Hansard: NA: Unrevised hansard
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 08 Jun 2011
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
WEDNESDAY, 8 JUNE 2011
____
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 15:06.
The Deputy Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS – see col 000.
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr L N DIALE: Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates the role of the African Union and the regional formations in conflict resolution on the African continent.
Mr G R MORGAN: Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House debates the moratorium on the granting of onshore gas exploration rights, and recommendations to advance the multidisciplinary study into hydraulic fracturing.
Dr W G JAMES: Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates the extent to which lease agreements entered into by the Department of Public Works comply with all relevant legislation, and comes up with recommendations and shows value for money for the taxpayer in the prevention of corrupt activities.
Mrs X C MAKASI: Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the house I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates South Africa’s preparedness if faced with famine or other disasters within its borders and within the SADC region, with specific reference to grain, stock and food security in general, noting the extreme weather conditions, flooding, drought and other natural disasters globally, which have destroyed crops in recent times.
Mr J SELFE: Deputy Speaker, noting the recent tragic deaths of Mr Andries Tatane in Ficksburg and Mrs Jeanette Odendaal in Kempton Park at the hands of members of the SAPS, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates the high level of police brutality in South Africa, recommendations on improving the training of police personnel and measures to remove from service those rogue officers who act with impunity.
Ms M N MAGAZI: Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates the expansion of community libraries, including the upgrading of existing libraries with new material, information and communication infrastructure and Internet access.
Mr N SINGH: Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That this House debates the current problems inherent within the debt counselling industry in this country, as well as the unscrupulous practices of the payment distribution agencies and debt counsellors.
Dr Z LUYENGE: Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates the implementation of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure that all national and provincial programmes which are to be implemented locally are clearly communicated and reported to communities.
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That this House debates the growing number of instances of police brutality, the causes of this phenomenon and possible solutions on how to liberate the police from this new emerging culture, which goes against the very grain of our Constitution.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, it is not that different from the earlier one, but it is fine.
RENOWNED PHOTOJOURNALIST ANTON HAMMERL SHOT DEAD IN LIBYA
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) notes that acclaimed South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl was shot and killed on 5 April 2011 while reporting on the civil conflict in Libya;
(2) further notes that Hammerl, who was renowned not only for his selfless dedication to his profession, but also for his daring work in difficult situations in hostile environments, was thought to be alive for at least 45 days before it was revealed by three fellow photojournalists, who had been captured after Hammerl had been shot, that he had in fact died from his injuries;
(3) acknowledges that Hammerl’s work, which took him to all corners of the African continent and around the world, was covered extensively in leading media publications, including The Times USA, Newsweek and The New York Times;
(4) urges the South African government to do everything possible to recover the body of Hammerl so that his family can lay him to rest;
(5) extends its heartfelt condolences to Anton Hammerl’s family and the media community for their loss; and
(6) laments the loss of a truly great South African.
Agreed to.
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) notes that International Children’s Day is widely observed on 1 June and that Children’s Day had its origin in the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children in Geneva in 1925;
(2) recognises that International Children’s Day reflects the growing recognition of the rights of children and creates a global awareness of the material conditions of children; and
(3) supports all initiatives by the government and civil society to improve the conditions of our children by seeking innovative solutions to poverty, including programmes that provide emergency relief, promote economic opportunity, and ensure the safety of our children.
Agreed to.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ORLANDO PIRATES ON WINNING THREE TITLES
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move without notice that the House congratulates Orlando Pirates on winning the 2010-11 ... [Applause.] I have never seen anything more popular in this House in my life before, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is remarkable! [Laughter.] So, just to make sure that everybody ...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You should have said Kaizer Chiefs.
Mr M J ELLIS: Well, Deputy Speaker, that is another story altogether. [Laughter.] May I start again, Madam Deputy Speaker, and hopefully without the huge bias from the other side of the House.
I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) congratulates Orlando Pirates for winning the 2010/2011 Premier Soccer League title after a 2–1 victory against Golden Arrows on 21 May 2011;
(2) further congratulates Orlando Pirates for winning the Nedbank Cup after a 3–1 victory against Black Leopards on 28 May 2011;
[Applause.]
(3) notes that this is the third title for the “Buccaneers” this season after winning the MTN 8 Cup earlier this year;
(4) further notes that Orlando Pirates are the first team to win all three titles in one season since the inception of the PSL; and
(5) applauds the efforts of the Orlando Pirates coach, training staff and the squad for their excellent achievement.
[Applause.] Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Laughter.]
Agreed to.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF INNOCENT CHILDREN VICTIMS OF AGGRESSION
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) notes that the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed on 4 June each year;
(2) further notes that the purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by children throughout the world who are the victims of physical, mental and emotional abuse;
(3) condemns all acts of violence against children; and
(4) reaffirms its commitment to protect the rights of children.
Agreed to.
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Deputy Speaker, I move without notice that in a few weeks’ time from now, I will move that this House congratulates the Blue Bulls for once again winning the Super 15 rugby tournament! [Laughter.]
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sure that because he is going to move that motion, there is no objection to that?
Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, the hon Van der Merwe can move whatever he likes; we all know that we’ll never take him seriously. [Laughter.]
SOUTH AFRICA WINS GOLD MEDAL AT ANNUAL CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
(Draft Resolution)
Mr M J ELLIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I do want to move a motion without notice – and this is a far more serious matter than any issue to do with soccer or the Blue Bulls.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) notes that South Africa has yet again won a gold medal at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, annually held in Chelsea, London;
(2) further notes that the South African entry, themed Botanical Landscapes, won the country’s 31st gold medal at the event which is widely considered as the most famous gardening event in the world;
(3) acknowledges the effort of designers David Davidson and Ray Hudson, who successfully managed to capture the beauty of South Africa’s fynbos, in particular the rare plant species of the Richtersveld and Greater Karoo area;
(4) further acknowledges that South Africa’s entry was made possible through the contributions of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Western Cape provincial government, the SA Gold Coin Exchange and the Scoin Shop;
(5) believes that the focus of the South African entry on the natural wonders of the Western and Northern Cape, will further highlight not only South Africa, but the Western Cape as a favourable tourist destination; and
(6) congratulates the South African team for doing the country proud.
Agreed to.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
(1) notes that the United Nations designated 5 June as World Environment Day;
(2) further notes that on 15 December 1972 the United Nations elected to dedicate a day on which the international community could reflect upon the state of the environment and to heighten global awareness;
(3) recognises that there are several challenges facing our environment, such as the issue of global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, the depletion of fossil fuel resources and scarce water resources; and
(4) acknowledges that it is essential that our government continues to adopt measures to preserve the environment.
Agreed to.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON STATE LIABILITY AMENDMENT BILL
Mr L T LANDERS: Deputy Speaker, the Bill before this House and the report on the Bill will tell you that it is a very technical Bill. Essentially, section 3 of the State Liability Act, Act 20 of 1957, provides that any civil claim made against the state may only be paid in money.
In June 2008, in the matter of Nyathi v the Member of the Executive Council for the Department of Health in Gauteng and Another, 2008 (5) SA 94 (CC), commonly referred to as Nyathi 1, the Constitutional Court declared section 3 of the State Liability Act to be inconsistent with our Constitution -
... to the extent that it does not allow for execution or attachment against the state, and that it does not provide for an express procedure for the satisfaction of judgement debts.
In order to afford the executive and Parliament the time and the opportunity to pass the necessary amendments to the State Liability Act, the Constitutional Court’s declaration of invalidity was suspended for 12 months. On 1 June 2009 the Constitutional Court extended the period of suspension of invalidity to 31 August 2009. On 31 August 2009 this was further extended to 31 August 2011.
In the meantime, to provide judgment creditors with relief, the Constitutional Court also provided an interim solution to apply, where there are final orders against national and provincial departments, for the payment of money.
The Constitutional Court ordered that where a final order against the national or provincial department is not satisfied within 30 days, then a judgment creditor can serve the court order on the relevant national or provincial treasury, the accounting officer of the relevant department and on the relevant executive authority, which is the Minister or the MEC.
Fourteen days after the court order is served on it, the relevant treasury must settle the debt or make suitable arrangements with the judgment creditor to pay off the debt. If, however, the relevant treasury fails to settle the debt or make acceptable arrangements within this time, the judgment creditor can attach the movable property of the department concerned.
National Treasury, when it appeared before the committee, confirmed that this procedure has been working effectively. Departments have settled their judgment debts, and to date National Treasury has not had to satisfy any amounts on behalf of their responsible departments.
The committee supported the continuation of this practice and proposed amendments to the Bill to this effect. A procedure for the attachment and identification of movable assets that may be sold in execution is provided for in the Bill. This procedure allows for the exclusion of certain assets from the execution process.
Therefore, if the selling of those assets will lead to a situation where service delivery will be severely disrupted, where life will be threatened, or where the security of the public will be placed at risk, treasuries are given obligations to issue appropriate regulations, instructions, circulars, guidelines, etc, such that organs of state do not find themselves in embarrassing situations.
A classic example of this is a municipality in the North West province that came in one morning and found that all of its movable property had been removed by the Sheriff of the Court.
The amendments set out in this Bill therefore create a legislative procedure that ensures departments effect timeous payment in the event where a court has made a final court order, sounding in money against the state. The judgment creditor is also afforded certainty that payment will be made in the event where a court has granted a final court order sounding in money against the state.
However, the committee wishes to sound a warning. Treasury’s role in such matter is administrative. Departments should not see the new Act’s provisions as removing their responsibilities towards judgment creditors.
The committee is of the strong view that departments should foresee that they may incur such liabilities and budget accordingly. In other words, the days of hiding behind section 3 of the State Liability Act of 1957 are now a thing of the past.
The committee acknowledges that managing litigation against the state has many challenges, but wishes to highlight that the consequences to judgment creditors who are not paid what they are owed can be devastating. The Nyathi case starkly illustrates this. Dingaan Nyathi died before the Constitutional Court ruled in his favour.
The portfolio committee also learnt of several cases where default judgment had been taken whilst the relevant department was unaware that a summons had been served. The State Attorney’s office then became involved in order to rescind such judgment. To prevent this, the committee has inserted an amendment providing that where the executive authority of a department is cited as nominal defendant, summons must be served on the State Attorney’s office as well.
The committee is satisfied that the amendments in this Bill are in line with the Constitutional Court judgment on this matter. The committee commends this Bill to the House and seeks its approval thereof. I thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, I move:
That the Report be adopted.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are there any objections?
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Yes, Deputy Speaker!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Van der Merwe? Oh, it is an objection!
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: It is an objection, yes.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted (Inkatha Freedom Party dissenting.)
STATE LIABILITY AMENDMENT BILL
(Second Reading debate)
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: As there is no list of speakers, are there any objections to the Bill being read a second time?
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Yes, Deputy Speaker, objection!
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can we record your objection, hon member?
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Only if you are satisfied that I am in the minority.
There was no debate.
Question put.
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Madam Deputy Speaker, will you kindly note the objection of the IFP.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, the objection of the IPF will be noted.
Bill read a second time (Inkatha Freedom Party dissenting.)
A CARING PARLIAMENT THAT ADVANCES YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIC FREEDOM
(Debate on Youth Day)
Mr M C MANANA: Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon Members of Parliament, our distinguished guests in the gallery and fellow young people of South Africa, 35 years ago, when students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, the typical fascist tyranny in our country did not bother to listen to the grievances of these students or the people as a whole.
Instead, they unleashed brutality, with teargas, bombs and bullets being the only redress they could provide.
These noble students were protesting against the enacted Bantu Education Act, which led to the establishment of the Black Education Department located within the Department of Native Affairs. The role of this department was to compile a curriculum that suited the nature and requirements of the black people.
The author of this legislation was none other than Dr Verwoerd himself, then Minister of Native Affairs, who defined the intention of the legislation as one that seeks to educate native blacks that equality with European whites is a phantom dream that can never be realised.
When the department of education issued its decree that Afrikaans was to become a language of instruction in schools, they were met with objections from young students who rejected being taught in the language of the oppressor. The rioting soon spread from Soweto to other towns on the Witwatersrand, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town and developed into the largest outbreak of violence that South Africa had ever experienced.
These were dedicated students who showed reckless disregard for their own safety in order to vent their frustrations against the evil system of apartheid. Former president of the ANC, President O R Tambo, concluded, and I quote:
There is no vocabulary to describe the nobility and the pathos of the conscious sacrifices that the black youth of South Africa have made to free themselves, their people and their country from forces determined to keep us forever their chattels.
Deputy Speaker, 35 years later, and as we celebrate the great strides we have made to defeat the tyranny of apartheid and its skewed policies that favoured the white minority, we have got to consolidate the gains of freedom as young people in current day South Africa. We need to do this through active participation in the economy and ensuring that, indeed, we achieve economic freedom in our lifetime.
History has imposed on us today the duty to occupy the forward trenches in the final assault on poverty, unemployment and ignorance. We should be able to identify the gap for development and actively pursue the objectives that seek to uplift our people and the renewal of our society.
Deputy Speaker, let me pause to pay tribute to the mother of the nation, Ma Albertina Sisulu, whose resilience and contribution to the struggle to free her people from the bondage of colonial rule and apartheid will never go unnoticed. As we commemorate youth month as a nation, we also celebrate her life well lived. We are proud to have been associated with her; but over and above that, we are proud to have had her in the leadership ranks of the ANCYL.
The 1994 democratic breakthrough ushered in a period in which youth development became part of the developmental interventions of the democratic state. In particular, youth formations and government became seized with, among other things, the development of youth-focused policy and legislative frameworks. Central to this were the National Youth Commission Act, the National Youth Policy, 2000 and the National Youth Development Policy Framework, 2002 to 2007.
Whilst the above-mentioned frameworks outlined the country’s perspective and institutional arrangements for youth development, some difficulties and weaknesses were identified. That then led to the National Youth Convention being convened to review the policy perspective and institutional mechanisms for youth development in the country.
This convention adopted an integrated approach argued and canvassed by the ANCYL during the robust engagements held at Emperor’s Palace in June 2005.
The integrated approach to youth development, which was adopted by the National Youth Convention, required a realignment of the institutional mechanisms for youth development in the country. It is within this context that a decision to establish the National Youth Development Agency was taken to ensure integration, sustainability and responsiveness to the aspirations and needs of young people.
One must, again, pause here and clarify some discomfort that exists in relation to the NYDA. Deputy Speaker and hon members, it would be unfair to measure the successes and failures of the NYDA in the context of the WFDY Festival of youth and students.
I stood at this very podium during the debate on the state of the nation address and called on all members of society to expose, through substantiative measures, corrupt elements within the NYDA. To this day, no person has been forthcoming with this information; instead we continue to hear blazing attacks on the NYDA with nothing to attribute those attacks to.
I call on the media to work very closely with the NYDA in order to report and communicate success stories to the young people of South Africa. I have no doubt that the NYDA is making great strides in advocating issues of youth development, but more work still needs to be done.
Deputy Speaker, the ANC has always viewed young people as the most important stratum in society and as such has sought to ensure that they are fully integrated into society as agents of change. We, in the ANC, regard ourselves as a critical component within the motive force of the national democratic revolution, NRD, in the thoroughgoing process of resolving contradictions created by the system of colonialism and apartheid.
This means that young people have an objective interest in driving the NDR towards its logical conclusion. As active agents of change and social transformation, they stand to benefit from a fundamental transformation of our society.
Because young people played a significant role in bringing about a democratic breakthrough in South Africa, the ANC seeks to ensure that past imbalances created by the apartheid regime are redressed and that young people are afforded opportunities to participate meaningfully in all sectors of society.
After realising the impact of apartheid and government’s deliberate neglect of the young people, the ANC continues to prioritise issues of youth development within the broader framework of the reconstruction and development of South African society.
In appreciating the significance of youth, the ANC stated:
Our policies will fully recognise this important section of our society, with specific emphasis on the marginalised youth.
Believing that young people would have an impact to make during the transition period, the ANC indicated that young people should be mobilised for the speedy attainment of a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa.
Given the high levels of youth unemployment in the country, youth economic development should be anchored around the idea of youth co-operatives so as to provide for collective ownership and control of the economic resources therein. Unlike the privately owned business enterprises, these youth co-operatives would have a greater economic impact in terms of responding to socioeconomic challenges facing the youth of South Africa.
Hon members, allow me to report to the House, and to the nation as a whole, on the successful hosting of the Youth Parliament this morning. Young people from all over the country converged to deliberate on matters of concern to them.
Chief among the critical issues raised was the urgent need to realise economic freedom in our lifetime. These young people urged us to treat their concerns and dire problems as a stand-alone social issue and no longer as a political issue.
Access to finance and information remains vital if we are to take seriously the mainstreaming of young people into the economy. We are aware that the construction of the two universities in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape is under way and we plead that the set timeframes be met. Rural development in the context of youth development was raised very sharply.
We have promised these young people, who today fill our gallery, that we will report back on the strides and gains in this regard. We have assured them of our commitment to serving them and to serving them well.
The steering committee, whose commitment was enormous, will undertake visits to drug rehabilitation centres to interact with young people in light of the fact that they are the most affected by drug and substance abuse.
Section 59 and 72 of the Constitution provide for the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes and initiatives such as the Youth Parliament, which is aimed at giving expression to these constitutional provisions. Our visits to the identified drug rehabilitation centre and prison, which are institutions largely dominated by young people, provides a platform for Members of Parliament to interact with the public as the electorate.
In paying tribute to the martyrs of 1976, we must indeed focus on the central strategic task of the achievement of the NDR goals which President Nelson Mandela attributed as being fundamental in the attainment of youth empowerment and development.
Young people are a significant group in society. They possess an invaluable potential which is of major importance for government to invest in, for a developed future generation. Government needs to give young people every opportunity to maximise their full potential to become partners in their country’s development process and to enable them to establish a solid foundation as future leaders of our nation.
We will, as the national executive committee of the ANCYL, convene the 24th National Congress of the ANCYL to take stock as well to deliberate at length on the best mechanisms to achieve economic freedom in our lifetime. Whilst sceptics are awaiting in anticipation the collapse of the congress next week to portray to the nation a divided ANC ahead of its centenary next year, I wish to state with all circumspection that a repeat of the 2008 Mangaung conference will not happen - this we will avoid by all means in remembrance and in honour of Ma Albertina Sisulu.
Lala ngoxolo Mama wethu, lala ngoxolo Mam’ Sisulu. [Rest in peace our mother, rest in peace Mrs Sisulu.] Long live the memory of the June 16 martyrs. I thank you.
Mrs P C DUNCAN: Deputy Speaker, a warm welcome to all our youth in the gallery. I, as a Member of Parliament, indeed feel fortunate to serve on this newly-elected steering committee for the Youth Parliament, under the leadership of our young chairperson, Mr Manana. I experience, as do all the other members, a refreshing culture of willingness and vibrancy to make a difference in the lives of all our young people.
Public participation is a constitutional imperative. We could witness the effect of this when our youth took the opportunity to participate in the work of Parliament, sharing their concerns and successes with us today.
The theme for 2011’s youth month is “A caring Parliament that advances youth development to achieve economic freedom”. Four topics have been put forward for discussion. They are: improving the quality of life of youth; drug abuse - is rehabilitation working; youth and economic freedom; and youth and skills development.
We are all aware that our country is facing many difficult challenges. It is therefore imperative that we take effective action to curb the many social ills. It is a known fact that we need to implement durable solutions that hold promise and sustainability for long-term change and development, especially for youth.
Today I was deeply moved to hear the voices of the youth of South Africa. It is pleasing that platforms are created to devise effective solutions that involve the youth. In the Youth Parliament earlier, Reagen Allen pointed out that a stable family life is something that we should all uphold and anything that militates against this, including drug abuse, is not good.
The abuse of drugs and alcohol is known to corrode family relationships, which will hamper the youth in taking hold of opportunities presented to them.
He also said many young people grew up with little hope. If we fail to implement policy resolutions, then we will be taking the last hope away from many young people, which will be to the detriment of future generations; and I absolutely agree with him.
Another young person said that support structures after rehabilitation are not working due to the fact that when the youth are integrated back into their community, very few, if any, support structures or therapy exist if they fall back into their addiction.
There is also a cry for access to rehabilitation centres in the rural areas. Saldanha on the West Coast has the fourth highest percentage of drug abuse in the country and there are no rehabilitation centres. So I really appeal to Parliament and the departments to give attention to that.
The youth also stated today that there is very little access to rehabilitation centres in the rural areas, so the problem is wider than Saldanha. Family consultation must be deployed from the rehabilitation centres to families of addicts. Preventative programmes should play a fundamental role through education and training to assist the youth not to indulge in drug abuse.
One of the young participants also mentioned that national security and our Defence Force should intensify their efforts to stop the influx of drugs into our country. This means that our airlines and sea borders should be better controlled.
These were some of the remarks and due to time constraints I cannot add more. However, I wish to leave a message with all our young people here today, regardless of the political party, race group, gender, religion or cultural background they come from.
To them I want to say the following: By accepting and acknowledging the fact that we are a diverse nation and that we have one of the best constitutions in the world, which gives us our freedom, we can at least stand united to overcome and address these challenges. So, as the youth, this is now your time to make a difference.
Start with yourself as individuals, do true introspection, be honest with yourself, believe in yourself, your uniqueness, your purpose in life, and make a commitment to subscribe to the values of our Constitution, namely human dignity, equality, advancement of human rights and freedom, nonracialism and nonsexism.
By internalising this common set of values, it brings us opportunities for proactively addressing the backlog with regard to the challenges that continue to bring misery into the lives of all our communities, and especially our youth.
Have the courage to rise above the struggle of the past. It is the right thing to do within the context of the fact that we cannot change the past, but we can build a prosperous future for our diverse nation and especially for our youth. Enkosi. [Thank you.]
Ms L H ADAMS: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon Members of Parliament and all esteemed guests, while the leaders of the liberation struggle were either imprisoned, exiled or silenced in some form or another, it was the youth who rose up and looked at apartheid with fearless eyes, faced the AK-47s and the bazookas with stones and rocks and decided to dedicate everything they had, including their lives, to fight for an equal voice on issues that affected their lives.
Today we bear the fruit of their struggles, and now we are able to enjoy the luxury of living in one of the best democracies in the world. We are also able to enjoy freedoms and rights, still unimaginable in some countries and societies.
We live in a country guided by one of the best constitutions in the world. Our freedoms are protected by a Bill of Rights second to none and we are undoubtedly a blessed generation.
With these freedoms intact, however, there is still a lot for us to work on. If our reality is anything to judge our future by, then this government has a lot of work on its hands to ensure that tomorrow’s circumstances for our youth become better than the circumstances of today.
We live in a society where the flashing of bling-bling marks the entry into the role model world. We live in a society where our role models are people who disrespect our elders and the respective authorities. They are people who produce lyrics filled with hatred and who believe that flaunting what your mama gave you is the way to go.
The fight for democracy, principles and justice has turned into a fight for a tender, the fight to be a member of a board and the fight to fight others.
Through the various government programmes, our youth must be reminded that a bold and individual economic freedom empire starts with individual leadership. Our heroes and heroines of 1976 have laid the foundation for the youth of 2011 to be anything that they want to be.
From where must the youth draw their leadership qualities if we expect them to live up to the ideals of the youth of 1976 and constantly educate them on the country’s history, on the one hand, but on the other, we expect them to turn a blind eye when they read of a Minister who lavishly spends government money on hotels and trips to Switzerland?
We expect them not to pay any attention to reports of corruption, because in any event the government will still be studying the report!
We also expect them to behave in a dignified manner when some of their community members are being killed or being assaulted by members of the SA Police Service for taking part in service delivery protests.
Our youth is being presented with the idea that there is nothing wrong with wasting government’s money, that the police must be feared irrespective of the circumstances and that economic freedom can be achieved, mainly through tenders.
If this government does not mainstream entrepreneurship in alignment with the ideals of the youth of 1976, then we will only be contributing to a youth that is dependent on the state. At the end of the day, we want to be proud of our youth by boldly declaring that they are true products of Nelson Mandela.
This is achievable if all of us show the youth that they are important to us for the emancipation of this country’s economy. Thank you. [Applause.]
Ms S P LEBENYA-NTANZI: Chairperson, as I take the podium, I would like first and foremost to pay tribute to those young leaders who came before us and changed the course of history, and to whom we owe an immense debt of gratitude as we commemorate the youth month.
We acknowledge that on 16 June 1976 more than 20 000 pupils from Soweto embarked on a protest against the apartheid regime, which had imposed on them Afrikaans as the medium of instruction at schools. In the wake of the clashes with the police and the violence that ensued over the few weeks that followed, approximately 700 people were killed, many of whom were young people.
These young people paid with their lives for the struggle we were waging, but their actions were not in vain. They set in motion a chain of reactions, which eventually led to the demise of the apartheid regime.
Today I stand at this podium knowing that it was their monumental effort that has afforded me opportunities that I am able to enjoy today, such as being a member of this august House. [Applause.]
However, the struggle for freedom is not over. As the theme of this debate acknowledges, the struggle for today’s youth is crippling poverty and lack of job opportunities. This means that, even though we have attained our political freedom, many commentators label South Africa’s youth unemployment levels, which currently stands at more than 50%, a ticking time bomb.
How then do we address this crisis before we see the youth again taking matters into their own hands as they did in 1976?
During the recently held IFP Youth Brigade conference, they identified key issues that need to be addressed in order for our youth to attain economic freedom in our lifetime. They are: youth development and the dysfunctional NYDA; the fight against HIV/Aids; the challenge of preventing South Africa from sliding into a welfare state; and South Africa’s dysfunctional education system, amongst other issues.
It is of paramount importance that South Africa’s youth is properly organised to promote positive citizenship and to assist in community development. Yet the current institutional structures, such as the National Youth Development Agency, do not fulfil their mandate because of their lack of focus, lack of accountability and political bias.
Youth development under the NYDA has remained nothing but a pipe dream, and instead, this agency has become a vehicle through which the rich have become richer. The notion of it being a body looking after the interests of all young people vanished when the NYDA appointed almost all members of its Provincial Advisory Boards from the ANC Youth League.
This is the background to the IFP’s belief that President Zuma should dissolve the NYDA, as it only serves the narrow interests of the ANC Youth League elite and the tenderpreneurs associated with it. [Applause.]
In its place, we must contemplate a new youth agency based on the principles of Ubuntu-Botho that will assist the youth to learn how to help themselves and be self-reliant. That will teach them self-respect and respect for others, while they develop community leadership, skills, training and social skills.
Such an institution should be focused on implementation rather than mere co-ordination. It should operate at all three spheres of government and should take the form of a fully-fledged and well-resourced youth ministry. It should be able to rapidly implement positive youth development and take responsibility for all youth affairs of this country.
Another critical obstacle to the youth of South Africa attaining economic freedom in our lifetime is the HIV/Aids pandemic. This pandemic continues to decimate South Africa’s population, despite ever increasing government funding earmarked for the fight against it, while the youth remains one of the most vulnerable group that it affects.
In addition, an ever increasing proportion of our population relies on social grants in the absence of job opportunities. This is a disconcerting emergence of a dependency culture among our economically active population, and our youth can play a crucial role in reversing this unsustainable slide into a welfare state.
As the IFP, we will continue to use all public forums, such as the one we are given today, to urge government to sharpen its focus on job creation as an alternative to the expansion of social welfare.
While we in the IFP recognise and appreciate Parliament’s role in organising the Youth Parliament, the question must be asked: How much of a difference will it make to the plight of our young people? How much of what we are discussing here today will actually lead to radical policy shifts? Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr L W GREYLING: Chairperson, it is a sad reality that the youth in this country are forced to bear the full brunt of the current problems afflicting our society. These problems are widespread, ranging from a high infection rate of HIV through to a failing education system that so often inadequately prepares young people to take up opportunities in our economy.
It is also tragic that the majority of the unemployed in South Africa are people between 18 to 25 years who are simply excluded from the mainstream economy. In such a situation, hopelessness sets in and robs many young people of the optimism that they should be enjoying for their future.
This is a recipe for disaster, as without hope and a true stake in the future of this country more and more young people will opt out of society and resort to destructive activities such as crime, drugs and alcohol abuse. If we truly are a caring Parliament, then we should ensure that policies are put in place that will actually give the youth a foothold in our economy.
Instead of funnelling hundreds of millions of rands into an organisation like the NYDA, which simply squanders it on festivals and inflated salaries, we should be forcing the executive’s hand to implement a youth wage subsidy that can give young people the economic opportunities that they so desperately require.
It is also of concern to the ID that, given the desperate situation of so many young people in South Africa, the ground is fertile for false prophets to emerge.
Instead of offering real hope to young South Africans, these false prophets are more than willing to polarise our society and offer up populist solutions that will intensify our economic woes rather than alleviate them. They will preach revolution while they themselves enjoy conspicuous consumption and benefit from government largesse.
We must never allow such false prophets to dominate our political discourse or all that we have worked for in constructing a new nonracial and nonsexist South Africa, which will quickly unravel. At this point in our country’s history we need real leadership from the youth that will embody the values of progressive and constructive debate, focused on truly overcoming the challenges of this generation.
In this way, the voices of the false prophets can be drowned out and the concerns of all young South Africans can finally be addressed. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr L B GAEHLER: Chairperson, 35 years ago, on 16 June, the youth of our country took to the streets, protesting for better education. Our young lions and lionesses put up a gallant fight against an evil apartheid regime that maimed and killed many of their comrades during the 16 June 1976 uprisings.
Their only sin was the colour of their skin. They refused to be recipients of a Bantu education that only sought to keep black people as drawers of water and hewers of wood. The Bantu education system was designed to teach us Africans how to be submissive servants to the diabolic apartheid system.
We must acknowledge that a lot has been done since those dark days of apartheid to create an education system that uses education as a tool for the development of a responsible and thoughtful society. I doff my hat to the ANC government for the sterling job done thus far. [Applause.]
However, much more still has to be done to address overcrowded classrooms across the country. In many peri-urban and rural schools, in particular, this is the single biggest menace to the quality of education for the poor.
Most public schools around the country suffer from a severe lack of facilities and resources. This creates a dichotomous education system with quality being the prerogative of the haves but not the have-nots. By continuing on this path, we are undoing everything that the youth of 1976 fought for.
Chairperson, youth unemployment is unacceptably high and is estimated at more than 50%. Drug and alcohol abuse destroys the lives of many young people across the country.
We therefore need to redouble our efforts to create a caring Parliament that is understood by the youth and one that understands its role in helping to bring about quality education, economic freedom and empowerment for the youth of South Africa. I thank you.
Ms T B SUNDUZA: Chairperson, hon Members of Parliament, treasured guests in the gallery and young people of South Africa, the mother of the nation, Albertina Sisulu, will remain a yardstick against which we will always be measured. One student wrote to The World newspaper, and I quote:
Our parents are prepared to suffer under the white man’s rule. They have been living for years under these laws and they have become immune to them. But we, as youth, refuse to swallow an education that is designed to make us slaves in the country of our birth.
As we pay tribute to the youth of 1976, we acknowledge that their struggle was not in vain. We do so in acknowledgement of the words of Solomon Mahlangu:
Their blood has nourished the tree of freedom, the fruits of which we see today.
Mahlangu was a freedom fighter who was sentenced to death by the apartheid regime.
Soweto may sound like an African name, but the word was originally an acronym for South Western Townships, a cluster of townships sprawling across Soweto in Johannesburg. This is where the 1976 uprisings, also known as the Soweto Uprisings, began. It spread from there to the rest of the country, by young students wearing a black and white uniform. That is why I am wearing it today - in remembrance of them.
Today we have a generation of young people that faces different challenges to those of 1976. Their challenge is no longer to fight and protest against an unjust system, but to build a democracy which enables them to reach their full potential. The young people today face challenges such as unemployment and HIV and Aids, but if they don’t stand up and fight, they cannot win. The young people of today face many challenges that they must fight.
We remember the youth of 1976 because they taught us the lesson that it is possible for young people to stand up and confront the challenges facing them. Scores of children, including 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, were shot and killed by police after the students launched protests against Bantu education. Young people have always been fighting, even from the wars of resistance.
There is a question that is always asked in this House: What does the youth know about apartheid? Today people must listen. Today’s violence is rooted in history. It is the ghost of the apartheid regime that has come back to haunt its creators.
One must look at that legacy to understand the current upsurge in violence. It has bred social deprivation, thereby fostering frustration and the potential for violence. This does not always take the form of political violence, but permeates through society and results in an increased crime rate, murder, wife battery and child abuse.
How do we know apartheid? To those who don’t know, we were conscientised at a very tender age. In memory of Mpanza, my late friend, I want to say that at the age of about three, he saw a Hippo, picked up a stone and threw it at the vehicle. He knew that it was the enemy.
In 1984 I was travelling with my dad in Johannesburg and I asked my dad why I couldn’t ride on a double-decker bus. He told me that it was only for white people. That was my turning point; then I said I would fight.
South African youths have grown up in a culture of violence. They lived in dirty townships, in overcrowded housing with no sanitation, hot water or electricity. They are frequently the children of large families whose parents work long hours and give them little or no time.
The parents worked in mines. Our fathers stayed in compounds, while our mothers lived in the backrooms of white employers. We were banned from visiting them. We had to hide under the bed because the madam must not see us.
The only thing we had to eat was leftovers. That is why I don’t eat leftovers today, because the madam said, “Thandi is here and she can eat the leftovers.” It was usually left for the dogs. That is where we come from. That is why, as the youth of South Africa, we know where we come from. [Applause.]
We lived in this country without political rights and nobody heard our voice in Parliament. That it is why it is difficult for me to vote for someone who has never lived in a shack, who has never been on a train that is full of people.
You, on this side, make a noise because you are guilty and your parents were part of those who were making laws. [Applause.] You are that generation and you must listen and acknowledge your faults.
They sent us to the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei, the TBVC states, that were even worse. That is why I will never acknowledge the leaders of the TBVC states because they were an extension of apartheid. That is why they are honoured by this side of the House.
We never had a ...
Mr M J ELLIS: Chairperson, on a point of order: You made a particular point of indicating that this was a maiden speech in this House. It is actually a very important point.
Convention has it that a maiden speech will not be controversial, but what this hon member is saying, having arrived here dressed as a schoolgirl, and the way she is behaving now ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Mr Ellis, your point is noted.
Mr M J ELLIS: Let me repeat it, Chairperson. A maiden speech – you announced it as a maiden speech – is supposed to be uncontroversial. I am asking you to call this hon member to account.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon members, before I address that point, may I also request the members of the public in the gallery not to participate in the proceedings. You are here to observe the proceedings.
Hon Sunduza, before you continue with your speech, a maiden speech is not supposed to be controversial. Can you stick to your speech and steer away from controversial issues because then we will have to allow heckling and objections to be made to your speech. You may continue.
Ms T B SUNDUZA: Chairperson, I don’t know what was controversial. The TBVC states were worse because they were just an extension of apartheid. Schools were part of boycotts in the 1980s.
As I salute the youth of 1976, I go to the youth of 1985 and 1986 who heeded the call of President Oliver Tambo to fight when he addressed the 1985 Consultative Conference of the ANC in Kabwe, Zambia.
We took to the streets at the early age of eight. We knew the enemy. We were arrested, detained and beaten and our parents were in exile. We knew the aroma of teargas, we cried and, in tears, we ran home.
At the age of five, we knew that when there was a knock at the door, we had to hide under the beds or in the ceilings. Then those who don’t know this history tell us that we don’t know anything about apartheid. This continued until 1994.
I also salute those young people who joined uMkhonto weSizwe, the political arm of the ANC. Those were young people who left the country as young as 12 years old, like Comrade Chabane, Nombeko and many more. Today I encourage young Africans to read and write about our struggle history. Let those who were not part of it, not write about it because they don’t know what they are writing about. It is archived in our memories. We just have to write about it. Yes, we forgive, but we will never forget.
As President Mandela put it in May 1994, the youth are the valued possession of the nation. Without them, there can be no future. Their needs are immense and urgent. They are the centre of reconstruction and development.
There is a great need for liberating the minds of young people of all races. Youth Day is for all South African youth, black and white. The Youth Parliament is a platform to give youngsters a chance to interact with members of the mayoral committee and Parliament, discussing issues that are a challenge to them each day.
Therefore, Youth Parliament can serve as a tool to sensitise and caution youth of all races to participate in Youth Day. We will achieve economic freedom in our lifetime. We know what we are talking about because we have been fighting. The IFP will lament, so we will get used to that.
We have achieved political freedom, but young people are still struggling to access economic freedom. The economy is still controlled by the beneficiaries of the past. The National Youth Development Agency has been established to address youth matters, but the budget to address youth matters is minimal.
We urge government departments to work together and support this institution. This agency has an obligation to reach all the rural areas, even the nodal areas that do not have access to television or the Internet. This minimal budget poses a serious challenge.
We urge the government departments to create employment opportunities for youth through real internships, not doing faxing or typing in those institutions. Procurement policies must be favourable to the youth, and it’s time to have quotas so that the youth can also benefit.
Youth on farms are still oppressed by those who are locked in the past. They are deprived of going to school and are employed as farm labourers. They are scared to vote because they are scared to leave. They have nowhere to go because that is where they grew up.
Even in the last elections, some were deprived of the right to vote because they would be jobless. Therefore, I recommend that the labour laws of this country be implemented to protect them. I urge the Departments of Labour and of Basic Education to take steps against those farmers.
The President has announced the New Growth Path. As the youth of South Africa, we support this economic plan. We believe that it will open up opportunities for young people in South Africa, especially in rural areas. We call upon the private sector and the BEE sector to create opportunities for young people in all sectors of the economy.
As young people, give us a chance. Many of our parents died when we were at a very tender age. Therefore, give us a chance so that we don’t die poor, like our parents.
Young people voted in large numbers in the past local government elections. I therefore urge municipalities to create employment and make placements through local economic development. It is time to act. Young people will not eat plans and policies. We can’t be planning forever. Action must be taken.
Young people in South Africa are the most creative. When they have nothing to do or have no opportunities, they get involved in substance abuse, sexual activities that lead to teenage pregnancy and they engage in criminal activities.
The Minister of Arts and Culture has realised the challenges facing the youth in the arts. He has addressed the challenge by launching the performing arts programme. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr M MNQASELA: Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, guests, ladies and gentlemen ...
Phambi kokuba ndiqale, ndiyafuna ukuba ndikhe ndithethe inyaniso. Ukuba wakhe wayifunda incwadi ethi Animal Farm, i-ANC indikhumbuza loo ncwadi. Apha kuthiwa makungatyiwa, kodwa kuyatyiwa ngapha, gqitha. Kuthiwa abantu abatsha mabanyamezele kuba kuza kulunga ngeny’ imini, kodwa ngapha imali iyatyiwa, iyaphela kwinto ekuthiwa yi-National Youth Development Agency. Kuthiwa ngapha lindani ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... before I start I want to speak the truth. The ANC reminds me of the book entitled Animal Farm, if any have ever read it. They say let us not eat whilst they are over-eating. They appeal to the youth to be patient and to persevere because things will change for the better in future, but funds are being squandered by what is called the National Youth Development Agency. On the other hand they ask for patience ...]
... whilst the ANC makes the fat cats even fatter; the weak are becoming weaker and the poor even poorer today because of your government.
It was exactly 35 years ago this month that hundreds of students laid down their lives in a quest to liberate themselves from inferior education called “the Bantu Education system” and attain freedom for all.
Andizukuma ngegalari mna ndiza kuthetha nani. [I will not be referring to the gallery; I will speak to you.]
The demand for quality education was at the centre of their struggle and today I speak in memory of them all. However, the youth of today is confronted by a completely different challenge, and that challenge is economic freedom, HIV and Aids, unemployment, illiteracy, drug and alcohol abuse and many social ills. Our youth today demands that we, as elected public representatives, lead, guide and give them hope for a better life for all.
Last year, matric results showed that 67% of learners passed matric and only a handful of those passed with endorsement. Of those, very few are at school today due to a lack of access to finances, ngoba ityiwa nini. [because it is squandered by you.]
We are bequeathed with the courage to accept that South Africa will never become a better country unless we recognise that the plight of the poor is more urgent than ever and needs to be addressed. Illiteracy breeds poverty and disease. We need to free our young people and ensure that their future, and that of the generations to come, becomes the glory and hope for prosperity.
In this past election young people expressed their wishes and we dare not disappoint them. Young people need change and they need it now.
A 15-year-old young man, Sifiso Mkhabela, attended Orlando High School in Soweto in 1976 and lived without proper shelter, electricity, water, proper sanitation and, most of all, without access to quality education. Today he still lives in a shack and is unemployed and uneducated.
He has been deprived of his right to freedom and life for 50 years. Where is freedom for this man? Maybe the ANC will respond to that question. [Applause.]
It is necessary at this time to pause and ask the question: What is the difference between good governance and poor governance? The answer to that question is very clear and I will give it to you. The answer is that you have the DA here representing very good governance and you have the ANC representing very bad governance.
We have an education policy to respond to this challenge. [Applause.] It says that there should never be a difference between the former Model C schools and the township schools. The ANC continues to exacerbate that challenge.
We have the poorer performing schools in townships and those that were Model C schools in the affluent areas. We are saying that we will need a voucher system that will ensure that a learner can enrol in any school anywhere, as long as that school belongs to the government.
That learner will be able to study and become a doctor or social worker and come and sit in this Parliament tomorrow. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
I need to say thank you very much; thank you South Africa. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Rev K R J MESHOE: Chairperson, the problem of youth unemployment has to be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to reduce the number of frustrated, unemployed youth taking part in violent service delivery protests.
Skills development has to be one of government’s top priorities if economic freedom is to be achieved among our young people.
When one looks at how the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, wasted more than R100 million of taxpayers’ money on last year’s World Youth Festival, which did not help to create any sustainable employment, one cannot see how their current budget of R385,9 million will be used to help create the much needed jobs.
Government must be more directly involved in the programmes of the NYDA to ensure that their main focus will be on job creation and not festivals, partying and talk shops.
The problem of drug abuse and addiction is a serious threat to youth development in our country. If it is not successfully addressed, our dream of achieving economic freedom for our youth might not be realised. The ADCP believes that without government’s unwavering commitment to eradicating drug trafficking in our country, the future of our youth is in jeopardy.
Government urgently needs a Minister of State Security who will ensure that our children and youth are protected from drugs. Drug traffickers must be arrested and illegal drug laboratories in our country shut down.
If government’s intelligence department is worth its salt, then its officers must be able to trace all these drugs and find out where they are coming from and arrest couriers and manufacturers who are destroying the future of our children.
The ACDP wants to see educated, skilled and employed youth of South Africa who are free from drugs. This can only be possible if government uses all available state machinery to crush all drug trafficking in our country. I believe that the war on drugs can be won, if government has the political will to win it.
To ensure that the revolution the Cosatu general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, spoke about does not happen and also that what he refers to as “a ticking time bomb” does not explode, government must make radical decisions, such as reprioritising its budget allocation to ensure that training and development programmes directed at idle and loitering youth are fast-tracked.
Unemployed youth have plenty of time and energy that must be harnessed. If a caring Parliament does not help our youth to invest their time wisely and direct their energy towards building our economy, then they will not be able to achieve the economic freedom that we are all aspiring to. Thank you.
Mrs M N MATLADI: Chairperson, there are many challenges facing the South African youth, ranging from a high crime rate; the burden of disease manifested mainly, but not solely, through HIV and Aids; access to higher education; and many others.
The theme of this debate is “A caring Parliament that advances youth development to achieve economic freedom”. The question of youth unemployment is central to this debate.
It is disheartening to learn that one in two young South Africans and two out of three young African women are unemployed. It is said that the unemployment rate among 15- to 24-year-olds is 51%, which is more than double the national unemployment rate of 25%.
Coupled with this is the increase in numbers of people relying on social assistance grants. The picture is made even grimmer when you read that the average jobs created by government programmes last about 46 days!
There are other very interesting dynamics relating to the issue of youth unemployment that need to be addressed. For instance, it is interesting to note that unemployment is reported to be at the highest amongst young African women. It stands at 63%, while amongst coloured youths it is 47%; 23% amongst Indian youths; and standing at 21% amongst white youths, which is the lowest amongst all these groups.
It appears that race, gender, age, location and schooling remain key in the explanations of the high youth unemployment rate. We cannot escape the fact that the failure of the education system to produce employable school leavers plays an even bigger role in this scenario. Therefore it is important to differentiate between “unemployed” and “unemployable”.
If Parliament is to play a role in youth development, with a focus on unemployment - which is key and central to youth economic freedom - we should then review the legislative issues as they relate to unemployment. Parliament should exercise the budgetary powers available to it and play its oversight role effectively over the executive.
It should monitor and evaluate how the government departments are channelling their resources towards addressing youth unemployment through decent job creation, and not the temporary measures that seem to be largely used.
The proposal of a youth employment subsidy needs to be discussed extensively and widely researched in order to establish their impact and viability, as we cannot afford to waste resources on techniques that have not been proven or tested.
The question of skills development cannot be left out in this process of redress. Therefore, we must evaluate the role that government is playing in skilling our youth, and whether the skills development programmes currently being used are assisting in converting the unemployable into at least being the skilled unemployed.
The public sector must commit itself to the creation of jobs for the youth and should desist from creating temporary jobs that are said to last an average of 46 days, as this kills youth morale in the longer term.
Parliament must play a much more active oversight, monitoring and evaluation role in order to ensure that the National Youth Development Agency delivers upon its mandate, as well as other youth agencies tasked with the development of our youth.
Re le UCDP, ra re ntime o mphele ngwana. Re bo re boa gape re re “kgakalakgolo ga kena mabala, mebala e dikgakaneng”. Ke a leboga. [Legofi.] [As the UCDP, we believe in prioritising for the basic needs of the child. We also say: “The beauty or wellbeing of the parents is reflected in their child.” Thank you. [Applause.]]
Mr Z S MAKHUBELE: Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, particularly those from the various youth formations, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to firstly attend to the matter pertaining to the DA’s claim that they can govern very well. They should know that they are governing under a democratic rule, under the ANC.
You, the DA, led this country for a very long time and did not allow other people to govern with you. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Order!
Mr Z S MAKHUBELE: Can you allow me to finish? There is no need to make a noise because you had your own time in which to debate. Now it is my time to debate. [Interjections.] When the negotiations broke down, the National Party convened leaders of the Bantustans, thinking that they could proceed with negotiations without the ANC. We then told you that the tension was between the ANC and the National Party. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Order, hon members!
Mr Z S MAKHUBELE: Therefore no negotiations could proceed without the ANC. Today the youth should continue to be inspired by true revolutionaries like those of Mama Sisulu’s generation. Most of the people referred to are from the ranks of the ANC.
Youth skills development in South Africa has been placed at the centre of development. This was evident in the state of the nation address on 11 February 2011. The President reiterated that government must invest in youth to ensure a skilled and capable workforce to support growth and job creation.
South Africa is grappling with the issue of skills shortages, especially in the priority skills. Some claim that our training institutions are not doing enough to produce the required skills, whilst others say that there is a mismatch between the skills required for the development of a successful economy that promotes job growth and the skills currently available.
Research findings have revealed that our country’s skills crisis is particularly acute at the lower-, middle- and higher-middle levels.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must not forget where we have come from as a nation, with apartheid education policies which prohibited African learners to enrol in subjects such as maths and science; and the job reservations policies, which did not allow nonwhites to occupy certain positions. That legacy is having a long-term effect on the labour market.
Though our government managed through its progressive policies to open access to all educational institutions for all citizens, there are still areas of concern. We are still observing high enrolments in the Humanities as compared to Engineering and Life Sciences programmes.
Again, the decision that the Department of Higher Education and Training took of phasing out Nated courses or what is known as N-courses in our Further Education and Training colleges has had dire consequences for the production of artisan skills.
These courses provided the key theoretical knowledge required for the apprenticeship and learnership artisan route. However, we are happy that they are being reintroduced.
Access to education for many qualifying youth is still a serious challenge due to inadequate infrastructure, lack of funding and rigid admission requirements for some scarce and critical skills programmes at some of the universities.
Given the urban bias of our economic development, the country has not paid adequate attention to rural economic development and provision of skills for rural development. Most of the skills training opportunities are often in the urban areas, hence youth in the remote rural areas of the country don’t have access to these opportunities.
This perpetuates a situation where the youth migrate from rural areas to urban areas in search of opportunities. The urban areas cannot absorb everyone. Those who are left in the rural areas seldom have access to those opportunities.
Further Education and Training, FET, colleges are geographically better distributed across our nine provinces than our higher education institutions. They thus make any further study for young people more accessible and at a lower cost, as accommodation costs would be reduced significantly.
In terms of improving access to higher education for children from poor families and ensuring sustainable funding, the department made some strides in ensuring that academically deserving students get access to higher education through the increased allocation to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. In 2009 the scheme introduced upfront payment to ensure that no students are excluded from accessing education.
As set out in the White Paper, the central policy objectives of providing poor and historically disadvantaged students with access to higher education and to contribute to the skills pool necessary to drive economic growth and development are realised.
However, we need to acknowledge that there are still challenges, mainly based on how institutions of higher learning administer and manage the funds. For example, there are institutions that give students blank forms or contracts to fill in without them even knowing how much they actually deserve.
This will encourage students who come from poor family backgrounds to access education and also ensure retention and will increase the through-put rate, as those students would not have to drop out due to financial problems.
In his Budget Vote speech, the Minister of Higher Education and Training said:
Education and training is a common public good which must not be sold and traded as a commodity, where only those with money and other resources will be able to afford it. Only by providing equal opportunities for all, irrespective of social background, can we contribute towards building a nation in which everyone has a stake and a common loyalty.
Currently, South Africa does not have a credible skills planning programme that will assist in projecting the skills supply and demand. A credible skills plan will enable the Department of Higher Education and Training to project the future skills-demand areas for the next 10 years, to establish the current supply and to plan for future training.
However, we are still concerned about a large number of students who completed the theoretical component of their qualification, but could not find placement for the experiential learning part.
Employers are not willing to open up their workplaces to those students and as a result we are losing what could have been engineers and engineering technicians to packers at Shoprite and Checkers, Pick n Pay and other retail stores. This is a sad story.
There is a need for a policy that will in a way oblige employers to open up their workplaces for learning, because we cannot have learnerships without experiential learning.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, your time has expired.
Mr Z S MAKHUBELE: There is no doubt that the youth is yearning for skills, and Parliament should act in accordance with the theme of Youth Parliament 2011, which is ... [Interjections.]
We dare not fail. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr K J DIKOBO: Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, youth leaders in the gallery and distinguished guests, I had an opportunity earlier today to attend the Youth Parliament and listen to representatives of various youth formations as they grappled with challenges that young people in South Africa face on a daily basis.
Then I looked at the theme of this debate. We are saying that we are a caring Parliament and we are further saying that this Parliament advances youth development to achieve economic freedom.
The youth of our country is worried about unemployment, rumoured to be around 25%, with 75% of that figure being young people. They are concerned about lack of opportunities and the fact that it is difficult for them to get jobs as employers tell them that they do not have experience.
With this Parliament having approved a budget where employers who employ the youth will be subsidised, this caring Parliament should be worried that we have not seen any upswing in the number of young people being employed.
There is also the anomaly of young people having incomplete diplomas and degrees because they cannot get placement for experiential learning or practical work.
Young people are worried about alcohol and drug abuse, particularly among the youth, as this is destroying the moral fibre of society. They are asking whether this caring Parliament cannot pass laws that will make it difficult for young people to have easy access to alcohol and drugs.
Our youth is concerned about the scourge of HIV and Aids, and the fact that it hits the youth hardest. Our youth knows that there is a link between HIV and Aids and alcohol and drug abuse as abusers expose themselves to infection through risky behaviour.
Azapo’s message to our youth is that they should also play their part in addressing the problems that they have identified. The interactions of youth organisations should go beyond the Youth Parliament.
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of 16 June 1976, Azapo pays tribute to those young people who waged a relentless struggle against oppression, particularly those who paid the ultimate price.
Our youth should draw inspiration from the struggle that was waged by those who came before them, and avoid engaging in activities that desecrate the memory of the 16 June generation.
Azapo dips its banner in memory of all martyrs of the liberation struggle and in memory of those who fell on 16 June 1976. Their blood has not been spilt in vain. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr N T GODI: Chairperson, comrades and hon members, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the 1976 uprising, as the APC, we also want to salute the youth, not only of that generation, but also the youth throughout the course of our struggle, who served, suffered and sacrificed for the freedom that we have today.
Poverty in South Africa bears the face of an African woman. Indeed, it is a fact that the crisis of unemployment is very much a burden of the youth. This tragedy, this crisis of unemployment, is a time-bomb we should defuse so that the promise of freedom is not a dream deferred for our people.
Our Parliament, this people’s Parliament, this activist Parliament, this responsive Parliament should focus its oversight work on how government departments and their programmes respond to this challenge. The question really is how we, as Parliament, ensure in our oversight that institutions like the NYDA and the development finance institutions respond to the challenge of youth empowerment.
Our fight for freedom was not for ideas or things in anyone’s head, but to see a practical improvement in the lives of our people. Our responsibility as Parliament is to ensure that the progressive policies and structures that we have do deliver for our youth. They deserve better. I thank you.
Mr G R MORGAN: Chairperson, if South Africa is to rid itself entirely of the injustices of the past, if it is to finally deal with redress and reconciliation, if it is to achieve 5 million new jobs by 2020, if it is to deal with the backlog of bulk infrastructure, if it is to achieve a constant annual matric pass rate of more than 80% with substantial numbers of maths and science passes, and if it is to reduce carbon emissions, thus contributing to a stable climate, then it will do so only by riding on the shoulders of the young.
I believe in this country. I love South Africa. I am optimistic about its future and I feel privileged to be part of this institution, Parliament, which represents all of our people. I wake up every day asking myself how I can use my constitutional role as a legislator to bring about positive change, to hold the executive to account and to change the incumbent government, for which I make no apologies.
Like so many other young legislators in this House, I am confident about who I am, what my history is and where I am going. I am aware that an oppressive past system of governance in this country gave me opportunities and privileges that were not afforded to most people my age, but I am not beholden to guilt.
I make no apologies for my race, my sexuality, my accent, and my schooling. In the words of one of the music icons of my generation, Lady Gaga, “I was born this way, baby.” [Laughter.]
But I am thoughtful about our collective future, young and old. If I have experience and talents that were afforded to me by birth, then I want to share those with others and I am devoted to creating our future together – a future that maximises our individual freedoms, that gives those born into disadvantage the means and opportunities to thrive, so that all South Africans can be prosperous, healthy and free.
Young legislators are on the march. We are Generation X. We range in age from the early 30s to the early 40s. Psychologists have this to say about Generation X: We are independent, resourceful, and self-sufficient; we value freedom and responsibility, and many of us show a casual disdain for authority; we adapt well to change and are more tolerant of different lifestyles; we are ambitious and eager to learn new skills. We are not a threat to anyone, though. We just want our space to be who we are.
So, as Parliament changes, as it adapts, let’s make sure that we listen to the needs of the Generation X legislators.
In 2020 many, if not most, of the legislators in this House will not be here. The risk of institutional memory loss is real unless young legislators in this House are nurtured and given opportunities.
Similarly, it is reasonable to assume that many, if not most, of the legislators who will sit here then, in 2020, are not with us here today. They are out there, beyond these walls, in Diepsloot and Chatsworth and Atlantis. They have had plenty of time to look at the successes and failures of the past 17 years of democratic governance. They have new ideas, some crazy, some irresponsible, some credible and some downright awesome, but, whatever the case, they will fill many of these benches in 2020.
In closing, let me say that we, the young legislators, honour our elders. I think particularly today of the late Albertina Sisulu and her immense contribution to our land. As confident as I am that there is a new generation of political leaders waiting to take over the mantle of leadership, my question to us, the young legislators, the young leaders and youth in general is: Can we live up to the standards of the leadership of Mama Sisulu? [Applause.]
Mrs M T KUBAYI: Hon Chairperson, hon members, young people that are still in the gallery ...
... ke a le dumediša. Mamohla ke ema ke leboga bomme bao ba ilego ba swara thipa ka bogaleng gomme ba emela rena re le bana ba bannyane ba banenyana ba lwela ditokelo tša rena re le baswa le ditokelo tša bomme. [... I greet you all. I would like to express my gratitude to those women who fought fearlessly for our rights as women and the youth.]
Namhlanje ngimi la ngithi komama abafana nomam’uSisulu, siyabonga. Njengomuntu omusha owesifazane ngiyabonga ngalokhu enikwenzile nasilwela futhi nalwela namalungelo ethu. Yingakho namhlanje njengabantu abasha sikwazi ukuma la ePhalamende, ukuba sibe yingxenye y alezi zingxoxo ezibakhona, sikhulume ngezinto ezisithintayo singabantu abasha. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Today I’m standing here and saying thank you to women like Mrs Sisulu. As a young woman I thank you for what you have done - you fought for us as well as for our rights. That is why today as young people we are able to stand here in Parliament, and be part of the discussions that are held, and discuss some issues that affect us as the youth.]
Eka siku lera namuntlha ndzi ri eka va rixaka ra Manana Sisulu onge Xikwembu xi nga va na n’wina xi mi katekisa eka mikarhi leyo tika. Eka Manana Sisulu ndzi ri, etlela hi ku rhula. U endlile ntirho wa wena; u hetile. Leswi nga sala hi leswaku hina hi wu teka hi yisa emahlweni. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[Today I say to the relatives of Mrs Sisulu, may God be with you to bless you in these difficult times. To Mrs Sisulu I say, rest in peace. You have done your job; you have completed it. What is left is for us to continue with it.]
There are many young people, especially young men, who feel that young women have opportunities and are becoming more successful than them. Whether this is true or not, it is not an issue. However, most of us evaluate the situation of young people based on urban areas and the trends in those areas. We forget about young people in rural areas and townships.
The challenge is: What is it that we can do and need to do to assist young people in rural communities and townships, especially young girls? Most of these young girls are forced to find partners who are older than them, which becomes a means of survival. Others get married early before they even want to. Others get pregnant and therefore end up living on social grants as an income.
We have learnt lately that many young women are using abortion as a form of prevention. This means that more young women are at risk of contracting HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. These are the challenges that young women are facing today. Thirty-five years on and 17 years into our democratic system of governance, the institutions that continue to endure are our legislatures and the national Parliament.
Our struggle to overthrow the racist regime has been about giving a voice to the people and enabling them to make choices about decisions affecting them. Today our Parliament stands as a monument and bears testimony to the claim that the blood of those who have died has indeed nourished the tree of liberation.
Parliament is the expression of the will of the people. Such an expression must be reflected in its practices, systems and processes. It must be an active Parliament that consciously seeks to get the people to exercise their right to participate in the process and to bring about a better life for all.
As it stands, Parliament has two tasks. The first is to entrench the culture of democratic participation, ensuring that its processes make it possible for the people of our country to take part in decision-making processes. This should be so especially among the youth, and young women in particular.
Secondly, while entrenching a culture of democratic participation, Parliament must also ensure that the culture of accountability is institutionalised. Systems to monitor the performance of the state departments must be strengthened.
Yingakho ngithi, mhlonishwa Lebenya-Ntanzi, njengamalungu ePhalamende yithi ekufanele senze ukuba i-NYDA ichaze ukuba yenzani. [That is why I’m saying, hon Lebenya-Ntanzi, it is up to us as Members of Parliament to ensure that the NYDA is accountable.]
It is we, as members of this institution, who should make sure that the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, is held accountable. No one else can do it. They must give account here. If we feel hopeless and say that the NYDA is unaccountable, as the hon members were saying, then we are rendering ourselves useless to this government and to the country. [Applause.]
You have been elected to have that responsibility. As a Member of Parliament you have been given the responsibility to hold government accountable on behalf of the public. We need to understand that very well.
Therefore Parliament should be the first to know where there are service delivery blockages as far as communities are concerned. We salute the youth of ... [Interjections.]
Ms S P LEBENYA-NTANZI: Chair, on a point of order.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, will you take your seat, please.
Ms S P LEBENYA-NTANZI: Chairperson, I would like to know if the hon member can take a question.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, are you prepared to take a question?
Mrs M T KUBAYI: Chairperson, if I have time when I am done, I will take her question.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Thank you, hon member.
Mrs M T KUBAYI: Chairperson, we salute the youth of 1976. From them we have learnt endurance and what it means to be a true patriot. They stood in the frontlines and declared that they were prepared to pay the ultimate price so that we could rise today with clenched fists and ask: “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika”.
In the words of one of the greatest sons of Africa, and I quote:
To take part in the African revolution is not enough to write a revolutionary song: you must fashion the revolution with the people. And if you fashion it with the people, the songs will come by themselves.
And of themselves.
When we say that Parliament must be activistic, it must fashion its practices and processes with the people. Through Parliament, we should reflect honestly on our challenges because they are the reflection of the state of affairs in our community.
The people want to engage actively with the government of the people and therefore Parliament should take a lead in the struggle. The youth of the 1976 have left us with a rich heritage and history. Here we find the important blocks and the solid foundation upon which we must consolidate democratic rule.
The question I want to ask most of the parties rising here today to speak on youth issues is: What role is your party playing in strengthening youth organisations? Some of you do not even have youth structures in your own organisations. [Interjections.]
Hon Greyling came here and spoke about the issues of young people who are in the process of being swallowed, whereas he doesn’t even have a youth structure. He talked about the issue of not having solutions for young people.
He must start in his own party. There must be reflections of young people’s activities within each and every political party. You cannot come to Parliament and tell the public that you are interested in youth organisations, youth activities and youth development whereas in your own party, there is no emphasis on or efforts at all to dealing with youth issues.
Start with building youth organisations. You should not only have them - they should be active. Let us see them. You should drive them to the fore. The ANC made sure that we have young people, and that is why we are here in Parliament. [Interjections.]
If we check in terms of numbers, there are a majority of young Members of Parliament in this Parliament. It cannot be said about others. It is about us taking the issues of young people to the forefront; not only by the speeches that we make here, but also though our actions. We have to be very careful when we stand here and talk about youth issues. [Applause.]
Hon Adams, there is nothing wrong with young entrepreneurs. There is nothing wrong with that at all. We must encourage young people to develop companies and develop themselves. They should be independent. Not every successful young person out there who owns a company is corrupt. There are young people who have worked very hard to have their companies rise and to be able to stand on their feet. They have sweated for that. [Applause.]
Every time when you see a black young person who has a business, you should not think that he is corrupt. It is wrong to always link them to corruption. We must encourage young people not only to be job seekers but also to be entrepreneurs. We must continue to do so.
You talk about corruption, but we, as the ANC government, have put the issue of corruption in the forefront. When President Zuma took over, he was one of the people who said that he was going to deal with corruption. [Interjections.]
I am coming to you. I want to come to you while you are still there. Today I want you to tell the public about the DA adverts. There was a mother from KTC in Gugulethu, who was on national TV in an advert saying:
Ndiyakhanyisa namhlanje, ndinombane! [I can switch the lights on today - I have electricity!]
I want to challenge the media to go to that mother’s house today. There is no electricity; she does not have electricity. [Applause.] That poor woman does not have electricity, but she is in an advert saying ...
Ndiyabulela DA, ndifumene umbane. Owuphi umbane? Owuphi umbane, ungekho nje? [I thank the DA - I have electricity. What electricity? What electricity, when there is no electricity?]
During the elections, even the neighbours went and asked her ...
... mama, uvele kumabonakude wathi unogesi, thina singabomakhelwane asinawo sifuna ukuwubona. [... mama. you appeared on television and said that you have electricity; we, as neighbours, don’t have it and we want to see it.]
That is why I am asking. The other advert showed a celebrity mom saying ...
Ndiyabulela DA! Hayi bo! [I thank the DA! Oh no!]
If you are helping, let us see you helping poor people.
Mr M J ELLIS: Mr Chairperson.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Yes, hon Ellis?
Mr M J ELLIS: Mr Chairman, on a point of order, sir!
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): What is your point of order?
Mr M J ELLIS: The hon member is claiming that the lady does not have electricity. She does, sir. This is misleading the House. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Mr Ellis, that was not a point of order. Let us give the hon member an opportunity to continue with the speech. That is a question of perception and it is part of the debate.
Mr M J ELLIS: Sir, you cannot stand up and say things that are untrue. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Mr Ellis, will you please take your seat. That was not a point of order, sir. Thank you. You may continue, hon member.
Mrs M T KUBAYI: I will continue. No one should feel embarrassed about the fact that he was born a black, African, coloured or white person. That is not what we stand for. The ANC stands for a nonracial society. You can go and see our principles in our Constitution. They are there. [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Order, hon members! Hon Kubayi, will you take your seat. Hon members, you are not allowed to boo in the House. That is not parliamentary. I will identify you and ask you to leave the Chamber if this type of behaviour persists. Please refrain from doing so. You may continue, hon member.
Mrs M T KUBAYI: Iqiniso liyababa. [The truth is a bitter pill to swallow.]
It is not easy to accept. The problem is that if you want to say something, you should allow people to scrutinise what you have to say. If you want to scrutinise others, allow yourself to be scrutinised. That is what being in government means.
I want to speak on the issue of race. The ANC stands for a nonracial society. We have always stood for that. That is why we fought for South Africa to be a democratic society. [Applause.]
Hon Mnqasela, about the issue of young people becoming poorer and poorer, just like in Animal Farm: Today I am a black young woman who is proud of the ANC government. In the past I would not have been able to afford to buy a house. I would have been told that I was a dependant. I would not have been able to be here because my colour did not agree with that of others. I wouldn’t have been able to afford to be where I am. That includes you, sir; as a black person, you wouldn’t have been here, irrespective of whether you belong on that side or not.
It was the ANC that championed the democracy of this country for you to benefit as an individual. [Applause.] Before you stand up and talk about being poor and the differences, you should look back.
We need to reflect on where we come from. We can’t deny that. I grew up in Soweto. Today you are saying that the ANC government should make sure that schools have facilities. You gave us those small schoolyards. Their old apartheid system gave us the schoolyards, which are so small that one couldn’t even build a soccer field. [Interjections.]
What do you expect the ANC government to do? We are stuck with that township, with small schoolyards that are surrounded by buildings and houses. If you were to expand those schools to build laboratories and libraries, you would have to demolish the houses around them because there is no space. That is the result of the apartheid system.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon member, your time has expired.
Mrs M T KUBAYI: You want to tell us that those things do not have an impact. They do have an impact. As young people, today we continue saying that we will fight until the end when we see economic freedom in our lifetime. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
PARLIAMENTARY MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE LATE ALBERTINA SISULU
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr C T Frolick): Hon members, I wish to make the following announcement: The parliamentary memorial service for the late Mrs Albertina Sisulu will be held tomorrow, 9 June, from 12:30 to 13:30 at the St George’s Cathedral.
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 16:59.
__________
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
1. The Speaker and the Chairperson
(a) Annual Performance Plan of the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) for 2011-2014.
National Assembly
1. The Speaker
(a) Reply from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to recommendations in the Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on Performance of Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for 2009‑10 Financial Year, as adopted by the House on 17 November 2010.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.
(b) The President of the Republic submitted the following letter dated 23 May 2011 to the to the Speaker of the National Assembly, informing Members of the Assembly of the employment of the South African National Defence Force for service in co-operation with the South African Police Services.
EMPLOYMENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE FOR SERVICE IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES.
This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have employed eighty (80) members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), for service in co-operation with the South African Police Services (SAPS) to assist the SAPS in providing security services to me, during my visit to Libya as part of African Union negotiation team for the period 08 to 11 April 2011.
This employment is authorised in accordance with the provisions of section 201(2)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
I will communicate this report to members of the National Council of Provinces and wish to request that you bring the contents hereof to the attention of the National Assembly.
Regards
signed
J G ZUMA
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
CREDA INSERT - T110608e-insert1 – PAGES 1991 - 1997
2. Report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the Agreement on the Establishment of the African Tax Administration Forum, dated 08 June 2011
The Standing Committee on Finance, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the Republic of South Africa of the Agreement on the Establishment of the African Tax Administration Forum, recommends that the House, in terms of section 231 (2) of the Constitution, approves the said agreement.
Report to be considered.
8 JUNE 2011 PAGE 1 of 83