Hansard: NCOP: Debate on Child Protection: Working together to protect our children
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 26 Oct 2011
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
The Council met at 14:05 in the Old Assembly Chamber.
The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
NOTICES OF MOTION
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
START OF DAY
APPOINTMENT OF THE HON E VAN LINGEN AS LEADER OF DA IN THE NCOP
(Announcement)
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, before we begin with the motions, allow me to express a word of congratulations to one of our members who, I am informed, is the new leader of the DA in the National Council of Provinces. Based on the outcome of elections held this morning, Mrs Van Lingen has been elected as the leader of the DA in the NCOP. [Applause.]
Afrikaans:
Agb LEDE: Hoor! Hoor! [Tussenwerpsels.]
'n AGB LID: Malibongwe! [Gelag.]
English:
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Alright, alright. Mr Van Lingen, congratulations. [Interjections.] Oh, sorry, Mrs Van Lingen, congratulations, and I think we will have a very good working relationship, as we have always had with Mr Wattie Watson ... [Interjections.] ... who, I believe, will be leaving us in the near future. [Interjections.] I did not want to say that until he had left us. Anyway, he is still with us. Congratulations, and let us continue making the NCOP an institution at work and proceed with our work in an efficient and effective manner. Congratulations, once more.
NOTICES OF MOTION
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
ANNOUNCEMENT
NOTICES OF MOTION
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chair, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the Council-
(1) notes that the national spokesperson of the DA, Ms Lindiwe Mazibuko, who is a political novice with no constituency, has won the contest for the position of caucus leader in the National Assembly against veteran DA member and leader, Athol Trollip, who has represented the party in Parliament for two years and serves as the DA leader in the Eastern Cape;
(2) further notes that several DA stalwarts had favoured the election of Athol Trollip as DA leader in the National Assembly, citing Mazibuko's lack of political experience, interference and political manipulation by their DA leader and Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille, and that Mazibuko's election is foisted upon the DA membership for affirmative action and quota reasons;
(3) takes this opportunity to congratulate hon Mazibuko and all the other leaders – that includes Mr Watson – who were elected with her, for winning the leadership race of the DA caucus and wishes Ms Mazibuko well and hopes that she begins to help transform the DA into a nonracial party and preach a voice of racial tolerance and recognition of the need for all sectors of our society to move away from our tragic divided past; and
(4) recognises that she has allowed herself to be used for quota reasons and as bait to attract other nonprogressive young people. As we used to say in the past, if one is wearing those multicoloured socks that unjengo Ree Malumi, noShakes no Mgababa, because they are that – it is Ree, Shakes and Mgababa.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, you are aware that we have a very long programme ahead of us. [Interjections.] Please, in order to accommodate quite a large number of you who have motions, try to shorten your motions, if you can.
Mr S H PLAATJIE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL
Mr S H PLAATJIE: Chair, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council-
(1) debates that the move by the North West Department of Education of transferring unqualified National School Nutrition Programme, NSNP, personnel to the Integrated Quality Management System, IQMS, as co-ordinators without proper processes defeats the objectives of the system;
(2) further debates the parking of principals of so-called trapped high schools at primary schools for mentoring programmes without considering the conditions of service; and
(3) calls on the national Department of Basic Education to fast-track the educator development programme intended to capacitate principals and to intervene to stop this double-tipping and wasting of public funds.
Mr F ADAMS
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
Mr S H PLAATJIE
Mr F ADAMS: Chair, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting of the Council I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the Council-
(1) notes that, given the recent reports by Human Rights Watch and others on the abuse of farmworkers, and given the DA's evasive reaction and denial of such abuses, it is significant to note that the wife of the Western Cape leader of the DA and MEC for Health, Mr Theuns Botha, has allegedly recently assaulted and unfairly dismissed one of their farmworkers working in their garden when she threw a cup of hot coffee at him, fired him there and then and chased him off their farm, leaving him destitute;
(2) further notes that Mr Botha, in an alleged attempt to silence the worker and prevent him from reporting the matter to the police and laying charges against Mrs Botha, and further to prevent him from disclosing the incident to the media and others, Mr Botha allegedly arranged that the worker be bribed by offering him temporary free accommodation;
(3) further notes that the alleged abusive and unlawful behaviour of Mrs Botha and the ill treatment of and aggression towards their farmworkers in general is not only inhumane but unlawful and in contravention of the Bill of Rights, as enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa;
(4) submits that it is in the public interest to expose the DA and, in particular, Mr and Mrs Botha for their alleged unlawful and inhumane actions and that the incident be properly investigated by the Public Protector, the Human Rights Commission and the SA Police Service, and that appropriate steps be taken and charges be laid against Mr and Mrs Botha, including charges of bribery and corruption; and
(5) calls on the DA to heed the call by the Western Cape MEC for Agriculture, Mr Gerrit van Rensburg, when he called for assistance in bringing the alleged perpetrators of violence against farmworkers to book, and further calls on the DA to act accordingly.
Mr M W MAKHUBELA
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
Mr F ADAMS
Mr M W MAKHUBELA: Chairperson, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council-
debates the fatalities and danger caused by stray animals on our national roads, with specific reference to Limpopo province and the hotspots on the national roads from Polokwane via Moeketsi to Giyani, Malamulele and the Kruger National Park; Polokwane via Vleifontein-Elim to Thohoyandou; Tzaneen via Dzumeri to Giyani; Witpoort to Thohoyandou and Ndzhelele; and from the Strydom tunnel up to Tzaneen.
Ms B P MABE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
Mr M W MAKHUBELA
Ms B P MABE: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the Council–
(1) notes that scores of ANC Youth League supporters from various provinces started gathering at Beyers Naudé Square in central Johannesburg this morning, ahead of an "economic freedom youth mass action" march;
(2) further notes that the ANC Youth League members are expected to march from Beyers Naudé Square to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton, and then to Pretoria, where a night vigil is to be held prior to a march on the Union Buildings tomorrow; and
(4) takes this opportunity to express its support for and confidence in the ANC's:
(a) commitment and tireless efforts to transform South Africa from long years of systematic apartheid neglect;
(b) continued leadership in redressing the social exclusion that many of our people suffered under apartheid; and
(c) ensuring that all sectors of our nation, particularly marginalised communities and individuals, continue to experience social advancement and that their lives change for the better.
Mr K A SINCLAIR
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 426
Ms B P MABE
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Hon Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council-
(1) debates the lack of water experienced by 3 000 households for six weeks in Sedibeng and Geelboom near Kuruman in the Northern Cape;
(2) acknowledges the increasing frustration of residents forced to travel long distances to fetch water of poor quality;
(3) notes the paralysis by the local municipality, led by the ANC, to fix the water problem, and their continual blame-shifting;
(4) considers the poor planning and lack of leadership that has led to delays in infrastructure upgrading;
(5) debates the need to accelerate access to basic human rights; and
(6) further debates the progressive realisation of the Bill of Rights in the communities of Sedibeng and Geelboom.
Mr D A WORTH
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr K A SINCLAIR
Mr D A WORTH: Hon Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the Council-
(1) notes that at the 2011 Green Drop Awards, which examine the state of water treatment plants, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, stated that the number of waste-water plants assessed had increased from 449 systems in 2009 to 821 at present;
(2) further notes that the Minister said the report showed that the number of waste-water systems that scored more than 50% had decreased from 49% in 2009 to 44% in 2011;
(3) notes even further that the Minister said that this highlighted the lack of human capacity and inadequate maintenance of treatment systems and that water treatment systems in the Limpopo and Free State provinces were particularly bad, scoring only 24% and 32% respectively;
(4) recognises that the Western Cape was given 19 Green Drop Awards, the highest for any province in 2011;
(5) ensures that urgent attention is given to this problem in provinces that fared poorly, with regard to these inadequate waste-water systems.
Mr D V BLOEM
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr D A WORTH
Mr D V BLOEM: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council-
(1) debates the critical role that the ANC Women's League Union Buildings march of 1952 played in sparking the consciousness movement against the then apartheid government;
(2) further debates the critical role that the ANC Youth League's Union Buildings march tomorrow will have in sparking the consciousness movement against the current democratically elected government, led by their mother body, the ANC;
(3) notes that this march of the ANC Youth League tomorrow indicates clearly that the ANC government has failed to deliver on their promises;
(4) further notes that the issue of unemployment among the youth is real and many people, including Deputy President Motlanthe, have warned that it was a ticking time bomb and something had to be done immediately.
Mr D B FELDMAN
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr D V BLOEM
Mr D B FELDMAN: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the Council-
(1) debates the lack of appropriate dispute resolution measures at the iconic Gautrain service in the Gauteng province;
(2) further debates the inability and lack of vision shown by management to implement such appropriate structures and measures, which could have prevented a crippling strike;
(3) notes the damaging effect this saga will have on the image
Mr R A LEES
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr D B FELDMAN
Mr R A LEES: Hon Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the Council-
(1) notes the election of the hon Ms Lindiwe Mazibuko as Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament;
(2) congratulates the hon Mazibuko on her election as Leader of the Official Opposition and wishes her well with the job of leading the DA into the future as the future government;
(3) also notes the stated intention of the hon Mazibuko to appoint the hon Mr Wally Watson as the Chief Whip of the DA, an appointment that will result in the hon Watson leaving the NCOP to move to the National Assembly;
(4) extends its heartfelt thanks to the hon Watson for the many years of dedicated service to the NCOP;
(5) congratulates him on his imminent appointment as the DA's Chief Whip and extends its best wishes to him in the task that lies ahead in the NA;
(6) assures him that this House has no doubt that he will do an excellent job in the NA, as he has done in the NCOP; and
(7) also assures him that we are confident that he will ensure, wherever he can, that the role of the NCOP in Parliament is recognised and used to ensure that the interests of provinces are fully taken into account.
MOTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr A LEES
DISCLOSURE OF EMPLOYEE'S HIV STATUS TO EMPLOYER
(Draft Resolution)
Ms B V MNCUBE: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council–
(1) notes with utter dismay that a member of the hospital staff of the Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria has informed the employer of a domestic worker, who is a mother of five, that she is HIV positive;
(2) further notes that when she returned to work her boss yelled at her, "You are dying and you are pregnant."
(3) also notes that this behaviour not only infringed on her human rights but also humiliated her and contravened the Employment Equity Act, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee on the grounds of his/her HIV status; and
(4) notes even further that a complaint was laid with the Human Rights Commission, but nevertheless calls on the Departments of Health and of Labour, as well as the Public Protector, the Treatment Action Campaign and the SA Domestic Service and Allied Workers' Union to investigate the incident and take harsh action against the hospital staff member and the employer of the worker.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr M J R DE VILLIERS
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Ms B V MNCUBE
DRUG DEALERS FOUND IN POSSESSION OF COCAINE IN KNYSNA
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J R DE VILLIERS: Chairperson, I move without notice on behalf of the DA:
That the Council-
(1) notes that the 1 716 kg of cocaine found in the possession of people in Knysna is a very worrying situation;
(2) further notes that the strategy to use smaller harbours, such as Knysna, tells us how sleazy the drug dealers are and that our law enforcement people must have knowledge of and put their hands and ears all over every possible avenue these drug dealers may be using;
(3) calls on the courts, magistrates and judges to deal with drug dealers with all the powers given to them by the law of South Africa, as this will send a clear message to any drug dealer that our courts will have no mercy on them when they are found guilty.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr M P SIBANDE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr M J R DE VILLIERS
LAUNCH OF LOW-COST AIRLINE VELVET SKY
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M P SIBANDE: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council-
(1) notes the launch of the low-cost airline Velvet Sky, which will introduce new competition on the coastal routes between Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth;
(2) further notes that the first Velvet Sky flight is scheduled to leave from King Shaka International Airport to Port Elizabeth on Friday, 4 November and that the Cape Town to Durban route will start on 7 November; and
(3) acknowledges that the launch of low-cost airlines will reduce the huge increases in airport tariffs and expand job opportunities for our people.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr D D GAMEDE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 427
Mr M P SIBANDE
ANC LEADERSHIP IN KZN CRACKS WHIP ON POOR SERVICE DELIVERY
(Draft Resolution)
Mr D D GAMEDE: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council-
(1) notes that the ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal has cracked the whip on poor service delivery and has warned councillors who fail to deliver services;
(2) further notes the announcement by KwaZulu-Natal Premier and ANC provincial chairperson, Mr Zweli Mkhize, at a local government summit recently that the ANC government in KwaZulu-Natal will intervene appropriately where necessary and will deal with maladministration and corruption, regardless of who is involved;
(3) also notes the Premier's advice to councillors to detect problems in their municipalities early and seek help and assistance when necessary;
(4) supports the Premier in his call; and
(5) calls on the SA Local Government Association, councillors, municipal managers, management and all municipal officials and other role-players to ensure clean, transparent, effective and efficient governance, financial management and service delivery.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr D A WORTH
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
Mr D D Gamede
THE FAILURE OF AUTHORITIES TO DEAL WITH ILLEGAL MINING PROBLEMS IN MATJHABENG, FREE STATE
(Draft Resolution)
Mr D A WORTH: Chairperson, I move without notice on behalf of the DA:
That the Council –
(1) notes with concern the apparent inability of the authorities to deal effectively with what is known as the zama-zamas and the illegal mining problem in the Free State's Matjhabeng goldfields area;
(2) further notes that many of these individuals are also illegal immigrants who are responsible for other crimes such as cable theft, which affects service delivery;
(3) acknowledges that the greatest cause of concern is that murder has significantly increased in the area, in Welkom from 25 to 47 murders, Thabong from 52 to 62 murders and Henneman from three to six;
(4) therefore calls on the SA Police Service to work closely with other departments, such as Home Affairs, Minerals and Energy and Environmental Affairs, to deal with the so-called zama-zamas and problems of illegal mining; and
(5) recognises that mining company such as Harmony Gold must also be held accountable because they are responsible for the rehabilitation and security of mines after the closure of shafts.
Motion agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr M P JACOBS
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
Mr D A WORTH
BRUNO AND RUI SCHWALBACH'S PARENTS DIE IN A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT IN JOHANNESBURG
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M P JACOBS: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the Council:
(1) notes with sadness that two rising karate stars, brothers Bruno and Rui Schwalbach, returned home from the World Champions in Malaysia on Monday, 17 October 2011 as orphans;
(2) further notes that the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, SASCOC, reported that the siblings' parents, Zito and Christian Schwalbach, died in a car accident on 9 October, shortly after the departure of Bruno and Rui as part of the South African national team;
(3) notes that the Schwalbachs spent a night in Johannesburg after dropping off their sons at OR Tambo International Airport and were involved in a head-on collision the following day on their way home to Winburg in the Free State and both died on the scene; and
(4) takes this opportunity to extend its sincere condolences to the boys and the rest of the family during this difficult time and wishes the boys well for the future.
Motion agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution.
Ms E C VAN LINGEN
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
Mr M P JACOBS
CONGRATULATIONS TO CAPE TOWN FOR WINNING THE BID FOR THE WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL 2014
(Draft Resolution)
Ms E C VAN LINGEN: Chairperson, I move without notice on behalf of the DA:
That the Council –
(1) congratulates the Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, on winning the bid for Cape Town as the World Design Capital for 2014;
(2) notes that the DA-led City Council will have six major events spread over a couple of months and at various venues to ensure that this international event will be inclusive and readily accessible to all the people in Cape Town, where each and every designer will be given the opportunity to participate with planned exposure to designers in township;
(3) wishes the people of Cape Town well in their preparations for yet another world-class event in Cape Town, in the Western Cape and in South Africa; and
(4) that it is events like these that bring economic prosperity to our people.
Motion without notice will now become a notice of a motion.
Mr B L MASHILE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
Ms E C VAN LINGEN
THE SUCCESSFUL HOSTING OF THE GOOD GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE BY THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR
(Draft Resolution)
Mr B L MASHILE: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council–
(1) notes that the Public Protector hosted a conference on good governance from 17 to 18 October with the theme "Strengthening Synergies and Leadership in Ensuring Public Accountability";
(2) further notes that the conference was attended by institutions supporting democracy, also known as Chapter 9 institutions, nongovernmental organisations, Members of Parliament, councillors, members of the executive and members of the judiciary;
(3) notes that the conference was a resounding success and that it reached a shared understanding and commitment to continue to advance our national efforts to ensure good governance, accountability, leadership and requisite moral standards and conduct in our country;
(4) takes this opportunity to reaffirm that corruption, fraud and unethical conduct, both in the public and private sector, undermine our democracy; and
(5) commends the Office of the Public Protector for its tireless efforts in enhancing public trust in our institutions of democratic governance and our national integrity systems to manage public resources with the utmost responsibility and accountability.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
MOTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER - The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
MOTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Mr B L MASHILE
JOINT SITTING TO BID FAREWELL TO THE HON JUSTICE SANDILE NGCOBO AND WELCOME CHIEF JUSTICE MOGOENG MOGOENG
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council–
(1) notes that the President of the Republic of South Africa has, in terms of the Constitution and the Joint Rules, called a Joint Sitting of the two Houses for Tuesday, 1 November 2011, at 14:00 to bid farewell to the Hon Justice Sandile Ngcobo, the retired Chief Justice of the Republic of South Africa, and to welcome Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng; and
(2) resolves, subject to the concurrence of the National Assembly, to invite Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to attend and participate in the Joint Sitting of the Houses on 1 November 2011.
Question put: That the motion be agreed to.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Motion agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 428
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES TO VISIT KWAZULU-NATAL FROM 7 TO 11 NOVEMBER 2011
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council, in terms of Rule 21(2) and in the interest of enhancing public participation, conducting oversight and providing a platform for consideration of issues affecting provinces as provided for in section 42(4) and 72(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 –
(1) resolves to, from 7 to 11 November 2011, conduct public hearings, hold meetings, conduct oversight visits and sit in plenary in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on 8 and 11 November 2011, at 16:45 and 09:30 respectively, until the conclusion of business on those days; and
(2) notes that the estimated cost of effecting the change in venue and maintaining it for the specified period will be R8 million.
Question put: That the motion be agreed to.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Motion agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution.
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION – DEPUTY MINISTER OF POLICE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 429
MOTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER
WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN
(Subject for Discussion)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF THE POLICE: Chairperson, Members of Parliament, comrades, ladies and gentlemen and our guests in the gallery, please allow me to begin on an optimistic note, even amidst the horrendously violent attacks on and the abuse and murder of our children and youth that we have seen particularly over the past weeks in South Africa. Chairperson, it is a fact that since 1994 the ANC-led government has done, and is still doing, everything in its power to protect its children and young people, giving them priority them and putting them at the heart of all our national policies.
Indeed, South Africa is one of the few countries in our continent that have aggressively pursued the idea of citizenship as including children and the youth. The newly formed Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities is one important structure that this government mandates to formally articulate and recognise the aspirations, needs and conditions of our children and youth in South Africa.
Today, in this House, we find ourselves debating, discussing and reminding our people, our communities and our entire nation that a society that does not care about the wellbeing of its children is a society without a future. These are the wise words of a novelist from Cameroon, Calixhe Beyale, and they are words that we as a nation need to quickly find resonance with, lest we plunge our future into ultimate doom.
If we take note of just the three young victims who have been killed on 7, 11 and 12 October respectively, then we will realise that they are all confirmed as being under the age of 9. And if we care to probe further into the nature of their murders, we will find three startling facts. The first fact is that family members, relatives, parents or mothers account for most cases of horrific child abuse. On 12 October 2011, a mother disposed of her newborn baby in a dam.
Secondly, the abuser is often someone whom the child is familiar with and trusts. In this instance, the abuser uses the child's vulnerability and affection to his advantage. On 7 October 2011, Athenkosi Nkone, a four-year-old, was called into the perpetrator's shack for sweets. The perpetrator slit the child's throat and put the child's body in a suitcase.
The third fact is that child molesters silence their young victims as ruthlessly as they can. On 11 October 2011, Zikhona Qhayi, an 8-year-old, was strangled after being sexually assaulted. This brutal perpetrator sexually harmed and then killed Zikhona to silence her forever and prevent her from telling anyone about the molestation.
Here we are in this House today, asking ourselves, asking the whole nation, what had prompted these monster child molesters and killers to steal the blessing of innocence and replace that innocence with unimaginable fear, hurt and permanent damage to the young bodies of these children. Some will immediately reply that all gender-based violence derives from or is caused by gender inequalities in a patriarchal society. Some of us will surely go further and say that socio-economic hardship is the cause of the social ills and evils we see today.
When we start asking what the first line of defence against child abuse and murder is, some of us here will say that people must bring an abused child to the attention of the appropriate authorities. Some will say the police must do their job and apprehend these monsters who are child molesters and killers. But, at best, all of the above may contribute in preventing an abused child from suffering further harm. All in all, it is what I call a late intervention.
Colleagues, comrades, as the Ministry of Police and in my capacity as the Deputy Minister of Police, our message to this House today is that the greater good is to prevent child abuse before it occurs. Nothing beats proactive solutions and interventions.
What do I mean by proactive interventions? First, all primary professionals such as police officers, teachers, nurses and day-care workers who regularly come into contact with children must be adequately trained in child-abuse recognition and prevention. Second, centres such as the Thuthuzela centres and the SA Police Service, SAPS, Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit must be utilised maximally to assist and prepare communities and families for the job of nonabusive child rearing. These facilities must be used to equip parents with adequate knowledge and parenting skills. So far, since last year November, we have re-established these units in all nine provinces. We have just started with the recruitment of people with special skills to get, for example, more social workers and psychologists into our system and we are equipping our police officers with the investigative skills that we think they are still lacking.
Thirdly, we have structures within the police such as the SAPS Women's Network and the SAPS Men for Change. These must partner with other civil society structures to bolster a community that is supportive; a community that can provide children with the safe and nurturing environment they need to grow into healthy, self-sufficient adults.
Chairperson, colleagues and comrades, we must acknowledge one thing in this House. Yes, our respective capacities and responsibilities as Members of Parliament, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and public servants such as nurses, teachers and police officers are very clear under the Constitution and related laws of the Republic. However, saving young lives from abuse surely must be more than the statutory protections of a child. Saving a young life is fundamentally about doing what is right and not what we are forced to do or what we are legally bound to do. We must always do what is right.
It is about stressing the need to revive our fundamental value that says: "My child is your child, and a child is raised by the whole village." What is right is a child being given the opportunity by his or her community and family to grow up healthy and safe. As such, the whole nation of South Africa has no greater responsibility than the protection of its children against all forms of violence and abuse. Central to this community obligation is the action-oriented government structures and programmes of education and advocacy that provide the necessary supportive resources for ensuring the safety of our children and restore the dignity of those who survived the horrible ordeal of abuse and violence.
Innovative intergovernmental programmes such as the Victim Empowerment Programme, referred to as the VEP, are such structures where survivors of child violence and abuse can receive immediate and long-term care and counselling. I must say today in this House that when it comes to such victim empowerment centres, Limpopo is doing a very good job.
This programme not only assists the police by providing a centralised facility where police investigators can meet with the victim and gather evidence but these centres also bring together all relevant legal and medical agencies and departments into a single space. This provides better assistance to the victim and also facilitates criminal investigation. The right thing to do in these VEP centres is for the people who have been delegated to help the survivors of these sex-related crimes to be motivated, compassionate, diligent and dedicated in their work.
We also urge that public servants should premise their motivation on the belief that the child survivor has the right to privacy, safety and human dignity. They must know that it is extremely difficult for a child to report sexual abuse. The child may not even understand that what has happened is not normal or acceptable. Hence we urge those people who work with children to be aware that they should always be alert for any opportunity to aid the child who attempts to disclose or report abuse. The child's need for support and protection must come first.
We know that many adults have a tendency to overlook, discount or disbelieve allegations of sexual abuse, especially when the perpetrator or molester is a family member or a law-abiding, seemingly respectable, nice and normal person. In such instances, we assume the child is lying. We must know that children rarely lie or invent stories on their own about being sexually abused. They rarely do that. A child cannot always come up with such a story.
Now and again we plead with our communities to work with the police to fight crime of all types, because it is a fact that police officers can never be on all street corners, in all schools, in all homes, nor in our bedrooms, to fight the scourge of child abuse. Last month I met with the commander of the SAPS Nyanga cluster and his detectives, who were investigating the case of a 21-year-old victim – Chief Whip – of this province. The victim's name is Nontsikelelo Tyatyeka and her decomposed body was found in a rubbish bin a year after she was murdered by a childhood friend simply because she was a lesbian.
I asked the lead detective who discovered the remains whether he received any counselling after discovering the almost skeletal body. To my horror, he said no. As police leadership, we have been urging police management to make sure that our police officers are well nurtured and their general wellness sustained at all times.
You can just imagine what it must have been like when they opened the dustbin. Because it is so hot in a dustbin, the bones were like isuphu ngaphakathi [soup inside], and the police officer is then expected to take out what is in that dustbin. Given all this, there is nothing that we, the leadership, are doing with regard to counselling to make sure that we prepare them before they go to such scenes.
Extreme exhaustion and shock can cause a police officer to suffer loss of sleep, heightened anxiety and a poor diet, resulting in an irritable, aggressive and short-tempered police officer. We complain that amapolisa aseNyanga awasihoyi, ayadineka sithi [Nyanga police do not attend to us; they are snappy towards us]; they are doing this and that, but the blame is with us as leadership. For them to be able to assist us, we need to look after their wellbeing. Through the SAPS wellness programmes, which will be rolled out in all cluster police stations, we will make sure that the wellness and needs of our police officers are fulfilled, so that our men and women in blue continue to do the sterling work of reducing all types of crime in our country.
In conclusion, as this ANC-led government continues to respond to the calls of our people for a more visible police force patrolling local areas and protecting them against crime in all its forms, we are also calling on communities, parents, community leaders and all professionals who work with children to assess community risks and protection factors. As government we say that every one of us has a role to play in helping our children and youth acquire quality life skills so that South Africa can one day be counted as one of the best places in the world for a child to enjoy his childhood and a young person to enjoy being a young person. [Applause.]
Ms B P MABE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 430
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF THE POLICE
Ms B P MABE: Chairperson, I thought the Minister will end her debate by saying enough is enough. The icon of our revolution, Nelson Mandela, once said, "There can be no keener revelation of society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." This statement must form the premise of this debate as we engage with the issue of working together to protect our children. It will provide the cornerstone for our endeavours to protect the wellbeing of our children.
Despite a world-renowned Constitution and a legislative overhaul that safeguards children's rights, South Africa still has high levels of violence against women and children. The key issues that must be considered if child protection is to be ensured are child abuse and neglect, child survival, human trafficking, missing children, and parental care and responsibility.
I will focus on children living in especially difficult circumstances and their need to be protected; on the categories of children who are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect, and I will attempt to give a brief description of the legislative framework that outlines the rights under which the protection of children in our country is safeguarded.
The South African government has responded to the protection of children in various ways. The South African Constitution contains a number of socioeconomic rights that only apply to children. In terms of section 28(1)(c) every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services. The Constitution also contains the right to life, in section 11, and the right to equality, in section 9. It further requires the interpretation of rights to consider international law. South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It is also a member of the African Union and as such committed itself to implementing the Millennium Development Goals and the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
The South African government also has specific laws that protect children from maltreatment, abuse, neglect and degradation that are currently in place, including but not limited to the following: The Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act, Act 32 of 2007 deals with the extension of the definition of rape; consensual sexual acts with certain children; sexual exploitation of children; National Register of Sex Offenders; human trafficking; medical and counselling services for victims and the compulsory HIV testing of alleged sex offenders.
The Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, is an overarching piece of legislation that enhances child protection. This Act outlines that decisions should be made in the best interest of a child and that each child has the right to participate in decision-making that affects him or her. The Act also changed majority age from 21 years to 18 years and further obliged government to ensure substantive equality and equal access to social services for children with disability and chronic illnesses.
The Act further provides the following: early childhood development programmes; partial and foster care services; prevention and early intervention services for vulnerable children; protection services for abused children; support groups for child-headed households; partial and secure care facilities and adoption.
The Child Justice Act, Act 75 of 2008, deals specifically with children and youth in conflict with the law and was drafted to bring legislation in line with the provisions of the Constitution, particularly those pertaining to children's rights. These include the minimum age of criminal responsibility; assessments for all youth and children awaiting trial; references to the relevant international treaties; the importance of diversion programmes; and access to identification of documents.
Furthermore, our government has identified key departments providing the programmes and services intended to protect children. These fall primarily within the government's social, justice and crime prevention cluster. To this end, I wish to speak briefly about each of the lead departments within these clusters in terms of the policies, programmes and services that are in place and aim to protect children.
The Department of Social Development renders services that give effect to the right to social security and social services, which include child protection services provided to all children in need of care; the Draft Policy Framework and the Strategic Plan on the Prevention and Management of Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation, which was compiled with the aim of reducing the incidence of abuse and neglect and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.
The National Child Protection Register, as prescribed by the Children's Act, records vulnerable children under the age of 18 years who are in need of care and protection.
With regard to Isolabantwana [Eye on the Child], the department funded the South African National Council of Child Welfare to institute a prevention programme in communities to eliminate child abuse and promote child protection. The programme aims to provide a safety net for children within a community where services and support can be provided to children who are at risk on a 24-hour basis and in areas where resources are limited. Furthermore, the department also funds Childline South Africa, a nongovernmental organisation rendering statutory services for the protection of children.
The Department of Health provides services that give effect to the right to health care. In terms of child protection, the Department provides preventive and curative health care services. This includes rendering services such as, but not limited to, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, post-exposure prophylaxis to rape victims, antiretroviral treatment and acute medical care to children who have been abused or injured.
The Department of Police is providing services, programmes and projects aimed at crime prevention and combating, at both provincial and station level, with the target of reducing contact crime, particularly against children. I won't go into details here because the Deputy Minister has outlined that very well.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development aims to uphold and protect the Constitution and the rule of law, and to render accessible, fair, speedy and cost-effective administration of justice in the interest of a safer and more secure South Africa. This department has placed crimes against women and children high on its agenda and is prioritising issues such as public communication about services and assistance for victims of crime; services related to maintenance; sexual and domestic violence; and other issues affecting social vulnerable groups.
In addition to this, and to ensure that child protection is mainstreamed and highlighted, we continued to host Child Protection Week, which runs from 23 May to 1 June every year. This culminates in the celebration of International Children's Day on 1 June every year.
On 1 June 2011 at Soshanguve in Pretoria, Gauteng Province, the Department for Women, Children and Person with Disabilities launched the Study on Child Killing. This was done commemorating the Day of the African Child, International Children's Day and Child Protection Week.
In conclusion, despite the legislative framework, interventions and programmes, we continue to see the prevalence of child abuse and murder. This is illustrated by recent SA Police Service statistics that the number of children murdered increased by 14,5% and attempted murder by 42,3%. Specifically, the number of children murdered increased by 122 cases from 843 to 965 and attempted murder from 782 to 1 113 cases. This is not acceptable. Investigations have revealed that children are murdered by people known to them as well as by strangers.
We therefore have a responsibility to ensure that all children's rights must be protected and not violated. We should use both local and international legislative tools as part of our daily discourse and incorporate an understanding of human rights in all debates and discussions. This discourse should filter through into our oversight function as well by ensuring that issues related to children are investigated through the lens of children's rights. This holistic approach is a significant stepping stone toward achieving the protection of all children. Enough is enough. [Time expired.]
Mr C J Van ROOYEN
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 431
Ms B P MABE
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: Chair, let me stand on the other side; I don't want to be standing on your side, hon member ... [Laughter.] Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, MECs, members, ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, please turn on your microphone. The discussion is being recorded. [Interjections.] In that case, use another microphone.
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, MECs, members and comrades, all human beings have certain basic needs. Among these are the needs for shelter, security and food. Children, as the most vulnerable group of society, need to feel safe and grounded. This, along with the basic need for food, shelter and health care, gives children the roots for healthy growth and development. Therefore the support of their parents and society as a whole is critical.
Nonetheless, deepening child poverty, children going to school on empty stomachs, child welfare services struggling to sustain their critical services and high levels of child abuse suggest that we need to pay a lot more attention to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. The status of children not only serves as a test of our society's morality but also provides a glimpse into our future.
More than 10% of children in South Africa are orphaned.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Chair, I rise on a point of order. In terms of the Rules, is it parliamentary for members to cross the line between your chair and the speaker? It has now happened three times.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, hon Sinclair, I was actually going to point out that that behaviour is unparliamentary. Can I just remind hon members of that? Actually, the person who caused the problem is the Whip, hon Ncube. I am aware of that. Please, let us not cross in front of the member addressing the House. I think that rule applies in all legislatures. You all know that; the Rule is the same. Continue, hon Van Rooyen.
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: Thank you, Chairperson. The majority of orphaned children live in deeply impoverished households. Apart from the loss of their parents, they face inadequate nutrition and poor access to education and health care.
Take, for example, the case of three orphaned children aged 17, 14 and 7, in the Botlokwa community in Qwaqwa, Free State. This is their story in their own words:
There are three of us. My eldest sister is 14 and she wants to be an actress. I, a 17-year-old boy, would like to be a doctor, and my little brother hopes to be a policeman, but he is only seven. We live with our grandmother, who is very poor, but she does her best to take care of us. The community helps her pay for our food, clothes and school fees. She says that she will pay them back some day but, for now, it allows us to eat and go to school most of the time.
Sometimes we still go without food for a week and we still do not have shoes. We work hard to help our grandmother and stay in school. We chop wood, clean the house and weed and water the garden. The little one would like to help with the mealie meal, but he only eats and plays. I would also like to play soccer when the chores are done.
If we are having a hard time or need things, we don't tell granny because she feels bad if she can't help us. We have some good friends and neighbours, but many of them do not know how to help.
The reverend at the church we attend gives us mealie meal when we need something. If would be nice to have someone to talk to sometimes.
This is a rural perspective from the Free State.
South African children played a very prominent role in the liberation struggle and also fought for their rights. The 1976 Soweto uprisings are testament to the courage children displayed in standing up for their rights and beliefs.
In the Bill of Rights in chapter 2 of our Constitution, a whole section is devoted to the rights of children. This section – section 28 – is a direct result of their struggle and courage. As these rights are enshrined in the Constitution, a heavy responsibility is placed on the state to firstly protect these rights and, secondly, to ensure that all children in this country have a fair opportunity to enjoy them.
In its 2010 annual report on South Africa, Unicef correctly states:
The South African government is considered to be one of the most child-friendly in the world in terms of budget allocation for children, with a large investment made in early childhood development and social protection.
This is not by accident, but clearly demonstrates this government's commitment to being a caring government that finds its policy directives from the Freedom Charter.
Allow me to highlight some achievements of the ANC government. Unfortunately, the Opposition cannot claim any of these things. [Interjections.] All they can do, as we say in Afrikaans, ...
Afrikaans:
... is braak gal en maak mense bang. Dis al wat hulle kan doen.
English:
As the ANC, we do acknowledge that there are still challenges around child mortality – it is still unacceptably high – and around violence against and abuse of children. However, the child support grant, for example, has increased more than 10-fold since 2000, reaching more than 10 million disadvantaged children in 2011 with a monthly grant of R250. Unfortunately, the Opposition also had nothing to do with that. [Laughter.]
This year, the Department of Social Development has to extend the programme...
Mr A WATSON: We also had nothing to do with all the corruption in your province! [Laughter.]
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: ... to include all children under the age of 18 as part of the expansion of the social assistance safety net. Again, they had nothing to do with that.
Mr A WATSON: Nor with corruption!
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: The National School Nutrition Programme helps to alleviate child hunger by providing nutritious meals to eligible primary-school pupils. Children under the age of six and pregnant mothers are entitled to pre-primary health care.
Mr A WATSON: Chair, I want to enquire, through you, if the member is prepared to take a question?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Are you prepared to take a question, hon Van Rooyen?
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: Chair, he is wasting my time. I am not taking any questions. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: The member is not prepared to take a question, Mr Watson. Please continue, hon Van Rooyen.
Mr C J Van ROOYEN: Thank you, Chairperson. These are some of government's programmes that are directly focused on our children. Clearly this shows that the ANC government is a caring government that has placed the plight of our children high on its agenda.
South Africa is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Access to Primary Education and Gender Equality. Disadvantaged children benefit from free education through the government's no-fee schools and its school fee-exemption policy. In 2008-09, 98,6% of children of school-going age attended school, which is up from 86,7% in 1996. Most promising is also the steadily increasing matric pass rate.
Allow me also to wish the matric class of 2011 the very best for this year's matric examination, which started last week. We hope they will be very successful.
What is very promising is the dramatic rise in access to early childhood development programmes for young children, which is up from 16% in 2001 to 43% in 2009. The plight of the three orphans from Qwaqwa, as mentioned, is not an isolated one. It calls on all of us to tackle the issues concerning children as a collective. In the spirit of ubuntu, our communities should work together to take care of our children. No child should be left to go hungry or neglected. If enough people were touched by the spirit of ubuntu, it would, in time, change the whole landscape of how children are treated in this country.
I conclude with the words of Graça Machel:
We must do anything and everything to protect children, to give them priority and a better future. This is a call to action and a call to embrace the new morality that puts children where they belong – at the heart of all agendas.
Mr W F FABER
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 432
Mr C J VAN ROOYEN
Mr W F FABER: Hon Chair, hon Deputy minister and hon members, children are the future of our beloved country and it is our duty to show them how to dream towards it and make them experience their dreams coming true. It all starts by growing up in a healthy environment where children can have a sense of belonging and feeling safe.
The power of education to transform societies cannot be underestimated. Education breaks the generational cycles of poverty and disease and it is the key to national development and prosperity. Quality education equips and empowers boys and girls with the knowledge and skills needed to lead healthy lives, protect themselves against HIV and shape the course of communities. Girls in particular benefit tremendously from having their right against gender-based discrimination asserted and can then take charge of their lives.
South Africa has the ability to transform its education sector into one of the continent's best. The groundwork has been done. South Africa adopted an approach of education for all and development and informed initiatives towards these goals are integrated in national strategic plans, policies and programmes. As custodians, it is our duty to see to it that these are followed through so that our children can reap the benefits.
Education is definitely one of the highest national priorities. As a result children's access to basic education is extensive and most children stay in school at least to the end of the primary-school phase. The education of girls is one of the main achievements of the post-apartheid education system, with boys and girls enrolling in school in almost equal numbers.
Educational opportunities for children from previously disadvantaged backgrounds are now considerably better than before. While South Africa is very close to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education and Gender Equality in Education, the education system still struggles to deliver quality education. The failure of government to achieve this national priority is actually alarming.
Many children experience a broken journey through school. Their school careers are interrupted by irregular attendance, absent teachers, teenage pregnancy and school-related abuse and violence. High levels of poverty continue to deny thousands of children access to quality education.
Another problem is the limited provision of preschool and special education. The majority of children between birth and four years do not have access to quality early childhood care and learning. The poverty rate in South Africa is the highest among children from newborn to the age of four years, becoming slightly lower from the age of 5 and older. This is perhaps because older children are able to contribute more to the family through working than younger children are capable of doing.
Poverty means more than just the lack of money. The poverty that these children live in affects their access to school and health care and their chance of growing up in an environment that could possibly help them break free from poverty. Most children in South Africa who are living in poverty are malnourished from birth. The lack of nutritious food affects the physical and mental growth and development of children as well as their overall health.
The lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation methods leads to health problem among these groups. Diseases are spread quickly and easily when they are caught, especially among children in South Africa. Communities have been torn apart by HIV/AIDS, leaving young children without proper care and protection. Parents become ill and are unable to work and help their family. Special medicines and the diet needed by HIV-infected parents may be costly and difficult to get. This added stress on a family leads to depression and further illness as immune systems are lowered.
A study of the impact the global economic recession has had on children indicated that poverty remained high at 65,5%, compared to 52% of other countries with children. Because of poverty, child labour has crept into communities. Child labour deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity. Commercial sexual exploitation is one of the most hazardous forms of child labour. Child labour should be eliminated and employers of such children should be dealt with harshly.
Child abuse and the rape and murder of children is currently reaching alarming figures and the culprits of these actions should be brought to book as they have no place in a democratic society. If we look at only the past two months, the murder and rape of children were on the front pages of all the newspapers. A schoolgirl was kidnapped at gun point as she walked to school. Her burnt body was found on a farm in Magaliesburg. Two weeks ago, a three-year-old boy's butchered body was found stuffed into a suitcase at the neighbour's house in Gugulethu in the Western Cape. Just over a month ago, two sisters, aged eight and 12, were stabbed and raped in Khayelitsha. The younger girl died from her injuries. These are only two examples of horrifying images stuck in my mind of innocent children who had their lives ahead of them.
Let's take the first step by protecting our children and by educating them so that their dreams can come true.
Mr T M H MOFOKENG
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 433
Mr W F FABER
Sesotho:
Mong T M H MOFOKENG: Ke a leboha Modulasetulo, Motlatsa Letona le maloko a hlomphehang. Re le mokgatlo wa ANC, ke kgale re qetile hore ditlolo tsa molao tsa tlhekefetso ya basadi le bana di ka sehlohong. Mmuso le Lefapha la Sepolesa di tumme ka matsapa a tsona a ho lwantsha ditlolo tsa molao tse ka sehlohong. Ditlolo tsena tsa molao ke tse mpe haholo dihlopheng tsa batho ba kotsing haholo setjhabeng.
Mokotaba wa dipuisano tsena e leng tshebedisanommoho ho sireletseng bana ba rona, o sisinya mekgwa e tla sebediswa ho sireletsa bana ditlolong tsa molao le ho dikgoka. Re a tseba hore bokamoso ba naha ena ya rona bo baneng ba rona. Mohoo wa dikgetho wa mokgatlo wa ANC o bontsha tlhokeho ya ho matlafatswa ha tshireletso ya bana ke ditheo tse kenyang molao kgabong.
Bolaodi bo Ikemetseng ba Ditletlebo le Ditshebeletso tsa Sepolesa sa Afrika Borwa di sebedisana mmoho thomong ya ho lwantsha ditlolo tsa molao, haholo-holo ditlolo tsa molao baneng. Mohlodi wa thomo ena ya tshebedisanommoho ke tokomane ya mokgatlo wa ANC e bitswang Policing the Transition, e hlalosang mokgwa o motle wa ho ntlafatsa mosebetsi wa sepolesa ho Afrika Borwa ya demokerasi ho netefatsa tshebetso e ntle le boikarabelo. Re le mokgatlo wa ANC, re boetse ra nka qeto hore tshireletso ya bana ha e hloke feela tshebeletso e matla ya sepolesa empa e hloka selekane se matla mahareng a sepolesa le setjhaba.
E se e le nako e telele re nkile qeto hore bahlekefetsi ba bana ba lokela ho fuwa dikotlo tse thata. Re bona kamehla makgotla a dinyewe a isa bahlekefetsi ditjhankaneng empa ditlolo tsena tsa molao di ntse di tswela pele. Re boetse re bona matsapa a sepolesa a ho thakgola botjha Yuniti ya Twantsho ya Dikgoka Malapeng le Yuniti ya Tshireletso ya Bana le Ditlhekefetso tsa Motabo. Re tshepa hore diyuniti tsena di tla thusa ho fokotsa dinyewe tsa tlhekefetso ya bana le dikgoka malapeng.
Setjhaba sa rona se tlameha ho sebedisana mmoho le sepolesa ho lwantsha ditlolo tsa molao. Re boetse re tlameha ho matlafatsa seabo sa setjhaba kgahlanong le ditlolo tse mpe tsa molao. Mokotaba wa rona o tsamaisana le mesebetsi ya sehloho, e leng hore: "Ha re sebetsa mmoho re ka sireletsa bana ba rona."Boholo ba ditlolo tse tjena tsa molao ha bo etsahale setjhabeng feela kapa hona ho susumetswa ke baditjhaba, empa ka dinako tse ding bo etswa ke ba leloko kapa batswadi baneng ba bona.
Molao wa Tshebediso ya Dikgoka ka Lapeng o na le ditlamo tse itseng mapoleseng a amohelang ditletlebo tsa dikgoka malapeng empa ho sebetswa ha dinyewe tsa tshebediso ya dikgoka malapeng ke mapolesa ho hlahisa dipotso tse pedi. Ya pele ke hore na sepolesa se na le bokgoni ba ho sebetsana le dinyewe tsena? Ya bobedi ke hore na ho boima ho kenya Molao wa Tshebediso ya Dikgoka ka Lapeng tshebetsong ka tsela eo o leng ka wona?
Modulasetulo, ke nnete hore sekamolao sena se setjha se bitswang Moifo o Ikemetseng wa Balaodi ba Dipatlisiso tsa Sepolesa se sa tswa tekenwa ke Mopresidente Zuma ho se etsa molao ka la 12 Motsheanong 2011, se ekeditse thomo ya Moifo o Ikemetseng wa Ditletlebo se bile se e kentse motjheng. Ho se ho se hokae molao ona o kenngwa tshebetsong ho tla thusa ho lwantsha ditlolo tsena tsa molao. Moelelong ona Karolo ya 28 le ya 12 tsa Molaotheo di leka ho sireletsa bana ditlolong tsa molao. Dikarolo le dipehelo tsena di bontsha bana e le mahlatsipa a ditlolo tsa molao le dikgoka kapa tlhekefetso le ho se tsotellwe. Ho bohlokwa mapoleseng ho fuputsa ka tshwanelo dipelaelo tsa ditlolo tsa molao baneng jwaloka ha a matlafaditswe ke melao.
Ditlolo tsa molao kgahlanong le bana di bonwa di le mahlonoko jwaloka ha di laolwa ke Molao wa Mokgwatshebetso wa Bosenyi le Molao wa Phetolelo wa Bosenyi. Ka ho tshwanang, dinyewe tsa bana ba tlotseng molao di sebetswa hantle ke Molao wa Toka Baneng. Molao wa Phetolelo wa Bosenyi o fana ka dipehelo tsa kahlolo bakeng sa dinyewe tse mahlonoko kgahlanong le bana tse buuwang le ho ahlolwa Makgotleng a Dinyewe a Mabatowa le a Phahameng. Tsena di mabapi le ho fana ka dikahlolo tsa ho hlola bophelo bohle tjhankaneng kapa dikahlolo tse tlase-tlase tse beilweng ha eba ho se mabaka a tshwarehang a ho bebofatsa kahlolo ka lebaka la maemo a tshwarehang a bile a susumetsa a tokafatsang kahlolo e bobejana ho feta ya sethathong. Sepheo sa molao ona ke ho bebofaletsa bao ba fumanweng ba le molato wa ditlolo tsa molao kgahlanong le bana.
Mmuso o theile makgotla a dinyewe a ditlolo tsa molao tsa motabo e le ona a tla shebana le dinyewe tsa bana ba hlekefeditsweng, ba tlatlapuweng le ba betilweng. Ana ke makgotla a ikgethileng a lokiseditsweng ho tsamaelana le bana, ho dumella bopaki boo ngwana a fanang ka bona ka thuso ya mosebeletsi wa Setjhaba le bohle ba fanang ka thuso. Mosebetsi wa lepolesa le fuputsang ke wa bohlokwa haholo ho bokella bopaki bo lekaneng. Ka dinako tse ding bana e ka ba dipaki dinyeweng tsa bana bao e leng mahlatsipa mme sena se tlisa phepetso e kgolo tshebeletsong ya botjhutjhisi le Sepolesa.
Molao wa Toka Baneng o na le mekgwatsamaiso ya toka ya ho busetsa e kenyeletsang hara dintho tse ding, tshireletso ya bana ba tlotseng molao ka ho ba faposa ho mokgwatshebetso wa toka ditlolong tsa molao. Maikemisetso a Molao ona jwaloka ha o hlahella ho Karolo ya 2, a kenyeletsa tshebediso ya phetolelo e le mokgwa wa ho thibela bana hore ba shebane le maemo a mabe a mokgwatshebetso wa toka ditlolong tsa molao. Phetolelo e kenyeletsa ho tlosa dinyewe makgotleng a dinyewe a tlwaelehileng moo ho nang le bopaki bo lekaneng bakeng sa ho tjhutjhisa. Ho ya ka Molao, phetolelo e ka fihlellwa ka ditsela tse tharo. Ya pele ke ya mokgwa wa botjhutjhisi ba phetolelo bakeng sa ditlolo tse nyane tsa molao. Ya bobedi ke ya nako ya diphuputso tsa qalong, ka taelo ya lekgotla la diphuputso.Jwale Molao o fana ka moralo ho netefatsa tsela e tshwanang ya tshebetso le tiisetso ya molao mabapi le phetolelo.
Makgotla a rona a dinyewe, setjhaba le bohle ba nang le seabo ba tlameha ho netefatsa hore Molao ona o latelwa ka hohle-hohle ho kgothalletsa tshireletso ya bana. Re tlameha ho ruta batho ba rona ka mekgwatsamaiso ena ya bohlokwa ya ho busetsa e nang le tlhokomelo le tshireletso ya bana. Ho bohlokwa ho hlokomela hore ke lekgetlo la pele phetoho ena e kenyelletswa tsamaisong ya mokgwatshebetso wa toka ditlolong tsa molao. Kahoo, Molao o leka ho hlakisa maikemisetso a phetolelo ho bohle ba nang le seabo.
Ke kahoo karolwana ya 51 e hlalosang maikemisetso a phetolelo hara tse ding e le ho shebana le bana kantle ho mokgwa wa tsamaiso ya toka ditlolong tsa molao; ho kgothalletsa ngwana ho ba le boikarabelo bohlokong bo entsweng ke yena; ho fihlella ditlhoko tse itseng tsa ngwana ka mong; ho kgothalletsa ho kenyelletswa ha ngwana, lelapa la hae kapa setjhaba ho sena; ho fana ka monyetla ho ba amehileng bohlokong ho hlalosa maikutlo a bona ka kgahlamelo ya sena ho bona; ho kgothalletsa ho hlatsuwa ha lehlatsipa mahlo ka mokgwa o itseng wa morokotso; ho kgothalletsa poelano mahareng a ngwana le motho kapa setjhaba se mo utlwisitseng bohloko; ho thibela ho songwa ha ngwana le ditlamorao tse mpe tse latelang ho hlahella makgotleng a dinyewe; le ho fokotsa kgonahalo ya ho tlola molao hape.
Mananeo a tlhokomediso a bohlokwa haholo. Re tshwanela ho ruta le ho hlokomedisa setjhaba sa rona ka dikotsi tsa tlhekefetso le ditlolo tsa molao kgahlanong le bana. Re tshwanela ho boloka botho bo reng, "ngwana wa hao ke ngwanaka le nna". Re tshwanela ho ntjhafatsa boleng bona le meetlo ena e phahamisang boleng ba bophelo ba motho le ho hlokomela bana jwaloka batho ba hlokang molato. Meetlo ena kaofela e tshehetswa ke Sekamolao sa Ditokelo tsa Botho.
Ho na le dikatleho tse bonahalang tsa sepolesa kgahlanong le dikgoka le ditlolo tsa molao baneng jwaloka ha ho bonahala bahlekefetsi ba tshwarwa ka bongata. Re sa le moo, makgotla a rona a dinyewe a tswela pele ho fana ka dikotlo tse boima. Leha ho le jwalo, re tshwanela ho fa setjhaba disebediswa tse ngata. Ha re aheng le ho matlafatsa mahokela a kgahlanong le ditlolo tsa molao setjhabeng, Diforamo tsa Sepolesa sa Setjhaba (CPFs) le dikomiti tsa diterateng. Ntle le qeaqeo, mmoho re ka sireletsa bana ba rona. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.]
Mr J P NGOBENI
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 434
Mr T M H MOFOKENG
Ms J P NGOBENI (Mpumalanga): Hon Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Deputy Minister, member of executive council, MEC, permanent delegates, colleagues in this august Council, comrades, ladies and gentlemen, receive warm greetings from Mpumalanga, the most beautiful part of our country. [Interjections.]
At the start I want to indicate that only the government of the ANC cares about children. I'm surprised when the hon Faber talks so nicely about caring for children and about the quality of education that is needed to equip our children when they were part and parcel of the regime that imparted inferior education to our children. They were part and parcel of the regime that killed and maimed our children - school children, for that matter.
An HON MEMBER: Hon Faber, were you in the National Party? I thought you were in the DA from the start?
Ms J P NGOBENI: Fortunately, some of us need to tell the truth.
Over the past several years South Africans have become increasingly aware of the difficulty of ensuring that children are brought up in a way that enables them ... [Interjections.]
Mr W F FABER: Hon Chair, on a point of order: The hon member is misleading the Council by saying thatI was in Parliament during the previous regime. I was definitely not. Some ANC members were, but definitely not me. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay, you have clarified that fact. Hon member, continue.
Mr R J TAU: Hon Chairperson, I think hon Faber is misleading the Council because in fact he was part of the security system during that time. He was a police officer.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I'm not going to allow a debate on this.
Mr D V BLOEM: Chairperson, it's a very serious thing. Can the member confirm that he was a police officer? [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, I am not going to allow that. Continue, hon member.
Ms J P NGOBENI: The Institute for Development Studies in the United Kingdom describes social protection as all public and private initiatives that provide income or consumption transfer to the poor, protect vulnerable livelihoods and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalised with the objective of reducing the economic and social vulnerability of poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups.
In South Africa the attempt to address physical, psychological and social abuse had to be uplifted to address more systemic and intergenerational problems. Truly, a successful society invests its best resources and hopes in the success of its children, which allows me to conclude that children are the future of the present generation. The manner in which we treat our children today is a direct reflection of what our society will look like in the future.
Allow me to unequivocally stress that there is no future without the present. That implies that our behaviour towards our children today will be seen tomorrow when these children are adults. An old Indian adage states: "We don't inherit the land from or ancestors but we borrowed it from our children." Therefore there is an absolute need to build a strong social fabric that will strengthen the protection of our children. Apart from government and government institutions, communities, civil society and children, the perpetrators who are threatening the safety of our children must be engaged constructively to understand the root cause of these social ills. Every day children are mutilated, abducted, kidnapped, raped, sodomised and subjected to all forms of ill treatment, rendering them vulnerable and insecure.
In Mpumalanga a pastor repeatedly raped and impregnated his own biological child, who gave birth to three children as a result. In his defence the pastor quoted the Bible as a book that justified his abominable actions. This is taboo in our society! Yesterday when I was listening to the news I heard that here in Gugulethu a 20-year-old slit the throat of a three-year-old child and hid the body in a suitcase. What is that, hon members?
Last week the "Sunday rapist" admitted to abducting, kidnapping, raping and killing a school child. What is happening in our country? Our society is really sick. Exposure to media and communication technology and devices has overtaken parenting methodologies and has seen children sending and receiving sexually explicit material which endangers their safety. I learnt with dismay from the print media this weekend that 90% of our children have seen porn on the Internet and that the language used in these interactions is codified to such an extent that parents cannot understand the content. It is clear that this is a phenomenon that has become a huge social problem, requiring a collective, communal wisdom to outgrow it.
Among the objectives of the Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, is the provision of structures, services and means for promoting and monitoring the sound physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional and social development of children; the strengthening and development of community structures that can assist in providing care and protection for children; and the protection of children from discrimination, exploitation and any other physical, emotional or moral harm or hazard.
Madiba once said: "Any nation that does not care and protect its children is not a nation." I want to pose a question regarding what Madiba said about what constitutes a nation: Can we respond in unison that we are a nation when we have so many untold stories of child abuse in our country? I think we all know the answer to that.
When one turns around to look closely at our education system, one finds that schools are a breeding ground and the seat for the execution of so much of the immorality against our children. Sexual harassment by the very people to whom we have entrusted the responsibility of protecting our children is rife. School children indulge in drugs and many other immoral acts which increase the rate of failure and teenage pregnancy as well as illiteracy levels among our community members, plus many other social ills.
The risk associated with an unsafe school environment is that South Africa will not be able to produce adequate skills required by the workplace, which then translates into high levels of unemployment. Indeed, let us work together to protect our children.
There is no doubt that family breakdown is part of a decaying society. On 5 April 2011, the Sowetan newspaper reported that there were 9 million children who were without fathers. The scourge of HIV and Aids has plunged the social fabric of this country into an ever-worsening condition. We are witnessing child-headed families living in dire poverty, with poor educational outcomes, antisocial behaviour, delinquency and few prospects in life. These children are likely to have unplanned children with multiple partners, which brings about another generation born without stable families.
In 2008 about 98 000 children, which constitutes about 0,5% of the South African population, were living in child-headed households where all members were younger than 18. Many children grow up in fractured families. I want to repeat that our country is so ill. Society is so ill. If my pastor were here I would say that we needed an injection from heaven.
The tendency to speak at length about social ills and dovetailing our sentiments with legislation has had little impact on protecting our children. Our communities need us to lead by example, not ride on the back of development and the implementation of government policies. Every individual is required to help change the situation. I envisage a situation where every member will adopt a child-headed family and raise it like his or her own, providing an environment that is safe from drugs, rapists, hunger, poor education, etc. That calls for us as Members of Parliament to roll up our sleeves and be part of our communities.
As I conclude, may I remind this august Council that we are walking to the future on the feet of our children. Without them, there is no future. Let us work together to protect our children. Morena boloka setshaba sa rona, le bana ba rona. [God bless our nation and our children.]
Mr D B FELDMAN
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 435
Ms J P NGOBENI
Mr D V BLOEM: Chairperson, on a point of order: The reason the hon member was not in his seat is that we have two speakers' lists. I just wanted to clarify that.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr R J Tau): Can that be corrected? According to my speakers' list, hon Feldman is the next speaker.
Mr D B FELDMAN: Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, the theme for our debate today is "Working together to protect our children". South African children are under siege on all fronts. According to the South African Child Gauge 2010-2011 report released by the University Of Cape Town's Children's Institute, 6,8 million children in our country lived in households without access to clean drinking water. The report also showed that almost three million of our country's 18,6 million children, who make about 15,7% of our population, went to bed hungry.
According to a recent written reply by the Minister of Social Development, 8% of children under age 5 in South Africa were severely malnourished. Of those, 13% were found in KwaZulu-Natal and another 10% in Northern Cape. A quarter of such children lived in these two provinces.
The sexual abuse and murder of children is a big problem. South Africa has among the highest incidence of child and baby rape in the world, with more than 67 000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children reported in the year 2000. The horrific thing is that child abusers are often relatives, even fathers and providers. These are the people who are supposed to protect children.
The horrendous story of a four-year-old boy beheaded by a neighbour for muti purposes is one of the gruesome acts our children are confronted with. They are deprived of playing outside. They are deprived of being children. Poverty has turned mothers against children. Recently, a mother drowned her five children, three boys and two girls aged 13, 10, 5, 4 and 2, in 20-litre buckets of water.
Hon Deputy Minister, Cope calls on the security forces to act firmly and viciously against all those who terrorise and abuse our women and children. We are also saying our courts must show no mercy when these monsters are found guilty. Millions of our people are still waiting for the Promised Land.
Mr G G MOKGORO
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 436
Mr D B FELDMAN
Mr G G MOKGORO: Hon Chair, Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, it is regrettable to hear that South Africa is among the countries with the highest number of people who abuse alcohol and drugs in the world. We are all aware of the devastating effect that alcohol and drug abuse has on our families, communities, society and the country at large. Worst of all is the effect of alcohol and drug abuse on children in particular.
Children constitute the most vulnerable section of society. Therefore our debate today is opportune and relevant. They require greater protection from all forms of abuse, such as violence and exposure to the social ills of alcohol and drug abuse.
It has become apparent that in recent times more and more children are being exposed to violence, alcohol and drug abuse at an early age than in previous years. Modernity and the advancement of instant, high-speed technology are welcome factors of social and economic development, but these can also facilitate the exposure of children to social ills.
Easy exposure is most certainly facilitated by the fact that children have access to advertisements in various forms of media. At worst, a lack of parental responsibility facilitates such exposure when parents fail to raise their children appropriately and with care, as espoused in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The values of a caring society that protects and develops its children have always been fundamental to the ANC in its quest for a better life for all. Its resoluteness regarding the protection of children is manifested in its support for the constitutional provision that entrenches the right to food, shelter, basic health care and social services, protection from exploitative labour practices, family care - which includes the right to be cared for by the extended family - and alternative care, with the right to adoptive and foster care, as well as the right to be cared for by the state when the child concerned is in need of care. These have in turn been translated into government policies such as the Children's Act of 2005. According to this Act, parental rights and responsibilities include the right to care for the child, maintain contact with the child, to care as a guardian of the child and to contribute towards the maintenance of the child.
Given the legal provision of the Act, it is therefore incumbent upon parents to ensure that children are protected from all forms of abuse. This includes ensuring that they are not exposed to alcohol and drug abuse. In this context, we must support the Minister of Health in his effort to curb the amount of exposure in the media through advertisements.
The ANC Youth League has also embarked on a programme that promotes the protection of children. In their fight against substance abuse, the ANC Youth League noted at its conference that, one, a huge percentage of young people are abusing substance and alcohol; two, the call for the banning of alcohol advertising by government departments must be implemented through the enactment of legislation making such advertising illegal; and, lastly, that there is a need to increase rehabilitation centres. In addition, the ANC Youth League has implemented a programme whereby alcohol is not sold close to the school in order to minimise children access and exposure to alcohol.
In conclusion, as part of their responsibility towards children, parents must be encouraged to support initiatives aimed at children. Parents must play a leading role in educating their children about the negativeimpact of alcohol and drug abuse, while caring for them when they are affected and helping them in rehabilitation. It is the responsibility of parents in the first instance, through education and care, to ensure that children do not use alcohol and drugs.
As Members of Parliament, we must always be available to assist parents in ensuring that children are protected through our constituency and parliamentary offices. Being responsible for the protection of children, as much as it is required of parents, is a social responsibility for all of us. [Applause.]
Ms M MOKOMELE-MOTHIBI
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 437
Mr G G MOKGORO
Mrs M MOKOMELE-MOTHIBI (North West): Hon Chairperson, Deputy Minister, Chief Whips and the Whips of this House, Speakers and Deputy Speakers present here today, executive council members present, hon members, Salga leadership present here today, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, please receive my greetings from "the platinum province".
Children are not only protected from abuse but also from other harmful aspects of life, like hunger and other types of deprivation. With regard to child protection in North West province, all alternative care and adoption placements are checked against Part B of the Child Protection Register as well as the Sex Offender Register. We check them against the Child Protection Register so for screening purposes. We don't want to find ourselves having handed a child to people who will abuse them more. We are very discreet when it comes to this.
We have also managed to capture hunger cases on the electronic Child Protection Register. An amount of 43 675 children are in foster care in the North West, with 6 500 children having been newly placed in foster care. We have reviewed a further 13 000 placements.
The North West province's foster care strategy to reduce foster care backlogs has been successful. We have managed to bring about a zero backlog in one district, Kenneth Kaunda.
A total of 101 temporary safe care placements were screened in this financial year and we intend to increase the temporary safe care fee to the equivalent of foster care as soon as possible. Throughout the province, 75 000 children have been reached through prevention and early intervention programmes such as the child trafficking prevention programme that we introduced during the 2010 Fifa World Cup. We all know how vulnerable our children were during that time.
Furthermore, we have completed a 300-bed child and youth care centre in Mafikeng in the Modiri-Molema District Municipality. We are funding a further six child and youth care centres throughout the province. A centre in the Bojanala District of the province has been accredited to admit victims of human trafficking, including children, and we have managed to successfully return three children to their native land, Lesotho, through this intervention.
We have managed to capacitate 600 social workers with the provisions of the Children's Act and have trained a further 50 auxiliary social workers. To ensure the protection of children in our province, we have employed 500 social workers and absorbed 350 auxiliary social workers to assist with the implementation of the Child Protection Act. Furthermore, the department has set aside R32 million for child protection in the North West province.
In conclusion, I humbly request that the other departments come to the party with regard to child protection, so that child protection is not perceived to be the baby of only the departments that are directly involved. A child is raised by a village, never by an individual.
Setswana:
Ngwana ke sejo, o a hlakanelwa.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr R J Tau): Hon members, for the benefit of hon Adams, QLWCYPD means the quality of life and status of women, children, youth and people with disabilities.
Mr J J GUNDA
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 437
Mrs M MOKOMELE-MOTHIBI
Mr J J GUNDA: Hon House Chair, Minister, colleagues and members, South Africa has inherited a legacy of social injustices. A large portion of our people faces relentless challenges in caring for and creating a safe and secure living environment for their children. Social dislocation, violence and extreme inequality have become a daily reality in the lives of South African children. High levels of domestic violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse and neglect is growing out of control, especially in less privileged communities.
Child protection violations are particularly hard to measure. It is alarming that violence against children is so pervasive and that girls and boys alike are being abused and exploited.
The South African government has succeeded in introducing a progressive legal framework and the expansion of policies that protect children and their rights in this country as well as access to social services. Recent legislative reforms, like the Sexual Offences Act and the Child Justice Act, shape the basis of a broad child protection framework. Despite legislation protecting the wellbeing of our children, the South African government is still faced with challenges in the struggle for a protective environment for children in our country.
As we recognise the value that children add to our society and our lives, it is crucial that government must focus on investing in our children's future by creating a safe childhood environment where children can be free to be themselves.
Afrikaans:
Laat my toe om die volgende te sê: Ons moet onthou dat die rol wat ons as ouers vandag in ons kinders se lewens vertolk 'n ewige merk op hul lewens en toekoms maak. Kinders is `n geskenk en daarom moet ons as ouers hulle kan waardeer en trots wees op hulle om sodoende te verseker dat hulle veilig groot word en die leiers van môre sal wees.
Ms J HARTNICK
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 438
Mr J J GUNDA
Mrs J HARTNICK (Western Cape): Hon Chairperson, it is a privilege to participate in this important debate today. When we refer to protection there should be no distinction between whether the child is a South African citizen or a foreigner. Too many atrocities have occurred recently - we have noted the rape, death, abandonment and abuse of babies, children and even adolescents. Many of these acts were committed by people known to these children.
Early this year, during the month of June, we celebrated Child Protection Week. The aim of the Child Protection Week is to raise awareness and mobilise all sectors and communities towards the holistic development, care and protection of children. As parents, schools, communities and society we must all work together to not just protect our children but campaign for harsher sentences for sex offenders and people who commit horrendous acts against children who have been found guilty.
South Africa has some of the best legislation in place to ensure the protection of our children. This country is also a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We need to become more aware of the protection that we provide our children and be more vigilant in wanting to make a difference to the lives and protection of children. It is therefore unacceptable that the National Child Protection Register, which has been assented to by the President of South Africa in June 2006, contains only one name of a convicted sexual perpetrator against children. Every day an estimated 60 child rape cases are reported. The rights of children are protected in terms of the Children's Act, which must ensure the harmonious development of children while recognising the need for children to grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding. All the reports of abuse or deliberate neglect of a child and records of persons who are unsuitable to work with children must be recorded. This is to protect children in general against the perpetrators of abuse.
Children are one of the most vulnerable sectors of our communities. Two weeks ago, a young girl was kidnapped by a person who had been convicted of a number of transgressions against young girls. Yet this man was unconditionally released into society even when his transgressions could have further mutated to the point where he killed and burnt an innocent victim.
Last Monday, three policemen were among those arrested for keeping five under-aged girls as sex slaves. This highlights the total disrespect the sexual perpetrators and also other offenders have for the law. One of the most important issues that we have to commit to is to ensure that the Children's Act is fully implemented and that the National Child Protection Register remains updated.
Children must not only be protected from sexual acts committed against them but also from problems such as hunger, disease, homelessness and addiction. Further protection for vulnerable children includes the 24-hour child protection services. A toll-free number for easy referral and residential care to children in child and youth care centres are available.
Another important aspect regarding the protection of children is the investment in the early childhood development, ECD, programme. ECD is one of the most important anchors of the Poverty Reduction Strategy in the Western Cape. This year, 2011, will see 90 000 children throughout the Western Cape having access to ECD programmes. That is why it is also important that all ECD centres must register with the department in order for them to develop and provide children with the best access and support for development and growth.
Children and young people in child-headed households are vulnerable because they have to cope without adults on a day-to-day basis. Generally they have poorer living conditions than other children. Apart from the support and services rendered by the local offices of the Department of Social Development, about 42 funded nonprofit organisations also render services to these children in the Western Cape.
Under the leadership of Premier Helen Zille, the Western Cape government has also taken real action to address the problem of maintenance defaulters. Too often the "16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children" initiative results in speeches being made and t-shirts being handed out. No real action takes place to bring about change in the lives of those affected.
During the campaign in 2010, notable successes were achieved in the Western Cape in the child maintenance campaign during this "16 Days of Activism" period. During that period, 71 defaulters were found and 59 arrests were made. About 210 women who did not collect money that was owed to them were traced. Apart from these successes, the campaign also generated awareness and became an incentive for men to pay maintenance. This is important because the livelihood and wellbeing of children depend on maintenance being paid. The Premier of the Western Cape has stated in her 2011-12 Budget Vote speech that her office received many reports from women who stated that their children's fathers have started paying maintenance again for fear of being tracked down and named in the campaign.
In order for us to have a meaningful debate about working together to protect our children, we need to pay attention to the words of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. In the foreword to the South African Child Gauge 2010-11 he said:
As a nation, we have made remarkable progress in building the legal foundation for ensuring children's best interests. Now is the time to put policies of inclusion into action by listening to children and feeding their insights into the way we run our schools, clinics, hospitals, social services, courts and government departments.
We need to shift our focus if we want to address successfully the protection of our children. Opportunities must be created for them to participate in all the spaces that impact on their lives, and this includes having them share the fears they face and listening to their feelings. These can then be addressed, or we can consider what needs to happen, in order for them to feel safe and be protected.
Many children are already playing an active role in sustaining communities and often these communities depend on the work and services provided by these children. These range from caring for sick relatives and maintaining the links between scattered family members. Thus the importance of protecting our children is informed by a wide variety of factors and influences. We must ensure that children are not exploited when they are sustaining families or communities but must be protected sometimes also in order for social cohesion to exist.
It is vital that children are also made aware of what is right and wrong and that the choices they make will sometimes have dire consequences. They must have an awareness that their involvement with things like the making and distribution of pornography involving other children will have grave consequences. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms N D SIKHOSANA (KwaZulu-Natal)
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 439
Ms J HARTNICK
Ms N D SIKHOSANA (KwaZulu-Natal): Hon Chair, hon Minister of Transport, S Ndebele, hon Deputy Minister M M Sotyu, MECs present, and hon delegates, the protection of children is of paramount importance to any society because children are the future of any nation. In South Africa, children's rights are enshrined in the Constitution, but they are nonetheless continuously violated, hence the theme chosen for this debate: "Working together to protect our children".
Social and cultural practices such as "ukuthwala" – child abduction and early marriage - are often given as excuses for the violation of the rights of children. Ukuthwala is a custom that is mainly practised in some rural communities, for example, in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. These are just examples - I am not saying this is not happening in other provinces too. The practice involves the abduction of girls for marriage, sometimes with the consent of the girl's parents. The practice often affects girls from the ages of 10 to 15 years, without their consent.
This practice impacts negatively, both directly and indirectly, on the development of the girl child, resulting in social isolation, denial of the right to education, poor life skills, psychosocial harm, early pregnancy and child birth, as well as the risk of exposure to HIV/Aids. The children affected by HIV/Aids, due to their own infection or because of parental illness or death, are less likely to receive education, as they leave school to care for ailing parents and younger siblings.
South Africa is also a transit source and destination country for trafficked children. South African girls are trafficked within South Africa for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, while boys are trafficked internally for use in street vending, food service and agriculture.
Child sex tourism is prevalent in a number of South African cities. Organised crime groups, including African, Asian and East European syndicates, together with local gangs, facilitate trafficking into and within South Africa, particularly for the purpose of commercial sex exploitation. These practices continue in spite of the Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, which clearly stipulates that "every child has the right not to be subjected to social, cultural and religious practices which are detrimental to his or her wellbeing".
There is therefore an urgent need for our society to prioritise the rights and protection of our children to combat the widespread violation of their rights. National government must commit to working collaboratively with all spheres of government and with civil society organisations, particularly at grassroots level, in educating and developing integrated programmes to fight all the ills that are afflicting our society, in particular the violation of human rights.
In his state of the province address, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize, noted that education was the foundation upon which the future of our country would be built. He called on the entire school community to rally behind the education of every child, reminding us of his words from a previous address: "Ingane yakho yingane yami," which means "my child is your child and your child is my child". This campaign has been so successful in some areas, the ones we call "war rooms", because we are not looking at the child only. The approach is to eradicate poverty, improve health and tackling all the ills I am talking about. Those are the "war rooms" where everything is focused on prioritising the child and everything the child needs.
To this end, it has been encouraging to see the Department of Social Development, in collaboration with the SA Police Services, conducting awareness campaigns on legislation protecting women and children. The ANC-led government has to be applauded for creating an enabling environment for civil society to participate more effectively. More work still needs to be done to create a caring society that respects the rights of all its citizens. We have heard speaker after speaker talking about some of the challenges that we still face.
Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate the women leaders in the DA who have been newly elected into top leadership positions. In the same breath I would like to commend the ANC Women's League, which has led a campaign for all organisations, including the political parties represented in our Parliament, to begin looking at the issue of women and working towards an equal, 50/50 distribution in appointments. I hope the ANC Women's League will continue to do that and that our sisters in the DA will come and have discussions with the ANC Women's League so that this issue can spread to other parties as well. [Applause.]
Ms S LUCAS
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 440
Ms N D SIKHOSANA (KwaZulu-Natal)
Ms S LUCAS (Northern Cape): Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon MECs present, members, comrades and friends, while it is an honour to speak here on behalf of my province, I am doing so with a heavy heart. Last week, our province made world news – again, after the issue of Baby Tshepang made headlines a few years ago and also against the backdrop of little Buhle, who was kidnapped a week ago by people who gave his mother a lift from Warrenton to Kimberley. Another reason for my heavy heart is the issue of the woman who killed her five children in our province. I think the grim details of this family tragedy will one day be revealed in court but what it underlines is that violence against children remains pervasive and is to be found in all communities and in all settings.
It is true that as a country we inherited a legacy of violence, extreme inequality and social dislocation. On the other hand, a key achievement of postapartheid South Africa has been the establishment of a progressive legal framework and adoption of policies that aim to protect children and guarantee their rights to social services. The reality is that in spite of all our collective efforts in our province, 287 cases of neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse and physical abuse of children were still reported in the past year. It is to the credit of the province that we rendered services to 22 406 orphans and vulnerable children, and that no less than 16 000 children in the province are in foster care. As a mother, a parent, a community leader and a political activist, I can only ask: Where will it end? When will it all end? Does the biblical injunction not call on us to tend the weakest among us? We should at all times be working together to protect our children.
Previous speakers already mentioned that we needed a multisectoral approach, partnerships between government and civil society, and co-operation between all spheres of government, particularly since the challenges facing children increasingly include poverty, unemployment, child abuse and exploitation, as well as the loss of a support system within families. Growing up in a rural community ...
Afrikaans:
... Ek wil sê omdat ek van 'n plaas af kom, weet ek dat in die dae toe ons grootgeword het, het almal na almal se kinders omgesien. My kind was jou kind en almal het saamgestem dat ons almal verantwoordelik was vir ons kinders.
English:
Unfortunately, in many of our communities today, we have lost our way. We have gained political freedom, but we seem to have lost our humanity. We have made it easier for abusers in our midst to flourish, for example when both parents are constantly in a drunken stupor. That brings me to one of the issues that is prevalent in our province, that of foetal alcohol syndrome. All of us know about foetal alcohol syndrome. It is a condition that children suffer from as a consequence of mothers using alcohol during pregnancy.
The Northern Cape Department of Social Development, or the Northern Cape government, funds 39 Isolabantwana and Neighbour Helping Neighbour programmes, with a total of 439 volunteers who render awareness and prevention programmes on child protection. These volunteers receive a stipend of R750 per month, and funding is provided for awareness programmes. The department, or the government, also funds eight children's homes in the province, including the Kinderherberg Trust in Kamieskroon, Bright Lights in Pofadder, Tsholofelo in Daniëlskuil, Jannie Roux in Barkly West, Sinothando, Kestell Kinderhuis, as well as the Christina Kiddie and Helen Bishop Homes in Kimberley. We are also funding the Thusong centre in Kimberley, a centre that was founded by women who saw the need for children working and living on the street to be provided with shelter.
Like it has on so many aspects of our lives, the HIV/Aids pandemic also has an impact on children, resulting in more and more child-headed households. The increasing number of deaths of parents and caregivers compromises the care and protection of children. Children are either left to fend for themselves or are left in the care of relatives or grandparents who themselves are either too ill or too old to cope. These children become vulnerable and may be predisposed to abusive behaviour because of their vulnerability. In the province, we have rolled out the Isibindi Project. It is a child protection programme for children and families infected and affected by HIV/Aids. No less than 5 816 children under the age of 13 years received services from this programme last year, while 1 605 youths and 619 families also benefited.
The services are rendered by trained child and youth care workers and include caring for children infected and/or affected by HIV/Aids, access to documents to ensure that applications for grants and pensions are submitted, family preservation, enrolling children in school, empowering children with life skills, and stipends for staff empowered in the programme. Although there is still a lot that needs to be done, the programme was implemented in the communities of the Xun, the Khwe, Greenpoint, Donkerhoek, Lerato Park, Soul City, Colesberg, Paballelo and Port Nolloth. Chairperson, you will know that some of these communities count among the poorest in our province.
As can be seen, the province is continually committing itself to rendering holistic, integrated services for the protection of children. Research in South Africa and internationally indicates that the early years of childhood are critical for development. Early Childhood Development, ECD, aims to protect the rights of children so that they can develop independently and realise their full potential. It is an integrated process whereby children, from birth to school-going age, develop physically, mentally, spiritually and morally. This phase is therefore the most vulnerable and most important phase for overall development in a person's lifespan.
The challenge for government is to break the cycle of poverty and make sure that those who are underprivileged have access to basic stimulation, development and education. Early childhood services remain key in fighting poverty. Our department in the province is funding 436 ECD facilities, benefiting 21 670 children. In turn, 174 practitioners who have obtained a National Qualifications Framework, NQF, level-4 qualification are also paid a stipend of R1 320 per month, as part of our job-creation strategy, thus boosting the socioeconomic profile of poverty-stricken areas.
As the MEC for environmental affairs, I will really be failing in my duty if I didn't say anything about the issue of the environment. Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees that we must have sustainable natural resources, protecting the rights of children to a clean and healthy environment for the benefit of their future, and thus we have the responsibility to ensure that there is a clean environment conducive to the wholesale development of our children.
We should at all times be working together. We need a holistic approach, a programme of action to turn the tide of hope and to protect our children. We need to improve our monitoring and reporting on child protection violations. Letting matters slide because the perpetrator is known to us - sometimes it is family - is just not good enough. We need to consciously mobilise the necessary commitment, expertise and resources from all sectors in our society to ensure that the child protection system works. We need to stand up and challenge social acceptance of violence, as seen in many of our township communities.
Afrikaans:
As ons sê my kind of jou kind is my kind, dan het ons almal 'n verantwoordelikheid om te sê: Van nou af sal ons seker maak dat ons almal die geringstes onder ons – ons kinders, ons toekoms – beskerm en bewaar.
Ms M G BOROTO
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 441
Ms S LUCAS
Ms M G BOROTO: Hon Chairperson, hon members, special delegates, including those from the South African Local Government Association, Salga, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great regret that I stand here today, as our country is now ranked among the most unequal countries of the world. This inequality manifests itself in the extreme poverty which, unfortunately, mostly affects our children because of their vulnerability. They, in turn, are subjected to the various forms of abuse which most of the members have talked about here and which we hear about in the media on a daily basis.
Our debate today is about how we as a society can seek to change the situation and create a better world for all. As I say this, I want to refer to hon Faber, who was right when he said that our country was still plagued by child labour. But I want to ask one question. We are here because we seek to change our society. Who are the people who employ children? If we look and check the statistics, we will realise that child labour happens mostly on farms. Who owns the farms? [Interjections.] Let me leave it there but I'd like members to think about it and make sure that this does not continue. [Interjections.]
I want to talk briefly about poverty. When poverty strikes families, the youngest family members become its most innocent and vulnerable victims. That is why I talk about the children on farms. The parents do not own the land and the children don't attend school. They then have to work on the farms because of their vulnerability caused by poverty. Poverty causes lifelong damage to children's minds and bodies, turning them into adults who perpetuate the cycle of poverty by transmitting it to their children too. Poverty is the main underlying cause of millions of preventable child deaths each year.
The reason millions of children go hungry, miss out on school and are forced into child labour is because of their vulnerability caused by poverty. Investment in children is the greatest guarantee for achieving equitable and sustainable human development. I think the Minister referred to that when she mentioned education. This is why poverty reduction must begin with the protection and realisation of the rights of children.
Since 1994, South Africa has made important progress towards alleviating poverty through an array of policies and programmes. One of these is the social grant programme. I'm not going to go into detail; I just wanted to share with my comrades what impact poverty has on children.
The ANC is a party that stands firmly and resolutely for the protection of the rights of children. Its policies are anchored in the belief of building a caring, open and democratic society based on the ethos of equality and freedom where the poor and most vulnerable are a priority in terms of empowerment, state assistance and the enforcement of human rights. The ANC's policies are based on the belief that the best interest of the child is paramount in everything that we do in our society. This is manifested in the priority given by the ANC government to programmes that are aimed at addressing child poverty through measures such as providing safety nets and dealing with child murders, disappearances, abuse and neglect.
Ms Hartnick, you are correct, we need to make sure that the register assists us because the information that should be contained in the National Protection Register must warn of the possible abuse of children and must identify those who have actually been abused. We must be able to find the names in this register of persons who are unsuitable to work with children because of their record. So, I believe that this government is going to make sure that we concretise this and make sure that the register works for our people.
This brings me to the next point, that mostly ...
Sepedi:
... re re bommago bana ba swara thipa ka bogaleng.
English:
According to records revealed in 2007, 41,5% of women in Mpumalanga are unemployed. It is my belief that women understand more about children and that our empowerment of these women will ensure the safety of children.
Let me talk about the noble values contained in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Republic. These rights, among others, are for children. I won't talk about all of them. Let me talk about the one that deals with family and alternative care, specifically the right to adoptive or foster care and to be cared for by the state where the child concerned is in need of care. We have backlogs, hon Minister, in child care. Most of our rural people don't know how they can help these children. Because of the HIV and Aids pandemic, most parents leave their children but, unfortunately, these children reside with their families who do not know about the foster care and adoption processes. Adoption is still expensive. That is one area we still have to look into, so that the relatives at home do not have to suffer when they can be assisted in caring for young kids who have been orphaned.
Hon Faber also talked about a lack of access to early childhood development, ECD, programmes. I must say that the Department of Social Development has responded very positively by developing a comprehensive strategy on ECD. That process is working as we speak.
Let me say something about childhood development. A rapid appraisal and analysis indicate that there is a range of ECD services at community and household level that have elements that support ECD policy goals for children from birth to four years of age. Now, you will find that in rural areas people just say they have an ECD centre. These people need education. We need to educate our rural people to understand how ECD should work. In so doing we must come up with funding and regulations to bring the ECD services programme into the mainstream. We must incorporate ECD into the mainstream. Services incorporating them are guided by the Children's Act.
Another thing we need to make sure of is the recognition of prior learning. We know that our parents are educators by nature. They raise children with the natural knowledge they have of assisting children. Are we going to assist them by recognising their prior knowledge? This is one thing that you must do. We must look at those areas, especially the rural areas, where we have people who are doing this job and make sure that we capacitate them more. We must make sure that we work together with the local governments so that our people understand what ECD is about and so that they become capacitated and certificated. That's all I wanted to say on ECD. It's very important that we talk about this. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF POLICE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 442
Ms M G BOROTHO
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF POLICE: Chairperson, Minister Ndebele, welcome and good luck with your debate on transport, especially as we head towards the busy festive season.
IsiXhosa:
Ndiqinisekile ukuba mna nawe siza kudibana apha endleleni, mna ndisilwa nabaphuli-mthetho.
English:
Minister Ndebele is saying that criminals are always using transport. [Laughter.]
It is sad to be told at the very moment when we are debating this matter that a child has been kidnapped in Lenasia, Gauteng, only a few minutes ago. It is bad.
I would like to thank all members who participated in this debate. It was very interesting. I listened to all members and discovered that we were really prepared for this debate. We mentioned legislation, machineries that have been put in place by the ANC since 1994 and the grey areas in these pieces of legislation. This means that we as Members of Parliament need to review some of these legislative clauses in order for us to be able to implement them.
Thank you, chairperson Mabe, for identifying the role that is being played by the NGOs in society. I know there are many NGOs that tirelessly assist our communities in fighting the scourge of child abuse within their ranks.
Hon Van Rooyen and hon Faber, the interdepartmental approach by all sister departments is of vital importance, of course, and we have correctly identified that. Child labour, as was mentioned by members here, is a crime, but in order for us to know where this crime is happening, we need you to tell us which farmers are doing that. Then we will definitely arrest them, with the help of the Department of Labour.
Sesotho:
Ntate Mofokeng, ke dumellana le wena ka tse ngata tseo o di emisitseng, haholoholo ha re tla tabeng ya hore re fumana tharollo jwang hore re kgone ho sebedisana mmoho le setjhaba. Ke dumellana le seo o se buileng, ha o ne o re mohlomong re hloka ho tiisa tsebo ya sepolesa ka hara sepolesa. Sepolesa se tle se tsebe hore se etsa eng ha se tobana le diphephetso tseo se kopanang le tsona twantshong ya botlokotsebe, haholo bo amang bana. Dintlha tseo o buileng ka tsona tse mabapi le se etsahalang ka hara porofensi ya Foreisetata ...
English:
... we have taken note of them. I also indicated in my speech that on top of the recruitment of skilled people that we are engaged in, we must have our own police officers retrained on how to handle cases of child abuse, especially children who have been raped.
Mabu Ngobeni from Mpumalanga - a beautiful province, of course - you are right. I agree with you that cyber crime is getting out of hand. When we introduced cell phones, laptops and computers, it was for good purposes. Unfortunately, Minister Ndebele, we got ourselves into trouble because they are not being used for the good purposes that they were meant for. Once your child starts clinging to the laptop or jumps up whenever you enter the room, you must know that there is a problem or that he or she is engaged in mischief.
Hon Feldman, you spoke about the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units, their role and the kind of people who are being deployed in those units. I was in the Eastern Cape a few weeks ago. I was looking at the list of police officials who had been deployed to handle cases involving children and I discovered that most of them were men. I asked senior management why they had about 70% of men handling those cases. The senior women who were in that meeting told me that they had a problem with deploying women who were already in the system to those units because most of them were saying that if they were sent there, as mothers, they would kill those criminals and be sent to prison themselves. We are now starting afresh. We are getting outside people who have the special skills needed to handle children who are affected by this kind of crime.
Mr Mokgoro, indeed, families have a bigger role to play in bringing up their own children. Parents must be their own children's role models. You can't be a role model ...
IsiXhosa:
... xa uvuka ekuseni uthume umntwana ukuba aye kukuthengela iibhotile ezimbini ze-Black Label...
English:
...and then expect to build a person of good character out of that child.
Sesotho:
O ke ke wa roma ngwana wa re ho yena: 'Tloho le bojwala mane, ntlele Black label, hoseng a tsoha feela'.
English:
Then you expect to build a human being out of that child! You will never build a human being that way.
MEC Mokomele Mothibi, thank you for highlighting the role that is being played by the Department of Social Development and all relevant sister departments in your province.
Hon Hartnick, as police leadership we are saying that we shall arrest even our own members if they are found to be in conflict with the law. Hence we mentioned that members of the police have been arrested. Indeed, we did arrest certain officials for rape and child abuse in this financial year. Credit must be given to the ANC-led government, which came up with the famous "16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children" campaign. [Applause.] This campaign should be a 365 days campaign focusing on the same issue.
Hon Sikhosana, those who hide behind ukuthwala and abduct a minor will be arrested and charged with kidnapping and rape. You cannot expect a 10-year-old child to be a woman. If you do that, we will arrest you and charge you with rape.
Hon Sylvia Lucas, my friend and comrade, you mentioned the killing of five children by their own mother. I agree with one member who said that we are living in a sick society, because the person who is supposed to protect them is the one who decides to kill them. There is no other way of responding to this incident than to say that we are living in a sick society.
Somebody spoke about the adoption of children. If you don't want your children, give them up for adoption. We have families that find it very difficult to have their own children. Let us not kill our children - rather give them up for adoption.
Hon Borotho, I agree with you that our people need to be educated about their rights, especially those on farms in rural communities. When they are being forcefully raped they think it is a man's right to do that because he has something they don't have. It is not a right. As politicians and public representatives, it is our role to teach people about their rights. We also need to teach our people about the issue of farm labour.
IsiXhosa:
Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi! [Kwaqhwatywa.]
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION - MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 443
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION - DEPUTY MINISTER OF POLICE
MOVING SOUTH AFRICA SAFELY AND ON TIME
(Subject for Discussion)
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Hon Chairperson, hon members, MEC Vadi from Gauteng and other MECs present, whom I'll recognise as I proceed, it is my pleasure to open this debate on the topic "Moving South Africa Safely and on Time." As you are all aware, October is Transport Month. It is Transport Month not just because today is the birthday of one of our esteemed leaders, Reginald Oliver Tambo. It is not just because of that - it is also because of that.
This year Transport Month's theme is "Year of job creation and service delivery in the transport sector: Moving South Africa to a better tomorrow". Since the launch of the 2011 October Transport Month Campaign, on 22 September at the University of Zululand, when we also celebrated International Maritime Day, almost every day we have been crisscrossing the length and breadth of our country to showcase to our citizens what Transport has been doing to move South Africa safely and on time.
Given the deep-seated historical legacy of the apartheid-inspired geographical marginalisation of the majority of South Africans and decades of underinvestment in public transport, government is going all out to ensure a safe, efficient, reliable and affordable public transport service. Government's public transport plans are not a promise for the next millennium.
Over the next two years transport infrastructure is guaranteed to radically change the way South Africans travel, due to a multibillion-rand boost by this ANC government, amounting to R66 billion this year - that is 2011/2012 - and rising to R80 billion by 2013/14. The improvements are set to create numerous jobs and tourism opportunities. The improvements are spread across the country, with both urban and rural areas set to benefit.
This comes as current transport infrastructure developments have been recognised as being of world-class standard. The second Infrastructure Report Card released on 5 April 2011 by the SA Institute of Civil Engineering states that the country's best performing infrastructure was its aviation infrastructure, which was awarded the report's only "A" rating. According to the report, South Africa's national road network was "good to excellent" and the SA National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral, the Airports Company SA, Acsa, and ports have performed exceptionally well.
Earlier this year, at the World Airport Awards 2010-11 held in Denmark, the OR Tambo International Airport was named the best airport in Africa. It was also in the top three most-improved airports worldwide. [Applause.] Meanwhile, Johannesburg's Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, system has been described as far better than that of New York by Walter Hook, Head of the Institute for Transportation and Development Planning in New York City, during a tour of Rea Vaya BRT facilities at the beginning of the year. Rea Vaya has also scooped various international awards.
In order to deliver on our mandate, the Department of Transport's three key areas are road safety, public transport and the maintenance and construction of roads. I would start with the latter.
Members will recall that when I was appointed Minister of Transport by President Zuma, he said that KwaZulu-Natal's Zibambele and Vukuzakhe programmes must be extended to the rest of the country. To this end, we launched the S'hamba Sonke, Re Sepela Kamoka, Ons loop Saam programme. S'hamba Sonke is the result of our plea to President Zuma for dedicated funding for road maintenance. We have all spoken about this; we have been talking about potholes. Now we are gradually changing the debate to not be about potholes but about the jobs that are being created fixing the potholes. It started for the first time in this financial year, on 1 April 2011, with an amount of R6, 4 billion. Next year it will be R7,5 billion and in 2014 there will be R8,2 billion. This is a total of over R22 billion by 2014. This amount is a conditional grant dedicated to road maintenance and road maintenance only.
In turn the Department of Transport has to report on a quarterly basis to the National Treasury on the performance of this grant. As we provide all the necessary information on these projects, members of this Council must also evaluate and monitor the implementation of these projects. We have committed ourselves to creating 70 000 jobs by 2012 through S'hamba Sonke. S'hamba Sonke is expected to create 400 000 jobs by 2014, and the amounts, as we know, are as follows: KwaZulu-Natal R1,2 billion; Eastern Cape R1 billion; Mpumalanga R1 billion; Limpopo R934 million; Gauteng R566 million; Free State R447 million; Western Cape R411 million; Northern Cape R308 million; and North West R501 million.
With regard to all new toll roads, I have instructed Sanral to halt all processes related to any new tolling of national roads. Cabinet has recently appointed a task team, which includes the Minister of Finance and me, to look into the issue of toll roads. On 10 August 2011, Cabinet approved e-toll tariffs for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, and we have figures on this.
The "user pay" principle to upgrade and expand Gauteng freeways was proposed by the Gauteng provincial government in the late 1990s. Based on various engagements and consultations between national government, Gauteng provincial government, relevant local government and other stakeholders, the GFIP was finally declared a toll road network in 2008, with funding from a R20 billion interest-accruing loan with agreed terms and conditions.
In line with enabling our road network to meet the demands of a leading economy in SADC and Africa, Sanral will be intensifying its focus to assist provinces and municipalities with management support on contracts and to provide necessary skills and expertise as well as assistance with our rural roads programme. In this regard, we will be finalising a detailed plan within the next two weeks and will consult with provinces and municipalities. Over and above S'hamba Sonke funding, for which I have given the breakdown of the figures, Sanral is providing - and I am happy to announce that we are providing a further R1 billion. This is brand new and has not been allocated yet. So, we will be waiting for provinces and municipalities to make further proposals for any urgent road that needs to be constructed so that this money can be fairly distributed.
We will shortly also be hosting a two-day roads funding summit where this plan will be debated by all relevant stakeholders, including organised labour, business, civil society and academics. The summit will, among others, result in a clear direction with regard to the process of funding and construction of roads, as well as an agreement on key national road projects and the funding options available, including the "user pay" principle, which is tolling, or the "taxpayer pay" principle.
With regard to road safety, I have been chosen as the SADC Regional Road Safety Champion. My nomination as the "regional champion" for road safety was approved by a meeting of the Committee of Ministers responsible for transport and meteorology from SADC, which was held on 7 October. [Applause.] The SADC Ministers also launched the SADC Decade of Action for Road Safety in support of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020.
On Monday, 25 October, together with Santaco, we launched the Transport Training Academy in the Free State to improve the skills and capacity of taxi operators, drivers and general staff within the taxi industry, thereby providing an excellent service to customers. Through the implementation of the TR3 2020 Strategy, Santaco launched Operation Hlokomela to support and create proper dialogue with commuters and drivers.
On 10 October 2011, we launched "Friends of the Decade of Action" to encourage the private sector to prioritise road safety during 2011 to 2020 and become a trendsetter in road safety towards stabilising and reversing road crashes. We will be happy to have members here signing up as Friends of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020.
The Decade of Action for Road Safety is our chance to save lives. Each one of us has a role to play in preventing deaths and injuries on the roads. Let us all work together to make sure that the world's roads are safe. To address these challenges in South Africa, various measures are being implemented, including the formation of community road safety councils in every municipality in the country. It is very important that there should be a road safety council in every ward. These are the people who assist communities who are stressed and traumatised by road accidents and crashes, guiding and supporting them.
In conjunction with the Department of Basic Education, road safety education is being introduced in schools as part of the life-skills curriculum so that, from next year on, Grade 11 learners, 17-year-olds, may acquire their learner's licence. We will be going to schools to do this. It's a touch-screen thing that is quite easy. They will not be in a hurry to get licences, so they won't have to bribe anybody. The 18-year-olds must emerge with their driver's licence. This is very important for people who are not rushing to get their licences properly and it is part of fighting the corruption that exists.
From October 2010 to September 2011, 19 780 drunk drivers were arrested across the country. In the Western Cape alone, almost 50 drivers have been sentenced to jail for drunk-driving in the past year. I want to thank the MEC of this province, Mr Robin Carlisle, for his enthusiasm and energy. Since 1 October 2010, 664 drivers have been sentenced in the Western Cape for drunk-driving offences, 47 of whom were sent directly to jail without the option of a fine. One was jailed for four years, six for three years and the remaining 40 for between six months and two-and-a-half years. A further 12 had their licences cancelled. We are very happy with the Department of Justice's approach of also not being tolerant when they see a drunk driver before them.
As part of the new National Rolling Enforcement Plan, we announced on 10 September 2010 that from October 2010 to September 2011, 14 017 000 vehicles and drivers were checked, 5,97 million fines were issued for various traffic offences and 53 341 unroadworthy vehicles, the majority of which were buses and taxis, were discontinued from use. Since 31 August 2011, more than 1 760 unroadworthy buses and taxis have been taken off South Africa's roads, following our instruction that every bus and taxi must be stopped and checked. All road users must report bad driving to the National Traffic Call Centre on 0861 400 800.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr R J Tau): Hon Minister, you may conclude.
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: With regard to public transport, our strategy aims to accelerate the improvement of public transport by establishing integrated rapid public transport networks. We are engaging in a comprehensive rail upgrade that looks at placing rail at the centre of freight and commuter movement. Regarding the Moloto Corridor between Gauteng and Mpumalanga, this is important because we have witnessed several horrific road crashes on this stretch of road. Clearly a long-term solution is required for the Moloto Corridor, and we believe that an extension of the rail system from Pretoria, at Hatfield, to the former KwaNdebele through the Moloto road is an absolute necessity. At the moment, we are subsidising commuters travelling on this route to the value of R470 million per annum but due to the long travelling hours, road crashes continue to be the trend. So, within the next three weeks, a steering committee that will include the national Department of Transport, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces will be meeting the affected municipalities and other sister departments to deliberate on the financial feasibility study for the rail project for Moloto.
As of 1 April 2011, government will be spending R30,2 billion over the next three years on rail upgrades across the country, with R19,5 billion earmarked for capital spending to upgrade the existing infrastructure.
The Department of Transport, through the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, is investing in new rail rolling stock at an estimated R97 billion. Through this programme, Prasa will be able to procure new rolling stock and locomotives for the Metrorail service and long-distance rail services. This will create opportunities for business and stimulate the rail engineering industry. We have been to Koedoespoort, and there is one here in Cape Town and others in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. These will create opportunities for business, stimulate the rail engineering industry and related suppliers in the value chain, as well as contribute to our industrial policy objectives.
We say, working together, we can do more. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (MR R J Tau):
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 443
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (MR R J Tau): I allowed to Minister to conclude because I realised there was a lot of information that he still wanted to share with us.
Before I call hon Sibande, I am reminded of a matter that I should have pronounced on earlier, just for the record, because we shouldn't allow a situation where the House is left in limbo.
Hon Bloem, I suggest that in future the final list, or the speakers' list that is indicated as being the final one, should be the one that is regarded as such by all political parties. What you referred to was the draft list, which really confused the Council and created instability here. So, the final list is what we should bring into the Council or what should be in front of us at our seats in order to avoid this kind of confusion. I can imagine you sitting with the draft list and us sitting with the final draft here and then a speaker is called while they are not in the Council because they thought they were speaker number 17, only to find that they were speaker number 11 in terms of the final list. So, I just wanted to bring that to the attention of the Council. [Interjections.] I don't know what you are responding to because I didn't ask a question. I was clarifying the process and that what we needed to bring into the House the final speakers' list and not the draft list. Can we proceed with the business of the Council?
Mr M P SIBANDE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 444
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (MR R J Tau):
Mr M P SIBANDE: Hon Chairperson, Minister, MECs, members, comrades and distinguished guests, on behalf of the Council I wish to extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to the families and relatives of Moroese Mokoatsi, Reneilwe Lesenyeho, Given Mills, Isaac Tlale and Nomvula Dumako, who were run down and killed by a car last Saturday while they were running in preparation for next month's Soweto Marathon. Khanyiswa Stengile, who was part of the team, was fortunate to escape with her life and is recuperating in hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery.
IsiZulu:
Sihlalo ngivumele ngindlulise nasi isicelo esiphuthumayo, kuNgqongqoshe kaManzankosi, imigwaqo yonke esetshenziswa orisho eThekwini ingcono kakhulu kuneminye imigwaqo elandelayo. Umgwaqo waseMpumalanga Kapa ongena endaweni ebizwa ngokuthi kusesiDadweni, KwaZulu-Natali eTugela Valley, umgwaqo owela umfula iTugela kanye nebhuloho lakhona elincane kakhulu, babo! Umculi uVusi Ximba wayibona le ndaba wathi "yindlu yenja." [Uhleko.]
Izakhamizi zalezi zindawo zicela uNgqongqoshe alungise lezi zimo. Sishayela uNgqongqoshe izandla ngalokhu akhulume ngakho nalokhu engizokhuluma ngakho. Ngoba okungangokuba njengoba kusondele amaholide kaKhisimusi sekuqalile kuyahela komama baseMoloto kanye namaphethelo.
English:
Transport plays an important dual role in the economy, both as a direct provider of services and as a catalyst for economic integration, distribution and development. In terms of the National Land Road Strategic Framework, land transport service delivery has therefore been undergoing a huge change from the historically distorted, supply-driven system to the demand or needs-driven system that caters for the basic needs of its users.
Safety and, in particular, effective law enforcement are promoted as vital factors in land transport management and regulatory systems. The South African road network is a major asset but it is deteriorating rapidly as a result of the protracted period of underfunding. Thirty-one per cent of Gauteng roads are in a poor or very poor condition, according to the provincial MEC of Transport ubabalo [who is seated here.]
The Department of Transport's assessment for 2010 shows that 4 248km of the total provincial road network is paved.This statistic is disturbing as a country's road network, in terms of the international benchmark, should not have more than 10% in a poor and very poor condition. In Gauteng the figure now stands at 31%. Two years ago only 15% of the province's roads were in a poor and very poor condition. The MEC said that the asset value of the current condition of the network is approximately R39 billion. If the road network had been maintained at the level of "very good", its asset value would have been R51 billion. This means a net asset loss of 23,5% in less than five years.
The high occurrence of potholes, particularly on provincial and metropolitan roads, has led to widespread concern among road users. The actual costs of potholes in South Africa in terms of damage to vehicles and accidents caused directly by the presence of potholes and other road-user effects have not been quantified. Through the wise use of preventive and proactive maintenance the incidence of potholes can be reduced significantly.
The ANC government considers transport to be the heartbeat of our economy. Hence, the contribution of the public transport sector towards the economic growth of the country and meeting the various needs of our people cannot be overemphasised. The ANC's 2009 Manifesto Policy Framework has therefore indicated that the ANC government will accelerate and expand its investment in public infrastructure. This will include, among others, the expansion and improvement of the rail networks, public transport and port operations and, in the process, will meet the basic needs of society. It further stated that while an effective public transport system is required to address the legacy of apartheid planning, which forced our people to travel long distances to their places of work and spend a large share of their income on transport, government will continue to pursue the roll-out of a public transport strategy that addresses the needs of working people.
In this regard the ANC's 2007 National Conference also resolved that the developmental state should maintain its strategic role in shaping the key sectors of the economy, including the national transport and logistics system. It is therefore laudable that the Treasury and Department of Transport will create a robust and responsive single transport economic regulator within the next 24 months to oversee the pricing of all transport infrastructure, including roads, aviation, maritime and rail.
As government, our mandate is to ensure safe, efficient and affordable public transport. In this regard I regret to mention that from an analysis of the Railway Safety Regulator's State of Safety Report it would appear that urgent intervention is required to improve safety in the critical occurrence categories of derailments, collisions, security-related occurrences, level-crossing accidents and people struck by trains. Collisions and derailments continue to be the highest combined incident costs for Transnet Freight Rail and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa. An improvement in the safety performance is a critical element for ensuring that the government realises its objective of building a viable and sustainable rail transportation system in order to effectively drive both the country's economic growth and social development. I am glad to note, however, that progress has been made in the 2010-11 period in the strengthening of the railway safety regulatory regime through the development of appropriate regulations and safety standards.
According to the Road Management Corporation's 2009 Road Traffic Report, the number of fatal crashes increased to 10 860 in 2009. In 2008 the conservative cost to the country of these accidents was approximately R13,3 billion. Why are there still so many deaths on South Africa's roads? The report reveals that there were more than 293 000 unlicensed vehicles on the country's roads at the end of December 2009. To make matters worse, the number of vehicles that were not roadworthy increased by 13,7% to almost 429 000 vehicles at the end of December 2009.
Another problem that causes serious road accidents is fatigue experienced by long-distance drivers. Few people seem to realise the danger associated with driver fatigue. In fact, drivers who become drowsy or fall asleep at the wheel contribute to thousands of crashes each year. A driver who falls asleep is much more likely to cause death and serious injuries.
Fatigue-related accidents are three times more likely to result in serious injury and death compared to other types of road accidents. I will therefore propose that it be made compulsory for taxi drivers who transport commuters over long distances to have relief drivers, as is the case with buses. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]
Mr H B GROENEWALD
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 445
Mr M P SIBANDE
Mr H B GROENEWALD: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister of Transport, hon members of the NCOP and hon guests, especially our hon members of the legislature from the North West province sitting in front of me, we welcome you. "Moving South Africa Safely and On Time" and "Keeping South Africa's economy on the right track with Transnet", "Transport is the economy" - all these slogans and many more mean nothing to South Africa if there is no political will to achieve these goals.
A few years ago, South Africa had one of the best developed rail tracks in the whole of Africa, 18 000 km. But with a lack of interest and investment from the government in the past 30 years, the whole system is busy breaking down to nothing.
What a pity that a country like South Africa, who has taken the lead on many occasions and had so much to be proud of, allowed its rail infrastructure to be destroyed and vandalised. South Africa needs opportunities for its people and desperately needs more housing. But what happened to the old railway stations? They are falling apart and become hiding places where beggars and criminals can stay.
On an oversight visit to the Dundee area in KwaZulu-Natal it was shocking to see the poor conditions of roads. Many of the roads in the mountainous areas were very narrow, with no railings on the side to protect vehicles from going over the edge.
The roads in most of the rural areas in South Africa are in a poor condition. Although budgets are in place, corruption and fraud play a big role in tender processes. The acting head of the North West's roads and transport, Sandile Mbanjwa, was suspended. She was investigated for illegally awarding a construction tender of millions of rands. A trend that seems to be common practice in the North West's provincial departments of public works, roads and transport was again on display a week ago. Minutes before the director of property could be served with a letter of suspension and a list of charges brought against her, she resigned with immediate effect. Last year, the very same modus operandi was followed by the head of the transport department, Mr Nick van Staden.
Growing public transport is a job-creation priority. In the latest publication of Mobility, it is made very clear that when commuters are attracted to public transport, jobs can be created:
If 200 000 more people caught taxis, this would mean an increase of 1,8% on current passenger numbers. This would require an additional 4,500 more taxi workers. If 500 000 more people caught buses to work and education, this would mean an increase of 14% on current passenger numbers. This in turn would translate into the need for an additional 3 500 buses and 7 000 more workers in bus operations. If 800 000 more people caught Metrorail trains, this would mean a 28% increase in the current 2,8 million people who catch trains. An additional 113 train sets would be required over and above the current 403 train sets in service ... The current Metrorail staff of 8 500 would have to increase by 2,380. In sum, if 10% of car commuters (1,5 million people) could be attracted to public transport, and those numbers were distributed between taxis, buses and trains in such a way that progressively favours the mass modes, then 13 880 direct transport operational jobs would be created.
As the host country of Cop 17 South Africa has a unique opportunity to trigger movement in the climate policy arena. The South African Minister of Transport should be able to use the momentum created by the meeting to promote sustainable transport policies as mitigation and adaptation to climate change and leverage funds for low-carbon projects.
With regard to cycling out of climate change, if the current cycling population could be increased by just 10% it would mean 40 000 additional bicycles on South Africa's roads. This, too, would create additional employment. The building of cycling lanes for all communities as part of road infrastructure is therefore a significant job creator. Cape Town has already implemented it and can be used as an example for the rest of South Africa.
The S'hamba Sonke [moving together] Programme is a massive job creation drive to fix, upgrade and maintain South Africa's entire secondary road network. The programme will create new opportunities for jobs and emerging contractors throughout the country. In partnership with all these provinces, it will repair potholes and improve access to schools, clinics and other social and economic opportunities. The programme sets out to create 70 000 jobs this year and a total of 400 jobs by 2014. The government has set aside R22,3 billion for this project.
The DA supports the Moving Together programme of government, because there will be job creation; the rehabilitation of key arterial routes in support of the rural economy through labour-intensive projects; the elimination of potholes on the roads; the creation of road access to schools, clinics, and public and social infrastructures; and the establishment of the Road Asset Management System, Rams.
As stakeholders we should all pull together to make our public transport systems safe, efficient and affordable. Let us also believe that the political will to be there to achieve these goals. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr R J Tau): Hon members, you must behave yourselves, please. I will now call upon hon Themba.
Ms M P THEMBA
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 446
Mr H B GROENEWALD
Ms M P THEMBA: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, hon MECs and hon special delegates, this debate takes place at an opportune time, when millions of our people are preparing to travel the length and breadth of our country to visit relatives and friends. During this period many of our roads will be a blood bath, where people's lives will be cut short or people will lose their limbs. Allow me to join the Minister of Transport in wishing our people a safe festive season and sounding a clarion call to transport users to be vigilant and obey the rules of our roads. We want to express our utmost support to all the transport officials who are gearing themselves up to ensure that not a single soul is lost this festive season.
We also want to send a very clear message to all those who show an utter disregard for the safety of our people and families that we will stand with our hands in the fire to ensure that they are removed completely from our roads and that those who continue to place the lives of our people at risk will face the full might of the law.
The theme of our debate today, which is "Moving South Africa Safely and On Time", finds resonance and expression in the White Paper on National Transport Policy, which was put forward by our government to usher in a new era for our transport network after the demise of the apartheid regime in 1994. It is this message that was later crystallised by the Department of Transport into a transport vision, which was known as Vision 2020, or the Moving South Africa programme.
The commitments that we made in the Transport Vision 2020 and Moving South Africa programme encapsulate our commitment to work tirelessly to ensure the safety of all road users and develop a new culture for our public transportation system by providing safe, reliable, efficient, effective and fully integrated transport operations and infrastructure which will best meet the needs of freight and passenger customers; improving levels of service and cost in a fashion that supports government strategies for economic and social development while being environmentally and economically sustainable.
We also expressly committed ourselves to develop a strategy to ensure that the transportation system of South Africa meets the needs of South Africa in the 21st century and therefore contributes to the country's growth and economic development.
We take pride that the ANC government has been at work to advance this transport vision and build a better road infrastructure to connect our people. Our roads infrastructure has been transformed. On a daily basis we bear witness to the various programmes of our government to continue in our quest to ensure that building an efficient transport system remains the main pillar of transforming our nation.
Since 1994 our government has invested billions of rand in building a new road infrastructure and systems. Today it is estimated that there are over 6 million licensed drivers and almost 10 million registered vehicles in South Africa. We have over 4 million motorcars, 241 000 minibuses and 27 000 buses on our roads.
The expansion of our roads infrastructure and the growing population of road users have created their own challenges. The biggest challenge is the high road accident and death figure witnessed on a daily basis. Our roads remain our largest source of carnage, death and disability.
It is estimated that our nation spends almost R40 billion on crashes and road fatalities. We have seen an increase in fatalities on our roads. In the period December 2005 to December 2006, the number of registered vehicles increased by 7%. We have also seen the number of fatal crashes increase from 2006 by 6,12% and the number of road traffic-related fatalities increase by 9%.
These figures and statistics bear testimony to the sad reality that our roads have turned into a blood bath of carnage. We have seen a rise in the culture of irresponsible driving habits and intolerance by road users. Some public transport operators such as taxi and bus drivers have developed a strong culture of irresponsible driving and intolerance that lead to the death of innocent commuters. On a daily basis many of us witness how public transporters such as taxi drivers and metro buses skip red traffic lights and cut in front of other vehicles, showing a truly repulsive disregard for other road users and traffic laws.
The primary contributory factors in fatal crashes, or the ones that impact on the seriousness of injuries, continue to be excessive speed, drinking and driving, and the nonwearing of seatbelts. In many instances the utter disregard for traffic laws and excessive speed has lead to the death of innocent people such as children and pedestrians.
The fatalities on our roads are exacerbated by poor monitoring and poor enforcement of road traffic rules. Bribes and corruption are some of the ill practices that undermine the enforcement of laws on our roads. It results in the certification of vehicles with defects as being roadworthy. We have seen the proliferation of the procurement of drivers' licences and fake licences.
We are aware that government has acknowledged the existence of corruption and the threat that this poses to road safety. Allow me to congratulate the Minister of Transport for his tireless efforts in fighting corruption and irresponsible driving on our roads.
The Road to Safety Strategy puts a high priority on co-ordinated action in all the key areas of road safety: compliance with the law, driver fitness and training, vehicle condition, fleet regulation, overload control, pedestrian education and direct community road safety participation. We have seen how buses and taxis that are not roadworthy lead to carnage and the death of our children and the poor, who are the main users of public transport.
Moving South Africa safely and on time is our collective national responsibility. Let us work together to ensure safe, reliable, effective, efficient and a fully integrated transport system. [Applause.]
Mr V R SHONGWE
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 447
Ms M P THEMBA
Mr V R SHONGWE (Mpumalanga): Chairperson, our national Minister of Transport, members of the NCOP, MECs, delegates from Salga and all protocol observed, it is an honour for me to represent the people of our beautiful province of Mpumalanga in this majestic Council and debate transport and moving South Africans safely and on time to their various destinations.
As some of you may be aware, Mpumalanga is not the only place of the rising sun but it also of the pioneering spirit. While our province boasts scenic beauty and many tourist attractions, it is also the place where it is not unusual for animals from the Kruger National Park to hang out with people. Although it is a remote province and is affected by a high rate of unemployment, it is indeed a developing region, with coal mines that contribute greatly to the gross domestic product.
People travel to our province to see, among others, wild animals, ancient rock formations and other tourist attractions such as God's Window, while enjoying peace of mind far away from the noisy and ever-busy cities of our country. Despite the fact that we are surrounded by four other provinces, we are also friends to our neighbours, Mozambique and Swaziland. Besides the movement of people from other provinces, overseas countries and these two neighbouring countries, we are also a province at work, with thousands and thousands of coal-hauling trucks rushing to deliver coal to power stations, thereby making Mpumalanga the powerhouse of the country.
This rush contributes to the transport industry's road accident rate and often results in fatalities, because some drivers neglect to observe the regulations of our roads. The long stretches and, sometimes, winding roads are a concern because they cause drivers to suffer from fatigue and make accidents, increasing the statistics of the carnage on our roads. Accidents also cause road closures, hence delays and inconvenience to the public at large.
When we advocate the safe movement of South Africans, and in order for the public to arrive at their various destinations on time, road safety education campaigns such as encouraging motorists to stop their vehicles and rest after two hours of driving and others need to be intensified.
As a province, we have had enough of the carnage on our roads, which has claimed the lives of many breadwinners and potential future leaders of our country. Maybe it is time that we consider transporting most of our goods by rail, which is underutilised in our country.
Over 80 000 people do the daily commute by public transport from the former KwaNdebele regions of Nkangala to Pretoria. From time to time, when accidents occur, it claims many lives. In the previous financial year alone our province recorded 10 955 fatalities. More than 2 320 people were killed in these accidents. Another 8 271 were severely injured. What is bad about these accidents is that the highest numbers of the victims are passengers, followed by the drivers and, lastly, pedestrians. Therefore, as a province, we support the Minister of Transport when he suggests a reduction in the speed limit to 100 km per hour.
We are concerned about bribery, especially at testing centres. Some officials accept R100 notes at the expense of innocent families who then loose their breadwinners in accidents. In this regard, as a province, we have introduced a traffic intervention unit, which focuses on popular killer roads.
As I'm speaking I have just received a message from one of my officials that the unit has done something else in the province and that some of the opposition parties are calling for the disbandment of that unit. I can safely say it is not going to happen. This is a special unit which focuses on driver behaviour and other moving traffic violations. During the past weekend alone, this unit arrested 156 drunk drivers in only two operations.
We also support road safety initiatives within the public transport industry that could lead to citizens opting for public transport. This could result in a decrease in accidents and people arriving at their destinations safely and on time. These road safety initiatives should be complemented by law enforcement operations through the use of speed detection cameras, roadblocks and the consistent hunting down of drunk drivers.
By fusing education, road and transport engineering and law enforcement, the country will maintain a safe road environment, thereby eradicating road fatalities and inconvenience.
In closing, as the MEC responsible for safety and security in the province, I want to say that one day I listened attentively to the television programme on which a taxi driver openly said to the nation of the Republic of South Africa that they were not breaking the laws but just bending them. Now that is undermining the state. I want to invite those particular taxi drivers to Mpumalanga to come and practice their bending of the law. They will face the might of the law to the fullest. [Applause.]
Mr O DE BEER
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 447
Mr V R SHONGWE
Mr O DE BEER: Chairperson, transport is the lifeblood of our country, our people and our economy. If and when we fail to transport either goods, services or people, our world as we know it will come to a complete standstill. It is not only imperative to be able to move but such movements needs to happen timeously and with the highest focus on place and safety.
The majority of our people make use of the minibus taxi industry to get from point A to point B. An estimated 60% of South African commuters are served by the taxi industry, which accounts for more than 14 million people per day. Notwithstanding this fact, we still saw an 4,1% increase in taxi fatalities, at 1 016 for the last 12 months ending March 2011, compared to the previous 12 months. One would have been forgiven to think that safety would be a top priority for such an important role-player in society. This is simply not good enough.
In the Department of Transport's annual report for 2010-11, the department underspent its budget by an incredible R214 million. This was attributed to less taxis being scrapped than the department budgeted for. Is this a question of capacity or simply because the department overestimated the amount of taxis that needed to be scrapped? And has the taxi industry now cleaned up its image?
The problem starts here at home, with the department being unable to fill critical posts. How can we have a viable and safe transport industry when the entity that is supposed to implement it does not have the capacity to function properly?
Outcome 2 of the Department of Transport, from its 2010-11 annual report, reads: "A transport sector that is safe and secure." We are still waiting for the Department of Transport's disaster management plan. The department blamed this on limited funding available for the projects yet the department reportedgross underspending for the same financial year.
Cope supports calls for the total scrapping of the allowable alcohol limit when driving. We are still seeing many accidents that are a result of individuals being under the influence.
We need more rigorous testing and driver qualification criteria imposed on individuals operating within the bus and taxi industries. These individuals are transporting the nation and we must ensure that they have the necessary skills and experience and are fit to operate their vehicles effectively.
Minister, in your comments in the ANC Today of 7 October, you compare us in South Africa with Australia, but Australia has 1 600 fatalities per annum, whereas South Africa has 2 000 per month.
Mr I VADI
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 448
Mr O de BEER
Mr I VADI (Gauteng): Chair, I was a Member of Parliament since April 1994 until November last year, but this my first opportunity to speak in this distinguished Council. So, thank you very much for the opportunity. [Applause.]
Let me begin by taking my cue from the seminal writings of Professor John D Kasarda. He is an expert on the aerotropolis, this new concept of airport cities. In his book, Aerotropolis - The Way We'll Live Next, he states that the shapes and fates of cities have always been defined by transport.
Similarly, Joel Garreau, in his book entitled Edge City, states that cities are always created around whatever the state of the art transportation device is at the time. So, Minister, when the transport mode is shoe leather and donkeys, the result is the hilly parts of Jerusalem. When it is men on horseback and sailing ships, it is the port of Lisbon and the canals of Venice. The central point is that the mode of transport of an age determines the nature and pattern of socioeconomic development. Logic therefore has it that if we want to create a globally competitive city, region or province, as we want to do in Gauteng, we must ask the question: what kind of transport system is needed in Gauteng to transform it into a globally competitive city region in the year 2055? That is the year when we will be celebrating the centenary of the Freedom Charter. The ANC will be doing that, not the DA. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
The theme of today's debate, Moving South Africa Safely and on Time, allows us the opportunity to outline what we are doing in Gauteng and linking it with this vision that we have of a global city region. In our premier's state of the province address earlier this year, the hon Mokonyane spoke of the Gauteng Vision 2055. This vision seeks to create a globally competitive province that is liveable, equitable, accessible, sustainable and prosperous for all its residents. The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport can contribute meaningfully to this vision. It can do so by creating a reliable, affordable, safe and accessible public transport system and a well-developed road and rail network for the efficient, effective and seamless movement of people and goods.
The broad contours of this new system of transport and therefore of the Gauteng city region are already clear and visible. It will be planes and aero-cities, as well as high-quality speedrail as the backbone of mass transport, with an intricate network of bus rapid transit and minibus taxi feeder services. Translating this vision into reality requires careful planning and therefore we have prioritised the design of a 25-year Integrated Transport Master Plan for our province.
A high-level committee of experts has been appointed to develop the ITMP25, and its mandate is to provide our province with two plans. Firstly, a short-term plan, which should be submitted to my office by January next year, will spell out what we should be doing in the next five years. Secondly, a 25-year plan, which should be submitted a year later by March 2013, must spell out what we should be doing in the next 25 years. I am optimistic that a quality, integrated transport master plan will serve as a roadmap to be followed, rather than merely an archival point of reference.
If road maintenance and construction is one of the focal points of our department, the other is public transport – as has been said by many speakers today. There is an accepted view among transport planners internationally and even in this country that we cannot build ourselves out of traffic gridlocks on our roads and freeways. Therefore we must develop an integrated public transport system composed of rail, bus, taxis and other nonmotorised modes of transport, to a point where both the working class and the middle-class would consider public transport rather than private transport as their mode of choice.
Working-class people have no choice in this country: They have to rely on public transport. If it is a weak, ailing system, there is no choice in the matter. They have to accept it. We will say that we have reached our goal when middle-class people and people from this Council have confidence in the public transport system and come to Parliament every day using public transport. [Applause.] That is what is meant by a socially inclusive public transport system.
The central question for us in the province – and I suppose for the country – is whether we have the vision and plans for this. Have we got the financial and fiscal resources to undertake large-scale transport infrastructure development? I am very pleased that the Minister has lobbied really hard to get a substantial sum of money to develop our public transport system, particularly Metrorail. Do we have all the stakeholders who share this common vision of developing a public transport system in this country? Lastly, do we have the political will and the capacity to implement and roll out the plans?
What is clear is that in Gauteng significant strides have been made to promote public transport. People might not believe it, so I will spell it out for you. As the Minister indicated, both the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit in Johannesburg and the Gautrain are initiatives that have received international and national acclaim. Gautrain stands out as the flagship public transport project of the provincial government. It has developed a reputation for offering passengers a safe, convenient and affordable travel experience. On the airport link between Sandton and O R Tambo International Airport, over 3,3 million passengers had used this particular line by August this year. The recently opened Hatfield-to-Rosebank line already has a ridership of 28 000 passengers per day. Our target is to increase that, once we have the whole line open to Park Station, and to get 100 000 passengers a day on the Gautrain, from Pretoria to Johannesburg. That means we want to move a million people every 10 days on that line. [Applause.]
In addition, by April 2011, the Gautrain had created 110 000 direct, indirect and induced jobs through the Gautrain construction project. Minister, a public survey conducted in February this year shows that people are very positive about the Gautrain. The opinion poll shows that the Gautrain is seen as improving and transforming public transport in the province; its leadership is seen as having the ability to compete at international level; 80% of respondents indicated that they were likely to use the Gautrain at some point in time; and that it had a positive, distinctive and recognisable brand perception.
I want to say that Gautrain is not the answer for Gauteng. We will have to develop and upgrade Metrorail. I think Metrorail has not marketed its work, but I want to talk about one of the things they have done. I think they have done a lot of good work and we are on our way in Gauteng to spend the money that the Minister is talking about.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, in Gauteng has also begun the process of upgrading its Metrorail system. It has constructed new stations at Rhodesfield, Nasrec and Doornfontein. It has renovated the Orlando, Ellis Park, Langlaagte and New Canada stations. Furthermore it has already undertaken operational improvements at 25 stations in the province, focusing on better lighting, platform corrections, setting up shelters and benches, strengthening foot bridges, installing closed-circuit television, CCTV, cameras and completing the painting of the whole structure. [Applause.]
Metrorail has achieved integration with Gautrain at four stations, so if you get off at a Metrorail station, you can walk over onto a Gautrain station. Most importantly, Metrorail has started with the process of upgrading or completely revamping its signalling system, from the old copper-cable system to a fibre-optic system. Within the next three to five years we think the entire network will be rolled out. [Applause.] Over the next 18 months, Prasa will focus on renovating the stations at Vereeniging, Germiston and Krugersdorp as part of the provincial government's urban regeneration of these towns.
Over the next three years, and in conjunction with the Gautrain and the Metrorail system, we will see a massive roll-out of the Bus Rapid Transit system in the metropolitan cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. Johannesburg is progressing well with its second phase of the Rea Vaya, which will now be extended to the Alexandra Township. It was not in the plans but the mayoral committee has just taken a decision to introduce a new phase that will go to Alexandra Township.
By December next year we are expecting that the BRT system will be operational in the central city of Pretoria, and that it will be extended to Mamelodi and Shoshanguve two years after that. Ekurhuleni is planning a five-phase BRT system aimed at connecting nine disparate townships and towns in the city. [Interjections.] House Chair, that member's mind is so small that he can see through that keyhole with both his eyes at the same time. [Laughter.]
The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety was launched worldwide on 11 May 2011 by the Minister. [Interjections.] House Chair, that member should behave himself. [Laughter.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M W Magadla): Hon Gunda, behave yourself!
An UNIDENTIFIED HON MEMBER: What about a train to Kimberley?
Mr I VADI (Gauteng): Chair, that member's political career is so short that even if he had to kick a duck on the backside, he would have to stand on a brick. [Laughter.]
The UN Decade of Action was launched worldwide on 11 May this year by the Minister and we are very proud that our Minister was made the champion for that campaign. The singular purpose of this campaign ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]
PRINCE M M M ZULU
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 448
Mr I VADI
isiZulu:
Umntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe namalungu ahloniphekile ale Ndlu, sithi ayikho neyodwa imfihlo yokuthi ngonyaka ophelile eNingizimu Afrika sibone izinguquko eziningi embonini yezokuthutha ngesikhathi sendebe yomhlaba. Lapho kwakwakhiwa khona izikhumulo zezindiza kwavuselelwa nemigwaqo yethu ngokunjalo kube yimigwaqo ehlelekile umasihamba ngesivinini esingaphezulu kwe-120 esisemthethweni.
Kukhona okuye kungithinte emoyeni wami ngendlela abantu bakithi abaphatheka ngayo kwezokuthutha zomphakathi ikakhulukazi embonini yamatekisi. Ngiyazi Mazalankosi ukuthi izinkaba lezi ezazibulalana wazama ukuthi uzinqobe ngamajele zonke ziwuyeke lowo mqondo. Kodwa indlela nje abantu bakithi abaphathwa ngayo kuleziya zinqola zomphakathi ngicela ukuthi uhulumeni abuye afake amehlo okubheka ukuthi leya ndlela isetshenzwa kanjani.
Ngiyazi ukuthi kusenhliziyweni yakho lezi zingozi ezisanda kwenzeka kungakafiki amaholidi kaKhisimizi waze wasikaza khona ukuthi izimoto esihamba ngazo kufuneka sehlise ijubane. Ngiyasho mhlonishwa Ngqongqosho ukuthi lezi zingozi zibangelwa ngamaloli kanye nezimoto ezithwala umphakathi ngendlela zigijima ngayo zijahe imali. Izindlela noma imithetho angazi ukuthi ingaqiniswa kanjani noma amaphoyisa angasatshalaliswa imigwaqo yonke yethu ukuze azobhekana nalezi zigelekeqe ezibulala abantu.
Ngiyazi ukuthi wawuphethe umklamo othi sibambene. Kwakungumklamo namanje engicabanga ukuthi usebenza kahle kakhulu ukusiza abantu abangenayo imisebenzi ikakhulukazi ezindaweni zasemakhaya. Siyaye sibabone begundagunda utshani wumsebenzi uhulumeni esingasho ukuthi uyakha ngendlela izinto ezihlela ngakhona – ngingasasho yena uSenzangakhona. Noma kanjani ngeke sakwazi ukuhlala singakusekeli futhi singasekeli uhulumeni wethu ukuba abe nomthetho ebambekayo nengakwazi ukuthi inqande ukufa kwabantu.
Njengoba kunguKhisimuzi umuntu uyaye ahambe engazi ukuthi uyofika yini ekhaya ngoba uhlale enethemba ukuthi uzofika endaweni ethile angasafinyeleli ngenxa yabantu abashayela kabi emgwaqeni. Nathi uqobo uma sesidakiwe sibanga izinkinga njengabantu abaphilayo. Isidalwa esingumuntu kufuneka sivalelwe ejele. Ngibongela iNtshonalanga Koloni nezinye izifundazwe njengoba uzakwethu osephumile eshilo ukuthi bayabopha, alufakwa ngendlela okwenzeka ngayo. Lezi zibalo obukade uzikhipha lapha yizibalo ezemukelekile kakhulu emphakathini ozimisele ngokunciphisa izingozi. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.]
CLLR P MOLOI
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 449
Prince M M M ZULU
Cllr P MOLOI (Salga): Hon House Chairperson, hon Minister of Transport, Ntate Sbu Ndebele, hon MECs present here today, hon chair of the select committee, Ntate Sibande, hon members of the NCOP and hon special delegates, it is Salga's belief that in order to move South Africa safely and on time we have to attend to but are not limited to the following: the promotion and use of safe, efficient and affordable public transport; getting freight off the roads; funding of road infrastructure and maintenance; and traffic management.
Efficient public transport is the future in densely built-up areas the world over. The sustained increase in the demand for vehicle travel puts pressure on the existing road and parking capacity, leading to the need for further expansion of roads infrastructure. Building more roads and parking spaces decreases traffic congestion only temporarily. Instead of adding more road lanes and upgrading roads and bridges, there is a need to prioritise the improvement of alternative transport mechanisms that will meet the needs of communities and businesses.
Salga appreciates the strides taken so far in respect of supporting the implementation and roll-out of the Rapid Transit Systems in four cities. However, some of the cities have indicated concern that the rapid transit system has been reduced to only a bus rapid transit system. Where a city prefers a rapid transit system that is not anchored on using buses but, for example, rail, this does not appear to find favour with officials of the Department of Transport, hon Minister.
We are proposing that in the medium-term we focus on supporting the major cities by assigning them the appropriate powers, functions and financial resources and supporting them to build the requisite capacity to take full responsibility for planning and managing multimodal urban public transport.
With regard to getting freight off the roads, as Salga we appreciate the focus of government in respect of building the necessary infrastructure capacity so that we may eventually get freight off the roads and into rail transport. There is a need to consider the use of such instruments as vehicle licensing for trucks to stimulate a modal shift of freight from roads to rail while at the same time getting the licensing fee for trucks to reflect the road maintenance cost associated with the use of roads by heavy trucks.
Regarding the funding of roads infrastructure maintenance, Salga appreciates the steps that the Minister has taken in launching the S'hamba Sonke programme. However, we understand the focus of this programme on secondary roads to mean that it is only about those roads that are the responsibility of provinces. It does not include municipal roads, but focuses mostly on access roads. With the exception of toll roads, road infrastructure is generally funded from tax. In the case of local government, this tax is property rates tax and in rural areas there is no payment of property rates tax. The national fiscus contributes - in the form of MIG - on behalf of poor households a limited amount for the provision of basic services infrastructure, including basic levels of road infrastructure. This means that those rural households that are not reflected as poor by Stats SA, as well as rural business, do not contribute to the cause of providing road infrastructure in their areas.
Therefore urban ratepayers and poor rural households who are paid for by the national fiscus have to carry this unfair subsidy burden to the rural, middle and high-income households and businesses. Unfortunately a municipality cannot overtax those urban ratepayers, leading to situations where there is no financial provision for investment and maintenance of the rural roads infrastructure, except for the small contribution made by the national fiscus on behalf of poor households.
Ironically, middle and high-income households and businesses are the most vocal in their demand for good roads because of the impact it has on their vehicles. Consequently, road expenditure statistics indicate that between 2003-04 and up to the 2009-10 financial years, municipalities spent on average R156 000 per km of road for maintenance and upgrading, compared to the R258 000 and R3 million spent by provincial and national governments respectively. Actually, if you compared that with what Sanral is spending, in other words, if they should spend R3 million on the maintenance of a road, the quality becomes far better than that of a municipal road. Smaller rural municipalities spend much less. Even taking into account that the three spheres of government are responsible for different classes of roads, the differences are just too big. This is not a consequence of choice by municipalities, hon Minister, but is the result of a financial resource constraint.
Complicating this matter more is the fact that about 221 000 km of road remains unallocated among the provinces, districts and local municipalities. This means that the monitoring of the conditions and maintenance of this vast portfolio of roads infrastructure falls between the cracks. Since all roads are in a municipal area, municipalities are forced to take some care of these unallocated and therefore unfunded roads. Since the establishment of municipalities in the year 2000, local government has been calling for the resolution of this matter. This underfunding leads to the evident deterioration of rural roads, which in turn leads to the accelerated deterioration of user vehicles and increased road accidents. We would like to request the Minister of Transport to work closely with Salga and National Treasury to find a solution to this challenge.
With regard to road traffic law enforcement, the country has been hoping that the implementation of Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences, Aarto, will be a significant step up in traffic law enforcement. However, it appears that the level of centralisation associated with implementation of Aarto is working against it. A review of the need for this level of centralisation needs to be considered.
In conclusion, Salga believes that attention to these four interrelated matters, namely the promotion of the use of safe, efficient and affordable public transport; getting freight off the roads; funding of roads infrastructure maintenance and traffic management will go a long way towards moving South Africa and South Africans safely and on time. [Applause.]
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Deputy Chairperson, I just want to ask on a point of order: is it parliamentary for a member to migrate to another province when he becomes unpopular in his own province? [Laughter.] The hon Mokgoro went to Limpopo. [Interjections.] The hon Bloem ... [Laughter.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Sinclair, you are out of order. [Laughter.] You may continue, hon member.
Mr H GALENG
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 450
Cllr P MOLOI
Mr H GALENG (North West): Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon MECs present here, hon members of the National Council of Provinces, NCOP, hon members who are special delegates and distinguished guests, receive my warm greetings from North West province.
It is an honour for me to take part for the first time in the proceedings of this august Council today. During the old days when the mode of transportation was rudimentary, people lived longer and died happier. There were no traffic lights, no complex road infrastructure, no traffic signs, no need for speed limits and no air pollution. When you wanted to travel somewhere, you had to walk long distances or use bikes or donkey carts. Life was enjoyable.
Then came modernity, or the so-called industrial age. We invented cars, steam engines and steel. Trains became our mode of transport. Planes soon followed, and we had to create roads to accommodate new modes of transportation. The consequences were not inconsequential. What we found, to our surprise, was that modernity was no panacea. Speed or convenience was not always good for us. We now had to contend with planning how fast our cars should travel and what safety features cars should have. Should they have only airbags or should they also have safety belts? Policy-makers changed to accommodate technology, but while we were still trying to figure out how to deal with that we already had a new phenomenon to deal with, namely that the cars that we were driving and the kind of development that we were pursuing were not good for the atmosphere. Gases emitted into the atmosphere were affecting the ozone layer, which was supposed to protect the earth against the sun's radiation. So, the heat coming from the sun was no longer buffeted by anything, or the layer was significantly eroded, hence we have global warming or what is scientifically called the "greenhouse effect".
So, transport is inextricably intertwined with our developmental process. Our future transportation system will have a direct impact on our ability to reduce our carbon footprint. Integrated mass public transportation is no longer a matter of "if" but of "when".
We need to dream big and be bold, because our development is going to come from new ideas being built on existing good ideas. The foundation is there; all we need to do is build on it. It cannot be that for us to come to Cape Town, we first have to catch a plane in Johannesburg or even travel only by plane to Cape Town. We should, if we want to, have a plane that can travel from North West via Gauteng and stop in Cape Town. Travel by land is sometimes more enriching than travelling by plane. You see a lot of things, learn the geography of your country and get to know its landscape.
As we celebrate October, let us do so mindful of the fact that our road fatalities are the worst in the world and that we have to do better by, among other things, going back to the basics. We should enforce laws that are in our statute books already, for example, putting on a safety belt. However, people nowadays tend to put safety belts behind their backs to avoid the constant noise the car makes when the seat belt is not put on. Today's cars are so sophisticated that they actually alert you when you do not have it on, so you no longer have an excuse for not wearing a seat belt.
As drivers we can actually reduce car accident fatalities by adhering to road traffic rules and not attempting to show off our cars by speeding past other drivers because we think that their jalopies are not meant for the road. We also have to take a "no prisoners" policy approach when it comes to vehicles that are not roadworthy. The National Traffic Police has done a wonderful job in recent months by impounding buses that were on the road without having undergone a proper inspection. It is precisely these buses that have caused unnecessary or even sometimes avoidable deaths on our roads, killing our future leaders. In North West, nine teachers recently died in one accident. We had that tragedy in our province. We know how it feels to lose institutional memory because someone failed to assess their vehicle before the journey or, in exceptional cases, a taxi driver did not sleep the previous night and then has to take people to a meeting, only to be fatigued, lose concentration and end up in a crash. We need to do soul-searching and ask whether we are doing the right thing by not introducing reliable and competitive mass transit into the public domain. When will our wake-up call come?
I think the country is ready for a countrywide speed train. I think the country is more than ready to know that we can no longer have just Gauteng and Cape Town leading the way in the 21st century and leaving behind other provinces. We also want to be part of those lawmakers that reverse the train drain, a phenomenon caused by overcrowding. We want our province to also have a brain gain, and the country as a whole should proportionally share in the human capital of its people. Our constituencies sometimes ask us whether we are not one country. "Why does Gauteng or Cape Town have that and we do not have it in our province?" "Are we living in another country?" These are some of the questions we are unable to answer to our constituencies. When we go back I want to assure them - as you have said today, hon Minister - that we will be the same as Gauteng and Cape Town. [Applause.]
Transportation, then, is going to be a key ingredient in our cooking mix of development. We should be on time and safe when travelling, as we cannot afford to have inefficient and ineffective public mass transport.
As we all know, the time of the year is approaching when our people will be visiting families and friends and going on holiday. The next two months will be crucial. Safety will therefore be a non-negotiable for government, in the case of both pedestrians and drivers. The two have to be judicious when they use the road. A sense of courtesy has to prevail, especially from driver to driver and pedestrian to driver.
The theme "Moving South Africa safely and on time" encapsulates the ideal situation that ought to prevail on our roads and the fact that we have October as Transport Month is not window-dressing. The timing could not be more right. The awareness has to begin now, because in Setswana we say, ...
Setswana:
... Ditlamelwana tsa pula di baakangwa go sale gale.
English:
This means that it is better to prepare now than later.
From a provincial standpoint, we would like to see an integrated transport system that reduces the amount of time we spend on the roads. We would like to have a bullet train that makes Gauteng and Cape Town no longer just another province but cities that you can be employed in and commute to and from daily without necessarily having to relocate to them respectively.
Our railway system, therefore, has to be refurbished. It has to provide competition to other public modes of transportation and be user-friendly. In our province, we no longer have a train that people can use as a means of transport. The advantage of a train is that even though it is slow, it can ferry many people at once across the breadth and length of the province. We call on the national government to ensure that we have a single train that can go from east to west and from south to north in our country. This will help spur economic opportunities across the country.
Hon Minister, we learnt that you were saying, "Batho sonke, sihamba sonke" and that North West province has been allocated R501 million. Please, we humbly request you to go and recheck, as this is not the case. We do not have that amount in our province. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): This is a reminder to all members of Rule 32, which states that during a debate in the Council no member may converse aloud.
Mr P MABILU
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 451
Mr H GALENG
Mr P MABILU (Northern Cape): Chairperson, I think I must start by saying that my surname is spelled incorrectly. It ends on an "o", not a "u".
Minister of Transport, Dr Sbu Ndebele, all members of the executive council, MECs who are present, NCOP members and delegates, moving South Africa safely and on time requires all of us to focus our attention on efficiency and universal access to quality public transport that is effective, efficient and reliable with the express purpose to move our people from their places of living to their places of work, universities, colleges, hospitals, clinics and any destination of choice. Public transport in the form of trains, taxis and buses should become the carrier of choice for the majority of our people.
We need to reintroduce proper schedules of all our public transport - departures on time, arrivals on time, safely, with less delays and disruptions. Simply put, moving South Africa safely and on time requires a radical transformation of the public transport system in our country.
Operations like Operation Tlhokomelo by South African National Taxi Council, Santaco, need to be welcomed as a step in the right direction, promoting stability and good service for commuters. Today, with rail, ports and pipelines at the heart of a parastatal like Transnet, it should become a more manageable entity and as such it should be in a position to focus on improving productivity. Having ports and rails in one organisation must be used for improved co-ordination and the timeous movement of freight.
Eighty percent of the world's precious minerals like diamonds, iron ore and other mineral deposits, are located in the Northern Cape province, especially in John Taolo Gaetsewein Kuruman. Most of these minerals are transported by road as opposed to rail. There is a compelling case for the revitalisation of rail in the province. To show our seriousness as the Northern Cape, we have what we call a steering rail infrastructure committee. It is made up of all stakeholders like Transnet, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, and so forth in order to leverage the transport opportunities in the province.
The theme of this debate, "Moving South Africa Safely and on Time" is apt as it speaks to both the progress we have made with regard to building infrastructure in our province, which facilitates the movement of goods and people, as well as reflecting on the challenges that apartheid neglected in terms of investing infrastructure development.
Hon Minister, our province was hard hit when Spoornet disengaged from the province in the past. De Aar, which was one of the strategic rail hubs of the entire Southern Africa, was particularly badly affected. That potential has gone to waste. There is a need for reinvestment in rail in the province, particularly in De Aar, because to a great extent the economy of the province revolves around rail. Once they pulled that back, everything collapsed, leading to poverty. For the record, the Deputy President has been in that area on numerous occasions and the community has been raising the issue of the disengagement of Transnet.
We need to engage in a very serious manner with road fatalities in our province. Two months ago we witnessed the death of an employee at Spoornet, by the name of Yolande Vries, who was crushed to death by a train during working hours. There was this, plus many road accidents. Minister, we say that these accidents, which often involve our children who get to and from school using scholar transport, points to the need for us to intensify the road safety campaign throughout the year. The campaign should focus on law enforcement, especially on overload control, the condition of vehicles and driver fitness. While our traffic officers need to be tough with law enforcement, we also need to continue with our road safety awareness campaign. The message of road safety awareness that "Road safety is my and your responsibility" is still very relevant. I deeply encourage this Council to take this process forward.
Minister, South Africa will be competing with Australia to host the biggest telescope in the southern hemisphere, the MeerKat. That technology would be located in Sutherland in our province, the Northern Cape. It has huge potential for the entire Southern Africa in terms of technology, but rail and road challenges need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Our government continues to invest millions of rand to improve our road networks and ensure the movement of goods and people, especially in rural areas. However, the key challenge is the maintenance of our municipal roads, especially given the poor revenue base of the majority of municipalities in the province. We appreciate the figures quoted by the Minister for our province regarding the fixing of potholes, which will go a long way in addressing the fundamental challenges confronting our province.
Moving South Africa safely and on time is also about infrastructure development that contributes to economic development and creates jobs. In the province we have mega projects that we would like the Minister to buy into, namely the revitalisation of the De Aar rail line and the expansion of the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore rail network, which is of critical importance to the province.
We were also deeply encouraged by the visit paid by the Minister of Public Enterprise and the chief executive officers, CEOs, of state-owned enterprises like Transnet and Eskom to ensure that they aligned their developmental plans in the province with the key infrastructure development plans of the province. We appreciate that kind of intervention.
Another major project that we are embarking on in the province and which we want the Minister to support is the development of Upington Airport into a cargo hub. The airport has one of the biggest runways in Southern Africa. We have seen its huge potential during the 2010 World Cup, when O R Tambo was overrun by planes. Upington Airport was utilised to park some of the planes. There is a business case for us to ensure that this airport, which is an international airport, is turned into a cargo hub. This is part of the key infrastructure plans for moving the province of the Northern Cape to a high level. Working together with the national sphere of government and all other relevant stakeholders, the province aims to ensure that we benefit strongly in terms of infrastructure.
Much to the dismay of many people, the Northern Cape is not only a dessert but has a coastal town as well. Many people don't know it's a gateway to Africa. We are near Namibia and Botswana. We have some of the deepest seas at Port Nolloth, Alexander Bay and Hondeklip Bay. A feasibility study is to be undertaken between the provincial government and Port Nolloth regarding the use of that harbour as an alternative. There are massive opportunities in the province and we can safely say that with co-operation between ourselves and Prasa we can move transport to a higher level.
We must highlight that the closure of the passenger rail line between Mafikeng and Kimberley has disadvantaged a number of communities in two provinces. The discontinuation of the passenger rail line between Bloemfontein and Kimberley has had an adverse effect on commuters. These are the key challenges that need to be addressed
Lastly, we want to thank the Minister of Transport for his vision, commitment and dedication in taking transport to a higher level. We also want to thank the NCOP for affording us this opportunity to participate in this debate. Re a leboha [We thank you.] [Applause.]
Ms N NODADA-MAKAULA
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 452
Mr P MABILU
Ms N NODADA-MAKAULA (Eastern Cape): Hon House Chair, the Minister of Transport, Chief Whip of the House, the representative from the SA Local Government Association, Salga, members of the NCOP and my colleagues from the provinces, it is an honour for me to debate the theme "Moving South Africa Safely and on Time" in this Council, especially during Transport Month.
The 2010-11 financial year marked an era of accelerated service delivery to the masses of our people in the Eastern Cape, with particular focus on the poor and previously disadvantaged. It was a period of enhanced, multi-agency collaboration towards the improvement of the infrastructure of our province. Through this, we have been able to make visible and decisive advances to present future generations with a place to live, work and invest in. Our approach as the province was in line with the objectives of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa and the Expanded Public Works Programme.
This debate therefore highlights our key achievements during the period under review with regard to the improvement of our internal capacity in order to respond promptly to the transportation needs of Eastern Cape communities; the promotion of cost-effective, sustainable road upgrading and maintenance technologies; and the strengthening of traffic and road safety through a community-based approach. As an integrated community-based transportation solution, the programme supported all other programmes in promoting a labour-intensive and community-based approach, as outlined in our policy framework in facilitating community-based transportation solutions. Central to our efforts was the strengthened co-ordination of our work with various spheres of government and resource mobilisation for the maintenance of our infrastructure.
The final draft assessment of the Rural Transport Plan, which pays attention to rural development and, in particular, rural areas of our province, has been tabled with the Portfolio Committee on Transport. This is indeed a very important plan with regard to the process of developing the Integrated Transport Plan as required by the National Land Transport Act, Act 5 of 2009, which has not been completed due to capacity constraints. These are now being addressed.
During this period, the following numbers of passengers were transported by bus operators that receive subsidies from the department: we have Algoa Bus Company, which operates along Nelson Mandela Bay, transporting about 15,8 million passengers; Africa's Best 350 Ltd, popularly known as AB350, which operates in the former Transkei area, carrying about 5 million passengers; and Mayibuye Transport Corporation, which operates in the former Border area and transports up to 1,8 million passengers. Algoa Bus Company operated a peak-time fleet of 295 buses while AB350 operated 296 buses. All the buses planned for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the AB350 have now been implemented. AB350 is now operating from depots in the Alfred Nzo District in the areas of Mbizana, Mt Frere and Matatiele, the O R Tambo District in the areas of Mthatha and Lusikisiki, the Chris Hani District in the area of Queenstown and the Amathole District in the area of Butterworth.
On the issue of Kei Rail, we will mention that due to inadequate funding the Kei Rail commuter train between Mthatha and Amabhele temporarily suspended its operations in November 2010. A report on the unhealthy financial and operational performance of the Kei Rail service was delivered to the management meeting held in August 2010. The report indicated that the Kei Rail operations would not be sustainable up to the end of the financial year, based on the inadequacy of the budget. However, it is operating now because the Kei Rail service was sustained through the budgets of other programmes, particularly that of Roads, which was transferred to the Department of Public Works effective from April 2011 with clear terms of reference.
As the Eastern Cape, we have afforded 29 taxi drivers the opportunity to upgrade their licences from Code 8 to Code 14. The programme will be completed during the last quarter of this financial year. A total of 15 taxi associations attended a workshop on grievance and disciplinary procedures.
Regarding traffic management, the Department of Transport received 48 new vehicles to improve traffic law enforcement performance. For a long time, provincial traffic officers have been experiencing challenges due to the shortage of vehicles for traffic law enforcement. There are 719 provincial traffic officers with 110 vehicles.
The Participatory Educational Technique programme is a national project that was successfully piloted in our province in 2009. On 1 December 2010, the Road Safety Directorate took a team of 10 learners and one educator to compete at national level. The department was placed first with learners from Focused High School in Matatiele.
The National Driver of the Year Competition normally forms part of the October Transport Month activities. Eight provinces competed in Gauteng. Of the 13 Eastern Cape delegates, 6 were triumphant, winning awards and holding the Eastern Cape's name high.
During this period, the department improved on law enforcement and yielded the following results: 233 vehicles were seized for not being roadworthy, 158 drivers were arrested for drunken driving, 3 150 hours were spent doing speed checks and 9 488 invalid or fraudulent driver's licences were suspended. Audits were conducted with the assistance of the Special Investigations Unit.
In conclusion, in March 2011 the province took two strategic decisions. Firstly, the scholar transport function was transferred from the Department of Education to the Department of Transport, effective on 1 April 2011. Secondly, the services of Fleet Africa for the management of the provincial fleet were terminated and the province is to manage its own fleet with effect from 1 February 2012. The envisaged model is that a new trading entity will be established, where departments will source the use of motor vehicles. The Department of Transport is working with all relevant stakeholders in this regard with the aim of meeting the deadline of February 2012. We will not mention any achievements in taking these two decisions because we are still observing what is going to take place. [Applause.]
Mr M P JACOBS
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 453
Mrs N NODADA-MAKAULA
Mr M P JACOBS: Hon Chair, hon Minister, hon MECs and all protocol observed, let me start by responding to what hon Groenewald has said. He said the ANC-led government has no political will to transform the transport system. Maybe he was fast asleep when the Minister was reading his speech. I will request the Minister to leave the document with him so that he can read what strides the ANC-led government has made and still anticipates making.
Secondly, he said the ANC-led government has allowed the railway system to collapse. But where did the rot start? It started with the previous government, where he had the right to vote. The ANC government is trying to pick up the pieces.
In his example, he cited Cape Town. Who built Cape Town? It was built with the sweat, blood and hard labour of our people, who were exploited. [Applause.] Even today those people still do not enjoy the fruits of their labour. These people are born and bred in Cape Town yet they have never gone to neither Robben Island nor Table Mountain. So, they still do not enjoy the fruits of their labour.
This debate comes at an opportune time against a backdrop of the high number of road accidents that we experience on our roads. Our roads have become death traps. Our roads have become gallows where people are arbitrarily guillotined. Are we a nation that has lost its conscience, soul and respect for human life?
This debate comes at an appropriate time for discussion. It calls upon us to come up with remedial programmes and preventive measures that should be put in place to resolve this problem. The discussion should also include the guilty parties involved in fatal accidents that cause people to lose their lives.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Order, hon Groenewald! Please behave yourself or else ...
Mr W F FABER: Chairperson, I just want to know whether the hon member has a little bit of time to answer or take a question?
Mr M P JACOBS: Chair, if I have time, I will take his question.
Mr D V BLOEM: Chairperson, on a point of order: I very strongly object to these Northern Cape people making a noise when the Free State delegate is talking! [Laughter.]
Mr M P JACOBS: These road hogs should not be allowed to drive on our roads.
The theme "Moving South Africa Safely and on Time" hinges on three pillars for it to succeed. These pillars are good infrastructure, the quality of the mode of transport and professional and skilful personnel. We can't talk about good infrastructure without linking it with economic development. My area of focus will be good infrastructure with economic development, especially rural development.
South Africa should never be at peace with itself unless it responds to rural development, especially infrastructure. We can build big industries and employ many people, but if we don't have good roads that transport goods from the place of manufacture to the market place, we are bound to fail. Roads in rural areas are deplorable, to say the least. Most of the villages do not have access roads that connect them with the civilised world. The situation is even more disastrous during rainy seasons. We had a nasty experience four weeks ago in Msinga in KwaZulu-Natal. We could not reach our destination because it had rained the previous day. How many of our people are experiencing this daily? Surely, for these people democracy has not yet dawned on them or on their shores, yet we are 18 years into our democracy. Where in the world have you seen a bakkie being used as a mode of transport to ferry people because the roads are so bad that the only mode of transport they can use are bakkies?
Agricultural produce in rural areas can't reach the markets because the roads are very bad. Even if they want to preserve their produce, they do not have storage facilities. I am provoking and challenging those of us who live and enjoy urban life because we have forgotten that we left our umbilical cord in the remote areas, where our ancestors, and us, once lived. We forget that the people in those areas also need a good life.
I am urging the Minister to have special programmes that will address rural infrastructure, especially roads. The 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup has shown us the way - why can't we build on the experience and expertise gained from the World Cup? With concerted effort from all of us to target a province or two at a time, with a timeframe of not more than two years, we can address once and for all the backlog that exists. Others would follow and in no time we would have responded to the backlog. We can do this in collaboration with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans, which can assist with the building of bridges. Then we can proudly talk about having made South African roads safe, especially in the rural areas, and every person and community will be on time and enjoy the good life.
IsiZulu:
Ngqongqoshe, ngonyaka ophelile sibe nenkulumompikiswano kuleNdlu, sacela ukuthi usekele izithuthi zabafundi.
English:
Mr W F FABER: Madam Chair, I would like to know whether the hon member has the time now for that quick question.
IsiZulu:
Mnu M P JACOBS: Hhayi, ngisakhuluma. Sacela izithuthi zabafundi namanje sisalindile. Siyacela-ke ukuthi ulubheke lolu daba ngoba kuyihlazo ukuthi abantwana bethu bahambe amakhilomitha alinganiselwa e-10, e-15, noma ema-20, lungekho usizo oluphuma emnyangweni wakho. Ngiyabonga.
English:
Mr W F FABER: Madam Chair, if you have a moment, can I ask the hon member a question? It seems he still has some time left.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Faber, you must come and chair if you want to chair. The hon Jacobs has no time left to speak.
Mr W F FABER: His time is over? Sorry, Madam Chair!
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 454
Mr M P JACOBS
The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Thank you very much to members who participated in the debate by addressing this House and by listening. We thank you very much for the inputs. Thank you to my colleagues from the transport family, MEC Vadi and MEC Shongwe. Thank you for coming and thank you for Salga's very valuable input. We need to respond to the fact that almost all matters of transport are national, provincial and local. We do need to work in conjunction with each other much more than we have been doing up to now, while we were setting ourselves up. Thank you very much for that.
Let me start by saying that the key issue we have is that all together R22 billion has be to spend before 2014. This is going to be important. It must be unimaginable for any of us to go back to Treasury saying we were not able spend the R6,4 billion this year, the R7,4 billion next year and the R8,4 billion the outer year. That will require the identification of roads because the vision and the programme are important but money is the answer to all those things. Once the money is there, let us use it and ensure that it is actually being directed to where it should be.
When I was speaking earlier I said that other than that R6,4 billion or R22 billion all in all, we have an extra R1 billion that has been made available by the South African National Road Agency, Sanra, specifically for access roads, rural roads and provincial roads. Therefore, where the province and municipality can't reach, it can appeal for that money to be made available. That money will be made available. So let us identify that very clearly and use it to move forward.
We need to expand the programme that we have embarked on, particularly the one with my colleague, Mr Vadi, the MEC for Transport in Gauteng. In particular we really need to deal with the issue of the corruption that is pervading our licensing department. When MEC Vadi took me to centres in Langlaagte, he was given fresh information that his people had just arrested someone with 2 000 blank driver's licences. You need to know that they were caught because it means that action is being taken to deal with the problem. All of us must be in a real partnership with regard to this and with what we do in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and elsewhere. All colleagues really need to deal with this and also to communicate it, because once thieves and fraudsters know they are being caught in Gauteng, they run to KwaZulu-Natal. Once they know they are being caught in KwaZulu-Natal, they run to Limpopo. They must know they will be caught everywhere and that there is no place to hide. They must know that they will actually get arrested and this becomes a very important example.
I think the idea of all of us signing up for the Decade of Action for Road Safety is actually quite important. Let us be activists for road safety for this decade in order to reduce this carnage. We really can't have 1 000 people dying per month, 250 people dying per week, 14 000 or 12 000 people dying per year. There are widows, widowers and orphans and, as a nation, we just cannot afford that.
It is not because we have cars because people in countries that have more cars than us are driving much safer. Let us introduce this culture of safer roads. As we create a democratic South Africa, let us also work for democratic roads. Democratic roads are where you know that roads are a shared space. It is not your road, it's a road for all of us, just as this is not your country but our country. Let us share that. That culture must begin on the road and must be enforced. [Applause.]
FIRST ORDER
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 455
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON LABOUR AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES - OVERSIGHT VISIT TO KOEBERG NUCLEAR POWER STATION
Ms M P THEMBA: Hon House Chair, the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises undertook an oversight visit to Koeberg nuclear power station. The departments overseen by the committee are those of Labour, Public Enterprises and Communications, and Eskom is one of the state-owned enterprises under the Department of Public Enterprises. The committee used the opportunity to conduct an oversight visit to Koeberg nuclear power station, which falls under the auspices of Eskom.
The station is the only nuclear power station on the entire African continent, and the two reactors at the station form the cornerstone of the South African nuclear programme. The oversight visit enabled the committee to learn more about the operations of the plant which, in turn, helped members enhance their ability to exercise their oversight function.
The committee chose to visit Koeberg as a result of a presentation on the strategic plan of the Department of Public Enterprises held on 21 April 2010. During the presentation, the committee was informed that in respect of energy and broadband enterprises, the department intended ensuring that Eskom, among other enterprises, achieved its target by the end of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period. This it would do by monitoring and annually assessing its financial and operational targets, which are set in the shareholder compacts. The department would also monitor the delivery and funding of Eskom's build programme and take corrective action where necessary.
On arrival, the committee received a presentation on how electricity is generated at a nuclear power station. At the time, nuclear energy was providing approximately 16% of the world's electricity needs. The committee was informed that Eskom used various technologies to generate electricity, the combination of which is called the "plant mix". The biggest portion of Eskom's plant mix consisted of coal-fired load power stations. These power stations use coal as their energy source and operate 24 hours a day to meet the demand for electricity. As Africa's only nuclear power station, Koeberg is also a base load station, with an installed capacity of 1 930MW of power. Koeberg's total net output is 1 800MW. Eskom is constantly investigating the use of other forms of energy and renewable energy sources that can be used to expand its current plant mix.
In 2009, Koeberg celebrated 25 years of nuclear power in South Africa. The power station first supplied energy to South Africa in 1984 and has done so safely ever since. Koeberg is still the forerunner and the foundation for the future of nuclear energy. Government has declared that South Africa will see more of nuclear energy in the future. This is based on the fact that Koeberg's performance in terms of safety is of the highest standard. Koeberg prides itself on safety and the committee was informed that Koeberg had a series of lines of defence to ensure safety.
Eskom strives to minimise the impact of its operations on the environment. Continued internal and external audits are conducted to ensure compliance. Samples of fish, meat, vegetables, milk, water and grass are regularly collected from the area around Koeberg and analysed to determine any possible effects on the food chain.
The committee requested further information in regard to Koeberg's staff complement, with a clear indication of the number of women, people with disabilities and racial classification. We were encouraged by the albeit small number of women at the plant who are an encouragement to other young women to take part in Mathematics and Science technologies. I present this report.
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
SECOND ORDER
UNREVISE HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Thursday, 27 October 2011 Take: 456
FIRST ORDER
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITEE ON PETITIONS AND MEMBERS' LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS - STUDY TOUR TO UNITED KINGDOM
Mr A J NYAMBI: Chair, a multiparty delegation of the select committee undertook a study tour to the UK. The objective of the committee was to learn more about the petition and public participation system in the UK. The delegation learnt a lot more about the House of Commons, the British system of parliament, and more particularly about the manner in which the petition process works in the UK.
It was also a fruitful learning curve to establish that academics, the business fraternity, researchers, advisors, former politicians and administrators assist greatly in the process of public participation and petition activities. Although there are many successes, there are also many challenges pertaining to the processing of petitions and public participation activities.
We express the hope that the e-petition could be the direct solution to many of our country's challenges, although to a limited degree, because there are many people in the country who have no access to computers and the Internet. However we recommend that through post offices, libraries and constituency offices we South Africans can achieve a successful breakthrough and resolve many problems through this method.
We also feel that there is a need to maximise the use of petitions and public participation processes through the establishment of larger petition offices in order to accommodate the many submissions that we have. For example, out of more than 20 petitions submitted between 2009 and 2011, we have not gone beyond half of them as far as processing is concerned. This is attributable to the scheduling, logistics and nature of the petition. Sometimes, even if we process some of them, more often than not we keep on doing follow-ups because the resolution and decision we take still go far beyond the meeting level, as we do the verification process as well.
Thus, as a committee we have also resolved that we should visit countries such as Germany and Australia in the first term of 2012 in order to expedite strong recommendations and initiate a lot of changes to our system in order for our people to gain benefit. We have also agreed as a delegation that we will invite international experts to give advice on the matter. We are also aware that it will be through the attendance of international capacity-building workshops and conferences that we can advance to the best levels we deserve.
We note that the Presidency, in acknowledging the importance of the petition office or committee, stated that if the public and everybody in the country understood the manner in which petitions were processed, there would be very few public outcries in which people complain of poor service delivery. Our main aim is to engage in a campaign to educate the public on how our petition systems work and how we can utilise the opportunities we have to assist our country in resolving the major problems we have. I present the report. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): I'm reminding you of Rule 32.
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
The Council adjourned at 19:10.
END
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