Hansard: NCOP: Orations of Condolence (The Late Mr Vuyo Mbuli)
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 21 May 2013
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 151
TUESDAY, 21 MAY 2013
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
________________
The Council met at 14:06.
The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Hon members, I have been informed that the Whippery have agreed that there will be no notices of motion or motions without notice today. I now afford parties the opportunity for orations of condolence on the passing on of Mr Vuyo Mbuli.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 151
START OF DAY
ORATIONS OF CONDOLENCE
(The Late Mr Vuyo Mbuli)
The MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Peters, Deputy Minister, and hon members of the House, on Sunday morning I joined millions of South Africans who reacted with shock and disbelief at the passing on of renowned SABC presenter and journalist, Vuyo Mbuli.
The date 18 May 2013 will be forever etched on the consciousness of South Africa. It is a day to which generations of South Africans will forever refer and say what they were doing when they heard the news that Vuyo Mbuli, a true son of the soil, was no more. Such events that mark the passage of time include the day Comrade Chris Hani and Comrade Oliver Tambo passed on.
True to the old isiXhosa adage, ...
IsiXhosa:
... isitya esihle asidleli [Insert translation of isiXhosa.], ...
English:
... Vuyo was whisked away by death suddenly, as if a thief had taken him. He was still young and we were looking forward to so much from him.
He was a giant in the media, and an ambassador extraordinaire for our public broadcaster. Vuyo inspired all of us with his wit, charm and never-failing professionalism. He appealed to people of all ages and across the spectrum. He truly had the Midas touch, a gift he selflessly shared with the entire country. He lit up our TV screens and gave us many radiant mornings. The SABC reaches 94% of the population now. There are few people in South Africa who didn't know Vuyo. We invited him into our home every weekday morning. His positivity, professionalism and passion inspired all of us.
But he was more than a television presenter. His smile lit up our living rooms. He was our wake-up call with a difference. He was a big brother chiding us to get out of bed. His laughter and wit were our morning cup of coffee. He was a father admonishing us for being late for work. He was the ultimate sports fan, sharing with us the previous day's triumphs and tribulations on the sport fields of our nation and beyond. He told us when to carry an umbrella because it was sure to be a rainy day in our city or town.
He was a friend to all, and whether you were in Kaedwa in Bushbuckridge or Ruiterbos in Mossel Bay, he spoke your language. He greeted us each morning with cries of "Avuxeni!" [Good morning!], "Goeiemôre!" [Good morning!], "Sawubona!"[Good morning!] and, "Good morning!" Whether you were from the shopping malls of Sandton or the rolling hills outside Nelspruit, he spoke your language. Indeed, he did speak siSwati. There are few South Africans whose lives he did not touch.
His untimely passing is a reminder that we have many wonderful gems in our state institutions whose presence we take for granted. Let us remember him and the many others who make our country the truly great nation it is. His work serves to inspire a generation of presenters.
This former teacher started his career in television as a continuity presenter in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history. His warm and amiable manner, coupled with his dedication to his craft, was a recipe for success.
I was always intrigued and appreciative when as MC he came to Mpumalanga and he would have a thorough grasp of the issues being discussed. Broadcasting was not just a job to him; it was a passion. This dedication and commitment to work was on display every morning during his radio show on SAfm. He was able to engage the public on a variety of issues with both toughness and humour.
His work ethic serves as a reminder to all South Africans of what we are capable of achieving if we set our minds to it. From the dusty streets of Soweto he was able to engage with both presidents and the masses in equal measure.
Just a week ago he celebrated his 46th birthday on air. The congratulatory messages he received were a poignant reminder of how he touched the lives of all South Africans.
We have lost, not just a television presenter, but a brother, a son, a father, a mentor and a friend. The last message which he posted on Twitter said: "It's not what you say; it's what you do!"
As South Africans, let us honour his memory by being the best at what we do in making this country a truly great and prosperous nation.
Hamba kahle, Mbuli! [Go well, Mbuli!] Sharp, sharp!
Mr D V BLOEM
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 152
The MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
Mr D V BLOEM: Chairperson, I stand here speechless, like millions of South Africans. I stand here to pay tribute to a true son of the soil.
Afrikaans:
Goeie genade, waar sal ek begin?
English:
That was Vuyo. Since I got the news on Sunday of the passing on of this giant – Mr Vuyo Mbuli, Mr Nice, Mr Sharp-Sharp – I have been asking myself if it is really true. Is it true that Bra V is no more? Since the news of Vuyo's death broke, the whole country has been in mourning. Young and old have been expressing their sorrow at this huge loss.
Let us ask ourselves: What is it that made Vuyo so popular and loved by millions of people from all walks of life. I have found only one answer. Since Sunday I have been listening to the radio shows and reading all the newspapers, and black and white South Africans have been talking about these things: humility, respect and love for the truth. He was completely fearless in standing up for the truth.
Vuyo never looked down on anybody, no matter whether you were a millionaire or a street-sweeper. He respected everybody. What we who have been left behind must do is to emulate and take forward the gift that Vuyo has left for us, the gift of humility, respect and love for the truth.
On behalf of Cope I wish to express our condolences to the wife, children, family and friends of Vuyo. Sharp, sharp, Mbuli! Bra V, rest in peace! Robala ka kgotso [Rest in peace] till we meet again. Sharp, sharp! Heita, Bra V! Heita-da! [Hello, Bra V! Hello there!] [Interjections.]
Mr H B GROENEWALD
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 152
Mr D V BLOEM
Mr H B GROENEWALD: Chairperson, on behalf of the DA I express our condolences to the family and friends of Vuyo Mbuli.
He was with Morning Live on SABC 2 from its inception. During this time we knew him as always friendly and energetic.
We will remember when he was trying to learn to speak Afrikaans as one of his many languages. After trying difficult words in Afrikaans, he would always say about himself:
Afrikaans:
"Dit was wragtig pragtig!" [Gelag.]
English:
He also always liked saying:
Afrikaans:
"Dis vandag Donderdag." [Gelag.]
English:
He set an example for health because of his fitness and his participation in the comrades.
Every morning he appeared on television well prepared and also full of new ideas that he wanted to be implemented in the near future. Leanne Manas also said, "You can be assured that Vuyo will fulfil the promises he made." We will remember him as an excellent interviewer with a warm personality which kept his guests comfortable and relaxed.
We will also remember his contribution to discovering the new South Africa, with his good relationship with all the culture groups in our country. We as South Africans honour you, Vuyo. I thank you.
Prince M M M ZULU
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 152
Mr H B GROENEWALD
IsiZulu:
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo, oNgqongqoshe abakhona, amalungu ahloniphekile, namhlanje izwe lakithi lisebumnyameni ngoba silahlekelwe olunye loqweqwe lwentatheli yamabonakude nomsakazo wethu eNingizimu Afrika. Egameni leNkatha yeNkululeko sithi lokhu kudinga isibindi kuwo wonke umuntu ngalo mshophi ovelile nobuhlungu obuzwiwa kakhulu ngumndeni wakhe nalabo aye asebenza nabo.
Lobu wubuhlungu obuyaye buzwele kakhulu emndenini nasezihlotsheni. Siyaye sikholelwe ukuthi uma ugula kuye kube ngcono ngoba kuye kwenziwe izaba, futhi sisuke sikubona siphinde sihlalele ethembeni lokuthi kungaba ngcubangcono. Izinsuku zomuntu zaziwa nguMdali wakhe. Thina silapha asazi ukuthi siyohamba nini, ngasikhathi sini futhi uma kwenzenjani.
Ngifisa ukuthinta izintatheli zaseNingizimu Afrika futhi ngiziphonsele insalele yokuthi uVuyo bekungumuntu owayebuza umbuzo ngendlela ecacile nengachemi namuntu, kodwa ekubuza ngalokho okusemqondweni wakhe. Mhlawumbe lokhu wakuthola esikoleni noma kubazali bakhe, ukuthi uma uphethe abantu noma ubabuza okuthile kumele ume phakathi nendawo ungathathi hlangothi.
Egameni labantu bonke bakaBabamkhulu KwaZulu-Natali sizwakalisa ukukhathazeka okukhulu kanye nokudumala ngenxa yokudlula komfo wakwaMbuli. Emndenini wakhe ngithi akwehlanga lungehli. Sonke siyahamba noma singazi ukuthi nini, ngasikhathi sini futhi kanjani. Ngiyabonga.
Mr J J GUNDA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 153
Prince M M M ZULU
Mr J J GUNDA: Hon Chair, hon Ministers and colleagues, indeed it is a sad day for South Africa. After receiving the news on Sunday morning that Mr Vuyo Mbuli was no longer with us, I was reminded of the Scripture, Psalm 37:16 and 18, KJV:
A little that a righteous man (has) is better than the riches of many wicked. ...
The Lord (knows) the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.
Indeed, Mr Mbuli was a true son of the soil. He was someone who understood the purpose of life, and he was someone who knew that whatever value he gave himself, a person walking down the street had the very same value, whether he was educated or not. That made Vuyo an incredible person. There was the way he talked and laughed – his sense of humour. Everything that people have said regarding who Mr Mbuli was is true, and that is how he will always remain in my memory and how I see him.
Let me say this, Mr Mbuli also understood the purpose of life. I want to quote the Scripture, Proverbs 22:1, KJV. It goes as follows:
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Vuyo also lived the three Ms in life today. The first M stands for "modelling". Abraham Lincoln said, and I quote:
There is but one way to train up a child in the way he should go, and that is to travel it yourself.
That was Vuyo Mbuli to his family. He travelled the road himself and that is why, when he passed on, his son was with him. He was a family man. Abraham Lincoln also said that a good example was worth a thousand sermons.
The next M is "management". Good management is the ability to discern the uniqueness of a child and teach him or her accordingly. Vuyo understood that principle also.
The last M stands for "memories". Parents should create memories. Why? Memories are more important than material things. I always say that your children will not remember you for the gifts that you have given them; they will remember you for the way you cared about them and loved them, and the quality time you spent with them. Mr Mbuli did that. Thank you.
Ms M P THEMBA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 153
Mr J J GUNDA
Ms M P THEMBA: Chairperson, hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister Pule, hon Minister Peters, hon Deputy Minister Thomson, special delegates, and ladies and gentlemen, let me start by quoting Psalm 46:1, NIV:
God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
I rise with utmost humility, and a great sense of grief and sorrow, to pay homage to a fallen son of our nation. The untimely passing of Mr Vuyo Mbuli is not only a loss to the Mbuli family, but also a grief shared by all of us – all of the people of South Africa and the world at large. We have lost a humble and diligent son of our nation, whose positive and patriotic spirit was a great inspiration to us. Vuyo Mbuli resembled every word of Edward Abbey's description of a true patriot. Abbey said:
A patriot is a person whose sole purpose is to inspire, is always ready to defend his country ...
Mr Mbuli made his television debut in 1993. He spent the greater part of his career at the SABC, and most noticeably as a presenter on Morning Live and SAfm. As an accomplished broadcaster, Mr Mbuli brightened many mornings through television, as well as the radio.
For decades Vuyo has been a constant presence in South African homes, tackling various issues of national importance with charm, respect, and an all-embracing and inclusive manner. It was his ability to converse with and entertain all types of people that made him a sought-after public speaker and master of ceremonies, jobs he carried out with flair.
He was truly an outspoken linguist, who took pride in celebrating the diversity of South Africa and its people. He brightened many a day with his colourful commentary and joyful eloquence, such as his famous Xitsonga saying: ...
Xitsonga:
... Mintirho ya vulavula. [Actions speak louder than words.]
English:
Vuyo Mbuli was a permanent feature in and ardent promoter of the South African dialogue, tirelessly working to ensure that South Africans talked and ultimately understood one another on various issues that formed part of our national discourse.
As the ANC, our hearts are shattered with sorrow, because the death of Mr Mbuli comes at a time when our nation is preparing for the 2014 national and provincial elections. We will deeply miss the outstanding skills that he used to present commentary on the elections over the last couple of years.
Hon Chair, allow me to express our profound condolences to the Mbuli family and the staff of the SABC, especially Ms Leanne Manas, who had the sole privilege of serving our people with such a renowned radio and television presenter for the last time. We want to say to the Mbuli family that we share their grief, because we too have lost a great son and an icon. We have lost a living embodiment of the spirit of ubuntu and humility. We have lost a great human being, who lived his life with the sole purpose and resolve to be an inspiration to the people.
Vuyo Mbuli was larger than life, with his great sense of humour. He made it his priority to learn as many languages as he possibly could and visited almost every part of our beautiful country.
When the nation lost hope for Bafana Bafana, he made it his quest to be the inspiration and ambassador for Bafana Bafana. In fact, to many of our people Vuyo Mbuli remained the face of our World Cup and the great nation that we have become since the demise of apartheid.
In his daily shows Vuyo would mention some of the most difficult place names in our country, which many people had never heard of. In many instances, he would take the opportunity presented by his work to visit these areas and encourage South Africans to visit them.
As I conclude, I want to say to the Mbuli family that we share their grief and they will be in our prayers during this difficult time. I want to leave them with Psalm 34:18, NLT, and I quote:
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Setswana:
Robala ka kagiso, Rre Mbuli, o boso wena. "Sharp, sharp". Ke a leboga.
Debate concluded.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! As that concludes the orations of condolence, let us stand and observe a moment of silence.
The Council observed a moment of silence in honour of the late Mr Vuyo Mbuli.
Ms M P THEMBA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 154
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON LABOUR AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES – OVERSIGHT VISIT TO SHELTERED EMPLOYMENT FACTORIES IN PIETERMARITZBURG AND JACOBS IN KWAZULU-NATAL, DATED 27 NOVEMBER 2012
Ms M P THEMBA: Thank you, Chairperson and hon members. The Select Committee dealing with Communications, Labour and Public Enterprises considered the report on the Oversight Visit to Sheltered Employment Factories in Pietermaritzburg and Jacobs in KwaZulu-Natal on 29 November 2012.
The visit to Sheltered Employment Factories was an outcome of the resolution taken by our committee during the committee strategy planning workshop early in 2012. The committee's view was that this programme of Sheltered Employment Factories which accommodate handicapped people needed close monitoring and oversight so as to ensure that it did not deviate from the stated objectives of addressing employment challenges facing people with disabilities.
The committee's oversight visit was mainly to assess the working conditions of the employees, the kind of work they do, and the sustainability of the factory, as well as the Department of Labour's responsibilities regarding the running of the factory.
The site on which the factory was situated was owned by the Department of Housing and all the administrative work of the factory was done in Pretoria. The factory's business mainly revolved around the production of furniture designs. The products ranged from school desks and office furniture to products for household use, such as cupboards and headboards. To market their products workers issued flyers directly to the public. There were about 49 employees overall in the Sheltered Employment Factories. Employees were paid between R3 360 and R4 000 per month, figures which employees were not happy with when considering the nature of their work and the transport they used daily.
The committee found that the Sheltered Employment Factory in Pietermaritzburg was still grappling with transformation challenges, as it was designed mainly to employ only the white section of the country's population. Most of the employees had a history of 30 to 40 years' working in the factory and usually worked until they retired or died. The majority of the employees resided within a short distance of the factory, and some did not use transport. The few who were living further away complained that transport costs were too high. It cost R30 per day to come to work, out of a R4 000 salary.
The Sheltered Employment Factory in Jacobs had a staff complement of 105, of whom 80% were mentally handicapped and 20% were physically challenged. However, all of the employees were able to walk and their disabilities did not affect the way they did their work.
The factory's business revolved around furniture designs, as well as textile products. Management informed the members of the committee that employees were encouraged to multitask, so that when there was no work in the woodwork section, they could move to the textile unit. All the furniture produced in the factory has been approved by the SA Bureau of Standards. At the time of Parliament's visit to the factory, it was busy with a school furniture project for schools in the Eastern Cape. The project was a three-year project, mainly involving school desks.
Based on its findings, the committee felt that Sheltered Employment Factories need a centralised transformation policy, so as to make these factories reflective of the new diverse and democratic culture of our society. Government, especially the relevant department, needs to look at procurement policies to accommodate facilities such as Sheltered Employment Factories, as they are battling to survive. The Sheltered Employment Factories also need to recruit young people with disabilities and train them so that they become skilled employees. The issue of funding seems to be a challenge, and government needs to address this matter so as to ensure the sustainability of Sheltered Employment Factories.
There is also a need to review the salaries of employees for subsidy purposes, as almost two thirds of their income goes to transport and rent. The committee felt that Sheltered Employment Factories need to be more aggressive in their strategy for marketing to the public, as they produce SABS-approved products.
The Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises therefore recommends the adoption of this report. Thank you.
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Mr M P JACOBS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 155
Ms M P THEMBA
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON LABOUR AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES – OVERSIGHT VISIT TO TRANSNET AND MEDUPI COAL-FIRED POWER STATION FROM 22 TO 24 AUGUST 2012
Mr M P JACOBS: Hon Chair, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and special and permanent delegates, I present this statement on behalf of the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises on an oversight visit to Transnet and the Medupi coal-fired power station. The visit to Transnet Freight Rail division in Johannesburg and the Medupi power station in Lephalale, Limpopo, formed part of the committee's oversight programme for 2012-13.
The focus was on Transnet's infrastructure programme, especially its aim to unlock growth in the freight rail sector. The committee's visit to Eskom's Medupi power station was based on the view that its construction needed constant monitoring to ensure, amongst other things, that the project met its deadlines, that there was no threat to security of supply, and that all the stakeholders that were involved in the project worked towards the same objective, of meeting the deadlines.
Transnet's Freight Rail is the largest division of Transnet. It is a world-class heavy haul freight rail company that specialises in the transportation of freight. The company has approximately 25 000 employees who are spread throughout South Africa.
There are several strategic infrastructure projects, among which is the plan to develop and integrate rail, road and water infrastructure centred in the Waterberg and Steelpoort areas of Limpopo. The main objective of this project is to unlock coal, platinum, palladium, chrome and other minerals, as well as the stepped-up beneficiation of minerals.
The committee found that Transnet also runs a two-year graduate programme, after which a trainee is employed in the company. The programme provides candidates with relevant workplace experience through a structured learning programme. This drive is aimed at addressing skills shortages, and also forms part of Transnet's Market Demand Strategy in regard to skills requirements. The Graduate-In-Training Programme is conducted over a 24-month period, during which they are assessed on a six-monthly basis.
The committee was also briefed on the activities of the Transnet Foundation: School of Excellence – the social responsibility of the company. The foundation was established in 1994. The aim was to harness the abundance of football talent amongst youth from across the country.
There are about 120 boys, from across South Africa, who live in residence at the school and attend curriculum-based tuition from Grade 8 to Grade 12. In addition, they receive coaching in football to groom their talents for a professional career in football. The school ensures that boys have the necessary grounding in football and that they are emotionally prepared for the demanding lifestyle of being football players in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Most importantly, it also ensures that learners are given insight into the fickle nature of their trade, and that they are able, even with the current stars in their eyes, to see productive lives for themselves beyond football. Transnet prides itself on adopting such a broad approach to the school.
The committee requested that more should be done to involve stakeholders in the provinces in the Transnet infrastructure programme. The committee gave the example of the Eastern Cape, where there seemed to be a lack of stakeholder involvement. The committee was also of the view that Eskom should not award contracts to companies who fail to adhere to labour legislation affecting the company. Then, the utility should improve the economic participation and empowerment of women and people with disabilities. Eskom should also convene a stakeholder forum with all the stakeholders' representatives in order to develop a joint strategy on how to respond to concerns raised by the community and workers.
Based on the diligent oversight visits undertaken by the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises, to both Transnet Freight Rail and Eskom's Medupi power station, the committee recommends the approval of the report. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
Ms L MABIJA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 156
Mr M P JACOBS
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON LABOUR AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES – UNANNOUNCED OVERSIGHT VISIT TO SHELTERED EMPLOYMENT FACTORY AT NDABENI IN WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE, DATED 27 NOVEMBER 2012
Tshivenda:
Mufumakadzi L MABIJA: Mutshimbidza mushumo, Vho Minisita vhashu vhothe, Mirado ya Khoro ya Lushaka ya Mavundu, vho ramilayo vhashu, na vhathu vhothe vhare ngei ntha kha galari ya nnyi na nnyi, ndi masiari. Namusi ndo vha farela tshitatamende tsha ...
English:
... Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises on an Unannounced Oversight Visit to the Sheltered Employment Factory at Ndabeni in the Western Cape Province, dated 27 November 2012. The committee visited the factory on 12 September 2012.
The Sheltered Employment Factories were established more than 65 years ago to provide employment opportunities for handicapped people who were unable to find employment in the open labour market due to the nature of their disabilities.
There are more than 2,5 million handicapped people in South Africa, and 10% to 15% of this number require an environment such as that provided by the Sheltered Employment Factories. The Sheltered Employment Factories have 12 factories across South Africa, operating in seven of the nine provinces. Only Mpumalanga and Limpopo are without these facilities. These factories are located in Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Potchefstroom and Pretoria.
The Ndabeni factory employs 180 people with disabilities, but the physical state was not as hygienic as it should be. The factory's employees were doing a good job, even though the factory was not in a good physical state. Its employees stressed that they were satisfied with the general conditions of their employment, with a few minor problems that they were experiencing. It manufactures furniture for Western Cape schools. It also produces clothing and bedding materials for government hospitals in the province. Employees' salaries ranged from R3 000 to R4 500 a month.
The manager indicated that it was a tragedy that although the factory had the capacity to employ more people, due to funding challenges they could not.
There was also no lift to the administration section, which was utilised by the manager of the factory. Therefore, individuals who were physically disabled could not access the manager's office. There had been multiple requests for a lift, and eventually the Department of Public Works had approved the request. The committee was not satisfied with the explanation, as the factory has not had a lift for many years, a situation that the committee considered to be disgraceful.
The committee recommends that government consider the funding of Sheltered Employment Factories, as it is clear that funds are a serious challenge. The committee is of the view that some buildings are dilapidated and pose a health hazard to employees, and that they need immediate attention. Repairs and the provision of lifts to assist disabled employees should be given priority.
Young people with disabilities need to be recruited so that they can benefit from the training and become skilled employees.
Based on the findings and recommendations of the committee after its oversight visit to the Sheltered Employment Factory in the Western Cape, the committee recommends the adoption of the report. Ndo livhuwa. [Thank you.]
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
The MINISTER OF ENERGY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 157
Ms L MABIJA
APPROPRIATION BILL
(Policy debate)
Vote No 29 - Energy:
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: Chairperson and hon members, please allow me also to convey my condolences to the Mbuli family, their friends, the SABC, and South Africa at large, on the loss of our beloved son, Vuyo Mbuli - a true patriot and ambassador for South Africa. It is true that "mintirho ya vulavula" [actions speak louder than words]. Truly, his works speak for him, even though his voice has been silenced. Rest in peace, Vuyo Mbuli. To the family I want say that Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God ..." Whatever has happened, it is always – as we believe in Africa – God's will.
I go back to my speech, Chairperson. In addressing the Solidarity Conference in 1993, the former president of the ANC, Isithwalandwe, Comrade Oliver Tambo, had this to say, and I quote:
The challenge confronting all of us is to turn South Africa round - to make of her the opposite of what she has been.
He further said:
... our task will not end with the election of a democratic government, ...
He continued:
We believe that we must stand together in creating the new South Africa.
Following the wisdom of the former President of the ANC, Mr O R Tambo, we have a collective responsibility to change South Africa by building an economy that can respond to the challenges facing our communities, creating jobs for the jobless, and providing affordable energy to our citizens.
We believe that the task of changing the lives of all South Africans is attainable. Allow me to highlight the progress we have made in 2012-13 and share with this House some aspects of our programme for 2013-14.
We have rolled out the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, IPP, resulting in 47 bid companies' being contracted to produce 2 450 MW of mini hydro, wind, photovoltaics and concentrated solar power energy.
Hon members, former President Nelson Mandela said, I quote:
Too many people in our country are still suffering the deprivations and hardships of poverty. One of the root causes of that poverty is the absence of jobs; nothing can be more of an assault on a person's dignity than the inability to find work and gainful employment.
It is therefore encouraging that through the determination of this ANC government it is envisaged that 13 069 jobs during construction and 10 814 during operations will be created through the Renewable Energy IPP Programme. The provinces of the Free State, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and North West are the biggest beneficiaries of the Renewable Energy IPP Programme.
Over 5,6 million households were connected to the grid between 1994 and 2012-13. This figure represents over 84% of households that have been electrified. The Integrated National Electrification Programme, Inep, contributed a total of 5 225 jobs.
We have installed over 350 000 solar water heaters, mainly in poor and economically depressed households, contributing a further 8 039 jobs. The House must note our resolve to use this programme as one of the instruments to address the challenge of youth unemployment. The Solar Water Heating Programme will have a quota of 60% youth participation.
Through improved turnaround time we approved 52 petroleum retail licences for new entrants, resulting in 1 040 permanent jobs.
The Independent System and Market Operator Bill, the ISMO Bill, was approved by the Portfolio Committee on Energy and has been reclassified as section 76 legislation. This will create the framework for the restructuring of the electricity supply industry and also create the necessary space for the participation of the private sector in power generation.
Last year, I reported that we had audited about 15 000 households that were left as islands in KwaZulu-Natal. To date 10 200 of these have been electrified.
In March 2012 we hosted the National Electrification Indaba, where shortcomings in the current electrification programme were identified. As a result, we introduced the Household Electrification Strategy. The key focus areas of this strategy include the Electrification Master Plan, based on the least-cost approach, which combines grid and high quality nongrid solutions, to support the high backlog low delivery municipalities.
One of the Cop 17 legacy projects was the development of energy resources from the mighty Congo River, popularly known as Grand Inga, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC. I'm pleased to announce that we have finalised the treaty that will guide the development of this project, and this has paved the way for bringing clean energy to South Africa and contributing towards the diversification of our energy mix.
We have concluded the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, process and the following pieces of legislation will be tabled this year, namely, the Electricity Regulation Second Amendment Bill and the National Energy Regulator Amendment Bill. We are consulting with stakeholders on the Gas Amendment Bill.
When we were made aware of the allegations of improper conduct at PetroSA, we acted through the Central Energy Fund board to institute an investigation. Having received the report, we are in the process of taking the investigation forward whilst implementing some of the recommendations that were made.
Areas of concern relate to both governance and procurement matters. We are dealing with the lapses in governance and we expect that the law will take its course on the alleged procurement breaches and violations. A credible and reputable national oil company is a non-negotiable. I will not compromise on this particular issue.
Corrupt practices at local government level remain a serious concern, as they reverse the strides we make in electrification. We cannot be silent when municipal officials collude with business people to defraud and corrupt our municipalities and, in so doing, deny our people access to services. Allow me to point out a recent case of the arrest of an official at Mbizana Local Municipality. The official allegedly facilitated the unlawful awarding of a tender for the installation of electricity in surrounding villages. Within the Inep Business Unit of the Department of Energy three officials were implicated in corruption and procurement irregularities. They were charged, found guilty, and dismissed. While the arrest at Mbizana and the action taken against the implicated officials should be hailed, energies should also be directed at ensuring the arrest of the implicated contractors. It should also not end there. Contractors who are found guilty of such corrupt practices should be blacklisted and barred from doing business with government.
Hon members, R6,7 billion was appropriated to the Department of Energy for the 2012-13 financial year and 98,9% was spent. This year the department has been allocated a budget of R6,5 billion, which is 2% less than last year's allocation. Sir, 93% of the department's budget is earmarked for transfers to municipalities and state-owned entities, leaving the department with only 7% to be utilised for operational and capital expenses.
Our focus for this year will be on finalising the ANC's 5-year commitments. The Integrated National Electrification Programme receives an allocation of R3,8 billion, with Eskom and municipalities receiving R2,1 billion and R1,6 billion respectively.
The electrification programme is guided by a number of principles, including the fact that the municipality must have a high backlog of houses that are not electrified, be rural,and at least have a high number of households in informal settlements. The identified projects must be able to integrate with other plans. For example, they must be in the municipality's integrated development plan. New settlements should also be prioritised, and these municipalities must be in one of the Strategic Infrastructure Project, Sip, 6 priority districts.
Based on these considerations, the department has allocated the Inep funds as follows: the Eastern Cape is receiving R1,123 billion; Free State, R198 million; Gauteng, R270 million; KwaZulu-Natal, R793 million; Limpopo, R480 million; Mpumalanga, R283 million, Northern Cape, R94 million; North West, R413 million; and Western Cape, R212 million.
The above allocations must be looked at in context. KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape continue to have the highest backlogs, at 24% and 20% respectively. These two provinces have the highest challenges with regard to bulk infrastructure, which is why KwaZulu-Natal was allocated more than R750 million in the previous financial year. Gauteng province has a 21% backlog that can be attributed to informal settlements. As members are aware, some of these settlements are located in areas that have been identified as not fit for human habitation, which presents an additional challenge.
We need to further highlight the fact that we have seen progress in the reduction of the electrification backlogs, with Limpopo reducing its backlog quite significantly to 10,5%, Mpumalanga province to 6,5%, Free State to 6% and North West to 5,5%. Western Cape has a backlog of about 5%, and in the Northern Cape there is almost universal access at 1,5%.
Chairperson, while these statistics may paint a rosy picture, let us not forget that when you do not have electricity, these statistics mean nothing. When you do not have electricity, for you as an individual the backlog is 100%. As a department, it is the plight of these people that gives us sleepless nights.
With regard to the challenging area of electricity distribution infrastructure, the Approach to Distribution Asset Management, Adam, project has been launched, following its approval by Cabinet in November 2012. An amount of R320 million has been allocated for the year 2013-14 to pilot Adam projects. The roll-out of these pilot projects will be managed in such a way that it assists the respective local government entities in the planning and implementation of the projects.
The following municipalities and metros have been identified for the Adam projects, namely, King Sabata Dalindyebo and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape; Ngwathe, Moqhaka, Nala and Mangaung in the Free State; Msunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal; Sol Plaatje in the Northern Cape; and Tlokwe in the North West.
We have observed the practice of some municipalities of levying mysterious additional surcharges, a case in point being the Nama Khoi Local Municipality in the Namakwa District, where households are charged R106 for street light infrastructure, which could be covered through other instruments, such as the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. We will not allow these practices to further burden our communities, and we will definitely not allow a situation where electricity is used as a discretionary cash flow injection to support the folly of some of the municipalities.
Various determinations to implement the technology programmes under the Integrated Resource Plan, IRP, have been made and these include, amongst others, 2 600 MW gas to power, 2 200 MW coal, and 800 MW cogeneration.
We intend to conclude negotiations with the sugar and timber industries in regard to harnessing about 800 MW of power by capturing the value that is currently lost due to dumping biomass from these industries as waste. Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with their sugar cane and timber plantations, have been identified as the hub for this initiative.
In the context of Sip 17 of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, PICC, we also need to investigate how regional economic integration can be fostered in this area through co-operation with Mozambique and Swaziland.
As we enter the winter period, we have to be more vigilant about the risk posed by increasing electricity demand, to the extent that it might be beyond our supply capability. The options available to us in this regard are non-Eskom generation, fuel switching to liquid petroleum gas, LPG, and other appropriate customer behavioural changes. We have initiated a campaign urging communities to ensure that their cylinders are filled up. The LPG suppliers have assured the department that they will produce adequate LPG and import the shortfall where needed.
We have kept the lights on for the past seven years without any major disruptions, and we remain committed to keeping the lights on. We need, however, to remember to switch off geysers, lights, heaters and all other electrical appliances not in use, particularly during the evening peak from 17:00 to 21:00.
We have affirmed our collaboration with the business sector, particularly chief executive officers, on the Energy Efficiency Leadership Network. This is through the National Business Initiative and Business Unity SA. We have embarked on a robust engagement on this leadership network with mayors, councillors and municipal managers to make sure that we address the bottlenecks regarding service delivery with these programmes.
As part of ensuring access to different sources of energy, we have in the past four years constructed three Integrated Energy Centres, IECs, in Qunu, Mbizana and Ulundi. In this financial year we intend completing three more IECs.
This financial year we intend putting energy safety centre stage. In this regard, we intend to enter into collaboration agreements with the Household Energy Safety Association, local government, the Department of Social Development, and the safety associations. The Central Energy Fund, Cef, will also play a leading role in this regard.
In conclusion, as a department we have managed to maintain exceptional financial standing and achieved unqualified audits since our establishment. Plans to improve and to achieve a clean audit are well under way.
Let me take this opportunity to thank my family for their support and understanding, the Deputy Minister Ms Barbara Thomson, Director-General Ms Nelisiwe Magubane, the senior management and entire Team Energy, the chairpersons and members of the NCOP select committees, our state-owned entities, and all other stakeholders, who continue to take an active interest in the work that we do as the Department of Energy.
I commend to the NCOP the 2013-14 budget of the Department of Energy. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 158
The MINISTER OF ENERGY
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister Barbara Thomson, and members, this department is responsible for energy security in South Africa. Its guidelines are the National Development Plan, the Integrated Resource Plan 2010, IRP2010, and the Legal Framework for Renewable Energy in South Africa.
The current situation is critical. This department must urgently rethink, revise and restrategise the IRP2010. It is a rigid, outdated plan for the department, without an understanding of the latest technology and costs of energy production.
What South Africa does not need is a nuclear programme based on outdated assumptions, which include several miscalculations in regard to estimated demand growth predictions, which are at least 25% less than anticipated in 2010. The department's case is based on the reduction of CO2 emissions to meet the Cop 15 targets of 2009, of 34% in 2020 and 42% in 2025. The earliest nuclear plant cannot come online in South Africa, with current due process, before 2028. This is already well past our deadlines for Cop 15. Therefore, the argument becomes irrelevant. Moreover, the overnight cost of nuclear plant production has also doubled from around $3 500 per kWh to $7 000.
In February the Director-General of the department, Ms Magubane, revealed that South Africa is likely to reach a point of no return with regard to the proposed nuclear energy build programme by June this year. What is the tipping point? What is the reason behind that? Is the reason the international agreements for nuclear production? Or have we spent all our money, or a lot of that money, already, on buying property around Thyspunt?
Hon Chairperson, it is of great concern that the Minister is going to present the nuclear plan for Cabinet approval in "digestible components". This is what was done with the three different environmental impact assessments, EIAs, for the nuclear build. This is where the devil in the detail is going to be lost. The Minister must put the big picture on the table.
This programme will lock the country into a very expensive nuclear programme, and it is not nearly required until 2040, if one listens to the advice given by the National Planning Commission. Minister, we understand from your statement that consultants will be appointed to calculate the costs for the six power stations of your 9 600 MW nuclear build programme, which you estimate could cost between R600 million and R1 trillion. This is without the backing of the National Treasury. It is a matter of concern, as we are wondering who will come up with a credible document. Will it be an independent commission, such as the National Planning Commission, or various groups in the nuclear technology trade, which will benefit the trade rather than electricity consumers in South Africa?
What South Africa needs at the moment is an urgently revised energy plan and an updated IRP; cost-effective electricity for economic growth and affordable domestic consumption; breaking Eskom's stranglehold on electricity production by implementing a smart grid, where each South African can contribute to the security; completing the Medupi and Kusile power stations, so that they deliver what is supposed to be delivered; ensuring that intensive energy consumers are incentivised – but, please, we beg that the BHP Billiton scenario is never repeated; and increasing the renewable energy capacity programme for South Africa. We are highly delighted to hear the figures that the Minister has been quoting here of over 13 000 and 10 000. It happened in such a way that the renewable projects are spreading job opportunities all over South Africa and not just at one concentrated point.
It was a surprise to hear this morning that Eskom is going to build the largest wind farm in the Western Cape, at a cost of R2,4 billion. We ask the Minister please to give us advice. She said that it was going to be available before Kusile and this is very exciting. Is it going to be a public-private partnership, or how is it going to work?
Minister, we can continue with the list. The consumers in South Africa are at your mercy – keep abreast of good advice, such as that coming from the National Planning Commission, and do not be beguiled by the charm of the nuclear industry and the greed, thereby selling South Africa out with debts that we cannot afford and the loss of job opportunities. I thank you. [Applause].
Mr F ADAMS
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 159
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Order! The hon member Adams should continue.
Mr F ADAMS: Chair, the clock is not working. All right.
Hon Chairperson, I greet the hon Minister, Dipuo Peters, and the Deputy Minister, Barbara Thomson. I would specifically like to welcome the Deputy Minister back to her House again, as a child of this House. I also greet the Director-General, Madam Nelisiwe Magubane, the senior staff and all the other staff of the Department of Energy, the ladies and gentlemen, hon colleagues, and special delegates of the provinces.
I wonder if politicians, specifically from the opposition, understand. Perhaps they do understand, but they do not want to admit, that the ANC is being led by its policies. [Interjections.] That is why the ANC has, Chairperson, ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon member, behave, or out!
Mr F ADAMS: Chairperson, I would like to ...
HON MEMBERS: Out!
Mr F ADAMS: Chairperson, I would like to seek your permission for us to deal with this. The hon member made a statement that the ANC was corrupt. That, I believe, is unparliamentary. The ANC has not stolen from him. [Interjections.] You said the ANC is corrupt. That is what you said.
Chairperson, the ANC is led by its policies, and every five years there is a policy conference where the ANC give guidelines to the government, our Ministers, our Deputy Ministers, and us here at Parliament. That is why we are well behaved, and that is why we know what we are talking about. We do not thumbsuck. We do not piggyback on national or other departments like the DA does here in the Western Cape. We do not steal ideas. We do not do things that we are not supposed to do.
Chairperson, I want to quote the following from the resolution on energy at the ANC's 2002 national conference. The ANC noted that in 2002:
Many households still lack electricity, while some of those who are linked up to the grid have been cut off for failure to meet payments.
The resolution continued that, again in 2002:
South Africa still produces some of the world's cheapest energy, which is a pillar of our economy, but expensive new investments will be necessary in around 10 years.
Can the hon Van Lingen please listen?
The ANC believes that affordable energy for households is critical for development, since it supports micro enterprises and improved conditions. I say, "improved conditions", where the hon Faber, the hon Groenewald, and all those members of the DA and Cope can also live under shelter and peacefully in a democratic South Africa under the improved conditions set up by this ANC-led government. [Interjections.] Not your own government, but this ANC-led government, since it supports micro enterprises and improves conditions for women and children. There is also an increased domestic demand for appliances.
Mr W F FABER: Hon Chair, I would like to know if the hon member will take a question.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Is it a point of order?
Mr W F FABER: Chair, I am just asking if the hon member will perhaps take a question, and if not now, then later? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Please take your seat. [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Continue.
Mr F ADAMS: Thank you, Chair. [Interjections.] Thank you, Chair. That is just a waste of time. Thank you for your decisive and firm ruling of this House. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Can you hold on a bit? Can you hold on? Hon De Villiers?
Mr M J R DE VILLIERS: Chairperson, the question by the hon Faber was a point of order. The point of order was addressed to the speaker in regard to whether he was prepared to take a question.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): With due respect to you, hon De Villiers, I asked the hon Faber whether it was a point of order, and he kept quiet. After that, he then repeated himself, asking whether the hon member was prepared to take a question.
Mr M J R DE VILLIERS: But my understanding, hon Chairperson, ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Please, please, please! [Interjections.] Order! Hon De Villiers, please ... [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: Just leave it.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Please.
An HON MEMBER: Just leave it.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): I am leaving it. [Interjections.]
Mr F ADAMS: You see, Chair, that is why I said the ANC are being governed by our policies. We have got respect.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Continue with your speech.
Mr F ADAMS: We have got respect and I do not take it lightly that our mother is being disrespected like that! [Interjections.]
We also believed in 2002 that, and I quote:
An integrated infrastructure programme should:
a. Maximise economic development benefits and improve prospects for long-term economic growth by focusing on key input sectors such as energy.
Therefore, the ANC then resolved to endorse:
... the principle that infrastructure development is a primary driver of economic growth and social development.
2. The focused (outcome) of infrastructure development must be ... job creation ...
This is being driven under the two Ministers and the director-general, who are all women. These three ladies are doing an excellent job in creating energy, ensuring that it is sustainable, and carrying out the letter and spirit of what the ANC has proposed – to put South Africa on the map.
As we emerged from the apartheid past, it was Eskom's responsibility to determine the energy needs of the country. The ANC-led government embraced a governance style that was premised on visible and open-policy debates, accountability and transparency. It inherited an electricity system that was not geared to service the South African populace in totality. The electricity industry throughout the value chain needed overhauling. Taking into account that Eskom was the sole generator of electricity, severe fragmentation existed in the distribution sector. Critical investment decisions needed to be made regarding new power stations, and there was a general lack of generation planning by government. It is within this context that the transformation efforts in the energy industry in South Africa over the past 16 years must be located.
The successive ANC national conferences – in Mafikeng in 1997, Stellenbosch in 2002, Polokwane in 2007 and Mangaung in 2012 – buttressed the need to transform the energy sector for the benefit of the poor. Primarily, who carry the poor on their hearts? It is our mothers, the women of South Africa.
The hon Sinclair will say that I am a praise singer. Yes, that is fine – I am a praise singer. I am a praise singer because beautiful work, wonderful work, is being done for the poor, for the whole of South Africa, and for the whole of Africa. This wonderful work means that we can leave our footprint internationally. And this work is being done by our Minister, Dipuo Peters, our Deputy Minister, Barbara Thomson, and the director-general, as well as all the other staff in the department. The leading roles, however, are being played by these wonderful, beautiful women. [Interjections.]
Within this context, the primary focus of the ANC position on energy has been the issue of access. [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: Malibongwe. [Let them be praised.]
Mr F ADAMS: It is just giving recognition and credit where it is due. The hon Sinclair cannot say that about Lekota, or any woman in Cope. He cannot do that. Neither can the hon Groenewald talk about Helen Zille having a woman doing these types of things, because the Western Cape does not even have a woman in Cabinet to do what they are supposed to do. [Interjections.]
Mr R A LEES: Madam Chair, on a point of order: Is it parliamentary for a member of this House to refer to another member of this House as "Lekota", and yet another member as "Helen Zille"? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Are you prepared to answer that?
Mr F ADAMS: Chair, Lekota is not a member of this House.
An HON MEMBER: He is a member of Parliament.
Mr F ADAMS: He is not a member of this House. As regards the hon Zille, I would say, "the hon Zille", and I apologise for that, Chair.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Thank you.
Mr F ADAMS: Chairperson, in that regard the ANC government is led by these wonderful ladies, who are a primary part of the ANC's position on energy. These wonderful, free-spirited, young-at-heart, dynamic women have delivered, and they are still delivering, despite the challenges that there are. [Interjections.] The ANC has committed government to ensuring universal access to electricity and, even if we have to go to Thyspunt, Minister, you must go to Thyspunt, if the decision has been made.
The primary characteristic of a developmental state such as South Africa is its ability to plan, and these ladies have the ability to plan. They have the ability to lead, as the ANC is leading in the developmental efforts for the benefit of its populace.
It is against this backdrop that we have seen a gradual shift in the political economy of energy in South Africa, and we want to thank the Minister, the Deputy Minister, the director-general and all the officials of the department. There is a total shift. There is even a paradigm shift. People in the rural areas are very proud when they see that electricity is coming to them. They cannot thank the ANC government enough.
When we did our oversight visits, people did not understand what nuclear energy was all about, but through your department's public participation processes they now know what nuclear energy is all about. They did not read about it in newspapers or in books, as happens with the DA. That is because you as cadres of the ANC went down to those on the ground and told the people about it. Cadres did not go and dance, like the Premier of the Western Cape has done. The leader of the DA goes and dances! I wonder how many DA members of this House can even dance properly to Vulindlela and all that. [Interjections.]
These targets are met, and will be met, through energy efficiency improvements in the industry. Ministers, do not ever be sidetracked. Go forward with the work that you are doing to give us the energy improvement in the industry and, most of all, in households. This is so that our poor grannies do not have to go down to the river to fetch wood. Some hon members of the DA have not experienced carrying wood on their heads, as the women in the rural areas have done. There are a lot of women from the ANC in this House who know what that is, and who have felt the weight of the wood on their heads, gathered just to make a pot of food to feed their children at night. They know that! [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The DA cannot talk about it because they have not got the interests of the poor and the development of South Africa at heart. They only want to develop for a few haves, and not for the have-nots, where the ANC wants to develop for the have-nots. We want to develop for the poor. We want to develop for them. Some of them were ordering, "Bring me wood! Bring me tea! Bring me ...", and they did not even know where the wood came from, hon Mashambane. They did not even know.
As for diversifying energy sources away from coal through nuclear and renewable energy, especially, solar energy, do not be sidetracked by the DA or by anyone, Minister. You are doing well, looking after the interests of South Africa's energy. Go ahead, and do it. [Interjections.] It does not matter. I am not afraid of the DA. I am not afraid of the DA. Let them come! Your Premier is already a cry baby in the Chamber, so she will cry. [Laughter.] She will cry. She will really cry.
Then there are the following issues: introducing a tax on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; allocating significant additional resources for research into and the development of innovative, clean and low-carbon technologies, including by retrofitting existing technologies; further exploration and development of carbon capture and storage methods; and the introduction of a tariff system that promotes the efficient use of electricity.
The aim of the Department of Energy is to formulate and exercise oversight over the implementation of overall energy policies, so as to ensure access to affordable and reliable energy by all South Africans and to promote environmentally friendly energy carriers.
Let me thank the Minister, the Deputy Minister, the department and everybody else, including colleagues on the committee, and my co-chair, the hon Gamede. Thank you for your leadership in this House, Chair – for guiding and leading us. Minister and Deputy Minister, the ANC and the Select Committee on Economic Development support this Budget. I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 160
Mr F ADAMS
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY: Thank you, Deputy Chair. Minister of Energy, Ms Dipuo Peters, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development, Mr Freddie Adams, hon members, our deputy directors-general who are present, our officials, and ladies and gentlemen, I just want to remind the hon Adams that what he was referring to – putting a bundle of wood on your head – is what we call "ukutheza" [to collect firewood]. You must know that it is not every skull that can sustain that exercise! It takes a very strong skull. [Applause.]
The Minister has said that over 84% of our people have access to modern energy today. We have completely changed the energy landscape in our provinces, to ensure that we move from the 36% of the population that had access to electricity in 1994, to the approximately 84% that the Minister spoke of.
It is not only in regard to electricity that we have had fundamental changes, but also in regard to other areas of energy, where many historically disadvantaged communities are now able to be part of the oil and gas sector.
While we are proud of these achievements, we are also conscious of the fact that much more still needs to be done to achieve our objectives. There will be those who will try and deny our achievements, but the facts speak for themselves. Let me also add that we are aware of the 15% who do not yet have electricity. We will not rest until all our people in all our provinces and municipalities have access to energy. This is the impact that the Department of Energy and, of course, our ANC-led government have had on the lives of our people.
Allow me to elaborate on a number of initiatives that our department will embark on this year to further extend this positive impact on the lives of our people across our provinces.
Minister Peters has outlined our plans in so far as the roll-out of our Integrated National Electrification Programme, Inep, is concerned. I wish to add that we are working in close partnership with key stakeholders such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA, to implement an agreement to accelerate the programme in our country.
The system of front-end loading will apply to municipalities with larger backlogs. These municipalities will have to apply to the DBSA for funding. The bank will conduct bank credit assessments and we will only support bank-approved applications that are within the Integrated National Electrification Programme.
Let me also take this opportunity to express our gratitude for and acknowledgement of support from our international partners in our programme, such as the International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank Group, in the development of the new household electrification strategy.
Minister Peters has mentioned a lot about our energy efficiency strategy and the plans we have in this regard. I also want to emphasise the call to communities to consider switching to LPG as a cheaper and safer alternative to other forms of energy. Allow me to take this opportunity to request hon members, in their interactions with communities during constituency periods, to promote the use of LPG as a safe alternative to electricity in our homes and businesses, as well as in industry. We also urge you to encourage all users to consult the LPG Safety Association of Southern Africa for more information on how to use gas safely.
IsiZulu:
Kufanele siyiyeke le nto Mageba yokuthi igesi iyabulala; akukho gesi ebulalayo. Igesi ifuna ukusetshenziswa ngokucophelela. Sidinga futhi ukukhumbula ukuthi uma ugesi siwonga, siwongela ukuthi nabanye abangakawutholi bakwazi ukuwuthola.
English:
In short, it is not just about affordability, but also about saving.
Every year municipalities spend large amounts of their revenue on purchasing energy for local public service, such as street lighting, traffic signals, lighting of public buildings, water pumping, and waste treatment facilities. Municipalities can reduce the costs associated with the delivery of these services through cost-effective actions and energy-efficiency measures. In doing so, municipalities can save their scarce resources and stretch their tight budgets in order to improve service delivery in other essential areas. The department of energy will continue to support municipalities in this regard.
In April this year, in collaboration with the eThekwini Municipality, we hosted a very successful workshop attended by a number of local and district municipalities to discuss challenges around municipal energy efficiency and demand side management.
This interaction provided us with important inside knowledge as to the challenges experienced by municipalities in implementing energy efficiency and demand side management, including lack of funds to invest in improvements, lack of technical skills, and many more. We will continue our engagement with local government around these issues to find innovative solutions.
Hon Chair, the Minister has also elaborated in detail on the progress in regard to renewable energy programmes. The focus on renewable energy provides enormous growth opportunities in provinces, and we must encourage and support local municipalities and communities where renewable energy projects are situated in order to leverage the job creation and other economic spin-offs provided by these projects.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Deputy Speaker, I regret to inform you your time has expired.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY: Our state-owned energy entities continue to be critical service delivery instruments in the energy sector. We are almost at the end of restructuring the Central Energy Fund Group of companies, amongst other things to ensure that each individual entity within the group is strengthened and enabled to operate to its maximum capacity. This process will go a long way in integrating the mandate of energy security and we anticipate finalising it by the end of this financial year. Government and management challenges within the group have also been addressed, as we have now appointed the CEOs of both the CEF and the Strategic Fuel Fund, SFF. We have sought to reposition the SFF as a dependable custodian of the strategic stocks policy to enhance and manage the petroleum reserves for the country.
The SFF is also working towards enhancing its capacity to deal with oil spills and protect our marine environment. Additional funding has been allocated to the SA National Energy Development Institute, Sanedi, which will enable them to finalise the solar roadmap, and also complete the carbon capture and storage project, and implement the outcome of the shale gas investigation work plan, among others.
I would also like to thank the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, for the hard work done during the public consultation process and the completion of a very tough Multiyear Price Determination 3, MYPD3. The 8% tariff increase has created much needed certainty about electricity tariffs over the five years.
In conclusion, ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Unfortunately, Deputy Minister, your time has expired.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY: Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Mrs M C DIKGALE
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 161
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY
Mrs M C DIKGALE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Peters, hon Deputy Minister Thomson, hon members of the NCOP, special delegates, and ladies and gentlemen, I greet you. I wanted to add the name of hon Minister Pule, but she has already left the House.
As we convene today to consider the Budget Vote of the Department of Energy, our nation is mourning the tragic death of one of the great sons of our nation, Mr Vuyo Mbuli. Allow me, hon Chairperson, to join the rest of the delegates and the people of South Africa in conveying our deepest condolences to the Mbuli family, especially his children and wife, and also his colleagues at the SABC. We want to assure them that we share their loss and grief, because we too have lost one of the formidable voices of our nation, whose life remains a true embodiment of a patriotic South Africa.
Last year we adopted the National Development Plan, NDP, as a most formidable document which outlines our vision for South Africa under the theme, "Our future - make it work". The NDP envisages that by 2030 South Africa will have an adequate supply of electricity and liquid fuels to ensure that economic activity and welfare are not disrupted. We also make a commitment to ensure that, by 2030, at least 95% of the population of South Africa will have access to grid or off-grid electricity.
Central to our commitment to ensuring an adequate supply of power for our nation was a commitment to moving with utmost speed and greater resilience to expand access to gas and other renewable resources like wind power, solar power and hydroelectricity. We also committed ourselves to diversifying power sources and ownership in the electricity sector, supporting cleaner coal technologies and investing in human and physical capital in the 12 largest electricity distributors.
We are happy that the Budget Vote of the Department of Energy speaks to many of the commitments that we have outlined. We take great pride in the commitment of the department to continuing to allocate funds to the SA National Energy Development Institute for research and development regarding a carbon capture and storage project, and for a hydraulic fracturing pilot to assess the potential for shale gas. We are also humbled by the commitment that the department has made to moving with greater urgency to bring independent power producers into the energy market.
We share the vision outlined in the NDP, which states:
We, the people of South Africa, have journeyed far since the long lines of our first democratic election on 27 April 1994, when we elected a government for us all.
We take great pride in this vision because it is a testimony to the journey that our nation has taken, from the unbearable, atrocious, harsh conditions of apartheid settlement to where we are today. Today, we can say with utmost pride and humility that our government has moved with great decisiveness to give our people a better quality of life. And, indeed, the Department of Energy remains one of the flagships of this great journey that we have taken.
We in the ANC have said that energy is never just about energy, but is also about one of the fundamental prerequisites for development because of the opportunities it creates for communities and individuals. We are indeed proud that electricity distribution, the electrification of 1 million homes, and improving commuter bus, rail and road links, have been allocated R430 billion of the R827 billion announced by Minister Gordhan. The fact that more than 50% of the budget of this department is allocated for the electrification and energy management programme demonstrates the ANC-led government's commitment to bringing development to where our people live.
The budget allocation for this programme has increased from R3,1 billion in 2012-13, to R3,9 billion in the 2013-14 financial year. This increase is intended for the following: the expansion of the electrification programmes being implemented by Eskom and municipalities, and the establishment of the programme and projects management office and the Independent Power Producers Unit within the Electricity Infrastructure/Industry Transformation subprogramme. As a result, this programme is committed to electrifying 645 000 households by 2014-15 and to supporting nine municipalities facing serious electricity provision challenges.
We are also proud that the budget allocation for nuclear energy has increased by R29,3 million, from R642,9 million in 2012-13 to R709,9 million in the 2013-14 financial year.
We in the ANC take great pride in the achievements of this department, and the decisive leadership of Minister Peters in ensuring that her Budget Vote speaks to the priorities of our nation. We want to reiterate to hon Peters that we need to move with greater urgency to ensure that our people in the rural areas continue to witness the advancement that many of our people in the urban areas witness. We need to move with great resilience to ensure that all rural households have access to some form of energy. In many of these areas, the lack of energy has been linked to cases of escapee crime and violence against our people.
The issue of energy in rural areas also has a fundamental impact on access to basic human rights such as quality education and health care. We are aware that in some instances rural children are not able to continue their studies and prepare for their exams after hours, because their households and schools are not electrified. Without electricity rural women in particular continue to endure doing some of the harshest household chores, compared to their urban counterparts. I agree with the hon committee chairperson, Freddie Adams, who is not here, that they must travel long distances to collect wood, and spend their social grants on buying paraffin. [Interjections.]
Mr K A SINCLAIR: [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
Mrs M C DIKGALE: The hon Sinclair is ... [Inaudible.] It is this sector of our nation that say we must ask the hon Minister Peters and the hon Deputy Minister Thomson to ensure that they too join the rest of the nation in enjoying the fruits of our democracy.
Hon Chairperson, the ANC supports this Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr K A SINCLAIR
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 162
Mrs M C DIKGALE
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Hon Chairperson and Minister, I prepared a very moderate speech congratulating the Minister and the department on what they have achieved. I had received a list of all the wonderful things they have done in the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape and so on. However, I am sorry to disappoint you, hon Chairperson. After all the hot air from the hon Adams I am very tempted to tear up the speech I wrote! [Interjections.]
It amazes me that some of the politicians' memories are so very short. Hon Adams referred to the ANC's policy conference of 2002. If my memory serves me rightly, in 2002 the hon Adams was a staunch supporter of the National Party, like me! [Laughter.] What amazes me further is ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Sinclair, please remember that your time is very limited. As things stand right now, you are left with two minutes and forty-seven seconds.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Two minutes and forty-seven seconds, ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Yes.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: ... and thirty-six split seconds? Thank you!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Wishful thinking.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Hon Chairperson, what further amazes me is that the hon Adams can come and speak here as if he was one of the founding members of the ANC in Mangaung in 1912!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Can you stick to your speech?
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Thank you – I am coming to that. [Interjections.] So the point I want to make is ... [Interjections.]
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN: Chairperson, on a point of order: If you are expecting hon Sinclair to stick to the point, why did you not correct hon Adams when he was off the point and into gutter politics? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): I will see the hon Boroto before I respond to that, hon Van Lingen.
Ms M G BOROTO: Hon Chairperson, we are not in a court where someone will blame another and say something about it. Can we please have order, and respect the decorum of this House? Thank you very much.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): In addition to what has been said, hon Van Lingen, let me say that maybe you were not attentive. I spoke to hon Adams and cautioned him to leave whatever he wanted to say and continue with his speech. Well, unfortunately I cannot force anybody in this House to be attentive. Thank you very much. Continue, hon Sinclair.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Thank you, hon Chairperson, but as you rightly say, this is not about the past; it is about the future.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Can you continue? Your time is over!
Mr K A SINCLAIR: It is about the future, Chair, and the Financial Times of 15 May indicated that the energy and gas industry has been transformed by politics and science. With this new technology the shale gas reserves of the US, Canada and Mexico could apparently see them become net oil exporters within ten years. According to the International Energy Agency, IEA, by 2017 the US could overtake Saudi Arabia and become the world's largest producer. The mindset has indeed been changed. Hon Minister, it is not about scarcity, but about energy security and abundance.
Where does this leave South Africa? The SA government has in the recent past made its intentions clear. It is in favour of fracking and believes that the estimated 485 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves might elevate South Africa into a league of its own. The apparent hydrocarbon energy windfall is so big that some have even called it a gift from God.
But, as we know by now, many believe that there are alternatives to this thinking. I am one of them. The energy mix in South Africa does not need to include shale gas as an option. The region in South Africa where the reserves are found is the only Karoo in the world, a sensitive and exceptional geological semidesert landscape, formed 100 million to 260 million years ago, with an abundance of energy available internationally.
Hon Minister, is it necessary to compromise and risk the Karoo for short-term gain? A responsible approach would be to forfeit short-term financial benefits – sometimes only for a few privileged and well-connected individuals – and to focus on a visionary long-term approach. Let us save our resources until there is greater clarity and direction regarding this sensitive matter. I thank you.
Cllr C NEETHLING (Salga)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 163
Mr K A SINCLAIR
Cllr C NEETHLING (Salga): Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Ministers present, hon members of the NCOP, and ladies and gentlemen, the recently released census confirms that 82% of our population has access to electricity, compared to 56,6% in 1996. The spheres of government, which include municipalities, are hard at work and will continue to work tirelessly towards meeting the targets that have been set for 2014. Given these significant achievements and the proposed infrastructure investment outlined in the Minister's budget speech, we cannot afford to be lax.
Accordingly, the 2013-14 budget indicates that municipalities will benefit from the greater percentage of the R6,5 billion of the Department of Energy's allocated budget, and there will be R1,6 billion for the Integrated National Electrification Programme. In pursuit of appropriate municipal budget expenditure, we will continue to forge stronger working relationships with the Department of Energy, Eskom and other stakeholders in ensuring that municipalities deliver and contribute to the attainment of the set new household connection targets as envisaged by the new Electrification Roadmap for South Africa.
The Integrated Energy Plan and Integrated Resource Plan remain the cornerstone of fostering integrated planning in the delivery of electricity in all spheres of government. Essentially, these are the anchors and guiding instruments for meeting the 2050 vision. As this is the case, we would welcome robust and rigorous engagement with the department on the Integrated Energy Plan. We are eagerly ready for such engagements.
The energy mix approach, particularly energy efficiency and renewable energy, remains the central source of energy at municipal level. To this effect, the SA Local Government Association, Salga, has initiated a number of projects in conjunction with the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation and the South African-German Energy Programme. We will share the details of such initiatives with the department and other stakeholders as the projects unfold.
Appropriate electricity pricing and the alternative to the restructuring of the Electricity Distribution Industry remain fundamental issues that require urgent attention, particularly if the sector is to sustain itself. The Multiyear Price Determination 3, MYPD3, has set the tone in the electricity pricing regime. However, ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Van Lingen, and you complain! Can you move from there, two chairs away from the gentleman, and listen please? [Laughter.] Please!
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN: Sit over there?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Please move! Move two seats away.
Mrs E C VAN LINGEN: He is sitting ... [Inaudible.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): No, no, no! You can move. There is ample space in this Chamber! Move! And switch off your microphone. Switch it off! [Laughter.] You may continue.
Cllr C NEETHLING (Salga): The Multiyear Price Determination 3 has set the tone in the electricity pricing regime. However, Salga has some concerns about the current tariff structure suggested in the MYPD3. As this is the case, we have raised these issues with Nersa, and it is hoped that they will be resolved swiftly, as they have a direct bearing on the long-term planning and provision of electricity, including operation and maintenance of the electricity infrastructure.
We have initiated and are championing the municipal electricity restructuring process, and work is currently under way in developing alternative approaches and a local government position to this effect. This process is being discussed with a number of sector stakeholders, including the Department of Energy.
The deteriorating state of the electricity distribution infrastructure is one of Salga's serious concerns, as it negatively affects service delivery at local level. Given this concern, we will continue to strive to work with the department, Nersa and other key stakeholders rigorously to ensure investment in electricity distribution infrastructure, coupled with maintenance and refurbishment. In this regard, we welcome and support the launch of the Approach to Distribution Asset Management project that has been launched in line with Strategic Integrated Projects 6 and 10 of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission's National Infrastructure Plan.
Clearly, energy in response to climate change has become a topical issue in municipal space. In response to this challenge, larger municipalities have developed green building guidelines that encourage a greater adoption of best practice and efficient resource development.
Through the South African-German partnership, Salga facilitates matters and encourages member municipalities to fully participate in renewable energy generation initiatives, through waste-to-energy and rooftop photovoltaic systems, in support of Strategic Integrated Projects 6, 8 and 9. In this regard, we would like to work closely with the department in packaging waste-to-energy projects at the municipal level.
In conclusion, the journey is still long. Working together towards the achievement of the 2014 set targets, fostering the green economy, and promoting the energy mix approach will contribute to the realisation of the set goals.
May we applaud the department for the introduction of, amongst others, the Gas Amendment Bill, the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill and the National Energy Regulator Amendment Bill, which are on the legislative programme for the 2013-14 financial year. We further applaud the department's energy team, led by the Minister, for the sterling work done to date, and wish to say, "Continue the good work!"
Finally, Salga, together with its member municipalities, is committed to working together with the department's energy team towards changing the landscape of the energy sector. I thank you. [Applause.]
Prince M M M ZULU
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 164
Cllr C NEETHLING (Salga)
IsiZulu:
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sekela Sihlalo, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe, Sekela Ngqongqoshe, abahlonishwa abaqhamuka ezifundazweni, nabahlonishwa abakhona kule Ndlu, mangisho kuNgqongqoshe nenhloko yomnyango wakhe kanye nakubaphathi bonke ukuthi singeke saphika ukuthi kukhona enikwenzile kwezinye izingxenye zezwe lakithi laseNingizimu Afrika.
Uma ubheka izinto ezenzeka eJozini, kubantu abangakaze bathole ukukhanyiselwa ngogesi, lezo yizinto okwazi ukuzibona ngamehlo ukhulume ngazo. Uphinde ubheke isigceme saseNyokeni esimumethe amawadi amaningi futhi okuyindawo umuntu azalwa nakhulela kuyo. Uphinde ubheke izindawo ezinjengabo Ward 10, Ward 6 nasOlundi lapho kunabantu abangakaze bakhanyise ngogesi. Umnyango kaNgqongqoshe usebenze umsebenzi omkhulu ngokuthi ukwazi ukubheka izingxenye ezithile zezwe.
Kukhona ezinye izinto okufuneka ukuthi sizibheke. Lokhu kumayelana nokuthi omasipala basemakhaya abangama-Schedule 6 abanikwa izimali ngumnyango kumele babhekwe ngoba basebenzisa lezi zimali ngenye indlela, bangayisebenziseli ukukhanyisa ugesi. Thina nje esihlwempu asazi ukuthi leyo mali ichaza ukuthini. Mina ngisola u-Eskom ngoba uma usondela kancane kwa-Eskom bakutshela ukuthi leyo mali eyama-Schedule 6.
Ngibona ukuthi kumele niyibheke le imali kahulumeni ngoba ayisebetshenziswa kahle, phela abanye bakha ngayo imigwaqo. Buka nje ngoba izindawo ezinjengaseDayini, KwaNongoma okufuneka ngabe ziwutholile ugesi kodwa namanje zisebumnyameni. Ngikhuluma ngezindawo ezinjengaseNqunyaneni nakuMasipala wasOlundi. Uthola ukuthi abantu bahlezi ebumnyameni ngoba umnyango uzifakile lezi zimali kodwa awubheki ukuthi omasipala bazisebenzisa kanjani.
Ngiyazi ukuthi kunezinselele nakuphethiloli. Lezo yizinto okufuneka ukuthi kuxoxwe ngazo kubhekwe ukuthi yiliphi iqhinga esingaphuma ngalo ngoba siyafa yizindleko zikaphethiloli. Yizinto zonke lezi ezibhekene ngqo nomnyango wakho. Ngiyazi ukuthi lezo akuzona izinto ezingenziwa ngelanga elilodwa ziqedwe.
NjengeNkatha siyaleseka iVoti leSabelomali lomnyango siphinde sithi uNgqongqoshe makabhekisise udaba luka-Schedule 6. Yihlaleleni phansi nixoxisane ngayo le ndaba, nibheke nendlela esetshenziswa ngayo ngoba izikhulu zomasipala ziyayidla le mali.
English:
It is poor councillors like us, poor MPs, ...
IsiZulu:
... sisuke singazi lutho ngokwenzekayo; kanti lezi zimali sezehla ngemilenze. Yizinto okufanele nizibheke. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.]
Mr B A MNGUNI
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 164
Prince M M M ZULU
English:
Mr B A MNGUNI: Deputy Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, colleagues, Team Energy, and ladies and gentlemen, when we speak of energy, what comes to our mind first of all is the security of supply and price affordability. The R6,5 billion that we are voting for today is to make sure that 10 to 20 years down the line we will have clean energy and be able to meet our Millennium Development Goals.
Let us look at coal, since it is part of fossil fuel energy, including wood and cow dung. Science says that if you burn one ton of coal you actually produce more than three tons of carbon dioxide! What happens to that carbon dioxide is that it brings about global warming – the earth becomes warmer – and those countries around the Pacific, the islands, disappear because of the increasing heat around the globe. That is what we want to prevent 10 to 20 years down the line.
That is why it is a key factor that nuclear energy must be part of the diversification of energy in South Africa. Hon Van Lingen, my friend, let us not spend the day scaremongering, saying that nuclear energy is dangerous or expensive. The fact, moreover, is that the department has not yet decided on Thyspunt. Though the EIA points out that Thyspunt is a suitable place, the department has not taken a decision in this regard. Rather than mobilising people against nuclear energy at Thyspunt and other places, make them aware that nuclear energy is one of the cleanest types of energy we can have in South Africa. We have an abundance of uranium in the country and there is an abundance in other countries. So, it is a key factor that we produce nuclear energy.
Take France, for instance. As you are well aware, it has more than 59 nuclear power stations and produces more than 75% of its energy from the nuclear type. It even supplies Europe as a whole, because it is able to generate more than 5 billion MW of energy, of which it uses less than 5 billion. As that is the case, it is able to export energy to the whole of Europe. Take the United States also. More than 50% of the United States generates energy of the nuclear type.
The ANC, in moving forward, made a resolution in Mangaung that we had to look into nuclear power as another source of energy. We had previously decided in Polokwane that we had to have a National Planning Commission that would look into the future, where we were going in South Africa. The National Development Plan states that nuclear energy is going to be expensive. We know that the current talk of the opposition against nuclear energy actually emanates from one of the commissioners in the National Planning Commission, Prof Eberhard, of the University of Cape Town's Energy Research Centre. He says that nuclear energy is too expensive and South Africa cannot afford it. The fact is that, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In the National Planning Commission there was no expert in nuclear science other than the professor. However, when you sit down and analyse this, you see that we have our own people who know about nuclear science. Take, for instance, Dr Nqaba Ngcobo in the National Assembly. He is a nuclear physicist and he knows more about nuclear energy than many of us.
You must take into consideration that though we as a country applaud and support the National Development Plan, it has a few defects and flaws here and there, and we must tweak it until it supports our goal. I am not trying to shoot down the NDP. Do not misunderstand me. I am saying there are some issues in the National Development Plan that we need to discuss, just as we discussed it in Mangaung and adopted it as a country.
Let us look at Sasol. Sasol has the best technology to make petrol from coal. It is one of the unique technologies in the world, and it is even exported to other countries. How much does Sasol contribute to energy security? How much petrol does Sasol contribute? Or let me put it this way. How much does the ... [Interjections.] Oh, I forgot the word again! [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Continue.
Mr B A MNGUNI: I want to talk about the refineries in the country. The Minister talked about the Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa, PetroSA, the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa, Natref, and others. All these purifying plants are not working at their maximum at the moment, because they claim that the technology is old and the government must put in money in order for them to improve their technology. However, Sasol forgets that they were let off the hook through windfall taxes and we still continue to buy petrol from Sasol at import parity pricing. By now we should know that whatever comes into the country must toe the line and that we as South Africans want to reach this point. We cannot reach this point unless there is co-operation from the industry, the private sector. That is our aim.
For instance, we are subsidising a lot of foreign companies that are exploring for oil along the West Coast. How much are they doing for transformation? When you look at the taxation revenue laws, you see how much South Africa is subsidising these foreign companies in order for them to explore the West Coast for petrol so that in future we have a secure supply of energy. However, how much transformation is there in these companies that are subsidised by South Africa?
This department is a key factor in making sure that there is transformation in the sector and that there is diversification of energy. This is so that there is security of supply 20 years down the line and also so that, by making sure that we produce clean energy, we do not contribute to global warming. Another thing that is being punted by some of the NGOs is that nuclear energy will cost around R1,3 trillion, which is more than the budget of the country! But did they do proper research into these issues? Also, do we have a voice saying the opposite in regard to these issues? That is what we should be thinking about.
Regarding the safety of nuclear energy, this is not going to be another Chernobyl or another Japanese disaster. Actually it was not that a mistake was made in Japan; it was just that there was a tsunami. However, the chance that there could be an earthquake that would cause a tsunami in South Africa is probably one in a thousand, or one in a million, because of its stability as far as geotechnical forces are concerned. It is only the San Andreas Fault along the Pacific Ocean that is actually moving at the moment. However, there is no threat that we could have an earthquake in South Africa in 20 years' time, unless it was from the mines. However, mines are not at the coast; they are away from the coast.
We have the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will make sure that, if we do go the nuclear energy way, we adhere to the standards. It is as safe as it is safe underground. You know, they say that if you go underground, you will be in a safer place than when you walk on the street, because you could be knocked down by a car there. If you are underground, you are in a much safer place.
We will therefore ensure that nuclear power in South Africa is one of the safest types of energy in the country, just as it is in France. The community in France were against nuclear energy, until people went to those on the ground and explained to the residents what was happening in regard to nuclear energy. Today French citizens support nuclear energy 100%, because they know its benefits.
IsiZulu:
KuMntwana, ukuze eJozini naseNyokeni bathole ugesi sizama ukuthi sibe namandla kagesi wenuzi. Siyabonga. [Ihlombe.]
The MINISTER OF ENERGY
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 165
Mr B A MNGUNI
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: Hon Deputy Chairperson, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the members for participating in this debate. It is actually an indication that the members in this House really do have the interests of the people of South Africa at heart. That is, apart from those who really don't care whether we have electricity in communities like Jozini, as the hon Mnguni and the hon member from the IFP said.
Hon Mnguni, I think it is important that we really also appreciate something that is true to the ANC culture - you gave a very short 10-minute lecture to the members of this House. Hon Van Lingen should have listened to what you said. I believe that at another time we will come back to this House to debate the issues that were been raised, in particular those with regard to the Integrated Energy Plan and the Integrated Resource Plan.
I just want to say to hon members that the ANC is a party that honours and respects its decisions and its policies. We made a decision with regard to the Integrated Resource Plan. It was adopted and it is a plan for the country for 20 years. The Integrated Energy Plan is one of the other instruments that the ANC government is using to make sure that we have a very comprehensive energy plan, which speaks to energy broadly, not only to electricity like the Integrated Resource Plan.
When we are ready, when we present the Integrated Energy Plan to the nation for public consultation, we also want to encourage you in your constituencies to make it possible for the people to participate, so that they can understand where the country is going with regard to security of supply.
I would like to say to the hon Van Lingen that energy is not only about electricity. It is important for her to realise that. We in the department and in the ANC-led government took a decision that the Integrated Resource Plan should be a dynamic document. It had to speak to the changing environment, including the potential for changes in the energy landscape, the availability of tested and commercially available technologies, and the cost of the technologies, as they change. That is why we created – and I want to underline that we created it – the opportunity to review the Integrated Resource Plan every second year. So, I think it is important that you realise that.
Also, I want to hear from the DA whether they are saying that we should delay all the investment in the Integrated Resource Plan, including the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, until we have revised the Integrated Resource Plan. For us it is important to realise what we are doing. We are saying, like the Secretary-General of the ANC usually says, that we should take forward what we agree upon, and look at the gaps that need to be addressed, so that the lives of the people can be changed.
Hon Mnguni, you put it correctly when you say that we want to make sure that the people of the informal settlements, the people of the rural areas of this country, do not have the type of energy or electricity where the lights go out when the wind blows. We want quality supply everywhere - in Cape Town, and equally so in Umkhanyakude, Mhlaba uYalingana, and eNgcobo. Wherever it is, we need to make sure that our people have quality supply.
I also want to say to the hon Van Lingen that I, Dipuo Peters, ANC member and Minister of Energy in South Africa, don't remember my owning property in Thyspunt. I don't have property in Thyspunt. However, I will say to her that I have been in Thyspunt to ensure that I understood the area that we have identified in which to develop this plan.
Also remember that I did indicate that we have more than R700 million in our budget to use for massive public education and stakeholder engagement, in order to strengthen entities like the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, Necsa, and the National Nuclear Regulator, NNR. We can then reach the point where we take the decision to make sure that our structures are right and our people also know what nuclear energy is all about.
The ANC, in adopting the Integrated Resource Plan, agreed that we needed to demystify nuclear energy. As we speak in South Africa, we are the world leaders in radioisotopes. The people of South Africa don't know that when you go to hospital they use diagnostic material, including radioisotopes, to detect cancer or whatever is actually affecting our people.
We have eradicated the fruit fly here in South Africa and it makes our fruit marketable and able to withstand the distances to the markets because of the intervention of technologies like nuclear energy. We also say we can use it in other different ways. The President, in addressing the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in the US, said that we needed to use nuclear energy to feed and heal, as well as provide energy for the people of South Africa, and use it for other applications.
In South Africa we are very excited about the skills that have been developed by democracy since 1994. Some of the young people of South Africa have double and triple master's degrees and PhDs in the nuclear field. We will use those skills, but we are also conscious of the need for us to invest in further skills.
We hear what you are saying. Remember, if you look at the newspapers, you will see that we have advertised for a consultant to help us with the financial modelling of the plants that we will be building. We are not just going to thumbsuck. We believe in evidence, and we believe in the ability to justify to the people of South Africa what we do.
You are talking about the Sarah wind farm as if it is something that happened yesterday. You, the DA as well as the ID, objected to the World Bank loan to Eskom and this Sarah plant was part of that. So you, in essence, objected to a clean energy project when you objected to the World Bank loan to Eskom. [Applause.]
As hon Mnguni has indicated, the National Development Plan does not say, "Don't!" It says, "Delay the decision." When they say we should delay the decision, they are raising the issue of cost, as well as other matters that we are dealing with.
You also spoke about smart grids. The department is busy with this. You will know that as one of the department's initiatives we are part of the Clean Energy Ministerial, and we are doing work with the green smart grid pilot project. So, we cannot just jump into a new technology without testing it.
The day that we have the smart grids in South Africa, we will not want smart grids just here in the Western Cape or in Cape Town. We want the entire country, South Africa, to be covered by the technology. Gone are the days when good quality was for the urban centres and low quality was for the rural communities. Our rural communities want an equally good quality of life, as well as a good quality energy supply. [Applause.] So, we as a country, South Africa, believe that these matters need to be tested, especially the smart grid.
In my speech I did indicate that we are talking about clean energy. I don't even want to speak about the issues that the hon Sinclair raised about shale gas. I want to engage him regarding that at another time. I know that he is the type of person that will come and raise those particular issues here.
It is important that we in South Africa have a map that we call a resource map. You need to know what South Africa is endowed with. You need to know how much oil and gas we have in this country, and you need to know what type of technology we need in order to be able to stimulate, liberate or extract a particular resource. This is what we are doing.
I am calling on you to support the Department of Mineral Resources in regard to the study they are undertaking to make it possible for them to get to understand the economic viability of the resource in the Karoo. This is before we can even talk about the issue of what fracking will do.
Afrikaans:
Mense het die hele wêreld ge-"frack" [hidrobreking]. [Gelag.]
English:
How many people have built right on the seashore? People have built their massive houses there and they have their properties there. They have done whatever. Is that not also fracking the environment? They live in places which could have been kept as pristine and beautiful as they should be, not touched by human development.
So, now that there is an opportunity for the people of the Karoo to have jobs and a better life, equally for black and white, as we say in South Africa, it is important that we allow for that particular space. If shale gas can be extracted in a safe way, we say we need to go that route. If it is going to damage the environment and our water, and if it is going to have negative effects, the ANC will be the first to acknowledge that and say that we can't go that route. That is because the ANC has the interests of the people of South Africa at heart. We are not just going to go for it.
In fact, for your information, hon members, Pennsylvania informed us that the DA and the Western Cape government have already gone there three times to see how this gas is extracted and what the benefits are. Why should they go and look at it, if they are not interested in it?
Afrikaans:
Moenie wegskuil en dinge in die donker doen nie. Ons doen dit openlik. Ons doen dit, want ons glo die mense van Suid-Afrika het 'n beter lewe nodig. Ons gaan doen dit nie in die donker nag nie. Ons doen alles openlik.
English:
This is because we believe in transparency. Whatever we do, we do it because we have the interests of the people of this country at heart and we are not doing it because we want particular individuals to benefit.
You will know that the Western Cape government, through Madam Helen Zille, is really trying very hard to reverse the gains of democracy. Why don't you like women? What have women done to you? In your own government you have only one woman. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Conclude, Minister.
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: You have one woman in the executive and that is you yourself, Madam Zille. That shows that you doesn't have the confidence to be led by women. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Order!
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: What have the poor coloured and black people done to you, that you come in and reduce their numbers the way you have done? The Western Cape is part of South Africa and "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white", as the Freedom Charter states. [Interjections.] And no government will claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people. So, I want to say to you ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Hon Peters! Hon Peters, order! Hon Lees?
Mr R A LEES: Deputy Chairperson, on two points of order: ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Only one point of order at a time.
Mr R A LEES: Deputy Chairperson, on a point of order: Could you please ask the hon Minister to withdraw her twice made comments about "Madam Zille". The hon Zille is a member of this House and must be referred to accordingly.
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: I said "hon". She is the hon Madam Premier of the Western Cape.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): I am listening to the hon Lees and nobody else. He is on the floor right now. Don't push me. Continue, Minister.
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: Thank you, Chairperson. I was saying that I did say "hon" Premier of the Western Cape, Madam Zille.
In conclusion, I want to say that I thank hon members.
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Deputy Chairperson, on a point of order: I just want to find out whether the hon Adams was there at that policy conference that the Minister has been speaking about?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): No! Sit down! Will the hon Minister please conclude?
The MINISTER OF ENERGY: Chairperson, I want to take this opportunity to truly thank the members.
I would also like to indicate to the hon Zulu that I took note of the issues he raised about what municipalities do with regard to the monies that they are given as part of their allocation from the department. We have given an indication that we are following up that type of tendency. The hon Van der Merwe also raised it in the NA. It is important. We are going to have service level agreements with municipalities to make sure that the money that we give them is used for what it is intended for, not as a discretionary allocation. Thank you very much.
Debate concluded.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Order! I now call upon the hon Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-Operation (Mr E I Ebrahim). [Applause.] Hon members, before the hon Deputy Minister speaks, may I make a proposal, that we allow the hon Maile to be the next speaker? I know there are two other speakers before him, but he has to rush back to the airport. Is that accepted.
HON MEMBERS: Yes.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Thank you. The hon Deputy Minister may continue.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim)
UNREVISED HANSARD
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Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 166
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela)
AFRICA UNITED IN ADVANCING OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORT IN PURSUIT OF PAN-AFRICANISM AND AFRICAN RENAISSANCE
(Debate on Africa Day)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim): Hon Chairperson and hon members, ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): Order! Excuse me, hon Deputy Minister. Will that hon member come to order? [Laughter.] The hon Deputy Minister may continue.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim): Hon Chairperson and hon members, as the entire continent readies itself to celebrate the milestone achievement of 50 years of the existence of the former Organisation of African Unity, OAU, and the present African Union, AU, we need to seize this opportunity fully to reflect on the theme that has been chosen by our African heads of state and government to form the basis for these celebrations. We must do this, of course, mindful of the underlying message that the theme seeks to impart to us.
The chosen theme for the 50th anniversary of the OAU, presently AU, is African Renaissance and Pan-Africanism. The two concepts are inextricably linked and hence, put together, make for a better understanding of what our leaders want us to achieve for our continent.
Pan-Africanism is a philosophical movement that encourages solidarity of Africans worldwide. It is based on the belief that unity is vital for economic, social and political progress, and aims to unify and uplift people of African descent. The philosophy asserts that the fate of all African peoples and countries is intertwined.
At its core, and as articulated by the Pan-African Parliament and others, Pan-Africanism stresses the need for a collective self-reliance. Pan-Africanism exists as a government and grass-roots objective, as outlined by Pan-African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere and Patrice Lumumba, as well as grass-roots advocates such as Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X, and academic advocates such as WEB du Bois and others in the Diaspora.
Solidarity will enable self-reliance, allowing the continent's potential to independently provide for its people to be fulfilled. Crucially, an all-African alliance will empower African people globally. The realisation of the Pan-African objective will lead to power consolidation in Africa, which will compel a reallocation of global resources. United African nations will have the economic, political and social clout to act and compete on the world stage.
As all of us know, the word "renaissance" means "rebirth", "renewal" and "springing up anew". Therefore, when we speak of an African Renaissance, we speak of the rebirth or renewal of a continent, and of the ideals of renaissance. The African Renaissance is a concept that African people and nations use in their endeavours to overcome the current challenges confronting the continent, and to achieve cultural, scientific and economic renewal.
The African Renaissance concept was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop in a series of essays beginning in 1946, which are collected in his book: Towards the African Renaissance: Essays in African culture and development, 1946-1960.
The key elements that have been advanced to underpin our collective understanding of the African Renaissance are: social cohesion, democracy, economic development, and placing Africa at the apex of her own political destiny.
With the understanding of these two important concepts, it is now important to reflect on what it is that we, as South Africa, continue to contribute towards the rebirth and unity of the continent.
At the outset I want to assert that the struggle for our own liberation led to the development of perhaps the largest and most determined Pan-African movement of solidarity our continent has ever seen, involving both governments and all sectors of the population throughout the length and breadth of our continent and the world.
The sacrifices made by the continent to end the apartheid system, which was declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations, remain immeasurable. Amongst other things, the countries of Southern Africa paid a very heavy price in human lives lost, as well as property and infrastructure destroyed, as they withstood the campaign of aggression and destabilisation conducted by the apartheid regime.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our profound appreciation to the governments and peoples of the African continent for the extraordinary solidarity demonstrated during the struggle against apartheid. Their resolute solidarity fuelled our resolve as a country to reverse the grotesque legacy of apartheid. These sacrifices form the basis on which our interaction with the continent is based. Importantly, their solidarity serves as a guiding principle in our recognising and appreciating what it means to be a true African.
I wish to make reference to the superb work currently being undertaken on the continent to put in place the necessary measures for the emancipation of the continent from the yoke of oppression and underdevelopment.
I am sure that you are aware of the various projects initiated at the continental level to spearhead the political, social and economic revival of the continent. What is required of us is to mobilise our people to rally behind the common objective of placing our continent on the right path to take advantage of the many opportunities at our disposal. This involves political organisations, professionals, trade unions, business people, women, the youth, traditional leaders, cultural workers, the media, and civil society, amongst others.
Our continent has experienced various traumatic epochs, each one of which has pushed our people deeper into poverty and backwardness.
Undoubtedly, many of you will agree that the epoch of slavery has robbed the continent of millions of its healthiest and most productive inhabitants, and reinforced the racist and criminal notion that we as Africans are subhuman.
Who can forget the negative legacy left by imperialism and colonialism, which resulted in the unfair extraction of the continent's raw materials, the destruction of traditional agriculture and domestic food security, and the regrettable integration of Africa into the world economy as a subservient participant?
South Africa recognises the important role it has to play in addressing the scourge of armed conflict, eradication of which is a precondition for sustained prosperity. We have a witnessed a troubling resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government. There is a need for African leadership to be more robust in effectively dealing with this through instruments such as the Lomé Convention.
There are a number of key outcomes that South Africa would like to see emanating from the revival of the continent, and they are the following.
There is the establishment of democratic political systems to ensure the accomplishment of the goal that "the people shall govern!" as stated in the Freedom Charter.
There is ensuring that established systems take into account African specifics and are designed in ways that will really ensure that political, and therefore peaceful, means can be used to address the competing interests of different social groups in each African country.
Furthermore, there is the achievement of sustainable economic development that results in the continuous improvement of the standards of living and the quality of life of the masses of the people.
There is also qualitatively changing Africa's place in the world's economy, so that it is no longer merely a supplier of raw materials and an importer of manufactured goods.
Moreover, there is ensuring the emancipation of the women of Africa, and successfully confronting the scourge of HIV and Aids.
Finally, there is strengthening the genuine independence of African countries and the African continent in their relations with the major powers, and enhancing their role in the determination of the global system of governance in all fields.
The interaction of South Africa with the continent is guided by our foreign policy, which believes that we can only be a better South Africa on a continent that is secure and democratic, and respects international law. When called upon to intervene in situations of strife, we will never say no, because South Africa would not have had "1994" if Africa had thought that what was happening here was a South African problem. We have had the unequivocal support of all African nations – a resolute demonstration of the resolve of Pan-Africanism. It is within this context that President Zuma made the call to strengthen the African Standby Force.
If we as a country can see our destiny as inextricably linked to that of the entire continent, I am sure we will have no problem in understanding the central underlying message that is being relayed through the theme, "in pursuit of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance".
In conclusion, allow me to reflect on what one of postcolonial Africa's founding fathers, Kwame Nkrumah, said in his call for unity on our beloved continent, and I quote:
Thus may we take pride in the name of (Africa), not out of romanticism, but as an inspiration for the future. It is right and proper that we should know about our past. For just as the future moves from the present so the present has emerged from the past. Nor need we be ashamed of our past. There was much in it of glory. What our ancestors achieved in the context of the contemporary society gives us confidence that we can create, out of the past, a glorious future, not in terms of war and military pomp, but in terms of social progress and of peace.
For we repudiate war and violence. Our battles shall be against old ideas that keep men trammelled in their own greed; against the crass stupidities that breed hatred, fear and inhumanity. The heroes of our future will be those who can lead our people out of the stifling fog of disintegration through serfdom, into the valley of light where purpose, endeavour and determination will create (a) brotherhood ...
Madam Chairperson, I thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr L MAILE (Gauteng)
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The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim)
Mr L MAILE (Gauteng): Deputy Chairperson, thank you very much for responding positively to my request. Thank you very much.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Ms T C Memela): It is your lucky day!
Mr L MAILE (Gauteng): Deputy Minister and hon members of the House, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of the OAU. Just last year Africa's foremost, modern liberation movement, the ANC, celebrated its centenary. The year 2013 also marks 100 years since the 1913 Land Act was passed into law and unleashed systematic dispossession of and institutionalised discrimination against the black majority in the land of their birth.
Next year our country will mark 20 years since the advent of the 1994 democratic breakthrough, a process that was a consequence of years of negotiations that were preceded by violence and bloodshed. Even as the negotiations were going on, our own townships were in flames as some who were opposed to the process of peace pitted brother against brother in a bitter struggle that sought to derail the process and condemn us to a bleak future.
Fellow African countries like Rwanda and the newly established states of Sudan and South Sudan are in the difficult process of cementing peace, as part of the long-term vision that Africans must enjoy the required stability in order to prosper and register progress in the realm of human development.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the OAU, we also reflect on the strides and the progress we have made as Africans in moving our respective countries out of centuries of colonial underdevelopment, poverty and economic neglect. In celebration, we commend the peoples of Africa who continue to work hard in the drive to ensure that we build the capacity of our governments in order to deliver on the promise of independence.
In this context, I wish to salute and pay tribute to one of Africa's distinguished sons, former President Thabo Mbeki. He was bestowed with the 2012 African of the Year Award, in recognition of the work he has been doing with the African Union in Sudan, and also with the award by the Traditional Council of Liberia, which named him the Chief of Peace during the presentation of its highest honour, again recognising the role he played in helping that country achieve peace to overcome its years of instability. This is but one of the many initiatives aimed at bringing permanent stability to the African continent.
We also pay tribute to leading lights such as Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pierre Buyoya of Burundi, Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, and Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, for the contribution they continue to make in the advancement of the African cause.
President Jacob Zuma is in the trenches, leading from the front as part of SADC's drive to ensure that Zimbabwe regains her position as the continent's bread basket. This is in addition to the work he is doing in Madagascar, and the role he is playing in talks to shape lasting peace in the Central African Republic. Among the achievements that President Zuma has delivered on is the consolidation of peace in Burundi, which stands as a jewel that all Africans must be proud of.
For us in South Africa, this promise is aptly captured in the Freedom Charter, adopted at the Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955. Its central message is that the people are their own liberators and therefore, as it states, "The people shall govern!", a message that remains relevant to this day. This rallying call emphasises the universally accepted norm that governments do not exist for their own sake, but their principal and only task is to serve the people.
Therefore, the people themselves have the obligation and right to elect their representatives and to hold them accountable as part of taking responsibility for their own destiny. It was during the struggle that the people took matters into their own hands when they rejected gutter education and demanded people's education. They also said no to Bantustans and demanded full citizenship, including equality before the law and the right to free speech and expression.
It is important that we take time to reflect on our past, so that past injustices are not forgotten, and we must also work even harder as we seek to build a common, prosperous future for the peoples of this continent and the world.
In a lecture delivered in 2011, the former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa, makes what I consider to be a profound observation when he said, and I quote:
In nearly all sub-Saharan countries, nearly half the population has not had the experience of life under colonial, racist rule. There is a danger that for them the travails and injustices of colonial rule will seem theoretical. Africa Day should stir them up to engender the importance and usefulness of the Independence struggle.
The demographic picture elicits yet another consideration. The concentration of the minds of the political agitators and freedom fighters may have given the impression that Independence was an end in itself. However, all along, the struggle had a broader objective, namely improvement in the welfare of the colonized people. Africa Day should remind us of this development dimension to Independence. It should serve as an occasion to review policies announced, implemented and achieved, as well as the challenges ahead.
Essentially President Mkapa affirms what many of us would agree is the correct assertion, that having achieved formal political liberation, the struggle for economic redress has only just begun.
This very assertion by President Mkapa enjoins us to wage a new struggle aimed at liberating the continent from dependence on the former colonial powers.
Accordingly, an important dimension to the new struggle is what the great Amilcar Cabral refers to as the struggle against our own weaknesses. In this equation, we must then say that Africa and her people may not enjoy the fruits produced by the promise of the independence struggle, if those who are charged with the responsibility of public office behave corruptly by enriching themselves through foul means.
If there should be any measure of the progress we are making as a continent, it should be visible and practical progress in the lives of the people. Indeed, the struggle to extend the frontiers of opportunity must show results in improved public services such as decent health care and access to free education.
In this regard the formation of the decade-old AU marked the elevation of the economic freedom agenda. The AU has been in the forefront of the establishment of institutions that will drive the vision of taking Africa to its next level of development, what President Mkapa refers to as the improvement of the welfare of the colonised people.
Certainly, it is through self-determination that Africa must be given the space to determine for herself and her people what precisely constitutes her development needs, and how she intends to go about meeting those needs.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development is a driving force through which we seek to ensure that we build the continent's capacity to engage equally with other global players, be it in education, the economy, science or health.
It has become perfectly clear that some in the global community of families refuse to accept that international bodies like the United Nations Organisation should be the final arbiters when it comes to the resolution of matters of common interest among states.
In Africa, and certainly elsewhere in the world, it has become commonplace for countries to organise themselves in economic regional blocs in order to leverage their collective skills and capacities, in order to improve infrastructure and create opportunities for development for their populations.
However, such organisations should never serve as launching pads for illegal wars, including the violation of the sovereignty of other countries through invasions, and therefore in defiance of the positions of the UN.
Africa does enjoy status, albeit unequal to that of other powers, like the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. This is a battle we must continue to wage, and Africa must strive for common ground in this regard. Attempts to divide us must not succeed. It is our cause that must triumph.
Chairperson, Côte d'Ivoire remains in an uneasy position. The Central African Republic has a dark cloud hanging over it. The Great Lakes region is on the brink of civil war. Madagascar is yet to resolve some of the thorny questions surrounding the holding of an election that must bring much needed stability. Libya must still resolve the many challenges it faces following the death of its former leader.
The various situations I have referred to, which all of us are perfectly aware of, point to the challenge posed by the attempt of some who, having no interest in the progress that Africa must achieve, remain hellbent on destabilising these sister countries in a bid to extract resources from the countries, and use them in a way that is not for the benefit of the citizens of the countries.
In the midst of the many victories we have achieved and the many causes there are for us to celebrate, more than six decades into independence Africa still has to contend with the conduct of some in the West. Having said this, it is perfectly obvious that Africans must remain vigilant regarding the motives of some of the erstwhile colonial powers.
In conclusion, it therefore stands to reason that such backward acts as xenophobia do nothing to advance the African cause. It is such acts that must remind us of the many great sacrifices that were made by other Africans in order for us to be where we are today.
In the words of the Co-Con Africa website, writing on Africa Day:
(Africa Day must serve) as a reminder for Africans to renew their commitment to one another and to their history.
Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr D JOSEPH
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Mr L MAILE (Gauteng)
Mr D JOSEPH: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, distinguished guests in the House, and our friends, the DA believes that Africa Day is an opportunity to celebrate, and we can call ourselves daughters and sons of Africa, because we are celebrating our unity in diversity.
Africa is blessed with leaders that are able to take their place on the global stage. People who have done that are people like Bob Marley and Miriam Makeba in the music world, and Oliver Tambo and our former President, Nelson Mandela, who gave their lives for a democratic Africa. We know of people like Prof Chris Barnard, who performed the first heart transplant, Charlize Theron, the international actor, and specifically Prof Phillip Tobias who discovered fossil sites which confirm Africa's role in evolution. Dr James Mwangi of Kenya was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year 2012, and we are aware of Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch, a prominent Moroccan businesswoman.
Africa is blessed with its natural beauty, from Kilimanjaro to Table Mountain, from the Red Sea to the most southern point in Africa where the oceans meet, from the Sahara Desert to the beautiful Victoria Falls, and from the mighty Nile to the Orange River. Our natural beauty draws many citizens from across the world to Africa. We must protect our tourism industry.
Africa is also blessed with minerals like aluminium, copper, coal, diamonds, gold, and iron ore. Our challenges are to move from the export of raw minerals to the export of complete products for the continent, and to the increased export of fully manufactured products.
Afrikaans:
Afrika is geseën met kos uit die aarde en met kos uit die oseaan. Ons leiers moet sorg dat voedselsekerheid bevorder word deur die projekte wat ons implementeer en deur ons skaars bronne in die oseaan te beskerm. [Africa is blessed with food from the earth and food from the ocean. Our leaders must ensure that food security is promoted through the projects that we implement and by protecting our scarce resources in the ocean.]
English:
Africa has been blessed with 22 Nobel Prize winners since 1951 in the categories of literature, physics, medicine, chemistry, and the promotion of peace.
Author George Orwell wrote in his book, 1984:
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past ...
This quotation points to the fact that our present leaders are responsible for the future – future ideas and mindset formulation. Our vision, our attitude, our passion, our compassion, and our pride in Africa will define the nations of the future on this continent. Africa is blessed, so we, as leaders of Africa, parliaments of Africa and leaders of today, control the inequalities and the injustices of the past. We control the equal opportunities that there must be for all today and in the future.
Our key responsibility is education in Africa. Education is the long-term solution to poverty. Africa is blessed. That is why Prof Russel Botman of Stellenbosch University, who comes from a very poor farming community in Bloemfontein, emphasises the fact that institutions must uphold the true values of our democracy. At Stellenbosch University Prof Botman is currently changing the university from being Eurocentric to being Afrocentric. He has established a multicultural academy for students from African countries for them to study towards their PhDs.
Our first South African female chartered accountant from a disadvantaged community, Nonkululeko Gobodo, said that "progress is only attainable when a country has a clear vision". She further said that we must not make the same mistakes. Our challenges on the continent are to promote democratic government and good governance, and to eradicate dictatorship which is the cause of thousands of deaths on this continent.
The DA is of the view that Africa must learn from its mistakes. Zimbabwe is importing 150 000 tons of maize from Zambia, whilst the new farmers, mainly Zanu-PF supporters and the elite, received R18 billion between 2009 and 2012, with very little to show for it. They cannot feed the nation! Zimbabwe, once the biggest exporter of tobacco and many other products, now depends on other countries to survive. We must learn from our mistakes.
In our own country we have challenges. This House must deal with the Traditional Courts Bill, and the legislation that refers to the Natives Land Act, Act 27 of 1913 and the Native Administration Act, Act 38 of 1927. That piece of legislation we must deal with as a government. We must not glorify traditional practices and customs which discriminate against women and children. Government must speed up land restitution and support emerging farmers in order to ensure food security. Our partners on the continent, like the African Union, and Brics have a responsibility to grow the economy.
Despite our challenges, I want to emphasise how Africa is blessed. The song Plea for Africa, written by John Knox Bokwe, inspires us to give thought to Africa where, we say, there are "weary hearts waiting to be won", and 'when lips are moved by grace, they so sweetly sing, "Pray for peace in Africa"'. Every day is a new day, so every day is a renaissance day.
In closing, I need to say that our very own anthem, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, a hymn written by Enoch Sontonga in 1897, says, "God bless Africa", ...
Afrikaans:
... "God seen Afrika" ["God bless Africa"], ...
English:
... which means that God has his eyes on Africa. Let us shout from the mountains of Africa:
God, bless Africa;
Guard her children;
Guide her leaders; and
Give her peace...
This is a prayer of Trevor Huddleston. I thank you. [Applause.]
The TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Mr F Adams): Order! Order! Hon members, please, when you move seats, don't intimidate the speaker, or try to deliver the speaker's speech for him. Hon Gunda, if you cannot behave in the front row, go back to your seat.
Mr K A SINCLAIR
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The TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Mr F Adams)
Mr K A SINCLAIR: Chairperson, on behalf of Cope I want to say that today we speak as Africans, engaging with our future. It is common cause that our continent, Africa, will be the global focus for development in the foreseeable future. All indications are that, if used sensibly, the next five decades will be our time for economic growth and opportunity.
Two great African leaders and writers, amongst others, remind us of where we come from. Of greater importance, however, is their focus on the future. Thabo Mbeki, then Deputy President of South Africa, said on the adoption of the Constitution in Parliament in 1996:
Whoever we may be, whatever our immediate interest, however much we carry baggage from our past, however much we have been caught by the fashion of cynicism and loss of faith in the capacity of the people, let us err today and say – nothing can stop us now!
The acceptance of the earlier negotiated settlement and adoption of the Constitution were, inter alia, made possible by the speech of F W de Klerk, then State President of South Africa, on 2 February 1990. He said:
History has thrust upon the leadership of this country the tremendous responsibility to turn our country away from its present direction of conflict and confrontation. Only we, the leaders of our peoples, can do it.
Considering these wise words, we must take stock of South Africa and our continent. We can never forget that whilst South Africa was celebrating her freedom during 1994, more than a million people lost their lives in the most barbaric ethnic conflict in Rwanda. Despite that stark reminder, internal strife and factionalism, fuelled mainly by the forces of greed and power, are still presenting Africa as a tainted continent. Despite all the hope, African governments cannot provide a proper daily meal for 250 million destitute citizens. The majority of these are striving to live on less than $1 a day.
Solutions can be found in better infrastructure and better education, and in regional power blocs. More important is the fact that democratic states need suitable governments.
Democracy, per se, is not a philosophical gimmick that has been developed by Africans for Africans. It consists of accepted norms and standards built on a set of basic human rights embedded in a universally accepted constitution based on principles developed over centuries.
Credible leadership at all levels is essential. Men create institutions to govern but, more importantly, institutions like parliaments create great leaders, and men. The difference is that the great leaders honour and protect the institution of democracy that they establish or inherit. Great leaders do not fiddle or tamper with constitutions to serve their needs and those of their parties. Great leaders govern in the interests of all their countrymen and women. Great leaders understand that the constitution of their country is the Magna Carta that limits their power and protects people's interests.
The reality of many countries in Africa today is that so-called leaders govern in their own interests. They neglect their constitutional imperatives, and prefer to have more power than the people. Serious questions must be asked about whether this is not also the case with the current government in South Africa.
In conclusion, Pan-Africanism cannot remain a curse. Great leaders of Africa must use dogmas like the African Renaissance to utilise and develop the window of opportunity. We as Africans are in the right place at the right time. Let us use it properly. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr D D GAMEDE
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Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 169
Mr K A SINCLAIR
Mr D D GAMEDE: Chairperson, I trust the Deputy Minister is feeling warmly welcome in this House. One African leader mentioned by the Deputy Minister, Kwame Nkrumah, in his book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism, said, and I quote:
We are Africans first and last, and as Africans our best interests can only be served by uniting within an African Community.
There was a similar quotation by the Deputy Minister, this time from a book with the title, The Resolution of African Conflicts: The Management of Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, edited by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza and Alfred Nhema, and I quote:
Any attempt to resolve conflict in Africa has to take into account the root causes of some of the current problems in Africa. The role of the external power has been cited as one of the main causes of African conflict.
I wish to add to this that with all of the problems that we have in South Africa we need to look at the root cause of the problems. Obviously it is apartheid, apartheid, apartheid.
Pan-Africanism is derived historically from the experience of slavery and colonialism, which led to Africans' uniting as a people with a common history and descent, both on the African continent and in the Diaspora.
This vision manifested itself in the form of a series of conferences on Pan-Africanism from 1900 to 1945. In 1900 a Pan-Africanist Conference was organised in London by the West Indian, Henry Sylvester Williams. This conference introduced the word "Pan-African" into the political lexicon of the struggles, internationally, of people of African descent. These Pan-African conferences convened continuously from 1900 until the fifth one in 1945. The Declaration to the Colonial Workers, Farmers and Intellectuals, adopted by the Fifth Pan-African Congress in 1945, signed off with the clarion call: "Colonial and subject peoples of the world - unite."
It was at these conferences that leaders of independent African states, like Kwame Nkrumah, at the time of the Gold Coast, which later became Ghana, and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, would be initiated into revolutionary politics and African nationalism. On the independence of Ghana in 1957, under the leadership Kwame Nkrumah, the Pan-African movement shifted to Africa, and would be led and driven by leaders of newly independent African states.
Pan-Africanism rested on four pillars: a sense of common historical experience; a sense of common descent and destiny; opposition to racial discrimination and colonialism; and a determination to create a new Africa.
For independent Africa Pan-Africanism had to be implemented. Two issues dominated: the unity of Africa, and the complete decolonisation of African processes.
The first objective was expressed through the immediate establishment of the Liberation Committee by the founding summit of 1963. The Organisation of African Unity, OAU, was formed in May 1963 to realise the objective of unity.
The second objective was expressed in the name of the Organisation of African Unity. The OAU identified the promotion of co-operation as one its objectives, but not much happened in the 1960s. This resulted in the notion of regional economic communities, RECs, as building blocs towards an African Economic Community, AEC. This gave birth to the Lagos Plan of Action, plus the Final Act of Lagos, the Abuja Treaty and the African Union recently.
The OAU transitioned into the AU, whose core focus is development, the eradication of conflicts on the continent, and the promotion of democracy.
A concept developed within the OAU in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which saw a dialectical link between development, peace and security - that dealing with Africa's development challenges goes hand in hand with the restoration of peace and security on the continent. This thinking led to the development in the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, and the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM. Today Nepad stands as a pillar for development.
In 1906 a former President of the ANC, Pixley ka Isaka Seme, delivered his famous lecture on the Regeneration of Africa. In October 1911 he made a clarion call for the unity of African people. Similarly, Nnamdi Azikiwe's Renascent Africa was in circulation from the 1930s. The idea was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop from 1946 on in his works that culminated in a book called Towards the African Renaissance: Essays in African Culture and Development, 1946-1960.
Six pillars that the ANC has in place in order for Africa to realise its renaissance are: a vision that will inspire and inform Africa's request for its renaissance; an organisation that will drive the implementation of this vision; a programme of action that will be a detailed and practicalised breakdown of the vision; renaissance-orientated leadership at the helm of renaissance organisational machinery; mass mobilisation and popular participation in the realisation of the renaissance; and international solidarity and support for Africa's renaissance efforts. The realisation of the African Renaissance requires a stream of mass mobilisation and civil society participation. The ANC remains committed to the African agenda.
The resolution of the 50th National Conference on international policy and priorities, which the Deputy Minister contributed to, committed the ANC to initiating "a process of developing a theoretical framework and strategy to give content to our vision of the African Renaissance".
This month marks Africa Day and this month it is 50 years since the "birth of Africa". Let us all be Africans. Let South Africa be part of Africa. It must not look as though because I come from KwaZulu-Natal I am not part of Africa, or if I come from the Western Cape I am not part of Africa – the whole country is part of Africa! [Interjections.] I thank you.
Mr J J GUNDA
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 169
Mr D D GAMEDE
Mr J J GUNDA: Thank you, hon Chairperson. Hon Deputy Minister, and all protocol observed, I believe we must speak the truth. We must stop beating around the bush. The challenge that we face in Africa is that leaders in Africa – not all of them, but most of them – lack character and don't want to take responsibility. That is why we can't solve the challenges. We can't have a challenge all the time! We must remove the challenge by reasoning, and by being men and women of character.
The ideology of Pan-Africanism is so excellent. If you read the definitions of Pan-Africanism and of African Renaissance, you will ask yourself the question: Why do we struggle to implement something that we do understand and grew up with? Why? Why do we struggle? We do not need to struggle with something that we understand. That is because we are Africans, and Africans are blessed people. Africans are people who can reason and Africans are people who know where they are going and what to do.
Let me just explain why I said we need leaders of character. Character is more than talk. Anyone can say a lot of things, but action is the real indicator of character. Your character determines who you are and what you do – that is why you can never separate a leader's character from his actions. Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. We have no control over a lot of things in life, but we do choose our character – we create it each time we make choices. Character brings lasting success with people; true leadership always involves others. Leaders cannot rise above the limitations of their character. Character will either limit or support a leader, depending on its strengths. It will always determine whether a leader finishes well.
We also need leaders who are responsible. We can only achieve our goals if we are responsible. A leader can delegate anything except responsibility. Leaders simply cannot give it away. They can model it, they can teach it and they can share it. However, in the words of the adage President Harry Truman used to quote, the buck stops with you as a leader, not with someone else! You can't shift leadership. You can't shift responsibility to someone else. As a leader, you must take responsibility. Responsibility is the ability to meet obligations, the act of being accountable, and a duty of trust. It's the ability to make and keep commitments.
So, all I want to say is that, as Africans, we must take responsibility for our actions. As leaders, we must show character. I thank you.
Ms M SCHEEPERS (Free State)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 170
Mr J J GUNDA
Ms M SCHEEPERS (Free State): Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister and hon members, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the OAU/AU we recall the wise words of the then president of Ghana and Pan-Africanist of note, Kwame Nkrumah, who, in his 1960 address to African freedom fighters, I Speak of Freedom: A Statement of African Ideology, stated, and I quote:
It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.
Africa is abundantly endowed with natural resources, yet continues to face the ravages of poverty, conflicts, diseases and inequality by reason of the absence of peace, stability and unity.
It is in this respect that South Africa has a duty to play a meaningful role in achieving what our forebears have mandated us to achieve. It is common cause that notwithstanding our own internal socio-economic challenges we must, as and when requested, through bilateral and multilateral fora, heed the call to maintain peace and stability in Africa, sometimes at the highest price! We salute the SA National Defence Force for their gallant peacekeeping efforts in the Central African Republic, in particular 1 Parachute Battalion from Tempe in Mangaung in the Free State, where I come from.
The AU has espoused the Africa Vision 2063, underpinned by the notion of a continent that is prosperous and at peace with herself. In a recent address at the Stakeholders' Consultative Conference on Women, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, stated, and I quote:
The African agenda for 2063 cannot be defined by governments alone; it must involve all of us – in every sector of society. All of us must have a say on the African dream into the next five decades. If we don't do that, the narrative from Africa will come from other people. It is critical that the narrative and agenda come from us; ...
In our pursuit of African advancement, we must recognise and embrace the role of the African Diaspora in shaping the African agenda. It is time that as a collective we strive for peace and unity amongst ourselves, and hold hands towards the African Renaissance.
As we discover ourselves in unity of purpose, through a common Vision 2063, we in Africa must manage our own resources and economy, and trade among ourselves for the prosperity of all. Africa, unite! It is only through unity that we can build stronger and more sustainable African economies, supported by real regional integration and cooperative trade and investment. For this to occur, Africa needs to focus its investment in human capital on rare skills to drive the much needed social and economic infrastructure, which is, telecommunications, transport and logistics, energy, water security, food and agriculture, human settlements, health and education.
It is in this spirit that Africa has endorsed the AU/Nepad African Action Plan 2010-2015 as its programme, which includes 80 flagship programmes, and projects for regional and continental integration.
Our success in Africa will depend on our collective ability to engage one another and forge strong partnerships to advance sustainable development for Africa and her citizenry.
We sound the clarion call by Marcus Garvey for Africa to unite towards a United States of Africa. I thank you.
Mr A J NYAMBI
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 171
Ms M SCHEEPERS (Free State)
Mr A J NYAMBI: Thank you, hon Chair and hon Deputy Minister. At times we are tempted to focus on other things when the topic is very clear. The Deputy Minister was very clear about this debate. Let us not forget that we are Africans.
I was surprised by the fact that the very same people who are here were pointing fingers. They are Members of Parliament, yet their organisations have never even had a single conference. How come they are even here? [Interjections.] They are saying that some African leaders are serving their own interests. How can they say that? What hypocrisy! [Laughter.]
It was said by the great philosopher, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, that:
An individual has not started living until he (or she) can rise above the narrow confines of his (or her) individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
I am optimistic that, if we try to unpack this further, it can assist us as hon members to have a common understanding, and it can go a long way in assisting people to do serious introspection.
When the former President of the ANC, Thabo Mbeki, declared in his speech on 8 May 1996, "I am an African", very few of us understood the preciseness, wealth, intensity, challenges and impact touched on in those four words. In his speech, the former President spoke about the question of African originality, civilisation, history, education, socialisation, perspective, interpretation, science, technology, and wisdom of uniqueness, but also interdependence with others, to name just a few. That is why, in my language we say, umuntfu ngumuntfu ngebantfu [a person is a person because of other people].
In essence, the former President challenged Africanists to engage in a debate on redefining and understanding themselves – who they are, where they come from and where they are going in this increasingly globalised world. This also applies to their way of life, education, state of mind, and an understanding of the world that is consistent and compatible with a clear African identity and in what way Africans are equal to others.
Those most affected by this notion are the African youth. This is because the youth are said to be the future of the nation, the future generation, and the bearers of memory, and thus the knowledge holders. The youth today are dominated by Western culture, especially American culture. Furthermore, there is the challenge of the shrinking globe, which is quickly becoming a global village dominated by American influences. This global village is at risk of operating under a monoculture, monoknowledge and monolanguage, at the risk of alienating the majority of the world's population.
The challenge in the 21st century is how populations will coexist as equals with diverse contexts in the world – with multiknowledge, multicultural and multilingual points of reference in the context of Africa. This is a basis for the advancement of the African Renaissance.
According to the study done by Nepad, there have never been as many Africans as there are now. The roughly 800 million young people in Africa represent untapped potential. Yet, they also face significant challenges regarding this diversity, and the renewal and rebirth of Africa. Today's youth need to understand that they are integral to the process of development across all sectors and fields of interests.
Yet, there are so many challenges that they face, amongst others, as mentioned by the Deputy Minister, HIV and Aids, unemployment, hunger, poverty and the dynamism of borrowed culture, all of which pose a challenge in our venture to renew our continent. We need to remind them that, together with the challenges they face, they also have the unique responsibility of expanding the existing vision of African rebirth and its renewal.
One of the ANC leaders, its former president Albert Luthuli, once said, and I quote:
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Today the youth may have ... [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: That is in the Bible.
Mr A J NYAMBI: You must also understand that he was a pastor.
Today the youth may have very different ideas, unlike those of their predecessors. A combination of the Bunting youth, the youth of 1960 to 1970, the youth of 1980 to 1990, and the older generation resulted in the final liberation of the entire African continent. This has ushered in a new challenge for the youth of today, who grow up and mature in an already established liberated political culture.
The youth need to move more by thinking and planning together, so that they may contribute to changing our continent so that it is liveable and there is quality of life. The time has arrived for the youth to claim the 21st century by advancing the African Renaissance. The role of the youth in advancing the African Renaissance is for them to take the responsibility to drive the survival of our African indigenous knowledge system and connect with their own culture and traditions, so that they promote, protect and innovate in such a way that they may relate to the world with multiknowledge, multicultural and multilingual points of reference imbedded in African knowledge.
In his recent speech the writer and poet, Wally Serote, said;
The call for African renewal, for an African Renaissance, is a call to rebellion. We must rebel against the tyrants and the dictators, those who seek to corrupt our societies and steal the wealth that belongs to the people. We must rebel against the ordinary criminals who murder, rape and rob, and conduct war against poverty, ignorance and backwardness of the children of Africa.
It is to this that we say without equivocation that to be a true African is to be a rebel in the cause of the African Renaissance, whose success in the new century and millennium is one of the great historical challenges of our time.
Allow me to conclude by quoting my favourite President of the African soil, the one who perished in our country South Africa, the late President of Mozambique, Samora Machel. He once said;
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle, the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is the time for vigorous and positive action.
I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim)
UNREVISED HANSARD
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Take: 171
Mr A J NYAMBI
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION (Mr E I Ebrahim): Thank you very much, Chairperson and hon members. I think we are here today to celebrate the success of our continent, and to say that we as a continent have made great strides from the time of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity up till the present moment. We made great strides in the fight against colonialism and imperialism. We are now seeing a different continent to the one we had in the past.
We find that democracy is taking root on our continent, with many, many countries having had successful democratic elections. Democratic institutions are being formed, despite the many challenges that the continent has. Many of the conflicts have been tackled and resolved in multilateral forums, like presently in the DRC, in Madagascar, and even in the Central African Republic.
Everybody accepts that Africa is now a growing and rising continent. Some years ago many in the West categorised Africa as a failed continent. I'm not sure whether Europe today, with all its political and economic crises, is not becoming a failed continent! Africa is a rising continent, and has been identified as the next growth point and the fastest growing continent. The continent with the fastest growing vision in the decades to come will be the continent of Africa. The continent of Africa is of tremendous interest to all countries internationally.
We still face a legacy of colonialism. We have optimistic views about Africa, which we share. There may be some people who may still have pessimistic views, but that is a carry-over of the colonial mentality. They do not see Africa developing and the positive character of our continent.
Africa has made great strides. We have established the African Union and one of our achievements has been to have a South African, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, there. She was the candidate to the AU of the Southern African Development Community, SADC. Her presence there is making a tremendous difference.
We face challenges of conflict, but with all these challenges I think Africa is still on the road to progress, and we need to celebrate the achievements of our continent. We can say that Africa is not a Dark Continent as the colonialists wanted us to believe. It's a rising continent and Africans are becoming prosperous.
Africa is developing both politically and economically. In its economic relationships as well, Africa seeks a partnership with the international community, a partnership that will benefit both Africa and the international community. Africa is struggling to find its place – it is fighting to find its place – as a continent and in multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and other institutions of international origin.
I thank the members who made contributions. Despite the cheap politicking here and there, I think all of us agree that we need to celebrate our rising continent, and be proud to say that we are Africans and that Africa is the future in the coming decades. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The Council adjourned at 17:43.
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