WEDNESDAY, 13 FEBRUARY 2008 __

                  PROCEEDINGS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:01.

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS – see col 000.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Mrs C DUDLEY: Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the ACDP I give notice:

That I shall call for the House to debate the need for a pro-active strategy to be urgently implemented in order to remove illegal and unlicensed firearms from society before they are used for violent criminal activities which continue to traumatise South Africans. Thank you.

                    FIRST BLACK MAN AT SOUTH POLE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mrs C DUDLEY: I move without notice:

That the House -

  1) notes that on Wednesday, 30 January 2008, Alex Harris and Sibusiso
     Vilane returned home victoriously after becoming the first South
     Africans to walk unsupported and unassisted to the South Pole;

  2) further notes that Sibusiso is the first black man to trek to the
     South Pole and that it is his second world first as he became the
     first black man to summit Everest in 2003;

  3) expresses its appreciation for the dedication and sacrifices made
     by both men and their families during these severely challenging
     times; and

  4) congratulates Alex Harris and Sibusiso Vilane for their achievement
     and making such unforgettable history.

Agreed to.

   RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

The SPEAKER: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President and hon members, 2008 is a different and a special year for the third Parliament. It requires our alertness, and our sense of urgency. It requires indeed a different approach to other years because all of us want to spend enough time doing as much political work as is possible. I am quite sure, hon Holomisa, that you agree with me.

And so it is that we have been in touch with the Leader of Government Business in respect of looking at ways to tighten up our co-ordination between Parliament and the executive to do everything that we have to do, but to also do it well. We will all remember that we ended on a bit of an unfortunate note last year when we encountered difficulties whilst processing the Children’s Amendment Bill. We promised to go and look at what the problems are in the processes within Parliament. We did that on 23 January and we are going to provide a detailed report about what we discovered. We are looking at those issues even as we realise the fact that 2008 is going to be slightly shorter because we all want to rise a little earlier than normal. There has to be careful focus on the processes as we deal with the, likely to be big, legislative programme.

This year also, as we come out of the 52nd conference of the ruling party, we are conscious of some important dates. The hon Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected President of this country, will be turning 90 this year. [Applause.] We believe that this is an occasion to celebrate and to be marked not only by all South Africans but also by this House. I will mention the second date that I wish to highlight a bit later.

I also want to touch on the issue that hon Holomisa raised yesterday: First of all, regarding the letter he referred to, it seems that his office and the Office of the Speaker have no record of such a letter. [Interjections.] However, the issue that he raised is an important issue, as he was referring to the state of the nation debate of 2007. Hon Holomisa had raised the need for Parliament to consider forming a steering committee and perhaps looking at a few issues around which we, as South Africans, should deepen the debate.

During the course of last year, there were some comments about that issue, including what I thought were misunderstandings of what the President actually said in response to hon Holomisa. I would like to quote the President’s response in 2007. He said:

Parliament will, in its wisdom, decide what to do with this suggestion. If Parliament, which represents the will of the people, constituted such a steering committee from within its ranks and it asked me to suggest three domestic topics that might be addressed, I would suggest that these should be: Firstly, social transformation, including the important issues of national and social cohesion and a national value system; secondly, the eradication of poverty; and, thirdly, the reduction and eradication of crime, especially crimes against the person.

The President went on to say that:

… as we consider this proposal, we would need to bear in mind that these are matters that would require us to be very patient and to take our time considering them, processing them and coming up with whatever resolution we would want to come up with.

It so happened that although a proposal had been processed within the structures of Parliament and was ready by the end of the year for consideration by political parties, it was overtaken by other pressures on Parliament, and therefore it will now be again submitted to political parties and then Parliament will, in its wisdom, decide how to deal with the suggestion. So hon Holomisa would then have another opportunity really to write the letter that he claims to have written, that somehow your office is not aware of.

Talking about social cohesion, I would like to refer to a second date, as I was saying earlier on. This year is a year full of anniversaries and important dates, and we need to consider, as South Africans, how to use these days to enrich ourselves and to enrich the future. These dates that I am going to mention to you relate to the history of this country and the participation of South Africa in a war that happened in Angola in a place called Cuito Cuanavale 20 years ago. We have initiated a process where some stakeholders came together in December and had a workshop on how to mark this 20th anniversary in a manner that is not gloating about who won and who was defeated, but in a manner that assists us to learn lessons that enable us to heal, to reconcile and to teach our children the lessons of the past. These lessons must in fact make them better future citizens ensuring that the future will never become the foreign country we’ve been to in the past, the one that hon Kader Asmal was referring to here yesterday.

We understand that there are some fellow citizens who have difficulty coming to terms with history and we want to assure them that our intention is actually to extend a hand of healing. When we convened the stakeholders’ forum, we also invited South Africans who had fought as part of the South African Defence Force, precisely because, as we have discovered, there are many of them who are still very much in pain because of what happened then. So we thought it is our responsibility for purposes of indeed building the nation to maintain that we all belong to this country. We did, unfortunately, find that we were only able to attract one person from the other side. Therefore we hope that within this House there will be hon members who are willing to assist so that we can come together and come to terms with our past, and all the wrongs that we did, and in this way move forward on a better basis.

We also take this opportunity to refer to an appeal that is in the January 8 statement of the ANC that we should work towards the achievement of a better Africa and a better world. In that respect I want to refer to the fact that tomorrow, 14 February 2008, South Africa … [Interjections.] … celebrates Valentine’s Day … the women of Africa are being hosted by South Africa at a congress of the Pan-African Women’s Organisation that opens tomorrow and goes on until the the 17th. If you look at past Hansards you will come across a debate of this House that was about the Pan-African Women’s Organisation. I must say when I read the contents of that debate I am very proud of being a member of this House, especially now that congress is meeting from tomorrow until 17th. It is by way of such gestures and contributions that South Africa is moving to a better Africa. At the same time, as we know, we will be hosting the Inter-Parliamentary Union in April this year. We will be hosting more than 140 parliaments here in Cape Town this year, 2008. So we start this year very conscious of the fact that we have a very busy year ahead. But if we work together and focus on where we need to improve our functioning and tighten up our interactions, we will make it, and indeed we agree with the President that it is a year of Business Unusual. However, it is going to be a year that we will look back upon with pride that we were actually able to do all the things that we needed to do. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, and Deputy President, Minister Erwin in his response to the power outages at Koeberg during December 2005 raised the prospect of sabotage, or as he later put it, outages as a result of human instrumentality.

What is his response now? In a broader sense, does not sabotage again come to mind or is it again human instrumentality? This time not by an act of commission, by throwing a bolt into a reactor, but by omission which is a failure by government to act. One thing is certain: we are solely responsible for hampering our own economic growth by failing to plan and act according to projections in 1998 that predicted the current scenario.

I have to agree with Alistair Sparks when he says he cannot recall any other event in recent history that has so shaken the confidence of ordinary South Africans in the future of this country as the result of the incompetence revealed by the breakdown of our largest and most important state corporation. It is a disaster of monumental proportions as far as national morale is concerned.

It is impossible to calculate, at this stage, the full economic impact of the power crunch. The consensus forecasts of economists, however, put GDP growth this year at just over 3%; well down on the average of 5% over the past four years. But, critically, what exactly does this mean in terms of jobs? Azar Jammine of Econometrix notes that the year-on-year job growth reached 193 000 jobs last year when the economy grew by 5%. At 3%, we will be lucky if we create 100 000 jobs this year and with 386 000 students passing matric last year, there is a real prospect of an increase in unemployment. What is the impact on existing jobs?

We have heard the mining industry, the manufacturing industry, in particular the textile industry, sounding grave warnings that retrenchments are imminent. But the greatest danger and the greatest damage which is being done is to that of investor sentiment, both domestic and foreign; fragile at the best of times and now turned negative. This is being helped, of course, by Eskom’s honest assessment that South Africa should be closed for business to new big industrial projects till at least 2012.

But this negative sentiment has a broader impact, namely the whole question of our current account deficit which was estimated at R130 billion last year. This we know has been covered by huge inflows on the financial account as investors have been attracted by South Africa’s growth prospects. The power outages have, however, had a material effect on investor’s expectations for growth and profitability. Since the power crunch, foreigners have turned net sellers on the equity and bond markets and rates have weakened. Foreign investment in the JSE was R64 billion last year, an average of R5 billion a month. In the month of January alone this year, foreigners had disinvested R7,8 billion in the JSE. The last time foreigners dumped stocks to this extent was in 2003 but that was in the current account. The deficit was 1,1% of GDP and now it is over 8%.

As a result of this exodus we have seen, the rand has fallen, signalling that offshore investors will take profit on their South African portfolios and move their funds to more stable currency areas. This fall in the currency should have augured well for exports; however, the power crunch puts a large question mark over this potential, most probably resulting in a further widening of the deficit due to the widening imbalance in the trade account. This is the result of hesitant exports on the one hand and the rising cost of imports on the other hand. One has in mind the huge higher import component of the infrastructure roll-out, as well as, of course, oil with its secondary and third round inflationary consequences, and all this signalling a lengthening of the higher interest rates circle with even throttling down of economic growth.

And so the failure to act has led this country from boom to the brink of recession. The hon President says: ``Let us move beyond recriminations’’. I agree, but first we must address the question of accountability of those responsible. Firstly, Minister Radebe who was Minister of Public Enterprises 10 years ago was warned over a period of five years that Eskom had insufficient capacity to keep pace with the country’s rate of development if no new power stations were built - yet he failed to act.

Secondly, the Deputy President who was then Minister of Minerals and Energy signed the White Paper in which the dire warnings on capacity were made, yet failed to act during her term as Minister. She made the excuse that we had been a victim of our own success. No, hon Deputy President, we were a victim of our own lack of planning. Failing to plan is planning to fail. But the truth is it is not just a demand problem but also a supply one. Current demand stands at between 33 000 megawatts and 34 000 megawatts, slightly less than the demand experienced at 36 000 megawatts in the last winter. Yes, the demand did increase by 4,9% over the same period last year, but the real problem was an operational one. It was the fact that Eskom was only producing 80% of its capacity due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance - put simply, bad management - of which the Minister of Public Enterprises seemed blissfully unaware.

He made bold claims in August 2005 that one of South Africa’s economic and industrial strengths is the quantity and efficiency of its electricity supplies. In February 2006 he said: “You cannot find as reliable and as long-term an electricity contract in the world today as Eskom can give.” And in January 2007 he said: “I am confident that South Africa as a whole will not be plunged into darkness”. On Monday he said: “The crisis will be over in six months”. Well frankly, Mr Minister, your credibility is shot to pieces. Nobody believes a word you say any more.

Ministers, Mr President, need to be accountable, but what of Eskom, their directors and senior management? They need to be held accountable as well. A shortage of skills was the real culprit largely caused by putting political correctness before competence. Two years ago the Financial Mail interviewed Eskom’s managing director of human resources, Mpho Letlape, where she is on record as saying that over the next five years, as it embarks upon its R84 billion infrastructure programme, Eskom has to appoint two new staff every working day. It is adamant that one of them will be a black woman; not an engineer, not a technician, not an accountant, not a project manager, but a black woman. What a misplaced sense of priority when race and gender trump skills that are needed. Eskom’s lack of foresight went further … [Interjections.] They halved their workforce from 60 000 to 30 000, shut down training programmes and left stockpiles and spare parts at hopelessly inadequate levels. [Applause.][Time expired.]

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President Mbeki, Madam Deputy President, hon members …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, I think there is a point of order. Please take your seat.

The MINISTER OF HOUSING: Deputy Speaker, I am terribly sorry to Minister Radebe. On a point of order I just need an explanation on whether it is in fact parliamentary and acceptable that the hon member should find that black women and engineers are mutually exclusive. Is that what he means? I want an explanation from him. [Interjections.]

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Then you have missed the point of my speech!

Mr C M LOWE: We already know you’re stupid; you don’t have to show it! [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members! Hon member, I don’t think you have to reduce the debate to that. There is no hon member who is stupid in here. There is a question that has been asked and I want to address that point. The point has been raised by Minister Sisulu, and we will look into the text and come back to you before the end of the debate; probably this afternoon. Thank you very much.

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Madam Deputy Speaker, more than nine decades of relentless struggle have placed the ANC as the custodian of our democratisation process and the leader of the people of South Africa.

Ms M P MENTOR: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: Are you allowing me, Madam Deputy Speaker? Is it parliamentary for Mark Lowe to shout at hon Lindiwe Sisulu and say: ``We know that you are stupid, but you don’t have to show it’’? Is that parliamentary? The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I just said to him that he should not take the debate to that level. No hon member in here is stupid, but if what you want is for him to withdraw those remarks … Hon Sisulu, please take your seat. Hon Mentor, if that is what you are requesting, I may request the member to withdraw those words.

Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: That word has been used on many occasions in this House. It may be undesirable in many ways … [Interjections.] … and it has never been ruled unparliamentary to date until now. You cannot expect the hon member to withdraw it. You really cannot. It has been used many times on both sides of the House before today.

Mrs S A SEATON: Madam Deputy Speaker, in fact the Minister herself shouted across that the members on this side of the House are stupid.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Seaton, you raise a point which obviously, from where I am seated, I did not hear, but Hansard must have captured that. May I when I come back with the ruling for the first member, also deal with that? I wouldn’t like him to withdraw and not have the Minister withdraw if they used the same word, that is. Also, it does not mean, hon members, when wrong things may have been allowed that we therefore want to lower the debates in this House to that level. We need to respect each other - we are hon members – no matter how strongly we feel about issues. Let us deal with those issues whilst respecting each other. May I then come back to this later on?

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Deputy Speaker, the ANC has consistently pursued a vision and values aimed at building the South Africa of our dreams - a future built on peace and freedom, nonracism, nonsexism, equality, democracy and prosperity for all our people. The Freedom Charter captures the historic demands of the majority of South Africans whilst providing the foundation of a common national agenda, which today finds expression in the progressive Constitution of our democratic republic.

It is understandable, and I must say, well appreciated, that South Africans are interested in developments within the ANC and in their own country. After all, the ANC lives and leads and its health is directly linked to the mood and progress of our nation as a whole. To this end, it is at times like these that the ANC rises to the challenge and provides much-needed certainty and leadership about the future of our beautiful land.

It is regrettable that the opposition is missing yet another important opportunity to contribute positively to this national dialogue and ensure that it joins hands with the majority in their collective efforts to build the society that is envisioned in the Freedom Charter. The opposition should see itself as part of the protected nation-building process unfolding in front of our very eyes.

Our opponents are labouring under the false pretence that they stand to gain if the ANC gets divided and weakened. The country needs a strong and democratic ANC to continue to serve as the glue that holds our diverse society together, as it has successfully done over the past 14 years. The wellbeing of the ANC is so much a central part of the outlook of our nation.

The narrow sectarian positions that the opposition parties have adopted in the name of the electorate are short-sighted and reflect a continuous refusal to reciprocate the spirit of generosity and reconciliation from those oppressed under apartheid. It is time that all of us in this country, jointly, use this time to mobilise the skills, knowledge and expertise of those privileged by apartheid to contribute to our collective efforts to eradicate poverty and to accelerate economic growth.

Instead the opposition has used this current climate to deepen uncertainty. They choose not to promote the politics of accountability, mutual respect and nation-building, but choose to attempt the impossible, which is to reverse the much-needed progressive interventions such as Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment, worker rights, health for all and other major transformation initiatives undertaken by the democratic government led by the ANC.

Only those with short memories will forget the national realisation of a decade ago that political transformation without significantly improving the lives of the majority will herald a new era of racial conflict. Freedom will have no meaning for the majority of our people if the values enshrined in our Constitution and the vision of Freedom Charter are not turned into an everyday living reality.

Whilst many are content with the mere attainment of a constitutional democracy and only seek to preserve the current unequal power relations bequeathed by apartheid, the historic mission of the ANC, as a people’s movement, is about the fundamental re-organisation of social and property relations, particularly in the context of race, gender, rural and urban relations.

The democratic movement of our country, led by the ANC, has always been driven by an understanding that there will never be genuine freedom unless the legacy and material basis of apartheid colonialism have been fully eradicated. In its pursuit of its strategic goals, the ANC has always relied on the active participation of the masses of our people as their own liberators - the makers of their own history.

The ANC gives voice to the voiceless and to the so-called uneducated and unwashed masses. The ANC makes ordinary people from our townships, informal settlements, peri-urban areas, rural areas and hostels, and those who are homeless and unemployed, young and old, black and white to be the masters of their own destiny. [Applause.] Recent events in our country have confirmed that the ANC continues to enjoy the confidence of the majority of the people - they cannot be turned against their own movement - and most of all, that it will continue to mobilise all South Africans to define and set the agenda for social change in pursuit of the goals of the national democratic revolution.

The President’s national call for the intensification of the war against poverty is a clear illustration of our understanding of what constitutes the single, most important challenge that continues to define the lives of many in our society. The eradication of poverty and inequality is central to the historic mission of the African National Congress and its allies. As we intensify our efforts we, in the ANC, who are working with the people are always willing to learn from our shortcomings, continue to evaluate the effectiveness of our strategies and respond more effectively to the challenges that we are facing.

The ANC, as the leading political and social force in our country, remains the bearer of hope for millions of our people, and it is one major reason why we have peace and stability and not the anarchy, civil strife and chaos that accompanied political change in many parts of the world. The history of too many countries bears testimony to how unattended social and economic disparities may become seeds for future conflicts and divisions.

Our country has made impressive gains and interventions through our democratic government and has improved the lives of many South Africans. The President took us to new heights with the 24 Apex Priorities in the fight against poverty and inequality, as well as setting South Africa on a path of sustainable growth and development. South Africans across all divides should at this time join hands, fight poverty and inequality and keep South Africa as the flagship of hope in the democratic transformation of our continent and the world.

We must therefore call on all South African patriots - irrespective of class, gender and political affiliation - to help contribute immensely towards the resolution of the various developmental challenges still facing our country as opposed to reducing themselves to spokespersons of doom. For instance, the recent response by solidarity in assisting to recruit skilled personnel in the context of the energy challenges facing our country is a good example of patriots working for a better South Africa irrespective of political or ideological affiliation.

The ANC was established and evolved over the years as part of the progressive forces fighting for freedom from colonialism, national oppression and capitalist exploitation. The ANC is part of the global forces committed to a better and fairer world based on global peace, equality and friendship. The ANC is a radical and not a narrow nationalist movement and will always stand for the downtrodden and for the fundamental transformation of our society. The history of the ANC suggests that it has always analysed the situation in an objective manner, and adopted a set of strategies suitable to the challenges of the time.

The President’s state of the nation address has really defined the key tasks in the current phase of our national democratic revolution. These are tasks that will ensure that the significant gains of the past 13 years are qualitatively transformed to serve as a foundation for further social and economic progress for a better future for our country.

As we accelerate the pace of change, as well as change the manner in which we deliver it, Business Unusual has brought to the fore the question of the role and nature of the democratic state. As the ANC, and taking forward the goals of the national democratic revolution, we have re-affirmed the need to continue transforming the state to serve as a key instrument in championing the cause of social transformation. We speak of the developmental state that will not suppress democracy and workers’ struggles for better wages, but a developmental state that will co-ordinate economic development and set the framework for social and economic development - the state that will drive infrastructure development for the future of our country.

Our record, as the ANC government, speaks for itself. The democratic state, as a critical player in setting our country on a new growth and development path, has raised public investment in economic and social infrastructure to over R400 billion in the past few years. This increased investment will see our country moving from strength to strength. Some of the key instruments that we are using through public enterprises and public entities will ensure that we increase our capacity and build our harbours, airports, railways, petroleum pipelines and all those things that will create a better life for all our people.

Over the past ten years, we have seen concerted efforts to improve access through the building of clinics as part of ensuring primary health care for all our people. The President’s address was therefore not only a commitment on the part of the ANC, but a call on the nation as a whole to expedite change and to recognise that this change will in many ways benefit all of us and ensure that our constitutional democracy is underpinned by equality and prosperity for all, and that this is our generation’s lasting legacy into the future.

In conclusion, not only are the people of our country calling on us not to retreat from the project of constructing a national democratic society, but the masses of our people want us to join hands in the march to freedom. They want to participate and continue to be the builders of a better and democratic future. To the ANC, this is the national democratic revolution in action. I thank you. [Applause.]

Rev K R J MESHOE: Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and hon members, the announcement made yesterday by the Minister of Safety and Security that the Scorpions will be dismantled and merged with the organised crime unit of the police must be rejected with the contempt it deserves. It is scandalous, highly questionable and irresponsible to target a very successful crime-busting unit when South Africa’s crime levels are among the highest in the world.

The Minister also said that the ANC was not being reckless in disbanding the Scorpions. The truth is the ANC is reckless and I believe that this decision is a serious blunder that will come back to haunt them in the near future.

I want to remind members of this House that the Scorpions were constituted following a careful study of policing systems in other countries. This was made clear by the then chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, the hon Fatima Chohan, during a debate in the National Assembly on 11 November 1999.

She pointed out that her committee had undertaken a visit to the United States and Canada to study, among other things, their crime- fighting structures and institutions. She continued to mention that the prosecution- driven investigation was not only successful in the US and Canada but also in Germany and Britain. In our case, in South Africa, the Scorpions have had a success rate between 80% and 90% in all their prosecutions.

The ACDP wants to know why anybody in their right mind would want to disband such a successful unit, except of course to serve their questionable motives. May I also remind this House that the Scorpions were instituted because of the failure of the SAPS to deal with organised crime.

When President Mbeki announced the formation of the Scorpions in June 1999, he said it was a signal of government’s commitment to dealing with priority crimes. Today, the ANC has discarded that commitment to the delight of leaders of organised crime.

When the former New National Party leader raised what he described as serious questions about the establishment of the Scorpions, the then Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, Penuell Maduna, said, and I quote: “The criminal element should be the only ones who are worried about the Scorpions.” The hon President may or may not agree with members of the public who suspect that it is the criminal element within the ANC who are worried about the sting and success of the Scorpions that have no regard for political connections. [Applause.]

Constitutional law professor George Devenish said that, and I quote:

The proposed disbanding of the Scorpions must be seen for what it is - an unscrupulous attempt to centralise naked power in the hands of ANC politicians and their cadres deployed in the management echelons of the police.

Our nation is ravaged by crime, and it is therefore scandalous that the decision to disband the highly effective and successful Scorpions will be forced through this Parliament even though the majority of South Africans, many of whom are victims of serious violent crime, are opposed to it.

Mr President, do you agree with those members of the public who say that the real motive for disbanding the Scorpions is to protect powerful ANC politicians from investigations? [Interjections.] Is it perhaps because the ANC wants to remove the Scorpion investigators and prosecutors from the Jackie Selebi case which is scheduled to be heard in August? Many surmise that without those competent Scorpion prosecutors, the suspended National Commissioner will be acquitted and this will pave the way for him to be the head of the newly organised unit of the SA Police Service that has many corrupt elements within it already.

On Monday, the acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Advocate Mpshe, is reported to have filed an affidavit in which he said, under oath, that not only information but also evidence of suspended Commissioner Selebi’s wrongdoings was presented to President Mbeki and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla. He also said that the President himself was fully informed of the investigation against Mr Selebi and the nature of the allegations against him.

He added that besides there being constant communication between Advocate Pikoli, President Mbeki and Justice Minister Mabandla, Advocate Pikoli also informed other officials, including Safety and Security Minister Nqakula and Defence Minister Lekota of the corruption claims against Mr Selebi.

This stands in stark contrast to the claims made by the President last month that he only became aware of the charges a few days earlier. To compound matters, President Mbeki then told the media, and I quote:

I have said this before, many times, that if there was anybody with information that shows Selebi has done wrong things, I would act on it. Nobody did, nobody came to me. Mr President, the ACDP believes that in the light of the very serious revelations contained in Advocate Mpshe’s affidavit, the President owes the public an explanation and must tell the truth as to exactly when he became aware of the serious allegations against Mr Selebi, and why he failed to act then - immediately - to suspend him. The public is also owed an explanation of how a draft copy of a top-secret letter, dated 7 May 2007, from Advocate Pikoli to President Mbeki about Commissioner Selebi, ended up in Mr Selebi’s hands.

The ACDP therefore renews its call for the disbandment of the Ginwala commission and the reinstatement of Advocate Pikoli, particularly because government was at all times fully informed of the case against Mr Selebi by Advocate Pikoli himself.

These are very grave allegations that go to the heart of the President’s integrity. The President must admit or deny that the main reason for suspending Advocate Pikoli was not because of a breakdown in relations, but a deliberate attempt to cover up for Mr Selebi.

Another major weakness I want to highlight is this government’s weakness in the area of maintenance. Government has spent money on the construction of new buildings and roads without proper maintenance plans, and, as a result, the existing road infrastructure is deteriorating very fast. While roads in Cape Town are not in a bad condition, one cannot say the same about other cities, including Pretoria, our administrative capital. Most of our roads are badly damaged and have potholes that are ignored by the relevant councils. When the President spoke about building infrastructure, I want to know whether the President also had road infrastructure in mind. If yes, why is the maintenance and repair of our roads not an Apex Priority?

In terms of the power crisis, the ACDP believes that some of the reasons we have blackouts is because Eskom has neglected maintenance and failed to plan for emergencies. It is also highly suspicious that the crisis occurred so soon after the coming on stream … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President and Members of Parliament, strong economies and successful nations are developed over a long period through sustained investment in people, productive capabilities and ensuring the greatest degree of participation of people in all forms of economic activities. It is these ingredients that were so sorely lacking in the pre-democratic South Africa - a South Africa that bequeathed to a democratic nation an economy that was imploding.

This now seems like a long time ago as the structure and dynamism of our economy has been changed so effectively. Against this, the sort of apocalyptic projections on the economy by some analysts, economists and commentators seem to apply more to the past than to the present, for the promise and commitment of the ANC when it formed the first, second and now third democratic government is undeniably being realised.

The South African economy of 2008 is, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, a very different economy to that prior to 1994. It must thus be shocking that some analysts, economists and commentators project the likelihood of a recession in the current economic circumstances. And, of course, when one becomes a cheerleader for bad news, it becomes quite impossible to be positive about anything; to acknowledge even the most compelling evidence of progress; and to relate to the full complexity of issues facing our society.

But, of course, South Africa has the ANC - an organisation that is balanced, systematic, disciplined and consistent - that uses the best evidence from everywhere, including the developing world, in formulating its policies and strategies. It is this capacity of the ANC which enabled us to analyse the social and economic challenges facing South Africa and to recognise that the South African economy needed to have the fundamentals right.

The achievement of macroeconomic and financial stability over the years since 1994 is a product of these qualities of the ANC - balance, discipline, consistency and evidence. It is because of these and many other such successes that, as a country, we began to aspire to bigger and better achievements such as: the diversification of our economy; the pursuit of accelerated and shared growth; and the transformation of the economic structure inherited from our apartheid past to ensure inclusion, equity and sustainable employment for our people.

Are we succeeding? Some of the evidence is that national income has risen by 22% per person since 1999. Employment is rising faster than at any point since the 1960s. Fixed investment has grown dramatically from 15% in 2004 to 21% in 2007. Paradoxically, it is now our achievements that present us with new challenges. The speed by which we need to construct new buildings and infrastructure is restrained by the 30% increase in the demand for cement over the last four years, and therefore putting pressure on supply. We now have 3 million more vehicles on our roads than in 2004 because incomes are rising for more and more of our people, particularly for black people. Between 2004 and now, over half a million vehicles have been exported. Massive energy consumption, growing households and expanding industries have resulted in an overdemand and of course much hand-wringing.

Indeed, it seems that we have grown so quickly that our house has become too small. Hon members, is this then the end of growth? Students of economics will tell you that economies do not come to a sudden halt, even in the most extreme circumstances. It is like a giant ocean liner which can go at a great pace when it picks up speed; it takes a long while before the ship comes to a complete stop even if you have switched off the engine. And so, yes, we do face new challenges, but our momentum will carry us forward. Our economic engine is strong because the economy has, during the past few years, undergone critical structural changes which will, to some extent, cushion the impact of external shocks. We are therefore confident that the consumer demand that we have seen, and that has fuelled our growth, will not disappear overnight, because it is based on higher levels of participation in the economy and rising incomes of people. Neither will the ongoing investment-driven growth stop midway because the projects that we are investing in are multi-year projects. The investment that is taking place in South Africa today is an investment that is going to be sustained over the next decade and even over 15 years. If we take a look at the public transport investment programme, we will see that it is a programme that is going to run until 2020.

J K Galbraith writes in The Affluent Society that economic life, like other social lives, does not conform to a simple and coherent pattern. On the contrary, it often seems incoherent, inchoate and intellectually frustrating. Hon members, our economic journey has indeed not been straightforward. The ANC government has from time to time made adjustments wherever necessary to maintain the momentum of growth and enhance transformation. We will continue to do so. This is especially so because the world economy is changing rapidly. To stand still, will be to regress.

In moving forward, we recently assembled leading local and international economies to benchmark our policies and vision for our economic future. This exercise revealed a remarkable convergence of approaches on the way forward and affirmed the foresight of the ANC’s stewardship of the economy. This exercise also confirmed that, now, we have begun to claim our stake in the world economy.

Our new relationships present more threats and opportunities. But, through improved planning and consistency in policy implementation, we can simultaneously reduce these threats and optimally exploit the opportunities. So, in the cluster of economic departments, we are undertaking economy-wide interventions in four broad areas to sustain the step change in the economy’s growth rate and entrench its structural transformation. Firstly, we have set out to enhance economic efficiency in the South African economy, focusing on areas such as: improved and more efficient public transport; Information and Communications Technology, ICT, usage and uptake; skills development; economic regulation that is efficient; as well as addressing the issues of competition in the economy.

Secondly, we are also undertaking very precise targeted efforts to promote dynamic growth sectors in the economy across a whole range of sectors. I will speak about those in a short while. Thirdly, our commitment to broadening participation in the economy will intensify. The South African small enterprise sector remains underdeveloped to our detriment. Therefore, we are making a massive push to support this sector, including co-operatives through financial and other measures and stronger use of state procurement.

As we undertake these interventions to improve economic performance, we are also giving special attention to four critical areas with the potential to impact on and deepen structural change in the economy. These are the areas of ICT infrastructure, public transport infrastructure, as well as ensuring that we can reposition the energy sector and enhance our capacity to generate energy to diversify our energy mix. I would like to say at this point that there is no reality to the assertion that there is going to be a halt to the investment drive to South Africa or that there is going to be a halt to promoting South Africa as a destination for investment. There is no reality in that we will not be able to support the Alcan Aluminium Smelter. All of these matters are simply matters that are going to require better co- ordination, planning and sequencing to make sure that the coming on stream of the Alcan Aluminium Smelter, for example, is in line with the new electricity generation capacity coming on stream.

Hon members, our strategies also involve the deepening of industrialisation. In this regard it is befitting to recall what the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, said: Reconstruction of the economy must be linked to development. In the process, a more dynamic manufacturing sector will emerge as a growing source of productive and well-paid employment opportunities and industrial learning. The present weakness of the manufacturing sector must be judged in terms of the global trend, in which markets for manufactured commodities are growing more rapidly than those for natural resources.

For this reason, the central objective for the National Industrial Policy Framework, NIPF, and the Industrial Policy Action Plan, IPAP, is to diversify and strengthen manufacturing with an emphasis on nontraditional tradable goods and services and labour-intensive activities. In this context, we have identified four leading sectors in which we will undertake targeted interventions. These are the areas of capital goods, transport equipment and metals fabrication. This is an area that will ensure that we can maximise benefits for the economy from the massive infrastructure investment programme that is going on at the moment. We have identified the automotive sector with a view to deepening the manufacturing aspect of motor vehicle assembly to increase a local content. We have also identified chemicals, plastic fabrication and pharmaceuticals, as well as forestry, pulp, paper and furniture, with a particular focus on the more rural communities.

We are doing work in many other sectors of the economy because, in the South African context, in order to resolve the issues around jobs and raising the rate of growth, we have to work across the economy in all different sectors. There is a lot of other work that is aimed at enhancing our industrial capabilities. We are confident that these initiatives will strengthen competitiveness and contribute to growth and employment in these and other targeted sectors. Certainly, in this context, financing our industrial policy actions is critical and we are in a position to reap the fruits of the prudent management of our economy as resources for supporting industrial development are available. We will continue to employ these resources as effectively as possible, counting on industry to reciprocate through investment and value addition, and also with the understanding that government support is not a perpetual thing.

Furthermore, we will maximise opportunities for industrial development in the massive infrastructure roll-out programme, particularly with regard to rail freight, energy products, airports and the upgrading of ports.

So, from our perspective, our successes are clear and we will remain firmly on course. I think we can confidently say, Mr President, that the legacy that you are going to leave for the next government is a legacy of an economy that is including its people more and more. It is a legacy of an economy that is growing at a higher rate than it has grown for more than three or four decades. It is a legacy of an economy in which there is a higher rate of investment than there has been for more than three decades. It is a proud legacy that you leave behind, Mr President.

It is, however, obvious that even as we are making such good progress, the complex process of economic transformation that we are undertaking is a long-term effort. There will be challenges along the way and there will be sharp debates both in government and in political parties and also in society in general. In a way, these debates must continue and they are necessary. They are necessary because the project that we are pursuing - the national democratic project - is a project that contains what can sometimes be seen as conflicting objectives. This is because as you are trying to address the needs of the poor and the weak and the disadvantaged, you are also trying to make sure that those who have resources invest their money in this economy. Therefore, these debates are necessary precisely because of those competing objectives that we pursue as government.

The debates are also necessary because we are dealing with a dynamic thing called the economy – an economy that is ever-changing and that is ever producing new challenges. Therefore, those of you who are scared of some of the debates that we have should not be scared. We regard those debates as necessary debates in order to make sure that we always find the best balance out of the myriad of things that we have to address.

Therefore, Mr President, I would like to say that the legacy that you are going to leave is indeed a good legacy of a healthy economy. It is also a legacy of great clarity about the issues that still need to be addressed in this economy. [Interjections.] Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. [Applause.] [Time expired.]

Dr P W A MULDER: Deputy Speaker, hon President, South Africa is at present in the midst of a corruption crisis, in the midst of a service delivery crisis, in the midst of an energy crisis and in the midst of a crime crisis. In the Health department the President fired the wrong Minister and now the ANC is closing the crime-combating unit, the Scorpions. The FF Plus totally condemns this as a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. These crises test the leadership of the President, but they also test every one of us as elected representatives.

I experienced President Mbeki’s address as a departure from the cold and business-like style which had characterised his term in office. The President openly acknowledged what he called the deep sense of unease that exists about where our country will be tomorrow. This differed from some speeches in which the ANC tried to justify every problem or blame it on apartheid. With this approach the President took on board not only the concerns of his own party, but also those of our supporters. Our supporters want to know that the President is aware of their problems.

In the face of the serious power crisis the President made a call for unity when he urged South Africans to unite as never before and strain every sinew of the nation’s collective body to address common challenges. The FF Plus strongly criticised the government and Eskom about their extremely poor planning, but we also reacted positively to the President’s call to address these problems jointly.

Eergister het die VF Plus ’n lys van 1 800 name aan Eskom se topbestuur oorhandig. Dit is mense met vaardighede wat vrywillig hul name op die VF Plus se webblad geplaas het. Onder dié name is 145 ingenieurs, 92 mense met MBA-grade en 42 persone met doktorsgrade. Een van die eerste vrae wat ek van sekere ANC-lede hieroor gekry het, was of hierdie persone almal wit is. Ek weet nie. Ons het dit nie op die webblad gevra nie.

Dis wel persone met vaardighede wat werkloos is en voel hulle kan ’n bydrae lewer. In die middel van een van die grootste krisisse wat hierdie land nóg beleef het, waarin die mynbou die eerste keer in 100 jaar tot stilstand gekom het, is sommige ANC-lede steeds besig met rasse-ideologieë en regstellende aksies.

Nou wil ek die vraag vra: Wat is vir die ANC die belangrikste? Is dit die oorhaastige, rasbehepte transformasie by Eskom soos ons die afgelope tyd gehad het of eerder die oplos van hierdie probleem wat duisende mense hul werk kan kos? U weet, 15 000 mynwerkers kan hul werk verloor as dinge nie opgelos word nie. Kom ek vra, wat is vir die ANC die belangrikste: Is dit die oorhaastige, rasbehepte transformasie by, byvoorbeeld, munisipaliteite of is dit dienslewering waardeur miljoene mense water, toilette en huise kan kry? Onthou, die meerderheid van hierdie mense is swart.

Nou sê ek vir u, geen organisasie in die wêreld kan steeds doeltreffend wees ná só ’n groot omset in personeel soos ons die afgelope paar jaar by Eskom gekry het nie. Hierdie is nie ’n rasseargument nie, dis ’n gewone bestuurswaarheid.

As ek persoonlik nie ten minste 10 jaar ervaring in ’n spesifieke rigting gehad het nie, wil ek nie hoof van Eskom, direkteur-generaal van ’n department of hoof van ’n metroraad wees nie. Nou moet ANC-lede nie weer ’n rasseargument hierin lees nie; ek sê dis normale bestuursbeginsels wat ook waar is vir enige organisasie in China of Nigerië. Wat is die belangrikste? Kom ons leer uit Eskom se ervaring. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The day before yesterday the FF Plus presented a list of 1 800 names to Eskom’s top management. These are people with skills who voluntarily entered their names on the FF Plus website. Among them there are 145 engineers, 92 people with MBA degrees, and 42 people with doctorates. One of the first questions certain ANC members asked about this was whether these people were all white. I don’t know. We did not ask for this information on our website. What I can say is that these are skilled people, who feel that they have a contribution to make. In the course of one of the greatest crises we have yet experienced, where mining has come to a standstill for the first time in 100 years, some ANC members still indulge in racial ideologies and affirmative action.

Now I want to pose this question: What is more important to the ANC? Is it the hasty, race-obsessed transformation of Eskom such as we have seen recently, or rather the solution of this problem, which could destroy thousands of jobs? You know that 15 000 mineworkers stand to lose their jobs if this matter is not resolved.

Let me ask what is more important to the ANC: Is it the hasty, race- obsessed transformation at municipalities, for instance, or service delivery which can provide millions of people with water, toilets and houses? Remember, the majority of these people are black.

Now I want to say to you: No organisation in the world can remain efficient subsequent to such a high staff turnover as we have seen at Eskom over the past few years. This is not a racial argument, it’s a mere fact of management.

As for myself, I would not want to be appointed as the head of Eskom, or as director-general of a government department, or as head of a metro council, unless I had at least 10 years’ experience in the relevant field. Once again ANC members should not read this as a racial argument; I am saying it’s merely sound management principles, which apply equally to any organisation in China or Nigeria. What is really important to us? Let us learn from the Eskom experience.]

Transformation rather than delivery became Eskom’s driving force. They awarded themselves with big bonuses for achieving racial targets instead of delivery targets.

U weet, Dirk Herman het navorsing gedoen oor die nie-aangewese groep by Eskom. Wat het hy bevind? Dat 55% van hulle vervreemd voel en dat 77% voel dat hulle binne Eskom nooit aan hul beroepsverwagtinge sal kan voldoen nie. Daarom is dit nie vreemd dat daar verlede jaar 80 Eskom-vakmanne Australië toe is nie. Hierdie maand alleen het sewe voormalige Eskom-ingenieurs by Western Power in Australië begin werk. Ek sê vir u, Suid-Afrika kán dit nie bekostig nie!

Verlede week het mnr Zuma in ’n toespraak, interessant genoeg, die volgende gesê:

As South Africans we must come to terms with the fact that the more
skills we have in the economy, the more jobs we can create.

Ek stem daarmee saam. Stem al die ANC-lede ook daarmee saam?

Agb minister Nqakula het aan ons mnr Groenewald hier gesê van ons, toe hy oor misdaad kla, hy moet die land verlaat. Verkies die ANC dit? Is dit hul oplossing? Ek is jammer vir die ANC, maar oor 50 jaar van nou af gaan die ANC reeds opgebreek het en nie meer hier wees nie, maar dan gaan ons nog hier wees; daar is nie twyfel daaroor nie.

In Dar es Salaam by ’n konferensie het’n Tanzaniese parlementslid ernstig met my kom praat. Wat sê hy vir my? Hy sê: Julle moet asseblief nie van jul Afrikanerboere ontslae raak nie …

Dis nou sy boodskap:

Besef julle wat hulle vir julle werd is? Ek wens ons kon hulle in
Tanzanië kry om te kom help om vir ons mense kos te produseer.

Ek het hom verwys na die tafel waar die ANC-afvaardiging gesit het en gesê: “Gaan praat met hulle, nie met my nie.”

Ek het onlangs geluister na ’n Afrikaleier wat Suid-Afrika prys as die ekonomiese reus van Afrika. Dis ’n prestasie, maar hy het my tog laat wonder: Hoekom is Suid-Afrika die ekonomiese reus van Afrika? Is dit omdat ons soveel minerale het? Nee, Angola en die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo het méér minerale as Suid-Afrika.

Is ons die ekonomiese reus omdat ons olie uit steenkool kan maak? Nee, Sasol se ou bietjie olie is maar ’n druppel in die emmer teen Nigerië se groot hoeveelhede. Is ons die ekonomiese reus omdat ons sulke goeie landboutoestande in Suid-Afrika het; ons voer tog kos uit? Nee, alle klimaatstudies wys dat Suid-Afrika ’n semi-droë woestynland is met min landboumoontlikhede. Mosambiek en Malawi het beter potensiaal as dit.

Is Nigerië met sy olie en Egipte met sy toerisme nie ekonomies sterker as Suid-Afrika nie? Suid-Afrika is ekonomies meer as twee keer so sterk soos Nigerië en amper drie keer so sterk soos Egipte. Suid-Afrika is ekonomies 80 keer sterker as die gemiddelde Afrikastaat. Ons het die beste paaie, krag- en telefoonnetwerke in Afrika. Ons aandelebeurs is een van die tien grootste in die wêreld. Ongeveer die helfte van alle teerpaaie in Afrika is in Suid-Afrika. U weet, Nigerië het drie keer ons bevolking, maar net ’n tiende van ons krag - u moet gaan kyk hoe lyk dit daar.

Nou sê ek, as Suid-Afrika nie die rykste is aan minerale het nie, nie die meeste olie of beste landboutoestande het nie, waarom is ons dan die ekonomiese reus? Omdat daar oor baie jare swartmense en witmense gesamentlik ’n unieke bydrae gelewer het en kundigheid ingeploeg het om Suid-Afrika te bring tot hy waar hy vandag is. Ek is trots daarop. Ek is ook trots op die Afrikaner se bydrae daartoe.

Wanneer ek na die ANC se nuwe geskiedenisleerplanne en –boeke kyk, word die Afrikaners spesifiek uitgesonder as diegene wat in die verlede niks goed gedoen het nie en alles verkeerd gedoen het. Ek sê dit is feitelik verkeerd en bied ‘n ongebalanseerde geskiedenis.

Ek stem saam met die President dat die huidige krisis vra vir samewerking en vir “Business Unusual.” “Business Unusual” sal wees dat ons regstellende aksie staak. Stel die beste persoon vir die werk aan. In ’n krisis behoort dit nie saak te maak of hy swart, pienk of blou is nie.

In die verlede het ons ernstige probleme soos dié gehad en dit opgelos. In die olieboikot het ons Sasol ontwikkel; in die wapenboikot het ons ’n krygstuignywerheid ontwikkel. Ons kan dit weer doen en ook hierdie probleem oplos.

Volgende week kom afgevaardigdes van vyf lande in Gaborone bymekaar en Suid- Afrika is deel daarvan. Hulle gaan praat oor die Inga-hidroëlektriese kragskema in die Kongo-rivier. As hierdie skema ontwikkel en voltooi word, kan dit 90 000 Mw krag opwek. Dis genoeg om die hele Afrika te voorsien en nog na Europa uit te voer. Sulke projekte is positief. Dit gee hoop. Dit voorkom emigrasie.

Suid-Afrikaanse ingenieurs is reeds besig met die beplanning daarvan. Gaan die ANC ook vra of hulle wit of swart is, of gaan ons die werk doen en Afrika op dié manier red? [Tyd verstreke.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[You know, Dirk Herman did research on the non-designated group at Eskom. What did he find? That 55% of them felt alienated, and that 77% felt that they would never be able to fulfil their professional aspirations at Eskom. It is therefore not surprising that 80 Eskom professionals left for Australia last year. This month alone, seven former Eskom engineers started to work at Western Power in Australia. I am saying to you, South Africa simply cannot afford this!

It is interesting to note that Mr Zuma had the following to say in a speech he delivered last week:

As South Africans we must come to terms with the fact that the more
skills we have in the economy, the more jobs we can create.

I agree. Do all the ANC members also agree?

The hon Minister Nqakula said to our Mr Groenewald, when the latter complained about crime, that he should leave the country. Does the ANC prefer this? Is that their solution? I pity the ANC, but in fifty years’ time the ANC will be disbanded and will no longer be around, but we will still be here; there can be no doubt about this.

At a conference in Dar es Salaam, a Tanzanian member of parliament approached me in a serious manner. What did he say to me? He said: Please, make sure you do not get rid of your Afrikaner farmers.

This was his message:

Do you realise how valuable these people are to you? I wish we could get
them to come to Tanzania, to help us produce food for our people.

I referred him to the table where the ANC delegation was sitting and said to him: “These are the people you need to talk to, not me.”

Recently, I listened to an African leader who praised South Africa as the economic giant of Africa. That’s an achievement, but nevertheless he got me thinking: Why is South Africa the economic giant of Africa? Is it because of our mineral wealth? No, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are richer in minerals than South Africa.

Are we the economic giant because we can produce oil from coal? No, Sasol’s insignificant quantity of oil is a drop in the ocean compared to the huge quantity of Nigeria. Are we the economic giant because we have such favourable conditions for agriculture in South Africa; after all, we export food? No, all climate studies concur that South Africa is an arid semi- desert country with limited agricultural potential. Mozambique and Malawi have greater potential for agriculture.

Is Nigeria with its oil and Egypt with its tourism not economically stronger than South Africa? South Africa is economically twice as strong as Nigeria, and almost thrice as strong as Egypt. In economic terms, South Africa is eighty times as strong as the average state in Africa. We have the best roads, electricity and telephone networks in Africa. Our stock exchange is one of the ten greatest in the world. Almost half of all tarred roads in Africa are in South Africa. You are aware that Nigeria’s population is thrice as big as ours, yet they only have one-tenth of our electricity – you should see for yourself what things are like there.

The point I am making, is this: If South Africa does not have the greatest mineral wealth, or the greatest quantity of oil, or the most favourable agricultural conditions, why then are we the economic giant? Because for many years, blacks and whites jointly made a unique contribution and devoted their expertise to make South Africa what it is today. I am proud of this achievement. I am also proud of the Afrikaner’s contribution towards this achievement.

When I look at the ANC’s new history curriculum and textbooks, the Afrikaners in particular are singled out as those who have done nothing good in the past but who have done everything wrong. I maintain that this is factually incorrect and portrays history in an unbalanced way. I agree with the President that the current crisis requires co-operation and “Business Unusual”. It would be “Business Unusual” if we brought affirmative action to an end. Appoint the best person for the job. In a crisis situation it should not matter whether this person is black, pink or blue.

In the past we had serious problems similar to this, and we solved them. Faced with the oil boycott, we developed Sasol; we responded to the arms boycott by building our own arms industry. We can do it again and solve this problem as well.

Next week, delegates from five countries will gather in Gaborone, and South Africa is one of them. They will discuss the Inga hydro-electric power scheme on the Congo River. Once this scheme has been developed and completed, it will be able to generate 90 000 Mw of power. That’s enough to provide for the whole of Africa, and to export the surplus to Europe. Such projects are positive. They give us hope. They prevent people from emigrating.

South African engineers are already involved in planning this project. Will the ANC once again ask if they are black or white, or will we get down to work and save Africa in this way? [Time expired.]]

Dr J T DELPORT: Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr President, a wise man spoke to his son and told him: “Inside you, you have two wolves. The one is evil, and the other is good. They fight for supremacy.” The son asked: “Which one wins?” And the wise man replied: “The one you feed”

The President’s address on Friday was a damning indictment of the government’s administration of South Africa. He indicated that it was now necessary to switch to the gear of “Business Unusual”. Obviously, “business as usual” landed our country in the quagmire in which we find ourselves.

What has gone wrong with “business as usual”?

Meneer die President, in die eerste instansie u en u administrasie het oor jare heen onbevoegte persone aangestel om belangrike poste te beklee. Ek verwys nie na “affirmative action”, regstellende aksie, nie; ek verwys daarna dat u mense aangestel het wat dit verdien het op grond van hul lojaliteit, nie omdat hulle die werk kan doen en vir ons mense kan sorg nie.

Tweedens, meneer, die administrasie in Suid-Afrika het toegelaat dat dissipline by die deur uitvlieg. ‘n Gebrek aan dissipline sien ons onder u ministers; ons sien dit in die staatsdiens; ons sien dit veral ook in die polisie, waar jy net nie meer mense kan vertrou om hul plig te doen nie.

Derdens, die administrasie het toegelaat dat oneerlikheid, korrupsie en selfverryking op alle vlakke posvat en gedy, tot dermate dat op plaaslike regeringsvlak daar nou skelms in munisipale poste aangestel word.

Meneer, die kersie op die koek: Dit het ‘n gewoonte geword vir die administrasie om nie na die belange van die publiek en u eie mense te sien nie, maar om die politieke mag te gebruik om u eie beskermlinge te beskerm en te bevoordeel. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Mr President, in the first instance, you and your administration have appointed incompetent people to fill important posts over the years. I am not referring to affirmative action; I am referring to the fact that you have appointed people who owe their appointments to their loyalties, and not to the fact that they are competent to do the work and care for our people.

Secondly, sir, the administration in South Africa has allowed discipline to be thrown out of the window. A lack of discipline is what we see among your Ministers; we see it in the Public Service; above all, we see it in the police, where people can no longer be trusted to perform their duty.

Thirdly, the administration has allowed dishonesty, corruption and self- enrichment to take root and to flourish at all levels, to such an extent that, at local government level, rogues are now being appointed to municipal posts.

Sir, the cherry on top of the cake: It has become habitual for the administration not to take care of the interests of the public and of your own people, but instead to use political power to protect and to benefit your own protégés.]

Nothing illustrates these four ills of our administration better than the present saga involving electricity and the Pikoli/Selebi/Scorpions saga. This saga must be judged against the alarming background of the public having no faith in the police. This is shown through many reports and it is shown in the fact that less than 50% of the public even bother to report crime. They have no confidence. Now you want to close down the one light of hope that we have.

In addition, we now learn – and I don’t know whether it’s true – that the President was briefed repeatedly on the NPA investigation into Selebi. Now, his statement that nobody had brought him evidence of wrongdoing on Selebi’s part, has become questionable.

But, most alarming of all, the government is going ahead with disbanding the Scorpions. Surely, it’s “business as usual”, or, rather, “business as we have come to expect.”

Is there nobody in the ANC with integrity and the courage to stand up and say “No”, because you know, hon members, that this is a step in the wrong direction? You know that.

And you also know, as the hon Asmal has said, that 90% of South Africans are proud of their country. Of course, it may be even more than 90%, but a very small percentage at this stage is proud of their government. That is the truth.

The government is failing … [Interjections.] … you included the very people - your people - who voted it into power; your people who are expecting you to deliver services.

Agb Speaker, Meneer die President, my familie en my mense … [Tussenwerpsels.] My primêre mense is die mense wat vir my gestem het. [Tussenwerpsels.] [Hon Speaker, Mr President, my family and my people … [Interjections]. My people are primarily the people who have voted for me. [Interjections.]]

All the people! My family has been in South Africa for 330 years. We have made a contribution … [Interjections.] … maybe even more than you have, and I want to serve my country. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon members! If you have a question, please rise and pose the question to the member. No questions?

Dr J T DELPORT: No, surely not; they won’t dare do that! The ANC has achieved political power … [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I’m trying to protect you, hon members. Please don’t provoke the hon member.

The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Madam Deputy Speaker, would the hon member be prepared to take a question? I know he’s a very brave man.

Dr J T DELPORT: Oh, from you, any time!

The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Could you just clarify this question of “your people”? Who are “your people”? I’d just like to know.

Dr J T DELPORT: If the hon member would just listen. I’ve said “my family” are here. My family has been here for so long, even longer than the family of that hon member who is sneering over there. I must tell you a story that he told me at Kempton Park - when we were talking about bomb-throwing - but we’ll come to that.

No, sir, allow us to serve South Africa. Allow us to assist in feeding the good wolf of peace and prosperity. We want to do that.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, there is a hand. Prof B TUROK: Madam Deputy Speaker, will the hon member take a question? The question is … sorry …[Interjections.]

Dr J T DELPORT: Who’s asking the question? Are you in two camps? [Laughter.] … [Interjections.] They represent the two camps! [Laughter.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Turok was the first to ask for an opportunity to ask a question.

Prof B TUROK: The question is a simple one: Why are you repeating the speeches that we heard for the past two days?

Dr J T DELPORT: Because I can deliver the speech more effectively and I can deliver it so that the people out there will understand. Yes, sir, please! [Laughter.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You don’t control the House, sir. I have to give the hon member an opportunity to ask a question.

Dr J T DELPORT: Give me more chances to answer questions, Madam, and I will sink them.

The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: I don’t think the hon member has answered hon Erwin’s question. Instead, he baited him about the length of residence of his ancestors in this country. I still want him to clarify what he means by “your people”.

Dr J T DELPORT: I mean, first of all - and I will repeat what is in my written speech: “Mr President, my family has been in South Africa for 330 years.” [Interjections.] That’s my starting point. But I have many people who vote for me and my party, and I speak on their behalf. Because I am an Afrikaner, I speak Afrikaans, and I love this country. I’m a South African and I can make a better contribution than you can! [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon member! Hon Delport! Hon Delport! Hon member, will you please stand there while I address you. When we stop you, you have to leave the podium! You know as well I do, that you made reference to those words several times before you came to that point about “your family”.

I think that I need to come back to this point, also because I heard it several times before this paragraph to which you are now referring, and we will have a ruling later on. I’m just saying that, when I control the House, and I tell you that your time has expired, please take your seat.

Dr J T DELPORT: I apologise, Madam Speaker, but I was never stopped. In fact, you allowed further questions.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I did. I tried to stop you.

Dr J T DELPORT: If I was stopped, I …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you please take your seat now?

Dr J T DELPORT: I apologise.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.

Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker. May I ask you what you are going to investigate about what Dr Delport said? Nobody took a point of order. How are you going to investigate as to whether he said anything wrong? I mean, there’s nothing to investigate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, Mr Ellis, wait until that time when I deal with that matter, and you’ll get the opportunity to say whether it is relevant or not.

Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Speaker, under which Rule are you going to carry this out?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you please sit down?

Mr M J ELLIS: But what matter, Madam Deputy Speaker …?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you please sit down? The hon member has been asked about what he said in his speech. And then he says … Don’t say “so what”, Mr Waters, don’t say that! Are you interested in an explanation?

Mr M J ELLIS: I’m looking forward to it, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am addressing Mr Ellis. I don’t understand this excitement going on here. The member did mention the words for which an explanation was asked, and he said he never said them. So I’m saying that I will get the Hansard, because he did say them. I’m also listening as I am seated here. So when I come to that point, I will give you an opportunity to address me. Sit down please!

Ms F I CHOHAN: Madam Deputy Speaker, I never want to get on your wrong side!

Members, Mr President, Deputy President, in her speech yesterday, the hon H Mgabadeli reminded us that, after the advent of democracy, we had the truth and reconciliation process. Ordinary South Africans were asked to forgive the really hard, tough stuff – the loss of loved ones, murders, tortures in detention, deaths in detention and abductions.

They were called upon by leaders, really great leaders, leaders like former President Nelson Mandela, the late great Oliver Tambo, the giant intellect, Govan Mbeki, nation-builders all. These were the leaders who called for reconciliation, who called for forgiveness.

Yet again, with the special pardons, ordinary people who were victims of human rights abuses will be asked to reach rather deeply to put the interests of our nationhood, our oneness, ahead of our apartness. Again, by and large, our people will do so. [Interjections.]

They will put … all of our people … Unlike you, I am talking about all our people …

Mr A H NEL: Madam Speaker, may I rise on a point of order?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is a point of order, hon member.

Mr A H NEL: What is the difference between the ``our people’’ that was used now, and the statement that our hon member made earlier?

Ms F I CHOHAN: I’m happy to take the question …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no difference because you are not asking a question. You are not asking her to tell you what she means by ``our people’’. During the previous speech, there was a question precisely so the member could say who he was referring to. So that is the difference. Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker …

Mr A H NEL: Hon Speaker, may I then ask: Who are the people the speaker is referring to as ``our people’’?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You have, firstly, to ask whether she would like to take a question.

Mr A H NEL: Will she take an answer, sorry, question?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: She won’t take an answer; she may take a question. [Interjections.]

Ms F I CHOHAN: I’ll take a question.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you take your question, hon member?

Ms F I CHOHAN: I certainly will, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Interjections.] I’d like to answer that question, if you don’t mind, hon member.

The answer …

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: On a point of order, Madam Speaker, in order to assist the House, I am prepared to assist the member in explaining the difference between our’’ andyour’’. [Laughter.] The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, I have already dealt with that matter. Please take your seat. Hon Chohan, will you please allow the member to ask you a question, because you said you would take a question?

Ms F I CHOHAN: Yes.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, it’s your time to ask the question.

Mr A H NEL: Hon Speaker, I would like to ask the speaker at the podium who is being referred to as ``our people’’?

Ms F I CHOHAN: Madam Speaker, the first question he asked was what’s …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no! You must answer this question.

Ms F I CHOHAN: I am answering. Yes. I want to answer him holistically and fully because, clearly, he’s some stranger who’s been beamed down from Mars. [Laughter.]

The first question that he asked was: What’s the difference between our people’’ and what the previous speaker said? The difference is that I am sayingour people’’, and the previous speaker denied that he said ``my mense’’ [my people].

Now, when I say ``ours’’, I mean us as South Africans. I mean South Africans – black, white, and any other colour in between; South Africans, all South Africans; all of them victims of human rights abuses during apartheid. [Applause.] I hope that clarifies it for the hon member, because this is an important issue that the hon member raised yesterday.

She said that it is important to put the interests of our nation ahead of our apartness. She said that we do so with difficulty, but we do so. These are not small things, she said, that we ask of people. These are tough things, things that great leaders ask of people.

The hon member said, as well, that when these perpetrators of abuses asked for forgiveness, it was readily available to them. But, she said that in a time of a national crisis such as this, when we are faced with the energy situation which requires a national effort, and when the President has said ``The buck stops here’’, then there is very little forgiveness.

Then, instead, you have a very comical scene of the two leaders of the opposition parties in this House, the hon Patricia de Lille and the hon Sandra Botha, rushing to this podium with their proverbial and profound solutions to all our energy problems. ``Off with their heads,’’ is what they proclaim. Very, very much like the proverbial Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland: Off with his head, her head, her head, and by the way, let’s just dissolve Parliament, why don’t we. [Interjections.] That’s the solution … [Interjections.]

Where is the leadership? You want accountability; we want leadership from you, and so do the people in South Africa, all the people in South Africa. [Applause.]

In the Brazilian experience, as cited in the World Bank study, the situation was very similar to what we have now. In 2001, Brazil experienced the kind of crisis that we are experiencing now. The cause of it was a sequence of years of drought. [Interjections.] They are very, very reliant on hydropower in Brazil … [Interjections.]

I’m not listening, because you are not making any sense, and if you were to just listen, you perhaps will understand that this is not the time to be “Mickey Mousing” about. [Interjections.] This country needs leadership; it doesn’t need funny hairstyles! [Laughter.]

The Brazilians made a national effort. They made a national effort to come together. Their grid would have been fine had they built sufficient generating capacity. However, they were in a situation in 2001 where they faced the national crisis. They needed to save 20% of their electricity usage. The question was how to do it. The obvious answer was rolling blackouts and quotas. They opted for the quotas. People were penalised heavily for using more than their allocated quota. Repeat offenders were cut off, and savings were rewarded. These were particularly hard times for the people in Brazil.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, there is a point of order.

Mr A LEON: May I ask the hon member a question, Madam?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Will you take a question, ma’am?

Ms F I CHOHAN: Madam Speaker, I have literally 40 seconds left.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The answer is “no”.

Mr A J LEON: It will take two seconds.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Leon, the answer is “no”. Hon member, please continue.

Ms F I CHOHAN: I’d prefer to finish my speech. [Interjections.]

Critical to this Brazilian experience, which was cited by the World Bank as the best international experience at times of energy crisis, was the fact that they were able to hold hands and pull through the hard times. They were able to do it together, and they managed to do that. They managed to do that with enormous success, but it was only because they were able to pull together as a nation. [Interjections.] Yes, you do it during the rugby championships and when we win the World Cup, but not when it really matters!

In Brazil, because of the national effort, people were able to, within eight months, meet the savings target. There were consequently no rolling blackouts that became necessary. Industrial production actually grew, and even the poor were able to contribute through incentives.

They commend, internationally, this practice, and I think in essence …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, your time has expired.

Ms F I CHOHAN: The question was posed by the hon member: Where is the leadership, where is the nationhood, who do we look to, apart from the Queen of Hearts? [Applause.]

                WELCOMING OF FORMER WHIP DAVE DALLING

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, we are joined this afternoon in the gallery by a former member, a former Whip of this House, Mr Dave Dalling. Welcome. [Applause.]

Mr I S MFUNDISI: Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President and the hon members, over the years that President Mbeki has presented his account as Head of State, we have had to contend with, among others, being on course, having entered into a contract, the Age of Hope and currently “Business Unusual”.

All these bring to mind what used to be a stock question in the Political Science Department of Unisa in the 60s. And the question was: Why did the ANC fail?

In the eyes of all, the ANC had done all necessary to take over the government at the time. They had the Freedom Charter in hand, strategies and tactics in place, their White, Green and Yellow Papers and perhaps their army but just could not implement or deliver by taking over government.

The situation is repeating itself - endless strategy meetings, briefings, workshops, makgotla, izimbizo, etc – yet, after all these they cannot implement and deliver.

The UCDP has, however, noted that the President has stated in his address that in the spirit of “business unusual”, I quote: “… we cannot … wait for strategies and dialogues and workshops, important as they may be.” But we all know that the ANC is betrothed to elaborate consultations at the expense of service delivery.

It is unfortunate that this practice tends to rub off onto Bafana Bafana. They make elaborate preparations, exchange good passes, build-ups, but fail to deliver by scoring goals that matter and in the end they lose the games.

The government has missed the golden opportunity to capitalise on being accepted by all across the board, because they have concentrated on transformation at the expense of delivery.

It has been more important to belong to the ANC rather than being a loyal citizen of South Africa. It is therefore not surprising that, nowadays, even within the ANC ranks, those who are perceived as loyal to whoever, lose hold of office and are systematically being sidelined. Those who belong to other political parties can thus know that they have no future in this country regardless of their colour.

When the Directorate of Special Operations, DSO, was launched with fanfare in September 1999, no one in the ANC saw any wrong in it. One wonders whether members of the directorate are at fault for calling on the struggle heroes to account. Some are on record as saying they fought for the freedom of this country and yet they are haunted by the Scorpions. The mandate of the DSO is to fight crime without fear or favour.

Having heard and noted what Minister Nqakula has said on the matter, we hope the President will come out clearly and state in unambiguous terms that this directorate has come to stay to fight organised crime regardless of its location and the perpetrators. The UCDP believes that the President will live up to his word and appoint a co-ordinator of the criminal justice system, as promised, to Business Unity South Africa.

It is unfortunate that in 2008, the international year of sanitation, the government has yet to eradicate the bucket toilet system, though we were promised that after 2007 all that would be history. For the record, there are 46 887 buckets still in use. This, surely, Mr President, will blot the good record already set en route to meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

We hail the undertaking that tax incentives will be introduced to attract investors. Factories are standing vacant in Mogwase, Kudube and Thaba-Nchu because the new provincial government that took over in 1994 showed neither respect nor regard for investors. The result was the latter’s departure from the areas and the rise in unemployment and, subsequently, poverty.

The question of astronomical cost at Telkom has always found a room in previous addresses with promises of reduction, but costs continue to rise by the day. Apparently that is why it has not been referred to in the particular speech. It is apparently unstoppable.

The issue of land reform remains a sore thumb to all South Africans across all colour lines, political spectrum and religious formations. This has to be addressed and dealt with and laid to rest.

While we welcome the raising of child support grants to include those above the age of 14, and the lowering of pension age among men to age 60, thus initially covering some 500 000 of them in an effort to alleviate poverty, we in the UCDP have reservations about the fact that the country is gradually being turned into a welfare state.

The introduction of the youth pledge in schools should have long been done. We would even urge that character-building movements such as scouting and girl-guiding be introduced too. After all, all of us in this Chamber have subscribed to an oath to be in here.

The sooner the base slate changes on geographic and place names is presented the better. Name changes are also a cause for polarisation in the nation. We welcome this exercise as at times it tends to be used to get even with some people. Who knows, in two years, all streets bearing the name of Thabo Mbeki will have changed.

Elsewhere, we complained about poor service delivery which is the responsibility of officials. But officials in this country are equally politicians. In some instances, they hold offices higher than those of their Ministers. There is bound to be a problem of delivery on these matters. The President was right three years ago when he said learners must learn, educators must educate, public servants must serve Batho Pele and leave politics to political practitioners – the politicians.

Finally, there have been calls from some of my colleagues on the left that Parliament should either be dissolved and there was a motion of no confidence in the President, but we in the UCDP say this, as Shakespeare put it in words through the mouth of Macbeth. I quote: “So far have I waded in blood, that sitting down is as good as going forward.”

On that note we say to the President: Soldier on. Go on and make sure that you deliver the country. Thank you. [Applause.]

Ms T V TOBIAS: Mhlonishwa Sekela Somlomo … [Hon Madam Deputy Speaker …]

Mohlomphehi Mopresidente wa Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa. [The hon President of the Republic of South Africa.]

… die agb Adjunkpresident van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika … [… the hon Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa …]

… hon members, the leadership that the ANC provides to this country is the best in the struggle for freedom against colonial and apartheid rule. And at the end of the mandate of the third democratically elected Parliament, the people are indeed still governing.

The confidence displayed by the masses of our people in the ANC-led government humbles this organisation of our people and will therefore continue to hold the fort up to a point where the national democratic revolution has arrived at its logical conclusion.

The ANC conference in Polokwane, the January 8 Statement and the state of the nation address gave us a clear mandate on what should be the focus of both the government and the legislature in conjunction with key priorities of both the above-mentioned institutions in the current financial year.

The President of the ANC, Comrade Jacob Zuma, in his opening remarks at the ANC NEC lekgotla, said:

We carry the hopes of our people. For a long time to come the ANC will
remain the only political entity able to lead the country.

The President of the country, Thabo Mbeki, also said:

What I do know and hereby make bold to say is: whatever the challenges
of the moment, we are still on course!

Madam Speaker, I cannot agree more with the leadership of our organisation. Therefore, we as the elected public representatives, from both sides of the House, having listened to the President of our country outlining key Apex Priorities should have the honour and decency to engage objectively in a debate that would further enhance and clarify the policy position. Our intentions should be to develop the socioeconomic conditions of the people of South Africa and to avoid the gimmicks of justifying why South Africa was better pre-1994. Cheap political point-scoring will not answer the complex questions facing both the people and the second economy. We should commit ourselves to working towards building a nonracial, nonsexist and a democratic society and also not shy away from acknowledging the challenges experienced by our government when executing its mandate.

We also need to subscribe to the notion of a united society, as reiterated by the President. The Wordnet home page on the Internet describes or defines unity as “an undivided, unbroken, completeness or totality, with nothing wanting.” My own interpretation of this definition is that we as public representatives need to commit ourselves to be complete and immune from want and be able to achieve a better life for all.

Afro-pessimism, which still shows its ugly head, reduces African leadership to a bunch of rogue elements and unwise women and men of little integrity and the standards are set through Eurocentric ideas undermining the culture and tradition of our people. And, it imposes its views, which our people simply ignore, except that public representatives are left with the temptations to justify their existence.

Going forward, we also have a responsibility to correctly interpret the Apex Priorities and in relation to economic transformation, the development indicators in the mid-term review of 2007 does report that the GDP was intended to grow at 4,5% per annum from 2005 to 2009 and at 6% from 2009 to 2014 and the indicators reflected growth higher than the target. Of course, we reached the target and went beyond. I think we should applaud our country for that. [Applause.]

It further elaborates on the challenges that are brought about by the growing economy which, I predicted, will form part of the basis of the discussions today as people opposed to the ANC government do not philosophically and objectively debate how economic growth can have both negative and positive impacts on the lives of our society. Hence, the focus on energy and the Directorate of Special Operations matters without looking at the whole meaning of economic transformation and building a single effective public policing service, and hence the comment by hon K R J Meshoe, and to address the fact that 70% of our population did not have access to material resources and protection prior to 1994. This is the challenge that the government is besieged by.

As per the indicators, growth per capita has been at 4,5% and population growth at 1,06% and the average wealth per person will rise to over 3%. This, Madam Speaker, is a sign that our government is creating employment for our people, and access to resources changes the provision of services hence there is a strain on energy. Both services capital and otherwise were affected, therefore, our government has also taken responsibility to regulate the market. It has also invested in the industrial policy and this allays the fears articulated by Robert Kuttner when he warned that:

The global political economy is that nations are losing sovereignty to private actors and further reiterating that the state must take fiscal responsibility as it is the institution accountable to the people, vis-à- vis banks and private corporations.

Setjhaba sa heso, haholo-holo setjhaba se ha rantsho, sena ha se bolele hore batho bohle ba fumantshitswe mesebetsi e bolokehileng ya boleng ba boemo a hlomphehileng le merokotso e kgonang ho tsamaisa malapa a bona. Hape, sena ha se bolele hore bofuma bo fedile, empa sena se bolela hore dilemong tse 15 mmuso wa rona o thehile mesebetsi ebile o fukuditse bofuma, mme o tla tswella ka ho theha mesebetsi e nang le molemo le ho fumantshwa tsebo le bonono, re re: “Tsiya lala makwala re none”, mabapi le ho kgaoha ha phephelo ya motlakase, hobane “E kgotswa e le maoto mane”. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)

[Fellow citizens, especially the black nation, this does not mean that everyone has found ideal and secure employment with enough benefits that will enable them to advance the quality of their families’ lives. Again, this does not mean that poverty has been eradicated, but this only means that in the last 15 years our government has created jobs and reduced poverty, and it will continue to create quality jobs and to provide knowledge and skills. Therefore we apologise for the inconvenience caused by power outages because “To err is human, to forgive divine.”]

As part of economic transformation and job creation, government committed itself to at least halve unemployment between 2004 and 2014, to a maximum of 14% by 2014. In the indicators it was demonstrated that unemployment figures started falling in 2003 and it will continue to fall if the economy keeps growing at the rate of 6% between now and 2014. We have increased our investment in labour intensive programmes led by the Department of Public Works. The trend analysis also noted the fact that unemployment is still high among the youth, especially young women.

However, our government committed itself to creating one million jobs and the progress report received on the EPWP in September last year indicated that the EPWP will alleviate unemployment to a minimum of 40% for women, 30% for youth and 2% for people with disabilities by 2009 through labour intensive projects, environmental and social programmes and also through the development of learnerships and incubation programmes. By September last year, 845 406, which is 124%, job opportunities were created. So, hon Comrade Thoko, we are about to reach the one million target. Congratulations! [Applause.]

The skills development of the youth has been addressed through government intervention through the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition, by building skills and capacity to stabilise the currency and close the gap between the rich and the poor which is measured by the Gini coefficient measures and our balance score card shows that we are on track.

However, there is still a need to merge Umsobomvu Youth Fund with the National Youth Commission to establish one national youth development agency as was resolved earlier to ensure an integrated approach towards youth development. The youth and women formations in our communities should also deal with issues of poverty and unemployment by engaging Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the South African Youth Council and the South African Women in Construction to make sure that development takes place.

The ANC conference also resolved that there should be no school fees by 2009 and also that the Department of Education will embark on the campaign of the massification of literacy through different programmes which the Minister of Education will present.

History has also proven that farmworkers continue to face challenges with regard to proper services and landownership, and these challenges are addressed through the land redistribution programme - through the willing buyer, willing seller principle. As this programme is also faced with challenges, our government will have to take a firm decision to expropriate land as a final option because the property sections in the Constitution are not adhered to. The property Act of 1975 is also not consistent with the Constitution and by expropriating our government will be addressing issues of equitable shares, landlessness and public interest.

Finally, this year we are celebrating the 58th anniversary of the ANC Youth League’s 1948 programme of action of radical African nationalism; the 21st anniversary of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. We salute the cadres of the O R Tambo generation, the Angolan, Namibian, and the Cuban revolutionaries who participated in the battle for our freedom and thank the President of the Republic for his “forward moving” marching orders.

This, Madam Speaker, is ``Business Unusual’’.

“Kgomo tseo le manamane a tsona”. Pula! [Best wishes, everyone. I thank you.]

Ms M SMUTS: Madam, our hon President has fallen victim to the party rule and the system of deployment from the top which he himself developed and drove. His party thinks it can tell the President of the Republic what he must do, when he is in fact accountable to the people of South Africa through their Parliament; not so, sir? He is not a mere deployee soldiering on. His party thinks that it can tell MPs what to legislate and when, as in the case of the Scorpions.

Xolela Mangcu recently quoted, in the Business Day, correspondence he had received on the concept of deployment after Matthew Phosa’s threat to give dissenting ANC leaders at all spheres and levels their “marching orders”.

”Deploy is a military term,” wrote his unnamed correspondent.

For this term to apply to MPs is to negate the nature of Parliament and to confuse military order with civic responsibility. It imposes a form of order of dictatorial kind in what should be a forum of debate.

He continues: They have no individual moral agency; they are not answerable to their own conscience so long as they remain ANC MPs.

Madam, I come from a political tradition in which the words of Edmund Burke in 1774 to the electors of Bristol will always resonate, and resonate all the more when Luthuli House has taken the place of any electors whatsoever. I quote:

It is a representative’s duty to sacrifice his repose to his constituents and to prefer their interests to his own. But his mature judgement, his enlightened conscience he ought not to sacrifice to any man.

“Government and legislation are matters of reason and judgement,” he wrote. And what sort of reason is that in which the determination precedes the discussion - the case of the Scorpions - in which one set of men deliberated and another decide; and where those who form the conclusion are perhaps 300 miles distant from those who hear the argument further in our case.

Instructions issued which the Member of Parliament is bound blindly to obey, arise from a fundamental mistake of the whole order and from the Constitution.

ANC MPs in the first democratic Parliament, Madam, exercised individual agency. Parliament is the legislative authority of the state. No one can ultimately tell us what or how to legislate. Only the courts, another separate arm of the democratic state, can reject our laws for unconstitutionality. No one - not Parliament, not government, and certainly not the National Executive Council, NEC, of the ANC - can tell the judges how to exercise their consciences, their judgment and their agency.

Yet, we have witnessed in the weeks after Polokwane the new ANC leaders attacking the Bench for assertions of independence. Moreover, telling judges that a fair trial is impossible - shocking - and that judges cannot be objective.

Now that is exactly the same spurious argument systematically made against the media during the exact years of this hon President’s term, from the media racism inquiry of 1999 right up to the Polokwane media policy, both driven by people who do not wish the media to cover allegations or findings of criminal conduct by ANC leaders, Ms Christine Qunta then, and members of the NEC now.

The basic architecture of a constitutional democracy has been broken down under this President’s watch. Your government, hon President, has tried to take the running of the courts into their own hands. Your party, sir, has been sending Parliament NEC instructions for so long that our unhappiness about the location of the political leadership of the party in the same pair of hands as the leadership of Parliament is simply not understood; our unhappiness is simply not understood. Your party, hon sir, has brick-by- brick begun removing the foundations of the freedom of the Fourth Estate, right from the start with the Equality Act of 2000 and right up until the Film and Publication prepublication censorship Bill of last year.

Now the ANC is in the hands of people who are so utterly ignorant or alternatively so utterly hostile to the constitutional checks, balances and fundamental freedoms that Mr Blade Nzimande thinks he can extend the purge to the private press and get rid of Mathata Tsedu, and our fellow negotiator Cyril Ramaphosa finds it necessary to write for the Sunday Times to explain what a good idea a Constitution is and what it is for.

Have we lost everything 12 short years after we completed the final Constitution? Now, the answer is: Not yet, but we may do so if we do not correct this now. The older democracies are consolidated because they have historically overcome episodes of regression and corrected themselves. America self-corrects. It is doing so again now, but this is our first test.

We understand that the hon President did not have much room to manoeuvre in his speech, because the deployer has become the deployee, trapped in his own system. Jeremy Cronin is now the new commander, that much became clear to me yesterday, and since I do not think that the hon Jeremy runs South Africa all on his own, I assume it is Gwede Mantashe and Mr Blade Nzimande no doubt; in short, the SACP, hon Jeremy, embedded reds by the looks of it.

Now, we would have liked a speech, we would have liked a speech that transformed the moment of crisis. The hon our President had it in him, rhetorically at least, to be a transformative leader or he did when he made the “I am an African” speech - before it all deteriorated into crony capitalism. This will now be replaced by Cronin economics, judging by yesterday’s debate.

We have to watch Barack Obama now to get our transformation fix. And every time I do - and I’m a great follower - I remember what South Africa was like when we reinvented ourselves during the transition. Now, the hon Minister of Justice spoke nostalgically here about the Constitution as if it were a dead letter. But we are still here as we were here, many of us, here and part of its writing and we will keep it alive. Members of Parliament I hope will - as the hon leader of the IFP said - fill the void and rise to the challenge. It is not too late to correct, but if we fail the first time there won’t be the second. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs L E YENGENI: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen in the gallery, as early as in 1992, the ANC prepared itself for the challenges that would emanate from the establishment of a democratic society. In anticipation of these challenges, the ANC produced the document Ready to Govern. That document acknowledged that South Africa had been a closed society with many restrictions on the flow of information and that the structure of the media, resources, skills, language policy and social deprivation had undermined access to information for the majority of the population.

The Polokwane conference of the ANC, like many conferences before, took resolutions that are aimed at transforming the South African media. Amongst those are the unity and coherence of the movement. The ANC is one of the oldest liberation movements on the continent and in the world over. It has demonstrated a capacity to unite and to lead, contrary to what the South African media and opposition parties are propagating.

This particular resolution is aimed at strengthening unity amongst ourselves as the ruling party, the alliance partners and the broader democratic movement.

The Polokwane conference took a resolution on the battle of ideas. The essence of this resolution is that the ANC must take full responsibility in communicating its views, policies and principles that have moulded it to be what it is today.

It is not an accident of political history that the South African media and the opposition are waging an ideological war against the ANC and its leadership. There are pretences from certain quarters that those in the media are innocent. They are not influenced or impacted by the political dynamics of society, and their views are objective. They go further to say that journalists and editors are independent, and that’s a myth.

The question is: Why is the media distorting or rubbishing the idea and not entering into serious debate on the matter? Let the media publish the entirety of the ANC resolutions so that our citizens are afforded equal opportunity to engage and debate the matter rather than to be told by print media what to think.

Whilst we are debating these issues, it needs to be stated categorically that as long as we do not have diversity of views in the print media in South Africa and do not have newspapers owned by the black and poverty- stricken masses, these problems will exist forever. The ANC has always championed the cause of diversity of views and ownership in the media.

The resolution on a 60% funding increase for the SA Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, is aimed at freeing the public broadcaster from the dictatorship of the commercials. We do not want the SABC to be the lapdog of government, or of the ANC, or any other party for that matter. We want them to be a proper public broadcaster that informs and entertains all our people in their diversity.

The SABC must stop being the mouthpiece of big business and certain powerful politicians. It must be a mouthpiece for expressing the noblest aspirations of South Africans in their entirety. The danger of not having the diversity of views and ownership in the media is that one dominant view that reflects economic ownership patterns in the print media is imposed on everyone without any alternative view finding its way into the pages of newspapers.

For example, when the ANC leadership announced appointments of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party and the caucus chairperson, we were told that this was purging of the so-called Mbeki supporters.

The fact that the National Executive Council, NEC, took the decision that these leadership positions must be held by NEC members so that the ruling party is better able to exercise direct leadership of its MPs and caucus has never found prominence in the pages of newspapers. What we are told by all newspapers, without exception, is that the new NEC has a major problem of purging those who did not vote for their preferred candidate at Polokwane.

Of course, there has been no purging of anyone on the basis that they supported someone else at Polokwane. My question here is: Why is there no space given to the ANC leadership to explain themselves on these issues as prominently as they are attacked on the front pages? The attack on the ANC leadership for purging is a transparent attempt by the media and opposition to intimidate the ANC leadership from resolutely implementing the Polokwane resolutions.

Polokwane is a historic event for the poor masses of our country and, therefore, it cannot be business as usual. That would be disregarding people’s wishes. Why do we have a conference? The ANC will effect changes whenever it deems it necessary.

Let us be clear that the media and the opposition can shout and scream; they can jump up and down all they like - we will not be intimidated. Those Polokwane conference resolutions will be implemented, and to prove the correctness of these resolutions - come the 2009 general elections - the masses of the people will vote for the ANC overwhelmingly and we will be put back in government. [Interjections.]

Before Polokwane, the media and its bevy of analysts were full of horror stories about what will happen if and when Jacob Zuma becomes the President of the ANC. Polokwane has come and gone; Jacob Zuma is the President of the ANC and the skies have not fallen. [Applause.]

The ANC is indestructible. We are now busy uniting our forces and sharpening our spears in anticipation of taking on the opposition, together with its media, during the 2009 elections. I have no doubt in my mind that the ANC will emerge victorious, and the opposition and its media will remain defeated, with their long and smelly tails between their legs.

The leadership that emerged from Polokwane was democratically elected by the branch delegates of the ANC from the length and breadth of the country through transparent democratic processes. The DA and the media may not like Zuma and certain members of the new NEC, but we expect them to uphold and respect the integrity and the outcome of that democratic process. Who said we like Helen Zille? [Laughter.]

The cheap call by the DA and the ID to dissolve Parliament and pass a vote of no confidence in President Mbeki cannot go unchallenged. The ANC rejects these infantile cheap shots from this discredited bunch of complainers. [Applause.] This President and Parliament are going nowhere. [Interjections.]

Moulana M R SAYEDALI-SHAH: Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Madam, is it not unparliamentary to refer to hon members as a “bunch”?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Continue, hon member.

Mrs L E YENGENI: Comrade Mbeki will continue to be a pain in your necks not only until the end of his term, but also until the end of his days. Parliament will dissolve only after we have defeated you in the next election, and you will be back in your few, little miserable opposition benches. I thank you. [Applause.]

Ms S RAJBALLY: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and fellow colleagues, I kindly convey the best wishes of the leader of the MF, Mr A Rajbansi, to the hon President, the Cabinet and to our Madam Speaker for the important tasks that the ANC has entrusted upon her.

South Africa has a multiparty democracy … [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon Rajbally! I’m trying to get an audience.

Ms S RAJBALLY: Thank you, Madam. So, am I getting an extra minute?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No. You are not getting an extra minute; you just stopped your time. That was a good try.

Ms S RAJBALLY: South Africa has a multiparty democracy. We are pleased that the President has met with the leader of the DA on many occasions. My plea to the hon President is that he extends his courtesy to the leaders of all political parties in his remaining period in office.

For the record, Mr President, Madiba has visited the leader of the MF to have discussions with him on no less than 30 occasions in his Presidency, and last year, he invited Mr and Mrs Rajbansi to have tea with him. In your Apex Priorities, while we praise your programme, it is very important that every opportunity must be given to everyone to become skilled and, like in India, everyone must have the opportunity to become self-made entrepreneurs. The mistake our country is making is that we are spending too much money on high capital projects and not revitalising the small ones. India and China are flourishing because every area has job creation activities.

The grave concern in our country is about electricity, and very soon we will have grave concern about water. The government has failed miserably to provide funds for electricity infrastructure and Eskom’s greed to have total monopoly is a cause of this - not from 1994, but from 1980. While the present government has apologised, the decision to close down power stations began with a decision from the previous government. Why is Eskom calling back former engineers? Why are we getting rid of highly qualified people, who can serve South Africa, because of their colour?

The new ANC treasurer, Mr Matthew Phosa, clearly explained the affirmative action policy at the Polokwane conference. Every community must be pleased with the explanation given by Mr Matthew Phosa, and government must ensure that all levels of the ANC policy on affirmative action as expressed by Mr Matthew Phosa is applied and not abused.

Private companies from anywhere in the world should be allowed in partnership with the local black economic empowerment, BEE, policy to erect the much needed power stations so that we can give the people hope for the future.

We need a water policy that will enable us to get water from the Zambezi or the Nile, or turn seawater into drinking water and recycle waste water.

Paying close attention to the hon President’s reference to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, I strongly agree that it is imperative to remind ourselves constantly of our cause to instil democracy in every crevice of society, whilst demolishing poverty and social ills. I, however, find it just as imperative to measure progress against exactly two cities, that is the apartheid regime and today’s democracy.

However, we have to realise that delivery has been hindered by the overwhelming circumstances we have found ourselves in. I believe that it is not the system of democracy that should be criticised, but the realisation that delivery is not as clear-cut as one, two and three.

Many challenges arise and this results in a depreciation of community- government confidence due to minimal communication and frosted transparency. If we are to reaffirm that we remain on track, then we need to inculcate a crystal clear, transparent and accountable government to the people.

A true democracy is one that operates transparently and consciously fulfils its duties of being answerable to the people. However, we need to also take heed that the majority of South Africans are from impoverished households and it is important to monitor and oversee the effective filtration of these pleas to the various spheres of government. It is imperative to measure constantly whether we are interactive with the South Africans from all walks of life and that we are not hijacked by the aristocracy.

The electricity issue in South Africa has the entire country in panic. We need to realise that while we have a greater need than supply we cannot penalise the community for our shortfalls. We reaffirm the need to invite foreign and local investments in power plants.

South Africa remains home to a number of illegal immigrants. We need to strengthen our plight to curtail this problem. While we are proud and supportive of South Africa’s work with the Southern African Development Community, SADC; the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Nepad; and the African Union, AU, we believe we have a pivotal role to play in the future of Zimbabwe where we need to intervene in assisting the Zimbabwean people to achieve a successful democratic election and, like us, install a government of choice. The terror in Kenya, Chad and Darfur is horrific and we need to deploy as much foreign assistance as we can to bring peace and stability to these areas.

Returning home, South Africa remains riddled by crime and we are pleased that the hon President highlighted it as a major concern. We do, however, seek a constructive attack on the crime situation which poses a liability for all sectors of society. We need to invest in our safety by investing in the South African Police Service, SAPS, and ensuring that they are sufficiently resourced to address crime.

We are supportive of transparency as a clear method to hold all sectors under checks and balances. The reality of corruption in our system warrants it and we don’t believe that any organ should reside without being answerable to some sort of an independent body. We direct this to the Scorpions who, in our opinion, should be allowed to act independently from SAPS, in view of the seriousness of organised crime in South Africa and its 80% success rate. We believe that we need a specialised and independent body to oust organised crime from within our boundaries, including our political arena.

The 2010 Fifa games remains an exciting and important highlight on the agenda. We have great faith in Bafana Bafana and their ability to transform us into a winning nation. Certainly, with both rugby and cricket, we have delivered and look forward to a few more great wins in the Olympics later this year. The MF, however, believes that our nation remains ignorant of the great benefits of sports and recreation. Its expansion in the growth of women, youth and the disabled is essential to deterring us from societal inconsistencies of inferiority and crime.

We applaud that physical education is now part of the school curriculum and we call for educators to be re-skilled to fulfil this task.

The MF notes that land restitution remains on the table and hopes this year will find more settlement.

The MF applauds the hon President on the great service to the nation. Thank you. [Time expired.]

The MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President and hon members, let me start first by expressing my humble appreciation to all South Africans for the overwhelming support that they are giving us as we deal with the energy situation in the country. South Africans have reacted positively to our calls in cash and in kind, all of this done with one resolve - bringing stability to the electricity system.

This has reminded me of the wise words of President Mandela when he was appreciating such positiveness among South Africans. He said: “There is goodwill among men and women of South Africa.” I want to repeat what hon Minister Alec Erwin and the CEO of Anglo American, Cynthia Carroll, said that there is no crisis in the country but that there is an emergency that requires us to act swiftly, and acting swiftly we are.

I want to invite all South Africans who still want to reach out to us and offer solutions, as well as those who are looking for information and wanting to raise concerns, to use the following toll free number: 0860 109

1. This number will become operational from 27 February 2008.

Mongameli obekekileyo, mandithathe le nxaxheba ukwenza umbulelo kuwe noSekela Mongameli, ingakumbi ngokuncedisa ekukhokeleni eli phulo lokubuyisela imo yombane waseMzantsi Afrika kwimeko yawo yanmgaphambili. Ndiphinde ndibulele uKhongolozi ngokuzibophelela kwiphulo lokonga umbane kunye nangokucela abantu ukuba nabo bathathe inxaxheba kweli phulo. Aba bathetha kakhulu, bekwafuna nentloko yakho Mongameli ingathi ikhona imibuzi ekufuneka beyiphendule, ngoba nanjengokuba ebetshilo obekekileyo uMphathiswa uMdaladlana sele ingathi kuza kugwetywa kweli lizwe.

Ndinemibuzo ke embalwa nje endifuna bayiphendule: Babephi ngexesha sasihamba kwizitalato ezimnyama eziqhumayo, kuthi kwakutshona ilanga woyike nokuya evenkileni? Mna ndithetha ngeelokishi ezi zazakhiwe ngabo ngexesha apho umbane sasingenawo ezindlwini phaya eziilokishini. Kwaye umbane obhetele ubungowabelungu. Babephi ngelaa xesha iilali yayiziindawo ezazibonwa njengezazihlala abantu abeye kulahlwa nabangakhathalelekanga yada le meko yaqiniswa ngomthetho owazisa inkqubo kaZimelegeqe apho ke kwatyiwa imali ngaphandle kokuphuhlisa iindawo zabantu neelali ngokupheleleyo? Babephi aba Bantu Mongameli ngexa abantu ababehlala kwiifama kwezi ndawo kuthiwa kusezitolosheni kunzima kubaqeshi babo nokuba babatsalele umbane kwimizana nje yabo embalwa?

Zange bayenze loo nto kodwa loo nto Ibiza kunceda abasebenzi babo. Ubusithi xa ubuhamba ngemoto udlula emaphandleni ubone ngokuqhakaza kombane ukuba yindlu yomlungu leya. Asizange silive ilizwi laba Bantu ngelo xesha bekhalima besithi kurhulumente wengcinezelo unyhasha amalungelo wabantu ngokungabaniki iinkonzo ezisisiseko sokuphucula impilo yabo. [Kwaqhwatywa.]

Babethule tu Mongameli, beyolelwe, bephila imopilo engcono beligcuntswana. Thina Bantu bayiqhelileyo le nto sikulungele ukuvuka siyibambe. Kwaye siza kuyibamba ngeempondo. Neli idabi siza kuliphumelela. Le nto yokwenza ngathi bazintshatsheli namatshantliziyo alwela amahlwempu nempula zika lujaca siyayazi ukuba ayinjalo kodwa kukubhuda nje kwepolitiki okungenanyaniso.

Phofu ke Mongameli mabayibulele iANC ngoba ibafundisile ngokuzisa urhulumente wabantu nowahloniphayo amalungelo wabo. Le ngxolo ingenantsusa nengamapholi yokuba lo rhulumente ubesisifede ekufezekiseni iimfuno zabantu indikhumbuza ngowe1994 ngexa kwakuyimiqokozo ezivenkileni kuthengwa iiparafini, amakhandlela ndibala ntoni na, kulungiselelwa umgweba owawuza kuza nokuphatha komntu omnyama kuba nangoku sele sihambe umgama ongaka ukuguqula impilo yabantu kusekho ooTomas noxa beyibona inguqu. Namhlanje ke phantsi kolawulo lukaANC nokhokelo lwakho noMadiba sekusele imizi engangezigidi ezibini kunye nama-300 000 ezingenamba kwezintandathu esasizifumene ngalo we-1994. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[Hon President and hon Deputy President, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your leadership in the campaign to restore electricity supplies in South Africa to the standard it was. Let me also thank the ANC for committing itself to saving electricity and encouraging people to join this campaign. Those who talk a lot and call for your head, Mr President, have questions to answer as Minister Mdladlana has said that judgment day is not far.

I have a few questions which I want them to answer: Where were they when we had no lights in our dusty streets and were afraid of going to the shops at night? I am talking about the times when we did not have electricity in the houses that they built us in the townships they created and only white people were supplied with electricity. Where were they when our villages in rural areas were seen as the most backward places where people were not respected and cared for, a situation which was enforced by the establishment of homelands where there was a lack of accountability for public funds and no development whatsoever? Where were these people when farmworkers lived in barns because their employers did not install electricity?

They did not do that even though it would have been helpful to their employees. When you travelled past rural areas or villages at night you would see one house with lights on and you would know that that was a white person’s house. We did not hear these people telling the apartheid government of their abuse of human rights by not providing others with basic services. [Applause.]

They were quiet, happy and content as they lived a better life as a minority. As we are used to such circumstances, we will survive and move forward. This battle too we will win. That they are now champions for the poor is a trick well known to us and we know it is mere politicking.

They should thank the ANC because it has taught them about democracy and respect for human rights. This noise about the inefficiency of our government to satisfy people’s needs reminds me about 1994 when people in their numbers filled stores buying items like paraffin, candles, and many other necessities because judgement day was soon due because black people were going to be in power. We have come this far with transition but we still have doubting Thomases among us. Today, under the ANC-led government, and your and Madiba’s leadership, we have left 2,3 million unelectrified house from the 6 million we inherited in 1994.] The President in his state of the nation address said:

The entirety of our system of governance is therefore making the commitment that in the period ahead of us, it will do its best to live up to the imperative - Business Unusual!

Indeed, this is the approach that we have taken in dealing with the emergency situation that we are experiencing today as a result; they are beginning to show results.

Mr President, surely in spite of our achievements as a country we cannot be complacent, it is not yet uhuru - freedom has not arrived yet. We want to see our economy continuing to grow. We have worked hard to reach the levels of growth that we see to date. It has been sweat and toil to deliver electricity and other services to our people and this is unprecedented in our country.

These are our gains, Mr President - the gains of the ANC in government, the gains of the ANC as a liberation movement. And if anybody stands to lose, or if something goes amiss, it will be us the ANC, but most importantly the least privileged people of South Africa who will be the hardest hit. So we do have an interest in those people and we shall defend our gains.

For us, the mandate that the ANC gave us to create a better live for all we will pursue until indeed there is a better life for all. Mr President and hon members, I would now like to report to the people of South Africa on the developments thus far in the roll-out of the power conservation programme which is a key strategy in our short-term to medium-term interventions.

The energy efficiency roll-out plan is already in place. One vital component thereof is the roll-out of the candescent fluorescent light bulbs, which will commence at the end of February 2008. We will be distributing the bulbs and the public will be asked to exchange their energy inefficient bulbs for the energy efficient ones. We will start with government buildings, targeting civil servants and parastatals, including everybody within these institutions.

The broader programme will start in the Gauteng province and then it will be rolled out to the other provinces, to major metros and cities, covering all households and all energy users throughout the country. We plan to supply the constituency offices as well. We also intend to launch the Schools Energy Awareness Campaign in May this year. Going forward with the campaign, and while we work with local government, we will supply the indigent households with free energy efficient bulbs until 2015.

We will continue to work with local government and all relevant structures to solicit the services of CDWs – Community Development Workers - as well as the National Youth Service - who will help us with the roll-out to everybody.

The programme will be rolled out with the assistance of the energy service companies and it has a potential to create a number of jobs as this will involve largely a simple replacement of a bulb. The SA National Defence Force has pledged to assist by escorting the teams that will be replacing the bulbs at household levels to ensure smooth running of the programme. We are working on the programme to ensure proper co-ordination of all these efforts and initiatives.

I would like to bring to the attention of the hon members that there is a policy intervention and legislative framework that underpins this process. The electricity regulations have been revised to include energy-efficient technologies. These regulations are out for broader stakeholder inputs and comments are more than welcomed.

As we speak, Clicks has phased out the sale of incandescent light bulbs and we hope to see more retail stores from the private sector join Clicks.

The solar water heating programme, which was piloted through the Central Energy Fund has been completed with a total of 500 solar heating units already installed in a number of households in the country. The preliminary results indicates that solar water heating systems are energy efficient and excellent at energy saving. The second phase of this programme will start in the new financial year with a total of 90 000 solar water heating systems installed in the Greater Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in Port Elizabeth. The Eskom solar water heating programme is currently being implemented and the intention is to roll out about a million units over the next three years. As already indicated, we will be subsidising these programmes.

The Department of Minerals and Energy, within the Renewable Energy Finance and Subsidy Office, will also subsidise the roll-out of solar water heating units and will provide a 20% subsidy for these units per household. We will also implement the solar lighting project within the government buildings and we are looking at reducing energy consumption by 10%. This will happen by the end of 2008-09.

The project of solar traffic lights will be implemented jointly by the Department of Minerals and Energy and the National Energy Efficiency Agency and a number of municipalities which have pledged to invest in our department in partnership with the National Energy Efficiency Agency. We will invest R100 million. I must say that we are looking at having 200 traffic lights by the end of the first year. We have received a pledge of R500 million which is going to fund this project. [Applause.] This project is targeted for the end of March.

In conveying the message, Mr President, we will be using the champions that you have mentioned in your speech. We also have 37 companies that are signatories to the Energy Efficiency Accord, who will be utilised to assist us in this campaign.

Mr President, what is important is that we allay the fears of our people that the programme of delivering electricity as a basic service to them will be affected. We will continue with the programme and it is important because it impacts positively on the lives of our people.

There is a lot of noise concerning skill shortage and yet we do need to transform. The very people who are now talking and who are being bold about having expertise and experience were given an opportunity by their government. They were novices and they were given an opportunity to grow and develop and become the experts that they are today. We are not going to compromise transformation. Our black people are going to get into these institutions. [Time expired]. [Applause.]

Business suspended at 16:34 and resumed at 16:57

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Speaker …

… Tautona Mbeki, ke rata go simolola ka go leboga Tautona ka puo ya gagwe e e tsholeditseng tshepo le boitumelo jwa setšhaba fa re lemoga gore puso e tlhaloganya tsamaiso e e tshwanetseng go nna teng fa re leka go rarabolola dibe tsa puso ya kgatelelo. Go bona fa mokgatlho wa batho o ikaeletse go netefatsa tswelelopele ka maatla otlhe, ke selo se se dirang gore pelo ya me e tsikinyega ka ditshego tsa boitumelo. Tautona re a go leboga. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)

[I would like to thank President Thabo Mbeki for his speech that uplifted the nation’s hope and joy, especially when we realised that the government understands the process that should be followed to unravel the sins of the government of oppression. I am moved by the determination shown by the people’s party to do all in its power to ensure progress. Mr President, we thank you.]

Madam Speaker, Mr President, it is only the ANC that stands ready to be at one with the people of South Africa, at one in responding to their needs and interests. They have no interest in an early election and in the kind of theatrical histrionics we witnessed yesterday, which make a mockery of our Constitution and our Parliament.

The hon chairman of the DA claimed yesterday that the ANC members were listening attentively to the opposition, and he said it was admirable that we did so. What he did not realise was that we were listening attentively in a vain attempt to establish whether we would be presented with an alternative set of proposals to the key strategies outlined by President Mbeki. Sadly, and not surprisingly, all we got was sarcasm, cynicism and nothing that could convince any South African that we have in the opposition a party that stands as ready as the ANC to govern. [Applause.]

I also watched with great interest how the DA members listened to the FF Plus leader, and I wondered if this was perhaps because that is their real leader. The state of the nation address clearly indicated that the government and the ANC remain true to the promise of a better life for all. Our President also acknowledged that there have been challenges and failings and outlined the steps that government will take to address these matters.

It is only the ANC that understands what must still be done to build on the successes achieved since the dawn of democracy. At the 8 January celebrations, and on 8 February, the ANC called on all of us to become partners in mobilising society for change, in mobilising society for the good, and in mobilising for the building of a caring society in which we all feel the positive impact of the changes that will emerge from conducting Business Unusual.

The President’s call for Business Unusual in 2008 is a call for government to perform more effectively than before and to serve the people even better than before in the interests of social and economic development.

Few analysts have sought to explore why the ANC has called for mass mobilisation at this time. The President reiterated that call from the ANC when he said: “It is not often that a nation is called upon to strain every sinew of its collective body to attain a dream.” Those calls come from our belief that people’s power is a necessary part of the full definition of a developmental state. In the struggle against oppression, people’s power was a mighty sword for liberation.

The ANC is calling on the people to sharpen that sword of people’s action once more to achieve that best of times President Mbeki so recalled through Dickens in his call to action. The ANC call and the government programme outlined in the state of the nation address, taken together, call for unity in action. This means working together to determine solutions and to impact positively on social transformation.

Unity in action requires that we should recognise that the challenges faced by South Africa are shared challenges that all of us own. Thus, instead of merely pointing fingers when there are challenges, what the time calls for is what we should do in order to play a role and make a positive difference. President Mbeki clearly indicated that we should ensure that in our implementation, and in the policies that we develop, we must create a caring society.

We heard yesterday leading members of this House claim that yesterday – the past – was better than today. Now, I think we have to ask them: What part of the past is being referred to? Is it imprisonment, is it deprivation, is it torture, is it exile? Which part of the past?

We remain resolute in our belief that we must and will respond to the tasks of today, the tasks of transformation. It is for this reason that among many responses our government has responded to challenges faced by communities in meeting the costs of education.

There has, of course, been criticism of the first year of implementation of no-fee schools. And I have repeated that it is the first year and the first time ever. The failings are undeniable, but the achievements are also significant. In many schools this new policy has been welcomed as a very positive development for many South Africans. Over 4 million children today receive education for free. [Applause.] Yes, we must do better. We have said that, but for a moment, just for a moment, imagine the impact of this seismic shift for the children of South Africa.

It is, of course, deeply troubling that we have not lifted the percentage pass rate for senior certificates, but it must be cause for positive sentiment that thousands more complete school at Grade 12, that quality exams are written, that many more children enjoy access to opportunities to study mathematics and science. We are not fully there as yet, but we are on the road and marching hand in hand with the people of our country.

Added to this is the success of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Over R1,3 billion will go towards assisting financially needy students this year. Thousands of students are beneficiaries of this programme, and the programme has been essential to transforming access to higher education. Linked to this is the new bursary programme for FET college students and the teacher-training bursaries for new teachers.

Of course, while there have been successes, there have also been inadequacies. Some relate to our being very successful in promoting access to schooling. We do not have adequate schooling facilities in all areas because none were provided in many of these areas in the past that many seem to extol today.

We will review our policies where necessary. We will target poverty more precisely and sensitively, and we will improve financial support to students in our drive to accelerate skills development and success in higher education.

We are pleased that the priority skills intervention, Jipsa, which is led by our Deputy President, has given a strong impetus to a number of significant initiatives - expanding engineering access, strengthening research in higher education, providing partnerships for graduate placement and scarce skills development opportunities for young people, as well as public-private partnerships in Information and Communication Technologies - ICT development.

Despite the bedraggled criticism which is whining over here, we have always had their negative comments on Setas. Some of these Setas have recorded worthy skills achievement and we will go on to do even better through them and our institutions of education.

The strongest levers for drawing maximum benefit from people’s power are of course found very, very strongly and directly in education. Thus, all our efforts must be directed at strengthening education to ensure people’s development.

Our government has determined that every effort must be exerted to realise the promise of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, for the most marginalised and vulnerable in our society. One of our most important interventions this year will be the mass literacy campaign that we will launch at the end of this month. “Kha Ri Gude” - “Asifunde”, “A re rutaneng”, let us learn - is the campaign that will support access to literacy for millions of South Africans. We will launch the first year of the programme on 28 February. The campaign will be mass-based. It will seek to reach every village, street and community centre. It will seek to provide literacy to 4,7 million South Africans by 2012. It will seek to meet our MDG target of halving illiteracy by 2015. We have worked hard to prepare for the campaign.

“Business Unusual” means working hard, smarter and in the public interest. We have developed a plan, materials and a full implementation strategy. We will be asking you, hon members, to assist us in communicating the details of the campaign and in mobilising participants to join and remain in their classes.

What else then could we do to make the year 2008 unusually successful in education? Firstly, all public servants in education must take on the Business Unusual mantle. They should deliver on the promise of a better life and make Batho Pele a reality by serving the people first. Text books must get to school on time, and our professionals, the teachers, must strain every sinew in responding to the call of the President of the ANC that the non-negotiable must be adhered to in school and on time - teaching; no harassment; and no abuse. Learners, too, must reflect Business Unusual through discipline, respect for adults, hard work and respect for fellow learners.

We seek to ensure that South Africans develop their potential to participate and compete effectively in the global arena. There is nothing unusual in that. We seek to ensure the revitalisation of research and innovation in higher education so that our students and our professionals stand at the forefront of innovation in their chosen fields. There is nothing unusual in that. We have recapitalised FET colleges and redesigned their curricular and we seek to ensure that many more South Africans than ever before learn their skills and training in these FET institutions. That is Business Unusual. We seek to ensure the promotion of Mathematics and Science at schools. There is nothing unusual in that, all in the country seek it. Business Unusual means we must succeed in expanding the pool of success in these key learning areas.

We seek to ensure quality education for all children – one that lays the foundation, builds on the foundation and maintains the intellectual infrastructure. South Africa requires this infrastructure for its national development.

Improved achievement for all in our education institutions would be, I believe, very welcome “Business Unusual”. Each Member of Parliament must exhort every school, college and university to do more. We should lead by example through our discourse in this House. We must eliminate the view that the public has that many in this House are amateur comedians disdainful of our nation, our Constitution and our Parliament. It is laughable to assume that you could secure a majority to ensure disillusionment of this House. So, we can only cast you as an amateur comedian when you make such a proposal. [Applause.]

There have been many lapses in this House on our part and I think we need to be alert to the fact that many of our people are beginning to regard us with some dismay as Members of Parliament. It is also very peculiar that we want to be called honourables when in our approach to each other we tend to be dishonourable by action or by word. [Applause.] So, I would ask that we should pay attention to ourselves and how we reflect ourselves. That would be unusual.

We have acted on the call to share nationhood and development action by placing our constitutional values in a very simple schools pledge that we asked the nation to comment on. The pledge is drawn from our Constitution. It is in simple evocative language that promotes an ethos and values that few would object to. I trust that Members of Parliament will support the schools pledge and encourage young South Africans to reflect on the values and attitudes it suggests. That would be, for many in this House, unusual and absolutely correct. For those who view the proposed pledge with suspicion, I refer you to a brief extract from a letter in the Cape Times of this morning, and I quote:

It is not difficult, Moses was saying, to gain liberty, but to sustain it is the work of a hundred generations. Forget it and you lose it. Freedom needs three institutions: parenthood, education and memory. You must tell your children about slavery and the long journey to liberation. They must annually taste the bread of affliction and the bitter herbs of slave labour. They must know what oppression feels like if they are to fight against it in every age.

Freedom is not, as so many have thought, a matter of political or military victories alone. It involves habits of the heart.

It is these habits of the heart that we hope the pledge will inculcate.

Strain every sinew! That is how we will create unusual success. I thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.] [Time expired.]

Mr M T LIKOTSI: Madam Speaker, the President of the Republic, the Deputy President and members of the Cabinet, compliments of the ageing season to you.

The President has spoken; we will keenly follow. We are going to be vigilant in each and every step we take in conforming to the line of march

• Business Unusual. Since 1994, it has been business as usual on the following challenges this country has faced: To loot the resources of this country through extreme corruption; maladministration; high rate of unemployment; increase in the abuse of women and children; abject poverty; inferior and inefficient service delivery; the annual student strikes at our institutions of higher learning; and the strikes by public servants on their wage increases. Indeed it has been business as usual to accept the stated challenges as norms and standards of our country. I hope it will not be business as usual to power outages.

It must be noted that we are at the final round of our term of office. We were given a chance of five years to show a political will to make changes in our country, but it became business as usual to stick to the old pattern of mismanagement. In the final year of our term of office, a new strategy of Business Unusual is introduced, which will remain in the planning phase for the remaining borrowed time of our term of office, only to be thrown out through the window by the new incoming management.

Hon President and the Cabinet, there is much you have done since 2004 to date - I must admit. Many people have benefited in many of the government programmes – housing, education, health infrastructure and preservation of their dignity as human beings. The truth must be told. Others who could not have owned houses in their lives are homeowners today. Some who have been unemployed for decades have tasted how it is to be employed. [Applause.] Some have graduated as doctors while others are accountants. This country is recognised internationally as a democratic country. I must thank you for all such efforts. [Applause.]

As you have rightfully said, we must be vigilant as the challenges are enormous. That is why you think due to a slow pace of service delivery, there should be Business Unusual. Comrade Cronin, just listen to this. The teachings of the late Kwame Nkrumah have taught us about the stages of freedom we find ourselves in and termed it neocolonialism - as he rightfully put it that no people can be rightfully independent if their former oppressors control their industries and trade; those who own the wealth of a country will by various means try to interfere in the way it is governed so that nothing is done to harm their interest. The country might seem to be free, but it is a shameful independence because the people are not masters in their own houses.

The essence of neocolonialism is that a state which is subjected to it is in theory independent. In reality, its economy and thus its political policy is directed from outside.

The APC calls for an economic revolution in this country, period! I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr M J G MZONDEKI: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, hon Ministers, my colleagues the hon Members of Parliament, let me start off by responding to the FF Plus on their call to do away with affirmative action. I liked it when the hon Minister Mdladlana said that perhaps the correct word to use for affirmative action is the Afrikaans equivalent, “regstellende aksie”. I think it is the correct word because it says that you are correcting something that is wrong.

If you remove the action that corrects something that is wrong, I’m not sure what you are going to be left with. Therefore, it does not make sense to me to ask someone to do away with that action which is correcting something that is wrong; so I cannot understand the reasoning behind the call.

However, as the ANC, we believe that there is no contradiction. The FF Plus is saying to us that we have to make a choice between speeding up transformation and slowing down service delivery. I think we need to say that there is no contradiction in speeding up transformation and service delivery as these go hand in hand. In fact, if you speed up your transformation, you will speed up your service delivery.

What you need to do is just to make sure that there are proper mechanisms to deal with transformation. Part of that is to make sure that you have proper mentoring and you are prepared to transfer the skills.

I think that our resolve, as the ANC, not just to fight, but to kill inequalities is going to be pursued forever. So we are not going to do away with affirmative action. [Applause.] In fact, our advice would be that you need to tell your constituency, which is mostly made up of employers, that the sooner they implement affirmative action, the sooner we will stop talking about it because there will be no inequalities. Coming to your speech, Mr President, on Business Unusual, I just want to share with the House my observations in the Free State and in the Eastern Cape. There has been a campaign by the SA Social Security Agency - I think together with Social Development - to take services to the people. I went into this one community hall. In fact, I did not know that they were there on the day; I just saw an army of vehicles. The hall was very full.

The town where I am deployed is a very small town with lots of farms around it. The hall was fully packed with officials - with all their computers – as well as doctors to attend immediately to people who would need help there.

I was told that the intention was that as the people were applying for their pension grants, by the time they walked out of that hall they would know whether their applications had been successful or not - on that very day. The same happened in the village that I went to.

That translated to, for instance at Heinneman township - at least on that day, 500 households knowing that at the end of the month they would have bread on the table. [Applause.] And after your speech, Mr President, I said, you know Business Unusual did not start only when you delivered the speech. The officials or government started with it last year already. For those that think that it is something new, they need to know that we are just accelerating it. Ntumelle mme Spikara, hore ke nke sebaka sena ho lebohela ho nka karolo haka puisanong ena ya kajeno e bohlokwa. Rona re le ANC, puisano ena ya ka jeno e re fa monyetla wa hore re hetle morao re lekole tema eo re e kgathileng ho tloha ha esale re ne re kgethwa ke setjhaba. Ha re etse hona feela hobane hona le dikgetho tse tlang haofinyana, empa e le hobane re na le thahasello ya ho tseba hore ebe re kgonne hakae ho fetola maphelo a batho beso jwalo ka hare tshepisitse.

Re sebedisa monyetla ona ho lekola hore na ebe hona le dibanka tseo re di entseng hare lema, ebang di le teng re shebisane jwalo ka batho ba letsema hore na re lokisa jwang. Ho hetleng haka Modulasetulo, enngwe ya ditho tseo ke di hlokometseng ke hore, mmuso wa rona ona le ditshebeletso tse ngata tse ka ntlafatsang maphelo a rona. Le ha hole jwalo, ke hlokometse hore hase ba ba ngata ba tsebang ka ditshebeletso tsena.

Mohlomong re tshwanela hore re lekodisise mokgwa o re tsibisang setjhaba ka ona. Ka nako enngwe re hasanya ditokomane re sa hlokomele hore puo e sebedisitsweng ke efe, le hore na setjhaba seo re buang le sona se na le thuto e kae. Ke nahana hore jwalo ka ha Mopresidente a se boletse hore re etse dintho ka mokgwa o sa tlwaelehang kapa yona “business unusual”, le rona re fetole mokgwa o re o sebedisang ho tsibisa setjhaba, re iphe nako, re be re etse bonnete ba hore ba ya re utlwisisa.

Ke ya tseba hore mafapha a iteka, ebile a tswa letsholo ho tsibisa setjhaba, empa ke nahana hore rona jwalo ka baemedi ba setjhaba, re maemong a matle a hore re ka etsa ho feta mona – tsebo ke matla. Ke dumela hore nakong ena eo rona ba ANC re ntshetsang pele kgweletso ya hore selemo sena e be sa ho bokeletsa setjhaba hore re bope setjhaba se nang le tsotello, se kopaneng ho isa ho 2012, mme re etse tjena re fetisetsa tsebo bathong beso hore ba kgone ho iketsetsa. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[Madam Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for being able to participate in today’s important debate. Today’s debate gives us an opportunity to look back and assess our role, as the ANC, since we were elected into office by the public. We are not only doing this because the general elections are around the corner, but we take an interest in knowing how much has been done to change our people’s lives, as promised.

We can use this opportunity to assess whether there are some unattended issues, and if there are, we can then join hands and look at how they can be addressed. When looking back, Chairperson, one of the things that I noticed is that our government has so many services that can improve our lives. On the other hand, I have also noticed that so many people are not aware of these services.

Perhaps we should review our methods of informing the community about these services. We sometimes distribute documents with disregard for the language used in that particular community, as well as the level of their education. I think, as the President has said, that we should do things in an unusual manner or Business Unusual, and we should also change the methods that we are using to inform the community. We should give ourselves time to ensure that they do understand us.

I know that departments are trying their best, and are also in a drive to inform the community, but I think, as community representatives, we are in a better position to do even more - knowledge is power. I believe that during this time when we, as the ANC, are propelling the call that this should be the year to bring people together, to build a united nation towards 2012, we should use this to transfer information to the people so that they can be independent.]

… the year of mass mobilization to build a caring society …

Ke boela ke ananela qeto ya mokgahlo o moholo wa ANC ya ho tsoseletsa dikomiti tsa mebileng – “street committees”. Ba ile ba ba le monyetla wa ho ba le karolo dikomiting tsena matsatsing a kgatello, ba tla tseba ka moo dileng bohlokwa ka teng. Ke dumela hantle hore dikomiti tsena di tla thusa setjhaba se tsotellang – a caring society. Ke bolela jwalo Modulasetulo hobane dikomiti tseo di tla etsa hore re tsebe matlo a badudi le diketsahalo tse mpe le tse ntle mmila hoya ka mmila. Re tla tseba hore ke malapa afe a hlokang, a Mopresidente a boletseng hore re a hlwae ho leka ho thibela lephako.

Re tla tseba hore ke bo mang ba kulang ebile ba hloka ho fuwa meriyana ba le mahaeng, ba sa nweng meriyana ya bona ebe ba qetella bana le tshwaetso ekang lefuba le sa phekoleheng – XDR TB. Re tla tseba hore ke bo mang ba etsang botlokotseba mebileng ya rona ebe ka hoo re lwantsha monokwane. Lotona la Dirashwa le Matla o buile ka hore re tshwanetse hore re tswe letsholo la ho ruta batho hore ba ka etsa jwang ho boloka motlakase.

Ke tshepa hore ha re sebedisa dikomiti tsa mebileng tsena tsa rona re ka kgona ho etsa hore ho be le karolo e kgolo e re ka e bapalang. Dingata dintho tsa bohlokwa tse re ka di qolla ka ho kenya tshebetsong dikomiti tsena. Mosebetsi mmoho le nna lehlakoreng la ka mona, o ile a mpolella hore re tlameha ho elellwa batho ba senyang komiti tsena. Empa ke nahana hore ANC etla kgona ho nka taolo. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[Again, I acknowledge the decision of the big party, the ANC, to reintroduce street committees. Those who had an opportunity to participate in these committees during the apartheid era would know how helpful they were. I sincerely hope that these committees will help to build a caring society. I say this, Chairperson, because these committees will help us to get to know the families residing in the houses and also to know about all the good and the bad things happening in each and every street. We will know which families are struggling - as the President has said that we should identify them in order to fight poverty.

We will know of those who are sick and those who need to receive home-based care, and those who do not take their medication and who end up having infection s like XDR TB. We will know who is committing crime in our streets and we will therefore manage to fight against crime. The Minister of Minerals and Energy said that we should go out to educate people about what they can do to save electricity.

I hope that if we use these street committees, we can play a big role in fighting crime. There are many important things that we can achieve by implementing these committees. My colleague, who is sitting next to me, told me that we need to be aware of people disrupting these committees. But I think the ANC will be in control.]

… my colleague next to me … we must also be aware of those that abuse those street committees. However, I think that the ANC will be in control.

Ntumelle Modulasetulo hore ke qolle taba enngwe ya bohlokwa eo e leng phephetso ya rona. Mokgahlo wa rona o moholo wa ANC o ile wa etsa bonnete ba hore kgethollo ya mofuta ofe kapa ofe ya fediswa. O ile wa etsa bonnete ba hore sena se totobatswa Motheong wa naha le melaong e meng e mengata jwalo ka wa basebetsi le thuto le emeng e mengata. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)

[Chairperson, let me touch on something important, which is a challenge to us. Our big organisation, the ANC, made sure that any kind of discrimination was abolished. It made sure that this was outlined in the Constitution of the country and in many other laws such as labour and education.]

Madam Speaker, whereas the rights of disabled people are protected through the Constitution and many other policies in education, employment, etc., we have not been able to move with the required speed to address these problems. I could mention quite a few examples to back this up. For instance, the inclusive education and the employment equity reports indicate that we haven’t done as well as we should. The public buildings are still very inaccessible.

With regard to health, hospitals still don’t provide services for disabled persons. For instance, the CPR project, which is working very well in Mpumalanga, has not been rolled out in other provinces. Sign language and Braille are still a serious problem and this makes it difficult for deaf and blind people to access information and devices. How can we be a caring society without addressing these issues?

Regarding the issue of skills, we have not just complained as the ANC, but we have noted, for instance, that Seta boards need to be strengthened. We are calling on labour and business to deploy key people that can strengthen these boards so that they can give direction and leadership to the Setas.

The Setas also need to be more accessible, especially in rural areas. Municipalities and FET colleges need to assist in creating a space for these Setas to operate. There is a need to embark on learnerships in required skills, and not for the sake of service providers to earn money. Our experience is that some service providers provide learnerships that do not assist us to access jobs.

I raise these issues just to indicate the challenges we are still faced with regarding inequalities and access to services. I believe that we can overcome these challenges if we have dedicated programmes.

In line with the President’s call for Business Unusual, we will have to change our attitude and have dedicated programmes. I have not dealt with this matter in detail as I believe that we will be able to deal with details when we engage with departments on budgets. We just raise these issues as a matter of principle, that they need urgent attention.

The same can be said about domestic workers and farmworkers, who still experience a lot of abuse. I believe that if we were to pool together all our efforts, in a collective effort, these problems would not be insurmountable. I thank you. [Applause.] Mr L M GREEN: Madam Speaker, hon President and hon members, allow me to welcome the leaders of the Christian Democratic Party, as well as Mrs Muna in the public gallery for taking her time to come and listen to our debate this afternoon.

The President said in his speech, and I quote: ``I am confident that 2008 will be one of the most remarkable years of our democracy.’’

In Christian symbolism, the figure 8 reflects a time of new beginnings, implying a fresh start of being granted another opportunity to proceed along a higher road. Our country is at an opportune juncture to proceed on a higher road which requires optimism steeped in realism of the challenges ahead. The President’s refrain of Business Unusual provides us with a framework to seize the moment and pave a new way towards the realisation of a better life for all our people.

Certain challenges we face are inherited while others are attained through our own doing. The government, generally, has a clear idea of how to deal with challenges inherited from the past. It is in dealing with those challenges brought about by government itself that requires an injection of Business Unusual. For government to affect meaningful change, Business Unusual in the FD’s view should be defined as ``shape up or ship out’’, meaning an intolerance to current business as usual of underperformance and incompetence.

A place to start is with the Auditor-General’s reports of last year, which provide a worrying overview of the state of certain government departments in need of serious overhaul. The Auditor-General intimated the lack of departmental leadership and government oversight as key problems linked to the qualified audit against government departments. Business Unusual should start at revamping and reorganising those departments guilty of gross negligence.

The FD was greatly encouraged when the President reiterated government’s apology for the national energy crisis. This indicates a political maturing in democratic processes. The energy crisis is government’s worst failure to date, but we fully accept government’s commitment to do everything in its capacity to practically reduce the impact on the rest to society. Some would argue that the apology is not enough and that government should also be held accountable for the crisis. The President says, and I quote: ``This is not time for finger-pointing but for working together to find solutions.’’ On this he is partially correct since we need collective co- operation to tackle the problem. The President, however, is not correct in not pointing out those who contributed to the energy crisis.

In his appearance, talking about the state of the nation address, the President connects the energy crisis to the growth of the economy. He is opposed to any form of recrimination as he believes it is pointing the country in the wrong direction. However, Mr President, to point the country in the right direction, will require new faces. Having said this, the FD believes we will be pointing the country in the wrong direction if we dissolve Parliament or call for a vote of no confidence in the President. What the FD believes the right call to be is that the President should consider reshuffling the Cabinet if he finds weaknesses in the Cabinet that cannot be addressed in any other way.

Mr President, allow me to use this opportunity to announce the intention of the FD to participate in the 2009 national elections as part of a much broader alliance, namely the Christian democratic alliance. Most elections through the western world are fought under one of three broad ideological banners, namely social democrats, liberal democrats and the Christian democrats. In South Africa the social democrats are represented by the majority party – the ANC and its alliance partners – and many other parties who do not form part of this alliance. The liberal democrats are represented by the DA and its partners, including its multiparty governance partners in the City of Cape Town. The Christian democrats are represented by more than 11 different registered political parties of which only three are represented in Parliament. Many of the others have representation at local government level only. There is no cohesive force that unites all Christian parties presently and the launch of the Christian Democratic Alliance later this year will be the first attempt in the history of South Africa to do so. We have worked on the concept where all political parties would join the Christian Democratic Alliance; will retain their unique political identity and leadership, even after the 2009 elections, will participate but as one united front based on a Biblical worldview during the 2009 elections.

In conclusion, we live in an age of opportunity where the call for all hands on deck will promote a united South Africa, embracing one another across cultural and ethnic barriers to tackle our challenges.

I thank you.

Mr A MLANGENI: Madam Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President and all hon Members of Parliament …

Le nna ke lakatsa ho tlatsa mantswe a builweng ke Mohlomphehi Naledi Pandor ha are re lebohe Mopresidente ka puo eo a faneng ka yona setjhabeng sa rona. Ke tshepa hore re tla ithuta dintho tse ngata puong ya hae. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)

[I would also like to concur with the words of the hon Naledi Pandor when she says that we should thank our President for the state of the nation address. I trust that we will learn a lot from his speech.]

Madam Speaker, what is central for me, and I believe for all the governments throughout the whole world, is to better the lives of their own people in their own respective countries. If government objectives and programmes that are put in place are not aimed at addressing this important issue, then, in my opinion, there is no point in having a government. To me, to better the lives of all our people is central. In spite of the challenges in the supply of electricity in which our country finds itself today, the President, in his speech delivered in this House last Friday, has assured the country that the government remains firm in its commitment to continue to build a South Africa that has given hope to all our people. The President also pointed out in his speech to this House that we should put all our energies towards realising the objective of making the lives of all our people better than before.

Our policies, regarding every aspect of our lives, are in place and what needs to be done is to implement them in a way that is different from the past. This is what I understand by Business Unusual. You may have your own interpretation.

Our country is faced with many challenges, ranging from health, education, poverty, unemployment and so forth. To meet these challenges and remain true to our ideal of building a caring society, everybody must come on board. In the language of the January 8 Statement of the ANC, this is the year of mass mobilisation towards creating a caring society.

We are already meeting some of these challenges. More houses are being built, more funds are being made available every year by the National Treasury to increase the pension grants to the elderly and the school feeding in some schools.

As ANC cadres, we should admit that in spite of several efforts made by the government in alleviating poverty, many families remain caught up in deep poverty. Therefore, this should not be allowed to continue. That is why the President pointed out that there is a need for a ``national war room’’ for war against poverty and that should bring together some government departments such as social development, provincial and local government. These are some of the stumbling blocks towards building a caring society.

I have been a member of the ANC for more than 60 years. [Applause.] I studied Political Science at varsity and obtained an Honours degree in Political Science, but I have never ever read books or heard of a government whose aim is to create a caring society for its people. Only the ANC can do that because it lives and it leads. [Applause.]

Some people are calling for the dissolution of Parliament and for fresh elections to be held while others are saying the President and his Cabinet must resign because he has failed to solve the energy crisis. It is a serious allegation. It is a serious allegation to say, and I quote: ``We cannot trust the President.’’ It is very serious indeed! If you think the ANC is divided and that some members will therefore support you in your opportunistic tendencies, we challenge you to move a motion of no confidence now, and not tomorrow, and you will see what will happen. [Applause.]

The ANC is a united force. We will thrash you. [Applause.] Nevertheless, we still appeal to you to go out and mobilise the people of South Africa to work together with the government and all other sectors in the country in preparing the country for the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009 and, most importantly, the 2010 Soccer World Cup. For the benefit of South Africa, the government has poured large sums of money into making this event a success. The infrastructure is being attended to and stadia are being built and others are being renovated. Our airports are being extended and renovated, roads are being repaired and widened. Hon members will recall that it was hard to win the bid and when we did, the whole of South Africa rejoiced. We care for our society. Let us not disappoint the people of South Africa and the whole African continent, which is fully supportive of our efforts to make this event a success.

The preliminary draw last September was a resounding success. Even the experienced FIFA World Cup Project Managers concede that we put together an excellent performance. I hope the hon members will be pleased to know that all electricity was provided by the generators. There were no outages. South Africa was testing our compliance with FIFA rules to have back-up generators in FIFA venues and stadia. We passed with flying colours. [Applause.]

It is our stated objective to make the 2010 World Cup a catalyst for improving the quality of African football players and administration. The African Cup of Nations, hosted by Ghana, was a marvellous event in organising, securing and managing the tournament. The standard of the teams was much higher than two years ago. This includes that of Bafana Bafana. Yes, we would have loved to have reached the quarter finals and semi- finals, or even to bring the Cup home. But people with football knowledge agree that our team played better, with more purpose. Our people want to be part of the hype and activities. The LOC must make sure that marketing and outreach programmes reach all people. Mass mobilisation programmes through sport and recreation, together with education, will kick off at schools in March this year.

In 1996, I pointed out that sport contributes greatly to the health, wellbeing and identity of individuals. Most of us will agree that a worker, in order to be productive in his or her field of work, has to be healthy. One of the central roles that sport can play in the life of a human being is to promote good health. By providing facilities such as football grounds, tennis courts, rugby fields, golf courses and so forth … [Interjections.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, hon members, one would have hoped that in South Africa in this day and age and, in particular, at a time of severe challenges to our country, one would not have witnessed the spectacle displayed by the opposition. It was a display reminiscent of London soapbox oratory – a lot of noise signifying nothing.

Perhaps there is a perception that, post-Polokwane, the ANC is a wounded animal and now is the time of going for its jugular. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, Polokwane happened; yes, there has been a change of the guard, but no, the ANC is not about to die. In fact, it and its alliance partners will grow even stronger post-Polokwane. [Applause.]

Democracy is alive and well. It would do the opposition well to stick to its knitting and not waste time with fanciful, wishful thinking. Your noise makes for good media script, not much else. It adds no value to the concerns of even your own constituencies. It does, however, play into the hands of those who would like to see foreign investment go elsewhere; those who believe we should not be the success we have become; those who believe that it is about time South Africa was cut down to size.

The Leader of the Opposition, the hon Mayor Helen Zille, met our President regarding the electricity problems. The President put his cards on the table, took her into his confidence, did not hide anything, and she left that meeting pledging support for the government’s programme to resolve the situation and asking for a united South African response. What does her leader in this House do? She breaks rank. [Interjections.] She scores cheap political points. Are we beginning to see the further splintering of the splinter groups? [Interjections.] Is everything well on that side of the House? I wonder.

The hon member De Lille stumbles from one party scandal to another; one internal revolt to another. What does she do? She brings her soapbox to Parliament – about the only place, by the way, where she still finds stature; definitely not in her party. It is a shame on all of you.

The comments that have been directed at the President of the Republic are more indicative of how low members of the opposition are prepared to stoop, rather than a reflection on the character of our President. Again, believing that the President was injured, perhaps in Polokwane, they now want to add insult to the injury. Let me tell you this: If this struggle was for him; if the freedom for our people was for him; if a better life for our people was merely for him to look good – and that is what he wanted – then yes, he would have been injured in Polokwane. But no, unlike some who are self-interest seeking; who hobnobbed with the enemy; who lived in luxury whilst this President slept in different beds not knowing when the enemy would knock; spent his best years in exile, and spent his life in service of his people and his country, he has nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, history will prove that he has served his country and his people with distinction. [Applause.]

He, with others, led the fight that brought our liberation. He played a singular role in bringing about a peaceful settlement in our country. He is acknowledged in Africa as a peacemaker on the continent. He is one of the first African leaders to address the G8. He is recognised throughout the world as one who champions the cause of the poor and the oppressed. [Applause.] In South Africa itself, he has led a government that has seen the longest sustained economic growth in decades. No, hon member Buthelezi, you may hanker after the homelands. It is understandable. You and only a few benefited from this system. [Applause.]

Madam Speaker …

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: That is utter balderdash! [Interjections.]

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: Madam Speaker, as we effectively start the penultimate year of the life of this government, the President has called on us to reflect on what progress we have made in intervening in the lives of our people.

Mr M WATERS: None whatsoever!

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: He correctly reported on key critical achievements where he firmly confirmed that we have implemented the programmes that we have set for ourselves. He has noted, however, that 14 years after democracy, there are still many challenges that confront our country and that we have not yet been able to fully address the backlog from the past. Despite these challenges, the message is very clearly the following: Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will indeed be much better than today.

He is saying this because we have, through our record of delivery, met the core aspirations of our people - that of attaining a better life for all. Our people are not fighting for ideas. They want to live better; they want to see their children go to school, and their lives going forward. As the President said, they cannot wait for strategies, dialogues and workshops. Provision of basic services such as access to clean water, sanitation, electricity and housing are critical in our efforts to create a better life for all, and massive delivery in these areas has, undoubtedly, been at the core of the successes of our democracy. In our attack in the war on poverty, we will sharpen our focus and enhance our current efforts to ensure that, by 2014, all those who are currently without access to these basic services would have received them.

I would like to read you a paragraph by one of the captains of industry, Alan Knott-Craig, but I will come back to that a little later. Let me first deal with the issues that have been raised by hon members regarding service delivery. We have the hon Godi and hon Pheko who have raised issues around meeting the bucket eradication target and asking the questions why we have not done so and have asked the President to respond to this. I will try and respond to it very briefly today, but I will cover this expansively, as I give my Budget Vote speech in a few months’ time.

Hon members would recall that, in 2006, when the President made a commitment to bucket eradication, it was for those people living in established formal settlements, specifically he said: “I should also mention that government has decided that we must completely eradicate, in the established settlements, the bucket toilets by the end of 2007.” We have indeed replaced over 190 000 buckets in established formal settlements, and we have given clear practical reasons why the remaining buckets will only be removed by March this year. Of those remaining, close to 30 000 are constructed, but waiting for water, and the remaining 14 000 are in various stages of completion. I will expand on this in my budget debate. There have been concerns raised in the public domain about the issue that South Africa is indeed facing or heading for a water crisis. I would like to say, hon members, I want to assure you that, fortunately, we do not have a water crisis. We are not facing a water crisis. South Africa still maintains world-class quality drinking water and our water is safe to drink. We acknowledge that there are challenges in this sector. We live in a water-scarce country. There are issues of pollution and contamination, and I will expand on what we are doing and what the problems, the challenges, are during my Budget Vote. I welcome the debates on these issues and I welcome the concerns raised by the members, because I think together we must make sure we have planned properly, that we have the security of supply, and that we have measures in place to ensure that we have clean drinking tap water that we can all be proud of.

Coming now to the Alan Knott-Craig story, Alan Knott-Craig is the captain of industry who says we must not panic. It is not all gloom and doom. He says:

2008 has certainly started with a bang! The future was rosy on 31 December 2007, but suddenly everyone is buying candles and researching property in Perth!

A combination of recession in the USA … high interest rates, the National Credit Act and power outages have combined to create the perfect storm. But don’t panic!

This is not the first time there’s been doom and gloom. Every few years the same thing happens. The economy grows, everyone is optimistic, buys Nescafé, holiday homes, and Mercedes Benzes. The positivity gets ahead of itself and the economy overheats and then panic starts.

The fact of the matter is that the economy is not collapsing. It is actually just correcting itself. He quotes when it happened: 1989, when we defaulted on our international loans; 1994 when the ANC came to power and everyone expected war; 1998, when the interest rate hit 25%. On each of those occasions, he says, everyone thought it was the end of the world and that there was no light in sight. Further he says: “And on each occasion, believe it or not, the world did not actually end. It recovered and in fact things continued to get better.”

He says that although 2008 may be a tough year, there are opportunities. What he invites all South Africans to do is to open their eyes to the opportunities and stop being negative. He continues:

It’s easy to be negative. Subconsciously, you want to be negative! Whenever you open the papers they tell you about the goriest hijacking and the most corrupt politicians.

He asks:

Why don’t they dedicate more pages to the fact that Johannesburg is the world’s biggest man-made forest, or to the corruption-free achievements of the vast majority of public officials? Because bad news sells and good news is boring.

Anyway, I can share with you the website where this whole story is illustrated. This illustrates that this is the message we need to send to all of our people: It is not all doom and gloom. We are on course and, indeed, this is just a very temporary hiccup. These are testing times, Madam Speaker, for all of us and we need resolute leadership to calm the populace. Point-scoring and politicking is not going to help us.

As the President said:

With all hands on deck, and a commitment to conduct our business in an unusual and more effective fashion, we shall sustain the process of our reconstruction and development and take it to even higher levels.

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Madam Speaker, can I ask a question to the Minister?

The SPEAKER: Hon member, will you take a question?

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: Yes, Madam Speaker.

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: I just wanted specifically to ask where in my speech I spoke about homelands or hankering after homelands? Specifically, where did I do that? [Interjections.]

The SPEAKER: There is your question, hon member. I will allow you to answer, but your time has actually expired.

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: Well, the hon member might not necessarily have specifically spoken about… [Interjections.] … the KwaZulu-Natal homeland, but he was saying that: “Kwaku bhetele kwa Faro.” [It was better before.]

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: When did I say that?

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: It is in the speech … Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Where? Where?

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: … and it was broadcast live.

The SPEAKER: Hon members, I think the issue must be settled outside the Chamber.

The MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY: We can check Hansard.

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Madam Speaker!

The SPEAKER: Hon Buthelezi, I think …

Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Madam Speaker, I am glad that my son didn’t marry her! [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER: Thank you, hon Minister. I don’t know what the insinuation is. I don’t know what the story is, but I think it is uncalled for to talk about sons marrying Members of Parliament!

Mnr S E OPPERMAN: Agb President, agb Speaker, ek reageer met graagte op u beroep om eenheid onder die tema “Eenheid in diversiteit”. Agb President, “!ke e: /xarra //ke” kom uit die Attakwa-dialek wat jare gelede in die Oudtshoorn-omgewing gepraat is. Die Attakwa, net soos die Outenikwa, Gourkwa, Hessekwa, en Harrigurikwa was die stamme wat die oorspronklike voorsate uitgemaak het van die groep wat vandag as bruinmense bekend staan, honderde jare voor die koms van Europeërs.

Wyle John Gomomo wat, volgens agb Roopnarain, dikwels sy mantras in Sanskrit uit antieke Indië gedoen het, sou dit interessant gevind het om te weet dat die linguistieke spoor van al die stamname na Indië lei. Saam met name soos “Sjona” in Masjonaland, “Pon” in Pongola, “Ab” in Gariab, Komati, Kamma, Tsitsikama, Matzikama, Keru, Ottentotoe, Kwena, ens.

Voeg hierby artefakte soos hierdie “koentam” of spiespunt. Dit is nie ’n stuk gereedskap nie; dit is nie prehistories nie. Die kante is skerp. Dit toon geen verwering. Dit is ’n godsdienstige simbool wat gebruik is om een van die eienskappe van “Om” uit te beeld, naamlik om al die boosheid in ’n mens se hart te vernietig. “Om” is ’n heilige lettergreep wat die alomvattendheid van God beskrywe. Hierdie is dus ’n Om-koentam; deel van my erfenis, wat die ANC ken as Umkhonto.

Die linguistieke spoor van woorde soos “Om” en “koentam” kan ook na Indië teruggevoer word. Voeg by die linguistieke spoor en godsdienstige simbole, ook die makgemaakte diere van hierdie stamme soos die vetstertskape, die beestipe Bos Indicus en ons het getuienis wat nie langer geïgnoreer kan word nie.

Natuurlik sal daar ’n geskarrel wees onder sekere historici en antropoloë, want heelwat doktorale proefskrifte sal weer onder die vergrootglas geplaas moet word.

Die Dravidiaanse “Ottentottoe” beteken gemeng. Dit het onder groot druk gekom as gevolg van die skeldnaam, Hotnot, wat baie soos die gekorrupteerde naam Hottentot klink. Vir politieke korrektheid is ’n onintelligente konkoksie soos Khoisan gebruik wat net so min ’n woord is as wat dit ’n naam is. Dit is geskep deur ’n Duitser Leonhard Schulze en die konkoksie bevat absoluut geen historiese of linguistieke of religieuse of antropologiese substansie nie. Dit is doodgewoon “stupid”. Die baba is saam met die badwater uitgesmyt. Die ideologiese agenda wou `n identiteit, ’n erfenis, ’n roeping en ’n profetiese destinasie vernietig. Ottentottoe beteken “mixed” en ons is dit nou meer as ooit tevore. Ons is “deurmekaar- gemix”. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Mr S E OPPERMAN: Hon President, hon Speaker, I respond with eagerness to your call for unity under the theme “Unity in Diversity”. Hon President, “!ke e: /xarra //ke” comes from the Attaqua dialect that was spoken in the Oudtshoorn area many years ago. The Attaqua, like the Outeniqua, Gouriqua, Hessequa and Harringuriqua, was one of the tribes that made up the original ancestry of the group known today as Brown people, hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Europeans.

The late John Gomomo who, according to the hon Roopnarain, often did his mantras in Sanskrit from ancient India, would have found it interesting to know that the linguistic print of all these tribes could be traced to India. This print also includes names like “Shona” in Mashonaland, “Pon” in Pongola, “Ab” in Gariab, Komati, Kamma, Tsitsikamma, Matzikamma, Keru, Ottentotoe, Kwena, etc.

Add to these artefacts this “koentam” or spearhead. It is not an implement; it is not prehistoric. The sides are sharp. It shows no sign of corrosion. It is a religious symbol that was used to portray one of the characteristics of “Om”, namely to exorcise all wickedness from one’s heart. “Om” is a holy syllable that describes the all-embracing nature of God. Consequently, this is an Om-koentam; which is part of my heritage that the ANC knows as Umkhonto.

The linguistic print of words like “Om” and “koentam” can also be traced back to India. Add to this the linguistic print and religious symbols, the animals that have been tamed by these tribes like the broad-tailed sheep, the bovine-type known as the Bos Indicus and we have evidence that can no longer be ignored.

There will, naturally, be a scramble amongst certain historians and anthropologists, because many doctoral dissertations will have to be put under the magnifying glass again.

The Dravidian “Ottentottoe” means mixed. It came under tremendous pressure because of the abusive name, Hotnot, that sounds a lot like a corrupted form of the name Hottentot. To be politically correct, an unintelligent concoction like Khoisan has been used, which is neither a word nor a name. It was created by a German, Leonhard Schulze, and this concoction has neither historical nor linguistic nor anthropological substance. It is just plain stupid. The baby had been thrown out with the bathwater. The ideological agenda wanted to destroy an identity, a heritage, a vocation and a prophetic destination. Ottentottoe means mixed and that is what we are now more than ever. We are totally mixed-up now.]

We as a people group are carrying the blood of the nations of the whole world in us.

Ons is vermeng en daardeur by implikasie verwant, familie, almal se familie. Daar is geen groep, mnr die President, waarvan ek weet wat so goed geposisioneer is om, op grond van Ius Sanguinis, die wet van die bloed, as brugbouers tussen volke in hierdie land op te tree nie. Dit is daarom moeilik vir enige spesifieke politieke groepering of rassegroep om bruinmense vir hulself op te eis of in ’n blik te druk, want ons behoort aan almal oor die hele spektrum heen. Daar is selfs mense wat vir jou stem in die Vryheidsfront, Pieter.

In ’n verklaring in die Parlement op 11 November 2004 onder die opskrif, Herkoms en destinasie, sê ek onder andere dat bruinmense sal versoen word. Ons moet eers met onsself versoen, met ons identiteit versoen, met ons vorming om in te pas in God se verlossingsplan versoen, voordat ons bedienaars van versoening in die land van ons geboorte word.

In die musiekblyspel deur ons geskrywe, //ib Koasa Kare re! of Ons sal sy lof verkondig is die deurlopende verhaal wat vertel word, dié van ’n saad wat oorgedra, weggesmyt en weer opgetel word. Dit is ’n saad wat verwys na ons Godgegewe identiteit en potensiaal. Hierdie sentrale tema word saamgeweef met ’n beskrywing van ons voorouers se interaksie met Dias, Da Gama, Schmidt en die wedervaringe van Krotoa en sluit af met die lied:

Daar’s ’n fontein wat bruis In die dor woestyn Wat weer verkwikking bring Dis ’n soet fontein Wat weer sal lewe bring En van genesing sing

Daar’s `n brug wat ons weer Bymekaar sal bring Ons sal mekaar kan dra

Soos ons hande vat Sal ons van vreudge sing Dis die jubeljaar

Dis die tyd Dis die tyd Vir ’n nuwe lied Wat uit vergifnis spruit Dis die tyd Dis die tyd Sing en juig dit uit Dit is die Kairostyd.

Mnr die President,as ’n groep wat een komponent uitmaak van die diversiteit – en ons is nie iets tussen wit en swart nie; ons staan in ons eie reg – is ons gereed om gemobiliseer te word en te mobiliseer vir ’n verenigde Suid- Afrika waar die waardigheid van elke mens gerespekteer en verdedig word. ’n Verenigde Suid-Afrika gebou op die fondamente van reg en geregtigheid. Met dié deel van die eed het ek geen probleme nie. Dit is egter tyd dat ons wegbeweeg van gister en nie toelaat dat nuwe geslagte vasgeketting bly aan die verlede nie. Minister Pandor moet asseblief kennis neem: Dit is tyd vir ’n nuwe lied. Ek dank u. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[We are mixed and thereby related by implication, family, everybody’s family. There is no group that I know of, Mr President, who is so well- positioned on the basis of Ius Sanguinis, the law of the blood, to act as bridge-builders between the people of this country. That is why it is difficult for any specific political group or race group to lay claim to brown people or to put them in a box, because we belong to everybody over the full spectrum. There are even those who voted for you in the Freedom Front, Pieter.

In a statement in Parliament on the 11 November 2004 under the heading, Origin and Destination, I said inter alia that brown people will become reconciled. We must first become reconciled with ourselves, reconciled with our identity, reconciled with our moulding to fit into God’s salvation plan, before we can become the ministers of reconciliation in the country of our birth.

In the musical that we have written, //ib Koasa Kare re! or We will proclaim his praise, the continuous narrative, is about a seed that is transferred, discarded and picked up again. It is a seed that refers to our God-given identity and potential. This central theme is weaved together with a description of our ancestors’ interaction with Diaz, Da Gama, Schmidt and the experiences of Krotoa and ends with the song:

Daar’s ’n fontein wat bruis In die dor woestyn Wat weer verkwikking bring Dis ’n soet fontein Wat weer sal lewe bring En van genesing sing

Daar’s `n brug wat ons weer Bymekaar sal bring Ons sal mekaar kan dra

Soos ons hande vat Sal ons van vreudge sing Dis die jubeljaar

Dis die tyd Dis die tyd Vir ’n nuwe lied Wat uit vergifnis spruit Dis die tyd Dis die tyd Sing en juig dit uit Dit is die Kairostyd.

Mr President, as a group that constitutes one component of diversity – and we are not something between white and black; we exist in our own right – we are prepared to be mobilised and to mobilise for a united South Africa where the dignity of every person shall be respected and protected. A united South Africa built on the foundation of law and justice. I do not have a problem with this part of the pledge. However, it is time to move away from yesterday and not allow the new generations to remain chained to the past. Minister Pandor must please take note: It is time for a new song. I thank you. [Applause.]]

Mr J J MAAKE: Madam Speaker, the hon President of the Republic, hon Deputy President, Ministers and fellow Members of Parliament. Today, I’m giving a speech in the second decade of our liberation; the liberation that our people fought for so hard; the liberation which saw our people lose their loved ones; which saw people jailed, hanged and maimed by a system which was declared a curse against humanity.

We are now in a democracy that had restored the dignity of our people; in a democracy that has improved the lives of the majority of our people. Apartheid was horrible, inhuman, best understood to the full by those of us who were on the receiving end of it. Today, we can proudly talk about the growth in the economy for the betterment of our own people.

Madam Speaker, the ANC government always stated as its mission the creation of a South African nation; united in diversity and located in an African context; and the main socialising vehicle in achieving this being education and skills development. Education has a primary role to play in building social cohesion in a country like ours; which is still in the process of emerging from years of oppression, inequality and indignity. How many amongst the opposition in this House ever think about anything in an African context? We talk about social cohesion; must it not be in the African context? By social cohesion, our country seems to seek to attain the following objectives: to promote social cohesion, nation-building, and national identity; eliminate poverty, unemployment and other symptoms of underdevelopment; and to eliminate racism, xenophobia and intolerance.

Social cohesion seeks to address two basic problems. The first challenge is the social fragmentation at the level of communities manifesting itself in various ways, such as: high levels of domestic violence; criminality; teenage pregnancies; decline in social values as well as decline in levels of social solidarity. The second challenge is that of building and upgrading social infrastructure in our communities.

It is gratifying to see the good work that the ANC government has done for our people. For instance, if one was to drive from Messina to the Cape, along the road there are houses which the government has built for its people. To think that those houses that one sees, because they are along that particular road, are just but a drop in the ocean.

Some in this House only see what they want to see, which can’t be very clever if it does not show any objectivity. The opposition is suffering from a shifting sense of illusion which in this country can only be cured by the people’s movement, the African National Congress. I would like to repeat that: This shifting sense of illusion can only be cured by the people’s movement which is my movement. [Applause.]

The ANC government is putting in place social mobilisation campaigns and programmes aimed at addressing nonmaterial aspects such as patriotism, tolerance, mutual respect, self and national identity, and human solidarity, which are concepts foreign to most of the opposition in this House.

As the President said in his address last week:

Yet another critical Apex Priority is the elaboration of an integrated and comprehensive antipoverty strategy that addresses especially sections of the population most affected by this scourge. This includes children, women, youth, people living in rural areas and urban informal settlements, people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, and elderly.

Though we can go on and on about our achievements, we still have areas where we lack and which we need to address. Critical elements of the war against poverty are: We need to speed up land and agrarian reform with detailed plans for land acquisition; better implementation of agricultural support services and household food support; and improving the capital base and increasing the reach of MAFISA to our people in order to provide microcredit in this sector.

It is very interesting, Madam Speaker, to note that under apartheid farmers would be afforded a 65-year lease on their farms, 65 years. But, today under a democratic government credit of this nature is not afforded to people who deservedly should be afforded these services.

When people are conquered, their history is obliterated, be it names, culture and their way of life as a whole. It is not as if these geographical places didn’t have names, but real names were simply tippexed out and all we have to do is to remove the tippex and the real names will appear.

As part of reconciliation and reconstruction, it however remains a duty of the ANC-led government to demonstrate to the people of South Africa that the process of name and renaming of our geographical places reflect the following: our culture; heritage; legends; geography; history; et cetera. The correct and accurate rendering of geographical names conveys meaning well beyond the name itself.

The process of naming and renaming of geographical places should be viewed by the masses as a national effort to build a new South Africa, which is defined by a common dream. Last year, when President Thabo Mbeki was responding to questions in this House about the naming and renaming of geographical places he said:

Part of the colonial and apartheid strategy was indeed to destroy the identity of the majority of people in this country, so that this majority should see itself in the image of the colonial and the apartheid masters. Hence, we have places such as East London, Parys and Newcastle in South Africa; because this was seen as an extension of Europe. So, naturally, it would be amiss for a free SA as an Africa country with citizens who are Africans not to address this matter. Instead the street names should either reflect names of freedom fighters or past leaders, not people who previously colonised them.

Madam Speaker, there was war in this country, like in many other countries that fought for liberation. It would be a fallacy to ever think that there was never a war. Wars of liberation have its heroes; it definitely has its veterans, war veterans they are called. In other countries these veterans are visible for everyone to see and be proud of. Veterans of the liberation struggle that we can talk about include Solomon Mahlangu, Vuyisile Mini, Hogia Hende in Angola, Josia Magama Tongogara in Zimbabwe, Didan Kimati in Kenya, Amilcar Cabral in Guinea Bissau, Alexander Matrosov in the Soviet Union, Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique.

I’ve never heard any of the opposition talking about any of these heroes. Is it because they don’t like them, or is it because they have some other heroes that they can’t talk freely about? [Laughter.] War veterans who sacrificed their lives for freedom and justice in many countries enjoy benefits, for example, free public transport, medical aid, war pensions, and so on.

The ANC government definitely needs to be looking at this critical issue and have it resolved as of yesterday. There is no way in which this issue can be wished away lest it comes back and haunts us in the future.

Our health services have significantly improved. How many clinics do we have in villages? When I grew up there was no clinic in any village as far as I can remember. What distance did our people have to walk, be they sick as they would be, in order to reach a medical facility? Is there anyone in this House who can disapprove of what I’m saying? In the village that I come from - I come from Shiluvane in Tzaneen - we had two hospitals less than 500 m apart from each other: one for Tsonga-speaking people and one for Northern Sotho speaking people, whilst hundreds of villages didn’t have any hospital around. That is what the Bantustan system had done to people’s lives.

The last time I talked to … [Time expired.]. Thank you.

Ms L L MABE: Speaker, hon President and all members of Parliament, …

… ke rata go simolola ka gore maru ga se pula mosi ke one molelo. Maru a a ntseng a duma a, re utlwa e kete pula e etla go tswa kwa makokong a kganetso fa ba tshosetsa Maforika Borwa ka Kgwerano, a tlisa pula ya dikgadima. Ba tsositse modumo mme ba ba tlhaloganyang dipolotiki tsa Aforika Borwa ba tlhaloganya sentle gore ga se pula. Fa e ne e le molelo re ka bo re bona ka mosi. Fa go ne go tuka ka fa ntlong ya ANC re ne re tlaa bona ka mosi gore go na le molelo. Jaanong maru a a dumang a, ga a re tshose gonne re le mokgatlho wa ANC, re tswa kgakala ka go lwela tokologo le gore batho ba rona ba tshele botoka.

Ke rata gore ke re go Moresitente, selo se se botlhoko se diregile mo malatsing a a fetileng kwa Skierlik, kwa Swartruggens. Fa re ka ikgatolosa selo seo re le maloko a Ntlo e, re tla bo re sa dire tiro ya rona sentle. Kgethololo e e sa ntseng e le teng mo lefatsheng la rona e e neng e bonagala maloba kwa Swartruggens, kwa Skierlik, fa motho a bona go le matshwanedi gore a tseye tlhobolo ya gagwe, a tsamaye a ye kwa go nnang batho ba bantsho - … (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)

[… I want to start off by saying one swallow does not make a summer. There is a commotion from the opposition parties who are threatening South Africans with an alliance. They are making a lot of noise but those who understand South African politics know very well that this means nothing. If there was a fire, we would have noticed by the smoke. If something was to come of their noise, it would have manifested itself earlier. If the ANC was on fire, we would have been aware. We, the ANC are not scared, because we have been fighting for freedom and a better life for our people long before this commotion started.

I would like to say this to the President: Something terrible happened in Skierlik in Swartruggens in the past few days. If we, as members of this House, ignore this thing, then we would not be doing our job. Such discrimination which still persists in our country was visible in Skierlik in Swartruggens, where a person saw fit to take a gun and shoot black people in their own area …]

… people who are ravaged by poverty; people who are ravaged by inequality because they live in an area where they cannot get services - the farmers who live there do not want to make it possible for them to get services.

Motho a bo a tsaya tlhobolo ya gagwe a bolaya batho ba mo malatsing a a fetileng a neng a ba rekisetsa dikgogo a dira madi, e a swabisa. O ne a tsenwe ke eng?

Ke rata gore e re fa ke ntse ke bua, le tseye kgang e ya kwa Skierlik le e beye fa pele ga lona jaaka setshwantsho, le lebe gore a naa tse re di dirang re le Maloko a Ntlo e, segolo jang bao re ganelang gore kgethololo e sa ntse e le teng, di siame. Kgethololo e sa ntse e le teng mme ga re batle go amogela le go e lwantsha. Rona re le mokgatlho wa ANC, re amogetse gore e a tshela mme re tlile go e bolaya. Re tla kgotsofala fa re e ripitlantse. [Legofi.]

Fa re re magora go ša mabapi, re kaya gore … (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)

[It is embarrassing because the previous day he was making money by selling chicken to the same people whom he killed with a gun. What got into him?

Whilst I am still talking, I would like you to visualise the picture of Skierlik and look as to whether what we are doing as members of this House is right, especially those who still refuse to believe that discrimination still exists. We don’t want to accept the fact that discrimination still exists, so that we can fight it. We, as the ANC, have accepted the fact that it still exists and we are going to get rid of it. We will only be satisfied when it is finally defeated. [Applause.]

The saying that people living together should help each other implies that …]

… an injury to one is an injury to all. That is why it is important for all of us to assist those who are still experiencing racism in our country. We must assist them in our constituencies as Members of Parliament. That is why it was important for me and hon Chauke to be absent from this House to ensure that we were with those people of Skierlik and to ensure that they got justice.

For your information, I was really disappointed to hear a prosecutor saying that there was no need to interpret in court so that victims could understand what was taking place in court. I was really disappointed when the prosecutor said that as long as the perpetrator and the lawyer of the perpetrator understood, that was what was important. What about those who were suffering? What about those who lost their family members? Didn’t they have the right to understand and hear what was taking place in court? Didn’t they have the right to understand, in their own language, when the prosecutor stated what the person was being accused of?

I also want to say that maybe it is time for this House to amend the Constitution. Section 35 of the Constitution says that those who are accused must understand the proceedings in court in their own language. It also says that they must have a legal practitioner to represent them. I think, …

… mme Mabandla, a go tsenyeletswe mo Molaotheong gore batlhokofatswa le bona ba direlwe molemo, ba bone kemedi ya semolao. Re seke ra e dira ka Victims’ Charter mme re e dire ka Molaotheo gore le bona ba sireletswe. E re fa batho ba Skierlik ba sena go bolaelwa ba masika, ba sena go gobatswa, ba bo ba itse gore ba tla kgona go bona kemedi ya semolao go tswa go boto ya Legal Aid.

Batho ba le bona ba gololosegile go tswa mo mofuteng ofe kgotsa ofe wa dikhuduego. Re le ANC re dira boikuelo gore rona ba Lefapha la Bosiamisi le Tlhabololo ya Molaotheo, fa re le kwa kgotlatshekelo re reeditse, re tshwanetse go akanya gore batho ba le bona ba na le tshiamelo ya go tshela, e seng fela yo o dirileng selo se. Le bao ba tlhokofetseng ba na le tshiamelo. Fa re tsaya ditshweetso re tshwanetso go gopola gore batho ba ba latlhegetsweng ke matshelo a bona ba na le tshiamelo ya go tshela mme molao o tshwanetse go tsena mo tirisong.

Le ena mosimane yo - ke tsaya gore ke mosimane ka gore fa e ne e le monna wa dilemo di le 18, yo o nang le maikarabelo, o ka bo a sa dira selo se - o na le lebadi la kgethololo mo tlhaloganyong ya gagwe le a sa le lemogeng, mme lebadi leo ga le a tshwanela go nna seipato mo kgotlatshekelo gore a seke a bonwa molato jaaka e bile ramolao wa gagwe a re a tlhatlhobiwe go bona gore a o itekanetse mo tlhaloganyong.

Nare ke goreng fa motho yo mosweu a bolaya yo montsho go bo go twe a tlhatlhobiwe go bonwe gore a o feletse mme yo montsho fa a bolaile yo mosweu go bo go sa twe jalo? Goreng? Go raya gore ga re tseye batho ka go lekana ka ntlha ya mmala wa bona. Kgang e e ntseng jaana ke selo sa dingwe tse re tshwanetseng go bua ka tsona. Ke tla tla ka tshitshinyo ya gore re tle go buisana ka kgethololo gore re bone gore re gatetse pele go le kana kang. Ee, re gatetse pele ka go e lwantsha fela re tshwanetse go bua ka yona. E ke Palamente ya Batho, ka jalo … (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)

[… Ms Mabandla, let the Constitution also include compensation and legal representation of the victims. We should not do it through the Victims’ Charter but rather through the Constitution so that they too can be protected. This should send a clear message, especially after the members of the Skierlik family were killed and injured, that they can get a representative from the Legal Aid Board.

These people should also be protected against any form of violence. The ANC would like to remind the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development that, while we are sitting in courts listening, we also have to realise that not only the perpetrator but also the deceased have the right to live. When we make decisions, we should also consider the fact that the deceased also had the right to live and the law has to intervene.

Even the accused – whom I still regard as a boy because a man who is 18 years of age acts responsibly, and would not have committed this crime - has been indoctrinated to discriminate and he is not even aware of it. However, the manner in which he was raised cannot to be used as a scapegoat to avoid prosecution. His lawyer suggested that he go for psychiatric evaluation.

Why is it that when a white person kills a black person, it is said he should go for psychiatric evaluation but when it is the other way around, psychiatric evaluation is not suggested. Why? This is a clear indication that we do not treat people equally because of their skin colour. This is one of the issues that we have to talk about. I will come up with a suggestion as to when we are going to talk about discrimination and how far we have come. It is true that we have made progress in fighting it but we still have to talk about it. This is a People’s Parliament, now …]

… let us speak for the people who elected us.

Ke rata go boela kwa lebakeng la bokamoso jwa diporofense ke re, rre Poresidente, ke gakgamadiwa ke gore goreng go sa buiwe ka kgang ya go kgabaganya magora [floor crossing]. Re e tlositse ka gonne ga baa bolo go ngongorega ka yona. Ba bua ka ditshweetso tsa Kokoano ya 52 ya ANC tse di leng maleba kwa go bona. Ga baa bolo go ngongorega ka go kgabaganya magora. Goreng ba sa ngongoregele gore go fedisitswe? Goreng ba sa ngongorege?

Ke sa ntse ke le emetse gore le re, le e fedisitse ka bonako jo re sa bo solofelang.

A re lebeng kwa diporofenseng. Rona re le ANC ga re ise re re re batla diporofense. [Tsenoganong.]

Ga re ise re re re a di batla! E ne e le gore re nne le tharabololo ya dipuisano tsa rona. Mo nakong e di re tliseditse mathata. Sa ntlha, batho ba rona ga ba batle melelwane e. Ga ba e rate! Ke ka moo o bonang go nnile le go sa iketleng kwa khutsong le kwa Matatiele. Batho ba rona ba batla ditirelo tse di botoka. Ke sona se ba se batlang. Ba ikitse e le Maaforika Borwa e seng batho ba diporofense tse di rileng.

Selo se se re tliseditse mathata e bile se sa ntse se tlile go re tlisetsa mathata ka gonne fa re tshwanetse go dirisa madi a puso go thusa batho ba rona, a tshwanetse gore a fete kwa diporofenseng. Fa a feta kwa diporofenseng dilo di a ema ka gonne go na le mofuta o dilo di dirwang ka one gore batho ba bone ditirelo.

Re tla e tlhokomela ntlha e. E ke Palamente ya batho. Re sa ntse re tla buisana ka kgang e go bona gore ke molemo ofe o diporofense di nang le ona mo bathong ba rona, go dira gore ba bona ditirelo tse di botoka fa re sa ntse re na le madi a go ba thusa. Re tla boela kwa go yona mme nka itumela fa lo ka ipaakanya, lwa tsaya marumo a lona. Le tla kopana le mokgatlho wa ANC … [Nako e fedile.] [Legofi.] (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)

[I want to go back to the future of provinces and say to Mr President, I am amazed as to why we are not discussing the floor crossing issue. It is against this background that we got rid of it because they were complaining. They are talking about the resolutions of the 52nd ANC conference which are relevant to them. They have long been complaining about floor crossing, why don’t they complain when it no longer exists? Why are they not complaining? I am still waiting for you to say that you discontinued it faster than it was anticipated.

Regarding the province issue, the ANC never said it wanted provinces. [Interjections.] We never said we wanted them! It was a way of finding a solution to our discussions, now they just brought us troubles. Firstly, our people do not want these geographical borders. They hate them! That is why we experienced the uprising in Khutsong and Matatiele. Our people want better services. They see themselves as South Africans and not people from certain provinces.

This matter has brought us and will continue to bring us problems because although we should be spending government funds on services for our people, the funds first have to go to the provinces. When the funds go via the provinces, services collapse because there is a system that has to be followed for people to be provided with services.

This is the People’s Parliament and we will ensure that this issue is taken care of. We will still hold discussions around this issue in order to find out how the provinces benefit our people, to ensure that they receive better services while there are funds available to do so. We will revisit it and I would be pleased if you are prepared to discuss this issue. The ANC will engage you on this matter … [Time expired.] [Applause.]]

Mr S SIMMONS: Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, colleagues, I believe we have, in this House, moved beyond establishing that we first find ourselves in a crisis in more than one regard. Every party has thus been eager to propose all kinds of solutions to the problems and challenges we face. Some of these proposals were insightful and others crippled by sheer political opportunism.

It is also apparent that we lack, in this House, the basic skills for problem solving. It was interesting, but not surprising, to note that most of what is suggested is nothing more than quick fixes. What is required is to acknowledge the root of the problem first. The NA believes that the essence of the challenges and problems lie in the government’s denial that one of its ideological foundations is the major cause of the poor and shameful state of affairs in this country. More specifically is the fact that the government’s transformation model presents a colossal obstacle in the path of achieving the goal of a better life for all. I want to emphasise that transformation as a principle is not a problem, but the model favoured by the governing party is a problem. Rethink this obsession with transformation coupled with improved planning and we would find ourselves in a total different situation in this country.

We have been bombarded in the last few years with what government perceives as progress made. Unfortunately, doing the bare minimum and representing it as progress is not enough. I say bare minimum because with a vibrant democracy and the economic growth of the last few years, the poverty indexes should have reflected a different story.

Die negatiewe toedrag van sake in ons land word aangehelp deur ondoeltreffende opposisie in hierdie Huis. In plaas van deurdagte, ewewigtige en blywende bydraes kry ons voorstelle van gevestigde partye wat niks minder as oppervlakkige kommentaar lewer nie.

Dit is interessant om daarop te let dat sedert die Nasionale Party nie meer met meer as 20% steun die grootste opposisieparty in hierdie Huis is nie, die groter opposisiepartye se gesamentlike ondersteuningsbasis gedaal het. In werklikheid het die ANC-regering se ondersteuningsbasis in hierdie Huis vergroot van meer as 60% tot meer as 70%.

Net soos Suid-Afrika ’n nuwe regering benodig, benodig ons ’n nuwe, meer doeltreffende amptelike opposisie, soos waarna die agb Green verwys het. So ’n alternatiewe opposisie sal die weg baan vir ’n toekomstige nuwe koalisieregering wat ongetwyfeld meer verteenwoordigend sal wees van al Suid-Afrika se mense. Tot dan sal ons nog ’n hele tydjie die onbeholpenheid van die ANC moet verdra. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The negative state of affairs in our country is ably assisted by the ineffective opposition in this House. Instead of well-thought-out, level- headed, enduring contributions, we get proposals from established parties that are nothing more than superficial commentary.

It is interesting to note that since the National Party no longer is the largest opposition party in this House with more than 20% support, the larger opposition parties’ joint support base has decreased. In reality the ANC government’s support base has grown in this House from more than 60% to more than 70%.

Just like South Africa needs a new government, we need a new, more effective official opposition, as referred to by the hon Green. Such an alternative opposition party will pave the way for a new coalition government in the future that will undoubtedly be more representative of South Africa and its entire people. Until then, we will still have to suffer the ineptness of the ANC for quite a while. I thank you.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Madam Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, hon members. The President’s state of the nation address calls for all South Africans to unite as never before to meet the challenges facing our country. Our national success depends on the determination of government, the private sector and civil society in addition to that of ordinary individual citizens to stand up, take and make progress for the benefit of South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

The serious problems and vital issues before us compel me to reflect on the crucial role of Parliament in attaining our common objective of a better life for all.

The 18th century British statesman and political philosopher, Edmund Burke, wrote: “Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, but a deliberative assembly of one nation with one nation with one interest, that of the whole.” And so it is today. We may be elected from different provinces and different parties but we represent one South Africa, a successful South Africa. [Applause.]

I ask my hon colleagues to consider the special responsibility of Parliament to provide leadership, to set the example of unity for national progress and growth.

Sections 55 to 57 of our Constitution give powers to the National Assembly. Hon members will agree that we still have a great deal of work ahead of us, despite real time constraints. We are going to need devoted and committed members to go the extra mile at all times.

McAnda quotes Robert Sobukwe at Fort Hare in 1949, and he says:

We want to build a new Africa and only we can build it. Let me plead with you, lovers of my Africa, to carry with you into the world, the vision of a new Africa, an Africa reborn, an Africa rejuvenated, an Africa recreated young Africa. We are the first glimmers of a new dawn, and if we are persecuted for our views, we should remember the African saying that “It is darkest before dawn”. Let us not fail the leaders who came before us. [Applause.]

Hon members, we are the first glimmers of democracy. Let us ensure that future generations will remember us with pride as they enjoy the sweat of our toils. Let us be proud of our efforts and continue to defend our gains while we confront our challenges.

How far have we come? When we first met in 1994, it looked like working together as different parties was impossible, because of what we all went through before democracy. But we did leap over that hurdle because, hon members, it is not about us; it is the nation we must think of at all times. As we conclude our term, not too long from today, it should be with pride that we return to our constituencies, to men and women who will be proud of the work done on their behalf. Our work here at home and elsewhere in the world speaks volumes. It cannot be a mistake that so many countries have such a lot of confidence in us. We are an example to the world that, irrespective of our past, we will, as a collective, give our best to the country, Mr President. We can still do much better, especially in this Assembly, where we have the opportunity to express the will of the people on whose behalf we legislate.

One of our most pressing tasks is to bring material fruit to many South Africans who remain very poor; that is all they are asking for.

We join you, Mr President, in the war against poverty. As South Africans, we are the troops in the national war room. Those amongst us who are adept in war are used like the snake of Mount Chang: when struck on the head, its tail attacks; when struck on the tail, its head attack; when struck in the centre, both head and tail attack. [Applause.]

Sun Tsu speaks about the snake in his book The Art of War.

We are ready, more than ever before. We will demonstrate that, like the snake of Mount Chang, we are capable of instantaneous co-ordination. We are unstoppable as this collective in the fight against hunger, poverty and squalor.

We must drive poverty and hopelessness out of our communities. Don’t pass that little girl who goes to school without shoes or the boy whose pants are torn. Make it your business. But, above all, we must bring skills to the communities so that they end up generating income for themselves.

Maloba re ne re gateletswe, mme go bontsha gore tsotlhe tse re neng re di batla re ne re di batlela Aforika Borwa, re batlela Aforika Borwa batho botlhe ba Aforika Borwa, re ne ra bona le manaba a maloba a tla mmogo go rotloetsa puso ya batho. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)

[In the past we were oppressed but it shows that all that we wanted was a South Africa of all the people. We even saw our former enemies coming together to encourage the government of the people.]

Together, we buried apartheid, and we gave birth to democracy. Mr President, we stand head and shoulders with you in the fight against poverty. We are in the national war room against poverty.

I reiterate: Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, but a deliberative assembly of one nation with one interest, that of the whole. [Applause.] Parliament’s approval of Bills means that there is no law in this country which has not gone through our hands. We provide directives to the administrative bodies for the execution of government policies.

As it is Business Unusual for the executive and the country, the burden is doubly on us. We need to be ready.

The legislative function of Parliament is very important. We need to ask ourselves the following as representatives of the people: Did I do what I’m expected to do by the electorate?

Was I available to say: “Yes, Mr President, these 24 apex areas are important?” And as a voice of the voiceless masses of our country, will I go an extra mile to ensure that, when my tour of duty has ended, I will be remembered with pride, as a person who represented a party which left no stone unturned in pursuit of a better life for all South Africans, or did I just enjoy the muffins and coffee and no work?

To be able to achieve most of the work facing us this year, we need a vibrant Parliament. We need members committed to their committee work. This year, we do not want to hear that a committee could not meet because there was no quorum. When that happens, we need to be mindful that we are betraying the confidence of our people. When the departments come to brief members of Parliament, they should find them. And when questions are put in the House, the executive should be here to answer them, unless that is completely unavoidable.

In order to assist members in their tasks, we have launched the Leadership Development Programme, which is empowering members with the skills necessary for the performance of their functions.

Democracy needs, amongst others, good leaders. The attention to systematic development of leaders and the concept of actually leading, rather than managing or administering, is increasingly becoming a priority as we are faced with the challenges thrown up by efforts to ensure continuous social justice in our society.

We as Members of Parliament need to provide the leadership for long-term change that we need in the country. We need to raise the levels of consciousness of our citizens about the importance of Parliament and its role in enhancing good governance and what has been the concern of very many of our citizens, service delivery.

Mr President, about 60 of our MPs graduated from Rhodes University last year. [Applause.] A total of 23 MPs satisfied the requirements for a Diploma in Economics with the University of the Western Cape; 12 MPs satisfied the requirements for Honours in Economics with the University of the Western Cape. [Applause.] All things remaining the same, there will be a big graduation ceremony on 28 February. [Applause.] I met with the Vice- Chancellor of UWC this morning, and it looks like it’s possible.

On 10 May 2004 former President Mandela, at a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, in his address to commemorate 10 years of a democratic South Africa, said:

My wish is that South Africans never give up on the belief in goodness, that they cherish the faith in human beings as a cornerstone of our democracy. The first value mentioned under the founding principles of our Constitution is that of human dignity. We accord a person dignity by assuming that they are good, that they share human qualities we ascribe to ourselves. Historical enemies succeeded in negotiating a peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy exactly because we were prepared to accept the inherent capacity or goodness in the other.

As this collective, we can make a lot of things happen, so let us not doubt the strength that lies within each and everyone of us.

In fact, the respect commanded by South African MPs is enormous. All the international forums our MPs engage with elect them to positions of leadership. Among those we count the SADC, the Pan-African Parliament, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

This morning our Parliament engaged in yet another significant and potentially enormously constructive engagement: Hon Rebecca Kasienyane, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Labour; Hon Zoe Kota, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Housing; hon Ruben Mohlaloga, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs; hon Connie September, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry and I met with the ambassador of Indonesia, the High Commissioner of Malaysia, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore and the Ambassador of Vietnam, to discuss matters of mutual interest to our parliaments and to see how we can help each other. [Applause.]

I can say with pride that those hon members represented all of you in such a wonderful manner.

Further evidence of the stature of the South African Parliament and the leadership which this House gives internationally is to be found in the fact that, in April this year, we will be hosting the 118th Inter- Parliamentary Union Assembly here in Cape Town. This is a significant forum which brings together 148 national parliaments from around the globe, and serves as an important forum for inter-parliamentary contact. This will be the first time that South Africa is the host.

There is an enormous amount of work ahead. We will not hesitate to tackle it. It is for the interests of South Africans that we will join you, Mr President, in rolling up our sleeves and getting down to work for the betterment of our people.

Batho ba Aforika Borwa ba itse sentle gore puso e, e dirile go tlala seatla. Ba a lo rata lona baemedi ba bona. Le itlhoba boroko, le itlhobela Aforika Borwa wa gaetsho. Re a leboga, le ka moso bagaetsho. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.) [South Africans know very well that the government has done a lot for them. They like their representatives. You work tirelessly for the sake of our country. We thank you for that.]

Up, let your face be bright, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is shining on you. Thank you, Mr President. [Applause.]

Mr R COETZEE: Madam Speaker, the ANC has never been more dismal in a state of the nation debate as it has been in this one. The implication is that deep down the ANC knows the truth, which is that our ship of state is not on course; it is off course and in perilous waters, and in danger of running aground.

The ANC lacks the moral courage and humility to accept reality and take responsibility – and the hon Chohan in particular seems to have a problem with taking responsibility. So each ANC speaker stands up here and dissembles, denies and dismisses criticism with self-righteous contempt. But, let’s look reality in the eye for a moment.

The reality is that the ANC’s attachment to what it calls “the national democratic revolution”, and in particular its policy of deploying loyal cadres to institutions - under the Constitution - that are meant to be independent of the ruling party, is a direct assault on the Constitution. The NDR, national democratic revolution, is an anticonstitutional power grab. The hon Cronin needs to know that, and he needs to give it up.

The reality is that the power outages across South Africa are caused by a dismal failure of leadership and lack of vision and planning in the face of clear warnings. The outages are not an act of God; they are not the consequence of economic success; and they are most emphatically not, and I quote: “a mere engineering solution to an engineering problem.”

The reality is that corruption has become part of our national culture as a direct consequence of the ANC elite’s lust for money. The arms deal and the cover-up of its corruption is a festering sore on the visage of the ANC and a blight on the reputation of our country. That’s actually the reality out there.

The reality is that we are failing in the fight against crime because the Minister responsible is complacent, if not a somnambulist. Our security agencies are at war with each other because the country’s top cop is in league with a drug lord.

The reality is that our education system is failing; our response to Aids is too little and too late; our labour market regime is job-denying; our Public Service is incapacitated; and our foreign policy is too often an embarrassment.

The ANC, today, is characterised by arrogance, incompetence, carelessness, greed and denial. And that’s the moral high ground you’re on, hon Minister of Safety and Security, and I trust you’re enjoying the view from up there.

Who is to blame for this reality: Is it apartheid? Is it the opposition? Is it the media? How about big business? I put it to you, Madam Speaker, that the ANC is to blame; the responsible Ministers are to blame and the President is to blame. You see, the flipside of winning power …

The SPEAKER: Order, hon member, there’s a point of order being raised! What is the point of order?

Mr H P CHAUKE: Madam Speaker, the hon member says that the ANC is arrogant. You see, when you say that a movement of this nature is arrogant … [Interjections.] … No, no, wait! I’m not done with my point of order yet. He said this with his hand in the pocket, pointing at these hon leaders who have sacrificed so much that today he is able to stand in that podium and say that they are out of order … The SPEAKER: Hon Chauke, that’s not a point of order. Continue, hon member.

Mr R COETZEE: The flipside of winning power, hon Chauke, is that you have to take responsibility for what you do with it. It’s just not credible, Prof Asmal said, “to employ the tired trick of measuring the present against the apartheid past” and say that 2008 is better, as, quite obviously, is 1968, ’78 and ’88, and then drawing the false and illogical conclusion that the ANC in power has achieved what it should have achieved by now.

The trouble with the ANC is that it labours under the delusion and the idea that it governs by some kind of divine right, as if it is a matter of destiny that the ANC should represent the majority of South Africans. Hence, Mr Zuma’s, or should I say Rev Zuma’s, fatuous boast that “the ANC will rule until Jesus comes”, because who needs accountability when you’re going to win. Who needs to listen to alternative views? Who needs to be mindful of criticism? And so we arrive at the arrogance of power.

The ANC will pay a price for its arrogance. I’m here to tell you – and it’s going into the Hansard record – that one day the ANC will wake up to find that the voters have moved on. I’m actually trying to give you some helpful advice, you might want to listen.

The leadership will find itself stranded with its BMWs; its bodyguards; its Johnnie Walker Blue Labels; the detritus of a forgotten liberation movement, a vanguard party no more.

It may not happen next year; it may not happen the year after, but happen it will, because the greatest enemy of corrupt, incompetent and arrogant governing parties is not the opposition, but time. From the moment they’re elected, the clock starts ticking. The moral capital with which they began is progressively squandered. Slowly the patience of the people trickles away, and then the unthinkable happens, and the powerful come crashing down. You need to listen to this!

It’s a great irony that a party with so much belief in the primacy of history, with a capital H, should have so little sense of it.

Madam Speaker, the President is fond of poaching. Perhaps it’s time that his party contemplated the words of Shelley’s Ozymandias, which I’m going to read you now:

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatterd visage lies, who’s frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things, The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.

That, Madam Speaker, is the epitaph that one day will be written on the gravestone of the ANC. [Applause.]

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Ke batho ba mme. [They are my people.]

Somlomo wePhalamende, Mongameli wezwe lakithi, Phini likaMongameli, oNgqongqoshe namaPhini oNgqongqoshe, amalungu onke eNdlu lena eshaya umthetho, bantwana bakaMakgatho oLuthuli noTambo, … (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[Madam Speaker of Parliament, President of our country, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Members of the legislature, children of Makgatho, Luthuli and Tambo …]

Perhaps the hon Coetzee needs to be told that the reality is that we are changing South Africa from what it was as a result of his forefathers. [Applause.]

The ANC has declared 2008 as the year of mass mobilisation to build a caring society and advance in unity towards 2012. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed this year as the International Year of Languages. It is against this backdrop that I make my contribution on the mass literacy campaign dubbed the ``Kha Ri Gude Noma Masifunde Sonke’’, initiated by the Department of Education. The target of this campaign is to reach 4,7 million adults who are illiterate by the end of 2012. It will provide access to basic literacy and numeracy to the people of our land. This is the most revolutionary task and investment we can make in ordinary people in order for them to enjoy their hard-won freedom.

Our revolution and its defence thereof would never succeed if our people remained ignorant. In the true spirit of mass mobilisation, all of us need to take up this campaign to ensure that South Africans, all of us, …

… siyafunda. [… we are learning.]

In the 8 January statement of the ANC, the movement said:

As the ANC, we must applaud this initiative and work to ensure its success. We must encourage people to participate in this campaign, and provide whatever assistance we can at a local level to facilitate its implementation.

Again, we need to ensure the mass involvement of the people in the programme to save energy in the country. To this extent, we need to heed the call for us to save energy and observe the ten points which Minister Sonjica has raised. When we criticise electricity shortages, we need to, as well, take into cognisance that, so far, for the past 13 years, the government has been involved in the Integrated National Electrification Programme, which has made it possible for ordinary South Africans to have access to electricity.

It must be weighed against the assertion by the former government, which proclaimed that people have access to electricity. We must emphasise that the democratic government, when it took over, wanted people to have access to electricity because there was no such thing as access to electricity, and that access to electricity informed the mothballing of mainly three power stations in Mpumalanga. We need to remind this House of the 1998 White Paper on Energy, which dealt with diversification of the generation capacity of electricity. Government availed 30% of power generation to independent power producers - no one today raises a no-show by the private sector – and the initiative was led by the Department of Minerals and Energy. [Interjections.] I am coming to you. The issue about this gives us another challenge, the challenge which we need to start tackling, especially this year, of the electricity distribution industry. So it’s really laughable to listen to some of the posturing here, which people have displayed. If you take the ID, for instance, it called on the government to step down. You can see that it’s just wishful thinking, and by the way, even the person who raised this was so afraid to come up with this proposal that she made it a point to give it to the Deputy Chief Whip behind closed doors, because she couldn’t stand here, hold her head up high and say what she was saying. She was the victim of circumstances, because they rushed to the media, and put targets they know they can’t fulfil.

We need to commend the hon Holomisa for keeping the ANC always in the news. He has left now. [Interjections.] He makes the task of the spokesperson of the ANC very easy, because it’s always on the agenda. He’s doing quite a good job. [Interjections.] Even when there is a thunderstorm, he blames the ANC. It gives the ANC a name, that he believes in the ANC and that it has these supernatural powers. It can deal with everything and all the problems of society. [Applause.] He has no idea of what he stands for, and because of that, he falls for everything. That is the highest degree of political opportunism we have ever had.

To you, hon Madam … What’s her name? [Interjections.] We need, again, to say sorry. This is the only organisation which, as the ANC, must say that they’re sorry to the DA. We are so sorry that the President disappointed them. They wanted to see a much divided ANC with a President who was supposed to pronounce on what their leader has said the President must pronounce – the stopping of the national democratic revolution. We’re sorry.

This freaks them out, because this unity of the ANC which is so needed by this country with this alliance is a pain in their ankle. [Interjections.]

We are also told about individualism, that we are here as individuals, and that people should have individual posturing and so on and so forth, but what has happened is that we have been oppressed as a nation. We have not been oppressed as individuals, as they say. Therefore, what has been central to us is this building of the nation, and ensuring that Africans, and not individuals, rejoice in the freedom of their labour.

I heard from the UCDP, from the hon Mfundisi. I don’t know what kind of South African would rejoice when the national team struggles, because it is the national team for all of us. I can only sum it up in one way:

Ke batho ba me. Tsa me. [They are my people. It’s mine.]

We need to deal with these conservative ideologies. We are a people, caring and sharing, which has always been the African perspective and principles of the way of life. So, there is no way that we would be talking and looking at ourselves as individuals.

I want to know from Mr Simmons why the model the ANC is following on transformation is the wrong one. He didn’t provide us with an alternative model. I think we need to restate, so that he perhaps knows better, because on this we owe no one any apology: Ours is about the liberation of black people in general, and Africans in particular, to create a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa. So, he shouldn’t do as the DA has done and call for early elections. People are calling for early humiliation, really. We can’t do that. I think there is something wrong in that, because why would you call for your own misery. [Laughter.] It really doesn’t make sense. [Applause.]

Enkosini yakwaButhelezi, uMntwana wakwaPhindangene, mangithi cha, baba, sibonile nezinto obuphawula ngazo sizizwile kodwa asivumelani nawe. Sicabanga ukuthi kuningi osekwenziwe kule Ningizimu Afrika entsha. Ngingakagxili lapho kakhulu ngizocela nje ukuthi mhlawumbe njengeqembu siyibuke lento. Intsha yakithi kufanele siyivikele. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[To the Buthelezi chief, Prince of KwaPhindangene, let me say, hon member, we have seen and heard about the things that you are commenting on but we disagree with you. We think that there is a lot that has been done in the new South Africa. Without focusing much there, perhaps let us look at this issue as a party. We must protect our youth.]

We must protect our youth. We can’t use young people as political footballs. The Secretary-General of the ANC received a letter from Miss Winnie Ntshaba, who plays Kethiwe in Generations, who apologised profusely saying that she was unaware of the script she was reading. So, really, let us protect them. We fought so hard for this freedom. We wanted the talent of young people to be at the disposal of the nation, not to destroy it.

It is very difficult …

…ukufundisa abantu asebebadala intando yeningi … [… to teach elders about democracy.]

… because this is democracy here, multiparty democracy. We are coming from the past, which is very painful, which we can’t keep on talking about and keep on glorifying.

In practice here, we are teaching particularly …

… ubaba uButhelezi ukuthi … [… hon Buthelezi that …]

… multiparty democracy is not what we had in the KwaZulu legislative assembly in the former Bantustan, where you had a one party organisation. It was a one-party state.

So, this is in contrast to what is happening in South Africa where the Premier – the Premier, for instance, who has always been attacked here is the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal - Manzankosi, u-Comrade Ndebele - is a Premier who is working to build the province of KwaZulu-Natal. As the province says:

Asisukume sakhe. [Let us stand up and build.]

This is what we are doing there in the province.

Since the ANC took over, there have been many changes of Premiers. So we don’t want to enter into these discussions because we can go to town on it. Part of the reason why some of us got into the struggle was because of the reality back there, both at the level of the apartheid government and the Bantustan government of the KwaZulu legislature. [Time expired.]

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 19:01. ____

            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) Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill [B 21B – 2007] – Act No 1 of 2008 (assented to and signed by President on 12 February 2008).

TABLINGS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces

1. The Minister of Finance

(a)     Government Notice No 99 published in Government Gazette No
    30715 dated 31 January 2008: Determination of limit or remuneration
    for purpose of determination of contribution in terms of section 6
    of the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act, 2002 (Act No 4 of
    2002).

1. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development

(a)     Proclamation No R.37 published in Government Gazette No 30521
    dated 27 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(b)     Proclamation No R.38 published in Government Gazette No 30521
    dated 27 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(c)     Proclamation No R.39 published in Government Gazette No 30521
    dated 27 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(d)     Proclamation No R.40 published in Government Gazette No 30521
    dated 27 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(e)     Proclamation No R.41 published in Government Gazette No 30521
    dated 27 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(f)     Proclamation No R.44 published in Government Gazette No 30527
    dated 28 November 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).




(g)     Proclamation No R.45 published in Government Gazette No 30552
    dated 7 December 2007: Referral of matters of existing special
    investigating unit and special tribunal in terms of Special
    Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No 74 of
    1996).


(h)     Proclamation No R.17 published in Government Gazette No 30664
    dated 11 January 2008: Amendment of Proclamation in terms of
    Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996 (Act No
    74 of 1996).

COMMITTEE REPORTS

National Assembly

1. Report of the Committee on Public Accounts

An error occurred in the heading to the Fourteenth Report of the
Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which was published in the
Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports of 8 February 2008. In
the third line of the heading, the words “Department of Public Works”
should replace “Department of Trade and Industry”. The following is the
correct report:


Fourteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the
Consideration of the Approval of the Unauthorised Expenditure incurred
by the Department of Public Works, dated 29 January 2008:

The Committee considered unauthorized expenditure relating to  previous
years. It  also  considered  evidence  of  the  following  unauthorized
expenditure totaling R 299, 218,429.94 that arose owing to overspending
on programmes and losses, and reports as follows:

 1. During the 2001/02 financial year, an amount of R 41, 770, 429.  94
    represented unauthorized expenditure. That amount consisted of:


       1. R 32, 738,000.00  related  to  inadequate  budget  allocation
          received for the lease obligations of the National Government
          ; and


       2. R 9,032, 429.94 related to overspending  on  losses  approved
          for write-off or  which there were no funds available.

    Recommendation

    1.3      In light of the above, the Committee recommends that:
          i. Parliament approves the total  amount  of  R  41,770,429.94
             relating to the 2001/02 financial years.
         ii. The Accounting Officer recovers  the  losses  in  terms  of
             Treasury Regulations 12 or finance the write  off  relating
             to losses from savings.

 2. During the 2002/03 financial year, an amount of R 227, 088,  000.00
    was incurred due to amongst  other  things;  lease  not  adequately
    funded, improving capacity of municipality, damages and losses, and
    criminal acts and justice claims.


 3. During the 2003/04  financial  year,  an  unauthorized  expenditure
    amounting to R 30, 360, 000.00 was  incurred  due  overspending  on
    capital  and  maintenance  budgets  and  more   significant   over-
    expenditure on its property rates and municipal services budget.

    The Accounting Officer confirmed that:
      a) Services for the expenditure were received to the  satisfaction
         of the Department;
      b) No individual benefited unduly from such expenditure;
      c)  Control  measures  were  in  place  to   prevent   this   from
         reoccurring.

    Recommendation
    Having  considered  the  evidence  and  the  steps  taken  by   the
    Accounting  Officer  to  prevent  similar  cases  of   unauthorized
    expenditure from recurring, the Committee recommends  the  approval
    of the amount of R 257, 448, 000.00 by Parliament.

Report to be considered.