Hansard: NA: Unrevised Hansard
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 31 May 2017
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2017
PROCEEDINGS OF MINI-PLENARY SESSION OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY – NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAMBER
Members of the mini-plenary session met in the National Assembly Chamber at 14:04.
The Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 1 – The Presidency:
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Hon Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, special guests, thank you for granting us the opportunity to present the Presidency Budget Vote today.
Our primary goal as government is to make South Africa a better place to live in for all, and in particular to improve the quality of life of the poor and the working-class. Work continues in our quest to build a South Africa without poverty, inequality, unemployment or crime. We want a South Africa without despair, where each person young and old, has hope of a better future. Achieving a better life for our people includes ensuring the achievement of the country‘s vision with regard to safety and security.
This vision states that people living in South Africa should feel safe at home, at school, at work and in the streets and that they should live without fear. This freedom is currently being curtailed by the ongoing brutal attacks and killings of women and children in some parts of the country. Some of the women are killed by people they trusted, their intimate partners. Violence against women has been declared a priority crime by government. Nobody has the right to attack women. [Applause. We urge women to report the perpetrators to the police. We also appeal to families to provide support to the survivors.
Our country also faces other serious crimes against women and girls; namely, human trafficking and forced prostitution. It is despicable that there are people who turn other human beings into commodities to make money. This is a gross violation of human rights and is tantamount to modern day slavery. We appeal to the public to inform the police if they notice suspicious activity at any house or building. Government has enacted Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, which is aimed at effecting international agreements which includes the Palermo Trafficking in Persons Protocol. Minister Shabangu will speak further on these matters.
As we mark Child Protection Week, we also urge families to support their children when they report abuse by anyone, including family members. They should also be taught to identify abuse and inappropriate conduct by adults towards them. I visited Elsie‘s River here in Cape Town for the second time yesterday. I had first visited the area two weeks ago to meet the family of the three-year-old Courtney Pieters who was brutally killed earlier this month.
The community reminded us that the solution to crime will not only come from policing. They asked for Social Workers to support families and basic services such as housing. Indeed, strengthening households and families, reviving the social fabric of society and improving the living condition, are key to the protection and prevention of crime. We need to unite as communities and all sectors, from business, traditional leaders, faith-based communities and others, to promote safer communities. United we shall defeat this scourge.
A better life for our people means participation in economic activities that will give them dignity and freedom from want. People need jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities. The partnership between government and business remains key in the drive to re-ignite growth in this difficult climate. I would thus like to reiterate our commitment to the work done together with business on improving investor confidence in the country.
Our economy must remain competitive, not to merely prevent ratings downgrades but for the good of the country. We also wish to reiterate that we remain committed to the expenditure ceiling
in the 2017 budget and to stabilize debt levels. We also continue efforts of making our country attractive for investments. Government launched the Invest SA One Stop Shop initiative early this year, bringing critical services needed to establish a business under one roof, such as visas, water or electricity licenses, tax requirements and so forth.
There are some outstanding policy issues that we are also attending to. We have to finalise the broadband rollout, digital migration and spectrum allocation as a means to reignite economic growth. On energy security, the Ministers of Public Enterprises and Energy are working together to find an amicable solution to the Independent Power Producers impasse.
With regard to nuclear energy, we reiterate that the programme will be implemented at a pace and scale that the country can afford. [Applause.] We await Parliament to conclude processing the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill and bring it back to the President. I sent it back to Parliament due to some issues that I believed would not pass the Constitutional muster.
The Mining Charter will be gazetted in a few weeks‘ time. Through the Charter, government seeks to radically transform the ownership of the South African mining assets by ensuring that black people meaningfully and effectively participate in the mining and minerals industries, while ensuring that the mining industry remains globally competitive. The Mining Charter includes requirements on beneficiation and procurement. There is also a community development element to ensure that mine communities and major labour-sending communities optimally benefit from mining activities taking place in their areas. The Mining Charter proposals will also further empower mineworkers with requisite skills and enhanced job opportunities.
Importantly, government continues to provide support to state- owned companies, addressing governance and financial challenges. Support is being provided to the SAA, SABC and Eskom and other affected entities. On social grants payments, the South African Social Security Agency, SASSA, will be submitting the quarterly reports to the Constitutional Court as per its judgment.
South Africa Social Security Agency has also begun engagements with other organs of state, including the South African Post Office towards phasing out the services of the current service provider. The plan is to phase in the services of the new service provider by November this year. This will give the Agency enough time to ensure a seamless transition when the current contract comes to end in March 2018.
The Department of Social Development has also released the much awaited Discussion Paper on Social Security Reform proposals for public consultations. The InterMinisterial Committee on Comprehensive Social Security chaired by the President will continue to guide the processes.
Other important issues that we are attending to relate to the public discourse about what has been termed state capture. Let me place it on record that there is no opposition from either the government or the Presidency, to the calls for a commission of inquiry into the said ‗state capture‘. We fully support an inquiry as it will help to uncover the facts and remove rumours about the extent of capture.
What has caused a delay is the manner in which the former Public Protector directed that the inquiry should be done, which infringes on the powers of the President of the Republic. If this is left unattended, it would cause problems even for future heads of state as it sets a wrong precedent. Legal advice obtained pointed at the fact that the remedial action on the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry undermines the doctrine of the separation of powers. There are various other issues that we have placed before court in our application for a review. We trust that this matter will be resolved as soon as possible.
In the state of the nation address we gave prominence to the imperative of radical socio-economic transformation. Our interventions are aimed at facilitating ownership and management of enterprises and productive assets by black people, workers, co-operatives and other collective enterprises.
The sovereign downgrade of South Africa rating to junk makes the process of transforming the economy of South Africa difficult yet necessary. As we seek to radically transform the economy, we need to be mindful of the structural challenges as the South
African economy continues to be driven by consumption, global demand for mineral commodities and a very narrow productive base with few large companies that control the entire value chain.
Another dimension is the financialisation and the deindustrialisation of the economy which calls for the deliberate intervention by government to support the productive sectors of our economy paying particular attention to the labour intensive sectors.
Supporting SMMEs has been identified as an area with large potential for employment creation and economic growth.
Government is driving a programme to revitalize township and rural enterprises. Our National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy is making headway as it provides support to deserving informal businesses so that they graduate into formal small businesses.
Already, the National Gazelles programme, a pilot by the Department of Small Business Development has proved the potential of small businesses. Forty small businesses selected
for specialised attention in 2015 survived a negative economy and even grew their turnovers. If we have one million small businesses, and each employs one or two people, we would have created over one million jobs. This is how important investment into small business development is.
In January of this year, the National Treasury gazetted new regulations in pursuit of Preferential Procurement by means of which 30% of public procurement will be made available to small businesses and co-operatives. This will provide a market for the small business sector. Key support to small businesses must also include ensuring that they are not strangled by government regulations or red tape. We also reiterate that government departments in all three spheres must also pay SMMEs on time, as directed when they submit legitimate invoices. These are some of the interventions that will make transformation a reality for our people. We are pleased that the private sector supports our drive to boost SMMEs.
We announced the establishment of a R1 billion SME fund following the meeting with the CEO Initiative in October last
year. We also encourage the private sector, which has a larger procurement muscle, to also embrace broad-based black economic empowerment by actively buying from black-owned companies and supporting SMMEs.
Later this year, a rural and township economy summit will be held to, among other things, come up with critical ways to grow the indigenous entrepreneurs and ensure economic vibrancy in these areas where the majority of our people live. With regards to levelling the playing field, the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council advises the Presidency and government on broad- based black economic empowerment interventions. Progress is being made in fighting fronting through the BBBEE Commission; as such practices reverse the gains of transformation. The application and implementation of BEE codes in all sectors and transformation charters and plans for sectors will be finalised and gazetted.
South Africa continues to enjoy respect because of the turnaround we have achieved since 2009 on the HIV and AIDS programme. The HIV and TB epidemics had killed many of our
people before the new policy was adopted in 2009. We have scored a number of achievements since then. The number of people testing for HIV has increased phenomenally.
In 2009 government had conducted less than 2 million tests. Last year, more than 14 million people took the tests enabling them to know their status so that they can obtain treatment. South Africa has the largest HIV treatment programme in the world with more than 3,8 million people in the public sector on treatment. The reduction of the number of babies born with HIV has also been dramatic. By 2004, a total of 70 000 newborn babies were born HIV-positive per annum. Due to our very successful Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Programme, the figure has dramatically dropped to below 6 000. [Applause.]
This government has saved the lives of our people, and has ensured a better life for those living with HIV. According to Statistics SA, life expectancy is now 62,4 years, up from 55 years in 2002. We congratulate all South Africans on this remarkable achievement by our country. The Deputy President
leads our efforts in the fight against HIV and Aids as Chairperson of the South African National Aids Council.
We continue to find innovative and new ways of implementing government programmes. In 2014 we launched Operation Phakisa Big Fast Results Methodology, aimed at ensuring faster implementation of our programmes. Labour, business, government, academia and other sectors come together to develop implementation plans for government programmes.
We have applied this methodology to the ocean economy, health through producing ideal clinics, information and communication technologies in schools as well as agriculture and land reform, with very good results. Minister Radebe is the co-ordinator of the Phakisa methodology, working with the relevant sector Ministers. He will report on the projects involved.
We begin National Youth Month tomorrow. Government is doing a lot of work already in supporting youth development. The Committee of Deputy Ministers in the Presidential Working Group
on Youth continues to monitor the implementation of youth development programmes.
Progress has been made in many sectors. Last year I reported that the Department of Water and Sanitation is training thousands of young people as artisans through the War on Leaks Programme. More than 10 000 young people have been recruited thus far and are being trained as water agents, electricians, plumbers, machinists and in other fields. These are young people who were unemployed and with no money for further education.
I am encouraged that 55% of these trainees are females and 6% are people with disabilities. This is, indeed, a government at work, empowering our youth. Government also supports entrepreneurship for the youth. The National Youth Development Agency is directing more resources towards young aspirant entrepreneurs.
More than 800 new enterprises will be created and a further
18 000 young people will receive the necessary support in order to succeed as entrepreneurs. Through the Department of Human
Settlements, over 500 host employers in the Real Estate Sector will absorb over 8 000 unemployed youth and graduates to take up opportunities in real estate.
Through the Department of Health and civil society organisations, the Dreams Campaign will help grow girls and young women that are determined, resilient, empowered, Aids- free, mentored, and safe. Our National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, Programme is the biggest youth development programme of government, run by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
To date, the programme has recruited about 19 000 young people. The programme targets rural, unemployed young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who are in possession of a Grade 12 qualification. A number of young people, on leaving the Narysec Programme, start their own businesses, some find employment while others study further.
Government spends the highest share of its budget on young people through education and skills development. Government is
doing as much as possible to support children of the poor and the working-class to obtain higher education. Government paid the fee increase capped at 8% for all qualifying registered students with a gross combined family income up R600 000 per annum for the 2017 academic year.
This is a grant which covers the increases for tuition fees and official accommodation, and will not have to be repaid by qualifying students. Government also made arrangements through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, to pay the registration fees for all NSFAS funded students as an upfront payment to universities and TVET colleges in January each year.
Therefore, NSFAS qualifying students did not pay any registration or upfront fees in 2017. I established the Heher Commission on Higher Education Funding after protests by students in favour of free higher education. The commission will present its report at the end of June. We look forward to joining young people at the National Youth Day Commemoration in Ventersdorp in the North West province.
The Presidency actively supports our musicians and other performing artists. The Presidential Task Team on Creative Industries, chaired by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency has been hard at work to find solutions for some of the long- standing challenges that the creative sectors face. They have championed the process of bringing two important bills to parliament that will bring about welcome change for practitioners in the industry.
The Intellectual Property Bill and the Performers Protection Amendment Bill are now before Parliament and the public hearings on these Bills have begun. Lack of ownership of intellectual property affects many writers, producers, performers and content creators. The new legislation will give creative practitioners the right to own their work and to profit from it. The task team of Deputy Ministers is also working closely with agencies of the Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Trade and Industry to create better systems for the funding of Film and Theatre productions in the country.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the creators and cast of the film Kalushi which was released in South African cinemas in the month of March. [Applause.] This film symbolises the coming of age of South African cinema where quality films directed and performed by South Africans tell an epic South African story.
One of the key features of our democracy is co-operative governance. The embodiment of co-operative governance at the national level is the President‘s Co-ordinating Council in which the President meets with the Premiers and the South African Local Government Association.
The PCC worked on a lot of projects last year including monitoring the implementation of the Back to Basics programme on the revitalisation of municipalities, the management of migration and service delivery interventions through the Presidential Hotline. The Presidential Infrastructure Co- ordinating Commission also brings together the leadership of the three spheres of government, to discuss the seamless delivery of infrastructure programmes across the country. Several projects
are being rolled out including the building of dams, schools, roads, hospitals, training colleges and the three universities.
We launched the Trans Africa locomotive in April and the People‘s Train in Tshwane earlier this month. The People‘s Train boasts both comfort and safety for rail passengers. The infrastructure programme improves the quality of life and contributes to economic growth and job creation.
The Presidency also interacts with constitutional bodies such as the National House of Traditional Leaders and Chapter 9 Institutions to discuss matters affecting their portfolios and to provide support. We also work with various stakeholders through Presidential Working Groups in which we meet business, youth formations, women‘s groups, religious leaders, black professionals and non-governmental organisations.
The National Orders Advisory Council plays a critical role of assisting us to identify distinguished men and women who receive the highest honours from their country, the National Orders. We take the country‘s human development needs forward through the
Human Resource Development Council which is chaired by the Deputy President. We wish to acknowledge and thank all these sectors, councils and working groups. We appreciate their ongoing support.
We celebrated Africa Day on the 25th of May, marking the 54th anniversary of the OAU now AU. In marking Africa month we also celebrated the legacy of President O R Tambo, the country‘s foremost diplomat who opened the continent and the world to South Africa through his tireless work to bring about freedom.
In his memory, South Africa continues to contribute to shaping the agenda of African renewal and the implementation of Agenda 2063. We participate in the special efforts of ensuring the silencing of the guns and ending pockets of conflict by 2020 so that everyone can live in peace.
We continue to support sister nations such as South Sudan, Lesotho, Central African Republic, DRC, Mali and others to find solutions. We also continue to stand with the people of Western
Sahara as they struggle for self-determination, so that we can conclude the decolonisation of Africa. [Applause.]
We support the quest for regional integration through building the necessary infrastructure to connect capitals, harmonise trade regimes and grow the means of production. South Africa values her membership of strategic forums such as the G20, Brics, Ibsa and the Indian Ocean Rim Association. They add immense value to South Africa as we pursue the national interest.
South Africa will assume the chair of SADC in August and that of the Indian Ocean Rim Association later in the year. We shall do our best in serving these two regions to advance sustainable growth and development. We shall continue our advocacy for a reformed system of global governance, including the reform of the United Nations Security Council and the Strengthening of the United Nations.
One of the highlights of Africa month has been the appointment of Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus as the new Director-General of the
World Health Organization, the first African to hold this position. We also congratulate Justice Mandisa Maya on being appointed as the first female President of the Supreme Court of Appeal in our country. We wish them all of the best in their new responsibilities.
Allow me to remind smokers that today is the World No Tobacco Day. [Applause.] They should kick the habit to ensure healthier lifestyles. Let me take this opportunity to thank the Deputy President, the Ministers in the Presidency and the Deputy Minister for their support. I also appreciate the contribution and hard work of the Director-General, the Chief Operations Officer, the Presidency Audit Committee, advisors, senior management, and all staff in the Presidency. It is my privilege, hon Speaker, to commend Budget Vote 1 to the House. I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon Speaker, hon
Deputy Speaker, his Excellency the President and the Deputy President, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, hon members, our guests in the gallery, I greet you all. Let me start by
acknowledging the 20th anniversary of our Constitution, which we achieved this year. Our democracy would be devoid of character and substance without the profound doctrines of human dignity and equality enshrined in our Constitution.
Twenty years on, since its official adoption, it stands as our most potent mechanism to enable restorative justice and transformation. It is the instrument for systematically erasing the atrocities committed against our people. It remains the only antidote to heal the divisions of the past.
Moulded in the umbers of the people‘s struggle for freedom and self-determination, our Constitution is a resolve and will of freedom fighters after the fall of the apartheid regime. A resolve that South Africans should forge for themselves a new identity anchored in equality, social cohesion and economic inclusion.
The founders of the ANC were, from the onset, determined that to realise progress, South Africa and her people must appreciate the significance of unity. Such unity was founded on the
recognition of their diversity and, thereby, bound by history and common cause to create a better world and humanity.
As the South African Laureate and also President of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli observed:
... here in South Africa, with all our diversities of colour and race, we will show the world a new pattern for democracy. What is important is that we can build a homogeneous South Africa on the basis not of colour but of human values.
Inspired by such wisdom, the authors of the Constitution inscribed in the preamble,
We, the people of South Africa, recogn1se the injustices of our past; honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
The preamble recognises that the united but diverse people of this land emerge from a dehumanising historical past that requires redress. Given the historical context of race, class and gender contradictions, the ANC understood that our Constitution should be an important instrument to restore the dignity of the black majority.
In this regard, we must place a premium on nation-building and the need to engender social cohesion. That nation-building must be anchored on reconciliation among the people; the transformation of government institutions; and the introduction of new legislation to usher in a new and democratic dispensation.
Commemorative events will continue to play a critical role in the process of nation-building and social cohesion. A government‘s calendar aligned to those commemorative activities helps to ensure public participation. These events are an instrument for reconciliation and nation-building, within the context of our constitutional democracy. They must be strategically galvanised to embody the spirit of human rights,
cultural diversity, equality and tolerance for all South Africans.
The scale of our transformation, its profound impact on the people and the environment that, until then, had catered for the tiniest minority in our homeland, is yet to be fully told.
Necessarily, nation-building demanded that government urgently address socioeconomic challenges of the majority. Arguably, we embarked on the most unprecedented egalitarian programme globally wherein; healthcare was made free to pregnant women and children of ages 0 to 6; social security and pensions were extended to the poor and aged; and access to housing, water, electricity, education, etc, ensured.
To implement these objectives and advance, against the backdrop of a declining apartheid economy, economic growth had to be the focus. Simultaneously, we must be mindful that, for the people to fully participate in the life of their country, they needed to share directly in its economy. Hence the BBBEE policies, with the aim to deracialise the economy, ensure equity ownership by
the black majority and Africans in particular, in the entities that were exclusively white.
Inferior racial education created a skills deficit in the country, especially among the majority, and thus government focus on skills development and acquisition to impact on jobs and productivity. Government has and continues to subsidise business in order to protect existing jobs. Further, government funds internship programmes for the youth and unemployed graduates to enable them gain the necessary work experience. The EPWP without which the majority poor would be worse than destitute, has been a mainstay in assisting to alleviate the scourge of poverty and minimise unemployment.
Today, we can attest to strides in science and technology with the SKA project among others; the establishment of new universities of medicine and technology, respectively; the reopening of training colleges for teachers and nurses; advances in rural development and land reform; the ever-expanding social wage and social security network; infrastructure roll-out and investment in manufacturing, small and medium enterprises and
other catalytic sectors. In addition, progress is registered through the Nine-Point Plan and the Oceans Economy as means to ensure greater economic growth and development.
However, despite all these interventions, economic growth has been sluggish since the global financial crisis. As a result, progress in fundamentally changing the lives of the poorest and working people has been slow. This necessitated the ANC‘s 53rd National Conference in Mangaung to resolve on the second phase of radical economic transformation, urging the State to take a fundamental approach in its interventions in the economy, as means to advance the national democratic revolution. As the conference declaration states:
Responding to these challenges, we are boldly entering the second phase of the transition from apartheid colonialism to a national democratic consolidation critical both to improve the quality of life of all South Africans and to promote nation-building and social cohesion.
In this sense, Mangaung reiterated the conclusions of the Morogoro Strategy and Tactics when it said:
In the last resort, it is only the success of the national democratic revolution which, by destroying the existing social and economic relationships, will bring with it a correction of the historical injustices perpetrated against the indigenous majority and thus, lay the basis for a new and deeper internationalist approach.
We continue to grapple with the task of building a new social order. Colonialism, coupled with racial domination, exploitation and patriarchy, bore violent scars into our human make-up. Our nation‘s psyche, jaded and marred from torture, maiming and murder, repeats these acts of terror on the unsuspecting, powerless and vulnerable in society.
In recent weeks, we have seen an upsurge in the rape, deaths and disappearances of women and children across our towns and cities. Femicide has gripped many a family and home. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex, LGBTI persons have been
attacked, brutalised and murdered. Social media abounds with stories of strange men in unknown cars, who inject and hijack young women on their normal daily walkabout.
Women, young and old, and children must live in a free, peaceful and safe environment. LGBTI persons have the freedom to associate, express themselves and live in accordance to their wishes without fear. These wanton acts of murder and mayhem continue unabated despite government campaigns such as those of
16 Days of Activism for No violence Against Women and Children Abuse. These violent acts are an indication that we are far from becoming that cohesive society we want to be.
In this regard, it is critical to support and enhance the work underway in government. We need to forge strong and lasting co- operation between State organs and the people. This requires the re•establishment of networks and relations through meaningful partnerships with communities.
This is a painstaking, gradual process whose outcomes can only be visible over a period of time. In partnership with the
communities, government can provide material resource support to the programmes and campaigns undertaken by communities.
Overtures must be made to interfaith organisations to play a greater role of raising consciousness and changing individual and societal attitudes.
We commend the recent weekend meeting of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress for having deliberated on this matter and for reaffirming the human freedoms of women and children. The statement of the NEC recognises that,
As a country, we must consistently affirm the freedom of girl-children and women. We will have been successful in our quest to build a truly nonsexist society and dealt with the brutal effects of patriarchy when, in South Africa, a young woman in the middle of the night can walk alone without the fear of assault, attack or rape, going back home from wherever she comes.
While there is no single magic bullet that will do away with violence against women and children overnight, condemnation of such behaviour by society alone will not solve this problem.
The ANC therefore, calls to action all its structures and society at large to become actively engaged in campaigns that involve communities in the prevention of femicide, rape and child molestation. ANC branches must actively lead a campaign to encourage the defense of the most vulnerable people in our society. We must also teach ourselves to drop the language of weakness, vulnerability, protection, and women and children as these erode women‘s citizenship. We must affirm their inalienable right to justice, safety, freedom and equality.
We encourage other parties, in their official structures and in the different formations where they hold sway, to amplify this message and join in efforts to turn this situation around. After all, as Members of Parliament, we have sworn an oath to the Constitution which enjoins to protect and defend human freedoms too.
Underlying the concept of social cohesion is the motivation to ensure a society that is inclusive, where individuals and groups belong together and share common values. Central to this endeavour is the attempt to develop an understanding of what holds societies or groups together; and how that happens or is done.
Among the values and principles inherent in our Constitution, is this upholding and reaffirmation of the people‘s collective sentiments and views so that the electorate can, from time to time, accord those who lead it with a fresh mandate to govern.
In between the elections, there are imbizos in order to interact with the people and assess the effectiveness of government.
In this moral remaking of our society, it is demanded that we make use of all the instruments provided for in the Constitution. It will come as no surprise to us that in the context of the debate on the Presidency‘s Budget Vote, some in the opposition would seek to turn this into a matter of the person holding the office, and not the work of the office as an institution.
The mandate of the legislature is to oversee the work of the executive. We often lose sight of this responsibility when, as parties, we dwell on settling scores and political vendettas with old political enemies. In the process, we fail to scrutinise the efficacy of policies and programmatic systems government has put in place. For us, as Members of Parliament, oversight of our country‘s policy priorities is very critical. We have to go back to basics by building a cohesive Parliament that thrives on robust debate, not abuse.
Our vision of building a united, nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa remains steadfast. Our policies remain consistent with the objective of ensuring an equal, just and democratic society. This vision, deriving from the Freedom Charter, is found in Chapter Two of our Constitution, the Bill of Rights.
The NDP is the vision and long-term plan through which we intend to realise change, build the capabilities of our State and the capabilities in society. The NDP urges us to work collaboratively as a nation to advance South Africa‘s
transformation agenda. This means that civil society, religious bodies including communities across the board, must stand in unity with government in order to build a cohesive society. A culture that protects and promotes human rights must find expression on every social platform in South Africa.
Human rights ethos must also be infused in the education system, in places of worship, and where we commune for economic purposes. Furthermore, the family unit is also a critical incubating platform to teach our children that the future of this country depends on their ability to respect one another.
Let us implement the NDP and use it to rally to all social partners to participate in bringing about the South Africa where all who live in it, can fully enjoy all the freedoms we fought for and seek to realise.
The month of May is Africa month. Each year on 25 May, we take stock of the developments in our continent, both positive and negative. The ANC and therefore, its government, have committed themselves to realising a better Africa and a better world. We are aware of numerous efforts undertaken by our government, in
particular where the Presidency has acted as envoy to ensure peace and stability.
Our country continues to deploy its soldiers in the countries where war and strife reign. Our efforts, as demonstrated through the recent state visit by His Excellency the President to the Republic of Tanzania, extend to strengthen partnerships in the areas of trade and commerce. Indeed, we need to enhance greater co-operation and integration between and among us, for our individual countries and the continent as a whole to prosper.
Arguably, our continent is in a better place today than ever before. There are indications of potential growth in sub-Saharan Africa for 2017 and 2018. Democracy in most parts of the continent is a certainty. There is also greater co-operation and solidarity between and among the different countries. We should build on these advances and work towards achieving the AU‘s Vision 2063.
There are, however, some members of this House who need to be reminded of the sovereignty of other nations, a value inherent
in our Constitution, drawn from the Freedom Charter‘s clause,
―There Shall be Peace and Friendship.‖ In that clause, the Charter declares that, ―People of the protectorates shall determine their own future.‖
Having meddled in affairs of another country, hon Maimane cries foul ... [Interjections.] ... that the ANC and the President were silent about his deportation from Zambia. These are ramblings of someone who is ignorant of the ethos of our Constitution. It would help the hon member to know what the principal architect of our Constitution, our former President of the ANC, OR Tambo said about our relations with other peoples and nations. At the first Congress of the MPLA in 1977, our former President said:
We seek to live in peace with our neighbours and the peoples of the world in conditions of equality, mutual respect and equal advantage.
Hon members, let us work together with all our people without regard to race, class or gender to realise the freedoms we wish all to enjoy.
The Presidency should continue to provide strategic leadership even in the face of the challenges confronting our nation. Brick by brick, the walls of humanity, equality and socioeconomic inclusion will be rebuilt.
The ANC moves for the support of Budget Vote 1: The Presidency. I thank you. [Applause.]
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, hon members, fellow South Africans.
Setswana:
Bagaetsho, dumelang.
English:
Like many South Africans, I grew up believing in the ANC as the party of liberation. It was the party of my parents. The party
that turned this country around and set our course for a future that was infinitely better than our painful past.
Back then, the ANC made life better for millions of South Africans. It brought clean water, electricity, street lights and waste collections to places that had none. It built Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, houses all over the country. It introduced a social grant system that shielded the vulnerable from the harsh impact of poverty. In those early days the ANC truly was the party of and for the people.
But that, did not last. One by one, hon leaders made way for opportunists until nothing remained of that original movement. I could not have imagined that the party that liberated us would end up captured and corrupted. The party of Oliver Reginald Tambo, whose name is invoked by every ANC speaker in these debates.
Fellow South Africans, we would do well to remember what Albie Sachs said about Tambo:
Anyone claiming to speak in the name of Oliver Tambo would know...that his intrinsic sense of political honour made him totally and utterly opposed to attempts by people to use the name of the struggle for material accumulation, personal or family enrichment...or individual ambition.
Hon members, every single time you mention OR Tambo you remind us how far the ANC has fallen. It pains me to say that the ANC of Oliver Tambo doesn‘t exist anymore, and hasn‘t – in fact - for many years.
So it begs the question, what has happened? This has happened. This President, this man happened; he killed the ANC. [Interjection.]
Mr B A RADEBE: I‘m rising on Rule 84, hon Speaker. The gesture of the Leader of the Opposition to the President and the way he refers to him as this man is not parliamentary. He must be phrased properly.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please...I did see that gesture, and please refrain from referring to the President as this man.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Okay. Make no mistake, it was already wounded before he plunged the knife in; weakened by a culture of patronage and corruption and crippled by cadre deployment. But he struck the final blow. He wiped out Oliver Tambo‘s legacy to make himself rich. First he killed the ANC and now he is killing our country. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, today we vote on the budget of the Presidency. But we cannot stand here and pretend that we‘re voting on a budget that will serve the people of this country.
Setswana:
Ga se madi a batho ba mo Aforika Borwa, ke madi a lelapa la ko ga Gupta.
English:
We cannot ignore the fact that the President of the Republic has made a crooked deal with a crooked family, and now they own him.
We cannot ignore the fact that the President appoints cabinet ministers [Interjection.]
Mr B A RADEBE: I‘m rising on Rule 85. The member must come with a substantive motion if he‘s going to deal with thing. He cannot just hold on the straws to come and [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Indeed, hon Maimane, if you‘re going to make accusations please bring them in the form of a substantive motion. Yes hon Steenhuisen?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, may I draw your attention to Rule 63 of the National Assembly Rules? Members of this House have freedom of speech. You spoke, yesterday, about the importance of a robust Parliament, how on earth are we supposed to be a robust Parliament if people can‘t even make political points in this House? The hon Maimane used the word allegedly and these are the same allegations that appear on the front pages of every...members are not supposed to be interrupted when making a point of order.
Ms C C PILANE-MAJAKE: On a point of order, on a point of order.
The SPEAKER: Please leave the hon Steenhuisen to finish his point of order.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: These allegations are on the front pages of the newspapers of South Africa on a daily basis, how can that be permissible but in a House where freedom of speech is supposed to be protected and enshrine it‘s not possible to speak about these things? [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: Well, hon Steenhuisen, the rules of this House must prevail. If we have a rule that says, when you accuse an hon member of this House, you must do it through a substantive motion. Then that‘s what you have to do. Please proceed hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: These are facts made in the Public Protector‘s Report, which the President is opposing in court. He hasn‘t successfully found a conviction, therefore Public Protector‘s remedial actions stand. [Applause.]
We can‘t simply come here and pretend that [Interjection.]
Mr B A RADEBE: On a point of order. The very same report the hon member is referring to is the court now for review, so he cannot come [Inaudible.] that here. Thank you.
The SPEAKER: Hon Radebe, I‘m not sure that is a point of order.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: We can‘t come and pretend here that the Presidency is anything other than the headquarters of the Gupta Empire, with President Zuma acting as a front for them.
The budget we‘re debating here today is nothing more than a sponsorship deal for a corrupt syndicate. If we vote for it, we support a budget for a mafia shadow state.
Section 85 of the Constitution says that the executive [Interjection.]
Ms C C PILANE MAJAKE: is it parliamentary for the leader of the DA to actually use the language that this is a mafia Parliament? To maintain a decorum of the House, the correct language needs to be used in this House.
The SPEAKER: I will look into the mafia Parliament. I don‘t believe it‘s a mafia Parliament because that refers to the integrity of all the hon members of this House. But I will still rule on that, afterwards.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: In fact, the point I made was that it is a mafia shadow state.
Section 85 of the Constitution says that the executive authority of the Republic is vested in the President. So why is ours vested in Dubai?
This is a budget for President Gupta. Keep that in mind when you cast your vote.
Mr B A RADEBE: I‘m still rising on rule 84, Speaker. The President cannot be referred to as President Gupta, please.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, can you please withdraw that?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, there is no President Gupta in this House. Can you please withdraw?
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Correct.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, I‘m still dealing with hon Maimane [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: But you‘re wrong and you missed [Inaudible.]
The SPEAKER: Please take your seat hon Steenhuisen.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: No, I won‘t, I won‘t take the seat.
The SPEAKER: Take your seat. Hon Maimane, hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Speaker, if there‘s no President Gupta [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane [Interjection.]
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: If there‘s no President Gupta [interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, I am talking to you, it‘s not the other way round. Hon Maimane, withdraw president Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: I can‘t, if there‘s no President Gupta why is it [Inaudible.] [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please withdraw the words President Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Why? On what rule?
The SPEAKER: Because there is no President Gupta in this House.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: So, why is anyone offended?
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please withdraw President Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: On what...I don‘t [Interjection]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker.
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, please don‘t interrupt. I‘m busy with hon Maimane. [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: But you interrupt me all the time. [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane. [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: You interrupt me all the time. So, don‘t pretend you‘re the saint in this, you‘re not. [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, please take your seat. [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I‘m allowed to defend my member at the podium. [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I won‘t. I won‘t.
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: I won‘t.
The SPEAKER: He is not going to proceed without withdrawing President Gupta. You must withdraw President Gupta, hon Maimane. [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: He didn‘t refer to the President as President Gupta; he was referring to Atul and Ajay Gupta as President Gupta. What‘s the [Inaudible.] to the President? [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please withdraw President [Interjection.]
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Speaker, I never said Mr Jacob Zuma is President Gupta. I said this budget is for President Gupta.
The SPEAKER: I am asking you to withdraw president Gupta. Hon Maimane, withdraw president Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Why?
The SPEAKER: Because in this House there is no President Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Yes, and we agree.
The SPEAKER: And I am insisting on us respecting the honour of this House.
Ms PILANE-MAJEKE: Hon Speaker.
The SPEAKER: Please, can you let me insist on us finishing this business of the hon Maimane and the words President Gupta.
Because you know we‘re not dealing with the budget of any President Gupta.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Yes [Inaudible.]
The SPEAKER: Can you please withdraw that.
Mr S P MHLONGO: This is not an ANC meeting.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Speaker, can I ask that we refer this matter to the Rules Committee?
The SPEAKER: I prevail on you to withdraw and then you can pursue the issue of the Rules Committee after having withdrawn.
Mr S P MHLONGO: This is not an ANC caucus.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: I never said it‘s President Zuma who is President Gupta.
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, can you please assist the progress of the House by withdrawing, in keeping with the ruling of the Chair.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: I withdraw and yet clearly, if the shoe fits wear it. If the shoe fits, you should wear it.
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, I see you‘re on your feet. Hon Maimane, will you please take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, I draw your attention to rule 26(4) if I may? Madam Speaker, you have a duty to act fairly and impartially and apply the rules with due
regard to ensuring the participation of all members of all parties and a manner consistent with democracy. You‘ve presided over a spurious point of order where the hon Maimane was referring to Mr Ajay and Mr Atul Gupta as President Gupta, not the man sitting over there.
It was an unfair ruling that you‘ve made and you‘ve not acted impartially. Also, you should be protecting Mr Maimane as a constitutional office bearer of this House from the spurious points of order from the members on that side. We could have sat and taken points of order till the cows came home when the President was speaking. We refrained from doing so because we want the political debate to happen. What‘s happening now is when these spurious points of order are made, designed purely to interrupt the member‘s speech, they impede the debate in the House.
It‘s your duty to protect the hon Maimane. I know you don‘t like him, I know you don‘t like any DA member but it‘s your duty to protect us, still. And if you don‘t want to, please leave the
chair and let‘s get somebody in there who actually wants to take their job seriously. [Applause.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, I give you your right to speak even when what you‘re saying is totally out of order. Hon Maimane was referring to the budget...he himself turned around and explained to me, I was referring to the budget of the President Gupta. And I‘m saying there‘s no budget of President Gupta here [Interjection.]
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: There is, it‘s here [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Can he please, now with...please precede hon Maimane with your speech.
Mr M A DIRKS: Madam Chair, on a point of order. That racist white boy there is referring to the President as that man, as that man, who is his that man? He must refer to the President in a respectful manner.
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, what is the point you‘re standing on?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Well, Madam Speaker, if you knew your rules properly you would have ruled that out of order immediately, but because it‘s an ANC member he was allowed to proceed. You know that [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: Why are you on your feet?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Because it is unparliamentary in terms of Rule 84 to refer to another member of this House as a racist; and secondly, to cast racial epithets. This is the same Mr Dirks who was calling people rented darkies this week and called hon Van Damme a straat meit and is been allowed to get away with it. [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: If only you could sometimes give a space for the Chair to deal with issues of the House. Please take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: You got be kidding, you got to be kidding me.
The SPEAKER: Take your seat. Hon Dirks, can you please withdraw the racist term because it is unparliamentary to use that term against a member of the House.
Mr M A DIRKS: Hon Speaker, I withdraw the racist term, but he must withdraw calling the President that man. He must withdraw that.
The SPEAKER: Please, let‘s allow hon Maimane to proceed now.
Mr M WATERS: Speaker, I rise on a point of order. May I address you? Speaker, the hon Dirks also that the hon Steenhuisen was a white boy; first of all casting racial aspersions on a person and boy also has a certain connotation as you would know; so he got to withdraw the white and the boy unconditionally as well. Thank you.
The SPEAKER: Can you please withdraw white boy? He is an hon member, even when he doesn‘t say hon things but you refer to him as an hon member.
Mr S P MHLONGO: This is not ANC, Chairperson.
The SPEAKER: Hon Dirks, can you please withdraw white boy?
Mr M A DIRKS: Madam Speaker, I withdraw that, I didn‘t know he‘s not a boy so I‘m withdrawing. Thank you very much.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, I drew your attention to Rule 84. You‘ve accused me of saying dishonourable things, I‘m an hon member of this House and I think it‘s unacceptable for you as the Speaker of the House to accuse another member of saying dishonourable things; and I would ask you to withdraw it. All members [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: I said, even when.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Exactly.
The SPEAKER: Even when. Hon Maimane, I now [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, please will you withdraw that I said dishonourable things in this House [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: No hon Steenhuisen, you‘re not going to dictate, you will not dictate to the Chair [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Then I‘m going to say you‘re a dishonourable Speaker. Well, you‘re a dishonourable Speaker, you‘re disgusting and you should be thrown out of the House by the white shirts. [Laughter.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Steenhuisen, I think you should go for anger management. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
MR B A RADEBE: On a point of order.
The SPEAKER: Hon Radebe, can we please allow hon Maimane to proceed and finish with his speech? [Interjection.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, if I need to go for anger management, you need some serious sessions of psychiatry. [Laughter.]
MR B A RADEBE: Order Speaker. This cannot be allowed for hon Steenhuisen to misbehave like that. The names that he has called you are really dishonest of this House and we cannot allow such misbehaviour; especially when women of this country are being abused, he continues to abuse as a woman of this country, it shows that he‘s dishonest and ... well I call the name [Interjection.]
Mr S P MHLONGO: This is not an ANC meeting [Interjection.]
MR B A RADEBE: Really out of order.
The SPEAKER: Hon member, it‘s okay, can we please all take our seats and allow the Leader of the Opposition to finish up his speech?
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: For a party that stands for non- racialism, this is a brand new low. It indicates very clearly that we come here and we say some things, but inherently we want to divide this nation on the basis of the colour of the people of this country. [Applause.] Let South Africans always be aware.
Fellow South Africans, our nation is facing crisis. Nine million people wake up every day not knowing where they are going to find work. We have a junk status economy and investors are leaving our country all the time.
Our education system is considered among the very worst in the world. Our children disappear every day. Women are raped and murdered every single day. But sadly, these are the things we ought to be focusing on, but instead, we come here to come and raise furious points of order and a President who comes to ask for a budget simply so that he can sustain his own personal project at the expense of the people of this country.
Fellow South Africans, I am sick to death of reading every weekend, e-mails, about how our state has been sold off to
someone else. I would rather be reading about the vision of our country.
I remind you here and now, he, because I can‘t address him as a man or a woman, he has killed the ANC, we will not allow him to kill South Africa. [Applause.]
Ms C C PILANE MAJAKE: Hon Speaker, is the leader of the DA ready to take a question?
The SPEAKER: Are you ready to take a question hon Maimane?
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: No.
The SPEAKER: No, he‘s not prepared to.
Ms C C PILANE MAJAKE: I want to ask a question as to whether he‘s a pessimist? [Interjection.]
The SPEAKER: No, allow him to proceed with his speech.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: It begs the question, what did you, the ANC, do about it? Because it was well within your power to stop him.
If you had the will and the conviction to do the right thing to do your sworn duty to your country, you could have stopped him. If you could see beyond the factional battles and loyalties, the perks and the privileges, the Gupta party line, you would have stopped him. But you weren‘t prepared to do that, were you?
Because if you were, you would have done so a long time ago. You‘ve had plenty of opportunities.
Fellow members, on six occasions in the past seven years you could have supported a motion of no confidence in President Zuma. But you didn‘t;
You could have recalled him when the Constitutional Court found that he had violated the Constitution. But you didn‘t;
You could have removed him from the office when the State Capture Report implicated him in corruption on a grand scale. But you didn‘t;
You could have removed him on the weekend when there were thousands of e-mails that came out, linking him to a corrupt Gupta regime. But you didn‘t;
When many of you sat here and we‘re being recalled and reshuffled and moved, you could have removed him. But you didn‘t.
Setswana:
Seno se mpontsha gore lotlhe le tshwana le ene. [Legofi.]
IsiZulu:
Niyafana.
English:
It‘s one and the same thing. You‘ve rallied behind him every single time.
It‘s President Zuma first, South Africa last; it‘s the Guptas first, South Africa last; it‘s the ANC first, South Africa last;
In fact, it‘s corruption first, South Africa last.
Hon Members, many of you who sit on these benches had the courage to remove the Apartheid government. I‘m amazed that you lack the courage today to remove one individual. You have shown South Africa your true colours. You have shown us that South Africa doesn‘t have a President Zuma problem. It doesn‘t even have a Gupta problem. It has an ANC problem.
The truth is President Zuma and the ANC are one and the same thing. That‘s why the ANC cannot fix itself. And a new leader at the top will just be a new front for the same corruption and the same looting.
You have left South Africans no choice but to vote the ANC out of government. The ANC‘s funeral will be held in 2019, but it is already dead.
Fellow South Africans, we dare not languish in hopelessness. When things fall apart, in fact they fall into place.
President Zuma may have killed the ANC, but we will not let him kill South Africa. We have a vision of a South Africa that has reinvented itself and is flourishing under a new government. We have a vision of a South Africa that belongs to all and that works for all who live in it. An economy that can be inclusive so that more South Africans can find work. Where the concentration of wealth is not in the few individuals but in all the hands of all South Africans.
We have a vision of a South Africa where every young person can find opportunities to become whatever they want to become. Born on the values of freedom, fairness and opportunity. A vision that requires allies from across; that requires the cooperation of every party and South African who share our dream for a forward-looking inclusive South Africa.
It will, fellow South Africans, also require collaboration of the good men and women who remain in these benches to my right, who are still torn between their love for their country and their loyalty for a party that no longer exists.
This is not about the colour of your skin or the T-shirt you wear; it is about patriotism and love for this country. [Applause.]
And all that matters is that you must want the best for the
56 million South Africans who call this place home. Anyone who agrees with the values that form the foundation of our plan to rebuild South Africa is welcome on board.
These values are simply of constitutionalism, inclusive economic growth, non-racialism, a capable state and zero tolerance for corruption. If we can agree on these values, then we can work together to build the country we want it to be. Where there‘s no corruption, no stealing, no state capture and no Guptas.
Fellow South Africans, we have allies in the opposition benches; and I know that we have allies in business, labour, civil society and churches. And I‘m counting on allies even in members of the ANC, who are in these benches.
Because, truth is, if you want the same things that we want for our country, if you cannot stand what has happened under President Zuma and the Guptas, then we should be on the same side. Then we should stand together to build a post-ANC South Africa.
In this post-ANC South Africa, we will put the education of our children first by supporting poor schools to become centres of excellence. No child must be left behind. No union must be more powerful than our children. We will work to build a range of education, training and work opportunities for all young people.
In this post-ANC South Africa we will recognise the important role that investors and entrepreneurs play in creating jobs and fighting poverty. We will ensure that we have jobs and justice funds that stimulate micro enterprise and help to bring justice to South Africa, particularly for those who are left behind. We will modernise our economy and we will invest in industries that make us globally competitive.
In this post-ANC South Africa we will double the police force and we will secure our borders, and we make sure that we look at ways to attract skills and talents from across the country. Our women and children will be safe in a post-ANC South Africa.
We will, fellow South Africans, choose our global friends and we‘ll then stand with them in times of need, not Bashir; we will stand with people like our Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, who was thrown in jail by a corrupt government. He will know, in a post-ANC South Africa, that we stand for human rights and we‘ll stand against corrupt governments in our continent.
In this post-ANC South Africa we will do everything we can [Interjection.]
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: The leader of the DA is misleading Parliament and the public. Pretending as if there‘s no governance now, as if there will only be governance when the DA comes to the so-called power in 2019, which is just an illusion.
The SPEAKER: That‘s not a point of order hon member, that‘s a point of view and a point of debate. Please proceed hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Fellow South Africans, don‘t lose hope, they‘re screaming because they are nervous about post- 2019. [Applause.]
In this post-ANC South Africa we will do everything we can to create opportunities for people to stand on their own two feet and escape the dependency of social grants. But, for those who need them, we will double the grant income in South Africa.
In this post-ANC South Africa we will elect a president who will use the Presidency budget to serve the people, and not to fight endless legal battles so he can stay out of jail. [Applause.]
Fellow South Africans, this is our plan to bring our country back on track. And already parts of this plan are already underway. Our new coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay are already making inroads into reversing the damage left behind in those cities.
In these metros we‘ve tarred new roads, launched new metro police, narcotics and K9 units, handed over thousands of title deeds, launched new housing projects and here in the City of Cape Town we‘ve allowed for unemployed South Africans to travel on our bus system so that they can find work.
Coalition governments are never easy, but we will work to make sure they prosper. It will require a big shift in the way we all think and will require many of you to accept that the ANC you once knew no longer exists.
Jacob Zuma killed that ANC. We won‘t let him [Interjection.]
Mr B A RADEBE: Hon Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition just referred to the President in his first name terms and it‘s unparliamentary.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: I will rephrase. Mr Jacob Zuma killed that ANC. We will not let him kill South Africa too. I thank you.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, His Excellency the President of the Republic, the hon the Deputy President, hon members, the Director-General in the Presidency, members of staff, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow South Africans, this year, our country, Africa and indeed the world celebrate the birth of president Oliver Tambo. In the State of the Nation Address, the President dedicated 2017 in honour of this visionary and revolutionary leader of South African people.
To honour this icon of our liberation struggle, we owe it to our people to work together to achieve the vision of our Constitution to transform our country into a more equitable, integrated and just society. Inspired by the values of democracy, nonracialism and equality, Oliver Tambo dedicated his life to the liberation of the black majority from apartheid colonialism. Tambo advocated a vision of a South Africa in which all our people live and ―work together as equals in conditions of peace and prosperity‖. To remember Oliver Tambo is to remind ourselves that until the black majority fully enjoys the fruits
of freedom – both political and economic – the vision and mission of president O R Tambo will not have been fulfilled.
We are on course towards realising Tambo‘s vision – a vision that is inscribed in our Constitution, which he inspired so much. South Africa is now a stable and peaceful country. Our democracy is thriving; our Constitution protects the rights and freedoms of all its citizens. Our economy is functional and continues to attract global investor interest because it has unlimited opportunities and huge potential to grow faster and to be inclusive of all South African people. Our programmes for socioeconomic development are in motion, including our infrastructure capital investment programme. We have expanded access to basic services, health, education and social protection and, through this, we are containing extreme poverty amongst our people.
The progressive changes we are working to bring about are long- term. Despite all these achievements, we are confronted by many challenges, and our progress is uneven. The humility and honesty to acknowledge our shortcomings is a key trademark of the
leadership Oliver Tambo gave us throughout the challenging years he was at the helm of our liberation movement and also as we embarked on reconstruction and nation-building in South Africa. This is also the injunction of his fellow African revolutionary, Amilcar Cabral, who said, ―Tell no lies; claim no easy victories‖.
In this year‘s state of the nation address in February, the President said:
Twenty-two years into our freedom and democracy, the majority of black people are still economically disempowered. They are dissatisfied with the economic gains from liberation ...
White households earn at least five times more than black households, according to Statistics SA. The situation with regards to the ownership of the economy also mirrors that of household incomes ... The pace of transformation in the workplace, the implementation of affirmative action policies as required by the Employment Equity Act also remain very slow ... The skewed nature of ownership and leadership patterns needs to be corrected. There can be no
sustainability in any economy if the majority is excluded in this manner.
We have adopted the National Development Plan: Vision 2030 precisely to help us focus our efforts in tackling the core challenges and obstacles that are stumbling blocks to attaining a just and prosperous South African society. The plan provides us a more co-ordinated and consistent steer to our programmes and interventions, based on measurable evidence. Socioeconomic development requires far-sighted leadership. This is what inspired the National Development Plan, NDP, which was produced by the National Planning Commission, an independent body of experts appointed by President Zuma, with the task to consult society and key stakeholders in that process. We commend our Parliament and all political parties that, in August 2012, had reached consensus in adopting the NDP on behalf of the people of South Africa. [Applause.]
To remind us of the bold goals we have set ourselves as a nation, the NDP commits us by 2030 to eradicate absolute poverty by uplifting the 30% of our people who live below the poverty
line, to reduce the unemployment rate to 6%, and to significantly reduce inequality from 0,69 to 0,60 Gini coefficient through a range of policy interventions.
Our government has to play a leading role in the implementation of the NDP and, in this regard, Cabinet wasted no time in ensuring that the goals and targets of this plan are integrated into government‘s Medium-Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, for the electoral period 2014-2019, as the first five-year implementation programme of the NDP. The MTSF is a transparent presentation to all South African citizens of the work of government, of the actions being undertaken, and the outcomes we seek, and of what is being done and measured towards realising the goals and vision of the NDP.
The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency has the task of ensuring that the strategies and annual plans of national and provincial departments are aligned to and advance the long-term goals and priorities of the NDP. On this basis, the department monitors the implementation of the NDP and reports quarterly to Cabinet and to the public through
our website, as well as through a branding and communication campaign that is being stepped up. All of this is part of institutionalising proper, evidence-based planning across the whole of government and laying the basis for effective implementation and accountability, as individual departments and government collectively.
Our mid-term review of the implementation of the NDP shows that
– whilst we continue to make progress on a number of fronts, in particular on the provision of basic services to millions of our people who were previously denied them, on education, health, and security, to name a few – our performance and delivery can be enhanced. We can prioritise better, and we can utilise our limited resources more efficiently and more effectively.
Let me share with you some of the numbers Statistics SA has confirmed. In providing quality basic education, there is almost universal access to basic education with 98,8% of 7- to 15-year- olds attending education institutions in our country.
Mathematics in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study scores have improved the most from 285 in 2003 to
372 in 2015. The international midpoint is 400. Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality SACMEQ scores have also improved from 494,8 in 2010 to 587,2 in 2015.
On health, the President spoke about life expectancy. I would just like to add that Statistics SA projects and estimates that, this year, the overall life expectancy will rise to 67 years.
Child health has improved, with under-five mortality decreasing from 56 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2009 to 37 deaths per
1 000 live births in 2015. The maternal mortality ratio has improved from 302 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2008 to
132 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2014.
In higher education and training, the number of qualifying Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, students obtaining financial assistance annually has increased from
188 182 in 2012 to 235 988 in 2015. The number of students enrolled in public higher education studies at universities has increased from 950 000 in 2012 to 985 202 in 2015.
Turning to human settlements, from 2014 to 2016, access to housing has improved dramatically. Housing delivered by the state has increased by 295 179 additional units. All of 176 423 title deeds have been transferred to homeowners already, thereby reducing the previous backlog of 820 000.
In terms of the delivery of basic services, 724 430 additional households have been connected to the electricity grid; 52 778 households are connected to nongrid electricity; and 305 100 additional households have received access to water. On social protection, more than 16 million beneficiaries have access to social grants, which is 91% of eligible beneficiaries.
Indeed, our greatest challenge is in the performance of the economy, which continues to be stuck in a low-growth cycle, and which remains largely untransformed – this in the face of growing unemployment, particularly among the youth, and in the face of continuing black economic disempowerment. The emphasis on radical socioeconomic transformation must be understood against this background. Radical socioeconomic transformation must be reflected in the intent, content, as well as faster pace
of implementation of all government policies and programmes, guided by the National Development Plan. As the President said in this year‘s state of the nation address, this requires all of us, as government, to exploit to the maximum the strategic levers at the disposal of the state.
Government is tasked by our citizens to legislate and regulate for the economy and society to progress and transform it in accordance with the vision of our Constitution and to ensure, amongst others, that the national Budget, which currently averages R1,6 trillion per annum, and state-owned companies are accordingly aligned for this purpose, amongst those strategic levers. In this regard, at its August 2016 lekgotla, Cabinet decided that the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency should work with National Treasury to review government expenditure and plans prior to the start of the formal budget process to ensure that the Budget receives stronger political guidance and supports government‘s priorities.
This exercise will culminate in a Budget mandate paper that will be produced annually prior to the allocation of the Budget by National Treasury. This will ensure that the national Budget strongly supports the National Development Plan and serves more effectively as a stimulus for private sector investment and broader transformation.
It is also crucial that we continue to pay attention to enhancing the capacity of our developmental state to implement the NDP and advance radical socioeconomic transformation. To this end, we need to accelerate the professionalisation of the Public Service; strengthen planning, delivery and accountability mechanisms across all departments and spheres; and develop a consistent strategy to engage the private sector and other sectors in society in implementing the NDP.
As the President has indicated, since the launch of Operation Phakisa in 2014, we have made good progress. In the oceans economy, we have unlocked about R7,3 billion in both public and private sector investment, and a total of 6 952 jobs have been created. The Operation Phakisa: ICT in Education initiative has
ensured the deployment of devices in schools, such as mobile trolley tablets for learners in 2 884 schools, 221 special schools and 125 teacher resource centres, as well as the development of e-content for 978 schools. Of the targeted
2 823 facilities by 2019, 824 have already reached ideal clinic status.
I now turn to the African Union‘s Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, PICI, and the North-South corridor. By 2050, it is projected that Africa will have the same population as China and India combined, with rising consumer demand from a growing middle class. African cities will be booming. It is therefore important that, in order to achieve this as a continent, we close the annual $50 billion infrastructure financing gap, relying amongst others on domestic resources, not least Africa‘s pension funds which are estimated at
$1,3 trillion by 2025.
To advance radical socioeconomic transformation, we must rededicate ourselves to the NDP and to accelerating its implementation, paying due attention to the role of the private
sector, organised labour and other sectors of South African society. In this regard, society as a whole is called upon to participate actively in the quest to craft the future we want for this beautiful country. We must hasten the implementation of programmes to achieve equitable ownership of the economy and redress of spatial segregation inequity through land redistribution. We must place nation-building and social cohesion at the centre of increased interaction amongst all South Africans from different social and racial backgrounds to advance our common humanity.
Together, we need to grow strong leadership across society and mobilise our people to be active and responsible citizens to address all challenges we face. We need to foster the creation of meaningful, sustainable social contracts, which should propel our country onto a higher developmental and economic growth trajectory characterised by equity, as well as inclusive and shared growth.
There are no simple solutions to the question of economic emancipation in our country. We must fight with everything we
have to free ourselves from the bondage of apartheid that manifests in the problems of poverty, unemployment, poor health outcomes, landlessness and spatial segregation that still confront us. We must be focused, stay the course, intensify the implementation of our programmes guided by the NDP, and act in unity and partnership.
I wish to close with a quote from the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the first overarching policy framework adopted by the democratic government in 1994:
But an election victory is only a first step. No political democracy can survive and flourish if the mass of our people remain in poverty, without land, without tangible prospects for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation must therefore be the first priority of a democratic government.
That imperative remains true today, as it did then in 1994, and is carried through in the National Development Plan: Vision 2030, a programme for radical socioeconomic transformation.
Let‘s all make it happen. The ANC supports Budget Vote No 1: The Presidency. I thank you. [Applause.]
PRINCE M G BUTHELEZI: Hon Deputy Speaker; Sir, Your Excellency; our President, Your Excellency Deputy President, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers and hon members, there is a fatal flaw in the Budget of the Presidency. The purpose of this Budget is to facilitate the enhanced integrity of the state, but it will be used to support a President whose actions have consistently undermined that integrity. We cannot afford the bureaucratic philosophy that the wheels must be kept turning no matter how broken the car. We need to stop the car.
I will not speak today on current issues, Deputy Speaker, vis-a- vis the President, such as the credit rating downgrades, the midnight Cabinet reshuffle or alleged plans to relocate the first family to Dubai. Instead, I will speak about the work of the Presidency, for it is floundering under our President's leadership. The most important thing, hon members, and the most important prominent failing is his handling of the National Development Plan. I have repeatedly said that if the National
Development Plan was implemented, it would be a great legacy for the President. But, it is not being implemented. Indeed, even our Deputy Chief Whip justified that we must do so now, after installing the national development revolution before that.
The NDP, National Development Plan, was meant to reduce unemployment. Instead, unemployment has risen to 26%. It was meant to grow the GDP, gross domestic product by 5,4% annually but so far growth has averaged at 1,5%. It was meant to reduce poverty but more than half our population now struggles with food insecurity. It was also meant to reduce inequality but South Africa now boasts the highest inequality in the world. Why has implementation of the NDP been delayed? The cost to our country is unconscionable. Equally unconscionable is the President's delayed response to the State Capture Report. Is it still being reviewed? Or simply ignored? And why the inexplicable delay in appointing commissions of enquiry even when there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing as it was the case with Eskom, for instance? The IFP called for a commission of enquiry right from the start but the President said, no.
I am distressed - I must say - by the ‗Tower of Babel‘ in Africa‘s oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress. During SONA, state of the nation address, the President chanted ‗radical economic transformation‘. But, yesterday the Deputy President warned of a hidden agenda behind this chant, for it may be used to plunder the resources of the state. Who should we listen to? I would like to get a response for that. The theme of the President was actually the ‗radical economic transformation‘ but we were warned against yesterday by the Deputy President. Whenever we debate this Budget, the IFP would ask, why is there no oversight committee? We have not had the benefit of interrogating the accounting officer like in all departments as we do with all the Budgets. Why not? With a President so adept at avoiding accountability, surely oversight is a basic necessity.
The IFP cannot support the Budget or any future Budget until Parliament is able to properly interrogate the details before we come to this House. Mr President, let me hold you accountable.
On Monday you told traditional leaders that in November 2000, Cabinet rejected a recommendation to amend the Constitution to
protect the role, powers and functions of traditional leaders. But I sat in Cabinet at that time and that so-called recommendation was never tabled before Cabinet because it was in fact a firm commitment made by an ad hoc Committee appointed by the Cabinet. You chaired that Committee, Mr President, and you never honoured that commitment. You will be remembered for that. Those are the simple facts of the matter.
I know you wish I would stop speaking. I remember how after decades of my working with Mr Oliver Tambo, Mr John Nkadimeng suddenly in the ANC-mission exile said: ―Gatsha is the snake that poisons South Africa that needs to be hit on the head‖. Is that what happened last week in Nquthu? The ANC‘s top leadership descended in Nquthu and as a back up plan, ten buses were hired in Durban for extra mischief. I have the invoice. I know it happened and it is the usual bag of tricks.
Your Excellency, the only reason I have survived all of that is because I am a protege of Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme before I started this Movement and Inkosi Albert Luthuli. I was mentored by giants of this Movement, such as Bishop Alphaeus Zulu, Canon
James Calata, Mr Walter Sisulu, Mr Z.K. Matthews and other stalwarts of the ANC. So, Sir, as long as I breathe, I will not keep silent. I am sorry that I cannot say everything that is in my chest in five minutes. Thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Deputy Speaker, President Jacob Zuma, Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, I stand here to support this Presidency Budget Vote. [Applause.]
This month marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of one of South Africa‘s greatest sons in the country, Isithwalandwe Walter Ulyate Sisulu. One of the key architects of our freedom, Walter Sisulu was, by nature and by conviction, a unifier and consensus builder. There is much that we can learn from him in terms of the way and ability he had, which he displayed always, of addressing challenging problems and to confront issues in a way that he always found solutions.
I remember very fondly the simplicity that he had, the warmth and the natural way in which he got people to work together to
reach consensus. He worked throughout his life to draw people together, people who sometimes had completely different approaches to issues and challenges. However, he always found a way of getting them to work together and to reach consensus.
Walter Sisulu‘s words, after the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955, come to mind. He said it was not for nothing that thousands of South Africans from all walks of life, from all races, people from different political outlooks, religious beliefs, and different social status travelled to take part in the greatest assembly ever known in our country, the Congress of the People. He said these men and women came in response to a clarion call to meet and to plan the future of their country as they would like to see it.
It should not be out of place to suggest that Members of Parliament, all of us here, are here in response to an historic clarion call from our people, as a whole, to meet and to plan the future of our country as our people would like to see it. We are required, sitting here as Members of Parliament, to work
together for a common cause – the realisation of the vision that was well articulated by the drafters of the Freedom Charter.
The aspirations that were set out by our forebears in the Freedom Charter are now deeply embedded and entrenched in our Constitution. We are required by that Constitution to be bold, to draw our conviction and courage from our forebears as we continue to plan the future of our country, because the shadow of our terrible past has not yet receded and the challenges that confront our people are still substantial. This makes the tasks that we need to undertake rather urgent.
We must therefore be bold and act with haste because, despite the significant achievements of the past 23 years of democracy, there are still children in our country who still go hungry.
There are South Africans who have been looking for work for their entire lives. There are people who are dying from diseases that are preventable and treatable. We must therefore act with determination because the legacy of land dispossession, Bantu education, migrant labour and low wages continues, to this day, to define the life prospects of millions of our people.
It is only through united action and working together, as Walter Sisulu enjoined us to do, through collaboration, through partnership and through dialogue, that we will be able to put an end to 365 years of hunger, misery and want. We know from our history, from our struggle for democracy, from the Congress of the People, and from the drafting of our Constitution that we have the capacity for bold, determined and united action. It can be done, but only if we work together.
Working together in various endeavours of social, political and economic interaction has become what I would call the new normal around the world. Leaders and policy makers who ignore this tried and tested approach to addressing and resolving problems do so at the peril of preventing societies from moving to higher levels of progress and development.
I have seen, over the past year, how working together can achieve great outcomes on a number of issues where positive outcomes were thought to be impossible. Positive outcomes can be achieved if we do draw on the energies of the stakeholders to address challenges that face our people - be they how to grow an
inclusive economy; to build skills and capabilities; enhance the capacity of the state; and promote leadership and partnerships throughout society. It can be done, but only if we forge new ways of working together that involve all South Africans in a common struggle to fundamentally transform our economy and our society.
South Africans, hon members, are evolving ways of working together in a number of areas and endeavours. They are finding new opportunities to forge new partnerships, to come up with new initiatives and to create space for collective effort. The initiatives we are continuously implementing are based on a clear vision and a strategic plan that is based on the National Development Plan, NDP.
Our vision is a vision that has legs. It is not based on empty promises, such as saying that, if others come into power, they will double the social grants that our people are getting. [Interjections.] That is an empty promise. [Applause.]
Our initiatives are founded on sound policies that are not based on sound bites. Our vision and initiatives that we embark upon are not based upon platitudes that are articulated so as to grab the headlines of newspapers. Our vision touches and changes the lives of our people, as I will demonstrate. [Applause.] A few examples of how our work has enhanced several efforts that many South Africans are involved in with regard to working together to afford effective social compacts come to mind.
Earlier this year, the social partners at Nedlac reached an unprecedented and historic agreement on labour stability and the introduction of a national minimum wage. Many of us thought that the differences between the social partners, particularly a militant labour movement and a business class whose main focus is profit, would stand in the way of reaching agreement.
Following two years of intensive engagement following President Zuma‘s instruction to us to reach agreement on this matter, labour, business, community, as well as the business sector and government, were able to reach agreement. Although each of the social partners, at times, advanced vastly different positions,
they all remained committed to an outcome that would best serve the interests of the people of South Africa.
The consensus that was reached by all social partners on the national minimum wage enabled me to answer a question that was posed to me by Mr Sello Molefi from KwaZulu-Natal, who I met during a door-to-door campaign. He asked me why the minimum wage had been pegged at R20 an hour and not at a much higher level.
It was during that conversation with Mr Molefi that I explained that, whilst it would have been ideal and desirable to peg the minimum wage at a much higher level, it would have resulted in many more people losing their jobs.
Following this explanation, Mr Molefi said he understood the reasons for the agreements that were reached and appreciated the tremendous impact these agreements would have on the incomes of well over 6 million South Africans who have been labouring under wage poverty. [Applause.] He also said he understood that this landmark agreement forms a foundation for the struggle to continue to gradually rid South Africa of income inequality and move South Africa towards a living wage.
From 1 May next year, when the national minimum wage is introduced, people like Mr Molefi will be among those workers who will experience the real benefits of the national minimum wage dispensation. They will experience the real benefits of dialogue, of inclusion, of consensus building and collaboration.
There are other areas where we see the emerging green shoots of social compacting. One of these is the youth employment initiative, which we have dubbed Yes. This is aimed at the challenge of youth unemployment in our country. This scheme will draw on the resources and capabilities, as well as the commitment of business, government and labour, to provide paid internships and learnerships for up to 1 million young South Africans over a three-year period, across the economy. [Applause.] For the proposed youth employment service to be successful, we are calling on all companies in our country to participate in this Yes initiative by providing the internships, mentorships and learnerships that are necessary for the transition of young people into the world of work.
On skills development, we are pleased that a number of companies recognise the importance of making meaningful intervention on developing the skills of our young people. It is this recognition that we have encouraged and that has inspired a number of leading companies to form partnerships with various technical and vocational education and training, TVet, colleges across the country. Through these partnerships, companies are providing resources and skills to institutions that are critical to the skills revolution that our country must necessarily undergo. As a result of these partnerships, colleges are producing young people with skills that are needed, that are relevant, and that are also appropriate for industry.
It was during a Human Resource Development Council, HRDC, visit to one of these colleges, the Flavius Mareka TVet College, in Sasolburg, that I met Refiloe Makholo, a remarkable young woman with great dreams. Refiloe comes from Excelsior, a very small farming town in the Free State. She was raised by her grandparents in a poverty-stricken environment. She joined the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Nasyrec, and acquired basic skills that then paved her way to a TVet college. She is now on
a three-year training programme to qualify as an artisan specialising in electrical engineering. [Applause.]
Through her determination and through the collaboration between the TVet college, business and government, Refiloe has been able to gain critical technical skills and essential work experience. Soon, Refiloe will join the ever-expanding ranks of those young people with the specialist skills required to drive the industrialisation of our economy forward.
It was also in this House last year that I described a pleasant encounter I had at another TVet college, the Ekurhuleni West TVet College, in Gauteng. There, I met young Palesa Hlalele, a highly motivated 22-year-old woman who has now completed her studies in engineering and automotive design. She told us that her ambition, Mr President, is to be a diesel mechanic and, in future, to be able to design, assemble, operate and maintain that big, yellow, earth-moving equipment. [Applause.]
We saw how her story of determination reinforces the importance of the significant investment we are making in TVet colleges. We
call upon companies across the country to join this growing movement of adopting TVet colleges. Through such partnerships, young people will be able to access internships and apprenticeships much more easily.
Even during these trying and difficult economic times, we will need to reprioritise our budget so that colleges are provided with the necessary infrastructure and technical expertise.
Closer collaboration between industry and TVet colleges will help ensure that the curricula in those colleges are more relevant and responsive to the needs of industry. Globally, colleges thrive much more easily when they are linked to industry and to various businesses. This is the kind of collaboration that will move South Africa forward and liberate our young people from unemployment.
Over the course of last year, more than 700 000 South Africans were engaged in a number of public employment programmes, where they were providing essential public services while receiving a stipend income, at the same time gaining work experience and acquiring skills that many of them have learned. In addition,
they have now become employable in various industries. These programmes are made possible by the collaboration between communities, civil society and the state, in its various components - local, provincial and national government.
These employment programmes are responsible for touching and improving the lives of millions of our people, like Yandiswa Stemela, who I met at the Community Work Programme in Orange Farm. A mother of three, Yandiswa joined the Community Work Programme in 2010, cleaning alleyways, clearing dumping sites and cutting grass - conducting menial tasks like that.
An assignment as a cleaner in one of their site offices led Yandiswa to develop an interest in computers. Despite the fact she had never seen one before she fell in love with computers. Through the programme, Yandiswa developed her computer skills, and was given data-capturing and administrative duties.
Today, she is a fulltime Community Work Programme site administrator. This provides her with the means to support her children and her family, the skills to advance her career, and
the motivation to mentor four other young people who are also involved in the programme. [Applause.] Today, she is one of the many South African women who, thanks to the power of partnership and collaboration and through sheer strength of will, are improving their lives and the lives of their families. When I speak, almost in singular terms, about these wonderful human beings, I want you to project in your head that we are essentially talking about thousands of South Africans who are being touched by these programmes on a daily and ongoing basis. [Applause.]
Another young woman whose life has been transformed is Dr Ncumisa Jilata from Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, who, at the age of 29, has just become Africa‘s youngest neurosurgeon. [Applause.] A fortnight ago, she graduated from the University of Pretoria where she specialised after completing her Bachelor of Medicine degree at the Walter Sisulu University. In doing so, she has become the sixth black female neurosurgeon in South Africa. [Applause.]
Another area where we have seen the value of collaboration, leadership, patience, and understanding is through the work we are doing through the SA National Aids Council, Sanac. Someone else who has paved the way for other young women through her determination to live and succeed is Prudence Mabele, who I met through Sanac. Prudence was diagnosed with HIV in 1990 when she was a university student. Showing great resilience and steely determination, she decided that she would not allow HIV to kill her.
She was unable to access antiretroviral treatment for many years, but eventually started treatment at a public health care facility, in 2005. For much of the past three decades, Prudence has fought a struggle, not just for herself, but for the millions of South Africans who live with HIV. She co-founded the influential National Association of People Living with HIV and the powerful Positive Women‘s Network, and is an activist with the Treatment Action Campaign. She is an organiser, an agitator, an activist and a valued collaborator. In many ways, the progress we have made in our struggle against Aids is one of the
foremost instances of a social compact at work, and exhibited through Prudence‘s life.
In developing the new National Strategic Plan on HIV, TB and STIs, which was launched in March this year, we had to draw on the insights, experience, learnings and concerns of dozens of different partners, different organisations and individuals, such as Prudence. We had to consider the needs of many different and diverse constituencies. We needed to ensure that all had a place and that all also had a voice. We have seen the importance of getting people to determine their own destiny through collaboration. The achievements we celebrate in our national response to the Aids epidemic bear testimony to the virtue of walking together and talking together with care and understanding.
In another area of work, we started a programme to replicate high-performance, integrated delivery of services across the country. For any government to succeed, it needs to be deeply entrenched in the communities it exists to serve. Since 2014, we have been working with a number of provinces to replicate
Operation Sukuma Sakhe, which originated in KaZulu-Natal as a best-practice model of integrated service delivery.
Operation Sukuma Sakhe is a model of a government existing and living among its people. We are pleased that many provinces continuously share their best-practice experiences and are also providing regular progress updates to the Presidential Co- ordinating Council meetings. Where we are performing exceptionally well, we want to ensure that we share experiences, insights and practices so that we create a rising tide of excellence across everything that we do as a government and as a people.
As Africa Month draws to a close today, we reflect on the thought that the freedom and democracy we enjoy today is partly a consequence of the huge sacrifices that the peoples of various countries on the continent made in the struggle against apartheid. As South Africa, we continue to work with our sister African countries, the African Union and the United Nations to contribute meaningfully to conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction and development.
It is in this context that we continue, on behalf of SADC, to facilitate the achievement of peace and stability in the Kingdom of Lesotho. It is generally agreed that Lesotho ... [Interjections.] ... as well as ... [Interjections.] ... that Lesotho itself must move towards the solution that has been crafted by SADC as it faces the challenges that it has always faced. It is now agreed that the decisions that were taken by the SADC Troika should be implemented.
We wish the people of Lesotho the very best as they go to their elections on 3 June. [Applause.] We trust that the election will create the necessary climate for the full implementation of the SADC decisions I was speaking about. We express the hope that these elections will be free and fair and will represent an expression of the democratic will of the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Soon after the election of a new government, a multi-stakeholder dialogue forum of the people of Lesotho will be convened to address the constitutional and security issues that SADC agreed Lesotho should address. This will deal with their constitution;
it will deal with the way their parliament functions; and it will deal with the issues that have bedevilled that country with regard to security.
Through this dialogue, we are hoping and trusting that the people of Lesotho will embrace the solutions that all of them will come up with. This forum will be aimed at building consensus and trust amongst all stakeholders in the Kingdom of Lesotho and ensure a renewed commitment to the full implementation of the SADC decisions. We will do so appreciating, from our own experience, the value of dialogue and co-operation in resolving intractable conflict. It is the same experience that informs our work in working to advance peace and stability in South Sudan, as well.
As I conclude, allow me to extend a word of gratitude to the remarkable young women who have allowed me to tell a part of their life stories here, today. [Applause.] These wonderful, and, may I add, beautiful, young women I was referring to - Refiloe Makholo, Palesa Hlalele, Yandiswa Stemela, Ncumisa Jilata and Prudence Mabele – are here, in the House, as our
special guests. [Applause.] I would like them to stand up so that we can see them, because they are our partners in building a new South Africa. [Applause.]
HON MEMBERS: Malibongwe! Malibongwe! [Applause.]
The DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: As you stand there, we would like to thank you for inspiring us, for motivating us and for challenging us through your lives and your determination.
Thank you for demonstrating what is possible with perseverance, with courage and with partnership. Thank you, most of all, for coming to be here at this Parliament today. We thank you sincerely for being with us today. Thank you very much. [Applause.] We applaud these young ladies for being role models for their peers and for demonstrating that South Africa is a land that is pregnant with endless possibility.
Right now, our country needs solutions that will help us to renew and grow, but these solutions will only present themselves if we listen with our hearts to the cries and aspirations of our people. We must dream, we must hope, and we must build again. As
the celebrated Nigerian author, Ben Okri, puts it: ―The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love‖ – and, may I add, to dream, as well.
Ben Okri‘s words must live in the lives of the many young people who are in the public gallery with us today and the millions of others around the country. As we enter Youth Month, we call on the young people of our nation to become socially and politically active and to help us create, to help us overcome, to help us endure, transform and love - but most importantly, to dream of a South Africa that is at peace with itself; that is making progress on all fronts; and changing the lives of all South Africans.
I wish to convey my sincere thanks to President Jacob Zuma for the confidence he has placed in me, as well as all of us who work in the Presidency, as we continue to diligently execute the responsibilities with which he has entrusted us. I wish to thank my Cabinet colleagues for their support, guidance and co- operation. Thank you to the director-general, to the chief
operating officer, the Deputy Director-General in the Office of the Deputy President and, indeed, the entire staff of the Presidency for your commitment, for your hard work and, may I add, for your patience with two principals, the President and me. We possibly, from time to time, drive you up the wall with the continuous demands that we make. We thank you for your diligence and for the work that you do. [Applause.]
Finally, I wish all Muslims in our country a blessed Holy Month of Ramadan. Your spiritual commitment is an important part of our nation‘s moral and ethical fabric. We wish you well as you go through this whole month fasting.
Let us be bold. Let us work together. It is in our DNA, deeply imprinted in our DNA, to be able to find ways of working together all the time to confront common problems. Let us continue to build and to develop the social compact that our country needs to move ahead. It is through this that we will be able to move South Africa ahead as we have done in the past
23 years. Thank you very much.
Prof N M KHUBISA: Hon Deputy Speaker... [Interjections.]
IsiZulu:
Ngiyabonga Nqgongqoshe ...
English:
... His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers and guests in the gallery, from the onset, let me say quite categorically that the NFP condemns the recent surge in gender based violence which has rocked our nation. This scourge must be addressed urgently and we urge hon President to step forward and call for an urgent national summit to address this national shame.
Furthermore, we also believe that the fight against gender base violence should start in our houses and in our communities. Our people must be educated so that communities do not shield or protect perpetrators and criminals associated with gender violence. The criminal justice system must bite, criminals must be arrested and jailed immediately.
Deputy Speaker, our current economic climate is very volatile and we need to turn the tide. Obstacles to economic re-growth are issues such as, lack of investor confidence. Particularly so after investment status has been downgraded to junk. Corruption in both government and the private sector which is causing instability. And the whole Gupta saga with its associated allegation of state capture and operation of a shadow state.
South Africa has developed a culture and ethos of thieving. We must root out corruption and corrupt officials. Persons looting and mismanaging finances must be charged and disciplined. They must not be migrated to other state entities and or state department. In short, we need consequence management in our country we don‘t need cadre deployment.
As we talk about these issues we must begin to audit our land and find out who owns 70% of our land so that we are able to empower the previously disadvantaged - mostly the black majority. We need to find out who owns the banks and who has access to finances.
The NFP believe that we need an ad hoc committee similar to the one that investigated the SABC to investigate Prasa, Eskom and Denel. As a starting point the committee should investigate the toing and froing of Brian Molefe and all associated issues.
Because all these incidents have tarnished the image of our country. And until such time we have consequence management we will continue to be embarrassed.
Joe Biden former United States, US, Deputy President once said:
―Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It‘s self- defense. It‘s patriotism.‖
Having said that, there are so many people in our country who do not get the resources and services delivery because of corruption. Just in the gallery, we have some of them who do not need things or resources for themselves but for the public. For instance, we have Lewis Petersen who says in Mannenburg they need a piece garden to be upgraded. They also need a mobile unit for the IDs, we have Brenda Adams who says they need a mobile unit or clinic because, and she was bitten by rats when she was in bed because the place is dirty.
We need to deal with these issues with a new spirit of patriotism as we take our country forward and also boost investor confidence. Thank you very much.
IsiXhosa:
Nksk N N MAFU: Sekela Somlomo, Mongameli woMzantsi Afrika ohloniphekileyo uJacob Zuma, Sekela Mongameli uCyril Ramaphosa, amalungu eKhabhinethi, amaLungu ePalamente, iindwendwe, nabantu boMzantsi Afrika ngokubanzi, siyanibhotisa. Masitsho kwangoku ukuba i-ANC, umbutho wesizwe uyaluxhasa oluHlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lokuqala. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Ngale mini yokugqibela kule nyanga yokukhumbula nokubhiyozela ilizwekazi i-Afrika sithatha eli thuba sibakhuthaza abantu bethu ukuba bangayeki ukuthabatha inxaxheba ekwakheni i-Afrika engcono. Siyabakhuthaza kwakhona ukuba bayiqonde into yokuba i-Afrika engcono yenza ukuba ibe yi- Afrika ekhuselekileyo. Ekugqibeleni loo nto yenza ukuba sihlale elizweni elikhuselekileyo.
English:
Deputy Speaker, as the apex department of government and a custodian of the National Development Plan,(NDP) the Presidency
plays a critical leadership and supervision role in galvanising the whole of government and indeed society towards the attainment of the vision of the NDP vison 2030. In terms of the
14 Outcomes, the Presidency leads the alignments and coordination of the Strategic Agenda of Government.
This leadership role further requires of the Presidency to have its feet on the ground, to listen attentively to emerging concerns of the sectors of the population and to work in a productive manner with applicable government departments to ensure a timeous response to emerging challenges.
IsiXhosa:
Abantu baya kulawula. [The people shall govern.]
English:
That is what the ANC affirmed in 1955 in Kliptown. In the opening of the ANC conference in Durban in 1991 when the giant of this organization, Isithwalandwe, the then president Oliver Reginald Tambo who would have been 100 years old this year, said:
Let us organise the workers in the factories, organise worshipers in churches and other places of worship, organise students in their places of learning, organise farm labourers in the farms.
It is in line with these words of OR that the Presidency has established partnerships with various social partners to address the many challenges we have as a nation in order to move our country forward. Mobilising the people as a whole through participatory and representative democracy is part of regulating the environment in the process of building a national democratic society, which is the African National Congress loadstar.
Izimbizo is a programme through which government interface with the citizens of this country. This programme is inspired by an old practice within the African culture where communities gather together within their traditional setting to discuss the challenges they face and develop a way forward. This rich tradition is premised on the principle of consensus building, it is a participatory platform of mutual engagement amongst citizen. This is what the Presidency use mostly to talk to the
people of South Africa. Just yesterday the Presidential imbizo was held in Elsies River here in Cape Town.
Taking the presidency to the people remains a key focus as it enables government to monitor service delivery by talking to the citizens directly on issues, affecting their lives. The general experience is that communities welcome such opportunities positively and engage comfortably in detail with the President, which in turn allows the President and Members of the Executive to witness and gauge citizens‘ participation in building better communities and a better South Africa. Since this program was relaunched on 30 September 2014 at the Imbali Township in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, it has since been taken to all corners of this country in all provinces in this term office.
The Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Programme, which is another form of public participation, is meant to assess front- line service delivery through schedule and unscheduled visits by the President in priority areas defined in the 14 National Outcomes and Five Government Priorities. On the day of the visit the President is normally accompanied by the Premier, Mayor of
that particular municipality and relevant Ministers and Deputy Ministers. The President does door to door and proceed to the main venue for the community meeting to deliver his keynote address and interact with community members.
The Department of Monitoring and Evaluation co-ordinates the post visit meetings with all the relevant departments where an oversight task team is established to monitor implementation of commitments that may have been made.
IsiXhosa:
Baya kukhumbula abaseMpumalanga, eKwaggafontein bakhumbule nabaKwaZulu-Natal eMzimkhulu. Uzihambile kwaye useza kuzihamba zonke iikona zeli lizwe uMongameli.
English:
Presidential programs enhance synergy of working together of all the three spheres of government. There are many success stories that can be cited from the 44 presidential Siyahlola visits that have been taken to date of how lives of the visited communities
have improved following these presidential visits since the inception of the programme in 2009.
Another way of communicating with the public is the Presidential Hotline which was established by the President during his first term, as a mechanism that should be used by the general public to report directly in his office any service delivery related matter or any issues that they think he needs to know. The Presidential Hotline is quite popular with the members of the public and has successfully process thousands of issues that have been referred to it.
Deputy Speaker, we have to agree that monitoring and overseeing the implementation of the Performance Delivery Agreements of the Executive remain a key priority in this period of radical socio— economic transformation. We urge the Presidency that a specific focus for 2017/18 should be around agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, radical economic transformation and job creation as well as the fight against crime. Public participation programmes have to be intensified around these hey areas.
We urge the Presidency to come closer to one specific type of crime called fermicide. We submit that research has shown that where there is anarchy fermicide and homicide grow. We are a very angry nation, very intolerant, disagreeing with one another doesn‘t mean inflicting pain on each other. We urge the Presidency to better integrate programmes of social cohesion to instil ―Ubuntu‖ in all of us. The Presidency has partnership with social partners which strengthen the interface with government.
The Presidential Business Working Group, amongst others, has committed to revitalise township economy and focus on industrialisation through local procurement. The Presidential Working Group on disability works on promoting and mainstreaming the rights of persons with disability across government. The President has also convened Black Professionals to hear their concerns around government programmes and to be able to tell him what is it that can be done to improve and take forward socioeconomic transformation.
The others that we might want to hear about are The National Consultative Mining Forums and the Presidential Working Group. The interaction with Interfaith Group and Traditional Leaders is also taking place regularly. We do submit therefore that social change requires social agencies and that is what the Presidency is doing. National democratic society is a conscious act of construction. It does not happen on its own.
These partnerships enhance prospects of programme success and the achievement of the commitment contained in the National Development Plan.
IsiXhosa:
Siyabonga Mongameli.
Deputy Speaker, one of the methods that the President accounts to the nation on the success of these program is when he comes to this house to answer questions and when he addresses the nation at the beginning of each financial year which is called the state of the nation address. Our behaviour as members of this house during these events is public knowledge and an
embarrassment. But in that process what we should always remember is that we are depriving the South Africans an opportunity to enjoy the accountability from the President they have elected.
The Presidency is the hub of strategic co-ordination. It provides direction and thus the overall leadership and supervision of every sphere of government. It ensures and aligne response to the implementation of the government plans, processes and programs. South African National Aids Council, Sanac, a special project ted by the Deputy President, whith its main focus being the fight against the HIV/Aids and TB, an antipoverty programme that is also coordinated in this office.
What we need to agree is that the relationship that the Presidency has had with the research institutions such as the South African Council for Science and industrial Research, CSIR, the Human Science Research Council,HSRC, Statistics South Africa, SATSA, and many South African universities, at this point can take credit for this administration that now uses data
and evidence to inform policies. They do not thumb suck policies but are reformed by these research institutions.
Under Outcome 14, the Presidency is specifically task with popularising moral regeneration and the charter of good values. I believe we can do more to instil the spirit of―Ubuntu‖ through this programme.
IsiXhosa:
Mongameli, ngeli thuba sifuna ukubulela intetho yakho ngexesha wawuqala ukungena kwi-ofisi yakho ngowama-2009 eyayisithi:
Lo rhulumente uza kuba ngurhulumente ose caleni kwabantu, urhulumente ofikelela ebantwini nophendula ebantwini.
Siyavuma kwaye sitsho ukuba siyibonile loo nto isenzeka. Nezi zinto ndizichazayo ziyangqina ukuba oko wakuthethayo uyakwenza.
English:
Of course, we are all aware that social cohesion in a national democratic society will also depend to an extent to which the rights of the poor disadvantaged are dealt with. It is of this reason, we as the African National Congress; fully embrace radical economic transformation as a road to national democratic society.
IsiXhosa:
Siyavuma kananjalo okokuba uMzantsi Afrika ungcono kunento ubuyiyo ngezolo kwaye useza kubangcono ngakumbi ngomso. Yiyo loo nto abantu baseMzantsi Afrika bengenayo into yokuphazamiseka engqondweni acinga uMnu Maimane ukuba bangaze ngowama-2019 balahle umbutho wabo obakhuphe eYiphutha wabazisa enkululekweni. Siyavuma, kananjalo Mnu Maimane ukuba intetho yakho ubuninzi bayo, yeyombhali ogama linguDaniel Silk noPeter Maysfield.
Siyakucela ke Mnu Maimane ukuba xa ubhala nceda uqinisekise ukuba ngamazwi aphuma kuwe entliziyweni yakho ukwenzela ukuba abantu boMzantsi Afrika babenenkolelo kuwe. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Asinayo ingxaki yokuba abantu abaphikisana nathi baphikisane nathi ngezinto esizenzayo bangathi xa bephikisana nathi bafune
ukuqubisana nomntu esiqwini. Ayenzeki ngolo hlobo kaloku le nto yenkululeko. Inkululeko uthi ukuze uyakhe uyibhekise phambili ujonge loo miba ufuna ilungiswe uthethe ngayo. Ayibenzi ngcono abantu into yokuba abantu beme kweli qonga, imihla nezolo bexakekile bethuka bekwanyelisa igama likaMongameli. Abantu boMzantsi Afrika badiniwe nini kukusoloko nithukana noMongameli kodwa ke siya kudibana khona etshatshalazeni ngowama-2019.
Abantu baza kuthetha, sive sibone kwaye siyayazi thina into yokuba i-ANC iya kuphatha ade abuye uYesu.
Sihlala phantsi ngoku sivumelana kwaye siyibethelela into yokuba siyi-ANC siyaluxhasa olu Hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali loQala. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Business suspended at 17:21 and resumed at 17:42.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Mmemezi, before you start, hon members, attention has been drawn to me that there may be members who took photographs in the House and that we should remind you of Rule 64(G) that we may not do so. So, let us comply members because that is an important rule of the House.
IsiXhosa:
Mnu H M Z MMEMEZI: Sekela Somlomo, Mongameli weli lizwe nokaKhongolose ohloniphekileyo, Sekela Mongameli, ndiyakuhlonipha nkokeli yam, abaPhathiswa nooSekela Mphathiswa, malungu eNdlu yoWiso-mthetho, zindwendwe zethu apho phezulu kwigalari, manene nani manenekazi nani nonke apho emakhaya, siyanibulisa.
UHlahlo-lwabiwo-mali luxanduva lwamaLungu ePalamente ewonke. Kaloku loluhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali esilupasisayo olwenza iimpula zikalujaca nazo zincume. Ikwalulo olu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali olwenza naza ndawo ekuhlala kuzo iingcungcu ezimilomo mide ziqhubeke zibonakala ngathi ngamazulwana eli lizwe. Xa usithi awuluvoteli olu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali kodwa ukhanyisa umbane wolu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali emzini wakho, iimoto zenu ezisemgangathweni nazo zihamba koohola bendlela abalungiswa ngalo hlahlo-lwabiwo- mali.
Olu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali luya kunceda abantu abasivotelayo. Umntu ongayivoteliyo ulahla abantu belizwe nabantu abamvoteleyo.
Masitsho kwasekiuqaleni, singumbutho weSizwe, umbutho ka-O R
Tambo i-ANC, egameni labantu, sithi olu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali siluxhasa ngamandla kakhulu. Xa i-ANC ikhona, iphila nabantu baza kuhlala bephila. Iingxaki zona ziya kuhlala zikhona kodwa thina bantu be-ANC asoyiki ngokoyikiswa. Phambili khona, siyaya. Kaloku intsimi nentsimi ibanayo imidlungu yayo.
English:
Indeed the Presidency is the centre of strategic co-ordination, ensuring a focused aligned response to implementation of government‘s programmes. Through my speech I will be showing some of the Presidency‘s undisputed achievements and the President has also touched on some. One of the fundamental principles of our Constitution is that South Africa is a sovereign democratic state founded on a set of values such as human dignity, a need for achievement of equality and advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution has also established frameworks for governance whereby there are different spheres that are distinctive and have their own powers whilst at the same time are interdependent and interrelated and adhere to the same constitutional principles.
The ANC, from its conception has always concern itself with the daily experiences and sufferings of the people of South Africa. Informed by all these experiences and exposures, the President repeatedly called upon all arms of the state, all spheres and all stakeholders to jack up the service delivery phase to top gear. The President, his deputy and all the cadres in the Presidency are spending sleepless nights executing his constitutional responsibilities, leading and galvanising the whole government and society to implement the electoral mandate.
IsiXhosa:
Liyinyaniso lona elithi, imoto ehambayo, izinja zonke ziyayileqa, ziyikhonkothe ukanti emileyo zisuke ziyichamele. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Mongameli, mfo kaNxamalala qhuba. Abangenamona nabanamehlo okubona imisebenzi yakho norhulumente wakho bayayibona. Le ntsholongwane efikileyo, ogqirha abathi ngu-2019 okanye intsholongwane yezikhundla (izikhundla virus) nayo iza kudlula.
Thina bantu be-ANC nabaxhasi bethu asiguli lula, sagonywa kudala
– secret ballot or no secret ballot, thina singabathunywa be-ANC
eyavotelwa luninzi lwabantu baseMzantsi Afrika. Siya kusoloko sihamba ngokomyalelo weqela elilawulayo kuba kaloku apha sithunyiwe yi-ANC nabantu abayivoteleyo.
English:
Hon members and the people of South Africa we are here to report to you, the people who voted for us in spite of unfounded lies and criticism. Where we come across mistakes and challenges we learn from those. Alignment and co-ordination of the implementation of the strategic agenda of government in all 14 National Outcomes of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework are designed to enable Cabinet, Parliament, provincial legislators and the public to monitor the overall impact on service delivery to the people.
The Medium-Term Strategic Framework is also aligned to the National development Plan, NDP, and the 14 government outcomes embody the programme of action of government for the term from 2014 to 2019 for the benefit of our poor people out there.
Deputy Speaker, please allow me to say a bit on some these 14 revolutionary outcomes. One of the first is the quality basic
education which would take someone to tertiary level. The Freedom Charter says:
The doors of learning and culture shall be opened to all.
In line with this, the ANC once it got elected to power since 1994, education is not only opened for all but it is one of the departments that are allocated a lion‘s share in our budget priorities. Why do we do that? Because, we want to reverse the imbalances of the apartheid laws which caused people to be unequal education beneficiaries and spectators. Today...
IsiXhosa:
... ngenxa karhulumente wabamhlophe, ezoqoqosho nemali ingakubo yonke kwaye bangabaqeshi ze thina ndlu entsundu sibe ngabasebenzi babo; bangoogqirha thina sizizigulana zabo; baqhuba iinqwelomoya abethu abantwana bayazikhwaza ukuba zibaphathele iilekese. [Kwahlekwa.] Kwezoqoqosho indlu entsundu isengababukeli. Ama-97 ekhulwini yomhlaba uphantsi kolawulo lwabo thina siphethe amandla kwezopolitiko kuphela. Umyalezo omkhulu kuni bantu bakuthi, siyi-ANC, ingakumbi abantu
abahluphekayo, abahlolokazi, oomama noosisi abashiywe nabantwana ngeendlela ezahlukeneyo kuni nonke sithi bayaleni, nibakhuthaze, nibacenge ngosikolo abantwana benu. Kunjalo nje, mabafunde kanye izifundo zezibalo nenzululwazi kuba kaloku ezoqoqosho zilele kanye kwezo zifundo. Sicebisa abantwana bomzi ontsundu ukuba baqale ngemfundo phambi kokungxamela izinto enithi zezokuzonwabisa. Ebomini umntu ophumelelayo ngumntu ocwangcisa ixesha nezinto afuna ukuzenza ade aphumelele imatriki nesidanga sakhe sokuqala.
English:
On this outcome, the strides and ground covered by all relevant stakeholders is very commendable. Mud schools brought to this country by the apartheid governors are regularly being replaced by the top of the range and now electrified schools. Once we are on this matter, we wish state categorically for all South Africans that to note that violence and destructive protests to all properties, movable and immovable is condemned I the strongest terms possible. We strongly condemn the burning of about 30 schools in Vuwani and call upon all responsible citizens to stand up against unscrupulous criminal elements
which have not only compromised education of African children in that area but have also derailed somehow our Medium-Term Structural Framework Outcomes called Quality Basic Education.
There may be some challenges in life but no one is justified in life to destroy his own home because he is angry against his family member.
IsiXhosa:
Xa sisenza kanjalo, sonwabisa kakhulu iintshaba zethu kwaye sizikhanda ngokwethu iminwe yethu ngamatye.
English:
Before I move out of this outcome, let me salute and pay homage to a very remarkable revolutionary and a selfless freedom fighter of all times, an educationist, a lawyer and a humble leader of the people, namely Oliver Reginald Tambo, a man who was born and grew up in the dusty remote areas of Mbizana. Here I am referring to Machi, Mbusi, Mbono, Vezi, Ndenze, Magoba, Ngubo...
IsiXhosa:
... ndithetha mna apha ngoXabanisa abantu belungisa, uSdumza zentsingizi emdaka.
English:
This is the son of the soil, Tata O R Tambo. As it has been mentioned in this House, he would be 100 years old this year had he lived to see this day. He had a lot of love for education, in particular mathematics and ended up lecturing it at one point in Johannesburg. The ANC, my glorious movement has dedicated this year to him as our torch bearer from who we must all learn and follow in particular by preserving unity and being people centred and selfless servants of the people. With his angelic guidance we are sure of success against of all storms ahead of us in our beloved country.
One of the outcomes that I may want to touch on will be along a healthy life for all South Africans keeping in mind where, we as people come from. The dawn of the people‘s democratic government led by the ANC made a remarkable difference to ensure a better
life to the majority of the people of South African people who were dying almost like ants during the apartheid years.
We are now witnessing the building of new clinics and hospitals like never seen in the history of our country before. [Applause.] As a result, the lifespan of an ordinary South African has now improved from 55 years just in 2002 to 62 years. To date even the most vulnerable people with no income are guaranteed access to our health facilities. Yes, there are still challenges here and there but with hard work dedication by this government there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Deputy Speaker, some of us may have forgotten the national disaster that nearly wiped out our people in particular, the HIV/AIDS. We were losing thousands of people in a week but if truth be told when the current President J G Zuma came to the picture as the head of government in 2009, the rolling massive action of the antiretroviral drugs started for all South Africans and became the order of the day. [Applause.]
Nxamalala and the ANC resolved that more resources and more efforts must be channelled towards eradication or control of the widespread of this merciless disease called HIV/AIDS.
IsiXhosa:
Bantu bakuthi, sithi urhulumente uwa evuka nani kunzima uhlahlo- lwabiwo-mali luhlala lungonelanga ukuqubisana neemfuno zenu kodwa siyaqhuba xa sibambisene kuza kulunga, chu ngcembe.
Asinamona, asinanzondo kwaye siyayidumisa i-ANC ngokulwela impilo engcono kubantu bakuthi abangathath‘ intweni. Siyacela kubantu bakuthi ukuba xa oogqirha besithi yityani iipilisi maze niwatye, ningawayeki xa nibona ingathi ningcono. Abantu abaninzi batshona kungafanelekanga ukuba batshone. Bavele bayeke ukuthatha iipilisi bathathe ezinye izinto ezigqibela zibabulala.
English:
The last two items that I want to conclude with will be no8 which is dealing with Sustainable Human Settlement and Improved Quality of Life and no13 which deals with Comprehensive, Responsive and Sustainable Social Protection Systems. Deputy Speaker, hon members and the people of South Africa, these
outcomes analysis are undisputed proof that indeed under President Jacob Zuma‘s leadership and co-ordination, the people in particular the working class remain the top priority.
To date South Africa is declared number one government in the world in terms of human settlement delivery. [Applause.] We have now delivered about 4,7 million housing opportunities throughout the country. To those who spent sleepless nights plotting and planning propaganda using their own media against the head of state President J G Zuma they must now just eat their humble pie. The NEC of eth ANC has gone and passed. Here we still have our own President.
These big housing projects are too huge and stretch over vast areas and make it even difficult for our distracters to deny and these become visible portfolios of evidence as a result of integrated planning, policy co-ordination and coherence contributing to the realisation of vision 2030 with the President at the helm of it all. As the ANC we support this budget. Thank you very much. [Time expired. [Applause.]
Mr S C MOTAU: Deputy Speaker, Mr President, and Deputy President, under the ―misleadership‖ of President Jacob Zuma, South Africa seems to be hurtling uncontrollably towards becoming a failed state.
Whilst the ANC of the late former President Nelson Mandela was leading the people of this country from the land of bondage towards the promised land of our dreams, the Zuma ANC is inexorably rushing South Africa towards political and economic bankruptcy. However, Mr Zuma is not doing this by himself. This point was made potently by the leader of the DA, but it is worth underlining. He is being aided and abetted by ANC Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament. Whilst they must share the blame for the parlous state in which this country finds itself, President Zuma must take the full blame and responsibility for the catastrophic mess.
Each time the DA moved for the removal of the President from office, the ANC members used the tyranny of their majority in this House to protect, defend and entrench him in office. [Interjections.] I have made the point previously from this very
podium that Mr Zuma should never have been President of this country and that he should have announced his resignation from office on 1 April 2016 following the devastating Nkandlagate Constitutional Court judgment handed down against him on
31 March 2016. [Applause.]
Sadly, he did not resign and defiantly showed the political middle finger to the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, as well as the Constitutional Court that had found against him. I count myself among those who hold the view that a man without shame is a dead man walking. [Interjections.] I believe President Zuma is such a man. Legend has it that those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make rich – and I am taking poetic license here – and then they make them mad. The question is: Do the gods wish to destroy President Zuma? Judge for yourselves.
If the omens are anything to go by, the answer is there for all to see. The writing is in the papers, on the cellphones and the tablets, in the protest marches in the streets of our country, and in the booing at rallies. [Interjections.] The good people
of this country are on their feet, walking the streets and raising their voices to the chorus, ―Enough is enough. Zuma must fall!‖ The people are speaking, and they will be heard. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.
Meanwhile, this Parliament is being asked to approve a budget for the Presidency of more than R500 million for the 2017-18 financial year, and this will rise to R557 million by 2019-20. The budget also provides R3,4 million for the salary of Mr Zuma for this financial, growing to R3,9 million by 2019-20. For the Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, the corresponding numbers are R2,9 million, growing to R3,3 million. Note, both these salaries have been by R100 000 from the previous financial year. [Interjections.] The DA maintains that, in the current economic climate, there is no justification for increases to executive salaries. The DA calls for a freeze on executive salary increases, particularly for the President and his deputy. [Applause.]
Some hon ANC members of this House who have designated themselves as President Zuma‘s vocal defenders and protectors from time to time accuse DA members of hating President Zuma ...
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
Mr S C MOTAU: ... when we criticise his economically destructive actions and challenge him to account. [Interjections.]
Minister Malusi Gigaba – I don‘t see him here now – is among those who have made this false accusation. This falsehood was repeated the ANC Chief Whip, hon Jackson Mthembu, yesterday in this very House. I have news for you. Read my lips: We in the DA do not challenge and criticise President Zuma‘s reckless actions because we hate him, as my colleague the hon Mike Waters said yesterday. However, we hate it when the President treats the highest court in the land with contempt. [Interjections.] We hate it when he treats us and the rest of the people of this country, including members of the ANC in this House, as idiots who have to live with the consequences of his destructive behaviour. [Applause.]
We hate it when the President tells us that—
... the same people that are accusing me are the ones that are stealing, and I know exactly what they are stealing. I know exactly who they are.
Months have gone by, and we are still waiting for the President to tell us who these criminals are. [Interjections.] [Applause.] We hate it when we read in the media on a Sunday morning, like we did this last Sunday, something like this ... [Interjections.] ... that one President Jacob Zuma of South Africa could be high-tailing it to Dubai with loot from the coffers of the poor people of this country. [Interjections.] We hate it when we are bombarded with information that he has been captured by people who are emptying this country‘s state coffers. This means that millions of South Africans will continue to wallow in poverty and misery, whilst he and his captors live it large.
Most of all, we hate it when he makes monumental blunders that cost the country‘s economy billions of rand in lost asset value,
as was the case when he fired former Finance Ministers Nhlanhla Nene and Pravin Gordhan, as well as Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas. We hate it when we are expected to just lump such disastrous decisions because, as they say, it is his presidential prerogative. Presidential prerogative cannot and must not be exercised to the detriment of the country‘s economy and at the expense of the more than nine million unemployed and poor South Africans. Prerogative is a privilege. It comes with responsibility, it comes with respect, and it comes with accountability. We hate that the country lives in fear of a possible sovereign ratings downgrade to junk status by the international ratings agencies because of his ill-conceived actions.
One of the most important jobs of the Presidency is to nurture and promote nation-building, social cohesion and national identity. Some of the members on this side referred to this.
However, under the Zuma administration, all the indices that measure the above point downwards – very disastrous. When was the last time we heard of the rainbow nation of the people of South Africa? The official commemorations, to which one of the
members here referred, of our national days like Human Rights Day, Freedom Day and the others, have degenerated into ANC rallies, with many South Africans feeling alienated and staying away. In short, the nation-building project that started with such great promise is a mess under the Zuma ANC.
An HON MEMBER: Yebo!
Mr S C MOTAU: Statistician-General Pali Lehohla has warned that the country is faced with a cocktail of disasters because of the very high numbers of unemployed black and coloured young people. Please, Mr President, hear, listen, and heed the warning. Where are the jobs you have been promising the nation, Mr President?
Xenophobia remains a festering sore in our social and economic fabric. Service delivery protests have become endemic and violent. Corruption is rampant in the Public Service. Recent months have seen an increasing number of young women being murdered by their boyfriends or males they knew. Children are no longer safe on our streets – both black boys and girls. Rape is rampant. Cry, the beloved country. Cry. [Interjections.]
Not all is lost yet.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Deputy Speaker, would the member be prepared to take a question, especially around violence against women and children? [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Motau, are you willing to take a question?
Mr S C MOTAU: I am tempted to say yes, but I don‘t want to do that.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJAKE: Because it is more prevalent in the DA- run province of the Western Cape. [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, please! It is not alright.
Mr S C MOTAU: Cry, the beloved country!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Continue, hon member.
Mr S C MOTAU: Not all is lost yet, and this one is for you, hon Mafu. The 2019 election is around the corner. President Zuma and his ANC will fall. Woza, 2019 election! Woza! [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Afrikaans:
Dr P J GROENEWALD: Adjunkspeaker, in 1995 toe die Springbokke die Wêreldbeker-rugbytoernooi gewen het, was daar baie groot optimisme in Suid-Afrika. Almal het geglo in die droom van die reënboognasie. Veral van die wittes in Suid-Afrika was daar ‘n welwillendheid om Suid-Afrika te bou vir die toekoms, ‘n welwillendheid om hul bydraes te lewer om Suid-Afrika ‘n beter plek te maak van wat hy is, ‘n welwillendheid om nie met arrogansie of met bevoorregting of met spesiale behandeling hanteer te word nie, maar met ywer om Suid-Afrika te bou.
Daar is egter ‘n ontnugtering. ‘n Groot ontnugtering het ingetree.
English:
Deputy Speaker, through you, to the hon President: Section 83(c) of the Constitution determines that you, as President, must promote unity in South Africa. However, what are you doing? [Interjections.]
When you talk, you say the problems in South Africa started when Jan van Riebeeck landed here in 1652. [Interjections.] When you talk, you say it is because of white monopoly ...
HON MEMBERS: Yes!
Dr P J GROENEWALD: ... that you have your problems, and you hear your colleagues. They applaud you for that. When you talk, you tell the people of South Africa, specifically the black people, that they are poor, that they are unemployed, and that there is inequality because the white people have stolen the land. [Interjections.] That is what you say.
Your hon Minister of Social Development even goes as far as to blame the white South African journalists for the
SA Social Security Agency scandal. Hon President, are you then
surprised, for instance, that your premier in the North West, when he is present at a funeral, a tragic event, uses race and says that white farmers had killed the boy? [Interjections.] What has happened to the rule of law? Don‘t you respect that?
Therefore, I want to say to you, hon President, that you are promoting racial polarisation in South Africa. I want to repeat: The white people in South Africa don‘t expect special treatment. They don‘t ask for privileges. The only thing they ask for is equal rights – equal treatment. Hon President, I would like to ask you, when you reply tomorrow, to tell the white people of South Africa what you expect of them. [Interjections.] Not about the history – we know the history. What do you want the white people of South Africa to do to ensure that you are satisfied that they make a contribution in building South Africa? Then the white people of South Africa would know where they stand with you.
Please, for once in your life, be honest with the white people in South Africa. I thank you. [Interjections.]
Ms J L FUBBS: Deputy Speaker, Your Excellencies, the President of South Africa, the Deputy President, hon colleagues, comrades and, most of all, the people of South Africa , because I wish to share these thoughts with my fellowmen and –women.
It is 23 years since we celebrated the advent of political freedom and constitutional democracy. However, it remains an indictment on all of us that the majority of black people continue to be economically disempowered and that there is the emergence of economically polarised classes. The majority of South Africans are dissatisfied with the gains from liberation that a few, including me, have achieved.
No, this is not an opportunity to shift blame here, there, everywhere. It‘s not me! It‘s not me! You know, it‘s them! It‘s us! Etc ...
It‘s a reality that there can be no sustainability in any economy if the majority is excluded. We have seen this expressed not only in earlier slave revolutions in Rome, peasant and middle-class revolutions like the French and Russian
revolutions, but in modern history and more recently in global riots. People are rising against the unfair distribution of the wealth in their countries.
The objective in our struggle in South Africa, as set out in the Freedom Charter, encompasses economic emancipation. It is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the country to the people as a whole. [Applause.]
As Oliver Reginald Tambo put it, that—
... to allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact, is to feed the roots of racial supremacy and exploitation, and does not represent even the shadow of liberation.
All of us need to work together to drive towards inclusive national emancipation that must include what Oliver Tambo referred to as economic emancipation.
I remember Walter Sisulu, the great stalwart, when he came out of jail after all those years. I was translating for him, doing the Russian translation. He said, never forget, my comrade, put people first. If it‘s ideology or people, put people first.
The budget of The Presidency is focused on results-based performance, monitoring the planned outputs and outcomes of prioritised policies and commitments and evaluating measurable objectives identified in the President‘s strategic plan. This means, Mr President, that as the captain of this ship sailing in stormy seas, you are responsible, not only to steer our ship, but also to instruct your ministerial lieutenants to account effectively for their performance and their respective outcomes in this results-based budget. [Applause.]
The budget of The Presidency in a time of tight budgeting is focussed on value for resources and this depends upon an accountability chain. We know that public accountability and engagement with the people, civil society, captains of industry, and generals in business enhances the legitimacy of governance
and underpins your role, Mr President, as the custodian of the dreams, not only of the youth, but also of all South Africans.
This budget offers the President an opportunity to ensure that Members of Cabinet are brought into line with what is already mapped out in the Budget, and to account for their outputs and outcomes. I am aware that it‘s the directors-general who account for the outputs, but it is the executive officers who account for the outcomes.
Oversight has many meanings, and we do a lot of that in Parliament. I often wonder, when we say oversight, do we mean
―site‖, as in ―s‖, ―i‖, ―t‖, ―e‖? We go there, gee man, it‘s a night out, a decent meal, and, ooh, a little sip of wine and what else ... [Laughter.] And then we look at the site. [Interjections.] We look at the site! [Interjections.] No, that is not oversight!
Unfortunately, sometimes oversight is misinterpreted to mean that Ministers simply overlook or miss out on key issues linked to service delivery for radical economic transformation.
We cannot afford to use oversight in this manner, neither in the executive and The Presidency, not here in Parliament. We are, after all, the voice of the people.
Scrutiny as part of oversight is not a spontaneous spark lit in wet weather during times of crisis, but rather a sustainable process within a developmental state.
So what do we mean by radical socioeconomic transformation? We do mean the transformation of structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership, management and, yes, the control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, the majority of whom are poor and female.
No economy can be said to be said to be inclusive if it ignores women. The Presidency has done ... had his conversations with a number of people in business and farmers ... all over ... he has had these conversations. And do you know what? The captains of industry are not opposed to transformation. Not at all. What they are opposed to ... [Interjections.] ... are the nuts and the bolts, the process and the measures.
Mr President, in your state of the nation address this year you said, we would like to see more black people involved directly in business, owing factories. The response of your Ministers in the Economics cluster — I see some of you still weathering the storm here — together with development finance institutions such as the IDC, more recently the National Empowerment Fund, have concretised the black industrialist programme.
A couple of examples will illustrate how successful this will be because of what has happened. [Interjections.]
Well, you should speak more often to your colleagues.
We were on an oversight earlier this year. Went all around ... Some of the places we visited ... I was amazed to learn ... I was unfortunately away out of the country because my daughter has cancer. But, I learnt, both from the opposition and ANC members of the good news. Guess what? There is a 100% black industrialist. A black-owned foundry. A foundry! Now yes, that is a first and it is exactly what we need. The Naledi Foundry is
the largest black-owned foundry in South Africa. If I have the time I will come back to what it actually produces.
To illustrate how effective oversight is, well, some of our state-owned enterprises don‘t always come to the party willingly, as it were. You know, you have to drag them and encourage them, give them a sweet or two. But then, when they do come, they come in boots and all. So we learnt that although Naledi Foundry had won the tender they had not actually got the orders for the tender. Do you see how these things are broken down? You get the tender. Great! You celebrate! No order. [Laughter.] So we called them in because Parliament is the voice of the people. In this Parliament, a number of committees, Mr President, are performing excellent oversight work. And we said
... and we were told, ooh, can‘t make it, can‘t make it, pressing meetings! I said, pressing? I have never actually summonsed anyone, but I will. Well, they came, you know. I also had a word with the Minister. And they came. And suddenly, it was all alright.
So, that tells me, Mr President, the fact that you‘ve got the Minister of development planning ... is that what it‘s called
... Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, right in the Presidency, you are actually going to be able to wield your own whip there.
Alright? [Laughter.]
Now, it‘s not all about industry. We all know South Africa is a nation of lovers of dogs. I want to tell you, the reason Gauteng legislature ... all of them ... the legislators own Labradors is because I gave them Labradors. And they love them. [Laughter.]
Now what we have is the first canine, K9 – what a clever way – pet foods represented by ... [Interjections.]
Are you not interested in what women own? [Interjections.]
Ms Candice Stewart ... [Interjections.]
But you‘re not interested! I suggest the women in the DA start taking a stand! [Interjections.]
Echoing the clarion call of Oliver Reginald Tambo in 1981, the President confirmed that the collective decision of Cabinet that it is imperative to start a new chapter a chapter that would decisively shift from the past slow pace of change and implementation of policy. [Interjections.]
Yes, we are now going through this new chapter. What I can say is that, if we all put our shoulder to the wheel, we can achieve it.
Consequently, he said, the state will employ realistic and practical measures and I have seen this now slowly beginning to happen, that all the strategic levers available are being used. It is not only legislation and regulations, licensing, etc ... it is, very importantly, public procurement. This is a very sharp instrument; let‘s use it more effectively. [Interjections.]
In a developmental state with an inclusive economy both men and women need to be able to reach their full potential. The Presidency is intent on creating an enabling environment for our human capital — the youth, men and women — to contribute to their full potential. [Interjections.]
South Africa seeks to be a developmental state as envisaged in the National Development Plan, NDP. This requires all institutions to be aligned, to be functional, intersecting appropriately and optimising the use of our state resources to achieve what we all want — a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. [Interjections.]
Only today I spoke at the launch of a Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, CIPC, office in the middle of Cape Town, just past Woolworths, and the number of white businessmen there who said, wow, it‘s great to have ... is this part of the fourth industrial revolution? You know, these monitors, etc ... You walk in, takes you no more than 10 minutes to sort out everything. No. And on top of it, for those who are not as effective on that system, including me, there is someone there
whom you can say, hello, hello, can you give me a hand? So that‘s great. [Interjections.]
It is this kind of state, Mr President and hon members, and colleagues that will defeat poverty, unemployment and inequality. I believe that this is the kind of state which is reskilling older people, skilling the youth strategically, and optimising their focus, and is ready and preparing for the fourth industrial revolution. [Interjections.]
Now I came from a farm and my mother spoke fluent Zulu. She translated the English Bible into Zulu. And she always used to say to my brothers, inkunzi isematholeni, the bull is among the calves; send them out to their father to sort out. [Interjections.]
The mind of a man is elevated to the status of the woman — just listen, men — the mind of a man is elevated to the status of a woman he associated with. This is according to Alexandre Dumas. Therefore it is important that men meet women on equal terms in
the workplace, in the educational place and, of course, at home, where they complement each other.
An HON MEMBER: This is a budget speech!
Ms J L FUBBS: It is very important that we reframe our perceptions of women. The role of women, many have said — politicians as well as activists as well as yourselves — is intrinsic to an inclusive economy. An African proverb best sums up the value of women: When you educate a man you educate an individual, but when you educate a women you educate a nation. Never forget that. Right.
As Members of Parliament we are always interested in what is happening. It was interesting to hear your reference, Mr President, to the, I think, the Competition Act of 1998. Because this will truly benefit people, the ordinary person, especially the poor. It will, among others, address the need to have a more inclusive economy and to de-concentrate the collusion by big companies and exploitation of our people we see in many sectors.
Then, of course, dare I say, where one is deployed, where one is located, there the National Credit Act and various amendments are being considered. Let us never forget that it was the National Credit Act that enabled South Africa to weather the worst global financial crisis — created, of course, by America — and it continues to promote a fair and nondiscriminatory market place where all consumers can gain access to credit.
There‘s also Operation Phakisa. Working with the National Development Plan, it is a rapid results delivery programme. It actually is a strategy that reflects its Xhosa meaning — ―hurry up!‖
The implementation of the plans is rigorously tracked.
Recently South Africa was downgraded. And no, none of us were pleased about that. But this gives us a great opportunity to grow the economy by encouraging and promoting local procurement. This will cut imports of products and push value-added production, agroprocessing and manufacturing.
We are determined to ensure that our footprint in Africa is not only trade; that it is cultural as well. The Presidency is leading the way for all South Africans so that we are not ... we don‘t think of ourselves as merely a geographical expression of Africa; we are directly part of Africa. Of course, one should say, it is Africa Month. We should be celebrating. I saw some wonderful outfits here. I think I must get one!
I want to say Nkosi Sikeleli iAfrika. I am an African. We who were born in Africa, and who live in and contribute productively to our country — we are all Africans, Mr President. [Applause.]
So I plead and ask and appeal to you: do refrain from a eurocentric outlook; think afrocentric and you will assimilate the conceptual paradigmatic change from simple economic growth to an inclusive economic growth.
The ANC supports this new chapter in our developmental state. We support Vote 1. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you, hon member. I heard another member saying, this is a budget speech. Indeed it is a budget speech! [Laughter.]
Mr W M MADISHA: Dear South Africans, the Public Protector‘s report on the state capture, the South African Council of Churches‘ unburdening report, the Academics‘ Betrayal of the Promise report and the recently published emails confirm that the morally illegitimate President of our Republic, Mr Jacob Zuma, is alleged ... [Interjections.]
Mr B A REDEBE: House Chair, on a point of order.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Madisha, can you take a seat?
Mr B A REDEBE: I am rising on Rule 84. I think it is not parliamentary to refer to a certain member as morally illegitimate without putting a substantive motion around that.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you hon member. I will confirm with the NA table and make a ruling. Over to you hon Madisha.
Mr W M MADISHA: Mr Zuma is alleged to be involved with a gang of thieves in a project. The sole purpose of which is to displace our ... [Interjections.]
Ms PILANE-MAJAKE: Hon House Chairperson?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order. Hon member what is your point of order?
Ms PILANE-MAJAKE: Can we ask hon Madisha to address the President in a respectful manner? You cannot be in a position to say the President is involved with a gang of thieves. It is unparliamentary and not allowed.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Madisha, did you say that statement?
Mr W M MADISHA: I said ―alleged‖.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Okay, proceed.
Mr W M MADISHA: Perhaps the member needs to get a dictionary. I said ―alleged‖.
Ms PILANE-MAJAKE: Alleged by who? You shouldn‘t make pronouncements on things that do not have any proof.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Pilane-Majake, you do ask for a point of order when you want to address the Chair. Hon Madisha can you proceed?
Mr W M MADISHA: I repeat: The present President, Mr Zuma, is alleged to be involved with a gang of thieves in a project whose sole purpose is to displace our constitutional order and replace it with shadowy set of institutions – a shadow state of a mafia kind of state in order to thieve, loot, rape and plunder the resources of our land.
High treason consist of any conduct unlawfully committed by a person owing allegiance to a state with intention of overthrowing the government of the Republic; violating, threatening or endangering the existence, independence or security of the Republic; and changing the constitutional structure of the Republic.
Mr Zuma is destroying the governance of our constitutional democracy; is a grave threat to our peace and stability; is a serious threat to our economic security and the wellbeing of our people; threatens our very independence, sovereignty and security; is the antithesis of the personification of our Constitution and is intent on destroying our constitutional project; and disrespects, violates and threatens our Constitution as the supreme law of our land and the structures of the Republic.
This betrayal of our nation is deep. I want to emphasise that the unlawful ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Madisha, order. What is the point of order sir?
Mr H P CHAUKE: Hon House Chairperson, earlier you ruled that we agree with the member that he was talking about an allegation but he is no longer alleging now; he is now making facts and misleading the House. This member is out of order.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you hon member.
Mr W M MADISHA: The betrayal of our nation is deep. The unlawful and unconstitutional conduct of Mr Zuma is treasonous. I must emphasise that he is actually moving away from the Freedom Charter which you, Deputy President, and others when you sat and drafted the Constitution said that all the people of our country shall be in the Constitution. And what is he doing?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Madisha, can you please take a seat. What is the point of order?
Ms PILANE-MAJAKE: Hon House Chairperson of the House, I am standing on Rule 85: Hon Madisha is saying all sorts of things that are unfounded including the fact that the President should be charged with treason.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): He never said he should be charged ... [Interjections.]
Ms PILANE-MAJAKE: He has to submit a substantive motion if ever there is anything that is substantive about the allegations he is making now.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon member, I will make the ruling on that issue. Let the member finish.
Mr W M MADISHA: I wish to re-emphasise that they go on to say that the Freedom Charter, which many amongst us do not know, belongs to the ANC and that is not the case. If they can go back and check the history of our country, they will know who was there to draw the Freedom Charter.
Led by you, I must respect you Deputy President, when we drew the Constitution of our country we said that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. That has to be respected. Even when the President goes to check and appoints... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon member, your time is up. Can you please remain on the podium? Earlier in your discussion when you made a presentation, you made it as fact that the President is morally illegitimate. In terms of Rule 85(1), that impugns on the integrity of a member.
He is in the House. When the President is in the House the Rules apply so there are not misappropriate when he is not. Therefore, if that is your view, you know hon member that you need to bring a substantive motion on that matter. Can I ask you to withdraw?
Mr W M MADISHA: I respect this House, I respect you House Chairperson and I respect the Constitution. If that is what it says, I shall withdraw that particular line.
As I go down, please know that COPE has 783 reasons why we can‘t support this.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Madisha, your time is up and I asked you to only withdraw. Yes hon member?
Mr H P CHAUKE: He has not withdrawn unconditionally.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): He has withdrawn. [Interjections.] Hon Chauke, the member has withdrawn. He said if that is what the Rules I quoted say then he withdraws.
Therefore, he is withdrawing; he didn‘t make any conditionality to that fact. Can I ask the next member to speak? Hon member, what is your point?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chairperson, can I seek some clarity from the Chair in terms of Rule 85 if I may?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Yes.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: You were correct that one would have to bring a substantive motion and one would argue that that would have a prima facie case that would warrant attention of the House.
The problem is that there is already such a motion before the House in terms of the motion of no confidence which has been put on hold pending the outcome of the court case. That means that if hon Madisha wants to do that, he would be acting in violation of the rule of anticipation because treason would certainly lead to a vote of no confidence. Are you able to give us guidance on that?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): I will indeed give you guidance hon member. The member on the podium who raised an issue should in his own right, not referring to any motion brought by another party, make that substantive motion. So, it does not deal with the rule of anticipation. I hope I have given you clarity on the matter. Can we please proceed?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chair, I am happy to proceed but I just want to ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): No. I appreciate that very much hon member. The issue of the motion which you indicate is there. I was dealing with what the member was saying that if he wants to advance that point and put facts about what he says then he needs to bring that in terms of a substantive motion. It is not a rule of anticipation. Thank you very much.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: As it pleases the Chair.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you, it pleases the Chair indeed. [Interjections.] Hon member?
Mr H P CHAUKE: House Chair, in terms of Rule 86, no member can challenge the ruling of the presiding officer. I do not know why the Chief Whip of the Opposition is challenging the decision of the presiding officer. Once you have closed the matter you have closed it.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): I appreciate that but the member was seeking clarity and not differing with the Chair. I have given him clarity and I am happy that he appreciates that the Chair is pleased by his behaviour of accepting what the Chair has said. So, thank you very much and thank you hon member.
These Rules are interesting because we are all learning as they are applied. We appreciate that the interpretation may somehow cloud us sometimes but it is for all of us to correct one another. Now let us move on to the next member.
The MINISTER OF WOMEN IN THE PRESIDENCY: Chairperson, His
Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, hon members, distinguished guests, as I stand here today once more in deep pain, Hannah Cornelius of Stellenbosch, Unathi Madotyeni of Langa and Iyapha Yamile of Khayelitsha once more were killed this week. In KwaZulu-Natal last week, two women were brutally stabbed to death. A 14 year old girl who was looking her grandmother who is disabled, went missing and later found dead, brutally stabbed and another one was found with
multiple stab wounds, also dead. We have buried many in the last week, one more I wish to pay my condolences to all the families, May their souls rest in peace. These heinous crimes against women and children by their boyfriends, fathers, husbands, uncles, strangers, who are supposed to be their lovers, must stop. This year we celebrate the life of our beloved struggle icon O R Tambo for his heroic contribution to the liberation of South African people and more specifically his role in championing the cause of women and children emancipation and in his own words O R Tambo says:
Other men and women of conscience must themselves join in the struggle because none can reckon themselves human and be unconcerned about what is happening to the young. We would expect that people from all faiths would feel moved by their own beliefs to say we too must be counted among those who stood up in defense of the children.
South Africa, we are now dealing with criminality of the savage side of humanity. Every time we lose a women or a girl child from violence we are destroying our future children. These are
violent crimes of power and control over women‘s bodies and should be understood within our patriarchal society social realities. No woman or human being deserves this level of cruelty. Patriarchy must fall. Good men and women have an important role to play in this struggle and good men have started speaking out to other men about stopping the violence and rape culture who are saying, not in my name, #EnoughIsEnough. We plead with South Africans to break the silence. You need to be counted. Stand against corruption, violent women and children abuse. As Members of Parliament, what are you doing to address this violence against women in your own constituencies? What is the opposition doing? You call me to apologise, what are you doing? I am out there with my communities, with my church, praying together in fighting this scourge of violence.
The battle against violence against women is for all of us, men and women, you must take a stand. Communities are taking a stand, getting organised to March and to protest as to establish organisations in response to violence against women. The communities are working with law enforcement agencies to ensure
that perpetrators are brought to book to face the consequences. I call on society to unite in fighting gender-based violence. We must get to a point where we encourage good behaviour and instil better values. As a department we will continue to work with social partners, civil society, traditional leaders, religious leaders, private sector, men organisations, taxi associations and many others. It will also be good to see some of us expanding our energies to the cause, in the marches that are taking place against gender-based violence. Soon we will be going out to ask for women to vote for us as political parties but what are we doing for them? Now, we need their help and they need us during their hour of need. In the past few days myself as a Minister, I have received correspondence from various organisations and individuals that are partnering with us and saying what we are doing needs to be expanded among ourselves in stopping this carnage.
In 2015 we realised that #16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children are not enough. Violence against women and children happens 365 days of the year and therefore we adopted #365 Days Campaign because throughout the year women and
children continue to be victims of violence. In 2016, His Excellency, President Zuma launched the National Dialogues in Limpopo Province. The dialogues are a mode of engagement with communities on violence against women and children. The dialogues create an opportunity for victims and perpetrators of violence against women and children to interact on the causal factors. This process will also help us in understanding the nature of the problems but also the nature of government services reaching out to communities. We are in partnership with government departments at national level, provincial and local government including faith-based organisations, traditional leaders, civil society, legal and private sector.
IsiZulu:
Imincwi asinasikathi sayo.
English:
During our dialogues and pilots in Limpopo, some of the issues which include incest, alcohol and drug abuse, with men spending more time in shebeens. HIV and Aids, young men were raping elderly people with a wrong belief and perception that they will
be cured. It is unfortunate to have this. These dialogues are also assisting us in the empowerment of women on the course of our engagements. As we are today, we are proud that 24 young men, young people who were identified in Limpopo, have been given an opportunity to develop their training skills, that is
... [Inaudible.] skills at Ekurhuleni Skills Development. As I speak, the skills development programmes will make them future artisans. That is our contribution as a department but also in partnership with others.
As part of our commitment to roll out dialogues to other provinces, we want to say, next month we will be in Mpumalanga, we have partnered with the Office of the Deputy President on the She Conquers Campaign with the intention of making sure that we further strengthen the dialogues and reducing the high levels of new HIV infections amongst girls and young women, teenage pregnancies, school dropouts ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Minister, if you can pause. Order hon members, I know the debate might be touching
each one of us in a particular way but we cannot have a running commentary. We can intervene but not a running commentary.
The MINISTER OF WOMEN IN THE PRESIDENCY: We have partnered with the Office of the Deputy President on the She Conquers Campaign. Our intention is to make sure that the reduction of HIV, young girls and young women to continue their education, teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, sexual and gender-based violence and this campaign also seeks to keep the girl child up to the age of 14. Tomorrow marks the beginning of National Youth Month which pays tribute to the schoolchildren of 1976 who lost their lives during the uprising. Let me quote Ingrid Jonker when she said:
The child is not dead. The child lifts his fists against his mother who shouts Africa shouts the breath of freedom and the veld in the locations of the cordoned heart.
This week marks our National Child Protection Week which continues to raise awareness for the rights of children. It is during this week that we focus ...
IsiZulu:
... yazi lowa muntu owondile loya uyahlupha.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order hon Minister, do not be diverted, continue with your speech.
The MINISTER OF WOMEN IN THE PRESIDENCY: ... on children,
recognising the rights of children. Let us not forget those children that are currently missing. We must go back to basics where a child is raised by all of us. Your child is my child. We need to care for every child in our communities and stay true to the African value systems of a village raising a child. June 16 marks the importance of both young men and women; they fought together in the liberation of our country. The same commitment we got from the youth of ‘76 must be the same commitment that we get from men and young women in committing to stop violence against women and children. We must all play our part in our homes, where children are supposed to be loved, safe and socialise to become our future. We must also play a part in our communities including places of work to prevent violence against women and children.
Giving a child a hug, embracing and showing love and care are important in nurturing our children. Scientists have proven that we can influence and change the course of our children‘s lives and future by what we as parents and caregivers do in the first
1 000 days of their lives. The National Development Plan, NDP, envisages utilising of public resources for socioeconomic empowerment of women and promotion of gender equality. In realisation of Vision 2030, government will continue to prioritise women‘s access to economic opportunities and in particular to business financing and credit. It is a position of government that it is not only through engagement of the talents and skills of women in the workplace that would make us more productive and prosperous. The department is focussing on some elements of the Nine-Point Plan which includes monitoring, ownership and management control, and development finance and enterprise development. Statistics on women involvement in the economy continue to be a cause for concern. We have therefore commissioned a study to help us understand access to finance by women. These findings will also help us to understand the extent to which women are funded to participate adequately in our economy.
By introducing the National Minimum Wage, hundreds of thousands of women who are unemployed in South Africa will have an opportunity to earn a decent wage as a major step towards achieving a living wage particularly for domestic workers and farm workers. South Africa is a signatory Southern African Development Community, SADC, Protocol on Gender and Development. The protocol intends to prohibit marriages of girls below the age of 15. South Africa must also consider domesticating this protocol. The protocol is consistent with other objectives of the She Conquers Campaign to keep young girls at school up to the age of 15. Our Bill of Rights and the Children‘s Act define a child as, ―a person under the age of 18.‖ The Bill of Rights states that, ―every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse and degradation.‖ With various challenges and ills facing our society especially the girl child, we need to make sure that the girl child is nurtured to the fullest without any inhibition. I hope none of our Members of Parliament are counted as ―blessers‖ who abuse their powerful positions in society to gain sexual favours from students and unemployed young women. I challenge this House and all Members of Parliament including the members of provincial legislatures
to lead by example and also pay a minimum living wage to their domestic workers, to stop abusing women.
The advancement of women should not be seen outside the broader programme of our transformation agenda. When we open access to students whose parents earn below R600 000, we are relieving the burden from mothers whose children are yearning for higher education. When we provide houses to our people we are giving shelter and access to women who have been deprived of the security of shelter. By providing health services to women including sex workers we are restoring the dignity for a woman and are in the margins of society. When we made calls for transformation and employment equity we are saying corporate South Africa and to the government of South Africa, women have a role to play in our economy. As I step down, I want to also say, as we say names you must understand what they mean.
IsiZulu:
Angiyena umfazi, ngiwunkosikazi, ungangithuki ngoba awulwazi lolu limi lwethu.
English:
Make sure you understand what you mean.
IsiZulu:
Usho ngemicondo engathi awudli. [Ubuwelwele.]
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Order, hon members. Well the women‘s debate was very robust and I think there must have been a, to be continued, so the chairperson of the women‘s committee would actually have to have this other meeting so that we can be calmer next time. Hon Buthelezi, you wanted to have a point of order?
IsiZulu:
Umtwana M G BUTHELEZI: Sihlalo, nginephuzu lokukhalima okuphambukile. Sengimkhumbule umfazi wami ekhaya. [Uhleko.]
English:
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): I am sure the weekend is coming, hon Buthelezi, you will be able to go home. Order, hon member!
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: House Chairperson, on a point of order: I address you in terms of Rule 84 and 85. House Chairperson, there were some very personal comments directed at the hon Stander as the Minister was leaving the podium and I would ask you to please examine the Hansard. We tend to avoid personal comments in the House about people‘s appearances and what they are wearing etc. can you please examine the Hansard and come back with a ruling. Thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you very much hon member. Order!
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon House
Chairperson!
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Yes hon Deputy Chief Whip, let me just first respond to the point of order. Hon Steenhuisen, I am sure I had to intervene twice and ask that we should not have a running commentary. And I said that because the hon member of your party you are referring to, there were a lot of things she said as a commentary when the Minister was
speaking which bordered on the personal and I appreciate, yes, that is why I said the chairperson of the women‘s committee might have to convene another meeting because it does seem that the robustness that happened in that mini-plenary still continues here.
I said it deliberately because of that running commentary and I would really appreciate that as I look at the Hansard I look at it holistically and we indeed address those matters and it should apply to all members that we should not impugn of each other no matter how robust we feel about it. So that is why I am saying I will indeed look at the Hansard but I was just advising you that there was a lot the lady, the hon member also was doing.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: As it pleases the Chair.
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): It pleases me indeed, thank you. I will allow the Deputy Chief Whip who had the point of order first.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: House Chairperson,
I have a point of order. The hon Minister Shabangu did not mention anybody‘s name, she did not. So, we appreciate your ruling. Thank you very much.
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Thank you very much hon member ... [Interjections.] yes I have noted you.
THE MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Ms G N M PANDOR):
Chairperson, on a point of order: I think as you look at the Hansard, you should also look at why the Chief Whip of the Opposition believes that the references were to the hon Stander because I do not recall that name being mentioned. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Certainly, that is why I was saying I will look at it holistically. You can take a seat, hon Filtane is on the floor.
Mr M L W FILTANE: Chair, on a point of order:
IsiXhosa:
Ngokwentetho yesintu, xa usithi emntwini ungumfazi loo nto ayithethi ukuba uyamthuka, [Uwelewele.] ndifuna ilungiswe loo nto.
English:
If you look into the Hansard ...
IsiXhosa:
... ayisiso tu isithuko.
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Hon Filtane, can you take a seat. That is a point for discussion and how each of us may feel about the matter. Hon members, can I appeal to all of you, including you hon Steenhuisen, take a seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: But I have been so well behaved madam.
The House CHAIRPERSON (Ms A T Didiza): Can you please take a seat and continue to be well-behaved as you say. Hon members, we have ruled on this issue, we would look at the Hansard to what
was said and how it was interpreted by members. Hon Nkwankwa, we are moving from this debate now, can we allow hon Swart to make his presentation.
Mr S N SWART: Chairperson, President and Deputy President, in my maiden speech in 1999 on the high levels of crime, I quoted from Habbakuk 1 as follows:
O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Even cry out to you, Violence, and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth...
This scripture is far more pertinent today than it was then. It seems that our nation is hanging on by its finger-nails as we move from crisis to crisis. We see plundering of the state on an unprecedented scale; increasing lawlessness, racism, violent service delivery protests, and increasing gender violence.
We in the ACDP mourn with the families and friends of so many rape and murder victims, including those of three-year-old Courtney Pieters, Karabo Mokwena and now, Stellenbosch student, Hannah Cornelius. We share the sentiment expressed by Minister Shabangu. Thank you, Minister, for praying and taking action. We join you in saying #enough is enough.
We must do more in this regard, hon President. And just at a time earlier this year when we saw a glimmer of economic recovery, we were confronted with a cabinet reshuffle. In our view as the ACDP, a mini might disagree but a reckless decision taken with little regard for its severe impact on all South Africans, particularly the poorest of the poor.
It is for this reason that the ACDP joined the growing calls by South Africans from all walks of life for the President to put South Africa first, do the honourable thing and step down.
House Chairperson, whilst the ACDP believes in action, we also believe in prayer. And so, we joined more than a million believers who gathered recently in Bloemfontein and churches
across the nation to humble ourselves, we looked at ourselves firstly to repent and pray – trusting God to heal our land. Heal our land of violence, racism, corruption and poverty.
The Church is indeed arising and making its voice heard — a voice representing the majority of South Africans – a church holding government accountable. We saw that in the South African Council of Churches, SACC, Unburdening Panel Report, which shows how individuals and families allegedly linked to the Presidency have gained control of certain SOCs. It concludes with a damning finding that government has in its opinion lost its legitimate moral authority. This is something we cannot ignore.
This was expanded by well-respected academics in their report titled, ―Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is being stolen‖, which speaks of a coup and a shadow state. What was once kept hidden is now starting to be exposed. We are seeing it been shouted from the rooftops and people are connecting the dots.
House Chairperson, we look forward to the inquiry into state capture. However, in my legal view, there is nothing to prevent criminal investigations and prosecutions taking place right now given the overwhelming and compelling prima facie evidence that already exists. We as Parliament need to ensure that this is taking place and that law enforcement agencies themselves are not captured.
Lastly, honourable President, we would, once again, urge you to consider your ways. We in the ACDP say this with the greatest humility and respect for the office of the Presidency. In our view, the writing is on the wall. You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting!
We are constrained to pray for all our leaders, including the President but we will hold the President accountable. We will not be supporting this Budget Vote today. Praise the name of the Lord. I thank you.
IsiXhosa:
Mnu M P GALO: Wathinta abafazi wathinta imbokodo. [You strike a woman you strike a rock.]
English:
Chairperson, let me start by quoting one of the great leaders of our liberation struggle, the lion of the Natal Midlands, comrade Harry Gwala, in 1993, when he said: ―The ANC has defeated all its enemies outside and inside the country, but the only enemy that will destroy the ANC is ANC itself.‖ That is what is happening now.
The Presidency‘s Annual Performance Plan for the 2017-2018 financial year is prefigured on President Zuma‘s 2017 state of the nation address in which he reiterated the role of the NDP in the broader functioning of state machinery. He anchored his address within the text, context and pretext of the developmental state key projects stimulus, underpinned by the NDP in the following words:
In 2014 we launched the Operation Phakisa Big Fast Result Methodology in the ocean economy, health, education and
mining sectors. The purpose was to find a few key projects that could unlock growth in implementing the NDP.
Because the Presidency is the epicentre of government‘s developmental and inclusive growth agenda, its performance indicators for the 2017-2018 financial year are less ambiguous that government has to amplify its efforts to deconcentrate the stubborn patterns of ownership and control of our indigenous mineral resources, including the strategic economic levers, which are still privately-owned.
There are growing concerns, however, that the Presidency has tended to fashion itself as a miniregulator to other government departments. This is despite its very status of a government department more akin to any other government department. Hon Chair, the AIC has also been horrified by the looming travel and accommodation expenditure in the Presidency, which the department has acknowledged in its own Annual Performance Plan for 2017-18.
Moreover, we call upon the Presidency to be mindful of the perpetual use of consultants under its watch. If it‘s the driver of the so-called radical economic transformation, it should invest in upskilling young black graduates and professionals to create inclusive growth and narrow the gini-coefficient, which measures income disparities.
Hon Chair, we are pleased with the Presidency‘s run Imbizo Programme, which quantum leap the much needed interface with the citizenry. Ideally, these programmes should reignite civic participation and public engagement with government representatives. On the same token, we cannot allow these state funded initiatives to be used to advance the agenda of the governing party. [Time expired.] Thank you very much. You don‘t even respect our coalition, House Chairperson.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION:
Hon House Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, and special guests in the gallery, a few days ago we celebrated Africa Day under the theme of building a better Africa and a
better world in a liberated and democratic South Africa. We have definitely moved far away from what former President Nelson Mandela called the skunk of the world, into becoming one of the major players on the global stage.
South Africa is an integral part of the continent, its history and its future. The contemporary challenges of the continent and its destiny are intertwined with that of South Africa. A stable and peaceful continent means a peaceful and stable South Africa where a boy and a girl child face a future of prosperity, security and dignity. The Presidency Budget Vote gives us an opportunity to present how South Africa has played a stabilising, constructive role, contributing to peace, security and development, both in the region and continent.
Since 1994, South Africa‘s foreign policy has aimed to play an active role in shaping the architecture for regional and continental integration, including developing norms and standards that underpin collective efforts to ensure peace, security, stability and development. In terms of conflict resolution, the Presidency has led initiatives on postconflict
reconstruction and development in Africa. We can be proud of notable highlights South Africa‘s role in contributing to peace, stability and security since 1994, including the facilitation of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in the DRC, the facilitation of the Burundi Peace Process, mediation in Zimbabwe, Cote d‘Ivoire, the Comoros, Sudan, as well as facilitation in Madagascar, South Sudan and Lesotho.
In terms of our efforts to promote and contribute to sustainable development and democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the Southern African Region and Africa generally, South Africa has played an active role in the conceptualisation of the continent‘s development vision, namely the New Partnership for Africa‘s Development, Nepad, as well as the establishment of a voluntary instrument for the promotion of democracy and good governance, namely the African Peer Review Mechanism.
We have achieved a lot in relation to the role of South Africa in multilateral institutions in a bid to foster a more equitable world, build social solidarity, peace and co-operation. South Africa‘s vision of a better South Africa, in a peaceful and
prosperous Africa, supported by its political, military, economic capabilities has enabled it to play multiple roles of peacemaking, peacekeeping, economic and development partner.
In the global South, South Africa will continue to play its role of promoting South-South Solidarity in order to advance their mutual interests in global platforms. The Presidency, through its diplomatic work has ensured that South Africa continues to play a progressive and constructive role in the reform and strengthening of the United Nations, UN, as an important institution of global governance. We will continue to defend and guard the centrality of the UN and its charter in addressing global challenges and problems.
South Africa will continue to call for and pursue the reform of the UN Security Council so that it reflects today‘s global realities and ensure that Africa is represented in the permanent category. We will use South Africa‘s chairship of the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that developing countries, particularly African countries, benefit from peaceful use of atomic energy.
As a responsible global citizen, South Africa will continue to advocate for a rules-based multilateral system that places people-centred development at the centre of its agenda. We call upon the UN to assume its historic responsibility in the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian question. On priorities for 2017, South Africa will use its role as Southern African Development Community, SADC, chairperson to intensity the SADC Regional Integration Agenda with a focus on industrialisation to boost the region‘s capacity to produce value-added goods, and the development and rehabilitation of infrastructure to facilitate intra-SADC trade.
Under the proposed theme: ―Partnering with the private sector in developing industry and regional value chains‖, South Africa will focus on harnessing the participation and involvement of the regional private sector in the implementation of the SADC Regional Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.
South Africa will also use its position as SADC chair to accelerate the implementation of the Southern African Development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa, East African Community, SADC-COMESA-EAC, Tripartite Free Trade Area, which will enhance intra-Africa trade and contribute towards the achievement of the Continental Free Trade Agreement.
With the year 2017 having been declared by the African Union, AU, heads of state and assembly as the year of Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investment in the Youth, South Africa will champion efforts aimed at leveraging the youth bulge to propel the continent‘s socioeconomic development through an integrated approach to improve youth development across the continent and to ensure their full participation in economic activities.
South Africa‘s efforts will be aimed at contributing to the realisation of the African Union‘s Agenda 2063 vision and the implementation of its first ten-year plan. We are conscious that strong structures are required to effectively implement AU decisions as well as the realisation of the aspirations of Agenda 2063. We are prioritising infrastructure development, particularly, road, rail, and aviation in order to boost intra-
Africa trade which will act as a catalyst for continental development and prosperity.
This will be embedded in regional economic communities, which are building blocks towards the realisation of a Continental Free Trade Area. South Africa will assume the chairpersonship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association which brings together 28 countries from the East and South Coast of Africa, South and South East Asia, the Gulf region and Indian Ocean islands.
Unlocking the potential presented by the Blue Economy, including the sustainable exploitation of marine resources, the creation of value chains, as well as maritime security will be a major priority for South Africa. The goals set in Operation Phakisa will guide our engagement in this regard.
As the chairperson of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Brics, in 2018, South Africa will drive an agenda to intensify intra-Brics cooperation in diverse fields, as well as its consolidation as a significant player in shaping a new, equitable global political and economic order. Plans are afoot to set up the first regional office of Brics‘ New Development
Bank, NDB - the Africa Regional Centre, ARC, located in Johannesburg. At the Goa Summit in India, Brics leaders expressed their satisfaction with the progress in operationalising the ARC, and pledged their full support in this regard. The first tranche of New Development Bank project loans were disbursed in 2016.
Through its co-chairperson ... of the development ... [Interjections.]
IsiXhosa:
Niyandiphazamisa nina. [You are disturbing me.]
English:
... of the Development Working Group of the G20, South Africa will continue to promote the principle of inclusivity for the benefit of our continent and the global South. Thus our efforts will be geared towards ensuring that programmes of the G20 are aligned to Africa‘s development agenda. At the multilateral level, we are prioritising the advancement of the reform agenda in the UN and its agencies. Key to this is the increase of the
United Nations Security Council to reflect the current global realities.
We shall also place a high premium on ensuring the multilateral system is aligned to support the implementation of the sustainable development goals, SDGs, and the Paris compact on climate change. I wish to end with the words ... [Interjections.] ... I still have 10 minutes. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Order, hon members! Order!
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-OPERATION:
I wish to end with the words of the late President Oliver Tambo
... [Interjections.] ... Yes, he brought you to South Africa, you should be proud. Oliver Tambo, whose year we celebrate this year. Oliver Tambo, our chief diplomat in exile, would have been
100 years old this year. I ask you to remember his words of encouragement as we continue to build South Africa. This is what he said when he was delivering the opening address at the International Solidarity Conference, on the theme ―From
Apartheid to Peace, Democracy and Development.‖ On 19 February 1993 you will remember that so many years after your brothers - people who were very loyal to the country and not only to the Progressive Federal Party, PFP, then, went to Dakar to start negotiations with this very Comrade Oliver Tambo – and those were the true South Africans. He said and I quote:
We believe that we must stand together in creating the new South Africa. When our work is done, let all look at the new South Africa with hope and encouragement - hope and encouragement because she will have demonstrated that it is possible for people of different colours and different races and nationalities to live together in peace and friendship, sharing a common sense of nationhood and humanity.
I hope you take that to heart. Thank you very much, House Chair.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members it is with sadness and a great deal of shame when it is alleged that our President has chosen the side of the Guptas against our country. It is also alleged that the
Guptas have become the broederbond of the ANC. If these allegations are true hon President, you have truly betrayed our country and its people. Only people with dark souls like Delilah can mislead a President like this.
Hon President, why this radical economic transformation only benefits your family and friends? Hon President, how are you going to address economic injustice when you are no longer committed to integrity and upholding our Constitution? Hon President, it is alleged that you have surrendered our country to the Guptas and other private interest. When you surrender this beautiful country, have you ever thought once about the sacrifices made by some of our living stalwarts like Winnie Mandela, our legendary Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada and Steve Biko? It is also alleged that you have donated the Treasury to the Guptas. When you do this donation, have you ever thought of the young people who are unemployed, students who have no place to sleep, but yearning for education when you abdicate your duties to the Guptas?
Hon President, I want to warn you; our country is not for sale. Hon President, what have we done to you for you to abandon our country for self preservation? Why are you handing over our country to dark forces – crooks. Hon President, I know you will never answer me; ignorance and arrogance are your best defence.
Hon President, why are you repeating ... [Interjections.]
Mr B A RADEBE: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order on Rule
84 and Rule 85. The hon member there has said the President has handed over the country to the dark forces. [Interjections.]
If there is something of that nature, he should have come with a substantive motion to deal with that. Otherwise, it is a very crude language to use in the House. Thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): As the hon member has dealt and made a number of allegations, but I want to request the NA Table specifically with regard to some of some of the things that are not alleged that he stated as facts, to look
into Hansard for me so that I can make a considered ruling on the matter.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: Hon President, why are you repeating the same divisive tactics of apartheid to divide our people. Hon President, Agang SA therefore, appeals to your conscience; please resign. [Interjections.]
This institutionalized theft and carnage must stop. Our people have spoken through their marches across the country, even when President you have claimed that these marches are influenced by racists ...
Ms PILANE-MAJEKE: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order on Rule 82 and Rule 85. Rule 82 refers to respect of members of this House, which actually makes me to say that you should actually make a ruling on the disrespectful manner in which the member is actually addressing the President.
On Rule 85, he is actually saying there has been some form of theft that is taking place and the member understands very well
if that is the case, he needs to actually bring it to the House in a form of a substantive motion.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Yes ho member, I have requested the NA Table to look into exactly what the member has said and I will make a considered ruling in that regard.
Mr M A PLOUAMMA: I want to say I therefore; I appeal to your conscience hon President for you to resign. People have marched across the country, even when you have claimed there are racist agents of imperialist or white economic capitalist, I was with them and I was never influenced by imperialists, but, by your mismanagement of the economy and gross incompetence of our administration. [Interjections.]
Hon Chaiperson, can you allow me to deal with this hon member, if I still have a minute.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon member. I will not allow you. You must take your seat. Your time is finished. [Interjections.]
Mr N T GODI: Hon Chairperson, comrades, hon members, the viewers at home, Comrade President, our economy is facing severe challenges of growth and development. We have been downgraded recently making the road ahead rocky. The least we can do is to ensure that we use every cent of public funds prudently; use money for the right things and in the right way. In short, do more with less, our departments and state-owned enterprises, SOEs acting in ways that take cognisance of this economic reality – Comrade President, we worry that the irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in government is continuously ballooning. We are currently passing departmental budgets. But, how will these budgets be managed? When we look at the financial health of departments in terms of accruals, commitments and liabilities, the picture is not a good one. And I think in the past financial year even the Presidency had accruals of about R29 million.
Comrade President, we cannot afford the waste of public resources. As the head of the executive you must set the tone and direction on the quality of governance. What is the impact of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation on
governance? Even the anti corruption task team, which is under the political leadership of this department is far from being as impactful and organised as it should be. Noting that the Anti Corruption Task Team, ACTT, is the government‘s lead anti corruption instrument, we must intensify practically the fight against corruption beyond words.
We must continue to have the best dreams for our people; meaningfully fight poverty and inequality. We must address urgently the plight of ex mine workers, farm workers, slum dwellers and especially people in the rural areas. In February, I spoke about the plight of the people of Cathcart in the Amahlathi Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Nothing has improved for them due to the dysfunctionality of the local government there. So for Cathcart; and so for many other communities!
The APC supports the minimum wage accord as a step in the right direction to reduce poverty amongst the employed, taking into account that almost 50% of employed South Africans earn less than R3 500 per month. However, we are advocating Comrade Deputy President that early childhood development educators, home based
care givers and HIV councillors must be included in the minimum wage regime. They work for no less than eight hours a day, for five days a week, four weeks a month and 12 months a year.
Purely, on the duration they work and the critical important work they do, they deserve a living wage. Their work needs to be recognised and appropriately remunerated.
Lastly, the APC joins the country in condemning the brutal violence against women and children. Women are the heartbeat of a nation; the glue that holds society and families together.
They must be respected and protected. As we end Africa month, may I say the Africanist has always said ‗Africa for the Africans; Africans for humanity and humanity for God.‘ The APC will support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, the divisions inside the ANC are plain for everybody to see this evening and they are much deeper than even we realise. The hon Joan Fubbs says that South Africa is a nation of dog lovers. Now, that might be true, but, if I recall correctly, President Jacob Zuma decreed not so long ago that to own a dog was un-African. So we wish the hon Joan Fubbs
good luck leading the pro-dog faction within the ANC. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Let me begin by reminding members to my right of Oliver Tambo‘s great vision for the future of South Africa. He stood for and he fought for a vision which he described so beautifully as follows:
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 ... to remake our part of the world into a corner of the globe on which all of which all of humanity can be proud.
Well, the truth is that vision has been crushed and it has been crushed by one man and his name is President Jacob Zuma. [Applause.] The fact is that if Oliver Tambo were here today he would not just be disappointed, he would be disgusted by what he saw in South Africa.
You see, we are now in deep economic trouble with 8,9 million people who do not have jobs or who have given up looking for jobs in South Africa. We now, more than ever, need political leadership capable of pulling our economy out of a death spiral and to give hope to the 8,9 million people who do not have jobs or who have given up looking for jobs in South Africa. We have President Jacob Zuma who seems committed to breaking the economy rather than fixing the economy ion South Africa.
The fact is, he cannot even remember the nine points in his own nine-point plan to ignite growth and create jobs. He told us in this House, ―... it includes agriculture, among other things
...‖ and he seems bewildered by his own economic policy known as Radical Economic Transformation. He told us, ―radical economic whatever is nothing like a goggo [bug].‖ And he is supported by economic illiterates like the hon Nomvula Mokonyane, who not only thinks a ratings downgrade is a good idea, because, in her own words, ―it‘s actually better investors pull back‖, but also thinks that if the rand falls we can, in her own words, simply
―pick it up‖. We can only wonder whether the President shares
the view of the hon Fikile Mbalula who says she is a ―factory fault‖ – we share that view.
And then we have the shameful midnight Cabinet reshuffle. President Jacob Zuma recalled former Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, from an international investor road show on the basis of a bizarre intelligence report. And then promptly fired him - can you believe it – to ―improve efficiency and effectiveness‖. The truth is, had the President been serious about improving efficiency and effectiveness, he would have fired the hon Bathabile Dlamini and the hon Faith Muthambi, who together – I‘ve said this before, and I‘ll say it again – could barely run a bath.
The Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to his credit, condemned the Cabinet reshuffle, saying it was unacceptable. And the new Minister of Finance, of course, defended the Cabinet reshuffle by condemning those who had condemned the Cabinet reshuffle as a mixed bag of so-called ANC stalwarts. The truth is, President Jacob Zuma‘s midnight Cabinet reshuffle had nothing to do with improving efficiency and effectiveness, and everything to do
with capturing National Treasury for his number one clients, the Guptas. He fact is, the new Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba, has been appointed by the President to defang the Treasury.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJEKE: On a point of order, Chairperson: I‘m rising on Rule 85. When Mr Maynier says that the reshuffle was about taking over the Treasury, he should know that he is supposed to bring a substantive motion in that regard, and as long as that substantive motion is not in the House he is actually not supposed to engage on it. I thank you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Thank you, hon member. We will look into the matter. Continue, hon Maynier.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, the problem with this hon member is that the President might not be able to name the nine points in his nine-point plan, but that hon member could not even tell us how many points there are in a nine-point plan. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJEKE: Hon Chairperson, on a point of order: I can see that hon Maynier is hyper-energised. I‘m standing on Rule 82 to say that ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No. Hon Chief Whip of the DA, can you just control your hon members, please? Whether you are irritated by the point of order or not, the member has a right to raise a point of order ... [Interjections.] And then you must listen, and then I will give a ruling.
Ms M C C PILANE-MAJEKE: Exactly! We are all allowing Mr Maynier to speak, but when we are speaking this is what we get. I am rising in accordance with Rule 82 to say that hon Maynier should not actually address me as ―this member‖, because I need to be addressed in a respectful manner.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon member. Please take your seat now.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: House Chairperson, I would like to address you in terms of Rule 66, if I may. I would
like to address you in terms of Rule 66 in conjunction with the Annotated Digest of Rulings 1994 to 1999 on page 90. And I‘d like to read from it, ―Members should not use spurious points of order in an attempt to respond to points raised by the member speaking.‖ And the ruling at that time was that members should not rise under the ruse of a point of order when you are in fact not making a point of order, but merely want to smuggle in a speech. I think this is a classic case of speech smuggling.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon Chief Whip of the Opposition, thank you for reminding all members on both sides of the House not to use that mechanism in that way.
Continue, please, hon Maynier.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, I would be delighted to meet that hon member in her office in Barney‘s to discuss the nine-point plan.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Please address the Chairperson, hon Maynier.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chair, as I was saying, the new Minister of Finance has been appointed to defang the National Treasury and the work has already begun. The Minister in the Presidency has power-grabbed the budget prioritisation progress from National Treasury and the Minister of Justice is power-grabbing control of the financial intelligence centre from National Treasury. To make matters worse, the Finance Minister has shamefully appointed an economic advisor who works on the principle that if it moves, nationalise it, and he wants to turn South Africa into Venezuela. He has also appointed a legal advisor who used to be a fixer for the Guptas and their associates at Home Affairs. The fact is, the nutters, fixers and rent-seekers used to be outside the National Treasury, now they are inside the National Treasury and they are there at the invitation of President Jacob Zuma and his most important clients, the Guptas.
Mr G S RADEBE: Chairperson, on a point of order: Is it parliamentary for the member to keep on dancing there? [Laughter.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon member, that is not a point of order. The member seems to be enjoying himself. So, continue, hon member. [Laughter.]
Mr G S RADEBE: He‘s not good at dancing. He must ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon member, take you seat. Please take your seat. Continue, hon Maynier.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: House Chairperson, I would like to address you in terms of Rule 84 read with Rule 86 and remind you, Chair, that you have the discretion – because that seems to be the only point of order that that member is ever able to raise as a one-trick-pony – not to recognise a member who raises spurious points of order. That member only knows spurious points of order and I think that he needs to be reminded that he is at risk of not being recognised if he carries on with it.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, that is the first point of order that the member is ...
Mr G S RADEBE: No, but, hon Chair, I was just asking ... but I know that the member is always racist in terms of his remarks. He must be disciplined in terms of ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, that was the first point of order that the member took, so can‘t utilise those rules to silence the member. Continue, hon Maynier.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, thank you. The fact is, in the end President Jacob Zuma must have known that the midnight Cabinet reshuffle would tank the economy. We are now in deep, deep economic trouble. With the midnight Cabinet reshuffle, radical economic transformation and the de-fanging of National Treasury together delivering policy uncertainty, stagnant economic growth, declining per capita incomes, high inflation, a collapse in investment, a spike in disinvestment, fiscal slippage, staggering national debt, massive unemployment, zombie state- owned enterprises and, ultimately, junk status. But, most of all, a complete loss of hope for the millions of people who do not have jobs or who have given up looking for jobs and who live without dignity, without independence and without freedom in
South Africa. That is why it is not an exaggeration to say that President Jacob Zuma‘s midnight Cabinet reshuffle, radical economic transformation and de-fanging of National Treasury amounts to the premeditated murder of the economy in South Africa.
But worse - far worse – President Jacob Zuma has not only crushed Oliver Tambo‘s great vision for the future of our country, he has crushed all the promise and all the hope in the Preamble to our Constitution, which requires him to heal the divisions of the past, to establish a society based on democratic values, to improve the quality of life of all citizens and to build a united, democratic South Africa. All we can say in conclusion is cry the beloved country. I thank you. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon Maynier, will you remain at the podium, please? Hon members, during the course of this debate a number of points of order were raised and I have asked the NA Table to look into the matter and they have advised me as follows: During his speech, the hon Maynier, while
referring to the hon President‘s Cabinet reshuffle, said ―he was doing it for his number one clients, the Guptas‖. That is in contravention of Rule 85(1) that says that no member may impute improper motives to another member. And that also refers and reflects on all members, the President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers who are not members of the Assembly. I thus request the hon Maynier to withdraw that remarks, please.
Hon MEMBERS: No!
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, with respect, President Jacob Zuma
...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No. I didn‘t ask you for an explanation, hon member. You must withdraw the remark.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chairperson, ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon Steenhuisen, let me just deal with the hon member at the podium first, and then I will recognise you.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: It relates to this particular matter.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): I will give you an opportunity after I have dealt with this.
Mr D J MAYNIER: You are going to execute him first before you hear the ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, I have made a ruling. That is my ruling. Hon Maynier, you must withdraw that comment.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, would you remind me what comment you would like me to withdraw?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, I‘ve indicated, hon Maynier, that when you referred to the President‘s Cabinet reshuffle, you said ―he was doing it for his number one clients, the Guptas‖. Now, that is in contravention and violation of Rule 85(1) that states that no member may impute improper motives to
any other member. I am asking for the third time now to withdraw this remark, please.
Mr D J MAYNIER: Chairperson, with respect, I refuse to withdraw that remark. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member ...
Mr D J MAYNIER: There is mounting evidence – 17 000 ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, if you refuse to withdraw the remark, then you must leave the House, please. Hon Maynier, will you leave the House, please? Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr G S RADEBE: Hon Chair, ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, I have not recognised you. Please take your seat, hon Radebe. Please take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chairperson, thank you very much, but it‘s too late. It was in defence of my member. However, I would like this ruling referred to the Rules Committee for a proper analysis.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Very well. That is fine.
Mr G S RADEBE: Chairperson, I request that, in referral to the laws of the House, that hon Maynier must be taken to a [Inaudible.] hearing for ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): No, hon member. I am the presiding officer and I have made a ruling. The hon member is leaving the House.
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: Hon Speaker, His
Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, hon Deputy President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen and fellow South Africans, the Leader of the Opposition came here to suggest that he left the ANC because it has abandoned the dream of Oliver Tambo. But in truth, the hon
Leader of the Opposition hon Mmusi Maimane left the ANC because within a week he was promised to be a mayor of the Johannesburg Metro, within six month he was promised to be a premier after they lost the Johannesburg Metro, and after they lost the Gauteng province he was promised, and he was actually given the leadership of this House which he now occupies. So it has nothing to do with what Oliver Tambo represented or what the ANC stands for [Applause.], but it had everything to do with him wanting leadership, leader and leadership. And he couldn‘t wait to kick out the hon Lindiwe Mazibuko. The former hon Lindiwe Mazibuko was the leader of the House of the DA. Actually, it is very opportunistic to suggest that you left for those particular motives.
I was sitting here listening to hon Groenewald who challenged the President that tomorrow he say to white people of our country what is it that he expect from them. I think the most unfortunate thing that hon Groenewald expects from us is for us to misrepresent the truth and speak lies so that we maintain peace. He wants us today to say that the land was not stolen, and that the land was handed over peacefully in exchange for the
Bible or the mirror; also that the wealth of this country was not stolen; and that the wealth of this country was voluntarily built by the blood and sweat of black South Africans and for Afrikaner capital to continue to flourish today is because young, particularly, black South Africans are letting it be so. If we say that to hon Groenewald, that will maintain the peace. But unfortunately, that is not the reality that South Africa is faced with today. We have a particular disjuncture wherein wealth and poverty are defined in terms of race. We have a disjuncture where land and its dispossession are defined in terms of those particular terms.
The Presidential Working Group on Youth is a strategic platform of government, the private sector and civil society to have a strategic conversation on how to implement youth development interventions and to discuss collective action and accelerate the empowerment of young people as provided for in the National Youth Policy 2020, and other government policies. The committee of 17 Deputy Ministers monitors the work of the five work streams that are aligned to each of the five strategic priorities of the National Youth Policy 2020.
In this financial year, the National Youth Development Agency Amendment Bill will be tabled. The amendment Bill will streamline the focus of the Agency as well as introduce institutional mechanisms for strengthening youth development at a provincial and local level. This is important if we want to ensure that our youth development investments go to where it is most needed at a provincial and local level.
The President has mentioned the progress that the Presidential Task Team on the creative industries has made in addressing the issues that artists face. The task team has ongoing interaction with the music industry to ensure that the long standing unpaid needle-time bill gets paid to local artists.
Hon Speaker, earlier this year, the Democratic Alliance government in the Western Cape sold land, that was for social housing, to a private school, the Trafalgar Intermediary School, for R135 million. The 1,75 hectares property, which can build more than 270 social housing units and can possible house more than 2 000 people, will now be a subject of judicial contest.
The national Department of Human Settlements, together with nongovernment organisations, NGOs, Ndifuna Ukwazi and Reclaim the City, intend to appeal to the conscience of the leader of the DA, Madam Zille, to instead use the land for the benefit of the majority of our people. Whether the court case will be won by the national government on behalf of people that is continuously excluded from the social spaces of the city will be a matter for another day.
However, the politics of this case reveals a lot more than what meets the eye. It is clear that Madam Zille is committed to maintaining the colonial spatial development setup that was imposed by the apartheid regime that continues to balkanise and keeps black people in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha whilst keeping areas such as Sea Point and Camps Bay to the exclusion of the Cape Town white and rich class. [Applause.] We ask the question, are they children of a lesser god?
This will keep the status quo in terms of economic and other forms of development as Madam Zille and the entire DA pay lip- service to transformation, integration and change. [Applause.]
There is little or no land available for integration, so that more and more people are settled next to where they work, next to where they eat, next to where they play and next to where they pray.
Although the DA is willing to integrate with black people in their political party, even give them leadership position, it is clear that this integration will only end here and cannot include the integration of their voters into single communities, single schools and have single services. [Applause.] We ask the question today, are they the children of a lesser god? The ANC government is prepared to fight this to the end and instead of going to the courts for wily and deceitful purposes as the DA has done yesterday of stealing power, we will go to the courts in order to ensure that development benefits the majority of the people.[Applause.]
Hon Speaker, this is not the only time that the DA has conformed with practices that suggest that theirs is to maintain the colonial and apartheid set-up and resist transformation. In the same period that Madam Zille was fighting tooth and nail with
the communities who wanted to be integrated into the technically whites only Sea Point, she was also tweeting up a storm about the history of colonialism and the need to defend its positive aspects. Much to the embarrassment of the leader of the DA here, hon Mmusi Maimane, and a couple of angry young tweeps from the DA bench, she has since withdrawn the tweet, but wait for it, with a much longer but more embarrassing article that was widely circulated in the media. The problem with those who condemned Zille‘s twitter account and verses was not because they disagree with her, but because she stated them publicly and as usual, she was condemned and they were forced to condemn her in public.
They secretly and behind closed doors agree with her and sometimes even invailed manifesto proclamations. As we have heard here today from hon the Leadr of the Opposition they actually agree with her, and I will show you now.
She who led the DA for that long - and therefore the DA itself- believes that there was some good that came from being colonised, racially segregated, imprisoned, shipped to the Americas and Europe to begin their development, killed if we resisted, dispossessed of our land and livestock, forced to work
in the mines and factories for a pittance, had our mineral resources exported to far away lands to build imposing cathedrals and shiny golden pavements that symbolises their development and our underdevelopment, that this is the good story of colonialism and apartheid that replaced our barbarism.
I conclude and include the DA in Zille‘s madness of colonial and apartheid glorification because if they do not repeat her bamboozled theories of building on the foundation of colonial development, all that they can do is to repeat ANC policies or even better by promising that they will double social wages and all of that. That‘s all they can do. So they are caught up in between repeating Zille‘s craziness or repeating the ANC policies.
But equally, the DA‘s divided anger towards Zille‘s colonialism tweets is less about its reflection on their policies, which they still hold dearly as I will show, and more about being their pressure to respond to those particular tweets. Their contentious colonial contours that Helen Zille should face consequences for, and the DA should be taken to task about,
which have been repeated as daily truth and which were even repeated in the DA‘s election‘s manifesto.
Firstly, in South Africa they regard transformation which is equals to broad-based black economic empowerment, BBBEE, they refer for it as bribe-based black economic empowerment and this, they say, is only for the elite and politically connected. How many times have we heard the DA repeat this slogan here in this house where for them economically empowering black people is equal and inherent to corruption. This is almost always criminal. For them, every black person who has been economically empowered by this government should be thrown shade at, treated as a suspect and even if they are making a difference in their communities, they should be investigated.
Secondly, for Helen Zille and for the DA, what value is freedom when it can unleash virulent and violent black youth into our communities to rob, rape and rummage their peaceful suburbs apart. She asked in that diatribe that I spoke about earlier on when she was defending her tweet:
How much does our freedom rating mean when we cannot even gets the rudimentary criminal justice pipeline functioning?
I tell you now, and I want to tell you today: this freedom means a lot to billions of young people who today will not be randomly stopped and be asked for their passports or passbooks; it means a lot for them if they cannot be forced into labour; it means a lot if they cannot be imprisoned for their political views; it means a lot if they cannot be forcefully removed from Sophiatown into Soweto; and it means a lot for those young people if these freedom they can cherish. For you it may be for granted because you did not confront the might of the apartheid regime, but for them it means a lot and that is why they will forever cherish this freedom.
But more importantly, to disconnect the crime that all communities suffer from the vestiges of colonialism is disingenuous. To venerate the successes of colonialism and apartheid and apportion their failures to the new government as we have seen here today, is duplicitous. Colonialism condemned young, especially African men into the lives of criminality,
leaving them without entrepreneurial or work related skills. This condemnation will linger with us for generations to come as long as the structure of the economy remains the same.
Hon Mmusi Maimane here may be the a typical African male oozing success, with his polished and multiple English accents, posh job handed over to him of being the Leader of the Opposition, and may be lucky to have changed the discourse for his children and grandchildren in a way his parents may not have imagined, but without justifying crime, postcolonialism was not as been kind for the majority of young black South Africans. The policy of the DA is that we should all be given equal opportunities, but those opportunities can never be available to all of us if the structure of the economy still remains the same and if those who are who are on this side of the bench continue to defend the status quo.
Minister Mbalula has multiplied his efforts to fight crime, and will not use the excuse of the legacy of apartheid and colonialism in this fight against crime, but we cannot discount the fact that the pretty and praised side of colonialism have
created this monstrous young black men that we today moaning and condemning.
Thirdly, Helen Zille insists and together with the DA that we should build on the institutions and foundations the colonists have left, as they did in Singapore. In Singapore the colonisers left. But I asked her the question. These institution, I presume, are judiciary, wealth and all of that, but have we been left with anything by the former colonisers? I cannot even think about that. In our case, the colonists have not left, they are here with us and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are still here with us and they are defending the legacy of their great-grandfathers.
If you look at the ownership patterns of land the colonists have not left that to the natives as they did in Singapore. They still own the land. If you look at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the richest people are still Oppenheimer, Rupert, Wiese, Bekker, Gray and only then do you have a Motsepe. You want us to celebrate and say that colonialism and apartheid have been defeated? And You also want us to celebrate and say that we
all have equal opportunities. Main fact that is not and may never be the case as long as this type of the structure of the economy exists.
Part of the mantra that the DA spreads day in and day out is for the protection of private property as a means to ensure investor confidence and create jobs. This essentially is about protecting the status quo, maintaining apartheid patterns of ownership and dancing to the colonial tune of their master. If you truly want change, do not only advocate for change here in Parliament, but also in the stock exchange, in communities where our people live, in terms of land ownership and in control of the wealth of this country. You call this populism I suppose and that it will lead to South Africa being a pauper state, however, this is the real transformation our people are looking for.
Finally, Helen Zille and the DA believes that in order to ensure development in our country we should deal with the trade unions just as they did in Singapore, or what hon Maimane referred to earlier today in the debate, the authoritarianism of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union, Sadtu, in particular.
But they forget that this was the same strategy that was used by the colonisers who suppressed any form of workers‘ resistance and any form of protests. Every time here, the DA shouts sorts of anti- Congress of SA Trade Unions, Cosatu, anti- National Health Education and Allied Workers Union, Nehawu, and anti- Sadtu slogans precisely because they are continuing with the lineage of colonialism and they are continuing with the lineage of apartheid.
As Madame Zille complains as she did in her letter explaining why she tweeted, as she complains about not landing on time through the SA Airways, SAA, or Madame Zille being given tea without milk at the airport, or Madame Zille complaining that her newspaper did not arrive on time, people in Nyanga and Khayelitsha do not have time and pleasure of these luxurious complains because they have much bigger challenges. As the ANC government we will continue building houses and provide shelter for those people. We will continue to connect electricity to the millions who need it. We will continue to build decent route infrastructure especially in our communities. We will continue delivering house which they are denied in Sea Point and in
Trafalgar. We will continue to providing schools and bettering the education system. We will continue to open clinics and ensuring a quality basic health care and as we have done as we have done and build more universities to improve the chances of young South Africans.
Hon Speaker, yesterday, the DA through its leader, Mmusi Maimane, again laid charges against the ANC president. This is permitted in a democratic South Africa and it shows that we are maturing and we are not like the colonisers and masters of apartheid whom they continue to defend their legacy. We allow democracy to prosper.
But something interesting and yet unsurprising happened today. Hon Maimane uses Parliament as he does all the time and all political platforms as foreplay to prepare for the consummation of their marriage with the judicial system. We respect the independence of the judicial system, but the fact that most, if not all political parties seem to be substituting the hard-won political democracies and interaction with constituencies, together with debate and engagement in this House, for
jurisprudential convenience. We are witnessing how some political parties are trying to win through the courts a majority which they to win during the elections campaigns. Some of them are not even scared to tell either the Speaker or anybody who cares to listen that we will take you to court. How many of us have heard this here that when they are defeated here in the House through debates and engagements or through the ballot, they say we will take you to court?
Let me conclude by reminding hon Maimane that he has not succeeded in his regime change plan for South Africa. The voters have consistently rejected this. In spite of this lack of success, he then travels to Zambia to implement regime change there. We are sorry that you were kicked out in Zambia.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chair, I would like to address you in terms of Rule 85 (1) of the Rules of the National Assembly, which says:
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.
The allegation that Mr Maimane was going to Zambia to effect regime change is not true and it imputes improper motive. We invite hon the Deputy Minister to submit a substantive motion as our members have been instructed to do all this afternoon.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, I will also look at the Hansard for that. The Table will assist me and I will make a ruling in that regard
The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: The Patriotic Front used very kind words which we don‘t agree with. We are a democracy and the hon Maimane alleges that they are not. They say that Zambia is not for sale to the highest bidder. They are referring him as the mouthpieces of capital masquerading as political messiahs of our people. [Applause.] They say that he is representing a political party that championed and benefited from the notorious apartheid regime. They even go one better and
referred him as the black token to reverse the gains of freedom against apartheid. That‘s not me. I cannot say that to such a bright Leader of the Opposition.
I want to say to hon Maimane that I know a place where you and I can do; a place where if we go and provide solidarity to the people who strongly yearn for it, they will not call a black token they will welcome your solidarity, they will welcome your message of support and that place is Palestine. [Applause.]
If you are too compromised to go to Palestine, you and I can go to the Western Sahara and provide solidarity to the people of that countries because they deserve it more than you do.
Also there are young people of my age and your age who are travelling in the world sending a good message about this country and we could not be doing what they are doing had it not been of the democratic dispensation. I am talking about young people, not D J Maynier, but D J Black Coffee who is embraced throughout the whole world. [Applause.] I am talking about young people like Sakhine Simbine who is wining awards throughout the
world. We are saying that South Africa is working. No matter how much you are trying to pull down this country of ours. They are there holding the flag high and saying that they are proud to be South Africans.
When I was growing up in the dusty streets of Modimolle, when I was seven or eight, we used to play house, ―mmantlwantlwawane‖ [imaginary families]. They were houses. We believed so because I had a car, so I was the father and some others would be the mother, children, all of that. This afternoon during the debate I realised that I left on Mmusi Maimane on those days of playing
―mmantlwantlwawane‖ because he is playing country. There is nowhere that if you really believe that you can lead this country and come here and say I will double social grants, I will do this and I will do that. How are you going to pay those except if you double the tithe in your church? [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr H P CHAUKE: Chair, I was given this form by the Minister of Arts and Culture to give hon Maynier. It is for the SA Music Awards, Sama, awards.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, that is not a point of order. Please, take your seat.
Debate interrupted.
The House adjourned at 20:23.
Audio
No related