Hansard: NA + NCOP - Unrevised Hansard
House: Joint (NA + NCOP)
Date of Meeting: 15 Feb 2017
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Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
15 FEBRUARY 2017
PAGE 1 of 278 WEDNESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2017 ____
PROCEEDINGS AT JOINT SITTING ____
Members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces assembled in the Chamber of the National Assembly at 14:06.
The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly took the Chair.
The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation.
The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, and hon members, Mr President, in the state of the nation address you referred to continued uncertainty in the global economy. Nowhere is that more evident than in the arena of international trade. Not only does global trade growth continue to underperform even the insipid levels of global gross domestic product, GDP, growth, but a tsunami has struck the dominant paradigm that has shaped international trade negotiations over the past quarter century.
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In my contribution to this debate, I want to suggest what this might mean in terms of realigning our trade policy to the objectives of radical economic transformation. In the state of the nation address, the President defined radical economic transformation and I quote ―as fundamental change in the structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership in favour of all South Africans and black South Africans in particular‖. This might mean pursuing simultaneously fundamental change in the productive base of our economy and in the patterns of exclusion and exclusion within it.
It is common course not just in South Africa but throughout the continent that fundamental change in our productive base must include moving away from our dependence on the production and export of primary commodities by moving to more lucrative parts of value chains through industrialisation.
There is by now a significant body of writing from the school of what are called heterodox economists that has established the point that all countries that have become industrialized, without exception, have passed through a phase where they have nurtured, supported, defended and protected emerging industries.
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Later, as these industries became more competitive, the same countries moved to adopt more free trade stance, even to the point of wanting to deny to other latecomers access to the very same policy tools they themselves deployed to get to where they were.
This phenomenon was described first by the nineteenth century German economist, Friedrich List, as kicking away the ladder. We have seen much of that in the last quarter century. But it is important to recognize that historically those who had the courage to say thanks, but no thanks when receiving such advice were the ones that advanced.
For the past quarter century, global trade has operated within rules based framework developed through a system that can be styled hegemonic multilateralism. And its pinnacle has been the World Trade Organisation, WTO, established by the 1994 Marrakech Agreement and replacing the previous General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, GATT.
Many countries, including ours, have accepted that a multilateral rules-based system is desirable. It creates space for all of us, developed and developing countries alike, to participate in negotiating, binding and enforceable rules. But
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the reality in the WTO as in other multilateral bodies is that outcomes and ideas that became dominant were shaped by the power relations existing within them - meaning that the dominant industrialised economies called the shots, even if perhaps to a lesser extent than they were able to in the past.
Informed by an ideology variously described as neoliberalism or the Washington Consensus, this system drove an ambitious and unprecedented tariff reduction in the 1990s. One element of this was a one-size-fits-all narrative suggesting that ambitious trade liberalisation was as good for the poorer and weaker as it was for the richer and stronger. This resulted in a compression of differentiated obligations between rich and poor countries and a reduction in the policy space available to developing countries.
Driven by new digitised technologies, global trade expanded as global value chains emerged, albeit in an uneven manner and concentrated in a few regions. While some developing countries with robust and decidedly nonorthodox industrial policies, like China, were able to take advantage of greater market openings in the developed world, many others were persuaded, cajoled or obliged to cut tariffs and open up markets to an extent that,
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with the benefit of hindsight, moved too rapidly beyond our capacities.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, just hold on. Hon members, you are too loud. Please reduce your noise levels. Order, hon members! This is not ... Proceed, hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: South Africa was further disadvantaged by the fact that the apartheid regime declared in the GATT that ours was a developed country, although, through the leadership of President Nelson Mandela, who was not then yet President of the Republic, and the consultative national economic forum, we clawed back some valuable policy space in the auto and clothing section. In the implementation of the Uruguay Round in the 1990s, we were victims of a historical injustice that required us to cut industrial tariffs deeper and faster than many peer developing countries.
The new era we seem to be entering is being shaped by a major backlash against the paradigm that became hegemonic in the 1990s. Contrary to the expectations of some, the most visible form this has taken to date has been a right wing nationalistic populism in the developed world positing itself as antiglobalisation, and antifree trade.
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The social base of this is various strata of what are called the middle class that have seen jobs, economic security and living standards under threat. A number of studies have shown that these fears are indeed not unfounded. Many others, what Professor Joseph Stiglitz, called in a landmark study globalisation discontents, have been evident for years in both the developed and developing world, again with real concerns.
A rearguard action from defenders of the status quo has sought to shift the blame for the evident in equality and widening economic insecurity on to the technological changes associated with what is called the 4th industrial revolution. The introduction of technologies like robotics, 3-D printing, the internet of things, artificial intelligence and so on, all of which are predicted to bring about disruptive changes in the organisation of production across entire value chains.
But the real issue is that both the technological changes and trade liberalisation have occurred in the context of a visible absence of inclusive growth. Rather than seeing a widespread sharing of the benefits of technological advances, we have witnessed a mushrooming of winner-takes-all markets, with winners reaping huge rewards while others get little or nothing.
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Globalisation has meant that this phenomenon is increasingly defined on a world rather than national scale. All of this has widened inequality with the numbers of people at the top who own as much wealth as the bottom half of the world‘s population, now being recorded in a smaller double digit numbers year by year. Make no mistake, globalisation and the 4th industrial revolution are realities that could in other contexts deliver significant opportunities for improvements in the human condition. But, in the words of Nobel Laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, up to now, what we have had quote is a globalisation that works for the few and not for everybody.
To be sure there are many voices arguing that this crisis of the dominant paradigm needs to be a signal for an advance towards a more inclusive progressive multilateralism. A multilateralism characterized by real co-operation and solidarity. A multilateralism that is sensitive to the needs of the poorest, which recognises their need for policy space, and co-operates to prioritise the developmental challenges that continue to confront much of the world. Certainly that continues to be our vision and we will continue to do what we can to advance it.
At the same time, however, we need to be acutely aware that the political trends that are most likely in the immediate future to
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shape the trade landscape are something else. What is emerging in the developed world is a backlash with the potential to propel us from the hegemonic multilateralism, I described earlier, into a new era of outright mercantilism.
At its worst, this could see trade wars erupting between major economies whose repercussions will without doubt impact on us and throughout the world. At its most benign, we will almost inevitably see a more blatant pursuit by powerful economies of an openly partisan agenda seeking to prioritise the addressing of perceived disadvantages to themselves in multinational, regional and bilateral trade arrangements.
So how then should South Africa respond? As a small open economy, accounting for only half a percent of world trade, if we become overly protectionist, we risk being denied access to other markets on whom jobs and productive sectors in our country depend. If we break trade rules there will be consequences and we risk retaliation. But within those constraints, the emerging new circumstances call upon us to be more resolute, and indeed smart, in advancing and defending our own national interests.
This will include defending more vigorously our right to take tariff decisions based on our own needs and to deploy
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appropriate trade remedies. It will also mean paying careful attention to detail so that we clearly understand the implications of proposals emanating from others and have the courage to say no to those that would decommission or restrict important policy tools.
At a time when others are becoming more resolute in defending or advancing their national interests, we cannot afford not to be more resolute in defending our own, and when we do this while we also build coalitions and supportive grouping within similar countries in the same situation.
Fortunately, under your leadership, we have adopted a policy framework that has begun to move us in this direction. The Trade Policy adopted in 2012 identified tariffs as tools of industrial development. It said trade policy is subordinate to industrial policy and must be informed by the needs of industrial development. It said we must utilise and defend policy space that allows us to localise and pursue transformation. It says we must not hesitate to defend and use trade remedies and access dispute bodies when we are being unfairly treated.
The resoluteness and vigilance I am talking of, to give a current example, means recognising that when trade partners or
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domestic importers, tell us that problems in our poultry industry are due to competitiveness challenges, their point of departure is not a desire to improve performance of our industry but to persuade us not to take steps to reduce their imports. In this case, yes, there are issues of competitiveness and inclusion and it is for that reason that we have established a government-industry task team to address a wide range of matters in the sector. But we must also recognise that if we don‘t act against the surge of imports which is currently confronting the industry, we might not have an industry to raise the competitiveness thereof.
The fact is that there are serious structural distortions in the global market for poultry products. Consumers in the developed world eat more white meat, breast meat. This means that poultry producing developed countries have a surplus of brown meat, wings, legs, etc which are called in the trade bone in portions. This they cannot sell in their own domestic markets and their best option is to sell them at a price just above marginal cost in the developing world.
We need to learn the lessons from the experience of other countries like Cameroon and Ivory Coast that were required to
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open up their markets to imports of these products during structural adjustment programmes.
Cameroon lost 92% of its poultry industry and 110 000 rural jobs between 1999 and 2004, while 1 500 enterprises employing 15 000 workers closed shop in the Ivory Coast.
We also need to be clear as a country that localization is an imperative. Everyone is using this policy tool in one form or another, even those that preach against it. We must therefore remain steadfast in not signing the WTO‘s Optional Protocol on Transparency in Government Procurement - innocent sounding name, but if we did, we would have to open up government procurement to all other state signatories on a nondiscriminatory basis and thereby disable procurement as the tool of local development and radical economic transformation which the President referred to in state of the nation address.
Likewise, we must politely but firmly say no, as we have done, when proposals are put forward for further WTO disciplines on procurement. For similar reasons, we must resist the entreaties of our friends to sign the Environmental Goods Agreement. If we did we would hobble the local industrial development potential of the rollout of renewable energy.
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In the state of the nation address, the President outlined a number of the trade arrangements we are working on or are in place. Our overriding priority is to work to promote African regional integration. More precisely, it is to pursue a broadening of integration across existing regional communities within a developmental paradigm.
Practically, this means taking steps to enlarge the free trade areas existing in Southern African Development Community, SADC, and other regional economic communities into larger and more expansive free trade areas, FTAs, but also to complement this with active co-operation to address infrastructure and real economic constraints. The aim of this is to promote more intraAfrican trade and support industrialisation through the creation of large regional markets that can support the development of regional value chains.
This approach is wholly compatible with trends in successful emerging economies. Countries like, India and China are now turning to building their domestic markets as the basis to expand their productive capabilities and move up the value chain. The problem we have in emulating them is that colonialism divided Africa into 54 separate countries.
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The Tripartite SADC-Comesa-East African community, FTA, will create a large market of 26 countries with a population of 625 million and a combined GDP of 1,6 trillion. The continental FTA, will create a market of 1 billion people and a combined GDP of over 2 trillion. These integration processes will put the continent on a sustainable developmental trajectory.
While we have been involved in the Tripartite FTA process for rather longer than initially expected, I am pleased to be able to indicate that significant milestones are being reached. The framework agreement is in place and will be presented to Parliament in the second half of this year.
The more commercially meaningful tariff negotiations between us and our partners in SACU and the East African Community, EAC, are quite advanced and we aim to conclude these well before the end of the year. Progress has also been achieved in the tariff negotiations with Egypt and not fall behind the process with the EAC.
The TFTA is a building block for the Continental FTA, it is envisaged that the key deliverable of the CFTA this year will be the legal framework. Next month, as you mentioned Mr President, SADC will hold a Special Summit to consider and hopefully adopt
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its regional industrial strategy, building on the framework adopted at an earlier summit last year.
We as South Africa have put a lot of effort into ensuring that we have a credible, implementable cost action plan that can give real meaning to the third pillar of our developmental regional integration approach co-operating to promote industrial development.
The African market is very important for South African producers, particularly those producing value added products. Almost 29% of our merchandise exports in 2015 were sold in other African countries. We are also involved across the continent as investors and providers of services.
While we need to continue to pursue all opportunities for mutually beneficial trade investment with other countries on the continent, we need also to prepare to move into other places in regional value chains, particularly as other countries industrialise and seek to enter space currently occupied by our products.
We have established a new division in the DTI called, Invest and Trade Africa, which will look at ways in which investment-led
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trade can move us into new supplier arrangements as we cooperate with other countries to promote widespread developmental integration and industrialisation.
There is now also a voluntary code of conduct for South African companies operating elsewhere on the continent, to assist in positioning ourselves as a real partner in development. That code I can report was extremely well received at the AU trade week held in Addis Ababa late last year and I encourage companies operating elsewhere on the continent to seriously consider integrating it into their value proposition.
Beyond our priority in promoting African regional integration, we have been judicious in our pursuit of trade agreements elsewhere, whilst actively looking to promote concrete trade investment opportunities in a large number of the emerging and fast growing economies across the world.
I won‘t have time to cover all of them and I will put the longer paper on the website, but I just want to mention two. We are actively engaged to preserve our access to the US-Africa Growth and Opportunity Act in the run up to the US Congress‘ decision to renew that arrangement for ten years in September 2015. African Growth and Opportunity Act, Agoa, is not a trade
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agreement as such, but a unilateral set of preferences granted to a list of African countries by the US.
While we had to pay a price in the form of a limited opening up of the South African market for US meat products as long as we remain in Agoa, our inclusion until 2025 is enshrined in an Act of congress. That Act does provide for reviews by the executive, but any recommendations would have to be approved by congress. We look forward to participating in the next Agoa ministerial forum in Togo later this year, at which we will have an opportunity to hear perspectives of the New Year‘s administration and we will report back to Parliament and the country on any further developments.
As the UK government prepares to trigger exit negotiations from the EU, we need to prepare for a new trade arrangement with the UK. We have engaged the UK government and reached an in principle understanding that there will be no damage to existing trade and investment. These relations must be preserved and indeed we some possible advantages not least from the fact that the UK is less restrictive on sanitary and phytosanitary matters in the agricultural sphere.
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We also agree that the legal commitments under the EPA with the EU, including the UK, will continue to be the basis for our bilateral trade in the immediate future and that those commitments would be carried over into any new arrangement we reach in the future. We will have continue to pay particular attention to matter of quotas, because the economic partnership agreement provides for a number of quotas on agricultural products and this we will have to negotiate with the UK before at least the EU to avoid any damage to current trade.
On the WTO we are working with our partners on preparations for the eleventh ministerial conference in Buenos Aires. In the longer paper I lamented on the fact that we have had a very sharp move away from a promise of a developmental round held out in Doha, in 2001.
What we are seeing now is an exorable push by the larger economies to move away from the commitments to reform agriculture trade to the advantage of developing countries in favour of the list of 21 century issues that they themselves have put forward. One of those, which there is a big push is for us to mandate the negotiations of tax base rules on e-commerce.
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Electronic commerce is indeed a real issue but we caution that we don‘t need to rush into the definition of trade rules on this.
According to a 2015 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, report, the unevenness in digital trade is striking. In business to business e-commerce, by far the largest form of e-trade, four countries account for 80% of e-commerce.
While Business to Consumer e-commerce is much smaller, and appears to be growing faster, again, the regional shares vary considerably with the Middle East and Africa together accounting for over 2,5%.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, your time has expired.
The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: If these figures approximate reality, they underscore the scope and depth of the digital divide ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister? The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: ... and we will be working to try to adapt a developmental approach on this issue. Thank you very much.
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Mr M S MALATSI: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Minister Davies, you definitely don‘t need a new stylist; you just need a new speech writer. Hon members, let me start by condemning the inhuman living conditions of farmworkers all of the country. We also condemn the senseless murders of farmers, including the family of four that was brutally murdered in Mpumalanga yesterday. Both of these incidents don‘t have a place in our democracy.
However, we live in the era of false prophets and pastors. If they are not tricking people into eating grass, they are misleading congregants into using Doom to receive blessings. One such prophet was on this podium last week, preaching the gospel of deception. Mr Zuma is the modern-day prophet Hananiah whom we were warned about in the Book of Jeremiah. Every year, he comes to this podium with a new scripture of false promises that he fails to fulfil. And just like the false prophet Hananiah who lied to the people of Judah that he was sent by the Lord to conquer Nebuchadnezzar, he is the master of deceit just like you.
It is only false prophets like Mr Zuma who arrogantly tell religious leaders to stay out of politics, ignoring the contribution that they did to liberate this country. [Interjectionss.]
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Point of order!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I rise on Rule 14(l). Deputy Speaker, when the Minister was speaking, you made the House go quiet so that we have to listen to him. [Interjections.] You are allowing the House to make a lot of noise. In addition, the member behind the pillar there, from the ANC, is repeatedly shouting, ―Sell-out‖ when the member in the podium is speaking!
She has been warned about this before and I am not going to allow our members to again be subjected to being called ‗straat maids‘, being told to f-off and called dogs under your watch. I ask that she would withdraw the word, ―Sell-out‖, and that you afford our speakers the same courtesy you have afforded to Minister Davies. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, you must give us an opportunity to preside over the House and call on members ... [Interjections.] ... and call on members - to be orderly. You don‘t have to push that down our throats, please. [Interjections.] Hon member, I have warned you before that you must not scream. I will not tolerate it. If you do it again, it
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is not going to be nice. Hon members, there has to be order in the House. Let‘s not degenerate these proceedings. Who has been screaming, ―Sell-out‖ to anyone here? Which hon member is that? [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, it is hon Manaba at the back, right in front of the pillar over there.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon who?
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Hon Manaba; the lady there in the corner, next to the gentleman who is gesturing now. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Mlaba, please rise! Please rise! [Interjections.] Hon Mlaba, rise! [Interjections.] Whoever said this, please rise. Let‘s hear.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, it is the hon member in front of the marble pillar there. It is the same member who has been warned about this repeatedly in the House. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, what are you addressing me on? Yes! [Interjections.] Please sort out the sound system. Hon members, please be quiet.
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Mr B A RADEBE: Hon Deputy Speaker, I am rising on a point of order that: The opposition is forcing you to rule on the issue of, ―Sell-out‖. Last year, the Leader of the Opposition called ANC members sell-outs here and there was no Ruling around that. So, we cannot have a new Ruling today, please!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member. No, no, no, no! Hon member, I am going to request that the Whips attend to this matter. Hon member, if you do not rise and you do not acknowledge this, it makes it very difficult for us. I do wish to appeal to you not to use language that is unparliamentary. Sections 82 and 84 are explicit about that. If we do find that you have done it, hon members, we will come back to you. You are just making it difficult for the House to run. Hon Malatsi, please proceed. [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, with respect: I have told you exactly who the member was and I said it. It is hon Manana at the back. She must stand up and you must ask her if she said it or not.
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you heard me say that. You heard me say that. [Interjections.] Hon members, you heard me say that, and what happened? What happened? [Interjections.] Hon Malatsi, proceed; we will attend to this matter.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker! Deputy Speaker! With respect: When members of the opposition ignore the instructions of Presiding Officers, you call on the ‗white shirts‘ and then they are chucked out. Why is it acceptable for an ANC member to behave like that and defy your instruction? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, I asked you who it was, I called the name, and the name had not responded to what I said. [Interjections.] Which member is that? [Interjections.] Which member is that? [Interjections.] Hon Oliphant? [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: |Deputy Speaker, we won‘t respond to your instructions if you carry ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Take your seat! Take your seat! Hon Oliphant!
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The DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINERAL RESOURCES: Deputy Speaker, I am afraid, the Chief Whip of the DA is degrading the House ... [Interjections.] ... and you are allowing it. Because he is imposing himself; he is disrupting the House; and he is standing up without being recognised. They are shouting at the Presiding Officer and they think that we should sit here and just look at them. Shall we go through with the proceedings of the House because you have ruled on such? Thank you very much.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members ...
Mohlomphehi Malatsi, ke kopa o tswele pele ntate o bue; re se re qetile ka taba ena. Ke buile ka yona; ha ke sa kgutlela morao. Tswela pele Morena! (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Hon Malatsi, please continue with your speech; we have already dealt with this matter; I have addressed it, I am not going back to it. Please continue, sir!]
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker, may I address you?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you rising on?
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Mr M WATERS: Thank you. If I may assist you: At the row at the back, by the door, there is a lady with a yellow jacket. Do you see that lady? Did you see the lady, with glasses – yellow jacket?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes!
Mr M WATERS: Then there is a gentleman next to her. You see that gentleman?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes!
Mr M WATERS: Then there is a lady next to him. That‘s the member who called the hon Malatsi a sell-out. Now, Deputy Speaker, we had Rulings in this House by the ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, I have spoken on this matter. We are going to come back to it because I have requested that this matter be attended to by the Rules Committee. I have ruled on this. If you want to keep going back, you are taking us back. Mr M WATERS: But, Deputy Speaker, who is actually in charge here: You or the ANC members? [Interjections.] clarity?
Can I get some
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: If you think I‘m in charge ... [Interjections.] If I‘m in charge, then you will obey what I have said you should do. [Interjections.] Take a seat hon Waters.
Mr M WATERS: Ooh, why don‘t ANC members obey you? [Interjections.] Why don‘t the ANC members obey you? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member take a seat! [Interjections.] Take your seat member
Mr M WATERS: Who is in charge? [Interjections.] Well, certainly not you!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Take your seat! Hon Cronin, what are you rising on?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Hon Deputy Speaker, in addition to the matters, we are winding ourselves up unnecessarily. I think it is very important also to determine whether use of a word like ‗sell-out‘ is unparliamentarily. We cannot cripple debate in this Parliament by making everything unparliamentary. There is nothing wrong surely with saying
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someone is a sell-out. I have been accused of being a sell-out plenty of times in this Parliament and I have not regarded it as unparliamentary. I have regarded it as inaccurate. So, I think we must be very careful of not limiting the robust debate that necessarily occurs in a Parliament by assuming that the word sell-out is unparliamentary.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, I wish to ... [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you rising on, hon member? The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: On Rule 14(p), if I may!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: That Ruling has been made several times in the House, that ‗sell-out‘ is not regarded as parliamentary. Now, last year, the hon Robinson got chucked out for saying ―JZ783‖! So, I think the hon Cronin must understand that there can‘t be two sets of Rules in this House: For the opposition; and another set of Rules for the ANC. If you are going to allow that member to ignore you and just remain seated
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when you‘ve asked them to stand, then what does it say about your authority in this House?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member ... Hon Steenhuisen, not only have I ruled; I have also ruled that we will come back to this matter. You have no right to keep ... [Interjections.] You have no right to keep coming back at me on this matter.
Mohlompehi Malatsi, tswela pele Morena. Re mametse taba tsa hao jwale. [Hon Malatsi, please continue, sir. We are listening to you now.]
Mr M S MALATSI: Deputy Speaker, the hon Manana is a professional troll. Her greatest achievement is being a backbencher! [Applause.] But, I would like to remind Mr Zuma just like the false prophet Hananiah did: The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded the nation to trust in lies. Hon members, as my leader, Mr Maimane, said last week, ―It is deeply unjust that millions of black people remain dispossessed of the land where they were forcefully removed.‖
Those forceful land dispossessions are not just apartheid scars. They represent lingering wounds that will make it difficult for all of us to live the dream of reconciliation. From generation
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to generation, many of us whose ancestors‘ land was dispossessed are overloaded with the heavy burden of the bruised dignity of our people. [Interjections.]
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Why are you sleeping with the enemy?
Mr M S MALATSI: Our grandparents are tenants on the land of their birth. Many young people are now squatters on the land of our ancestors. They don‘t have title deeds to affirm ownership of the properties they live in, and none of us are landlords on the land that was unfairly taken from them. This is a lost generation that Mr Zuma‘s government has created.
And, let us be clear: It is not ‗white monopoly capital,‘ or a ‗third force,‘ or some fictional ‗counter-revolutionary‘ that has perpetuated this. It is the ANC‘s clumsy approach to land restitution that has done so. One such example is the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act of 2014 that was declared, ―Invalid,‖ by the Constitutional Court due to lack of, ―Proper consultation,‖ as Mr Zuma said in his address to the extended ANC caucus in this House.
What Mr Zuma didn‘t tell the House though is that the DA was one of the first parties to raise its concerns about the validity of
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the public process of the Bill. Yet, once again, the ANC used its majority to defy sanity by bulldozing the Bill through parliamentary processes. So, while Parliament will now need additional resources and additional time to correct yet another ANC error, land restitution continues to move at a tortoise pace.
If you scrutinise every land restitution settlement in the country, you will find one common factor: That common factor is that there is an ANC cadre at the centre of robbing the real beneficiaries. The most recent one is Minister Nkwinti, here, who has abused his position to facilitate the transfer of the Bekendvlei farm to his cadres at Luthuli House. This is despite the fact that all of them have neither any ancestral claim to the land nor experience in agriculture.
The ANC would rather put friends first, then young people, and South Africans last. Now, we have the ANC lamenting the fact that many beneficiaries prefer cash instead of land. However, many do so ... [Interjections.]
Mr B A RADEBE: Hon Deputy Chair!
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Malatsi, please take your seat. Yes, hon member!
Mr B A RADEBE: It by convention in this Parliament that when you raise an issue about a member, it must come through a substantive motion. So, hon Nkwinti has just said yesterday that this issue which hon Malatsi is alluding to was referred to the Public Protector. I think that you must protect the hon Minister. Thank you!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That‘s correct!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker! [Interjections.] Deputy Speaker, before you rule, can I ask: What Rule is the member referring to?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member! Hon Malatsi, any ... [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, may I address you before you rule? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, let me rule!
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, there are conventions in this House that we have Rules. Like, when you call a member to stand up and apologise: They do so; and listen to your authority. That convention is being thrown out the window, and so is this one. We do not recognise you as a Chair! [Applause.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, you ... [Interjections.] Hon Malatsi!
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Point of order!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no! Hon member, you are ... [Interjections.] Hon member! [Interjections.] Yes, what are you rising on?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Hon Deputy Speaker, I rise in accordance with Rule 14(g), to say that the utterance of the member of the opposition is actually in contempt of the authority of the Chair, and I want you to rule on it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Malatsi! [Interjections.] Hon Malatsi, raising issues that imputes on another member of the House need to be done appropriately. In what you said about the Minister
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Nkwinti, you impute wrong motives. Can we have you withdraw that?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, please, may I understand what Rule in the Rule Book you are relying on? I think you are confusing the National Assembly Rules with the Joint Rules that you should be applying in a Joint Sitting. That is the Rule of the National Assembly; it is not a Rule of the Joint Sitting!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, the principle behind that Rule applies to the Joint Rules. [Interjections.] The principle applied is the same! [Interjections.] Hon member, proceed; react! [Interjections.] Yes, hon member, what are you rising on?
Point of Order: The MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Deputy Speaker, I wanted to actually rise on the matter you have just ruled on. You have been asked what rule we are referring to, in terms of the Joint Rules; the rule you are referring to is Rule 12 in the Joint Rules on Discipline, specifically Rule 12 (a). Thank you.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, hon member!
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order, Rule 12 applies to discipline. It is not for the rules of debate. There are two schedules to the rules: one is about the rules of the debate and another one is about the rules of discipline; and it refers to you as the authority to discipline members of the NA. Perhaps, the hon member has been here for too long and she has forgotten.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Malatsi, I request that you please proceed. Hon Malatsi, I‘m requesting you, sir please to withdraw. Hon Malatsi, I requested you to withdraw your wrong impute.
Mr M S MALATSI: Awungazi, ungangiphapheli. [You do not know me, do not take me for granted.]
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker, the ANC member did not withdraw the word sell-out, why are you requesting hon Malatsi to withdraw; is it because he is from the DA, not the ANC?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you did say you don‘t recognise the Chair. The Chair will not recognise you too. [Laughter.] [Applause.] Hon Malatsi, please withdraw. Hon member, we should not impute improper motives on other members or cast aspersions
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on their integrity as members; or verbally abuse them. Hon member, I have requested you to withdraw. If you do not, that‘s your choice hon member. You do have a choice, proceed.
Mr M S MALATSI: Many do so because the ANC government fails to provide assistance ... [Interjection.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you can‘t proceed without reacting to my request to you.
Mr M S MALATSI: I am having a choice.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, what is your choice? I must know your choice.
Mr M S MALATSI: I‘m not withdrawing.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are not withdrawing.
Mr M S MALATSI: Yes.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Then hon member I‗m afraid you can‘t proceed without withdrawing. [Applause.]
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, I‘m of the view that you are now acting and disobeying the ruling of the Chair. How do you intent to proceed?
Ms S P KOPANE: On a Point of Order, Chair!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member!
AN HON MEMBER: Manana must withdraw first.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, you know what the question is, you answer it.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, may I ask you to please consider this later like you have agreed to do with hon Manana; [Interjections.] [Laughter.] ... because, I would really ask that you consult with the National Assembly Table before making this ruling. The Speaker threw out one of our members, last week for saying something that she was regarded as unparliamentary, which clearly was not unparliamentary.
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These allegations were on the front page of the Sunday newspapers. You cannot tell me that the newspapers have more freedom of speech in this House than Members of this Parliament. This has been widely distributed in the public domain; and I think that you are restricting a member‘s right to debate and his freedom of speech in this House; and you are treading on dangerous ground, as usual.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Alright, hon member. Hon member, when the Constitution says that: when the House conducts its affairs it must be mindful of its provisions that it too has a right to run its own affairs. The rules and the Constitution guide this.
The rules that require us to act with discipline, with order and with respect to one another, are our rules, hon members. They are not mine. They are the House rules and when we request you to obey them, let‘s do that. Hon member, I request that you, because you said it in front of me and I heard you - I request that you withdraw that, if you want to proceed with your debate.
Mr M S MALATSI: Can I have a question.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw, hon member. No, withdraw.
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Mr M S MALATSI: Okay. ―Ke a busetsa morao.‖ Many do so because the ANC government ... [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, may I be recognised, please. I would like to request that your ruling is referred to the Rules Committee ... [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, please proceed.
Mr S G RADEBE: Hon Deputy Speaker, in terms of the Joint Ruling 14(g). You instructed the member to withdraw, if the member refuses to withdraw, in terms of the Joint Rules 14(g) the member must go out of the House.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, you are out of order. Yes, hon member what are you rising on?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Hon Deputy Speaker, on a point of order, I think the practice ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, the member has withdrawn. Yes, hon member, what are you rising on?
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The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Hon Deputy Speaker, it seems as if Chief Whip of the Opposition has the authority to stand up and interject whenever he pleases. It seems as if he is entitled to be belligerent and boorish in terms of how he speaks to people. It seems as if he has the unfettered authority to undermine ... [Interjection.] And that is precisely what they are doing now. They are not allowing ... [Interjection.]
Mr M WATERS: What is your Point of Order?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: The Point of Order is ... [Interjection.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, take your seat. Mr M WATERS: What is the Point of Order?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Hon Deputy Speaker!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am listening. Take your seat.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: Hon Deputy Speaker that is precisely this.
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Mr M WATERS: What Rule? What Rule? What rule are you standing on?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members! Hon Waters, don‘t do that.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: When members are seeking authority of the Chair, which is precisely what they are trying to do, is to undermine and subvert the authority of the Chair. The Point of Order that I raise, hon Deputy Speaker, is that you have the authority ... [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker! Which rule is the Deputy Minister standing on? What rule is he standing on?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are doing it again, okay. What rule are you standing on?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I‘m asking you what he is standing on?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What rule are you standing on?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Rule 1(g)
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, take your seat.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: He is standing on ... [Interjection.]
AN HON MEMBER: Thoko, please!
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION: He is standing without any authority, any knowledge or any respect for the decorum of... [Interjection.] The Point of Order that I make, hon Deputy Speaker, is that the authority under discretion vested in you as a Chairperson and a Presiding Officer cannot be undermined by any member and you have the unfettered discretion of basically accepting that right. [Interjection.] I ask you therefore that you do so.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, the requirements are that you mention the rule or the principle you are addressing. Hon members; lets proceed. Hon member, proceed.
Mr M S MALATSI: So, today we have the ANC lamenting the fact that many beneficiaries prefer cash instead of land. However, many do so because the ANC government fails to provide consistent after settlement support to beneficiaries to enable
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them to make productive use and sustainable agricultural use of the land.
Once again, it is not white monopoly capital. It is not a third force, hon member and it is not counter-revolutionaries that do this. It is the ANC. It is you who continues to inflict assault on the dignity of our people through your mishandling of land reform.
Hon members, it makes no sense whatsoever why beneficiaries of government housing have to wait for long periods to get their title deeds once they have been handed their houses. These delays in giving them title deeds prolong their stay in poverty when they could be leveraging their properties for economic prosperity.
This is why where the DA governs we prioritize the speedy handover of title deeds to empower our people. This is why the City of Cape Town has handed over more title deeds than any other Metro between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years. [Applause.] And this is why Cape Town has eradicated the backlog of historic title deeds for transfer to residents in Nyanga, Langa and Gugulethu.
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So, while Mr Zuma and his family are secure in comfort through the proceeds of corruption, millions of young South African are insecure in the discomfort of poverty. It is these young people who are the lost generation that will vote the ANC out of office in 2019. To the ANC service delivery is a once-off showboating crusade to seduce voters.
Every time there are elections and by-elections, the ANC municipalities ... [Interjection.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Malatsi, ―Mohlomphehi‖ take your seat please. What are you rising on hon member?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Speaker, I‘m rising on a Point of Order that a member is making serious allegation that the President is benefitting on corruption; and I think it is unparliamentary; therefore it had to be ruled out of order. It cannot be, it cannot be. It is not allowed. It is unparliamentary.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, thank you. Hon member, confirm that, is it what you said?
Mr M S MALATSI: I said allegedly, allegedly.
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, we have in the past made the following rulings in the House, and I‘m just going back to the same thing: Accusations against a member or personal reflection on a member‘s integrity are equally offensive and damaging if they are made by way of inference, by way of hypothesis, through a quotation by being posed as a question or by utilising other figures of speech or literally devices. It is inappropriate to cast aspersions on any one, hon member, and if you did so we request you to withdraw.
Mr M S MALATSI: With due respect, Deputy Speaker, I didn‘t. I just read this as a time delaying tactics to disrupt my speech? I didn‘t.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you saying, hon member?
Mr M S MALATSI: I said the Points of Order are just time delaying tactics to interrupt my speech. I didn‘t. I didn‘t impure his dignity or said anything that hasn‘t been said in this House. I didn‘t.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, what are you rising on hon member?
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Mr X MABASA: according to Rule 14(g) once a member is directed by the presiding Speaker on what to do the member has to oblige.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members! Hon member, I have indicated my request to you. Hon member, we will look at Hansard and we will comeback to you. The ruling will stand. Hon members, I do warn you from the podium or from the sides, if you continue in the way in which you are doing, we will have to review our attitude towards allowing any of that without recourse. It is appropriate that we follow the rules and not pretend we don‘t know what they are and what they say. Proceed, hon member.
Mr M S MALATSI: However, as soon as the elections are over, service delivery returns to its unpredictable state. The ANC provides factional services delivery. Those who didn‗t vote for them are punished for voting for the opposition.
Where the DA governs service delivery is not a tool for bipartisanship. It is an instrument to restore and sustain the dignity of our people throughout our term of office.
Where the ANC governs, they do so with hubris because they don‘t respect voters. It is the same hubris that Mr Zuma‘s false prophecy that the ANC will govern until Jesus comes.
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Where the DA governs we do so with the humility that an opportunity to govern is a privilege of the highest order to serve our people. Where we govern we do so with the compassion of a caring government, unlike the ANC that refuses a mere moment of silence to commemorate the tragic loss of 94 lives that were killed under an ANC government.
Where the DA governs we condemn corruption wherever it happens. We punish its perpetrators. And we don‘t victimize whistleblowers. Where the ANC governs they protect corrupt cadres. Some are even elevated to Parliament and they are on these benches.
However, hon Speaker, even if no government is perfect nor will it ever be, any government that respects the oath of public service will acknowledge its wrongdoings where they exist. It will apologize for its misdeeds and it will self-correct all the time.
Where the DA governs we try to live up to these ideals all the time. And while the ANC can try its misfiring attempts to destabilize the DA governments in the Metros, you will never succeed against the will of the people. You tried to unsettle
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the DA government in the Western Cape through Operation Reclaim, and you failed.
You tried to take over Midvaal through an illegal merge with the Emfuleni municipality, and you failed. You keep trying to abuse the powers of national governments to frustrate the DA governments, and still you fail. You are the most consistent failures who try to disrupt the DA governments. [Applause.]
And it is because you will never, ever stop an idea whose time has come. And this is the time voters have chosen for the DA to govern. We are governing in Cape Town. We are governing in Midvaal. We are governing in Tshwane. We are governing in Nelson Mandela Bay and we are governing in Johannesburg. Whether you like it or not, we are governing there. [Applause.]
So, not even the doomed gospel of the ANC‘s false prophets will stop us from taking over the Union Buildings in 2019. Because, the time that the voters have chosen. No matter how many times you try to use the power of might; it can never win over right because evil never conquers good deal. The time has come where voters have realised the misdeeds of the ANC government and they said, ―Sizwile ngani.‖ This is the time for the DA to govern. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
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Dr P J GROENEWALD: Adjunkspeaker, ‘n mens vra jouself die vraag af: Wat is die boodskap wat die mense van Suid-Afrika kry as hulle na hierdie debatte kyk?
Hierdie is die raadsale waar die wette van die land gemaak word – die wette wat ons verwag die kiesers van Suid-Afrika moet gehoorsaam. Wat is die boodskap wat die kiesers kry as hulle gaan kyk na die opening van die Parlement en hierdie debat en sien dat geskille en verskille opgelos word deur op mekaar te skree, op mekaar te vloek, en om met geweld verwyder te word? Is dit dan verbasend dat ‘n mens soms skaam is om te sê jy is ‘n parlementslid? Ek wil vandag vir die mense van Suid-Afrika sê dat ek om verskoning vra vir die gedrag van sommige parlementslede. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Dr P J GROENEWALD: Deputy Speaker, one always asks the question of oneself: What is the message that the people of South Africa get when they look at these debates?
These are the assemblies where the laws of the land are made – the laws that we expect the voters of South Africa to obey. What is the message that the voters get when they look at the opening of Parliament and see that disputes and differences are resolved by people who shout at one another, who swear at one another and
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who are removed violently? It is not surprising, then, that one is often ashamed to admit that one is a member of Parliament. Today I want to say to the people of South Africa that I am apologising for the conduct of certain members of Parliament.]
The Minister in the Presidency said that we have to find our moral compass. I agree. However, who is the needle of the moral compass? The needle of this moral compass is none other than the number one citizen of South Africa, the President, Mr Zuma. So, at least it is an admission that the President has lost his moral compass. Hon President, if you break the Constitution, and you only have to stand before the people of South Africa and say, ―I apologise‖, how can you expect the people of South Africa to abide by the laws of the country?
If they contravene the laws of the country, they can then stand up and say, ―I apologise‖. That is why we have the crime rates that we do in South Africa. You are the person who is supposed to set the example. Are you then surprised when you see that some people show the people of South Africa that, if you have the right connections, you can bring in private people in a private jet from outside the country and land it at a military base? You should just ensure you have the right connections. Are you then surprised, hon President, that people say they can do
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what they want and wish to do as long as they have the right connections? The needle of the moral compass is indeed wrong, and you have to take full responsibility for that, hon President. You are the root cause of what we are experiencing in South Africa. [Interjections.]
If I refer to your policy of radical socioeconomic transformation, you repeated what the ANC said at its lekgotla – that you want to replace a capitalist economy with a state-run developmental economy. [Interjections.] What does that mean? We have to go and look at your track record because what you are actually saying if you want that type of state-run economy ... what have you done to the public enterprises? Government is in control of those public enterprises. What happened to the SAA?
Mr H P CHAUKE: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker ...
Dr P J GROENEWALD: What happened to SA Express? What happened to Eskom? I can tell you, hon President, if that is to happen, the economy will be bankrupt.
Mr B A RADEBE: There‘s a point of order.
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, what is your point of order?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Will the member take a question?
Dr P J GROENEWALD: Deputy Speaker, I have only five minutes. I cannot waste time on questions. [Interjections.] What I want to say to the hon the President is the following: If you want economic growth in order to create jobs, place a moratorium on black economic empowerment and affirmative action. [Interjections.] Then you will get it right.
Lastly, hon President, what do you have against white people in South Africa? [Interjections.] Every time something goes wrong, you blame the white people of South Africa. [Interjections.] You are using the white people as a smokescreen to hide your own inadequacy and incompetence. That is what you are doing.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: On a point of order ...
Dr P J GROENEWALD: You must say where you stand with the white people of South Africa! [Interjections.] Are you then surprised to have 11 people murdered on farms this month alone? When someone says anything about it, the reaction is ―ag, shame‖. I say it is a shame ...
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, your time has expired!
Dr P J GROENEWALD: ... and you should stop misusing white people to mask your inability.
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order, before he leaves: When you stereotype a person as a racist, it is unparliamentary. Basically, that member has said that the President hates the whites. It is a racist statement. Please deal with that. [Interjections.] Also, on Joint Rule 14P, this is unbecoming, unparliamentary language. Would you please rule on that?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, I will come back to the language I heard the hon member use. We will confirm it in the Hansard and go back to it. The hon member‘s time has expired, and, for that reason, I will come back.
Dr P J GROENEWALD: Deputy Speaker, I can assist you. What is the allegation? I can tell you what I said. I am not afraid of what I‘ve said. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, this is the problem. You see, you rise without invitation. Hon members, can we do this? Time
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is allocated for this process, and we need to act accurately and firmly on these things. Hon member, I don‘t want members to repeat language that may amount to being problematic. Allow us to check the Hansard in order to come back and rule on it.
Dr P J GROENEWALD: I just wanted to assist you.
Mr B A RADEBE: I raised my hand because ... the fact that when you were calling the member to order, he ignored you. He deliberately ignored you; therefore part of what you have to look at is the behaviour of that member who stood there and ignored you. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member! No, it is not appropriate. I don‘t think it is appropriate. Let‘s not go there.
Ms D CARTER: Deputy Speaker and South Africans, what we are faced with in South Africa is an incumbent at war with his own country, aided and abetted by a corrupt elite and his corrupted and captured party.
He is an incumbent at war with our Constitution, at war with the rule of law, at war with the organs of state, members of his own Cabinet and Parliament, at war with our institutions supporting
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constitutional democracy, our judiciary, our economy, our business sector, the media and – ultimately – at war with us, the people, the citizens of South Africa. All of this is to benefit him, his family, his cronies and the ANC – but to the detriment of our beloved country. [Interjections.]
We have a President who has broken his oath of office and has lost the right to govern, an executive – who has also broken their oaths of office – complicit with their master, and a Parliament that has failed, as a result of the tyranny of an ANC majority, to uphold its constitutional duties and responsibilities, and thus broke its oath of office, losing its credibility and legitimacy.
Cope refuses to be complicit in breaking our oaths of office by being part of these serious violations of the Constitution. Cope is not prepared to legitimise the continued occupation of the Office of the President by Mr Zuma, and we will accordingly not respond directly to his address.
On 7 May, we mark the third year of the Fifth Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. Section 49 of the Constitution, read with section 50, allows for the dissolution of the National Assembly by resolution, provided that three years have lapsed
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since the Assembly was elected. Cope calls for the disbandment of Parliament and for fresh elections. Cope makes this call to enable South Africans to elect reliable, accountable, incorruptible, ethical, and honourable men and women who are committed to serving our country in keeping with the values and principles that underpin the supreme law of our land, the Constitution. [Interjections.]
The fault, dear fellow South African citizens, is not in our stars; it is in us. The reason that we, as a nation, find ourselves in the morass that we are in – being held to ransom in our own country – is not a matter of fate but because we have not done anything about it. The time has come, dear fellow citizens, for us to form a coalition, a united front, one of patriotic citizens, civil society organisations, and political parties, to save South Africa.
It is time for us all to defend our Constitution; it is time to insist that Mr Zuma vacate the Presidency; it is time to insist on the dissolution of Parliament; it is time to hold fresh elections and to elect honourable, honourable – I repeat: honourable – men and women who are committed to putting the country and its people first, and not their party, to Parliament. [Interjections.] It is time for each and every one
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of us to stand up and commit to South Africa in saving South Africa.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Deputy Speaker, I rise in terms of Rule 14F of the Joint Rules to point to the irrelevance of the Cope member‘s speech. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is a political statement. Go ahead, hon member. Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: In terms of the Rule, the Chair can put a stop to or advise on discontinuing a speech. We are busy with the debate on the state of the nation address. Please be relevant. [Interjections.]
Ms D CARTER: Deputy Speaker, it is time for each and every one of us to stand up and commit to saving South Africa. Ponisa South Africa! Vikela iSewula Afrika! Vikela iningizimu Afrika! Sindisa uMzansi! Boloka Afrika Borwa! Hlakodisa Afrika Borwa! Tsireledzani Afrika Tshipembe! Red Suid-Afrika! Save South Africa! [Interjections.]
Cope reiterates its refusal to be complicit in breaking our oath of office by being part of these serious violations of the Constitution! We will not legitimise the continued occupation of
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the Presidency by Mr Zuma! Thank you. [Time expired.] [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: We have 11 official languages. If members are going to speak a language that we don‘t know, they need to inform you in time so that you can then organise interpreting services. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member. That is not a point of order.
Mr D W MACPHERSON: Deputy Speaker ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member? [Applause.] Take your seat, hon Tau.
Mr D W MACPHERSON: Deputy Speaker, I just need your assistance. Would you mind calling the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, SPCA, because there seems to be a lot of cat noises coming from the back here, and I am worried that we have feral cats running around the Chamber? Would you please just call the SPCA? We have a problem.
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon members! Some of your solutions are out of this world. Hon Tau, please give us direction. [Laughter.]
Cllr M P TAU (Salga): Hon Deputy Speaker, Your Excellencies, President Zuma and Deputy President Ramaphosa, hon members and fellow South Africans, I speak here on behalf of the fraternity of local government, cognisant of the increased expectation by both local communities and the global development community of the role of the local arm of the state in making a meaningful impact on development.
The past two years have been crucial in framing the future of our planet as the United Nations and the broader global development community have reached consensus on a number of international accords that shape what governments, multilateral agencies, business, NGOs, civil society and other stakeholders should and could do in shaping the future of our earth and indeed humanity. This is espoused in, amongst others, but not limited to, the Sustainable Development Goals; the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; the Paris Agreement on Climate Change; the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the recently adopted New Urban Agenda.
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As local government, under the auspices of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, an initiative to bring together the entire local government family globally, we have taken the view that these accords should be viewed and implemented as part of an integrated global development agenda.
Hon members, I introduce my input today, reflecting on the global development agenda to draw to our attention our global commitments and obligations, aware that this House adopted the National Development Plan, NDP, as our lodestar as a country towards these objectives. In this regard, allow me to state the obvious, 2030 is a mere 13 years from now. It is in this 13 years from now that we have committed to the employment from R13 million in 2010 to R24 million in 2030; to raise income from R50 000 per person to R120 000; to reduce poverty and inequality by raising employment, bolstering productivity and incomes and broadening the social wage; to make high-speed broadband Internet available to all at competitive prices; to realise food trade surplus; and to play a meaningful role in continental development, economic integration and human rights, just to mention a few. It is thus that the NDP recognises the building of a capable and developmental state as a crucial cog in the wheel to achieve the goals and targets that we have set ourselves.
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Aware of the reality that our local and regional governments could be critical instruments if not the pivot around which local development can take place, the African Union adopted the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development. The objectives of this Charter include amongst others to promote resource mobilisation and local economic development with the view to eradicate poverty in Africa; to promote the core values and principles of decentralisation, local governance and development; to promote the association and co-operation of local governments or local authorities at local, national, regional and continental level; and to promote civil society, private sector and people participation in decentralisation, local governance and local development initiatives.
I highlight these noble objectives of the Charter only to remind this House of article 23 of the Charter, which states, and I quote, ―this Charter shall be open to all member states of the Union, for signature, ratification or accession, in conformity with their respective constitutional procedures‖. I respectfully, on behalf of the local government fraternity, request this House to put in place the necessary processes to meet the requirements of article 23, aware that we are still a few countries short from gaining the threshold for this Charter
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to be in force. Again, I respectfully urge that we further use both bilateral and multilateral engagements, including the PanAfrican Parliament, to enable the achievement of a capable local sphere of the developmental state, not only in our country, but throughout the continent.
Former President Nelson Mandela, in his address to the inaugural conference of Organised Local Government in November 1996, said:
You have the task of doing whatever is necessary to ensure that our new local government system serves the needs of our communities. You have the responsibility to make their voice heard and to provide an effective instrument for them to improve their lives.
It is against this backdrop of the words of President Mandela that we want to respectfully request this House to, in order to achieve a state that is capable of playing a developmental and transformative role, ensure that all spheres of government supports local government as the sphere closest to the people and the implementation level of our enjoined government.
The role of the cities, given their importance as engines for economic growth and job creation, in transforming the space
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economy and reversing our spatial legacy is key. This comes with particular reflection on the powers and functions necessary to execute the mandate of why devolution and assignment is critical in the management of integrated spaces.
In respect to exploring opportunities for stimulating rural development, local government can play a meaningful role in the implementation of effective and innovative development programmes. We must find ways to reinforce, rather than undermine, the potential role of developmental local government so that municipalities can address poverty and inequality by developing rural communities.
Having said this, of course, while focusing our discussion on the necessary ingredients for building a capable and developmental state, we should not and cannot ignore further current topical issues confronting the local government sector.
Deputy Speaker, there are currently a large number of municipalities who are unviable due to structural policy and systemic problems. These problems continue to weaken local government to discharge its obligations, which is now manifesting itself in the impasse between our member municipalities and Eskom on outstanding debt owed. Most
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municipalities affected by these ballooning debts and affordability repayment weaknesses are the socalled unviable municipalities. It means that, without a structural fiscal response to review funding of municipalities, including alternative revenue streams, and without reviewing systemic problems like Eskom‘s high interest on debt, excessive punitive measures, Eskom credit control policies and unreconciled municipal credit control policies and collection cycles, the problem will persist.
Fundamental in making municipalities developmental is an urgent need to sort out some of the lingering challenges arising from the current fiscal framework. Some of these issues, Deputy Speaker, must include the following: The unsustainable and increasing debts owed to municipalities, which now stand at a staggering R113,7 billion. The current fiscal framework which allocates only 9,1% to the local government sphere needs urgent reviewing. The consistently improving quality of financial management in municipalities, as evidenced by the AuditorGeneral‘s audit outcome reports, are a cause for celebration. However, we propose that more effort be spent in ensuring that not only accountability, but also the improvement in the quality of spending and the return on the fiscal investment in transforming local space become a critical part of the
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indicators and that strengthening local government‘s role in the electricity distribution industry, including consideration of renewable energy, reaffirming the exclusive mandate assigned to local government on reticulation and the ballooning municipal debt and tariff structures will be critical, as will its role in sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
We believe that a capable and developmental state, particularly at a local level, is one that has the necessary financial and institutional capacity to implement our set objectives. In this regard, the SA Local Government Association, Salga, national executive committee has urged us to indentify means of accessing innovative financing solutions for the local sphere, this both at a local global level. This will include use of pooled financing mechanisms that we have already investigated for those municipalities that cannot access the debt capital markets, and to advance further instruments to those that are active in the debt capital markets. Other instruments we are keen to investigate together with government are social impact bonds, and the effective implementation of public-private partnerships at a local level. In this regard, we will work closely with both government and Parliament to effect the necessary legislative and regulatory changes to enable this.
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We have also identified strategic partners to build capacity and support the local sphere of the developmental state. One of these is the mutually beneficial agreement between Salga and our Palestinian counterparts, the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities, where we would share our experiences in developing a property valuation and ratings system, and they would deploy engineers in our most needy member municipalities, a mutually beneficial partnership of fraternal countries indeed. [Applause.]
Furthermore, together with our partners, we have established the Salga Centre for Leadership and Governance. This centre is intended to train and support both the administrative and political leadership at a local level. [Applause.] Having identified traditional leaders as important partners in local governance, we have also extended this facility to our traditional leaders, many having participated in our training programmes. [Applause.]
Hon President, our collective responsibility is to build a capable state that partner with business, academia, civil society and local and multilateral agencies in our quest to build a national democratic society, one that creates opportunity and prosperity for all, where access is not
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inhibited by race, colour, creed nor gender. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: Deputy Speaker, as a country, we have reached a defining moment where the quality of leadership is most crucial in determining the future of our young children and youth.
Hon members, allow me to tell you the story of Thandiwe, a matric school girl from the Eastern Cape, and the challenges she faced over the course of her education. She loves learning but has had to overcome major obstacles to succeed. She attended one of the 19 500 dysfunctional school in our country, getting up early to start walking to school at 3:30 in the morning.
Just like Chief Ngonyama Technical School under iLembe District in Kwazulu-Natal – not far from Nkandla, Mr President – Thandiwe‘s school does not have basic services. The situation is not unusual; the Department of Basic Education identified 571 schools without electricity, 81 without water and 66 with no basic sanitation at all in 2016.
In matric, she struggled with Mathematics and science. She was taught by a teacher who does not have a teacher‘s qualification
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– just like the Mathematics teacher at Isiphosethu Secondary School in Kwazulu-Natal, also not far from Nkandla. This explains why South Africa has come last or second last in every single round of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, TIMSS, since 1995.
She is very much aware that she comes from one of the provinces where teachers are protected by SA Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu. They sometimes protest or go to endless workshops and meetings during school hours, denying our children an opportunity to learn. Fortunately, she is not among the 500 000 Grade 10 students who dropped out in 2014 and did not write matric in 2016.
She has managed against all odds to achieve the marks to attend either University of Cape Town or Wits University. But she cannot go because, as you all know, National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, full funding does not cover the cost of studies there. Instead, she applies for funding for a Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, college in her province. It is not ideal; the accommodation is shocking, there are massive delays in the issuing of certificates and the administration of the college lets the students down.
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How do we help young people get the necessary skills to get a job and step out of poverty and into our economy? But maybe she thinks if she has an initial post-matric qualification and has worked for a while, she can save money to go to a university of her choice.
Only the stark of reality under the ANC-led government – hon Mkongi, just to respond to your comment yesterday on lost generation – the truth is, there are no jobs; unemployment sits at 35,6%. Our country‘s growth is abysmal and it has become very evident, hon Mkongi. Unless you were sleeping during the state of the nation address, there is no plan from the President in the state of the nation address 2017 speech to grow our economy and there is absolutely no commitment to stop stealing public money for cadres and political loyalists. [Applause.]
However, Thandiwe‘s cousin in the Western Cape has had it a little easier. Under the DA Western Cape government, no Western Cape schools were identified as being without water ... [Interjections.]
Mr MA DIRKS: Hon Deputy Speaker? Order! [Interjections.]
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: ... electricity ... [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member? [Interjections.]
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: ... or sanitation in 2016 ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Marchesi, please take your seat. What are you rising on, hon member?
Mr MA DIRKS: Hon Deputy Speaker, the hon member there is saying that, this ANC-led government is stealing money for cadres. She must prove that. She cannot come here in the House and say that this ANC-led government is stealing money. [Interjections.] Ms S P KOPANE: On a point of order. [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, what is the point of order? [Interjections.]
Ms S P KOPANE: Deputy Speaker? [Interjections.]
Mr M A DIRKS: Where did she get that from? [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: What Rule? [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Okay. Hon member, please proceed. [Interjections.]
Mr M A DIRKS: And why is that clown jumping up there? [Interjections.]
Ms S P KOPANE: Deputy Speaker?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, what are you rising on?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: May I address you in terms of Rule 14(u)(b)?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I‘m listening to you.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: The hon Dirks did this the whole day yesterday. He is also the one who called the hon van Damme a ―straat meid‖ yesterday in the House. He is clearly got a design to disrupt DA speakers. What he has just risen on is not a valid point of order. Could I ask you to instruct him that that was not a point of order and that he must desist from making unsubstantiated points of order which, as you have used precedence before, has been precedence in this House before, that people do not make spurious points of orders?
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Secondly, he referred to the hon Waters as a clown. We have also had rulings on that before that that is not parliamentary and I would ask that he is asked to withdraw that.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Who called who a clown?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Mr Dirks, on the microphone, called the hon Waters a clown. The whole nation heard it – everybody heard it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Marchesi, I requested you to proceed. Hon members, please, I requested you not to use problematic language. You know the rules require that you don‘t do that. Hon members ... [Interjections.] ... Hon Marchesi, did you say anybody here is a clown?
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: Me? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, rise and say it. [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker? [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you cannot speak when I am addressing an hon member. [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: It was not the hon Marchesi. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Take your seat, hon member.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: It was not the hon Marchesi.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have not recognised you. Hon member, please rise and explain to me. You, hon member! I‘m sorry I did not mean you. [Interjections.] Why did you call somebody a clown? Did you say that in the first place?
Mr M A DIRKS: Hon Deputy Speaker ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am listening. [Interjections.] Order! Hon members, you want me to rule, you are not going to rule here.
Mr M A DIRKS: Hon Deputy Speaker, the member that Steenhuisen is referring to that I have called a clown does not recognise you. So, you cannot make a ruling on him, he does not recognise you... [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, no hon member, just reply. Did you say that?
Mr M A DIRKS: Yes ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw please.
Mr M A DIRKS: Yes, hon Deputy Speaker, he is a clown.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw, hon member, withdraw, you cannot call a member a clown. You know you should not say that. Please withdraw.
Mr M A DIRKS: I withdraw.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Go ahead, hon Marchesi.
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: Okay. Hon ... [Interjections.]
The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Deputy Speaker? Hon Deputy Speaker?
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Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: Dirks, no wonder you wanted to join the DA, you know that we have a plan and will implement ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Marchesi, please take your seat. Yes hon member?
The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Hon Deputy Speaker ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you can‘t be speaking, please.
The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: I think as presiding officers we need to be consistent. Yesterday a member was called an idiot and it was allowed. Now somebody is called a clown and it is not allowed. I think we should be consistent. [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, no. I have ruled on this matter, hon members, and I do not want you to be going on the same issue that I have ruled on. I do not want any interference with this matter. I have ruled on it. Hon Steenhuisen, I would like you to
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take your seat, I am requesting your member to speak. Hon Marchesi, proceed speaking please.
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: Okay... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, no! [Interjections.]
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: As I was saying, under the DA – led Western Cape government no Western Cape schools were identified as being without water, electricity or sanitation in 2016. The province is constantly in the top three for matric pass rate and no school has had a pass rate below 40% for five years. None with 0% pass rate in 2016. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): Deputy Speaker?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member. Hon, please take your seat. Yes, hon Minister, what are you rising on?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): I just wanted to know from the hon member, how does that reconcile ... [Interjections.]
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Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): ... with Kwa-Faku Primary School in Crossroads where there is no water and sanitation?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member, that is not a point of order; you are politicking. That is not a point of order. Hon members, please.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): This is a DA-run school ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, hon member, that is a political statement and not a point of order. Hon members, you know the requirements. Go ahead, hon Marchesi.
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, can you allow your member to finish her speech? [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: I‘m rising on 14(s)
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The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): Deputy Speaker? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, no, hon members, allow the member to finish her stuff please. [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: But there is ANC women that keep making cat noises again over there. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, you cannot do this; you can‘t be speaking when I have not asked you to speak and I am requesting hon Marchesi to speak, please. [Interjections.]
Mr M WATERS: They are making cat noises. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Both of you take your seats, hon members. Take your seats please. I am requesting you to take your seats and allow the member to proceed. No, no, hon member, please. Hon Marchesi, please proceed.
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: The province is constantly in the top three ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you rising on, hon member?
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The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): Are members allowed to mislead the House?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member, that is not a point of order, please! [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM (Mr M Skwatsha): She is misleading the House! [Interjections.] The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member. You cannot politick on a matter under the name of the point of order because it is not. Please, proceed, hon member.
Ms N I TARABELLA-MARCHESI: The Western Cape has the best performance record out of all provinces in delivering textbooks on time for the start of the school year. The Western Cape department of education has built 98 schools since 2009 and deployed 119 mobile classrooms this year to assist with the rapid influx of people who want to join a better education system.
As the DA we welcome the removal of the provincial education department director in the iLembe District where three schools achieved a 0% rate in the last year‘s matric examinations.
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However, as the DA we believe in ensuring that teachers and principals are supported but also held accountable for the performance of their learners. You see, hon Dirks, as I said, we plan and implement in the Western Cape.
Mr President, during your state of the nation address speech you used the word ―radical‖ several times in a desperate attempt to excite the nation after your 23 years as the ANC in power. But as South Africans we are not going to fall for it. South Africans know very well that you have failed to radically deal with Sadtu‘s interference with the education of our children. You have failed to deliver school infrastructure like in Smithfield Primary School in the Free State where sewage is sipping daily within the school premises. The quality of teaching is poor, especially in subjects like Mathematics and science. You have only succeeded in radically flouting the Constitution and turning this House into a fortress.
You, the ANC have let Thandi and a thousand of other children down. Like the apartheid government – hon Mkongi – you continue to create a lost generation. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Thank you.
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Rev K R J MESHOE: Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President and Members of Parliament, we are deeply saddened to learn today that the Esidimeni death toll has risen to more than 100. On behalf of the ACDP, I wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones as a result of the carelessness of the Gauteng Health Department that transferred psychiatric patients from Life Esidimeni into the care of unsuitable NGOs.
The violence that took place in this House last Thursday night during the state of the nation address was disgraceful and embarrassing. The vulgar language and insults that were used by some Members of Parliament brought shame not only to this House, but also to the nation.
The ACDP therefore appeals to all Members of Parliament, particularly political leaders, to urge their members to set a good example for all South Africans and for our young people in particular, by refraining from, among other things, addressing their differences and attempting to solve their problems through violence. Politicians should be seen to be leaders who break the cycle of violence in our country, not instigators thereof.
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It is a shame to learn from the Victims of Crime Survey report that was released yesterday that one in three households does not visit open spaces or walk in parks because they fear criminals. It is heartbreaking that we no longer hear the sound of children‘s laughter in many of our streets, but rather the sound of gun shots as criminals and gangs fight for turf. It is a disgrace and an indictment on the ANC-led government that many people believe that reporting a crime is pointless as the police won‘t do anything about it.
A case in point is the vigilante violence that has been ongoing in Rosettenville for two weeks now. Residents claim they have been reporting the mushrooming of brothels and drug trafficking in their streets, but that the police have done nothing about it as some of the very police who should be protecting them are allegedly on the payroll of the drug dealers.
We have been reliably informed that some police officials and politicians do not want to shut the brothels down because they, themselves, regularly visit them.
This is why the ACDP believes that part of the solution to these problems is to have many more morally upright and godly politicians in places of power who will not be driven by the
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desires of the flesh, but by love and care for people, and compassion for the poor and suffering.
Furthermore, the ACDP believes that it is a shame and an indictment on government that, 22 years into our freedom and democracy, the majority of black people are still economically disempowered and have not made any economic gains from liberation.
As a caution, we do not believe that the implementation of affirmative action policies alone is enough to transform the economy. Taking from the haves to give to the have-nots does not grow the economy or increase the size of the economic pie.
The ACDP believes that our people – particularly young people – should be given comprehensive training so that they can acquire the necessary skills and knowledge needed to meet the unique demands of a growing economy and global competitiveness.
On Monday, some ACDP leaders met with the chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities – also known as the CRL Commission – Ms Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, her deputy Professor David Mosoma and five other commissioners at their
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offices in Braamfontein. We decided to engage them because of our widespread concerns about recommendations they made that are perceived to be government‘s attempt to control and regulate the church. [Time expired.]
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Deputy Speaker,
Ngokuzithoba ngibingelela uMongameli [President] wezwelonke uMongameli Jacob Zuma, nesekela lakhe uSekela [Deputy] Mongameli Cyril Ramaphosa, abaholi be-ANC, kakhulukhazi ngibingelele abantu abamqoka kulomsebenzi wami noMnyango Wezokuthuthukiswa Kwamabhizinisi Amancane
[Department
of Small Business
Development]. Siwa sivuka, sigudla sifuna indlela yokuthuthukisa osomabhizinisi abancane nomasibambisane [cooperatives] kuyo yonke imkhandlu kahulumeni phecelezi kuzwelonke [national], ezifudazweni [provincial] nohulumeni basekhaya [local].
Ngingakhohlwa nokubingelela abangasemakhaya abalindela ukuzwa ukuthi sibagodlele ini kulonyaka ka-2017-2018. Nabangasekhaya la ngivela khona eNhlazatshe, nakubo ngiyabingelela nasemaphethelweni. Ngicela nokubonga wonke umphakathi othe wahlangana kwi ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
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[I humbly greet the President of the country, President Jacob Zuma, and his Deputy hon Cyril Ramaphosa, leaders of the ANC, particularly the most important people in my department – the Department of Small Business Development. We are working hard, looking for ways of developing small businesses and the cooperatives in all the levels of government, namely: national, provincial and the local level.
Not forgetting to greet everyone at home who is waiting to hear what we have for them in this 2017-2018 financial year. I am also greeting my homeboys from my hometown Nhlazatshe, and the surrounding areas. I also want to thank all the community members who attended the ...]
... grand parade for the people‘s assembly on 9th of February 2017. [Applause.]
Labo abathe bahlangana kwi-Grand Parade, ngifuna ukusho ukuthi sasingavunyelwanga ukuthi silethe bonke labantu ababezimisele ukuza lapho ngoba iNtshonalanga Koloni [Western Cape] yavele yathi masilethe abangu-10 000 kuphela [only] thina sibe sazi ukuthi amalungu e-ANC nabalandeli [supporters] be-ANC bayalidlula lelo nani [number] lelo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
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[To those who gathered at the Grand Parade, I want to say that we were not permitted to gather all the people who wanted to get there because the Western Cape government instructed us to bring only 10 000 people but we know that ANC members as well as its supporters exceed that number.]
AN HON MEMBER: Madam Speaker.
Ngokuzithoba, ngime kuleNdlu ehloniphekile ngiqinisa
amazwi
kaMongameli wezwelonke. Ikakhulukazi ... [I am humbly standing in this august House reaffirming the President of the country‘s words. Especially ...]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, ngiyakucela kancane, [a moment please] take your seat please.
Mr C MACKENZIE: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: I rise on Rule 14(f) ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr C MACKENZIE: ... speaking to relevance on this state of the nation address debate, I fail to see how the ANC‘ s assembly and
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the grand parade has any relevance to this state of the nation. Thank you.
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISWA KWAMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Into ebuhlungu Mongameli nabo bonke abaseNdlini namhlanje kuwukuthi, sisebenza senza yonke into esiyenzayo ukuze kube nokuthula [peace] nokuvikeleka [security] nokuzinza [stability] eNingizimu Afrika. [South Africa] Lento eyenza namhlanje kubekhona abantu abadelela baze baqhube intwala ngewisa. Yiyo yona leyonto leyo ukuthi sayeka ezinye izinto okwakufanele sizenze ngalesosikhathi. Yiko namhlanje, sekunzima kangaka kuleNdlu esikuyo. Ngokuzithoba ngime kuleNdlu ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: The painful thing hon President and everyone present in the House today, is that we are working and doing everything that we are doing so that there would be peace and stability in South Africa. The fact that there are people who are extremely contemptuous today, is because we let go of some things that we should not have back then. That is why it is so difficult to run this House, today. I am humbly standing in this House ...]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, kancane nje [just a moment]
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Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker, I have a point of order: Will the Minister take a question? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, will you take a question?
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: I will gladly take the question if I had time, hon Deputy Speaker.
Mr M WATERS: May I ask the Minister there because she has got 21 minutes ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: She said, if she has time, sir.
Mr M WATERS: Okay, thank you.
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISWA KWAMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Ngesinye isikhathi [sometimes] kubangcono ukuthi abantu bakwazi uke balalele nje kanye empilweni yabo. Ngime kulendlu ehloniphekileyo ngokuzithoba ngiqinisa amazwi kaMongameli wezwelonke. Ikakhulukazi amazwi aphathelene nezomnotho waseNingizimu Africa. Umongameli uthe: (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
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[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Sometimes it would be best if people would just listen for once in their lives. I am humbly standing in this august House reaffirming the President of the country‘s words. Especially those words that involve the economy of South Africa. The President said:]
Our mission remains the quest for a united, democratic, nonracial and prosperous South Africa. We are building a South Africa that is free from poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
Lawa amazwi wombutho wabantu, i-ANC. [These are the words of the people‘s movement, the ANC.]
Dr M J FIGG: Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member, what are you rising on?
Dr M J FIGG: I am rising on Rule 14(s): Will the Minister take a question? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Continue, hon Minister, indicate.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: I will take the question if I have time.
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Dr M J FIGG: Thank you.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Umongameli wombutho wabantu uqhubeke wathi: [The President of the people‘s movement went on to say that:]
We have decided to focus on a few key areas packaged in the nine-point plan to reignite growth so that the economy can create much-needed jobs. The focus areas include industrialisation, mining and beneficiation, agriculture and agroprocessing, energy, attracting investment, growing the oceans economy and tourism.
Small, macro and medium enterprises, SMMEs, and cooperatives are a cross-cutting function; they are fundamental to the success of all the above. Globally, especially in developing countries, the importance of SMMEs and their contribution to economic growth is acknowledged.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, hon members. No, proceed, hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon members, I stand here to reiterate and reaffirm statements made by hon members of
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the ANC and some members of the opposition yesterday who spoke to the fact that ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sorry, hon Minister. Hon Steenhuisen, you are the Chief Whip, you cannot be continually interrupting. You are not heckling. You are continually interrupting. You cannot be doing that. Please go ahead hon Minister. I am just appealing to you as the Chief Whip. You could do better. You do not have to listen to her just keep quiet, that is all. Go ahead please.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Okubuhlungu ... [The painful thing is ...]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: You indicated that I could do better, those are the words you used.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, hon member.
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Well I think you could do a great deal better at your job too.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Take your seat, hon member.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Speaker,
Njengoba ngishilo ekuqaleni ngisasho namanje ukuthi into eyenza ukuthi sidelelwe kangaka yilento yokuthi sayeka izinto eziningi okwakufuneka sizenze ukuze singabi kulendawo esikuyo namhlanje. [Ubuwelewele.] [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[As I have already mentioned before is the fact that makes people to be so extremely contemptuous, is that we let go of many things that we should not have let go back then which would have resulted in us not to be where we are today. [Interjections.] [Applause.]]
I stand here to reiterate and reaffirm statements made by hon members who spoke yesterday, both the ANC and the opposition to the fact that change must ...
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, yes, what are you rising on? Hon Minister, there is a member there. Hon member, what are you rising on?
Mr C MACKENZIE: Deputy Speaker, I have a point of order: I again rise in terms of Rule 14(f), if the Minister is using words like reaffirm, restate, repeat, these are all repetitions in her speech and I will ask you to rule on that, Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, alright I have ruled, hon member. Proceed, hon member.
Mr B A RADEBE: Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: The DA is raising spurious points of order, can you control them please. [Interjections.] Yes, they are frivolous.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, let us allow the Minister to proceed with her speech please. Lets us give the Minister a chance to speak. All members have a right to speak. Proceed, hon member.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Speaker, I repeat. I stand here to reiterate and reaffirm statements made by hon members of the ANC as well as some members of the
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opposition who spoke yesterday to the fact that change must happen in the economic landscape of South Africa, and it must happen now. The ownership of the means of production must change, the patterns of ownership must change, and land must be returned to the people for production and dwelling. All institutions supporting radical economic transformation must step up. Our people need to be empowered to understand the value of their rand. They must decide whether their rand will continue to grow a system that does not invest back into them or whether they must now redirect that rand and develop their own and this is critical. In the state of the nation address, President Zuma defined radical economic transformation and change as, and I quote:
Fundamental change in the structure, systems institutions and patterns of ownership, management and control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor, the majority of whom are African and female.
As the President notes, this economic situation is buttressed by a twin challenge that manifests through high levels of concentration or monopoly practice and the collusion of established businesses that squeeze out smaller players. In order to deal with this asymmetry, the President and his
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government have proposed the use of strategic levers available to the state. The President has cited the R500 billion a year for the government bill of goods and services as well as the R900 billion infrastructure budget over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which must be used to advance economic transformation. That is a total close to R1,5 trillion rand of opportunities. The time for that amount of money to go above the heads of our people who were marginalised in the past has to come to an end. In his 2015 state of the nation address, the President announced that, and I quote:
Government would set aside a minimum of 30% of appropriate categories of State procurement for purchasing from SMMEs, cooperatives as well as township and rural enterprises.
In January 2017, Siyaqhuba! The new Preferential Procurement Regulations were signed into law. They will take effect from April 2017, replacing the Preferential Procurement Regulations of 2011. What the legislation means is that state departments and agencies will restrict certain designated tenders by stipulating minimum Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, BBBEE ... [Interjections.]
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Dr M J FIGG: Hon Deputy Speaker, I have a point of order: I rise in terms of Rule 14(s), it seem that the Minister does not have anything more to talk about. So, would she take a question now? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, your question is out of order.
Dr M J FIGG: Will the Minister take a question?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister?
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISWA KWAMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Yazi, ngicela nje ukuthi ngibonge uMongameli ne-ANC ngoba abantu uma sebekucasula uvele ubheke uMongameli, ubheke uSekela Mongameli, ubheke i-ANC, ubone ukuthi kukhona into okufuneka uyifunde, ukuzithoba. [Ihlombe.] Iyacasula nje futhi nento yokuthi uthi ukhuluma, ukhulumela abantu baseNingizimu Afrika, abangekho kulomnotho [economy] esikhuluma ngawo, kubekhona abelokhu begxumagxuma njengenyama yeqiwe ngamanzi, ngingazi indaba yabo yini kodwa kahle. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: You know, I want to thank the President and the ANC because when people start to
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disgust you, one just looks at the President, at the Deputy President and the ANC, and know that there is something that one need to learn – and that is humility. [Applause.] Again the issue of being disrupted by people who keep on jumping up and down like popcorns when I am talking for South Africans who have no access to this economy that we are talking about, disgusts me. [Applause.]]
... requirements or stipulating that tenders agree to subcontract a minimum of 30% to categories of exempted micro enterprises and qualifying small businesses. Obviously our aspiration is to eventually go beyond the 30% and above the R50 million threshold. This new legislation increases the threshold of affected contracts from R1 million to R50 million. Tenders below R50 million will now be evaluated in terms of 80/20 preference system and tenders above R50 million will be evaluated in terms of the 90/10 preference system.
I know that
there are others who are out there who still want us to have a conversation about this preference system of 80/20 and 90/10.
This will allow smaller and less established companies better opportunities for real growth. International best practice on set-asides has been looked at using the examples of the United States, US, Brazil, South Korea and most recently India. India
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became the latest to implement set-asides for smaller firms, implementing a policy in January 2017 that obligates state departments and state-owned companies to source 20% of goods and services from small enterprises. In order to implement a new and more progressive procurement regime, government will gradually move towards an integrated, government-wide supply management system, which will bring standardisation and uniformity across government. In the long term this will also decrease the costs of doing business with government for small businesses.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (Contd.): I would like to thank Minister Gordhan and his team at the National Treasury for leading this work and getting us to where we are right now.
I would also like to thank the other relevant stakeholder departments who contributed to these efforts which brought us to where we are. However, much more needs to be done. Deputy Speaker, much work still remains to ensure that implementation happens within the timelines set by the National Treasury. The Department and agencies must support and work with National Treasury and other stakeholders to ensure that this dispensation is implemented respectively and timeously.
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order, hon member? Minister, please take your seat.
Ms H S BOSHOFF: Deputy Speaker, the Minister has been going on about how her department is going to change everything. Can she explain to this House ... [Interjections.] ... how it is going to be done?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, that‘s not a point of order. Proceed, hon Minister.
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISA AMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Abantu Sekela Somlomo abaswele into yokwenza kodwa into abayaziyo nje ukuthi bakhulume bakhulume bakhulume sinyazi nokuthi bayaphi. Thina lapha kwa-ANC sinohlelo futhi siyaluqhuba lolo hlelo. Ngakho ke laba abafuna ukungichithela isikhathi nje abake bangiyeke. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Deputy Speaker, these are the people who have nothing to do but what they know is to speaking nonsense non-stop. We in the ANC, have a programme and we are pushing that programme. Therefore, those who want to waste my time must leave me alone.]
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Much work still remains to ensure that implementation happens within the timelines set by the National Treasury. Departments and agencies must support and work with the National Treasury and other stakeholders to ensure that this dispensation is implemented effectively and timeously. We encourage National Treasury to ensure that the process is adequately co-ordinated so that all parties are represented in the process. Hon Members, we are aware that in the past, some of the large state-owned enterprises have been at the forefront of anticompetitive behaviour that has limited opportunities for small businesses in favour of more established majors. Infractions range from the nonpayment of invoices to emerging suppliers and collusion to fix prices and lock out smaller players. In the last 15 years, a large number of cases brought before the competition authorities have involved some of our biggest state-owned enterprises, SOEs.
The Department of Small Business Development and the Department of Public Enterprises have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to co-operate and provide opportunities for small, medium and micro enterprises, the SMMEs, increasing oversight on state-owned enterprises‘ adherence to fair business practices towards small business. We would like to see tenders that are issued from the SOEs codifying SMME development in the language of tenders.
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Next month, senior officials from my department and the Department of Public Enterprises, together with Transnet will develop a co-operation strategy, which we will pilot in Saldanha in the Western Cape with a view to spreading this new strategy countrywide. I invite other state-owned enterprises to collaborate with the department and other relevant state departments to ensure that we provide sustainable opportunities for SMMEs and co-operatives. We will hold state agencies that continue to underperform on providing opportunities to SMMEs to account. We will seek proof that SMMEs are being enabled to access opportunities within their supply chains. In this context, we will ensure that we give practical meaning to localisation through various capacitation efforts.
The Department of Small Business Development will avail itself to provide financial and nonfinancial support to SMMEs that need capacity to deliver on contracts without bringing unnecessary risk to the balance sheets of state-owned enterprises. With regards to the private sector, government and seven companies in the construction industry recently signed an agreement to promote transformation in the sector and settle outstanding potential civil claims between the parties relating to a number of infrastructure projects. The civil claims relate to the infrastructure projects in the period 2010 that were settled as
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part of the fast track settlement process within the competition commission. The agreement, also known as a Voluntary Rebuilding Programme has three components. Commitments to promote transformation and black South African ownership and participation in the sector, through either equity transaction or partnering with a developing smaller black-owned construction companies - that will result in black-owned companies with a market value of approximately R5 billion in 2050.
Integrity commitments by the company chief executive officer, CEOs, to take all aspects to avoid collusion and corruption in their dealings with the state, their competitors and their customers and to partner with government in exposing all forms of corruption and tender irregularities. Financial contributions by the companies of R1,5 billion for a development project in addition to R1,4 billion in competitive penalties previously impose by the competition commission. This is, but only in the construction industry. We are yet to look at others so that we can work together and make sure that we see the change.
We have also recorded progress on government-to-government relations. With regard to the transversal agreements between the Department of Small Business development and other departments, there remains a need to accelerate the implementation of
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existing transversal agreements. Transversal agreements must be accompanied by implementation strategies and plans. Amongst other things, this means that teams be assigned to implement existing agreements with clear timelines and measurable outcomes. We must reach a point where such agreements are linked to the performance contracts of senior management officials across the spheres of government.
This cross-sectoral approach means that the private sector must also be included as a partner in this work. I can inform the House that I have met with various business chambers, including Business Leadership SA, BLSA, Business Unity SA, Busa, The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sacci, Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, AHI, and the Black Business Council and its affiliates, including the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, Nafcoc. We will continue to strengthen the dialogue in order that this may culminate in strong public-private partnerships.
Hon members, I would like to remind you of what hon Sihle Zikalala said yesterday in a far as Operation Vula is concerned. I am motivated by just the word ‗Operation Vula‘. Interestingly, Operation Vula was part of the liberation struggle to plan to bring about freedom, democracy, and economic liberation.
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Operation Vula is no longer underground, but is above ground. Today‘s Operation Vula] is about opening the economy to those who were locked out. We will not be sneaking through borders to destroy the enemy. [Applause.] We are now in power; we are going to use all the levers of power and government to advance radical economic transformation. [Interjections.] We have. Hon Deputy Speaker, we traded the AK-47 for the construction and the Constitution and now, we have to deliver on the needs of our people. [Applause.] The AK-47 of Operation Vula - the underground, will be replaced by the 500 billion government buying power and spent to empower the previously disadvantaged. [Interjections.]
HON MEMBERS: How?
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: I will, I will unpack specific interventions the department will undertake in the financial year 2017-18 during the budget. For those who care to know, for those who want to remember Operation Vula, many of them are not in this honourable House because our democracy allowed us to bring ‗this lot‘. Otherwise, if democracy didn‘t allow us to bring ‗this lot‘, many of our people who are sitting at home and waiting for us to deliver would have been occupying this side of the House. [Applause.]
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So, I would like to say to ‗this lot‘ that is sitting this side ... [Interjections.]... there is a limit to which you can keep pushing us. [Interjections.] There is a limit to which you can keep on making us look like we are people that did not liberate this country. To ‗this lot‘ that is sitting this side, I want to say to you that the issue of the land, for instance ... [Interjections.]
Ms N W A MAZZONE: Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order, on point 14(s) I find an offensive language that the Minister is threatening this side of the House and I would like you to unpack the threat if indeed that‘s what it is. [Interjections.] I think she is using offensive language by referring to this side of the House as that lot, as our rules are very clear that she should refer to members as hon members.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Speaker, the member ...
... omi laphaya kuzofuneka ukuthi aqale ayogqokela le Ndlu kahle. [Ubuwelewele.] Akaqale lapho ngoba imithetho ayivumi ukuthi ungene kule Ndlu ehloniphekileyo wena ungagqokile ngendlela elungile. Akahambe ayogqoka ngemuva kwalokho sizokhuluma. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
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[... that one who is standing there would need to start by going to dress appropriately for this House. [Interjections.] She must start by doing that because the rules do not permit one to enter this august House dressed inappropriately. Let her go dress appropriately then we can talk.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, take your seat. Hon members, when we request you to use appropriate language to refer to members, please do so. Hon Minister, I request you to do that. Please.
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Ubani angimazi nokumazi. [Who is she I do not even know her.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: She must withdraw it.
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISA AMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Sekela Somlomo ohloniphekile, uyabona uma usucela ... manje ngiyabona ukuthi uMongameli uhlupheka kangakanani. Uma usuhleli lapha phansi awusezwa nokuthi kuthiwani. Ngakho ke, ngicela ukuthi uphinde Sekela Somlomo ohloniphekile ukuze ngikuzwe kahle. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
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[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Speaker, you see when you start requesting ... I can now see how the President is struggling. When you are seated down there you end up not hearing what is being said. Therefore, I am requesting you hon Deputy Speaker to repeat what you said so that I can hear you well.]
Mr M L W FILTANE: Point of order, Chair. UDM. Thank you.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Yebo. [Yes.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you rising on?
Mr M L W FILTANE: Sihlalo, kukho lamantshiyane alapha, angxola kakhulu kwaye asiva nento ethethwayo. Nceda uthethe nawo lamantshiyane e-ANC alapha ayasingxolela. [Hon Chairperson, there are these common waxbills that are making noise here. cannot hear clearly.
We
Please speak to these ANC common waxbills,
they are making noise.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, hon member, hon member ...
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... nceda ubuyele kulo mbhobho urhoxise loo mazwi owasebenzisileyo. Nceda wenze kanjalo lungu elihloniphekileyo. [... please go back to the mike and withdraw your statement. Please do so hon member.]
Yes, please. Withdraw that. Hon remember, you want us to rule that hon members are out of order, isn‘t? You didn‘t tell us what they said, but why do you call them that. Just do that. I can tell you we are busy here hon member with a point of order.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Hon member, do you want a credible explanation?
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Okay, the kind of noise they make combined... [Interjections.] ... is exactly like that of birds we call in Xhosa ‗amantshiyane‘. It‘s not an insult. [Interjections.] They understand it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, don‘t hide behind the language, please. We have said that before. I just said earlier on, ... [Interjections.] ... don‘t liken the members to animals, birds or whatever it might be. It‘s unparliamentary and it‘s
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incorrect. You are not supposed to do that. Don‘t hide behind the language. [Interjections.]
Mr M L W FILTANE: Animals, that we accept, but not birds ... Check the Rules.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no. Please, hon member, just do it. [Interjections.] Just withdraw. Hon members, order! Hon members! Hon members!
Mr M L W FILTANE: There you go. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please, you are making our lives difficult. Don‘t do what you are doing. It is out of order. You are out of order. Withdraw the words.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Thank you very much. Now that you have told them to stop, I withdraw. Thank you.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, I requested you to address members properly. Please do that, that‘s all I was asking you, even in the opposition.
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The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: The hon member on ... [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, Deputy Speaker ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: What are you rising on, hon member?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I am rising on Rule 14(u)(b). The hon member made disparaging comments about the apparel of one of the members. Now there have been previous rulings in this House that you don‘t refer inappropriately to what members are wearing in the House. [Interjections.] I would ask that she is not given a warning, but she‘s asked to withdraw like the hon Malatsi was forced to withdraw - like any other member of the opposition is expected to. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, you have raised your point. Don‘t go further than that, please! You are complicating your life and the House‘s life. [Laughter.] Hon member, please do as I have requested. Please, hon Minister you know that including the dress code. You know that, just do that!
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UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISA AMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Angazi ukuthi uthi ngenzenjani manje.
USEKELA SOMLOMO: Ngicelile Ngqongqoshe ukuthi akusetshenziswa amagama la owasebenzisile uma kukhulunywa namalungu ahloniphekile eNdlini njengaleli phecelezi ―this lot‖. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: I do not what is it that you want me to do now.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have requested you Minister not to use offensive language when addressing the hon members of the House, not use words like ―this lot‖ that you have used.]
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Oh, hon, okay, I withdraw.
Uma bemsaba u-lot ... [If they are scared of the ―lot‖ ...]
... I withdraw.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Okay, proceed hon member.
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UNGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISA AMABHIZINISI AMANCANE: Sekela Somlomo ohloniphekile okokugcina nje engifuna ukukusho ukuthi lamalungu lawa esikhuluma ngawo asibangela umsindo ngendaba yomhlaba. Bayakhohlwa ukuthi safika laeNingizimu Afrika senza lo Mthethosisekelo esinawo ukuze sokwazi ukuthi sihlale ngokuthula. Saba ne-willing buyer willing seller. Uma ngabe ungabuza kahle ukuthi yaphelelaphi i-willing buyer willing seller yabulawa yibona ngoba bethanda imali kakhulu. Yibona ababulala i-willing buyer willing seller. Nakho lokho ukuthi besine-willing buyer willing seller kunokuba sithathe lo mhlaba womkhulu bethu senza iphutha elikhulu kabi lapho ... [Ubuwelewele.] ... Ningabanga umsindo nifike la nifuna ukuya khona iqiniso libuhlungu. [Kwaphela isikhathi.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Speaker, the final issue that I want to say is that these members whom we are referring to are making a lot of noise about the land issue. They forget that we came here in South Africa and drew the Constitution that we have now so that we can live peacefully. We had a concept of a willing buyer and a willing seller principle. If you can ask what happened to this concept of a willing buyer and a willing seller principle, you would find that it was ended by them because they love money too much. It is them who killed
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a concept of a willing buyer and a willing seller principle. We have made a big mistake by having that concept of a willing buyer and a willing seller principle instead of taking our ancestral land ... [Interjections.] ... You can make a noise all you like, the truth is painful. [Time expired.]]
Mr M KHAWULA: Hon Deputy Speaker, hon President and hon Deputy President, the events and activities in the country which preceded the state of the nation address cannot be ignored. Some ill-conceived decisions taken by government during this period had a huge impact and directly contributed to the chaos of the day. Coupled to this were numerous poor decisions taken by the presiding officers during the address which also impacted on the flow and direction of the day‘s events and chaos.
Some of the statements that the President made during the state of the nation address are to be welcomed. The President spoke inter alia about the slow growth of the economy, the slow pace of economic transformation and the slow pace of land reform. Though belated, the IFP appreciates the financial attention given to the call for free education.
That being said, the 2017 state of the nation address was fraught with inconsistencies and ambiguities. This is not
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surprising as it has become an established tradition in the ruling party that whatever is addressed by the President does not usually translate into that which ends up taking place on the ground.
Whilst the President laments the failure of the economy to transform and empower the black majority during the past 22 years, he says nothing about the fact that the ANC government has also failed in this task as it has been the government in power over the past 22 years.
In his speech, the President who has been in power for the past eight years, complains about the very slow pace of transformation in the workplace. He laments the slow pace of land reform. He complains about the R500 billion state budget spent on goods and services and the R900 billion spent on infrastructure per annum which does not lift up and empower small enterprises.
Mr President, one missing statement in your complaints – the elephant in the room – is that it is your government, your political organisation and yourself that has principally failed to provide the changes you so lyrically lament about.
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The President complains about economic concentration which has helped enrich a mere handful of black people. What the President forgets to point out is that the economic concentration and the handful of fortunate ones only happen to be a few connected relatives and friends of those who are in power.
A state of the nation address should give the citizens of the country some hope – some hope that things can still change for the better. The unemployed millions need hope that jobs will be created. The working masses need hope that salaries will improve and that the inequality gap will be reduced. Business needs hope that investments will sustain and improve the economy. Students and parents need hope that quality education and free education will be delivered.
Sadly Mr President, very little of this has been genuinely provided in your speech. This year‘s address was a mere reflection of the one before it which has not worked, nor have any of its predecessors.
Whilst the IFP acknowledges the quantity strides that the country has taken in social security and education, the issue of quality education remains a concern. Quality education still evades the poor communities whilst remaining a luxury available
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to those who can afford to send their children to quality schools. It was a blow to quality education when the Department of Basic Education reduced the Maths pass mark to 20% for Grades 7 to 9. Like the hon Prince Buthelezi stated yesterday, education is the key to total liberation. A feel good syndrome intended at polishing the image of government at the expense of compromising the future of our children is wholly unacceptable.
What the President urgently needs to attend to in order to avoid financial downgrades by the rating agencies, achieve economic growth, market stability and create employment is to create harmony in government and harmony in government agencies and the state-owned entities, SOEs. Coupled with this is an intensified war on corruption and wasteful, fruitless expenditure. This is what the country urgently requires, Mr President.
Worse than the speech itself on Thursday was the moral trajectory of the House which has degenerated to hit rock bottom in respect of moral values. Having been brought up by Prince Buthelezi in a political school that values respect, integrity, ubuntu and the principle of disagreeing without being disagreeable, I am not proud right now, hon Deputy Speaker, to be associated with a House that reflected such low levels of these values on Thursday. Robustness and active engagement
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should not equate to the disintegration of the country‘s treasured values. I thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]
Mr V MAGWEBU: Deputy Speaker, hon Chairperson, members of the House and fellow South Africans, what took place during the state of the nation address last Thursday left us and many South Africans aggrieved and ashamed.
Chinua Achebe in his book entitled, Things fall Apart, quotes the essayist and dramatist William Butler Yeats‘ The Second Coming, where he wrote:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Fellow members and Deputy Speaker, Achebe reminds us of the tragic fall of a warrior and a village hero, a leader of his tribe who didn‘t know how to handle the power that came with his position. He opposed all wise counsel, turned volatile, beat his wives even during the sacred week of peace, murdered those he had a duty to care for and went gun-toting because to him listening to dissent and opposition would be a sign of weakness.
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Mr Zuma, you have been given wise counsel, both by the opposition parties as well as senior members within your own party, to do the honourable thing and step down as the President of the Republic.
Mr Zuma, you have gone far beyond destroying our nation. You have broken us. It is a true sign of strength when one does that which is right instead of that which is comfortable and in your case, self-serving. It is therefore not surprising that you do not possess these righteous virtues.
Mr Zuma, you have caused enough pain and suffering to our people. You have lost the moral authority to rule over our people. Your Presidency ...
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Point of order. Hon Deputy Speaker, I rise on Rule 14(f) to question the relevance of the speaker‘s debate. This Zuma phobia is actually detracting us because he keeps on talking about ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: ... the President and does not address ...
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: ... the relevant debate on the state of the nation address.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, wait I‘m talking man! Please!
Kan jy nie stil bly nie? [Can‘t you keep quiet?}
Please take your seat.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Apologies, Deputy Speaker.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No hon member, that‘s a political statement It‘s not a point of order. Hon Steenhuisen, you must stop talking to me like that.
Asseblief, asseblief, ek vra jou. [Please, please, I‘m asking you.]
Please, you must consistently behave like all other Chief Whips in the House. They are generally ... [Interjections.] No hon member, don‘t provoke us please. Hon member, please proceed.
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Mr V MAGWEBU: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Mr Zuma, your presidency has been characterised by nothing else but the following: insidious levels of corruption and the lack of political will to combat it; the abuse of power as well as maladministration in government institutions; as well as irregular appointments in government institutions and public entities. Those who oppose your resignation are either as corrupt as yourself or only have their own interests at heart. Those interests are ... [Inaudible.] ... at heart.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you may not say that about a Member of Parliament without a substantive motion. Withdraw what you said about the President now. Withdraw, hon member. [Interjections.] Order, hon members!
Mr V MAGWEBU: I will withdraw and rephrase it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, you withdraw unconditionally. Unconditionally.
Mr V MAGWEBU: I withdraw, Deputy Speaker. I withdraw.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Proceed.
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Mr V MAGWEBU: Mr Zuma, you are presiding over a corrupt government. You truly lack the integrity and the capacity to take the development and transformation in our society seriously. You giggled when security forces invaded a building which was supposed to beacon of hope for our people and you violated the sanctity of this House.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member Magwebu, please take your seat. Yes, hon member?
[Interjections.]
Hon member, please go ahead. I will follow it up, hon member. I didn‘t hear it properly. Go ahead, hon member.
Mr V MAGWEBU: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Achebe reminds us in his book that, ―Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold‖, and this carries great meaning for us as South Africans today. Close to nine million South Africans are unemployed and many have given up looking for jobs. Under the ANC government a whole generation of young people has been lost. More than five million mainly black young South Africans between the ages of 15 and 34 are unemployed and they lack the necessary training, making it difficult for them to participate in the economy of this
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country. They have been denied the opportunity of a better life by poor basic education and starved of opportunities to develop their skills.
Mr President, your state of the nation address last Thursday left me cold. Reporting on the progress of the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, you have stated that, ―Since 2014, two million work opportunities have been created on the road to achieving six million by 2019 and of these more than half have been taken up by youth.‖
What he failed to mention was that in the ANC municipalities you need to be a card-carrying member of their party to enjoy getting an opportunity to work. You need to be a card-carrying member of the ANC to enjoy the kola nut, palm wine and yam foofoo of our nation which will belong to all of us and not to the elite few.
Furthermore, Mr Zuma failed to mention that the same individual can be employed on different projects and each period of employment would be counted as a work opportunity. So, while two million work opportunities were created this does not mean that the same people benefitted from the programme.
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Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Deputy Speaker, the member continues and I think he is trying very hard to justify his ... [Inaudible.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No hon member, what are you saying? What are you rising on?
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: The member is making a point that a person needs to have a card of the ANC to ... [Inaudible.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No hon member, that‘s a political statement. It‘s not a point of order. Please take your seat. Proceed, hon Magwebu.
Mr V MAGWEBU: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I won‘t waste time with ... [Inaudible.] In the DA-governed municipalities the EPWP is implemented in a manner that is just, and in a manner that is fair and transparent, unlike in the ANC where councillors are the ones who identify the people who are needy and who need work opportunities. In doing so, all they do is appoint or give an opportunity to their girlfriends, wives, family members and to all those who are politically connected to him. It is not done in a manner that is fair and transparent. [Interjections.]
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Order! Order!
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Mr V MAGWEBU: Deputy Speaker, hon members and fellow South Africans, all jobseekers apply ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, what are you rising on, hon member?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Let him sit down.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Magwebu, please take your seat. What are you rising on, hon member?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Hon Deputy Speaker, the member of the DA is trying to spice up his speech by making unsubstantiated statements about the ANC. [Interjections.] He understands very well that is not now it is supposed to be done.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member. Hon member, please take your seat. Proceed, hon member.
Mr V MAGWEBU: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. In the DA municipalities where we govern all jobseekers apply and their names are placed in the database to ensure fairness and transparency. Therefore, everyone is given a chance regardless of race, regardless of political persuasion and regardless of background. This is something that the ANC needs to learn.
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[Applause.] We are taking this EPWP to the next level in the provinces and in the municipalities where we govern.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Magwebu, please take your seat. Yes, hon member?
Mr D MNGUNI: Is the member able to take a question concerning Anthony Still who was demoted today in Johannesburg for not following due processes.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member, don‘t ask. Hon member, wait for the member to indicate whether he wants to take a question. Are you prepared to take a question, hon member?
Mr V MAGWEBU: Deputy Speaker, no thank you.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Then proceed, man.
Mr V MAGWEBU: You see in the DA we are not only diverse and dynamic but we are innovative. Let me tell you something. What we are currently doing is that we will allow private employers in government to employ jobseekers where we share our database so that more people can be given jobs. It is therefore not
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surprising that in the City of Cape Town we have received several awards for the successful implementation of the EPWP.
The expanded youth unemployment rate in South Africa is almost sitting at a whopping 50%. This is our lost generation. This is our lost generation. Therefore, it is for that reason that the DA has proposed a rescue plan for this generation. We will deal with the lost generation and in the coming year we will sit down on policy platforms with these precious young South Africans to address this challenge as we prepare to govern in 2019.
Deputy Speaker, hon members and fellow South Africans, through initiatives like a jobs and justice fund we will be able to give entrepreneurs access to capital and a nationwide government internship programme that will partner with business to bring hope and opportunities to the generation that is lost ... that the ANC has neglected. The underfunding of our universities by the ANC-led government and the recent unrest in our institutions of higher learning undermines efforts to provide our youth with the necessary skills that they so desperately need.
Mr Zuma, things have fallen apart. Your centre at the ANC cannot hold. No amount of radical transformation can solve South
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Africa‘s socioeconomic problems if the ANC refuses to govern because of its obsession with the ruling of our people.
Where the DA governs we succeed. I will tell you why. Our policies provide policy direction and a coherence of the economy, an increase in investment and savings, support for the redress measures to broaden participation in the economy and we target corruption through good governance.
However, here is the contrast. Under the ANC things have fallen apart. Minister Lindiwe Zuma ... she‘s still in the House. Lindiwe Zulu, sorry. [Interjections.] Lindiwe Zulu. Lindiwe Zulu ... there‘s no difference ... in this House last Thursday, unashamedly ... [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: Point of order, Chairperson.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R J Tau): Hon member, can you take your seat. Is that a point of order?
The MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: The point of order ...
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... Ukuthi angizudelelwa umuntu ozongibiza ngegama engingalona. Igama lami ... ngiyakuphinda futhi, ngiyakwazisa, wena omusha ofikizolo. Igama lami nginguLindiwe Daphne Zulu, uyangizwa kahle? Lindiwe Daphne Zulu. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... that I cannot be ridiculed by someone by calling me by the name that is not mine. My name is ... I repeat it again, for you hon new member who arrived yesterday. My name is Lindiwe Daphne Zulu, do you hear me? Lindiwe Daphne Zulu.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R J Tau): Yes, hon member, the point is noted. I take it that the member corrected himself. Can you continue hon member?
Mr V MAGWEBU: Thank you, Deputy Chairperson. Under the ANC things have fallen apart. Last Thursday Minister Lindiwe Daphne Zulu unashamedly grabbed my, Remember Esidemeni 94‘ flag. This was conduct that is not befitting of a Minister and I decided not to deal with her because I refuse to stoop down to her level.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R J Tau): Hon member, your time has expired. Your time has expired.
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Mr V MAGWEBU: What enjoins us as the DA is our shared values and what we stand for. We are ready to govern.
I-ANC ibhonga ilele ngecala, sesifikile madoda. [ANC has given up, we are taking over.]
I promise you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R J Tau): Hon member! Hon member! Hon member, your time has expired! Hon members, order. Order, order! Can we just make the point that if your time has expired please just respect the fact that your time has expired. Please. Hon Cwele?
The MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND POSTAL SERVICES: Hon Deputy Chair of the Council, His Excellency President Zuma and Deputy President Ramaphosa, fellow Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members of this House, leadership of SA Local Government Association, Salga, and fellow South Africans, His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, declared 2017 the year of Oliver Reginald Tambo in honour of the centenary birthday of this selfless patriot and the gallant fighter for the liberation of South Africa. He also called for unity of purpose to sustain our national reconciliation project and relentlessly to pursue
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inclusive growth by implementing radical economic transformation.
Thirty two years ago, Comrade O R Tambo made a similar call in London while addressing a leading conservative Members of Parliament, MPs, in British House of Commons, Norman St JohnStevas who, while accepting that he would like to see apartheid end, asked if the ANC was committed to political philosophy that goes beyond ending apartheid. For instance, the Freedom Charter has some definite views about nationalisation and land distribution. President O R Tambo succinctly responded, I quote:
Well, the Freedom Charter is not formulated on the basis of any ideological positions. The Freedom Charter simply looks at our situation in which there is great wealth, immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority are living in disparate poverty, and we say how do we adjust this position? How can this wealth be put at the service of the people as a whole? What are the mechanisms? And we start by accepting it cannot go on, we cannot have a system which maintains this juxtaposition of immense wealth and immense poverty.
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Mr President, the majority of South Africans responded well to this call for inclusive and growing economy, as envisaged in our National Development Plan, to help us deal with the persistent challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The South African economy cannot grow while more than 50% are excluded or marginalised to the periphery of the mainstream economy. The overwhelming majority concurs with the President that the structure of our economy in terms of ownership, management, control and active participation remains unfairly skewed in favour of few and against the majority especially the poor.
This has been going on for more than a century. It now requires decisive and bold measures by the political and economic leadership to normalise the economy to yield equitable shared rewards from growth.
Ngamafushane sithi, uhulumeni kaKhongolose uthi sesifikile isikhathi sokuthi nabansundu baxhamule, bazuze futhi babambe iqhaza kuyo yonke imikhakha yomnotho. Iningi labantu bavumelana nawe Mongameli ukuthi umnotho ngeke ukhule uma kudla indoda eyodwa kodwa kufanele kuvulwe amasango, izithebe zabelwe bonke abazimisele ukusebenzela ukuthuthukisa iNingizimu Afrika. Lokhu sikwenza ukuze sinqobe ukusweleka kwemisebenzi, sehlise ubumpofu
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futhi sinciphise igebe phakathi kwabadla idombolo likapondo nabadl‘ imbuya ngothi.
Siyazi ukuthi lokhu ngeke kwehle njengemana. Njengohulumeni onakelelayo sizosebenzisa amadla kahulumeni anjengo mthetho, iziqondiso, kanye namandla okuthenga ukuze sivule amathuba kwabanyama, kwabesifazane, abakhubazekile, osomabizinisi abasafufusa kanye nakulusha olukhungethwe ukuswela imisebenzi ukuze nabo bahlomule babeyingxenye yensika yomnotho wonkana. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows)
[In short we are saying that time has come for blacks to benefit from the economy, also contribute in all the levels of the economy. Many people concur with you hon President that the economy cannot grow if it is only one race that have access to it and that access should be afforded to everybody, and that it should be distributed to everybody who is prepared to work for the development of South Africa. We are doing this so to curb unemployment, to decrease poverty and to lessen the gap between the rich and the poor.
We know that this would not just fall like manna from heaven. As the caring government we are going to use our power like the law, regulations and the buying power to open opportunities for
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blacks, women, people with disabilities, emerging businesses and for the youth who are faced with unemployment so that they can also benefit and be part of the pillar of the economy as a whole.]
All these measures are part of the enhanced implementation of our National Development Plan. The National Development Plan proposes three phased implementation of priorities in the information and communications technology, ICT, sector: In the short term, it calls for an urgent review of policy to improve access through competition in services, fast-tracking of local loop unbundling; urgent availability of spectrum for new generation services; and provide for low-cost high-speed internet bandwidth.
By 2020, it calls for universal broadband access penetration at minimum speeds of 2 megabits per second, Mbps. Post 2020, it calls for multistakeholder collaboration in innovation, local content, multimedia as well as in software and applications development. So, what have we done towards this?
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, reports that in the last three years of your administration, Mr President, this industry has invested R78 billion in
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infrastructures. The country has started to see the benefits of this accelerated investment, where the Network Readiness Index and usage have improved. This and other measures driven by our government has helped to steadily push the World Economic Forum, WEF, Global Competitive Index from 56 in 2014, to 47 in 2016 out of 140 participating countries.
In September last year, the ANC government adopted the Integrated ICT White Paper. We are using this policy leaver to deconcentrate this industry. We are using open access networks and our natural resource, spectrum, as strategic leavers to induce real transformation and lowering of the barriers to entry for blacks, small businesses and marginalised groups.
We have been heartened by positive inputs by the industry during the consultations we have been having recently on how best we implement this White Paper. Those who are currently excluded are not vengeful at all. However, they have brought the most innovative proposals to implement this policy without destroying the sector. This confirms the President‘s assertion that it is not about taking from the ‗haves‘ but it is about sharing with the ‗have-nots‘. We will finalise this consultation soon so that we can prioritise the implementation and necessary legislative amendments.
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Also in October last year, the ICT sector council finalised the sector codes, which are now operational. These codes have move beyond share ownership and management control to prioritise important areas such as enterprise development, preferential procurement and skills development. The ICT sector council is assisting the industry to improve compliance and to eliminate fronting. Our council is currently conducting provincial roadshows to assist the beneficiaries to take the advantage of these new opportunities presented by their ANC government.
Hon members, broadband or fast and reliable internet is critical for the development and global competitiveness. Following the technical procurement delays and a failed State Information Technology Agency, Sita, tender for Phase I broadband rollout, we have decided to utilise the capacity of our all state-owned companies to implement it in line with the provisions of the law. The aim of this rollout is to connect government offices to expedite services delivery to our people. It also aims to bring services closer to our communities so that business and local citizens can exploit it for their benefit.
With regard to the bigger Phase II rollout of broadband to the rest of the country, later this year we will be going to raise
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funds through the partnership with the private sector as part of our Invest South Africa 40 projects approved by Cabinet.
Since 2014, our state-owned companies have invested in rural areas. For an example, Broadband Infraco is using its Points of Presence to connect local small, medium and micro-sized enterprises, SMMEs, to the network in order for them to provide services to end users. Black-owned companies such as Galela and Mzinyathi are currently providing services in the under serviced areas of Dr Kenneth Kaunda in North West and uMzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. This will allow businesses to create new jobs in these under serviced areas.
During this year of O R Tambo, Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa, USAASA, has employed the service of another small black-owned company called BrightWave to build, operate and transfer a network at King Sabata Dalindyebo and Mhlontlo Municipality in O R Tambo District. Between March and July 2017, we will finalise connecting more than 542 schools and 65 clinics in that municipality.
Hon members, our youth has realised the power of using internet for their own development. We have heard their plight to make data affordable as it is still relatively high compared to our
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peers. We agree with them that data bundle prices must come down. What are we doing in this regard? [Applause.]
Firstly, the real data costs will only be realised when more players and particularly SMMEs are competing in giving services to the people as advocated by the our policy; secondly, in 2016, we issued a policy directive mandating Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa, to conduct an inquiry to see if there is any competition in this broadband market and if necessary advisors on the necessary regulatory measures we can implement to bring the prices down. The regulator has put a deadline of April 2017 for this work. We hope that the public will also give their valuable inputs in this process.
Thirdly, our internet service providers are expanding internet exchange points to more towns within South Africa, hence lowering the cost of providing internet. We are also assisting other African countries in providing their rational internet exchange points. The fourth one in this aspect is the municipal Wi-Fi programme which contributes significantly to the basic access to internet by more citizens. We have assisted municipalities at metros to expand this programme. However, we were very much concerned by pronouncement by the new DA mayors
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that threatened this project within some metros. At the same time, we have been encouraged by their change of heart as a result of pressure from residents. What we can say is that the ANC government will continue assisting more and more municipalities to implement this project. [Applause.]
Hon members, we are doing all these measures to enable people to exploit the internet economy and prepare them to extract the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. For instance, the new technologies such as new designs of energy storage will remarkable improve our energy storage and will also make this renewable energy more affordable and sustainable to provide electricity in rural areas. The Fourth Industrial Revolution requires us to priorities mathematics and science education. It dictates that we must skill and re-skill our work force in order to minimise potential job losses as a result of robotics. We need to upscale investment in research and development and our entrepreneurial capacity.
Hon members, the ANC has repeatedly called for the fundamental transformation of the financial sector. Our efforts are not to collapse the banking system but we are focusing on changing their monopolistic behaviour. There is a need to review the Financial Sector Charter as it relates to access to finance for
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small and informal businesses, financial inclusion, affordability and indeed the bank charges. It shall remain very high.
The ANC has been calling for opening up of space for the variety of sector specific banks or second tier banks such as a construction bank, stokvels bank, co-operative banks, and a variety of state banks in order to improve access and affordability to support the growth.
It is under this backdrop that I would like to respond to the urgent need to corporatise the Postbank as directed by the developmental needs of the underserviced and unbanked. It is a state bank which seeks to promote the universal access to banking while at the same time providing a platform for the disbursement of various state transactions such as social grants.
Hon members, what we have done so far: Firstly, in July last year, for the first time since 2005, we passed the first hurdle of being given a permission to establish a banking company in terms of section 12 of the Banks Act because we have complied with all the relevant requirements. We are now in the final but challenging mile of section 13 authorisation to get a banking
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license. Some of the milestones we have made since last year are: One, the Postbank company is being registered, six names have been approved by the SA Reserve Bank and are available for appointment as board members of the Postbank board after undergoing the fit and proper assessment, the financial risk modelling and capital adequacy requirements of the Postbank has been finalised. The bank is well capitalised to the tune of more than R1,4 billion.
The final and the difficult hurdle we are currently addressing in consultation with the Minister of Finance and subsequently, of course, the Cabinet is the resolution of challenge around the bank controlling company. This challenge is around the interpretation of the Bank‘s Act itself with some legal opinion we may say that we may not need to amend legislation. The ANC government will work flat-out to meet the 3 July deadline of submitting the final application for the licence.
In conclusion, we would like to apologise to all those who sacrificed for our liberation for the unsightly disruptions that were driven by hooliganisms and, of course, assisted by unrepentant arrogance from those who were beneficiaries of the apartheid during the state of the nation address last week.
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Yingakho abantu bethi ―uTambo angalila uma esibona sinje‖. [That is why people say that: ―Tambo would weep if he could see us like this‖.]
This is not what he fought for. The ANC and other progressive parties did not detract from the historic mission of advancing the National Democratic Revolution in order to improve the quality of life of our people and build a united nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and a prosperous nation. Tambo was the embodiment of the core values of the ANC: The values of unity, discipline, selflessness, sacrifice, collective leadership, humility, honesty, internal debate and hard work. [Applause.]
Mr President, working together with all our people, we will work hard to realise radical economic transformation in order to attain inclusive growth that benefits all South Africans. Time for collective action has landed on our shoulders to inspire and give hope that today is better than yesterday‘s apartheid and tomorrow will be better than today. I thank you very much. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you very much, hon Minister. Hon members, I am directed to advice members to take
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15 minutes comfort break. The bells will be rung and we will converge again. Thank you very much.
Ms M R SEMENYA: Deputy Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President in absentia, hon members, good afternoon. Primary agriculture is an important sector in South African economy. As a labour intensive sector, agriculture is a key driver of the economic activity and employment, especially in the rural areas, and serves as a measure earner of foreign exchange.
The sector has a major role to play in poverty alleviation and structural transformation in the country. It is for this reason that our National Development Plan has identified agriculture, forestry and fisheries as a key sector to drive inclusive growth in rural economies with significant job creation opportunities.
Some of the key actions that have been listed in the NDP for this sector includes, creating one million jobs, for which 600 000 potential jobs should be set up in communal areas and 300 000 jobs through commercial agriculture; increase investment in infrastructure; as well as the research and the new agricultural technologies; achieving food surplus by 2030 to ensure that every household can say, we have food on the table.
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The NDP further states that a third of the food surplus should be produced by small farmers. To achieve this objective, this has to be a deliberate and concerted effort by all stakeholders to radically transform the agriculture and rural economy to stimulate growth in segments of our society that have long been marginalised and instil transformation along agricultural and rural development value chain.
In this regard, the progressive ANC-led government has put remedial policies and plans, which aim to transform the structure, the patterns of ownership and the control of agrarian system to be inclusive and developmental.
The government has further made significant strides in supporting smallholder farmers through integrated support packages that includes access to land, training, finance and research output. It is also worth noting that these strategic interventions by government are not welfarist, but rather more developmental as they seek to translate into sustainable growth and sustainable livelihood.
The progress that has been made on the development of the new policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support and
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Integrated Development Finance Framework by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is welcomed.
Hon members, some of the commendable achievements in the last financial year includes, the placement of veterinary graduates as part of the compulsory community services for veterinary and para-veterinary professionals. These vets play a very crucial role in control, management and animal diseases outbreak, particularly in the rural areas where such services were not available before. Support that has been provided to smallholder producers including the establishment of 18 commodity-based cooperatives and capacity building of 105 co-operatives in various provinces. The implementation of Citrus Emerging Excellence Programme, which is crucial and played significant role in ensuring access to market for developing citrus producers.
Hon members, despite the registered progress, the country‘s agricultural sectors still contributes under 3% to GDP while the agricultural sector of Brics counterparts, especially Brazil and China, contributes approximately 5% and 9% respectively to the GDP. This level of growth in Brazil and China are attributed to their ability to consistently increase agricultural productivity through direct investment in the sector.
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To achieve the level of self-sufficient and production level similar to Brazil and China, South Africa must invest extensively in agricultural research development, radical socioeconomic transformational programmes and most importantly, in the small producers support system through the value chain. This is what the revitalisation of agriculture and agroprocessing value chain and ocean economy, which forms part of the nine-point plan that was announced by the President two years ago, seeks to achieve.
We acknowledge the progress that has been made in the implementation of this programme, which in most instances is limited by funding. It is therefore important that we revisit the investment model to support growth in the agricultural sector to ensure that the announcement made by the President in his state of the nation address on export agreement with Brics partners in the field of agriculture are fulfilled and expanded.
Let us be reminded hon members that South Africa is a signatory to the Maputo Declaration, which is embedded within the overall vision of African agriculture to achieving an ambition to a self-reliant and productive Africa that can play its full part on the world stage.
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At the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in July 2003 in Maputo, African heads of state and government endorses the Maputo Declaration on agriculture and food security in Africa.
Amongst other matters, the assembly recognised that agricultural sector growth rate in African countries did not always follow growth in agricultural share of the national budgets.
The declaration of assembly contained several important decisions regarding agriculture, but prominent among them was that the commitment to the allocation of at least 10% of the national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development policy implementation within five years.
In contrast, our national spend on agriculture is lower than several low-income‘s countries on the continent. In fact, South Africa is the number nine regarding national spend on agriculture lower than Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana and others. Public sector spending on agriculture in South Africa is just under 2% far cry from the 10% that was agreed to in Maputo Declaration.
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Industrialised countries, despite agriculture being minor contributor to overall economic production, government has always provided sustained support to sector and the level of subsidies for it and farm export remain high.
If counties that can do without agriculture and still prosper are willing to continue financing this heavily, why should South Africa, where millions of her people depends on the sector for their employment and income, not do the same?
We are fully aware of competing needs on the fiscus, which limits our ability to comply with the Maputo Declaration. However, unless the first step is intentionally taken for the purposes of progressively attaining the Maputo Declaration on food security; there can be no meaningful transformation in the sector.
Parallel to that should be concerted effort by all parties to better align resources allocated to the sector and its support institution. These should include, provision of comprehensive agricultural support packages aligned to the NDP mandate; review the conditional grants for agriculture through Division of Revenue Act, Dora, for the purpose of streamlining and improving expenditure oversight; integrate for the better co-ordination
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funding located in several departments targeting the same programmes, e.g, land care; rigorous skills development for smallholder producers and co-operatives; protecting and incentivise domestic businesses and industries, tightening up regulation impacting negatively on the sector and dismantling the entrenched interests as we have seen in poultry industry; reviewing the financial for smallholder farmers, including restructuring of the Land Bank to address the developmental agenda and sustaining commercial farming even as we transform so that we build on what we have.
I would like to highlight to the House that a year before the signing of the Maputo Declaration, the AU through the New Partnership for Africa‘s Development recognises that improvement in agriculture is a prerequisite for the economic development on the continent.
The New Partnership for Africa‘s Development, Nepad, recognises the need for better policies to increase food availability, strengthening effective access to food, improving food utilisation and recognising women‘s role in agriculture and food security. It is against this backdrop and in seeking to address inequity to access land, its resources and insecurity of tenure
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that Nepad launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme in 2002.
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, CAADP, provide the framework for accelerating long term agricultural development and growth amongst African countries and focuses on improving food security, nutrition and increasing incomes in Africa‘s largely farming-based economies.
While South Africa has been slow in embracing CAADP, there is some progress that has been made towards signing of the Country‘s Compact, which should identify investment opportunities and detail programme and project that various stakeholders can buy into and address on our national priorities.
It is worth highlighting that agricultural development and growth in multi-dimensional cannot be dealt with separately from climate change, rural-urban development, source of income and social protection and diseases outbreak.
As I speak, the country is faced with the outbreak of the Fall Armyworm, which attacks our grain crops, thus posing a threat to food security. I should highlight that this outbreak follows a
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drought that most of the farmers are still recovering or have not recovered from.
Therefore, agricultural development is not confined to a department, but to all spheres of government, as well as civil society. The global food fuel prices hike provide a strategic opportunity for government to strengthen agricultural production programmes through CAADP to ensure food security and job creation as identified by the NDP and outlined in the Medium Term Strategic Framework, MTSF.
As we advocate for more funding for the sector, including research and technology development, urgent attention also needs to be given to training and education to ensure that agricultural students and graduates have necessary skills that the country requires.
In terms of research funding and capacity building, partnership between government, academia, industry and civil society cannot be overemphasised. The partnership need to be strengthened in order to advance agriculture in the country and enable the commercialisation of smallholder producer as the President mentioned in the state of the nation address.
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Before I sit down, hon members, with your permission as the year has been declared, the Year of Oliver Reginald Tambo. Allow me to quote one of the concluding statements by O R Tambo in his address in 1948 National Conference of the ANC in 1991, where he said:
We did not tear ourselves apart because of lack of progress at the time. We were always ready to accept our mistakes and to correct them. Above all, we succeeded to foster and defend the unity of the ANC and the unity of our people in general. Even in bleak moment, we were never in doubt regarding the winning of freedom. We have never been in doubt that the people‘s cause shall triumph.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R Tau): Hon member, your time expired. Hon member?
Ms M R SEMENYA: Indeed, 2017 must be true be the year of unity in action by all Africans as we move South Africa forward. [Time expired] [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr R Tau): I try to caution ourselves earlier on to say that the clock is there. Don‘t take
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advantage of the fact that I can‘t operate that mic to switch it off. Let us just adhere to what we are supposed to do.
Ms B S MASANGO: Deputy Chairperson, the state of the Department of Social Development can be summed up in the latest newspaper headlines which say: ―Beneficiaries in Disaster Countdown;‖ ―Welfare Cliffhanger;‖ ―D-Day for Grants;‖ ―Seven weeks to go to prevent what could be a disaster of unprecedented proportions.‖ Hon President, you should therefore be fully aware that plans for the payment of social grants to 17 million poor and vulnerable South Africans are completely in the air.
The SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, and the department have had years to prepare for this takeover. Yet only now are they seeking an exploratory meeting with Cash Paymaster Services, CPS, the company currently tasked with distributing social grants, to discuss the transition of the SASSA contract. In fact, the DA believes that Sassa never had any real intention of meeting the 01 April 2017 deadline for taking over of the distribution of social grants. We believe as the Democratic Alliance that Sassa wilfully manufactured an emergency that would leave them with no choice but to extend the current invalid contract with CPS. Yet, in your State of the Nation Address, hon President, you gave no reassurance that these social grants will be paid on 1 April,
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when the current contract to distribute social grants comes to an end.
It seems that you and the ANC government are quite content to leave South Africans in the dark, just like the ANC have abandoned millions of young people, the lost generation, who have no hope of finding work opportunities. [Applause.] Hon members, given the history that led to the Constitutional Court declaring in 2014 that the current contract with CPS was invalid, one would have thought that Minister Dlamini would have taken the situation seriously and have fulfilled the deliverables and timelines they presented to the Constitutional Court. Not surprisingly, the Minister failed to do this. She is far too busy campaigning and attacking Thuli Madonsela to have the time to worry about the 17 million people who rely on social grants.
The DA has proposed as a result that National Treasury take the lead role in the contractual negotiations as well as in the process of appointing a new service provider. Mr President, we urge you to issue a proclamation to this effect. What does this all say about the ANC government and the Minister of Social Development‘s attitude towards the poor and vulnerable? This is what it says to the people of this country: You are not a
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priority at the moment; we will see you during election season when we need your vote and we might even give drop a food parcel or two but is finish en klaar!
Mongameli ohloniphekile, ngiyathemba ukuthi uyayibona indlela uhulumeni kaKhongolose ebaphethe ngayo abantu abahluphekile nabadla imbuya ngothi, phakathi kwabo kukhona nabantwana, abantu abadala kanye nabakhubazekile. UNgqongqoshe Wezokuthuthukisa Ezenhlalakahle ... [Ubuwelewele] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Hon President, I hope you are aware of the way the ANC-led government is treating the poor people and those who are the poorest of the poor, amongst whom are children, the aged and those with disabilities. The Minister of Social Development ... [Interjections.]]
Ms P C MABILA: Chairperson, I am rising on Rule 14(l), can a member take a question? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No. Hon members, it is for me to ask hon Masango whether she is prepared to take a question. Hon Masango, are you prepared to take a question?
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Ms B S MASANGO: No, Deputy Chair.
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: She is not prepared to take a question.
Ms P C MABILA : Bengifuna ukwazi ukuthi leliya cala lezidakamizwa likamfundisi uMaimane liphelelephi? [Ubuwelewele.] [I wanted to know what is the progress pertaining to the case of drugs involving pastor Maimane? [Intejections.]]
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, hon member, she is not prepared to take a question.
Nkz B S MASANGO: Mongameli ohloniphekile, indlela abantu abahluphekayo kuleli zwe abaphethwe ngayo uhulumeni kaKhongolose iyathusa. Besinethemba ngesonto elidlule ukuthi uma wethula inkulumo yakho yesimo saleli zwe, uzoba nesiqinisekiso noma isethembiso kubona sokuthi uma kufika ilanga lokuthi bahole izimpesheni zabo bazozithola. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Ms B S MASANGO: Hon President, the way poor people of this country are treated by the ANC-led government is shocking. Last week when you presented your state of the nation address, we
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hoped that you would ensure them or promise them that they would receive their grants when that day arrives.]
The truth is that the Minister of Social Development doesn‘t care about the poor. As a result, Mr President, let the hon Dlamini campaign for your chosen successor all she wants, we do not have a problem with that. But please, for the sake of our country, fire her from your cabinet to ensure that 17 million people are protected. [Applause.] For the sake of the people of this country, I beseech you with all the respect that I have, to make this vital announcement tomorrow when you deliver your speech. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr M P GALO: Deputy Chair, hon President, Deputy President in absentia, Members of Parliament, we have entered into an era of contemporary political posturing and rhetoric to say the least. The AIC firmly believes that the punted radical transformation of the economy mantra echoed in President Jacob Zuma‘s state of the nation address is a pie in the sky. We hold a view that the proposed and ongoing review of the Mining Charter and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act is not a panacea to addressing a skewed and concentrated mining sector.
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The AIC believes that the Mining Sector can practically transform, including running a successful beneficiation programme when the state directly mines about 50% of the country‘s mineral and petroleum resources. Mere ownership of mineral and petroleum resources without actively being involved in the extraction and revenue collection is defeating, rude and counter-productive. We should take leaf from the Botswana-De beers partnership which has radicalised Botswana‘s economy. Botswana today offers free access to higher education. Higher education is a luxury of the rich on our shores.
We therefore call for the establishment of the economic transformation commission with a view to deal with compliance, control and ownership patterns in various sectors of our economy. The current measures geared towards economic transformation like the Employment Equity Commission and others are simply ineffective.
Hon Chair, land is a critical commodity to the people of South Africa including young black farmers, rural shack dwellers and emerging agro-processing co-operatives. According to former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, nothing in the Constitution prevents the state from rolling out a cutting edge land distribution programme bias towards the black majority.
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Therefore, the President‘s ill-equipped proposition that by amending the Expropriation Act we will be able to address a century sustained deprivation of land ownership against black majority is far fetched.
Hon Chair, the elephant in the room is lack of value-based leadership on this country and not knee-jerk reactions, policies or compliance charters. The daunting task ahead of all of us is to rid the people of South Africa a government whose stock and trade is to become an oxygen thief at their expense. Hon President, there is a saying that says do not wrestle with a pig in the mud because the pig enjoys the mud. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr S J MOHAI: Hon Chairperson, His Excellency the President, the Deputy President, Ministers, hon members, fellow comrades, at the outset, let me state that the radical transformation of the economy is an objective necessity in South Africa given the history of apartheid colonial relations that excluded and exploited the black majority and women, reducing them to reservoir of cheap labour. No-one in the DA benches has spoken on these issues, because the DA represents narrow, white, sectional interests. They continue to falsify information with a view to manipulating our people for votes – votes that will not
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be used to pursue an agenda of fundamental social transformational. [Applause.]
In advancing the policy injunctions of radical economic transformation, as outlined by the President last week, I would like to focus on two aspects that are critical to the task of radical transformation in this current phase of our transformation, and these are the national minimum wage and the financialisation of the economy and its implications for socioeconomic transformation.
In dealing with these issues, it is worth noting that none but the ANC adopted the policy outlook on minimum wage as early as 62 years back at the People‘s Congress in Kliptown. In pursuance of this policy vision, our President issued a directive to government‘s social partners through the National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, to examine modalities, giving effect to this policy injunction in 2016. We stand here today, inspired that, finally, due consultation and dialogue amongst social partners have unfolded and culminated in the agreement on the national minimum wage in South Africa.
The introduction of the national minimum wage following the agreement by social partners at Nedlac is indeed a milestone in
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tackling the problems of the working poor, income inequality and stimulating the aggregate demand in the economy by raising the income and spending of households. The national minimum wage is going to restructure labour relations in South Africa for the better. This reflects the systematic implementation of the Freedom Charter as well as the 2014 ANC election manifesto, which affirmed our commitment to the task of ending the most dehumanising forms of exploitation.
One does not have to apply rocket science to know that cheap labour was an important pillar of capitalist production and accumulation to entrench apartheid colonial relations. This historical legacy still lives with us today, with 54% of the South African workers – which is 5,5 million workers – still earning below the poverty line of R4 125. These workers are spread across various sectors, but they are mostly concentrated in agriculture and in domestic services.
The agreed national minimum wage is R20 per hour. This translates into R3 500 per month for those working 40 hours a week and R3 900 for those working 45 hours per week. This national minimum wage falls short of a living wage, but goes a long way towards addressing the problem of the working poor.
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More than 50% of South African workers earn below this agreed minimum wage. This is where the significance of this national minimum wage lies. It will lift close to 5 million South African workers to a higher income bracket. In the agricultural sector it will cover 82% of the workers while, in the domestic services sector, it will uplift up to 87% of workers.
Now, let me address some concerns around the effect of the set minimum wage on employment. The research that was used here employed some economic models prescribed by the United Nations. The modelling came to a determination that there would be no effect on employment by the set minimum wage. Instead, revenues of companies would benefit from increased income and spending by households. This means that output will also grow, as it would benefit from the aggregate demand that will be stimulated by increased consumer spending. In other words, setting minimum wages is a good instrument for a shared growth that should benefit the majority, as the ripple effect of an increased aggregate demand creates production expansion that leads to more jobs being created. At the same time, we still need to implement macroeconomic and industrial policies that are directly targeting employment creation on a large scale.
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This minimum wage will fight income inequality in South Africa. Studies in middle-income countries such as Brazil, India, China and Russia show how minimum wages help reduce inequality by lifting up those at the bottom of the income ladder. The statistical model used in the research of this minimum wage also indicates that our minimum wage will help address and reduce the income gap by lowering the Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality and counts from zero to one, with zero being the ideal level of equality and one being the level of absolute inequality. In 2012, South Africa‘s Gini coefficient stood at 0,6 – among the highest in the world.
We must recognise that this minimum wage is a wage floor below which all wages should never fall. It is not a living wage or a natural level of wages. Actual wages must still be determined through collective bargaining processes in which employers and labour unions gather. It is in these bargaining processes where productivity gains and living wage considerations should be used in negotiations.
We also wish to caution those who always insist that higher growth rates will only be achieved when we lower wages. The DA normally believes this. We must warn them that such arguments are morally bankrupt, to say the least. Low wages inherited from
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the cheap labour system have to be done away with. They are not good for the living standards of our people and are bad for an economy that suffers from a chronic aggregate demand. When more households can afford to spend more in consumer markets, it means we will have to use more of their productive capacity to produce goods for the market. They will have to employ more people as they expand production ...
An HON MEMBER: ... [Inaudible.] ... how the economy works. Mr S J MOHAI: ... to meet the increased demand.
Companies will also have to invest in capital machinery and equipment to be able to produce more goods and faster. This will increase the level of output and investment in the economy. It will increase the rates of profits and improve the level of savings.
Low wages are not good for the economy. They perpetuate income inequality. The growth of income through wealth assets has accentuated inequalities over the period since the 1970s. Inequality leads to social instability and economic contradictions that lead to stagnation and the havoc wreaked by speculation in financial markets.
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The concept of the financialisation of our economy refers to the increasingly dominant role of financial capital through financial motives, markets and institutions in the whole economy. The process of financialisation – which is a key feature of globalisation – sprang up in the US in the 1970s, and spread throughout the developed economies of the global North and integrated the underdeveloped economies of the global South. Global financialisation does have typical global polarisations and asymmetries that subordinate the South to the North in terms of accumulation and development. The global North tends to accumulate and develop at the expense of the South.
The current process of financialisation is qualitatively different from the rise of finance capital in the 20th century. As examined in literature, the primary role of finance capital was previously to promote industrial development through the merger of industrial and finance capital. In other words, finance capital developed and operated largely as a function of industrial growth. In the current epoch, that bond between industrial and finance capital has been severed. Finance capital no longer spurs industrial development, but is geared towards extracting maximum returns, even if it means dismantling or destroying industrial capacity. The metabolism of financial capital is now fundamentally parasitic.
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Since 1994, with the integration of the South African economy into the global economy, financial capital has adapted rapidly to the new context and opportunities to become a key player, with South African conglomerates restructuring and extending their activities across a global field of opportunities. Consequently, the local economy has been negative in a profound way.
Immediately after 1994, South African conglomerates became desperate to restructure and venture into global markets. They needed and worked tirelessly to bring about policy arrangements that would liberate them from the fetters of the South African economy to enable them to reorganise their operations and holdings within the global system. For them, the imperative was to restructure and globalise so as to reduce exposure to possible interventions by the democratic government. This hinged on their ability to export capital and assets.
Seven of the country‘s largest corporations moved their primary listing to London and New York. Two of them – Old Mutual and Liberty – shipped vast amounts of pension fund capital abroad. Historically, pension funds have been used as major source of long-term investment in many developmental states. For instance,
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in Malaysia and Singapore, very large proportions of savings were channelled through pension funds.
The unbundling and restructuring of South Africa‘s largest corporations facilitated large volumes of capital flight and disinvestment. This includes large amounts of illicit capital flight from the South African economy, sometimes as high as 20% of the GDP.
South Africa‘s financial sector flooded the market with credit. Instead of financing productive investments, the bulk of the credit bankrolled financial and real estate speculation and debt-fuelled consumption.
So, what is the way forward that the ANC has chartered?
The ANC is unapologetic: The state should consider organising large sums of capital base to finance industrialisation and economic development. This should include forming a state bank with a strong capital base or acquire capital assets in one of the four large commercial banks and use such assets to finance and drive industrialisation. History hardly has examples of development projects without access to capital.
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The current process of reconfiguring of development finance institutions should really bring about co-ordination and synergy between various development finance institutions with regard to operations and the priorities of industrial policy as outlined in the Industrial Policy Action Plan, Ipap. There should be a fair spread of investment in priority industries and across provinces, with a fair inclusion of rural provinces that are less industrially developed.
In conclusion ...
An HON MEMBER: The best part of your speech!
Mr S J MOHAI: ... the ANC welcomes the President‘s emphasis on the transformation not only of the economy, but also the concomitant transformation of regulation and implementation of programmes that will ensure that we as a state are able to use the state‘s buying power to empower small enterprises, rural township enterprises as well as the promotion of local industrial development.
In the same spirit we also welcome the movement towards the finalisation of the Post Bank as a fully fledged bank as
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announced by Minister Cwele and, indeed, we want to urge the speedy implementation of this.
To conclude, we must give up the absurd fantasy of trying to make the unworkable economic system of the past work for us in this democratic South Africa. We must instead knuckle down to the increasingly urgent tasks of directly fighting for what ought to be the birthright of all South Africans.
We have heard you, Comrade President, that the birthright to a job, a decent income, a home, health care, education, land, childcare, food security, and security in old age constitutes the essence of the radical economic transformation that the ANC will pursue unapologetically. I thank you.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Hon House Chairperson, Mr President, last week I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Sibusiso Maphatiane, an inspiring black entrepreneur in Ekurhuleni who has built his business form nothing but who stood in front of me shaking with emotion and fury telling me about how his business is on the brink of collapse.
He has applied for permission to lay off dozens of his workers because the signed contracts which he fairly won and the orders
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that he has from Transnet have never been honoured. He told of the pain of having to explain face to face to those workers why he could not afford to keep them on.
His office is decorated with South African flags – a real patriot and a champion that we should be nurturing and supporting. In his own words, Mr President, he cut right to the heart of why your notion of radical economic transformation using the might of the state is nothing but a sham.
Listen to what he said: ―The government is supposed to be supporting an entrepreneur like me ... But the government is destroying me.‖ In this one crucial respect, the ANC is carrying on a long and damaging tradition in South Africa. It is governing on behalf of some of the people and excluding others.
While the ANC tries to tell us that it is governing on behalf of the poor, the reality is that the ANC governs on behalf of the party — not the people, and not the poor. This is the story of the commitment to radical economic transformation. It is the work of a con artist, a sleight of hand designed to deceive the public into thinking that you care about them. But the truth is that radical economic transformation is nothing but a code word for radical corruption. [Applause.]
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The ANC has long abandoned the idea of real broad-based empowerment ... [Interjections.]
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: On a point of order. [Interjections.]
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: ... if they ever believed in it at all.
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: Hon Hill-Lewis, can you take your seat, please. On what point are you rising, hon member?
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Thank you, House Chairperson. I am rising in accordance with Rule 12 of the Joint Rules of Parliament that has to do with discipline. The Rule reads as follows: ―When the House sit jointly, the Assembly Rules ...
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON:
When the House is ...
M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: When the House sit jointly, the Assembly Rules and the Council Rules on discipline remain applicable to the Council members. I am reading this jointly with Rule 14(j) and 85 of the National Assembly Rules that actually reads as follows: ―No member may impute improper motives to any other member or cast personal reflections upon a member‘s integrity or dignity or verbally abuse a member in any other way. A member
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who wishes to bring any improper or unethical conduct on the part of another member to the attention of the House may do so only by way of a separate substantive motion.
For the whole afternoon, we have actually been listening to aspersions that are cast on members of this House and members of the executive. And this is how the DA and other parties are actually grandstanding to try and leverage themselves politically, trying to convince South Africans otherwise about progress that has been made by the ANC. [Interjections.]
Re tswelelapele. Le ka nna la re senya maina. [We are moving forward. You can continue to bad-mouth us.]
The DEPUTY HOUSE CHAIRPERSON: Order, hon member. That was not a point of order. It was more of a point of debate. [Interjections.] Can you continue with the debate, hon member?
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: The ANC has long abandoned the idea of real broad-based empowerment, if ever they believed in it at all. Empowerment – ANC style – is empowerment for billionaires and millionaires, and scraps for the rest. Under the banner of radical economic transformation, the President promised to use the power of the state to support black-owned businesses.
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But, consider this, Eskom is used to funnel coal contracts to the Guptas and Zuma family members, even if it means the country must go without power. Radical land redistribution is code for giving farms to ANC Ministers and cronies, not for creating black agricultural entrepreneurs ...
Mr H P CHAUKE: Point of order. Point of order. Hon Chair?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Hill-Lewis, can you take your seat. Hon member?
Mr H P CHAUKE: The hon member disrespected the President, by the way. [Interjections.] he is supposed to address the president as His Excellency or President or Mr Zuma. He addressed him by his name directly and it is improper. So, he needs to address the President properly, please Chair. It is an appeal, we are making and we are not going to take thing of undermining the President any more. [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no no. No, no, no. Can I rule on that. There is a ruling that has been made before. Hon members, we know that you may like or not like the President. If you don‘t want to call him or refer to him as the President, at
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least call him Mr Zuma. That is a Standing Rule that was made previously. Can we please just ensure that we stick to that.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Sir, if you refer to Hansard, I referred to Mr Zuma and Mr President. Black economic empowerment, BEE, is a tool for massive empowerment deals for a connected few, not for actually turning workers into part-owners of their businesses. The Mining Charter is not about improving the living and working conditions of mine workers, it is a way to force companies, like Goldfields has said publicly, to choose their ―empowerment partner‖ from a predetermined list – including the Speaker of this House. Even when you can confront the private sector, you just won‘t do it because there is a crony in every boardroom and a comrade in every deal. So you do not act to bring down data charges for the poor, to end banking rip-offs for people on social grants or help to break the cycle of debt that keeps so many people locked in a prison of stress and anxiety. You do none of those things because in every facet of the economy, the ANC in business relies on the ANC in government to keep the dirty money flowing thick and fast. [Interjections.] And never mind the ―dirty votes‖, to quote hon Mokonyane ... [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can you take your seat. On what point are you rising, hon member?
Mr M A DIRKS: Hon Deputy Chair, I rise on Rule 14(l)(a). Hon Deputy Chair, the corruption issues that Mr Hill-Lewis is raising in the House are shocking.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no. Hon members, I need to ... just hold it, hon member. I am trying to follow what the member is saying. [Interjections.] If you make noise, I won‘t be able to make a proper ruling on the basis of what the member is raising. Can you allow me to gear the member, please.
Mr M A DIRKS: I am shocked by the corruption issues that Mr Hill-Lewis is raising in this House. Just last week, a member of Mr Maimane‘s church once again found drugs in church ... [Interjections.] [Inaudible.] ... and $2 million was found in his church. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members ... [Interjections.] No, no, no. Hon member, take your seat. Can I rule on that and my ruling is very simple. That is a statement and it is not a point of order. [Interjections.] Hon member, can you continue with the debate, please.
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Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Thank you, Deputy Chair. This is the one thing that unites all of the candidates in the ANC‘s current succession battle. Whether it‘s Mr Ramaphosa you are supporting or Ms Mbete. They may not be speaking to one another now, but they have all shared in the empowerment feast and filled their pockets along the way.
No matter which one of them wins, the feast will continue. It‘s just about who gets to sit at the top of the table. The ANC first, the people last. On 20 January, your government, Mr President, quietly published new procurement regulations which completely abandon all previous broad-based empowerment policy. Black economic empowerment should be used to broaden ownership, give workers a stake in their own companies and create training, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for the lost generation.
But now, finally the fig leaf has fallen. Because according to these new regulations, no matter what other contribution companies have made in terms of their BEE scorecard, it‘s all irrelevant.
All that counts is narrow ownership. All of the contributions to finding and mentoring young black entrepreneurs are gone! All of
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the work in helping young black entrepreneurs access supply chains is gone! All of the contributions to education, to training their workers, to buying locally, to giving their workers a stake in the businesses are gone and gone and gone! All of that is irrelevant to this government. All that counts is making sure that the right people get all the tenders.
The only thing broad-based about it is the broad base of people that will pay for this organised theft through higher prices and harder living. And it‘s easy to see where this comes from. Jimmy Manyi has been calling for this for two years. Brian Molefe has already been doing this at Eskom, illegally – I would say, for over a year. And now, you have caved in and given the cronies what they‘ve always wanted, a facade of legal legitimacy to their radical looting programme.
The ANC‘s message to South Africans now is this: ―You are less than us; get to the back of the line, we are still eating. And remember, you owe us forever!‖ The ANC is not on the side of the poor; it is not on the side of the people. It is the state against the nation, the ANC against the people.
By contrast, let me spell out exactly whose side the DA is for. [Interjections.] The DA is firmly on the side of all the people
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who have been forgotten, marginalised and left behind by the ANC. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
To these South Africans the DA says: ―You are valuable, you are legitimate and you are equal. And you have much more right to opportunity and a stake in the future than these will ever give you. The DA is for you!‖ We are a party that fights for your interests, for the improvement of your lives, for new opportunities and for a better life. Not just for some of the people but for all the people. Wherever we govern, life gets better and better and better. Wherever we do not govern, corruption gets worse and unemployment grows.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can you take your seat. On what point are you rising, hno member?
Mr H P CHAUKE: The member again continues to refer to members here as ―these members‖. Not even members, he says ―these‖. [Interjections.] You can‘t address hon members in that way, please. Just make sure that this member respects Members of Parliament. [Interjections.] It‘s an appeal that we are making. Just respect us; we are honourable Members of Parliament. We are not ―these‖.
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can we stick to that. I mean it‘s just a point of respect to other members. Earlier on there was a ruling where members were referred to as ―lot‖. A ruling was made ... no, no, no, hon Steenhuisen, just hold it! Members were referred to as ―lot‖ and a ruling was then made that members must be respected. All what I am saying is ... I didn‘t hear that but if the member said it, then please, may we respect each other and refer to each other as hon members. That‘s my appeal. Hon Steenhuisen?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Hon Deputy Chairperson, let me just say that we were referred to as ―the lot‖ earlier by the hon Zulu and nobody asked her to retract it. [Interjections.] She said it at least three times but nobody asked her to withdraw it. These points of orders are really becoming quite pathetic.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no. I don‘t want to get into a dialogue. Hon members, order. I don‘t want to get into a dialogue with the Chief Whip of the Opposition – the majority opposition. I was in the House and was seated right there listening to hon Zulu when she was requested to withdraw. And she withdrew. I was sitting right there. She withdrew. So, please hon members, may we just look at each other and treat
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each other with the greatest respect. Can you continue, hon member.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Deputy Chairperson, the DA is building a mighty movement of the excluded and the forgotten people. The time is coming for all of those who believe with us, to join with us so that together we can confront and tear down the wall that the ANC continues to build to divide us.
And we will take our values and our plan to rescue this lost generation into the thick of the fight for justice and opportunity for all. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Deputy Chair, hon President, hon Deputy President and hon members, on 9 February 2017, the nation was abused by a shameful state of the nation address. The nation was addressed by a man who is a disciple of greed and patronage, a President who personifies moral degeneration and words without substance or practical action. [Interjections.]
Mr B A RADEBE: On a point of order.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, can I take a point of order.
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Mr B A RADEBE: The member on the podium has just imputed on the dignity of the President by saying that he personify corruption. Can you rule on that, please? It is not right because he was supposed bring that through a substantive motion. Thank you.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, did you really impute that?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Deputy Chair, he must open his ears. I said a President who personifies moral degeneration.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Moral degeneration?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Yes.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay. Not corruption? Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Not corruption.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, the rule of law is the glue that holds us together ... [Interjections.] ... you break the law ... [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: There is a point of order. Hon Plouamma, can you take your seat? Can I recognise the member at the back?
Moh M R M MOTHAPO: Mohl Motlatšamodulasetulo, ke ema mabapi le karolo 14(l) ya Tulo ya Mohlakanelwa. Ke kgopela go botšiša Mna ... Ga a tsebe sefane sa gagwe gabotse ka gore botsebotse ke Tlouamma. Ke na le potšišo ... ka gore o hlakahlakane. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Mrs M R M MOTHAPO: Hon Deputy Chairperson, I rise in terms of section 14(l) of Joint Sitting. I would like to ask Mr ... He does not know his surname well, it is Tlouamma. I have a question to raise ... because he seems to be confused.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: All right ...
E re ke mmotse pele gore a o a kgona go araba potso. A o kgona go tsaya potso, Rre Plouamma? [Let me first ask him if he would take a question. Would you be able to take a question, Mr Plouamma?]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Nka se kgone go e tšea ... [I will not take the question.]
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Mrs M R M MOTHAPO: A ka se e tšee ka gore ... [He will not take it, because ...]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Nnya, nnya, nnya. Ema pele. Ema pele. [No! Wait a bit.] [Interjections.]
Moh M R M MOTHAPO: ... o na le bothata, a ka se e tšee! [Tsenoganong.] O na le bothata. Ga a na sefane motho yo ... [Tsenoganong.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Mrs M R M MOTHAPO: ... he has a problem, he will not respond to the question! [Interjections.] He has a problem. This person does not have a surname...[Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Tsaya setulo sa gago. Tsaya setulo sa gago. Rre, o mo sebakeng sa go tsaya potso? [Take your seat. Take your seat. Are you able to take a question?]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Deputy Chairperson ...
Nka se kgone go tšea potšišo ye. [I cannot take the question.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: A re ga a kgone go e tsaya potso eo. [He is saying he is not able to take your question.]
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Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, the rule of law is the glue that holds us together. [Interjections.] Will I ever talk here?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Just take your seat, hon member.
Mr B A RADEBE: Even if he can change his statement and say that the President personifies moral degeneration, it is still unethical and unparliamentary. Please rule on that. Please. We don‘t have degeneracy here in the House. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You know, hon member, the first thing that is bad is when you want to instruct the presiding officer to rule on a matter. That is the first thing. The second thing is that I tried to establish whether the member said what you initially alleged he said and he replied by saying ―No, he did not say that.‖ [Interjections.] The issue of degeneration. Therefore it means that this is making it very difficult for me to make a ruling on that matter as to whether it is parliamentary or not. Can you therefore allow me to refer to Hansard and then rule on the matter? Can we continue with the debate, hon member?
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Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, the rule of law is the glue that holds us together. When you break the law, you undermine the gains we achieved since our hard-earned democracy. Therefore, the Zuma presidency has allowed lawlessness and shady characters to occupy our public space. Hon members, under his leadership we are worse than conquered people. We are governed by parasites and vultures. This ... [Interjections.]
Mr G S RADEBE: Order, speaker! Hon Chair. ... [Interjections.] This side, Chair. Chair, I think it is unparliamentary for the member to call us what he has just called us. It is very unparliamentary, and I rule in terms of Joint Rule 14(n) ...
An HON MEMBER: You rule?
Mr G S RADEBE: ... that his time has just expired.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, if you called members ―parasites‖, please withdraw. [Interjections.] Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, I have never said members. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, if you said that ... please, let‘s not play with words and want to hide other
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things. If you said to members that they are parasites, could you please just withdraw?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, I have never said members. However, be that as it may, let me withdraw. [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: Order, Chair! Order!
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, under his leadership ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, you are on your feet and the member has withdrawn.
Mr J J SKOSANA: Chair! Order, please.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes.
Mr J J SKOSANA: Chair, he never mentioned parasites only. He also said vultures. We are not vultures. Let him withdraw, Chair. Please. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member ... [Interjections.]
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Chairperson, may I address you?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! No, no, no! Hon Plouamma, did you refer to members as vultures? [Interjections.] The problem, hon members ... may I caution all of us? The level of noise that members are making makes it difficult for the presiding officer to hear, especially if the member is a softspoken person. It becomes very difficult. Hon Plouamma, did you call members vultures?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Yes, I did, hon Chairperson.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Come again.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: I did withdraw. [Interjections.] I withdrew. [Interjections.] I did withdraw ―vultures‖. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You withdrew? [Interjections.] Yes, hon member, on what point are you rising?
Moh M R M MOTHAPO:... ke nyaka go kgonthišiša le lena gore naa go molaong go boledišwa ke motho yo a sa lokišago sefane sa
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gagwe gabotse; ga re kgone go kwa gore ke Tlouamma goba ke Plouamma. [Disego.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Ms M R M MOTHAPO: ...I would like to check with you if it is parliamentary to speak to someone whose surname has been misspelt; we are not sure if he is Tlouamma or Plouamma. [Laughter.]]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, that is not a point of order, hon member. Can you please sit down?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, she must go and ask hon Minister Malusi Gigaba. They are the ones that messed up my surname at Home Affairs. [Laughter.] [Interjections.] May I continue? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Continue with the debate.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, under his leadership we are worse than a conquered people. There is an unwritten policy of this administration to empower the Guptas, friends and family. To them, black economic empowerment ... [Interjections.]
Mr J J SKOSANA: Point of order, Chair.
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, can I take your point?
Mr J J SKOSANA: Hon Chair, the President is not empowering the Guptas. He is the leader of the country. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, may I just appeal? May I just appeal to all of us? A political debate is a political debate. [Interjections.] Let‘s allow ... [Interjections.] No, no, no! No, no, no! No, hon members. No, no, no! [Interjections.] You might not like everything that will be said at the podium. The only thing ... [Interjections.] The only thing ... [Interjections.] You see now ... If you scream at me I won‘t be able to make a ruling, because my appeal then would be that ... hon member, please stop casting aspersions about certain things that you do not have facts on and that are not factual.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, you can ask the President. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, are you therefore confirming that you said what you said?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair ...
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Plouamma, are you therefore confirming the point of order as raised by the member?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: No, I am saying the relationship between the Guptas and this government is clear for everyone to know. [Interjections.] Hon Chair, let me continue.
Both the President and the Guptas are wedded to the cause of looting the state. [Interjections.] Hon members, I want you to raise your eyes and take a look at your President. Is he not a symbol of crookedness? Is he not a symbol of dishonesty? Is he not diminishing the dignity of this House and the country? Even a whole bucket of perfume will not clean him from his stench of corruption. [Interjections.]
Hon members ...
An HON MEMBER: Point of order, Chair.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! No, no, no!
An HON MEMBER: Point of order, Chair!
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! No, no, no! Hon members, order! No, no, no! No, no, no! Order! Order! I used this gadget and at least it assisted me to hear the member
...
[Inaudible.] Personal reflections, hon member ... You are out of order. Can you withdraw that? [Interjections.]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, what must I withdraw?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Withdraw the reflections that you have made about the President that even a bucket of perfume will not cleanse him. [Interjections.] Can you withdraw that?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, let me withdraw for the sake of going. [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: Point of order, Chair. Point of order!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No! No! No! Hon members ... [Interjections.] ... cool off. I like what hon Zulu said earlier on: calamity will allow us to proceed. Hon member, I don‘t want a conditional withdrawal. Can you withdraw unconditionally?
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: I withdraw, hon Chair.
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you very much.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members ... [Interjections.]
Mr M L W FILTANE: Chair, on a point of order.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, hon member?
Mr M L W FILTANE: Chair, I want to appeal to hon Plouamma not to hit the ANC so hard; they can‘t take the pain! [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, that is not a point of order. Can you please continue, hon Plouamma.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon members, this President is a killer of our dreams. He is the killer of hope and economic growth. We are a wounded nation thanks to his incompetence and narrow selfish interest and nepotism. [Interjections.]
Finally, I know of our heroes like Ruth First ...
Mr H P CHAUKE: Point of order, Chair.
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Plouamma ... Can I take your point?
Mr H P CHAUKE: No, but, Chair, with respect again, Chair. With respect, please, Chair. The respect to the President of the country ... with respect, please! Because we are not going to tolerate this thing of undermining and name-calling as he is calling them, please. We are appealing to you, Chair, as you are seated there, to guide this poor member to respect the President. Please, Chair. Please! [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I didn‘t ... What I heard is that he said President. I don‘t know if there was an added word that I did not hear. It is very difficult to follow hon Plouamma. [Interjections.]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Chairperson ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay, the appeal is just that ... hon members, can we be consistent with one thing: the element of respect. Let‘s just respect one another as hon members in this House. [Interjections.] Yes, hon member?
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Mr N L S KWANKWA: Hon Chair, indeed, I think we are turning this debate into a Takalani Sesame. I think we need to be very careful. On the last point, hon Plouamma did not say anything that is unparliamentary. He said ―killed hope‖ and there is nothing to withdraw there. [Interjections.] I think the other problem ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! [Interjections.]
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Calm down! Chairperson ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay, let me hear. [Interjections.]
Mr N L S KWANKWA: I am going to conclude my point because I didn‘t disrupt them. [Interjections.] I think the other issue is that we can‘t have Members of Parliament screaming at you and getting away with it because they don‘t agree with political statements that are made by a member at the podium. What is happening now is that we have MPs who are completely rewriting the speech, intervening all the time even if he is making innocent political statements. What is he supposed to debate? He said ―killed hope‖ and then there was a point of order. [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, I did rule earlier on that matter. One thing, for sure ... because of the nature of this House, there are certain things that will be said that you may not like. There are certain political statements that will be made that we may not like. Therefore, on the last point of order that was raised, I said I heard the member saying ―President‖, so I don‘t know what it is that the point of order was trying to achieve.
Nevertheless, hon Plouamma, can you conclude you debate please.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, finally, I know if our heroes like Ruth First, Helen Joseph, Barney Molokoane, Chris Hani, ... [Interjections.] I can‘t speak, hon Chair! Protect me!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, can we allow the member to conclude. Hon members, can you allow the member to conclude. I mean, we have consistently said, heckling is allowed in the House but, if you drown a speaker out, that will not be allowed. Allow him to conclude. He is concluding. Can you conclude, hon member. [Interjections.]
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chair, our heroes like Ruth First, Helen Joseph, Barney Molokoane, Chris Hani would not have stood for
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this wastage and misuse of this historical opportunity to better the lives of our people. [Interjections.]
Unlike the Deputy President who has chosen convenience and ... [Interjections.]
Ms M R M MOTHAPO: Chairperson, on a point of order!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, hon member, can I take your point? He is left with a second! Yes, hon member, can I hear your point?
Moh M R M MOTHAPO: Mohl Modulasetulo, ke ema ka Molao wa 41(n), ke mmotšiša potšišo ya gore ke ka lebaka la eng a sa bolele ka mmagwe Mamphela Ramphele, a bolela ka Ruth First? (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[Ms M R M MOTHAPO: Hon Chairperson, I rise on rule 41(n), on why he does not mention her leader Maphele Ramphele, but Ruth First?]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! No, no, no! No! No! I am going to rule on that. It‘s the same ruling that was made earlier on, hon members. You can‘t then reduce a policy
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debate now and then cast aspersions, especially about family members of other members. May we please ... [Interjections.] Hon member, can you please withdraw that comment that you made? [Interjections.]
Ms M R M MOTHAPO: Aowa, gomme ke e bušetša morago thwii thwii. [I withdraw straight away.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Ke a leboga. Ke a leboga, mme. [Thank you. Thank you, ma‘am.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Steenhuisen?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Hon Chair, may I address you on a point of privilege? Chair, I would like to address you in terms of section 57(2)(b)of the Constitution. [Interjections.] I don‘t know if you can hear me, but I will speak ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, can we listen to hon Steeinhuisen‘s point?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Section 57(2)(b) of the Constitution says that the Rules and Orders of the NA must
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provide for the participation and the proceedings of the Assembly and its committees of minority parties represented in the Assembly in a manner consistent with democracy. Agang was allocated three minutes out of a two-day debate and I think the hon member has been subjected to the most vicious harassment and spurious points of order. I would really ask you to allow him to have his say in his final few seconds. [Interjections.] He represents voters here who sent him to this House and he has the right to be heard. I think the behaviour here has been most unfortunate and a violation of his parliamentary privilege. I would ask you to protect all the speakers in the House. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, order! All hon members in the House are protected – all of them. If a point of order is raised, the clock stops. So there are no seconds or minutes that any member would lose. He did have his three minutes and his time is up, as I speak. [Interjections.] Hon member, your time has expired.
Mr S LUZIPO: Hon Deputy Chair, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, the Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, esteemed guests, on 10 May 2004, addressing the Joint Sitting of Parliament on the Commemoration
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of the 10 Years of Democracy, former President Nelson Mandela had this to say:
Let us never be unmindful of the terrible past from which we come - that memory not as a means to keep us shackled to the past in a negative manner, but rather as a joyous reminder of how far we have come and how much we have achieved. My wish is that South Africans never give up on the belief in goodness, that they cherish that faith in human beings as a cornerstone of our democracy.
This is a profound statement that requires to be given the honour it deserves. We come from the past where the so-called black-on-black violence had a devastating impact onto our society. At the centre of this, it was influenced bythe lack of tolerance amongst political parties, in particular leadership. Once differences are allowed, particularly on a multiparty democracy like ours, such must be done with ultimate respect for one another. The basis of our actions must be on fairness and mutual respect for the rules of the House equally.
Regrettably, those who are followers or members of political formations take such confrontational differences literally and as such, decide to act in defence of their organisation and
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leadership. The experience is that such directly leads or feeds to political violence. The scenes of last Thursday are regrettable and have a potential to plunge this country into darkness. Sadly, only the enemies of democracy stand to benefit.
It is with regret that the leader of the DA decided to remain in denial and dismally failed to use this platform toand provide leadership on behalf of his party. We know that they stand to benefit fromon the so-called black-on-black confrontation but also, that is driven by the antiworker tendency. [Applause.] Is it ironic or accidentally that he said nothing about those workers who are employees of Parliament, who were assaulted and beaten up by the Members of Parliament in this House and some are admitted in hospital?. [Applause.] Is it because of mental lapse that the Leader of the Opposition would only remember the 34 mineworkers who were killed in Marikana but not those who were killed prior or after the 34 who were killed? This is a deliberate omission on an antiworking class tendency but mostly clouded by political demagogue.
Clearly, some of the members who had to be rejected out of the House suffer from poor parental workmanship as well as from popstar political syndrome. We all have to respect the Rulings of
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the Presiding Officers and challenge what we believe is wrong Rulings in the relevant platform.
It is therefore important that as we deal and look at the report on the state of the nation, we also understand that the state of the nation is not a medical prescription. It is an overarching overview on the current state of the country and what are the challenges ahead. [Applause.]
With regards to the number of issues that the President has raised, the contribution of mining to the local economy does not only result from direct upstream and downstream activities. Nonetheless, a concern has been raised in the South African historical imprudent use of minerals as an impact in the future trajectory and dynamism of the economy.
Consequently, from the last two decades several government-led initiatives have sought to address the dichotomy between the country‘s rich endowment and shallow industrialisation resulting from continued raw material export. The transformation of the country‘s economy from raw material exports to high value products export is captured in various documents including the beneficiation strategy.
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Section 26 has been amended for strengthening linkages between the mining industry and manufacturing by ensuring security of supply at mine gate or agreed prices through the designation of critical minerals for domestic mineral beneficiation. Furthermore, the Mining Charter has been amended to include better details on what offsetting will entail. This is, however, dependent on the outcome of the engagements amongst roleplayers in the industry.
We continue to strive for full implementation of laws to ensure transformation of ownership patterns of the economy with the express intention of ensuring demographic representation in all sectors of the economy. The continuing systematic marginalisation of blacks from meaningfully participating in the economy, particularly at decision-making levels, cannot continue unabated be tolerated.
These counter-majoritarian tendencies represent the ugly face of the social system. We must continue to fight for the meaningful participation of the downtrodden majority in the mainstream economy based on the reflection of their mental attitude and not the colour of their skin, to borrow from Martin Luther King Junior.
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The first Mining Charter was premised on consensus and commitments. Of importance is the commitment by mining industriesy, to facilitate funding to the tune R100 billion, as well as quality of transactions that would result in effective ownership and unencumbered shareholding. The reviewed Mining Charter introduced a 0,5% contributions by multinational suppliers towards socioeconomic development in the mining industry. The 2014 assessment results of the Charter, are quite telling on the appalling state of transformation, 20twenty years into democracy.
It is important to note a number of issues that were highlighted in the state of the nation address. Amongst those issues was the issue of the lack of transformation in the mining industry. Most importantly, is to deal with the issue of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, MPRDA – I had another member here complaining about the MPRDA but he talks about workers. We have to understand that the MPRDA is a tool of transformation and therefore it cannot be accused of being the one that is derailing economic transformation. By the way, it is always is a victim that is blamed because the victim represents the downtrodden and not the rich. [Applause.] But because other members will read this ...
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Ake ngibeke eceleni kancane. [Let me put this aside a bit.]
Yesterday, somebody ...
... usibize ngamasela. [... called us thieves.]
... but most importantly, he said we have provinces as glorified homelands. My answer is simple. Only the one who was sitting at the helm of the homelands will understand how to run homelands effectively. [Applause.]
Uma nimbona nimchazele ukuthi uma likhona isela kuyofana nomuntu ... [If you see him tell him that if there is a thief he/she would look like someone ... ]
... who went to trade-in a Kuga and they told him that it has no value and therefore could not trade-in the Kuga.
Alikho isela elidlula ukutshontsha into engenamsebenzi, into engenavelu. Uma ngabe ungatshontsha i-homeland yonke, uyintshontshe ... [There is no worst thief than the one who steals something valueless, that has no value. If you can steal the whole homeland, steal it ...]
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... just on the eve of democracy, you actually steal because it is inherently in you to take what is useless. [Applause.] Therefore, ...
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Hon Deputy Chairperson, on a point of order:
Ndifuna ukubuza ukuba ingaba i-ANC ibityile kusini na? Kutheni isuke yanolaka olungaka nje? Yhe Mhlekazi? [Sir, I would like to ask whether members of the ANC ate today. Why are they so angry?]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Come again, hon member.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Hayi, ndiyabuza ukuba i-ANC ibityile kusini na namhlanje. Ndibona inolaka, indlala ke iyalubangela ulaka. Asibanga nto kodwa siza kuba ngoku ukuba anikwazi kulawula. [No, I‘m asking whether the ANC members ate today. hunger makes anger.
They are angry,
We didn‘t steal anything but we will do so
if you don‘t know how to govern.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, that is not a point of order, hon member. Can you continue with the debate hon member?
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Mnu S LUZIPO: Hhawu! Sizokuthini ukungasuthi, kade nithi sinamapulazi singawazi? Sizolanjiswa yini? Ngakho ke azange sithathe i-Transkei okubi uyeke umuntu omdala wayeka uMathanzima ephethe eTranskei wayoyithatha kumama wabantu - uStella Sigcawu. [Uhleko.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Mr S LUZIPHO: Come on! What would stop us from being rich, because for quite some time now you have been saying that we have farms that we are not aware of? What would be the cause of our hunger? We did not steal Transkei and the worst thing is that you did not steal it from the old man Chief Mathanzima but you stole it from a woman - poor Stella Sigcawu. [Laughter.]]
Simply because he could not stand up on his own. [Laughter.] Let us leave it there.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Hon Deputy Chair, on a point of order, Sir.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Luzipo, can you take your seat?
Mr M L W FILTANE: This is getting out of hand now. [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members order!
Mr M L W FILTANE: There is an insinuation here and I want to appeal to you to make a Ruling. It is very clear and very readable. You understand it. He knows what he is doing. He knows what he‘s trying. There is an insinuation and it is unparliamentary. I appeal to you to make a ruling. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, order! Can I make a Ruling on this? Can you allow me to rule on this matter? It makes my life a little bit difficult when reference was made to what was said yesterday because I might not have had the benefit of hearing what was said yesterday. So, before I made a wrong Ruling – hon members, can I conclude? Before I make a wrong Ruling, can you allow me therefore an opportunity to check Hansard and consult and come back with a better Ruling? Thank you.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: It is not a point of order, Sir. I am trying to help you. [Interjections.] I think these comments are made to ...
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no, I made a Ruling if it is on this matter. [Interjections.]
Mr N L S KWANKWA: I am trying to help you.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no, do not do that.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: No, I am.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, do not do that.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: No, but I am not going to disagree with what the speaker has saidis saying. I am trying to help you. May I, please, if you do not mind.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, I do not need that because you will further complicate my life.
Mr N L S KWANKWA: No, but I am not going to complicate your life actually. In any event, it is alright with me.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: The problem is that for you started by saying you wanted to offer helping me and once you start helping me ...
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Mr N L S KWANKWA: Alright, I want to help myself then.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Ooh, you want to help yourself?
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Yes, I want to help myself in that case. I do not want to help you, Chair. Grant my atonement.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, order, order, order please!
Mr N L S KWANKWA: It is alright, Chairperson, I do not want to be disruptive. It is alright. I will sit down.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Are you going to help yourself in the form of a question?
Mr N L S KWANKWA: Of course, yes.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Now, if it is in the form of a question, then I must confer with the member whether he is prepared to take a question.
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Mr N L S KWANKWA: Chairperson, I do not want to contribute to the degeneration of the House. It is alright if you are not going to allow me to speak. That is fine.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay, thank you very much. Hon Luzipo, can you continue with the debate?
Mr S LUZIPO No, no, you had your whole fieldfull day here. Hon Maimane, I said in this House, I am doing this with I am doing this with absolute respect for you. However, I said one day when I was here ...
... ingxaki esinayo yeyokuba abanye abantu xa bethunyiwe ilizwi likaNkulunkulu, bayeka ukuthi siwaphakamisela ezintabeni amehlo ethu apho uncedo lwethu lakuvela khona, bawaphakamisele ezantsi amehlo ethu apho imali izovela ikhona. [Uwelewele.][Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... the problem that we have is that when people are asked to preach the gospel, they stop saying I lift my eyes to the mountains where my help will come from, they drop them down where money will come from. [Interjections.][Applause.]]
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It is in the bible.
... akutsho mna. [...not from me.]
Let me read you a verse; it is Mark chapter 11, verse 17; Let me qoute it.
Wayefundisa – [He was teaching-]
I heard in one radio station you said that your mother is from Engcobo. If I am wrong then with due respect I am very sorry. In English they say mother tongue. So, let me speak isiXhosa, my mother tongue.
Esi sahluko sifundeka ngolu hlobo: wayefundisa esithi kubo akubhaliwe na kwathiwa indlu yam iyakubizwa ngokuba yindlu yokuthandaza iintlanga zonke ke nina niyenza umqolomba wezihange.[Uwelewele.] Ukuba sithi iPalamente yindawo ebalulekileyo kufuneka ihlonitshwe ngumntu wonke. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[This chapter reads like this: he was teaching them and said is it not written that my house will be called a house of prayer for all races, but you have made it a den of robbers?
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[Interjections.] If you say Parliament is a respectable house it must be respected by everybody.]
The same should happen here, when someone ...
... ethatha iPalamente eyenza umqolomba wezihange, makwenziwe okwakwenziwe ngaphambili, uqubude iitafile, uthathe lowo mntu uthengisayo ngaphakathi umkhuphele ngaphandle ... [...turns Parliament into a den of robbers, we must do what has been done previously, overturn tables, drive out the one who is selling...]
... and hurling insults inside Parliament. By the way, the bible should tell you that you don‘t choose when to preach and where to preach. You don‘t preach part-time the word of God on parttime. You don‘t deal with church on the basis of correspondence. Every time you get people, you must see them as a congregation and preach to them. The level of anger that you have ...
... ndenza ndibenengxaki. Indikhumbuze kwakhona uMarko 11, isahluko sama-24 ukuya kwisahluko sama-26. Ithi: Ngenxa yoko ndithi kuni izinto enisukuba nizicela nithandaza, kholwani ukuba ninokuzamkela, noba nazo. Naxa sukuba nimi nithandaza, kholwani ukuba ninendawo ngakothile, mxoleleni, ukuze noYihlo
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osemazulwini anixolele iziphoso zenu. [Uwelewele.] Ke, ukuba anixoleli nina, naye uYihlo osemazulwini akasayi kunixolela iziphoso zenu. Elokugqibela. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... gives me a problem.
Reminds me again Mark 11, chapter 24
to 26. It says: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. [Interjections.] But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions. The last one.]
Ms S P KOPANE: Chair, I rise on a point of order. [Interjections.]
Mr S LUZIPO: Andizange ndasiva isiphakamiso sonqwanqwado entshumayelweni. Ndiyaqala ukuva isiphakamiso sonqwanqwado xa umntu eshumayela, kodwa ke ndiza kunika imbeko yakho. [I‘ve never seen a point of order from a preacher.
It‘s my first time
to hear a point of order while a person is preaching, but I will give respect.]
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Ms S P KOPANE: Hon Chair, I am rising on a point of order.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can I take your point of order?
Ms S P KOPANE: According to the Joint Sitting Rule 14(f) irrelevance; what the hon member is doing there irrelevant in terms of the state of the nation address, Sona. [Interjections.]It was good that he is preaching but is not relevant to what we want to hear today. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I will not recognise that point of order. Hon member, can you continue with the debate.
Mr S LUZIPO: Ukuba liyabetha ilizwi guquka mzalwana, uze ngaphambili esiguqweni. Uthi ilizwi likaThixo ... [If you are touched by the word of God you must repent. You say the word of God ...]
... is impossible and irrelevant.
Nantsi eyokugqibela uPetros 2 isahluko soku-1 ukuya kwesesi-3: [Kwahlekwa.] Ke kaloku, kwakukho nabaprofeti abangamaxoki phakathi kwabantu; nje ngokuba naphakathi kwenu kuya kubakho
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abafundisi abangamaxoki, [Uwelewele][Kwahlekwa.] bona baya kungenisa ... [Uwelewele.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Here is the last one. Peter 2 chapter 2 verse 1 to 3: [Laughter.] But there were false prophets also among the people, even there shall be false teachers among you, [Interjections] [Laughter.] who shall bring ... [Interjections.]]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Luzipho, can I just take that point? On what point are you rising, hon member? Order! Order, hon members!
Hayi ingathi umoya sele ungenile ngoku. [No it seems the Holy Spirit is among us.]
Order, please. Just cool off!
Mr M WATERS: Chairperson, I think the hon speaker is confused. We are not in a church service here. [Interjections.] We are actually in Parliament.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: That is not a point of order, hon member. Hon Luzipho, can you continue?
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Mnu S LUZIPO: Xa umoya ufikile usithi mandizolanda izimvu zikaNkulunkulu ezilahlekileyo, ndivumele ndizilande. [Uwelewele.] Bona baya kungenisa bucala amehlo entshabalalo yabo; bemkhanyela umninizinto zonke owabathengayo, bezizisela intshabalalo emsinya. Baninzi abayakulandela intshabalalo yabo, eya kunyeliswa ngenxa yabo indlela yenyaniso. Bathi benokubawa banibonelele ngamazwi alalanisayo abakugwetywa kungaphumliyo kwakudala, nayo intshabalalo yabo ayozeli. Bendiyivula nje le bhayibhile, ndikukhumbuza ukuba
... (Translation of isiXhosa
paragraph follows.)
[Mr S LUZIPO: When the Holy Spirit has arrived let me collect the lost sheep of God, allow me to collect them. [Interjections.]
Who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgement now of a long time lingered not, and their damnation slumbered not.
I was
just opening this bible, reminding you that ...]
... part of the duty that we have is to preach peace [Applause.] and not to stand as the leader on a platform and pump your
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members to an extent that they reject the notion of peace. That is exactly what the gist of the state of the nation address is. It talks about a united South Africa that seeks to redress the imbalances of the past. [Applause.]
To my organisation – no, don‘t rush you had your time – the ANC is the movement of the masses for total liberation, but also the beacon of hope in the entire African continent and the diaspora. Let us handle it with care. Let us be reminded of the African idiom that says, ―When brothers fight to death a stranger inherits their father‘s estate stranger inherit their property.‖‘ Unity is sacrosanct; give no quarter to the enemy.
Igama leNkosi malibongwe. [Uwelewele.] [Kwaqhwatywa.] [Let‘s praise the Word of God.
[Interjections.] [Applause.]]
Mr L R MBINDA: Hon Chair, I hope next time you will also give me more time to quote the bible. Hon President, young people have spoken again. They have been speaking since 1976 and even last year. However, today I must tell you that most of them are not sleeping in the residents. They sleep outside and some of them in the toilets. Therefore, we cannot accept that to happen under your administration. Hon member, next time we need the breathalyser test ...
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... kuba amalungu e-ANC ayanxila apha xa zizayo. [...because members of the ANC get drunk here when they come.]
...that is why ...
... zisenza ingxolo engapheliyo. [...they make endless noise.]
Hon President, as we speak, Bonginkosi Khanyile and that of Andries Tatane ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPRERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can you take your seat; there is a point of order there.
Ms D R TSOTETSI: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order. The member says the members of the ANC come to the House drunk. Can he withdraw that?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPRERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can you please just withdraw that!
Ziyanxila. [They get drunk.]
... can you please just withdraw that!
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Mr L R MBINDA: We just need a breathalyser test in future so that we ... [ Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES: Hayi, uthe amalungu e-ANC ayanxila. [No, you said members of the ANC get drunk.]
Mr L R MBINDA: I withdraw. Hon President, in your understanding of a radical change, you unleashed, more especially when it comes to the students, the police. They were armed with rubber bullets and in some instances using live ammunitions and batons to torture our people.
Mr President, the state under your administration is responsible. When the youth is unemployed and unable to pay the university fees, we call them the missing middle. The DA on the other side says it is a lost generation.
The nation is still in pain. However, I just want to address the issue of radical transformation. I just want the nation to understand that the ANC has always been a liberal party. You have never been a revolutionary or a progressive party, Mr President. If you look at the National Development Plan, NDP, you could see that the NDP is just a liberal policy and it
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cannot address the interest of the exploited and the indigenous people of this country.
A day before yesterday, I had a very good weekend because we were busy handing over the human remains of those who were killed by the ancestors of the DA. Some of you are siblings and some of you are aunts. They were your aunts, husbands and they were also your ... [Time expired.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Did you want to address me or ask whilst the member is still here?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Yes, the member had not left the podium when I raised the points.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can I just take the point?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I think it is unacceptable for him to accuse the DA and their family members of murder. I think it is completely unacceptable. You have ruled on that far less grounds about casting aspersions. He is casting aspersion on our family members and us, and I think it is unacceptable.
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The CHIEF WHIPDEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: It will be obviously unacceptable and I take the point. There is a point but I did not want to interrupt the member. A point he made before he started or before he started saying that heyou would also likes to have more time so that he can quotes the bible, and creating an impression that I gave the hon Luzipho more time.
In actual fact, for your information, he left one minute behind. He did not utilise all his time. Therefore, it should not be correct that the impression should last in our minds that he was given extra time ...
... ukuba ashumayele kancinci. [...to preach a bit.]
Therefore, I think the point is taken and we will definitely have to come back to it. Hon members, can we come back to that, please? I take note of the issue as raised and we will definitely have to come back to that through the relevant structures and so forth.
The MINISTER OF DEFENCE AND MILITARY VETERANS: Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Deputy President, hon members, representatives of our people
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across political affiliations in this Parliament, fellow South Africans, comrades and friends, Mr President, the ANC aligns itself with the majority of South Africans who have welcomed the tone of the state of the nation address, Sona, 2017, as a breath of fresh air, focused, tangible and inspiring hope. Following the outcomes of the local government elections last year where results in certain municipalities could not produce an outright winner, the ANC heard loud and clear the message of our supporters. They sent a clear directive to our movement, the ANC, to do something about their plight, to do it now without delay in a decisive manner as possible.
We have been interacting with our people and our supporters and they have been telling us across the board that they did not vote for the opposition during the elections. They wanted in the most dramatic way to send a message to us to address the deprivation they are still confronted with, 22 years since South Africa‘s 1994 democracy. They therefore simply stayed away from the polls and in that manner denied us their votes. Their cry was that many of them still live in poverty, still clean homes and tend to gardens in white suburbs for meagre salaries and work on the mines but kept away from the wealth generated at those entities because their class enemy, the bosses and owners of those places of work, see them only as units of labour.
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I should also say at this point that we welcome the signing off of the minimum wage by the hon Deputy President last week on behalf of our government. [Applause.] We could not but pay attention to the concerns of our people who wanted us to hear about their life experiences after such a long time since we attained freedom and introduced democracy in our country. Of course, they have seen some of the deliverables that have improved their lives from the most extensive social welfare programme the country has ever experienced, housing delivery to electricity and water to mention just a few. But it is not enough and has not inspired them to say that our ANC has truly delivered us a better life.
The clear trajectory you emphasised in the state of the nation address, Mr President, talks to the ANC‘s own resolutions on the matter of radical economic transformation. Our radical stance must address quickly so that we correct the situation where economic benefits from the wealth of our country continue to elude our people, the struggling masses.
Within the context of the Department of Defence, we are also taking seriously the marching order you have given us, Mr President, to address the matter of the economic exclusion of South Africa‘s military veterans whom we have defined as a
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designated group. Following many years of frustrations and lack of adequate institutional capacity to alleviate the plight of our military veterans, we have now developed a package of economic benefits in partnership with industries to fast-track the alleviation of their economic plight. We will be unveiling the outcomes of this package of work and details in the department‘s Budget Vote.
Mentioning the Department of Defence enjoins me to address albeit briefly the concerns that have been raised regarding the deployment of some units of the SA National Defence Force on the day of the state of the nation address. Hon members and the public are certainly correct to raise these matters if they observe what may seem to be deviations from the established requirements in our area of work. I have taken the allegations seriously and consequently I have started an investigation, and when concluded I will report to the presiding officers. However, hon members should also be aware that the matter has been subjected to a judicial processes the conclusion of which will assist all of us to deal better with matters pertaining to the role of the SA National Defence Force, SANDF, during key national events including the Sona, inaugurations, state visits, etc.
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I do however want to assure you that Members of Parliament are not regarded as a security threat requiring the deployment of our national defence force. The SANDF has always been an integral part of the ceremony revolving around the state of the nation address and other national events where it plays multiple roles. It is unfortunate that in the past three years we all had to perform our roles under a charged political atmosphere. Greater awareness and understanding by our population of the various roles and functions of the SANDF can only serve to enhance the function of oversight to ensure accountability for all operations undertaken in the name of the Defence Force.
In dedicating this year to the memory of Oliver Tambo, the ANC and the government have defined President Oliver Reginald, O R, as the lodestar of our revolution and therefore thorough going transformation on the basis of the values under which he led the ANC towards the attainment of our people‘s aspirations. As we honour him this year, we also acknowledge the symbolism the year of the centenary of his birth coincides with the 27th anniversary of the release of Comrade Nelson Mandela, our former President, his long standing friend and comrade, once upon a time partners in a law firm whose function was to defend our people. Amongst those that they will now share their new meeting place will be another father-figure of the revolution, El
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Commandante Fidel Castro, founding father of a free Cuba and a true friend of our people and our country. [Applause.] It is the solidarity of the Cuban people that has and continues to inspire us as part of the peace and friendship we have forged with other nations strengthened by the bond of Oliver Reginald Tambo and Fidel.
It is the inspiration derived from the unbreakable bond shared by these great leaders, their teachings about the friendship of nations and the role of international solidarity that I rise to speak on South Africa‘s role in building peace in our continent, within the context of common economic benefits between our people and the entire region of Africa.
Mr President, as for your observation during the 2014 state of the nation address sub-Saharan Africa‘s importance as a dependable trade partner for our country continues to increase while the trade environment has also shown greater stability. Our government‘s projection is that intraregional trade and economic activity will further grow with investments from countries of the continent on the back of conditions of peace and stability.
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It is for that reason that we committed ourselves as we start this term of government to build our capacity in line with the trajectory adopted in the 2014 Defence Review to continue to promote the building of a better Africa and a more just world. Our country continues to support regional and continental processes to respond to and resolve crises and promote peace and security. Our work is premised on the support for our foreign policy objective to strengthen regional integration, significantly increase intra-African trade and champion sustainable development in our continent, all of which require an atmosphere of peace and stability to prosper. In this regard, we welcome your intervention in buttressing the programme to ensure that government finds a suitable way to resource the SA National Defence Force mandate without exerting undue strain on the limited resources of the fiscus.
Mr President and hon members, as you are aware the SANDF has an inherent capability that is deployed to contribute to economic development and social upliftment. It has a constitutional mandate to support the attainment of our foreign policy objectives and it is regarding this responsibility that we have been asked to address today. Since the advent of our democracy our country has depended on the SANDF to support foreign policy objectives when required. This has been borne out of our
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conviction that peace and stability are the cornerstones for human development and prosperity on our continent.
Today, the Defence Force is credited as a midwife for peace and has reinforced South Africa‘s standing as a country at peace with itself and its neighbours. This is very important considering South Africa‘s history before 1994, where the armed forces of the country played a destabilising role in the region, creating conditions of insecurity and sufferings amongst those who dared to support the struggle for democracy and freedom in our country.
In line with the values of our foreign policy, the Defence Force has always ensured that any of its peacekeeping interventions in the continent are done as part of a mandate of multilateral institutions. We will not become a lone aggressor interfering in the affairs of other nations in terms of the injunctions of the ANC‘s Freedom Charter that a free South Africa would never use its vast resources, human and otherwise, to impose its dictates on other countries. Instead, South Africa would always strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation not war.
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On the other hand, it is our view that our engagements in the peace efforts of the continent are not separated from the task of building a better life for our own people. There always has been a realisation that stability in South Africa cannot be sustained if most parts of the continent remain blighted by armed conflict and human suffering. Our commitment to the renewal of the African continent and to the promotion of peace and stability, which will lead to sustainable development in Africa, is based on the understanding that our national interest is inextricably linked to what happens in the region and in the continent. In this regard, we can look back at a proud record of the SANDF‘s support to peace in the continent, giving all our people a chance for conflict free development and encouraging the nations of the continent to design their future on the basis of their dreams and interests.
The Freedom Charter continues to say, and I quote:
The right of all peoples of Africa to independence and selfgovernment shall be recognised and shall be the basis of close co-operation.
The Defence Force is therefore not just a tool for mayhem and war. It is an instrument for peace which creates fertile ground
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for the stimulation of vibrant economic activity. Our country since independence has benefitted from the intraregional trade which has been supported by the conditions of peace that the Defeence Force has helped to cultivate. The peace dividend in financial terms to South Africa reads as follows for the financial year 2014-15. Contribution to the gross domestic product, GDP, for South African exports in the region averaged a total of R73 billion, while the relevant economic activity generated 481 000 quality jobs for South Africans. The biggest single contribution by country was the Democratic Republic of Congo with a contribution to the GDP of R24,2 billion accounting for a third of the total sum of R73 billion which accounted for 160 of the 481 000 jobs created. The numbers demonstrate a direct relationship between the economic stability derived from our peace efforts in that country and the size of return and contribution to our own economy. Of the R73 billion generated into the GDP from exports, R19 billion went directly into the fiscus.
Our expectation, given the consideration for a new and selfsustainable funding model for defence activities, with less strain on the National Treasury and the fiscus, is that planning for a future peace dividend will be more structured and integrated within government to extract maximum economic benefit
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for our country including a higher contribution to the fiscus. This will in turn enhance the country‘s resource base for radical and accelerated economic transformation and the provision of services to improve the lives of all our people. In addition, joint planning at regional and continental level will allow the cross pollination of economic benefits across the peoples of the region and solidify adequate capacity for our common economic future including our shared food security pool.
According to the United Nations, UN, the trend of results in countries such as Cote d‘Ivore, Sierra Leon, Burundi and recently the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, shows a recovery of economies as a result of peace support missions in those countries directly translating into direct foreign investments and growth. It is our view that the future Defence Development Programme of the SANDF creates a force that unlocks value than it costs while supporting socioeconomic benefits in our politics, security, infrastructure and technology for South Africa and the continent. Our role is part and parcel of ensuring that we secure our national interest and this at the same time challenges us to confront the question of what it should be.
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As part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster here at home, we continue to be involved in the government of national security strategy, the imperative for public safety as well as the fight against crime and corruption. The task of accelerating radical economic transformation is intrinsically linked to that of ensuring that our people continue to live in conditions of safety and security. It is of utmost importance that the state takes seriously its responsibility of ensuring public safety. As we move towards the ANC‘s national policy conference this year, our cluster has outlined various policy interventions to respond to developing trends and causes of insecurity amongst our people. Recent events where our people have at times taken to the streets have necessitated a relook in the functioning, structuring and capacity of our criminal justice system.
Although community protests are provided for in the country‘s legislative framework, of national security concern is the planned violence accompanying the protests. However, since 1994, the triggers of community protests have not changed and these include demand for water, electricity, housing and employment opportunities. The plans that are being outlined for intervention in the socioeconomic conditions of our people should assist us in addressing the key causes of these triggers.
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I want to, once more, pick up the name of Oliver Reginald Tambo as an icon who dedicated his life to the pursuit of freedom for his people and consequently to bring about a society of equals in South Africa, both before the law and in human interaction across the board. President Tambo was clear in his understanding that whatever we do in the tasks ahead of us, we should emphasise the importance of unity as the glue that keeps our people together. Speaking at Georgetown University on 27 January 1987, Tambo had this to say, and I quote:
It is our responsibility to breakdown barriers of division and create a country where there will be neither whites nor blacks, just South Africans, free and united in diversity.
It is important therefore that as leadership of the country all of us gathered here should never compromise on that unity of our people and always guard ourselves against the temptation of dividing the nation.
Our country's legislature has been convened once again to deliberate an important question about the kind of society our people have fought for and whether as the leadership we are still on the track towards the attainment thereof. Parliament is serious business because the work that we are supposed to do
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here, that of improving the lives of our people, is a serious one. Speaking at Georgetown once more, I quote:
We seek to create a united democratic and nonracial society. We have a vision of South Africa in which black and white shall live and work together as equals in conditions of peace and prosperity. Using the power you derive from the discovery of the truth about racism in South Africa, you will help us to remake our part of the world into a corner of the globe of which all of humanity can be proud.
The question for us is, having been part of these disturbing scenes that continue to overshadow the true business of Parliament, whether we depict that corner of the globe in which our people and the world can be proud of. It was not by coincidence that those who fought for freedom placed the unity of this nation in the forefront of the definition of our goals. This is because we know too well the pain and suffering of a nation at each other‘s throats and killing one another for a cause only best known by leaders of agitation.
Given the divided history from which our country has come, our cardinal responsibility as leaders is to unite our nation. It is for this reason that we do not keep on emphasising that which
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seeks to divide our people. A new dangerous brand of politicking is arising in our country, characterised by a mentality of ...
... phuma sibethane siye etshatshalazeni ... [... let‘s go out and fight...]
... and it is incumbent upon all South Africans to reject it for what it is. It is destructive, counter productive, counter revolutionary and bordering on the juvenile tendency of throwing toys out of the cot bed with no regard for the fact that they may break. We cannot deteriorate into a trend where serious debates can deteriorate into a shouting match and slang. Even in the manner in which we engage with one another, no matter how deep our divisions or our political differences, we have a responsibility to exercise high levels of political maturity.
Being a Member of Parliament to be bestowed the responsibility to be the voice of those who cannot be here means that we are supposed to represent the best we have. I know that the problems I speak of cannot just be attributed to one party and it is for this reason that I want to appeal to our conscience all of us that once made us to choose to serve our people by being here. The Fifth Parliament is about to become the term of Parliament during which our people lost the opportunity to be served by
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Members of Parliament. For us leadership this is not only about being blinded by the quest to achieve what you want, but our ability to put our people first.
If we are truly the descendants of Tambo, Mandela, Gandhi and Fidel we should remember their examples and their words when we are united and serve our people. Only then can we say we have been deserving of our seats and the honour to be called leaders. Hon members, I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr A M SHAIK-EMAM: Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon President of the Republic of South Africa, hon Deputy President, hon members and distinguished guests, I greet you all. [Interjections.] Mr President, let me start off by acknowledging and welcoming the bold statements made by you in the state of the nation address 2017. [Applause.] The one that stands out for the NFP is the radical economic transformation. Mr President, 23 years later in South Africa, the wealth of three billionaires in South Africa is equivalent to 50% of the wealth of all other South Africans. Surely, that cannot be transformation. Let me add that those three billionaires are neither the President of this country, nor the Deputy President. [Applause.]
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Mr President, let me thank you and this government for your dedicated commitment to peace in the Palestinian areas. Our former icon, Madiba, once said: South Africans can never be free until the people of Palestine are free. [Applause.]
Mr President, this being your last term in the presidency, as the NFP, we want to recommend and suggest that we accelerate the process of land redistribution in order to transform and provide equality to all South Africans in this country, as alluded to by the Minister, yesterday. More importantly, we are saying that there are millions of South Africans here that do not have an identity and dignity, as a direct result of not having land or homes. You and I and the country know that the government cannot provide housing to everybody. We have an ideal example: Only 62 houses were built in five years in the Western Cape, because black people‘s lives or poor people‘s lives do not matter. [Interjections.] That is what it is. So, we are saying, let‘s distribute land to all South African families, including singleparent families.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Chairperson, on a point of order: I happen to know that that is complete rubbish. Will he take a question on that? [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, I am aware that ... NO, no, no.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: You cannot just make up statistics.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I am aware that there was a ruling that was made on that word, rubbish.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: I would like to ask him a question on the lies he has just told.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Before you even get to the point of the question ... We have been ... Hon members, being inconsistent is quite disturbing, because we have consistently been saying that we need to respect one another. We need to respect one another. [Interjections.] In English, you might have your own interpretation of rubbish. If I tell you what rubbish means in Setswana, you will be ashamed. You will be ashamed.
Fa nka go bolelela gore rabishi ke eng ka Setswana, ke matlakala, rra. [If I had to tell you what rubbish is in Setswana, sir.]
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Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: I was using it in English. Chairperson, I withdraw the word. Can I ask a question?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, are you prepared to take a question? Hon Shaik-Emam, are you prepared to take a question? [Interjections.]
Mr R M TSELI: Chairperson, let me raise a point of order.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no. Just hold it.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Hon Chair, I have two issues here. I will not take any questions. Over and above that, this clock seems to have been running. I have a problem here.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: On what point are you rising?
CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Chairperson, I am rising on 14(l). I wish to reinforce the fact that the word rubbish was not ruled unparliamentary. [Interjections.] You may remember that it went for review to the Speaker. I have a letter from her office that says that word is not unparliamentary. [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, I made a ruling on that. The member has withdrawn. Therefore, hon Shaik-Emam, can you continue. [Interjections.]
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Hon Chair, I have a problem with the clock here.
Mr G G HILL-LEWIS: Chairperson, since I was misled by the Chair, will he take a question on the rubbish he is talking?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can we please not go back there. I think we have concluded on that matter. If you are not happy with my ruling, then there are processes that you can follow.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Mr President, as the NFP, we are saying, provide land service sites to every family in South Africa. That is the least you can do to address the inequalities in the country. In doing so, for those who do not qualify to buy or build their own homes, you need to force the banks to come together and provide funding so that our people will be able to own homes in this country.
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We talk about corruption in this country. Corruption is rife, but who says that it is only restricted to one party or organisation? [Interjections.] The Knysna Municipality in the Western Cape is the most rotten and corrupt municipality in the entire country. The Western Cape High Court declared that the DA was corrupt in using a R113 million tender, including the R70 million tenders for the right-hand man of the Premier of the Western Cape. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon President, Deputy President, hon members and guests in the gallery, it is an honour for us to participate in this debate. Hon President, we proudly join all ANC Members of Parliament who have welcomed your state of the nation address, in particular your emphasis on fundamentally changing the ownership patterns of the means of production of the South African economy in favour of Africans in particular and blacks in general.
The time is, indeed, now hon President for our government to use our political authority to advance the radical economic transformation in our country. We have not been reckless in pursuit of this transformative goal, and many who have previously benefited took it as a given, hon President, that black people will never ascend to their highest point of
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economic control and ownership. In fact, they even said we will remain consumers of our economic outputs. That is where they think we belong.
We must - and indeed, it is our national revolutionary duty to change this narrative. Those who believe so are those who don‘t believe in black economic empowerment like this party. They don‘t have such a policy, and they will never have. On our part as members of this House particularly from the ANC benches, we will hold the executive accountable around the question of radical economic transformation.
Deputy Chair, it is with anguish and pain that we rise on the matter of the 94 psychiatric patients – and we are told that the number has increased - who tragically lost their lives recently in Gauteng. I want to thank the hon Speaker for giving the House an opportunity yesterday to observe a moment of silence in their honour. It will be amiss of us not to critique how the DA brought this tragic matter before this House.
It is common cause that the Life of Esidimeni Report, which informed all of us about the death of the 94 psychiatric patients, was released by the Health Ombudsman, Dr Malekgapuru Makgoba and the Minister of Health on the 1st of February. The
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DA had all the time - ample time to consult other parties as is always the tradition in this House. They had all the time on such a tragic matter from the 1st of February. We had a Chief Whip‘s forum, they didn‘t raise this matter. We had a programming committee where the Speaker chairs, they didn‘t raise this matter of such importance. By the way, we conduct business of this House trough consensus. We all agree that this is the item that needs to get on the agenda on the order paper, hon President. What do they do? Even on the same day just before you deliver the state of the nation address, I approached the Chief Whip of DA - because they were also carrying placards about Esidimeni, I said to them, can‘t we do things better? We are a House of Parliament. In fact, we can call the Minister and everybody else to come and account. Why should we make this House a House of protest?
At that time, hon President and people of South Africa, the DA had at least, an opportunity to say to the ANC, we have this matter that we want to raise. This very important matter. Not only to the ANC by the way, but to all the parties here. They never approached any party that here is a matter tragic to the country, can we have a moment of silence. No where did they raise the matter!
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The question that we need to answer is, were they genuine in raising this matter?
Where they genuine or they were
grandstanding when using such a tragedy? Hon Wilmot James I have always had respect for you. But I thought you could have adviced differently on such a tragic matter. We thought that - because all of us as South Africans feel this pain, we are all pained. Indeed, you would have come to any of us to say, can we do this moment of silence? Rest assured we would have said, by all means. You never even alerted, by the way, the Presiding Officers. You sprang this matter on them when they were here, they didn‘t know what you were bringing - you just sprang them We don‘t surprise each in this House. In this House, we consult each other so that what we do here is by consensus and we are all agreed that this is the right thing to do. You therefore made this tragedy of South Africa a political football. You indeed, wanted to benefit politically from such a tragedy. Shame on you. Sies! Yeses! [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, order, hon members.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon President, another issue that we would like bring to this House is that Joint Rule 12 of the joint sitting of Parliament talks very loudly about discipline; and it says, on this regard, ―all our rules on
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discipline from both Houses are applicable when a joint sitting is held‖.
Let me read what we have in the National Asembly rules regarding this...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Chief, can you just take a seat? I see a gesture there, what gesture is that hon Julius? What is that? What does it mean? I want to know. What does it mean?
Mr J J JULIUS: It says five minutes.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: What are about five minutes? The hon member has got 15 minutes.
Mr J J JULIUS: Deputy Chair, it shows on ours five minutes. The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: no, no, he has got 15 minutes. Can you continue hon member?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY: Deputy Chair, our National Assembly Rule 10 provides that ―a member who wilfully fails or refuses to obey any rule, order or resolution of the House may
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be found guilty of contempt of Parliament in terms of the Powers and Privileges Act of 2004‖.
We therefore propose to this House that the conduct of all members who wilfully violated the Joint Rules and further impaired the decorum of the House by insulting Presiding Officers. We are a real shame. And other members during Sona should be dragged kicking and screaming and referred to the Powers and Privileges Committee to determine whether their conduct was contemptuous of Parliament and impose appropriate sanctions on those who would be found guilty. [Applause.] Unless we do so, this House will continue to degenerate. People will come here and stand on this podium and insult people. We therefore need to put a stop to this behaviour.
This Parliament of our people is a forum of democratic debate and not a House of profanities and insults. We are firmly of the view that this deviant unparliamentary behaviour must be nipped in the bud. Deputy Chair, Lastly, until when are we going to ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon members! Can you just listen to the member? Allow the member to speak because you
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are drowning him now. You are now debating with him. No you are out of order hon member. Can you please be in order?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Chair, on a point of order.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I have cautioned members to be in order.
Mr H P CHAUKE: He is the Chief Whip of the Opposition but he is behaving very badly.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I have cautioned members to be in order. Can you continue hon member.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Chair, until when are we going to allow the EFF to use their hard-hats an amakoporo, as weapons to assault the Parliamentary Protection Services staff? Until when? I think we must also run out of patience on this unbecoming conduct and instruct as this House the Joint Rules Committee to look into the advisability of having Parliamentarians coming into the House wearing hard-hats. We really should look into this particular matter.
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My own view on this matter is simply that hard-hats must not be allowed on the floor of any of our parliamentary Houses. I therefore, propose strongly as I close my input on the State of Nation Address, that hard-hats or amakoporo [Interjections.] amakarabha, makoporo, be barred from the floor of the Houses of Parliament. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chairperson, the intolerance of the ANC members here today against the opposition party members, who try to express a different view to their own, highlights the desperation in the ANC. We can‘t blame them. Can we? They are desperate because they‘ve seen how many councillors they have lost in August last year; how many of their friends lost their jobs and they are counting their days to the 2019 elections when they are going to lose their jobs as well. [Applause.]
What you have shown to the voters is how vulnerable you are as the party. The once mighty ANC is now a weak scared lamb fighting for its survival. I also don‘t blame you, given the history of the state of the nation address. You know, the radical economic transformation plan that the President has outlined is going to go nowhere. If we look at 2011, the theme was: The year of job creation through transformation and economic growth. Thank goodness, the voters didn‘t hold their
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breath! That‘s all I can say. We would have had fewer voters in the country.
The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services said that we cannot continue with only a few benefiting from the economy. You‘re quite right, Sir, we cannot continue with only a few benefiting from the economy. So, why then did you allow the Zupta cartel to continue, to pillage and loot the coffers of this country? Why don‘t you take a stand for the silent of the voiceless millions in this country? You allow one man to continue to pillage this country.
On Thursday night, the South Africans were were appalled at the visuals ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you take a seat? I notice that there is a point of order there.
Ms H B KEKANA: Mohl Motlatšamodulasetulo, ke be ke botšiša gore Mna ―Metse‖ o nyaka gore rena re theeletše matlakala a a tlilego go a bolela naa? [Hon Deputy Chairperson, I would like to know if Mr ―Metse‖ wants us to listen to the nonsense he is about to say.]
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The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! That is not a point of order. No! I haven‘t even made a ruling and you are already concluding. I need to make a ruling on the matter that has been raised. [Interjections.] No! You are not going to tell me what to do. I know what to do. No, no, no! Chief, you are now out of order! Now you are out of order! Hon member, I have earlier on made a ruling on the usage of the word rubbish.
Jaanong wena o e bua ka Setswana. Ke kopa gore o busetse ntlha eo kwa morago. [You are saying it in Setswana; please withdraw it.]
Ms H B KEKANA: Motlatšamodulasetulo, ke a a gomiša, fela Mna ―Metse‖ ... . Ke a leboga. [Deputy Chairperson, I withdraw, but Mr ―Metse‖...I thank you.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you very much. Can we continue, hon Waters?
Mr M WATERS: My pleasure, Deputy Chair. On Thursday night, the South Africans were were appalled at the visuals they saw here in Parliament; what they saw was an armed military personnel on the precinct of this august House. When the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Whip of the Opposition brought this
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matter to the Speaker‘s attention, the Speaker should have immediately suspended proceedings in order to address the grave situation.
The fact that she didn‘t seem alarmed nor even raise an eyebrow at the thought of armed troops on the precinct, indicates that she either gave her authority for their presence beforehand or knew about their presence beforehand. This incident happened despite the fact that both the Chairperson of the NCOP and the Speaker of the National Assembly gave assurances to the Whips of the different parties that only ceremonial military personnel would be allowed within the precinct of Parliament.
The failure of the Speaker to address this gross violation of our Constitution will remain a stain on our democracy and ensure that her name stenches the history books for centuries to come. Professor George Devenish wrote in the Star on 14 February 2016:
Making use of military troops in the precincts of Parliament puts two issues at stake. First, the conduct would appear to be a violation of the principle of the separation of powers and second, that of a breach of the parliamentary privilege, both of which are part of our constitutional dispensation.
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The chief function of the Speaker is to preserve the privileges and dignity of Parliament in chairing political debate and discourse. This must be done with impartiality and courage. For this to occur, the Speaker must be politically independent. Unfortunately, Baleka Mbete is compromised, in that she is also the ANC chairperson. She conducts herself in a manner that displays a superficial understanding of the requirements of a historic and distinguished office.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you take a seat? Can I recognise a point of order?
Ms D P MANANA: Ngiyabonga Sihlalo waleNdlu, ngisukumela kuphakamisa liphuzu ngeKuhlala naKuhlangenwe, nemitsetfo yenkhulumomphikiswano. Umhlon Manti (Waters) ukhuluma ngemhlon Baleka Mbete, umbita ngelibito lakhe, umtjela kutsi unguBaleka; kantsi lapha esahlukweni 14(o) kukhulunywa ngekutsi singalibiti ngelibito lilunga laleNdlu. [Kuhlaba Lulwimi.] (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Thank you House Chairperson, I rise on the point of order concerning House Sitting and rules for debates. Hon. Waters speaks about Hon. Baleka Mbete, and he calls her by her first
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name whereas chapter 14(0) states that we should not call an Hon. Member by name.] [Interjections.]
Ms S P KOPANE: I am standing on a point of order, Deputy Chair!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no! I can‘t take two points of orders. Which one am I going to make a ruling on?
Ms S P KOPANE: But she‘s misquoting what Mr Waters is saying there. She must listen because Mr Waters is quoting what is written on the newspaper. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member!
Ms S P KOPANE: She must wake up and listen!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, I heard you!
Ndikuvile, mama! Ndikuvile! [I heard you mama.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, you know, earlier on I made an appeal. I mean, if what is said is true, may I once more caution us to respect one another and refer to one another as hon members of this august House? Earlier on I
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said that - you may not like me and you don‘t have to like me! You can call me Pappie, you can call me Tau or you can call me whatever, but at least, once we are in this House, can we just refer to each other as ho members. You can say hon Tau or Mr Tau when you refer to me, which would be fine for me. I don‘t have a problem! But at least just show some respect to other members of this House!
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chairperson, I‘m just quoting a letter from The Star newspaper.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Chair, I respect your ruling that we must call or refer to each other as the hon members, and you are absolutely right, we must refer to ourselves in a respectful manner. So, I concur with your ruling. However, what the hon Waters is doing and if you check Hansard you would see it. It was a direct quotation from a letter that appeared and still appears from The Star. Now, it is unethical to insert words into a quotation. So, it is the article that referred to the Speaker as Baleka Mbete. The hon Waters was simply quoting from it, and I think that if you make this oppressive that means every time we make a quote in this House, we‘ve got to insert words that didn‘t exist in the original quote. I think that is very problematic. So, I don‘t think that
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the hon Waters was disrespecting the Speaker, he was merely quoting.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I‘m just happy that you agreed with my ruling. Hon Waters, can you continue with the debate?
Mr M WATERS: If I can finish the quote Deputy Chair, it continues to say: ―It is with regards to fearless independence that Mbete, and I‘m quoting, and other Presiding Officers have failed, through their blatant partiality to the ANC. That‘s what it says.‖ So, what the Madam Speaker allowed to happen on Thursday night was tantamount to a coup. And if she and the other Presiding Officers did not get the severity of the situation, it is more reason that they all should step down from their positions.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you please sit down so that I can take a point of order?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Chair, as much as we respect the rights of the hon Waters that he can quote from the newspaper, though he is stating the quote, he is still referring to the Speaker of this Parliament and the member of this House as Baleka Mbete
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that which he shouldn‘t do according to the rules of this House. Let us maintain the decorum and the respect of the House on top of that quote. There is nothing wrong with the quote, but we still have to respect the rules of the House. [Interjections.] No, no, no! As much as you read the quote, you have to respect the Speaker!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, you know, consistency is very important. Thank you very much, hon member. My attention is drawn to an earlier ruling and a matter that has been dealt with before. I want to read it out so that we don‘t get into this confusion again just for the purpose of consistency.
It says, accusations against a member or personal reflections on a member‘s integrity are equally offensive and damaging if they are made by way of inference; by way of hypothesis through a quotation, I reiterate, through a quotation, by being posed as a question or by utilising other figures of speech and literary devices. It has been done before; it is there. So, may we not go back to that? That is why I‘ve been consistent in appealing to members to respect the integrity of the House and the integrity of other members of this House. Can you continue hon Waters?
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Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chair, today and yesterday we also witnessed how the ANC members are aided and abetted by the Presiding Officers to insult and abuse the members of the Opposition. The rules are selectively applied by the Presiding Officers. How is it that the ANC member can tell the other members to f-off and nothing happens? In fact, it was the Premier that was sitting here on Thursday night that said that.
How it is that the hon Dirks - I think that is his name - could tell the hon Van Damme that she is a street maid, and yet, no action is taken against him? How is it that the hon Manana can say to the DA members that they are sell-out and no action has been taken against him? Yet, they are named and pointed out to the Presiding Officer.
Well, hon Manana, let me tell you what I believe is a sell-out. It is a party that allows 94 mentally-ill people to die through starvation and dehydration, that party is a sell-out; a party that allows a massacre of 44 miners in Marikana is a sell-out; a party that allows 9 million South Africans to be unemployed is a sell-out; a party that allows a President to spend R246 million on his house is a sell-out; a party that allows a President to get over 783 charges of corruption is a sell-out; a party that
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allows 19 500 dysfunctional schools is a sell-out. I can go on, and on, and on.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you take your seat?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Deputy Chair, I was wandering if we now have a choir in the House, and also that the conductor of the choir is standing here in front and the choir responds to him? This is unparliamentarily! We can‘t have the choir in the House! We can‘t!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: that is not a point of order, hon member. Please continue, hon Waters! Order, order, hon members!
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chair, I would suggest that the hon Manana and the MPs of the yoke look in the mirror and they will see a sell-out. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you take your seat?
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Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Deputy Chair, is the member ready to take a question; a question around, who holds the economy of the country? Is it a party that is a sell-out; the one that doesn‘t to bring about transformation?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You wanted to ask a question. Hon Waters, are you prepared to take a question?
Mr M WATERS: I‘ll take a question from the member in the pub afterwards.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Come again!
Mr M WATERS: I‘ll take a question from her in the pub, that‘s where we normally found each other.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: So, you‘re not prepared to take a question?
Mr M WATERS: No, I‘m not!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, he‘s not prepared to take a question!
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Ms D P MANANA: I‘m standing on a point of order!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: There‘s another point of order, hon Waters. Can you take your seat, please?
Mk D P MANANA: Sihlalo, bengicela Umhlon Manti kutsi sekake akhulume naSihlalo, angakhulumi nami, futsi-ke nangabe akhuluma nami ngco, loko ngikubona kungakalungi ngobe yena utfolakala atsetse bantfu belibala lelimnyama wayawuhlekisa ngabo. [Kuhlaba Lulwimi.] (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Ms D P MANANA: Chairperson, I am requesting Hon. Waters to speak through the Chairperson and not to speak directly to me. If he speaks directly to me, that is not acceptable because he took black people and made mockery of them.] [Interjection.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, hon member, that‘s a point for debate now! It‘s not a point of order, you‘re debating now! Hon member, can you continue?
Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chair, the hon Zulu said that the ANC has replaced the AK47s for the Constitution. But what she didn‘t say is how the party is trampling on the Constitution, violating it
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and ripping it out by any other possible turn. That‘s what you are doing currently.
It is about time that we stood up for the Constitution and not stand on it. She also said that we should limit how we push the ANC. Now, for me, that is a direct threat from the hon Zulu. Let me tell you, hon Zulu, we‘re not scared of your threats. We are going to keep pushing the ANC in order to account for service delivery and hold it to account for corruption.
Mr G S RADEBE: I‘m standing on a point of order, Deputy Chair! Please look this side!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Waters, can you take your seat? Can I take your point, hon member?
Mr G S RADEBE: Deputy Chair, I request that the hon Waters address all the hon members through you, and not just attack the hon member directly. Otherwise, he is showing his lobotomies.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Absolutely correct! I carry that point of order because the rules clearly state that we must address the House through the Chair.
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Mr M WATERS: Deputy Chair, that is from the mampara of the month - from the Sunday Times. [Applause.] But Deputy Chair, if I can through you, tell the hon Zulu ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, leave it!
Mr G S RADEBE: I just want to double-check weather that this lobotomised hon member has just called me a mampara?
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, hon member!
Mr M WATERS: The Sunday Times did, not me!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can you continue, hon member?
Mr M WATERS: I want to give assurance to the hon Zulu and the other members of the ANC that we‘re not going to be scared to keep pushing like we pushed you out of the Nelson Mandela Bay; like we pushed you out of Johannesburg and like we pushed you out of Tshwane. [Applause.] So, we are going to push you out of Union Buildings as well. [Applause.] The ANC said that it can
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never lose Nelson Mandela Bay, and they did! They said that they could never lose Tshwane, and they did! They said that they could never lose Johannesburg, and they did! Let us stand here in 2019 and say that the ANC said they couldn‘t lose in 2019 and they did! [Time expired.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Hon Deputy Chair, President Zuma and Deputy President Ramaphosa, the hon Waters, who has just left the podium, gave true meaning to the proverbial Bible story of turning water into wine – because all he did when he was here was to whine, whine, whine. [Interjections.]
The hon Magwebu came here earlier on and quoted from W B Yeats‘ poem, The Second Coming. He fell short of going to the last three lines of that stanza, which read:
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Now, I‘m not suggesting that the hon Magwebu is the worst, but the way in which he came here to speak, with such intensity, showed that, from this side of the House, we need the best to
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come and speak and engage with the state of the nation address. He said, in fact, that the state of the nation address left him cold. Now, that was on Thursday, and he came here to this podium still looking very cold. He kept sitting like this – very, very cold. [Interjections.] Now, whatever you did on Thursday, hon President, to make the hon Magwebu cold, is still with him today. I think the hon Waters needs to give him what he has been turned into, so that we warm up the hon Magwebu and he can lighten up. [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
Last week, in the build-up to the state of the nation address, the EFF made several statements in the media to the effect that they would disrupt the sitting and would not allow the President to speak to this august House. Whatever their reasons, there was no reason to believe that they would not follow through on this threat, as they had done during past sittings of this House. As is appropriate, the leadership of this House made the necessary arrangements to ensure that, whatever happened, the President, elected by the majority of this House, would ultimately speak to the country on matters pertaining to the state of the nation. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
True to form, of course, the EFF wasted no time. They moved from the ridiculous to the bizarre and mundane, including producing
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lunch-packet zippers and alleging that there was an intention to inject them with biological warfare-type chemicals that would render them incapacitated for the day. Thinking that we were watching World War Z, or some science fiction movie in this House, the EFF charged on.
There were 36 points of order. I counted them. An hour and eight minutes later, during which a barrage of rehearsed insults was aimed at the Speaker and the President, the EFF was finally removed from the House so that we could proceed with the business of the day.
They understood what the implications were, and knew that one of two things would happen on that day. Either the President would keep the nation waiting in awe for him to address them ...
HON MEMBERS: In awe? In awe?
An HON MEMBER: In awe? Oh, my goodness!
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRSIDENCY: ... or they would be ejected from the House – and they had to be ejected, so that this country could engage with the state of the nation address. [Applause.]
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They came armed, in fact. Some of the guests in the public gallery even alleged that Dali Mpofu, National Chairperson of the EFF, discharged pepper spray in the gallery to sabotage the sitting of the House. Sitting here, in this House, I, myself, witnessed some of the EFF Members of Parliament moving towards and charging at the people who were appointed to ensure that there was order in this House.
The EFF and any other member of this august House have the right to protest against the President or the government without fear and without intimidation. However, it must be made clear: As much as we should be careful of the dictatorship of the majority and the fact that the ANC should, at all times, be considerate of the views of the small parties, we can never, ever allow the tyranny of the minority to reign in this House. [Applause.]
Sixty-two per cent of the electorate voted for the ANC to govern, not to sit in Parliament and turn the other cheek, again and again, as the presiding officers are intimidated on a yearly basis. Sixty-two per cent of our people elected the ANC into this House not to be a meek, voiceless, powerless majority that cowers down to a party that only has 6% of the vote. This institution has Rules that have been agreed to by all the political parties and those Rules have to be followed.
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There is a problematic narrative out there that seeks to suggest that, for the ANC to be seen to be democratic and benevolent, and for the presiding officers to be impartial, they must allow some members of this House to abuse them without them resorting to implementing the Rules of the House. Essentially, according to this narrative, all that the presiding officers should have done on that day was to allow a long night of frivolity and vexatious points of order the intention of which was to stop the President from executing his duties. That is what those comrades were supposed to do.
This problematic narrative suggests that engagement with the state of the nation address can only happen as and when 36 of the 490 Members of Parliament who were gathered on that day are agreeable. So, 36 must hold 490 Members of Parliament to ransom!
On that day, even attempts by the Leader of the Opposition, the hon Mmusi Maimane, to let sanity prevail were drowned out by irrationality - including from members of his own political party. This led to the DA, again, kowtowing to the EFF‘s agenda of disrupting sittings of the National Assembly without being seen to be rowdy and uncouth like their EFF counterparts. [Interjections].
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We have heard terms, such as ―creeping dictatorship‖, ―increased militarisation‖, ―abuse of power‖, and ―ignorance of the Constitution‖ being used consistently by the DA in this debate when referring to the events of last Thursday. The conduct of the DA on Thursday reminded me of the dog in Aesop‘s Fables, crossing the river with a big chunk of meat in its jaws. On seeing its own reflection in the water, it believed it was looking at another dog with another bigger piece of meat. It decided it had to have that bigger piece, so it dropped the meat it had and, in the process, lost everything.
As soon as it realised that both pieces of meat were gone, it knew that the end was nigh. That is what happened to that dog and that is what will happen to the DA. They are not happy with what they have and they believe that if they kowtow to the EFF, they will get more than what they already have. [Applause.]
I must tell you that your constituency expects you to help bring sanity to this House. They voted for you because they want you to behave in a particular way. Had they wanted the EFF, they would have voted for the EFF. They are watching you, believe me. They are watching your belief that the only way to oppose the ANC is to behave like the EFF. I am warning you; they are watching you. [Interjections.]
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You have more Members of Parliament in this House than the EFF does. You should start acting the part. Stop believing that for you to get the vote of the black youth, which you‘ve been trying to flight throughout this debate, you need to do what you have done. I must tell you that it is very patronising and very childish.
You speak of the suppression of voices in democratic space, yet you were refusing the ANC permission to hold its own people‘s assembly just outside here. You speak about excluding people from the parliamentary space, yet you are the ones who said the ANC could only bring 10 000 people into the city when we wanted to bring in 40 000. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
You are the same people who said that Parliament was closed down to the people on that day. Yet, on 2 January, when hundreds of thousands of minstrels wanted to march into the city, you closed them out. You pushed them away, because the city does not belong to them. [Applause.] [Interjections.] What was their sin? You believed that they belong to the ANC and all they wanted to do was to do what they do best – to parade into the city. That will forever haunt you, I promise you. [Interjections.]
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Now, the hon Van Damme came here ... [Interjections.] ... and I asked myself what the hon Van Damme was really doing here, at this podium. Because we had a very nice hit in December, she thought she could kill the state of the nation address. [Laughter.] That didn‘t happen.
As I sat there listening to the hon Van Damme, I thought about balloons and cornets and jumping castles. I asked myself whether the hon Van Damme actually does children‘s parties - because we really need to outsource her to do that, rather than have her come here and torture us with what she believed was killing what the President presented as the state of the nation address. [Laughter.] Hon Van Damme, when everybody walks out of here next time, my advice is to remain seated there where you are sitting and listen to what the President says, so that you have an appropriate response to the state of the nation address. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
When the hon Mmusi Maimane took over the podium yesterday to respond to the state of the nation address which only he knows where it was delivered, he reminded me of the words of a British writer and political publicist who once remarked:
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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.
So, for the hon Maimane, politics is looking for trouble, finding it, whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.
In his rants and heap of rubble meant to lull the nation into believing how good the DA would be if it led the country, the hon Maimane knew that there should be a problem somewhere. However, because it doesn‘t exist, he then either proposed a wrong solution or actually created one in his own mind. In fact, he was so good at creating this problem, I forgot my communist cloth and nearly shouted, ―Amen!‖ down there next to Chief Holomisa. [Laughter.]
Of the many issues he did mention, education was one of the big issues at the centre of his debate. On his to-do list, he suggests that the DA will invest in training existing teachers and recruiting more teachers with excellent skills, particularly in mathematics and science. Let me tell you something; let me enlighten you, the hon, unenlightened Maimane. There is a Mathematics, Science and Technology programme that already
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exists and that this government is implementing. [Applause.] Over and above that, the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme already recruits teachers, and more than 15 000 have been deployed in the education system to teach scarce skills.
That was not the only illusion in his mind. He also said something else, suggesting that the DA would explore the feasibility of bringing back teacher training colleges. For ANC members and those who voted for the ANC, this rings a bell because, in the ANC‘s election manifesto, we kept on ramming the point home that we need to reopen colleges of education. [Interjections.] We have already done so. Three colleges of education have been opened.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon members! Order!
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: The hon Maimane further says that the ―poorest students will be comprehensively supported, and the missing middle, who cannot secure funding or bank loans, will receive support proportional to their family income‖. We are already doing this. It‘s already there. If the joint income of the parents is less than R600 000 a year, those children are supported by the government. [Interjections.] The government has also wiped out all the historical debt that
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higher-education students have. [Interjections.] I have to ask, What planet does the hon Maimane live on? [Interjections.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE NCOP: Deputy Chairperson ... [Interjections.] The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no. Just a minute. No. Hon members, you are out of order. [Interjections.] You are really out of order. Please. The member goes to the microphone and you start shouting at her like that! [Interjections.] How many times have I reprimanded members from this side?
An HON MEMBER: Twice! [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: How many times? [Interjections.] Hon members, let‘s not go there, please. [Interjections.] Please, let‘s not do that.
An HON MEMBER: You‘re biased!
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can I hear your point of order, hon member? [Interjections.]
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The CHIEF WHIP OF THE NCOP: Deputy Chairperson, we are being photographed. [Interjections.] Is that allowed in this august House?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: By whom? [Interjections.]
HON MEMBERS: Groenewald! Groenewald! [Interjections.] [Laughter.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No. No. Hon members ...
Ms S P KOPANE: Deputy Chair, on a point of order: Is it parliamentary for a Member of Parliament to come and point at people like this? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Mateme ... [Interjections.] [Laughter.] Hon Groenewald, hon Mateme ... [Interjections.] Order, hon members! Order! Order! Order! Order! I am looking at this side now - order! – before I get accused of not calling members to order. [Interjections.] Hon Groenewald, the hon Mateme would not like to be part of your video, whatsoever. So, please don‘t take photographs. Please, please, don‘t take photographs. [Interjections.] Hon Manamela, continue with the debate.
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The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Thank you very much, hon Deputy Chair. You know, yesterday, it was St Valentine‘s Day, so the spirit probably still continues.
I must say, with all of these things and the response of the DA to the state of the nation address, what irks me and, particularly, millions of young people is the consistent mentioning by the DA of the so-called ―lost generation‖. Although you are governing Tshwane and Johannesburg, you are cutting out opportunities for these young people. Our greatest regret, as the ANC, is not that we are out of power in those two metros. It is that those who are now in power are cancelling programmes that were directly beneficial to the needs, interests and aspirations of young people. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The ANC in Tshwane had a Wi-Fi hotspot that benefited more than 2,2 million young people and 310 000 connections per day. Today, the DA is saying that they are considering whether it should continue, or not. What is interesting is that the mayor, when he was campaigning, said he would call off the luxury cars, the posh cars, and the blue-light convoys. He didn‘t cancel those, but he wants to cancel Wi-Fi in the city of Tshwane. [Interjections.]
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It‘s even worse in the City of Johannesburg. It‘s even worse in the metro of Johannesburg. There is a programme, called Vulindlel‘ eJozi. It is a youth development programme that included the Massive Open Online Varsity network that benefited 20 000 young people – the young people who the DA says are a lost generation. They are cancelling that programme; they are condemning those young people into a lost generation.
So, what does the DA‘s Trump-wannabe, Herman Mashaba, do? He shows the young people of the City of Johannesburg the middle finger when it comes to the Digital Ambassadors programme that was benefiting 2 000 young people. The same applies to the Jozi My Beginning programme, which was benefiting 700 young people and had the potential to create thousands and thousands of jobs. [Interjections.]
Now, this comes from the same political party that came here and said they have a rescue plan. All they are doing is pushing young people over the cliff, over the precipice, to be the real lost generation. They don‘t even understand the context in which the people who ordained the concept of the lost generation wanted to use that concept.
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Yesterday, the hon Holomisa of the UDM came here and spoke, as usual, about the need for a national consultative conference. I think it‘s important, however, that, before the hon Holomisa speaks about anything national ... His is the only political party that is referred to as ―a movement‖. ―Movement‖ means one moves. Now, he hasn‘t been able to move, not even outside of the Transkei. [Laughter.] All the Members of Parliament who are here from the UDM are only from the Transkei. What kind of a movement is it that is stuck in the Transkei but wants to talk about a national movement? [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
The hon Groenewald spoke passionately about how the President blames white people. [Interjections.] I need to reiterate this. The ANC ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, can you ...
Mr M L W FILTANE: Deputy Chair, on a point of order ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no. I was not recognising you. I was actually calling on the hon member to inform him that his time had expired.
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Mr M L W FILTANE: Thank you. May I speak? The hon Kwankwa is not from the Transkei. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Alright, fine. He is still at the podium. [Interjections.] He is still at the podium. Can you conclude, hon member?
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: We would like to send this message to the hon Groenewald, who is not here in the House. It is a very short poem, by Don Mattera, titled Sea and Sand, and it‘s about land:
Sea and sand My love My land, God bless Africa ... But more the South of Africa Where we live ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, your time has expired.
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: [Interjections.]
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Bless the angry mountains And the smiling hills Where the cool water spills To heal ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member ...
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: The young people will never listen to that which the hon Gronewald wants them to listen to because ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Manamela, your time has expired.
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: ... he believes that the land is the solution ... [Inaudible.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Time‘s expired! Time‘s expired! Go and sit down.
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate interrupted.
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The Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces adjourned the Joint Sitting at 20:16.
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