within our prisons. We make sure that they get a qualification out of that. So, the proposal that the hon Selfe has made is a very good proposal and I welcome it. Overcrowding, however, is a problem, and I do hope that within the justice cluster we can address all those issues. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
POLICE SERVICE GOING OUT OF THEIR WAY TO ASSIST PEOPLE
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Madam Speaker, members of the SA Police Service are human beings and they appreciate the kind of comment that the hon Gaum has made. Very regularly I receive, from the various provincial commissioners, letters of commendation stemming from some of the activities in which the police are involved - indeed to travel the extra kilometre to fight and prevent crime.
I am sure you’ll be aware, as members here ought to be aware, of a number of instances in which they have actually gone out to assist people in distress. I am sure you will know of a number of media reports in terms of which some of them who have even helped to deliver babies in this country. That shows you how much we have travelled within the ranks of the SA Police Service, dictated to by, of course, the parameters of our own democracy. There has been tremendous change in the mindset of the Police Service in this country. That is why they do the sorts of things we have referred to. Thank you very much. This is highly appreciated. [Applause.]
FAST-TRACKING OF DIVISION OF REVENUE BILL
(Ratification of decision)
Question put: That the decision be ratified.
Agreed to.
The SPEAKER: As the fast-tracking has now been ratified the rule that at least three working days must elapse from the time the committee reports to the time the debate takes place in the House, is waived. The requirement that a translated version of the Bill be available before the Second Reading debate takes place is also waived. DIVISION OF REVENUE BILL
(Second Reading debate)
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Madam Speaker, hon members, section 214 of the Constitution requires that government ensures a transparent and equitable system to divide nationally raised revenue between the three spheres of government. This information is published in the Division of Revenue Bill which is before the House and for the fast-tracking of which we’d like to thank the House for its support, and we’d also like to make special mention of the hon John Jeffery in this regard. [Interjections.]
We publish the Division of Revenue Bill on Budget Day and we allow each province and municipality to include all grants in their budgets to properly plan for their expenditure. This Bill is somewhat unique, because we have to table a new Bill before Parliament each and every year.
Provinces and municipalities will budget for these allocations, determining how their share of the funds will be used to give expression to their priorities under the umbrella of policy frameworks agreed to through the intergovernmental forums such as Minmecs, the Budget Council and the Budget Forum.
The core of the Division of Revenue Bill is contained in seven schedules to the Bill. The first provides a summary of the allocation of funds to the three spheres of government. Out of the R417,8 billion available, national government is allocated R273,5 billion. This amount also includes R53,1 billion for debt servicing, and there is a R2 billion contingency reserve in schedule 1. The provinces get R134,7 billion and local government R9,6 billion.
Schedules 2 and 3 allocate the equitable share to provinces and municipalities. In the new fiscal year the way in which the share is calculated – the formulae for both local and provincial government – will change.
Schedule 4 sets out allocations to provinces and municipalities to fund infrastructure and hospital services. Schedules 5 and 6 further allocate specific-purpose, conditional and other grants to provinces to the amount of R65,5 billion, and to local government to the amount of a further R1 billion. I want to point out that Schedule 5 includes three conditional grants for HIV and Aids programmes in health, education and social development.
There were major changes in the provincial fiscal framework which informed the 2005 MTEF. Firstly, the conditional grant framework has been revised to take into account the social security grant function that moves to the national sphere from 1 April this year. The provincial equitable share formula has been revised, primarily to take into account the social security grant function shift.
Secondly, a new conditional grant is introduced to fund the recapitalisation of further education and training colleges. Thirdly, allowance has been made for the housing conditional grant, which takes account of the new housing policy which shifts responsibility for housing to accredited municipalities, particularly metropolitan and major urban category B municipalities.
The 2005 MTEF provides for further deepening and consolidation of social services. The allocations to provinces further reinforce spending to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Of the additional R43,4 billion allocated to the provincial budget framework over the 2005 MTEF, R22,3 billion is added over baseline for social security grants over the next three years. R6,9 billion is set aside to implement pay progression in education in line with government’s strategy to improve remuneration packages of educators, attract and retain management skills in schools and accelerate the delivery of quality maths and science education.
Two billion rand is added to the housing subsidy programme over the next three years to support the implementation of the new housing delivery strategy. This addition results in total allocations for the housing programme of R17,4 billion over the next three years. One billion rand is invested in the recapitalisation programmes for FET and R1 billion is added to the provincial infrastructure grant over the MTEF to speed up the delivery of social infrastructure, particularly classrooms, health facilities, water and sanitation in schools and welfare services infrastructure.
This addition brings results in total allocations for provincial infrastructure grants of R13,2 billion over the next three years. R540 million is added to the National Tertiary Services grant administered by the national Department of Health. Health conditional grants, next to the conditional grants for social security, are the second largest in the system. These grants are currently being reviewed to increase their efficacy and the results of this review will inform their configuration from the Budget next year.
I have noted in the Budget Speech that we are setting aside additional funds for police, teachers and social workers so that we can retain skilled and experienced personnel in the Public Service, and incentivise performance, including facilitating scarce skills in poor schools. These measures build on the positive impact we have had on the recruitment and retention of particular categories of staff in the health sector – for the information of the hon Pheko – following the 2003 Budget which set aside R3 billion over the three-year period to deal with scarce skills and rural allowances for health workers.
Turning, then, to local government, over the next three years, municipalities will receive R58,3 billion, or an additional R5,4 billion. The substantial increase in the local government share is mainly targeted towards the provision of three basic services. In total, R31,5 billion over the 2005 MTEF is made available for water, electricity, refuse removal and sanitation through unconditional local government grants. There’s also an additional amount of money added to the infrastructure grant to ensure that we can deal with the eradication of the bucket sanitation system in many municipalities, and this amount of money is R1,2 billion.
The review of the provincial and local government fiscal frameworks has highlighted a number of matters that need special attention. Firstly, we need to improve on the quality and reliability of municipal and provincial sectoral data to inform decision-making, and secondly, we will need to determine what effect the restructuring of the electricity industry will have on the local government equitable share formula. These are matters that we will take account of in future budgets.
Madam Speaker, hon members, I table the Division of Revenue Bill for its Second Reading debate. Thank you very much. [Applause.] Dr R H DAVIES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Division of Revenue Bill is one of the important pieces of legislation that are tabled at the time of the Budget, dealing as it does, as the Minister explained, with the allocation of revenue which is collected nationally between the different spheres of government - national, provincial and municipal.
By convention the Division of Revenue Bill is examined in detail in the National Council of Provinces, and it makes logical sense within our own constitutional model that the NCOP should, in fact, be the body that scrutinises in detail funding from national revenue in the provincial and municipal spheres. However, the Division of Revenue Bill is a piece of legislation that falls under section 76(4) of the Constitution, which requires that it be dealt with in terms of the processes outlined in section 76(1), which means it has to be tabled in the National Assembly first.
Because the NCOP needs to complete its task ahead of the next budget year, we were under extreme time pressure in the committee to process this Bill. I need to report to the House that there was, in fact, only time for the Portfolio Committee on Finance, in a fairly general way to satisfy itself with the contents of the Bill before us today. We look forward to receiving a more detailed report of the work that our colleagues in the National Council of Provinces have been able to do on this Bill.
As the Minister indicated, the core of the Bill is, in fact, included in the schedules. The Constitution provides that the provincial and municipal spheres of government are entitled to an equitable allocation of revenue, which is raised nationally, and that the law providing for this may only be enacted after considering recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, which is an independent body operating in terms of section 220 of the Constitution.
In addition to their equitable shares, provinces and municipalities may also receive conditional grants from national revenue, which is funding allocated to them to perform tasks that are agreed between themselves and the national sphere through the process of intergovernmental consultation.
As the Minister indicated, schedule 1 of the Bill indicates how the equitable share is allocated - R134,7 billion and R9,6 billion respectively of the R417 billion are allocated to provinces and to municipalities. When you add the conditional grants to this, the total allocation to provinces and municipalities amounts to 62% of the nationally raised revenue after paying the debt service costs.
This figure highlights the critical importance of the provincial and local spheres of government in service delivery. This is further underscored by the fact that over 90% of the revenue of the municipal sphere is collected by the municipalities themselves in the form of rates and other service charges.
Members may find it useful to consult the various tables in Appendix E of this Bill. These show how much each of the 284 municipalities in this country is allocated in terms of the equitable share and various conditional grants. In general terms, there are quite significant increases in funding for free basic services and for municipal infrastructure across the MTEF period.
Although we can debate whether this is yet sufficient to meet the needs, tasks and expectations which we have of the municipal sphere, these at least lay the foundations for some projects, which could contribute to job creation in the municipalities.
It will be important for us as constituency MPs to exercise oversight over how these projects, and others which are funded out of municipalities’ own revenues, are actually implemented to make sure that they achieve their potential in this regard.
This year’s Division of Revenue Bill provides for a number of important changes in the formula for the equitable allocation to provinces and municipalities. As the Minister indicated, the most significant of these is that the social security grant payments are removed from the provinces’ equitable shares and transferred as a conditional grant to provinces pending the establishment of the new national social security agency.
This is part of the process of transferring the administration of social grants to the responsibility of national government, a transfer which will also mean a transfer of the associated fiscal and moral hazard risks to the national sphere of government.
This shift has been the result of extensive consultation, and is generally seen as logical and desirable in view of the fact that the levels and the criteria for access to social grants have long been set at national level. I need to report that I think that the portfolio committee was generally happy with this move as well.
Apart from this, data from the 2001 census, which was published in 2003, has also impacted on the formula used to determine equitable allocations. There are small changes to calculations of the education and health component of the equitable formula, with potentially larger adjustments to the horizontal split between particular provinces, arising from demographic data pointing, to significant migration between some of the provinces and particularly affecting some of the poorer ones.
The impact of the latter is partly mitigated by a 3% weighting in favour of the poorer provinces, compared to a 1% weighting on the basis of performance in the economy. It is further mitigated by a three-year phase- in of the new horizontal split formula. This means that all provinces will, in fact, receive increased allocations during the current MTEF period.
I can report that the committee was generally satisfied that the recommendations of the Financial and Fiscal Commission are being given due consideration and that most of them are, in fact, being accepted by government.
Apart from that, it is perhaps worth reporting that much of the text in the main part of the Bill, which deals with the terms on which conditional transfers are made, is envisaged as being covered in the future by amendments to the PFMA – meaning that we will have a shorter Bill next time.
In looking at reforms to the process of dealing with the Division of Revenue Bill, it is the view of a number of us, including me, that we need to look again at the way in which this legislation is processed in Parliament. As I said earlier, it makes logical sense in our constitutional system for legislation dealing with the division of revenue between spheres of government to be dealt with in detail by the National Council of Provinces.
However, I’m not sure that we do justice to what is required of us in the National Assembly to merely have a perfunctory glance over an important piece of legislation, because we’re under extreme time pressure to get it to the National Council of Provinces. It would surely be better to process, in the NA, the detailed work, which is done by the Council, before applying our own mind to the matter.
I know that we have impediments arising from the way in which section 76(4) of the Constitution is drafted, but I hope that in the fullness of time we can reflect on whether the current arrangement is, in fact, the best way for Parliament as a whole to engage with this important Bill, and, if it is not, to find ways in which we can improve our procedures in this regard.
With these few words, let me indicate that the ANC will be supporting the Division of Revenue Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr I O DAVIDSON: Madam Speaker, at the outset, let me state that the DA supports the Bill. The shares for both provincial and local government allocations increased significantly, with the provincial share increasing from 57,5% to 58,1% and the local government allocation increasing from 4,6% to 5% over the MTEF period. It is important to note, however, that half of the additional resources are allocated to face the challenges particularly in delivering social services.
Major changes in the provincial fiscal framework for the 2005 MTEF include, firstly, the shifting of the social security grant function from the provincial to the national sphere of government, namely to the SA National Security Agency. The second major change relates to the delivery of primary health care by municipalities, which is now to be provided by provinces, other than environmental health. These shifts in functions are reflected in the expenditure framework. Transfers to provinces decrease from 88,4% in 2004-05 to 64,4% in 2005-06, although there is a rise in the conditional grant to take account of the phased approach.
In terms of the new formula of the equitable share system, it must be noted that the social services component, namely health, education and welfare, now makes up 78% of the formula. Over the past 10 years the composition of provincial spending has shifted in favour of social development by more than 7% and away from health by less than 2%, and education by less than 5%, as well as away from economic infrastructure services such as transport and agriculture. These are worrying trends that need to be firmly arrested.
The relative decrease in education spending is of concern, bearing in mind the skills shortage facing South Africa and the implications this has for the growing economy. Further thought, we believe, needs to be given to the relative weights for economic activity and the newly-introduced poverty component in order to determine the appropriate trade-off between poverty and economic activity.
The local government allocations grow from a revised allocation of R14,8 billion in 2004 to R17,2 in 2005-06. National allocations are an important source of revenue for municipalities and comprise around 14,7% of total local government budgets. The biggest reform to the local government grant system in 2005-06 is the adoption of a new local government equitable share formula, which will be phased in over the MTEF. By introducing a revenue- raising component, the new formula addresses our concern about the varying fiscal capacities of municipalities.
Municipal spending patterns however illustrate a past trend common across all three levels of government, namely the more rapid growth of operational rather than capital and maintenance spending. Capacity is a problem as capital spending is still significantly lower than budgetary resources.
The proposed abolition of the Regional Services Council levy, while welcomed, will have a major impact on local government. While widely criticised, it is an important source of revenue for both metros and district municipalities and made up 9% of the R4,2 billion of total local government revenue in 2003-04. The DA awaits with anticipation the FFC recommendations in this regard.
Likewise, as the Minister indicated, the introduction of regional electricity distributors, Reds, will have a major impact on the financing of local authorities. It is estimated that municipalities will have to shift R21 billion of their operating budgets to Reds.
We note the convening of a process to minimise the fiscal risk and to ensure that municipal finances are not adversely affected. The DA will follow this process carefully, as not only must the restructuring be in accordance with the Constitution, it is also clear that the viability of local government, already precarious, should not be further adversely affected. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr T E VEZI: Madam Speaker, the Bill before us is a constitutional requirement in terms of section 214(1) of the Constitution. Although the IFP cannot afford to come here as an armchair critic, when confronted with a Bill like this, I am compelled to make the following observations in supporting the Bill.
We represent communities that have been short-changed for more than 300 years. According to a report in Thursday’s South Coast Herald, the Ugu district, where I come from and which has a population of 750 000, has 119 000 people who are HIV-positive, and only a fraction of those who already need treatment are in fact receiving it.
We have a bottomless pit called the Road Accident Fund that the hon Minister has been trying to fill up for the past 10 years. According to the Sunday Tribune, the MEC for sport in KwaZulu-Natal advertised 85 posts in his department, and more than 200 000 applicants responded in relation to those 85 posts. That shows that we are in fact facing a crisis.
While the IFP appreciates that some of these problems belong to other line- function Ministers, it is the Minister of Finance who, at the end of the day, has to foot the Bill. That is why we raise these concerns in this debate. The other concern pertains to problems of fiscal dumping which result in wastage of scarce resources.
We also have concerns around the problems of accountability, capacity and the will to implement. We need structural transformation to make it less complicated to dispose of inefficient and redundant officials who are blocking the road to delivery. The IFP supports the Bill. I thank you.
Mr M STEPHENS: Madam Speaker, the UDM does not oppose this Bill. But we must realise that we are discussing the division of revenue while the revenue itself has not yet been debated or approved by Parliament. The whole Budget is thus being pre-empted.
The hon Davies has already mentioned the severe time constraints that the committee had when considering the Bill. Thus we find that we can neither bless nor damn this Bill, because we lack answers to two crucial questions: How much of the funds in this Bill will actually reach the intended beneficiaries? Secondly, assuming that they do, will they be adequate for the purposes intended? Neither the Minister, nor the FFC nor any hon member here can answer these questions.
In truth, we have no guarantee that the revenue hearing provided for will actually filter through to fully benefit the intended beneficiaries. Billions poured into programmes at national level often result in a mere trickle when they emerge at grass-roots level.
The recent violent protests across the country all concern failures in basic service delivery. Also, the hon Minister of Social Development said yesterday that food parcel assistance to poor families has doubled since 2002, but the funds have not reached the poor. He said, the money “was in the provinces, but a lot of problems had since arisen”.
We cannot continue to approve expenditure without delivery guarantees and reassurances regarding fund adequacy. Serious and urgent work is required to overhaul bureaucracies, to unclog blockages and to patch the leaks that prevent funding from translating into real service delivery. I thank you.
Mnr P J GROENEWALD: Geagte Speaker, die plaaslike regeringsvlak is een van die vlakke van regering wat die vermoë het om sy eie inkomste te genereer. Baie geld word gegenereer deur middel van eiendomsbelasting en die lewering van dienste. Die agb Minister van Finansies se toedeling is R9,64 miljard vir plaaslike regering. Die probleem is egter dat plaaslike regerings op ’n stadium kom dat hulle bederf raak deur hierdie toekenning van sentrale regeringsvlak.
Die agb Minister is op rekord waar hy gesê het dat daar indringend gekyk gaan word na die salarisse van munisipale bestuurders. Dit is onaanvaarbaar dat byvoorbeeld die munisipale bestuurder van Klerksdorp dieselfde salaris kry as die agb Minister van Finansies.
Ek glo dat die agb Minister van Finansies se verantwoordelikhede baie meer is as dié van die munisipale bestuurder van Klerksdorp. Ek sal graag by die agb Minister wil weet wanneer hy gaan optree met betrekking tot munisipale bestuurders se salarisse. Dit is buitensporig en die belastingbetaler kan dit eenvoudig net nie bekostig nie. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mr P J GROENEWARLD: Hon Speaker, local government is one of the spheres of government that has the capacity to generate its own income. A lot of money is being generated through property tax and service delivery. The hon Minister of Finance has allocated R9,64 billion to local government. The problem is however that local governments reach a stage where they get spoiled by this allocation from central government.
The hon Minister is on record as saying that the salaries of municipal managers are going to be closely examined. It is unacceptable that the municipal manager of Klerksdorp for example gets the same salary as the hon Minister of Finance.
I believe that the hon Minister of Finance’s responsibilities are far greater than those of the municipal manager of Klerksdorp. I would like to know from the hon Minister when he is going to take action with regard to the salaries of municipal managers. They are excessive and the taxpayer simply cannot afford this.]
Mr B E PULE: Madam Speaker, one must admit that this is one of the Bills among the previous ones that is people-oriented. It is a Bill destined to meet the needs of our people. It is a Bill calculated to improve the quality of life of our people.
We, however, would like to make an observation regarding some of the anomalies that seem to occur in these Budgets. When you look at the capital expenditure of departments you realise that, to a very large extent, there is no delivery here and there.
Let me give you a schematic overview of the allocations that were never spent correctly under capital development. When you take Education, for instance, you see that at the end of the last quarter it had only spent 46,7%; Health 34%; Trade and Industry about 44%; Arts and Culture 6,3% and Defence 0% under capital expenditure as at 31 December 2004. It is therefore quite evident that, more often that not, we have Bills that are very good, but when they get elsewhere, the implementation becomes a hollow euphemism. [Time expired.]
The UCDP supports the Bill.
Dr S E M PHEKO: Madam Speaker, the PAC supports the Division of Revenue Bill. It purports to provide for the equitable division of revenue anticipated to be raised nationally.
The PAC view is that the equitable division of this revenue should be manifested in the rural areas and other underdeveloped areas of our country, such as the townships, especially the squatter camps which are not fit for human habitation. Attention must be focused on the construction of good roads in the rural areas, the raising of the standard of health institutions there and, of course, making subsistence farming a worthwhile effort towards the eradication of poverty.
I don’t want to confront the Minister, but I would like to know why it is that if there is encouragement for doctors to go to rural areas they are not doing so? In Mount Fletcher we don’t even have doctors from this country. We have doctors from other countries, and there are only two of them. When I was there, one had left and there was only one in that hospital. I would like to appeal that when we come here we should also compare what happens on the ground and what happens in theory. Izwe lethu! [Our land!]
Mr R B BHOOLA: Madam Speaker, all spheres of government eagerly await this Division of Revenue Bill which specifies our shares of the budget for the financial year, and that in turn is instrumental in how we execute our duties and policies.
The MF acknowledges that in the division of revenue for the national, provincial and local spheres of government for 2005-06 there are only minor changes in the percentages over the MTEF period. It should, however, be acknowledged that the large amount allocated to national government includes conditional grants to provincial and local spheres of government, debt service costs and contingency reserves.
As regards provincial allocations, the MF supports the increases to KwaZulu- Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga, considering the population and extreme problems in these areas. As regards local government, the MF would like to see larger contributions made to this sphere, so as to promote, ensure and advance the development of all areas in South Africa.
Chapters 3 and 4, including schedules 4A and 5, are supported by the MF in view of the transfers and allocations made to the said grants. We congratulate our hon Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, and his outstanding financial team that has given us an appropriate division of revenue that has clearly, in its FFC submission on the division of revenue for 2005-06, addressed the provincial and local government equitable sharing system, as well as the intergovernmental system.
The MF supports the Division of Revenue Bill. [Applause.]
Mr Y S BHAMJEE: Madam Speaker, the broad principles of the Freedom Charter are enshrined in our celebrated Constitution. Guided by these noble principles and the challenges that emerge from the scorecard of our 10 years of democracy, the hon President in his state of the nation address has outlined the government’s policy objectives and guidelines for the second decade of our liberation.
Government has underpinned its strategies in alleviating the nation’s social scourge of poverty. In racist South Africa, poverty and social and economic inequalities were deliberately created. The evil deed of its strategy is extensively documented. Anyone who has been exposed to the second Carnegie Commission report of the mid-eighties on poverty in Southern Africa will understand the onerous task facing the democratic order in revising the deliberate poverty-creating strategies.
The effects will be with us for many generations to come, as the perpetrators of this evil created structural conditions, using repressive laws, to socially engineer an environment that ensured that black men and women would remain hewers of wood and drawers of water and not rise above their slave-like status. This resulted in political oppression, social degradation and economic exploitation.
This august House is aware that poverty was engineered by colonialism and neocolonialism that impacted negatively globally. [Interjections.] While South Africa is addressing poverty as a serious social scourge through direct poverty alleviation programmes, it recognises that poverty is a universal problem that has no boundaries.
The hon President has led the way at home and abroad by bringing poverty alleviation onto the national, regional and international agenda. At home government has managed to stem the tide of growing poverty. The unavoidable dialectic is that as we succeed in the struggle to alleviate poverty through direct programmes and by indirectly strengthening the economy, poor people who were not in the loop of receiving social benefits are now beginning to exercise their democratic rights in a free South Africa, and want to improve their plight, because the poor, as our policies indicate, are pro-poor, and the poor want to take part in that exercise.
This then creates the illusion that our people are getting poorer rather than the reality that more people are now being exposed to opportunities, as per the Batho Pele initiative - avenues that were denied to them during the days of apartheid. These are formidable challenges that democratic South Africa has to be aware of, and we need to be sensitive.
Creating structural conditions to enable the poor to uplift themselves out of poverty is, by any argument, better than throwing money at the problem. The latter would serve only to defer the problem and create an uncertain and unstable future. That would be irresponsible. Ours is a responsible government that has met significant challenges in the form of the legacy of apartheid, so much so that the world stands in awe, and yet we recognise much more needs to be done.
The hon Minister, building on the state of the nation address that identifies national priorities, gives practical meaning to the principles of the Freedom Charter. In his Budget Speech he emphasised that the national wealth of our country is the heritage of all South Africans – black and white, urban and rural. Thus, the development strategy is broad- based. It invests in all our people and reduces inequality in the fight to push back the frontiers of poverty.
It is befitting that the celebration of the 50th birthday of the Freedom Charter should usher in a people’s Budget that focuses strongly on social spending in a redistributive sense, which is pro-poor. Even the traditional opponents of transformation have been moved to heap accolades. Words like “development”, “expansionary” and “progressive” are used by critical observers from economists to opposition politicians, from workers to entrepreneurs, development activists, poor and wealthy people. Across the spectrum, there is finally the will to acknowledge and admit that the strategy of this government, underpinned by the aspirations of the Freedom Charter, is the only effective way to achieve a better life for all.
In his foreword to the Budget Review, the Director-General of National Treasury states:
The 2005 Budget articulates government’s intention to accelerate
economic growth, advance social development and reduce inequality.
The budget draws on the broad developmental vision of the state of
the nation address and the central message of delivery and
implementation. Social delivery and redistribution have
significantly improved over the last 10 years, and we have found
that the greater focus of providing resources and implementation
should continue to deliver the outcomes we want.
These outcomes, as outlined in the state of the nation address, focus on the need to strengthen investment; job creation; quality education and skills development; creating sustainable communities; enhancing service delivery and, of course, fighting poverty.
The outcomes we want are clearly set out in strategic plans of each department within each sphere of government. The concurrence of the Medium- Term Expenditure Framework in October 2004 and the Strategic Plans, through the bottom-up and top-down interaction, manifest in the financial resources allocated in terms of the Budget. With Minister Manuel’s Budget, the presentation and implementation of operation plans according to the Strategic Plans can begin to address the priorities.
The 2005 Budget Revenue sets out in detail the constitutional issues and governmental priorities that are taken into account in the 2005 Division of Revenue Bill. In other words, government’s priorities inform the budget process and the Division of Revenue Bill.
We have formidable tools at our disposal, in particular the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, Departmental Annual Reports and the departments’ respective Strategic and Operation Plans to monitor implementation and progress in the national and provincial spheres. At municipal level the instruments to ensure that delivery takes place are the IDPs and the Municipal Finance Management Act, MFMA.
The PFMA promotes – “the objective of good financial management in order to maximise service delivery through the effective and efficient use of limited resources”, while the MFMA sets out “to secure sound and sustainable management of the financial affairs of municipalities and other institutions in the local sphere of government; to establish treasury norms and standards for the local sphere of government; and to provide for matters connected therewith”.
These instruments enable every member and committee in Parliament and, indeed, every interest group and citizen in the country to ensure that delivery happens as intended in the call by the President and our nation to speed up the delivery of services to enable us to achieve the goal of a better life for all. Thus, we as public representatives are fully armed to play our oversight role as per the directives of the Constitution. The introduction of service delivery indicators is a process aimed at reducing the gap between service delivery and the budget. This calls on departments to align planning and budgeting.
We have clearly defined and quantifiable indicators to ensure that the resources of the nation are indeed being applied for the purposes they are intended. We are empowered by effective tools to monitor the pace and quality of implementation and to identify delays and seek timely remedial action. In our ongoing assessment of value for money during the implementation phase, it is incumbent on us to monitor that the spheres of government in general and national government in particular are fulfilling the objectives of the Division of Revenue Bill.
Through our ongoing critical evaluations and by fostering the spirit of co- operative governance, allowing all organs of state to realistically address the magnitude of our challenges and the limits of our capacity, we would have the opportunity to influence the outer years of the budget process, thus adding meaning to our oversight role, and via our constituencies make an impact on the service delivery programmes.
The hon President and his Chief of Staff, the hon Minister of Finance, have charted the way forward. I am reminded in my conclusion of an excerpt from the preamble to our Constitution:
We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this
Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to –
Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on
democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which
government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is
equally protected by law;
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of
each person; and
Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful
place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
The ANC supports this Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Madam Speaker, I just want to tell the hon Bhamjee that I’m not the Chief of Staff, I’m just a paymaster for the Head of State. [Laughter.] Thank you very much to all parties for supporting the Bill. A few quick points: Hon Davidson, thanks for your support. I’m glad to see that you support an effective developmental state. It is a different position to the one you adopted yesterday, but you are on the right track now. Keep going! [Laughter.] The hon Vezi raised what he said was a series of concerns. Perhaps it was due to lack of time, but he didn’t actually get to the concerns. He talked about 119 000 HIV-positive people in Ugu and so on. So, I don’t really know what the point was that he was trying to raise.
The hon Stephens asked a very important question, namely: How much will reach the intended beneficiaries? Well, it’s important that this Parliament is empowered to drill through and receive end-year reports. You can never enrich people through the social welfare system, but this is something we discussed in the portfolio committee on Thursday. However, there is a fair measure of what we can get through the system and that’s important.
The hon Groenewald pointed out municipal salaries. I was the one who raised it. It’s not within my purview to amend those. I think we may actually have a bit of a lacuna in the legislation at the moment in respect of grading municipalities, and so on. My colleague, the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, advises me that it is work in progress.
The hon Pule spoke about poor capital expenditure. Again, I want to stir up some trouble here. We cause, on a monthly basis, reports to be gazetted in terms of section 32 for national government. On a quarterly basis, reports that include the expenditures of provinces and, indeed, the situation in respect of capital expenditure leave a lot to be desired.
The reason why we cause it to be reported is so that parliamentarians know, so that they can oversee the work of departments through portfolio committees, so that parliamentarians will add to that, using their own observations from constituency visits - if indeed these occur once in a while. So, it’s about the empowering of Parliament and it’s very necessary for these issues to be taken forward.
In respect of the hon Pheko’s question regarding the problem of where doctors are… Is he in the House? He’s a bit “behep” with Mount Fletcher today, but let me deal with the question. There are two issues. The first is that it is very hard to pin medics down, notwithstanding community service. We don’t get medics to stay. The other issue is that if he reads the Division of Revenue Bill, he will see that in the conditional grants there is R290 million to support new and emerging farmers through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, Cash, R250 million and R40 million for land care.
So, the Bill is in the direction that he wants it to be, if only he could sit down and follow the detail in the Bill, we’ll all be in agreement that the Division of Revenue Bill is a good piece of legislation that is fully compliant with the Constitution. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.
NATIONAL PORTS BILL
(Second Reading debate)
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Madam Speaker, Deputy President and hon members, as we are all aware, the National Ports Bill was first introduced in Parliament three years ago. There have been many changes and developments since it was first presented to the portfolio committee in the National Assembly.
The central and most notable change in this Bill is the strengthening of the ports regulatory clauses in the Bill. More specifically, it makes provision for effective economic regulation to make sure that all ports users have equal access to ports services, that decisions are made in a more transparent and non-discriminatory manner and that there is no abuse of market power.
Renowned economist and Nobel Laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, remarks:
There needs to be a balance between the role of government and the market. A country can suffer from underregulation just as it can from overregulation, from too little public investment just as it can from too much public expenditure. The government can help stabilise the economy, but badly designed policies can make fluctuations worse.
Our democratic government has argued this related point that we should avoid substituting public monopolies with private ones. The need for effective regulation and finding the right balance between the role of government and the market remains central to our efforts of economic transformation.
We fully understand that the institutions we need to restructure relate to the economy of our country in complex ways, with twisted historical priorities that still encumber some of their impact. Thus, we have always proceeded from a case-by-case perspective. Our approach to the restructuring of relations in our ports has not been exempt from this general approach and the National Ports Bill before us takes all of these elements into account.
The policy, and hence this Bill, first and foremost, were in response to the emergent structural changes within our economy, both in anticipation of and as a result of the dawn of democracy in 1994. The growth in manufactured exports, estimated at 7% per annum, had increased to such an extent that our ports’ infrastructure and systems, and not least rail either, were lagging behind.
In 2003 commercial ports were responsible for the movement of over 120 million tons of exports and 39 million tons of imports. Nearly all the 2020 projections of freight volume growth along all seven freight corridors in South Africa, contained in the 1998 study, Moving South Africa, have already been surpassed in 2004.
These figures tell one simple story: We had better get our ports working faster, better, more efficiently and get it right. The pressure is on to perform, probably even beyond global standards, given our geographic location, to keep our economy afloat in a highly competitive environment.
At the centre of our ports’ performance is the totally inadequate level of historical investment in ports infrastructure and the inability of traditional operational cultures to grow accordingly as well. Our government is committed to grow public investment in the ports system, as testified to in the recent Budget announcements, and we will continue to pursue this objective.
The challenge for sustainable growth and development requires government to ensure that there is sustained funding for ports development. That resources generated within the ports system can be ploughed back specifically for port development remains an important principle of our policy.
The Bill seeks, primarily, to give effect to government’s policy on commercial ports that outlines the role of ports in a growing South African economy.
As a result of the NPA’s interrelationship with Transnet, the mother company of South Africa’s ports operation, it is important to ensure sound economic regulation to avoid the exploitation of monopolistic practices to the detriment of the economy as a whole.
The determination of and approval by the regulator are important factors in establishing a level playing field. An independent regulatory body, vested with legal personality, is therefore being established.
To this end, the regulator’s main functions are to exercise economic regulation of the ports system in line with government’s strategic objectives; to promote equity of access to ports and to facilitate services provided in ports; and to monitor the activities of the authority to ensure that it performs its functions in accordance with the Act.
As the system unfolds and experience reveals its consequences, intended or otherwise, I am sure that we will need to return to review some of the current provisions regarding the regulatory function in the Bill.
Again, the vision of our ports policy seeks to establish the ports authority as a typical landlord, separated from the port operations functions. The role of the National Ports Authority is to own, manage and develop ports infrastructure and systems.
Let me stress that government recognises the substantial financial interrelationship between the National Ports Authority and Transnet, on the one hand, and the importance of Transnet to the freight system of the country and the region on the other. The Bill, in fact, confirms the process already started some time back of separating port infrastructure from port operations.
The ports authority will remain within Transnet as we see this as the best way of ensuring that we carry out the overall programme of investment within the transportation system. We will thus be able to protect the integrity of Transnet’s balance sheet and its financial commitments. The Ministers of Finance and Public Enterprises and I remain firmly committed to ensuring the financial strengthening of Transnet.
In summary, the National Ports Bill is about the modernisation and efficient operation of our ports. The provisions in this Bill will go a long way in making sure that our policy objectives are realised.
I am also satisfied that the provisions are flexible enough to take into account policy or strategy reviews for port development that may emerge as time goes by. In this way, the Bill is not only about short-term financial considerations, but balances short-term financial stability of our ports system with long-term policy goals of a more modern ports infrastructure and operations that meet the challenges of a growing economy.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the chairperson and members of the Portfolio Committee on Transport for their dedication and support in finalising this Bill. I am aware that some felt we did not go far enough in terms of various revised clauses in the Bill. I also wish to thank members of the public, the various stakeholders, who made their valued input, most of which were taken on board in finalising this Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr J P CRONIN: Madam Speaker, Deputy President, Minister Radebe, fellow members, the Bill before us needs to be understood within a national, but also an international context. One of the more striking indicators of the globalisation process that has exploded over the past three decades is the fact that trade volumes moved by sea have trebled between 1970 and 2000.
It is true that this growth has been experienced unevenly, and the African continent unfortunately has seen an overall decline in its share, not necessarily its volume of exports. South Africa, and specifically postapartheid South Africa, has been a major exception for our continent. There has been a huge growth in South African exports and imports, in terms of both the value and the tonnage since 1994. Imports, for instance, by value, rose some 120%, just between 1992 and 1996, and exports, by value, rose 81% in the same period.
In Durban, port vessel arrivals have almost trebled between 1994 and 2000, despite the fact that the average size of these vessels is now much larger than before. All of this, of course, has been directly related to the sustained growth in our economy, an economy that is also significantly export-oriented and import-dependent.
Of course, we must welcome this growth. But it is no secret that the growth has also exposed bottlenecks throughout the freight logistics system due to many institutional challenges, uncertainties - perhaps about government’s intentions in regard to state-owned enterprises - underinvestment - which the Minister mentioned in infrastructural development, and many other factors.
This was the immediate background to the tabling in the previous Parliament of the National Ports Authority Bill, as it was then known, which was tabled in the course of 2003. It is my firm belief that the parliamentary process, including the extensive public hearings that we have conducted, both as the previous Parliament and as the present Transport Portfolio Committee, has helped to make a significant input into shaping and reshaping this Bill.
We were helped by the hard work of our colleagues from the Department of Transport and also in the Departments of Public Enterprises and of Trade and Industry. I would particularly like to remember Sindi Dube, who was a very talented young black lawyer and senior employee in the Department of Transport, who died tragically. It was really a great loss to the transport community. In passing this Bill, we would like to remember Sindi’s contribution.
I would also like to thank the former acting Minister of Transport, the present Minister of Transport, the former Minister of Public Enterprises, the Present Minister of Public Enterprises, and the former Minister of Trade and Industry. That sounds like five Ministers, but it is two individuals I am referring to. I would like to thank them for the support they gave us.
I think Minister Radebe is three of those Ministers. With its introduction it was clear that even from within the public sector itself, as this Bill was tabled, there were considerable differences of view. The Transnet Board, for instance, was concerned that its principal revenue source, the National Ports Authority, was going to be pulled out sometime rather too soon.
The National Ports Authority, for its part, was concerned that the resources it was generating would be siphoned off to cross-subsidise other Transnet operations to the detriment of port development. The private sector stakeholders had a similar concern. One lawyer argued that the National Ports Authority should be pulled out of Transnet immediately, and if Spoornet collapsed as a result, then so be it: “You are fired” - a kind of Donald Trump worldview. When it was pointed out that a collapsed Spoornet might not be good news for anyone, including the private sector, the point was reluctantly conceded.
The trade unions were concerned that the Bill was essentially a privatisation Bill, getting the institutional architecture in place for large-scale concessioning, and with a feared consequence of significant job losses. The SA Port Operations, which is part of the Transnet family, also shared that concern.
Some in the private sector wanted to see rapid concessioning out of terminals, and they supported the idea of a stand alone National Ports Authority, but they were also nervous about a too powerful parastatal landlord. One of our former committee members, who is no longer in this Parliament - he is not an ANC member - described the Bill as a mafia Bill. He got, for the first and last time ever, a newspaper headline as a result. He has passed along.
The deep sea fishing industry was worried that a more dynamic and empowered National Ports Authority would boot them out of the Cape Town harbour, or at the very least renegotiate their leases on much more unfavourable terms. Some of the metro municipalities with ports wondered why we were envisaging a National Ports Authority. They pointed out that internationally the norm, usually, is for there to be city-specific port authorities, a London Port Authority, a Rotterdam Port Authority, and so forth.
The original version of the Bill also had a very temporary port regulator in it. Some felt it had too many powers, and others too little. I think that the debate that has now gone on for two years, in public hearings and engagements with various departments and stakeholders, has helped all of us to become a whole lot clearer. It has made us more aware of the real concerns and the real challenges.
The parliamentary process has also coincided with the growing crystallisation of our own government’s policies in regard to the following aspects. Firstly, the transformation of the state and parastatal sector, in other words, the consolidation of what Minister Manuel just now referred to as a developmental state. An active state, not shy to intervene in the economy, spearheading industrial policy, not alone of course, but catalysing the energies and resources of the private sector, of labour and of all key stakeholders.
Secondly, I think that there is a much greater sense now from the side of government, of the strategic importance of infrastructure development. It is critical for lowering the cost of doing business throughout our economy, in order to attract sustained investment and to generate growth, development and job creation.
This Bill that we are bringing to the House today, is targeted primarily at the institutional transformation of the public entities in the port environment, so that they are able to support these strategic objectives.
Allow me to summarise very briefly what I think now are some of the most important strategic considerations, that I think have emerged in the process of hearings and are embodied in the Bill.
First of all there is the question: Why have a single National Ports Authority? South Africa has its own unique features, which we need to understand and work with, not against. We have a very long coastline, we have an export-focused and import-dependent economy and we are very distant by geographical location from most of our major markets.
Our industrial heartland - something that we Capetonians find hard to admit, but which we should – is in a distant hinterland. Our ports have been and remain critical to our overall economy. We need to see these ports not as stand-alone, competing entities, but as part of a single and relatively integrated logistics system. We have heard some arguments for interport competition, but I am not persuaded that this is very feasible, still less desirable.
Our seven commercial ports are fairly neatly segmented, relatively specialised in the cargos that they are handling. More and more of government’s industrial sector policies are linked to corridor development, linking infrastructure corridors to value chains, and value chains to infrastructure corridors. All of this represents a strong argument for retaining, fostering and developing a National Ports Authority, in synch with our national growth and development strategy.
However, there is much validity, its true, in the metro council argument on the need for a very close working relationship between, for instance, the Cape Town City Council and the port, between Port Elizabeth Metro, Nelson Mandela Metro, Ethekwini Metro, and so forth, and the port environment, and between local business and local port authorities. At a recent familiarisation tour that we undertook as a portfolio committee to the Port of Cape Town, we were told by the National Ports Authority here in Cape Town, that while there were links between them and the metro authorities in Cape Town, these were not effectively formalised, and it was hard to nail down clear agreements and working processes.
This Bill now establishes port consultative committees appointed by the Minister of Transport, and consisting of the harbour master, two persons from the ports authority, three persons representing local port users, two representing local and provincial government, two persons from organised labour, and one from the SA Maritime Safety Authority.
The NPA will be obliged by law to consult the port consultative committees regarding, inter alia, any major scheme relating to the expansion or development of a particular port. The parliamentary portfolio committee will certainly be very interested to track the effectiveness of these committees and to hear, in an ongoing way, from port users, as to whether these statutory bodies provide effective forums.
In its original version, as I have mentioned, the Bill envisaged a port regulator with a very short lifespan. It was considered necessary in the interim phase in which the NPA was corporatised, but inside of Transnet itself, that there needed to be some kind of a regulator. The regulator would disappear once the NPA became a stand-alone body outside of Transnet. The regulator in this earlier version, in other words, was initially considered to be solely focused on the relationship between Transnet and an adolescent NPA that was getting ready to leave home, presumably to make sure that there was not parental abuse.
We have since moved along quite considerably from this limited conception and for several reasons. Firstly, the National Ports Authority may or may not eventually leave Transnet. The Bill is open-minded about that eventuality. Let me emphasise the point that the Minister has just emphasised, that the intention of the legislation is to permit such a departure, but not to prescribe it. The idea is to corporatise the NPA, but to keep it firmly within the Transnet fold, for the foreseeable future, for obvious financial reasons. For this reason we have therefore elaborated the role of the regulator.
We also looked, as the parliamentary committee, at comparable infrastructural sectors like telecommunications, broadcasting and energy, and we asked, what lessons can be learned, positive and negative, from the institutional arrangements in these cases, and we became more and more convinced of the need to have an effective, enduring and technically well- informed sector regulator.
It was not about narrow competition issues - for that we have the competitions commission. It was about regulating port tariffs with a sector specific understanding. It was about having an informed entity capable of hearing complaints and carrying out investigations with a firm understanding of the port environment, and the developmental and growth perspectives of our government. For these reasons we have now build into this legislation a strong and permanent ports regulator.
These are some of the reference points of an emerging strategic consensus that are embodied in this Bill. We think that this legislation is a very important step forward, that it is progressive in content, and also that it signals much more clearly what government intends to do with the ports.
The ANC, for all these reasons, supports the Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr Mr S B FARROW: Chairperson, it was on 16th September 2003, as the Minister mentioned, that this House debated the original Bill, after nearly two years of thorough scrutiny through public hearings. However, despite this thorough and participatory approach, someone had not done his or her homework, and it was only when Maria Ramos came to head up Transnet that she quickly realised the implications of the Bill on one of her biggest cash cows – the National Ports Authority.
In terms of the original Bill, this entity was to be phased out of Transnet and become a stand-alone company within three years. No mention was made of any form of compensation by the state and the effect of this move would mean a reduction in operating profits of 59% or approximately R2,7 billion at that time. The retained profits of Transnet would also deteriorate from a profit to a loss of more than R1,3 billion, and this was before the SAA’s recent hedging debacle. So, it was no wonder that this Bill was stopped in its tracks in the NCOP.
Therefore, it was also important that this Bill would come back to the portfolio committee for revision, particularly since the release of the Transnet strategy and infrastructure plan on 4 October. This plan will now hopefully retain Transnet’s investment capacity, whilst ensuring liquidity within the group, thereby reducing the risk of a possible default in terms of Transnet’s loan covenants.
The DA is fully supportive of reducing the cost of doing business in South Africa and our ports play a strategic role in this regard, firstly, as a key logistical pivot in the transport chain and as a catalyst for competitive trade and marine services, all of which is necessary to support our economy. At present, South Africa is pricing itself out of the market by excessive tariff increases and inefficient services at our ports and on our railways.
Therefore, it is encouraging to note that Transnet has recognised the need to reduce logistics costs by one third in order to sustain our competitiveness. This can be borne out by the fact that the logistics costs in South Africa represent 14,7% of the country’s GDP. Richards Bay has lost exports to the tune of some 2,4 million tonnes between 2003 and 2004.
For this situation to change, Transnet will have to invest heavily in improving ports infrastructure and training on the one hand, and at the same time ensure that the connectivity between inland transportation systems and the ports is improved on the other hand. This is not going to be an overnight feat; many skills at our harbours have been lost due to transformation. Durban, PE and Cape Town harbours are clear examples of this, where containers are still offloaded at half the international norm.
Our once sought - after ship repair docks have been lost due to incorrect and careless dry-docking and tug and pilot boat crews are short-staffed to the point where ship movements are constantly delayed. One just has to visit Durban or Cape Town harbours to see the number of ships anchoring offshore awaiting entry or the pile-up of containers waiting for rail carriages.
A visit by the portfolio committee confirmed the lack of synergy between various service providers at these ports, and in particular the fact that although ports should be seen as a 24-hour operation, some operations only work a 12-hour day. These basic administration problems between harbour, rail and port service providers need urgent attention before any major capital investment in infrastructure and equipment can take place.
I have every faith in Ms Ramos to deal with this problem, and I’m sure she will get the support of the private sector that, after all, is her main customer, in identifying and sorting out these problems and constraints presently existing at our ports.
The DA is of the belief that the private sector offers the best efficiency models for operational integration and local and global partners need to be identified in order to minimise unnecessary state risk, whilst increasing investment growth in our ports. The strategic and infrastructure plan of Transnet goes a long way to address these problems, and hopefully the Bill before us will bring new meaning and urgency to concessioning, unlike what my colleague, Mr Cronin, said, as our ports were envisaged in the original White Paper.
I am pleased to note that they do form part of the solution and design of the plan that I have previously mentioned. Therefore, we will monitor this plan with interest and attention, in order to ensure that the envisaged R16,3 billion proposed investments over the next five years bring positive returns to our ports and their users, and this income is not seen to be bailing out the likes of SAA and other loss leaders in the Transnet stable.
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the other important part of the Bill that has been alluded to, namely the establishment of this independent port regulator, which is there primarily to ensure the efficient and safe operations of our ports, and in particular to monitor the activities of this new authority to ensure that it performs its functions in accordance with this Act. For the regulator to do its work, it needs to be really independent and caution must be exercised of it not becoming another layer of bureaucracy or too interventionist in its role on economic oversight where the market should freely operate.
In giving our full support to this Bill, I hope that after all the hard work that has gone into this process, the role-players will now act on it and it will not be another two years before we see the appointment of various boards taking place, which is so necessary within this Act. It clearly points out that in some of these instances where we put legislation in front of this House for approval, we are still waiting to see some of the action taken.
This Bill, I might add, also falls short as regards the deadline set by the President in his state of the nation address, at the opening of this Parliament last year. We hope that this Bill will receive the urgent delivery that it deserves. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr B C NGIBA: Chairperson, the Transport Portfolio Committee has spent a great deal of time on this very complex Bill. As is always the case, compromises have been necessary. The IFP is in support of this Bill. However, I do foresee some problems, which might affect, not so much the working of the Bill, as its effectiveness in achieving its objectives. The main one is the possibility of conflict between the duties of the Authority and those of the Regulator. Therefore, I would like to offer a few comments on this aspect. The Bill, originally published in 2003, viewed the Regulator as having what might be called reserved powers. The amendments, which were subsequently proposed by the Department of Transport, would have effectively made the Regulator the policy body for South Africa’s ports. The Authority would become merely an implementing agency. I understand that the pressure to give the Regulator powers came from the port users’ representatives. They have been frustrated by the inability of the present authority to resolve problems at the ports, especially the Durban container facility. They believe that the Authority, and Transnet in general, has not been properly sympathetic to their needs.
As usual, in these cases, two solutions appear to offer themselves. The first is to set up a new supervisory body with powers to intervene and insist on change. This is the option of the policy-making Regulator. The other is to try and ensure that the present system is made to work, and restricting the powers of the Regulator to those of intervention, only when necessary. The contribution and letter from the Chief Executive of the National Ports Authority, Mr Siyabonga Gama, made this point. I agree entirely with these comments and statement.
In business, and indeed in any form of organisation, from the local soccer club to a giant corporation like Anglo-American, much effort is put into what are often described as turf wars – arguments over who does what. These arguments may well be necessary in order to ensure order in the organisation and avoid confusion. This must not be allowed to happen in the critically important work of the National Ports Authority. The whole effort of all concerned must be devoted to ensuring that our ports play their proper and efficient role in South Africa. I thank you. [Time expired.]
Ms S N (Sylvia Nomatamsanqa) SIGCAU: Thank you, Chairperson. The Bill before us sets out to bring the operation and management of South African ports in line with international standards. The National Ports Authority will be a refocused entity, geared towards the smooth functioning of South African ports.
The economic importance of ports should never be underestimated. The National Ports Authority will in essence operate as a state-sanctioned monopoly to fulfil this important task. This is correct, because ports directly impact on the national interest. We disagree with those who would like to see the powers and functions of the ports regulator diluted.
It is in the best interest of all stakeholders and the economy as a whole that we have an active and effective regulator. It must have the power to independently balance the needs of all parties against the national interests of having smooth running ports.
The UDM supports the National Ports Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr L M GREEN: Chairperson, if we as South Africans desire to have a much higher economic growth rate, we must make the necessary preparations. Our improved economic growth will place a greater demand on our ports to function efficiently and professionally, and the ACDP is of the view that the passing of this Bill would create the conditions that could improve the speed of both our imports and exports.
The Bill seeks to create a conducive legal and institutional framework for the regulation and management of our ports. The passing of this Bill will result in a process that will finally see the establishment of the National Ports Authority as a registered company outside of Transnet.
Of importance will be the creation of an independent ports regulator whose function it will be, in the first instance, to oversee the relationship between the authority and Transnet; and secondly, to ensure that South African ports remain competitive. Finally, the improvement of our ports, which this Bill encourages, will contribute to our country’s growth. Therefore, the ACDP supports the National Ports Bill.
Ms L N MOSS: Chairperson, hon members of Parliament, I am from Saldanha Bay and our port is the deepest national harbour in our beautiful country. It was once the fishing grounds of Harry die Strandloper, a father of the Khoisan people. With time came development and development means growth. Saldanha Bay was actually dependent on the fishing industry, but today big companies like Saldanha Steel, Duferco and Namakwa Sands are based there.
Their secondary products: steel, coils and pellets, are exported through our harbour, earning billions in foreign exchange. Iron ore from the mines in the Northern Cape see its way through our harbour to reach the demanding Asian market.
Ons verwelkom dus die aankondiging dat ons hawe se infrastruktuur verbeter gaan word om sodoende aan die buitelandse vraag te voorsien; so ook die bou van ’n nuwe haweterminaal om opeenhoping te verhinder; die voltooiing van Coega om die sukkelende Oos-Kaapse ekonomie ’n hupstoot te gee en planne om die kapasiteit van Kaapstad en Richardsbaai hawens te verbeter. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[We therefore welcome the announcement that our port’s infrastructure will be improved upon in order to satisfy foreign demand, as well as the construction of a new port terminal to alleviate bottlenecks, the completion of Coega so as to give the struggling Eastern Cape economy a push and plans to improve on the capacity of the harbours at Cape Town and Richards Bay.]
In Durban harbour vessels’ arrivals almost trebled between 1994 and 2000 despite the fact that the capacity of the average vessel increased during this period. All of these have been directly related to sustained, if initially modest, growth in our economy, an economy that is significantly export-orientated and important. Naturally the growth is to be welcomed, but it is no secret that this growth by the late 1990s was beginning to expose bottlenecks throughout the system due to institutional changes and uncertainties about government’s intentions in regard to SOEs, underinvestment, infrastructure development and many other factors.
Some of the greatest pressures were felt in the container terminals, especially the Durban container terminal. Container traffic in and out of the DCT has increased by 7% per annum, unprecedented anywhere else in the world and making Durban the biggest container port in Africa.
Development is always welcomed, but it must be integrated. We must not see these developments as difficult entities. This means that the ports must not compete against each other, but must complement each other, for example, there is some rumour that iron ore coming from Sishen will also be exported through to the other harbours, which is wrong. So, what is needed to upgrade Saldanha by billions of rands to increase capacity?
Die eiendomsreg van grond en verbeteringe bly maar altyd ’n netelige kwessie. Alle eiendomme moet in die NPA se besit bly. Dit is krities vir toekomstige ontwikkeling. Die NPA is nie net ’n besitter van grond nie, maar moet gesien word as ’n ontwikkelaar van bates tot die land se voordeel. Hierdie besittings moet ook toeganklik wees vir die armste lede van ons kusbevolking om ekonomiese vennootskappe te sluit.
Soos ons weet is die NPA ’n divisie van Transnet. Debat is reeds aan die gang om te besluit of die NPA ’n onafhanklike eenheid moet word, omdat dit ’n winsgewende melkkoei vir Transnet is. In hierdie stadium is ek nie te vinde daarvoor nie, omdat die uitvoer van hulpbronne so afhanklik van ’n goeie en betroubare spoorstelsel is.
Hierdie opsie kan oorweeg word, maar die spoorinfrastruktuur moet verbeter word om sodoende ’n bekostigbare en betroubare diens aan voornemende kliënte te lewer. Hierdie kwessie spreek juis die infrastruktuurontwikkelingsplan aan. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The property rights of land and improvements remain a thorny issue. All properties should remain in the custody of the NPA. This is critical for future development. The NPA is not only an owner of land, but should be seen as a developer of assets to the benefit of the country. These possessions should also be accessible to the poorest members of our coastal population so as to conclude economic partnerships.
As we know, the NPA is a division of Transnet. Debate has already started to decide whether the NPA should become an independent unit, because it is a profitable cash cow for Transnet. At this stage I do not agree, because the export of resources is so dependent on a good and reliable railway network.
This option can be considered, but the railway infrastructure has to be improved in order to deliver an affordable and reliable service to prospective clients. This issue does indeed address the infrastructure development plan.]
South Africa has its own unique features, which we need to understand and work with. We have a long coastline. We have an export-focused and import- dependent economy and we are distant from many of our major markets. Our industrial heartland is in a distant hinterland. Our ports have been and remain critical to our overall economy. We need to see these ports not as stand-alone entities, but as part of a single, relatively integrated logistics system. We have heard some arguments for interport competition, but I am not persuaded that this is feasible, still less desirable.
Our seven commercial ports are fairly neatly segmented. They are relatively specialised in the cargoes they are handling. More and more of government’s industrial sector policies are linked to corridor development. All of these represent a strong agreement for retaining, fostering and developing a national port authority in synch with our National Growth and Development Strategy.
The Bill establishes the NPA as a landlord entity, but the NPA should not be seen as an unproductive feudal landlord, sitting on top of a very valuable piece of real estate. It needs to be a strategic, proactive development and a far-sighted landlord authority. I am pleased to say that with our interaction with NPA personnel in various ports, this developmental perspective appears to be very much part of their own thinking.
The ANC supports the Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr W D SPIES: Chairman, the successful development of the Cape Town Waterfront a few years ago is an excellent example of the concealed benefits and opportunities for development and job creation which are often locked away in the vicinity of most of our national ports.
Our understanding of the objects of this Bill is that it will seek to encourage and facilitate private and public sector investments and participation in the provision of port services and facilities relating thereto. The FF is committed to the principle of localised economic development and the decentralisation of economic power, and we therefore have our concerns about decentralising tendencies which appear from the Bill.
We do, on the other hand, welcome the progress that is being made towards the corporatisation of our ports authority as a separate entity outside of Transnet, as it should in the long run ensure that Transnet doesn’t play the double role of player and referee.
On the contrary, being well aware of the potential for job loses where former state entities become income-generating enterprises, the FF will keep an eye on the practical implementation of these measures. We do, however, support the Bill reservedly and we congratulate the Minister on the milestone on the road to a better infrastructure for our country. I thank you.
Ms S RAJBALLY: Chairperson, the MF acknowledges that ports are not merely stations of entrance and exit, but are very important stations with regard to our economy, imports and exports, as well as the entrance and exit of persons playing a very important role in our revenue. Further, xenophobia being rife amongst many South Africans, the entrance of illegal immigrants needs to be curtailed in every respect. Ports, under no circumstances, should be treated leniently.
In view of this, the MF supports the National Ports Authority Bill that brings our ports in line with modern demands, by envisaging efficient, safe and affordable port services. The appointment of a national ports authority is supported. This body will operate quite independently. The MF wonders why the Minister will not oversee certain aspects.
It is hoped that the appointment of the chief executive officer and transfer of staff from the Transnet National Ports Authority will be managed amicably, also that the transfer of other authorities from Transnet will be done efficiently.
The MF supports the National Ports Authority Bill. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms R J MASHIGO: Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Minister and members, South Africa’s seven commercial ports perform a vital role in the economy of South Africa, serving as international gateways within the transportation and logistics chain, and handling an estimated 95% of our imports and exports.
Ke batla fela gore batho ba ba nnang kwa gare ga naga [inland] ba utlwisise mosola wa lewatle mo ikonoming ya rona. Dithoto di tsewa mo boemakepeng di isiwe kwa gare ga naga, kwa go bo-Limpopo le bo-Gauteng, mme di isiwe kwa mabenkeleng. Re di reka kwa mabenkeleng. Re di bona ka mo gare ga dintlo tsa rona tsatsi lengwe le lengwe, kwa difeketoring le kwa dikgwebong.
Dithoto di tloga go na kwa bogareng jwa naga ya rona go isiwa kwa mawatleng go tswa kwa balemiruing le kwa meepong mme di ntshiwe ka naga ya rona ya Aforika Borwa ka dikepe. Le fa go ntse jalo, re tshwanetse go itse gore go tloga ka 1994, ikonomi ya rona e ntse e gola ka iketlo. Re ntse re bona bokoanyana le pitlagano.
Dilo tse di jalo di ntse dile teng gonne re a itse gore dingwaganyana tse di fetileng, kwa Durban, [container terminal] ya teng e sa le ya tlala thata mme tiro ya nna bothata mo dikhontheinareng, ka jalo go bo go okediwa [container terminal] ego. Re tla itse gore mo tsweletsong [process] e fa go ntse go direga jaana, go na le kgolagano ya meago e le mentsi le ditirelo di le dintsi tse di oketsang tiro le ditšhono tsa ditiro. Globalisation le yona ke tla bua ka yona ka Sekgoa … (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[I would just like people who live inland to understand the importance of the sea in our economy. Cargoes are taken from the harbour to places inland such as Limpopo and Gauteng, after which they are taken into stores. We buy them there. We see them in our homes every day, in factories and in businesses.
Cargoes are taken from inland farmers and mines to the sea whence they are shipped out of our country. Nevertheless, we must know that since 1994, our economy has been growing slowly. We have been experiencing some slumps and tightness.
We had this experience before, when some years back in Durban, the container terminal was so overloaded that it became difficult for work to be carried out. This necessitated the extension of that terminal. We will know that in the process, there are many connected buildings and factories that create job opportunities. I will use English to talk about globalisation, which … ]
… has increased sea borne trade, allowing maritime market forces to dictate supply and demand, and setting tariffs and freight rates, at the same time exerting more pressure on our ports and harbours. Still, on that fact, you will know that all those processes bring jobs to our economy.
We have heard the President say, during the state of the nation address, that Transnet has already approved business plans for new investments in the container terminals of Durban and Cape Town harbours and there are also extension plans for Saldanha and Richards Bay. Jobs will be created at different levels of competency and skills, which, according to our President –
… will eradicate poverty and underdevelopment within the context of a thriving and growing first economy and a successful transformation of the second economy.
During the first version of the Bill a ports regulator had been concentrated on as an interim function, as has already been mentioned. It also concentrated on the relationship between the NPA and Transnet. In this amendment the portfolio committee looked at the business future of the national ports. The regulator should not be seen as undermining the efficiency of the port management, as the NPA will still remain the landlord and fulfil those functions as outlined in section 11 of the Bill.
There is a new insertion in the Bill under section 10(1)(f), namely that a framework for economic participation in the ports and services by public entities, private entities and public-private partnerships will also be looked at. That does not leave the framework for empowerment and participation by the historically disadvantaged. This will be looked at by the Minister, by giving notice in the Gazette which will make a regulation to effect these frameworks.
The issue here at hand is that the Regulator will be looking at the following issues, will hear appeals and complaints and carry the investigations out with a firm understanding of the port environment. The Regulator will also hear appeals, which will come from those people who feel that they’ve been unfairly treated by the National Ports Authority.
Another issue is fair competition between the different ports, which will be in line with the Competition Commission, as established by section 19 of the Competition Act. It will also regulate port tariffs for services and facilities and annual reviews of the tariffs. The main functions of the Regulator have already been mentioned by our Minister, but we also looked at them and we also believe that the main functions will be exercising economic regulations of the ports in line with government’s strategic objectives.
I can mention one of the objectives, which is to ensure an internal environment that promotes safe, efficient and internationally-competitive aviation and maritime industries. The functions also include the promotion of access to ports and facilities and services provided in the ports, and monitoring the activities of the authorities to ensure that they perform their actions in accordance with the Act.
The Regulator will consist of a chairperson and a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 members appointed by the Minister for a period of up to five years at a time. These people will be experts in their different fields. The NPA should know that it will be getting support from all these people, and no one will be working against it.
As a result we think whatever steps are taken refer to the fact that there will be opportunities for everybody to get access; even people from the interior will become aware of the benefits of our ports, that there’s a definite relationship and that the economy is not separated. The interior is not separate from the sea. Whatever we are doing is for the benefit of everybody in this country. The ANC supports the Bill. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Chairperson, seeing that there’s no opposition to the Bill – everybody supports the Bill – my duty is just to say amen, we need to implement it as soon as possible! [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.
WOMEN OF THE WORLD CELEBRATING A DECADE OF PROGRESS
(Subject for Discussion)
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Can we have some order? We are waiting for the hon Njobe to come to the waiting bench.
The MINISTER OF LABOUR: Chairperson, may I be a woman just for today? [Laughter.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Could I appeal for guidance from the Whips.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chair, could we ask that the matter stand for just a couple of minutes. The speaker is on her way. She just had to attend to something that couldn’t be left unattended. [Applause.]
Mrs S A SEATON: [Inaudible.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): I think the speaker from the majority party has arrived, and we will give the Minister a minute to get to the podium. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! Order! I call on the hon Minister of Communications to address the House.
The MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS: Hon Chair, my apologies. When nature calls you have to go when you have to go.
Hon members and colleagues, today marks a very important day for all of us. As women celebrate a decade of progress after the Beijing conference 10 years ago, we cannot forget the strides that we have made as a country because these cut across all the spheres of our lives. The principles of equity enshrined in our Constitution are indeed being realised. The impact is felt in our urban and rural areas.
The women’s delegation we have sent to New York to participate in the Beijing Plus 10 Conference at the UN on the Platform for Action take with them a proud record of our achievements and advancement. Under the leadership of our most able foreign Minister, who is not only an activist with a proud history of struggle for women, but who has been empowered by our President, who passionately believes in women’s emancipation and empowerment, as reflected by the number of women from the executive and the legislatures, we are confident that their engagement with women from the rest of the world will leave an indelible mark.
Even those delegates from our NGOs will reflect a growing confidence in women to speak not only for women, but also for this nation. Together they will provide proof of the measures this government has implemented, focusing especially on the 12 strategic objectives which reflect the challenges of the women of the world.
We have done a great deal to integrate gender perspectives in policies, in legislation, and in regulatory frameworks, programmes and projects. Many departments, such as Agriculture with its women and land beneficiaries, have shown that we do a great deal. The land reform programme of government, in its various elements, has given security of tenure to women, and the Communal Land Rights Act has also asserted the rights of women- headed households in communal areas. This, as we know, would not have happened had it not been for the struggles of South African women.
Departments, such as Trade and Industry with its Technology for Women in Business and its Sawen programme, Minerals and Energy with its Women in Energy, Communications with its Women in ICTs, etc, have not only worked at all levels and focused on projects for women, but also made sure that these link to the strategic programmes of their different departments.
Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women are reflected not only in the setting up of structures, such as the Gender Commission on Equality or the Office on the Status of Women, but also in how Cabinet memoranda have to reflect their implications for the status of women and the disabled and for the rights of children. This serves as a constant reminder to the executive of the impact of our work on these sectors.
We have made great leaps in the inclusion of the empowerment of women in order to close the gender gap in decision-making in the economy. We decry the fact that it is only government, through its state-owned enterprises or institutions that depend on government funding or government influence, which has actually led this project. We call on the private sector and on labour to also come to the party. I mean the party of transformation and not the party of the DA or the ANC. [Interjections.] They must come to the party – both labour and the private sector.
Several government-led or influenced institutions reflect balanced gender participation, such as the Financial and Fiscal Commission, the SA Post Office, Telkom, Vodacom and Sita - which are all chaired by women – the multibillion-rand Gauteng Blue IQ, Sentech, Icasa, Acsa and one other that, I think, might be the Ports Authority, which all have CEOs that are women.
A particular absence of blacks and women before 1994 was experienced in the ICT, knowledge generation and research and development sectors. Today we see massive strides being made in, for example, the Medical Research Council, the CSIR, the Agricultural Research Council and so on, in which women serve not only on boards but are doing active research in so-called non-traditional areas, such as research in Antarctica – under the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism – research into HIV and ICT, and also in very important areas in which our knowledge and experience are so necessary.
At academic institutions we also see that, for example, the only woman vice chancellor of a university in Africa is here in South Africa – our own Connie Malusi. We can also look at, for example, women who are doing research, such as Jenny Thompson at UCT who is doing research in microbiology, Donna Dowling at the University of the Witwatersrand who is doing research in the business field and the work of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of the Free State. These are examples of how important areas of knowledge creation also have women participating in them.
In the field of access to new technologies and media, we have not only seen growth in the participation of women, but we have also witnessed the use of these technologies and new media as a means of communications systems to strengthen women’s participation in the democratic processes, to improve women’s training at low and high levels of education and training, to develop job providers rather than job seekers in an effort to reduce unemployment, and to engage in important campaigns of nonviolence against women, children and many others.
Of the 89 licensed community radio stations, 13 are currently managed by women. Today we can boast of black-women-led enterprises, such as those in the underserviced area of telecommunications licences, because of the seven licences that have been issued at least one is 70% owned by women.
The incubation of small, medium and micro enterprises in the ICT sector has indicated that the majority of these are actually owned by women. In the training of women in some areas of this sector, 50% of those trained at our Institute for Satellite and Software Applications in network, software, satellite and space engineering are women. This is an indication that indeed government is putting its money where its mouth is.
This is all in line with our Freedom Charter that enjoins us to do quite a number of things, some of which are opening the doors of learning to everyone, men and women, young and old, in the rural areas and the urban areas; and making sure that the economy will belong to all of us – not just the old kind of economy but even the new economy or the knowledge economy, as we have seen. This shows that we are paying attention to what the Constitution enjoins of us, namely nonsexism, nonracialism, justice and equity.
We wish our women’s delegation success.
Sithi Malibongwe! Igama lamakhosikazi! [Praise! The name of the women!]
Thank you. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): I now call the hon A M Dreyer, who is making her maiden speech. [Applause.]
Ms A M DREYER: Chairperson, it’s a great privilege to make my maiden speech today and to celebrate women’s progress in a vibrant democracy in it.
I want to describe a future, a vision for the future. Today is 1 March 2025 – it is more than three decades since the historic elections of 1994, which so dramatically widened our democracy. It is almost 20 years ago that the hon Thabo Mbeki was the President and hon Tony Leon was the Leader of the Opposition. Major political events during the 30 odd years leading up to the year 2025 have had a big impact on the lives of South Africans, and especially on its women. The DA has ruled for ten years … [Interjections.] … between 2014 and 2024, and now in 2025 the ANC is back in government. A multiparty system with two strong parties, alternating between government and opposition, is well established. No party is assured of victory in the next election. This strong competition for votes is keeping government and opposition alike on its toes. Our democracy is healthy.
I want to tell you the story of three successful women who prospered during this time.
Op die gebied van veiligheid is daar Susan Cupido wat grootgeword het in Bonteheuwel. Sy is een van die Wes-Kaap se gewildste en suksesvolste polisiekommissarisse ooit. Toe sy in 2014 suiwer op meriete aangestel is, het sy gesorg dat haar topbestuurspan ook op meriete aangewys word, en dat hulle uit die gemeenskappe kom waar hulle gaan werk.
Onder haar bekwame leiding het die moreel van die polisie dramaties verbeter. Hulle tree met selfvertroue op, want hulle is goed opgelei. Hulle het genoeg motors. Hulle het genoeg telefone. Hulle het genoeg radio’s en die strate van dorpe soos Wellington, is veilig en vroue kan nou sonder vrees daar lewe.
Ek onthou ’n spesifieke dag – gelukkig nou al lank gelede – in November 2005 toe ’n onstelde man my gebel het en vertel het van sy suster se sesjarige dogtertjie wat in haar graad 1-klaskamer in die Tsholetsega Laerskool in Kagiso, aan die Wes-Rand in Gauteng, verkrag is toe die klas sonder toesig gelaat is. Dit was die hoeveelste insident in ’n kort tydjie.
Gelukkig hoort hierdie soort traumatiese insidente nou tot die verlede. Deesdae, in 2025, sit verkragters agter tralies en skoolmeisies is vry om op hul studies te konsentreer, sodat hulle, soos Susan Cupido, hulle volle potensiaal kan bereik. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[In the area of safety we find Susan Cupido, who grew up in Bonteheuwel. She is one of the Western Cape’s most popular and most successful police commissioners ever. When she was appointed in 2014, solely on merit, she made certain that her top management team was also appointed on merit, and that they came from the communities where they would be working.
Under her able leadership the morale of the police improved dramatically. They have more self-confidence because they are well trained. They have enough vehicles. They have enough telephones. They have enough radios and the streets of towns such as Wellington are safe, so women can now live there without fear. I can recall a specific day – fortunately now very long ago - in November 2005 when an upset man telephoned me. He told me that his sister’s six-year- old daughter had been raped in her Grade 1 classroom at the Tsholetsega Primary School in Kagiso, on the West Rand in Gauteng, when the class was left unattended. This had been the umpteenth incident in a short space of time.
Fortunately such traumatic incidents now belong to the past. These days, in 2025, rapists are behind bars and schoolgirls are now free to concentrate on their studies so that they, like Susan Cupido, can reach their full potential.]
The second woman I want to tell you about is Sibongile Dlamini, who benefited greatly from a vibrant democracy in South Africa. Sibongile is about 50 years old and she runs a small catering business from her home in Cosmo City near Sandton. It was not always like this. More than 20 years ago, as a young mother from the poverty stricken Alexandra township, she struggled to keep her family alive by cooking meals for workers at construction sites. She had a talent for cooking nutritious and tasty meals. Sibongile had often thought of making this a real business, but when she realised how many forms she had to fill in, and how many rules and regulations she had to comply with – most of which she did not even understand – she gave up her dream.
Fortunately, the situation changed when the people voted for a change of government in 2014 – more than 10 years ago already. The new government immediately scrapped the employment unfriendly labour laws and many people started their own small businesses. Sibongile was one of them. Today she drives her own car and she is paying for her grandchildren’s education. South Africa is prosperous. The economy has boomed with an average growth rate of 6% over the last decade, and women like Sibongile are part of the success of the many new small businesses.
Die laaste vrou waarvan ek julle wil vertel, is die suksesvolle Vele Manda van die Makhadodistrik in die noorde van die Limpopo-provinsie. Sy is ’n rolmodel vir haar gemeenskap, want sy is die eerste vroulike siviele ingenieur wat die Laerskool Nanga opgelewer het. Haar ouma, wat haar grootgemaak het, het haar altyd ondersteun in haar strewe na verdere studie. Omdat Vele bevoorreg was om haar skoolopleiding in haar moedertaal, Tsivenda, te ontvang, het sy altyd haar skoolwerk met haar ouma bespreek. Daarom was haar ouma ook nou betrokke by die skoolaktiwiteite soos oueraande en ander kulturele aande.
Dit het baie vir Vele beteken en haar gehelp om moed te hou deur die moeilike tye. Toe rasse- en geslagskwotas vir studiebeurse in 2014 afgeskaf is, het studente besef dat hulle moet hard werk om beurse op meriete te verdien. Omdat Vele se skoolhoof ’n suksesvolle skool bestuur het, het sy gehalte-onderwys in haar moedertaal ontvang.
Toe Vele dus in 2020 uitstekende matriekresultate behaal, het sy maklik gekwalifiseer vir ’n studiebeurs. Vele het nou aan die begin van 2025 ’n pos in die provinsiale administrasie van die Limpopo provinsie aanvaar, waar sy gaan toesien dat die paaienetwerk van haar provinsie verbeter word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The last woman I want to tell you about is the successful Vele Manda, from the Makhado district in the northern part of Limpopo province. She is a role model for her community as she is the first female civil engineer produced by the Nanga Primary School. Her grandmother, who reared her, always supported her in her endeavour towards further studies. Because Vele was privileged to have received mother tongue instruction in Tshivenda, she could always discuss her schoolwork with her grandmother. As a consequence, her grandmother was also intimately involved in school activities such as parent evenings and other cultural evenings.
This meant a lot to Vele and it also helped sustain her courage through difficult times. When race and gender quotas for bursaries were abolished in 2014, students realised that they had to work very hard to obtain bursaries on merit. Because of the fact that Vele’s school principal managed a successful school, she was able to receive quality education in her mother tongue.
When Vele therefore achieved excellent matric results in 2020, she could easily qualify for a study bursary. Vele has now, at the beginning of 2025, accepted a post with the provincial administration of Limpopo, where she will see to it that the road network of her province is improved.]
When democratic change of government became established in South Africa we entered a new era. Today, 1 March 2025, all South Africans, both men and women, are celebrating International Women’s Day, because we have become truly free: Free from race and gender quotas. Women, like men, are free to follow their dreams and achieve their aspirations. Women are safe. Women have jobs and women are well educated. South Africa is an open society and women are enjoying the fruits of true liberty. [Applause.]
Mrs M A A NJOBE: Chairperson, colleagues and comrades, the trouble is that the DA lives in the future. [Interjections.] That is the reason that they don’t fit in with anything that we do. In South Africa we live in the present, but plan for the future, and that is what we are doing. [Applause.]
As we celebrate a successful 10 years of ANC-led democratic rule, 50 years of the Freedom Charter, 10 years of the adoption by Parliament of the Women’s Charter, a charter that was adopted on behalf of all the women of South Africa, and after a very successful national campaign, we salute the women of this country for their immeasurable contribution to the country’s development and wellbeing.
Through the struggle for their own emancipation, the women of South Africa have contributed significantly, if not immensely, to the international struggle for women’s empowerment globally, and thus we have contributed to the vision of Beijing Plus Ten.
In September 1995 the women of the world gathered in Beijing to attend the Fourth World Conference on Women. The mandate of this conference was to look at the challenges that faced women globally. The Platform of Action was adopted as an internationally agreed plan for achieving equality for women. However, for us in South Africa, as far back as 1954, the Federation of SA Women conceived and adopted the Women’s Charter, a document that spelt out the demands of women for equality. The elements of gender imbalances, as expressed in the Women’s Charter, were later incorporated in the Freedom Charter, the 50th anniversary of which we are celebrating, as I’ve already indicated.
For example, the Freedom Charter states that:
All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose … All shall enjoy equal human rights! The doors of learning and culture shall be opened! There shall be houses, security and comfort!
All these principles and others addressed women’s concerns. Let it also be noted that the demands listed in the Women’s Charter of 1954 were basically about women’s rights, which are, in fact, human rights.
In 1994 the women of South Africa, under the ANC, celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Charter. To popularise the charter and to highlight the plight of women and children living under apartheid, the ANC declared 1984 as the year of the women of South Africa. This was an opportunity for South African women in the ANC to conscientise the world, particularly its women, about the inequalities suffered by black women in South Africa under apartheid rule. These related to issues that were later identified by the Beijing Plus Ten conference as the 12 critical areas, to some of which the Minister has already referred.
Through our own struggle international women who supported us were also mobilised and motivated to identify and raise issues of inequalities they experienced in their own countries. One of the results was the proliferation and strengthening of many nongovernmental women’s organisations, both at home and internationally.
Another notable contribution made by South African women in the liberation movements was our participation in international women’s organisations, such as the Women’s International Democratic Federation, the WIDF. This was a world women’s organisation that was kept alive mainly by women of the socialist countries. The WIDF played a crucial role in the history, the annual commemorations and the many global activities that we associate with 8 March - which we celebrate today.
Because our struggle for equality became recognised worldwide, the liberation movements were required to send representatives to the headquarters of the WIDF in the then East Berlin. Comrades Ruth Mompati, Metus Ferefere and Thuthukile Radebe were some of our leaders through whom South African women contributed to the global struggle against gender imbalances.
Through the WIDF our own activities, both at home and internationally, were enhanced. The participation of South African women at the Nairobi World Women’s Conference, for example, was facilitated by the WIDF. However, some Western countries, such as the US, had reservations about the participation of women from liberation movements as they felt that this would divert the focus of the conference from gender issues and deal with political issues. Of course, they themselves were not liberated. However, the result of our participation in that conference was just the opposite since, as I’ve already indicated before, the women of South Africa had long identified issues of gender discrimination through the Women’s Charter.
Many of the issues we raised at that conference were in fact incorporated by Cedaw. Our participation in the Pan-African Women’s Organisation was also an indirect contribution towards Beijing Plus Ten’s Plan of Action.
We were there when Pawo was established, and it is encouraging to note that the ANC Women’s League has kept the revival of Pawo on its agenda and has had consultations with women in SADC in order to influence women on the continent to utilise Pawo as a tool to address the areas identified by Beijing Plus Ten as “critical areas”, for example poverty, the scourge of HIV/Aids, the promotion of peace on the continent, and so on. This will also be a contribution towards Nepad.
The establishment of the SA Women’s National Coalition enabled women’s organisations in South Africa, regardless of political affiliation, the nongovernmental organisations, the church women, the trade union women, and so on, to articulate issues of gender discrimination with one voice, as South African women. This was a unique example to show that gender issues cut across political, cultural and racial lines.
This is how the women of the African continent, for example, see the coalition. They still see it as a very good example, which they would like to emulate, particularly as they battle with serious divisions in their own countries, such as ethnic divisions.
It was the women’s coalition that upgraded, as it were, the 1954 Women’s Charter to the status that it enjoys today. This charter is no longer for a particular women’s organisation, but a charter embracing the needs of all South African women.
The South African women in this Parliament have also contributed to the achievements women have made in decision-making. I’m thinking here of the role our women MPs played in the debates that led to and influenced the compulsory representation of women in the Pan-African Parliament delegations. The protocol states that out of the five members of the delegation of each country, one should be a woman.
However, in our case we have gone beyond that; we have included three women in our delegation. This is also a good example, and it is largely the contribution made by women that has ensured the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into our country’s government policies and programmes, which promotes the participation and empowerment of women in our country.
What I have tried to do here was to show how the women of South Africa, from the time women were in the liberation movements up to the time we became part of government and Parliament, have made a contribution towards addressing the 12 critical issues identified in the Beijing Plus Ten Conference. We shall continue to lead in as many ways as possible. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms M M MDLALOSE: Chairperson, the title of today’s debate is: Women of the world celebrating a decade of progress. The women of the 21st century have come a long way to now be celebrating a decade of progress. I take it that the celebration is for the achievement of democracy in forging a partnership between men and women in conducting the affairs of the society in which they work.
Mutual enrichment is drawn from complementary sources, and a degree of partnerships in the political, social and economic worlds. It is worth a celebration if women can meet as parliamentarians and as part of the global village. We have, for instance, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Interparliamentary Union, the SADC Women, the feminist schools and the South African delegation to California, Nepad, etc.
We are actually celebrating gender sensitivity, advocacy of the principle of equality, and an awareness of a need for a feminine presence and touch in politics and in creating peace.
We are celebrating action to eradicate violence against women and children …
… isidingo sokuba nomhlaba ophephile . . . [the need to have a safe world]
… where children are not cannon fodder, but can grow up as normal children.
We are celebrating an awareness of having economic potential as women.
Siyeza ngokomnotho. [We are making progress in the economic sphere.]
It is also worth celebrating that women are learning more about the status of women in their own countries and other regions, and about strategies and mechanisms developed by other countries to meet the concerns of women. Even though we are celebrating, we still need to focus more on what we are doing for the future, our future and that of our children.
Gender inequalities are still pervasive throughout the globe. Statistics show that in no region of the developing world do women experience equality with men in terms of legal and socio-economic rights. Countries that discriminate on the basis of gender have more poverty, slower economic growth, weaker governance, and a lower quality of life. Gender concerns immediately become integrated with poverty.
In South Africa, we say gender rights are human rights. South Africa celebrates the national machinery for advancing gender equality. For instance, we have the Commission on Gender Equality; the Office on the Status of Women; the multiparty Parliamentary Women’s Group; groups for women’s empowerment and unit activities on gender-based violence.
As a country, we have set up wide-ranging mechanisms for addressing gender inequalities but these are still a far cry from reaching satisfactory levels of social transformation. As women we still have work to do within our families and social structures before we can experience real change, a change that we can celebrate.
Omama kusafanele bayibambe ngoba yithina esiyokwenza leli zwe libe nokuthula nenqubekela phambili. Yithi futhi okufanele sifunde ukungaqhubukishani kepha sibambane futhi sisebenzisane ukuze siphumelele. Phambili makhosikazi! [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Women still need to work even harder because it is us who will make this country peaceful and prosperous. It is us again who should not tease each other but instead we should unite so that we can succeed. Forward women! [Applause.]]
Ms N M MDAKA: Enkosi Mhlalingaphambili. [Thank you, Chairperson.]
A decade after the Beijing Platform, gender issues have advanced up the international agenda. The implementation of various protocols and mechanisms has ensured and improved gender equality across many fields and in many countries.
South Africa is a leading light on the international stage with progressive legislation and programmes covering a wide variety of fields, from free maternal care to the representation of women in Parliament.
As we celebrate these advances, we must remain acutely aware of the challenges that remain. Internationally, we know that women are dying unnecessary deaths due to disease at far greater rates than their male counterparts. We also know that the worst of exploitative labour policies are still reserved for women; there are still many sweatshops around the world, filled predominantly with women. And then there are the wars, conflicts and repressive regimes, where women are targeted for abuse and exploitation, despite being noncombatants.
As far as the equality and freedom of women are concerned, we must realise that the struggle has barely begun. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr L W GREYLING: Chair, all I can say is: If you are the future, I want to emigrate.
It is my firm belief that liberating women from an oppressive system also liberates men. All of us need to understand that any system that prevents a person from achieving his or her full potential holds the whole of society back.
Progress has certainly been made in the legislative and policy realm at removing the barriers to women’s development. We can celebrate the fact that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is the second most widely ratified human rights treaty.
In Africa we can celebrate the development of regional declarations and mechanisms on gender and development over the last 10 years. It is also a fact to celebrate that the first Speaker of the Pan-African Parliament is a woman and that at least one in five members are also women. The world has witnessed a steady increase in the representation of women in parliaments and decision-making bodies. Africa, in particular, should be proud of the fact that it is Rwanda that has the highest percentage of women parliamentarians in the world.
Has all of this, however, lead to a tangible improvement in the lives of the majority of women? Although overall life expectancy for women has increased, in Southern Africa, life expectancy has decreased dramatically as a result of HIV/Aids. We find that 55% of those infected with HIV/Aids in Africa are women, and it is women that have to bear the greatest burden for caring for people who are infected. We have to do far more to prevent the spread of this virus, particularly given that the infection rate is five times higher amongst girls aged 15-19 than among boys of the same age.
On that note, I would urge the government to ensure that every rural hospital has adequate supplies of female condoms. Until women have complete power to insist on safe and responsible sexual practices, the ID will blow the vuvuzela for the female condom.
The ID is also extremely concerned about the continued violence that is perpetrated against women, both in conflict situations and in terms of normal society. We cannot stand for this any more, and we have to take action to address this. I thank you.
Mr M JOHNSON: Chairperson, indeed we dream seated and walking. It is allowed, it’s democracy, it’s an ideal dream that has no plan, strategy or tactics. This speech is dedicated to Constable Francis Rasuge. [Applause.] She disappeared from our midst in August last year.
It is almost 10 years since women of the world met in Beijing, China, for the 4th United Nations conference to discuss steps to be taken to improve the status of women in the world. The conference culminated in the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Declaration secured the commitment of governments, including our country South Africa, to mobilise resources to achieve the goals set by the Platform. It is indispensable that the meeting was a milestone in the recognition of women’s rights as part of a democratic revolution.
The 10-year review to take place next month is an opportunity for women to come together to discuss and debate the issues raised in the Beijing Platform for Action and to measure how far women’s rights have been realised. It is interesting, therefore, that this review coincides with our own 10-year review, since the attainment of democracy and freedom. Lastly, this review also takes place against the backdrop of the celebration of 50 years of the Freedom Charter, our beacon of hope for a truly nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous democracy.
It is true that progress has been made on the international, regional and national fronts to improve the status of women. Many changes have been made and witnessed, particularly on the African continent, following the adoption of the Beijing Platform of Action. We need to celebrate those achievements and that is the reason, in this House, why we are calling for the celebration of the progress made in the advancement of women since 1995.
States have developed several strategies and action plans with the object of eradicating poverty, as evidenced by numerous strategies undertaken across countries. In particular, the SA government has placed a high priority on poverty eradication, and our antipoverty strategies are based on meeting basic needs and developing human resources. Means and mechanisms have been put in place for all women to have access to social grants, such as the child support grant.
However, the weakness of poverty reduction strategies in Africa is that they do not necessarily take into account the gender gap and related issues. As a result, although 1997–2006 has been declared the international decade for the elimination of poverty, statistics show that women still constitute the majority of the poor and illiterate in both urban and rural Africa due to economic and social decline, wars and conflict.
At the same time, a high debt burden means that most countries use their resources in servicing the debt at the expense of the utilisation of these resources for poverty eradication programmes. Also, structural adjustment programmes and globalisation have exacerbated the poverty of African women. Comrades and friends, if, as a continent, we do not take decisive action to eradicate poverty against women we are at risk of not attaining the millennium development goals of halving poverty by 2015.
Women have played and continue to play a significant role in the economic and social development of their countries. It is a fact that, for our survival, we depend largely on women. However, their hard work has not been recognised and rewarded. It is only after the Beijing Conference that women’s contribution to African economies is increasingly being recognised, with the inclusion of women’s domestic work in the GDP as a first step.
Let me mention some of the achievements on the economic front. The most significant one is that some African countries have established microcredit schemes, particularly to assist women to start their own businesses. It is therefore fitting that during this International Year of Microcredit, as declared by the UN, we mobilise all in government, as well as those outside of it, utilising microcredit as part of the poverty eradication strategy. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Namibia and Brazil, among others, have advanced in microcredit, which is aimed at the eradication of poverty.
Concessions have been made in legislation regarding employment, in order to protect this vulnerable group and to increase the employment of women, such as the Employment Equity Act in the case of South Africa. However, more still needs to be done to create opportunities for women to participate fully in the economy of the continent. We are still faced with a high unemployment rate, especially among women on the continent.
I welcome this initiative of a gender-sensitive Budget, but I believe that these initiatives still need to be strengthened and implemented. It is the lack of resources that causes gender declarations and policies not being translated into actionable measures.
We need to put an end to child labour and trafficking in girl children and women, which is still prevalent on the continent. To be able to root out some of the bad practices against girl children and women, the adverse economic conditions that make vulnerable women continue to live in abusive relationships need to be addressed. We cannot talk of economic development on the continent through Nepad if we ignore the development of women. We need the participation of women in the Secretariat and other strategic structures of economic development in Africa among others, the African Development Bank.
In the same breath, let me acknowledge the part played by our government in helping African states after the end of conflict to rebuild their economies. As a country we are playing a significant role in the Africa Agriculture Development Programme to revive agriculture on the continent.
Through new policies that are gender sensitive, women in Africa have gained access to productive resources such as land. However, a variety of factors, particularly customary and religious factors, have made it impossible for some women to exercise effective control over productive resources and benefits derived from them. In some countries women have no right to own property. They thus have nothing which they can present as collateral when soliciting credit facilities. This stems from the traditions and customs that still consider women as minors under the guardianship of their male counterparts. Our country is taking a lead in this regard.
In conclusion, we have indeed turned the tide, the gender tide, both as the ANC - in and out of government. The ANC continues to lead, including those on the left, but right wing in thoughts and in deeds. We are now moving away from a 30% to a 50% representation, let alone a nonracial character of a party that only professes nonracialism. [Applause.] Even though I emphasised the notable progress that has been made in the decade, significant challenges remain.
Insufficient resources remain the main obstacle in implementing the Beijing Platform. The advantage of the Beijing Conference has been that during the 10 years women have been able to organise themselves into a strong force, pushing governments to act to ensure gender equality and women empowerment. No one could question the notion that the Beijing Conference provided a good platform for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
The coming decade should be dedicated to the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Africa. This calls for stronger participation between government and NGOs. Both women and men should work together to ensure gender equality and empowerment of women. Malibongwe! [Praise!] [Time expired.] [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! Hon Johnson, please take the waiting bench. Yes, hon member?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Mr Chairperson, on a point of order: My friend there was referring to hon members on the left, who are right- wing in thinking. I am sitting with the hon Mlangeni on my left. [Laughter.] I didn’t know he was right-wing in thinking. [Laughter.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Thank you, hon member. You may return to your seat, hon Johnson. [Laughter.] Order!
Ms C B JOHNSON: Chairperson, I see we go from one Johnson to another. [Laughter.]
We, the women of South Africa, can truly celebrate a decade of progress and we must all agree with the President when he said that never before have we enjoyed such a confluence of encouraging opportunities. And the reason for that is simple: It is because we live in South Africa. We are fortunate. There are millions of women in other areas of the world who have very little reason to celebrate today, simply for the reason that their fundamental human rights are being denied on a daily basis.
In international conflicts, such as those particularly in Kosovo, the DRC, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Afghanistan, the Sudan and Rwanda, the conflict was not limited to conventional methods only, because rape and physical violence were used as weapons of warfare and as instruments of terror.
International human rights organisations have found that women in these conflict areas often reported brutal rapes and sexual assaults. They further found that those who have survived the attacks suffered from long- term psychological trauma or permanent physical injury. And, very often, the end of the conflict did not mean the end of the cycle of violence, because it often continued in the postconflict period where women experienced further violence in refugee camps or when they ultimately returned to their homes.
There seems to be this perception in certain quarters that violence against women, when it is linked to international warfare, is a somewhat unfortunate but normal consequence of warfare, and this attitude is unacceptable. No country in the world can sit back and say that if it doesn’t happen in our country then it is somebody else’s problem, and somebody else’s responsibility. It has become a global social epidemic and can only be solved through global commitment and global co-operation.
That is exactly where South Africa has a huge part to play. Because we have achieved a great deal towards realising women’s rights in this country, we can assist in that regard. South Africa has proved itself as an important player in international conflict resolution. We have done this in two ways: Firstly, through our contribution to peace negotiations and international dialogue and, secondly, through active involvement in peacekeeping.
South Africa must use all means at our disposal to negotiate lasting peace and to influence other countries to adhere to the principles of the Beijing Platform, the Africa Charter, and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. We must support the International Criminal Court, which charges the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, because until such time as these principles and these institutions have global support, women in conflict areas will not be able to share in our celebrations.
However, if we do succeed, and we will succeed, the women of the world will also be able to enjoy the same confluence of encouraging opportunities. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mrs C DUDLEY: Thank you, Chair. The ACDP recognises that increased economic insecurity, armed conflicts, and the spread of HIV/Aids have generated huge additional challenges during the decade since the Beijing Conference in 1995.
A young Rwandan woman tells her story: “When the genocide started I was raped by eight soldiers,” she said.
In the days that followed I was brutalised repeatedly by the
soldiers, sometimes using the ends of their rifles. I have been
raped 70 times; as a result I am HIV positive. My husband got it
from me and he died. Two of our three children have Aids too.
The soldiers who raped me escaped across the border. One of them
has returned recently and he is afraid I’m going to testify against
him. He started sending me threatening letters. I’m terrified.
Other women I know have been attacked by the men who raped them 10
years ago. They are afraid.
These women are not yet celebrating, despite quotas. Increasing migration in response to the demand for labour in high growth countries, combined with increasing restrictions on entry, result in a lack of protection for those regarded as illegal, leaving women vulnerable to all forms of exploitation, including trafficking. Legalising prostitution in certain countries has not helped either, but increases the demand, and creates greater risk and danger for vulnerable women targeted by traffickers.
Over the last decade, the percentage of women living with HIV/Aids has risen from 38% to 48% worldwide, and to 58% in sub-Saharan Africa. Violence against women exacerbates this reality. This violence has been referred to as the most persistent human rights violation. Finding culturally appropriate solutions to gender-based violence is a huge challenge and must remain a high priority.
In South Africa alone, during our first 10 years of democracy, the number of reported cases of rape increased by almost 18%, but less than 2% of those who are raped each year access drugs to prevent HIV infection. Crisis centres report ever-increasing cases of rape, with the majority of victims ranging from five to twenty-one years, but also including increasing numbers of very young babies.
Rape is a low-risk activity. Shockingly, statistics in South Africa indicate that this risk has not increased over the last five years. There are simply very few reasons for a rapist to think twice about committing rape, as the consequences will not be his to bear.
When perpetrators are dealt with swiftly and receive sentences that will be a deterrent, then justice will begin to be a reality, and women will have something to celebrate. The Law Reform Commission estimates that there are 1,7 million cases of rape a year, meaning that the vast majority of rape cases do not get reported.
Finally, the ACDP commends the USA delegation to the Beijing Plus Ten Conference, which is standing for the rights of women by protecting the rights of their unborn children. We salute you. The ACDP supports and encourages attempts to highlight and address… [Time expired.]
Mr W D SPIES: Chairman, between 2500 and 3000 years ago, the following was written by a very powerful man, about a truly empowered woman:
She’s like the ships of a merchant; she brings her food from afar. She
rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household. She
considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands she plants
a vineyard.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go
out at night. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands
to the needy.
These divine words were written in the book of Proverbs.
Today we are debating the progress made in the last 10 years, but are we honest when we talk about progress? Are we really making any progress?
Last month, a 65-year-old terminally ill cancer patient was raped by a young man in a hospital bed, in the main building of the Pretoria Academic Hospital. Two weeks ago, at the University of Pretoria, a female student was treated in hospital, after protesting students from the Pan-Africanist Students Movement of Azania hit her in the face. Last week, a female student at the University of Johannesburg was forcefully removed from a classroom and threatened by protesting male students from the SA Students’ Congress. She was so traumatised that she interrupted her studies and went home. This weekend, a 19-year-old girl was gang-raped in Centurion after her boyfriend had been shot dead at the scene.
Let us be honest. The laudable initiatives and the international conventions taken at government level are not filtering through to the grassroots level of our society. We must find the missing link. Our challenge is to build a society that not only despises the abuse of power by the minority, but also by the majority; a society that respects the will of the majority and the powerful but never neglects the will, the dreams and the fears of the minority, the weak and the marginalised.
You might be surprised to realise that many truths in this regard were not new inventions of the last decades, but internal principles that were given to us in the earliest of times. I thank you. [Time expired.]
Ms P BHENGU: Chairperson, hon members and hon Ministers present in the House, not so long ago the UN General Assembly endorsed a resolution on the Economic and Social Council which called for a world conference on women to be held in 1995.
Giving effect to this resolution in September 1995, the women of the world gathered in Beijing to attend the Fourth World Conference on Women. These women converged on Beijing to deliberate on and resolve the issues and challenges that impact negatively on all women of the world. In essence, the Conference focused on women in poverty, education, health care, violence against women, effects of conflicts on women, power sharing and decision-making, mechanisms to promote the advancement of women’s human rights, mass media, women’s management of natural resources in the environment and the girl child.
The Beijing Conference reaffirmed commitment to equal rights in all existing agreements and to ensuring the full implementation of human rights of women and girl children, which include the right to decide the number and spacing of children and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. In other words, the Conference resolved to ensure full enjoyment by women and girl children of human rights, to eliminate discrimination and to remove obstacles to promoting equality, in which case men should be encouraged to participate in actions that seek to promote women’s human rights.
In essence, this means empowerment and advancement of women, which are fundamental to equality, development and peace in global society. In this regard, governments were called upon to promote and protect these rights and also to take into account the systemic nature of discrimination against women.
It was this Beijing Conference that noted and aggressively discussed that human rights abuses often occur in times of armed conflict and that these conflicts have disproportionate effects on women. In this regard, women of the world called for ratification of international instruments on the protection of women and children in armed conflicts and for increased women’s participation in conflict resolution, as well as training of officials dealing with cases of violence against women in situations of armed conflict.
Moreover, the conference made a call for the people of the world to work towards ratification of international instruments that prohibit or restrict the use of landmines. This includes supporting efforts to co-ordinate a common response programme of assistance in demining, as well as the adoption of a moratorium on the export of antipersonnel landmines.
Now that we are 10 years from the Beijing Conference, let us celebrate the shift towards political pluralism in many African states, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the movement towards concluding peace agreements in African states, previously in armed conflicts, which have provided opportunities for the African Women’s Movement to advance with respect to African women’s involvement in decision-making and political participation.
This progression also finds expression in the constitutive Act of the African Union which makes a commitment to gender equality, which commitments expanded upon the African Union Declaration on Gender Equality and its protocol, to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The African Union Commission has been formed on a 50-50 gender and parity basis, and the Speaker of the Pan-African Parliament is a woman, with at least one in every five members of that parliament being a woman.
In October 2004 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Seventh African Regional Conference noted that the New Partnership for Africa Development - Nepad, the implementation of which is under way - is also expected to enhance women’s human rights through the social development indicators that are included in the African Peer Review Mechanism.
When interviewed in 1991, Wangari Maathai said:
Others told me that I shouldn’t have a career; that I shouldn’t
raise my voice; that women are supposed to have a master; that I
need to be somebody else.
This confinement of women of Africa also relates to the cocoon of stereotypes within which people are confined by the internalisation of Western culture patronising conceptions.
However, women of the Democratic Republic of Congo have said loudly that the Congolese negotiations have given women the opportunity to redefine themselves and to define their role with regard to the state and civil society and that the women of Congo realised that they have the potential to change society.
These women of Africa went on to say that the struggle of women for recognition of their rights has become a fight for social justice, because there are many men who share their views. One may not be aware that men are now also speaking of the participation of women in decision-making.
Yes, the progress has been made even beyond mere realisation of women’s human rights. This is so, because having men championing the struggle for women’s rights indicates nothing else but change of attitude and transformation of the collective mindset of men of global society, including those of Africa. Indeed, the progress has been made.
Even the women of Burundi have adopted the Esselen Park Declaration, which urge that women’s rights and the entrenchment of gender equality for women be observed in the interim and final constitutions of Burundi, and that all future deliberations regarding the future of Burundi guarantee proportional representation of Burundi women.
Like many other women in Africa, women of South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi have been engaged in many activities which have given directions on what should and can be done to realise the desired empowerment and advancement of women of the continent and the world.
These collective engagements do not only confirm the correctness and urgency of the call made by the Speaker of the Pan-African Parliament that women of Africa unite, but also provide practical examples of the concrete steps that have already been undertaken and which should be undertaken in the future to translate the foregoing call and advancement of women into reality.
Without any doubt, any efforts which seek to promote human rights of women, adversely affect culture and religion in all communities, whether in Africa, Europe, North America or otherwise. Some achievements have been recorded in undermining any aspects of cultures and religions, which throughout history continued to undermine and victimise women, in particular poor and unsuspecting women of Africa.
Let us celebrate the freedom secured by Amina Lawal of northern Nigeria, whose death sentence as a punishment for bearing a child out of wedlock, was quashed. This is a step forward towards recognition and application of human rights of women in interpreting any customary and religious aspects of any community on the continent and beyond.
Moreover, already in existence are strategies which seek to demonstrate the extent to which customary and religious laws are subject to interpretation and transformation in favour of human rights of African women. Despite the progress, challenges still remain. For instance, exercising the human rights of women in the context of customary and religious laws has proved to be more difficult.
There are still questions relating to the implementation and the impact of dominant strategies and tools of advancing gender equality such as gender mainstreaming. In the light of these challenges, there must be a reassessment of strategising in order to make a difference in the lives of all the women in Africa and the world in their diversity.
Moreover, in a situation of armed conflict in Africa, combatants continue to target bodies of women as a means to wage war, with brutal and dire consequences for these women’s reproductive and sexual health and rights. In peaceful situations, incidents of violence against women continue to increase, with trafficking in African women becoming a major concern on the continent.
Women of the world, let us borrow the words uttered by President Thabo Mbeki on the occasion of the adoption of the South African Constitution on 8 May 1996, in saying:
Moreover, whatever our immediate interest, however much we carry
baggage from our past; however much we have been caught by the
fashion of cynicism and loss of faith in the capacity of the
people, let us say today: Nothing can stop us now!
We will continue to be inspired by this attitude and believe that the transformation of society will never be complete without the total emancipation of the women of South Africa, the women of the African continent and the women of the world, who are still subjected to the burden of oppression and exploitation.
The struggle continues!
Ngiyabonga! [I thank you!] [Applause.]
Mr I S MFUNDISI: Chairperson and hon members, the freedom and democracy that dawned on the shores of this country in the past ten years have brought relief to the womenfolk. This has not happened in South Africa alone; we notice these changes throughout the continent.
It has become common to see women take up their positions in the public and private sectors with admirable ease and proving that they are not lesser people who were created with the crumbs that fell off the master’s table when the superior beings of men were created. Women have a right to be around.
In politics we have seen women rise to the occasion. The President of the Pan-African Parliament, Gertrude Mongella, and the Deputy President of Zimbabwe, Joyce Mujuru, are also women. The National Assembly of the Parliament of South Africa has had Dr Frene Ginwala as Speaker, and her successor is also a woman. Female provincial Premiers have hit the road running. All this is proof that womenfolk have the prowess to handle issues and do so with great finesse.
Women have come a mighty long way to free themselves from the shackles of domination and patriarchal systems. Our stance is that people should achieve greatness, and greatness should not be thrust upon them. We have looked with interest and appreciation at how women such as Bishop Vashti McKenzie, Bishop Sarah Davis of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, and Bishop Carolyn Guidry of the Caribbean Islands and England were elected to the biscopal office, well ahead of male competitors and virtually leaving some males in the junior ranks of the ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
We in the UCDP have always said women should be given their due and the chance to stand against all other people, without being pushed forward, favoured or placed in places in compliance or as tokens. We have seen it work. It is on these grounds that Mrs Ndebela Mathladi, secretary-general of our party, is second to none.
The UCDP is fully committed to the advancement of women, and looks back on the past decade with great relish as to what has happened with regard to the recognition, advancement, acceptance and support of women in this country, although, of course, much still has to be done. We thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr M T LIKOTSI: Chairperson, the 10-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in our decade of democracy is a critical opportunity to reaffirm the global women’s agenda for women’s human rights, gender equality and empowerment of women.
We must use this opportunity to reaffirm unequivocally our commitment to the accelerated implementation of the entire Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, and the outcomes document of the twenty-third United Nations General Assembly’s special session, Beijing Plus Five, and to ensure that the appropriate resources are made available for the continued implementation of the BPFA and the realisation of gender equality and women’s human rights, as enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
It must be remembered that the Beijing Platform for Action was drafted and adopted by governments but thousands of women activists worldwide have contributed to all phases of developing, drafting, monitoring and implementing the Platform for Action.
The PAC has a particular concern about the many ways in which neoliberalism, including the promotion of a free-trade regime, economic globalisation and market liberalisation, have led to deep inequalities. This has led to the feminisation of employment, the intensified exploitation of women and unpaid work, and has undermined the livelihood strategies of poor rural and urban women, including migrant women, and disabled and displaced women in all areas of the world. The increasing impact of such policies on the lives and livelihoods of women is compounded in many countries worldwide.
Women, like other people, are social beings, and not economic animals. Women’s privacy of material and spiritual interests must be recognised. All tendencies to uphold own interests at the expense of women must be eliminated. It is only within such a set-up that the human personality can be developed and that respect for it can be fostered. I thank you.
HON MEMBERS: Malibongwe! [Praise!]
Ms S RAJBALLY: Igama lamakhosikazi! [The name of the women!]
Thank you, Chairperson. Mothers, daughters, sisters of this nation and globally, unite and advance to true gender equality and efficient use of your capacity, to be who you want to be through the essence of your being and your capacity to be the best.
Today, across the ocean, in the city of New York, the world hosts the 49th Commission on the Status of Women, which runs until 11 March 2005. The implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcomes document of the special session of the UN General Assembly in 2000 will be reviewed. Countries around the world have been asked to participate in this auspicious occasion that serves to advance gender equality and the liberation of women in all spheres, sectors and regions.
As a South African, I am proud to say that since 1994 our government has committed itself to gender equality, as stated in the Bill of Rights of our supreme law, the national Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,
- Legislative policies and organs have been instituted to turn around gender imbalances and ensure equal opportunities for all. The MF does, however, acknowledge that some legislation still needs to be brought in line with these provisions of our Constitution, and is committed to making a change.
The MF is further proud to acknowledge that we are one of the SADC countries committed to ensuring that, by 2005, 30% of political and decision-making positions are filled by women. South Africa has exceeded this goal: 32,8% of MPs in the NA are women, and 35,2% of MPs in the NCOP are women.
The MF has two seats in the NA and one is held by a woman, me. [Laughter.] Of the seven office bearers in the NA, three are women. The NCOP also boasts great advancement of women-held positions. Proudly, at Cabinet level women are approaching 50%, and have successfully been included in the peacemaking process. It would be great some day to have a female President in South Africa.
The MF applauds our achievement to draw in gender equality as a firm commitment to this democracy and our Constitution. However, we are aware of many shortfalls in South Africa that are being addressed as part of our commitment to the Beijing Platform for Action. Further efforts are being made in PAP, SADC, Nepad and other global relations to eradicate gender inequality globally.
In the overpopulated province of KwaZulu-Natal the hardships endured by women are horrific, as also seen in many case studies globally. However, it is evident that science has awakened to gender equality, social development and advancement. It is the sworn commitment of the government, parties, NGOs and the public at large to attain the true success of democracy and gender equality. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Nksz S P RWEXANA: Mhlalingaphambili, i-DA mayiyeke ukuphupha. I-ANC ifana nomlambo i-Nile, inamasebe aphuma emacaleni afana namaqela ezopolitiko la sinawo. Isisiqalo, isisiphelo: nguAlfa, nguOmega; ngoko i-DA mayiyeke ukuphupha. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Ms S P RWEXANA: Chairperson, the DA must stop dreaming of the ANC as the Nile River, with branches that are similar to political groups we have. The beginning and the end is Alpha and Omega, respectively. Therefore, the DA must stop dreaming.]
Chairperson, hon members, today women of the world gather in New York to celebrate a decade of progress and to seriously discuss women’s issues. This is a follow-up to the Beijing-led mass gathering which took place 10 years ago. One of the underlying principles of the Beijing Platform for Action is equality as a human right and a matter of social justice, and this is also a prerequisite for development and peace.
A partnership based on equality between men and women is an important tool for people-centred development. It is therefore important that we focus on the girl-child as one of the Beijing Platform for Action’s critical focus areas.
As South African women, and as the ANC Women’s League in particular, we have always been proud of our slogan: Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi. [Praise the name of women!] We say so as champions of human and women’s rights, not only in our country, but on the continent as a whole. In every society and every community we women are pillars who have worked for a better South Africa and a better world. Therefore we have every reason to celebrate their achievements in this decade.
Women have an enormous impact on the wellbeing of their families and societies, yet their potential is not being realised because of discriminatory social norms, incentives and legal institutions. And while their status has improved in recent decades, gender inequalities remain pervasive.
Gender inequality starts early and keeps women at a disadvantage throughout their lives. In some countries infant girls are less likely to survive than infant boys, because of parental discrimination and neglect even though, biologically, infant girls should survive in greater numbers. Girls are more likely to drop out of school and to receive less education than boys owing to discrimination, education expenses and household duties.
The differences between schooling for boys and schooling for girls are greatest in regions with the lowest primary school completion rates and lowest average incomes. In low-income countries, the ratio of girls’ enrolment in primary and secondary education institutions, as a percentage of that of boys, is 84%, compared to 101% in upper middle-income countries.
Gender disparity at school is still serious in many sub-Saharan African and south Asian countries. In South Africa, reducing education costs, improving quality, tackling parental concerns about female modesty or safety and increasing the returns to families that invest in female schooling are factors that can overcome social and economic barriers to girls’ education.
The legislation that has been put in place in South Africa, the advent of democracy and the eradication of centuries of apartheid rule in our country have seen the introduction of a number of progressive pieces of legislation aimed at transforming our society from an oppressive and discriminatory one to one that is based on equality.
Some of the laws that our government has passed to abolish discrimination and restore the dignity of the girl-child include the following: the Child Care Amendment Act of 1996, which provides for the protection, love and care of all children irrespective of race or gender; and the Maintenance Act of 1998.
In terms of the establishment of the Girls Education Movement, girls are trained and mentored to participate in school politics and run for leadership positions; while the Education Movement and Men as Partners Against HIV/Aids Campaign empowers boys to be ambassadors on issues of gender and violence against women and children, and to challenge any violent behaviour meted out against girls by their peers.
Regarding the launched Equity in the Classroom Project of 2000, policy guidelines on sexual harassment have been developed with teacher formations and NGOs. Regarding the challenges, the implementation of the above Act is both a challenge and an achievement.
While the law seeks to redress the imbalances of the past, the girl-child still bears the brunt of being born a girl. We should ensure that girls are protected when they speak out against all forms of discrimination. We should assess the impact of the Boy Empowerment Programme in changing the behaviour of the boy-child. We should also ensure the implementation of the sexual harassment guidelines.
While there are legislative developments in South Africa, there remains a challenge in Africa in terms of which a girl-child is still a victim of armed conflict, where there is still violence against women and children and where there is child trafficking. Through the SA Women in Dialogue, led by our First Lady Mrs Zanele Mbeki, Sawid facilitated a peace dialogue between South African women and Congolese and Burundi women on issues that affect women and children in armed conflicts. This process assisted these women to better understand the management of peace and stability in their own countries. Let us conclude by emphasising the point that when we speak of women, the girl-child and armed conflict we are proud to tell the world that we are working with women in countries where there are conflicts and that Africa, like South Africa, will belong to all who live in it and its wealth will be shared by all. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 17:45. ____
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
MONDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2005
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly
- Submission of Private Members’ Legislative Proposals
(1) The following private member's legislative proposal was
submitted to the Speaker on 24 February 2005, in accordance with
Rule 234:
(i) Represented Political Parties' Election Fund Bill (Mr P F
Smith).
In accordance with Rule 235 the legislative proposal has been
referred to the Standing Committee on Private Members' Legislative
Proposals and Special Petitions by the Speaker.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Finance
Special Report of the Auditor-General on the Consolidated Financial
Statements of the National Government for the years 2002-2003, 2001-
2002, 2000-2001, 1999-2000 [RP 206-2004].
- The Minister of Trade and Industry
(a) Government Notice No R.4 published in Government Gazette No
25874 dated 2 January 2004: International Trade Administration
Commission of South Africa in terms of the International Trade and
Administration Act, 2002 (Act No 71 of 2002).
(b) Government Notice No R.3 published in Government Gazette No
25873 dated 2 January 2004: International Trade Administration
Commission of South Africa: Import Control in terms of the
International Trade and Administration Act, 2002 (Act No 71 of
2002).
(c) Government Notice No R.47 published in Government Gazette No
25927 dated 9 January 2004: Amendment to the Compulsory
specification for the safety of moulded-case circuit breakers
(VC8036) in terms of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993).
(d) Government Notice No R.75 published in Government Gazette No
25948 dated 29 January 2004: Declaration of certain goods as
controlled goods and the determination of control measures
applicable to such goods in terms of the Non-Proliferation of
Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, 1993 (Act No 87 of 1993).
(e) Government Notice No R.77 published in Government Gazette No
25949 dated 29 January 2004: Amendment of Government Notice No
R705 dated 23 May 1997 in terms of the Non-Proliferation of
Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, 1993 (Act No 87 of 1993).
(f) Government Notice No 110 published in Government Gazette No
25968 dated 6 February 2004: Revision of the annual finance charge
rates in terms of the Usury Act, 1968 (Act No 73 of 1968)
(g) Government Notice No R.168 published in Government Gazette No
26004 dated 13 February 2004: Draft Safeguard Regulations: For
public comment in terms of the International Trade and
Administration Act, 2002 (Act No 71 of 2002)
(h) Government Notice No 182 published in Government Gazette No
26027 dated 13 February 2004: Approval of an application for the
Strategic Industrial Project (SIP) in terms of the Income Tax Act,
1962 (Act No 58 of 1962)
(i) Government Notice No 248 published in Government Gazette No
26051 dated 27 February 2004: Standards Matters in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(j) Government Notice No R.209 published in Government Gazette No
26014 dated 20 February 2004: Withdrawal of the compulsory
specification for slow speed vehicles and replacement with the
compulsory specification for agricultural tractors in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(k) Government Notice No R.297 published in Government Gazette No
26113 dated 12 March 2004: For general comment in terms of the
Housing Development Schemes for Retired Persons Act, 1993 (Act No
65 of 1993)
(l) Government Notice No R.320 published in Government Gazette No
26136 dated 12 March 2004: Import control in terms of the
International Trade Administration Act, 2002 (Act No 71 of 2002)
(m) Government Notice No R.337 published in Government Gazette No
26143 dated 19 March 2004: Notice under Clause 82 in terms of The
Sugar Industry Agreement, 2000
(n) Government Notice No R.355 published in Government Gazette No
26161 dated 26 March 2004: Withdrawal and replacement of the
compulsory specification for vehicles of category 01 and 02 in
terms of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(o) Proclamation No R.26 published in Government Gazette No 26285
dated 21 April 2004: Commencement of the Broad-Based Black
Economic Empowerment Act, 2003 (Act No 53 of 2003)
(p) Government Notice No R.642 published in Government Gazette No
26375 dated 28 May 2004: Regulations: Payment of levy and the
issue of sales permits with regard to compulsory specifications:
Amendment in terms of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(q) Government Notice No R.643 published in Government Gazette No
26375 dated 28 May 2004: Compulsory specification for small arms
shooting ranges in terms of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of
1993)
(r) Government Notice No 712 published in Government Gazette No
26444 dated 8 June 2004: Notice under section 13: Declaration of
certain biological goods and technologies to be controlled and
control measures applicable to such goods in terms of the Non-
Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, 1993 (Act No 87
of 1993)
(s) Government Notice No 714 published in Government Gazette No
26422 dated 11 June 2004: Standards Matters in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(t) Government Notice No R.790 published in Government Gazette No
26530 dated 9 July 2004: Withdrawal and replacement of the
compulsory specification for the manufacture, production,
processing and treatment of canned fish, canned marine molluscs
and canned crustaceans in terms of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No
29 of 1993)
(u) Government Notice No R.791 published in Government Gazette No
26531 dated 9 July 2004: Withdrawal and replacement of the
compulsory specification for the manufacture, production,
processing and treatment of canned meat products in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(v) Government Notice No 796 published in Government Gazette No
26540 dated 9 July 2004: Standards Matters in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(w) Government Notice No 847 published in Government Gazette No
26669 dated 13 August 2004: Application for approval for the
Strategic Industrial Project (SIP) in terms of the Income Tax Act,
1962 (Act No 58 of 1962)
(x) Government Notice No 943 published in Government Gazette No
26649 dated 13 August 2004: Standards Matters in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(y) Government Notice No R.980 published in Government Gazette No
26689 dated 17 August 2004: Regulations for the registration of
liquor manufacturers and distributors, and related matters in
terms of the Liquor Act, 2003 (Act No 59 of 2003)
(z) Government Notice No R.1163 published in Government Gazette No
26882 dated 8 October 2004: International Trade Administration
Commission of South Africa: Import control in terms of the
International Trade and Administration Act, 2002 (Act No 71 of
2002)
(aa) Government Notice No 1194 published in Government Gazette No
26877 dated 15 October 2004: Standards Matters in terms of the
Standards Act, 1993 (Act No 29 of 1993)
(bb) Proclamation No R.51 published in Government Gazette No 26958
dated 1 November 2004: Commencement of the National Gambling Act,
2004 (Act No 7 of 2004)
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Division of Revenue Bill [B 8 - 2005] (National Assembly - sec 76), dated 25 February 2005:
The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Division of Revenue Bill [B 8 - 2005] (National Assembly - sec 76), referred to it, reports the Bill with amendments [B 8A - 2005].
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Defence on the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts, dated 15 February 2005:
The Portfolio Committee on Defence, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts, referred to it, recommends that the House, in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, approve the said Protocol.
Request to be considered.
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Defence on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mutual Defence Pact, dated 15 February 2005:
The Portfolio Committee on Defence, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mutual Defence Pact, referred to it, recommends that the House, in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, approve the said Pact.
Request to be considered.
TUESDAY, 1 MARCH 2005
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Assent by President in respect of Bills
(1) National Environmental Management: Air Quality Bill [B 62D -
2003] - Act No 39 of 2004 (assented to and signed by President on
19 February 2005).
- Classification of Bills by Joint Tagging Mechanism
(1) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 1 March 2005 in terms of
Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bills as section 75
Bills:
(i) Citation of Constitutional Laws Bill [B 5 - 2005]
(National Assembly - sec 75)
(ii)Close Corporations Amendment Bill [B 6 - 2005] (National
Assembly - sec 75)
(2) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 1 March 2005 in terms of
Joint Rule 160(4), classified the following Bill as a section 76
Bill:
(i) Division of Revenue Bill [B 8 - 2005] (National Assembly -
sec 76)
(3) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 1 March 2005 in terms of
Joint Rule 161, classified the following Bill as a money Bill:
(i) Appropriation Bill [B 7 - 2005] (National Assembly - sec
77)
- Introduction of Bills
(1) The Minister of Communications
(i) Convergence Bill [B 9 - 2005] (National Assembly - sec 75)
[Explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its
introduction published in Government Gazette No 27294 of 16
February 2005.]
Introduction and referral to the Portfolio Committee on
Communications of the National Assembly, as well as referral to
the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms of
Joint Rule 160, on 2 March 2005.
In terms of Joint Rule 154 written views on the classification of
the Bill may be submitted to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
within three parliamentary working days.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
(a) Government Notice No R65 published in Government Gazette No
27199 dated 28 January 2005: Establishment of the National Water
Resource Strategy in terms of section 5(1) of the National Water
Act, 1998 (Act No 36 of 1998)
(b) Government Notice No 113 published in Government Gazette No
27235 dated 11 February 2005: Assignment of certain provisions of
the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998) ("The Forests
Act") to South African National Parks ("SANParks") in terms of the
National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998)
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health on the Sterilisation Amendment Bill [B 12B - 2004] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), dated 1 March 2005:
The Portfolio Committee on Health, having considered the subject of the Sterilisation Amendment Bill [B 12B - 2004] (National Council of Provinces - sec 76), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 76 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.