Hansard: Plenaries/Committees
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 22 Apr 2012
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2012
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
______________
The House met at 14:07.
The Acting Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a
moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
Mr M WATERS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
START OF DAY
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr M WATERS: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House debates the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.
Thank you.
Mr N J J KOORNHOF
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mr M WATERS
Mr N J J KOORNHOF: Madam Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the House debates the progress made, if any, with the commitment by Vietnam to sign a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with South Africa to promote co-operation between the two countries to address rhino poaching and compliance with Cites.
Thank you.
Mr S M MAYATULA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mr N J J KOORNHOF
Mr S M MAYATULA: Madam Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates celebrating the legacy of the ANC president, Oliver Tambo, who led the ANC from 1967 to 1991.
Thank you.
Ms C C SEPTEMBER
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mr S M MAYATULA
Ms C C SEPTEMBER: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates promoting improved regional stability through support for peacekeeping, conflict resolution and post-conflict prosperity.
Thank you.
Mrs J D KILIAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Ms C C SEPTEMBER
Mrs J D KILIAN: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of Cope:
That the House debates the repeat findings of the Auditor-General on fruitless and irregular expenditure by state departments and entities, and interventions necessary to keep politicians and officials accountable to the electorate.
Thank you.
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mrs J D KILIAN
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: Madam Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House-
(1) debates the recent spate of murders of police personnel around the country; and
(2) comes up with solutions to improve the situation.
Thank you.
Mr A M MPONTSHANE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD
Mr A M MPONTSHANE: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That the House debates-
the proposed 16% electricity price increase over five years requested by Eskom; and the financial impact of such a request on the poverty-stricken population of our country.I thank you.
Mr P VAN DALEN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mr A M MPONTSHANE
Mr P VAN DALEN: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House-
debates the state of our fisheries management and recovery plans for our depleted fish stocks; further debates the effects that these will have on the allocation of our long-term fishing rights and the quota allocations that are anticipated with the small-scale fishing policy; and comes up with solutions.Thank you.
Ms M A MOLEBATSI
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mr P VAN DALEN
Ms M A MOLEBATSI: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates enhancing and standardising basic training levels for all police services in South Africa.
Thank you
Mrs S G BOTHMAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Ms M A MOLEBATSI
Mrs S G BOTHMAN: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates ensuring integrated and effective management control of the border environment.
I thank you.
Mrs C DUDLEY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mrs S G BOTHMAN
Mrs C DUDLEY: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ACDP:
That the House debates whether or not the need for a nuclear power station is redundant, making the projected R13 trillion spend fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Thank you.
Mr M S F DE FREITAS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 355
Mrs C DUDLEY
Mr M S F DE FREITAS: Acting Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House debates-
the Public Protector's report entitled "Unconscionable Delay"; the reasons for the delay by the Minister and the Department of Home Affairs in resolving the matters listed in this report; and solutions to resolve these matters.Thank you.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
Mr M S F DE FREITAS
PASSING ON OF ACCLAIMED PHOTOGRAPHER, ALF KHUMALO
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes that on 21 October 2012, acclaimed photographer Alf Khumalo died of suspected kidney failure at the age of 82; further notes that Khumalo was one of South Africa's most renowned photojournalists and documentary photographers; acknowledges that he was at the forefront of documenting critical moments in South Africa's history, including the protracted Treason and Rivonia trials; further acknowledges that Khumalo was honoured with the National Order of Ikamanga in Silver for his excellent contribution to photography in South Africa, Sanef's Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity, and also the Vodacom Lifetime Achievement Award; and extends its heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.Agreed to.
Mrs S V KALYAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
DEATH OF BAFANA BAFANA ASSISTANT COACH, THOMAS MADIGAGE
(Draft Resolution)
Mrs S V KALYAN: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes with sadness the untimely death of Bafana Bafana assistant coach, Thomas Madigage, in a motor vehicle accident on Thursday, 18 October; recognises that Madigage was appointed as assistant coach by head coach, Gordon Igesund, in July 2012; acknowledges that prior to his appointment to the national team, Madigage served as assistant coach to SuperSport United, helping the club to six titles; and extends its sincere condolences to Madigage's family and mourns the loss of a great South African.Agreed to.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
Mrs S V KYALAN
LAUNCH OF GREATER MAPUNGUBWE HERITAGE ROUTE
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes that the launch of the Greater Mapungubwe Heritage Route at the Mapungubwe National Park took place near Musina on the weekend of 14 October 2012; further notes that the opening of the Greater Mapungubwe Heritage Route was part of the 2012 Vhembe Carnival where the Vhembe District Municipality welcomed visitors from Zimbabwe and Botswana to tour the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, the sacred Lake Fundudzi and Dzata Museum, among others; acknowledges that this is a major tourism draw card for the Limpopo province, and will boost Limpopo's domestic tourism; and encourages all to visit some of the tourism attractions along the Greater Mapungubwe Heritage Route, including the sacred forest of Thatwe Vonde, Lake Fundudzi and the Dzata ruins near Thohoyandou, as well as the Muvhuyu, the Big Baobab Tree.Agreed to.
Mrs S V KALYAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
THE CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
DEATH OF PTE V M VAN DER WALT AND INJURY TO CORP K SEBE AND PTE T MAKHETHA
(Draft Resolution)
Mrs S V KALYAN: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes with sadness the tragic passing on of Pte Vincent Mthuthuzeli van der Walt of 10 SA Infantry Battalion, SA National Defence Force, in an ambush in Darfur, Sudan; further notes that Corp Kabelo Sebe and Pte Thabiso Makhetha, also from the SANDF, were seriously injured in the same attack; acknowledges that these soldiers were deployed in the western side of Sudan as part of the United Nation's Mission in Darfur; wishes Corp Sebe and Pte Makhetha a successful recovery; and extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Pte Vincent Mthuthuzeli van der Walt who died in the service of his country and Africa.Agreed to.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
Mrs S V KAYLAN
UNITED NATIONS WORLD DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes that the United Nations World Development Information Day is held annually on 24 October; further notes that the UN General Assembly decided that the day should coincide with United Nations Day to stress the central role of development in the UN's work; acknowledges that the day draws the attention of worldwide public opinion to development problems and the need to strengthen international co-operation to solve them; and urges stakeholders to improve the dissemination of information which will raise greater awareness of the problems of development, thus promoting efforts in the sphere of international co-operation for development.Agreed to.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
PASSING ON OF ANTI-APARTHEID ACTIVIST, DR SEDICK ISAACS
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes that on 18 October 2012 anti-apartheid activist and teacher to fellow Robben Island prisoners, Dr Sedick Isaacs, died of cancer at the age of 72; further notes that Dr Isaacs published a book titled Surviving the Apartheid Prison, which his wife published with her pension money; acknowledges that he was jailed on Robben Island for 12 years, where he taught fellow prisoners mathematics, and was one of the initiators of the Island University, which fought for the rights of inmates to study; further acknowledges that while imprisoned Isaacs obtained a BA degree in mathematics and psychology, a master's degree in Information Science and a doctoral degree in Computer Science; and extends its heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.Agreed to.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 356
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNITED NATIONS DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House-
notes that on 24 October 1945 the United Nations came into force; further notes that since 1948 the anniversary of this event has been known as United Nations Day and is an occasion to highlight, celebrate and reflect on the work of the United Nations and its family of specialised agencies; acknowledges that United Nations Day has traditionally been marked throughout the world with meetings, discussions and exhibits about the achievements and goals of the organisation; and urges everyone to resolve to do more to protect those caught up in armed conflict, to fight climate change, to avert nuclear catastrophe, to expand opportunities for women and girls, and to combat injustice and impunity.Agreed to.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 357
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
APPOINTMENT OF MR M B COETZEE AS SECRETARY TO PARLIAMENT
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, I move the draft resolution printed in my name on the Order Paper as follows:
That the House, on the recommendation of the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and subject to the concurrence of the National Council of Provinces, appoints Mr Michael Benjamin Coetzee as Secretary to Parliament on a five-year contract, with effect from 1 November 2012.
[Applause.]
Agreed to.
The ACTING SPEAKER: Order! I congratulate Mr Coetzee.
Mrs L S MAKHUBELA-MASHELE (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 357
The ACTING SPEAKER
UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR OF DOCTORS AT CHRIS HANI BARAGWANATH AND STEVE BIKO ACADEMIC HOSPITALS
(Member's Statement)
Mrs L S MAKHUBELA-MASHELE (ANC): Acting Speaker, the ANC is concerned that state hospitals are being used by doctors to treat their private patients.
At least five doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto and Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria are facing disciplinary action for procuring medicines for private use and for turning away desperately ill patients, falsely claiming that the theatres are booked, to make way for their private patients.
The scam was uncovered when electronic gate-keeping systems were installed at the hospitals and it was found that records did not match the identity of those who had been treated. Appointments for legitimate patients were struck off the waiting list to make way for the doctors' private patients.
Five doctors have already been disciplined, and we are awaiting the outcome of the disciplinary action against the other five doctors identified. Thank you. [Applause.]
Ms A M DREYER (DA)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 357
Mrs L S MAKHUBELA-MASHELE (ANC)
R203 MILLION BEING SPENT ON PRESIDENT ZUMA'S NKANDLA HOMESTEAD
(Member's Statement)
Ms A M DREYER (DA): Madam Acting Speaker, President Jacob Zuma is spending R203 million of hard-earned taxpayers' money on his private homestead in Nkandla. [Interjections.] We can ask ourselves: What else could we have done with that money? The fact is that, at a whopping R15 000 per day, President Zuma could have hired 2 000 trucks for a whole week to deliver textbooks to students in Limpopo.
Furthermore ...
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Acting Speaker, on a point of order ... [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: What point? [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: The point of order is ...
The ACTING SPEAKER: Hon members, can you just allow the Chief Whip of the Majority Party to state his ... [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: The point of order is that statements must be factually correct. [Interjections.] This is not factually correct, ...
Mrs J D KILIAN: Madam Acting Speaker ...
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: ... because the President is not a Minister of ... [Interjections.] The President is not in charge of Public Works.
Mr M WATERS: Acting Speaker, this is not a point of order.
Mrs J D KILIAN: Hon Acting Speaker, on a point of order: We suggest that the hon Chief Whip of the ANC should firstly understand the Constitution ...
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Hear, hear!
Mrs J D KILIAN: ... and, secondly, that he be aware of the Rules of this House, which direct its public proceedings. Thank you.
The ACTING SPEAKER: Continue, hon member.
Ms A M DREYER (DA): Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker.
Mrs S V KALYAN: Madam Acting Speaker, are you going to rule on that point of order?
The ACTING SPEAKER: No, I am not.
Mrs S V KALYAN: It is not a point of order, and I think ...
The ACTING SPEAKER: That is why I am saying that the member must continue.
Mrs S V KALYAN: I think the Chief Whip of the ANC needs to be made aware of the Rules of the House, Madam, because he is deliberately interfering with our speaker. [Interjections.]
The ACTING SPEAKER: Continue, hon member.
Ms A M DREYER (DA): Furthermore, wherever the DA governs, such as in the Western Cape, it uses an amount of R203 million for one of the following: to pay the salaries of 846 schoolteachers for a year or to build about 3 692 RDP houses for the poor. This is the difference between the voter-sensitive and efficient DA leaders and the self-enriching, authoritarian and corrupt clique of President Zuma, who is the enemy of the poor people. [Applause.]
Mr M G P LEKOTA (Cope)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 357
Ms A M DREYER (DA)
CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT ZUMA
(Member's Statement)
Mr M G P LEKOTA (Cope): Madam Acting Speaker, on assuming membership of this House we solemnly undertook in terms of section 4(1) of Schedule 2 of the Constitution to "obey, respect and uphold the Constitution". We are now required to demand that President Zuma do the same, as he is bound by his oath of office, which requires him to be the first to "obey, respect and uphold the Constitution".
On Friday last week the President's office defied an order by the Supreme Court of Appeal to hand over the abbreviated transcripts of the terms that permitted criminal charges against him to be dropped or withdrawn. As his office and his lawyers act daily under his direct authority, the inescapable conclusion is that the President is illegally refusing to be bound by section 165(5) of the Constitution, which binds all persons to obey a judicial order. There are no exceptions.
Under the circumstances, Cope requests the Speaker that impeachment procedures against the President be instituted for defying a lawful judicial order. I ask that all members of the House support this plea. Thank you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Acting Speaker, maybe you should give the House direction. These serious allegations ...
Mr G R MORGAN: What is your point of order?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: I am asking for direction for the House. [Interjections.] Listen to the direction. [Interjections.] These serious allegations by hon Lekota should be brought by way of a substantive motion, not loose accusations against the President.
The ACTING SPEAKER: Thank you, hon Chief Whip. I have listened to the statement and we know the Rules of the House. When members make statements that are not factual, and they know those matters are supposed to be dealt with in the House in a particular way, we will come back and deal with those. Please, can you give us that opportunity?
Mrs S V KALYAN: Madam Acting Speaker, may I address you on a point of order?
The ACTING SPEAKER: Yes.
Mrs S V KALYAN: The Chief Whip has had the opportunity to respond to two statements already. I would like you to rule on that, because I thought it was the duty of the Ministers in the House to respond to the statements, but the Chief Whip seems to be making long speeches, instead of being crisp about the points of order.
The ACTING SPEAKER: You see, after the first point of order, I allowed the member to continue, which indicates that the point of order was not proper. I allowed the member to continue. However, I have just commented now that there are definitely other Members' Statements that we need to hear, in order to see whether they are factual.
Mr M G ORIANI-AMBROSINI: Madam Acting Speaker, may I address you on a point of order? [Interjections.]
The ACTING SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Mr M G ORIANI-AMBROSINI: Madam Acting Speaker, I seek clarity on what you have said. I want to know whether it is a ruling. You indicated that you had commented on what the Chief Whip said, and you proceeded to say that the statements of members of this House must be factually accurate.
I know of no precedent in any parliament in the history of mankind in which Members of Parliament are held to the standard of truth. That is not the standard on which politics operates. If that is your ruling, Madam Acting Speaker, it is a revolutionary ruling, and I would like for you to give us clarity on what it is that you are actually saying. [Laughter.] Is it a ruling or a comment, and what does it mean for the future of this House?
The ACTING SPEAKER: I don't think I gave any ruling. [Interjections.] I didn't make a ruling. Can we continue?
Mrs J D KILIAN: Madam Acting Speaker, we need clarity on this matter, if you will just allow me to speak. If we are busy with Members' Statements, it can only be the Rules that direct the Members' Statements. Now, let me read from the Rules. I would like to refer the hon Chief Whip of the ANC to Rule 105(1), which provides:
"A member, other than the Deputy President, a Minister (or a Deputy Minister,) ... may be recognised by the (Presiding Officer) to make a statement on any matter for not more than one and a half minutes."
That is "on any matter".
I would like to contend, hon Acting Speaker, that that is indeed what was done by the two members of the opposition. If the ANC are uncomfortable, that is their problem, but there is ample opportunity in the Rules for the members of the executive who are present in this House to respond to statements made by members in the ranks of the opposition. Thank you.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon Acting Speaker ... [Interjections.] Hon Acting Speaker, through you to the hon member, the Rule does not mean that we must make unsubstantiated allegations ... [Interjections.] ... and come with a character assassination of the Head of State. [Interjections.] That is not what the Rule allows you to do. [Interjections.]
The ACTING SPEAKER: Can we continue with the Members' Statements?
Ms R M M LESOMA (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
The ACTING SPEAKER
ESKOM EXPO FOR YOUNG SCIENTISTS
(Member's Statement)
Ms R M M LESOMA (ANC): Acting Speaker, two KwaZulu-Natal pupils have arrived at a solution to ensure that households use electricity efficiently. Sibongakonke Nxumalo and Snenhlanhla Sibiya of the Dlangezwa High School in KwaDlangezwa were the overall winners of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.
The Grade 11 pupils were tired of the electricity cuts, which often disturbed their night-time study. They developed a load-shedding meter that regulates household electricity supply when the national power grid is under pressure.
When the national power supply is under pressure, the control unit housed at Eskom power stations sends a signal to the meter board to switch off everything that is using more than 100 watts of electricity in the house. This then allows for the unplugging of appliances, etc, which use a large amount of electricity before the power is switched back on.
Both these pupils also won the Best Development Award, and their school will receive a mobile science kit worth R34 000. We welcome such innovative thinking and wish the pupils more success in their future endeavours. Thank you.
Mr M G ORIANI-AMBROSINI (IFP)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Ms R M M LESOMA (ANC)
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGMENT ON RULES OF HOUSE
(Member's Statement)
Mr M G ORIANI-AMBROSINI (IFP): Madam Acting Speaker, the recent judgment of the Constitutional Court declaring some of the Rules of this House unconstitutional has left no winners or losers – it is rather a victory for the whole of democracy and for all of us.
It has opened the doors to a new, higher, more intense, and all-round better stage of our parliamentary democracy. The doors are open for a new, braver Parliament, in which legislators actually legislate by applying their minds to both general and constituency concerns, which they seek to address by means of their own Bills.
It would be remiss of me if I were not to take this opportunity to publicly thank the lawyers who helped our Republic achieve this democratic milestone. I wish to place this on record, and recognise and thank advocates David Unterhalter, Max du Plessis, Sarah Pudifin, Anton Katz and Michael Osborne. I also wish to offer a special word of thanks to the man who has acted both as an attorney and as a source of constant guidance and moral support, attorney John Smith.
As the dawn rises on this new horizon, together, both in the ranks of the opposition and those of the ruling party, we hope to take advantage of this opportunity for all of us in a manner which is constructive and beneficial to the strengthening of our democracy. Thank you very much, Madam Acting Speaker. [Applause.]
Mr J J MCGLUWA (ID)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Mr M G ORIANI-AMBROSINI (IFP)
POOR ANC LEADERSHIP AND SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMIC DECLINE
(Member's Statement)
Mr J J MCGLUWA (ID): Acting Speaker, despite the ANC's rhetoric, South Africa seems to be more unequal than it was in 1993. To make matters worse – and I will qualify this – we now have a police service that has shot 34 miners dead; wildcat strikes across the country; thousands of miners being sacked; a widening wealth gap between the rich and the poor; a scourge of corruption; a downgraded credit rating; and an economy that is barely growing at 2%, while much of Africa soars at 6%.
This downturn has only one cause: our country's sad leadership under the ANC. To quote The Economist, "The ANC was dealt a bad hand in 1994, and it has played that (bad) hand badly."
This sorry saga will continue until we have a President who puts the people before his own status and power; a President who is capable of showing decisive leadership; a President who means what he says.
In an effort to deflect criticism of his rule, the President claimed that we should not be running our country down at a time like this. It is precisely because we love and believe in the potential of this country that we have to call the present leadership to task, and demand responsible and decisive actions that can move us forward. I thank you. [Time expired.]
Dr G W KOORNHOF (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Mr J J MCGLUWA (ID)
VICTIMISATION OF LEARNER AND RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE AT PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BOKSBURG
(Member's Statement)
Dr G W KOORNHOF (ANC): Acting Speaker, our country has one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world and our Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion. However, at a primary school in Boksburg it would appear that a learner's religious beliefs have given rise to victimisation. The parent of a Grade 3 learner has alleged that her son was chased out of a class for wearing a religious string on his arm.
The ANC views allegations of religious intolerance and racism, as well as violations of a learner's constitutional right to human dignity, freedom of religion and opinion, and the right to freedom of expression in an extremely serious light. We therefore welcome the fact that these allegations being levelled against the educator regarding her repeated abuse and harassment of, and discrimination against a learner are being investigated by the Gauteng department of education. We await the outcome of the Gauteng education department's report. I thank you.
Mr R B BHOOLA (MF)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Dr G W KOORNHOF (ANC)
IMPACT OF WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE AND QUALIFIED AUDITS IN KWAZULU-NATAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
(Member's Statement)
Mr R B BHOOLA (MF): Madam Acting Speaker, all eyes are on education, apart from on fraud and corruption. As government, we have to wage certain wars. In KwaZulu-Natal, a new front has opened up, the front of receiving qualified audit reports, which the KwaZulu-Natal department of education has now received for two years running.
Budgets that are directed to departments are aligned to addressing the implementation of programmes, particularly in order to end the backlogs. However, there has been millions of rands of fruitless and wasteful expenditure on the double-parking of educators and the creation of new posts in the organogram in the education sector in KwaZulu-Natal.
The MF's concern is what impact the restructuring, and the surplus and displaced educators have on the qualified audit. Furthermore, what impact does the creation of new posts have on the provisioning of educators to schools in order to improve the learner-educator ratio? Who is responsible for this?
In spite of the backlogs, overspending is unacceptable. It would be interesting to know whether the reasons for receiving such qualified reports for the last two years are the same. If we are radically serious about dealing with the challenges of the department of education in KwaZulu-Natal, the perpetrators must be dealt with decisively. Disciplinary measures must accordingly be imposed. The monitoring and evaluation structures of government need to play their role. Furthermore, the MF is concerned about what has been done to rectify this situation, which has a devastating impact on taxpayers indeed. I thank you.
Mr R A P TROLLIP (DA)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Mr R B BHOOLA (MF)
TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING IN EASTERN CAPE
(Member's Statement)
Mr R A P TROLLIP (DA): Madam Acting Speaker, the DA notes with deep regret the devastation caused by the torrential rain and flooding in the Eastern Cape. The area worst affected is the coastal strip between the Tsitsikamma and the Keiskamma Rivers. The loss of at least eight lives is especially tragic, and the DA extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved.
The enormous costs of the loss of private and public property, coupled with the costs of the damage to public infrastructure, such as roads, and water, electricity and other service infrastructure, will have a devastating impact on the province's already faltering economy. The affected local and district municipalities just do not have the financial means to deal with the scale of damage and the devastation caused by the flooding. In fact, it is clear that the province, too, will have to rely on the intervention and assistance of the National Treasury.
The closure of the N2 will result in a doubling of traffic load and volume on the R72, which is not designed for this volume of traffic, and which has not been adequately maintained. This situation will destroy one of the most critical roads in the province. Many of the unsurfaced roads in the province are also faced with maintenance backlogs of multiple years and are now impassable. This places even more economic strain and hardship on the rural communities.
We call on all three spheres of government to mobilise all necessary resources to effect immediate emergency repairs in the affected areas and to the main service delivery and economic infrastructure affected by the devastation of the flooding this weekend. Thank you.
Mr L SUKA (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Mr R A P TROLLIP (DA)
DA STUDENTS IN UCT VOTING SCANDAL
(Member's Statement)
Mr L SUKA (ANC): Madam Acting Speaker, the DA's youth wing seems to have learned much from its mother body on how to campaign with more flash but less substance!
In the recent Student Representative Council, SRC, elections at the University of Cape Town, the DA-aligned student wing, the DA Students Organisation, Daso, was found guilty of: interfering with vote-casting through the use of unauthorised electronic devices; grossly overspending, beyond the maximum allowed campaign limits; ... [Interjections.] ... attempting to conceal overspending through fraudulent accounting of costs; and failing to declare campaign plans to the SRC election committee. [Interjections.]
Mrs S V KALYAN: Madam Acting Speaker, I rise on a point of order ...
Mr L SUKA (ANC): The sanction for having been found guilty of all the above-mentioned charges ...
Mrs S V KALYAN: Madam, I rise on a point of order: According to the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, statements should be made on factual information. [Interjections.] [Laughter.] I put it to you!
The ACTING SPEAKER: Continue, hon member.
Mr L SUKA (ANC): The sanction for having been found guilty of all the above-mentioned charges was the disqualification of the DA candidates from the election process and the results thereof.
The DA candidates handed out hot chocolate and candy floss ... [Laughter.] ... and used laptops and iPads to go around and get students to place their votes, in front of the campaigners, thus compromising the voting. One observer stated tongue-in-cheek that while Daso's campaign slogan was, "Let's fix it", he did not realise that they meant the campaign and not the university! Such underhanded tactics and buying of votes seems to pass from one generation of the DA to the other. I thank you. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
Mr A M MPONTSHANE (IFP)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 358
Mr L SUKA (ANC)
CHALLENGES FACING TLOTLANG THUTO MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNERS AFTER DESTRUCTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS
(Member's Statement)
Mr A M MPONTSHANE (IFP): Acting Speaker, this week marks the start of the matriculation exams across the country. Even though some of our learners did not receive textbooks this year - which is a fact – I hope they have overcome this obstacle and that they excel.
Learners and teachers at Tlotlang Thuto Middle School are experiencing a different kind of obstacle. Due to community protests in July, their classrooms were destroyed in an attempt to force the government to meet the protestors' demands for water and electricity quickly. Ever since then, learners have learned either in a partially covered classroom or under trees, while the principal uses his bakkie as an office. If it rains or it becomes too dusty, the learners have to be sent home.
The education department sent mobile classrooms to the school a month later, after failing to deliver them as promised. Grade 10 learners had to be divided into two groups. While one group was writing the exams, the other group had to wait for them to finish in order to use the classroom. The government's failure to deliver services is at the heart of this matter. However, the protestors cannot be allowed to destroy public property, because these actions not only delay service delivery ... [Time expired.] Thank you.
Mr L S NGONYAMA (Cope)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 359
Mr A M MPONTSHANE (IFP)
NATIONAL DEBT RISING AND BILLIONS WASTED
(Member's Statement)
Mr L S NGONYAMA (Cope): Madam Acting Speaker, at the end of 2008-09 the national debt was R526 billion. Today it is about R1,3 trillion. In the next few months the debt servicing costs will have risen from R77 billion in 2009 to well over R104 billion. Let us see the red lights flashing! Let us not go so far down this route as to find ourselves in the company of Spain and Greece and other countries that are up to their eyeballs in debt.
Expenditure on the consumption side is unacceptably high. In fact, it is totally intolerable! The doubling of the Public Service salary bill over the past five years from R156 billion to R314 billion has set the cat among the pigeons in the area of the wage and salary bill. Meanwhile, haircuts notwithstanding, billions have been wasted by Ministers on jaunts, entertainment and other frivolous items. An amount of R25 billion was wasted last year on futile and fruitless expenditure. The procurement process is rotten to the core.
This House needs Treasury to issue a set of fiscal guidelines and enforce rigid Public Finance Management Act compliance. We also need an electronic board outside this Chamber to reflect, day by day, the public debt, the debt servicing cost and the cost at which government is borrowing.
Hon Acting Speaker, under the circumstances, expending scarce resources on Nkandla is scandalous and immoral. Expenditure on the consumption side must be reduced as soon as possible. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr D M GUMEDE (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 359
Mr S L NGONYAMA (Cope)
NATIONAL YOUTH CHEFS TRAINING PROGRAMME
(Member's Statement)
Mr D M GUMEDE (ANC): Hon Acting Speaker, it has been found by a tourism sector skills audit that there is a scarcity of chefs, and more specifically black chefs, in the tourism sector, possibly due to the fact that South African chefs are in demand in the world's kitchens, as they have a reputation for being well trained and hard-working.
The department has, therefore, in partnership with the Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education and Training Authority and the SA Chefs Association, implemented training interventions targeted at improving skills in the sector with the aim of creating a competitive skills base. This is known as the National Youth Chefs Training Programme.
According to the latest available figures, 545 young persons have graduated as chefs, and 120 have already been placed with established hospitality institutions, such as hotels, bed-and-breakfast establishments and restaurants. Many of the 545 graduates have been enrolled for second level training and, owing to the success of the programme, another 500 young people have been enrolled for the first time. [Time expired.] I thank you, Acting Speaker. [Applause.]
Mr D C ROSS (DA)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 359
Mr D M GUMEDE (ANC)
CALL TO REJECT ESKOM TARIFF HIKE APPLICATION
(Member's Statement)
Mr D C ROSS (DA): Madam Acting Speaker, yesterday Eskom submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, an application for an electricity tariff hike of 16% each year for the next five years. This is nearly triple current inflation.
Eskom's tariff hike of triple the inflation rate will discourage investment in productive, job-creating economic activity. This is particularly true for investment in small businesses, for whom electricity is a substantial input cost. These increases will also put additional pressure on poor South Africans already struggling to make ends meet.
The DA will continue its calls for alternative pricing models, in which consumers and businesses are not made to pay for inefficient capital expenditure programmes by a monopolistic state-owned energy provider. Eskom seems to ignore the negative consequences of their perpetual quest to squeeze money from ordinary South Africans and potential job creators.
The DA, Madam Acting Speaker, will meet with Nersa this week and expects that Nersa will do the right thing and unequivocally reject Eskom's price hike request. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr J K MOEPENG (ANC)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 359
Mr D C ROSS (DA)
LEARNERSHIPS FOR NORTH WEST PROVINCE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING STUDENTS
(Member's Statement)
Mr J K MOEPENG (ANC): Acting Speaker, the movement of the people welcomes the initiative of the North West Department of Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison to address the skills gap challenge, especially in the construction industry. The department has placed 40 civil construction and building students according to their speciality in villages in the Mahikeng area.
The learnership students will gain valuable experience in different trades, including masonry, tiling, roofing and joinery, for the next three months in a number of labour-intensive construction projects. After the practical work, the learners will write an assessment test and earn their National Qualifications Framework Level 3 Certificates.
Those contracted for this 12-month programme were 40 unemployed youth below the age of 35. This is one such project to lower the level of youth unemployment in the area and to address the challenge of a lack of professionals in the construction industry. I thank you.
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 360
Mr J K MOEPENG (ANC)
R203 MILLION BEING SPENT ON PRESIDENT ZUMA'S NKANDLA HOMESTEAD
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Acting Speaker, in relation to the security arrangements that were referred to by the hon member from the DA, firstly, if you want to apportion blame regarding the Nkandla security arrangements, blame the security departments and Public Works for poor controls, not the President – the President does not determine his security. [Interjections.]
Secondly, we have shockingly been told today that the DA – with its history! – represents the poor! What an irony! Since when do they represent the poor? [Interjections.]
Members are also aware of the legal constraints on providing information in relation to a national key point, and we have proved that this is a national key point. I have also said that I will not play politics with the security of the President. That is why I am concerned about the leaking of information concerning these classified projects. [Interjections.]
I have also said that where public funds are involved, there must be accountability and value for money. Public Works implements projects on behalf of other departments of government. In this case, specifications for the upgrading were drawn up by an expert team from the Departments of State Security, Defence and Military Veterans, and the Police, after a risk assessment had been conducted. The details were provided in the media. I would have thought that some members who once served in the Cabinet, or even in the opposition in the Cabinet cluster, would have understood the security protocols, and that that is why they are still today quiet on the Arms Deal. [Interjections.]
The Department of Public Works's specific responsibility is to ensure that ... [Time expired.]
IsiXhosa:
Enkosi, Mhlekazi! Ndiyabulela. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
The ACTING SPEAKER: Order! I call the Minister of Labour. [Interjections.] Order, hon members, please!
The MINISTER OF LABOUR
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 360
The DEPUTY / ACTING SPEAKER
CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT ZUMA
POOR ANC LEADERSHIP AND SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMIC DECLINE
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF LABOUR: Acting Speaker, I want to refer the hon member Lekota to the Rules of this House and also to the laws of South Africa. He was referring to the President as equal to the members of this House. However, immediately after the appointment of the President, he resigned as a member of this House. Secondly, in this country, we have three arms of state: the executive, judiciary and parliament. Unfortunately, in most cases members of the opposition used to go to the courts without knowing that they were indicating to the public that they couldn't fulfil their obligations as members of this House. [Interjections.]
Secondly, I want to respond to the statement that was made by the hon McGluwa about the shooting of 34 miners in Marikana and the wildcat strikes. He did not talk about the 13 workers who were hacked and also shot at, or those who had their face skin peeled off, and probably thought that these people or workers were not human beings.
Acting Speaker, I want to say to the hon member that maybe he also needs to investigate the cause of the wildcat strikes before blaming those workers, because this matter includes their companies – they are part and parcel of the cause of it. I would like also to appeal to the member to wait for the outcome of the commission, so that he does not regret what he has said and its consequences in future. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 360
The MINISTER OF LABOUR
POOR ANC LEADERSHIP AND SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMIC DECLINE
TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING IN EASTERN CAPE
NATIONAL DEBT RISING AND BILLIONS WASTED
CALL TO REJECT ESKOM TARIFF HIKE APPLICATION
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: Acting Speaker, I want to ask the hon McGluwa to read The Economist every week, because if he had read the one from the previous week, he would have seen that inequality is growing around the world. It is because of the nature of development around the world, and we can give him Economics 101 and teach him about the Kuznets curve and what causes that. The bad hand that he referred to came from the party that he is part of - though he pretends to be in the ID – and which was caught out before democracy. That is the bad hand that he referred to. So, look in the mirror, sir, and you will see the cause of the problem.
Regarding the issue raised by the hon Trollip, I think we all share a concern about the impact of the flooding, and clearly the issues in the Eastern Cape are matters that we must all be concerned about. Hopefully the report on the impact on infrastructure and life will soon be compiled and we can deal with this as a matter of urgency.
The hon Ngonyama ... [Interjections.]
Mr J J MCGLUWA: Point of order.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: There is no point of order, Chair.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, the Minister is busy responding to the statement that you made. I will give you an opportunity after he has completed that.
Mr J J MCGLUWA: Thank you. I just want to ask: What about the National Party?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Will you take your seat please? [Interjections.] Will you take your seat please? Thank you. Continue, hon Minister.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: Thank you. The hon Ngonyama sounds like a right-wing Republican on the ticker board on public debt. I am not quite sure of the point that he was trying to make, but it is quite misplaced in the context of South Africa.
Hon Ross, I think you must first give Eskom an opportunity to explain the costs of the increases in primary energy, the requirements in respect of renewables, and what the IPP costs will be, before you go off the deep end. I say this because, to suggest that they are careless in the pricing issues would not be in support of what transpired yesterday when they raised the existing contract in respect of BHP Billiton, as well as the requirement that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, should actually examine this issue. So, be fair – that's all we ask. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Thank you, hon Minister. Yes, hon member. What was you point of order?
Mr J J MCGLUWA: I was just rising to correct the hon Minister that the people who oppressed us were the National Party ... [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, that is not a point of order; it's a point of debate. Are there any further ministerial responses? No. That concludes ministerial responses.
Mr L T LANDERS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 361
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick)
Consideration of request from public protector in terms of section 2(5) of public protector act no 23 of 1994 for national assembly to review and re-determine the remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment of deputy public protector
Mr L T LANDERS: Chairperson, the Public Protector Act, Act 23 of 1994, provides that the remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment of the Deputy Public Protector shall, from time to time, be determined by the National Assembly.
Earlier this year the Public Protector formally requested that the remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment of the Deputy Public Protector be reviewed, because the last time this had been done was when Adv Lawrence Mushwana was the Public Protector. At that time the Deputy Public Protector was allocated an increase based on the inflation rate.
After considering the Public Protector's request, a draft resolution of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development was referred to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to ascertain whether his department's budget could afford any proposed increase in remuneration or gratuity.
In his response to the portfolio committee's query, the hon Minister pointed out the following. Firstly, disparities in remuneration and conditions of service are not peculiar to the Office of the Public Protector, but have also been raised consistently by other Chapter 9 institutions.
Secondly, the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on Review of Chapter 9 and Associated Institutions, commonly referred to as the "Kader Asmal committee", recommended a greater uniformity in remuneration and conditions of service for Chapter 9 institutions.
Thirdly, a task team was established to investigate such disparities, which recommended that the determination of the remuneration of all constitutional institutions should be done by one institution using a single methodology. This would also be in line with section 219(5) of our Constitution.
Fourthly, such a development would require amendments to the relevant statutes determining Chapter 9 institutions, as well as the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-bearers Act, Act 92 of 1997.
Given all these facts, the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development resolved that any proposed improvements in the remuneration of the Deputy Public Protector should be referred to the independent commission, once the appropriate legislative amendments have been effected, with which the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is currently seized.
Accordingly, we ask this hon House to approve this report, which will also endorse the improvements in remuneration provided by the former Public Protector, Adv Lawrence Mushwana. Thank you.
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move:
That the report be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.
Adv J H DE LANGE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 361
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY
Consideration of request for approval by Parliament of Nagoya protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation to the convention on biological diversity in terms of section 231(2) of Constitution
Adv J H DE LANGE: Mr Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen, I rise on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs on this occasion to recommend, in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, that the House approve the Nagoya Protocol, which the committee has unanimously adopted.
Having considered the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity on 5 September 2012, the committee accepts that the many intergovernmental negotiations on the environment and sustainable development can make slow progress and in some instances lack ambition. This particular protocol has taken 18 years for the international community to agree to.
However, the Nagoya Protocol gives substance and effect to establishing a system for achieving one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, that is, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from genetic resources.
The protocol provides a strong basis for legal certainty and transparency for both provider and user countries of genetic resources and their associated knowledge.
We have a hope for when it comes into force in a year or two. The process of adopting it has happened and some 90 odd countries have signed it, but only five have ratified it. So, it will still take a while before it comes into effect. However, we hope that at that stage it will create new incentives for countries to protect their natural capital, while enabling businesses to develop useful new products from biological resources in a sustainable way.
An interesting aspect of the Nagoya Protocol is that whilst it is mainly concerned with benefit sharing between states, it includes two potential safeguards for protecting the rights of indigenous people and local communities.
The Nagoya Protocol firstly requires countries to support the development of community protocols. This means that communities decide whether to permit the use of their knowledge or genetic resources, and on what terms. An example of this is what has happened with the healers in Bushbuckridge in our own country, who used their protocol to conserve medicinal plants, gain access to plants in a protected area, and negotiate more effectively with a cosmetic company in regard to those genetic resources.
Community protocols, therefore, have an important role to play in implementing the protocol. According to a report drafted by the international institute for environment and development, and I quote:
(Where) emphasis is placed on the process of developing community protocols - rather than just the product - these protocols are more likely to strengthen community values and institutions that conserve biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
It also points out that countries and donors must ensure communities receive the support they need to develop their protocols.
Secondly, it requires countries to take measures to ensure that communities can control access to their traditional knowledge by giving their free, prior, informed consent. This means that communities decide whether to permit the use of their knowledge or genetic resources, and on what terms. We therefore recommend accordingly. Thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Question put: That the Nagoya Protocol on access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity be approved.
Agreed to.
Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity approved.
Adv J H De Lange
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 362
Adv J H DE LANGE
CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY PARLIAMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF LESOTHO ON PHASE II OF THE LESOTHO HIGHLANDS WATER PROJECT IN TERMS OF SECTION 231(2) OF THE CONSTITUTION
Adv J H DE LANGE: Hon Speaker, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen, I rise on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs on this occasion to recommend to the House the passing of an international agreement in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution of 1996. This is the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II Agreement, which the governments of the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho signed in November 2011 and which the committee unanimously agreed to support.
We also recommend the adoption of the committee's report on its oversight visit to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project during the October 2012 recess, which the committee also unanimously adopted.
It has done so for the following reasons. South Africa is an arid country with periodic droughts and a very unevenly distributed rainfall. Moreover, the availability of water is very unequal, with a considerable part of the population still without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
The chronic shortage of water, particularly in the Gauteng area, with its large and intense industrial activity and its two metropolitan cities, already posed a major security challenge in the mid-1950s – I am changing facts as I go along – considering the fact that the densely populated Gauteng region is one of those very few industrial areas in the world not established along any natural body of water.
An active and urgent search for additional water resources therefore became primarily important with interbasin water transfers being identified as the most cost-effective solution, leading to the evolution of the comprehensive Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
It suffices to state that this project was conceptualised in the 1950s but it was only in October 1986 that the treaty was signed by South Africa's apartheid government and the Lesotho military regime, which formally established the Lesotho Highlands Water Project after the completion of a feasibility study. Thus, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project was established as a binational project spanning the borders of South Africa and Lesotho in accordance with that treaty.
This miraculous engineering feat diverts water from the Senqu River system in Lesotho to South Africa's economic hub, the water-stressed Gauteng province. The project is one of the largest and most intricate engineering construction projects in Africa. The total project was originally envisaged to transfer 70 m³ of water per second from the upper portions of the Lesotho Highlands to the Vaal River basin. The scheme was designed in phases, four to be precise, with each phase providing additional transfer capacity until we reached the 70 m³ level.
The water that is routed to South Africa through the mountains and the tunnel is put to good use also by empowering the Muela power station that generates electricity to meet the energy needs of the Lesotho people.
The first phase of the project saw the building of two dams, namely, the Katse Dam and Mohale Dam, an intake tower, transfer tunnels, a delivery tunnel and hydropower station at Muela, and a network of roads around and between this water infrastructure. Lesotho depended entirely on South Africa for its electricity requirements prior to this project.
The project has had an important impact on Lesotho's infrastructure, as hundreds of kilometres of engineered paved roads have been built in order to improve access to the different construction sites, as well as feeder roads. Today they still form a very important communication network for the villages of Lesotho.
Thus, the Kingdom of Lesotho has benefited from infrastructure development projects like dams, roads and hydropower, recruitment opportunities, and sustainable royalties of about R450 million per annum in the first phase of the project. This corresponds to 4% of Lesotho's gross domestic product, GDP, and 10% of total government revenues.
I hear I don't have the time I thought I had. So, I'll skip a few pages and go to the second phase. The second phase is now coming into operation with the signing of the agreement by the two respective governments in November 2011. The purpose of the agreement is to improve the use of the water of the Senqu/Orange River system by storing, regulating, diverting and controlling the flow of the shared water, in order to deliver specified quantities of water to South Africa.
The Phase II projects entail the construction of a third dam, the Polihali Dam on the Senqu River, a transfer tunnel from Polihali to the Katse Dam and expansions to the existing Muela hydropower complex. Thus, the Kingdom of Lesotho will benefit further from all the factors that I have mentioned, and, of course, additional royalties in regard to the water that they will produce.
It is against this background that the committee decided to visit and assess the achievements of Phase I of the project, as well as scrutinise the plans for the operationalisation of Phase II, considering the significant financial resources we have put into the project.
Accordingly, the members of the committee and staff went on an oversight visit to the project from 1 to 3 October 2012. Our observations and recommendations are contained in the committee's oversight report which was unanimously adopted and tabled in the ATC and is recommended for adoption by the House. Let me finally say that we therefore recommend that both these reports be adopted by the House. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Question put: That the Agreement between the government of the Republic of South Africa and the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho on Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project be approved.
Declarations of vote made on behalf of the DA and Cope.
Mr G R MORGAN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 363
Adv J H DE LANGE
Declarations of vote:
Mr G R MORGAN: Chairperson and hon members, having now personally seen the site of the proposed Polihali Dam, it gives me great pleasure on behalf of the DA to support the agreement on Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project between the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the government of the Republic of South Africa.
The previous agreement was signed in 1986 and led to the building of the Phase I infrastructure, including the awe-inspiring Katse and Mohale Dams. Phase I is delivering water to the thirsty province of Gauteng, but water planners are well aware that the Vaal system requires more water. It will in the next few years be in deficit. Phase II, which is before this House today, will include the construction of the Polihali Dam and a 38 km tunnel linking the Polihali Dam to the Katse Dam. The project is expected to further augment the water supplies to Gauteng by 2020.
As of December 2010, the project was expected to cost US$8 billion. This is an off-budget project, which means it will be funded by loan capital. Projects of this size require the strongest possible oversight. Phase I of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project was tainted with corruption, and several individuals involved have served or are currently serving jail sentences. The agreement for Phase II includes strong anticorruption clauses and is backed up by a policy as prescribed by the agreement. The whole project will also be scrutinised by foreign external auditors during the course of the life of the project.
The DA recognises the importance of the provision of water to sustain human health and support economic growth. South Africa is a water scarce country, yet too many South Africans take water for granted. Insufficient water can negatively affect irrigation, thus reducing food security, and it can negatively affect mining, thus reducing foreign exchange and job creation. South Africans so often fixate on the lack of a reliable supply of electricity as a barrier to economic growth. The same can be said for water though, and the consequences of a lack of water are far more devastating than a lack of power.
Phase II will offer increased water security, but let us be mindful that the water it will provide is not a licence for business, agriculture or municipal users to waste water. The obligation is on all water users to use water efficiently and to return water to the water courses after it has been used in an acceptable state. What we do not want to be doing in 2020 is chasing the good, clean water from the Polihali Dam after the discharged polluted water from Gauteng water users in order to dilute the latter. Thank you. [Applause.]
Ms B D FERGUSON
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 363
Mr G R MORGAN
Ms B D FERGUSON: Hon Chair, Cope has learnt that the idea of transferring water from the Kingdom of Lesotho to South Africa originated in 1920. The distinct possibility of putting this idea into action was raised again in 1950 by a Cape Town-based engineer, Ninham Shand, with sceptics not giving it a chance of ever coming to fruition.
However, it was formalised in 1986 with the signing of the
co-operation treaty between the two countries. This treaty covered all aspects of design, construction, operation and maintenance, and institutions of government and governance. Little did the sceptics know that by the end of 2008 the Lesotho Highlands Water Project would reach its biggest milestone. The entire project is expected to cost about US$8 billion on its completion in 2020. It is set to claim its rightful place as a blueprint for Africa's future water resources, development and management initiatives.
Who would have guessed at that time that this would become a truly African success story? In November 2003 the SA Institution of Civil Engineering named the Lesotho Highlands Water Project "The Project of the Century". This is a sign of true African co-operation long before "Chinese" became an investor buzz word.
This water is meant to address the needs of South Africa's rapidly expanding Gauteng province, which generates almost 60% of the country's industrial output and 80% of its mining output, and where over 40% of South Africa's population live. This province needs more water.
The Lesotho government received royalties for the water sent to South Africa of about $31 million in 2004. This is about 5% of its GDP, which has grown to over R450 million year on year. This project will create 3 500 new jobs for the Basotho people. Before the project, Lesotho depended entirely on South Africa for its electricity requirements. Now her hydroelectricity is almost 100% home grown, thanks to this initiative.
However, this glorious story gets drowned in the water - if you will excuse the pun - of the unfortunate events of corruption and fraud that occurred soon after the inception of Phase I. Thanks to the resolute democratic government that came to power in Lesotho in 1993, that corruption was quickly rooted out, just as it reared its ugly head.
It is Cope's desire that similar resoluteness should be shown here against party deployees who glean government resources with impunity. It is hoped that the likelihood of corruption taking place in the second phase of the project will be nonexistent, in the light of the Phase I examples. The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has confirmed that an anticorruption policy between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho has been put firmly in place.
Cope supports this exciting project. I thank you.
Agreement between the government of the Republic of South Africa and the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho on Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project approved.
Mr M E NCHABELENG
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 364
Ms B D FERGUSON
CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR PERMISSION IN TERMS OF RULE 249(3)(B) TO INQUIRE INTO AMENDING OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS ACT, ACT 66 OF 1995
Mr M E NCHABELENG: Chairperson, according to the National Assembly Rule 249(3)(b), a committee may, if it is considering a Bill that amends provisions of the legislation, seek permission from the Assembly to inquire into amending other provisions of that legislation.
In this case, the committee intends going beyond amending sections in the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, as envisaged in the Labour Relations Amendment Bill, [B16-2012]. In order for the committee to amend other sections of the Act, over and above what is amended through the Bill as introduced, the Assembly is required to grant permission to the committee to do so.
In short, the committee recommends that the Assembly grants permission for the committee to effect additional technical amendments to the proposed 2012 Bill. I thank you.
There was no debate.
Question put: That permission be granted to the Portfolio Committee on Labour to inquire into amending other provisions of the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, in terms of Rule 249(3)(b).
Permission accordingly granted to the Portfolio Committee on Labour to inquire into amending other provisions of Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, in terms of Rule 249(3)(b).
Mr M JOHNSON
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 365
Mr M E NCHABELENG
EFFECTIVENESS OF FOOD PRODUCTION SCHEMES IN RURAL AND PERI-URBAN AREAS
(Subject for Discussion)
Mr M JOHNSON: Chairperson, members of the Cabinet, colleagues, comrades, friends and fellow South Africans, I am privileged to stand before you and address this Parliament on a very emotive issue for our people in the rural and peri-urban areas of our country. Eighteen years into our democracy, South Africa is debating a very important aspect of our economy, food production in rural and peri-urban areas - in short, food security!
We do so against a background where, for the first time in our post-1994 democratic establishment, the focus in our ANC-led government and Parliament has been directed at confronting poverty right where it is felt most, that is, in the rural and peri-urban areas.
Let us thank His Excellency President J G Zuma and his visionary leadership collective for an incisive intervention which has led to the establishment of a dedicated Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform under the able stewardship of hon Gugile Nkwinti.
During the presidential inauguration on 9 May 2009, His Excellency President Zuma declared to our people and the world that:
For as long as there are rural dwellers unable to make a decent living from the land on which they live;
For as long as there are women who are subjected to discrimination, exploitation or abuse;
For as long as there are children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive a decent education; ...
we shall not rest, and we dare not falter (in our drive to eradicate poverty) ...
As the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries we have an unwritten rule that ours is a nonpolitical oversight committee that is bound by a desire to rally the executive and society in general towards a safe, food-secure South Africa that will see all having access to food, and where no one will go to bed hungry.
In pursuance of growth in six key sectors in line with the New Growth Path, among others infrastructure development, agriculture and the green economy to mention but a few, President Zuma further elaborated:
To achieve these goals, we have to build a strong mixed economy, where the state, private sector, co-operative and other forms of social ownership complement each other, to achieve shared and inclusive economic growth.
This is in keeping with our slogan, "Working together we can do more", both as the public and as the private sector.
As far back as 1955, the people of South Africa declared at Kliptown:
The land shall be shared among those who work it!
That beacon of hope, the Freedom Charter, further declared:
Restriction of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land re-divided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger;
The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers;
Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land;
All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;
People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished.
Among the main objects has been, and continues to be, the curtailment of food insecurity by improving food production and income-generating activities in the rural areas through access to land, water, credit, markets, and research and extension services. So said the ANC Agricultural Policy of 1994.
In addition to rural and peri-urban households that have land in their properties, such land as municipal commonages, unused municipal land and land under the care of local chiefs can be sustainably used to grow food for the rural poor.
However, in some areas commonages are not included in local economic development, LED, or integrated development plans, IDPs, as possible economic development tools. As a result, some commonages are not well managed and have been left as open-access areas with no infrastructure, and where there was infrastructure, it has been damaged. Some of these end up being turned into informal settlements.
Unused land in schoolyards, clinics and other government properties can also be sustainably used to produce food for the rural and peri-urban population.
Rural and peri-urban food production can be easily integrated into municipalities' waste management programmes or strategies for recycling of organic waste and by-products, and use of non-conventional water.
Given that South Africa is a water-scarce country and some municipalities are struggling to meet the water needs of their citizens, there should be a strong focus on water-conserving farming practices; cost recovery mechanisms from water-consuming producers; and treatment of waste water for vegetable irrigation.
It should be noted that rural and peri-urban agriculture or food production is not confined to vegetable production and the planting of fruit trees but, where land and resources are available, other options include livestock and poultry production, as well as aquaculture. These, however, should be canvassed in accordance with the relevant national environmental legislation, municipal by-laws and policies regarding environmental protection, management, health and safety.
Due to a lack of transport infrastructure in the rural and peri-urban areas, opportunities for agro-processing exist. These will go a long way in addressing unemployment and enterprise development in these areas, therefore ensuring that smaller numbers of our people migrate to urban areas.
There are a number of rural and peri-urban agriculture projects throughout the country and, although some have been initiated and are supported by municipalities, most have been initiated by community groups, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and in some cases, academic institutions. There is a need for government in all spheres to upscale such success stories and spread the lessons that have been learnt to other poor rural and peri-urban areas.
Therefore, for rural and peri-urban food production to be successful, as in most cases elsewhere, there need to be coordination and integration of activities by all relevant government agencies and other stakeholders that are involved.
Municipalities should play a central role and, where there is potential, include rural and peri-urban food production initiatives in their local economic development and integrated development plans, IDPs. Other departments and agencies, such as Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Water and Environmental Affairs, Eskom, Trade and Industry, the Industrial Development Corporation and Public Works, among others, should also be involved.
Public authorities are expected to take responsibility for securing the required resources, especially land and small plots within and around rural towns and cities, as well as sufficient water and other infrastructure.
There is a need for adequate agricultural technical training programmes and supervision or extension services to producers. Equally, there is a need to promote and finance greater links between production, agro-processing and marketing for more self-reliant rural food systems, and more local employment and revenues.
There is also a need for greater decentralisation of agricultural policy from central to municipal governments, and for support to rural, locally relevant food production and sustainable rural and peri-urban food practices.
When all of this is said and done, the question that remains is: How can one best move beyond mere subsistence farming? Your surplus must be able to reach the markets. One of those programmes that we have is a programme that seeks to bring hunger down to zero. When all of the food is produced, access in schools, in clinics and in prisons, among others, should be made possible with all the integrated and collaborative efforts by all in government in the national, provincial and local spheres. This cannot be done outside of government support systems.
We have seen the department, in keeping with the Freedom Charter, distributing seed, tractors and infrastructure to the needy, among others. However, what you have in the local rural and peri-urban areas in our country is that the majority of livestock owners happen to be black, yet they contribute minimally towards food production in our country.
This should be a clarion call for more interventions by our own government. More provinces must become involved in livestock improvement programmes like you saw in Mount Frere about a month ago, and also in an area called Fort Cox in the Eastern Cape. These are programmes that are aimed at taking cattle from being in a position where they will not fetch a price, even below R4 000 or R5 000, to a price in relation to their own feedlots, which are being supported. The cattle will find themselves in a position where they are marketable.
Our parliamentary committee that deals with Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has also been able to address one of the critical areas with regard to support by the department and also by society in general in those rural communities.
The doctors for those animals are called veterinarians, and are a very, very scarce resource. We have been able, as I said, to pass legislation on veterinary and para-veterinary professional services. Today we were informed that the NCOP has received this legislation. This law is, among other things, aimed at getting to a stage where we can say that our people in the rural areas will no longer find it difficult to access services from veterinarians and para-veterinarians. When this law comes into effect, we are going to have a year when these veterinarians, upon their having passed their degrees, will go out into the field, especially in rural areas, to assist our people out there in making a difference for the better in their lives.
In conclusion, food production cannot be a political football in our country, which has shifted from being a net exporter of food to being a net importer of processed food. We all have a responsibility in turning the tide. Indeed, South Africa can be better than yesterday, if we focus on our working towards food for all in our country. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mrs A STEYN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366
Mr M JOHNSON
Mrs A STEYN: Chairperson, I would like to start by responding to what hon Johnson has just said. I want to remind this House that the topic for today is "the effectiveness of food production schemes in rural and peri-urban areas". Hon Johnson, I know that you said that there was no space for political debate in this portfolio, but unfortunately you had nothing to say about this department. My speech will give you insight into that.
Chairperson, all reports indicate that chronic food insecurity exists at significantly high levels in South Africa today. Composites of the best data suggest that approximately 11 million people in 2,8 million households are vulnerable to food insecurity, that is, at least one in every five South Africans. Moreover, 72% of these reside in the rural areas. In a world of plenty this is unacceptable.
To make things worse, almost 9 million tons of food are wasted every year in South Africa, the large majority of which doesn't even make it to the market!
The biggest single challenge for poor South Africans is access to food and/or the means to produce it. Over time, rural and peri-urban citizens have had increasingly less opportunity to produce their own food and have therefore become increasingly reliant on government grants.
Estimates suggest that only four million people are engaged in smallholder agriculture as a main source of food or subsistence production. But government does not collect data with which to credibly establish the contribution of the subsistence or smallholder agricultural sector to food security. It is therefore difficult to understand how they can expect us to believe in their purported successes in this area.
The Global Food Security Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit, EIU, this year scored South Africa 40th out of 105 surveyed countries. The index also showed a significant correlation with the EIU Women's Economic Opportunity Index, which measures female economic participation.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN estimates that if women had access to the same reproductive resources as men - better seeds, fertilisers and fungicides – they could increase their yield by 20% to 30%. As women make up 43% of the world's farmers, this would increase total agricultural output in developing countries by 2% to 4%, and reduce hunger globally by 12% to 17%.
These findings alone provide the irrefutable impetus for government to dismantle the archaic and counterproductive forms of communal land tenure in the former homelands under the political power of the chiefs. Sir, 1,5 million ha of South Africa's 5 million ha high-potential agricultural land lies in these former homelands under communal tenure – a fruitless economic institution and a far cry from the individual title deeds necessary to incentivise economic productivity. The upshot of this arrangement is a contradiction that keeps citizens in bondage and undermines efforts to attain food security, a strong prerequisite for economic growth. Economic property rights should therefore clearly be extended to all South Africans, especially in the former homelands.
A government that continues to wilfully keep people in bondage through archaic institutional structures, the very thing that South Africans in all walks of life fought against during the apartheid era, is guilty of denying its citizens access to economic opportunities. And it is this access to opportunity, especially for women, that would harness food security and serve as a catalyst for dynamic economic growth. If government does not listen to the evidence, then it clearly cares more about hanging onto power than it does about economic growth.
The Institute for Security Studies, in a report prepared for Parliament earlier this year, conveys that, and I quote:
Experience from other countries indicates that a comprehensive approach to the provision of support services to achieve growth in the smallholder agricultural sector is essential. In the absence of appropriate farmer support programmes, smallholder farmers will have little chance of escaping poverty and agriculture's role of creating livelihood opportunities will remain limited. Subsistence production not only contributes directly to these households' food security as a supply of food, but also enables households to divert income to meet other requirements.
Food security is linked to livelihood assets, strong institutional support and a favourable external environment. Policies and strategies to increase agricultural productivity can make a significant contribution towards reducing households' food insecurity status.
Government's current initiatives, including the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, or Casp as everyone knows it, are to provide post-settlement support to land reform and previously disadvantaged farmers. There are at least three other initiatives which are meant to form part of the Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Programme, IFSNP, but these have yet to be implemented as a co-ordinated and consolidated strategy.
Research evidence strongly indicates that Casp, along with the other programmes of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Daff, have failed to be realised or make a positive impact on the lives of beneficiaries. The name of the Zero Hunger Programme is self-explanatory. This is Daff's home-grown food security policy, but very confusing in the way it is to be implemented. Its goals consist of improving the food production capacity of households and poorly resourced farmers, and developing market channels through bulk government procurement of food linked to the emerging agricultural sector. The tenderpreneurs are already licking their lips!
Adding to the general confusion is a project called the Masibambisane Rural Development Initiative, led by the President. It appears to form part of or to have replaced the Zero Hunger Programme, but replies to my parliamentary questions have shown that there is no business plan for this initiative! The concept document provides little of substance in regard to how to achieve South Africa's Millennium Development Goals. If anything, the initiative appears to be diverting funds from government departments in order to aid President Zuma's Mangaung re-election efforts. How else can one explain this R800 million project which has no clear business plan?
If the Cabinet want South Africa to take government seriously and believe that they really are committed to alleviating food insecurity, they have no choice but to dismiss Minister Joemat-Pettersson. Less than 20% of the department's planned targets were fully achieved, even though the department managed to spend 99% of its appropriated budget! The ultimate responsibility for the performance of any department rests with the Minister. Clearly, Minister Joemat-Pettersson is unfit to hold public office!
Minister, it is also a pity that you could not attend our meeting with the Red Meat Industry Forum this morning, where we discussed serious implications for food security in South Africa. Mr S K Makinana, who attended this meeting, asked, and in his words his question was: "If the government does not give assistance to black farmers, how will the youth ever get into farming and get interested in farming?" Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr B M BHANGA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366A
Mrs A STEYN
Mr B M BHANGA: Hon Chair, the debate on "the effectiveness of food production schemes in rural and peri-urban areas" is critical in alleviating and eradicating poverty, and in building a democratic society. This morning Mrs Thobeka Mabhija-Zuma echoed this in a debate in her campaign against cancer. She said that it was important for our country to make sure that in promoting healthy living we supported in a massive way the idea of small gardens and food production in our country.
This could assist in building up a massive number of smallholder farmers in our country for the future. There are many schemes that have been introduced in order to intervene in regard to food production in our country. It is a good thing that we as government have introduced. The most important point is that we must work together to make sure that we have stable food production for all our people in order to alleviate poverty in South Africa.
What concerns us is the fact that the schemes that we have, like Mafisa and many other financial schemes, which are supposed to intervene in our people's lives, do not reach the people they are supposed to reach. The problem is implementation. The government provides funding, but are we able to take the money that is supposed to be used to intervene in smallholder farming and give it to the people that are supposed to receive it?
There are initiatives, such as the one in Walmer in my constituency, of smallholder farmers who are producing food in our country. The problem is the necessary support and monitoring from the department, which I think should be looked into.
As Cope, our concern is the amount of food which enters this country wrongly labelled. We were told today that Orion Cold Storage Company has been accused of bringing amounts of food into this country illegally, particularly pork hearts which are labelled as beef and sheep hearts. This is a threat to the security of our food in this country.
We must make sure that we produce our own local food. We must do this together in order to make sure that our nation is not under threat tomorrow because we cannot produce food any more. We as Cope say in this case today that a country without food cannot survive. We might have a food revolt in the country if we do not intervene as quickly as possible to make sure that each and every household in the country has food on its table.
Therefore, we as Cope say that we must strengthen the mechanisms in the department and also have certainty about those who have to be accountable, like those on the Ncera Farms who in the past have failed to produce food with the money that was provided by government. Thank you.
Prof C T MSIMANG
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366A
Mr B M BHANGA
Prof C T MSIMANG: Hon House Chair, food production and security remain under serious threat in our country. Unsustainable farming practices, coupled with rising input prices, declining crop yields, increasing demand and polluted soil conditions, create a precarious platform for agricultural food production and security in South Africa.
We are seeing average food increases of 13% per year and this is currently without the contribution of increased demand. Our population is growing and, as it does, so will the demand and prices will increase, if supply remains constant. The only way to stave off increasing prices is to increase supply, and by this we mean local supply.
Why must our local agricultural producers compete with foreign exporters of food crops? More must be done locally. We have a resource-intensive land and an abundance of human capital. There is no sane reason for us to have to rely so heavily upon imported foodstuffs.
The IFP therefore calls for food production schemes in both our peri-urban and rural areas to receive greater state incentivisation and support. Educational farming programmes, soft agricultural government loans and the idea of "South Africa first" must become the dominant themes in our thinking on this matter. I thank you.
Mr L B GAEHLER
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366A
Prof C T MSIMANG
Mr L B GAEHLER: Hon Chairperson, over the years the department has introduced a number of schemes aimed at improving the plight and financial position of our communities in rural and peri-urban areas. Some of these programmes have contributed immensely to food security in South Africa.
However, despite these achievements, more needs to be done to ensure that deep rural communities benefit from these programmes. The UDM is inundated with calls from rural communities complaining of being overlooked by the department in connection with assistance with fertilisers and seeds. In addition, some of these beneficiaries of the department's food production schemes complain about receiving inadequate support and guidance from the department.
The UDM therefore calls on the department to provide more support to and monitoring of the beneficiaries of these programmes to ensure that they become self-sufficient. Thank you.
Mrs N M TWALA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366B
Mr L B GAEHLER
Mrs N M TWALA: Hon Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament and guests in the gallery, the thrust of the ANC's policies is "Power to the people". It is through the Freedom Charter where we project a different vision from that of the apartheid past, a past which sought to divide our people along racial and gender lines and trap the overwhelming majority of the population in conditions of poverty and social, economic and political exclusion. Central to this task has been the fight against unemployment, poverty and inequality in our society.
In as far as subsistence farming and access to markets are concerned, the rural areas remain divided. There are well-developed, white commercial farming areas and impoverished rural communities. Land and agrarian reforms have not produced the desired results.
The ANC considers subsistence farming as a pillar of our struggle against unemployment, poverty and inequality. People living in rural areas face the harshest conditions of poverty, food insecurity and lack of access to services on an almost daily basis. Workers living in rural areas face the brunt of poverty, with many of them working long hours for poverty wages. Women in particular, who form the majority of residents in rural areas, face the burden of poverty. The ANC is committed to a comprehensive subsistence farming strategy linked to agrarian reforms, which builds the potential for rural, sustainable livelihoods, particularly for African women.
The Freedom Charter says:
Rent and prices shall be lowered, food plentiful and no one shall go hungry; ...
The pursuit of household and national food security is a constitutional mandate of the ANC government. We have to continue to create an environment which ensures that there is adequate food available to all, now and in the future, and that hunger is eradicated.
The ANC government is already putting in place an emergency food relief programme on a mass scale in the form of food assistance to the poorest households and communities. Increased subsistence production has the potential to improve the food security of poor households in both rural and urban areas, by increasing food supply and by reducing dependence on purchasing food in a context of high food price inflation.
The Land Reform Policy is one of the initiatives of government to redress the imbalances of the past by affording the previously disadvantaged majority access to agricultural land. However, the settlement of new farmers with limited capacity to produce optimally, coupled with poor financial and market support, poses a threat to overall agricultural productivity.
Land is integral to livelihood security, and land reform is integral to poverty reduction. Land can be a catalyst in the development of rural areas through links with input supply, processing and distribution activities, and expanding employment opportunities.
Within the Southern African Development Community, SADC, region women are responsible for over 80% of food access, either through own production or purchasing. Land reform should therefore prioritise gender equity in land ownership. Women are often part of the entities that own land but they are not the custodians of its productivity. Land reform should prioritise the ownership of land by women with targets of 10% by 2015, and 15% by 2030.
Customary laws governing land ownership rights in the communal areas also discriminate against women, and traditional leaders should prioritise the allocation of land to women for subsistence farming and agricultural production at large.
Formerly controlled markets have been radically deregulated since 1996. The enactment of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act of 1996 provided certain limited government interventions in the market, such as registration, regulation and information collection, but by early 1998 all control boards had ceased operations, and their assets were transferred to industry trusts, which are expected to provide services such as market information, export advice and product development.
Food price controls were removed and single-channel markets disappeared with the abolition of these control boards. As a result, the small-scale sector remains characterised by low productivity, a lack of access to markets, and insufficient market information, as well as poor capacity, and a lack of production, of marketing infrastructure, and of the required protection in order to develop.
Linkages within the input markets, which involve seeds, agro-chemicals and mechanisation, and the outputs, which are trading, processing, manufacturing and retailing, create barriers to market entry, and worsen terms of trade for the emerging agricultural sector. Their access to the national commercial food value chains should be policy-driven and coupled with support to meet the required specified market standards.
The AgriBEE Transformation Charter is one of the interventions by the state to promote economic transformation by increasing the participation of black people in the agri-industry. The charter requires the industry to implement broad-based black economic empowerment principles throughout the value chain. This will be achieved through ownership and preferential procurement, in order for the emerging agriculture sector to actively participate in the agricultural economy. The charter requires the agri-industry to produce 10% of their total products from the emerging agricultural sector.
According to Statistics SA, about 3 million households experience inadequate to severely inadequate access to food, and over 72% of these are in rural areas. South Africa faces the following challenges in attaining national food security.
The country is able to produce or procure sufficient food, but food access by all remains elusive. There are limited opportunities and platforms for the poor and marginalised to participate in economic activities to provide the income to purchase food. The availability of adequate, timely and relevant information for analysis, monitoring and evaluation of, and reporting on the impact of food security programmes on rural communities is a work in progress.
In conclusion, the ANC government is working tirelessly to intensify subsistence farming so as to ensure that more productive land is in the hands of the rural poor. Less than a quarter of South African households are involved in subsistence farming and the majority produce only for household consumption. The rest of the population depends on income from employment to purchase food, making employment a pivotal determinant of food security.
As we speak, the ANC government is busy providing the rural poor with technical skills and financial resources to productively use the land and create sustainable livelihoods. The ANC government is ensuring a much stronger linkage between land, the agrarian sector and water resource allocation, so as to ensure that the best quality water resources reach all people, especially the poor.
In keeping with the vision of the Freedom Charter, the ANC will continue to work towards a comprehensive food security system and enhance our delivery by promoting subsistence farming as part of our efforts to build a caring and cohesive society. I thank you.
Mrs C DUDLEY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 366B
Mrs N M TWALA
Mrs C DUDLEY: For small-scale farmers to provide food and income for their families, they need help to get started in farming more effectively – to access high-quality seeds and livestock, to learn new ways of farming, and to learn how to work together as an effective farming group.
Thousands of South Africans suffer from hunger and poverty on a daily basis. When Julia Ngwana's two daughters were younger, she used to beg for work to earn money to supplement the tiny food parcel that was the family's only source of food. A few years later she was not only able to feed her family, but supported her daughter in going to university. She did this through goat farming, assisted by a nongovernmental organisation, NGO, that helps rural families to become independent small-scale farmers, by providing training, seeds, trees, livestock and three years of support. More should be done by government to support NGOs like this one which clearly has the ability to deliver results.
Creating a genuinely enabling environment in South Africa for agricultural markets to thrive requires government to invest. Roads need to be built in inaccessible rural areas, irrigation schemes must be set up, and a wide range of highly functional, scientific support institutions have to be maintained. Thank you.
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 Take: 367
Mrs C DUDLEY
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Hon House Chairperson, hon members of the House, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and members of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, for the past two days more than 2 000 representatives of smallholder farmers from all provinces have been meeting in Midrand as the African Farmers Association of South Africa, Afasa, to discuss their work as smallholder farmers. They spoke for themselves, about themselves and about where they wanted to go.
The opposition attended the Agri SA Conference, but funnily enough failed to attend the Afasa Conference! Four agricultural unions, including Agri SA and the Transvaal Agricultural Union, Tau, have distanced themselves from the DA, especially from the disparaging remarks of hon member Steyn. What I would like to ask the hon member Steyn is whether the DA still has members left in agriculture, since all the unions, Agri SA and the Transvaal Agricultural Union, Tau, no longer support her or support the DA. Funnily enough, Agri SA has already attended three policy conferences of the ANC and it will certainly be at Mangaung, hon ANC members. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M B Skosana): Order! Order, please!
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Dogs never bark at a stationery vehicle or car. When the car moves, the dogs will start barking. The faster the car moves, the louder the dogs bark. Hon members, you have heard the loud barking and howling noises this afternoon. The only problem is that the car has long left them behind!
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees all citizens of our country the right to sufficient food and water. Since the adoption of the Constitution, our country has implemented a number of programmes aimed at achieving food security for all. For various reasons, however, we still cannot claim to have achieved our goal, as a large number of households have an inadequate food supply.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may ask yourselves why a debate on food production is necessary. That is because you cannot address food security without taking aim at food production, particularly in a country like ours, where the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment confronts us every day.
While food prices have increased generally, it remains an anomaly that the basket of basic foodstuffs in rural areas is more expensive than in urban areas. This is despite the fact that the burden of joblessness, inequality and poverty is even more pronounced in rural areas.
South Africa as a country is food secure. In fact, we are a net exporter of primary agricultural foods! This situation is good, but it must also be protected and we cannot be complacent. Even though South Africa has food security as a country, we do not have household food security. Those who do not have household food security are predominantly African – black African women, and rural women in particular.
Climate change and the loss of agricultural land to other priorities always make us vulnerable to sudden changes in food prices. We are also vulnerable to international fluctuations, as the drought in the United States has shown us. We are okay for now, but we must be vigilant about our national food security, especially during this time of high food prices, food price volatility and inflation.
Our country is a net importer only of processed goods. Please, we are not overall a net importer of food. We export primary agricultural goods and we import processed goods.
Our real problem is what we call making every individual and every household food secure. Up to 10 million South Africans are vulnerable to food insecurity. This is where many of our systems have gone wrong. We are overdependent on markets and retailers for our food needs and when these fail us, we see food insecurity. When food is dumped by retailers or farmers, we depend on organisations like FoodBank to assist us to distribute waste food and food donations to the poorest of the poor.
About the stuck record of the R800 million project, there is no business plan because there is no R800 million allocation! The stuck record of the hon member Steyn will never stop because she has nothing else to say. It is really unbecoming and very sad that this hon member underestimates her own intelligence.
With regard to attendance at meetings, there is no way that a national Minister can attend each and every portfolio committee meeting every week. A Minister is not a member of the portfolio committee. So, there is an unbelievable perception that a Minister, or I in this case, must be at a portfolio committee meeting every week. That is totally absurd. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M B Skosana): Order! Order! Order!
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Today the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, is having a binational meeting with the South African government, and it is expected of me to leave an international meeting, which is of critical importance for us as a country, in order to attend a portfolio committee meeting at the behest of the DA!
The DA and the media will never run the agenda of transformation in agriculture. [Applause.] Agriculture will not be determined by the media and the DA.
Food production schemes, from the smallest backyard lot to school and community gardens, as the smallholder farmers themselves have said over the past two days, as well as co-operative schemes, have been our major response to the challenges of household food security. I am happy that we have seen remarkable differences, with ample evidence of the effectiveness of such schemes. Of course, more needs to be done and everything is not perfect. However, they are effective in regard to growing food, which is our first priority. Poverty and inequality are addressed through better nutrition and use of income. The country gains as a result.
In fact, we would not really need a debate on the effectiveness of such schemes if the DA, or the opposition, had nurtured and developed black farmers in the past. These schemes have shown themselves to be successful in the developing world.
I would like to thank the hon chairperson of the portfolio committee for highlighting this matter and calling for this debate. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 16:11.
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