Singapore Study Tour Report; Brackendowns SAPS Station Petition Report

Meeting report

The Chairperson declared the meeting open and welcomed all present.
 
She requested that an item be added to the agenda where members of the Committee may say a few words on the departure of Ms Hicklin from the Committee.

Singapore Study Tour Report
Ms Nola Matinise and Mr Shuaib Denyssen (Committee Secretary and Content Advisor respectively) presented the report to the Committee.

The Chairperson thanked the Committee staff for presenting a detailed and precise report. It painted a picture even for those who were not part of the study tour.

Ms M Hicklin (DA) thanked the Committee Secretariat for an excellent report. It captured the essence of what Members experienced.

She referred to page 13 where it stated that Singapore was a perfect example of where expropriation without compensation works. She concurred with this observation but it needs to be put into context. Singapore is a dictatorship. It Is not a democracy like we have in SA. The government takes all decisions, end of story. Yes, there is a degree of interaction and people play a part in deciding things but it is within set parameters. It is not like in SA, when we did public consultation. That did not happen in Singapore. They are 100% ruled by the government and therefore it is a dictatorship. When the Singaporean government or council decides that they are going to upgrade building A and move people to another area, you may be given a choice of what area you want to move to. She accepted this but there is an element of the Group Areas Act that goes with it. She is saying this because the government determines the racial and ethnic profile of the people who are going to be living in that building: so many Singaporeans, so many Malaysians, so many foreigners etc..You are not given free reign in terms of who your neigbours are. They determine the make up of the population of people who live in that building in a government housing initiative. When you are buying in a private area, you are paying exponentially more than what you would pay in a government housing initiative but then you can more or less choose your neighbours.

Ms Hicklin referred to page 22 where it mentions the different types of flats available. She pointed out that a single mother with more than 1 child was not allowed to own more than a 2-bedroom flat in a government-owned housing scheme. She felt this needs to be put into context as well. The Singaporean government favours the family structure so a single mother that would need three bedrooms could not buy herself but can only do so with a friend in a government-subsidised apartment.

She loved Singapore. The country has so much to offer but there are subtleties that need to be noted.

She referred to page 24 and the reference to the education system in Singapore. It is one area where South Africa could really benefit from. The one thing that stood out to her is that education is a priority and the country is driven by the maxim of creating a workforce we want. This determines the types of jobs that will be created and therefore the types of skills that will be cultivated. That means the upskilling of all workers is encouraged, automation is used at all levels to alleviate mass job creation projects and education is provided to the youngest determined by the job needs of the country and the future. In essence, education and upskilling mean re-skilling the nation for the future. They take how they believe Singapore should look in five years and change their school curriculum to accompany what their vision is going to need. They push the particular skills in their schooling system to ensure that when the learners leave school, they have the skill set to facilitate them moving to higher education with those skill sets already.

Another thing that stood out for her is when you look at the developments in the multiplex complexes, even the wastewater that comes out of the toilets, has multiple uses. They use the bulk waste to drive electricity and the waterwaste gets recycled and gets put back in the system for industry use. Every single solitary part of Singapore is geared to a re-use, recycle mentality. Nobody drops anything on the ground. There is no litter. It is a total mindset that is ingrained in Singaporeans from the time that they are young.

She also mentioned that buildings are built upwards and the areas underground are used for other purposes i.e. recycling plants or underground transport. There is amazing landmass use in Singapore and South Africa can learn a lot.

She reiterated that the report was outstanding.

Ms L Mjobo (ANC) welcomed the report. It was a true reflection of what Members had seen. She indicated that Ms Hicklin had covered her, especially concerning expropriation without compensation and land use in Singapore.

The Chairperson stated that Singapore has its own sovereignty.  The democracy we have for South Africa is the democracy for South Africa. We need to respect their system. While we may not like their democracy, we can not say they are a dictatorship. The report has been captured clearly and gives a picture to anyone who was not there.

Members must appreciate that Singapore’s education system is done in a way to create jobs in the near future and not only for now. Having the Higher Education Committee Chair go there is something that can be looked at.
           
When it comes to expropriation without compensation, the Committee has always maintained that it is good for our country. We have seen how it has been applied to benefit people in Singapore.

Mr T Mashele (ANC) said that he appreciated the manner in which the report was drafted and that the Chairperson had summarised matters well.

Ms S Van Schalkwyk (ANC) thanked the committee staff for the detailed report. She noted that there has been an elaborate focus on social housing and the different types of infrastructure that they have in Singapore. She did not see anything in relation to health and safety infrastructure, specifically in terms of clinics, hospitals, and police stations to get an idea of best practices that they can learn from. It has been mentioned in the report that there are no illegal immigrants or porous borders. Do we have an indication of their ports of entry infrastructure in order for the country to benchmark accordingly?

Ms Hicklin responded that every housing estate has access to a primary a healthcare facility, or clinic, or hospital within a 4-minute walk or drive. That is incorporated in every solitary building estate, whether private or house built by the government. In terms of your central provident fund that every work contributes to, a portion (whether is it 6 or 8% every month) covers your medical. Your medical is provided by the state automatically. The contributions to the central provident fund is: 20% is paid by the individual and 17% is paid by the employer. The central provident fund is used to fund medical, retirement, and the deposit on the flat. That it is automatically included. It is almost free access to healthcare right across the board.

Ms Hicklin pointed out that the biggest problem Singapore has in accessing meat from South Africa is that the SA State Vet has not signed off the paperwork for us to export meat to Singapore. That is the only thing lacking in terms of export from South Africa and she has referred this to her colleagues in the Agriculture committee to pursue.

The Chairperson mentioned that Singapore has a low crime rate. She noted that when you commit a crime, there is public caning and this discourages people from committing crime. When they were there, a female was executed for dealing with drugs. It is a country that does not tolerate any type of crime.
She added that Singapore’s borders are not porous and you will not be allowed to go there and commit crime.

The report was adopted for consideration by the National Assembly.

Read: ATC230830: Portfolio Committee on Public Works: Report on a Study Tour to the City-State of Singapore, Dated 30 August 2023

Brackendowns SAPS Station Petition Report

Mr Denyssen informed Members that they had already been through the report previously. He advised
that the Secretary to the National Assembly has advised that the Committee must present the report to the National Assembly for consideration and not to be noted. The change will ensure that the report becomes a resolution of the House and will place an obligation on the Executive to action the recommendations.

The Chairperson proposed that a recommendation be added to ensure compulsory follow-up visits to the police stations in Ekurhuleni.

On advice of the support staff, it was agreed that the report be approved with the adjustment that it be adopted by the National Assembly and that follow-up visits be added to the Committee programme and not to the report.

Read: ATC230831: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure on a petition tabled by Ms T Bodlani, Democratic Alliance, dated 18 May 2022

Committee Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2023 was adopted.

Farewell messages to Ms Hicklin

The Chairperson informed the Committee that Ms Hicklin was appointed Deputy Shadow Minister for Health and will therefore no longer serve on the Committee. She will be replaced by Ms Wendy Alexander.

The Chairperson congratulated Ms Hicklin on her new appointment and thanked her for being a dedicated member of the committee. Other members of the Committee commented on their enjoyable working relationship with Ms Hicklin and wished her well.

The meeting adjourned at 11:16