Hansard: NCOP: Unrevised Hansard
House: National Council of Provinces
Date of Meeting: 09 Nov 2017
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
THURSDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2017
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
The Council met at 14:03.
The House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight, Co-operative Government and Intergovernmental Relations took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
DEBATE ON ANNUAL ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT OF RSA TO NCOP: DEEPENING UNITY IN ACTION FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND AFRICA’S RENEWAL – RECLAIMING THE LEGACY OF O R TAMBO
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Hon Chairperson of the NCOP in her absence, ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon President, it is here. She is here. Yes, I’m waiting for her to be sitting here. [Laughter.] She is in the House, President.
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, Ms Modise, Deputy Chairperson, hon Members of the NCOP, premiers present, MECs, provincial Speakers, national and provincial chairpersons of Salga, chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, distinguished guests, I am honoured to deliver this annual address to this august House, our National Council of Provinces.
We meet under the theme: Deepening Unity in Action for Inclusive Growth and Africa’s Renewal – Reclaiming the Legacy of O R Tambo. We have dedicated the year 2017 to celebrating the legacy of Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo, the illustrious leader of our people and freedom fighter who gave up his adult life to ensuring that this country is free. We thank all who participated in the celebrations of the legacy of O R Tambo in various ways during the year. As we end the year, we reflect on the road travelled on the journey to deliver on the promise of a better life for our people, especially the poor and working class majority.
In 2009 I said we wanted to build a caring government, a government that knows where people live and which does its best to improve their lives working with them. A lot has been done this year to achieve that goal, in spite of difficult economic conditions.
As we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the National Development Plan in September, we received good news that there was positive growth in the South African economy, taking us out of the technical recession. This was a significant affirmation, which encouraged us to focus on positive developments and provide the necessary support to the sectors that can help us reignite growth. If we continue on this path, our nation will reap the economic benefits and there will be significant changes in the living conditions of our people. We need to provide the necessary support to the sectors that can help us reignite growth, and we are doing this through our nine-point plan, focusing on areas including manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, mining, telecommunications and others.
Also important is the need to bring industry and economic activity closer to where people live and to boost investments in other centres of the country. Boosting the township economy and ensuring that economic activities that put food on the table are supported remains critical as we fight poverty. Attracting investments also remains key. We continue to launch our investment one-stop shops which are aimed at improving the ease of doing business for investors. They are able to apply for licences and permits in one centre. We have launched these centres in Pretoria and Cape Town and will be opening one in KwaZulu-Natal this month. We are also
implementing incentives and support services for investors through our Special Economic Zones programme. The six Industrial Development Zones established between 2002 and 2014 have attracted about 59 investors with an investment value of more than R10 billion.
We also announced 14 measures to build confidence recently through the Minister of Finance. This includes improving the governance of state-owned enterprises so that they start becoming sustainable and not rely on government bailouts perpetually. Progress is being made in this regard. We have a new board at SA Airways and the SABC and a new board will be appointed for Eskom soon. Government will continue to support the new boards as they move towards sustainability.
I established a presidential fiscal committee last month as we prepared for the medium-term budget policy statement. This small team is working with the Ministry of Finance to help us prepare for Budget2018 and in particular to help us find ways of meeting our fiscal targets in a difficult economic climate with high debt levels and lower revenue. We are confident that working together as a team in Cabinet and as the three spheres of government we will be able to steer the country in the right direction in spite of these challenges and difficulties. We also urge unity among key stakeholders during this difficult time. We have a responsibility to
promote our country externally and to solve whatever problems we have internally in a patriotic and responsible manner. Attacking South Africa and badmouthing the country when she is most vulnerable is irresponsible, ... [Interjections.] ... especially if done by South Africans themselves.
While speaking about difficult economic conditions and less money to spend, we remain fully aware of the need to cushion the poor from the hardships, especially extreme poverty. Government has created a wide network of social protection services such as social grants, free and subsidised health care, free basic education for children of the poor or free basic municipal services. This is designed to support our people and it will enable them to withstand the difficult economic climate and legacy of apartheid, which has created a huge gap between the rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots. We know that many among the privileged classes become angry ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Sorry, hon President, let me deal with hon Essack. Why are you standing?
Mr F ESSACK: Hon Chairperson, you don’t really have to “deal” with me. I just want to check, through you, if the hon Member at the podium will take a question, please? [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius, hon Essack, ... sorry, hon Julius ... Hon Essack, it’s an annual address. We are going to debate the annual address. Kindly take your seat.
Mr F ESSACK: Hon Chair, but it is a plenary.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Can you take your seat?
Mr F ESSACK: The member is a Member of the House ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order, members! Hon Essack, please take your seat. Hon members, in terms of Rule 32, no member is allowed to be conversing allowed and I have been noticing, members, if you have got any problem, members are listening attentively and they are going to debate the annual address. So, let us not compromise the decorum of the House. Please continue, hon President.
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Hon Chair, we know that many among the privileged classes become angry when we speak about the reality of the apartheid legacy, as they want it to be forgotten. We will continue to work hard to reverse the horrible impact of this legacy. It is incorrect that the income level of a white household remains six times higher than that of a black household. Together we must fight and defeat this inequality as it seriously affects our path towards reconciliation.
To improve living conditions, I would like to mention a few basic services that government provides to cushion the poor. The Free Basic Services programme, run by municipalities currently, supports more than 3 million poor households throughout the country. Over 2,6 million beneficiaries receive potable water, electricity and free basic sewerage and sanitation. Free basic refuse removal is provided to over 2,4 million households.
IsiZulu:
Uhulumeni uyasibona isimo esinzima sokuntengantenga kwesimo somnotho. Ngalokhu-ke, uhulumeni uletha izibonelelo kulabo abangasebenzi ukuze ikati lingalali eziko. Uhulumeni ubabonelela nangokuthi bathole isikali esithile sikagesi, amanzi nokuthuthwa
kwendle mahhala komasipala. Ngalokhu, uhulumeni wenza okusemandleni ukuba impilo ibe ngcobo nakubo bonke abantu ikakhulukazi abampofu.
English:
A home to call one’s own is very important for any human being. It is for this reason that this government has, since the dawn of democracy, delivered over 4,5 million houses and subsidies, thereby restoring dignity to millions of our people and it is still doing more.
Over the past few months we have delivered over 54 000 housing opportunities. These comprise of housing units and serviced sites. With the limited resources at its disposal, government, through the Department of Human Settlements, will continue to prioritise the elderly, people living with disabilities, military veterans and child-headed households regarding houses.
To respond to rapid urbanisation, government provides decent affordable social housing. New settlements have been opened in such areas as Westgate Social Housing in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Thembalethu in Tshwane, Scottsdene in the Western Cape, Willowdene in Port Elizabeth and Chris Hani Social Housing in Ekurhuleni. The Gauteng province has launched a number of integrated mega city
housing projects expected to deliver more than ten thousand housing units. These projects include Daggafontein, Westonaria Borwa and John Dube in Duduza. Work continues indeed to build a better life for our people, especially the poor and the working class.
IsiZulu:
Bakwethu, imfundo ibaluleke kakhulu kuhulumeni wethu nakubantu bonke jikelele. Yingakho nje uhulumeni exhasa izingane eziphuma emakhaya antulayo. Izingane ezevela kwizigidi eziyisishiyagalolunye zifunda mahhala ezikoleni, futhi zithola ukudla mahhala ukuze zifunde kahle. Abafundi abampofu bafunda mahhala emakolishi abizwa ngama-TVET, awemfundo yamakhono.
English:
As we improve teaching and learning and the physical condition of schools, indeed the results become visible. The matric pass rate improved to 72,5% in 2016, up from 70% in 2015. Bachelor passes also increased. I am quite confident that these figures will improve this year. I am aware of the anxiety regarding the funding for higher education. As the matric pupils pass, the challenge becomes funding for further education. The interministerial committee responsible for higher education funding, chaired by the Minister in the Presidency, working with the Presidential Fiscal Committee, are
assisting me in processing the report of the Heher Commission. I will be making an announcement soon on the report. We are also mindful of the need to begin our investments much earlier on. That is why government pays subsidies enabling more than one million children to attend early childhood development centres.
IsiZulu:
Lo hulumeni eminyakeni edlulile usesebenze ngamandla ukwenyusa isibalo sezingane ezifunda ezinkulisa, ama-early childhood development centres. Nezingane zabantulayo kufanele zikwazi ukufunda kulezi zikhungo zojahidada ukuze ziqale imfundo zisencane zilungiselele ikusasa lezwe.
English:
Care givers receive stipends from government through the Expanded Public Works Programme, which helps to alleviate poverty. Indeed, we continue building a better life for our people, especially the poor and the working class.
On health care, life expectancy increased by six years and reached 63,3 years in 2015. South Africans are definitely living longer and are healthier than before. This is because of improved access to treatment for diseases such as HIV and Aids and TB. However, some
diseases need attention such as cancer and heart diseases, which are becoming more prevalent, and this calls for more awareness about healthy lifestyles.
I visited Steve Biko Academic Hospital last week and was impressed by the facilities and services provided by a government school. I was, in fact, informed that even private schools refer their patients to Steve Biko for the kind of treatments that can only be offered at Steve Biko. I wanted to see first-hand what facilities exist in a best-performing hospital.
The Department of Health is aware of the complaints about the condition of many other hospitals nationwide. We urge all provinces to ensure that services and facilities are improved in all hospitals in our country and that our people are treated with courtesy and empathy. In that way we will truly build a caring environment for our citizens in distress.
Many families would be unable to put food on the table were it not for the social grants provided by government. They have become our most effective poverty alleviation mechanism. The social grants are received by 17 million people, of which 12 million are orphans and vulnerable children. The investment in the 12 million children has
yielded returns as some have even graduated at universities. Over and above the social grants, government also provides support through the Social Relief of Distress programme to individuals and households faced with destitution, undue hardship and disasters such as fires or floods. This support includes cash, food parcels or food vouchers and school uniforms that are provided to the distressed families for a minimum period of three and up to six months. Through the government’s Household Food and Nutrition Security programme, more than 200 community nutrition and development centres provide over 6 million meals to more than 300 000 beneficiaries per annum.
In some communities, lunch is provided daily for our older persons by government, so that they do not take their medication on empty stomachs.
IsiZulu:
Uhulumeni uzoqhubeka nokuxhasa izingane, abadala, nabakhubazekile ngezibonelelo ukuze baphile kangcono.
English:
We know that there is concern about the social grants payment mechanism. The Interministerial Committee on Comprehensive Social Security is seized with the matter and will assist the Department of Social Development to find workable solutions within the timeframes
set to ensure that the beneficiaries of social grants do not suffer. Importantly, government also runs public employment and development programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme and the Community Work Programme, which provide regular work opportunities and training for thousands of people, including women and the youth.
Decent Work as the cornerstone of our 2009 election manifesto commits government to extend the reach of social benefits for those in need. The Unemployment Insurance Fund, to which employers and employees contribute, pays just above 10 000 claims per day at a cost of R35 million to R39 million per day, thus contributing positively to the lives of the beneficiaries. From April to September 2017 the fund provided benefit claims amounting to
R3,7 billion. In the previous financial year the fund spent over R160 million on poverty alleviation schemes targeting those workers who may have become victims of retrenchments and/or dismissals.
Our government realises the need to support our youth, especially those in townships and rural areas. The national Rural Youth Service Corps, which was established in September 2010, empowers youth from rural areas. More than 7 000 youth have gained various skills.
Government also runs the War on Leaks programme aimed at fighting water leakages while providing youth with skills as plumbers and in
various artisan trades. About 10 000 young people have been recruited into the programme by the Department of Water and Sanitation and they are being trained as water agents and in the following artisan disciplines: electrical; plumbing; welding; instrumentation; and fitting and machinery. I would like to urge all municipalities to absorb the learners for experiential training before they could sit for their trade tests and qualify for their various disciplines.
I have mentioned our poverty alleviation mechanisms. Ultimately, for us totally to lift the poor out of poverty, we have to ensure an inclusive economy. The liberation struggle was not about political freedom only. It was about ensuring the expansion of economic opportunities to include the majority. We have introduced programmes such as promoting and supporting black industrialists and black small businesses so that we can change the patterns of ownership of the economy. This is an example of what we mean by radical economic transformation.
We have informed accounting officers in government that small businesses must be paid on time, within 30 days of submitting legitimate invoices so that we do not disadvantage them further as government. Paying suppliers on time will contribute immensely to
radical economic transformation. In this way, this programme is not just rhetoric; it is about changing the status quo in order to promote growth, expansion and sustainability in our economy.
We have been accused of all sorts of things by people who refuse to face the reality that radical economic transformation is critical so that we can achieve inclusive growth. In any country, the majority of the population must play a key role in the economy. In South Africa this has not happened due to the legacy of apartheid that many still choose to deny. Let me emphasise that radical economic transformation is government policy and arises from the African National Congress, and not from outside the country as many rumour mongers claim. It is delegates at the ANC conference in Mangaung in 2012 who felt it necessary that the economic transformation takes centre stage as the next phase of liberation. The conference declared that we had begun a second decisive phase of our long transition from colonialism of a special type to a national democratic society, and that this second phase would be characterised by more radical policies and decisive action to effect socioeconomic and continued democratic transformation.
When I was inaugurated as President of the Republic for the second time on 24 May 2014, ... [Interjections.] ... I began to give effect
to the resolution in my inauguration address. I outlined that the focus of the fifth democratic administration for the years 2014 to 2019 would be to implement radical socioeconomic policies. The ANC January 8 statement this year further outlined the governing party’s focus on radical socioeconomic transformation. Members will recall that radical socioeconomic transformation was then declared a priority for 2017-18 for government in the 2017 state of the nation address. We defined radical economic transformation referring to fundamental change in the structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership, management and control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor - the majority of whom are African and female. We are already busy with the implementation of many aspects of the policy ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order, hon President. Please use your remaining five minutes to round up. President, I am giving you five minutes to continue rounding up. Please continue, hon President.
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: We are already busy with the implementation of many aspects of the policy through our nine-point plan, ensuring that work done in the priority sectors that we have targeted for attention in order to reignite growth, include the
meaningful participation of black people who were excluded in the past. These sectors include mining, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, tourism, ICT, water and sanitation, industrialisation and others. We invite local and foreign investors to ensure that their investments promote indigenous participation to ensure sustainability. Working together we can make a difference.
Let me also take this opportunity, as we head towards national Reconciliation Day next month, to remind all that we have a responsibility to promote unity and social cohesion. This includes promoting our national symbols and anything associated with the democratic republic. It is of serious concern that some of the people who marched against farm murders last Monday repeatedly displayed symbols of racism and of the past such as the old apartheid flag. [Interjections.] This means that some compatriots yearn for the past in which black people were subjugated and treated as pariahs in the land of their birth. This conduct is not good. It is shocking and grossly insensitive. It indicates how far we still need to go in building a new society. It is also clear that more stringent measures are needed to tackle racism in our country. The Department of Justice is finalising the legislation to outlaw hate speech and racism, as there should be consequences for such unpatriotic and divisive conduct which seeks to take us backwards.
Next year we shall celebrate the centenary of President Nelson Mandela, as he would have turned 100 years old in 2018 had he lived. We should use the celebration to promote nonracialism, unity and nation-building. We owe it to Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and all our heroes and heroines, including thousands who suffered brutality at the hands of the apartheid regime, to continue building a better society. Let us not be diverted from this noble mission. We have it within our power to make South Africa a better place for all our people, especially the poor and the working class. I thank you. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Thank you, His Excellency President Zuma. I now call upon hon Modise.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Chairperson, my respect to the President, the Premier of the Eastern Cape, Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the legislatures, MECs, special delegates and hon members. Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time again when we have the opportunity to welcome the President and to add to his debate a few thoughts related to the topic at hand: Deepening unity in action for inclusive growth and Africa’s renewal, reclaiming the legacy of O R Tambo.
This year our Constitution and the NCOP celebrate 20 years existence. This year we remember the hard work that one, Oliver Reginald Tambo, put into the writing of the Harare Declaration and everything else that has benefited this country as a result of that.
This year, we remind ourselves that our strength as a country has always been our ability to talk, discuss, argue, negotiate and to find one another. This Constitution is a product of finding one another, of hearing and of reasoning together. Our Constitution is not perfect but then the material conditions in this country have never been perfect.
The Constitution we have today enables me to do what I do very regularly in this House, to kiss across the bar and across the sexes without fear of being in castrated. This Constitution has created the NCOP, which enables every citizen and every person living within our borders to approach us, petition us, present to us whatever concern they may have about anything within the walls of this country.
This Constitution entrenches the separation of powers, creating a balance which is in the interest of the people of South Africa. The cornerstone of this Constitution is the charter for women’s right,
which was muted in Amsterdam at a Malibongwe Conference in 1989. That conference had brought together women from all formations and women who were within the borders of South Africa considered enemies.
After the return from exile and prison, we set about and established deliberately a nonpartisan organisation called the National Coalition for Women, which set around the country collected and compiled what is now known as the Women’s Charter of South Africa.
We want to salute Frene Ginwala [Applause.] the chairperson of the National Coalition for Women then for the sterling work she has delivered for this country.
Our Constitution recognises all people as equal, race, gender, religion, and whether we are from the urban or the rural. There is no way we can respect this Constitution unless we respect what it stands for - unity, acceptance, accountability, correction and redress.
Addressing the nation in 1980, O R Tambo said and I quote:
Our unity has to be based on honesty amongst ourselves, the courage to face reality, adherence to what has been agreed upon - principle.
The unity therefore that we called for today must be based on principle. The unity in action must add empathy to the mixture. I must become my brother’s keeper based on honest.
Unity in action for the renewal of Africa must be about what will benefit Africa and the vulnerable majority, the poor, displaced, the children on the mud schools and on the mud pit toilets, the women upon whose bodies men wage their wars. The renewal of Africa mustn’t be about a second colonisation of our resources. It must be about us, Africans, pulling together our resources both human and capital to build our economy as a continent. It must be about feeding and schooling our children. It must be about pride in consuming African products.
African renewal must acknowledge our diversity and accommodate our differences. Our unity in Africa can’t continue to be about mediating conflicts. It can’t be about understanding democracies which are not based on the will of the people. Unity of renewal must
begin with honest common definitions of war, peace, stability, elections and all the other related processes.
We must understand why Africa’ strong men refuse to leave office. We must understand what democracy means when the majority of the people in this continent, who are women, are still very far from decision making tables. We must understand that as things stand today, the strong African politics will stay in Africa, poverty will increase, our children will continue to drown in oceans trying to run away to find places of safety across hostile countries.
We must understand that unless we unite for the good, children across the world that has more dark pigmentation will forever be considered inferior. I am inferior, I am black and female. I come from the rural area. I have never blinked for anything in my life. I am a product of Jack Simons and Mark Shop. I am a product and a child of O R Tambo. What would O R Tambo say to us today? He would instruct us, I suspect, that he would say to us we must listen carefully and better at our people. He would ask us if we really understood and internalise the importance of this Parliament to our people and why it was necessary to entrench this Parliament into the Constitution.
I do know that as the NCOP we do the best we can under the circumstances. We represent local government and the provinces in this House. We discuss matters which affect the local government and provinces at a national platform. We take Parliament to the people. We debate; we put questions to the executive. We spend time in the provinces on local government weeks, provincial weeks and on oversight weeks.
We do the best to represent this country and this Parliament in time and internationally but we can do better. We can help to reconsolidate the African parliamentary diplomacy by relooking at and signing of the Pan African Parliament hosting agreement. We can try and understand why we lagging behind in establishing the SADC Parliament. The West and the East African regions have already set up their Parliaments and they are running.
The South African Parliament does need to get closer to you and finance to discuss the manner in which Parliament gets to its budget, because that affects how we function. I would also like to say that the NCOP would like to deposit a report, which will suggest what we think are the problems and the challenges of the NCOP as we are structured and what we think we can do into the future before January. We think that we have just come back from a very successful
programme of the NCOP - Taking Parliament to the People in the Free State. Taking that experience together, we want to say that there two major challenges that we observed that is: The maintenance of the RDP houses that we give to the aged, indigents, and orphans. We think that we do need to relook at policy because what we found was beyond the province and people to maintain these houses.
We also want to say something which I know, you will remember I used to hap on, a relook at the concurrent powers between the provinces and the national executive because this has bearing sometimes when you analyse the gaps on service delivery, the misinterpretation on the mandates and therefore, the quickness of the government to deliver to the poor.
As we say, the Taking Parliament to the People, has taught us that we need to be closer to the people, we need to bring people more into decision-making, we need to listen better but we also need to do more as Parliament to educate. We want to say that our public participation model is to entrench participation but it also needs us to popularise it.
We want to urge provincial legislatures to pay particular attention to the quality of public education whose primary objective is to
empower communities, especially those in the rural, the poor and the vulnerable, so that they can participate effectively and meaningfully in the processes of their own developments. The truth is democracy is expensive because for the people to participate meaningfully they must be educated and that education means you must layout the resources to do accordingly.
Our father, our leader, O R Tambo was a servant of the people. He was a reservoir of wisdom. He kept us, the different cultures, interest and aspirations within the ANC well together. He was religious but he was never intolerant to those people who didn’t believe in anything. [Applause.] He taught us to give space, learn and teach, respect and move always at the pace of those who were the slowest amongst us. He taught us tolerance and patience. He taught us to listen. He was not weak. He was quite decisive and yet he gave even the youngest amongst us the space to converse, discuss and debate. He was a leader of leaders. He was our father and Madiba said he was one of a kind. He was golden.
In closing, as we pay tribute to this great leader of our people, we must emulate him in deepening unity amongst ourselves for inclusive growth. We must work hard to grow our economy to be able to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We
must redouble our efforts to build a united, nonracial, nonsexist and prosperous country. We must dedicate all our energies in fighting corruption, unethical behaviour and underdevelopment not only in our country but through out the continent. I thank you.
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Hon Chairperson, hon members and fellow South Africans, it is always a privilege to speak after you Mme Modise. I truly respect you. Mr Zuma, you did not disappoint today. Your speech left me cold, just like the state of the nation address. Hon Chairperson, every men is appointed to live once and die but before they die they will have a moment, whether in prison as I hope so in your case Mr Zuma, or in the stoep of your veranda of your house, men will look back in their lives and see the legacy they leave behind. As we are pondering the legacy of Tata O R Tambo, some will look back with joy and gladness in their hearts; some will look back with pain and agony in their hearts ...
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES: Hon Chair, I
appreciate the determination of the member but he should not cast doubt on the integrity of the State President by inference.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order members, I do not need assistance. Hon Magwebu, I must confirm Chief Whip that I have to
seriously consider it on Hansard to make an appropriate ruling. My advice to you hon Magwebu is to refrain from anything that will be casting doubt to the integrity of His Excellency President. Before you continue hon Magwebu, hon Engelbretch, the rules are very clear about somebody who is disorderly in this House. I have been observing that you have been consistently disorderly in this House. Refrain from doing that. Continue hon Magwebu.
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Thank you Chairperson. Some men will look back ...
Mr J W W JULIUS: Hon House Chairperson, on a point of order: I am sorry hon Magwebu. Chairperson, we will not be bottled in this House. We have a right to heckle in this House and she also did that. How can you call her out of order? Why didn’t you call it to order at that time? You claim to continue seeing it all the time. We will not be bottled because you want to protect the President once again. We have a right to hold the President accountable here. I am going to do just that. [Applause.] You will not stop us today. We will hold the President accountable today.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Can you take your seat? Order members! Hon Julius, you know the Rules of the House are very clear. I am not going to subject myself to discussing Rules of the House.
If you have got a problem about my ruling, then there is an appropriate way of procedure. Continue hon Magwebu.
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Some men will look back with joy and gladness in their hearts and some will look back with agony and regret. O R Tambo’s legacy is unquestionable. He served in hope of freedom for all South African people with distinction until death. It is said, in life it is not how you start but how you finish. Mr Zuma, your legacy is the opposite of Mr O R Tambo. You were a freedom fighter but as you recently learnt you are alleged to have been complicit in the deaths of MK cadres; Thami Zulu and Cyril Raymond who were tortured and murdered while they were in your care. You did not even allow Zulu’s parents to visit him in detention. We now know the truth that you have always been a villain.
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Hon Hose Chair, on a point of order: Hon Magwebu is making what he purports to be a fact and therefore casting aspersion on the person of a President. Hon Magwebu was never in the ranks of the ANC. He knows nothing about the ANC and cannot make reference to it.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Mthimunye, take your seat. Hon members, hon Magwebu said, alleged. Refrain from anything that will create problems but can you continue?
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Thank Sir, I really appreciate. Mr Zuma, under your presidency you have brought South Africa to her knees. You have got no right to reclaim the legacy of O R Tambo on behalf of the South African people. You have crippled the state; used the taxpayers’ money to enrich yourself, your family and the thugs who are hell bent to keep you out of prison; and corruption runs rampant in your administration. When Schabir Shaik was convicted of corruption, the court heard that you had a mutual beneficially relationship with him. That means that you are a corrupt man. You abused women as you wish.
Ms T WANA: Hon Chairperson, can a speaker take a question?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order hon members, hon Magwebu are ready to take a question?
IsiXhosa:
Mnu L V MAGWEBU: Ndiva kabuhlungu Sihlalo, siyasebenza apha kwaye kubuhlungu ...
English:
... and we are talking South African problems...
IsiXhosa:
... kodwa kukho abantu abafuna ukudlala. Andinalo ixesha lokudlala mama. Uxolo.
English:
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): He is not ready to take a question.
Mr F ESSACK: Hon Chairperson, with due respect to you, this is now a perfect example of your inconsistency.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Essack, please take your seat.
Mr F ESSACK: No, allow me to speak. When the Speaker Mr Zuma was at the podium and I stood up to ask if I may ask the speaker at the podium a question...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): It is an annual address by the President and there is no annual address by hon Magwebu.
Mr F ESSACK: It is part of the debate.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): It is an annual address by the President. Can you take your seat?
Mr F ESSACK: It is part of the debate; he has 30 minutes and he is on the speakers list. You refused me to ask him the question but now you have the audacity to allow the member from the ANC to ask a speaker at the podium a question. That is inconsistency at it best.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Essack, you cannot be shouting and doing what you are doing. Continue hon Magwebu.
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Mr Zuma, you abused women as you wish having claimed that Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo’s kanga invited you to have sex with her and then used state resources to intimidate her; discredit her and the trauma you put her in exile from her home. If anybody has got a question, here is a book, buy it. You have 783 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering looming over your head. Although you have said you wanted your day in court the South African people are still waiting for this day, nearly a decade. Let me remind you. When late President Mandela was subpoenaed by the court of law in the Dr Louis Luyt case, he obliged because he believed in the
constitutional values of the South African Constitution. He also believed that everyone is equal before the law.
Mr Zuma, hon members of this House, I want to tell you that you are going to jail.
IsiXhosa:
Uya entolongweni tata.
English:
A criminal cannot be a president. An insolvent person cannot be a president. Under your presidency the state has been captured by the Gupta family, thugs and the rogue elements in the ANC. It is estimated that R100 billion is owed to the fiscus and has been lost through state capture. We are still waiting for the commission of the state enquiry. You are delaying it because you know you have got your hand in the cookie jar. South Africa is the country with more than 9 million unemployed South Africans. Our unemployment rate is higher than other African countries. We are in the top 10 in the list of the countries with the highest unemployment rate in the world. This is money that could have been used to deliver services to the South African people who desperately need those services.
Mr Zuma you have plunged our country into recession and another downgrade is looming. South Africa cannot afford nuclear Mr Zuma. What South Africans needs is food, water, housing sanitation, jobs and education. This country has never been so unstable in the post democracy. Thank you to you Mr Zuma but I have good news for South Africa and South Africans. Come 2019; from the ashes we shall rise. The DA is ready to govern, step by step we are moving forward; little by little we are taking ground.
We are already governing multiple municipalities, four metropolitan municipalities and the Western Cape province despite Mr Zuma’s attempts and his cronies to interfere in the elections. Not only the does the DA now govern the majority of the local government budget but we are able to dismantle the web of corruption that has plagued the metropolitan municipalities such as the City of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay as well as other municipalities.
A national DA government will reduce the current the bloated government into 15 municipalities to root out the thieves, corruption and the thugs and offer free quality higher education to qualifying students who cannot afford it. We will reform and sell the entities that are not performing, like the South African
Airways. We will create an economic environment that is conducive for jobs which will attract investors.
In the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality for instance, in a very short space of time, we have delivered the title deeds and delivered water to a thousand households. This is an example of good governance. The Western Cape province remains a shining example of a well-run province under the DA. [Interjections.] Fellow South Africans hang in there, I beg you. From the ashes we shall rise.
IsiXhosa:
Wena Mhlekazi, Tata uZuma uyaya entolongweni. Nkosi Sikelela i- Afrika. Enkosi.
Mr P MASUALE (Eastern Cape): Hon Chairperson, His Excellency, President of the Republic of SA, President Jacob Zuma, the hon Chairperson of the NCOP, hon premiers, the Speakers, MECs the esteemed members of the NCOP, the leadership of the SA Local Government Association, the special delegates here, ladies and gentlemen good afternoon. It truly gives me pleasure to participate in this historic event of the NCOP wherein the President comes to do the annual address.
I have to remark at the onset that the hon speaker before me, I don’t think himself to the debate that is before the House today. Certainly, he must have chosen to spent time on other matters that are not matters honestly, that were before the House today. As we continue to celebrate the centenary ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Sorry, hon Premier! Hon members, heckling is allowed but, drowning the speaker at the podium would never be allowed; in terms of our rules. Let us be orderly.
Let us not compromise the decorum of the House. Continue hon Premier.
Mr P MASUALE (Eastern Cape): Thank you, House Chairperson. As we continue to celebrate the centenary of this outstanding revolutionary and father of our democracy, it is most fitting that the NCOP so fit to pay tribute to this in this manner.
Hon Chairperson, unity is not some intangible dream or some concept mysteriously inherited in the transition into our democracy. It is certainly not some theory or some artefact that must be placed on a metal piece and looked upon from afar as something to be admired or dusted off once and every now and again.
Unity is a choice, unity is a way of living which our forefathers and their ancestors before them treasured, nurtured, and chose in order to survive and triumph. This very platform the NCOP is itself a choice which we have made as the country on how we can give expression to the desire to unify and bring together the three spheres of our government in order to collectively uplift the lives of our citizens. Not to come here and shout in a manner that does not bear any reference to uplifting the lives of our citizens.
It is a choice that we have made because we understood as those that came before us understood that we can only do so much on our own as separate individual components of a bigger whole. Just as ears are needed to hear what the mouth says so does the NCOP work together to keep the engines of government moving in the same direction in order to reach our goals.
This unity that we chose will not come like manna from the skies, it must be worked for. We must fight for it and, we must be prepared to sacrifice for it. It calls for action. It is not enough merely to talk about it. But it is important - what we do towards it, hence the relevance of the theme “Unity in action.” There is nothing to be achieved without action.
Oliver Tambo himself exemplified this in many instances. One such was when he mobilised fellow students towards a common cause when they staged a boycott of classes at the University of Fort Hare following an assault on black African women who were working at the University kitchens at the time. Another more famous action that he led in 1985 following the state of emergency, he called on all South Africans black and white to unite in order to make apartheid ungovernable.
His advocacy work towards a multiparty democracy with an entrenched Bill of Rights directly influenced the constitutional democracy we enjoy today. His successes can directly be attributed towards the ethos by which we honour him. He consistently realised that we would have to work with like minded people to effect he believed it was necessary for the future of this country. Even if it meant working towards changing their minds convincing them, he did as much. I have mentioned that we chose unity. In order to give effect for it, there must focused action in a dedicated manner.
Coming from the province of the Eastern Cape, recent statistics have revealed us to be afflicted with the most poverty countrywide.
Despite our hard work and best efforts, we continue to bleed human and intellectual capital often to the benefit of our better
provisioned, cousins to the west and to the north of us. This is often the result of what - in economics is called pull factors of a market system. Such pull factors include aspects some of us easily could take for granted. The example I could make is reliable pipe water, reliable infrastructure in the form of roads, electricity supplies as well as sanitation.
With your indulgence, hon House Chair and hon members, allow me to paint a picture why now, more than ever it is important for us to work in unity in order to achieve inclusive growth. The Eastern Cape the home of Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela and many others is a rural province with rural benefits, as well as challenges. As we are all aware - just that notwithstanding the dividend that apartheid bequeathed all of us with - presently, the provisioning in South Africa is biased towards population density. In essence, this means that the accelerated urbanisation which we are currently witnessing favours those areas of our country which are already built up with services and amenities. While a shrinking proportion of available resources is allocated towards the more rural areas or our country.
We make this point that the experience over the Past 23 years should be informing us well in looking at some of the matters that need to
be revisited more so as we grapple with the issue of fundamentally altering the economic fortunes of our country.
We should land our minds to the question of the sustainability of the present trend or trajectory of urbanisation with its attended pressures, as well as the current structure that we are maintaining of allocating resources between parts of the country. It should be that we consider the reality that in provinces like ours, where owing to opportunities existing elsewhere people continue to migrate between these places, they never seize belonging to those provinces. From time to time they revert back and they require finding their home provinces with the adequate infrastructure and resources needed to sustain their families.
It is in this context that we make the case that - in spite of the progress we are making a need to revisit some of the methods we are applying. We are happy Mr President to note that presently, government is considering both the local government equitable share allocation formulas as well as the provincial equitable share as a component holistically of revisiting the division of revenue nationally. Probably, a point similar to that the National Chairperson of the NCOP was making in respect of funding of Parliaments. Perhaps, that conversation must be undertaken
countrywide. Saying this does not mean we are taking away from the fact that definitely, for the majority of our citizens what was in the past and the situation today there is a marked difference. There is a lot of change in the lives of our people in the rural areas.
For the first time as we were marking this centenary for ogogo they can light in their houses under this democratic dispensation. A matter that they didn’t have for ages when they used to be governments before that. So, whilst making the points about the need to revisit some of these fundamentals progress is being made. Many are having access to houses - we did so right in Nkantolo - where Oliver Tambo comes.
Our unified actions to achieve inclusive growth must be driven by a sense of compassion, ubuntu which all of us should be familiar to. Our unified actions must be informed by the spirit of equity not merely in name - but actually in resourcing and support all parts of the country.
As I conclude, your Excellency, Oliver Tambo had this to say:
Racial discrimination, South Africa’s economic power, its oppression and exploitation of all the black peoples, are part and parcel of the same thing.
It is this unique insight on the unsuccessful design of the apartheid system together with lessons learned which will guide us towards the proper and sustainable solutions that can province a better life for all. Definitely, not coming to this podium and shout without any sense of purpose as some of the members particularly, the one who spoke before me did here.
The fight for freedom must go on until it is won, we cannot rest. Ladies and gentlemen, until our people have achieved economic freedom we have not yet won the fight. We cannot rest. Until the rural communities of this land are economically emancipated, we cannot rest. We have a lot of work to do.
If you want to achieve the enduring successes of the legacy of which Oliver Tambo exemplified we must of like mind and of unified action. Let the world know us for the strength of unity which we display.
Let’s give our actions pure testament that we embrace it with every fibre of our beings until our time of rest has come. For now, we cannot rest. I thank you hon Chairperson. [Applause.]
Ms T MOTARA: His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, hon Chairperson of the Council, Premier of the Eastern Cape, hon speakers present, MECs and other special delegates, leaders of the parties represented in the House, leadership of Salga, Members of the NCOP, guests in the gallery, ladies and gentlemen, in a small but popular township called Wattville, in a fairly decent - by township standards – stadium, an eight-year old girl took to the podium and delivered a welcome address to a giant of our people and living legend, Oliver Reginald Tambo.
The longest serving President of the ANC was returning home, in the December 1990, after thirty years of living in exile. She concluded the address by lifting her fist in the air, accompanied by an impassioned, “Aluta”, to which the massively gathered crowd responded, “Continua”. The ANC Women’s League of the area prepared the address and gave the responsibility to this eight-year old girl, a young pioneer, to represent all of South Africa.
That young girl was me! That place is Wattville, Benoni - a black township adjoined to an Indian township called Actonville, which is where l grew up. [Applause.] The late President O R Tambo and his family lived in these two places until his untimely death in 1993.
Today, he rests next to his life partner, Mama Adelaide, in the Wattville cemetery.
The fact that he returned to his township home and insisted on being buried there was owed to his insistence on remaining amongst the people and living humbly. He was an active member of the Benoni branch of the ANC, which was the first branch to launch in the PWV region after the unbanning of the ANC in 1990. This is in now way an attempt on my part to answer the very irrelevant question asked by many, even asked by some who are members in this House, “Where were you?”
It is rather the method I use to remind myself of the giants in whose shadows I once stood in. It is a method I use to ask myself: What am I doing today as I have been given the responsibility to use this platform provided by the advent of democracy? Others abuse the platform and raise personal attacks on others. Others have taken an extreme approach, which is simply to boycott.
While we are grateful that they have given us peace and a good working environment today, to be able to bring issues about our people’s living conditions as well as offer solutions, we must caution that history has no blank page. In years to come, when it
will be asked: Where were you when we debated inclusive growth and Africa’s renewal, the answer will be: Abekho!
Today I stand before you, with a self-prepared address to offer my thoughts on how we could go about reclaiming the legacy of O R Tambo, and unite together towards creating inclusive growth. How can we actively reclaim the legacy of such a great man? Well, there are many ways in which to do this. One very important one would be to not abdicate our responsibilities.
South Africans expect us to represent them and find common ground on how we deal with issues that affect us across racial lines. They have not elected us to personalise our problems, blame individuals or grand stand on the backs of the downtrodden and excluded. I even witnessed an hon member who I am not going to mention, who sat here reading a book, instead of him respecting himself and others by taking this debate, the platform and environment seriously. He is even out of the House now!
Your Excellency, I have witnessed first hand what the programmes such as the black industrialist program can do. It has unearthed talent, passion, entrepreneurial skills and innovation. However, I think there are areas which can and must be improved on. We will not
attend socioeconomic transformation if we are going to continue funding and supporting businesses and industries which are characterised as safe, or done before, or tested elsewhere!
We will have to be bold and risky and enter uncharted waters if we are to propel our economy forward. Innovation will have to be embraced. We really should not be fearful of the unknown calculated risks that even have an element of going with our gut as opposed to be overly bureaucratic in wanting to deliberately uplift and economically empower our people. We should not be apologetic about insisting that our people are enabled to create generational wealth, financial and economic inclusion, ownership, employment and employers.
O R Tambo passed on just a year before the first democratic election. A bittersweet moment for many. As a leader who sacrificed his life for a day he never got to relish in. He was no more. The lesson we learnt from just this, was that we sacrifice our lives for a South Africa we wish to create, not just a South Africa we want to exist in today.
Our efforts must be exhausted in doing the things for our country and continent that we may never realise but that we believe will be
the daily experience of our people. That is the essence of sacrifice: The life blood of leadership; the meaning of service!
Our economic policies have thus far improved the lives of many. On the other extreme, they have also deepened the divide between the haves and the have-nots; increased poverty in areas that were already impoverished; and inequality has unfortunately risen. We cannot and should not continue with programmes that will address issues now and today without looking into a future that we may or may not experience.
Our responsibility is not to ourselves but to those we may never meet. Young people sit with great ideas, eyes for opportunities and are natural risk takers. We will be failing future generations if we don’t deliberately support and channel these innovations to benefit our county and continent.
I am going to repeat what the Premier of the Eastern Cape has shared earlier. He quoted Oliver Tambo, when he said:
Racial discrimination, South Africa’s economic power, its oppression and exploitation of all black people are part and parcel of the same thing.
Last week we saw what should have been a genuine concern and a problem that faces our farming communities: Murders! It should ordinarily have brought all South Africans together as one.
Unfortunately, it turned into an opportunity for anti-liberal rightwing elements to reminisce about the days gone by.
They hoisted the vier kleur - the apartheid flag - and sang Die Stem ardently. I used the words ‘unfortunate’ only for respect of this House and to remain parliamentary. If I am given an opportunity to repeat the happenings of last week, I would not hesitate to better characterise the abhorrent actions of that day.
As O R Tambo said, racial discrimination and economic power is one and the same thing. It comes as no surprise that when we boldly speak of restructuring the economy, the majority of those who are currently beneficiaries will unite to oppose this. We dare not retreat, dare not fail and dare not do all we can to reclaim the legacy of this great man! Economic transformation must happen, and it must happen in our lifetime. Aluta! [Applause.]
Mr B KHOMPELA (FREE STATE: MEC-HEALTH): Hon Chairperson, hon President, hon Premier, MEC’s and all hon members of the House. I want to prepare my mind, I want to say “mental slavery is the worst
part of slavery” because it makes you to attack those who want to liberate you. That’s an unfortunate part. [Applause.]
Sesotho:
Empa Modulasetulo, batho ba hae Foreisetata ba nkopile hore ke fane ka puo ena ya Mopresidente hore ba e utlwe, ba tle ba kgone ho utlwa hore na ke fetisitse melaetsa ya bona. Mopresidente, batho ba Foreisetata ba re ba a leboha hobane o re file ka tsela eo batho ba bangata ba ke keng ba re fa ka yona. Ntho ya pele eo o ileng wa re e etswe, mme wa e bea ka sehlohong ke hore o re fe thuto hobane ha o na kgauta le silifera eo o ka re fang yona. Thuto ke ntho eo ba ke keng ba e utswa kapa ya ba lahlehela; empa ba tla phela ka yona bophelo ba bona kaofela jwaloka Oliver Tambo.
Jwaloka ha Oliver Tambo e ne e le e mong wa baithuti le barutehi, re latela tsela eo ya hore bana ba rona le bona ba kgone ho ba baithuti le barutehi. Ke batla hore re behe thuto pele. Mopresidente, rona mane Foreisetata re ile ra potlaka mme ra nka monyetla oo ka matsoho a mabedi. Nka bolella Aforika Borwa hore ha ho sebaka ka hara Foreisetata moo ho seng ngwana – le torotswaneng e nyenyane ya Cornelia – ya ithutelang bongaka. Ditorotswaneng tseo kaofela ho na le ngwana a le mong ya ithutelang bongaka.
Ba mane sehlekehlekeng sa Cuba mme ba re ha ba kgutla, ba se iswe ditoropong tse kgolo. Ba batla ho ya mane ditoropong tse nyane hore ba kgone ho thusa bothateng bona ba batho ba kulang. Ha o fihla sehlekehlekeng sa Cuba, ba sebedisa thibelo e seng kalafo. Rona mona Aforika Borwa re sebedisa kalafo, e leng yona ntho e batlang tjhelete e ngata kaofela. O tla utlwa ha ba theoha selemong se tlang ka kgwedi ya Phupjane, ba lepella kwano ho tla etsa inthene. Ha ba kgutla, Aforika Borwa e ke ke ya hlola e ba Aforika Borwa eo batho ba e tsebang. [Mahofi.]
Modulasetulo ya hlomphehang, ka bophelo bo botle le thuto, re ka re senatla sena sa molwanedi wa tokoloho, Oliver Tambo moo se leng teng se a bonya le ho bososela hobane rona batho ba Foreisetata dilemo tsa rona tsa ho phela di eketsehile mme re phela nako e telele. Ha o phela nako e telele seo se bontsha hore bophelo bo botle bo teng.
Mopresidente, rona mane Foreisetata re batla ho ikgantsha ka hore – maoba mona ke ne ke bua hore matjhaba a mokgatlo wa SADC le wa UN a ile a laela hore ho potlakelwe Foreisetata ho ilo lekolwa hore hobaneng bana ba sa hlokahalle ho bomma bona; ebe bona ba etsa jwang. Lebaka ke hobane re ile ra otla le ho fokotsa sekgahla sa ho hlokahala ha masea, sa ba sa fihla mangoleng kwana.
Re tla dula re tshwere jwalo hore ho se be le ngwana ya hlokahallang ho mmae kapa sepetlele. Batho bana re ba kgabeletsa ba sa le lapeng hore ka kgwedi ya bobedi kapa ya boraro motho a imme, a be a se a kena kliniking hore a tsebe hore ngwana ya tla mo tswala ke wa mofuta ofe. Sena se bohlokwa.
Mopresidente, ntlha ya boraro eo ke nahanang hore O R Tambo moo a teng o bona menyabuketso ya rona, ke hore ntwa kgahlano le bonokwane le bosenyi ke ntho eo re e etsang. Rona mane lehaeng la rona la Foreisetata ke selemo sa rona sa bohlano – mme ke kopa hore o ke o re fe kgau, moqhaka wa tlholo hore re titimme, re qetile sebaka – re ntse re itlhomme pele, re di otla kaofela. Ha o kena ka hara Foreisetata o ka nna wa robala lemati le butswe ka nako tse ding hobane ha ho tsotsi. Re penya tsotsi rona Foreisetata. [Ditsheho.] [Mahofi.]
Mopresidente ho na le mathata hohle moo re leng teng mme re batla ho thoholetsa tsohle tse etsahetseng empa re se lebale moo re tswang.
Botshabelo e bile teng ka selemo sa 1971 mme e ne e bitswa sebaka seo batho ba neng ba balehela ho sona. Botshabelo e ne e se na kliniki ka nako eo bahanyapetsi ba neng ba e eteletse pele.
Botshabelo e ne e se na dikolo nakong eo e neng e eteletswe pele ke bahanyapetsi.
Thaba-Nchu le yona haesale e thewa ka selemo sa 1913. Le yona haesale e le sehlekehleke se laolwang ke motho ya neng a le Bophuthatswana kwana empa a se laola se le Foreisetata. Le teng ho ne ho se letho, ho le ho putswa. Kajeno lena batho ba moo ba ikgantsha ka hore motlakase, metsi le dikliniki di teng. Sepetlele sa Ngaka Moroka le sona se teng ka hara toropo eo ya Thaba-Nchu. Ka hara Botshabelo le teng ho na le sepetlele. Maphelo a batho a lelefatswa ke bophelo bo botle, ho ba kgathalla le ho ba fa pheko.
Mopresidente, ke kopa tswetswee hore taba eo Tonakgolo ya Kapa Botjhabela e buang ka yona re ke re e qoqe. Taba ya hore ha le phela le le babedi ka bofuma lapeng ho be ho na le ba leshome ba phelang hamonate – tsela eo re etsang ditekanyetso tsa tjhelete tsa mmuso ka yona – e bolaya bana ba banyane mme bana ba bangata re ba etsa hore ba kgore ho feta bongata ba bona.
English:
The manner in which we are allocating funds on the population, I think, it needs to be interacted with. [Applause.] Because, hon President, those that are small, Northern Cape and Free State, we push them and die in a squalor. Those that are big and rich, because of the manner of the population way of calculating resources, we say the richer must rich and the poor must die in poverty. I think we
must do something else and say “we are deliberately giving you resources to elevate you to be like other provinces so that you can grow.” I think that is one of the saddest things, which we’re still burned up on it, let us review this method and be able to alleviate and redeem those small provinces from the shackles of poverty that they are in.
Hon President, if O R was alive – you check his DNA, you’ll find the DNA wishes that “all these other things are things I have served my life for, I have died in a quest to see our children getting better education. A free South Africa: free from crime and corruption, a South Africa that everybody benefits in it.” I thank you very much. [Applause.]
Ms S MALOBANE (Gauteng): Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr Jacob Zuma, hon Premier Masualle, members of the executive councils, delegates to the NCOP, representatives of local government, fellow South Africans, on behalf of the Premier of Gauteng, Mr David Makhura, it is my privilege to contribute to this debate under the theme: Deepening Unity in Action for Inclusive Growth and Africa’s Renewal
– Reclaiming the Legacy of O R Tambo.
This debate is taking place shortly after as a national we marked O R Tambo’s Month, which coincided with the centenary birthday of that colossal leader of our people and global statesman; Oliver Regional Tambo.
As part of marking OR’S Centenary, we in the Gauteng City Region hosted the fourth edition of the South Africa-Italy Indaba. We dedicated this year’s indaba to the memory and honour of OR Tambo, to whom Italy and in particular the City of Reggio Emilia, occupied a special place. If I were a good singer I would be singing a song that says: “We will never forget them.” Unfortunately, I am not Brenda Fassie. [Laughter.]
We will never forget the brave and caring people of Reggio Emilia who offered O R Tambo a home during those difficult days of our liberation struggle.
Expressing his gratitude to the people of the City, in a letter, written in his own handwriting, O R had this toe say:
We always carry Reggio Emilia in our hearts. When we speak of Italy we cannot but think of Reggio Emilia. We are linked with
profound attachment and immense gratitude that is hard to put into words.
These profound words remain true and relevant up to this day.
In addition to the Indaba, our programme in honour of OR Tambo included the hosting of the OR Tambo, Soncini Social cohesion Games in Ekurhuleni. The games were a fitting tribute to the role played by the former Deputy Mayor of Reggio Emilia – you know, I am not very good in some of these languages - Giuseppe Soncini, whose formidable relationship with O R Tambo planted the seeds for stronger and enduring relations between Italy and the liberation movement, and later between Italy and a free South Africa.
In 2015 we had the privilege of hosting Mr Soncini’s wife, Mrs Bruna Soncini and his son Ivan Soncini at the renaming of the Wattville Library to the Giuseppe and Bruna Soncini Library. Today, this library stands as a living monument, always reminding us of the strong bonds of friendship and solidarity we share with people of Italy; bonds that O R Tambo played a leading role in establishing.
Hon Chairperson, as a free people whose struggle for liberation benefitted immensely from international solidarity, we are equally
ready to make our own contribution to the advancement and development of others, especially on our continent. We have learnt the power of collaborative action and international solidarity as championed by O R and many in his generations.
In particular, as the Gauteng City Region; Africa’s fifth largest economy accounting for between 7% and 10% of Africa’s GDP, we are fully cognisant of the responsibility we carry to contribute to the economy of our country, of the SADC region and that of our continent. We view this as our role in driving Africa’s renewal, the progressive Africa Rising narrative and the agenda of inclusive growth.
In line with this understanding, at the South Africa-Italy Summit we ensured the participation of Ministers representative of government, leaders of business and state-owned institutions from our sister countries, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and the Erongo Region in Namibia. This we did as part of promoting regional and intra-Africa Trade and investment as well trade between our region, our continent and leading economies on the globe, in this case Europe.
We are of the view that regional integration, intra-Africa trade and investment are among the key drivers of Africa’s Renewal, the
progressive Africa Rising narrative and inclusive growth. For this reason part of our vision for a transformed, modernised and re- industrialised Gauteng City Region is to be the cutting edge of the fourth industrial revolution on our continent; Africa cannot be left behind in the fourth industrial revolution.
Hon Chairperson, as part of the work we are doing to promote intra- Africa trade and inclusive growth with SADC, last year we hosted a highly successful Invest in Namibia International conference in Johannesburg. We also participated in the same conference held in Namibia.
In addition, we are working with key industry leaders and firms to help Gauteng-based companies access major valued and supply chains within SADC and on the continent. Already, Gauteng is leading the rest of the country in promoting intra-Africa trade. By August 2017, more than 169 Gauteng based businesses had 365 investment projects worth R356 billion across major regions of our continent.
In July this year we hosted the second bi-annual Gauteng Infrastructure Investment Conference, with a dedicated focus on promoting infrastructure investment for intra-Africa trade. This we did because we fully appreciate the role that infrastructure
development plays in unblocking some of the challenges to intra- Africa trade.
Infrastructure is indeed an enabler to greater regional integration and inclusive growth. It facilitates the efficient movement of the people, goods and services.
We are also promoting closer collaboration between regional Chambers of Commerce and Industries, because we are aware that the real drivers of intra-Africa trade and investment are business people themselves supported by a capable and efficient state. As the Africa Economic outlook 2017 Report assets; I quote:
With dynamic private sectors, entrepreneurial spirit, and vast resources, Africa has the potential to grow faster and more inclusively.
Hon Chairperson, promoting social cohesion and nation-building remain some of our key priorities as we build an economically and socially inclusive Gauteng City Region. In 2016, we appointed social cohesion champions, chaired by Judge Yvonne Mokgoro, to work with civil society in addressing problems of racism and xenophobia as well as helping us, build a more socially cohesive Gauteng.
Already, our social cohesion champions have done remarkable work with pupils and parents at the Pretoria Girls High School in response to protests, allegedly related to racism, at the school last year. They are also working with African Diaspora forum to respond to the sporadic incidences of Xenophobia in our province.
In addition, the annual Gauteng Carnival continues to bring together different sectors of society to celebrate our unity in diversity.
This year the Carnival, held in the City of Tshwane, attracted close to 50 000 people, from all walks of life.
We have always maintained that Gauteng is a home for all. We pride ourselves as South Africa’s most cosmopolitan and Afropolitan province – a melting pot of different cultures and traditions.
Hon members, despite the many challenges we face, we are confident that an even better Gauteng is in the making! Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr M KHAWULA: Hon Chairperson, His Excellency, the President, Msholozi, under any normal situation, whenever a President of a country makes an appearance in any forum like this one, it is usually a joyous and an exciting mood to which citizens are thrilled about. To the contrary, your appearance in this House Mr President
is a sombre occasion. Even those who pretend to be excited about your being here are merely bluffing you.
On behalf of the IFP, allow me to invite His Excellency to take a walk down memory lane with us. Under your watch Mr President, South Africa has been involved in such an overload of scandals that South Africans can hardly keep pace with them. Your Presidency has become extremely volatile and has by substantial degrees exceeded its constitutional limits.
During your tenure, South Africa has had, for the first time in the history of our democracy, a President who was declared by the Constitutional Court to have breached his oath of office.
We have had the notorious Nkandla-gate in which the President resisted for a very long time. Time after time, South Africans were informed by the Presidency and the Cabinet that the President had had no knowledge of irregular spending on the project. We were told that there had been nothing unbecoming in the project. There was so much of propaganda and spin, twisting and turning, that even the Presidency and the Cabinet ended up contradicting themselves in their responses on the matter, only in the end, to find out that the
President is conceding and paying back some money. Whether the amount paid back makes sense or not, only time will tell.
Then the stories of the Gupta-gate and Gupta Leaks. At one stage the hon President was questioning what was wrong with his son being a business partner and friend of the Gupta family. The same Gupta family who are the ones reported to have manipulated and looted this country out of billions of rand through the likes of Oakbay and Tegeta.
The hon Deputy Minister Bheki Cele, has publicly stated that some members of the executive, have had to submit their CVs to the Guptas before being appointed to the Cabinet. The same Gupta family have had their privately hired plane land in the Waterkloof Air Force Base which is also a national key point, airbase without any consequences. The same Gupta family who are said to be ultra wealthy, but have had their family wedding financed through the meagre resources of our funds while many poor South Africans go to bed without any meal.
A series of shoddy deals through shoddily arranged meetings have taken place in order for the Gupta family to keep their tabs on every tender and every rand and cent they can manipulatively loot
away resources from our country. All this has been happening under your watch, Mr President, sometimes with instructions from high offices.
South Africa is a developing country with a developing economy. But it is one of the countries with the biggest executive. Unemployment, especially amongst the youth, has grown alarmingly during your time. The inequality gap has widened significantly during your time. The economy of the country has struggled enormously with some industries relocating away from South Africa and some mining industries shredding jobs and closing down. The country’s debt has increased significantly. The Medium-Term Budget presentation by the Minister of Finance was a clear indication of how bad the situation has become in our finances.
Corruption has soured to uncontrollable proportions in government. The state-owned entities, SOEs, have actually become the playground of every thief and corruptor. Under your watch Mr President, irregular and reckless spending leading to maladministration has reached alarming proportions at all levels of government.
Then there is this issue of instability in the country’s leadership and contradictions in policy which is scaring investors. The recent
contradictory statement on the nuclear power between the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Energy has been so unbecoming. And, for example the State President dismissed the much respected and competent hon Nhlanhla Nene as the Minister of Finance. This impacted heavily in a negative way towards retarding the economy of the country. Then the President unceremoniously dismissed Minister Pravin Gordhan, another esteemed Finance Minister, with his Deputy hon Jonas. All these reckless decisions disturbingly contributed to the sluggish growth and drawback of the country’s economy and the further downfall of the rand.
Your kind of thinking cannot be matched to any, Mr President. Only President Zuma could have the audacity to appoint a State Security Minister who is being investigated by the Hawks on a possible charge of corruption.
With all the doom and gloom happening in South Africa right now, the leadership of the country by our Presidency has shattered all hopes of a prosperous future. However, not all is lost since the electorate is the final arbiter of our actions as politicians. What the electorate did in the 2016 local government elections, of gradually cutting down the one party hegemony in the affairs of our
country, is what we can look forward to in the 2019 general elections.
Referring to the current scenario in our country, this is what Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said last week and I quote, “Dark as it is, there is always hope which must be matched with action. Hope matched with action sustained us during the struggle. It must sustain us now.” Hence, our hopes for rescue operation from the reigns of political expediency driven by individualistic desire of self-enrichment and naked political ambition are pinned on the electorate judgement in 2019. The IFP hopes that these will usher in the real pragmatic principles of multiparty democracy in South Africa. I thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Mr D M STOCK: Hon Chairperson, the President of the Republic, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, the Chairperson of the Council, Ma’am Thandi Modise, the Premier of the Eastern Cape, hon MECs, Speakers and Deputy Speakers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I actually rise to participate in this important debate, being inspired by the fact that the ANC has declared this year, as The Year of O R Tambo. It is by no exaggeration that the intellectual and the philosophical genesis of the Constitution and its institutions that we so celebrate today can only be traced in
the footprints of this giant of the revolution, the late Oliver Reginald Tambo.
From the exploratory talks with the selected influential groups of the Afrikaners to the drafting of the constitutional guidelines for the postapartheid South Africa, O R Tambo never ceased to champion the kind of society where all can live together in common brotherhood. We owe it to the legacy of O R Tambo and his generation to defend the Constitution and the legacy of South Africa beyond the
23 years being in a democratic state.
We also need to condemn with the highest possible terms the display of the apartheid regime flag and the singing of the then Die Stem the then national anthem, 23 years into democracy. It is shameless and it does not have a place into a democratic society.
The last 23 years of our democracy, Parliament has become a narrative of identity formation, institution-building and also the consolidation of the political freedom. We did these not because we chose to, but as part of aligning our institutional culture, systems and structures with the fundamental values and principles of the Constitution. Part of what we celebrate with great sense of pride is
the evolution of the internal institutional oversight mechanism of Parliament.
Now hon Chairperson, I think I just need to clarify one thing and draw a distinction between two narratives: Firstly, there are political parties with different political ideologies; secondly, there are different schools of thought, they are those who are taught to apply for positions to be in politics and those who voluntarily volunteer to be part of a political organisation. [Interjections.]
Now, the organisation that I represent here in Parliament, that is the ANC, through its youth formations, has actually taught us politics and I am speaking about the correct politics. Now, what we have seen here today, there is one hon member without mentioning the name of that particular hon member came and demonstrated and showed us the dangers of getting into politics through an application for a position. I think that must be condemned. [Applause.]
The second thing also that needs to be condemned, that hon member when at the podium said to us in all sundry, and I think the hon member was misleading us and he said, “The annual address of the President has actually left me cold.” I want to disagree with the
hon member with the temper and the populist character that he displayed at the podium. It showed to us that the member was hot. The President left him in a very hot condition. [Applause.]
We also need to raise one issue with these hon members that come to the podium. I have seen it with the speaker that came before me, he comes to the podium and totally takes an off ramp, you know. We are discussing here a very important topic of the annual address of the President and these are very serious matters of national importance. The President comes once or twice in a year to us as the NCOP. We need to actually ... [Interjections.]
Mr W F FABER: On a point of order, Chairperson.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Sorry hon Stock let me take hon Faber. Hon Faber, why are you standing?
Mr W F FABER: Hon Chair, I am standing on a point of clarity. The annual address of the President; the Deputy President was doing the annual address. This is a debate on the annual address.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Faber. Order hon members! Hon Faber, hon Faber, you know what you are doing is wrong and it is
against the rules of this House. Refrain from doing that. Continue hon Stock.
Mr D M STOCK: Thank you very much, hon Chair. The other thing, we need to school some of the hon members of this House, hon Chair. When we get an opportunity to be at the podium and be part of the debate and I think it is a point that needs to be emphasised - when we are from political parties with different political ideologies, when we come to the podium, and for opportunistic reasons we choose to quote certain leaders that are heroes and heroines of the struggle for liberation, we must caution that you must also include as part of the list include the Verwoerd’s, the Malans, the Jan Van Riebeecks and their ships the Dromedaries, the Rygers and the Goede Hoops those are also supposed to be included in the list. [Applause.]
Do not be ashamed of yourself when you come here and you want to quote O R Tambo and Nelson Mandela, but you quote them selectively. [Laughter.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon members, Order!
Mr D M STOCK: You quote those heroes selectively. It is important that we need to remind you that they are important. Do not forget your history and one of your own. They are important, do not forget them. One of the hon members came to the podium and also for one or two reasons, decided to off ramp. I made a point earlier on that this is a very serious topic for discussion. We do not need to come here and want to score cheap political points. The hon member, instead of reading the book and I am sure the book and that he held here high in the sky; he has not even read a paragraph of that book. [Interjections.]
However, because he wants to come here and insult our President, he feels comfortable to come here today and show us the books and all kinds of things. One of the hon members from the other political party, when the President was busy addressing the nation and addressing the NCOP, all of them came with books today and we have taken note of that fact. [Interjections.]
I am also quite happy hon Chairperson, by the response that the President gave in the National Assembly, NA, when answering the questions to this new phenomenon of coming to the House with books and relying on them for political expediency, the President made it
very clear in the NA that his responsibility is not to answer books. [Applause.]
There are many books that have been written in the name of the President. I think today the President must give the same response to these hon members. He must give the same response to them because it is a growing phenomenon that is happening all over where the President is going, you will see a lot of people carrying books and those are books that have not being read. I think that point needs to be made here.
Under the ANC leadership the allocation to National Student Finance Aid Scheme, NSFAS, was increased from R4,5 billion in the 2015-16 to R11,389 billion, in the 2016-17 financial year. It is another good story that we need to tell. Under the ANC leadership also, in terms of the higher education the ANC-led government has delivered the University of Mpumalanga and the University of Sol Plaatje in the Northern Cape and the University of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, and the Health and Allied Sciences University in Gauteng. [Applause.]
We are also quite cognisant that there are hon members who also want to make it their business again for opportunistic reasons to go
around and want the President of the Republic to run ahead of processes in relation to the Heher Commission Report. I want to make this point today that the President must not be put under pressure by such people. The President must follow all processes and consult all the stakeholders.
Like for an example I serve in a Committee on Education and Recreation. Once the President has pronounced in the report hon members, let us not run ahead of processes, we will yes, get our opportunities as members serving in the committee and we will get an opportunity as members serving in the different portfolios to also make our inputs and comments in the report. So, I think it is quite unfortunate for some of us to run and want to put our President under pressure for only reasons known to you.
On that note hon members, I think under the ANC leadership government, we have delivered a lot of progress and this annual address of the President today as the ANC, we fully support it. [Applause.] We think it is important and a good thing that the President has actually delivered it. On that note hon Chair, let me thank you for giving me such a wonderful privilege. Thank you, very much. [Applause.]
Mr I MEYER: Hon Chairperson, hon President, hon Premiers, MECs, Speakers, members of this House, thank you very much for this opportunity to address the National Council of Provinces, NCOP. This is an important House and this is an important debate taking place here today. But this debate comes at a time when South Africans from all walks of life are attempting to deal with the daily bombardment of bad news. As depressing as it may seem, I am of the view that this crisis presents a unique opportunity because in politics we often say “Don’t waste a good crisis.”
I view this as an important debate. To honour the past, to learn from the past but to live in the future and that future is inclusive growth, sustainable growth and smart growth. In this context, Western province has been consistently investing in infrastructure, education, skills development, health and social welfare and these has become the agents of economic growth and the conditions for favourable economic development. Our inclusive growth links to urban and rural economies.
In this particular regard, we have the biggest soft fruit industry in the Southern Hemisphere in this province. When you have the biggest soft fruit industry in the Southern Hemisphere, you must link the rural economy with the urban economy. That’s why through
our space of governance framework we have looked at that infrastructure requirements because the biggest soft fruit industry needs to be exported to the urban market through Cape Town. So, we have invested the best road infrastructure to support the rural economy to transport their products into the harbour of the Western Cape. [Interjections.] That’s what we have done – the best infrastructure to support inclusive growth.
HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Meyer, sorry. Hon members, hon Ndzimande, we can’t be drowning him. You are protected hon Meyer. Continue hon member.
Mr I MEYER: Thank you hon Chair. Our inclusive strategy include linking the small businesses with the big businesses because we believe in small and medium enterprise development. Our growth strategy is also influenced by sustainable growth. Our key policy, adopted by our Cabinet, that supports sustainable growth as we have looked at the growth potential of towns and regions because different towns and regions have different economy compared to advantages.
It is in that context that we invested so that we can have multiplication of that economic growth we call a symmetrical
approach to the economic development. In addition, sustainable growth supports our biodiversity, our ecosystems as well as the coastal economies and our natural resources. This is more living into the future of this growth and it speaks to smart growth. This involves the performance of quality education outcomes, strengthening of research and promotion of E-Learning and the knowledge transfer in the digital economy. We are now living in the 21st century – knowledge economy and we have to make provision for infrastructure in the Information Communication Technology, ICT, and broadband.
For the next three years I have budgeted R1,6 billion to support the smart growth digital economy. But more important, our strategy is also to promote Project Khulisa and in terms of Project Khulisa we have looked at where is your competitive strength in your regional economy and we have identified three sectors to support that growth. These sectors are: agri-processing, tourism as well as oil and gas.
Tourism which focuses on boosting awareness in key markets sectors, improving accessibility to Cape Town and regions and boosting attractiveness through competitive product offerings and compelling packaging; 1,5 million international tourists travelled to the province, which is an increase of 18,5%. The increase of foreign
arrivals resulted in foreign increase by 21,6% to R18,1 billion in 2016. Approximately 26 618 jobs were added tourism economy of the Western Cape.
In terms of agri-processing, this is a big economy. We have identified the Halaal global food market specifically also targeting the Southern Hemisphere, the biggest Muslim population is Indonesia with 200 million people. We are targeting that particular economy.
The global Halaal food park is making progress. Here in the Western Cape the economy is growing. We are also doubling our value of wine and brandy exports to China and Angola and increasing our local capacity to produce agricultural goods for the domestic and international markets.
In 2015, the agri-processing sector contributed R21 billion to the regional economy here in the Western Cape and an increase of R444 million from 2013. Western Cape fruit exporters, except grape, increased its share of the world exports, increasing from R3 billion in 2001 to R25,9 billion in 2016. The global Halaal food market made up 16% of the total global food consumption. The Western Cape economy is making progress. Oil and gas which will drive the infrastructure, skills development and enterprise development as well as marketing condition and promoting the ease of doing
business, we have instituted and offer reduction of red tape. Through that red tape reduction we have already unleashed millions of rand in the economy by stopping the red tape. The Western Cape economy is growing.
Other practical examples to facilitate inclusive growth, the subject of this debate here, we have now six Halaal Outward Missions, 9,5 litres of wine sales in China, 1,5 million litres of wine sales in Angola during 2016-17, the Halaal Industrial Park Investor prospectus have been developed for expansion site, expansion of the Brandvlei Dam capacity project ready for implementation, ten new direct flights into Cape Town International Airport, economic impact of conference bids raised by R425 million in 2016.
In terms of oil and gas, the Western Cape economy is growing. We have already secured many potential investors and R9 billion will flow into the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone, IDZ. We have also completed the back of port infrastructure linking the bridge and road network. We are making progress in terms of inclusive growth, sustainable growth and smart growth.
The key focus of the Saldanha Bay IDZ is to see the region of Saldanha Bay and port of Saldanha Bay as a hype of industry and
logistics were the surrounding communities and businesses can benefit from sustainable and inclusive growth.
Chairperson, I agree with the Centre for Development and Enterprise. We as a nation in South Africa must get South Africa back on track. There is no use to sugar code these realities. But how can we get South Africa back on track? Seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are now on the African Continent. We must reintegrate the South Africa economy into the regional economy and we can generate 1% Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth by just reintegrating the South African economy into the regional economy by simply focusing on Southern Africa. But how do we get South Africa on track?
Here are some ideas for this House:
We must drive institutional reform through good governance and state owned enterprises;
We must not make any further investments in nuclear because that is madness;
We must facilitate Independent Power Producers, IPP, to invest more in renewable energy;
We must reduce the government’s wage bill as it is killing the economy in South Africa;
We must increase our productivity;
We must stop corruption and must start putting politicians in jail; [Applause.] and
We must promote infrastructure-led growth to stimulate job creation.
Here in the western Cape we have budgeted R20,8 billion for infrastructure-led growth because that gets people into working. More importantly, as the MEC for Finance, I have now systems in place to monitor every single infrastructure project in the Western Cape in all 30 municipalities and all 11 departments because we are serious about repairs and maintenance as part of infrastructure development.
We have to be very honest in our assessment ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J NYAMBI): Hon MEC, I’m afraid, your time has expired.
Mr I MEYER: Thank you hon members. [Applause.]
Ms N MAHLANGU-MABENA: Chairperson, greetings to the hon President of the Republic, His Excellency, J G Zuma, hon Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Thandi Modise, the Premier of the Eastern Cape, MECs from various provinces, Members of the NCOP, lotjhani. [Good afternoon.]
IsiZulu:
Iqaqa alizizwa ukunuka, indlu yegagu vele ihlala inetha. Bayakhuluma la kodwa bakhohlwa iKhayelitsha. Anginongena kakhulu kuKhayelistha ngoba abantu babantu basenkingeni laphaya eKhayelitsha.
English:
Hon Chairperson, we are humbled by the invitation to be in this august and debate about the legacy of the noble and visionary leader of the calibre of Oliver Reginald Tambo who had he been alive this year, would have celebrated his centenary. We are continuing to pay profound heartfelt tributes to this gallant fighter whose leadership gave birth to a free and democratic South Africa and his immense contributions unequivocally paralysed the apartheid regime.
It therefore becomes imperative for all of us South Africans to continue telling the story of OR Tambo so that people and future generations could indeed know that there was once a progressive leader from the village of Nkantolo in the Eastern Cape who never surrendered the quest to liberate our country and he sacrificed a lot so that our people could be free from the skunk of apartheid. We need to ensure that the words of one of our departed icons, Tata Nelson Mandela who said when we laid to rest Tambo in 1993 that “Let all of us who live say that while we live, OR Tambo will not die, are realised”.
The ANC-led government has honoured Tambo for his role in liberating our country and we are pleased that this year among other things, his stature was unveiled by the honourable President, His Excellency, Gedleyihlekisa Zuma at the OR Tambo International Airport and this will ensure that his legacy lives on. [Applause.] Tambo was recognized across the globe as a leader of the oppressed masses of our people and it is pleasing to see all South Africans from all walks of life paying unreserved tributes to him. We therefore have to look at leaders like OR Tambo to be inspired to eliminate all forms of racism in our country and collectively work towards achieving social cohesion and together address challenges
that continue to frustrate us like poverty, inequality and unemployment.
IsiNdebele:
Siyathokoza Mongameli siyiMpumalanga, usirhelebhe khulu ngokusakhela iYunivesithi, izokwazi ukobana isisize sikghone ukufunda, siqede iintjhijilo ezimikhakhantathu esiqalene nazo sibabantu abanzima. [Iwahlo.]
English:
As we deepen unity in our country and work towards Africa’s renewal in honour of Tambo, we need to ensure that our people are lifted from poverty through radical economic transformation so that our economy could benefit all sectors of our population. We need to reverse the economic imperatives brought upon by the apartheid regime and ensure that there is economic inclusivity in all sectors.
Freedom and democracy without economic freedom will never be sufficient as our people need to have access to means of production and this will give a just practical expression of a free people. We must ensure that as we honour Tambo, we restore land back to the people and we are happy that the ANC-led government is redistributing our land accordingly to ensure that our people have
access to land. OR Tambo served among best leaders in our movement and he continually engaged with world leaders but he was always humble and afforded all comrades an opportunity to put their views across and accordingly engaged them.
Ours is to emulate his leadership and not undermine the will of the people as that is what will deepen democracy in our country. As true democrats, it is upon all of us to deepen democracy by safe guarding institutions that are meant to protect our democracy and eliminate the opportunistic tendencies of supporting democracy only when our will prevails. As we honour Tambo, we call on the youth in our country to follow in his footsteps as he was elected in the national executive committee of the ANC at the age of 30 and he was also elected as the Secretary General of the ANC aged 36 and he led a disciplined militant offensive against the apartheid regime and therefore young people must be disciplined agents of change in our country.
IsiNdebele:
Ingasi abanetjhada njengo mhlonitjhwa ogade alapha.
English:
South Africa today needs vibrant ideas that will respond to challenges that our people face in their day to day lives and working together, we will make our country better and better in honour of Oliver Reginald Tambo. Ngiyathokoza. [I thank you.] [Applause.]
Cllr B STOFILE (Salga): Hon Chairperson, hon President of the Republic of South Africa, Chairperson of the NCOP, sis Thandie, members of the Cabinet present here, Premier of the Eastern Cape, Phumulo Masualle, MECs, members of the NCOP, it is a great opportunity for us as South African Local Government to be given an opportunity to participate in the President’s address.
This year, the year of Oliver Tambo, we celebrate a life unlike any other, a true giant of our liberation, an internationalist par excellence. As the people of South Africa, we remain eternally indebted to O R Tambo and many other struggle icons, heroes and heroines for their sacrifices in pursuit of a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa. Oliver Tambo dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of not only political freedom, but also of justice and economic emancipation for all. He understood that political freedom would be of little value for as long as the majority of
black Africans remained poor and marginalised. Addressing the 60th congress of the SACP in 1981 Oliver Tambo had this to say:
The objective of 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. 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. It is therefore a fundamental feature of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political democracy; and our drive towards national emancipation must include economic emancipation.
As we remember this great icon, there are many lessons that we must learn from this leader which he passed on to all of us. Oliver Tambo taught us about the power of dialogue over physical confrontation; the power of ideas; the power of reason; but, most importantly, the need to study not only those who agree with you, but also those who don’t. The hard sacrifices of Oliver Tambo will be in vain if we do not emulate the values he stood for.
Hon President, today we face a different struggle, that of chronic levels of unemployment, poverty, and growing inequality. What makes our modern day challenges even more peculiar is that they are racial in character, in that the levels of poverty are indeed linked to race and geography. It is indeed these injustices that Oliver Tambo fought so hard against in his pursuit for a South Africa that is free from racial prejudice and one where there is equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed or social status. Oliver Tambo also led an ANC delegation to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, in Ethiopia in 1963. The OAUs at that time contained values that Oliver Tambo stood for and these values are still relevant today for Africa and South Africa. That is to promote unity and solidarity of African states; to consolidate and intensify their co-operation and efforts to achieve a better life for all (the) people of Africa; to defend their sovereignty, their territory, integrity and independence; and to eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa.
Our future as a country, as an economic bloc, as a continent, is premised on the wellbeing of all our neighbour states and all African states. For this reason we call for greater unity of action at every level of state and government.
At the level of local government, we need greater dialogue and understanding of regional and intraregional competitiveness. An understanding of the local governments and their economies, especially adjacent to our borders and border towns, is a first step. Understanding the regional dynamics along regional corridors is of strategic value. The opportunities and constraints and the role that municipalities need to play in responding to these issues, such as infrastructure requirements, safety, border processes as examples need to be re-examined in the context of stronger trade for the benefit of all regional parties. Our cities need to establish partnerships directly with cities with competitive synergy but also of regional importance.
Important matters, from safety of women and cross-border trades right up to business to business linkages and foreign direct investment while ensuring inclusivity of local labour and business, need to be explored and strengthened. The SA Local Government Association, Salga, and the United Cities and Local Government of Africa, UCLGA, are poised to play an appropriate role in co- ordinating South African and African municipalities for targeted dialogue around African unity and economic integration. The development of a strong SADC economic region should be used as a
precursor for future expansion and subsequent creation of the intra- African trading network.
Admittedly, the vast size of the continent, coupled with poor infrastructure, makes trading at a continental scale extremely challenging. Creating a strong SADC regional bloc could, however, unlock trading opportunities with other trading blocs on the continent. The SADC region is yet to establish itself as a fully functional economic region, and for this to happen, a substantial investment in infrastructure and skills is needed. Added to that is the need to enable ease of movement as to allow free flow of goods, services and people with the aim of creating an integrated economic region.
Regional integration has proved to be a resounding success in many parts of the world and has been pivotal in accelerating regional economic growth, creating jobs, building stronger institutions and reducing poverty and economic disparity. The future of South Africa depends largely on how well it is able to integrate and harness its resources, assets, and it human capital for inclusive development
The key cities, ports, border towns, and regional corridors with the key strategic infrastructure partners such as government departments
and local governments need to work in unison to promote trade and identify key blockages in trade, whether institutional, financial, infrastructural, or from a safety and security perspective. While there have already been greater co-operation, especially from local government along these key nodes and corridors, it is key to ensure inclusive local economic development. Local business and local labour need to be brought online and into the mainstream of key regional initiatives.
Organised local government in South Africa and indeed across Africa through the UCLGA remains committed to honouring the legacy of Oliver Tambo and his counterparts in their vision of African Unity; in implementing and localising the Sustainable Development Goals, the Africa 2063 vision, the New Urban Agenda and the global Climate Change Agreement, all of which are even more important for African renewal because of the vulnerability of our economies and our people. Inclusivity necessarily means localisation - Local Government is both a conduit and agent for localising development. Local government is ready to work government in changing, because people are living in local government. That is why I was so happy to hear the hon member quoting from a book. I thought he was going to quote from recent research done by Salga on the killing of councillors. It is a threat to democracy in our country if you kill
councillors and our women and children, therefore you must forget about communities to have the belief that they are safe. I thank you.
Mr S ZIKALALA (KZN MEC ECONOMIC DEV & TOURISM): Hon Chair, the
President of the Republic of SA, His Excellency President J G Zuma, the Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Thandi Modise, the Premier of Eastern Cape hon Phumulo Masualle, Speakers and MECs present, hon members of the NCOP, ladies and gentlemen, may be before one proceeds, let me make a comment or two just on few issues raised by some who unceremoniously visited this podium. [Laughter.] Among them is an hon member of this House Mr Khawula. Mr Khawula, hon Chair, speaks as if he is not part of those who benefited from the apartheid system. His party, the IFP was part of government during the era of oppression. They had more than two decades to uplift the conditions of the black people, yet they did nothing. [Interjections.] Let me not waste time but thanks to the fact that he knows about the electorate. It was the voters who removed him from being a Mayor of Ugu, hence he is seated here today.
The MEC from Western Cape speaks about infrastructure development; he speaks about road infrastructure delivered in Western Cape by the ANC-led government and the SA National Roads Agency SOC Ltd, Sanral,
under the ANC leadership. [Applause.] Yet, he said nothing. [Applause.] He says nothing about the water crisis which is affecting this province. He says nothing because he knows that they have secured themselves who are the leadership and they have developed even desalination plans which serves only the leadership not the masses.
Hon Chair, we rise to join the millions of our compatriot in South Africa and progressive forces in our continent, the diaspora and elsewhere in the world in honouring and remembering the legacy of the doyen of our struggle for liberation President Oliver Reginald Tambo. As we celebrate the life of Oliver Tambo, we are reminded that President Tambo knew only one political home in this earth, the ANC.[Applause.] We are also cognisant of the fact that not all of those who are today saying Tambo, Tambo, Tambo, embrace his legacy and its course.
Hon Chair, the life of any human kind is shaped by their own living conditions. Today, we celebrate Oliver Tambo whose life was shaped and influenced by the harsh conditions of subjugation and repression suffered by his people. As former President Mandela remarked in his book, Long walk to Freedom, he said and I quote:
To be an African in South Africa meant that one is politicised from the moment of one’s birth, whether one acknowledges it or not. An African child was born in an African Only hospital, taken home in an African Only bus, live in an African Only area, and attended schools Only meant for Africans. When he grows up, he could hold African Only jobs. His life was circumscribed by racist laws and regulations that crippled his growth, dimmed his potential and stunned his life.
That was President Mandela. [Applause.] That is why we must say to the DA today, we are, especially the majority, suffering because of that persistent legacy of the past. [Interjections.] Because of these conditions, President Tambo became the cause and effect of the people’s revolution. The values he espoused did not only descend from heaven, but were a reflection of the material and objective hardship and aspiration of indigenous people.
Chairperson, the theme of this session challenges us to deepen unity in action for the attainment of inclusive growth. Hiding in Karl Marx calls for us not to interpret the world, but to change it. We must accept that close to two decades into democratic dispensation, the unity that characterises our fledging democracy is under severe strain. Just a week ago, we observed some of our white compatriot,
waving the apartheid flag while at the same time burning our country’s flag in protest, claiming that they were protesting against the scourge of crime. In a single day, these white compatriots reminded us that South Africa remains a country of two nations, one of white and affluent, and the other of the blacks, poor and living in appalling conditions. We argue that it is a lack of appreciation of President Tambo’s legacy that we would see these compatriots publicly undermining the sacrosanct symbol of our hard won democracy and further threatening the very unity that is the cornerstone of our society.
Chairperson, I believe we all accept that the apartheid was a system of capitalist exploitation based on national oppression. If we agree we will therefore agree that the main task of eradicating the legacy of apartheid is to alter the ownership patterns by means of production for the benefit of the excluded majority. In this regard, radical economic transformation is a necessary building block for the society we envisage. It is a fact that according to the third quarter outcomes of the quarterly labour survey, the majority of the unemployed are black Africans followed by coloureds then you will have Indians and whites at 16% and 10% respectively.
The poverty statistics point the same trend that poverty affects the Africans followed by coloureds and Indians. Then whites are living in an affluent with better conditions. Surely, anyone serious about inclusive growth would prioritise those who are suffering the harshest brunt of poverty, unemployment and inequality. None of us will argue that this state of affairs is as a result of the persistent apartheid legacy.
IsiZulu:
Namuhla mntwana weNkosi sengathi siyakhuluma nje engazukuthi naningekho oLundi nihlomula kuhulumeni wobandlululo owayekhona. [Uhleko.]
English:
Chairperson, in the year 2013, the provincial government of KwaZulu- Natal conducted an initial inquiry looking at the manner in which the public procurement budgets are spent, and who received the biggest slice. Among the conclusion of the inquiry, the inquiry stated that and I quote:
When one considered the demographics of KwaZulu-Natal, it appears that there is no relationship between procurement expenditure of the province and its demographic profile. According to the 2011
Census, black African accounted for 86,8% of the total population of KwaZulu-Natal, while white accounted for 4,2%, Indians and Asians accounted for 7% and coloureds accounted for one per cent. In terms of economic ownership Africans are at the lowest end. In an ideal world, one would expect procurement spent to reflect the demographics, but, of course, given the history of South Africa the current state of affairs is no surprise. There are fundamental reforms that are necessary to be implemented in order to change the status quo.
It is as a result of this inquiry that KwaZulu-Natal initiated a number of interventions to alter the current situation. This includes Operation Vula and the pilot project of the Radical Agrarian and Socioeconomic Transformation, Raset. These are critical pillars of economic transformation agenda aimed at ensuring that all our people, particularly blacks and Africans benefit from the economy like their fellow white compatriots. Coupled with Operation Vula, we are hard at work on the implementation of the black industrialist programme. We have identified areas such as the automotive sector, agro-processing and ocean economy among the few, as potential areas for black industrialist. In this regard, we welcome the unveiling of one-stop shop which will be conducted by
the President on 18 November this year. This one-stop shop will add to the investment drive of the province.
Chairperson, in KwaZulu-Natal we undertook to roll out an integrated twin programme of social cohesion and moral regeneration. This programme is aimed at uniting the people of the province across racial lines. Racism weakened the fabric of our society and erodes trust and the optimism on which the economic growth depend.
President Tambo would expect us to be at the forefront of the fight to combat racism and any other form of discrimination. This includes Afrophobia wherein, we, South Africans define other people from other part of Africa as inferior. We must know that we are part of Africa and our development is largely depending into working with other states of Africa.
Chairperson, the life of Oliver Tambo will continue to illuminate our path for the next 100 years and beyond. This is made possible as former President Madiba said in O R Tambo’s funeral and I quote:
Oliver lived not because he could breathe; he lived not because blood flowed through his vein. Oliver lived not because he did all the things that all of us as ordinary men and women do.
Oliver lived because he had surrendered his very being to the
people. He lived because his very being embodied love, an idea, a hope, an inspiration and vision.
As we celebrate his centenary, we all must commit and act in accordance with that commitment ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr J W W JULIUS: Chairperson, I have to give it to the ANC today. You really stand by your man. Even though there are grave allegations against Mr Zuma, you stand by your man as the ANC. That’s truly revolutionary and I give it up to you. I salute you. [Applause.] Thank you for clapping. I salute you for acknowledging that you will defend Mr Zuma and not the people of our country. I salute you for defending corruption yet again today. That’s why people are suffering, hon Zikalala, today, after 23 years because you keep on defending corruption - you ignored it. Just like I told you, yesterday, you know the Nkuku revolutionaries.
Chairperson, you know, the President is on record stating that O R Tambo was a kind of leader who served the people with love and selflessness because he knew they owed him nothing; that he was able to lead because of his character, being a disciplined and principled leader.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Mr Zuma and the ANC today. Mr Zuma, the whole world is speaking badly about South Africa. It’s not only South Africans. Even some in the ANC speak bad about you and the government. It’s not only South Africans. I think you need to wake up to that fact, Mr President.
Now, hon Stock, you know, any attempts of potential growth and Africa’s renewal cannot be realised if we have a scoundrel person in charge of this important project. Yes, Chairperson, in Afrikaans we like to call him a skollie [a gangster]. Perhaps some in South Africa and particularly the ANC may still have believe that the man occupying the honourable office of the Presidency was simply a pawn in the Gupta family’s ambitions to take over this office but there can be no doubt anymore that Mr Zuma is in fact the rampokker [gangster] boss — die man in die kokkerdoor [man on the block]. This is what Jaques Pauw was trying to tell us in his book, The Presidents’ Keepers – those that keep the President in power. Hon Stock ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius, take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE NCOP: Chairperson, Rule 46 of this House discourages offensive and unbecoming language. I request you to rule against that conduct. Thanks.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Michalakis, I don’t need your assistance. Can you take your seat? [Interjections.] Hon Julius, can you go back to that sentence that you have said about the President? I want to make a proper ruling. Order, members. Can you read that part where you were referring to the President?
Mr J W W JULIUS: Chairperson, am I on trial here? You can just go to Hansard and we can deal with it later.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius, can you go back to the sentence when you were referring to the President?
Mr J W W JULIUS: Chairperson, I am going back for the sake of your good self. I said, Mr Zuma is in fact the rampokker [gangster] boss.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Can you withdraw that part?
Mr J W W JULIUS: What is the meaning of rampokker [gangster]? Why should I withdraw it? You don’t know the meaning. Tell me why should I withdraw it?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Why do you think I don’t ...
Mr J W W JULIUS: Is rampokker [gangster] a swear word? Can they translate it for you, please?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius, you are going to
... [Interjections.]
Mr J W W JULIUS: No, no, it’s an Afrikaans word, Chairperson, in the dictionary. Can they translate it for you? Why should I withdraw it?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius! Order, members. Hon members! Hon Julius, you are not going to be in the podium debating with me. Can you withdraw that part?
Mr J W W JULIUS: Why should I withdraw it?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Can you withdraw that part?
Mr J W W JULIUS: What is it that I must withdraw?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyamb): Hon Julius, it’s for the last time now. Can you withdraw that part?
Mr J W W JULIUS: Chairperson, I know you want to send me out. So, I will withdraw unconditionally. I will withdraw the rampokker [gangster] part.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order, members. Continue.
Mr J W W JULIUS: But that is what I have suspected all along, Chairperson, that you will protect the President today.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius! Order, members. I don’t need your assistance. Hon Julius, you can’t be casting aspersion on a presiding officer. Withdraw that part that you were saying I am protecting the President. Can you withdraw the part on casting aspersion on a presiding officer?
Mr J W W JULIUS: If that’s what you would like so that you can steal more. I withdraw.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Order, members. Take your seat, hon Faber. Hon Faber, I have made a ruling. Order, members. Hon members, I have made a ruling and if you have a problem with my ruling, there is a procedure. Continue, hon Julius.
Mr J W W JULIUS: House Chair, I leave that. Hon Stock, books are great sources for acquiring knowledge. It’s not your enemy. I can give you this one so that you can read it. It will open your eyes and stop being an Nkuku revolutionary. You seem to be allergic to books. You will never learn something. I wonder how you got here. You don’t even want to read. How did you get here. Are you appointed? You know, Chairperson, but this is why things are happening like this in South Africa.
HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Sorry, hon Julius. Hon members, he is also going to be protected. We are not going to be drowning him. Heckling is allowed but we can’t drown him. You are protected. Continue, hon Julius.
Mr J W W JULIUS: House Chair, this is what is happening in South Africa. Those in power are enriching themselves using state resources and institutions. You keep on denying it in the ANC. Instead, you protect those people than protect the people.
Chairperson, how can we trust the man with our tax money if he has not filed tax returns for years? He is alleged to have received
R1 million per month while he was President and did not disclose it. This is an impeachable offence, Mr Zuma.
Today, the leader of the opposition, the DA, went to look for your declaration of interests, Mr Zuma. Guess, what, it wasn’t there.
I want to challenge you, Mr President, today, to prove your innocence. I challenge you. Can you come to the podium later and undertake to release your tax returns so that South Africans do not speak bad about South Africa. Do the honourable thing and come and tell South Africans, here is my tax, I have paid my tax. How can you spend our money and you don’t want to pay. All of us must pay as South Africans. But the ANC MPs here, pay tax, the man is not paying tax and you say nothing about it. You want to spend our money, sorry. You are also alleged to have aided illicit tobacco smugglers and benefited from the proceeds of illegal income in South Africa, and you used the State Security ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius! I am recognising, hon Dlamini.
Ms L C DLAMINI: Hon Chair, His Excellency, the President is the President, is the honourable, not this man. So, I am ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Julius, it’s the decorum of the House, can you refer to His Excellency in an appropriate manner?
Mr J W W JULIUS: My apology, sir, hon President Zuma. My apologies for that. I almost thought you say this man then I must say is a woman. No, hon President. You know, you want us to speak about unity, economic growth and O R Tambo’s legacy today but the truth always has a way to come out. We know what you want to hide. You keep on with other issues while the looting is going on elsewhere. That’s why yesterday I referred to it as an Nkuku revolutionary. You just eat and eat all the kip kip and you keep the President in his power.
South Africans must by now know that the ANC gave us President Zuma and they continue to defend him just like we saw today. In a DA-led government, we will root out this corruption. It’s the only way South Africans can get a better government. Root them out and we will take out all those criminals like we do in Johannesburg,
Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, where we govern. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Thank you, hon House Chair. Hon Chair, my little knowledge of human anatomy is that a cold man is a dead man. Should I suggest or should I believe that hon Magwebu declared himself dead on this platform?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Mthimunye, can you take your seat. Hon Magwebu! Hon Mthimunye, can you take your seat. Hon Magwebu, why are you standing? Hon Magwebu?
Mr L V MAGWEBU: Thank you hon Chair. I’m standing on a point of order Chair; I’m Magwebu, not Magwevu, that’s my point. Sir I must be addressed properly. Secondly, I want to ask hon Mthimunye if he wants a lecture on science. Can he take a question on that?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): No, no hon Magwebu no. Hon Magwebu, the first part – order members! The first part of your speech is correct we have to refer to you appropriately. On the second part let’s first make sure whether he is ready to take your question, and then you can ask it. Hon Mthimunye, are you ready to take a question from hon Magwebu?
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: I’m not ready Chair.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): He is not ready. Continue hon Mthimunye.
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Hon House Chair, one Italian Marxist, Antonio Franscesco Gramsci, in one of his many letters to his fellow revolutionaries written from prison; imprisoned by one fellow – I believe his DNA has got some relations with the DA in this country
...[Interjections.] [Inaudible.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Sorry, sorry hon Mthimunye! Hon members, if other members are complaining that they can’t hear – no members are complaining that they can’t hear. Let’s have order.
Continue hon Mthimunye.
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Gramsci writes in his letter writing to his fellow comrades outside, and he says “Telling the truth is revolutionary.” The hon the President in his address refers to the fact that the attitude and the outlook of many nations in the world that is negative towards our country is created by the bad mouthing that we do ourselves on the international platforms as Members of Parliament or many other people who represent the country outside.
However, hon President, I think we need to call it by name and throw the bad mouth back; and I think it belongs to the DA. [Laughter.] They chose to be prophets of doom voluntarily. They go to an extent of renting agents. Some of them in their Media houses in this country. They go to an extent of renting academics to write fake books.
They rent some organs of the civil society who will take the government of the day everyday to court. I want to believe, hon Chair, it is all about derailing the democratic project that we, as the ANC are leading in this country; and they are not going to succeed.
This revolution is about the people. It is for the people, and the people led by the ANC will pursue this revolution to the latter.
Chairperson and his Excellency the President, you said in your address that you are just about to release your statement on the free higher education. We want to lobby you, hon President that when you do so, do so in the best interest of the working-class child at higher education level. That will go a long way in deepening our democracy.
You also make a reference, hon President, to the fact that social grants are instruments that are used by the government of the day to alleviate poverty; but one member of the DA stands from this podium and shouts instead of engaging on the subject matter of the day.
Let’s share some statistics with them, Chairperson, this government of the ANC, since 1994 has created more than two million millionaires; this government of the ANC - and I talk black millionaires.
Plus or minus ten million children in this country see their high school education through ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Mthimunye, sorry! Let me take hon Michalakis.
Mr G MICHALAKIS: Thank you, House Chairperson. I was wondering if the member would be willing to take a question.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Mthimunye, are you ready to take a question? Hon members!
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Can I make a categorical statement Chair; I’m not taking questions from agents of oppression.
Mr G MICHALAKIS: Where are you hiding your two million millionaires? You have got two million unemployed extra in the last ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon Michalakis, hon Michalakis! No, you can’t be doing that without being recognised. Continue hon Mthimunye.
Mr S G MTHIMUNYE: Chairperson, this ANC government since 1994 - although there has been job loses, but this ANC government has been hard at work trying to create jobs; and some jobs have been created in this country. The DA knows that, but then chooses to ignore that.
In your statement, hon President, you also made reference to the fact that the struggle was not about political freedom only, it was also about the economic freedom.
We agree with you fundamentally, hon President, and we agree with the radical economic transformation programme that you referred to
as policy of government; and we want to emphasise the fact that this is necessary for the working-class hon President.
The structure of the ownership of the economy of this country cannot remain in the hands of the few white minorities. [Applause.] It cannot happen, and we are expected to smile, at least. We must change the structure of the ownership of the economy of this country without being apologetic, and we must just do that.
Hon House Chairperson, the hon President in his address made reference to the fact that this year, as a country, we are celebrating hundred years of our colossus Oliver Tambo; but he also made reference to the fact that we would be celebrating hundred years of the life of another colossus of the ANC’s former President Mandela in 2018, if he was alive.
I thought one of the DA speakers who came here would also make reference to some history of the DA, how bankrupt are they, historically and politically; and they wasted an opportunistic moment of taking the podium and reclaim their history of contributing to the liberation of this country; but instead they chose to say nothing.
Hon Chairperson of the NCOP Ms T R Modise paid tribute to the working class women of this country whom I sometimes refer to as flowers of our revolution. She paid tribute to the contribution they have made to the liberation, not only of the working-class but also of the most oppressed people in the country – the women, especially the working-class women. We want to salute you hon Chairperson of the NCOP on that score.
We want to recognise the fact that the struggle should continue in this country to liberate our women, because we actually want to believe these are the people who are most economically oppressed; and this is a gender in society that is still experiencing oppression even in their own households by people who claim to love them.
We want to believe, Chairperson that the ANC-led government is on course in trying to mitigate against these unbecoming situations to totally liberate a working-class women in this country.
I will not bore and waste your time, hon House Chair, responding to what hon Khawula would have addressed. I think Comrade Sihle Zikalala would have sufficiently addressed hon Khawula.
I regard hon Khawula with high respect, and I have high respect for the leader of the IFP, but I think hon Khawula lost an opportunity to give the best of the farewell speeches to his IFP leader as he goes in retirement.
Chairperson, many books have been displayed in this House today. My worry is my understanding on the teachings I received from my political educators that I should not read books that are developed or authored by agents of oppression.
Although in the teachings of Gramsci it is necessary to understand the colour of the enemy, it is also important to understand the smell of the enemy; and it is therefore necessary to bring it closer and listen to it as it suffers on its own dreamland.
Hon Meyer also lost a golden opportunity to make a reflection on this national debate, which is about the national questions rather than the provincial questions. He made reference to the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone Saldanha, IDZ. That project is a national project of the Department of Trade and Industry, and it is informed by Operation Phakisa, which is the brain child of the Zuma administration, an economy that was never explored before. [Applause.] [Time expired.]
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Thank you very much, Chair, for the opportunity for me to say something at the end of the debate. My understanding is that our Parliament is an area from which we discuss the matters of the country. It is a place where opposition parties must use the opportunity to present, in whatever discussions, their alternative policies, their approach and objectives so that they can influence the voters in the country during the elections to vote for them. Each and every opportunity they get they should be persuading the voters. The problem that I have with the opposition parties is that they don’t use the time for the benefit of their parties, but also my problem is that they think that talking about one person for the whole year, the second year, the third year and just one person, they think that it is an important thing whilst the country is facing a lot of challenges.
They are not constructive so that in the opposition you can learn something. That is a problem that I always face when I deal with the opposition that what is it that is useful that we can gain or learn from this opposition. They are now have a new tendency of carrying the books that written ... [Laughter.] [Applause.] ... by people who are speculating rumours, allegations and they actually believe attested facts. Why? They do so because they have nothing to say.
Therefore, they have got to be mimicking the authors who have written some books.
The country is faced with the big challenge. What do you do with such opposition parties, really? We are dealing here with important matters of unity in this country. We are dealing with one of our leading leaders who led with clarity and became heroes and they can’t learn from that because their focus is not to learn. Their focus is something else. They have all the books that you can think of. You know that all they know is to stand up “can I ask the question” because they are always looking at the ANC. Whenever they open their mouths, they are not talking about their parties, what can they do, etc. They are talking about the ANC, always. What can we learn from them really? Nothing, nothing ... [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You can learn honesty from them.
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: There is no honesty. You can’t learn any honesty. They have got nothing. They have got no honesty. You can’t even talk about your history that you were one of the oppressors. You must be saying, please forgive us we were wrong. You must also be saying that we realised our mistakes. If you were
honest, you would be saying that we realise our mistake and then you will be apologising. There is no honesty.
Mr J W W JULIUS: Sorry, hon President, I see you are wrong, but Chairperson, the President is casting aspersions of other members by saying that they are dishonest. Can you please ask the President to withdraw like you asked me to withdraw, please?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Hon members, I don’t need any assistance and I’ve been very consistent to say that there is no aspersions, let us allow the President to continue. Continue, hon President.
The PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: Thank you very much. Now, even if you want to help them by telling them what is happening in the country, when you are talking they are not listening. I don’t think they have got the capacity to listen or to differentiate the wrong and the right. We are faced with the problem. Of course, to run a country is not an easy matter because you have got to carry all the citizens even those who are just fellow travellers in the process of going to prosperity. Just carry them. [Applause.]
Firstly, the ANC government in this country since 1994, has had to deal with the problems created by apartheid. We are still dealing with them. There are serious problems. People talk about the economy, whatever problem the economy is facing and they don’t tell you that, in fact, this economy was mismanaged by apartheid in a big way. Huge majority of this country were deliberately excluded from the economic activities. That is why we have got problem today to talk about unemployment was created deliberately. That is why we have got people today who don’t have skills because they were not allowed to empower themselves with education because the policy was that you can’t educate them because we never do the work that belongs to the whites. That is why we have many people who are struggling with education. That is a problem that we are faced with.
They can’t face those facts and they don’t want to hear. Of course, they have got others who also had some governments which were called homelands governments. I don’t know what type of government - homeland government. We have got the country, the government and we have got this place where there is a part within the country, where there is a home of some people then you are given a government. They don’t even talk about that to say that we came from a problem and you helped us. They are standing here precisely because they can’t say anything and they must talk about individuals. It is unfortunate
situation that we are faced with. That is our opposition. Unfortunately, they will never grow, precisely because of that behaviour. They will only have very limited votes just to give them a small little time in government. The ANC will always win because it talks about the issues of the people.
As we made the presentation here we were saying what we have done. We were giving a report of what this ANC has done. They can’t talk about it. They can’t engage it. They must then come with the books. This is the book. This is the book. Yerr!
I would like, Chair, to thank the members who really discussed what were about today because it was important to appreciate where we come from. It was important to say that we are here in our freedom, having moved from the struggle that was waged and led by our hero, President Oliver Tambo, who indeed was one of the architects of our democracy. We are indeed happy that we are finishing the celebration of his centenary. Therefore, we had to give a report of what we have done as the organisation that he led and our caring of the poor people and what we do with little resources to deal with the plight of the poor. Therefore, this is what we do and this is what we are giving this report in the NCOP today and to the country through this House. I’m happy that there are people who came and made serious
contributions to those effects. In other words, we engaged the issues of this country, the issues of life of this country and the conditions of our people. Parliaments are here not to jokes and to come here and talk about anything under the sun. It is a place to discuss the problems of this country and say what the alternatives are.
If you think that the ANC is not doing well, what can you do? Dololo! Nothing! The debate must be a real debate. That is what we must do. We must debate the issues of the country and the issues of the regions. For example, as the region, we have taken a decision as Region Southern African Development Community, SADC, to industrialise the region and we are doing so. Those who wanted to know what we are doing in SADC, we are doing do so to change the quality of lives. South Africa today can participate with the region to develop the economy and to change the quality of lives. In the past, South Africa was there to bomb them, always. That is a problem.
Now, people who know that they can’t discuss anything, therefore, they try to find out and they try not to sleep reading the books, ehe, all the lies and speculations and the imagination of people and then, ahh, that has become a politics to use here. What is the book,
you know? This book, can you say no to this book. Yerr, novels, it is people who sit and just think. It is composition of people. They compose things. Unfortunately, we have a problem.
I was very satisfied, particularly with the quality of the debate of the ANC members. [Applause.] I’m very happy. They added value in the discussions and I’m very happy and I’m sure that the people of this country were listening. Therefore, they know who to vote when time comes. Thank you very much, indeed, Chair. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr A J Nyambi): Thank you, hon members. That concludes the debate. I would like, on behalf the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mme Modise, to thank His Excellency President J G Zuma for availing himself to come and address the National Council of Provinces and our special delegates, members of the executive council, MECs, premiers present today with us here.
Members are requested to remain standing until the procession has left the House. The House is adjourned.
The Council adjourned at 17:41.