Hansard: NA + NCOP - Unrevised Hansard
House: Joint (NA + NCOP)
Date of Meeting: 12 Feb 2019
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 1
TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
PROCEEDDINGS AT JOINT SITTING
Members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces assembled in the Chamber of the National Assembly at 14:02.
The Speaker of the National Assembly took the Chair.
The Speaker of the National Assembly requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation
DEBATE ON THE PRESIDENT’S STATE OF THE NATIONS ADDRESS
The SPEAKER: Hon members, I have received a copy of the President’s address delivered at the joint sitting on the 07 February 2019. The speech has been printed in the minutes of the joint sitting. I now call upon the Chief Whip of the Majority Party.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 2
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon Speaker, His
Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa, The Deputy President who will be joining us, Colleagues in this Legislature and all ministers and Deputy Ministers.
We welcome and congratulate you Hon President for delivering what analysts, ordinary South Africans and media personalities have referred to as a pragmatic, inspirational, comprehensive and wide-ranging State of the Nation Address. President, you spoke to the hearts and minds of all South Africans. You gave hope and optimism to the entire country, the young and the old, black and white, rich and poor, rural and urban.
Professor Kiren Thatiah who wrote an article titled I am South African Again:
After watching and listening to Ramaphosa, I started to feel South African again simply because he acknowledged the importance of South Africanness. I watched the live stream of the state of the nation address and waited for just one admission that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
There was no continentalism or tribalism; it was all about
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 3
South Africans.
Even some of our toughest critiques, hon President, have welcomed your address. Veteran journalist Redi Thlabi wrote:
Even the hardest cynics amongst us, the toughest adjudicator, must concede that Cyril Ramaphosa is very presidential and it is a welcome relief that he demonstrates a grasp of the issues he talks about. He commands the space in Parliament and on the global stage.
Comrade President, these are some of the many positive reactions to your address to the nation last week. You accounted to the people of South Africa about what we have done in the past five years and presented the ANC’s plan to further grow South Africa and indeed, working together, we can and will grow South Africa.
Comrade President, we are in full agreement that as we close the curtain on the first 25 years of our democratic dispensation, we must take stock of the road we have traversed as a young democracy. We must celebrate our achievements, evaluate our missteps and learn from our mistakes. Our 1994
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 4
democratic breakthrough did not come from heaven; it came as a result of the sustained struggles waged by brave men and women who believed in the equality of all races. It is a result of the pain of discrimination, the pain of segregation, the pain of oppression and subjugation, the pain of imprisonment, the pain of exile and the pain of having your loved ones killed for fighting for a just course. The ANC has, through popular campaigns and mass action, earned its right as a leader of these struggles to rid our country of these injustices.
Yesterday we celebrated 29 years since the release of the father of our democracy and our icon, President Nelson Mandela after serving many decades in prison. We fondly remember his inaugural words as the first democratic President of South Africa, where he said:
Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
In 1994, the ANC presented a plan that would put human rights at the epicentre of our democratic Constitution. We committed to working together with the people of South Africa towards a
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 5
better life for all. That plan is called the Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP). In the RDP, we committed, as a first priority, to restoring the dignity of the poor and vulnerable majority by providing basic services such as access to housing, providing clean water and sanitation, electrifying homes, and providing free and quality education and healthcare amongst others.
Although some in the opposition benches would like South Africans to believe that nothing has changed over the last 25 years; the reality is that our ANC government has made great strides in bettering the lives of the people of our country. Our other ANC team members to follow in this debate will provide more detail on how we have vastly improved access to basic services such as water and sanitation, electricity, education and health care.
In pursuit of our founding vision of a better life for all, our 2019 Elections Manifesto makes the following commitments: We will release land at the disposal of the state for site and service to afford households the opportunity to build and own their own homes. The rapid release of land is already being implemented in some ANC-governed provinces such as
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 6
Gauteng. We are fast tracking land reform by implementing our resolutions on the expropriation of land without compensation.
Parliament is already in the process of crafting a constitutional amendment to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to make it explicit that our Constitution allows expropriation of land without compensation. An hour ago, hon Thoko Didiza was elected Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee tasked with amending Section 25 of the Constitution. We congratulate her and wish the committee well as they embark on this historic mission.
Our government has already released a revised Expropriation Bill for public comment. Very soon it will come to Parliament and we are confident that without any hesitation, that Bill will be passed into law. We are also awaiting a Redistribution Bill from our government and we will be passing the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill that is currently before the NA during this term of Parliament.
We will continue to prioritise the roll-out and provision of water infrastructure to ensure availability of clean water to all South Africans, particularly in villages and rural areas.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 7
In ensuring safer communities, the ANC will increase police visibility in our communities by increasing the number of men and women in blue. We will also target drug syndicates through the implementation of the National Anti-Gang Strategy and the revised National Drug Master Plan.
Our matric pass rate has climbed substantially over the past
24 years. We have gone from achieving a 53,4% pass rate in 1995 to 78,2% in 2018, the highest ever since the dawn of our democracy. We thus congratulate the Class of 2018, our Department of Basic Education under the able leadership of Minister Angie Motshekga and all stakeholders including our hard working educators for this great achievement.
Hon Speaker and hon Chair of the NCOP, touching on the economic front, since 1994, we have seen sustained growth, tripling the size of the economy and improving the GDP per capita. The black middle class has grown significantly, thanks to progressive policies by our movement on Affirmative Action, black industrialisation, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, BBBEE and gender equality. We welcome the economic activism demonstrated by you President, through your pronouncement of plans to reinvigorate the economy, attract
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 8
foreign investment and create much needed jobs, especially for our young people.
The crisis at our power utility Eskom, is a cause for concern as it negatively affects our economic ambitions. We are nonetheless hopeful that our government will act swiftly to arrest this situation especially the current episodes of load shedding.
Hon members and fellow South Africans, since President Ramaphosa took over the reins a year ago, he appointed a series of commissions of inquiry to deal with graft and corruption. Most important among these are the Zondo Commission, the Nugent Commission, the Makgoro Commission and the PIC Commission. We must respect the work of these commissions and not have running commentary that seeks to second guess what they are doing.
As reaffirmed by the resolution of the 54th Conference of the ANC, where the ANC committed to decisively deal with corruption both in the private and public sector, we welcome the President’s announcement of the establishment of an investigative directorate dealing with serious corruption and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 9
associated offences in accordance with Section 7 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act. In the same breath, we join millions of patriotic South Africans in welcoming Advocate Shamila Batohi as the National Director of Public Prosecutions, NDPP. She must not be deterred by some unscrupulous and mindless opposition party members who try to draw her to their political wars. Advocate Batohi has our full support as the majority in this Parliament. We will give our support to the NPA and other law enforcement agencies in fighting corruption in all its forms and manifestations precisely, because we believe, as you believe Comrade President, that corruption in the public sector robs the poor and derails the achievement of our vision of a better life for all.
Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of the Ethics Institute, says that:
Under President Ramaphosa, we have ethical and moral leaders who are acting as a bulwark against corruption.
It is these men and women who are acting to clean our state- owned entities from malfeasance and corrupt activities. It
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 10
is these men and women who have taken on the corruptors and corruptees alike in both the public and private sector.
With you Comrade President, leading from the front, who deserves not only our praise as a nation but are a constant reminder that there are people of goodwill in the corridors of power who will stand up in defence of our dream for a better life for all, as promised in 1994. It is these men and women who make us believe that a post state capture South Africa is about to be born. To borrow the words of Professor Rossouw yet again:
It is a cause for delight to see that people do not get away with these kinds of shenanigans indefinitely. It is good to see that corruption is not sustainable, and that corrupt dispensations always produce the seeds of their own demise. All these testimonies in the various commissions give one a sense of hope that corruption can be stopped and that we can build the integrity of key public and private sector organisations.
Hon Speaker and hon Chair of the NCOP, as those who believe in the Holy Scriptures would say, “the path to redemption is
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 11
through the cross.” As shocking as the testimonies in the various commissions appear to be, as the ANC, we are totally convinced and resolved that we must go through this pain to save our country from the clutches of state capture operatives both in the public and private sectors. All those implicated in wrong doing by testimonies before the various commissions, including those who are in our own ranks, must and should give their own credible versions to the commissions regarding these allegations.
We fully agree with you President that alleged criminality must swiftly be followed by investigations by our law enforcement agencies. Comrade President, we welcome your pronouncement to urgently reconstitute a professional national intelligence service in the interest of serving our country.
It is only through a comprehensive clean-up campaign as already embarked upon by our state that we will be able to gain the confidence, not only of South Africans, but also of those foreign investors who intend investing in our economy. The fight against graft and corruption is therefore necessary for growing South Africa.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 12
Hon President, last week you announced the 08 May 2019 as the date for the next National and Provincial Government Elections. In the next three months, the ANC will intensify its campaign to receive a renewed mandate from the people of South Africa to continue governing this country. We have in a very short space of only 25 years, truly democratised South Africa under the stewardship of the ANC. Our pursuit of a nonracial, nonsexist, united democratic and prosperous South Africa is what has guided and continue to guide our work as a governing party.
The ANC is the only truly democratic political formation in this House. As all parties prepare for elections, it is only the ANC which has had a completely democratic and transparent process towards the selection of candidates for public office. The irony of a party which refers to itself as the DA, repeatedly silencing vocal black women is indicative of their true nature; which is a white male dominated party only concerned with protecting and entrenching white privilege. The DA fronts black faces to pursue the agenda of the white privileged minority to the detriment of black majority. Their latest victim, Patricia de Lille likened the DA to Animal Farm where the white race is far more equal than the black race. In
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 13
short you were likened to a racist party. Another victim of DA racism is former City of Cape Town Chief Whip, Shaun August who said:
My decision does not come lightly considering the two years of struggle, discrimination and double standards that I have been subjected to by the DA.
This proves that the DA remains the epitome of white male privilege. The common denominator between the DA and their alliance partner, the EFF, is that they are both male dominated. The EFF is a two men-dictatorship... [interjections]
HON MEMBER: You are crook dominated, you are crooks dominated, crooks, everywhere.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: ...where you are fired without due process for merely disagreeing with the dictatorship of the two. In fact, since 2014, the EFF has gotten rid of 19 MPs and a countless number of councillors. Last week, true to their attention seeking behaviour, they claimed that that ANC copied their Elections Manifesto. A
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 14
manifesto which has actually been characterised as the work of crude opportunists, that is incoherent and unimplementable.
Senior research associate Imraan Buccus, referred to it as making “wildly outlandish promises and would bankrupt South Africa in a month”, which in turn would lead to the printing of more money, resulting in an economic and social catastrophe in our country. They call themselves a government in waiting yet behave like men children who go around beating up people. Just last week, an EFF MP, Marshal Dlamini assaulted a police officer outside the NA. We have been informed that a case has been opened and hope that he faces the full might of the law.
Hon MEMBER: We are going to beat you up [Interjections]
The SPEAKER: Order, order.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: In 2018, their Chief
Whip, Floyd Shivambu, assaulted a journalist for just taking a photo of him. The violent child—like behaviour...
Dr M Q NDLOZI: Point of order.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 15
The SPEAKER: Order, order, there is a point of order, can you take your seat hon Chief Whip. What is the point of order hon Ndlozi?
Dr M Q NDLOZI: The hon Jackson...
The SPEAKER: On what rule are you rising?
Dr M Q NDLOZI: A point of order hon Speaker.
The SPEAKER: What is the point of order?
Dr M Q NDLOZI: It is Rule 54. [Interjections]
The SPEAKER: Hon Ndlozi, this is no time for jokes.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: In terms of the ninth edition. The matter of the Deputy President of the EFF is in the DC it is sub judice in Parliament and the hon Jackson Mthembu should know that. He cannot take a conclusion, come here and mislead the country about an assault that did not happen.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 16
The SPEAKER: Take you seat hon Ndlozi, that is not point of order. Hon Steenhuisen.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, I may only have a matric but even I, know that this is a Joint Sitting and it is the joint rules that we are using today. Rule 54 deals with the Joint Rules Committee, perhaps you want to give the hon Ndlozi light coffee.
The SPEAKER: I think it is the appropriate one because it is about the joint rules which he must go and read.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: It is not on the curriculum of a Doctorate in Philosophy
The SPEAKER: Take your seat hon Ndlozi, please proceed hon Chief Whip.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: The violent child-like behaviour of these two members is of the EFF is very much the character of that entire party. They are bullies who have no place in our democracy. The ANC is the only party in this country with equal gender representation. We are also the only
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 17
organisation with people who live with disabilities serving in government and in Parliament. [Applause] Our benches remain the most representative of the democracy.
Ms N V MENTE: Point of order Speaker.
The SPEAKER: Hon Chief Whip, there is a point of order, what is the point of order.
IsiXhosa:
Nksz N V MENTE: Hayi ndifuna ukuxelela uMbhexeshi oyiNtloko ukuba...
USOMLOMO: Hayi xa ufuna ukuxelela umntu...
English:
...you do not raise a point of order.
Ms N V MENTE: The EFF has the highest number of females in all political parties in South Africa.
The SPEAKER: Hon member, take your seat, go on hon Chief Whip.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 18
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Our benches remain the most representative of the demographics of our country, thus giving true meaning to our commitment to a non-racial, non- sexist, united South Africa. The ANC is the only organisation which can take this country forward.
Having been in existence for 107 years, 25 of which we have been at the helm of government, we are the first to admit that we are not perfect. We do not take the votes of the people of South Africa for granted.
The SPEAKER: Hon Chief Whip, your time has expired.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: He is the first to admit that the ANC’s time has expired. [Applause]
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, hon President hon members, fellow South Africans, bagaetso, dumelang.
Do you know, Mr President, I am flattered when you said that we should join a band together, which is what you on Thursday.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 19
But I am not sure it’s going to work out well because what remains true is that you much prefer to sing the ANC’s tune. I personally prefer to sing something more in tune with the people of this country. [Interjections.]
Hon members, I have spent a lot of time on the road recently. I have been meeting our people, traveling from kasi to kasi, discussing the many challenges our people face.
On one such a stop in Diepkloof, Soweto, my visit coincided with ANC campaigners in the area. And as I was talking to a group of young people selling meat, one of them pointed over to the ANC campaigners and said to me, “Sikathele a bo Agrizzi.” [We are tired of Agrizzis.]
This was a young man who was angry and frustrated. He knew instinctively that he, like millions of others in our country, had been robbed by the corruption of this government that sits here on my right. All he desperately wanted was a government that could do the basics. A government that can keep the lights on, keep the taps running, help small businesses like his succeed and help put young people into jobs.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 20
From kasi to kasi, from Mdantsane to uMlazi, the cry is the same for young people. They want change and they want it now. They are tired of their communities becoming dormitories of unemployed labour. They are tired of broken promises. They want action. They are tired of talk shops. They want action and they want it no.
But instead, Mr President, on Thursday you asked our young people ... You said to them, “Watch this space”. That’s what you told us several times during your state of the nation address.
But that’s all you’ve been doing for the past decade. It’s all you’ve been doing during your first year in office — watching and waiting. You have been watching this space as youth unemployment grew to include more than half our young people. You have been watching this space as Eskom fell apart, threatening to plunge our country into a crisis from which we may never recover. You have been watching this space as the Gupta leaks and the Zondo Commission showed how our country was sold out for a braai pack, some beers and a Louis Vuitton bag. [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 21
Throughout all of this, South Africans have been hoping for something to happen. But nothing did and, judging by your track record, nothing will.
You were content to watch as your party robbed us blind, especially in the dark.
Under your ANC, Sona stands for “State of No Action”. We are a state of big promises. We are a state of commissions, task teams and road shows for every possible problem. But, when it comes to actually doing the hard work, we are a state of no action.
Every single state of the nation address — including both of yours to date — has been nothing but a long list of things that sound good, that make us look busy, but with very limited action. And I don’t think that is what you want, Mr President.
I’m sure you would love to preside over a government that, in fact, gets things done; a government that, in fact, improves the lives of our people.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 22
But you don’t. You preside over an ANC government that can’t and won’t act. Across towns, cities and provinces, our state is being looted by your party. That’s the ANC citizens will be voting for.
Mr President, it is clear that they are in charge, not you. That’s why you love spending time overseas, because there, the ANC is not around! [Laughter.] When you’re in Davos or being interviewed by the foreign press, you can say whatever you like. But, when you’re back home ...
Setswana:
... ke ANC ya bo-Mabuza, ya bo-Mahumapelo, ya bo-magashule ...
English:
... that’s the ANC that is in charge!
IsiXhosa:
Mnu P J MNGUNI: Somlomo, sicela ucwangco.
English:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 23
The hon member may have to refer to the Deputy President in an appropriate manner. He cannot just refer to members as he pleases.
The SPEAKER: Hon Leader of the Opposition, please do address Members of the House appropriately.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Fair enough.
It’s the ANC’s Magashule, and Deputy President Mabuza and Mahumapelo. And yes, it’s the ANC of Jacob Zuma. That’s who’s in charge.
We all know that this ANC disagrees with you on almost every policy. They believe in the nationalisation of land, the nationalisation of mines and the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank.
We all know you weren’t joking when you said of Mr Magashule: “This is my boss, the real boss. Without him I am nothing.” [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 24
Mr President, we judge a man by the company he keeps. Those are your real friends. [Applause.]
Like too many South Africans, I want to believe your state of the nation address. But I know that you are not in charge. And because of that, all you can do is offer us a revision, while our country desperately needs a new vision for change.
Hon President, we all know our economy needs a dependable supply of electricity in order to grow. I’m sure you’d like to unbundle Eskom, but you know as I do — as you have been promising the last 10 years — that your ANC-aligned unions will not allow you to do that.
I’m sure you’d love to reform our failing education system, but I know for a fact that your colleagues at the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union, Sadtu, will not allow you to do so.
I’m sure you would like to let people like Angelo Agrizzi and his Bosasa colleagues take the fall. What the ANC will not allow you to do is allow people like Dudu Myeni and the hon
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 25
Nomvula Mokonyane to be arrested. They should have been arrested by now. [Applause.]
Mr President, if you cannot even remove the corrupt from your own Cabinet, or from the Bosasa benches, then how can we as South Africans dare to believe you when you say that you are cleaning up government?
Failure to act makes you just another driver of the same broken bus — as is the people of Zimbabwe are fast learning.
When you speak of renewal, you don’t speak of the renewal of South Africa. You speak of the renewal of your party. When you speak of unity, you don’t speak of the unity of the people of South Africa; you speak of the unity of the ANC. And the unity of the ANC comes at the expense of people of South Africa.
You say to all of us that we must watch this space. But the time for watching has come and gone. What the people of this country ... [Interjections.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please take your seat. Is that a point of order, hon member?
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 26
Ms T V TOBIAS: No, hon Speaker, I just wanted to ask the member a question, whether he is in charge. [Interjections.]
The SPEAKER: Wait. We will find out whether he is prepared to take a question. Hon Maimane, are you prepared to take a question?
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: No.
The SPEAKER: No, he is not prepared. [Interjections.] Order! Please continue, hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Mr President, the time for watching and having summits has come and gone. What our people need is action, and they need it now!
You speak of nine wasted years to absolve yourself of the integral role you played as second-in-command. But, let’s be honest. While those years might have been wasted for South Africa, they most certainly were not wasted for the ANC. These were the golden years for the black, green and gold. Everyone made money. Everyone got a security upgrade. Everyone got a new car. Everyone got deals for their family members —
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 27
tenders, shares and positions on boards. Even you and your own son benefitted from Bosasa.
Throughout all of this, Mr President, you were right there.
IsiXhosa:
Ubukhona!
Afrikaans:
Jy was daar!
Setswana:
O ne o na le bone.
English:
You didn’t arrive on the scene only a year ago. Eight times you had the opportunity to save our country from Mr Jacob Zuma, and eight times you voted to protect him. Your record will always reflect you being a 100% percent behind Zuma — a man you described as a very strong President.
You were there, Mr President. You were ...
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 28
IsiXhosa:
Ubukhona!
Setswana:
O ne o le teng.
English:
You were there as our national debt skyrocketed to almost R3 trillion. You were there as we dipped in and out of
recession while our peers — both here in Africa and throughout the world — raced ahead of us. You were there as our unemployment rate simply just grew and grew.
Today, almost 10 million South Africans cannot find work. Today, four out of every 10 adults in our country do not work.
What worries me the most is that this morning’s headlines say that you were shocked when the lights went off. How can you be shocked when you were there and you watched the destruction of Eskom? You were there, Mr President. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 29
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, please take your seat. Yes, hon member, what’s your point?
Mr P J MNGUNI: Hon Speaker, in terms of Rule 14(l), a member is to address the Chair. The hon member has now left this Joint Sitting. He’s now addressing the President directly ... [Interjections.] ... in contravention of Rule 14(l). Thank you. He must please address the Chair.
The SPEAKER: Thank you, hon member. Please proceed, hon Maimane, and note the point that was raised by the Deputy Chief Whip.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Hon Speaker, the President can’t be shocked. He told us to watch this space. I want to tell him about a space he must be watching.
On Thursday — on the day of the state of the nation address — millions of South Africans were experiencing a very different nation to the one in your speech. On the day of the state of the nation address, 57 people would have been murdered in our country. On the day of the state of the nation address, 110 people — mainly vulnerable women — would have gone to a police
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 30
station to say they had been raped. On the day of the state of the nation address, 53 children under the age of five would have died. Three quarters of those children would not have seen their first birthday.
Mr President, this is 2019. We should not be speaking of these things. On the day of the state of the nation address, over
30 million South Africans who live below the poverty line would have struggled to afford the very basics to survive.
Setswana:
Bana ba rona le bo-abuti ba rona ba tla be ba robetse ka tlala.
English:
...on that night.
On the day of the state of the nation address, 9,8 million people did not even get up to go to work because there is no work to which they could go.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 31
This is state of our nation. Our citizens are the outsiders. They are the forgotten ones. This, Mr President, is the true state of the nation.
Hon President, it doesn’t have to be this way. We, in the DA, have a dream of building one South Africa for all. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
And I want to tell you that we have a plan to achieve that dream. Where we govern, we have already started building this South Africa. While the rest of you talk, we already do.
There is a good reason the Western Cape has an expanded unemployment rate of a full 11% below the next best province, Gauteng. There’s a good reason more than half the jobs created in South Africa in the past year came from the Western Cape.
It’s because we understand what it takes to attract investment and create jobs. It is because we obsess and focus on growth and make sure jobs are created.
We’ve identified agriculture and tourism as key drivers of job creation in the province, and we’ve focused our efforts on these sectors. Over the past five years, almost 27 000 jobs
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 32
were added to the tourism sector alone. Over the past three years, three quarters of a million more tourists visited Cape Town.
The point I’m making here is that investment and growth don’t just happen by themselves. You don’t just talk them into being. You do. You take action. And you, Mr President, must take action now.
You see, Mr President, while you talk of cleaning up government corruption, we are already doing that. In the past year alone, Mayor Mashaba’s administration in Johannesburg has had 2 445 cases of fraud, corruption, theft and maladministration investigated. This has led to 362 arrests,
15 suspensions and 27 dismissals.
And it’s important to note that we haven’t only gone after officials. We’ve gone after the crooked politicians too. In cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and, recently, Nelson Mandela Bay, we have all opened up all the tender adjudication processes. This means the days of handing out tenders via the back door are over where a DA-led administration is in place.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 33
Mr President, while you talk of tinkering with Eskom to keep the lights on. I want to tell you the good news. Where the DA is in government, 85% of the municipalities in the Western Cape already have legislation in place to allow for independent solar energy generation, and most of them are geared to sell energy back into the grid.
These are the kinds of solutions we should be looking at to make our country more energy secure — to make our country Eskom-proof.
Mr President, while you speak about replacing SOE boards, we, in fact, have gone ... We want to make sure that our country becomes more adaptable in the supply of flexible energy.
Cities should be empowered to diversify their energy mix as much as possible by buying directly from independent power producers, IPPs.
That’s why we have taken your government to court on this issue. We aren't interested in preserving beleaguered SOEs like Eskom. We’re only interested in delivering energy.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 34
We need real reform. I want to ask you, Mr President, where there are SOEs that are no longer working, isn’t it about time that we sell them, take the money and use it for our people, rather than look after those SOEs?
Setswana:
Moporesitente, ke batla go go bolelela gore ...
English:
... in Johannesburg, Mayor Mashaba’s administration managed to allocate an additional R700 million towards capital expenditure in the recent budget. This money will now be spent on the electrification of informal settlements, the upgrading of council flats and the replacement of sewer lines.
In Tshwane, we inherited a deficit of over R1 billion. After one year in office, we have already turned that into a surplus. [Applause.]
Mr President, while you talk of land reform and land restitution, we are already doing it. We don’t have to change the Constitution. All we need to ensure is that, here in the Western Cape, all the title deeds that needed to be delivered,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 35
have been delivered. Over the last decade, 100 000 families have received title here in the Western Cape.
Yesterday alone, Sipho Hadebe, Moses Sithole and Pablo Makhetha received title for the very first time in Johannesburg. They join more than 6 000 other first-time recipients of title deeds in Johannesburg since the DA-led administration has come on board.
Mr President, I want to tell you, that’s what true freedom looks like. Freedom is when people can leverage their assets so that they can pass them on to future generations. Imagine what we could do when we take over the governance of this country and give to more South Africans. [Interjections.]
Hon President, our country needs action. But then it has to be the right action. Your party wants the state to be at the centre of development. I want development to revolve around the people of this country. [Interjections.]
You want to maintain the walls of rigid labour laws that protect those already on the inside of the economy, and keep the rest locked outside. I want to break down those walls and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 36
create access for work opportunities for 10 million more South Africans.
Hon President, if we want special economic zones, SEZs, to work properly, let’s give incentives to cities so that they can drive the development of jobs
Mr President, you want to look after a few politicians by giving them more money for VIP security. I want to give that money to the SA Police Service, SAPS, so they can better protect our citizens. [Applause.]
You want to those within the ANC’s leadership to be absolved from facing the law. I want every man and woman to stand equal before the law of this country. [Interjections.]
The SPEAKER: Hon Maimane, order! Please take your seat for a while. Yes, hon Chauke?
Mr H P CHAUKE: I thought you would definitely assist here. We are dealing with the leader of a party that is democratic. Why is he using the word “I” all the time — “I”, “I”, “I”? What happened to the rest of the members, there?
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 37
The SPEAKER: Hon Chauke, please take your seat. Please continue, hon Maimane.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Mr President, it has been 29 years, almost to the day, since Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison and told us of the South Africa he wanted to build on a foundation of human rights. So I find it strange that your party would side with people like Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nicolas Maduro. I stand with the people of Zimbabwe and Venezuela and their rights. [Applause.]
This is the change South Africa needs. Not because we hate the ANC, but because we love our country. The ANC is simply incapable of delivering the dream that President Mandela had.
A great Greek philosopher once said, “Character is destiny”. This means that you don’t build your reputation on what you’re going to do, but on what you have done.
When I look back at the past five years — both yours and that of the ANC — I know that we desperately need change, and we need it now. We’ve seen the character of your party. It will not lead us to where we need to go.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 38
This is why this coming May’s election will be a referendum on the ANC. We cannot have another five years of unemployment, load-shedding and hopelessness. We need a change.
Fellow South Africans, I am here to say that we can unite black, white, Indian and coloured, to usher in the change our country so desperately needs. [Interjections.]
That change can only come from the DA. I am the man in the arena, Mr President, and I have an agenda for reform this country. It is an agenda that will restore the dignity of all South Africans. [Interjections.]
Our plan is to put a job in every home. Our plan will champion entrepreneurs and micro enterprises as the heroes in the fight against unemployment. Our plan will place our cities at the forefront of economic growth. Our plan will prioritise the education of our children —- not by giving them tablets, but by training each and every one of their teachers. Our plan will ensure that we have a small, efficient government, where no one implicated in wrongdoing will serve in any legislature, Parliament or Cabinet.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 39
We want to make sure that our civil servants are the most qualified, not those who are linked to your party, as your policy of cadre deployment insists.
I’m talking about true change.
You see, Mr President, when I met those young people in Diepkloof, I made them this promise. [Interjections.] I said that if they played their part on election day in May, I would make sure they would not have to put up with na bo Agrizzi.
I will make sure that that’s a promise we keep.
So, Mr President, the most important moment in your speech on Thursday was the announcement of the election date. That’s what really matters to the people of South Africa — the power to vote out a government that has stolen from them, and hire one that will bring change. Change you can believe in. Change that has already begun. Change that builds one South Africa for all.
President Ramaphosa, 8 May ... Watch that space! I thank you.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 40
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members and fellow South Africans, I would like to congratulate the President on delivering a comprehensive address which has given dynamism and unity of purpose to the nation, towards the South Africa we want. [Applause.] He reminded us of the triumph of freedom over subjugation; the triumph which saw President Nelson Mandela spend his first nights ... after 27 years on Robben Island.
The state of the nation address pointed out that the South Africa we want is a South Africa where women, men, young and old, people with disabilities, urban and rural, are all equal before the law, without regard to race, culture, religion or sexual orientation.
This very Parliament is a monument of our triumph over discrimination and exclusion. It is truly a people’s Parliament which has integrated direct interaction with the people as part of its core business, thus bringing to fruition the Freedom Charter’s declaration that, “no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 41
the people”. It is indeed the representation of the beautiful tapestry of our diverse nation.
It is this Parliament that adopted the Constitution of our beloved land which has a Bill of Rights that has guided our democracy. It has found expression in key policies, programmes and our laws, including the National Development Plan, NDP. They all emphasise that no political democracy can survive if the mass of our people remain in poverty, without land and without tangible prospects for a better life.
Therefore, at the heart of all our efforts is social transformation, for whatever investments we have made and will continue to make are directed at changing the quality of life of our people.
As part of the global family of nations, we are integrating Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 into our plans of the South Africa and the Africa we want, which is prosperous, peaceful, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena. This is the promise of our nation and continent.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 42
The President calls on us to reflect on whether over the past
25 years we have built a society wherein the injustices of the past no longer define the lives of our present. That reflection must contextualise our challenges and achievements in 25 years against 342 years of subjugation. We ought to celebrate the achievements we have made despite this adverse past.
The ANC has built a caring culture based on the principles of Batho Pele over the past 25 years. As tata Mandela once said, “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”. That is why one of the first international agreements we signed was the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 1994. In so doing, we established the principle that our children must have the first call on our resources.
Consequently, within the first 100 days of it coming into government, the ANC-led government introduced free health care for pregnant mothers, and children under the age of six. [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 43
It has also provided micronutrients to all women so that we can ensure that all newborn children are healthy and strong. It introduced universal access to antiretrovirals, ARVs, to 4,5 million South Africans, thus almost eliminating mother-to- child transmission of HIV. We have moved from 70 000 babies dying from HIV through mother-to-child transmission to 4 000. These positive contributions have also decreased maternal mortality from 200 in 2005 ...
An HON MEMBER: Listen properly. [Laughter.]
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: ... to 134, and of course, infant mortality from
53 per 1 000 births to 23.
Life expectancy has significantly increased from 54 years in 2005 to 64,2 years in 2017. Indeed, we are putting our children first through the comprehensive first 1 000 day programme which provides psychosocial, nutritional and parental support, all of which are crucial to the cognitive development of a child.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 44
We have also increased access to clean water to 88% of our people, which was less than 60% in 1994. We have increased access to electricity to 84,6% which was only 36% in 1994.
In line with the Freedom Charter, we have ensured that, “there shall be houses, security and comfort,” for all by building 3,2 million houses since 1994.
We remain unwavering in our commitment to restore the dignity and livelihoods of our most vulnerable, which is why we have increased social grant recipients from three million in 1994 to 17 million. This is to cushion the poor and vulnerable against the ravages and ... [Applause.] ... consequences of the persistent triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
The education and skills revolution we have embarked on is the fastest equaliser in accelerating our response to the triple challenges. Besides it being the fastest equaliser, it is a major contributor to growing our economy. With entrepreneurship development, the right training and skills, as well as harnessing the creative talents in critical areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 45
innovation, we can move faster and steadier into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This can only happen if we have a steady and quality pipeline from early childhood development, ECD, and Basic Education. We therefore welcome the announcement by the President of compulsory ECD learning for two years. [Applause.] This will complement the no-fee paying school programme which has
10 million learners and the school nutrition programme which benefits over nine million learners. We are a caring government, transporting more than six million poor children to school per day. We are beginning to see the fruits of our investment with improvements in key indicators, such as the Minister of Basic Education announcing 172 043 bachelors passes. We almost have universal coverage of access to education. A total of 98% of kids in this country have access to education. [Applause.]
Of course, no economy or country can develop on just basic education, which is why ... [Interjections.]
Ms E N NTLANGWINI: House Chair, on a point of order.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 46
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, ma’am. Hon Minister, please take your seat. What is your point of order, ma’am?
Ms E N NTLANGWINI: House Chair, we didn’t get the numbers that the Minister ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I’m not the House Chair.
Ms E N NTLANGWINI: Oh sorry. We didn’t get the numbers that the Minister read. Can she give us the numbers again please? [Laughter.] The numbers don’t balance.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you ma’am. Hon Minister, you are free to oblige or to continue.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: No economy or country can develop on just basic education, which is why the caring ANC government remains committed to the ideals of opening the doors of learning and culture, established in the Freedom Charter. To that end, we have steadily increased the number of graduates from under
58 000 in 1994 to over 205 000. We have largely facilitated this by committing to free education for the poor and working
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 47
class, which has seen the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, fund grow to R15 billion in 2018.
These are phenomenal achievements by any measure, which not many countries could have achieved in such a short space of time; 25 out of 300 years of subjugation. [Applause.]
As tata Mandela taught us, after climbing a hill you soon discover that there are many more hills to climb. We recognise this, as the President said. There are many more hills to climb but these hills are not insurmountable. Of course, amongst them are poverty, unemployment and inequality. Amongst them is violence against women. I went to a meeting and at that meeting one gentleman said that as long as there is violence against women we must now say gentle ladies and men instead of gentlemen and ladies. [Laughter.]
Clearly, one of the hills to climb relates to accelerating efforts to improve the quality of our education by training more quality teachers and principals, access for poor and working-class learners to better education and of course, the missing middle.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 48
We must also make sure that our health care system focuses its attention on improving quality and also advancing universal access to health care through the National Health Insurance.
That Bill will come to this Parliament.
An important hill to overcome is the legacy of apartheid spatial planning, which continues to confine the masses of our people to places far from places of work and production, with the consequence that some of them spend up to a third of their income on transport. They have little time to look after their children. They leave early in the morning and come back late at night. So this is a matter that we must attend to.
Consequently, the ANC’s manifesto advances integrated human settlements that bring economic and recreational activities into settlements, townships, small towns and rural areas.
Sports and recreation are also important components in taking our children off the streets and combating crime and substance abuse. This requires that our schools and human settlements integrate sports and recreation.
As tata Madiba said, we have taken a moment to reflect on our achievements and challenges. Indeed, there have been missteps
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 49
and many more hills to climb but tata taught us that if you are walking you’ll have missteps. It’s only when you are standing that you don’t miss a step. [Applause.]
So, we accept that we have had missteps that we must now correct as the President said in his address. We must make sure that we fight corruption and correct the state-owned entities, but we must also remember that the problems we have must be weighed against the fact that Eskom supplied electricity to a very few people in 1994. [Applause.] Now it’s giving electricity to many more people. So we need to correct that. [Interjections.] We need to correct that.
Madam Chairperson, we are also excited about what the President said with regard to the news of Total’s game- changing gas discovery. We echo your well wishes. Mr President, we would like to suggest that some of those profits that will come from that should be channelled to a catalytic sovereign fund so that this generation and future generations can benefit from our finite resources. [Applause.] We must ensure that the wealth of our nation holds benefits for all and not just a few.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 50
We are going to ensure that in the next administration we have a five-year plan based on the NDP, on the President’s state of the nation address and on the manifesto that we can monitor. [Interjections.] In monitoring the implementation of that plan we will make sure that we do not treat our people as passive recipients of delivery but they must make sure that they become active participants in their own development.
These gains that our country has made need to be celebrated but we must be inspired to do more in the future. I think there is a difference between what the ANC says in giving people land ... than in giving people title deeds for houses they grew up in. [Interjections.] People want land, not a piece of paper to say that this house where you grew up in is yours. You know it’s yours. You live in it. So that can’t be the plan. The plan is to give land to our people. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
On 8 May the ANC is going to get the majority. [Applause.] We are going to win the elections because we are very honest. [Interjections.] We say ... We will tell our people what we have achieved.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 51
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order!
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: We will tell our people where we have gone wrong and we will tell our people what ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order!
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: ... we are going to do. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order!
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: Madam Chair, as I conclude this debate ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order!
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: ... I want to say ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: There is too much noise. [Interjections.] Order! No, no, hon members. You are allowed
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 52
to heckle but you are drowning out the speaker on the podium. [Interjections.] No, you are not allowed to do that! You are not allowed to do that! Please proceed, hon Minister.
The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PLANNING, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION: As I conclude this debate I want to say that building the South Africa we want falls on everyone’s shoulders. We must all make sure that we build that South Africa we want. We must know that:
Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he might say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all the world — the fight for the liberation of mankind.
Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr J S MALEMA: Chairperson and Mr President, we thank the CR17 campaign for having saved us this nightmare because this would have been our state of the nation address ... [Laughter.] ... and it was going to be the most boring state of the nation
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 53
address. Thank you for that. President, a more significant part of the state of the nation address delivered here on 7 February 2019, lacked originality and made very dangerous promising proposals ... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, please give me a minute. Hon members! Hon members! Hon members! Hon Minister Zulu! Hon Minister Zulu! No. Hon members, can we have some order and respect in the House, please. I have called the Minister to order and I do not need members helping me. Hon Malema, please proceed.
Mr J S MALEMA: I see you brought the A-Team of old age arrangements to come and defend you here today, a clear demonstration of your hatred of young people. You have no confidence in the youth of your own party and the future of South Africa. Let us start with the dangerous proposals that you have made here and caution you that you will soon become the enemy of the people and workers if you go ahead with some of the proposals.
The first proposal is your intentions to unbundle and breakdown Eskom with the aim of privatisation of some
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 54
components of the utility. You have already started the privatisation of Eskom power generation because effectively independent power producers are privatisation of Eskom. It is a fact that at the centre of Eskom’s problems are the power purchase agreements which forced Eskom to buy power at unaffordable and impractical prices through irrational business model. We know that your friends such as Trevor Manuel through Old Mutual and your relatives through Patrice Motsepe stand to benefit from privatisation of Eskom.
We want to tell you here that Eskom will not be privatised and there are no retrenchments that are going to take place. If you proceed to privatise Eskom, you must be rest assured that we, as the Economic Freedom Fighters, will seriously confront your government and independent power producers, IPPs, because they represent capitalist greed and obsession with money at the expense of our people. The President did not give a thorough diagnosis of the challenges that confront Eskom, but has a remedy that will benefit his friends and family. Your diagnosis deals only with the financial aspects of the crisis and you don’t provide structural and strategic diagnosis of the assets.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 55
Mr President, you have completely abandoned politics to impress white monopoly capital ... [Inaudible.] ... and the west and America ... [Interjections.]
Mr P J MNGUNI: Chairperson, point of order, I think that it is clear that we may not allow in the Joint Sitting that aspersions are cast on the President. If there’s anything that pertains the President and the relatives, the hon member knows the principle. I have raised the principle ... [Interjections.]
Ms H O MKHALIPHI: Chairperson, which rule is he rising on? Which rule? Which rule? Which rule is he rising on? Who do you think you are wena [you]? Who do you think you are, you can just rise and talk? This is not your house, sit down.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Please take your seat, hon member. Hon member, I did not recognise you. Hon member, please, I had not recognised you, please desist. Hon member, get to your point of order, please.
Mr P J MNGUNI: My point is that personal aspersions may not be cast upon the hon President. Thank you.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 56
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members! No, I’m ruling. Please put your hands ... Hon members, I will look into the records, for the moment let us allow the rules of debate to continue. I think that we will be able to deal with this in your different speeches as you debate. Please continue, hon Malema.
Mr J S MALEMA: Yaa, wrong diagnosis is extremely dangerous and not different from fake doctors who give wrong medication to patients and endangering their lives. Your approach to Eskom is going to destroy the power utility and as people who will be here and still active in the next 30 to 40 years, we are not going to allow you to destroy Eskom for quick personal gains. What is more painful is that you have abandoned politics and you put profit and business in everything else you do. There’s no ideological justification you can give on why you want to unbundle Eskom, except the fact that you and your immediate stand to benefit including your companies because you are still an active business person who just took leave to come and irritate us here. Let us deal with Eskom problems honestly and openly because an attempt to privatise it will never be accepted and you must be rest assured, President, that if you are not going to give an assurance that
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 57
you will relook into this Eskom matter, we will waste no time and we will go to the picket lines and defend this strategic asset of our people.
You made an announcement here that Total has made an enormous oil and gas discovery which you claim will be a game-changer. What you didn’t say is that more than 90% of the oil and gas discovery will benefit foreign companies. These people came here colonised us, took our resources, took our gold and took our diamond and now they come and take the oil and gas under our own watch, yet we claim to have defeated colonialism. It is not correct that we should allow such things. Your Minister who was supposed to be one of the progressive Ministers, Minister of Mineral Resources, had to withdraw the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, MPRDA, which had progressive proposals in order to allow for Total to plunder our resources. Oil and gas can be a curse to a nation if not properly managed and if you continue with the indecisiveness around natural resources the oil and gas will be a curse to our nation like it is in many African countries.
We demand that all oil and gas discoveries must be nationalised and should create sovereign wealth fund ...
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 58
[Applause.] ... to save the resources in the same way the government of Norway did. We will not be shocked if the 10% black economic empowerment, BEE, shareholder of the Total Consortium that made the oil and gas discovery has some direct or indirect relationship with your companies, knowing you – you. This oil and gas must be declared national asset to avoid finding you inside because you are a shrewd businessman.
President, you should be honest ... [Interjections.]
Mr P J MNGUNI: Chairperson, I really appeal that we may not allow casting of personal reflections. We know you and all these. It is unacceptable and it is unparliamentary. It cannot be allowed to reign at all ... [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: But, Chairperson, we are not going to be disturbed by hairdressers here, man.
Mr P J MNGUNI: Knowing you. No, no, no.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members! No, I have to rule this point of order ... [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 59
Mr N F SHIVAMBU: On a point of order, Chairperson. The procedure of this House is that ... [Interjections.] ... here he must cite the rule, but he is just standing up and talking there. You are not giving him a clear direction, please protect hon ... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Shivambu, I did not recognise you. Hon Shivambu! Hon Shivambu! Hon Shivambu, you too were not recognised. Hon members! Hon members! Hon Malema, please continue sitting down and I will call you. Hon members, a debate on the state of the nation address is not an easy one, not in the year of the elections. Members will say whatever they say and members must engage with the debate. However, members must also be careful that in the debate, you do not cross the fine line which protects your freedom of the speech in the House to that of being personal without proof. Can we agree that we will respect, we will debate and have a healthy debate which each and every speaker on the podium will be allowed to do. Hon Malema, please proceed.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: Hon Chairperson, in terms of Rule 14(l) I agree with your ruling, but we can’t have as opposition members being interrupted continuously by
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 60
members trying to inject the National Assembly rules into the sitting. This is not the National Assembly. The rules that members are jumping up and down don’t apply. I agree with your ruling, but can we please ensure this harassment of opposition speakers stops. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, sir. Please proceed, hon Malema.
Mr J S MALEMA: Mr President, you must never be impressed by these type of conduct. It comes from the previous arrangements and the previous arrangements did not survive because it thought it had protection of such illiterate Members of Parliament who do not understand the rules of the engagement. President, you should be honest that you have never been committed ... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, take your seat please. You are on a point of order, sir.
Mr P J MNGUNI: Absolutely, hon House Chair, on a point of personal privilege that is a principle. I definitely do not take kindly to hon Malema saying that I’m “illiterate” not by
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 61
any standard ... [Inaudible.] ... standards. It is personal attack and I think it is unwarranted.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, you are out of order. Hon members, every time you allow a debate to become personal, this is what we get to. Hon, I cannot rule in your favour because hon Malema did not say you, personally, are illiterate. He refers to illiteracy. The last time I checked the word “illiteracy” was not unparliamentary. However, please hon members also remember that that which we are pointing at one member will point at you and it might be very difficult when it comes back to you. Hon Malema, please confine yourself to your speech and let us proceed.
Mr J S MALEMA: No, you can say anything about us we have got thick skins. President, you must be honest that you have never believed in the expropriation of land without compensation.
The report which was adopted by this democratic Parliament already has said that this Fifth Parliament must conclude this work. Your leadership will fail to do so because you are not convinced about the need to take back the land from colonial settlers, majority of whom are your friends and funders. Your refusal to acknowledge the existence and phenomenon of white
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 62
monopoly capitalism is because you are a product of these greedy capitalists. If it was not because of the Oppenheimers, you were not going to be where you are today. You would not have founded the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM, and you were not going to be the first General Secretary of the NUM. Without changing property relations in South Africa, President, you will never be able to defeat poverty, unemployment and inequality. Your collective cowardice and fear of white people will keep black people in permanent poverty and starvation. You have abandoned your own party just to appease whiteness. You are no longer following your party line, but that of the Oppenheimers because things like expropriation of land are the resolutions of your own party, but every time you speak about them you are wishy-washy.
In the 2014, 2016 and 2019 election manifesto of the EFF, we committed to mainstream early childhood development and we know that the ruling party has once again taken the commitment which will see children studying school at the age of three.
In the state of the nation address, you said the roll out of toilets in all schools will be finalised by 2030, but you want us to believe that this year you will take three-year-olds to schools. How should parents trust the ANC with their children
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 63
when you cannot abolish pit toilets? Let’s build school infrastructure, abolish pit toilets, and then roll out comprehensive early childhood development, ECD, with a common curriculum. You cannot take three-year-olds to schools which have got pit toilets. You are just sending them to a dead squad. That move is highly not so calculated, Mr President.
If the ANC was really committed to make sure that we meet the requirements of Fourth Industrial Revolution like the commitment of giving people tablets, why are you not talking about giving first and affordable data, because you are going to give the kids tablets in schools, yet data is expensive.
Those tablets are going to be useless. However, it will not be for the first time because you are known to have given people taps without water. Therefore, you will not be practicing this type of things for the first time. President, your manifesto speaks about industrialisation including industrial parks, but your manifesto does not make emphasis on this point.
The EFF unleashed this and made a very elaborate and cogent plan during the manifesto launch. You came here to repeat what the EFF has said and to show that you do not have plans; you even go to an extent of saying that provinces must give you
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 64
plans and identify earlier areas which can be industrial zones. That is a clear plagiarism, President. However, I don’t blame you; the EFF is a think tank of South Africa. [Applause.] That is why half the time you have to borrow from the EFF. There was a commitment to nationalise South African Reserve Bank. You are no longer talking about it, it is an ANC decision. There is a decision to provide free education. The ANC agreed to, yet children are being killed for demanding that which you said you will provide. Today we have a memorial service of Mlungisi Madonsela, our revolutionary fighter who was killed fighting for a just course, free education. May his soul rest in perfect revolutionary peace!
President, you say all of these things through your own party, yet when you come and assume the status of the President of the Republic of South Africa, you abandon the party position and replace it with a position of whiteness that surrounds you. You want to sound white and do things white because you don’t believe in the total liberation of African children.
President, we welcome your renewed energy to fight corruption. However, let me tell you that I will never believe you until you fire Nomvula Mokonyane. Why do you postpone fighting
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 65
corruption to someone else and not do it yourself? If there is a clear evidence of hon Nomvula implicated in corruption, she has even collapsed the whole Department of Water and Sanitation. You are standing here telling us how you are going to correct the problems of water and ... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, would you rather not bring a substantive motion to this House, the National Assembly, rather than to continue in that direction.
Mr J S MALEMA: Now, I’m saying that you cannot have some of the people highly implicated, President, in your Cabinet and you come and tell us that you are committed to fight corruption, unless you too have benefited from frozen chicken. If you have eaten a frozen chicken then you will be scared, unless Nomvula has got something we don’t know on you because there is shear evidence that she is involved in corruption.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema! Hon Malema, hon Nomvula Mokonyane is a Minister of this House.
Mr J S MALEMA: Hon Nomvula Mokonyane.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 66
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: The Minister.
Mr J S MALEMA: She is in the wrong place. She’s not supposed to be here to start with. So, President, can’t you address the ANC caucus and ask them to take a very clean example from Vincent Smith. When Vincent Smith ... [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema!
Mr J S MALEMA: Hon Vincent Smith was accused of corruption. Although he did not leave Parliament, but he recused himself from serious responsibilities because he knew that his continuation of occupying that office will make people to lose the aim and the purpose of that committee. We are not saying that they are guilty. Why can’t hon Nomvula resign to a back bencher or to go and work from Luthuli House and say, let me save my party and the state of the Republic of South Africa and go and clean my name? Hon Vincent Smith did exactly that. He’s not from the EFF, but that is an honourable thing to do. When you are accused, you assume lesser responsibility to give yourself sufficient time to deal with allegations levelled against you.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 67
President, reduce your Cabinet and do away with Deputy Ministers. There are so many Deputy Ministers sitting here and I don’t even know them. I think that where you introduce a Deputy Minister you must justify it why. Why should there be a Deputy Minister of Communications, for instance? Why should there be a Deputy Minister of Small Business Development, for instance, or the Department of Small Business Development itself? Why can’t we merge Education and Science and Technology together? Have a Minister dedicated to education and then introduce a Deputy Minister with powers announced by you not powers directed to the Deputy by the Minister because even these Ministers are greedy. They don’t even give their Deputies any role to play. You ought to announce where you introduce a Deputy Minister and say that this is the Deputy Minister and this will be a role of that particular Deputy Minister. You have got too many Deputy Ministers for patronage, for factional reasons. You have got too big Cabinet for no reason to balance dynamics and factionalism at the expense of the taxpayer.
President, my advice is very simple, reduce Cabinet and have it small. People like hon Jeff Radebe, I have nothing personal against him, has stayed for too long, from 1994. [Laughter.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 68
Anyone who was there during Mandela’s era must be put aside and then let the young blood come in, people with energy. I have nothing wrong with Minister Naledi Pandor, schools people are being killed. Universities are burning, she is nowhere.
What are we going to see, we are going to find General Bheki Cele, the one who is fighting the protesters. The protesters are not looking for police, they are looking for a Minister of Education to go and help there. We have seen Bheki Cele everywhere, no Ministers. Minister of Housing, people are marching for houses. There is no Minister of Housing. When you look at who is a Minister of Human Settlements, the person that by just appearance, you can see that this one will never go to any protest, this one. [Laughter.]
Therefore, we cannot have such people in positions of responsibility. President, get young people and get energetic people. They may not be young, but let them be like Bheki Cele and be at the picket lines. Listen to our people and resolve their problems. That is the type of a small Cabinet we want to see when we come back and that Cabinet will happen under the government of the EFF which is going to expropriate land and give jobs to our people. We make no apology about expropriation of land without compensation, we mean it and it
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 69
is not a campaigning tool. It is a non-negotiable cardinal pillar which we are prepared to lay our lives for.
Expropriation of land without compensation will happen in our lifetime. South Africa, vote EFF on 8 May. Thank you. [Applause] [Time expired.]
Siswati:
Mnu. A J NYAMBI: Sihlalo Wemkhandlu Wavelonkhe Wemaprovinsi lohloniphekile, Somlomo weSishayamtsetfo Savelonkhe, Mhl Mongameli Welive, Mhl Sekela Mongameli, malunga lahloniphekile, tihambeli tetfu letihloniphekile. Kuyintfokoto kimi kuniketwa lelitfuba. Mhl Mongameli, kunesisho sesintfu lesitsi: “Kucala kube mnyama kakhulu ngembi kwekutsi kuvele kukhanya." Silicembu laKhongolose sikusho kugcwale umlomo kutsi inkhulumo yakho yebunjalo belive ishaya khona.
Ingumhlahlandlela losiyisa ngco ekukhanyeni. Ngaphandle kwekungabata, noma bangatsini siyachuba Mongameli.
English:
Fellow South Africans, as the ANC, we fully support and endorse the state of the nation address as presented by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa. President, I think you have
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 70
mastered the wise words of Dr. Davis Cormack, who said the following:
Without vision, there is no direction (there was clear direction in your speech). Without direction, there is no purpose (there is purpose in your speech). Without purpose, there are no targets (there are targets in your speech).
Without targets, there are no priorities (there are priorities in your speech). Without priorities, there is no plan (there is a clear plan in your speech). Without a plan, there is no hope (there is hope in your speech, Mr President).
I have strained every brain cell trying to make sense of what my colleagues from the DA had to say but, I really feel that he is just enjoying the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. It would have been in response to the DA when Chairman Mao- quoting Confucius, who was a Chinese philosopher, teacher and Politician, had this to say: “To know what you know and what you don't know, that is true knowledge.” You would not pretend to know things you do not know had you taken the time out to heed Mao’s wise counsel.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 71
The strategic objective of our revolution was not only the lowering of the apartheid flag and its replacement by the new one. Instead, it was and remains the destruction of all relations of inequality that were the pillars of the apartheid society. This objective is yet to be reached, and that is the reason the ANC is called a liberation movement. The history of human kind is a history of migration. Since time immemorial, nations of the world have been built through the movement of people from one part of the world to another.
In our case the evolution of South African languages, culture and beliefs have followed similar trends. The majority of our languages and cultures, if not all of them, are an outcome of relationships built through combinations of different ethnic groups from diverse backgrounds. We are called upon to embrace each other as a people irrespective of our origin.
This important natural process was interrupted in our country by the introduction of apartheid, which is a fact! These barbaric and backward machinations contributed in derailing the making of a nation with a common destiny. I can say without any fear of contradiction that this intermission has
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 72
sidetracked this country from progressing to a level of common language, heritage and culture.
The construct of our nation will not be complete unless we work tirelessly and vigorously to dismantle these artificial boundaries. The apartheid‘s spatial planning model ensured that, as a country, we would find it difficult to forge an inclusive society capable of uniting our people behind a common vision. Now we have an opportunity to right the wrongs of apartheid and we thank you Mr President for announcing good and bold steps that will ensure that we do just exactly that.
Our late struggle icon and the first democratically elected President of South Africa, Ntate Mandela, had this to say during his visit to the Republic of Indonesia in 1997:
Unity in diversity is a phrase we use often in South Africa, which is a country of widely diverse people and culture.
These differences were misused by apartheid in order to divide our nation. But today our diversity is a source of our strength. We are a nation of many colours and cultures, but forming a harmonious unity like a rainbow after a heavy storm.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 73
Since the dawn of democracy, we have been on course to redress apartheid’s colonial legacy of division, oppression and suppression of cultural development by introducing progressive laws and programmes aimed at uniting our people behind a common goal of national unity. However, we must acknowledge that in the recent past our country has experienced some disturbing trends. We seem to have regressed. We have witnessed a re-emergence of strong racial undertones and incidents from both black and white, which signal that we have not succeeded in fostering unity among our people.
In the centre of our problem is the economic hardship and exclusion of black people from the mainstream economy in our country. Since 1994 we have succeeded in the democratization of our state but struggled to alter the economic structure of apartheid. The unresolved land question remains a major contributor to economic challenges. We must, however, welcome the fact that as the ruling party we have introduced the Land Expropriation Bill.
Our project of nation building will never be complete without returning the land its rightful owners. Divisions and mistrust will persist among our people and this will undermine peace
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 74
and stability in our beloved country. As long as blacks still feel like outsiders in the motherland, unity in diversity will remain a pipe dream.
The late President of the ANC, OR Tambo in his ‘1979 January 08 statement’ had this to say to all South Africans, “Let us in South Africa learn to stop being Bantus, Coloureds, Indians and Whites, let us be what we are; Africans in Africa”, this call by OR Tambo is more relevant today than it was then, as we seek to completely eradicate the legacy of apartheid by returning the land to the people. White South Africans must not be spectators in the game they should be playing. This should not be us against them, but South Africans trying to do what is best for their country to foster unity in diversity and redressing the imbalances of the past.
Today’s debate must serve as a reminder to all of us that we come from a painful past and to allow our country to regress to levels of how apartheid divided us, will be a betrayal of all those man and women who laid down their lives fighting for a nonracial South Africa. We must, henceforth, commit that we are going to utilize our ability and skills at our disposal, as public representatives, to work for a more united,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 75
democratic and prosperous South Africa regardless of our diverse culture, race and beliefs. We must dedicate our energies and time to forge a common destiny as a people.
A single murder in our country is one too many and South Africa should stand together in the fight against crime, irrespective of who the victims and perpetrators are. It cannot be that organizations such as AfriForum jump out of their seats in defence of convicted murderers just because their victim is black. Seeing crime in colour and as a distinctly Black against White phenomenon or vice versa, will continue to feed into stereotypes that seek to roll back the democratic breakthrough for which men and women laid their lives
Siswati:
Asitifundziseni kucabanga ngemicondvo yetfu leNkulunkulu asiphe yona, siyekele kucabanga ngesikhumba ngoba nasenta njalo sidala luchekeko.
English:
Let us reconcile our thoughts and actions with the Freedom Charter when it pronounces that, “South Africa belongs to all
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 76
who live in it, Black and White ...” We need to continue to find space for all the diverse racial, religious, cultural and linguistic communities in order to foster national unity.
I have a vision of a country where, for instance, musangwe, an amateur boxing art form in the Northern most parts of Limpopo gets regulated and promoted to becoming a national sporting code alongside soccer, cricket and rugby. If we do this to the myriad peripheral sporting codes as well, we could have succeeded in recognizing our people's way of life.
It cannot be that one racial group continues its dominance over the others as we struggle to roll out the necessary infrastructure for previously disadvantaged communities.
Sesotho:
Ha re bapaleng diketo le morabaraba ...
English:
... and insist on big businesses investing in local, regional, provincial and national tournaments as a way of affirming our people. There cannot be any unity where inequality exists. The
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 77
reason why inequality matters was expressed by one of South Africa‘s greatest entrepreneurs and citizen when he said:
Afrikaans:
As jou buurman nie eet nie, kan jy nie rustig slaap nie.
English:
"Simply said, you cannot have peace when your neighbour is hungry.
Xitsonga:
nge etleli bya n’wantenyana loko muakelani wa wena a nga dyanga nchumu.
English:
Inequality undermines our safety and stability. Inequality undermines our growth and development. Inequality undermines the society we would like to become. We have seen this inequality‘s relentless, never say die attitude rearing its ugly head in the manner that access to economic activities remain the preserve of the few. The majority of South Africans still do not own means of production. It is against this background that I challenge Parliament to move with speed in
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 78
probing the circumstances around the Clifton Beach debacle in order to ensure that we attain equality for all. It cannot be that we still have exclusive public areas, which is a relic of our sad past.
We need to question the commitment of parties such as the DA. I am greatly perturbed by their cryptic message, which calls upon our people to register as voters and to vote DA to keep the ANC and the EFF out of the Western Cape. In the name of national unity, no party, individual, or group of people need to be kept out of any part of South Africa. This sounds like a throwback to the days of the “swart gevaar” and, yes, I tend to agree that the DA is struggling to shake off racism as a mantra. This explains why one of their own, hon Ngwenya, resigned as head of policy, sighting a deficiency in belief that the party takes policy seriously. I cannot agree with you more hon Ngwenya, the DA is divisive and only big on sensational slogans, which undermine national unity.
As we marked 29 years of the release of Tata Madiba yesterday, let us remember for what he stood for. His was a life of struggle and his legacy is an embodiment of a consistent and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 79
active search for peace and harmony. In his autobiography, Mandela stated that:
I always know that deep down in every human heart, there was mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught love ...
Fellow South Africans if, indeed, we are serious about the direction of the country, of building a non racial, non sexist South Africa, on the eighth of May we have to vote ANC. The plan presented by President Ramaphosa seeks to unite all South Africans behind a shared vision of overcoming divisions of the past and building a country in which all belong and in which all feel at home. In conclusion hon members, as ANC we fully support the state of the nation address by His Excellency President Ramaphosa.
Prince M G BUTHELEZI: Hon Chairperson of the National House of Provinces, your Excellency, our President, Deputy President, hon members, hon Ministers and hon Deputy Ministers and fellow South Africans.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 80
For nine years our former President came to this House and told us what a great job Government was doing. This disconnects between what he said and what we all knew to be true was staggering. So yours, Mr President, was a refreshing new approach.
Instead of telling us what a great job your Government is doing, you told us what a great job it is going to do. Watch this space, you said. Great things are coming.
The intentions you expressed last Thursday cannot be faulted. We would love to believe that they are all possible and will all be done. But if we are already borrowing money just to stay afloat, where will the money come from to do all these things?
It seems we've pinned our hopes on unprecedented levels of investment. But my question is, will investors come?
We aim to become a top global performer in terms of countries we do business with, but when we’re so high up on the corruption index, how confident will investors be? We need
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 81
their investment now, while we're near the bottom of the pile. We can't wait until we’re at the top.
When it comes to the economy, a journalist by the name of Claire Bisseker put it very well in last week’s Financial Mail: “After years of kicking the can down the road, it seems South Africa has finally run out of road”.
Sir, our economy was not “confronted” with a technical recession. Disastrous leadership, corruption and State capture created a technical recession. It wasn’t unexpected or unforeseeable. It was completely self-inflicted.
So we appreciate your honesty Your Excellency, that under the leadership of the ANC, things were severely wrong. There has indeed been a loss of trust between the people and their Government, and the needs of the poor, unemployed, marginalised and dispossessed have indeed been forgotten.
Mr President, you would have us believe that a line was drawn in the sand a year ago, and now everything is different. Is it? What is so different now about the ANC that it will
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 82
suddenly do the very simple things that needed to be done all along?
The solutions you spoke of are not rocket science. Of course, we should manufacture goods that other countries need. Of course, we should focus on labour intensive industries like agriculture. Of course, we must make unused State-owned land available for housing and farms. Of course, we must deal with State Owned Enterprises SOEs. The IFP has been saying these things for years.
You have told us, Your Excellency, that you plan to do things differently and you would have us believe that in the past 12 months you have already done things differently.
There was a summit on jobs, health, gender based and violence. No wonder you are so careful to emphasise that the investment summit wasn’t just a talk-shop.
remember the early debates of our democracy on the President’s State of the Nation Address. We, in the opposition warned time and again that summits and talk-shops were not enough. What South Africa needed was concrete action. If we're
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 83
really starting over, or picking up from where we left off ten years ago, let's heed the warning that was ignored back then. Talk is just talk. Show us action.
How did it take 24 years to realise that 4 000 schools still have unsafe, inappropriate toilets? That’s more than two million children who were completely forgotten when it comes to creating a dignified life. We tell these children that education is the key to their future. But their schools don’t even have toilets? If this is an achievement of 25 years, it is then very hard to believe that just six years from now every school child will be working on a tablet with digital textbooks. It sounds good. But, will it happen?
It is so tempting to be carried along with the narrative being woven, because ours is an incredible country and our people are resilient, willing to contribute and ready to change. So when you talk about an oil and gas discovery being a game- changer and when you call this a brave new country, we want to go there with you Mr President.
You tell us that everything is about to get dramatically better. My question is this: what happens when it doesn’t? We
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 84
have been pushed to the brink by broken promises. We have been disillusioned again and again. If you now promise the sun, moon and stars, and again fail to deliver, South Africa will go up in flames.
Righteous anger is boiling over in our nation. As you put it, the milk of human kindness seems to have gone sour. One cannot turn sour milk sweet again just by adding a few spoons of sugar. We need to trace back and figure out what went wrong.
It is not enough to say, something went wrong, but that's behind us now. If we don't pinpoint why, we will make the same mistakes again.
This year‘s theme is quite appropriate: “Following up on our commitments“. There is one particular commitment that was never fulfilled, and I believe it is ground zero for the present social fragmentation.
On the 19th of April 1994, Mr Mandela, President de Klerk and I signed a Memorandum of Agreement. We committed to engage international mediation immediately after the first democratic elections, to resolve the outstanding issues from the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 85
negotiating table. It would allow our newly democratic South Africa to move forward into reconciliation and peace. But that Agreement was never honoured; and the outstanding issues from the negotiating table remained unresolved.
For whatever is left of my life Your Excellency, that broken promise will be a knife in my heart. I am thus grateful to hear you speak of social cohesion, Your Excellency. You are the first ANC leader to do so in a long time. And it comes at a point when reconciliation and social cohesion are critical.
I must send a warning. Never before have we seen such a deluge of racial slurs and divisive talk from leaders in our nation. There are angry demagogues among us who pretend that social and economic justice will be achieved simply by wreaking vengeance for past injustice. We can refer hate to the Human Rights Commission, but the damage has already been done. We are playing with fire. Those of us who want to build, plant, create and grow are pleading with you, stop tearing down this nation!
Your Excellency, we look forward to your address next week to the National House of Traditional Leaders. But to be frank, I
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 86
harbour little hope of hearing what needs to be done, because after 25 years there is still no legal framework to enable the cooperation so often spoken about. Traditional leaders are not fooled by this talk of cooperation. It simply doesn't exist.
Section 81 of the Municipal Structures Act is an insult to traditional leadership. It enables us to sit there and clap hands, but not to vote. There is a strong feeling among us that government must do the honest thing and abolish the institution of traditional leaders. Do the honest thing!
Your Excellency, I know that you appealed on it recently, merely because you tried to lower the hackles that rose as a result of the debate on the Ingonyama Trust Act when you met with our King. I know that you respect the institution. Both of us have had a very good time with King Tony in Vembe and King Zwelithini. I even reported a joke from King Tony that when I came, being a King he wanted to offer hospitality and he pointed at a lady. I am ashamed, as a black South African that our Government has failed to do what even an oppressive colonial government did. If indeed there’s a line in the sand, show us. Thank you.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 87
Prof N M KHUBISA: Hon Chair of the NCOP, hon Speaker, His Excellency the President of RSA, hon Members, Madam Speaker of the NCOP. The debate of SONA takes place at a very critical time in the life of our country Eskom has announced stage 3 of load shedding, a very painful situation indeed. There is nothing that supersedes service- delivery. That is water, sanitation, electricity, housing, roads etc. These are bread and butter issues that control the life/blood of our country. The life of citizens is nothing without service delivery.
Hon Deputy Speaker, poverty and unemployment are so high in our country; hence a radical approach to creating jobs and minimizing unemployment should be high on the agenda of government.
The outages that started to occur over weekend have already started to affect the entire population of our country, even businesses are severely affected.
The NFP welcomes the President’s pronouncement around the early childhood education. However, we do not want these crèches and pre-schools where our children merely clap hands and jump and don’t get any form of education. We are not
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 88
impressed about the entire schooling system our country and this has been going on for 25 years.
There are still mud schools, schools without basic Water and sanitation, schools without toilets and schools with pit toilets. We still have children getting their education under trees. The school curriculum does not respond to the job market.
In most rural areas under traditional authorities there are no clinics, no mobile clinics and no hospitals and in some instances where there are c1inics, there is a shortage of staff, nurses and shortage of medicine.
We need SAPS centres in rural areas that must be well resourced. We truly welcome the incubation of SMME's and budding entrepreneurs but in rural areas in particular we don’t have entrepreneurially and technologically based and effective TveT colleges. Our people are not sponges as Paulo Ferreira said. We must work with them and ensure that they get the best. They are active and not passive. Thank you.
Sepedi:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 89
Moh T K MAMPURU: E re ke re madume ke go lotšha, seo se ntia dihlaya ka gore ge e le leeto lona re le swere; re lebile Kanana motseng wa maswi le dinose. Mopresidente, re leboga polelo ya maemo a setšhaba; re re o re golele. Banna ba go swana le boDaniel le basadi ba go swana le boHanna ba a hlokwa. Batho ba ga ba bethwe ke letswalo ka dilo tša bošilo. Maemo a bophelo ga a ba šikinye. Go dula le ditau ka legageng ga se go totompetša diketo, sa pele ke go gopola ka lehu, le sehloko.
English:
Deputy Speaker, through you to Mr President, 2018 was the year of symbolism and declaration of intend, as correctly captured in your state of the nation address where you invoked Hugh Masekela‘s song, Thuma Mina. This gave hope to many South Africans and re-energised many to want to be part of this new dawn.
Logically, this declaration of intent has to be followed by action. And this, as such, makes 2019 the year of action. This is in line with clichés and mantra such as “talk is cheap, but money buys the whiskey”, “action speaks louder than words”, and so on. In my language these clichés go like this ...
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 90
Sepedi:
“Ge re tla re ke dipitsi re bona ka mebala”, le “molomo o tshela noka e tletše”. Mopresidente, tabeng ya go hlola mešomo, e re ke bontšhe gore go polelo ya maemo a profense ya Limpopo, Tonakgolo Ntate Stanley Chupu Mathabatha o rile ...
English:
We commit ourselves to working harder to recapture the lost jobs and even create more other jobs for our people. We will do this by ensuring that agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and the construction sector contribute optimally to the province’s GDP.
Sepedi:
Re a e tseba taba yeo kamoka ga rena ka gore maloba yena Chupu o saenne memorantamo wa kwano le ba China. Re a tseba gore Musina ke lefelo la ekonomi yeo e kgethegilego. Le Tubatse re sa emetše laesense, e lego lona lengwalo la go kgonthišiša gore le rena re a phomelela. Mešomo re a e nyaka, ebile ke nagana gore mmušo woo o eteletšwego pele ke ANC ga se wa tswalela mahlo, o tseba ditlhotlo kamoka ga tšona. Se segolo ke gore ANC ga se mmušanoši, le ge le sola Mopresidente, ebile le mo šupa ka monwana, ga a na maatla a go tšea diphetho a le
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 91
noši; o gapeletšega gore a boledišane le ANC ka ge e le mokgatlo wo o mmeilego gore a o hlokomele a be a hlokomele le naga.
Rena re le badudi ba Afrika-Borwa, hlokego ya mošomo ke taba ye kgolo go rena. E re ke tšhabele kua gae Limpopo ke bontšhe gore mmušo wa go etelelwa pele ke ANC ke mafakudu. Ga re hloke batho; re hloka lerato; re hloka boikokobetšo ka gore dikgwebotirišano ga se taba ya lehono. Kua morago basadi ba be ba thušwa ka mašeleng a a tšwago go dikgwebopotlana tša bona tša go roka, tša go paka dikuku, tša mašengwana a merogo, tša go bopa ka letsopa, tša go loga magogo le tša go šoma ka diphetha. Seo se nyakegang ke tsošološo. Mohlala wo o mobotse o be o dirwa ke Mme Bathabile Dlamini ge a be a eteletše Kgoro ya Bobotlana pele. O be a kgokagantšhitše kgoro le basadi ba go roka diyunifomo tša bana ba dikolo. Ke taba ye botse ye; a re emeleleng ka maoto, re boneng gore re ba le kgatelopele.
Ke sa le go Kgoro ya Bobotlana, ke kgopela gore mafelo ao a nago le mešate - ao go ona batšofadi ba rena, bagolofadi ba rena, bana ba rena bao ba hwetšago mphiwafela, re se ke ra a hlokomologa. A re a leseng a le bjalo ka gore go na moo re lebeletše gore batho ba gaborena bao ba rekišago - e lego
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 92
borakgwebopotlana ba bannyane, ba kgone go dira letseno. Ba re rekišetša dienywa; ba re rekišetša mabele le dilo ka go fapafapana ga tšona. Gape ba ka se tloge kamoka ga bona ba ya go kgobokana kua ditoropong ka ge mphiwafela bjale o hwetša diposong; re o hwetša ka dipankeng ebile re o hwetša ka mabenkeleng a dikgoparara. Kgopelo ya ka ke gore le tlogeleng mafelo ao a nago le mešate a thušeng batho ba rena ba hwetše mphiwafela gore ba kgone go tšwela pele. Ka go realo ditshele tše dintši re ka bona di fokotšega.
A re direng kgoeletšo ya go thekga bommakgwebo le borakgwebo ba rena ka go hlohleletša le dikgoro tše dingwe go swana le Kgoro ya Maphelo, didirišwa tša ka marobalelong, re a tseba kamoka gore kua dipetlele re na le dilakane, diaparo tša go robala, re na le dipitšama, re na le mesamelo, re na le ditšubete, a re kgokaganyeng Kgoro ya Maphelo, dikgwebotirišano tša rena le dikgwebo tše di nnyane, tša magareng le tše dikgolo tša rena, e be tšona di re direlang gore re fokotše morwalo wo mogolo wa mmušo - re kgone go itirela le rena, re kgone go tšwela pele bjalo ka batho ba bangwe.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 93
Re se ke ra re ge re dira tše kamoka ra lebala gore kua Mopani go na le marula. Marula a dira morula, le dikgeru le tšona di ntšha dikoko. Re tla kgona go tšwetša bophelo bja rena pele ka tšona. Sa rena ke ge re ka hwetša gore tsela ye re ka di bapatšago ke efe gore di rekišege. Yo a sa tsebego mohola wa morula - a ke tsebe, efela morula ke wo mobose. Kamoka ga lena ge le ka lebelela, sehleng sa morula ga go na lelapa leo le dulago le nyamile, malapa kamoka a dula a thabile ka gore morula o a matlafatša. [Tsenoganong.]
Ge re bolela ka makheišene, tlhotlo e gona kua makheišeneng ka gore dinyakwa tša makheišeneng ga di swane le tša kua dinagamagaeng. Akere makheišeneng o ka se rue kgomo, o ka se rue kgogo, o ka se ke wa rua pudi. Bjale, seo e lego tlhotlo ke gore re swanetše re dire dinyakišišo, re hwetše gore naa borakgwebopotlana le bommakgwebopotlana bao ba dulago kua makheišeneng re ka ba direlang - seo se ka ba holago gore bophelo bja bona bo kgone go tšwela pele. Batho ba makheišeneng ga ba swane le rena kua gae, rena re lema merogo; re rua dikgomo; re rua ditonki - ke tše dintši tšeo re ka kgonago go iphediša ka tšona, efela gonabjale, a re yeng kua makheišeneng, re ye go lebelela gore batho ba rena ba phela bjang.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 94
Ga se batho kamoka bao ba dulago kua makheišeneng bao potla tša bona di tletšego ka mokgwa woo ba ka kgonago go iphediša. Ba bangwe ba ile makheišeneng ka lebaka la go nyaka mešomo; ba bangwe ba ile kua ka lebaka la ge bana ba be ba ka se ba šie ba letee mola ka ge ba se na letseno. Ge re tshwenyega ka lebaka la taba ye, ke moo le tla kgonago go bona gore ka nnete re katana le go se lekalekane. Ke šetše ke bontšhitše mo gore tlhotlo ga se gore ditaba tša rena ga di sepele gabotse, di sepela gabotse e no ba e le gore re fihla le moo re itebalago, ra se ke ra ba ra lemoga gore gosasa di tlile go re tlišetša bothata.
E re ke tsene mo tabeng ya go thentara le go thwala batho ka ntle, ke re Kgoro ya Maphelo le Kgoro ya Bobotlana di a šoma. A re hlohleletšeng tše dingwe dikgoro gore re kgone go tšwele pele. Go swana le ka lefapheng la tshenkelo, mo re dirago dithenta, ke be ke duma gore batho bao re ba kgethilego go eta pele dikomiti tšeo, ba se ke ba dulela saruri go fihlela moo motho - go ya ka polelo ya seterateng, a ikwago a “tlwaetše plasa” – se se ra go re a tseba dikhona kamoka ga tšona, a tseba go re se sengwe le se sengwe se dirwa bjang.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 95
Lehono ge re re motho re mo thwetše mošomong ka morago ga go bapatša mošomo, re swanetše re tšee matšatšing re mo lekodišiše, ke mo re tlogago re re ke thwetše, ka gore ge re ka bea batho tulong ye tee, re tlile go dula re bolela ka corruption go fihlela. CorruptionBomenetša e tla dula e le lenaba la rena leo re ka se tsogeng re feditše go bolela ka lona. Ge re etla go ...
English:
Creation of industrial parts for township and village economic development ...
Sepedi:
Juju, nna mo le wena re swanetše re no betha matsogo akere. Mohl Julius Malema, nna le wena a re bethe matsogo ka gore Mopresidente o tloga a bontšhitše gabotse gore re aga leswa, ebile o hlaotše Seshego. Akere o a bona Seshego kua re dulago go be go le lesitšwego go fihla di se san a mohola, bjale Mopresidente o re “phansi ka dilo tše di lesitšwego go fihlela di se san a mohola phansi”, “pele ka kagoleswa le tlhabollo pele”. Re swanetše gore re thabele taba ye gore re kgone go tšwela pele. Ee, o boletše Mopresidente Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa fa maloba. Re ikgantšha ka Seshego sa Majatladi, a
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 96
re phumuleng dikudumela, le Jehovah o re motho o tla ja sa mphufutšo wa phatla ya gago. Mešomo, mešomo, mešomo! ANC e rwele lesaka, e a le gogobiša, e tlile go re hlolela mešomo.
A re tšweletšeng bokgoni bja rena. Re ka di diriša goba ra di hiriša. Re ka aga meago. Meago yona yeo ge rena re e agile, ge eba ga re na maatla a go tšweletša se sengwe, re ka rapela ba lekala la praebete, ba tla ba šomiša meago ya rena, ka yona tsela yeo, ba re direla letseno. Letseno le re tla be re le hwetša ka go šielana magareng ga rena ka gore tše dingwe tša meago ye, e tla be e le tša mmušo wa rena ka mokgwa woo bophelo bja rena bo tla bego bo tšwela pele.
English:
With skills training for young entrepreneurs to be in the forefront for the Fourth Industrial Revolution ...
Sepedi:
Ke be ke kgopela gore profense ya Gauteng re e opele matsogo ka gobane, maloba re rile ge re be re ile kua Gauteng ka taking Parliament to the People, re ile go senthara tša bona tša go hlagiša, Molekgotlaphethiši Lesufi moo ba re bontšhitšeng ge bana ba šomiša ditšithale. Mohlala wo mobotse
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 97
ke gore ba re bontšhitše theknolotši ya go rekiša atchar, bareki ba bona kamoka ga bona, ba ba le theknolotši yeo ka mo gare ga difoune tša bona. Ge atchar e le kgauswi le go fela, motho o no bolediša foune ya gagwe, ditaba tša fihla kua go bona, ba tseba gore seterateng se se itseng le nomoro ya ntlo ye e itseng, ke ga semangmang, re ile go tliša atchar ye. Ga re sa hlaka ka go ya kgole le kgauswi re sobelela re re re lata dilo tšeuwe. Ke dilo tše dibotse tšeo e lego gore rena re le badudi ba Afrika-Borwa mmušo wo o eteletšwego pele ke ANC o re swaretše tšona. Roma ga se ya agwa ka letšatši le tee.
Ešita le ngwana ge a le ka mpeng, ga a re go belegwa a dula, a sepela, a ba a bolela ka nako ye tee. Se senngwe le se nngwe se na le dikgato tšeo di swanetšego go latelelwa, gore mafelelong e be ya kgonthe. Re be re ile kgauswi le Yunibesithi ya Wits, re hweditše bana ba dira dilo tše di botse, tšeo rena re le select committee re di bonego nako ye re le kua Indonesia. Maloko a komiti a ka le hlalosetša ka taba yeo. Go na le lepokisana leo le swanago le lona le, o ka re ke motšhene wa go ntšha tšhelete, balwetši ba bolwetši bjo bo sa folelego sa ruri, ga ba sa fola dilaene, sa bona ke gore ge ba fihla kua ba mo file nomoro ya sephiri, ba kgotla. Ge a kgotla o tla bona gore, mohlala, ke ya Mampuru, ebile o a tseba, namile lebati le a bulega, Mampuru o kuka seo e lego sa
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 98
gagwe, o a sepela o ya gae - ka gona mokgwa woo, ke kgatelopele. [Tsenoganong.] Taba ya go re batho ba tla idibala kua dipetlele ba swere ke tlala ba re ba kwa go fiša e fihlile mafelelong. Ke be ke re Tona ya tša Maphelo, taba ke yeo, napa o sobelele gona kua kgauswi le Witswatersrand, o ye o bone gore naa bana ba dira mehlolo ye bjang. Sa rena ke go ba batamela, ra ba hlohleletša, ba kgona go tšwela pele, re se ke ra bona ra tswalela mahlo, ra tswalela melomo ra re rena ga se kgona. Maloko a komitiphethiši kamoka ga bona, yo mongwe le yo mongwe yoo o mmonago gore o a kgona, mo kropele ka molomo, Kgoro ya Matlotlo go na le tšhelete. Ge o hlaeditše mašeleng a gago, ngwala, o romele, ba tlile go go thuša, ra ba setšhaba seo se gatelang pele. Ge re ka ema gona, re tlile go ba le mathata.
Baswa ba swanetše go ithuta ka nnete, a re hlohleletšeng bana ba rena ba ye dikolong gore ba tle ba be le bokamoso bjo bo botse. Mo go ekonomi ya selegae kua ditoropong, a re hlohleletšeng mmušo wa rena wa selegae gore borakgwebo le bommakgwebo ba agelwe mengwako ya go bolokela le go šireletša direkišwa tša bona. Re a tseba kamoka ga rena, ge re ka ya toropong kua Polokwane, Limpopo, bommakgwebopotlana ba rena ba šia dithoto tša bona diterateng, ba di apeša ka diseila.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 99
Re be re duma gore taba ye e fihle bofelong. Re re ba ageleng mengwako, ba tsebe gore ka mo ke bobolokelo bja dithoto tša bona. Ba ageleng mengwako ye mebotsana, ba tsebe gore mo ba ka kgona go apea, ka gore batho ga re swane, ebile mokgwa wa go ja ga rena go a fapana, le malwetši ao a re swerego a a fapana. A mangwe malwetši a nyaka re lahlele bogobe ka ganong mola a mangwe a okobala ge o eja se sengwe le se sengwe. Ba ageleng mengwako ba kgone go itirela dilo tša go swana le tše
– dipelaelo, go ratharatha le tše kamoka ga tšona di tlile go fela. Ke sa na le kholofelo gore ke le T K Mampuru gore mmušo wo o eteletšwego pele ke ANC ...
English:
... never tells lies.
Sepedi:
E sa le ke belegwa, ga ke gopole ke hwetša maaka ao a boletšwego ke mmušo wo o eteletšwego pele ke ANC. Se se re tshwenyago re le batho ke gore re fela pelo, ra ba ra tshwenywa le ke gore re bona o ka re re kgona go phala ba bangwe, ra lebala gore wona mmušo wo ge o aba ditekanyetšo, o abela batho kamoka. Mašeleng ao Kapa Bodikela e a šomišago akere e a tšeere go mmušo wo o eteletšwego pele ke ANC.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 100
Mašeleng Kapa Bodikela e tla be e a tšeere kae? Tšhelete e tšwa go rena, Se se bohlokwa ke gore badudi ba mo Kapa Bodikela ba tlogele go bapala ka letsogo. A re hlompheng letsogo, ke bolela gagolo ke lebišitše go maloko a ANC, ke re a re hlohleletšeng meloko le metswalle ya rena gore ba hlomphe letsogo le gore ka di8, ge le tsena ka ngwakwaneng wa go boutela, le tsebe gore le swanetše go dira eng. Hlomphang letsogo le le kgone go bea leswao la X ka gore ge o ka se le hlomphe, o tlile go swana le badudi ba bangwe gona mo ba Imizamo Yethu le go gongwe, bao ba bapalago ka leswao la X, mafelelong ba boe ba sole wona mmušo wo wa ANC ba re ga o ba direle selo. O kae mmušo woo o ka go agelang ngwako, wa ba wa go agela le botshwamare, wa go neela meetse, wa go tlišetša mohlagase, wa go išetša ngwana sekolong, wa ba wa go nea le tša maphelo? Kganthe ANC ke mang a swanetšego go e sole gona moo? Ga go na motho yoo a nago le tokelo ya go sola mmušo wa ANC. [Tsenoganong.] Ga a gona le yo tee.
E re ke botše Mopresidente gore le a šoma, le komiti ya lena e a šoma. Dipalopalo tša Afrika-Borwa di bolela gore tlhokego ya mošomo e theogile ka 27,1%. Re leboga kudu ka gore re a bona gore mananeo a kamoka ao mmušo wo wa rena o tlago le ona, a tlile go dira gore batho ba be ba bakaone. Sa rena ke gore re
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 101
beng le phišego, re beng le lerato, re beng le kgotlelelo, re thekganeng, re tlogeleng tše dintši tšeo re di dirago ka gore ke tšona di tlilego go re senyetša. Leeto le e sa le le letelele, efela Kanana gona re ile go fihla. [Tsenoganong.]
Mopresidente, e re ke fetše ka gore šikiša dira le melapo, ka gore mphago wa dira ke meetse. Motho wa go khora ga a nagane gabotse, efela ge o ka mo fa bokoma, wa re tšea meetse šea, go lekane. Bokoma bo fa maatla, bja ba bja tliša lenyora. Leeto le re tlile go le sepela, efela ge re ka tlatša ka mo, re tlile go palelwa ke leeto. Wena di šikiše ka gore mphago wa tšona ke meetse. Gape e re ke go thuše ke re ... [Nako e fedile.]
English:
... strategy and tactics ...
Sepedi:
Ga se tša thoma lehono. E re ke bolele la mafelelo ke re Moshe ge a tlo šala a rerelela BaIsraele - ge a rerelela baIsraelese
... [Nako e fedile.] [Tsenoganong.]
IsiXhosa:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 102
Mnu B H HOLOMISA: Camagu mama!
English:
Deputy Speaker, Mister President and hon members, South Africa needs key interventions in order to eradicate poverty, place more citizens in jobs in particular young people whilst closing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. We need massive investment in the maintenance and development of a well co-ordinated and integrated socioeconomic infrastructure that is driven by government.
Reading the City Press report recently on the state of the Mahikeng socioeconomic infrastructure is further confirmation that the country cannot wait for another year without this massive investment into the infrastructure development. Mister President we invite you to visit places like Ikhwezi Township, Norwood and North Crest Suburbs in Mthatha to witness the reality of a road infrastructure that is nonexistent. Like in many other parts of the country, these potholes have caused damage to private property such as motor vehicles. This is not only limited to the infrastructure that does not exist but it includes that which has been upgraded but not maintained properly.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 103
A classic example of this is the Mthatha Airport which was upgraded in 2013 yet it had to be closed due to poor maintenance. Instead of correcting this anomaly, government is busy fighting with its self on the so-called authority and responsibility. I have no expectation of any leadership to be provided by the current serving Minister of Transport given that in November 2018 he was made aware about this but he ignored the warnings. For that reason, I suggest that you ask the South African Air Force which has specialists on aviation to assist the Mthatha Airport whilst we are waiting for the sleeping Minister.
This aviation intervention is urgent because the ongoing closure of that airport is negatively affecting the economy of that part of the country. Many projects announced and started by this government never get finished. There was a project to connect water from Mthatha Dam to surrounding villages, up to Coffee Bay. This project was stopped almost three and half years and we are told that there is no money to complete the project. What happened, Mister President? Is it lack of proper planning or another day of looting?
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 104
In a village near Burgersfort in Limpopo more than 72 RDP houses have been left unfinished since 2014. This is the same municipality that is alleged to have illegally deposited R200 million into the VBS Bank which has since been found to
be a source of funding bottomless pockets of politicians from the ruling party, again another example of daylight looting from the poor.
Mister President, the current challenges facing the higher education and training sector are due to governing party’s lack of proper planning for the roll out free fee higher education in South Africa. This crisis management style of leadership has to be a thing of the past. In some health institutions, instead of getting medication you are greeted and kept company by monkeys. This is the case at the Durban’s R K Khan Hospital.
Despite the government’s knowledge of the infrastructure challenges in the health sector there is no convincing strategy to address these problems. The current loadshedding by Eskom is contrary to the pronouncement and commitments made by government recently. We were told that loadshedding is the thing of the past yet Eskom is currently on stage 3 or 4.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 105
Eskom now comes up with a new excuse from the known diesel and coal. Now we are told that the project Hitachi and Chancellor House in Medupi and Kusile which they built are the reasons for this loadshedding. By the way, those who do not know, Chancellor House is the ANC’s fundraising company. It is therefore prudent that your party must take full responsibility. [Time expired.]
IsiXhosa:
Ngenxa yokuba ndichaphazele iChancellor House, uthi ixesha lam liphelile ngoku.
English:
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, look at your watch there. Look at your watch Sir; it is there right next to you. It is finished.
IsiXhosa:
Mnu B H HOLOMISA: Hayi maan, uyandidolopha ngoku Sekela Somlomo kwaye andisayi kuvotela kunjalo nje. [Kwahlekwa.]
Ms N W A MAZZONE: House Chairperson, Mister President, fellow Members of Parliament; ladies and gentlemen, it is now 2019,
11 and a half years since construction of the Medupi Power
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 106
Station started. It is now 2019, 10 and a half years since the construction of the Khusile Power Station started. And yet, the entire country was plunged into darkness, with Eskom implementing a drastic stage 4 load shedding programme just yesterday. Six units have suddenly gone offline which is absolutely unheard of. This has now been moved from just an Eskom problem to a national South African problem.
All of South Africa will be affected by a collapsing Eskom, putting our entire economy and millions of jobs in jeopardy. It is now 2019 and South Africa is still experiencing rolling blackouts and Eskom still has a monopoly stranglehold over our country and its economy. We need to call this crisis what it is. This is no longer loadshedding. It is persistently rolling blackouts and is killing our economy. These rolling blackouts affect every community, every business in every municipality across the length and breadth of our beautiful country.
Probably the most shocking of all - not one person is behind bars for attempting to sell off our country off piece by piece despite all the charges, all the evidence, and all the commissions of inquiries.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 107
The ANC’s rejig of Eskom is simply not enough. The DA has long been calling for a complete overhaul of this dinosaur monopoly which is killing our economy with power failures and electricity spike prices. The DA introduced the cheaper electricity bill which will see Eskom split into two separate entities, a generation entity, transmission entity and distribution entity. The generation entity will be privatised over time to compete with other independent power producers on an equal footing. Well functioning metros will be able to source energy directly from independent electricity suppliers.
It cannot be that South Africans have no choice as to whom they purchase electricity from. We have the right to choose our own service provider and the right to choose our own kind of electricity; be it wind, solar, gas or coal. The notion that this will create job losses is a simple lie. By diversifying our energy market, we will create jobs, increase competition and significantly drive down electricity prices. As South Africans we simply cannot be held random to the Tripartite Alliance concerns of upsetting one another. We are a country in total crisis and we have to act in crisis mode now.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 108
It is time to face the reality that South Africa may well have been exposed State Capture but little to nothing has been done to hold those who fed this monster to account. In fact, the more people who are named in these various inquiries, the more I look around Parliament and see those very people seated along side me. What an embarrassment, what an indictment on everything we stand for.
I am here today to ask the President not to send his criminals to Parliament but to send them to jail. When last we met from this same forum, I asked the President to remove the then Minister of Public Enterprises Lynn Brown. I together with millions of South Africans heaved a sigh of relief when he announced to her removal. Little did we know that she was just the tip of a corrupt iceberg and that we, the people of South Africa, were headed on a direct collision path with this iceberg.
There is no longer any doubt that the tentacles of the state capture monster have reached all Public Enterprises, all state departments and every levels of government. State capture is a disease that has infected the entire nation. Thankfully there is a cure and Mister President, it works fast and it acts as a
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 109
prophylactic for future infection. It is called a jail sentence. We ask of the President not to send these criminals to Parliament; send them to jail. [Applause.]
There is nothing quite like a witness in the box singing like a canary to get criminals worried. What we have witnessed at the Zondo Commission into State Capture is nothing short of astounding. I now feel like I know my way around certain Ministers’ homes. We know what meat they enjoy and more particularly what their tipple of preference is. Mister President, may I suggest that when the certain Ministers who had a penchant for a certain brand of blended whisky come knocking at your door seeking reemployment, you just tell them to keep walking. [Laughter.]
In these very benches sit Ministers who are accused of, literally, accepting bags of corruption money. One would not think that when design house Louis Vuitton released the “Neverfull” model of handbag, this crime and corruption was the intended usage of the bag. We laughed; scoffed and we shocked but here sits the Minister. The question now is what exactly does it take to get arrested for corruption in South
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 110
Africa? Mister President, we ask you, not to send these people to Parliament but send them to jail.
Our hopes now lie in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, and we hope that the new head of the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA takes her orders from the Constitution and the laws of the land, and never again from politicians or families flying in and out of Dubai. It is simply cannot be that State Capture was executed under the nose of the executive without every one of the members knowing exactly what was happening. The “New Dawn” is nothing more than the same old wine just being served to us in a brand new bottle.
I have personally laid charges against the likes of Brian Molefe; Matshela Koko; Trillian; SAP; Just Coal; McKinsey; The Bank of Baroda; the Gupta brothers; Duduzane Zuma; Jacob Zuma; Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and the list goes on. We need to see some high-profile arrests; we need see some assets being seized and while we are at it, let us take away a few passports to ensure that no one can flee prosecution. [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 111
Mister President, let me tell you without doubt what the average South African would not mind having their tax money spent on. It is a new wing of the C Maximum Prison at Pretoria Central dedicated to those who try to steal our country.
Mister President, on behalf of all South Africans, I actually beg of you not to send them to Parliament; send them to jail. I thank you. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Mr President and hon members, as we enter 2019 we do so conscious of the fact that many commentators, analysts and international organisations are warning of downside risks that could constrain the prospects of global economic growth this year. One of the areas where we have already seen the impact of this contraction is in the area of overall flows of global Foreign Direct Investment.
Mr President, your investment drive has succeeded in achieving a remarkable turnaround, not just in sentiment but in actual concrete action by both foreign and domestic investors.
As you indicated in the state of the nation address, InvestSA together with the investment envoys are monitoring and working
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 112
to ensure the implementation of the investment commitments. I am happy to be able to report just a few of them: Vedanta at the end of this month will complete and open Phase 1 of its Black Mountain Mine in the Northern Cape which is an investment of $350m; they will enter into Phase 2 which will see the construction of a zinc smelter and possibly also of a Fertilizer Plant.
Amazon Web Services will this year open the 3 sites for its project here in Cape Town, in the Western Cape; Mara phones will open a plant in the DubeTrade Port in KwaZulu/Natal even before the end of this administration; we expect the same by Proctor and Gamble with its R300 million extension of its factory to supply feminine hygiene products, also taking advantage of the zero rating and the programme to roll these out. Hisense will expand in Atlantis their plant in; Defy will expand in Isithebe, in KwaZulu-Natal and these are just a few of the examples. InvestSA will roll out its one-stop shop which is now currently operating in three provinces: the Eastern Cape, Free State and Limpopo.
The importance of the investment drive is that we will see the building of new productive capacity and it will create more
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 113
jobs. I’m sure that the investment drive contributed to the improved job figures which we saw released by StatsSA just today. For those who didn’t see them, the 4th quarter figures of job creation report an increase in the employment of
149 000 quarter on quarter and 358 000 new jobs year on year.
This has taken a number of people employed in South Africa to 16,5 to 9 million people and has reduced unemployment by 0,4% to a still too high 27,1% but nevertheless for the first time in a long time, a move in the right direction.
In addition to its direct impact, investment also gives us much stronger bases to pursue structural transformation in our economy necessary to place it on a higher and more inclusive growth path. It provides us with a much better environment to improve the application of policy including those relevant to the pursuit of industrial policy.
Mr President in the state of the nation address, you indicated that one of the “drivers of a higher level of more inclusive economic growth had to be measures to increase local demand through, among other things increasing the proportion of local goods and services procured both by government and the private sector”. Localisation has indeed been a policy tool deployed
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 114
by all successful industrialised economies. In fact, it’s a policy tool deployed today even by industrialised countries and is the source of much hypocrisy: with what is practiced not being preached and what is preached not being practiced.
In 2011, new procurement regulations were introduced providing for the designation of local content requirements in a range of products procured by all public entities. Once translated into practice notes by National Treasury, these local contents designations are no longer voluntary but a binding on procurement entities and who are required to follow the designations.
I can report that to date, government has designated 23 products and sectors for localization under these regulations. They include textile and clothing products, furniture products, canned and processed vegetables, valves and actuators, roaring stock, solar water heaters, steel products, buses working both in vessels and several other products.
Over R71 billion has been spent on products designated for local procurement between March 2015 and September 2018; and
71 billion could well otherwise have been deployed on the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 115
imported products. Where implemented correctly, we have seen positive results, take buses for example in 2010, all buses that were procured for the 2010 Fifa World Cup were fully imported.
Now through the designations, investments that have been made by companies in the manufacturing in South Africa are bus bodies and all buses that have been procured under Bus Rapid Transport, BRT and similar arrangements are now locally manufactured. I can also add here, that last year on the fringes of the Mining Indaba there was a discussion about the use of platinum catalyst fuel cells in Gautrain and buses. I can report now that we have gone a step further forward, we now have private fuel cell manufacturers operating in South Africa along with hydrogen South Africa, which is an entity which is supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
Working together with Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, and the Royal Bafokeng, our department is supporting a feasibility study which could see the roll out of 30-40 fuel cell power buses in the Rustenburg area. Take clothing and textiles, as a result of the designations, we’ve seen the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 116
16:36:20 together with a foreign investor, manufacturing fire retard and textiles to supply local and provincial government.
We’ve seen the garment and textiles receiving an order of R100 million rand for weaving and dyeing to provide overalls and uniforms for South African Police Services, SAPS, South African National Defence Force and Correctional Services and in fact there has been an increase in the demand for the orange jumpsuits there as well.
We’ve seen united industrial pay-balls, a black manufacturing company; a black industrialist company has established a plant to provide pay-balls for the infrastructure programme. We’ve seen similar moves in pharmaceuticals; we’ve seen marine working vessels which was an industry that was pretty much dying in the early 2000s, we’ve seen a turn around here with Southern African Ship yachts, a black owned company now manufacturing the new generation of tucks to the tune of R1,45 billion and it has delivered 8 already and the 9th one will be delivered in June this year.
There have been other foreign partnerships as well; Damen Shipyards has established a plant here in Cape Town which is
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 117
producing on a contract of R2, 4 billion for Armaments Corporation of South Africa, Armscor of insure vehicles.
Mr President, the biggest one is the R100 billion tender for 1064 locomotives and 3600 wagons which was issued in 2013, as a result of this we saw the establishment of the Gibela Alstrom factory which you yourself opened in October last year. This state of the art factory represents investment of R1 billion and created 1500 jobs indirectly and further 700 jobs in an adjacent supply plant.
Another investment was by General Electric, I had an opportunity to engage with the Executives of General Electrics in the United State a year or two back and they told me that they had never invested in a manufacturing of locomotive outside of United State of America. This was their first and this became the model also for later decisions to invest in the manufacturing locomotive in India.
Mr President, I think where we have implemented, we have achieved good results but I think we have to acknowledge that the poisonous tentacles of State Capture and corruption have also intruded into this space. We saw a number of what
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 118
euphemistically called improperly awarded tenders particularly in the area of rail procurement; all of these without an exception have ignored the localization prescript and favoured imports over locally manufactured products.
This places a more general weakening commitment of localization by procurement agencies meant that companies invested in manufacturing in South Africa and employ South Africans did not get the work they should have. On top of this, the worsening financial situation of some of the state owned companies meant that the pace of procurement slowed down. This has had a negative impact not just directly on companies that are on the top of value chains but through out the value chains on companies established to invest in South Africa but also on black industrialist.
In 2016, we launched that year’s industrial policy action plan at a plant in Ekurhuleni of a company now known as Naledi Mhlangiso forge. This plant is owned and operated by a black industrialist, Mr Sibusiso Nopatiyele, who acquired the run down forge and was rehabilitated it using incentives from the Department of Trade and Industry, DTI and the facility from the IDC. The plant is gearing up to manufacture railway wheels
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 119
and break pads but didn’t get the business it was promised, and a few years later it found itself in business rescue. I’m pleased to say that this particular company has pulled itself out of business rescue and is now producing products for export. It’s not where it could have been, but what happened to it, it shouldn’t have happened.
We are now supporting 131 black industrialists. In my budget speech last year, I said we would meet with them and discuss with them how we can take their businesses forward. One of the dominant messages we received from many of them was that they didn’t want more government money, they wanted government to put its money where its mouth was and buy their products, and in other words, we must enforce localization.
The manifesto of the ruling party, the African National Congress, ANC calls upon government to impose penalties on state institutions and agencies that do not comply with government’s localization commitment. At the Job-Summit, we indicated that we would have work in a number of findings to improve compliance. One of these is to work with Auditor- General on the Auditor-General making findings in this regard. I’m please to be able to report that work with the Auditor-
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 120
General is now at an advance stage and procuring entities that ignore practice notes from localization can now expect negative audit finding.
New audit legislation will provide for greater consequences for entities with negative audit findings. We are also working with the Department of Public Enterprises to ensure that improperly awarded tenders are cancelled and are re-issued in accordance with localization designations. We are improving our range surveillance and inviting National Economic Development and Labour Council, Nedlac, partners to provide us with information where there’s noncompliance.
The ANC manifesto also calls on government to increase the number of designations and I’m please to be able to say that the work is underway for potential new designations in the area of automotive products and yellow metals, PVC pipes, ICT products, switch gears and port equipments. The manifesto further states that we should attach conditionalities with respect to localization on any state support we provide including the incentive. I want to point out that the Automotive Master Plan to 2030 and the revised Automotive Production Development Plan does just that.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 121
Through intensive dialogue, we’ve reach a consensus including the auto manufacturers, the component manufacturers and organized labour that we should increase the level of localization in the industry from the 40% that is to 60% by 2030 and as a tool to get there, we’ve all agreed that we’ll change the Value Added Allowance to a Value Added Localization Allowance which will mean after an appropriate phasing that there would be less benefits acquired unless the companies increase the level localization. Coupled with the BEE requirements for supplier chain support. This should allow for the entry of many more black industrialists into component manufacturing
Mr President I can go on but I cant, I don’t have time, suffice to say our overall assessment in the 10th Industrial Policy Action Plan is that where we have acted purposefully and in consultation, we have seen the results and the example is the Auto Master plan.
I can say that we hoping to conclude a proposal which will be presented in the new administration for a similar Master Plan in the area of retail, clothing and textiles. We are not at the scale we need to be, we have not yet decisively warded off
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 122
the threat of de-industrialisation, we not yet at point where industrial development contributes what it should do to place us in a new growth path. We have indicated the issues, insufficient coherence and common purpose across government. Mr President I don’t think anybody can that your speech do not indicate that we are better today than we were yesterday, if we follow measures you indicated I’m sure tomorrow will be better than today. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, there will be a break, which you deserve, for the next 15 minutes. Bells will be rung to remind you to come right back. Thank you. Enjoy your break.
BUSINESS SUSPENDED AT 16:45 AND RESUMED AT 17:03.
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Mr President, Deputy Chair, hon members and guests, a year ago we set out on a path of growth and renewal. Emerging from a period of uncertainty, a loss of confidence and trust, we resolved to break with all that divides us, to embrace that which unites us. We resolved to rid our country of the corrosive effects of corruption and to restore the integrity of our institutions. We resolved to advance the values of our Constitution and, to once again,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 123
place at the centre of our national agenda the needs of the poor, unemployed, marginalised and dispossessed.
The 27 April 1994 elections heralded the beginning of a new nationhood and the building of a new democratic state guided by the aspirations and values of nonracialism and nonsexism, of patriotism and a commitment to democratic principles, and above all, a commitment to transform the economy, state and society.
In fact, we entered into a contract with the poor and the majority of our country. With that, we committed that we will lift them out of poverty, that we will with them restore their dignity and self-respect and create opportunities for economic and social wellbeing. Indeed, we said to all South Africans coming from diverse backgrounds that we are all part of this new nation.
Similarly, to the aspirant middle class and those who were well off in our society, we said to them you will have the space to advance and grow, but as a young nation, and in a young nation, you have a particular responsibility as the well
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 124
off to be a patriotic middle and upper class balancing your personal needs and those of the nation.
However liberation and opportunity to engage in nation- building also brings new and complex responsibilities. The task of building a capable and developmental state, the ability to mobilise and direct resources, to programmes that overcome the legacies of apartheid and to position the country to cease the new opportunities available as we become equal global citizens, and no longer pariahs of the world.
Nonetheless, our vision for the role and nature of the state is encapsulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the ANC’s document Ready to Govern, the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, and the National Development Plan, NDP.
It is this ANC that has governed over the past 25 years and has transformed the apartheid state to the democratic state. It is this ANC that has built the basic architecture of a developmental state from the remnants of apartheid, Bantustans and Tricemeral system structures. It is this ANC that provided the developmental orientation to the new state machinery and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 125
attracted the more skilled South Africans to serve within the state, the majority of poor and indeed all South Africans.
Their aspiration was driven by a higher purpose; the purpose to serve, to build, to lift people out of poverty and create a new dynamism in our country.
The strides that have been made are a product of a commitment that the ANC made to the people as early as to the lead up to the 1994 elections in the RDP where we say and I quote:
We cannot successfully build the economy while millions do not have homes or jobs. And we cannot provide homes and jobs without rebuilding the economy. We need policies and strategies to address all of the problems together.
For us to get to a developmental state that we aspire to, and as articulated in the Strategy and Tactics 2007 document of the ANC, we have to put the needs of our people first, driven by nothing else for the desire to change their lives and a need for the sustained and continued development based on high inclusive growth rates, the restructuring of the economy and socioeconomic inclusion.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 126
The state has made significant progress in the provision of basic services that have been repeated from this platform many times. The foundations for a capable state have been laid, but there are major concerns and weaknesses that we still need to address.
The 2030 vision outlined in the NDP provides a guide to address the twin challenges of poverty and inequality, whereby a state that is capable of playing a transformative and a developmental role is needed. This requires a well run and effectively set of co-ordinated state institutions, staffed by skilled public servants who are committed to the public good and capable of delivering consistently high-quality services for all South Africans, while prioritising the nation’s developmental objectives. This will enable people from all sections of society to have the confidence in the state, which in turn will reinforce the state’s effectiveness.
Since 1994, the objective remains that of building a developmental state and a capable one. To this end, much has been done; but of course, in this span of history much still needs to be done.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 127
Since the dawn of democracy, it was realised that what was lacking in our efforts was the capacity to implement polices. The sate as an instrument of development as opposed to a state that had to deal with the limitations and constrains of the situation it found itself in.
In an interesting paper an academic who reviews the developmental states and their projects over their last 30 or
40 years says the following: Firstly, what do we know about the developmental states and why they emerged? Secondly, what have developmental states have achieved? And in answering this question, I looked not only at the growth but also at structural transformation, economic upgrading, equity and human capability enhancement. Thirdly, how did the developmental states utilise state structures to pursue the development? And these are circumstances in which we share many of the idiosyncrasies of the states that have been previously described as developmental states, high-levels of inequality, poverty, underdevelopment and an economy that is not functioning at its optimal.
He further mentions that developmental states are characterised by cohesive, capable and autonomous
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 128
bureaucracies that are able both plan and implement transformative developmental projects. This author is also of the view that developmental states are distinguished by dense networks between states and businesses and civil society, with states able to hold businesses accountable for their performance.
According to him, states distribute subsidies and incentives to the private and of course we dish out billions of rand of incentives to various parts of the private sector with the understanding that incentives will be withdrawn if businesses fail to meet expectations. We have never made that as a condition. The ability of strong states to hold businesses accountable is key to these relationships. In South Korea, for example the government gave subsidies but then held businesses accountable and we quote:
To concrete performance standards with respect to outputs, exports, and eventually research and development as well.
There is another view and an important addition to the concept of a developmental state, one introduced by Prof Mariana Mazzucato in her book called The Entrepreneurial State, where
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 129
the role of the state has gone way beyond creating the right infrastructure and setting the rules of the game. It should be in her view a leading agent in achieving the type of innovative breakthroughs that allow companies and economies to grow, not just by creating the conditions that enable innovation but for her and I quote:
The state can proactively create strategy around a new high growth area before the potential is understood by the business community from the Internet to the nanotechnology, funding the most uncertain phase of that research that the private sector is too risk-averse to engage with, seeking and commissioning further developments and often even overseeing the commercialisation process. In this sense, the state would have played an important entrepreneurial role.
Mazzucato introduces the concept as I said, of the entrepreneurial state something that we can learn from as South Africans, where in addition to a normal developmental mandate in a context, where we solely require growth and a greater sense of innovation and perhaps even adventure and risk-taking, where the state can play the kind of role that this economics professor outlines for us.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 130
So, there are many examples of what a good developmental and capable state could be doing. However sadly, over the last few years, not withstanding the progress that we have made, we have been in a sense let our own mission and promise to our people down. We have been diverted by those whose preoccupation has been selfishness, greed and extraction for personal benefits. Indeed this was just not a problem as some would allege in the governing party, but I am sure that in the next period ahead, many other skeletons are going to come to the fore to indicate the kind of corruption that is going on in institutions that are amongst those who often pontificate about corruption itself.
However, in our case hon members, Eskom in some ways and the kind of dilemmas if faces and the crises it has presented us with currently encapsulates the challenge of where a developmental state institution can go wrong. This was an excellent 95-year-old institution that for the majority of its lifespan was extremely well run, well into the mid-2000s. As a result of the damage cost that many speakers have already referred to, of state capture, Eskom’s pride and capacity has been undermined.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 131
[Interjections.]
Well that is your view, we respect that. No, no. No, no, no, we will come back to that. The damage of state capture which we are bold enough, brave enough and frank enough to talk about, on the one hand, but also brave enough and frank enough to tackle on the other hand, whereas the members on my left have absolutely no clue what so ever - and are remaining in denial! [Applause.]
So, they should tell us, hon members: What is the real deal in Johannesburg? [Interjections.] What is the real deal? What is the mayor really up to in Johannesburg? And that will then tell you where we really stand! And it does not involve the ANC at all, as we understand it! However, let us come back!
The public is interested ... [Interjections.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, order, hon members!
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: The public is interested in knowing what is the status as far as Eskom is concerned?
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 132
So, Eskom is currently facing massive problems of a structural nature, operational nature and financial nature. In the state of the nation address last week, Mr President, you did not talk anything about privatisation. What you said very clearly is that security of energy supply is an absolute imperative.
Eskom is in crisis and the risks it poses to South Africa are great it could severely damage our economy and we need to minimise any adverse economic costs to the consumer and taxpayer and that Eskom needs to enter into a new phase with the new business model and that that new business model would involve in the first instance the creation of three separate entities: Generation, transmission and distribution under Eskom holdings, again nothing to do with privatisation so that we are not confused about it.
The fact of the matter hon members and maybe you want to take out your pen and papers and write some of these numbers down - is that coal powered power stations give us about 38 000 megawatts currently. The water peaking pump stations give us about 3000, nuclear about 1 860, gas after the use of diesel another 2 400. What we are currently faced with, is that not all of the 38 000 or the fully installed 45 or 46 000 is available to us. [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 133
For reasons that we will continue to explain so that you understand both in the committee and else where in Parliament, there are planned outages - you might want to listen to the numbers - there are planned outages of about 5 000 megawatts, this is where you remove units in order to maintain them and then restore them to operations. There are forced to unplanned outages of another 5 000 megawatts and there are so-called partial outages for few times in a day or a week or a month that involve about 4 000 megawatts as well.
This morning Eskom introduced stage 3 load shedding and I will come back to the question of why in a minute. If I had more time I would have taken you through the details of all seven units that were involved in creating the crisis. However fundamentally, the first point that we need to tell the public and indeed on all hon members who want to listen and understand the problem, is that Medupi and Kusile were badly designed and badly constructed and are not performing at optimum levels. [Interjections.]
Secondly ...
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 134
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, can we allow the Minister to just give us information.
An HON MALE MEMBER: He is giving us excuses!
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Continue hon Minister.
An HON FEMALE MALE MEMBER: Who are you?
An HON MALE MEMBER: Who are you?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can you continue hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: So, for those who are interested, we are addressing these issues. I have yesterday met with the board and today had various interactions and we are beginning to understand where the problems are in some of the very old power stations. However, we have also taken new initiatives where the board and myself have agreed that we are going to bring in external power station engineers, have an independent audit done on what is exactly going on so that we put Eskom back on track and give South Africans sooner rather
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 135
than later the assurance that we have an entity that is able to give us the energy security that we require.
In sum, what we are saying, Mr Chairperson, is that we are well on our way to making sure that the diversion that was presented by the state capture shall be overcome. We will continue to build developmental institutions; we will continue to build the capacity of the state and continue to ensure that South Africa achieves the true promise that is capable of achieving. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Mr Y CASSIM: Hon Chairperson, fellow South Africans, I greet you in the universal greeting of peace, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Hon President, after in your own words, nine wasted years, last year you addressed this Chamber in your inaugural state of the nation address, at a time where young South Africans could not afford a single further wasted day.
It was an address filled with promises made to a nation desperate for hope, particularly the millions of young South Africans fast becoming a forgotten generation without skills or jobs and set up to fail in our institutions of higher
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 136
learning. Since then, there is a German proverb that has stuck with me which claims, that “promises are like the full moon, if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day.”
When you addressed us last week, one would have expected some reflection on the promises that were made. When scrutinising them more closely, I can see why you chose not to do so. You promised that, at the centre of our national agenda in 2018, would be the creation of jobs, especially for the youth. Yet,
25 000 additional youth are unemployed with the expanded youth unemployment rate increasing to 50,1%, the highest in the world.
You promised a Youth Employment Service, YES, initiative, which will create a million paid internships over three years. Yet, the YES initiative has less than 7000 committed work experiences received, a mere 0,7% of what was promised, and it will take you at this rate, 142 years to reach your three-year target. You promised that the Minister of Higher Education will lead the implementation of free higher education.
Yet, as late as August last year, there were 75 000 students whose funding had still not been paid, which was only the tip
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 137
of the iceberg. The most vulnerable of our students have still been set up to fail. Minister Pandor, unfortunately, can’t lead anything and is completely out of touch. Mr President, it’s time to admit that you have this one wrong.
She only acts clever, but is clueless to the struggles that our students are going through. I am not going to be like the hon Willie and say hong-hong-hong, because I don’t care how a person says something, as long as they know what they are talking about and their ignorance is not making our students suffer. She came here in November and claimed that she is confident of a smooth start to the 2019 academic year, and on
17 January this year, she told Inside Education that she does not anticipate any funding and registration hiccups during the opening of our institutions. How wrong can one person be, Mr President? This is not something that you play with.
A student has been murdered, so too has a residence administrator. At this point, we should pay our condolences to the families of Mlungisi Madonsela and Dr Euvette Taylor. It cannot be business as usual. Yesterday, I visited the Walter Sisulu University, Ibika campus in Gcuwa and what confronted
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 138
me, Mr President, was painful. It was the real state of our nation.
Hundreds of students were standing helplessly outside in the pouring rain on the day that lectures have officially started. Most students are still unregistered; the institution is owed a billion rand in outstanding debt locking out poor National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, qualifying students; NSFAS is a complete shamble with student statuses not being updated and incoherent communication, leaving students literally out in the cold without allocated accommodation.
Also, post-graduate student funding is embarrassing and Btech students are being asked to pay upfront payments. The same painful story plays out across the country, and the Minister’s response is to antagonise students and arrogantly call on students to focus on real concerns. This happens whilst she hasn’t visited any of the universities where the crisis is playing out.
She has exposed herself as completely as being out of touch when she met with student leaders; out of touch being the label, Minister, which has applied to you from student leaders
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 139
from your own political party. Hon President, from your state of the nation address it would seem that you have also caught pandornitus, calling on student representatives and university authorities, for them alone, to work together to find solutions to the challenges.
Please balance us, Mr President. How exactly do you expect students and universities to solve the problems including government’s failures in NSFAS’s collapse and inability to deal with student debt crisis by themselves? Just the two of them must solve it? Where is your thuma mina, or is just that the space that you keep asking us to keep watching?
The tragedy is that 63% of NSFAS students have dropped out over a five-year period. You and your government are setting up poor, mainly black students, to fail. The situation is even worse at our Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Tvet, colleges, a sector you ignored in your address. They are characterised by poor infrastructure and equipment, almost
non-existent student services, outdated curricula, unequal student funding and a declining work-based training opportunities.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 140
Approximately 68% of Tvet colleges have a completion rate of fewer than 50%, and compared to private colleges, students in our Tvet colleges are not being prepared to compete on an equal footing. Your government continues to prove it incapable of building one South Africa for all, where all young South Africans can enjoy an equal footing irrespective of the circumstances of their birth.
It has been proven by the DA that where we govern, we put youth at the centre of our agenda and have a track record of actually delivering. [Applause.] About R600 million in economic savings has been generated through our red tape reduction and ease of doing business strategies in the Western Cape. The City of Cape Town was recognised as the top opportunity city in Africa, with its business support project already facilitating support for over 500 small and medium enterprises per year and job seekers are afforded the opportunity to ride the MyCity bus free of charge.
Most tellingly, about 50% of all new jobs created last year were created in the Western Cape, with the province having by far, the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the fastest growth in employment. Fellow South Africans, imagine
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 141
what we can achieve when leading a national government. When elected, we will introduce a voluntary national service, one year of income and skills development for school-leavers, something that we are already piloting in the Western Cape through the Premier’s advancement of youth programme.
We will create job centres throughout South Africa that provide information, advice and free internet to job seekers. We will grow small business opportunities through increased funding assistance, removing blockages and red tape. We will prosecute and eliminate the practice of ‘sex for jobs’ and carpet interviews, something that seems very prevalent amongst your officials and your politicians in your municipalities, including ‘cash for jobs’ and corruption in allocating jobs.
Listen to this one, Mr President, and I hope you are listening. Under the DA government, all matric students would receive a set number of free driving lessons and we would waive the licensing fees for first time applicants, something that is preventing our young people from getting jobs. Our bursaries to learners from low-income families will cover the comprehensive cost of study so as to ensure that learners have the necessary tools on time to pass.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 142
We will develop work and study apprenticeship programmes, substantially increasing the involvement of companies to provide opportunities in new and existing fields. Mr President, it is clear that even your government continues to perpetuate two South Africas. It is only the DA that has proven itself capable of building one South Africa for all. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, our next speaker is hon Bhengu who will present her debate from where she is seated for reasons that we all know. Over to you, hon Bhengu.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES:
Hon members, our next speaker is hon Bhengu who will then present her debate speech from where she is seated for reasons that we are all aware of.
Ms P BHENGU-KOMBE: Hon Chairperson, hon the President, hon members of both Houses, guests in the gallery, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to participate in this debate on the 2019 state of the nation address of the 5th Parliament. I welcome the speech of the President that is
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 143
bringing hope to all of us as South Africans. Mine is to debate on issues affecting people with disabilities. When Cabinet approved the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 9 December 2015 we were as happy as this is work that started in 2003 by disabled people who attended a number of workshops that were convened around the country. The white paper to us is like a bible because it contains all issues relating to disability, progress made regarding the implementation of new policy. The emphasis of the white paper is on embedding disability inclusion into government’s policies as well as its legislative, planning, budgeting, programming, monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems.
IsiZulu:
Umongameli wethu enkulumeni yakhe ayibhekise esizweni ubalule izinto eziningi ezisithintayo njengomphakathi kanye nabantu abakhubazekile okubalwa kukho lokhu okulandelayo; Imfundo nokubaluleka kwayo, nokuthi uHulumeni awuholayo uzimisele kangakanani ukuthi wenyuse izinga lezemfundo, ezobuchwepheshe kanye nokwandisa isibalo sabafundi ezikoleni. Siyazi ukuthi kulesi sikhathi abazali babantwana abakhubazekile bakhathazekile ngabantwana abahleli emakhaya bengafundi
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 144
ngenxa yokushoda kwezikole ezikhethekile zabantwana abakhubazekile ngoku khethekileyo, ama-special schools.
Umnyango Wezemfundo wanxusa bonke abantwana abakhubazekile ukuthi bafunde ezikoleni ezijwayelekile kusukela ngo-1994, wathembisa ukushintsha indlela izikole ezakhiwe ngayo ukuze zikwazi ukwemukela abantwana ngisho nabahamba ngezihlalo ezinamasondo, ngokuthi zonke izikole zibe nezindawo zokuhamba izihlalo ezinamasondo nezindawo zokubambelela. Siyazi ukuthi usemuningi umthwalo obhekene noMnyango Wezemfundo. Simuzwile uMongameli esho nokuthi imfundo kubantwana yokuqala, i-early childhood development, isizophoqeleka kubantwana ngeminyaka emibili ngaphambi kokuthi baqale ibanga lokuqala, u-Grade 1. Siyakujabulela kakhulu lokho, nokuthi abantwana bazoqeqeshwa besebancane ukufunda izincwadi bathole nezinsiza ukuze bafunde nangezobuchwepheshe bebancane. Esinethemba-ke Mongameli ukuthi nabantwana abakhubazekile bazogqugquzeleka ukuthi nabo baye ezikoleni ngaphandle kwezinkinga ikakhulukazi izikole zibeseduze nabo nalezo ezikhethekile zandiswe ukuze kungabibikho umntwana ohleli ekhaya engafundi.
English:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 145
Our Constitution has laid out a set of socioeconomic rights that guarantees all South Africans a life lived in dignity and places an obligation on the state to ensure the progressive realisation of these socioeconomic rights. Chapter 10 of the Constitution prescribes the value system that must underwrite public service delivery, inclusive of equal access and participatory governance. These socioeconomic rights in our Constitution are justifiable and can be claimed by all South Africans inclusive of the rights of persons with disabilities. It is important to remember that within the apartheid system hierarchy, persons with disabilities had no rights, no entitlements and no recourse; this was compounded by race, gender, class and type of impairment. As persons with disabilities, we thank the ANC government that during these 25 years of democracy it started dismantling historic prejudice and disability discrimination ... [Applause.] as some groups affirmed than others. The ANC government has made steady progress towards the realisation of the rights of people with disabilities particularly in the following areas;
Firstly, a comprehensive disability-disaggregation of the National Development Plan that was concluded in 2014 to inform disability inclusive planning. Secondly, a gap in disability
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 146
inclusive budgeting was addressed by concluding the first phase of a research study into elements of costs of disability to South African households in 2015.
The findings of the study are currently informing the social protection reforms. We acknowledge the centrality of education as an empowering and liberating tool for all people. Our constitutional imperative is that one child left behind and excluded is one child too many. Some of the highlights that have been achieved since the ratification of the convention, notwithstanding the significant challenges that remain, including the following;
Firstly, there are currently more children with disabilities enrolled in ordinary schools than in special schools.
Secondly, a total of 814 ordinary schools are being transformed into full-service schools which provide high levels of support to learners with disabilities. Thirdly, SA Sign Language was introduced as a language in all schools for deaf learners in 2015. Fourthly, to date, 4 215 officials and
81 096 teachers from 80% of primary schools have been trained to accelerate the implementation of the screening, identification, assessment and support policy.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 147
The policy directs planning budgeting and programming of reasonable accommodation support to learners with disabilities regardless of placement. Fifthly, financially qualifying students with disabilities enrolled in public post-school education institutions, study for free and have access to a wide-range of reasonable accommodation support measures. [Applause.]
IsiZulu:
Mongameli ohloniphekile, izinga lenhlalo kubantu abakhubazekile lisenezinselelo kakhulu ngoba iningi labo alisebenzi liphila ngemali eyisondlo sikaHulumeni, ama- disability grants. Abakhubazekile yibo ababasenkingeni kakhulu ngoba iningi labo abantu abasebancane abasadinga ukuthi bathole imisebenzi futhi banamakhono ahlukene ekungathi uma benganikwa ithuba banganikela kakhulu emnothweni waleli lizwe, nokuthi bathole namathuba nezimali zokusetshenziswa zokuqala amabhizinisi ukuze baphinde baqashe nabanye abantu kwande namathuba emisebenzi.
Umongameli ukushilo enkulumeni yakhe yesizwe ukuthi iNingizimu Afrika izoba namathuba amaningi kuphela nje uma sivula izandla zethu sizimisela ukuthi sibeke izwe lethu phambili. Ngikusho
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 148
lokhu ekutheni abantu abakhubazekile bazoba yingxenye yalamapaki ezimboni ukuze kube noshintsho komasipala kanye nezindawo zasemakhaya esihlala kuzo, ukuze lokhu kwenzeke uHulumeni kumele anikeze ngezimali ukuze kube namathuba emisebenzi kuwowonke umuntu ikakhulukazi kubantu besifazane nentsha yakithi. Sihlalo namaLungu ePhalamende, abantu abakhubazekile abasebenzi njengoba ngishilo inkinga asiyazi ukuthi ilele kuphi. uHulumeni kaKhongolose eminyakeni edlule wawushaya umthetho othi yonke iminyango kaHulumeni kumele iqashe abantu abakhubazekile babe okungenani u-2% kodwa kuze kube manje imbalwa kuphela iminyango ekwazile ukukwenza lokho. Eminingi isahluleka namanje ukuhlangabezana nalo 2%. uHulumeni waze wabeka isabelo sokuthi uma umnyango uqasha umuntu okhubazekile kumele ulandele imigomo ebekiwe eminye yawo owokuthi kube nezindawo zokuhamba izihlalo ezinamasondo, kukhokhelwe abasizi babo, banikezelwe nezindawo zokuhlala eziseduze nalapho besebenza khona ukuze basebenze ngokukhululeka nangokuzinikela ngaphandle kwezihibe.
Mhlonishwa Mongameli, singabantu abakhubazekile sithi, sicela iHhovisi likaMongameli like likhethe ikomidi elizolandelela ukuthi yini yenza iminyango kaHulumeni ihluleke ukuqasha abantu abakhubazekile nokuthi ekugcineni ibeke icala
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 149
oNgqongqoshe beminyango bahlawuliswe ngokulandisa komthetho ukuze babenomsebenzi wokulandelela ukuthi eminyangweni yabo bayayilandela imithetho abanikwe yona ukuze abantu abakhubazekile bangalokhu belinda ukuthi baze bathole isibonelelo sokukhubazeka ukuze baphile kodwa bathole imisebenzi ukuze baziphilise bona nemindeni yabo, banciphise umthwalo obhekene noHulumeni wokuholela abantu yize bengasebenza bakwazi ukuziphilisa.
English:
One of the most significant challenges remains, the unacceptable levels of violence, abuse and periodic neglect that people with disabilities are exposed to in our communities, this is also happening in some boarding facilities at special schools. Although measures are being put in place to remedy this situation, we fully agree with the President that stringent measures should be taken to fight the scourge of violence and abuse perpetrated against women and children in our society, and that our government responds to national concerns and calls that were made when we had convened a summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide which has provided a firm basis for a co-ordinated national response to this crisis. We are very happy that the President has put
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 150
emphasis on this issue.
IsiZulu:
Sihlalo ohloniphekile, Kuningi engingakusho ngabantu abakhubazekile, kungaze kushone ilanga. Kuphela nje sicela ukuthi sinikezwe inhlonipho, kuthi kukhokonke okwenziwayo sibeyi ngxenye ...
English:
... as we always say, “Nothing about us without us”.
IsiZulu:
Okokugcina kuwe Mongameli wethu, yisicelo esibalulekile sokuthi, siyacela ukuthi sibe nehovisi elikhuluma ngezindaba zabakhubazekile.
English:
An Office on the Status of Disabled People, OSDP...
IsiZulu:
... eHhovisi likaMongameli, kwehle njalo kuye kuzifundazwe kanjalo nasemahhovisini ondunankulu kube nalawa mahhovisi abizwa ngokuthi ama-OSDPs kuze kuyofinyelela komasipala.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 151
Ngikusho kahle lokhu ngoba bakhona nondunankulu bezifundazwe kanye nomeya bemikhandlu yonke komasipala kuleNdlu.
English:
Then the new 6th Parliament should have a joint monitoring committee that will monitor and evaluate the progress in these offices. In conclusion ...
IsiZulu:
... sesiya okhethweni ngomhlaka 8 kuMeyi, nginxusa bonke abantu abakhubazekile baseNingizimu Afrika ukuthi baphume ngobuningi babo bayovota bavotele uKhongolose ngoba i-ANC ... [Ihlombe.] iwona umbutho oselokhu waqala unamaLungu ePhalamende akhubazekile, akukho ngisho neyodwa inhlangano ekwenzile lokhu ... [Ihlombe.] kule minyaka engamashumi amabili nanhlanu yombuso wentando yabantu. Ngimangele uma umhlonishwa u-Malema eloku egcizelele ukuthi uzosiza abakhubazekile, ukuze ngempela ngibone ukuthi ubeqinisile kwisimemezelo esishicilelwe sezinhloso, izisusa, noma imibono yabo akube khona amalungu ePhalamende akhubazekile kulama bhentshi abo emuva kokhetho. [Ihlombe.] kanye ne-DA ayenze okufanele ingagcini ngokufuna amavoti abo kodwa ababekhona la ngaphakathi ePhalamende. Bayeke ukulokhu besixoxela
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 152
izinganekwane emini bezosimilisa izimpondo. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.]
Ms P T VAN DAMME: Hon Chairperson, over the last few months I have travelled South Africa listening to the concerns of the people of our country. I witnessed first-hand the devastating effects that the rampant corruption of the ANC-led government has had on our people.
Many are unemployed, because money meant for job-creation projects has been stolen. Many do not receive basic services, because money dedicated to service delivery has been stolen. Many do not feel safe in their homes and at the mercy of criminals, because money dedicated to police resources has been stolen. I listened to all those people who welcomed me into their homes, took note of their concerns, and conveyed the DA’s message of hope for a better South Africa.
I told that under a DA-led government, we will bring change that builds one South Africa for All. I told that under a DA- led government we will fight corruption, create fair access to jobs, make our police honest and professional, and speed up the delivery of basic services. On the issue of corruption,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 153
specifically I relayed that under a DA government anyone found guilty of corruption will be sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Siswati:
Sifuna kutsi tonkhe letigila mikhuba teANC, letitjontja imali yembuso tivalelwe ejele, titobuva lobuhlungu nokuhlupheka lokuviwa bantfu baseNingizimu Afrika ngenca yebugebengu lobentiwa ngini.
English:
The DA’s plan to tackle corruption includes, ensuring the payment of all public money is transparent, bringing in... Are you going to protect me or not?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, no, hon members, the member is correct, because I am struggling to hear her. I think she is struggling from flu. So can you allow me also – I am pleading for myself.
Siswati:
Ms P T VAN DAMME: Liciniso liyababa.
English:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 154
That is a problem.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Van Damme, just hold it.
Ms P T VAN DAMME: The DA’s plan includes...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Van Damme, just hold on, I want to address the House. You see, the problem with drowning the speaker is that by the time a member rise on a point of order I would not be able also to make a ruling, because I would not have heard what the member says. So don’t drown her. You can howl but don’t drown her. Can you continue hon Van Damme.
Ms P T VAN DAMME: ... our plan to tackle corruption also means bringing in direct elections for all political office bearers so that they can be held accountable for corruption by the voters. We also want to implement regular lifestyle audits for all politicians and government officials and protect whistle blowers who identify and report corrupt activities and establish an independent unit dedicated to identifying, fighting and prosecuting authority.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 155
Mr President, I noted in your speech when you said, “we have no choice but to step up the fight against corruption”. “No choice”? I find it odd that you conveyed the need to fight corruption as a difficult choice that you had to make as if your hands were tied behind your back before and now I have to make this choice. You were correct, Mr President in saying that the action you take now to end corruption and hold those responsible accountable will determine future of our country.
What was missing in the President’s speech, hon Chair was what he will do as the leader of the ANC to hold... [Interjections.]
Siswati:
Yebo, yena.
English:
He! Will be doing to hold those in his party accountable for corruption.
During Mr Jacob Zuma presidency, he sat quietly while the country was looted. He had a voice which he should have used fearlessly as a patriot and took a stand against corruption by
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 156
members of his party not only as Deputy President but, a citizen of this country. Party loyalties matter not when it comes to taking a stand against what is wrong. To be honest, I have my doubts whether the President will suddenly find the backbone he has lacked for so many years.
Let’s take for example the revelations in the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. Testimony revealed that ANC Members of Parliament allegedly benefited from Bosasa. But today, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane, ANC Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla and Mr Vincent Smith sit here happily in Parliament. Why have they not been suspended pending the conclusion of an investigation and disciplinary inquiry given the gravity of the allegations against them? Is it because, as it is always the case, the ANC protects its own. Walk the talk, Mr President, show South Africa just how serious you about fighting corruption. I challenge you, a suspension, lifestyle audit and investigation of Minister Nomvula Mokonyane.
I challenge you, to a suspension, lifestyle audit and investigation of ANC Chairperson Gwede Mantashe. I challenge you, to a suspension, lifestyle audit and investigation of
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 157
Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla. I challenge you, to a suspension, lifestyle audit and investigation of MP, Vincent Smith. If not, you will remain the President who had no backbone and continued turning a blind eye to corruption by those in his party. No different to your predecessor, Mr Jacob Zuma.
It is this very culture that is ruining our country. The notion that one must protect members of their parties at all costs, even when implicated in wrongdoing. The DA is not such party. We walk the talk, we work hard, we go hard, we grind until we get it and we slay.
In DA government all officials and politicians alike found to be involved in corruption are held accountable. It does not make us popular, but it certainly shows our commitment to stick to our values and a zero tolerance to corruption. Where we govern in the Western Cape, we are at 83%. We received the highest number of clean audits compared to the Gauteng province, which had a measly 52%. This is compared to zero clean audits when we took over from the ANC in 2009.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 158
A clean audit does not only mean that the finances of the Western Cape are well-managed, but it means that the money meant to improve the lives of the people of the Western Cape is spent on them, and not channelled into the pockets of corrupt politicians. In fact, last year the Western Cape government spent 82% of its Budget on delivery of services to the poor.
My plea to the people of South Africa is this, we know that you know that the ANC is corrupt, everyone knows that. But you feel there is no viable alternative. I know many of you are despairing because you see corrupt ANC politicians after corrupt ANC politicians escaping scot free after having looted the country. My message to you today is that the DA is the alternative. We may not be perfect, but we are a listening party, which does not see itself as superior to the people of. We hear your cries, and we say,
[Singing] O siyeza, sizofika we mama nobaba.
English:
I really wanted to sing but, my voice lets me down.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 159
IsiZulu:
Siyeza bantu baseNingizimu Afrika.
English:
The DA will bring you change. The DA will bring you hope. Vote DA.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Can you please relax and take your seat.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon Chairperson, to show that we are a carrying party, we do have doctors to assist Van Damme with her throat infection.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, that was not a point of order.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION PARTY: Chairperson, we have also got some police officers to assist with the ANC bench.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, hon members, can we focus on the subject as printed on the order paper.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 160
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES RESPONSIBLE FOR JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: House
Chair, hon President, hon members, fellow South Africans, the freedom we enjoy today was achieved through struggle, determination and great sacrifice. Despite challenges and setbacks, we won our freedom by working together and never giving up.
Yesterday, 29 years ago, Madiba walked free from Victor Verster prison and we have come a long way as a nation. But the opposition speakers have and will no doubt continue to say the ANC government has not done enough. Of course, it is very easy to be the opposition. When government build 100 houses, they say why not 200? When government has 55 Thuthuzela Care Centres, they say why not 65? When we set up Commissions of Inquiry to investigate the capture of state resources, they say its just commissions; commissions do nothing, people must be arrested. Then when arrests are made they say that it prevents people from testifying before a commission and so; it continues. Government is damned if it does, and damned if it doesn’t.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 161
Because it’s easy to be the opposition, it’s easy to talk, to criticize from the side-line, to be the perpetual spectator, playing to the gallery and governing by way of press releases and hashtags. There is a saying that the only way to avoid criticism is to say nothing, do nothing and be nothing. But this is not an option of us in the ANC government. To ensure the safety of all in South Africa, our law enforcement agencies and government departments work together to achieve the National Development Plan, NDP goal of ensuring that all people in South Africa are and feel safe.
Now that slogan might sound similar to the election promises of other parties, but instead of just promising it, we are actually doing things to make this happen. The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster was established at a Cabinet level and has identified certain priority focus areas being; crimes against women and children, trio crimes which is carjacking, house and business robbery, and cash in transit crimes, murder, inclusive of taxi violence, the proliferation of firearms, liquor, drugs and gangsterism, illegal immigration, illicit economy, ferrous and non-ferrous metal theft, and lastly, corruption.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 162
We are as part of the Crime Prevention Strategy, empowering communities and building partnerships through Community Policing Forums, Community Safety Forums and street and ward committees in order to fight crime. We hosted a very successful and first-of-its-kind, Youth Crime Prevention Consultative Summit last year to increase youth participation in the fight against crime. We have initiated Organised Crime Threat Analysis Projects to address identified criminal syndicates, repeat offenders, persons of interest and persons involved in trio crimes.
Other successful initiatives include the SAPS’ 72-hour activation plan which mobilizes maximum resources such as crime intelligence, forensics, the Hawks, detectives and tactical teams, within 72-hour period after a crime is committed to ensure that the preliminary investigation is done thoroughly and no information and evidence gets lost. This means that we are realising greater successes in arresting perpetrators.
We have already committed ourselves to further strengthening the police to rid our communities of crime. We need to ensure that the police are better trained and we shall be increasing
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 163
the numbers and visibility of police in communities. We are implementing and monitoring the Anti-Gangsterism Strategy. The SAPS have made notable successes in cracking down on organised crime since the establishment of the anti-gang unit.
Owing to our declaration of war against those who hurt women and children, we have between April 2017 and March 2018 achieved a total of 1 824 life sentences. The improved conviction rate of 72,7% in sexual offences cases is an all- time high, reflecting a firm commitment to deliver justice for victims of sexual violence.
Indeed a lot has been done, but more needs to be done.
The regulations setting out the minimum requirements for sexual offences courts will be finalised soon after a meeting with civil society service providers and the National Prosecuting Authority next week. We are continuously working with role-players to improve the practical implementation of the sexual offences legislation.
With regards to corruption, the Asset Forfeiture Unit, AFU continues to play a critical role. In the past year, the AFU
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 164
completed 563 forfeiture cases with a value of over R350 million. It significantly exceeded its targets in relation to the value of freezing orders. There were 325 freezing orders valued at R4,4 billion.
The Special Investigating Unit, SIU investigates corruption, malpractice and maladministration in state. As a result, in 2017-18 financial year; a value of R797 million of contracts or administrative actions was set aside or deemed invalid and R407 million of potential loss was prevented by the SIU.
As you know, the SIU recently brought an application in the High Court to have a coal supply contract worth R3,7 billion between Eskom and Mining Company, Tegeta, declared illegal and invalid. We are also engaging with the SIU regarding the establishment of a special tribunal. This will mean that the SIU has access to a dedicated civil court for the speedier resolution of cases. It will empower the SIU to sue on behalf of the state, as well as to retrieve money from irregular payments.
Last week, the President quoted Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena which says:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 165
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood”
One this side of the House you have such a man. However, on the other side there is a hollow man, who continues to blow hot air. [Interjections.] In 2015, in this House, I said that the hon Maimane is, as the poem by TS Eliot says:
“Shape without form, paralysed force, gesture without motion”
A hollow man, presiding over a hollow party, devoid of substance. It is now 2019 and not much has changed. Vukani Mde, in last Friday’s Mail and Guardian wrote:
“Maimane does not instil much confidence. He has failed to put his stamp on his party or its message. If anything, it doesn’t have a coherent message. Maimane appears to be a policy and ideology empty vessel”
[Interjections.] [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 166
So, compare the man in the arena to the hollow man. [Applause.] Where we have established commissions of inquiry, the DA had to be forced by the NCOP to have the Public Protector probe the Knysna municipality over corruption allegations. And there are brewing corruption scandals in Tshwane, Johannesburg, George and other municipalities governed by the DA. To this day, they have never released the Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr report into irregularities in the City of Cape Town or the Price Waterhouse Coopers report. Is it because it exonerates Patricia De Lille? Or is it because it implicates the DA in corruption?
In the TS Eliot poem, the hollow men are scarecrows with, I quote: “Headpiece filled with straw”.
A scarecrow, as everybody should know, is an object of baseless fear - hollow, made of straw, unable to do anything - a useless scaring tactic - which is exactly how the DA operates. [Interjections.]
It uses the issue of crime as a scaring tactic and blames the national government for alleged policing issues in the Western Cape, but fails to acknowledge that the DA starved community
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 167
policing forums of funding and closed down programmes such as the Bambanani Volunteer Programme in fighting crime. [Interjections.] They are trying to scare voters by saying they must vote DA in the Western Cape to keep the ANC and the EFF out. Yet, they themselves govern in Johannesburg and Tshwane with the EFF’s support. There they need the EFF to keep them in.
The ANC Manifesto states and commit in stepping up the fight against corruption throughout society and safeguarding the integrity of the state and ethical leadership. In response to the ANC’s manifesto, the DA, as usual, had a lot to say. Of course, the DA has no manifesto as yet, which is extremely convenient as it allows them to first look at the ANC manifesto and then adjusts theirs accordingly.
The DA promises, it was from hon Maimane we have just heard it from hon Van Damme that, anyone found guilty of corruption will be sentenced to 15 years in jail. What they don’t tell the people is that they have no control over sentencing. It’s the courts that decide on sentences, not political parties. [Interjections.] Parliament can make laws on minimum sentences but constitutionally, the judiciary still has to have
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 168
discretion. It’s like the hon Mazonne saying that the President must send corrupt people, corrupt Ministers or whoever to jail.
I agree that people found guilty of corruption should go to jail. But the President doesn’t have the power to send anyone to jail. [Interjections.] I think the DA are getting lost and remembering the time before democracy when government Ministers and Presidents could send people to jail. [Interjections.]
The DA says they will deal with corruption in three ways.
Firstly, it would establish a unit dedicated to fighting corruption. Well, President Ramaphosa has already announced that he will be establishing an investigating unit within the National Prosecuting Authority to focus on corruption. So while the DA talks about it, the ANC does it. [Interjections.]
Secondly, the DA says they will ensure that the payment of all public money is transparent. Yet, the DA had reservations about the recently assented to Political Party Funding Act, claiming that they need to protect the identity of their
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 169
donors and that the civil and criminal sanctions in the Act were savage. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Thirdly, they say they will hold their public representatives to account. But how can they claim this when they can’t even hold their own Premier to account? Whether it’s her open mouth, insert foot tweets, her ravings about colonialism or her calls for a tax revolt - which by the way is illegal conduct - nothing ever happens to Helen Zille. There is no sanction, no discipline, and no reprimand. Why? Because the Leader of the Opposition cannot even lead his own party, let alone the country. [Interjections.] [Applause.] He is a man of straw ... [{Applause.] ... he is a man of straw with little knowledge of the Constitution.
In a 2017, he wrote an article saying the DA has big, bold ideas to win the war against corruption. South Africa needs a new and powerful independent commission dedicated to fighting corruption. It must have a high level of independence.
Candidates for leadership must be short-listed by Parliament and then appointed by the Judicial Services Commission. [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 170
But the Judicial Service Commission deals with matters relating to the judges and makes recommendations to the President for their appointment. They don’t appoint anyone, not even judges and, they can’t. How can investigators be appointed by the Judicial Service Commission? Clearly, the separation of powers and the provisions of the Constitution are not of much consequence to the hon Maimane. I think the former DA Federal Chairperson, Dr Wilmot James, said it best when he said, and I quote:
“I don’t think Mr Maimane understands the Constitution at all”
[Applause.] [Laughter.] [Interjections.]
The DA and the hon Maimane have also been extremely vocal about prescribing to the Zondo Commission who should be called and how the Deputy Chief Justice should run the commission. I trust that we can therefore expect the hon Maimane to ensure that Helen Zille appears before the commission given that the DA accepted donations worth R300 000 from the Gupta family. [Interjections.] And the hon Maimane tried to justify it in
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 171
2017 by saying that the DA has paid back the money. [Interjections.]
Last week, in his so-called alternative sona, that didn’t even make it to evening news or community radio stations, the hon Maimane takes the moral high ground on corruption. But this smacks of hypocrisy. He should tell us about what the DA is doing about the alleged collusion between the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Provincial Government in granting development rights to property developers as well as the previous examples that I have given.
House Chairperson, corruption pervades all sections of society. You find it in the public sector and you find it in the private sector. We can stand here all day pointing fingers at one another, saying this one is more corrupt but than that one. But there is corruption everywhere. [Interjections.] What is most important is what is being done about it. This ANC government has ensured that investigations are conducted and their reports released. It was this ANC government that ensured that VBS was investigated in the face of opposition from some members of the EFF. [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 172
The President has established Commissions of Inquiry to look into the allegations of state capture, into the Public Investment Corporation and SARS’ administration and governance as well as an inquiry into the fitness of two senior members of the National Prosecuting Authority to hold office. One of these commissions, the one on SARS, has completed its work and reported. The President and government are acting on that report.
In addition, he has announced the establishment of an investigating directorate in the National Prosecuting Authority as provided for in section 7 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, to focus on evidence that has emerged from these commissions.
And the difference, Madam Speaker, between the ANC and the DA is this; we are doing something about corruption while they are just making promises. [Interjections.] While the hollow man just talks, the other man is in the arena.
To use the words of the TS Eliot poem, the DA has:
“Dried voices, when
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 173
they whisper together
they are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass”
While others may follow the hollow man, or may fall for the masquerading of the scarecrow, we trust that the majority of the people of our country will continue to have faith in President Cyril Ramaphosa, the man in the arena and the ANC, the party that put him there. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr N T GODI: Comrade President, as the APC, we thank you for placing ECD under Basic Education. [Applause.] We have campaigned long and hard for this. We stand ready to contribute positively in this regard.
We are still concerned that mining communities remain marginalised and neglected. Mining companies like Mogalakwena Platinum Mine in Mapela, Limpopo, ride roughshod over the people. The Department of Mineral Resources has failed our people throughout Limpopo and elsewhere in enforcing compliance in the interest of the people.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 174
The fight against corruption must be consistent and decisive. However, our reality is that when corruption involves big business, especially banks, anti-corruption drums become muted. A serious national crime like the manipulation of the rand by the banks over many years to which Standard Chartered Bank has pleaded guilty has not drawn national outrage or action by your government. Or is government accepting the insult of a so-called apology on behalf of the banks by one Maria Ramos. What has been the economic impact for the country of this criminality? We expect your government to take firm and decisive action.
The announced guest discovery cannot be a game changer when it is not in our hands but under foreign control. What is the role of PetroSA as an SOE? Why is Total willing to work with Qatar Petroleum and CNR International but refuses to work with PetroSA? This is too big and strategic to have government as a spectator.
The APC is opposed to the policy trajectory to Eskom. The proposed unbundling has no rational justification. The burdening of Eskom with the IPPs is damaging and must be
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 175
reversed. The air is thick with anxiety about a policy posture to privatise SOEs.
We remain steadfast in the demand for the nationalisation and socialisation of the land to reverse colonial dispossession and resolve the national question.
Lastly, the question and challenge of leadership always is whose agenda is served? The APC, now and forever pushes the African Agenda. Thank you.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: House Chairperson, I am just respectfully checking if it is his maiden speech.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: Aa, no problem.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Okay.
Dr M Q NDLOZI: Talk about Bosasa, chief, or else ...
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member ...
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 176
Dr M Q NDLOZI: ... Bosasa, Bosasa, chief. We want you to speak about Bosasa.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: You have got an answer to your question. Hon Minister, can you continue with the debate.
The MINISTER OF MINERAL RESOURCES: Ee, it is my maiden speech and nobody must hackle. [Laughter.]
The MINISTER OF MINERAL RESOURCES: Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces; His Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa; the Chief Whip of the Majority Party, the ANC and the hon members, today is the 107th birthday of MaKotane, the wife of the longest serving general secretary of the Communist Party and the longest serving treasurer general of the ANC. I think wherever we are today, we must sing happy birthday to her.
In the state of the nation address, the President calls us all to make concerted effort to grow the economy and to ensure that it is inclusive, and therefore, integrate those who for years have been excluded. This can occur when individual sectors of the economy receive the necessary attention. In
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 177
this instance, mining should receive such attention. I can tell you, the whole afternoon I sat and listened and I was quite happy to hear hon Godi talking about mining because nobody talked about mining. Thank you, hon Godi, irrespective of whatever you have said but it is good that you mentioned mining.
Addressing the Chamber of Mines, in 1994, President Mandela intimated that the mining industry has, and I quote:
“The capacity not only to be a reliable economic generator for South Africa and the region as a whole, but also to contribute to the building of a society freed from the faults and fissures which marred our past”
This being our country’s silver jubilee of freedom, we recall our strides and the challenges we have encountered to ascertain that the mining industry lives up to this imperative. Therefore, enjoined to the inspiring vision of our forebears in the Congress of the People in 1955, that:
“The national wealth of our country, the heritage of South Africans shall be restored to the people and the mineral
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 178
wealth beneath the soil, shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole” Hence, the promulgation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, MPRDA, transferred the mineral wealth to the state on behalf of the people as a whole.
To support the Mineral Petroleum Resource Development Act, we introduced the Mining Charter 1, as a tool of transformation to de-racialise ownership of the mineral resources, to improve the living and working conditions of the workers, to enable economic empowerment and development of our communities, to advance human resources and research development in mining and to engender beneficiation of our mineral. This requires constant work and contribution by everybody. This set us on the path to ascertain that mining benefits not only a clique of the white minority, but the marginalised majority.
The result today is that mining boasts of young, strong and growing black mining companies; emerging licensed artisanal diamond and chrome miners; black female leadership at the helm; the burgeoning black management capacity and black mining capital goods manufacturers to create a world class, transformative, competitive and innovative sector. Further,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 179
mining regulation is aligned with other legislations, such as, the imperative of respecting the environment. This we do to safeguard the nation’s fauna and flora, as heritage for the future generations. This is work in progress and more still needs to be done.
Deputy Chairperson, following the dip in gold mining, the industry contribution to GDP declined averaging 7% over the last two years. Mining contributes about 40% in foreign exchange earnings thereby sustaining our country’s current account. Other minerals are growing their contribution, with coal as the biggest generator of the revenue for the country ahead of gold and the platinum group metals, PGMs. The past 12 months indicate a recovery in commodity prices. Of course, the biggest threat to this recovery is the regular load shedding, which limits production capacity and poses a threat to deep mines and to the lives of the people in those mines.
We are ceased with saving ooptimum. The Business Rescue Practitioners are moving at a snail’s pace, proving costly for mineworkers and society. The latest expression of that cost is the disaster at Gloria Mine, where 22 illegal miners are trapped inside the mine and the six who attempted to rescue
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 180
them died. Those are the costs of rescue processes that are not urgent and moving at a snail’s pace because the law protects them. Workers have not been paid for three months, creating volatility in the area. Blocking the rescue operation at Gloria Mine by the workers is ill-conceived. We have since received an interdict against this, so the bodies of the fallen can be retrieved to receive an honourable final rest.
We send our condolences and support to the families. We will grapple with the problem of illegal miners.
We appreciate the launch and opening of new mines in 2018, like Shondoni by Sasol in Secunda; the Evander Gold by African Resources; the Elikhulu tailings treatment project and the first gold pour in Evander; Khanye Colliery by Canyon Coal in Bronkhorspruit; Belfast Colliery in Belfast; Ikhwezi Mine in Danhauser and Newcastle. Further, Sasol will open another new mine in the coming weeks.
Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, the President said and I quote: “today we choose to be a nation that is reaching into the future”. Attaining that future depends on our courage to jettison with the familiar and reflect as Comrade Oliver Tambo, pondering in his rural Bizana, I quote:
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 181
Looking out from my home, the Ngele Mountains were a huge wall that rolled in the distance to mark a landscape of great variety and a great beauty but the nagging question was; what lay beyond the Ngele Mountains? What did it conceal from my view?
Those were the most questions. Now, there is regulatory and policy certainty in mining. That was like what was obscured from us as an industry. The Mining Charter 3 was gazetted to national and international acclaim in 2018. We are working on a legislative framework to separate petroleum from mining in order to unlock its potential for the economy and see it thrive. Both the petroleum and the mining sectors, including some in the opposition, support us. The announcement of the gas discovery in the Outeniqua Basin by the French petroleum giant, Total, proves the correctness of this decision. The discovery in the long run will impact positively on our energy needs. I want to make this point that South Africa is in the global economy. Therefore, it is not an island, it is not a barrier and it is not an apartheid sate, therefore, global companies will come to our economy to participate and we must be prepared for them. It is then that we can develop rules
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 182
when they have arrived on how we do benefit from those discoveries. That is what um ... [Inaudible.]
The certainty of policy and regulatory environment guarantee greater stability and more investment in the economy. It will impact positively on our rating, bringing us closer to our potential of being number 21 globally. You will recall that in the last rating, out of 91 countries, South Africa was at 47 in investment attractiveness and 81 on policy and regulatory certainty. Hon members, co-operation is the key and the watchdog which opens the doors into the progress of all national success. The greatest success shall come when man shall have learned to co-operate, not only with his own kith and kin but with all peoples and with all life. That is what Pixley ka Isaka Seme said. We should be reminded that this was the projection by our forebears.
We took office in an environment of animosity in the industry. We invested time and energy to create trust and build relationships between government and social partners and stakeholders, even antimining and environmental lobbies. We talk to everybody. We continue to nudge the partners to talk to and among each other. The positive results show in the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 183
gazetting of Mining Charter 3 and the last week’s signing of the Mining Leadership Compact that aims at creating a long term strategy for the achievement of our 2030 vision of a prosperous, competitive and transformed mining sector. One of the industry’s global chief executive officers says, I quote: “South Africa could meet its challenges once government and the private sector have stopped talking past each other ...”
Mark Cutifani says, “The definition of partnership has to be about how each participant imagines what a successful future looks like and what compromises can be made to ensure parties can be accommodated in defining a pathway to a new reality...”
Major platinum producers launched the Platinum Sector Strategy for South Africa last week. This aims to ensure that the sector realises its full value adds more than 1 million jobs and contribute R8,2 trillion to the economy long term.
Coexistence of mining with communities is vital for its long term sustainability. If mining companies don’t talk to communities, sustainability will be in doubt. Companies should collaborate with and invest in impactful projects beyond the life of mines for communities to thrive and to trust them. We
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 184
have renewed focus in community development and the implementation of social and labour plans as outlined in Mining Charter 3. Well organised communities are beginning to benefit. Unfortunately, where communities are at loggerheads, they lose out due to delays and destruction of the wealth accrued.
Deputy Chairperson and hon members, we intend to secure a minimum of 5% of the global exploration budget within the next three to five years. Economic growth and employment are certain when inhibiting walls to exploration and prospecting are removed. Prospecting and exploration are the lifeblood of mining. De Beers is already taking advantage of the opportunity availed by the Mining Charter 3 by reviving the exploration and prospecting projects they had withheld.
Total’s exploration in the Outeniqua Basin injected an investment of $100 million billion to our economy. The Council for Geoscience, ... [Interjections.] ... $100 million to our economy. The Council for Geoscience is enhancing geological mapping to bring South Africa in line with progressive exploration and mining jurisdictions elsewhere; speed up the exercise of delineating new mineral targets drill, quantify the extent of mineralisation for sustainable development of
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 185
mining, identify and affirm new mineralisation systems consistent with a new demand trajectory of mineral resources such as battery minerals.
There are new discoveries of uranium and coal in the Springbok Flats, north of Pretoria. Today, the Council for Geoscience is hosting a conference of 450 engineers, companies, universities and international countries of Venezuela, Nigeria, Europe and New Zealand on “Merging Maps for an Emerging Future” We must meet the Fourth Industrial Revolution with clarity and certainty in our step. As the world of work continues to change, young people known as the digital generation must seize the moment by taking the centre stage. Energy commodities such as lithium, cobalt, vanadium, and platinum will propel economic growth and development. Alongside the battery commodities, industrial minerals are set to drive the industry’s contribution to GDP. They include: fluorspar; phosphate rock; vermiculite; limestone; aggregate and sands.
It is quite important for us to be ahead of the game. Research and development are an imperative into this future. Mintek is researching alternative uses of platinum group metals, PGMs.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 186
At least you got into a class of mining. [Applause.] [Time expired.]
Ms D NGWENYA: Hon Chairperson, hon commissars and fighters, President, you delivered a last state of the nation address for perhaps the most retrograde government term for the struggle for women and youth emancipation since 1994. [Interjections.] During this term, we have observed the escalation of violent crimes against women, children, gays, lesbians, transgender and queer people in this country. For nine years, we have been ‘watching this space’, looking for a decisive government intervention to stop this violence.
Our eyes have actually grown red from watching the space for conclusive solutions, while our hearts and our humanity have been torn into pieces by the brutality perpetrated against us, and those that we love. Our only sin is that we are women, or that some amongst us have different sexual orientation while the brutality of the inequalities sustained by your government since 1994 affect the majority of black people who missed the ANC gravy train. It is mostly black women who must suffer the consequences.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 187
It is black women who wake up very early in the morning, to raise white kids in the suburbs, leaving their own kids to raise themselves in the midst of the violence of the townships and villages. Their hands have grown tired of propping up an economic system that hates them. It is black women who have to withstand the drunken masculinity of their fathers, their brothers, and their partners. They carry on with their lives with immeasurable psychological and physical scars, because they have nowhere else to go. Their bodies are growing tired of being experimental sites for aspiring murderers and rapists.
It is black lesbians, gays, queers and intersex people who are killed every single day in our townships and they have been ‘watching this space’ for decades for their own emancipation. It is black youth that languishes in the hopeless pit of unemployment, drugs, landlessness and exploitation.
Inevitably, most of them see violent revolution as their only solution. Mr President, your state of the nation spoke to none of these issues. Only the EFF has comprehensive solutions to these problems [Interjections.] We must as a matter of urgency ensure 50% women representation in all spheres representing
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 188
economic benefit, political participation, a managerial and leadership responsibility.
We must introduce compulsory gender education and training for all, from the school level upwards. We must amend the Criminal Law Amendment Act and existing legislation to include harsher minimum sentences for ‘corrective’ rape specifically, or crimes committed with hatred as motivation in general. We must invest in a public health care system that ensures easy access to gender-affirming treatment. We must address the prevalence of children on sexual abuse, motivated in the main by broken family structures and exposure of children to abuse. In this case, abused children themselves become abusers.
We must mainstream youth development in all sectors of government and pursue active programmes to professionalise youth work. We must pass legislation that ensures that all government departments and all public institutions spend 50% of their procurement budget on youth-owned businesses. We must, as a matter of urgency, prioritise our research and development, and science and technology, to ensure that young people are equipped at an early age to deal with the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 189
requirements of the economy in an era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Mr President, we must do these things because failure to do so will condemn us to self-immolation from which we will not be able to recover. Key to these ideals, Mr President is a well functioning, a properly skilled, and a corrupt-free state that is able to drive a vision of an equitable society free of racism, sexism, patriarchy and of ageism. We need a state that directly intervenes to restructure access to and use of land, to ensure that women and the youth control at least 50% of all productive land in this country. We need a state that is courageous, to firmly regulate the powers of traditional leaders to ensure that women and youth are not excluded from participating in economic activities in rural areas.
The recent discovery of gas off the coast of Mosselbay must be a test case for this. Mr Mantashe must not come and impose his multinational friends to control what is essentially a national treasure. We demand that whatever must happen there, women and youth must be at the centre. [Applause.] But, you must also be honest that the ANC you lead has neither the vision nor the willingness to lift this country up from the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 190
dark pit you have pushed us into. The only party with decisive, grassroots based policy solutions for women, youth, and those with different sexual orientation, is the EFF. Only the EFF has the requisite vision, courage and leadership to liberate the youth and women in this country. [Interjections.]
To young people, condemned to a life of senseless loitering on the streets of our townships because of unemployment and academic exclusion; only the EFF knows your pain, only the EFF knows the feeling of being rejected and laughed at by society. Only the EFF can liberate you. To the men and women, laughed at, harassed, and killed because of your sexual orientation; only the EFF can stand up without shame and proclaim that sexual orientation rights are human rights.
To the women of this country, battered into submission at homes, and exploited into slavery at work; only the EFF hears you, only the EFF feels your pain, and only the EFF can emancipate you. Vote for the EFF in the upcoming national elections. [Applause.] Hon Van Damme, I’ve got this:
IsiZulu:
Zizojika izinto
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 191
Wena ukhalelani
English:
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Order, hon members! Order!
Ms D NGWENYA: Thank you, Chair.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G BOROTO): Order, hon members! We are in the session of Parliament. Please can you take your seats, hon members.
Ms N MAYATHULA-KHOZA: Hon House Chair, His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, fellow South Africans, this is the first time I am addressing a Joint Sitting.
It is a great honour to participate in this debate on the state of the nation address, on behalf of the ANC-led Gauteng government, under the leadership of Premier David Makhura, on behalf of the people we represent. He sends his greetings to
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 192
all hon members. He is with Ma’ Khotane, today, as she turns
107 years old. Happy birthday, Ma’ Khotane. [Applause.]
On behalf of Gauteng, we congratulate His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa for a very comprehensive state of the nation address that has brought hope to the people of South Africa.
Our people cannot wait to vote for the ANC on 8 May, this year. [Applause.] Nor can the ANC wait to achieve a decisive victory, this year.
The ANC-led government remains forever indebted to the people of South Africa for the continued support that they have shown over the years. We do not and we will never take their support for granted. We will always listen to and work with our people
- especially those who still experience challenges of poverty, unemployment, inequality, gender-based violence, and other socioeconomic challenges – to find lasting solutions. As our hon President, Cyril Ramaphosa, said in the state of the nation address, as we celebrate our freedom, we must recall the hardships of our people and devote our collective efforts to continue improving their lives.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 193
Our ANC-led government in Gauteng agreed on a vision to build a seamless and integrated, globally competitive Gauteng City- Region. We work closely with local and national government, especially through the NCOP. We also decided to build a city- region characterised by social cohesion and the economic inclusion of our people. We later adopted our 10-pillar programme of radical socioeconomic transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation, in line with our National Development Plan. The three-tier governance architecture has yielded positive results, even though much more still needs to be done.
Since the 1996 census, Gauteng has experienced unparalleled growth in the size of its population, infrastructure and economy. Our province’s population has almost doubled, from 7,8 million, in 1996, to 14,7 million, in 2017. We have been making a contribution towards the national agenda, such that the size of the Gauteng economy is now more than four times what it was in 1994 – from R290 billion to R1,4 trillion, in 2017. The number of people who have gained employment in the province has also doubled – from 2,6 million to 5 million, since 1994. [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 194
In response to the national pressures of urbanisation and migration, we have invested heavily in infrastructure development. This has helped us create jobs and has resulted in the economic inclusion of local contractors. Our people have benefited from the building of 1,2 million government- subsidised houses, 335 new schools, seven new hospitals,
40 new clinics and community health centres, new community libraries, multipurpose halls, plus water and sanitation, as well as investing in economic infrastructure.
We have been hard at work with our people to develop sustainable human settlements on well-located land, with socioeconomic opportunities and accelerated distribution of land parcels - not only title deeds, as the opposition was saying, earlier. [Interjections.] The introduction of mega human settlements, aimed at bringing in private-sector funding to build new post-apartheid cities, and rapid land release, in line with the ANC-led government’s decision to expropriate land without compensation, will help us address the demand for housing and land in a more comprehensive manner than ever before.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 195
We are investing a great deal of time and energy to unlocking the full potential of the Gauteng economy. During this five- year term of office, 420 000 new jobs were created in our province. We are working closely with various sectors of industry to stimulate the various sectors of the economy in all five corridors of our province.
In November last year, we co-hosted the Africa Investment Forum, and raised US$38 billion for infrastructure across the continent. [Applause.] Of this, US$6,8 billion, equivalent to R92 billion, is for South Africa and Gauteng, in particular. As the Gauteng province, we are bringing our full weight towards contributing to President Ramaphosa’s effort to raise US$100 billion in investment in the South African economy over the next five years to help us create more jobs. The New Dawn is not something that we only embrace - we are also working very hard and smart to make it a reality.
The hon President has called for township and rural economy revitalisation. We have already been hard at work investing in our townships and semi-rural areas. We are pleased that, in the state of the nation address, the President put on the
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 196
national agenda the importance of investing in townships and villages.
The ANC-led government in Gauteng is doing ground-breaking work in promoting the growth and sustainability of township economies. We are in the process of transforming townships into vibrant economic centres of opportunity, and cultural and artistic expression, resulting in job creation for our people. Before 2014, only 8 000 township enterprises were doing business with the provincial government. We are now procuring goods and services from 4 500 township businesses, to the value of more than R21 billion. Siyaquba! [Applause.]
Through our Qondisa Ishishini Lakho programme, we have helped more than 20 000 township entrepreneurs to formalise their businesses and have supported them on matters such as submitting tax returns and registering on the government database. In supporting township innovators and in helping modernise the way business is done, we have rolled out broadband infrastructure to more than 10 000 township Wi-Fi hotspots. A lot more work still needs to be done to help township enterprises gain more access to markets and finance for their businesses to thrive.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 197
According to Dark Fibre Africa, Gauteng currently has over
10 000 km of fibre. This gives our province a decisive advantage in positioning ourselves as a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy.
We have also invested time and effort to address youth unemployment through Tshepo 1 Million. Working together with the private sector and Harambee since only 2014, this initiative has benefited 514 000 young people in skills training, facilitating access to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. This demand-led, driven skills development, employment and entrepreneurship programme has resulted in access to the labour market for our young people, some of whom are now beginning a life of entrepreneurship.
We have also embraced the President-led Youth Employment Service, (Yes) programme as part of our Tshepo 1 Million programme. In fact, we have embraced the President’s call in his state of the nation address to do away with the demand for work experience from our job-seeking young people. We say that the employers must create this work experience for our young people, given the scale of youth unemployment in our country. We are now upscaling our Tshepo 1 Million programme without
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 198
fear of criticism from the opposition, who do not have alternatives for young people. [Interjections.]
We have been hard at work with our people to increase accessibility and improve mobility by expanding and extending our transport networks. We have been able to upgrade and rehabilitate 5000 km of our provincial road network. We have increased reliable, safe, affordable, and sustainable public transport for our people through the expansion of our Bus Rapid Transport, BRT, system from Johannesburg to Tshwane and now to Ekurhuleni.
We have expanded basic services to our people, such that, since 1994, formal dwelling is at 81%; piped water is at 91%; electricity is at 92%; sanitation is at 91%; and refuse removal is at 83%. These basic services ranged at between 50% and 65%, in 1994.
The ANC-led government has, on a continuous basis, delivered the best quality matriculation results - over the years, being the top three performers in Grade 12 results and among the best in international assessments. [Applause.] In 2018, Gauteng became the top performer, overall, in both quality
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 199
Bachelor’s passes and numbers. Whether the opposition likes it or not, tablets and white boards have contributed positively to this achievement. [Applause.] We will continue to give our young ones tablets. [Interjections.]
In the interest of time constraints, I will move towards my conclusion. I hope you will take my speech, even if it’s not read.
In the area of good governance, accountability and clean administration, Gauteng has improved tremendously over the past four years. We have increased the number of clean audits from 56%, in 2014, to 65%, in 2017 – not the 59% of the Western Cape. This is the second year that we have achieved a 100% unqualified audit. No other province has achieved this. [Applause.]
We have noted that local government in coalition-run municipalities, like Johannesburg and Tshwane, tend to be slow in responding to issues raised by our people through the Aba Ntirhisano Community Outreach programme. To date, these two cities are very dirty and there is a reduction of services in the townships. [Interjections.] This is despite numerous
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 200
engagements and continued support and intervention. We have heard from these engagements that Tshwane and Johannesburg are no longer supporting the township economy revitalisation and reindustrialisation initiatives. [Interjections.]
The coalition governance system in Gauteng is maintained on the basis of patronage and has focused mostly on fighting corruption, hiring and firing, determining who must be on municipal agency boards and who should get tenders, instead of serving our people. There has been a huge drop in service delivery in these cities, and the city of Johannesburg has never been so dirty. [Interjections.]
In Tshwane, we have a coalition of corruption, malfeasance and maladministration. [Interjections.] They mislead people when they say where they govern, they are clean. This is not the case. In Tshwane, the ANC-led government left a surplus of R736 million, in 2016-17. In 2017-18, the DA-led government has accumulated irregular expenditure of R5 billion. [Interjections.] So, where the DA governs, there is corruption! [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 201
In conclusion, whilst the ANC in government continues to work with all parties, we listen to and take our mandate from the people. We will not be involved in clandestine deals which have nothing to do with the people, as is the case in Johannesburg, where the DA and EFF are governing and not interested in serving the people.
In this regard, we urge the people to register and vote for the ANC because, as evidence suggests, the ANC belongs to the people. We are here to serve the people, and we know the others are here to do away with our hard-earned freedom and democracy. I thank you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: House Chair, Mr President and Mr Deputy President, is he in Moscow? While the President announced some laudable and notable objectives in his state of the nation address last Thursday, perhaps the most glaring disappointment was the way in which he simply glossed over the epidemic of crime sweeping our nation. Every single day across South Africa, while the President tells us to watch this space, 57 of our citizens are murdered, 137 women are sexually assaulted and 685 homes are violated. This is a national crisis on a grand scale. Our citizens are not safe in their
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 202
streets, in their homes, on their farms and in their workplaces.
Now the President exhorted communities to join hands and fight crime. Yes, partnership policing is important, but communities cannot be expected to carry this burden alone. They also cannot be expected to partner with the police service that is understaffed, under equipped, undertrained and unprofessional.
Last year from this podium, the President promised us that the key focus for the year would be on the distribution of resources to station level. The reality however is the police to population ratio actually worsened over the 2018 year. We now have one police officer for every 375 citizens. This leaves communities even more vulnerable and unsafe. No, hon Jeffery, these communities are not scares of the DA, but they are scared of the criminals that prey on them, their families and their children every single day because of your government’s inaction - your inability to deal with crime.
That’s what scares citizens every single day.
But it's little wonder this government doesn‘t take crime seriously. Do you want to know why? It is because they are all
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 203
immune to this war zone that South Africans have to live in on a daily basis. A reply to a DA parliamentary question in July last year, revealed that there are 8l presidential protection officers for every one of the l7 politicians that they protect. Whilst our communities are locked in the brutal grip of crime, this government is spending Rl,5 billion on VIP protection for politicians. You cannot say you are serious about fighting crime and resourcing our stations when you are so careless and misdirecting so much money to keeping yourselves and your families safe while our citizens are kept captive with crime and criminality. [Applause.]
Mr President, please, know this. Your critics may sit on these benches here, but your enemies are sitting on the benches behind you. [Applause.] So, your message to us, Mr President, is watch this space; our message to you, Mr President, is watch your back. [Applause.] The allies of growth and progress sit on the opposition benches, but your biggest obstacles sit on your own. There are people behind you in this House who are willing you to fail.
Hon Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma came here today struggling a little bit. She expressed the Narsrec’s worse and great. She’s got a
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 204
great future behind her. [Laughter.] She says that the ANC is honest, but the truth is that the ANC is corrupt to the core. Too many people in this party are used to the Vuitton handbags, the kickbacks and the chickens. Hon Mampuru told us that talk is cheap and money buys the whisky. No, you are wrong. Talk is cheap, Gavin Watson buys you a whisky. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
We know as well why the ANC don’t really want the new Scorpions back. They disbanded it in 2008 so that the looting could continue. They don’t really want to unbundle Eskom either because it is much easier to capture and loot a single state entity. Of course, some people are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of the big school tablets tender that they can enrich themselves with.
And if it’s not the corrupt in your ranks, Mr President, who are going to trip you up, it’s the loony left in the tripartite alliance. The truth is simply that you‘re never going to be able to achieve many of the lofty goals you set out for yourself because your party and alliance partners will not let you. Your plans to restructure Eskom will be scuttled, and not by the opposition, but by your own alliance partners,
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 205
the Congress of SA Trade Unions, Cosatu. Your plans to fix schools will be undermined, not by the opposition, but your own alliance partners, the SA Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu. Your acceleration of the National Development Plan, NDP, which hon Dlamii-Zuma talked about today will be blocked, and not by the opposition, but by your own fellow travellers and the SA Communist Party, SACP.
And that is why, Mr President, it’s time to deal decisively with the corrupt within your own party. You cannot expect anybody to take you seriously about your efforts in corruption while the chief protagonists and architectures of state capture still sit on these parliamentary benches around us today. [Applause.] And I warn you, Mr President, they will get you in the end. So, watch this space, but importantly watch your back.
Our Chief Whip works lyrical today about the announcement of the new directorate. It was very interesting to see some of the people that were clapping the loudest that evening. How ironic that some of the most enthusiastic clappers in that evening were the very undertakers of the Scorpions, the hon Carrim. Clapping along like seals next to him were the very
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 206
people Mrs Batohi should have in her crosshairs on her first day in the office. But the bigger worry we should have is, do they clap because they know that no matter what happens, no matter the charge, no matter the evidence, they will be protected? The litmus test of this new directorate is not going to be with officials or Agrizis they arrest, but the test is going to be when they start putting cuffs on the hon members in this House. Your test, Mr President, will come when your party tries to block that from happening.
Mr President, when a Minister accepts a monthly retainer, braai packs, whisky and a car for their daughter, if I may quote from your recent email, it is plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such, and there needs to be concomitant action. When a senior parliamentarian is kept sweet through bribes and cash payments, security upgrades and his daughter’s university fees, it is plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such. It requires concomitant action. When the ANC premiers and mayors across the country loot their municipalities dry, it is plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such. There needs to be concomitant action. The time for concomitant action is now. [Applause.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 207
Hon Jeffery came here today and quoted from the liberal, T S Eliot. He spoke about the ANC’s great manifesto launch, but he doesn’t tell you that the ANC launched the manifesto on a Sunday, and 24 hours later the President and his Finance Minister walked away from the key aspects of the manifesto.
Forty-eight hours after that, the secretary-general of his party repudiates both the President and the Finance Minister, and 72 hours later in Davos the President himself doubles down and repudiates the manifesto. That is why you guys are called the African national confusion. That is why we’ve got 10 years of policy uncertainty and that’s why this economy is not working.
Hon Jeffery has a lot to say about the DA policies. Lucky for him, obviously, he went to look them on the DA website.
Because when you visit the DA website you will find policies on over 30 key areas of key government interventions. [Applause.] They are there for you to read. Go to the ANC website and take a look at some of your policies. Well, this site cannot be reached. [Laughter.] The ANC’s www.anc.org.za server address cannot be found. Frankly, if I had policies that have pushed 10 million South Africans into unemployment queues, that have wrecked the economy and those that have
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 208
brought hardships on the people of South Africa, I would also hide them away because they are a source of shame and you should be ashamed of what they have done to South Africa.
Hon Jeffery quoted T S Eliot. T S Eliot did another publication which was called The Waste Land. And just like you and your argument, tip is all no iceberg. What he says there is very clear, April is the cruellest month. And let me tell you, hon Jeffery, the DA is going to take May as the cruellest month for all of you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: Hon
Chairperson, it would appear that there is a stranger in the House because there is no Member of Parliament called Jefferys. The member who spoke here is the hon Jeffery. [Interjections.] So, the ghost referred to by the Chief Whip of the DA is one in his imagination and not in this House.
Mr President, Chairperson, hon members and guests – Mr President, Mr Maimane asked you whether you are in charge. Well, we want to tell him that we know you are in charge. But we don’t know whether he is charge of his party.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 209
[Interjections.] Mr President, from reports we read, we know that he is, in fact, not in charge.
I would like to begin by expressing my sincerest condolences to the family of the young Mlungisi Madonsela. His fatal shooting at the Durban University of Technology is a tragic loss to his family and the university. I urge all higher education institutions to make every available effort to find solutions to ongoing concerns. We are working hard to do all that we can to assist.
I welcome the President’s address, particularly the commitment to education and skills in South Africa. Offering young people the opportunity to acquire post-secondary education and training is one of the most fundamental steps on the path to eradicating poverty and inequality. Students in our colleges and universities have a deep appreciation of the empowerment education can lead to. Hence, it is this that has led to their vigorous struggle for access to quality education and training.
I cannot argue against the justified correctness of the issues they have raised, but it is imperative that we do not allow
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 210
any person to hijack legitimate protest for political mischief. I am pleased that students and management are talking and resolving issues; and working together to address the obstacles confronted by students. I believe we can always find solutions.
Contrary to misleading reports, the Saturday meeting with students was very constructive. There are issues we still need to solve, but there are also areas in which much progress is being made. I have directed the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS Administrator to prioritise all outstanding appeals and assessments, and this is happening as we speak.
For the first time ever, Madam Chair, student registration and NSFAS eligibility are working in tandem and many students have already received their allowances. Contrary to hon clueless Cassim’s statement, R170 million was transferred to Walter Sisulu University on 21 January and a further R40 million will be transferred tomorrow. So, I am not sure why the hon member makes the assertions that he has done. I suspect that he is clueless rather than the person he so named.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 211
I also wish to remind the hon Cassim that I had indicated to the hon member of Cope, Madisha that I did not object to being castigated on my accent. What I objected to was the pig sounds made to me as a Muslim. I objected to that and I object to it even today, made by you and the hon Madisha.
Improvements are also evident at the Tvet colleges. Placing NSFAS under administration was a positive move and we believe that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, whose staff worked throughout December and the beginning of January, is on the right track.
Prior to the December 2017 announcement on free education for poor and working class students, funding of the system had not kept up with enrolments. University fees had become increasingly unaffordable and still are; hence, the need for the regulatory framework. We had insufficient funding to support young people in higher education; hence the situation we confront today of just over a R1 billion in debt that students are confronted by as they return to universities this year.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 212
I believe that the people of South Africa are making an absolutely significant investment in young people in our country. The costs of higher education are indeed very high all over the world but no ambitious nation which you spelt out as our future, Mr President, can avoid such an obligation.
At universities the current average full cost of study is about R90 000 a year. We provide R50 000 for registration and tuition fees, and R40 000 for allowances, books, meals, and accommodation or transport. The government transfers R40 000 per year for allowances to university students and the amount I mentioned for their tuition costs. This is a significant advance on the scheme that had been in place in the past. [Applause.]
At colleges the current full cost of study on average is now about R50 000 a year; R10 000 for registration and tuition fees, and R40 000 for allowances, books, meals and accommodation or meals and transport. This year government is providing R30,8 billion – not million - in grants to support over 750 000 young people in post-secondary education. [Applause.] So, the policy announced by the ANC-led government
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 213
has been implemented. This sum is a significant increase in a very short space of time.
In 2016 government provided R12,4 billion in loans and bursaries to about 450 000 students. So, R30,8 billion is a huge investment in providing university and college education. Yes, indeed there are gaps and challenges which must be addressed. We need more university and college places. We need partnerships from the private sector. We need more young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and we need more postgraduate students and far greater numbers of engineers. But we are making advances and it is only doomsayers and empty vessels that will not recognise the advances that are being made.
We have acted on the vision articulated by President Mandela speaking in this very Parliament: That education is the great engine of personal development; that it is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor; that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine; and that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 214
are given, that separates one person from another. Said that great man! [Applause.]
Mr President, you have distinguished yourself in the life you have led; the leadership you have given to shaping our Constitution; the support you have given to workers in your time as the leader of workers; and your leadership as you lead our country to a successful and significant victory in the elections in 2019. [Applause.] You do not need anybody to give you lessons in leadership. You don’t need to be told by anyone what the programme of the ANC should be. There is nobody here who can give you lessons unless they are able, toe-to-toe, to measure with you the experience and history that you have. [Applause.] And Mr President, as we all know ... [Interjections.]
Dr M Q NDLOZI: ... but we warned against people who don’t take advice. This is why Zuma failed. [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: These are the people we warned you against.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members ... [Interjections.]
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 215
Dr M Q NDLOZI: You must close your ears. [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: She said that to Zuma. This one said the same thing to Zuma not to listen to anyone.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members, you are out of order! [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: Where is Zuma today? If you listen at this, you are not going anywhere and that can be guaranteed. Never listen to this.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon Malema, please ... [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: She is saying to you, don’t listen to anyone. What type of a leader can’t listen to anyone? She’s misleading you.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon Malema, please take your seat! [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: She misled Zuma.
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 216
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon Malema, please take your seat! You are not allowed to speak without permission. [Interjections.]
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: Well, Mr
President, at least I can hold my head up high. I didn’t say I’ll die for anyone. [Interjections.] [Applause.] So, here I am.
Mr J S MALEMA: You didn’t have to say you’ll die for anyone. You had to do it because you are a person who cannot be relied on. You are misleading.
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: The ANC-led
government has acted to give effect to these aspirations and those expressed by Mama Winnie Mandela, Mama Sisulu and many others of our iconic leaders. We have transformed the culture and landscape of higher education. It is no longer a preserve
...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Order, hon members!
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 217
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: ... of white
men. It’s a place for all men and women. It is helping us to become an inclusive society. [Interjections.] These achievements have resulted from the ANC-led government’s commitment to higher education access for all young people. We have 1,1 million young people in higher education institutions today.
In 2016 our higher education institutions produced 203 076 graduates. The majority – and Mr President, listen to this one
- first time ever, the majority were in science, engineering and technology, followed by business management, then humanities and finally education. Doctoral graduates produced by public universities nearly tripled from 973 in the year 2000 to 2 530 in 2015 and growth is accelerating. For the first time ever, in 2014 more black doctoral graduates graduated than any other group in our country. [Applause.]
On the current trajectory, the university system will produce in excess of the National Development Plan target of 5 000 doctoral graduates per annum by 2030. Although we still want to see greater numbers of young black people pursuing PhDs in
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 218
particular and postgraduate studies in general, we are pleased that their share has now gone beyond 50%.
We are making significant advances in science and innovation as well. Our progress in the Square Kilometre Array, SKA project has been phenomenal. Our research productivity on international norms has increased exponentially, with global excellence in clinical studies, astronomy sciences, and climate change research. We rank among the best in these disciplines. [Applause.]
We need civil society, parents and politicians to recognise the steps that have been taken to ensure that the poor and working class students are supported and have opportunities previously denied to them. For now, we ask students from families in higher income brackets to support our cause by funding higher education for their children when they have the means to do so. We ask businesses, philanthropists and foundations to assist in this endeavour.
We continue to seek solutions to the inadequacy of our resourcing even as more and more young people and families enter higher education. We need more resources and we will get
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 219
them. We are redressing the inadequacy of spaces in our institutions. We’ve opened four new college campuses this year and nine more new campuses are being built, including the initiation of processes this year to build a new False Bay College campus in Mitchell’s Plain.
As part of this modernising approach, we have embarked on a Dual System Pilot Project at four colleges, working with partners to ensure that the link between our colleges’ training and business is strengthened and firmly established.
We have opened our pilots of the centres of specialisation and as 845 young people enter them, they enter with apprenticeship contracts with industry in 26 college campus sites throughout the country. Each site specialises into occupations and trades. We are getting ready to move successfully beyond project think to system think.
We wish to mainstream Tvet colleges into the dual education system to allow more effective collaboration. We intend to revamp the SETA system. Our SETAs offer over 290 000 learnerships, apprenticeships and internships in addition to
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 220
the 1,7 million young people in universities and colleges. SETAs are managing funding equivalent to R19 billion.
We are also working closely with universities to ensure that we do not train young people to expect only employment but support them to also become entrepreneurs. We are building entrepreneurial programmes in the future world of work as part of programmes in our universities. A consortium of four universities is working with us along with industry in order to ensure that we have collective responses to the challenges and opportunities of the digital technology revolution.
We are expanding programmes in artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, 3D technology and robotics. We are pleased therefore, at the President’s announcement of a commission because it will help to ensure co-ordination and consistency in planning and programme offering in this particular set of fields.
Our 2017 Entrepreneurship Development Programme in Higher Education is being scaled up. We have allocated R17,9 million to this programme. It has three focus areas: Building entrepreneurial students; building entrepreneurship in
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 221
academia and promoting entrepreneurial universities through innovation. We have implemented and finalised a plan with respect to this set of initiatives. Therefore, Mr President, you actually have no need for lessons that they have tried to give to you.
Setswana:
Re utlwile baeteledipele ba makoko a a farologaneng ba kopa Maforika Borwa gore ba ba tlhophe; fela fa re ba reeditse, ga re a utlwa sepe ka ga seo ba reng ba tla se direla batho.
IsiXhosa:
Abasixeleli ukuba baza kusenzela ntoni na singabantu baseMzantsi Afrika.
English:
The opposition parties are seeking votes from the people of South Africa and yet, say very little about their plans. This is to divert attention from their total inadequacy and lack of original thinking. The hon Maimane is somewhat reminiscent of an escape artist or magician tied in chains willingly and desperate to escape. So, he diverts attention from himself by consistently saying nothing of note, and particularly no
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 222
reference to the very real challenges of inequality in case he scares off his base. His refuge is the Western Cape, an imaginary overwhelming success of his creative imagination.
There’s no admission on the terrible inequality, poverty, crime and exclusion that characterise this example he extols and loves so much. No wonder the party that he leads totally rejects Black Economic Empowerment. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
I would have welcomed an assessment by the hon Malema of how far he had gone with implementing the very extensive promises made to the nation when they first took to the voting stumps. There was no reflection on those and how what is offered today differs in any substantive way to what was offered just five years ago. [Interjections.]
AN HON MEMBER: You are late Mama!
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: So, again Mr
President, you don’t need to be told what to do and how to do it. We firmly believe that the programmes that you have announced will indeed give us the outcomes that our country desires. You are having the word privatisation inserted in
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 223
your speech. It wasn’t in one line of it. You are having resistance to the successes you have begun to record with a range of initiatives that you have put in place. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon Khawula, what are you rising on?
IsiZulu:
Nk M S KHAWULA: Cha bengifuna ukusho ukuthi kunephutha alenzayo. Akasitshelanga ukuthi bazontshontsha noAgrizzi [Ubuwelewele.] Thina siyakwazi esifuna ukukwenza. Akasitshele ngoAgrizzi abadla naye izimali. [Uhleko.]
English:
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Continue hon Minister.
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING: Hon
Chairperson, I have always believed that being a public representative is a rather serious business because the people of our country have such great expectation of us so that when we stand here, they would expect that we would make a difference. There’s some gentleman here whom I don’t know and
JOINT SITTING TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2019
Page: 224
who is constantly interjecting in a way that I do not find becoming of a member of the National Council of Provinces. Nevertheless, I am not surprised because he is part of this mirage that the greatest success is noted in a province he is part of. I do feel for him because he is going to be disappointed because the people of South Africa, in their overwhelming majority, will vote for ANC. I thank you. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Order, hon members! Thank you. That brings us to the end of the list of speakers for today. The debate will resume tomorrow.
The House Chairperson, Ms M G Boroto adjourned the Joint Sitting at 19:21.
Audio
No related