WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE 2006 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

                                ____

The House met at 14:05.

The Speaker took the Chair and request members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS – see col 000.

                         NOTICES OF MOTIONS

The SPEAKER: I am informed, hon members, that by agreement there will be no notices of motion today. Before I ask the Secretary to read the order of the day, I would like to recognise His Excellency Mr Khieu Kanharith, the Minister of Information from the Kingdom of Cambodia, who is at present the guest of the Minister in the Presidency. [Applause.]

                         APPROPRIATION BILL

Debate on Vote No 1 – The Presidency:

The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: Thank you very much. Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, fellow South Africans and our friends from the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Deputy President and the Minister in the Presidency and I are indeed honoured to have the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the hon members of the National Assembly, on the occasion of the annual debate of the Budget Vote of the Presidency.

We are discussing this Budget Vote during our Youth Month and a week before the 30th anniversary of the student uprisings in Soweto on 16 June 1976. I am very happy that many of the youth leaders and activists from 1976, such as the Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu, MP Dan Montsisi, the Head of Communications in the Presidency, Murphy Morobe, Sibongile Mkhabela, Seth Mazibuko, Thabo Ndabeni and many others today are playing an important role in the reconstruction and development of our country. [Applause.]

We must also take this opportunity to pay tribute to them and their comrades and yet another patriot, Eric Molobi, whose body succumbed a few days ago to cancer, his cousin and fellow patriot and friend Frank Molobi who died of diabetes, as well as one of our veterans, Uriah Maleka, who also passed away a few days ago. In two months’ time we will also observe the 50th anniversary of the march to the Union Buildings by the women of our country.

As we commemorate the anniversaries of the youth uprising, the women’s march and the centenaries of the Bambatha rebellion and Mahatma Ghandi’s Satyagrah, as well as other historical moments that we referred to in the state of the nation address, and others afterwards, we have to ask ourselves a self-critical question constantly whether we have done and are doing enough to create a nonracial, nonsexist, equitable and prosperous society for which many sacrificed their lives.

Necessarily, this introspection must also include the Presidency, given especially its place at the apex of our system of governance as proscribed by our Constitution. As hon members are aware, among other things the Constitution states that the President must promote the unity of the nation and that which would advance the Republic, exercise executive authority together with the other members of the Cabinet, and in that context, develop and implement national policy and co-ordinate the functions of state departments and administrations.

Guided by these constitutional provisions, we would like to take the opportunity presented by the debate of the Budget Vote of the Presidency to reflect on a few areas that bear on our obligations, as reflected in the founding provisions of our Constitution. I refer here specifically to the values stated in the Constitution as human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, nonracialism and nonsexism, the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law and the accountability, responsiveness and openness of our system of governance.

We will therefore make some comments on a few broad areas, these being the building of a developmental state, monitoring, evaluating and measuring socioeconomic progress, deepening democracy, management and resolution of social conflicts and discharging our international obligations.

With regard to the first of these, the matter of a developmental state, which constitutes a central subject of our address today, our Constitution directs that all spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere, must secure the wellbeing of the people of the Republic. It goes without saying that our spheres of government and organs of state cannot secure such well-being outside the context of the all-round development of our country. Necessarily, therefore, our democratic state cannot walk away from its developmental responsibilities.

To indicate what we are talking about in this regard, I would like to cite at some length – and I have just secured his permission to do so – some remarks by our Minister of Finance, the hon Trevor Manuel, when he addressed the public sector senior management service on 20 September 2004. Here is part of what he said:

I’d been asked to reflect on the challenges faced in budgeting in a developmental state. What is a developmental state?

Trevor, I hope you are right. He continues:

Amartya K Sen in his book, Development as Freedom, says, development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy. He goes on to say that development requires removal of major sources of unfreedom, poverty, as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities, as well as social deprivation, neglect of public facilities, as well as intolerance or overactivity of repressive states. In defining our concept of a developmental state, Sen’s concept of removing poverty and tyranny is key. Expanding economic opportunities and fighting social deprivation is critical and providing public facilities and services to the poor is paramount.

In my 2004 Budget Speech I quoted Joseph Schumpeter, who said that the public finances are one of the best starting points for an investigation of society, the spirit of a people, its cultural level, its social structure, the deeds its policy may prepare all this and more is written in its fiscal history.

The two main thrusts of a budget of a developmental state must be how much the state spends on fighting poverty and deprivation and how much of the country’s resources go towards expanding the economic opportunities of all its citizens. The budget of a developmental state must balance these two main pillars. If one dominates, then the outcome is likely to be a reinforcement of poverty in the long term. The budget must be about balance.

The Minister had begun his speech by saying:

You as senior managers in the public sector have the opportunity to be part of a campaign to improve the quality of life of our people, of putting into practice one of the most wide-ranging and comprehensive programmes anywhere in the world to fight poverty and create work. You are an essential part of the machinery tasked with delivering a better life for all South Africans. In most developing countries the senior civil service becomes a self-serving elite, interested only in their own welfare, their own empowerment and their own bank balances. Because of the huge income inequalities in many development countries, senior civil servants become part of the elite. Let me state unequivocally that Public Service is a calling and a responsibility. It is a choice exercised. We choose to serve and accept that we will be comfortable or we enter the private sector in pursuit of wealth. We cannot do both. In a developmental state the civil servant is professional, skilled, adequately rewarded but humble.

Humility towards the poor is the greatest attribute of a civil servant. You as senior civil servants have a critical role to play in translating financial resources into real inputs. You have the task of ensuring that these real inputs lead to better quality education, an improved health profile and in, the final instance, genuine empowerment of people to lift themselves out of poverty. And please remember that your enemy is poverty and deprivation, that your key weapon is your skill and professionalism and that your modus operandi is your humility. You are, with us, custodians of a value system that defines our objective as demonstrating every single day that we are a caring democracy.

Thank you very much, Trevor. [Applause.] Given the challenges of the developmental state as correctly posed by our Minister of Finance, we must ask ourselves and answer the question as to what we need to do next to ensure that our democratic state has the capacity and actually discharges its developmental responsibilities. This must include an assessment of the work of the Presidency in this regard, given its constitutional responsibility, among other things, to help develop and implement policy and co-ordinate the functions of state departments and administrations.

For some time now we have been attending to the issue of the strengthening of the Presidency, to enable it to carry out these and other responsibilities. Arising from decisions taken at the last Cabinet lekgotla in January, we are working to expand and strengthen the Policy Co- ordination and Advisory Services directorate in the Presidency. At the same time we will improve the interaction between the Directorate and the political principles in this Presidency, further to improve their capacity to discharge their constitutional responsibilities.

Another important feature of our developmental state must be the provision of a similar system of government, even as we continue to respect that it is constituted in three spheres. In this regard, among other things, our Constitution says that all spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere must co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by assisting and supporting one another and co-ordinating their actions and legislation with one another. [Applause.]

At the national level, the system of clustering departments to co-ordinate their work has taken root. We will continue to work further to deepen this co-operation, joint planning and implementation of a co-ordinated programme.

Our approach is informed by the perspective projected by the Public Service Commission in its latest report, in which it says:

At the heart of effecting change is the need for a strategic management capacity in the Public Service that shifts the silo approach in which government tends to work. The Cabinet cluster system needs to focus on improving the capacity of departments to collaborate on common projects. To promote this approach affecting all spheres of government, we have developed the national spatial development perspective and operate within the context of the medium-term strategic framework, and in the past year provincial growth and development summits were held in the provinces to address matters pertaining to these frameworks. Simultaneously, the national government, the provinces, the municipalities and the state-owned enterprises held hearings around the integrated development plans to ensure alignment between the local, provincial and national strategies.

To ensure that the national government implements its undertakings, departments report every two months on progress against set targets and deadlines. In addition, as the House knows, we publish this information online, to make it available to all spheres and organs of government and our people as a whole. Work is proceeding to improve and enhance the effectiveness of this reporting system.

In the past year the provincial governments have been fully integrated into the national Cabinet makgotla, and the local sphere of government participates through the SA Local Government Association, Salga. The Forum of South African Directors-General clusters have for some time integrated both national and provincial directors-general. Similarly, premiers have established co-ordinating forums in line with the recently promulgated Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Act, to give effect to the principle of co-operative governance between the provinces and the municipalities.

In the coming year we will integrate all the transversal systems to improve co-ordination among the national and provincial departments of the National Treasury, Provincial and Local Government, the Public Service and Administration, the Public Service Commission and the Presidency, as well as sector departments of Housing, Social Development, Health and Education. Work is also under way to enhance the capacity of our statistical system. This also relates to the acceleration of the work further to improve our system of monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the governance system as a whole meets the agreed development targets.

Government is also working to finalise a single Public Service framework to include local government, which will also deal with the allocation of powers and functions across the three spheres, in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency of government.

With regard to the overall framework within which the Presidency has to work, as part of the developmental state, we would like to say that we remain firmly convinced that we have already put in place the policies and the legislative framework we need to address the developmental challenges identified by our Minister of Finance.

Similarly, our resource allocation, as reflected in the national Budget, properly reflects the determination of our government to respond to these challenges, the deeds intended by our policies, to use Schumpeter’s words. In this context we must pay tribute to the SA Revenue Service for the excellent work it is doing in terms of revenue collection and thank our people as a whole for the tax morality that has improved steadily over the years. [Applause.]

As against this, we must again draw the attention of all our spheres of government to address the continuing underspending of allocated budgets, which among other things impacts negatively on our ability to use a higher but perfectly manageable budget deficit to make available more resources to accelerate investment, especially in social and economic infrastructure, and provide for higher economic spending by the public sector.

Consistent with the obligations of a developmental state, we must and will continue to attend to all the factors that result in the unacceptable underspending to which we have referred. One of these factors relates to the capacity challenges facing the senior management service. In particular, we must do everything possible to fill all vacancies in this upper echelon of the Public Service. This must include filling similar vacancies in the professional and technical categories.

More recently, government has decided to address three other matters that relate to these senior echelons. These are the difficulties experienced in recruiting people with the necessary skills, a worrying rate of intragovernmental mobility among our senior public servants, and reassessment of earnings levels at these senior levels.

As hon members are aware, we have also introduced various measures such as performance contracts, declaration of assets and procedures under the Public Finance Management Act to address the concerns expressed by the Minister of Finance when he spoke about the “challenges of being a senior public servant in a developmental state”.

To help meet our development goals, we will intensify our engagement with our business and civil society partners to strengthen the National Anti- Corruption Forum and ensure the implementation of the National Anti- Corruption Programme. We are greatly encouraged by the increased utilisation of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline that was established in 2004.

More generally, we will continue to attend to the challenge to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Public Service as a whole, working further to entrench the principles and practice of Batho Pele.

In this regard the recently released report of the Public Service Commission, to which I have referred earlier, is instructive. The report, the fifth since 2002, evaluates the state of the Public Service on the basis of the nine values and principles of public administration as set out in Chapter 10 of the Constitution.

Generally, the report observes that our Public Service has made significant progress in transforming itself. Among the achievements in this regard are that the Public Service has been consolidated into one single service at national and provincial levels, and that legislation, regulations, systems and procedures have been put in place to ensure effective execution of mandates.

Progress has also been made in ensuring that the Public Service is representative, while efforts continue to be made to bolster its capacity to deliver better services to the people. However, the report also says:

It was found that many of the standards have not been met, for example, project management plans that are not to the required standard or integrated into local development plans. This shows that a lot more effort is required to improve the planning and formulation of development projects targeted at reducing poverty.

This underlines the critical importance of continuously attending to the challenge to improve the performance of the Public Service as a vital element of constructing the effective developmental state we need. In this regard we will continue to focus especially on the centrally important sphere of local government.

Within the context of the effort to improve the performance of the developmental state, I must also underline our determination to ensure that all the state-owned corporations and development institutions make their contribution to the realisation of the goals we have set ourselves in Asgisa, as well as our economic growth and development in general.

I would also like to take this opportunity once more to appeal to all the trade unions active in the public sector, as well as community-based and other nongovernmental organisations, to join in the process of further enhancing the effectiveness of our developmental state. In this regard we must recall the words of our Minister of Finance when he said:

In defining our concept of a developmental state, Sen’s concept of removing poverty and tyranny is key, expanding economic opportunities and fighting social deprivation is critical, and providing public facilities and services to the poor is paramount.

Precisely because we have to use the developmental state to achieve the wellbeing of all our people, we must continuously monitor, evaluate and measure our socioeconomic progress, and this must go beyond such standard and important statistical indices as the economic growth rate, per capita incomes and so on.

In this regard, later this month, the Presidency, on behalf of the government, will launch what is called the Macrosocial Report, which deals with the centrally important issue of social cohesion, and therefore the progress we are making towards creating the united, equitable and caring society for which many of our people sacrificed their lives.

Through this report we attempt to answer various important questions, such as those that relate to: the manner in which the material conditions impacting on the quality of life of South Africans have changed since the advent of democracy; the way in which the structure of South African society has changed since 1994; the trends in the organisation of social life; the identity or identities through which South Africans define themselves, and how the diverse and overarching identities and value systems affect the self-worth and aspirations of our citizens; and what characterises the emerging sense of South African-ness.

All these issues have an important impact on the social cohesion of our diverse society, as well as the design of our policies and programmes intended to ensure the wellbeing of all our citizens.

I do hope that when the Macrosocial Report is made available later this month, we will engage one another in constructive discussions, the better to understand ourselves as a people, and the better to join hands in building a society that cares.

Apart from anything else, this will help us to sustain the momentum of the immensely valuable self-critical assessment we are about to conclude, as we finalise the Country Assessment Report prepared for the African Peer Review Mechanism.

As government we will be greatly interested to ensure that our programmes respond both to the APRM and the Macrosocial Report outcomes, especially as these must help to fashion what I would like to describe as “the soul of the new nation”, or what Joseph Schumpeter characterised as “the spirit of a people, its cultural level, its social structure”.

As we have already indicated, we are convinced that a thriving democracy is fundamental to the success of our developmental state. We are therefore determined further to deepen our democracy, to increase the participation of the masses of our people in determining their future.

In this regard we will sustain and intensify our imbizo programme and ensure that we follow up on the observations made by the people. We will work to ensure better allround co-ordination of the imbizo process as it relates to the Presidency, Ministers, and provincial and local governments. We will assist the municipalities to improve the functioning of the ward committee system and the interaction between the councillors and their constituencies. We will continue to improve the effectiveness of the presidential working groups, enabling our system of governance to benefit from the views of the various sectors of our national leadership.

We will continue to work with all these partners and the masses of our people, including ongoing consultative processes with leaders of different communities such as the Jewish Board of Deputies, representatives of the Afrikaner community and others, to encourage all our citizens to involve themselves in the historic national reconstruction and development project, true to the perspective we have projected from the very first day of our democracy, of a people-driven process of change.

Despite our vision to unite all our people behind a common development and transformation programme, we must also recognise the fact that it is inevitable that social conflicts will break out. Indeed, the very deepening of our democracy requires that we maintain maximum space for all our people, from all walks of life, freely to engage in struggle to pursue their interests.

Of central importance in this regard, is that these struggles must be pursued in a manner that respects the possibility created by our democracy for such struggles to be conducted in a peaceful manner, fully respecting the legal order established by our democracy. However, various incidents in the recent past have obliged us to speak on the matter of the management and resolution of social conflicts.

I have, on previous occasions, spoken from this very podium about the great gift our democracy has bequeathed to all our people in all their formations to resolve all social conflicts through legal and peaceful means.

All of us in this House and millions in our country, who were watching or listening to these proceedings, will remember the truly terrible days when many died in our villages, cities, towns and townships, on the trains and elsewhere, as the old order resisted the birth of the new.

Over the recent past all of us have experienced the intense pain inflicted on the millions of our people by a tiny minority of individuals that holds the people’s democratic victory in contempt. This minority, which obviously believes that it has the right to do as it pleases with impunity and outside the parameters of our democratic order, has sought to drag our country back to the killing fields that marked the dying days of the apartheid system. I’m talking here of the people who have, since the victory of democracy, committed murder to advance their social and political goals. I’m talking about those who are throwing people off moving trains and assassinating workers in the private security sector. [Applause.] I refer also to those who have murdered local government councillors.

When I speak of people who hold the people’s democratic victory in contempt, I refer to those who burn down private and public buildings. I’m talking about those who march down our streets, as the law allows, and then abuse this hard-earned freedom to damage, vandalise or destroy property, loot shops and trash our streets and other public places.

When I speak of people who hold the people’s democratic victory in contempt, I’m talking about those who have carried posters proclaiming that to win their victories, they must kill one police officer every day. I speak of those who commit murder as part of the continuing but isolated taxi wars and those who deliberately set fire to and destroy commuter trains on which workers depend for transport to and from their places of employment.

I must make it very clear to everybody involved in these criminal acts, intended to undermine our democracy, that they will not succeed in intimidating and terrorising into submission either the masses of our people and their organised formations or our democratic state and government. [Applause.] The law-enforcement agencies will act vigorously to defeat this antidemocratic plague. I also call on all our people and their organised political, social and other formations to act with similar vigour to defeat the negative forces that believe that liberation, for which many sacrificed their lives, gives them the freedom to act in a manner that fundamentally negates the very meaning of our emancipation.

I must also make the point that we will not allow anybody serving within the machinery of state, who abuses his or her position of state power, to subvert or undermine the democratic order through acts of commission or omission. Accordingly, all our political, executive and administrative authorities and the individuals serving within these structures must understand that the rule of law, which must protect our Constitution and our laws, the value system they represent and the human rights of all citizens, will also apply to them without fear or favour.

To ensure that we act in a manner consistent with the foregoing and to improve the safety and security of all our people and our national security, our government will do everything possible to strengthen the entirety of our criminal justice system and ensure that it, too, works in a manner that promotes the people-centred goals of our developmental state.

In this regard, as hon members are aware, we are currently considering the report of the Khampepe judicial commission, which considered the role and place of the directorate of special operations – the Scorpions. We will also follow up on the various initiatives reported to Parliament by the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, the Minister of Safety and Security, the Minister of Defence, the Minister for Intelligence, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Correctional Services, the Minister of Social Development, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, and others.

We have always understood that the success of our development project would also depend on the success of the same perspective in our region, on our continent and in the rest of the world. The discharge of our international obligations will therefore remain an important part of the work of the Presidency and the rest of government.

In this regard, we will continue to work to strengthen the African Union; to improve the effectiveness of the Nepad process in all its elements; to advance the peace agenda on our continent, including in the DRC, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, Sudan and Chad; to contribute to a just resolution of the conflicts and tensions relating to Palestine and Israel, to Iraq and to Iran; to strengthen the Southern African Development Community and the Southern African Customs Union; to enhance South-South co-operation through the Africa-Asia Forum, the IPSA and other initiatives; to ensure the expeditious conclusion of the Doha Development Round; and to promote the democratic reform of the multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The 2006 Soccer World Cup will begin three days hence. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to convey our best wishes to Fifa, to the competing teams and nations, to Chancellor Angela Merkel and to the German government and people for a successful 2006 Fifa Soccer World Cup. [Applause.]

In a month’s time we will also be in Germany formally to assume the responsibility to host the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. From that moment onwards, the eyes of the world will be on us, critically assessing whether four years from the end of the 2006 World Cup we will be ready to host the best ever Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament. [Applause.]

I trust that all the hon members in our Parliament as a whole will join me as I take advantage of this important national occasion to make the commitment to the peoples of Africa and the world that South Africa will indeed ensure that the 2010 Soccer World Cup stands out forever as a unique moment. [Applause.] This will be the moment when our country and continent, in a practical and demonstrable way, make the incontrovertible statement that we are fully and without qualification equal members of the international community of nations. [Applause.]

Accordingly, while fully respecting the independence of these institutions, our government will work very closely with the local organising committee and Fifa relating to all elements relevant to our hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. In this regard, under no circumstances will we allow any selfish pursuits to take precedence over the interests of the nation, of Africa and of the global community of soccer players and supporters. [Applause.]

In this address we have sought to point to some of the critical issues on which the Presidency must continue to focus to discharge its constitutional responsibilities. In this regard, the work of the Presidency must continue to contribute to the realisation of the historic task of our generation. Centrally, this is to lay firm foundations for the creation of the new South Africa that will in time – and using the words in the preamble to our Constitution - “Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”.

What we do today and tomorrow must demonstrate to the masses of our people that they have indeed practically arrived at their age of hope. I’m honoured to commend the budget of the Presidency to the National Assembly, and I thank you for your attention. [Applause.]

Mrs Z A KOTA: Madam Speaker, allow me to dedicate my speech to the unsung heroes and heroines of the class of 1976.

Hon President, our First Lady, Comrade Zanele Mbeki, Deputy President, Minister, comrades, colleagues and distinguished guests, I greet you this afternoon. It is indeed a great honour for me to get this opportunity of participating in this debate on the Budget Vote of the Presidency.

This year the commemoration of this historic event is being done under the theme “Deepen Youth Participation to Fight Poverty and Create Work”. This is an attempt by the ANC Youth League and our movement to pay homage to the youth who sacrificed their lives, as well as a clarion call to the youth to continue to strive for a better life for the youth in particular and the people in general. We dare not fail them.

June 16 was indeed a turning point in the mass democratic struggle in South Africa. This offers all of us, including those who were directly involved, an opportunity to reflect on and review the significant role played by the youth at key moments in the struggle.

Bantu basekhaya, umhla we-16 kuJuni ubonisa ukuguquka kwembali yeli lizwe, intshukumo kunye negalelo lamadela kufa yowe-1976. Ngokwenene ubonisa ukuba ngokuya sasisithi, zeningabaleki, bakhona nyani abangazange babaleka kwade kwase kugqibeleni, ingakumbi abo bade banikezela ngobomi babo, ukuze mna nawe namhlanje sibe sixhamla le nkululeko yalo Mzantsi Afrika. Yiyo loo nto silothulela umnqwazi ulutsha lwelo xesha, ingakumbi kuba lunganelanga nje kukulwa, koko lwatsiba imida, lwaya kuthatha izixhobo ukwandisa inani lamajoni oMkhonto weSizwe. Sithi halala kulutsha Halala!

AMALUNGU: Halala! (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[Good people, June 16 was a turning point in the history of this country; in the activities and the contributions of those who gave up their lives in

1. It indeed indicates that there are those who heeded the call not to turn their backs on the struggle and stood steadfast until the last minute, so you and I can enjoy the freedom we have in this new South Africa today. That’s why we salute the youth of that time who not only opposed the regime but decided to cross the borders to join uMkhonto weSizwe in exile. To them we say, well done!

HON MEMBERS: Well done!]

Today we remember the spirit of Kalushi Solomon Mahlangu, who said, when facing the gallows: “My blood shall nourish the tree that shall bear the fruits of freedom.” That is why it is critical that the youth of today must commit themselves to defend the gains of that hard-won freedom. What was significant about this generation was the fact that the youth and student activists who were getting involved in the mass democratic struggle were much younger than their predecessors.

It is important to note that each generation has its historical obligation to fulfil. This becomes much clearer when we examine the role played by the youth at key moments in the struggle of South Africa.

The formation of the ANC Youth League in 1944 was the beginning of a significant role change within the ANC and the building of a mass movement. From the late 1960s to early 1970s young people through SASO and SASM played a significant role at a time when most political activity was being suppressed.

A further turning point in South Africa occurred when Mozambique and Angola achieved their independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975 and 1976, respectively. The impact of these events caused a shift in the balance of forces in the Southern African region. This brought home to the youth of South Africa that it was possible to overcome white domination.

The role of the state security forces and the SADF in the country was that of waging a low-intensity war through increased repression, police brutality and a disinformation campaign. Outside the borders of the country the security forces embarked on a policy of active destabilisation of the front-line states.

It is in this political and social context that the black youth led an uprising against the education system in 1976; an education system that had always been the site of struggle in South Africa. The breaking point for students was the directive that Afrikaans would become the language of instruction. This led to a nationwide student revolt that took place in Soweto on 16 June 1976. The state responded by killing and wounding innocent children in the process. The horror of the event is symbolised by the timeless image of the dying student Hector Petersen being carried away by a very angry man.

The mass mobilisation generated by the uprising set the scene for the second education campaign in the 1980s and a period of rolling mass action aimed at destroying the apartheid system of black local authorities and a tricameral parliament. In commemoration of 30 years of youth uprisings and honouring the memory of those young people, our President has declared this year as the year of the youth in South Africa.

We call upon this generation of youth to use the same energy and enthusiasm as in 1976 on the developmental path. Let the youth take control of their lives, let the youth learn and prosper together. The government has created an enabling environment for the youth’s prosperity. Let everybody seize these opportunities with both hands.

Uza kuyithola kanjani uhleli ekoneni? [How are you going to get it whilst you are hiding in the corner?] Get out there and network.

The framework produced by government, the National Youth Development Framework 2002-2009, is very important, because it is an integrated approach to youth development. Its objective is to enable young men and women to become active participants in activities that fulfil their potential and enable them to participate in all aspects of society. This is a departure from an approach that focuses on youth problems.

This is underpinned by the following principles: Youth development needs to be holistic; government is responsible for youth development; young people are not a homogenous group, but a diverse one, and in our historic context they need redress. It also takes into account the changing needs of each generation.

The presence of the Youth Commission is a case in point. This allows government to reach out to the youth of our people wherever they are in South Africa. The Umsobomvu Youth Fund is very instrumental in ensuring that all our people can have a better life.

We are happy to note that in this budget the expenditure on the National Youth Commission will increase over a seven-year period from R13,8 million to R21,6 million, with an average of 7,8%, because of its increased responsibilities.

The youth must make use of Asgisa, which is led by the Deputy President, and they must get involved in the Expanded Public Works Programme initiatives in all provinces.

Mhlalingaphambili, akakho mntu ohlupha njengoSodolophu UHelen Zille kweli phondo. Akukho nanye into angayiboni iyingxaki, ilinge le-N2 gateway liyingxaki, umcimbi wamabala endebe yehlabathi yomdlalo okhatywayo ikwa yingxaki, abasebenzi kwibhunga bakwa yingxaki kuye. Kodwa eyona ngxaki ingamandla ayenzayo yeyokuba amashumi amathathu ekhulwini eethenda awayebekelwe ecaleni ukuxhobisa ababesa kuhleleleka ngaphambili kwiithenda zebhunga lwedolophu awasekho. Kutheni ingathi yonke into eyayisenziwa ngababesakuba kula ofisi ayilunganga nje kuye? (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)

[Chairperson, there is nobody as troublesome as Mayor Helen Zille in this province. There is nothing that she does not see as being a problem. To her, the N2 Gateway housing project is a problem, the 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium is also a problem, and even the City Council workers are a problem. The most serious problem that she created was to take away the 60% tenders that were set aside to empower previously disadvantaged people. It seems that everything that was done by her predecessors was wrong.]

Why doesn’t she build on opportunities and ensure at the end of the day that she enhances the building blocks out of which we’ll construct this society? She must act responsibly. In conclusion I want to thank all the youth achievers for their self- determination in improving their lives for the better. This includes our gold medallists, our actors in the film industry, community builders and many other dedicated young people in one way or another. It is critical that we are proud of these revolutionaries, because they are putting the youth on a better footing, and what we do at this point in time is critical; we’re building a firm foundation for generations of the future.

Now is the time, let us work together, let us prosper together. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you.

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon President’s description of the developmental state and his quoting, with approval, passages from Amartya Sen’s book Development as Freedom – which the hon Minister of Finance also quoted – and which, indeed, is a very compelling text.

There is a very interesting description in that book, buried deep within it, about the difference between India and China over the past 50 years, the example that Professor Sen uses is that he asks the question: Why is it that, even though there is a lot of poverty and an enormous amount of hunger in India and China, there has never been a mass famine in India, as there has been in China over the past 50 years, which has cost millions of lives?

The answer which Professor Sen gives is the difference – and he gives it as a fundamental difference – that India is a multiparty democracy, with a vigorous political opposition, with a free and independent press, and with the rule of law, all the attributes that have been missing in China over the past 50 years. He suggests that you will not have a mass famine in any country, which has those attributes. I think it is very instructive that we take the Sen example to its logical conclusion.

Now, obviously, the hon President is the expert on governance. I know a little, perhaps too much, about opposition. But the truth of the matter is that there was a very interesting description of opposition in South Africa given by Professor Ndebele, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town in last week’s Sunday Times. He was speaking about something that was strangely absent from the hon President’s address today – and this is the so-called debate about the succession. Professor Ndebele says:

Could it be that part of the problem is that we are unable to deal with the notion of opposition? We are horrified that any of us could be seen to have become “the opposition”. The word has been demonised.

Now I believe, hon President, it is intolerance towards opposition, both internal and external, that has divided this government against itself. The hon President, writing in ANC Today on Friday, said, “Our movement is neither rudderless nor at sea about anything of importance.”

Yet it is the governing allies of the ANC, the President, Cosatu and the SA Communist Party that say that South Africa is drifting towards a dictatorship and that we have an “overly powerful Presidency”. The Sowetan, normally the most reliable ally of the government and the President, said this week – and I quote from the editorial on Monday: “The seemingly schizophrenic responses by the ruling party to what it refuses to acknowledge as a crisis just deepens the plot.”

The hon President will recall from his own enforced exile in Britain the trade union strikes in the “winter of discontent” in 1978 and 1979. Prime Minister Jim Callaghan proclaimed at the time: “Crisis? What crisis?” He was defeated at the next election. [Interjections.]

Now, I’m not saying that the hon President is Jim Callaghan, writ modern. But the hon President denies something, and yet no less an authority than a journal called Bua Komanisi! – and I am one of the few human beings to have ploughed through the entire thing – which is the bulletin of the central committee of the SA Communist Party, referred, in its latest volume, to something it calls a “rupture” between leading elements of the ANC and the SACP.

Now I thought it was very poetic, this particular description, so I looked up the meaning of the word “rupture”. According to the Collins English dictionary, it is “a breach of peaceful and friendly relations”. This is what a rupture is defined as.

The document also explicitly talks of an anti-Mbeki and a pro-Zuma mobilisation, and describes the new BEE elite – some of whom I had the pleasure of addressing last week – as “excessively compradorist and parasitic”.

Now, yesterday the hon Mr Nel, our Deputy Chief Whip of the governing party, said that anyone who alleges that Parliament is being marginalised is suggesting that those who make the point are themselves suggesting that someone is acting in an unconstitutional fashion – which is a very dangerous accusation, he says. Now, the same document says of our Parliament, “The fact is that the technocratic state has tended to marginalise Parliament.” So, I suggest the hon Deputy Chief Whip goes and disciplines his own members. They are deviating from the text, you see.

Now this document repudiates the leadership, the central pillars and the policies which have defined the Presidency, yet it bears the …

An HON MEMBER: It’s hot air.

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: … hot air, you say. Yes, I agree with a lot of it. It is hot air; not all of it. But it bears the stamp of the central committee of the SACP, which, when I looked it up on the website, is very interesting. There are a whole lot of the hon President’s Cabinet colleagues there: hon Minister Kasrils, Minister Mufamadi, Deputy Minister Davies and several leading ANC MPs, including the lady who just sat down. Now, I do know that Dr Pahad was voted off that particular committee and, no doubt, that’s why its intellectual breadth has shrunk a bit. [Laughter.]

The hon Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, of course, is the chairperson of the SACP. [Laughter.] I see he is absent today; I don’t know if there is any connection. [Laughter.] Perhaps we should borrow his own words and tell him that he can whinge about the President or he can leave the ANC government, but he can’t serve two masters at once.

Now, in all seriousness, Mr President, although you will be advised by many, to use your own words from this platform seven years ago, to “avoid the embrace of one such as I”, you are not a dictator. But there is no way and there is no purpose in hiding the dissent within the government over leadership issues. You might discover that now that old allies have become new enemies, perhaps you will have cause to reconsider your attitude towards the opposition. [Laughter.]

On this side of the House, over here, we are quite clear about what we agree with and what we don’t, and we also don’t have two conversations. What we say here, we also say outside and in our journals. [Interjections.] And when we agree …

Dr A ERWIN: “But you’re small!”

The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: … we’re growing

Go to Tafelsig – see how we are growing. You can count on our support.

You know, Mr President that we agree with and approve of much of your macroeconomic policies and the Asgisa growth target of 6%. You know that we endorse your proposed economic reforms, even though, apparently, the hon Minister of Labour does not. He told mineworkers last month to “fight the renewed debate on labour-market flexibility”.

We also applaud your intervention to freeze the Constitution Fourteenth Amendment Bill, which would have undermined judicial independence. You sent a clear rebuke, Mr President, to your Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development who pretended that he had properly consulted with judges and that their objections were “a media fabrication”.

We praised your decision to send the Icasa Amendment Bill back to Parliament for redrafting, and we deeply appreciate the stand that you took from this podium on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Constitution in that we must accept the outcome of elections – and I use your words - “regardless of who is in, and who is out”.

We know, as some of your colleagues in the Western Cape do not, that we must learn to lose with grace and not just win with pleasure. The irony is that when you addressed Parliament on that historic anniversary, you did so alone and other voices were silenced.

However, hon President, although we disagree with Cosatu and the SACP on their populist economist policies and their support for Jacob Zuma, we agree with them that there is a democratic deficit in this country. We agree with Cosatu general secretary Mr Vavi when he says, “A frightening culture has developed in the ANC of cutting corners and not only to ignore internal democratic processes, but to be contemptuous of them.”

We agree, in fact, with Dr Cronin - it’s a pity he is not on the speaking list today – when he says, “Since 1999 a powerful presidential centre has indeed been forged around a privileged axis of key ANC state technocrats and a new black capitalist stratum.”

Now, that criticism, Mr President, doesn’t come from the DA or the media, or any of whom the late Joe Slovo used to call the “usual suspects”. It comes from within the ruling alliance, and we have no choice but to agree.

How can we do otherwise? The hon Minister of Finance, in spite of the many things he has got right, has got one thing fundamentally wrong: he refuses to allow this Parliament to review his budgets and to make changes, despite the constitutional expectation that this should be possible.

How can we do otherwise when the Public Protector refuses properly to investigate the Oilgate scandal; when the Speaker protects the hon President from urgent questions about the arms deal?

Hon President, you said today that you have built a strengthened Presidency. But the question is: To what purpose and to what effect? I started off my remarks by talking about opposition. It is the opposition, the hon Dianne Kohler-Barnard in particular, who last year visited a range of hospitals in this country and identified five of them as the most failed and dangerous hospitals in South Africa. One of the hospitals she identified, the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in East London, was labelled one of the worst.

In response to that opposition investigation, the MEC for health in the Eastern Cape called the report “greatly exaggerated” and “mischievous”. Yet after that report was published and only last month, four babies died in that same hospital because of a power failure. Even after the national government took over the administration of that province, delivery is still failing there.

I agree completely with what the hon President said about the role of a developmental state in putting the poor and the disadvantaged first. But there are thousands of poor people in the Eastern Cape particularly, such as Mrs Nontembiso Kate, who have to take the provincial government to the Supreme Court of Appeal just to get their social grants. The presiding judges in her particular case spoke of her plight as a “war of attrition” being fought between the poor of the Eastern Cape and the provincial administration there.

Your government tells the United Nations that we have the world’s largest HIV/Aids treatment programme. And yet hundreds of thousands of South Africans continue to die while the Health department refuses to stop the sale of so-called cures such as Ubhejane. [Interjections.]

Mr President, you have the stature to intervene diplomatically in Zimbabwe, and yet you pass the buck to Mr Kofi Annan. Your Home Affairs department denies asylum to Roy Bennett, but we fund the luxurious exile of Jean- Bertrand Aristide.

You spoke quite correctly today of failing public servants, but what about the Ministers who control those public servants who have proved unwilling and unable to do their work? One who deserves, in our view, to be fired is the hon Minister of Safety and Security for his callous attitude towards victims of crime. The Minister seems content to shoot the messenger, ignore the message and let the criminals get away.

Die vorige Minister van Veiligheid en Sekuriteit het berug geword omdat hy op die Portugese gemeenskap oorlog verklaar het, in plaas van teen die kriminele horde wat orals in Suid-Afrika amok maak. Hierdie Minister het sy haatspraak na alle mense met Afrikaanse of Engelse vanne uitgebrei, en in wese gesê ’n mens hoef geen ag te slaan op die feit dat die DA en die VF Plus meer as twee miljoen mense verteenwoordig nie.

Swart Suid-Afrikaners, agb President, is verreweg die grootste slagoffers van misdaad. Ander Suid-Afrikaners treur egter oor hul dooies, en wonder oor die staat se monumentale onverskilligheid en die ondoeltreffendheid van sy polisiëring. En hoe reageer die Minister? In wese: “Bly stil, of trap uit die land.” (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The previous Minister of Safety and Security became notorious because he declared war on the Portuguese community, instead of the hordes of criminals that are running amuck everywhere in South Africa. This Minister has extended his hate speech to everybody with an Afrikaans or English surname, and has in essence said that one can ignore fact that the DA and the FF Plus represent more than two million people.

Black South Africans, hon President, are by far the biggest victims of crime. Other South Africans, however, mourn their dead, and wonder about the state’s monumental indifference and the ineffectiveness of its policing. And how does the Minister react? In essence: “Keep quiet, or get out of the country.”]

Not only is that a negation of the basic rights of a citizen, but it is redolent of Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, whose slogan was: “Rhodesia is super. Love it or leave it.”

To quote an SMS from Monday’s Cape Argus: Whingers cannot leave the country if they can’t get their passports from the hon Minister’s wife, the Minister of Home Affairs. [Laughter.]

On a more serious note, last week I received a letter from Samantha Goldin, the sister of the murdered actor Brett Goldin, which she asked me to forward to you, which I have done, and to read out in Parliament, which I do now. In part she says:

Mr President, I cannot begin to explain the extent of the heartbreak and suffering we are experiencing … [They] are the feelings of so many more people who unfortunately have shared similar trauma in also losing their loved ones to the uncontrollable crime in South Africa.

Mr President, as someone who witnessed and experienced the atrocities of apartheid, I know you can empathise … I feel Brett’s death and the senseless murders of so many other innocents could easily have been prevented were crime at the top of the national agenda and taken seriously.

It is time for the excuses to stop. Why is crime not taken seriously? Where is it on the agenda? Where is the action plan? Where are the resources?

She concludes by saying, “I am here to assist you in whatever way I can, Mr President. I will fight this with you.”

And, Mr President, in conclusion, there are so many South Africans who want to help, if you would reach out to them and if you would listen, not with “Native Clubs”, with respect, but actually by seizing together that which we have in common, standing for the strengthening of independent institutions, the courts, Parliament, the multiparty fabric of this democracy, and making sure that the legacy, which is spoken of, is one that strengthens our democracy, respects opposition, and has the succession debate in the open. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Madam Speaker, their Excellencies the President and Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon colleagues, in debating the budget of the Presidency, I think we must evaluate the present role of the Presidency as an institution.

As an institution the Presidency is called upon to provide the total stewardship of our country. The Presidency should provide both the detached leadership necessary to balance the unavoidable policy and institutional turmoil, as well as the driving force and decision-making within government. And in most parliamentary democracies these two roles are separate and placed in two different offices.

Since the beginning of the negotiation process I have advocated the separation of such two offices. Present circumstances now show how unfortunate it is that our President is both a head of state and the head of government. The problematic nature of this combination is gravely compounded by him also being the executive leader of a political party, which requires him to deal with never-predictable and never-containable but always present crises of politics. This consideration bears no criticism of the incumbent, but under the present circumstances highlights the institutional weaknesses of the Presidency.

Because of this situation, in assessing the Presidency, we are forced to make it our business to deal with the political upheaval engulfing the incumbent. It is not just an ANC affair; it is also our problem. Can the Presidency, under the present circumstances, really fulfil its institutional mission of unifying and leading the country, as the President said? Madam Speaker, we’ll see, as I go on. [Laughter.]

I must voice my grave concerns. Not a day passes without the media reporting or expressing news that undermines the domestic and international stature of the Presidency. Our country is in a lamentable state, which is both reflected and compounded by the deteriorating status of the Presidency. No one should rejoice, nor draw any political satisfaction from this tragedy, for this injures our country and future. It’s not a party- political matter.

In June 2005 the President announced that he was relieving the then Deputy President of his duties and functions. On that occasion, standing on this podium, I stated that the President had no choice but to act in that manner after what was said about our then Deputy President in the judgment that condemned Mr Schabir Shaik.

Any institution is more important than its incumbent, and protecting the dignity of an institution may require scarifying the reputation of the incumbent. The President had to make a hard call and make the right one, but as an institution the Presidency was unavoidably damaged and scarred in the process.

However, I also pointed out on that occasion, if you remember, how unfortunate and even unfair it was for our then Deputy President to endure a trial by the media without his possibly redeeming day of justice in court. This opportunity was afforded him when he was finally charged.

As we are waiting for such a time of truth or reckoning, an unfortunate charge of rape was brought against our former Deputy President. The wheels of justice moved and he was fortunately acquitted. Irrespective of anything else, he should be praised, I think, for, throughout this process, making a statement repeatedly that he believed in and relied on the rule of law.

Unfortunate things have happened, and around them more unfortunate events have developed, testing the Presidency’s role in our new republic. A strange culture, which is not African, has crept into the behaviour of many and has tarnished the Presidency’s image. At the same time many wild ANC cocks … [Laughter.]… have come back to roost in our Republic’s yard and the Presidency has been paralysed in dealing with them.

The debate on the succession of the incumbent after the expiry of his term of office concerns the ANC, but the manner in which it is conducted concerns all South Africans as it affects the fabric of our democracy.

During the liberation struggle I warned against some of the ways in which our struggle was conducted and predicted that their legacy would haunt us long after the day of our emancipation. I warned, for instance, against spreading a culture of rebellion to make our country, I quote, ”ungovernable”, especially at the townships level.

I predicted that once rebellion becomes the norm, our country would continue to be ungovernable even when run by us. And I see signs of this in the behaviour of some of those attacking the Presidency.

The behaviour of some of these people has been deplorable, to say the least. Some people have justified their conduct on the basis of it being democracy at work. Yet there is a profound distinction between the dynamics of democracy and bringing the country to the edge of anarchy.

Irresponsible insults thrown at the President by members of the ruling party, the ANC, show dangers looming on the horizon if the matter is not handled with the caution and dignity it deserves.

Disagreements on the Presidency, although acceptable as part of democracy, should not include such disgraceful behaviour. We would be deceiving ourselves if we pretended that what has been done and said about the incumbent has left the Presidency unscathed and would not become part of our future institutional life.

An HON MEMBER: Lumkela iNadeco! [Watch out for Nadeco!]

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: In fact, that is the kind of behaviour I’m referring to. [Laughter.] There has been a kind of paralysis in reining in those who are responsible for this conduct. This paralysis has recently turned into inaction in the face of a quasi-insurrection outside our own gates of Parliament or in other instances in which innocent people have been murdered, as the President stated, in broad daylight, for exercising their democratic right not to participate in a strike.

All I can say is, Madam Speaker, may God save and protect our Republic. If these are the political dynamics through which a new President will be raised to power to guide our country, God help us!

It affects not only the ANC, but indeed the whole of our country, if the forging of the new Presidency takes place through the burning of a T-shirt with the President’s image in Durban, the creation of chaos and the hurling of insults at the Deputy President in Utrecht, the hurling of expletives at the President in Durban and the widespread chanting of swear words about the President.

It may be paradoxical, but nonetheless it is due and necessary. To protect the dignity and role of the Presidency as an institution, as South Africans, we are duty-bound – members of the ANC; if this is your style - to take strong exception to it. [Laughter.] We take strong exception to how the ANC treats the President, who, as the head of state, should be above reproach and insult. [Applause.]

The present juncture should also prompt us to a serene reflection on the merits of separating the office of head of state from that of head of government, in accordance with our own standing South African tradition. This separation would allow for the head of government to be drawn into possibly acrimonious internal and external political diatribes without that affecting the dignity and balancing role of the head of state.

The ANC should remember that what is good for the goose, is good for the gander. If this pattern of behaviour is allowed, any future President, be it Mr Zuma or anyone else, will be exposed to the same forces unless he or she crushes them under a brutal yoke of autocracy.

Therefore, out of today’s dark political clouds we may see rising both the spectre of tyranny, as well as that of latent anarchy. We have seen many cases on our continent where these two spectres end up waltzing together in a dance of death in a downward spiral of democratic degeneration.

The ANC may wish to create a lame-duck ANC president before the next ANC presidential elections; it is your prerogative to do so. Yet, South Africa does not need a lame-duck President as its head of state and head of government for the next three years, while all spheres and levels of government are collapsing in a state of generalised paralysis and ineffectiveness. Zizi! [Mr President!] [Applause.]

Mr R S NTULI: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, hon Ministers, members of Parliament, distinguished guests, comrades and friends, first of all, I would like to preface my speech by extending my sincere gratitude to my comrades in the ANC caucus, in particular to the Chief Whip, for the warm welcome, guidance and induction to the party’s culture, ethos and principles. [Applause.]I also feel humbled to be part of the ANC team in this critically important debate.

When comparing the main appropriation for 2006-07 to the adjusted appropriation for 2005-06, the budget only increases by 18,2% in nominal terms. Allowing for current inflation, the actual increase is approximately 12,4%. This is in line with the strategic objectives of the Presidency, in particular as it relates to the strengthening, strategic leadership and organisational capacity of the Presidency and improving the integration of policy processes across the government.

When hon President Thabo Mbeki declared in his state of the nation address on 6 February 2006 that South Africa was entering an age of hope, he was applauded by all sectors of society, and not without reason. Indeed, the ANC government, which had inherited an economy on the verge of economic collapse with a massive debt burden, in the short period of 12 years, has turned things around. We now have an economy growing at nearly 5% per year. The country is now confidently embarking on a growth strategy powered by R372 billion worth of infrastructure programmes, in which a Gallup survey had revealed unprecedented levels of optimism.

The President correctly told Parliament that we are indeed a winning nation. The big challenge is to respond to the hopes of the people by doing everything possible to meet their expectations. Fortunately, under the competent leadership of the Deputy President, the three-year targets of government have been working together for some months to elaborate on the specific interventions that would ensure that the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, Asgisa, succeeds in its objectives, which include a reduction in the unemployment levels.

While the apartheid regime, in a bid to entrench itself and white supremacy, destabilised Southern African countries, the present government has spared no effort to stabilise these countries, including Central and Northern Africa. The Presidency, in collaboration with the Cabinet, has committed itself to continue to engage the African challenges, focusing on assisting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan with the requisite resources to enhance the prospects of peace and democracy. Also in the package are issues of strengthening the African Union and the acceleration of the process of the implementation of Nepad programmes. The ANC applauds these sterling achievements and the innovative leadership of the President, the Presidency and his entire Cabinet. I would like briefly to reflect on the critical importance of genuine, constructive and disciplined opposition. Indeed, the existence of a mature and honest opposition is indispensable to the functioning of our parliamentary political system, taking on board constitutional imperatives of redress and equity as reflected in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

In the state of the nation address, the President of South Africa, among other things, said:

Land reform and land restitution are critical to the transformation of our society. Accordingly, the state will play a central role in land reform programmes, which must be accelerated. Measures to be adopted by the relevant Minister would include reviewing the willing-buyer, willing- seller policy.

In his response to this aspect, the hon Tony Leon rejected this proposal. He argued that the proposed land reform would negatively affect investment in the economy. Taken to its logical conclusion, hon Tony implies that investment of capital in this country is sacrosanct. Land reform is less critical. He made no suggestion on how to resolve the land reform challenge … [Applause.] … other than that the government must face the inflated market prices. It does not occur to the hon member that if the land issue is not equitably resolved, it has the potential to cause social instability, thereby discouraging the very investments that he is articulating.

There is another dimension to this sensitive issue. Many of the white farmers obtained these farms as a result of the infamous Land Act of 1913 and subsequent Land Acts of colonial apartheid regimes, including plain acts of land robbery such as land acquired through conquest and forced removal of blacks from their land.

The DA, because of its antitransformation agenda, fails to realise that these poor blacks are morally and constitutionally entitled to the envisaged accelerated land restitution. Then on Friday, 26 May, to illustrate the antitransformation stance of the DA, during the Arts and Culture debate, the hon Van der Walt was passionately arguing that “Pretoria bly maar Pretoria”. [Pretoria remains Pretoria.] [Interjections.]

This city, as many will know, is named after a Voortrekker leader who, after conquering the Zulu army at Blood River in KwaZulu-Natal, trekked northwards and subdued black tribes under Chief Tshwane. I do agree that this is a very complex matter. The central question in our new political dispensation is: which history must we affirm, colonial or African history? [Interjections.]

It is this departure from liberalism and insensitivity, as well as arrogance, that has made the DA lose its appeal for blacks and genuine white liberals, many of whom are leaving in droves. [Laughter.] The unfortunate consequence of this attitude and policy is that it tends to polarise the country again along racial lines, the very antithesis of building a cohesive nonracial society. The hon Leon, as he does perennially, reflected at length on the shortcomings regarding social delivery and this time he quoted the issue of the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital. [Interjections.]

Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Chairperson, is the hon member prepared to take a question?

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Hon member, do you want to take a question?

Mr R S NTULI: You can ask me six more, but at the end of my speech. [Interjections.]

Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Chairperson, I just want to give notice that it is a very easy question. [Interjections.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Please take your seat, hon Van der Merwe. Please continue, hon Ntuli.

Mr R S NTULI: The hon Tony Leon, as he does perennially, referred to the shortcomings of social delivery, and in his typical style of being a paragon of doom and gloom, he does not reflect on the genesis of the challenges and painful backlogs caused by the hideous apartheid regime. Instead, he expects the present government to wipe out these setbacks caused by colonial and apartheid regimes over 350 years in 12 years. [Applause.]

It is sad, if not lamentable, that the Democratic Party of stalwarts such as Helen Suzman and Colin Eglin, anchored in liberal democratic principles, has in a decade mutated itself into a negative reactionary group with very little value to add to the evolving democracy. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: The President of the Republic, Madam Speaker, Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, our guests in the gallery and families, ladies and gentlemen, on an occasion such as this one, where the gathering of our National Parliament is focusing on and discussing the Budget Vote of the Presidency, I want us to remember the inspiring words of Amilcar Cabral when he exhorts us to “mask no difficulties, mistakes and failures, and claim no easy victories”.

Ours was a hard-won liberation. Despite the enormous progress that we have made thus far, turning around an ailing economy and bringing services to millions of our people, the challenges remain daunting. We will not mask them nor will we claim easy victories.

Recently, much has been said about the state of our democracy, and whether our democratic values and the principles that our country was founded on and that are enshrined in our Constitution, are still healthy and thriving. Or is our democracy being eroded? The answer is a big yes. Our democracy is thriving and it’s in good health. In fact it is very robust. The fact that citizens are able to publicly criticise government without fear of reprisals, demonstrates that our democracy, free speech and public discourse are under no threat.

Our Parliament remains supreme and a true representative of our people. As members of Parliament, we dare not forget that as we go about our daily business we are called upon to uphold our Constitution at all times.

One of the responsibilities of the Leader of Government Business is to ensure that we as an executive are held accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for the exercise of our powers and the performance of our functions and ensure an interaction between the executive and the two houses of Parliament.

As members are aware, the executive is sometimes overstretched and has enormous challenges in trying to meet the tight deadlines we have set ourselves regarding the introduction of Bills. We are establishing a mechanism to ensure that more realistic deadlines are set and we improve the monitoring of the processing of the draft legislation prior to submission to Cabinet. Through better planning and management, requests for the fast-tracking of Bills have been kept to a bare minimum to ensure that Parliament has sufficient time to consider legislation.

At our recent meeting, Madam Speaker of the National Assembly and I discussed a range of issues that concern this House and the executive, and we agreed that a meeting that looks at these issues extensively must be held at least quarterly and I intend and hope to establish a similar arrangement with the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces. While maintaining the separation of powers and the oversight and role of Parliament, we will strive to consult intensively.

The executive’s delivery capacity can also be enhanced by the input from Parliament so that we can work as partners who share a common vision and a destiny for our people. Oversight doesn’t mean being hands off and aloof.

I hope, in the coming year, we can improve the interaction between the Leader of Government Business and Parliament, in particular, with the committees chairs, the Leaders of the Opposition and, of course, the already established interaction with the Whippery through the Chief Whip’s Office.

In this year’s budget debates, Parliament has also been scrutinising departments’ interventions outlined in Asgisa for improving the lives of the poor. I wish to commend the MPs for this because it will enhance the integration and focus of these interventions – because we do not regard Asgisa to be a stand-alone programme. Asgisa is an initiative but an integral part of government’s programme of action.

On international obligations such as the Millennium Development Goals in particular, all the departments seem to have strategically included these goals in their programmes, which implies that South Africa is well positioned to deliver on MDGs. Our legislation and policies are geared to the fulfillment of this task by 2014, a year before the United Nations deadline of 2015. This is important for Africa, as we have been found to be least likely to meet the MDG targets. We must, as South Africa, not succumb to this pessimism; ours is to ensure that we outperform and we work collaboratively with other African countries, and to ensure that we deliver on these targets.

I wish to thank the Cabinet Secretariat for the sterling work that they do for many of us in service of the Cabinet as well as the service that they provide to me regarding the extra work they do for the Leader of Government Business. Because of their efficiency, the Cabinet system runs very smoothly.

Madam Speaker, you also would know that the President has assigned to me the responsibility of marshalling government’s efforts to accelerate shared economic growth and address the integration of the second economy, in particular. These efforts have culminated in what we now refer to as Asgisa. In the process of developing this programme we spoke to and consulted with many people, groups and constituencies, which included business organisations, trade unions, civil society, women’s groups and the youth. And through those consultations a programme has evolved.

That is why Asgisa is not simply a government programme. It is an initiative which belongs to all South Africans. It is a mechanism through which, as the Presidency, we co-ordinate and support departments, institutions and other partners to pool their resources in support of shared growth, to close the gaps when and where they occur and take full advantage of opportunities for us to work in partnership across society.

The selected sectors in the economy that we have identified as those for growth, include tourism … Chair, can you ask the hon members of the House to just give me a chance – they are too loud.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! Hon members, you are conversing too loudly.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Progress has been made with regard to Tourism and Business Process Outsourcing, which are some of the priority sectors that we have identified. Some challenges remain in terms of finalising in these sectors, even though we are very close, and attention will be given, especially, to those challenges and contributions that need to be addressed by government.

I wish to thank all the partners for their input and particularly the contribution of the Business Trust and organised labour. This partnership is working and is solid.

One of the most deadly blows to our masses and our people by apartheid, was the inferior education provided to all other groups except white people, and of course these members benefited. In our growing and high performing economy, the apartheid education legacy has come to haunt us. It has robbed us of the critical skills needed to grow this economy, which the democratic government has managed and grown so well. It is for this reason we widely consulted for the skills that are needed in order to drive sector development and economic growth. We therefore established the Jipsa for South Africa.

Jipsa focuses on several areas, which will also include taking on board those unemployed graduates who are languishing at home even though they have acquired some basic skills that we can use in the economy. However, some of the skills do not quite match the demands of the economy, but our task is to enhance the capacity of those young graduates and assist them to integrate into the economy. Jipsa will support higher enrolment for learnerships, internships and apprentices and together with the Departments of Education and Labour, help clarify and enhance societal understanding of these concepts and their applications so that they are functional. We are encouraged by the co- operation of state-owned enterprises in searching for solutions, such as what Eskom and Transnet are doing in addressing the gap in technical skills.

Jipsa aims to find work placement that will fast-track the acquisition of experience for our middle level managers and starting professionals in the scarce skills category in the private and public sectors.

A report done by the University of Cape Town School of Business commissioned by Jipsa, indicates that 40% of students from historically disadvantaged institutions in the technically related fields failed to graduate due to their inability to secure internships and apprenticeships, and not because they have failed. We must respond to this decisively so that we can ensure that both the private and the public sector are able to accommodate these young people whose skills we would therefore be able to deploy in the economy.

We commend that a start that has been made at local government level to address the issue of capacity. At least 90 professionals have been identified by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and thanks to the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) and National Treasury for the work they have done in this regard.

Thirty of these professionals have already been deployed and some of these professionals who will mentor some of these young graduates at local government level were drawn from the database that was provided to us by the Freedom Front in this House.

This is a good partnership, where the opposition collaborates with us in order to address matters of national interest. [Applause.] Baqhwabeleni, torhwana. [Please applaud them.]

I wish to thank the Sector Education and Training Authorities and other training institutions that have embraced this initiative and are working to respond to the challenges ahead of us. I also want to thank all the partners that are participating in Jipsa, the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition, especially the National Business Initiative, which is providing the initiative with secretarial support, and the task team that has been drawn from a range of institutions inside and outside of government and government departments and is chaired by the now retired general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Mr Gwede Mantashe.

The skills shortage is a global challenge, and although we are undertaking an aggressive recruitment drive from our country first, it is important that we recognise that we are competing with other countries for these scarce skills.

There must be realism about what is possible given the enormity of the priority skills scarcity in the world. The problem will only be decisively resolved through the training of our people at our universities, technical institutions, schools, in our corporations and in our communities in the medium to long term.

South Africa and the world have to grapple with the global challenge sooner rather than later, as the scarcity represents a huge cost to economies that are stagnating because they do not find the right people, and the cost of hiring the few people available is becoming impossible. We, ourselves, know in South Africa about the phenomenon of upwardly mobile blacks.

The private sector must see the investment in human resources not as a corporate social responsibility, but a fundamental business imperative for their survival, sustainability, profitability and productivity.

The triple-bottom-line index adopted by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in identifying sustainable business includes profitability, adherence to acceptable environmental practices and corporate social responsibility. I would argue that human resource development must be added to these indices so that we see a sustainable company also in relation to how it invests in the people it employs.

Hon members, in the Reconstruction and Development Programme the first democratic government committed itself to rolling back poverty through the provision of social services and social infrastructure, amongst other things. We remain committed to rolling out these services and to reaching universal access in many, if not all, of these services before 2014 in order to give a better life to all our people.

As the President already indicated, the soon-to-be-published macrosocial reports find that the social mobility of the poor is very low in South Africa. Indeed, comparative evidence suggests that the likelihood of poor people moving into better-off categories is lower in South Africa than in many other countries because of the systemic nature of the apartheid legacy.

In other words, poor households and communities, comprising about one third of South Africa’s people, are locked into circumstances of poverty, which can only be addressed by our transferring resources that address these challenges head-on and directly. The marginalised people in the second economy have difficulty in pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps, without our integrating our services and addressing the challenges that they face in a much more coherent manner. It is for this reason that our interventions in the second economy are focusing on youth, women and people with disabilities, who form the majority of the people who are trapped in these circumstances. We must focus on removing the underlying systemic challenges that discourage some of these people who are otherwise trying to get themselves out of this situation.

The work to identify the correct interventions that will address the underlying systemic problems is being done by the policy unit in the Presidency, together with our clusters.

On the positive side, the General Household Survey for July 2005, released by Statistics SA last week, shows that between July 2002 and July 2005 school attendance rose from 96,3% to 97,8%. I know that Naledi will not rest until she gets this 3% that is missing.

The percentage of young persons not attending an educational institution because of a lack of fees fell from 39,6% to 35,4%, and with the no-fee schools policy, this will come down further.

In the health sector a positive sign is the rising percentage of patients of both private and public sector hospitals that are satisfied with the services of these institutions, which rose from 82,1% to 96% respectively.

The number of households indicating hungry adults fell from 6,9% in 2002 to 4,2% in 2005, and I know Minister Skweyiya won’t rest until we have brought this down further. The number of households with hungry children fell from 6,7% to 4,7%. These numbers need to continue to fall at an even greater speed.

In the private sector the availability of mobile phones for households rose from 35% in 2002 to a remarkable 59,7% in 2005 …

Heyi, niyakuthanda ukuthetha! [You like to talk, hey!]

… which means that there is growing disposable income in our communities.

Universal access to basic services is a key intervention of government to address the inequalities that we have referred to. We call on all the spheres of government to prioritise and accelerate universal access to these services. I am sure all of you, members in this House, will agree that it is important that we work together to ensure that our country must and can give an acceptable minimum standard of living to all our people.

Through our government programmes we focus on investments in poor communities, because this has high socioeconomic returns. For example, investing in the provision of electricity or communications can increase the output of the poor by 40% of the value of the investment, while investments in roads can yield a whopping 80% and higher; hence the greater emphasis on road infrastructure through the Expanded Public Works Programme and the work done by the Department of Transport.

The effect on poverty reduction of such investments, as well as investments in irrigation systems, can have an even higher impact on poverty alleviation in rural areas. These are some of the interventions that we have adopted in our Accelerated Infrastructure Development Programme.

Despite all the criticism that the SA National Aids Council, Sanac, has not done much work, I would like to argue that in the areas of advocacy and social mobilisation for HIV and Aids it has indeed made a big contribution.

Some of the work of the council is ensuring that appropriate dialogue and discussion of issues pertaining to the HIV and Aids policy take place between government and civil society. Most of our NGOs participate, and only a few do not participate and co-operate with us. This ensures the participation of civil society sectors in the SANAC meetings and that Sanac supports activities geared at partnerships in the fight against HIV and Aids.

As the country’s co-ordinating mechanism, Sanac has contributed to securing resources for the support of NGOs in fighting HIV and Aids, as well as TB. During a recent Sanac meeting a presentation on a framework for the national strategic plan for 2006-11 was also adopted.

I would also like to address the issue of moral degeneration in our country, which manifests itself in various ways, such as the abuse of children and senior citizens, abuse of alcohol and abuse of women. Addressing these issues in a partnership manner is the core of the Moral Regeneration Movement. Thousands of South Africans across the country have in the past year participated in the drawing up and adoption of a charter for positive values.

Efforts to further broaden participation and leadership in this initiative is underway, and the Moral Regeneration Movement has, in the main, been supported by faith-based institutions. We see a role for business organisations, civil society, including sports, youth and women in embracing these positive values, and work is underway to broaden participation. There is also room to instil these values through education and social movements.

We cannot tolerate any abuse of women as we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the women’s march to the Union Buildings, which took place on 9 August 1956. The celebration of that heroic and historic women’s struggle calls upon us to be extra vigilant about the rights and the dignity of women in our country. [Applause.]

We must affirm our commitment to fighting against woman and child abuse. We salute the women’s leadership and all the partners for having extended the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children to 365 days. We urge all members to do their bit every day of the year. [Applause.]

The backlash against women and the resurgence of male chauvinism in our society, in whatever form it disguises itself, cannot be tolerated. Both men and women in our country have made great strides in this respect and they must march on and not regress.

Let us remember that any slide into male chauvinism will hit the poorest of the poor women hardest, because they have fewer possibilities to negotiate favourable power relations at work, in communities and in bed, and that could be deadly.

We have built on the imbizo concept within our system of governance, which is a direct result of our belief that the voice and the views of our communities are important to us. We have visited many municipalities to better understand the bottlenecks that exist. These interactions have found themselves into a programme, which is now known as Project Consolidate.

Several interventions have also been identified to target the development of our women throughout our country, to ensure that we enhance the role that women can play in addressing their own problems and the problems of society.

To strengthen women’s leadership at local government level, we are, jointly with Old Mutual and the SA Management Development Institute, Samdi, currently training a group that is dominated by women on project management, which the President identified as one of our shortcomings. These women are being trained at the Old Mutual Business School. A total of 100 local government practitioners will benefit from this course.

The President also has a women’s working group, made up of women from civil society, alongside the other presidential working groups. We have initiated a national co-operative programme that is directed towards women in urban and rural areas. The programme is called Jobs for Growth. It is directed by the Independent Development Trust, IDT, and the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs, on behalf of government. The Departments of Public Works and Trade and Industry also participate in the programme.

The programme has been launched and it is currently training 150 trainers who have been selected to initiate the training. They are presently training some of their targeted co-operatives at local authority level. Several women’s organisations and municipalities are assisting in this regard. The programme is fully staffed and the relevant departments will report on progress. We are finalising the placement of women for work experience in different countries, for skills acquisition. We are focusing on training women in construction, hospitality, finance, ICT and tourism. Again, the Departments of Tourism and Public Works, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and IDT are leading this programme. I would like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs for assisting us in identifying training opportunities overseas.

We are now working and discussing training possibilities in India, the United Kingdom, the United Arabic Emirates, Canada, Kenya, China, Spain and Australia, and our ambassadors are collaborating with us in that respect. [Applause.]

I will not do justice if I do not touch on my favourite subject, and I am sure a subject that is dear to all of us: youth development. Minister Pahad will speak more on this subject.

I would like to highlight that as we, all of us in this House, celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings, we must remember that we need to challenge our young people to develop their own legacy as the generation of 2006.

The 2005 World Youth Report of the United Nations reminds us that it is essential to ensure that youth interventions are relevant and valid for the current young generation in society, and not mired in the realities of the past. Our country faces challenges beyond skills, poverty and unemployment. We need to rebuild the character and soul of our young people. We are challenged to build a socially cohesive society. In this society our young people must be able to uphold the vision of the country with pride and passion.

Through our national youth service, which Minister Essop Pahad is also driving, we should be able to invest in developing these values. Umsobomvu and the National Youth Commission are also working hard in developing this programme. They are also involved in a number of other programmes, which I will not mention in this presentation, and we thank them for the good work that they do.

I would like us to remember one of our members that we lost this year, hon Minister Stella Sigcau; a great woman, a mentor, an educator and a mother, inkosazana yamaMpondo [the princess of the Pondos], who, in her own right as a traditional leader, sought to teach us how we can combine a progressive developmental state with a dynamic role of traditional authority, which also in its own right is a developmental and progressive traditional authority.

I want to thank the President for his wise leadership and counsel, his quiet dignity, which sometimes, as some don’t seem to be aware, can give you a long rope to hang yourself. It is not a sign of weakness. [Applause.]

The President’s silence can speak volumes if you care to listen. I am grateful for his help in keeping my eyes on the ball and for his support. I also wish to thank Minister Essop Pahad, the Minister in the Presidency, for his support.

I wish to thank all our staff and advisors in the Presidency, ably led by Rev Chikane, for always walking the extra mile, and all our families in the Presidency for consistently supporting us, and everyone from the DG up to ubab’ uElias, the messenger, and our protectors.

I wish to thank the people in the gallery, the many partners that collaborate and work with us in civil society, the private sector, and you, hon members, for your support and hard work, as well as my colleagues in Cabinet for their comradeship and more.

This is the age of hope, lest we forget and are confused by the turmoil around us, which in time and in history will only be a speck of dust in a much bigger picture of a people united in partnership for a better life.

It is the age of hope. Women must not be cannibalised by the revolution, which liberated them and gave them back their dignity. It is the age of hope. Our children’s stomachs must not be tickled by hunger pangs or tears of pain from being violated, but by pangs of laughter, of being tickled by the loving hands of grown-ups and by tears from laughter out of joy of play.

It is the age of hope. Our youth must strive to leave a legacy, learn from the youth of 1976, the youth that left a legacy notwithstanding the oppression and death that they faced. Youth in a free society, and in a free South Africa, must strive to do even more for the nation.

Madam Speaker, and hon members, we have tried to highlight the challenges that we face, the successes that we have achieved and we have not forgotten the wise counsel of Amilcar Cabral: “… mask no difficulties, mistakes and failures, and claim no easy victories”.

Our budget is - and I was complaining to the Minister - R253 million; a small budget for a dictator. [Laughter.] I therefore call on this House to support this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr B H HOLOMISA: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President and hon members, the UDM supports Budget Vote No 1 – The Presidency. Welcome to the club of dictators, Mr President. [Laughter.] The political events surrounding the Presidency and the former Deputy President have provided us with much entertainment in the past year. On a more serious note, …

… ndiyavumelana nenkosi uButhelezi ngentetho yayo. [… I concur with what Chief Buthelezi is saying.]

We must remember that the Office of the Presidency is the face of government and of the country abroad. Anything uttered about or concerning the occupant of that Office or the deputy in that Office affects the image of the country.

During the course of the debate surrounding the Presidency in the past year the matter of succession has been raised many times. We welcome the fact that the hon President has recently stated that the public at large should debate this succession question. We applaud this statement, but we know that as much as every South African wants to participate in this debate, it is currently a decision that resides with the ruling party. Unfortunately the legal instrument does not exist for the whole country to give its final say on this matter, namely by voting directly for the President of their choice, as happens in many democracies.

This raises the important matter of whether the South African electoral system is giving proper and full expression to the democratic wishes of the people. The current enthusiasm in the Tripartite Alliance about who will succeed as the President and the campaigns accompanying that have already led to repeated statements, emanating from big business, the Cabinet and labour, to the effect that there is no crisis. If this decision was in the hands of all the voters and not a single political party, then we would not have this widespread concern about the crisis stemming from one clique or another choosing the President of the country.

It is unfortunate that the Zuma saga has been perceived as an ethnic issue in some circles. I am sure that the architects of “divide and rule”, who were behind the black-on-black violence in the ‘90s, would rejoice when they see tribalism rearing its ugly head again. The message is clear, Mr President: We don’t want to witness those politics again. Maybe, as you suggested recently, Mr President, this House should revisit the question of the Electoral Act in order to address such things as floor-crossing and should take a holistic approach and consider your suggestion of including the public in the succession debate. I thank you, sir. [Applause.]

Ms M J J MATSOMELA: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, in supporting this budget, it is important to reflect on historical phases through which the Presidency has guided the nation. The President referred to this in 2003 when he said, “the tide has turned”, and in 2006, that we have entered the “age of hope”.

The South African government, through the leadership of the ANC, is one of the leading forces of transformation in this continent. It is guided by the needs and ideals of the people as expressed in the Freedom Charter. These ideals and needs of the people have found expression in the principles, values and mandate in our Constitution.

Within the stated sections in the Constitution, the Presidency has a unique function - that of holding the centre together and simultaneously ensuring that departments at all spheres of government are accelerating service delivery, respecting the Constitution and the rule of law through skilled human resources.

There is therefore a dire need to develop capacity in our developmental state. Skilled human resources are critical because it is through an educated and trained citizenry that South Africa will be strong and will become a beacon of hope, not only for our people and our continent, but also for the whole world. Education and training can nurture and grow our democracy. It can carve a niche for South Africa in the world and in the community of nations.

Therefore, it is important to ensure that the leadership of our country, be it at governance, business, trade union, religious and other civil society levels, holds education and training as the highest priority of our country while we address the other issues of hunger, poverty, homelessness, to name but a few.

South Africa is in transition from the apartheid-based production economy to a knowledge-based economy. In this “age of hope”, we have only one choice to make. This choice is to embrace and accommodate a knowledge-based economy or be left behind.

How then do we embrace this transition? Men and women of South Africa have to deepen democracy to secure a better life for all South Africans and to consistently remain innovative by using their talents, our natural resources and technology.

Many analysts do not agree on what a knowledge-based economy is. However, there is a convergence of opinion on what constitutes the characteristics of this knowledge-based economy.

These characteristics are: one, technology is a given; two, globalisation is here to stay; three, knowledge is wealth; four, people are the most important asset; five, there is no such thing as a smooth ride; six, competition is relentless; and, finally, alliances are the way to get things done.

These characteristics are contained in the mandate of my organisation, the ANC. [Applause.] They are also contained in the African Peer Review Mechanism. This is indicative of the fact that this ANC-led government is on course in ensuring that the majority of the people out there are not only politically liberated, but are, of course, economically liberated as well.

While the current leadership of the country, be it in the political, economic and/or civil society arenas, are confronting the challenges of the so-called “knowledge-based economy”, we have projects such as the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition, and many other projects in our economic and social clusters, especially the science, technology and innovation cluster, aimed at securing a better life for all our people and making South Africa strong economically, politically and administratively.

Lack of skills and of proper use of technology can therefore threaten the future of South Africa. We are rich in natural resources, advancement in technology and infrastructure, but unless our people are skilled to manage and exploit these resources and facilities, our ideals of democracy and a better life for all will remain elusive objective.

Projects such as Asgisa, Jipsa and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development will enable South Africa and Africa to take a quantum leap into this `age of hope’ and make South Africa and Africa a better place for all its people.

South Africa and Africa can only become a beacon of hope if, and only if, it can create jobs and more opportunities aimed at destroying the evils of poverty and aimed at securing a better life for all people on our continent. Asgisa, Jipsa and the African Peer Review Mechanism already contain the principles and characteristics aimed at creating a knowledge- based economy.

For education and training institutions to contribute to these projects, which initially were designed for an apartheid-based production economy, they have to contribute to turning it into a knowledge-based economy. This, I believe, will enable South Africa to take its proper place collectively with other countries on our continent to secure the continent for future generations.

This can only be made possible by transformed educational and training programmes that are manifested in all our continental institutions. As we move towards this new economy, we should ask ourselves whether our education and training objectives really capacitate the masses of our people to take their rightful place in a knowledge-based economy, and in realising the objectives of Asgisa, Jipsa and Nepad.

Therefore, while we debate our ideological differences, we should not dare to forget what binds and unites South African people and the people of our continent together. This is a better life for all, which should be manifested in a strong leadership in all our institutions and the institutions of our continent to make Africa a continent full of opportunities for its people. Countries of our continent and the world may differ but the knowledge-based economy will diminish their diversity if the institutions of education are intact.

The new economy is based less on natural resources grounded in geography and more on innovative ideas that know no boundaries. Although markets are more global than local, the paradox is that competitive advantages lie in regional clusters of interrelated industries, supply networks and, most importantly, in skilled workers.

In conclusion, allow me to refer to what the President said in his state of the nation address earlier this year. The President mentioned that, as a government, it is important to make interventions in the area of education and training. Further education and training in South Africa should be seen as a pool of skills development.

It is therefore the responsibility of national, provincial and local governments, the business sector and civil society to play a prominent role in education and training. It is also critical for South African education and training institutions to produce graduates who will contribute to the growth of our economy in order to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014 as well as continuously deepening democracy and securing a better life for all our people. I thank you. [Applause.]

Rev K R J MESHOE: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, members, the Presidency has organised its budget expenditure into six programmes, with programme five on policy co-ordination further divided into sub-programmes, which include the Office of the Rights of the Child.

In the light of the daily rapes and sexual abuse of children in this country, I want to propose that the President elevate the sub-programme on the rights of the child to a full programme that will focus on the safety and protection of children. On Sunday evening I visited two families in an informal settlement called Zonk’izizwe. Their two young girls, aged six and seven, were abducted by a man who took them to a nearby bush where he strangled and raped them both.

The six year old, Kedibone, died, but her seven year old friend survived to tell the story. Since the rape was reported more than 12 days ago, Kedibone’s parents have never received a phone call or visit from the police. The family does not even know when the rapist who killed their daughter will be appearing in court. Their fear is that this case might be thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence, resulting in their daughter becoming another statistic.

Mr President, the ACDP appeals to you to instruct the Minister of Safety and Security to ensure that this rape and murder case is properly investigated by an able and dedicated detective whose investigation will result in a conviction, because it is a shame that less than 10% of reported rape cases involving children, end with a conviction.

It is a national disgrace that more than 90% of child rapists in this country get away with their crimes. The government must stop this. A man who strangles and rapes a six year old girl, and then leaves her dead with her lifeless limbs resting on her shoulders, deserves much more than a life sentence.

We in the ACDP believe that the most appropriate sentence for these crimes should have been the death penalty. The late Kedibone’s parents will ask me, over the weekend, whether the President has agreed to help them with this case, to ensure that justice is done, or whether he will be busy with more important matters on the continent.

Earlier this year, the President told the nation that this is the age of hope. What the ACDP wants to know is whether young boys and girls have any hope of reaching adulthood without being raped. These vulnerable and easy targets of wicked men with dead consciences are raped in their homes, schools, in the streets and on the playgrounds. There is no longer a place that can be guaranteed to be safe for our children.

Mr President, give a word of hope to mothers who are worried about the safety of their children. The criminal justice system has failed them. The police and the government are failing them. Is there any hope for the safety of our children? That is the question that needs to be answered. If yes, please tell the anxious parents about it, particularly Kedibone’s parents and those that feel betrayed by the system. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr E W TRENT: Mr President, Madam Speaker, hon members, the leader of the IFP said that the Presidency should be above suspicion, and I am sure you concur with that. Speaking to a reporter at the ANC conference in December 2002, the President said, and I quote:

There is an enormous volume of rumours that float around the country all the time.

There is a simple question to which I have been trying to get an answer for over a year now, namely whether you, Mr President, in your capacity as Deputy President, met with representatives of the French company, Thomsons CSF, on or about 17 December 1998. However, instead of a yes or a no, the only response to come from your office is that you do not recall such a meeting.

Such a simple question, Mr President, yet why are you unable to give the country an answer? I do not have the same extensive staff that you had as the Deputy President, nor have I been witness to the endless number of meetings you have attended as a representative of this government. Yet even I have more clarity on this issue than you, Mr President. How is that possible?

There are a number of people you could have consulted. At the top of the list would have been Mrs Barbara Masekela, the former ambassador of South Africa to Paris. According to a fax from Thomsons, she organised the meeting in question. Mrs Masekela, currently our country’s ambassador to the United States, is just a telephone call away. Perhaps she could help you to jog your memory, Mr President.

The government’s handbook for members of the executive states that a Minister is entitled to the following staff: a chief of staff, an administrative secretary, a media liaison officer, an appointment secretary, an assistant appointment secretary, a parliamentary officer, a secretary, a registry clerk and an aide. That is just for a Minister. At the time, you were the Deputy President.

Do none of these people recall the meeting either? Were any of them even consulted? As I have stated, there are only two answers to the question I am asking: yes or no. Each of these answers has a consequence. As I have stated, each of them has a consequence. If the answer is no, then the problem simply falls away and goes away, and the question becomes why Thomsons CSF would have fabricated a series of faxes? Was it a plot to frame you? I doubt that.

If, however, the answer is yes, then the problem becomes more substantive. In 1998 you were serving as head of the Ministerial Committee overseeing the arms deal. A secret meeting with Thomsons CSF, one of the bidders for the procurement package, would have amounted, in my opinion, to a violation of tender procedures.

It would also give rise to a series of other questions such as: What was discussed at the meeting? Was Mr Chippy Shaik, both chief of acquisitions and secretary to the Ministerial Committee, aware of these meetings? What other secret meetings with Thomsons did you possibly attend during the bidding process between September 1997 and December 1999?

Tomorrow, Mr President, you have an opportunity to respond and you have an opportunity to answer yes or no. It is my sincere hope that you will do that.

I want to end where I began. It is common cause that the best way to deal with rumours is to act decisively. You, yourself, Mr President, said that the country is abounding with rumours. We know how damaging rumours can be. Now is your opportunity once and for all to squash those rumours. Mr President, I believe and I know that you are an honourable person. I believe that you owe the country and me an answer to a very simple question. I thank you.

Prof A K ASMAL: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, comrades, members of the National Assembly, as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of our Constitution, we in South Africa need to reflect on where we are going today.

Our country remains admired throughout the world. You may think it’s a laughing stock here. We are a stable and well-proven democracy. I don’t want to feed Comrade Cronin’s prejudices, but if you look at the supplements of the Financial Times of yesterday, you will see that they treat South Africa, for the first time, as a normal society with normal problems, the normal cut and thrust of growth, development, internal and practical differences.

But, we made real strides, therefore, in addressing the economic and social needs of our people, even though much more remains to be done; the institutions of state under our Constitution operate well and effectively. These institutions are evolving. They are not perfect, but how could they be? They are still finding their feet in a young and growing democracy.

As an unabashed defender of the constitutional order, as I had something to do with the drafting of the Constitution, let me remind the House that it is this order which underpins the developing state. Without this order we cannot have a developing state. Therefore, it ill becomes those in our country who say they are friends of the democracy who now wish to assail our democracy. Nearly 30 years ago, I approached the great editor of the Irish Times, Douglas Gageby in Dublin, and asked him to publish a story about police brutality against civilians. His response was telling. He said: “I will not impugn a democratic institution or the state on the basis of rumours; I will only do so on the basis of evidence. Bring me compelling evidence, and then I will act.”

So, I only wish we had newspapers with such editors in this country today: with such respect for the constitutional order. But the lesson, Mr Chairperson, of my exchange with Gageby, was that we must be careful how we assert what we believe to be the truth. We must assert the truth in such a manner and refrain from using exaggerated headline-winning language in so doing. Therefore, we must assert the truth in a rational way.

This is not a plea for self-censorship or for constraints on our hard-won rights of freedom of expression. We respect our right to freedom of expression not by sensationalism and promiscuity, but by sagacity and wisdom. It is not how much we say, how much we use the right, but how we do so. Put simply, we must be prudent in our language, because excess insults coarsen our collective intelligence, reduce the quality of our democratic conversation – leader of the IFP - weaken the fragile sinews of trust and goodwill vital for safeguarding institutions of a representative democracy.

A vigorous, healthy democracy entails, no doubt, vigorous, robust debate. But there is a thin line between such debate and language that is so excessive that its use erodes the fabric of democratic discourse, if not our democratic institutions, thereby obstructing our relationship as elected representatives with our own citizenry.

The Leader of the Opposition is very often not in the House, so I apologise for his absence. The Leader of the Opposition, the hon Leon … [Interjections.]

Mr M J ELLIS: Chairperson, I wonder if you can give me an opportunity to explain that the hon Leon is not here and has written a letter explaining why. [Interjections.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! Order! Hon Ellis!

Prof A K ASMAL: This is preposterous! This is a crazy abuse of the House! The Leader of the Opposition, the hon Leon … [Interjections.] … is a master of the sort of excess to which I am referring. Whenever there is the opportunity to throw light on an issue he spurns it in favour of heat.

Consider this, Chairperson. He said reasonable things here and he was very amusing today - I must say. When he speaks in Tafelsig, or in Houghton, he has a different, strident voice. Last month, in a speech entitled “Our Constitutional Democracy Today”, he made the following claims without either a shred of evidence or any foundation of reason.

He said: “The ANC has set out to undermine and replace the authority of the Constitution almost from the very moment it was passed by Parliament in 1996.” Putting aside the fact that it passed by the Constitutional Assembly, this is an outrageous – totally unfounded – assertion. [Interjections.] I will give you a moment, but you never got to that stage, forget it. History will judge me.

As I will argue in a moment, the responsibility to avoid excessive argument lies on all of us - on all sides of this House - and none of us can in truth say that we have discharged, collectively, this responsibility well or perfectly.

It is absurd to assert that the ruling party has “set out to undermine and replace the authority of the Constitution”. But then the hon Leon is playing to what in the US, a country he knows well, used to be known in the nineteenth century as the “know nothing” movement. And there are too many members of the “know nothing” movement. [Laughter.]

It is not only the leaders of the conservative right that have fallen into the trap of excessive language and uncorroborated assertions. In the SACP’s recent discussion document published in Bua Komanisi, the assertions are no less glib and false, even if adorned with Gramsci and Marx. [Interjections.]

The document advances a so-called Bonapartist thesis, in which former President Nelson Mandela, “nogal”, is portrayed as a progressive Bonapartist – whatever that may mean - although he is described as having “arcane, quasi-feudal, pre-capitalist, corporatist values”.

In contrast, the present administration is portrayed as “an overly powerful Presidency, truly Bonapartist, and remote from its popular base”. This is what Lenin would have described as an example of infantile disorder, masquerading as political analysis, Mr President. [Laughter.]

There are inherent, unreasonable contradictions in the argument. On the one hand, there is a complaint that the state has been too weak and too ineffectual in pursuing the goal of social transformation. On the other, that the presidential centre is too powerful.

The Leader of the Opposition has also stated recently, “not content with this level of executive authority, the Presidency seeks intellectual authority as well”. I think he is just jealous. [Laughter.] Because my answer is that I know of no democratic society where the head of the executive is not expected to lead and shape public debate.

Theodore Roosevelt described this as the “bully pulpit” and great leaders are today honoured for seeking to shape the intellectual debates of their time. The Leader of the Opposition strangely seems to view this as incipient dictatorship. Does he think we are that susceptible to nativist anti-intellectualism? [Interjections.]

There is no recognition that in order to drive a coherent model of social transformation, in which the government plays a central role in accordance with its electoral mandate, the state must be strengthened, especially in its co-ordinating capacity, as we heard from the Deputy President.

Moreover, the language that accompanies this line of argument – of an emerging dictatorial tendency – hey, when does it emerge, how long does it take to emerge? It is subterranean. We can’t see it. And the President is the guardian of the Constitution by the way – look at the provisions of the Constitution. If it is an emerging dictatorship then we must impeach him now before it emerges.

Of course, this is misleading. It is un-intellectual, and offensive, as the leader of the IFP has said. It creates heat, but does not shed any light. I, for one, do not believe that South Africans respect such personal attacks and such language.

Let me draw some general conclusions from what I have said to the House today. First, the institutions and values of a representative democracy, the rule of law - as the President mentioned – the protection of human rights, representative institutions, are not lifeless structures or concepts frozen in ice.

By all means, let us have a debate on the balance and dispersal of power, including the role of the executive, Parliament, the Chapter 9 institutions, the role of the provinces and so on. But let us do so with some degree of civility and courtesy of language.

Let us debate as to how often we should amend the Constitution – and my belief is that we have amended it too often, 13 times now. I mean, should we amend the Constitution, unless it is absolutely necessary? Let us talk about the value of the Chapter 9 institutions, where Parliament plays an important role in their appointment in order to ensure their independence.

Second, let us remember that the ultimate power belongs to the people. The philosopher John Locke put it well I have never quoted John Locke before because he is rather conservative in his position, but it serves my purpose here: “The people will be ready upon any occasion to ease themselves of a burden that sits heavily upon them.”

It is clear that the people of South Africa are very far from this point, as election after election has shown. They have given a mandate again and again, unless, if I can borrow from Brecht, to satirise the elements I have referred to earlier, since the electorate is ungrateful, would it not be easier to dissolve the people and elect another.

Third, there is not a crisis of representative institutions in South Africa. But, we must be careful that carelessness at the level of political debate does not drip acid on these institutions. Populism, demagoguery, debasement of language, outrageous allegations of conspiracies, are meant to interfere with the administration of justice, largely law enforcement, but they are also real conspiracy to subvert the nature of the state itself, which was so dramatically and excellently handled by the Minister of Intelligence.

So, there was a real conspiracy but other conspiracies are unfounded, without any evidential value. They are wild exaggerations and these are no friends of representative government or of institutions that belong to the people.

Yesterday, the hon Mr Gibson egregiously – he is a very egregious character, he should look it up, and he is very parliamentary by the way – castigated the executive for sidelining Parliament. Well, Parliament is what we make of it, my dear members of the House.

Some portfolio committees have drawn the anger of Ministers and officials for their assertiveness. The Minister of Finance – no poodle, by the way – has criticised Parliament for not safely exercising sufficient control over the expenditure or non-expenditure of departments.

It took the intervention of the President to send back the Icasa Bill, because Parliament had not sufficiently canvassed its constitutionally. It failed. His intervention in the Courts Bill also, very importantly, reflected greater sensitivity to public opinion than Parliament had done. Therefore, if we want to improve the status of Parliament, we should insert a second reading debate to discuss the policy behind the Bill, not in the hugger-mugger atmosphere of a committee, but here.

Finally, we have too often seen in other countries over recent years an immature confusion between the democratic state and a free market system. There is, of course, a linkage between the two. But just as economics should not be entirely an adjunct of the state, so also the rightful claims of politics in shaping wider economic and social policy should be respected.

Consider, for example, the new director of the Helen Suzman Foundation, Raenette Taljaard - one of the most brilliant people we have had here, driven out of the DA by what she called “the vagaries of the party- political palace intrigue.” [Interjections.] He does not read that, because it was her inaugural speech at the foundation.

She recently tried to reconcile the Freedom Charter to her values of liberalism and the further need to reconcile individualist–centred core beliefs with redistribution and egalitarian social justice. That’s real thinking.

So, we do ourselves and our country honour when, in our public life, we respect diversity; when we honour differing views; when we value and cherish the institutions of our democracy; and when we act – as the servants of the people – with civility and respect to each other. Nothing else will do, Mr Chairperson. [Applause.]

Dr P W A MULDER: Voorsitter, rassisme kom oral in die wêreld voor. Duitsland is tans bekommerd oor moontlike aanvalle teen swartmense tydens die Sokkerwêreldbeker – wit rassisme. Einde verlede jaar was daar aanvalle van wit Australiërs teen Arabiere – suiwer wit rassisme. Onlangs is daar by ’n gesin in Doornkloof ingebreek. Toe die rowers sien dat die gesin swart is, was hul opmerking: “Ons wil julle nie seermaak nie, want julle is darkies.” Meneer, rassisme.

Dit bevestig verder dat rassisme by baie misdade in Suid-Afrika steeds ‘n rol speel. Die vraag is: hoe beveg ons dit? Ek sê: deurdat leiers van alle gemeenskappe skaamteloos en ongekwalifiseerd alle rassisme in die openbaar veroordeel. Dís die manier. In hierdie land, met sy ingewikkelde bevolkingsamestelling, kan leiers, wit en swart, nooit ophou om dit te doen nie.

As minister Nqakula sê dat witmense wat oor misdaad kla die land moet verlaat, dan speel hy die rassekaart. Die groot gevaar van sy stelling is dat daar altyd oningeligtes en moedswilliges is, wat hiervolgens hul eie optrede regverdig. Hulle sê om witmense te beroof is deel van die voortgesette struggle en die Minister keur dit goed. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Dr P W A MULDER: Chairperson, racism occurs everywhere in the world. At present Germany is concerned about possible attacks against blacks during the Soccer World Cup – white racism. At the end of last year there were attacks by white Australians against Arabs – pure white racism. Recently there was a burglary at the house of a family in Doornkloof. When the burglars saw that the family was black, they remarked: “We do not want to hurt you, because you are darkies.” Sir, racism.

This is further confirmation that racism still plays a role in many crimes in South Africa. The question is: How do we fight it? I say: By having leaders of all communities condemning all racism publicly, without shame or qualification. This is the way to do it. In this country with its complex population structure, leaders, white and black, can never stop doing this.

When Minister Nqakula says that whites who complain about crime should leave the country, he is playing the race card. The great danger of his statement is that there are always uninformed and wilful people who justify their own actions in accordance with this. They are saying that robbing whites is part of the ongoing struggle, and the Minister approves of it.]

Sir, do black people who complain about crime – and there have been many in the past few days – also have to leave the country, or does this only apply to white people? Underlying this statement is still the notion that blacks are from Africa and whites are merely settlers who do not belong here.

I have always had an objection to the ANC division of South Africans as Africans and whites. One either has to use colour – black and white – or use the continents – Africans and Europeans – otherwise one is comparing apples with pears. If we are divided into Africans and Europeans, then I am an African and not a European.

Sir, now we have natives and non-natives as well, complicating the issue. [Laughter.] I have bad news for Minister Nqakula. Sir, the white African natives will not be leaving this country. We’ll have to find solutions here, together. That is the only way.

Ek wil na die toekoms kyk, meneer. Die vraag is: sal daar oor 20 jaar geen rassisme en polarisasie meer wees in Suid-Afrika nie?

‘n Europese ambassadeur het onlangs sy bekommernis teenoor my uitgespreek oor die “free borns”. Dis dié geslag wat in die nuwe bedeling gebore is, niks met die verlede te doen het nie, los van enige apartheidsbagasie is. ‘n Studie van hul houdings kan ons ‘n kykie gee in hoe Suid-Afrika vorentoe sal lyk.

By ‘n hofsaak in Dendron onlangs staan ‘n jong swart man, nie 16 jaar oud nie, met ‘n plakaat wat lui: “All boers are killers”. Dis haatspraak, want hy praat van my. Hy’s deel van die nuwe “free born”-geslag.

By ‘n oorwegend wit skool in Pretoria rand die seuns ‘n swartman aan wat koeldrank kom aflewer. Waar kom dit vandaan? Ek sê: leiers moet dit veroordeel en beveg. Maar, meneer, die regering se regstellende beleid maak dit baie moeilik.

Regter Hlophe se seun word groot in ‘n huis waar sy pa ‘n professor was vóór 1994 en daarna is hy ‘n regter met ‘n groot inkomste. Hy gaan na die baie duur skool, Sacs – waarheen ek nie my kinders kan stuur nie – daarna kry hy ‘n beurs by ‘n regsfirma as deel van hul projek om benadeeldes te help. Meneer, hy was nooit ‘n benadeelde nie.

Jan Botha, wie se pa by Eskom werk, en wat sy werk verloor het, gaan na ‘n gewone plattelandse staatskool waar hy ses onderskeidings kry. Hy kan nie sonder beurse studeer nie, en omdat hy wit is, kry hy geen beurse nie en kan hy nie verder studeer nie. Hy is tans ‘n bevoordeelde.

Kom saam met my en verduidelik aan ‘n jong Afrikanergehoor waarom die een ‘n benadeelde is ná 12 jaar en die ander een ‘n bevoordeelde is. Die regering moet kennis neem van die gevolge – waarskynlik onbeplande gevolge – van sy beleid. En ek hoop ons kan in die toekoms die debat voer aangaande die verslag waarvan die President praat.

Wat vra ek? Ek vra dat dié regering swart rassisme net so sterk as wit rassisme veroordeel. Dieselfde geld natuurlik vir my en ander leiers. Ek vra dat die jong geslag vrygestel word van regstellende aksie, omdat dit tans polarisasie veroorsaak, omdat dit rassisme vestig, en die room van die jonges die land uitdryf.

Ek het verlede jaar na ‘n voorbeeld hier verwys van ‘n jong witman wat sy gemeenskapsjaar as kliniese sielkundige by die Weermag gedoen het. Hy wou graag permanent by die Weermag aansluit; sy hoofde het dit geweier. Hy’s tans in Londen waar hy daar werk doen. Meneer, dis sleg vir Suid-Afrika; dis sleg vir ons almal. Ek dank u. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[I want to look at the future, sir. The question is: Will there be no more racism and polarisation in South Africa in 20 years’ time?

Recently a European ambassador expressed his concern to me about the “free borns”. This is the generation that was born during the new dispensation, who have nothing to do with the past, and are free of any apartheid baggage. A study of their attitudes can give us a glimpse as to what South Africa will look like in the future.

During a court case in Dendron recently a young black man, not yet sixteen years old, stood brandishing a placard that read: “All boers are killers”. This is hate speech, because he was speaking about me. He is part of the new “free born” generation.

At a predominantly white school in Pretoria, the boys assaulted a black man who had come to deliver cool drinks. Where does this come from? I say: Leaders should condemn and fight this. But, sir, the government’s affirmative action policy makes this very difficult.

Justice Hlope’s son grew up in a home where his father was a professor before 1994, and thereafter he became a judge with a large income. He attended a very expensive school, Sacs – to which I cannot send my children – and afterwards he was awarded a bursary at a legal firm as part of their project to assist disadvantaged people. Sir, he never was a disadvantaged person.

Jan Botha, whose father worked at Eskom and who lost his job, attended an ordinary public school in a rural area where he obtained six distinctions. He cannot study without bursaries, and because he is white, he has not received any bursaries and cannot further his studies. At present he is one of the advantaged persons.

Come with me and explain to a young Afrikaner audience why one person is disadvantaged after 12 years and the other is an advantaged person. The government must take note of the consequences – probably unplanned consequences – of its policy. And I hope that in future we can have a debate on the report that the President speaks about.

What am I asking? I am asking this government to condemn black racism as strongly as it condemns white racism. The same applies to other leaders and to myself, of course. I am asking that the young generation be freed from affirmative action, because at present it is causing polarisation, because it establishes racism, and drives the crème de la crème of our young people from the country.

Last year I referred to the example of a young white man who did his community year as a clinical psychologist with the Defence Force. He would have liked to join the Defence Force permanently; his superiors refused. At the moment he is working in London. Sir, this is bad for South Africa; it is bad for all of us. I thank you.] [Applause.]]

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Comrade Chair, Comrade President, Comrade Deputy President, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, in 1994 we inherited a nation that was racially fractured. We inherited a country beset with an immense legacy of material deprivation faced by the vast majority of our people. This legacy included racialised and feminised poverty, racial segregation, a huge unequal division of land, wealth and income based on race and legalised, institutionalised and systemic racial and gender discrimination in all walks of life.

We had a dual imperative: to rapidly deal with the legacy of apartheid and transform a system regarded as a crime against humanity into one that was democratic, socially just and politically and economically stable. These were the objective demands and the objective conditions facing us in 1994.

We had to act decisively, with alacrity, with purpose and with vision. And, we knew that this could not be accomplished by what in the 1990s was de rigueur among those enamoured with the Washington Consensus – the neo- liberal minimalist state characterised by privatisation, deregulation, downsizing, delayering, decentralisation and devolution of responsibility. We consciously eschewed the neo-liberal state in favour of the developmental state with its responsibility of realising the mandate given to the first democratically elected government in South Africa – transformation and the progressive realisation of social justice for all.

There is also a constitutional imperative to transform South Africa. In this respect, the state in South Africa has a very high obligation to improve the quality of life of all South Africans in the context of dealing with the socioeconomic injustices of the past, while at the same time protecting fundamental rights and freedoms as enunciated in the Bill of Rights.

The requirement to improve the quality of life means dealing with underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, unequal access to education, health care, etc. To remedy these inequalities, the developmental state has to act to ameliorate conditions of disadvantage. Failure to do anything about the historical legacy would mean that the state could, in effect, be violating the highest law of the land.

In committing to a developmental state, we were simultaneously committing to the development of a well-resourced centre capable of leading, directing and giving guidance to all spheres of government. The centre must have sufficient capacity and be well-resourced to provide policy direction in order to achieve our broad constitutional and national objectives, measure the impact of resource allocation and, where necessary, intervene to ensure efficient and effective service delivery and policy implementation.

The developmental needs of our country are of such an order that the provision of guidance and leadership is of paramount importance to ensure that government is capable of decisive interventions and to ensure that we improve the quality of life of our people. It is the Presidency, together with Cabinet, that has an overall responsibility to co-ordinate the work of the developmental state and that has overall responsibility for what the state has to accomplish.

So, unlike those who sit languidly among the ranks of the opposition, we had to confront the reality of running a country and making a deep and immediate impact on the dual imperative. For our government, elected on a platform of socioeconomic development, not to embrace a developmental state capable of engaging rapid transformation, would be an abdication of our responsibility and a betrayal of the will of the people as expressed in ever-increasing majorities over successive elections.

In a recent communication, the Leader of the Opposition indicated that in his opinion, “whatever the gains for South Africa on the economic front, this Presidency has had an impoverishing effect on the politics of democratic accountability”. In what way has this government in general and the Presidency in particular diminished democratic accountability? By improving the socioeconomic conditions of the vast majority of our people? By upholding the rule of law and respecting the Constitution? By Ministers appearing before portfolio committees? By creating a macroeconomic and political environment of stability?. Through facilitating a highly inclusive and participatory African Peer Review Mechanism Process?

The hon Leon is being thoroughly disingenuous. It is not the Presidency that has impoverished democracy or, for that matter, called the reputation and the will of Parliament into question. It is the hon Leon who recently insulted Parliament when he questioned our transformation agenda. He said: “Part of the unheralded agenda of transformation has been the conversion of Parliament and other constitutionally mandated oversight bodies from effective watchdogs into supine lapdogs.” And in another instance, he served a warning that, “Parliament is in some danger of becoming a shell, an empty form”.

Now, it is one thing to call into question the activities of the Presidency. It is another matter entirely to insult each and every one of you present in our National Assembly and National Council of Provinces. What hubris! [Applause.]

Hon members, the apparent confluence of the right and some on the left in two recent debates about centralisation and the absence of meaningful participation demonstrates that politics sometimes make strange bedfellows indeed. The hon Leon is on record as saying, “much of what the South African Communist Party and Cosatu have been saying about the democratic deficit in South Africa today, is what the DA has been saying for the past five years”. And, again, “we find ourselves in complete agreement with the left faction. Not in this case because they are left but because they are in fact right.” Strange bedfellows, indeed. I do not know – either they must go and join the left or the left must go and join them, but somewhere something is wrong.

There are even some in this august body, who confuse the need for a strong interventionist developmental state with centralisation. The centralisation- decentralisation debate is a red herring. It is the refuge of those who lack vision, imagination and purpose. They use it to undermine both a President who derives his power and legitimacy from the Constitution and a responsible Presidency which is accountable and transparent. In personalising the centralisation-decentralisation debate, they miss the key point, namely, what kind of institutional arrangements make for efficient and effective policy development, policy implementation, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation.

Surely, hon members, no progressive person will dare suggest that a government duly elected by the overwhelming majority of the people ought not to fulfil the mandate given to it by the electorate. It is also useful to point out that our government takes participatory democracy very seriously. We engage in continuous dialogue with our people.

For us, democracy is not about asking our people to come to the ballot box every few years. It is about consulting them through the izimbizo processes and through consultations. The President has also established a number of working and advisory groups on women, youth, higher education, big business, black business, religion, labour and the economy. All of these initiatives are important elements of the people’s contract and participatory democracy and serve as important feedback loops for the President and the Presidency.

Taking the concerns of our people seriously means placing the needs of vulnerable groups – women, children, youth and people with disabilities - at the very heart of our institutions. It is about strengthening the work of the National Gender Machinery and the National Machinery on Children’s Rights.

Our government locates the Office on the Rights of the Child, the Office on the Status of Women, the Office on the Status of Disabled People and the Youth Desk in the Presidency, precisely because we believe that mainstreaming and applying a GDCY lens can best be accomplished and monitored in the Presidency, working in close co-operation with other national departments, provinces and local municipalities. This is not about centralisation of power and resources; it is about democracy and accountability. The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons, the Office on the Rights of the Child, the Office on the Status of Women and the Youth Desk all play a vital role in four important respects. Firstly, they engage in a very dynamic way with civil society organisations in their respective sectors. The communication and consultation processes that have been established are very important for the advancement of the rights of historically disadvantaged groups and communities. They are also important for policy development and implementation and for service delivery.

Secondly, they play a critical mainstreaming role. Thirdly, they interact with provincial and local counterparts to ensure that national policies are translated into action in the other spheres of government. Fourthly, these three offices and the youth desk identify the challenges and gaps in policy development and implementation and offer solutions that can be readily implemented. In these ways, the three offices and the youth desk act as a vital two-way transmission belt linking government in a dynamic way with vulnerable communities so as to ensure that the quality of life of members of those communities improves.

All of the programme areas have noted that they will work, firstly to strengthen the capacity of focal points in national departments and in other spheres of government; secondly, to increase awareness of what gender, disability, children and youth mainstreaming means and how it is to be accomplished; and, thirdly, to strengthen ties with civil society in their respective sectors.

For the upcoming year, the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons, OSDP, has indicated that it will work diligently to strengthen the disability national machinery so that it is effective in co-ordinating disability programmes; monitor more closely the implementation of a well-co-ordinated and integrated disability policy; measure the progress of service delivery in, for example, the public transport system against the disability indicators; and work on the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

In a similar fashion, the Office on the Status of Women notes that, in order to continue to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality, it needs to fast-track the training of public service officials to deliver on gender equality; ensure the development and consolidation of an integrated national action plan for gender; identify ways of holding senior managers accountable for the delivery of gender equity and equality in performance contracts; and conduct gender-based analysis so as to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of implementation of legislation.

Comrade President, if I may remind you, the third ordinary session of the African Union’s Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa on 6-8 July 2004, adopted the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. The declaration seeks, and I quote:

To expand and promote the gender parity principle that we have adopted regarding the Commission of the African Union to all the other organs of the African Union, including its Nepad programme, to the Regional Economic Communities, and to the national and local levels in collaboration with political parties and the national Parliaments in our countries.

The significance of this cannot be overemphasised. The challenge for this Parliament and for all the political parties present here is to adopt and implement the principle of gender parity in the elected office well before the next general elections. [Applause.] Actually, when they get more women on the opposition benches, they’ll talk a lot more sense. [Applause.] I am certain in this the year of the 50th anniversary of the women’s march, the women of our country would expect nothing less from us.

The core functions of the Office on the Rights of the Child include mainstreaming of a child-centred approach and mainstreaming capacity building in government and monitoring and evaluation of children’s rights of delivery in government. The ORC identifies the need, firstly, to collect comprehensive statistics on vulnerable children in our country by conducting additional research on the socioeconomic conditions of children; secondly, to facilitate the development of a comprehensive National Policy Framework for the protection and development of vulnerable children in South Africa; thirdly, to support service delivery by departments, for example, where child-related tragedy has been experienced; fourthly, to highlight the phenomenon of child-headed households, which has the potential in the long-term to undermine both the national efforts at building social cohesion and the goal of national prosperity; fifthly, to strengthen awareness of existing child rights policies and resources by, among other things, developing essential material to promote and advocate for delivery on children’s rights and responsibilities; and, sixthly, to collaborate with countries in the region and internationally in regional and global child protection and development initiatives. The ORC believes that these activities and this information gathering are essential for meaningful planning, programming, monitoring and evaluation and reporting.

June is Youth Month and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Soweto and related uprisings. The President and hon member Kota have spoken of the significance of June 16th in the lives of young people and in the history of our country. We are working closely with the National Youth Commission, the June 16th Foundation, the Johannesburg municipality and the Province of Gauteng to appropriately mark the significance of the occasion. To increase our capacity to support youth development work, we established the Youth Desk in the Presidency last September.

Working with the Youth Commission, the Youth Desk has helped us elaborate on youth development opportunities and programmes within government’s programme of action, thus improving monitoring, co-ordination and reporting. Beyond the programme of action, we are now mainstreaming youth work into the government-wide Monitoring and Evaluation System. This implies that trends in youth development will be monitored as part of the mainstream and not as a separate activity.

Youth development is high on the agenda of the Presidency. This is demonstrated by the success we have had in facilitating the implementation of the National Youth Service. Since the official launch of the programme in August 2004, 10 000 youth are set to participate in the programme so that we can make a significant dent in the challenge of youth unemployment and simultaneously promote social cohesion.

Let us all celebrate the spirit of Letsema and Vukuzenzele displayed by our young people who are seizing the opportunities presented by democracy. Active political participation and civic engagement are central to the realisation of our progressive vision and agenda. We recognise that participation in political institutions, political processes and civic life are critical indicators of political inclusion.

It is reductionism in the extreme to suggest that centralisation is the primary factor that impacts on political participation by the masses of our people. The factors that either inhibit or enhance political participation by people have to do with the complex interplay between social identity, notions of citizenship, the struggle against oppression and discrimination and the degree of connectedness to the vision of creating a nonracial and nonsexist democratic society.

We fully understand the important relationship between formal political participation and participation in civic organisations. We recognise the need for strong civics and strong community-based organisations. Social capital, information flows and political knowledge, which derive from social and organisational networks, all play important roles in enhancing political participation and political mobilisation.

Democracy and the very institutions of democracy, including political parties and institutions of government, cannot be sustained only by political participation via a ballot cast every four or five years. Thus we see the continual need to promote strong organisations in civil society, but at the same time we recognise the centrality of the developmental state as a corrective to the excesses of the market place and as a legitimate repository of the will and aspirations of the majority.

An excellent recent example of active engagement of and participation by broad-based nongovernmental and community-based organisations, including business and labour, is the African Peer Review Mechanism. The APRM process is about South Africa holding itself up for review by its peers. It is also a mechanism for assessing what progress we, as a country, have made towards gender equality, equalisation of opportunities for people with disabilities and the advancement of the rights of children and youth.

The APRM process is fundamentally about engagement, inclusion and participation. It has reached into many corners of our country. It has stimulated the minds and the passions of many people in South Africa. The Country Self Assessment Report which is the product of the process to date is reflective of our commitment to genuine dialogue, genuine listening, active engagement and inclusion and reflects our commitment to hearing the voices of our people articulating their concerns and their hopes. This is what participatory democracy in the age of hope is all about.

What I am about to say may well embarrass our President, but say it I must. Every Minister and Deputy Minister will agree with me, Comrade President, that your leadership style is based on consensus. In Cabinet meetings you listen to debate. You listen to all sides of an argument and then you guide and lead. I want to say from this rostrum that you are the quintessential consensual leader. [Applause.]

Opinion polls are not the basic measure of political legitimacy. We all know that different surveys, depending on their samples, methodology and the rigour of their processes can, at a given moment, produce different numbers when measuring the same thing. Our government policies and actions are not based on polls but are informed by the verdict of the electorate and by monitoring the impact of the programme of action which the electorate has mandated us to implement. Polls, however, do contribute to our understanding of views in our society, and especially so when they show similar trends over time. In this regard a feature common to a number of recent polls has been the high level of popular approval for the President. In February this year, Markinor observed that since the election in April 2004, the approval for President Thabo Mbeki stayed more or less at the same level.

In May 2004 and again in November 2004, eight in every ten South Africans, that’s 80%, indicated that they thought the President was doing his job very well or fairly well. In November 2005, this figure stood at 78%. Last week, research surveys reported that the approval of the President in metropolitan areas averaged 58% in 2004, 61% in 2005 and was 61% in April

1. The latest report of Idasa’s Afrobarometer survey conducted in January and February this year found a 77% approval.

Apart from the consistency of these trends, they parallel increasing electoral support for our party, which the President leads. Comrade President, with you at the helm, we have won the elections of 1999, 2004 and the recent 2006 local government elections with an ever-increasing share of the popular vote. [Applause.] Clearly, the people of our country appreciate you, your leadership style and the contributions our government is making to improve the quality of their lives.

In conclusion, let me thank Comrade Deputy President for all her hard work. Since she came in, she pushes like mad on youth, women and everything else

• which makes me happy. Thank you very much, Comrade Deputy President.

I don’t know if the small group from the community of Kleinvlei is still with us. They were with us. When I was there for the imbizo, they complained about the dirty canal they had and I undertook that we were going to do something about it, and we have done something about it. So, they have come here to say thank you. There they are. [Applause.]

Lastly, I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for the work and commitment of Rev Frank Chikane, the Director-General in the Presidency. I want to thank him. He always prays for me. I also want to thank all of the management and staff in the Presidency. Without their contribution we could not have succeeded. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Business suspended at 17:03 and resumed at 17:28.

Mr M V NGEMA: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President and members of Parliament, Eleanor Roosevelt once said, The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” These words are followed and supported by a prayer by Alan Cohen, who prays by saying, Lead me to a destiny that outshines my history. I am willing to realise my expectations based on the past, and know a better future.”

The developmental state that we as a nation are sharpening is a vital tool in the hands of the South African nation to beautify our dreams and ensure that our destiny does outshine our history, and help us attain our better future.

In debating the budget of the Presidency, the National Democratic Convention, Nadeco, is mindful that this is the institution that provides leadership in the development and management of our nation’s government strategic agenda. In addition to the general strategic leadership role to government, the Presidency takes special care of the National Youth Commission, the Office on the Status of Women, the Office on the Rights of the Child and the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons.

The focus areas of programme five are again dominated by the subprogramme on policy co-ordination, consuming 64% of the total amount allocated to the programme. What is of concern to Nadeco is that while this subprogramme experiences the most significant growth rate of 43%, none of the other subprogrammes experience any real growth.

It is acknowledged that the Offices on the Status of Women, the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons and the office on the Rights of the Child are not service delivery departments. However, these offices play a critical role in co-ordinating, monitoring and evaluating the mainstreaming of gender. [Time expired.] Nadeco supports this Vote. [Applause.]

Ms M R MORUTOA: Chairperson, hon President and hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and hon Deputy Ministers, and hon members of Parliament, all distinguished guests present in the gallery, the ANC supports this Budget Vote, precisely because the President is the head of state and head of the national executive, supported by the Deputy President. He provides strategic leadership to ensure that government meets the needs of the people and delivers on its commitment to a better life for all.

The aim of the Presidency is to provide leadership in the development and management of the government’s strategic agenda. Expenditure in the first six months of 2005-06 has increased by 19,8%, compared to the same period of the previous financial year. The main increase is related to outreach programmes.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa enshrines the rights of all citizens to gender equality and to freedom from discrimination based on sex. This provision of gender equality was the result of the women’s activism in the early 1950s - to be precise, in 1954 - out of which the Women’s Charter for effective equality in South Africa was formulated. The Charter articulates the expectations of South African women for a society in which women and men, and girls and boys, can enjoy equal and respectful relations.

As early as 1930, the Natives Land Act formally divided land between black and white people. African women resisted the imposition of residential passes and fought for ownership of land, organising passive resistance campaigns that left many women jailed.

In the early 1950s, women played an important role in the liberation struggle as members of the Federation of South Africa, which was led by the ANC Women’s League and included allied organisations such as trade unions in other capacities. They carried out militant campaigns against the hated pass laws. They participated in the underground and armed struggle when that became indispensable. Many women suffered restrictions, imprisonment, torture and even brutal assassination by the racist regime. The struggle led to the birth of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown in Soweto. On 9 August 1966, 20 000 South African women of all races marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the extension of the pass laws to include Black women.

South African women have been making a great outcry in voicing their concerns and advocating for gender equality at all levels. As a result of this pressure exerted by the women’s movement, the South African Constitution contains some of the most progressive provisions for gender equality in the world.

In 1996, our Cabinet met specifically to discuss how best to meet our national and international obligations, and Cabinet’s commitment, in accordance with the Beijing Platform of Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to create an all- embracing national gender machinery. Out of those extensive deliberations, Cabinet agreed on the establishment of the Office on the Status of Women in the Presidency. Cabinet also agreed to establish gender focal points in all national departments of the state.

It would be remiss of me to stand on this platform today without recognising the suffering of thousands of women who are the victims and the survivors of violent abuse, including rape and murder. Their story screams at us daily, and it is becoming too painful a tragedy to assimilate. Hon President, government enjoys a high level of legitimacy amongst women as a target group of South African gender programmes, but there are undeniably high expectations of delivery to rural women who are exposed to all forms of violence against women and poverty.

There are as yet no clear performance indicators and timeframes to guide government in the call for delivery. The management of crosscutting issues such as violence against women remains one of the serious challenges for the Office on the Status of Women. While this is clearly gender-based activity, the technical work often resides in other sectors, such as welfare, health and justice.

In doing our oversight role as Parliament, the horrific stories which confront us in the public hearings are daily testimony to the fact that an act of violence is an act of power, and that there is clearly a perceived and assumed inequity in the social and societal relationships that exist between women and men. While this inequity continues to exist, it compromises the substance and nature of our precious democracy, and also compromises the integrity of our beloved Constitution.

Statistics in our country also confirm that more than 50% of the population is women. Another stark reality of our society is that the majority of women are illiterate. This makes it difficult for them to find proper employment. The few that are fortunate to find employment are often exploited and they remain the source of cheap labour.

The committee’s report on its oversight role tells us that while there is much that has been done, we still need more resources. For instance, we have passed 45 pieces of legislation that are supposed to improve the quality of life of women. We have to do introspection, as this government, on whether we have addressed the issue of equality and equity.

In terms of the challenges facing women, it seems that there is a perception that domestic violence and maintenance are women’s issues, even though the legislation was promulgated in 1998. The nature of problems experienced by the state and by women in general is rooted in the construction of power between males and females in society.

In terms of resources, in the case of state magistrates, prosecutors, and the South African Police Service, SAPS, I raise the lack of adequate resources and training as a key obstacle to the successful implementation of the law. To make it more challenging, women are expected to decipher a complex web of inter-relations between the SAPS, prosecutors, magistrates and courts within the criminal justice system. Rural women must travel long distances, as support systems are not close to them.

On the issue of protection orders, at present, there is a problem as it was claimed that victims were not always honest. It was said that civil claims were being made against police with regard to the Domestic Violence Act, stating that the SAPS was falling short in fulfilling its role.

Customary law is predominant in rural areas. It was claimed that rural people were not educated about this Act, as an entire family would go to court sometimes to ask for the withdrawal of a case. However, prosecutors explained that they needed the complainant’s co-operation and testimony to win cases. They also felt that the women had to be educated to come to court and testify.

In terms of access to the economy by women, our commitment to redistribution through policy instruments such as land reform, black economic empowerment, and affirmative action has tended to favour men, because they are still favoured through the laws of succession, access to capital markets, information, networks and education. Therefore patterns of income and ownership not only remain defined by race but also by gender. The participation of African women in the economy is therefore still at a very low level.

Despite a long list of laws and policies aimed at empowering women, about 47% of African women are unemployed, with only 38% of African women employed in the formal sector, just over half of employed women work in the formal sector, compared with 74% of employed men, and amongst the employed, women are predominant in the low skilled and low paid professions. In the private sector, African women account for 0,9% of top management positions. In the public sector …

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! Hon member, I regret your time has expired.

Ms M R MORUTOA: The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Applause.]

Mr I S MFUNDISI: Chairperson, the President, Deputy President and hon members, the Presidency is the highest office in the land and the number one incumbent of this office, regardless of the party he belongs to, should be viewed as the father or mother of the nation. To this end we in the UCDP note with appreciation that the current incumbent provides leadership in the management of the government’s strategic agenda.

The nation has seen him call the shots and make unpopular decisions by showing the door to some who thought they were untouchable. We heard his strong voice when some lunatics caused mayhem on the pretext of striking for higher wages. This he reiterated even this afternoon.

The UCDP notes with appreciation that despite what cynics say the government is holding together. If it were not so, things would have, in the words of Chinua Achebe, fallen apart, in the past 11 months or so. Survey after survey indicates that the country is doing well economically. I believe that this is so because the Director-General Rev Chikane, is a man of the cloth who always appeals to the powers above. [Applause.] It is tempting to recall the words of a song, which goes thus:

Se e tshwere tshwere senatla, se e tshwere tshwere senatla, se e tshwere senatla, puso e tshwerwe ke senatla. Heita mapantsula julle moenie worry. Puso e tshwere ke senatla.

[Laughter.] A look at the itinerary of the presidential izimbizo indicates that the President and his Deputy will traverse the country from May to December, in an effort to reach out to the people, to meet the masses eyeball to eyeball and carry out mandates, given from the horse’s mouth. Such outreaches are unprecedented in the greater South Africa.

We appreciate that the Presidency has improved its systems for partnership with stakeholders through the presidential working groups, the presidential council, the SA National Aids Council and the Moral Regeneration Movement.

This being the 30th anniversary of 16 June 1976, we hope - apart from the ambitious programme for the great day - more time will be made to meet the youth, even if it is in the form of student conventions. Such meetings would benefit the students more, as they are vulnerable to crime, drug abuse, and other evils such as HIV/Aids. We appreciate the beginning that the Deputy President has made in this regard and hope that the exercise will gather momentum.

The points made by the President this afternoon ask of our Public Service not to fail to read Rex Van Schalkwyk’s book called, One Miracle is not Enough, in which he catalogues all the wrongs that began to manifest themselves post-1994, where some people in government felt that it was their turn to enrich themselves illegally. We believe no two wrongs make a right.

It would be unfair on my part if I did not place on record our admiration, as the UCDP, for the efforts of the Deputy President to recruit skilled people across the globe so that Asgisa may take off without hitches. [Applause.] Her passion for this programme is commendable. [Interjections.] Oh no! I still have time. Thank you very much. [Time expired.][Applause.]

Mr A F MADELLA: Chairperson, His Excellency Comrade President Thabo Mbeki, Her Excellency Comrade Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Comrade Deputy Ministers and Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests and, in particular, our First Lady Comrade Zanele Mbeki and, importantly, the husband of our Deputy President, Comrade Bulelani Ngcuka … [Interjections.] [Applause.] I also wish to acknowledge the presence here today in the House, of the chief whips from our local municipalities and the provincial legislatures. [Applause.]

I am profoundly honoured to address this House on this important occasion of the Presidency Budget Vote. In rising to speak as a proud member of the ANC in support of this Budget Vote, I am reminded, more especially in this month of June during the 30th anniversary of the youth uprisings that started in Soweto, of thousands of young men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. They indeed are our heroes and heroines.

I wish to dedicate my humble contribution to these heroes and heroines. I am also reminded of the many, many more thousands that languished in apartheid jails, suffered torture and injury at the hands of the desperate defenders of apartheid and backwardness. The names of Bernard Fortuin and Hilton Stuurman, who hails from my constituency of Elsies River, I specifically wish to mention in this regard.

This Budget Vote debate provides Parliament with an opportunity to appreciate and appraise the work done by the Presidency and to take a snapshot of the strategic priorities for the Presidency in the coming period.

Our debate in this Budget Vote must be informed by the various enormous tasks and responsibilities of the President as laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. A constitution whose 10th anniversary we only celebrated a month ago in this very same House. This Constitution defines the President as the head of state and head of the executive. It further makes the President responsible to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law and promote the unity of the nation.

The President has the powers entrusted by the Constitution and the legislation, including those necessary to perform the functions of head of state and the head of the national executive. Of particular relevance to this debate is section 85(2), which states that:

… the President exercises the executive authority together with the other members of the Cabinet, by amongst others developing and implementing national policy; co-ordinating the functions of state departments and administration …

The President’s strategic role relates to policy development, policy implementation, the executive management of government and the co- ordination of government programmes and activities. The Office of the President’s main task is to provide leadership to government as well as to the country, through leading the development of the strategic agenda of government and the provision of effective and efficient executive management of government.

I wish to highlight the strategic objectives of the Presidency as follows: To strengthen strategic management and leadership capabilities to achieve organisational cohesion; to improve management access and sharing of information; to co-ordinate, monitor, evaluate and communicate government policies and programmes; to foster nation-building and give effect and impetus to the people’s contract; to enhance the integrated approach to government for accelerated service delivery; to support, develop and consolidate initiatives for building a better Africa and a better world; to accelerate the enhancement of the developmental state with emphasis on accelerating economic growth and interventions towards the integration of the second economy to create jobs and eradicate poverty.

As a country we have experienced a period of six years of uninterrupted economic growth. Since 2004 our economy recorded a growth rate of more than 4% per annum. Economists across the spectrum predict that this positive growth rate will continue. Business confidence has never been consistently so high. The inflow of foreign capital has been exceptionally high since 2003, with an inflow of about R80 billion into the Johannesburg Stock Exchange share market between the beginning of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.

Notwithstanding these positive developments on the economic front and high levels of business confidence in South Africa, particularly in our economy and our government led by His Excellency, Comrade President Mbeki, the persistent high levels of unemployment and resultant poverty continue to hang as a negative cloud over a rosy economy.

Workers in general have in recent days hit the streets again to impress upon the flourishing business community and our government, the urgent need to confront these twin challenges of unemployment and poverty. Their own insecurity relating to threats of retrenchments facing certain sectors and industries echoed through the streets of Durban, Tshwane, etc. I am referring to the ongoing jobs and anti-poverty campaigns of South Africa’s biggest trade union and the social partner of government, namely Cosatu.

Not so long ago the youth of South Africa, led by the ANC Youth League, raised similar concerns when they marched to the different chambers of business and commerce offices delivering memoranda, to demand economic opportunities for the youth in the form of jobs. This form of social mobilisation is important and it supports government’s central objectives of creating jobs and fighting poverty.

As a joint monitoring committee, one thing that is of particular concern to us, which Comrade Newhoudt-Druchen will raise very, very sharply, relates to employment opportunities for people with disabilities, who encounter enormous societal and institutional barriers in their quest to live to their fullest potential.

Comrade President, you said, amongst other things, in your state of the nation address on 3 February this year, that we should move faster to address the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation confronting those caught within the second economy, to ensure that the poor in our country share in our growing prosperity.

All people shall share in the country’s wealth. In committing government to take action in addressing these challenges, you said, amongst other things, that we should make the necessary interventions with regard to the first economy to accelerate progress towards the achievement of high levels of economic growth and development of at least 6% per year. I repeat: All people shall share in the country’s wealth.

A strategic policy intervention that you reported to us, in the same address, relates to the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa. This very important policy intervention was developed under the leadership of the hon Deputy President, Comrade Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. The team that worked with Comrade Deputy President to fine-tune this strategic policy intervention included members of the private sector, the trade union movement, women, youth and civil society. Indeed this team is a really multisectoral and inclusive initiative. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Chairperson, Mr President, Deputy President, the PAC supports the Presidency Budget Vote. [Applause.] It can be justified on many grounds, especially when it is considered that it covers some of the Presidency’s activities, which extend outside this country, and contribute to peace and political stability in other African countries.

Without peace and stability on the African continent, there can be no economic development and social emancipation of millions of the poor, including in our own country. Pan-Africanists declared this truism a long time ago. In the three minutes allocated to me, I can only select to make a few remarks concerning the Presidency.

It is important to distinguish between the President when he is acting as State President and when he does so as the president of the ruling party. This distinction is sometimes clouded. That is why national days in this country are treated as though they were days that belong to the ruling party. This, in many cases, militates against or rather mutilates the political history of this country.

The preamble to the Constitution of the country states that the people of South Africa honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land. The honouring of those who suffered in the liberation struggle, however, remains uneven. Five members of the ruling party have been given state funerals, which are normally reserved for heads of state, but none of the members of the nonruling parties has been given a state funeral.

The criteria to honour former freedom fighters and others must not be based on political membership of the ruling party. This is part of the national budget. It must be balanced. The PAC notes that section 84 of the Constitution gives the President enormous power. We do not, however, believe that there has been abuse of power by the President to qualify him as a dictator.

The PAC’s only disappointment is that the President has not used his powers to pardon political prisoners who used to fight in the armed struggle against apartheid, which was declared as a crime against humanity. As for a woman President, that is a given. Liberia, Chile, Jamaica and Germany are ruled by women presidents. And the skies have not fallen. [Applause.]

Mrs W S NEWHOUDT-DRUCHEN: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members of Parliament, and visitors, in our 2004 ANC manifesto, the vision for 2005 was that as we entered the second decade of freedom, the ANC would ensure that all South Africans, especially the poor, and those at risk, children, youth, women, the aged, and people with disabilities, were fully able to exercise their constitutional rights, and enjoy the full dignity of freedom. As we strive towards this, the ANC rises to support the Budget Vote of the Presidency.

The Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Children, Youth, and Disabled Persons, was established in 1999 through the Parliamentary Joint Rules Committee. The JMC is required to monitor and evaluate progress with regard to the improvement of the quality of life and status of children, youth and disabled persons in South Africa.

This is to be done with specific reference to government’s commitment in respect of any applicable international instruments and duties and responsibilities in respect of any legislation. The committee works closely with the Office of the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP), the Office on the Rights of Children, which is found in programme five of the Presidency Vote, and the National Youth Commission in programme six.

Programme five, which is the Policy Co-ordination Programme, provides policy advice and monitoring and evaluation services to enable the Presidency, Cabinet and government to plan, co-ordinate and ensure implementation of government’s programmes. The OSDP monitors the implementation of the Integrated National Disability Strategy, and co- ordinates and promotes research and interdepartmental initiatives to improve the delivery of services to disabled persons.

The Office on the Rights of the Child promotes children’s rights by co- ordinating and monitoring interdepartmental initiatives. Programme Six, where funds have been transferred to the commission, enables the National Youth Commission to fulfil its statutory mandate. Its mission is to co- ordinate, monitor, and promote the development of young people by advocating the implementation of an Integrated National Youth Development Framework through various vehicles, in particular intersectoral and governmental collaboration.

The National Youth Commission and the other three offices report directly to the Minister in the Presidency. The committee is happy to see that Budget Vote 1 has money allocated to two very important events this year, namely, R10 million for the 30th anniversary of the June 16 uprisings, and R3 million for the upcoming disabled people international conference. The committee, as part of its oversight work, will later enquire as to how these funds have been spent.

In his state of the nation address, the hon President mentioned, and I quote: “We will also continue to pay the necessary attention to the important issues of the inclusion of women and people with disabilities at decision-making levels.” Unfortunately very few departments have met the target of having the required number of two per cent of disabled people working in all the departments.

According to a disability knowledge and research report in March 2005, concerning the implementation of the Employment Equity Act, and based on the information submitted by national departments and provincial administrations, out of approximately 800 000 employees in the public sector, it was found that only 2 007 are disabled people. This represents an average of 0,25%, a figure that falls short of the 2% needed to be achieved by 2005.

In the national department there are approximately 1 062 disabled people employed, that is 0,47% of employees. However, more encouraging, I would like to mention that there are three departments that have met the 2% target. These are the Departments of Education, Sport and Recreation, and SAMDI. [Applause.] However, they should not stop there, just because they have met the target. They need to continuously employ people with disabilities, and be an example to other departments. I hope the hon President will continue emphasising to departments that they are to continue the task of meeting the required target as set out.

Chairperson, I would also like to inform the hon President that our committee has called a number of departments to report on the programmes and budgets targeting children, youth and people with disabilities. Some of the presenters from some of these departments have admitted that they have not done enough for people with disabilities. One presenter went as far as to mention that he did not even know how to contact organisations working with disabled people, and required information from us as a committee. I also hope that through the Office of the hon President this will be corrected.

Disabled People South Africa has had many opportunities to work with the ANC and the ANC government pre and post 1994, drawing up policies to work for better access for people with disabilities. Access becomes crucially important, especially when we just cannot move from A to B without assistance or without accommodations being made.

We have achieved many things, for example, the Integrated National Disability Strategy. Some provinces have Integrated Provincial Disability Strategies, and some employment equity quotas have been put in place in the private and public sectors. We also have the employment of disabled people through the Employment Equity Act of 1998, as well as the establishment of equity courts.

These are but a few examples that I can mention, but because my time is so limited, I cannot give you much more. The world has recognised and acknowledged our achievements. However, it is disappointing that one of our national airline carriers, South African Airways, refused to allow disabled people to get on a plane from Malawi, simple because there were too many of them.

There are different reasons and arguments for this, but the point still remains - equal access for all. A newspaper article shows that SAA strongly denies what has happened, but, simply put, the fact remains that our hon disabled members and members of the disability community are finding it extremely difficult to travel with SAA. Disabled members of Parliament present in this House have mentioned that they have to grab a colleague or traveller, and ask them to say that they are their assistants, just for them to get onto the plane.

I must say that someone from the Department of Land Affairs contacted me to say that as a disabled person he had been travelling by plane for many years. However, two months ago he was told he could not get onto the plane, simply because he had no personal assistant. We need full access for travellers with disabilities. I bring this up because we are having an international disability conference here in South Africa, which we are expecting many people with disabilities to attend. We would not want our national carrier to embarrass South Africa or us as South Africans, if our international visitors cannot get on our planes. [Applause.]

We also need more government buildings and facilities to be more accessible, especially in our municipalities. We need to take into account what has happened, for example, in the Eastern Cape. The disabled people took the police station to the Equity Court, and they won. We have made this possible. It is our ANC government that has made it possible for us as South Africans to be able to access the equity courts.

We, as members, have an oversight role to make sure that these departments are accessible to us. We remain in the age of hope for children, youth and especially people with disabilities, as today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be even better than today for us. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr R B BHOOLA: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, Chapter 5 of the national Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 clearly defines out the powers of the President as:

The head of state and the head of the national executive must uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic and promote the unity of the nation and that which would advance the Republic.

The MF, in light of this, congratulates our President, hon Thabo Mbeki, for adhering to, upholding and exercising these provisions to the best of his abilities. Hon President, we salute you for your honour, dignity, determination and commitment to the South African people and to the liberation of South Africa and Africa.

Criticism is a good thing, as it guides us to do an even better job and, President, your endeavour to do even better are portrayed in your endless efforts to attain delivery and overcome our challenges. This is evident in the General Household Survey released by Statistics South Africa on 31 May

1. The report clearly indicates the improvement and progress made in respect of a variety of key issues. School attendance has increased for children between the ages 7 and 15, and many more have matriculated. While there remains 15% coverage by medical aid, health facilities in general have increased. Increased access to electricity, running water, housing subsidies, sanitation and so on, is noted.

While it is evident that challenges do exist, we should acknowledge our progress under the auspicious leadership and united mechanics of our democracy. As regards the budget allocation for this sector, the MF welcomes the 19,8% increase for this financial year. We do, however, enquire as to whether any further challenges may be expected in light of the CAB-E-Net project as experienced last year. By when can its full implementation be expected?

Noting the importance of addressing the challenges of women, children and the disabled, the MF is concerned as to how the subprogramme of the policy co-ordination project will serve to fulfil its duties, since it does not experience any real growth.

We, however, once again voice our confidence in and support for the Presidency. We are confident that the budget for this sector will be effectively managed to fulfil the duties and endeavours of the Presidency.

You are a true citizen of humanity, hon President. I have no doubt whatsoever that, when it rains, you pray that it does not rain hard on our people living in informal settlements; when the sun shines, that it does not burn our people living in the informal settlements. I have no doubt whatsoever, that when the people are walking on a path of hardship, you will carry them in the palm of your hand. The MF supports the Vote. [Time expired.][Applause.]

Mr M DIKO: Chairperson, President, Deputy President, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, we take this opportunity once again to welcome the good work done so far by the President of the Republic in the international community, especially in Africa. This is evident from a number of peace deals he has pioneered on the continent.

This would no doubt have not been possible without the support and dedication of those in the Presidency. The UIF appreciates that the Presidency now is to direct their efforts back home in South Africa. President Mbeki has managed to create hope for people of the world, whilst the people of South Africa become destitute, poor and are losing hope day by day. The hope is surely fading away.

The United Independent Front will cite a few examples of this. Just a few days ago, we wrote to the President with regard to the inhumane conditions of the community of the Sekhukhuni District in Limpopo, which is one of the areas declared as a presidential node. We would like to refer to the town of Ntabankulu, which you cannot drive through unless you use a 4X4 vehicle. This is the case in almost all areas of the Eastern Cape. We understand that there are relevant departments to cater for these services, but when we don’t get answers, we expect the Presidency to give us hope and crack the whip over those responsible for providing these services.

The fact that the Chief of the Amanci tribal authority in the Eastern Cape still has no electricity in his royal kraal due to personal differences with the mayor of the area, is an example of how this hope can be destroyed.

Mongameli, basekhona abathi namhlanje kubi kunayizolo, futhi nangomso kuza kuba kubi kunanamhlanje ngenxa yeemeko abazibona bephila phantsi kwazo.

Sifuna ukuthi, ke, Mongameli, kwabo beCandelo loLutsha lwe-ANC abamane bekukhwaza ngamagama ngamagama, ukuba lilishwa into yokuba babe babengekho ngelaa xesha kwakufuneka ngalo amatshantliziyo, apho kwakufuneka ebonakalise ubutsha bawo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[Mr President, there are still those who prefer the past to the present and continue to believe that the future is going to be worse than today because of the conditions they at present find themselves in.

Mr President, we want to warn those members of the ANC Youth League who are calling you names. To them we say it’s a pity that they were not there when we needed firebrands who could show their true colours.]

This is the time for them to channel their energies into the programmes that the government has provided for young people. If they have intellectual incapacity there are many young people who are ready to assist them in this country. I thank you. [Applause.]

Ms C B JOHNSON: Madam Chair, hon Mr President, Madam Deputy President and hon members of this House, recently, while moving our parliamentary constituency office, I came across a box full of old books. In the box was this one, and it’s called Op reis na die ANC – Verslae oor ‘n besoek aan Windhoek, Harare en Lusaka. It was published in 1989 and it recounts the experiences of a group of white South Africans who met with senior ANC delegates for the very first time in the late 1980s. Some parts of the book and also the photographs are quite amusing. For example, this part reads thus:

Oor ‘n bottel bier het ons … gesels met Steve Tshwete … Ruth Mompati kon my ouma gewees het … Steve Tshwete sal ‘n baie goeie … karakter in ‘n fliek uitmaak … Ons luister na Zola Skweyiya. Pallo Jordan daag die Saterdagmiddag daar op. Jy kom gou agter die man se verstand is baie, baie skerp – al word jy maklik mislei deur sy manier om so half langs jou verby te kyk.

Other parts are less amusing and, in fact, tragic. On their way back home to South Africa, on the SAA flight and after meeting the ANC, this group of young white South Africans realised that we were living as a nation divided. Then somebody wrote:

Ons vlieg Sondag terug met SAL … Nou is ek skielik bedruk. Ek hoop die dag sal weer eendag aanbreek dat ek sonder ‘n sweempie van skaamte sal sê: “Ek is ‘n Suid-Afrikaner.”

We have come a long way, Mr President. We have come a long way. [Applause.] The ANC-led government is the leading force of transformation in this country. It is guided by the needs and ideals of the people, as expressed in the Freedom Charter. These needs and ideals have found expression in the principles and values of our Constitution. There is no doubt that our Constitution is a transformative one and is also called “a post-liberal Constitution”.

Sommige agb lede van die DA het onlangs, na bewering, by die Universiteit van Pretoria die opmerking gemaak dat ons Grondwet glad nie voorsiening maak vir transformasie nie, want die woord “transformasie” – aldus die DA – kom nêrens in die Grondwet voor nie.

Nou aan die studente van Tukkies wil ek asseblief sê: Moenie dit in jul antwoordstelle skryf nie, dit is verkeerd! [Gelag.] Die hele Grondwet gaan oor transformasie. [Applous.] Transformasie is die goue draad - it’s that golden thread - wat deur die hele Grondwet verweef is. Dit is in die struktuur van die Grondwet; in die teks van die Grondwet, deurgaans.

Trouens, vooraanstaande Amerikaanse regsgeleerde Karl Klare skryf in die 1998-weergawe van die South African Journal of Human Rights die volgende oor ons Grondwet: (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Some of the hon members of the DA allegedly made the comment at the University of Pretoria recently that our Constitution does not make any provision at all for transformation, because the word “transformation” – according to the DA – does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.

So now I would like to say to the students of Tukkies: Don’t write that in your answer sheets, it is wrong! [Laughter.] The entire Constitution is about transformation. [Applause.] Transformation is the golden thread that is interweaved throughout the Constit0ution. It is in the structure of the Constitution; in the text of the Constitution, from start to finish.

As a matter of fact, the prominent American lawyer Karl Klare writes the following about our Constitution in the 1998 edition of the South African Journal of Human Rights:]

In support of a post-liberal reading, one would highlight that the South African Constitution, in sharp contrast to the classical liberal document, is social, redistributive, caring, positive, partly horizontal, participatory, multicultural and self-conscious about its historical setting and its transformative role and mission.

Madam Chair, you may say that’s all very insightful and very interesting to the average law student, but what does that have to do with the Presidency? The answer is: everything. Because the Constitution gives the government and all organs of state the mandate to do their job, and because the President is head of state and also head of the executive, the Presidency must give overall strategic direction to government as a whole.

This means providing strategic leadership and co-ordinating the work of government departments to make up government’s programme of action. It means putting together one united plan of action that drives us as a nation towards one central objective, and that is improving the life of all South Africans. Our Constitution also gives clear roles to the various branches of government, …

… die uitvoerende gesag, die regsprekende gesag en die wetgewende gesag. [… the national executive, the judiciary and the legislative authority.] There are various checks and balances and various dimensions of tension among the three but this is not only normal, it is necessary for good and effective democratic rule.

Mr President, when you were elected on 14 June 1999, you said to everybody who was sitting in this House:

Here, the separate powers, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary sit cheek by jowl, affirming their individual identities while confirming their cohesion within one system of government and integrity of government.

The question is: How do we deepen democracy?

Wat maak van die demokrasie ‘n ware demokrasie? [What is it that makes the democracy a true democracy?]

What are we doing to actively deepen democracy in South Africa? One can refer to various pieces of legislation that have been passed by this House: access to information, administrative justice, protected disclosures, to name but a few, and the list is long. These pieces of legislation all deepen democracy in this country. These laws do not simply fall from the sky. They are initiated by the executive, passed by this House and enforced by our courts.

Daar is ook talle grondwetlike instellings wat ons demokrasie versterk, die sogenaamde hoofstuk 9-instellings. Op 29 Mei 2006 het die DA in ‘n verklaring gesê: [There are also numerous constitutional institutions that deepen our democracy, the so-called Chapter 9 institutions. The DA said in a statement on 29 May 2006:]

Instead of trusting democratic institutions to carry on their work, the President has allowed them to become weak. Part of the agenda of transformation has been the conversion of Parliament and other oversight bodies from watchdogs into lapdogs.

There are two problems with this argument. The first is: do not use the word “transformation” as if it is a swearword, because it is not. It is a constitutional imperative. Secondly, which are the constitutionally mandated oversight bodies? If you look in the Constitution you will find the gender commission, the Public Protector, the Independent Electoral Commission and the Auditor-General. For the DA to suggest that an institution like the Human Rights Commission is an ANC lapdog is absurd, and it is an insult to this Constitution and to the work that these institutions do. [Applause.]

Furthermore, it is common cause that institutions such as the Office of the Auditor-General often give qualified audit reports, free from fear or favour, so to call them “lapdogs” is simply not true. The question we must therefore ask is this: Who is in fact attacking the integrity and independence of the Chapter 9 institutions? It’s not the ANC, it’s not the ANC.

Deur middel van wetgewing wat reeds geïmplementeer is en groter openbare deelname deur inisiatiewe soos die izimbizo het ons regering meer demokraties geword eerder as minder. [By means of legislation that has already been implemented and greater public participation through initiatives such as the izimbizo our government has become more rather than less democratic.]

We have become more democratic in the way that government operates in this country. That is something that we should be proud of so that, Mr President, unlike those people who wrote the book, when we sit in that SAA flight returning home on a Sunday afternoon we never ever have to bow our heads in shame again, because we have more democratic freedom than we have ever had before in our lives.

We have not only built democratic institutions and processes in this country but we have actively assisted in strengthening democratic institutions and processes across the entire African continent and internationally. We have achieved this because this country is governed by the ANC, which is disciplined and committed to its own internal democratic nature; and an ANC that is loyal and committed to the transformation values of our Constitution. [Applause.] The ANC rises to support Budget Vote No 1. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr P J NEFOLOVHODWE: Chairperson, Comrade President and Comrade Deputy President, South Africa is making its mark in international relations, especially in shaping the affairs of the African continent.

Through your work, Comrade President, our involvement in the African Peer Review Mechanism is yet another important milestone in the life of our democracy. But, by participating in the African Peer Review Mechanism, it became evident to some of us that the role of Parliament in this continental mechanism has not been adequately explored and encouraged. This remains a challenge to Africa, and South Africa’s responsibility is to engage with leaders of the continent in order to make sure that African parliaments are ready to engage as separate entities to the executive.

Azapo is satisfied that the South African democracy is currently not under threat. South Africa enjoys diplomatic relations with virtually all African states. Furthermore, South Africa plays a key role in promoting democracy and is participating in peace-keeping missions in Africa.

Whilst our engagement in peace-keeping missions is a noble cause, the challenge remains that of balancing and addressing public perceptions that expenditure on peace-keeping operations in Africa could be allocated to improve service delivery.

These perceptions, Comrade President, are born out of a nonunderstanding of our responsibilities to the African continent. Azapo is of the view that these perceptions will disappear as soon as the masses understand the collective African agenda. Azapo believes that what is important is to increase public participation, making sure that civil society starts to debate issues relating to the building of a common African future.

We must deliberately mobilise the masses in African countries to participate in shaping a common African agenda. As we do so, we should bear in mind that not all African governments easily accept the critical involvement of civil society. Despite this, the unity of Africa is paramount and the masses need to understand that there must be a clear direction and vision for all of us to be in a common continent.

There is also a growing feeling that Nepad and issues that are debated at the Pan-African Parliament are a preserve of the African elite. To this end we should seek to deepen understanding, ownership and responsibility by the African masses, and enhance their commitment to this common future. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr B G MOSALA: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, comrades and friends, I rise on behalf of the ANC to support the President’s Budget Vote, Vote No 1, which is the most important one.

This debate gives us an opportunity to discuss a myriad of issues that affect the lives of ordinary South Africans. It is precisely so because the Presidency touches the destiny of all South Africans in all walks of life. All of us need the attention of the Presidency and if we feel or suspect that it is not forthcoming we ring alarm bells to announce our plight.

We all expect satisfaction from the Presidency. The Presidency therefore has to find a balance to address the challenges that they face on a daily basis and is compelled as a result to consult and discuss on a sustainable basis. I quote from the annual report of the Presidency:

The Presidency has infused a consultative dimension into governance in South Africa, with a view to building consensus amongst the social partners on the way to address the critical challenges facing the country. Through interaction, engagement and debate, the President is able to draw on the information, knowledge, wisdom, experience, insights, theories and programmes from a wide array of sources within South African society and abroad.

This speaks volumes for our Presidency and who leads it. Mr President, in the process as outlined in the above quotation, we implore the Presidency to canvas the input of veterans of the liberation struggle in whatever formation they might be found. If this is already being done, it is appreciated.

This is what I am about: Who are these veterans? They are individuals whose unceasing dedication to a particular cause knows no limits, their endurance lasts to the bitter end. You do not find many of their kind, for they are of a special calibre and mould.

They span across all political formations of our liberation movements. They served on many fronts; socially as community activists, politically in our labour and political structures, as well as militarily as guerrillas of the struggle. They are above all else important repositories of experience and expertise.

As we speak this evening, a book written by the veteran Zolisa Malindi, entitled The Struggle Was My Life, is being launched here in Cape Town. Veterans have begun to share their experiences and it is appreciated that they are putting these experiences into writing. We need to applaud the efforts of the likes of this veteran comrade. [Applause.]

It is especially their experience, Mr President, which we need in order to strengthen our new democracy. On veterans, the ANC noted at its 50th conference: The ANC has amongst its ranks, men and women of advanced age who have a long and proud history in the movement, with invaluable experience, which spans the long history and traditions of the ANC.

We plead, as we are aware of the contrary, that the Presidency should accommodate this sector in one of their programmes. It’s a plea. We leave it to the wisdom of the highest office of the state to determine how such a programme would be driven and funded, but at a glance this important category of our citizenry could be added as a subprogramme of Programme 5 – Policy Co-ordination. Food for thought, for whatever it is worth.

Veterans need recognition and support. With the political experience that resides in many of them, they can be deployed to assist governance as political functionaries at various levels of government. At local government level they could serve in ward committees and they could also be deployed as PR councillors. I am giving these soft examples just to open the gates. The challenge would be that they must receive a stipend for their efforts in ward committees.

At provincial government level they could be deployed to serve on the statutory boards of some parastatals. There are a myriad of offices in provincial departments where they could be accommodated with relative ease. The same should apply in our national departments. How this exercise is managed politically is an entirely different matter that can be tackled at a particular level.

We need to emphasise once more that veterans must be counted amongst the architects of our democracy and they deserve recognition and support. We also recognise, however, that a special pension is paid to those veterans who qualify for it. Those who are said not to qualify are often left with a feeling of frustration and rejection.

The Presidency plays a pivotal role in implementing as well as crafting the policies of government, in keeping with the lofty aims and objects of the historic Freedom Charter. In this age of hope it remains incumbent on all of us, South Africans and compatriots, to support the Presidency in its pursuit of the vision of a better life for all. This budget is a positive way forward.

In conclusion, we believe that our government, led by the ANC, will pursue all efforts by progressive political parties to remove all areas of concern with regard to our veterans. We rely on the Presidency to make it happen. Here I rest my case for the veterans. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr S SIMMONS: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and colleagues, more often than not we discover the worth of something or someone when he is no longer there. Even though the hon President has about two and half years left of his term in office, I think a number of us are starting to realise the true quality of his leadership and that of the Presidency. The UPSA is comfortable with the provisions made in this budget.

I have to turn, your attention to a very serious matter, which I believe is of national concern. South Africans suffered severely prior to 1994, owing to intentional racial fragmentation caused by the previous government, a situation our Constitution seeks to turn around.

The SPEAKER: Order! Can I ask hon members to lower their voices, please? Please proceed, hon member.

Mr S SIMMONS: It therefore stands to reason that any matter threatening attempts to, as the preamble of our Constitution states: “Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights…” has to be met with vigorous opposition.

The hon President will recall that on 18 May the hon Minnie made reference to a case in the Cape Arbitration Court. This case cannot and should not be seen in isolation. It is one of many instances that incubate the feeling amongst coloured people, especially, of being marginalised, and therefore give rise to renewed fragmentation of race relations in South Africa.

This case has rebutted the argument of some intelligentsia that the feeling that coloured people have of being marginalised is a misconstrued conception. [Interjections.] It was a sign of hope when the hon President stated categorically in reply to hon Minnie that no distinction should be made amongst the different disadvantaged groups. But, the magnitude and importance of this issue does not allow us to leave the matter as having been addressed and solved with a single reply, with respect, from the hon President.

I therefore wish to direct an argument in terms of section 83(c) of the Constitution to the hon President, in his capacity as head of state, to create a platform for dialogue with the concerned groups at the highest level to seek ways and means to avert this threat to equality, justice, nation-building and solidarity among all South Africans. This is a potential time bomb if not addressed quickly, Mr President. The UPSA will support this budget. I thank you.

Mr K O BAPELA: Madam Speaker, President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, it is indeed an honour for me to participate in the Budget Vote of the Presidency in this month of the youth, and join other colleagues of mine in paying tribute to the class of ’76.

Usually, Budget Votes are characterised by figures in terms of rands and cents, but cannot live up to that standard, as the Deputy President did, by alluding to a figure of R53 million as the budget of the Presidency. The Deputy President came short of saying that the Presidency wants more money, and I hope the Minister of Finance was listening.

I will focus on just three issues, one of which is the building and strengthening of global institutions with a view to fighting poverty and achieving all the Millennium Development Goals. The ANC election manifestos of 1994, 1999 and 2004 collectively put the following perspective:

Our success in South Africa depends on the success of our neighbours and progress on our continent. The ANC will, together with the nations of Africa, work to realise an achievement of democracy and rapid social and economic development. We shall work with forces across the globe that share this vision and seek a better world, solidarity and caring.

We will work with others to speed up the economic integration of Southern Africa and strengthen democracy, peace and stability, economic growth and development. Resources will be used to assist in the social normalisation and economic reconstruction of Zimbabwe, the DRC, Angola and Swaziland.

The world is divided into various ideological positions and is not monolithic to one idea, and the building of a better world will remain a challenge. There are impediments to the realisation of a better world. The progressive camp globally is not very strong, and the unipolar situation dictates the world’s agenda. We welcome, President, the process that you have started in terms of convening the progressive governance summit with a view, obviously, to strengthening that progressive camp.

I also do not want to sound pessimistic about the future. I never was in the past, during the dark days of apartheid, and I will not be now. The issue of concern here is that so long as we still continue to struggle to transform global institutions, fighting poverty and realising the eight Millennium Development Goals and their 18 targets will remain a challenge.

Some statements were attributed to some of the leaders, obviously informed by the current trend, that most of the developing countries will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals so long as industrial nations do not come to the party and honour their commitments. These are worrying statements. We should, as we finalise our oversight model as Parliament, identify a period in the coming year to assess our own country’s performance in the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals.

Fighting poverty in all its manifestations, such as illiteracy, unemployment, gender disparity, lack of access to health care services, for example defeating diseases such as malaria, TB, HIV/Aids, child mortality and the improvement of maternal health, must and will remain a central campaign and part of our programme to create and build a better world and Africa.

But, more must be done to transform global institutions and build and strengthen alternatives such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the progressive camp to tilt the world agenda, including the creation of new markets in the South through initiatives such as IBSA, the India, Brazil, South Africa Trilateral Commission, the G77 and others.

The second point is around the issue of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe situation is indeed critical and remains so. The economic crisis, the human rights violations and sometimes suppression of the media are concerns raised by everybody. The only difference between the opposition and us in dealing with this matter is the approach.

The opposition is calling for smart sanctions, and we don’t think that in itself is a solution. Therefore, we say no to that. They have also tried to look at the issue of the possibility of invading Zimbabwe. This is not an answer either. Screaming and shouting also do not really provide any solution to the problem.

The destiny of Zimbabwe is in the hands of Zimbabweans, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs said in her Budget Vote. Our role, obviously, is to continue to assist by giving advice on how they can resolve their situation. However, it is up to the Zimbabweans themselves to find one another and agree on the path to an everlasting solution. South Africa, therefore, has to continue to offer such assistance.

On Swaziland, a meeting between our President and King Mswati of Swaziland, which we had hoped was going to happen, unfortunately could not happen. It was postponed. There are perceptions - and I say perceptions - that South Africa is undermining Swaziland. In this regard, the Swazis are asking why they, or their head of state, should visit our country when we have never visited Swaziland. For example, they said that President Mbeki, ever since he became the President of the Republic, has never visited Swaziland. Therefore, what would you expect of him, if he were to visit Swaziland? So, obviously, your business schedule would say: Visiting Swaziland shortly. I think it would take you a few hours to get there, so that we could start the process of ensuring that we unlock the processes there.

The last point is around the issue of HIV and the SA National Aids Council. Besides treatment, the fight against HIV/Aids is also about advocacy and awareness, and in this regard we are reaching almost everybody. The challenge is the issue of denial by some in society, who refuse to accept that Aids is a killer disease.

The rate of newly acquired infections is alarming. We continue with our efforts to ensure that we stop this trend. While there is this alarming situation, we are also encouraged by the drop in the number of newly acquired infections in the 18 to 25 age group.

This gives us confidence that the youth, our children, are indeed listening and becoming conscious that Aids kills and that it does not have a cure. What we need is partnership, as the Deputy President said, which is about more active participation in Sanac by NGOs.

Deputy President, we hope, therefore, that you will be able to pull and guide the NGOs back to Sanac, to occupy their rightful place, and to increase the partnership in society. We also wish to see this partnership cascading into the provinces, municipalities and local communities.

The future looks bright for the people of the world. Today’s leaders should put their priorities right in the fight against poverty, and continue with the levelling of the playing fields. We know that it is not an easy road to travel, but it is a road that we have to travel in order to realise a better world and a better Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mrs L S CHIKUNGA: Madam Speaker, hon President - baba Mbeki, Deputy President – mama Mlambo-Ngcuka, members of the executive, hon members, our first lady - Make Mbeki, fellow South Africans, I am humbled and honoured to be given an opportunity to participate in this very important debate. I must say here and now that the ANC support this Budget Vote. [Applause.]

Mr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert said, and I quote:

South Africans are planning, doing and experiencing everyday events that nobody in their wildest dreams would have thought possible 15 years ago. I recall then, the pervasive sense of a stalemated resource, destroying and deadlocked situation, where one side was presenting the only solution as the total destruction of the other.

We talked ourselves out of and away from a catastrophe. Today, given the scope and depth of transformation, we battle with problems that test our resolve and commitment. But these are about building democracy and not destroying it; and about creating an open society in which poverty and deprivation can be overcome, not pursuing policies that entrench them. After 10 years, we are thriving and punching well above our weight, amongst emerging democracies.

What Mr Slabbert was talking about did not just happen on its own, like the change of seasons. It called for men and women of substance to think and take correct decisions, so that we can say: “We did it”. But, South Africa will not be able to enjoy sustained growth and development if the continent does not prosper. South Africa is part of the African continent and the world. Our problems as a country are those of the world, and vice versa.

As a country, we have an obligation to overcome poverty and deprivation. The resolutions of the General Assembly, in December 1996, declared that the main objective of the decade was the eradication of absolute poverty and the substantial reduction of poverty in the world. In order to eradicate poverty and achieve the necessary growth, we have to achieve peace and stability, security, freedom and democracy in our continent.

In this regard, the adoption and implementation of Nepad programmes is considered to be one of the most important developments of recent times. The AU is the principal institution responsible for promoting sustainable development at economic, social and cultural levels, as well as the integration of African economies. In all these endeavours, the Presidency played a leading and pivotal role.

Furthermore, the Presidency continued with the work to assist in the resolution of a whole variety of conflict-related problems in African countries such as Angola, the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Darfur, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan and Comoros. There is progress in these countries towards a lasting peace.

But, Mr President, we are still facing enormous challenges in our continent. People are still dying in numbers. Women and children are still victims of conflict, poverty and diseases. We still see on TV, people living in refugee camps in their own countries.

The issue of resources is still a challenge, such that whatever progress we are making is threatened by lack of resources. The challenge is: What should we do so that more resources are mobilised and channelled to these Nepad, PAP and AU initiatives, so as to deal with the challenges I have mentioned and others, in order for our continent to be able to sustain itself and deal with its challenges.

The Office of the Presidency continued with its role in the eradication of poverty, which ultimately will bring peace and stability, even here at home. Fighting corruption has been and will remain a priority for this ANC- led government. Corruption in the Public Service affects the entire country in that it undermines the fight against poverty by putting money that is meant for infrastructure and development into the pockets of corrupt officials.

In this regard, measures are in place as mentioned by the President in his speech. But I also think that corruption includes things such as, as the President put it, “coming to work as late as possible, working as little as possible, going off duty as early as possible, reading all countries’ newspapers during official working hours as much as possible”. [Applause.]

I think this is corruption and it has to be rooted out because it amounts to stealing a salary at the end of every month. In this regard, I may want to include even members of Parliament who, during the constituency period, may not be doing their constituency work, particularly those sitting on my left side. The ANC MPs know that they have a contract with the people of South Africa and anything less will amount to a breach of that contract – and they dare not do it. I don’t think that we have done well on this type of corruption, and it has negative consequences for our service delivery.

In 2001 the President introduced the urban and rural development programme. It is a 10-year programme, the aim of which is to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment …

The SPEAKER: Order! Just a moment, hon member.

Mr M B SKOSANA: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think Prof Asmal and myself and the president of the IFP here were sitting on the left.

The SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, are you rising on a point of order?

Mr M B SKOSANA: I don’t know whether the hon member was referring to us as well? Actually, we are sitting on the left - from Prof Asmal towards this direction. [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER: Proceed, hon member. Mrs L S CHIKUNGA: It is a 10-year programme, the aim of which is to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment and improve the quality of life of about 10 million people living in the nodes identified. An improvement in the lives of the beneficiaries in these nodes can now be seen. It is in the form of infrastructure development, service delivery, job opportunities, etc. But there are challenges which can be attributed to a lack of skills and capacity. In this regard, Project Consolidate and other initiatives aim to address some of the challenges mentioned.

Ake ngikhulume ngolimi lwakithi kwaChikunga engilwazi kahle. Kulokhu ngifuna ukukhuluma ngezimbizo zikaMongameli. Phela angikhulumi ngenzwabethi, ngangikhona eGovan Mbeki eSecunda. Uyazi, into yokuqala ngezimbizo ukuthi zinika abantu ithuba lokhuluma noMongameli nePhini likaMongameli babo. Basho izimvo zabo ngendlela yabo futhi ngolimi lwabo, befuna ukuthi lowo nalowo azisholo yena, hhayi ukuthi athumele igundane. Laba bantu bangakhohleka uma bekungeyikho ukuthi besingazi ukuthi sinesibopho nabo bonke nabantu baseNingizimu Afrika nokuthi futhi sathi abantu bazobusa. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[Let me address you in my home language of the Chikunga clan which I understand better. In this regard I want to touch on the presidential izimbizo. In fact, on this issue, I am not talking about hearsay: I was present at Govan Mbeki in Secunda. What is of paramount importance is that the izimbizo afford people an opportunity to speak to their President and Deputy President. People are able to express their individual personal views without sending a mouthpiece. We could have forgotten these people had we not had contract with the people of South Africa, as well as our declaration that the people shall govern.]

The question is: What then, after izimbizo? In trying to answer that, it is important that all of us, as public representatives, participate in these izimbizo, and also continue to hold them so that we can inform those communities about the programmes of government that aim to address their problems. We have to monitor if local government, in particular, is implementing its programmes.

Lapho singasiza khona kumele sisize. Khona izinto ziyenzeka lapho nifike khona, Mongameli. Kumasipala i-Albert Luthuli izikhala zemisebenzi ebezivulekile seziyavalwa. Kukhona ukuzizwa siyisizwe esisebenzayo. Mhlawumbe singacela ukuthi imibiko ehlanganiswayo emva kwalezi zimbizo siyithole, njengamaLungu ePhalemende, ezifundeni esizimele, khona sizoqhubeka lapho sigcine khona ukuze sikhulume futhi ulimi olulodwa.

Sengiphetha, ngifuna ukusho ukuthi, njengoba eshilo uMongameli, kungekudala iNdebe yoMhlaba Yomqhudelwano Webhola izoqala eJalimane. Nakuba iNingizimu Afrika ingekho khona kodwa i-Afrika ikhona, siyayeseka futhi. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.) [We should assist where we can. Indeed, Mr President, things do happen where you have paid a visit. In the Albert Luthuli municipality all vacant posts have been filled. Perhaps we need to request a consolidated report of all the izimbizo, so that as members of Parliament representing our provinces we can continue where others ended in order for us to speak with one voice.

In conclusion, I want to reiterate, as the President has indicated, that the Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament will commence in Germany very soon. Although South Africa did not qualify, nevertheless Africa is represented and we support her. [Applause.]]

Once an African, always an African.

Kodwa-ke ngo-2010 siyobe siyibuka ngamehlo lapha ekhaya. Inkosi isisize siphile! [However, in 2010 we will be watching it live here at home. May God keep us alive!]

The President was amongst the bidding team we sent to Zurich to present a bidding case on our behalf.

Ukuqiniseka ukuthi siyaphumelela ngeqembu lethu elaliyonxenxa ukuthi kudlalelwe imidlalo yendebe yomqhudelwano womhlaba futhi nokuthi akungeni lutho emagoli ethu, sasibeke isiqongqwane sikanozinti wethu, ngisho ubaba uMadiba. Wayala ukhasha, kungangeni lutho futhi ebamba kwasanto. Sasibeke ngokucophelela umdlali wethu ongcono wasesiswini owayedlulisela kubagadli abuye futhi ayolekelela abadlali basemumva, abuye enze iminyakazo ecatshangwe kahle, adlulisele ibhola phambili. Ngisho uMongameli wethu uqobo, ubaba uMbeki. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[To make sure that we succeeded with our delegation which went to bid for the hosting of the Fifa World Cup tournament, and also to make sure that we did not lose points, we used Madiba as our goalkeeper. He allowed no goals into the net, and caught any balls that were on target. We strategically placed our best midfielder, who created opportunities for the strikers to go back to assist the defence. He also made some significant moves, thereby passing the ball to the strikers. That was our President, Mr Mbeki.]

Our striker, the best the world has seen, Mr Danny Jordaan …

… wayeshaya ingcwenga yamagoli. [… scored the best goals.]

At the back we had our best defenders.

Ngisho phela ubaba uBalfour benobaba u-Irvin Khoza. [Ihlombe.] [I am referring to Mr Balfour and Mr Irvin Khoza. [Applause.]]

We shall always be grateful to our bidding team. We are proud to be Africans. Thanks to our government, the people of South Africa, the people of Africa and the world, today the ANC is bringing a light of hope to the continent so that it must never be regarded as a dark continent ever again. Peace and friendship shall prevail in Africa.

Nkosi sikelela i-Afrika! Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.] [God bless Africa! Thank you. [Applause.]]

Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Madam Speaker, I agree with the previous speaker: once an African always an African. I am also an African and I will be an African for the rest of my life. [Applause.] It’s late now and we are tired and hungry so I will be as brief as possible. [Laughter.]

I only have two matters to raise, and the first one is the question of language. We listened last week to the assurances by the hon Minister of Arts and Culture, saying that our indigenous languages are respected and protected. Yet, only one language, namely English, is flooding South Africa like a tsunami. I will give you an example. The exhibitions held these past weeks by the various Ministries in Parliament during the Budget Votes were only in English. None of them were in indigenous languages – not a word, “lutho, selo, niks nie”. The government must start to honour its word to respect and protect our indigenous languages or admit that they want English to be the only language. [Interjections.] You say no, but why don’t you prove it then? The proof of the pudding is in the eating. [Interjections.]

The second matter that I wish to raise is the administrative paralysis in government departments, especially when it comes to attending to correspondence. There are these widespread complaints that letters are simply not reacted to. I can see the Minister in the Presidency is looking at me – I am going for you in a few moments. [Laughter.]

I speak from personal and painful experience. I reported some Ministers to the Public Protector, but not even he has answered letters, after many months. The worst example, unfortunately, is the Presidency itself, Mr President. Now, I accept that the hon President is unaware of the administrative paralysis in his office and I therefore wish to bring two examples to his notice.

The first example is a letter written by people to the President on 21 November 2005, reporting alleged corruption in the land restitution process. They received a standard acknowledgement on 24 November 2005. Since then, they have received absolutely nothing - for longer than six months. Here is a copy of the letter; I can give it to the President. Nothing has happened for six months.

The second example is a request that I personally forwarded to the President as long ago as 13 September 2005, asking for an opportunity to see the President. [Interjections.] It is my right as a member of Parliament to ask to be seen by the President. Since then I have written three more letters without even receiving an acknowledgement. On 8 May 2006 I wrote again to the President, and let me quote what I wrote:

There must be something wrong in a very big way with the administration in the office of the President, when a member of Parliament writes three letters over a period of eight months asking for a brief interview with the President and he is ignored.

I then wrote:

I am sure the President is personally unaware of this and he should be alerted to save him from embarrassment.

Nothing has been done. So, after eight months and three letters to the President, I am totally ignored - no reply. This means that, Mr President, I have tried for almost nine months to see you and I’m simply being ignored by your staff. [Laughter.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Madam Speaker, I was asking myself whether Mr Van der Merwe would like me to be the post-lady. Mr President, Madam Deputy President, ladies and gentlemen, we meet here this evening to reflect on the Budget Vote of the Presidency of our great country: a country of our forefathers, our beloved South Africa.

Lefatshe la bonkoko le bontate mokgolo ba rona, ra re pula! Ra re pula! [The land of our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, we say thank you! Thank you!]

On 10 May 1994, at his inauguration, President Mandela said, and I quote:

We have triumphed in the efforts to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans both black and white will be able to walk tall without any fear in their hearts assured of their inalienable right to human dignity, a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

President, we may not have achieved all our ideals but one thing is certain, as a country we are unstoppable because we are on course. We have succeeded in creating a conscience and compassion to govern, as evidenced by the adoption of our parliamentary vision as an accessible institution of the people.

Mr President, our dispensation is a homegrown product and the achievement of our constitutional democracy should not be taken for granted. This was achieved against the background of traumatic racial conflict. We have done better than most countries in similar tragic historical circumstances, such as in Eastern Europe.

The most outstanding achievement is that the government has continued to maintain its hold on the public imagination of our people as confirmed by the local government elections. The current emphasise on taking Parliament to the people through the establishment of parliamentary democracy offices is further evidence of our desires to deepen and strengthen democracy.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, which turned 10 years in May this year, was a product of a long process of popular struggle, multiparty negotiations and democratic deliberations, in which all people of our country played an important role.

Prior to 1994, parliament was sovereign, which meant that it was up to parliament only to adopt any law. Whether that law was discriminating against others or not, you could not challenge that law in court. People were denied their freedom; black people were denied any participation in the affairs of their country while privileges were entrenched for whites. Today we say that thanks to the Constitution that all people of this country are starting to enjoy the virtues and benefits, as well as the beauty of this country together, slowly but certainly.

Our Constitution recognises three branches of government, namely the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. The Constitution goes further to spell out the doctrine of the separation of powers and boundaries between the three branches of government. For instance, on matters of the judiciary, section 165 of our Constitution spells out the independence and autonomy of the courts. In the same vein our responsibilities as the legislative branch are clearly stipulated in section 44 of the Constitution.

Our legislature is expected to play a national role, a global role, a regional role and therefore you need to have tools for our members to be able to achieve these goals. This brings me to the important issue of the resources that have to be availed to our parliamentary structures if they are to function effectively, such as parliamentary committees. There is a need to mobilise the required resources.

I will pause here just to mention that some few years ago I was chairperson of a portfolio committee and the budget given to that portfolio committee was R500 000. Today the budget given to committees is still R500 000. Something is wrong somewhere. [Applause.]

Parliament as an institution is facing some real challenges in the provision of adequate resources to its members at a desired level, so as to empower them to effectively discharge their oversight role. Let us all remember that it is resources that make things possible.

Tribute has to be paid to the excellent work done by our members of Parliament. The contribution of our MPs compares favourably to those in Western democracies, despite limited resources. [Applause.] You are definitely doing extremely well and of course we do understand that you are pulling hard.

This Parliament’s hon members are respected all over the globe and we have periodically had our MPs invited to lead world organisations to give testimony. For example, hon Routledge was invited in mid-1996 to be a part of interparliamentary union leadership in Geneva.

Recently Minister Tshabalala-Msimang was invited by the UN to serve in the global steering committee, which reviewed progress in the global response to HIV and Aids. The committee identified challenges hampering efforts to achieve access to HIV/Aids prevention, care and treatment. The review process was a build-up to the UN’s high-level meeting on HIV and Aids in New York last week. She is the only African Minister who served on this committee and chaired the subcommittee on sustainable financing of HIV and Aids programmes. [Applause.]

Another member of this House, Minister Fraser–Moleketi, is now vice president of the UN’s committee of experts on public administration and finance. She was appointed in April this year. These are just a few examples. We receive almost monthly requests for our members to participate in international forums. [Applause.] The empowerment of women has been achieved in leaps and bounds and this is a historical achievement. It is our desire to establish an attractive legacy and leave our footprints on the sands of time for the benefit of future generations.

We heard you, sir, and those of us who have the responsibility of improving members situations, and addressing capacity challenges would have to urgently address these matters. Many members raised some of these matters yesterday, during the Budget Debate on Parliament. We still have challenges

• I agree - but our duty is to turn our disadvantages into advantages and that is the essence of our heroic journey so far. We have been victorious in overcoming our tragic history and we have every reason to celebrate.

The rainbow vision has become a reality. Your government, Mr President, inherited a poorly performing economy that had been put into the intensive care unit by the corruption and racial patronage of apartheid. You turned the economy around. The economy has been growing continuously. We will soon be able to accommodate all our people’s aspirations, regardless of race, gender and class, so as to create a sustainable and fair society characterised by economic justice.

Today we are celebrating this process, which was indeed not an easy one to achieve. Sir, we shall not fail you. We dare not fail our people. Mr President, your leadership is amazing. Your leadership continues to exceed our expectations. We thank you and we want to wish you more and more energy and health to lead this country. [Applause.]

Mr S E OPPERMAN: Hon Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, members of Parliament, apart from sitting on the left, I think the hon Asmal also missed today with one of his pre-emptive speeches. I think he took the wrong one. [Interjections.]

Every time I hear the refrain South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in its diversity’’, I hear the words, but I also observe the emptiness in the eyes of the speakers. I experienced the same today from my friend the hon Ntuli, who tried hard to be acceptable to his new comrades. [Interjections.] You must have the ability to shoutracism’’, and fight windmills, albeit with emptiness in your eyes.

It is unmistakeably a syndrome as a result of sanguinity, the same thing that poses a serious threat to your pseudo-Native Club, Mr President. Unfortunately, it is only in South Africa that the word ``native’’ is loaded because of political baggage. In most countries, it is accepted as neutral and carried with pride.

The context in which it was used during the previous regime of the hon Johnson and is used in your racially-exclusive Native Club undermines the true meaning. What are your criteria to determine ``nativeness’’? Is it based on Ius Sanguinis, the law of the blood? If you base it on Ius Sanguinis, the law of the blood, how far do you go back in history to trace bloodlines? [Interjections.] Do you use, for example, the chronicles of Al Idrisi in the 13th century, or the chronicles of Ibn Said between the 8th and 9th centuries, or must we look at functional stone structures in our country that we can date back to at least the 3rd century after Christ and the people connected to it?

Whatever the cut-off date we use with the law of the blood, I can assure you, Mr President, that it will definitely disqualify some of the present club members. Even the hon Minister of Safety and Security may suddenly realise that he does not have the legal right to chase people away from someone else’s native land. [Interjections.]

If you base your criteria on Ius Terris, the law of the land, it means that every person born here, “elke inboorling”, qualifies to be a member. Anything else makes nonsense of any claim to nativeness. [Interjections.]

Anyone can use pseudo-criteria to gather back scratches, especially when you can convert every scratch into rands and cents. Unfortunately, self- pollination between think-alikes and talk-alikes leads to inbreeding, and inbreeding leads to defects, feebleness, deformity, insanity, death, and deterioration par excellence! The overwhelming view of prominent, unconnected political commentators concerning the Native Club is déja vu!

Mr President, we are still struggling with the legacy of a system of exclusion. When will we begin to believe and live our country’s motto: !ke e: /xarra //ke , or will it forever remain a mirage?

Hon Pahad, democratic accountability is simple. It is about simple answers to simple questions, like the simple answers we need to the simple questions posed to the hon Minister of Home Affairs.

Someone once said: If God asked you a question like ``Adam, where are you?’’ - don’t answer. Think. When confronted with other viewpoints, hon Pahad, my advice to you is to stop hurrying to make a response. Think. Think. [Interjections.]

Mr D M GUMEDE: Hon President, hon Deputy President, our hon Ministers, and all hon members, it is a great pleasure to address you on this august occasion of the debate on the Budget Vote of the Presidency.

As South Africans, we come from a divided past. Our fortunes were in the main determined by our physical features, features that were not of our own making. Because of this, most of those with bad fortunes yearned and struggled for better times. One of those who was jailed during those struggles in the dark days before democracy, Dikobe wa Mogale, also known as hon Ben Martins, a fellow member of this House, penned these words of hope:

The sun of liberty shall rise; Someday soon, we shall speak in song again, When the air is clear and fragrant with blossom. There was hope.

On 27 April 1994, when millions of men and women, rich and poor, black and white, stood in long queues to deliver the new order, those hopes turned into expectations as well. The millions expected the sun to rise the following day. The sun rose, and some soon spoke in song.

Change, as always, had not been fast enough for all. Since then, many have realised that patience pays, but they have seen changes to others like them. They know that today is better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today, as the President aptly said in this House. They too will “speak in song” one day.

This government has to kindle the flame of hope for the mother of a skinny, stunted child in the stuffy stench of overcrowded shacks amid garbage and sewage and, at the same time, alleviate the fears of a woman not far away in affluence, watering her fragrant, verdant and rosy garden nearby in the same South Africa. What they expect as ordinary citizens may be miles apart, but hopes for their children may not be that far apart. They want a better life for their sons and daughters.

As the government strives to be inclusive and engages both organised stakeholders and ordinary citizens, so as to maximise its effectiveness and efficiency in achieving a better life for all, we stand, we look, and we appreciate. Given our historical background, social cohesion transcending class relations, gender relations, race relations down to different ethnic, cultural and language groups, is a monumental challenge that the government has marvellously managed with the Presidency at the helm. We really admire those efforts.

As we speak different languages, and belong to different cultures, when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup, it was exhilarating to us all. There was tangible excitement when Bafana Bafana won the African Cup of Nations, as there was ecstasy when the Proteas overcame the Aussies at last. Together we spoke in song as one.

We have been honoured to see our heroic sons, our fathers, our mothers, our daughters and our sisters receive national orders to make life better for others, often sacrificing their own comfort for the sake of those who are worse off. This has made more of us want to contribute more to our destiny as one.

As our triumphant nation grows, we continue to ask difficult questions and, coming from different backgrounds, we engage in burning issues, sometimes with a robustness that threatens to divide us. And we always look upon the Presidency as a symbol of unity. United in action, we have grown to know that, as South Africans, black or white, we are all Africans and we are equal, irrespective of race, gender, tribe or any ancestral origin.

For the past twelve years, regionally and continentally, we have seen the government promoting peace, stability and development in Africa. We have seen milestones such as the African Union, Nepad and SADC materialise into tangible reality that has made today better than yesterday, and raised hopes that tomorrow will be better than today.

We are indeed very proud of those achievements. Many more Africans now know that some day soon we shall be speaking in song again, when the air is clear and fragrant with blossom. The sun will shine once more on Africa as it did on Timbuktu, Mali, eight centuries ago, when this African town was a university town of learning, teaching mathematics, chemistry, botany, astronomy, optics, medicine, you name them, they were there. [Applause.] The South African-Mali project is definitely a step towards a better Africa. The giant will awaken and Africa will be free. “Maluphakhanyiswe uphondo lwayo”.

Allow me to say that we have seen an all-inclusive body politic engaging with all stakeholders, that ranges from the urbane, suave and globe- trotting to the most humble among the destitute, making participation quantitatively and qualitatively more apt for delivery.

Surely, one day, South Africa will join Africa in song, and its hills will echo names, and prominent among those will be those that have been at the helm of our Presidency, for their noble effort. We therefore appreciate the use of each and every cent that this House has budgeted to the Presidency and we are proud, as the ANC, to support this budget.

But, before I sit down, let me congratulate the hon Tony Leon on reading the literature of the alliance so well. [Laughter.] This will definitely make him wiser, but he should be careful that his members do not read as much because, definitely, they will cross the floor. [Laughter.] Whenever we reply to the DA when it makes its statements about the ANC, we are accused of being intolerant. This is because some people are scared of the full truth. They are so used to innuendo and half-truths in distorting the situation that, whenever you give the full truth, you are accused of being intolerant.

And then they have said that the government is in crisis. How can our government be in crisis? There has been no government that has delivered more to more people in such a short time. Count the houses; count the number of taps that have been supplied; count the number of houses that have been electrified, and you will know that there is no crisis in South Africa. [Applause.]

Mr Trent has been opportunistic in directing some comments to the President. Let me tell you, Mr Trent, that most institutions of the state have dealt adequately with the matter of the defence procurement, and you know that. The President has answered the question posed to him about this matter before to the satisfaction of most, if not all, in the House.

If the DA has no other matters to raise, we cannot be part of their malaise. They are caught in the past. All they ever talk about is Zimbabwe, HIV/Aids and the defence procurement. We have an agenda to deliver on - the creation of a better life for all. We have entered the age of hope. So, please, we want to be with you when we speak in song.

Lastly, everyone is concerned about some statements that have been made in the direction of the Presidency. Let us appreciate that, in as much we have membership, we have people who join us that may not be our members, people that join us that may not be trained in observing the discipline of our organisation, as happens in other organisations.

So, we shall try by all means to engage with all. The process is going on in the alliance to identify people that surely cannot be members of our alliance, that are responsible for these actions and, once they are found, and if they are criminally liable, we shall take action and we shall put them in jail. I thank you very much, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 19:30. _____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces

The Speaker and the Chairperson

1. Assent by President in respect of Bills

 1) Nursing Bill [B 26D – 2005] – Act No 33 of 2005 (assented to and
    signed by President on 22 May 2006).

1. Draft Bills submitted in terms of Joint Rule 159

(1)     2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Bill, 2006,
    submitted by the Minister of Sport and Recreation on 6 June 2006.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

National Assembly

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