Hansard: NA: Unrevised Hansard
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 05 May 2022
Summary
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Minutes
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Watch: PLENARY (HYBRID)
The PROCEEDINGS OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at14:00
The Deputy Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation.
VIRTUAL SITTING RULES
(Announcements)
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, as we normally say, in the interest of safety, for all present in the Chamber, please keep your masks on and sit in your designated place. Let’s settle down. Order! The first item on the Order Paper is a debate on an agent matter of National public importance in
terms of Rule 130 in the name of Mr M Hlengwa on the energy crisis and the threat of the protracted failure of Eskom. Hon Hlengwa and all the other speakers who are going to come please watch your left that’s where you’ll get your guidance from, please in terms of time. I mean the clock, right. Of
course, the other one as well is an appropriate indication. Go ahead, hon member.
DEBATE AS AN URGENT MATTER OF NATIONAL PUBLIC IMPORTANCE (Mr M HLENGWA): ENERGY CRISIS AND THE THREAT OF A PROTRACTED FAILURE OF ESKOM
Mr M HLENGWA: Deputy Speaker, I thought you were speaking about the ideological left that would be a huge problem.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I didn’t deny it.
Mr M HLENGWA: Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker and hon members, at the outset, I wish to thank the Speaker for
acceding to the request of this debate which we sent to her in March and for the public record, it’s not influenced by any other development. Let me remind the House that the IFP called for this debate of National public importance during the first term of Parliament. In a tragic case of irony, the conditions remain the same as in March when we requested this debate, as the country remains in the dark.
Since March, Eskom has continued to implement load shedding with 26 days thus far in 2022. On 12 April, Eskom’s national control manager admitted “they were now predicting at least 100 days of rolling power cuts this winter.” How can a statement like this be uttered without an urgent response from
the government? While our country and economy is on the verge of collapse, Eskom has advised that blackouts will cost South Africa billions of Rands that are on our cards, and yet, it takes once again an opposition party like the IFP to raise the alarm. Eskom estimates gauge that load shedding cost South Africa’s economy R500 million per stage per day. Let me repeat R500 million per stage per day. Eskom has become a curse word in every household in our country. Why? Because this entity is unable to deliver on its fundamental mandate, which is to generate enough energy to power our national grid. With almost weekly breakdowns and other maintenance-related issues, it is clear that our energy infrastructure is ageing faster than
Eskom can get its affairs in order.
Eskom has become a national and an international embarrassment since 2007. In home and businesses across the country, South Africans are standing by, waiting for real accountability.
Yet, there seems to be a laissez-faire approach by government when it comes to consequence management at this entity.
Instead, year-on-year this House ends up rubber stamping billions in bailouts. During the last budget the Minister of
Finance stated and I quote:
The government is committed to providing financial support to assist Eskom’s debt service obligations with an additional R21,9 billion allocated for this in 2022-2023.
What have these billions brought us? Another 100 days of darkness during the cold, wet winter? Deputy Speaker, when asked about the likelihood of total blackout energy expert Ted Blom indicated that the power network required complex management with two possible causes for a national blackout - human error and technological faults. Another possible issue that could arise was due to power being constantly switched on and off for load shedding, something which Blom said transformers and electrical systems were not designed for.
Deputy speaker, our economy cannot come to a standstill
because of Eskom. The complete lack of progress or positive
change in the functioning of this entity seems to indicate
that both the upper management and the Board are sitting on
their hands, rather than making the difficult decisions needed
to steer Eskom in the right direction.
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Further, we cannot allow Eskom to continue to pursue archaic
methods to generate power to supply the grid. Our generation
of power relies primarily on coal-burning power plants. And
even newer coal burning plants - meant to boost the capacity -
have a myriad of problems. Medupi, although completed, was
billions over budget - up from R80 billion projected to
R150 billion. Kusile’ s initial budget was around R81 billion,
but recent estimates stand at about R161,4 billion and this
too could further increase with only three of the six units in
operation.
In 2011 Greenpeace Africa reported estimated that the cost of
the Kusile plant, from climate change to water use, and the
impact on health and the environment and the damaged caused by
Kusile will cost South Africa between R31 billion and
R60 billion a year. It is apparent that South Africa’s
reliance on coal flies in the face of our country’s signed
international agreements to reduce carbon emissions and
mitigate the dire effects of climate change.
We look no further than three weeks ago when the province of
KwaZulu-Natal was devastated by the floods. It is, therefore,
without question that we must ensure that we fully pursue the
alternatives to coal in generating electricity while
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safeguarding and climate proofing our environment. Deputy
Speaker, we are a country with untapped opportunities and
resourceful people. We have an economy that needs to rebound,
but any green shoots that are dependent on the uncertainty of
energy supply to move forward for small business to
international investors. Load shedding, therefore, cannot
become South Africa’s default position. It is not a solution
to our crisis, our energy crisis, our economic crisis, our
sociopolitical stability crisis and our socioeconomic crisis.
We need urgent action now, before we are left in the dark
permanently.
IsiZulu:
Bantu bakithi kafushane nje sizama ukuthi sinikhathalele
ngalenhlekelele ekhona, kodwa lilonke asithole izixazululo
ukuze ucimicimi angabi isikompilo.
English:
Thank you, Deputy Speaker.
Mr M G MAHLAULE: Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip and hon members, I
must confess that when I was tasked to participate in this
debate I had expected to speak to an empty room. Not because
the ANC is out of touch with load shedding which negatively
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impacts on the lives of the people and affects economy or the
ANC does not echo the public call for Eskom to fix its
generators and end load shedding. The reason is that this is
not the first time we debate Eskom in the House in 2022. And
today’s debate is marked by the recurrence of the familiar
themes.
The first debate on Eskom was sponsored by hon Kevin Mileham
of the DA who discredited the ANC-led government for following
a supposedly incorrect energy policies and strategies in the
past. What is strange is that the DA in the City of
Johannesburg has commenced with the procurement of energy from
the Independent Power Producers, IPPs, which was made
possible, for the first time by the energy policies of the
ANC-led government.
Today, we debate Eskom again, but this time around it is the
IFP that has sponsored the motion. There may not be anything
very unusual about the debate but the underlying effect of it
that Eskom is a threat and a protracted failure does indicate
that the IFP has implicated itself in the master’s discourse.
It is clear that the DA and the IFP are in a social bond
anchored on the commitment to discredit Eskom for reasons that
are inconsistent with the nature of challenges that
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characterise the utility. Whether we should be proud of this
social bond or embarrassed by it is a question we will debate
another day.
For the moment, let facilitate an analytical discourse to
prove why the IFP and the DA do not have the right idea of the
challenges that face Eskom. Eskom has been limping from one
energy generation capacity challenge to the next post the 2001
period. Of course, opposition parties would argue that the
ANC-led government headed the recommendations of the 1998
White Paper on Energy, the situation could have changed
dramatically for the better. And that, had the ANC-led
government built Kusile and Medupi Power Stations, as well as
brought the IPPs on to the grid on time, Eskom could have
pealed the existing energy generation capacity gap. As far as
energy generation is concerned, evidence supports the opposite
of this conclusion.
The population in South Africa and the economy has grown since
1994, at the pace that Eskom cannot supply on its own. While
access to electricity in South Africa is reported to be above
85% since 1994, thanks to Eskom’s massive electrification
programme. Keeping the lights for all households has proved to
be a daunting task.
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What we are witnessing here with regards to Eskom is neither a
threat nor a failure but merely a logical outcome of the
instrumentalisation of democratic practices. In short, access
to electricity is a fundamental democratic right and Eskom
shows unwavering commitment to that even though there is often
a mismatch between access and energy security. Thus, energy
insecurity is not an Eskom’s failure but a market failure that
Eskom is purportedly designed to correct.
Perhaps the argument that the building of Kusile and Medupi
Power Stations is a story of too little too late is plausible
since the ANC-led government became procyclical about the
construction of building new power stations to guarantee
energy security. But this argument has essentially served the
purposes of mystification. The real proof is that the
construction of new power stations has extremely lengthy
planning timelines. In other words, even if Kusile and Medupi
Power stations were built much earlier as recommended, there
is no tangible evidence that there could have been completed
on time to offset the brewing electricity demand.
The other unpopular view is that at a time when new power
stations were supposed to be built, Eskom was still paying off
the debt it had incurred during the 1970s to 1990s’
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contraction programme. This is something the DA will never
admit because its strategy is not of debating the facts but of
negation of Eskom’s role due to its challenges. It is an
infantile approach to cut your nose to spite your face.
A more sophisticated approach of opposition parties like the
DA suggests that allowing IPPs to supply energy to Eskom as
early as 2007 would have turned out to be beneficial later on.
To put it differently, had South Africa provided incentives
and opportunities for IPPs investment, the country would have
achieved necessary energy generation capacity. But they are
reading its evidence, evidence showing little support for this
argument either.
Despite the renewable energies projected favourable effect, on
Eskom generation capacity where too costly to compete with
hydro, nuclear, coal and none of them could offer a secure
supply in 2007. Because the situation is different now even
though there are no economies of scale, the DA takes it for
granted that renewable energies have associated core benefits
automatically and this is not true. The economic value of
renewable energies would decline significantly as they become
a larger part of the energy due to the intermittence issue
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because they produce too much energy when societies do not
need it and it is not enough when it is needed.
Even in cases where storage is available, the potential of
renewable energies to increase energy security is limited.
Regardless of the limitations of renewable energies, the ANC-
led government remains committed to the energy-mix approach.
More importantly, is that Eskom has procured energy from IPPs
since 2012 and counting.
The National Transmission Company South Africa was
incorporated as Eskom subsidiary to enable IPPs to supply
energy to the grid without any hassle. The President has
recently announced that municipalities are allowed to procure
energy directly from IPPs. The Electricity Regulation Act 4 of
2006, was amended to increase the threshold for embedded
generation from 1 megawatt to 100 megawatts. Later this year,
the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill and the Electricity
Pricing Policy will be amended to support electricity industry
reforms.
While this is positive, it is important to highlight that
renewable energies take time to supply energy to the grid.
This is of course not Eskom’s fault. If Eskom still appears
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inadequate for the task supplying electricity, it is
definitely not for the lack of trying. Deputy Speaker, the
road to success is always under construction. And in this
regard, the President announced in the 2022 state of the
nation, Sona, that the funding South Africa solicited at the
International Climate Conference in Glasgow will involve
repurposing and repowering some of the coal plants that are
reaching the end of their lives and creating new livelihoods
for workers and communities most impacted by this change.
This announcement should not leave the impression that the
ANC-led government contradicts South Africa’s genuine
commitments and efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Rather, the point that the President was making is that clean
coal technologies including but not limited to carbon capture
storage and the Fluidized bed combustion system that the ANC-
led government is here to apply dramatically can allow the
country to exploit its abundant coal deposit in the short to
medium-term while complying with climate and environment
requirement.
The ANC-led government will also implement the nuclear power
programme framework to procure 2500megawatts of nuclear power
this year. Thanks to the European Commission’s decision to add
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nuclear power in the Green Energy Commission. You only listen
to it when it comes from the European people. When we say it
you don’t understand it.
Nuclear power in addition to IPPs and gas will allow Eskom to
conduct maintenance without interruptions as well as sustain
the South African economy. Moreover, the Department of Mineral
Resources and Energy is rolling out non-grid connections like
solar water heater geysers that are used to minimise the use
of grid connected energy. There is progress in this regard.
There is progress in many facets of Eskom although the process
of correction as well as restructuring to ensure that load
shedding can be eradicated and the economy can grow to create
jobs is prolonged. It is in the national interest that Eskom
must be fixed and restructured to ensure that there is
sufficient power to implement the economic reconstruction and
recovery plan to reverse the effects of poverty inequality and
unemployment.
Hon Mileham will be debating I don’t know for the 3rd, 4th, or
5th times for the same topic and I hope he comes with a
different angle. Thank you very much.
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Mr K J MILEHAM: Deputy Speaker, yesterday in this House,
Minister Gordan indicated that the risk of Stage 8 load
shedding could not be ruled out as an option to prevent total
grid collapse. I hope hon Mahlaule is listening. At this very
moment more than half of Eskom’s coal-powered fleet is offline
for one reason or another. Our energy availability factor
which is basically the percentage of Eskom’s installed
capacity that is actually generating electricity is at a
record annual low of 58%.
The three-month outlook indicates a rough road ahead with a
high risk of load shedding, yet this government appears to be
in complete denial of the urgency and seriousness of the
electricity crisis. The risk mitigation independent power
producers’ procurement program intended to add a much needed 2
Gigawatts of electricity to the grid in a very short space of
time has been mired in controversy and unable to reach
financial clause. Various government departments and entities
are pointing fingers at each other as to the cause of this
delay.
However, one issue that cannot be washed away is this
government’s complete ineptitude and silo mentality when it
comes to dealing with this crisis. As an example, consider the
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Department of Trade, Industry and Competition whose ridiculous
local content requirements for Risk Mitigation Independent
Power Producer, RMIPP, and Renewable Energy Independent Power
Producer, REIPP, bidders. In a country where the availability
of a consistent reliable electricity supply is a massive
stumbling block to Economic development and employment, it
doesn’t make any sense to require significant local content
especially when local component manufacturers are unable to
meet the demand of the bidders.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s response,
when I raise this in the committee was; well, if they want
exemption they must talk to the Independent Power Producers,
IPP, office, they know what to do, except they have and no
exemptions have been forthcoming. Chairperson, I have on
numerous occasions in this House pointed out what needs to be
done. However, André de Ruyter, the chief executive officer,
CEO of Eskom, earlier this year identified six things that can
alleviate the short-term supply of electricity. So, perhaps
he’ll be taken more seriously.
Firstly, purchase excess power produced by Independent Power
Producers, IPPs, over the contract Power Purchase Agreements,
PPAs. Secondly, remove the bottleneck on grid connections for
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Renewable Power Plants, RPPs, and upgrade the transmission
infrastructure, then the National Energy Regulator of South
Africa, Nersa, and government must support Eskom’s standard
that offer small generators supply the grid on a three-year
contract. We need to address the very onerous regulatory
framework for private generation and municipal procurement and
we must exempt Eskom from certain Public Finance Management
Act, PFMA, requirements to procure parts for maintenance.
Lastly, we must address the shortfall of revenue at Eskom from
a failure by municipalities to meet their financial
obligations.
I would go one step further and tell Minister Mantashe and
Minister Gordan and the rest of the ANC poverty Cabinet to
remove their ideological blinkers and recognise this situation
for what it is. It is a crisis requiring urgent, bold and
decisive action to quickly bring new generation online. We
can’t afford to wait if we are to address poverty and
unemployment in South Africa. It is time that this government
get out of the way and allow the private sector and
municipalities to do what it is clearly unable to do, to give
power to the people. Thank you. [Applause.]
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Ms O M C MAOTWE: Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. We stand
here today to debate a very important matter which is not new
in this House. Deputy Speaker, three years ago the former
Minister of Finance, Minister Tito Mboweni, introduced the
Special Appropriation Bill in the National Assembly to request
Parliament to appropriate R59 billion to give two Eskom. Lots
of commitments and promises were made and we were told that
the money would help to reduce the systemic risk of the energy
crisis and stabilise Eskom.
When we made input in the debate at the time, we reminded
South Africans that this was not the first time that such
commitments were made with conditions. We reminded everyone
that the same was said in 2015, when R60 billion loan was
given to Eskom in 2008 under the Eskom subordinated loan
special appropriation was converted into equity. All these
interventions were made with intention of stabilising Eskom,
but they were misguided as the incompetent ruling party
refused to address the obvious challenges facing Eskom and has
led to a far deeper crisis at Eskom because they were left
unattended.
We said, stabilise Eskom’s leadership. We do not tell you to
hire incompetent people with a proven history of failing in
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managing complex entities. We said, stabilise coal prices to
stabilise Eskom finances. We even said if companies refuse the
price Eskom must take back its coal mines and operate them
themselves. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa,
Nersa, warned Eskom in 2019 that it’s contracts with 16 coal
mining companies were poorly negotiated. The Minister of
Minerals and Energy Resources; Minister Gwede Mantashe,
admitted that if we don’t resolve coal prices to stabilise
electricity prices, the economy will collapse.
However, because people who are supposed to make decisions are
benefiting from the Exxaro contract of take-or-pay that has
led to coal amounting to a billion just sitting there getting
... [Inaudible.] ... are benefiting. Three years later, Deputy
Speaker, coal prices remain a problem for Eskom. Eskom will
never gain stability unless there’s a decisive intervention to
stabilise coal. We demanded that all Public Private
Partnership, PPP, contracts they were milking Eskom be
reviewed and that Eskom be given the independence to negotiate
directly with the public private partnership, rather than
being a taker of prices negotiated by the government with the
Public Private Partnership unit controlled by banks and lobby
groups.
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We also said that to not unbundle crisis riddled entities;
build nuclear energy in a fiscally responsible manner;
explore, build, operate and transfer models and to assemble a
team of highly skilled engineers to investigate delays at
Medupi and Kusile and to ensure that the quality of works of
good and acceptable standard. None of these things were done.
The so-called long fill of Eskom is nothing but the delivery
... [Inaudible.] ... of Eskom in the most careless manner.
Today, Eskom Remains the biggest threat to South Africa’s
fiscal stability because of its debt that is nearly
R400 billion guaranteed by the state.
Eskom remains a stumbling block to any efforts to kick-start a
dead economy. What should happen to stabilise Eskom and
electricity supply. Please, listen carefully, especially the
Minister of Public Enterprise. Firstly, we will repeat this
until it sinks in your brains. We need to stabilise coal
prices including cancelling Exxaro corrupt contract. Secondly,
we need to fire the Eskom chief executive officer, CEO; André
de Ruyter and chief operations officer, COO, Jan Oberholzer
today and appoint a new competent executive with an
engineering qualification and must come with operational
generation experience.
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How is it that the power Unit 4 at Medupi exploded? It was
because no one was monitoring it and Jan Oberholzer was not
fired nor suspended. There’s absolutely no consequence
management that was taken against this incompetent old white
man. Thirdly, we must stop the madness of unbundling Eskom. It
is misguided and it is corrupt. Fourthly, we must create an
independent renewable energy division so that we are not at
the mercy of parasitic greedy capital to build renewable
energy capacity as a country. Fifth, we must review all the
Public Private Partnership contracts.
We were told that prices are going down and we are promised a
review of all contacts, however, because this is a parasitic
relationship this was never done. Sixth, we need to seriously
upscale the process of nuclear energy built in a fiscally
responsible manner. This can be done through a build, operate
and transfer model. China has an enormous capacity to
intervene immediately. Why are you not engaging China in this
regard?
Lastly, we want to remind André de Ruyter that when we last
marched to Eskom against load shedding and privatisation of
Eskom in 2020, we delivered a memorandum of demands with even
more practical and implementable solutions. We demanded an end
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to retrenchments, expansion of capacity to produce electricity
including in the continent; urgent lifestyle audit at all
levels; restructuring of all governments shareholding to
include more than one Ministry; make public and list of all
coal mines commissioned by Eskom; cancel all corrupt contracts
with consultants and build internal capacity and also make
public all service providers contracted in the last 10 years.
If this was done Eskom would have been stable today. When we
come back we will not bring a memorandum this time around, the
time for memorandum is over. We want André de Ruyter to go. We
will not continue to stand by and watch the collapse and
looting of public strategic assets. We will not ask Mr Cyril
Ramaphosa to remove Mr Gordan because they share the same
collective incompetence. Mr Ramaphosa is proving to all that
he is a coward incapable of taking difficult decisions. So,
the whole lot must go with immediate effect so that we can
restore power at our Eskom. I thank you very much, Deputy
Speaker. [Applause.]
Mr W W WESSELS: Hon Deputy Speaker, the member from the ANC
does protest too much. Market failures! Really?
Afrikaans:
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Nee, man, dis net te erg.
English:
Market failures responsible for the failures? Market failures!
It is undisputable fact that Eskom has and has always had a
monopoly on electricity supply in South Africa. According to
Economics 101, a monopoly always makes a profit. It never,
ever, ever, ever, ever can make a lost, accept under the
management of the ANC. You manage to break all rules, even
economic principles.
In 2020-21, Eskom made a loss of R18 billion. Since 2008,
South Africans has had to face load shedding. The crisis of
insufficient electricity supply already started in 2008 with
all kind excuses of coal getting wet.
Afrikaans:
En ek verstaan nie hoekom julle dan nie net ’n dakkie vir die
steenkool bou nie.
English:
The fact of the matter is that since 2008, less electricity is
being produced, less electricity, but Eskom employs more and
more staff members. From 2003 to 2021, the employees increased
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from 32 000 to 43 000. More staff members, but less
electricity, less product being produced, more mismanagement,
more money being stolen. Because of what! Because of cadre
deployment and because of your failed policies of affirmative
and black economic empowerment. That is how you destroyed the
power utility.
The hon member talks about renewable energy, but the
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy procured or the hon
Zwane procured 87 000 solar geysers in 2017. The storage costs
of those geysers are more than R300 million, while only 7 000
of those geysers have been installed. That is what the ANC
does to solve a problem. They procure, but then they don’t do
anything with it, because who they procured it from is the
very good question. [Interjections.] I’m talking to the former
Minister, hon Zwane, who procured. Do you understand that? I
am not pointing.
The ANC can destroy and does destroy everything they touch,
but there is one thing the ANC will never ever destroy and
that is the abundance of potential in this country. It is the
abundance of potential that South Africans do possess. You
will never be able to destroy that. And that is the hope for
the future, but whilst you are in control of the energy and
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electricity in this country, we will never see economic growth
and employment creation. Without reliable electricity supply,
we cannot have that. I thank you.
Mr S N SWART: Deputy Speaker, the ACDP wishes to thank the IFP
for requesting this debate.
The ongoing crisis at Eskom has had devastating consequences
for our economy and society, in general. Ordinary South
Africans continue to be subjected to major, increasingly
frequent disruptions to every aspect of their lives. This
impacts all, including small businesses and the poor in
townships and rural areas, who do not have the resources to
run generators when there is load shedding.
Decades of political indecision, driven by political dogma and
an inability to plan ahead, the deployment of unqualified
people into critical positions, as well as state capture and
corruption have seen what was once a world-leading energy
company brought to its knees.
According to the Zondo Commission, a staggering R14,7 billion
was stolen from Eskom itself. Now, it’s very interesting that
further outages occurred in the very period that the Zondo
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Report on Eskom implicating many was released. Is this a
coincidence? We think not.
And while the current crisis at Eskom can correctly be placed
squarely at the door of the ANC, let us not forget those brave
members of the ANC ... Minister Gordhan, you were part of it,
hon Mazzone, you were part of “Team South Africa” when we
exposed corruption in the Eskom Parliamentary oversight.
Sadly, a number of those courageous members, such as hon
Daphne Ranto, were not re-elected despite their sterling work
and having to stand up against intimidation and death threats.
And while it is also correct to hold the present leadership at
Eskom accountable, acts of criminality and even sabotage
continue to this day at the power stations. According to Mr De
Ruyter, criminal collusion is taking place where maintenance
contractors are deliberately putting hard objects into mills
supplying coal to power stations, causing breakdowns and
generating lucrative work for themselves. This is absolutely
disgraceful and must be condemned in the strongest possible
terms.
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Then you’ve got R1,3 billion worth of power station spares
stolen from Tukuka Power Station. Thankfully, in this regard,
people have been arrested and face criminal charges.
But sadly, looting and corruption tend to be endemic and my
perspective from the Justice Committee side is that we need to
do more. The evidence is now there and we will be holding the
NPA and those involved in investigations and prosecutions
accountable, to ensure that those that have been involved, as
Minister Gordhan said: “Those who have benefitted in one way
or another must stop being treated as little heroes because
they are not, and must be held accountable.” We need to see
orange overalls and we need to see the billions of rand that
were stolen being collected and returned to the state. South
African taxpayers demand this, and we need to deliver! I thank
you.
Mr B N HERRON: Deputy Speaker, as South Africa lurches into
another spate of electricity failures - for which the current
lot in charge of Electricity Supply Commission, Eskom, blame
the previous lot, who blamed those before them. It is becoming
increasingly clear that expertise is the critical intervention
that is missing.
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The rolling blackouts accompanied by a roster of rolling
excuses. From sabotage, to lack of maintenance, to wet coal,
to state capture. Yesterday the Minister said that failing to
consider the cause of the problem would be like going to a
doctor to get treatment without the doctor identifying the
cause of the ailment. Of course we must consider the cause,
but no patient would go to a doctor for years on end to hear
the same diagnosis and see no recovery. If they did they will
probably need to see a psychiatrist.
When there weren’t any blackouts for a year or two, a few
years ago, it was attributed by some to excellent engineering
and maintenance interventions. But others attributed this to
Eskom burning unaffordable quantities of diesel to cover up
the deficiencies and plunder of the power station fleet.
According to the Department of Public Enterprises and Eskom,
at the time, South Africa was then managing to export large
quantities of power to neighbouring countries.
Today, we don’t know how much diesel we’re burning, or if
we’re still exporting electricity. All we really know is that
over the past three years there have been more blackouts than
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ever before with 2021 being the worst year since 2007. By the
end of November 2021, we had 1136 hours of outages.
Four years after the alleged state capture crowd were removed
from power - Eskom’s performance was its most-rotten in
history.
If South Africa doesn’t have people with the necessary
qualifications and expertise to fix Eskom and secure our
electricity supplier, then government on the state must
consider the importing expertise from other places. And,
perhaps this is an area where our Brazil, Russia, India, Chain
and South Africa BRICS, partners can help.
This is urgent. South Africa’s economy will remain listless
for as long as potential investors don’t have the security of
stable power supply.
At the same time, last year’s announcement of accelerated
power production by independent power producers must take real
shape and form.
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This would provide us with far greater reassurance than the
state’s efforts to foist Karpowerships on the country without
public consultation.
Renewable energy production is no longer a futuristic concept,
we are already doing it but must up our game. Over time we
this will enable us to reduce our dependence on Eskom while
simultaneously reducing the carbon we spew into the
atmosphere.
Instead of constantly squirming and retreading excuses to
explain its inexplicably poor record, Eskom must take the
nation into its confidence.
Tell the people what’s really going on, what you’re actually
doing to address it, where you lack expertise and what help
you need. Thank you.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Deputy Speaker, let me at the very outset
condemn with the contempt it deserves, the conduct of the
Standing Committee on Public Accounts for the attack on the
board. I think it was total uncalled for, but let me also
welcome the apology by hon Hlengwa for having realised that of
course the attack was unwarranted.
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Because, the question we need to ask - where was Standing
Committee on Public Accounts, SCOPA, in the last 28 years or
at least since 2005 when all the looting and corruption took
place at Electricity Supply Commission, Eskom? Minister
Gordhan was not there, so why are we attacking Minister
Gordhan? Chief Executive Officer, CEO de Ruyter was not there,
why are we attacking the CEO? Why are we attacking Mrs Mavuso?
She was never there; she is telling you exactly what has
happened.
Why don’t you go and attack Zondo? Chief Justice Zondo go and
attacking, because he has said in no uncertain terms, that it
is the ANC that is the root cause of why Eskom is where it is
today, and most of the corruption ... [Inaudible.] ... on the
state entities [Applause.] that is exactly what he has said.
One hundred and thirty-nine billion rand is being investigated
just from Medupi and Kusile. Now, just look at this from
R161 billion that was estimated in 2007, it is expected to go
up to R450 billion and still it’s not going to be in
operation.
So what does it simply mean? It was looting, it was cadre
deployment. If you listen to what Brain Molefe said. He said:
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It is common knowledge that I attended meetings of the
ANC and I had to pay invoices of service providers.
That is exactly what he has said. So, is that not root cause
of where we are with this Eskom? All I am asking is let us
admit [Applause.] let us admit what the root cause is and deal
with those appropriately. There’s no point in saying and
finding excuses and let us not blame each other with exactly
what is going on.
The South African population increased from 40 million to
60 million now. Does that not tell us that we need to increase
our capacity, we need to maintain our infrastructure, we need
to build new infrastructure? Does it not tell us? But, what
did we do?
What little opportunity we had, we find to loot and be corrupt
and we’ve created millionaires and multi-millionaires and
billionaires out of it. That is the reason why we are where we
are. And the question is when are those people going to be in
orange overalls [Applause.]? When are those people going to be
held accountable? So that we can put Eskom again into the
right direction.
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So, I think we must admit we’ve made mistakes. It’s time to
correct it, otherwise I can tell you that Eskom will not come
right today, tomorrow and in the next 20 years. Thank you very
much. [Applause.]
Ms B M VAN MINNEN: Hon Deputy Speaker, for the last decade and
a half, we have been talking about the failure of Electricity
Supply Commission, Eskom, about loadshedding and about the
effect this has on the economy. And for a decade and a half,
we have been hearing the same excuses.
And yet here we are, facing not just ongoing loadshedding,
work shedding and economic shedding, the potentially is shift
up to stage eight loadshedding.
Does South Africa know what this means? Not just for lights?
Not just for appliances? But for water pumps? Sewerage
reticulation? For food storage? What about hospitals and
critical medical services? This will devastate the economy,
and destroy jobs. But do South Africans really understand what
is to blame and who is to blame?
Two weeks ago, Standing Committee on Public Accounts, SCOPA
conducted oversight visits to both Kusile and Medupi and met
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with the board and executives of Eskom. In that meeting, we
were told by the executives that the basic reasons for
loadshedding are the lack of skills, the lack of time and the
lack of money.
Well, this is true, but let’s unpack the reasons for this. The
lack of skills is due to the critical skills flight brought
about by skilled personal migrating aboard. Instead, there is
an environment of cadre deployment, of nepotism and the
manoeuvring of criminal syndicates into positions of power.
Lack of time is due to the incompetence of the ANC-led
government to plan for future power needs. After the White
Paper on energy in 1998, nothing. Nothing happened until 2007
when they hurriedly decided to commission new power stations
that a decade and a half later are still not completed.
Lack of money. Well, we all know about that having spent the
weekend reading the latest instalment of the Zondo Commission
and how state capture and the Gupta syndicate has looted Eskom
and the country.
So yes, we can debate for hours about the causes of the
current energy crises and the problems with Eskom, but let’s
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be honest, the basic and simple reason for all of Eskom’s
problems today is the ANC. But the ANC does not want to hear
the truth.
The latest example of that, is the reception to Eskom board
member, Ms Mavuso, who called out ANC corruption at our most
recent meeting. She pointed out that the issues at Eskom are
of the ANC’s making and to quote: “the ANC’s mess”. Instead of
welcoming her honesty, ANC Members of Parliament, MPs
expressed pantomime horror that this should be brought up and
the chair gave her a lecture of how SCOPA did not allow party
politics to influence its proceedings – rather rich
considering that ANC party politics blocked an investigation
into comments by the President in February.
And what is terribly ironic is that with the latest instalment
of the Zondo Commission, everything Ms Mavuso said is true –
not only with Eskom looted of almost R15 billion, the ANC also
deployed malleable persons to the Eskom board and appointed
executives to allowed state capture.
This particular criminal enterprise is at the basis of what is
wrong with Eskom. And the ANC wishes to ignore the voices of
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South Africans will intrude the real problem in this
country - is the criminal network known as the ANC and the
obsession with the Looter Continua. Thank you.
Ms J TSHABALALA: Thank you so much. Hon Deputy Speaker, I
think my member left some minutes, if that can be added to my
minutes please? The first member who spoke.
Hon Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip of the Majority Party Madam
Pemmy Majodina, Chief Whips of other political parties I greet
you all. Leave me with my clock, it’s mine. Don’t worry.
Deputy Speaker, the late President Mandela once remarked and
said do not judge me by my failures and do not judge me by my
successes but he also said that, judge me by how many times I
fell down and I got back up again.
The crass of this remark and the basis of his insight is that
we must become matured and assume responsibility for one’s
actions so that we can acknowledge our mistakes with the hope
of self-correcting ourselves.
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This is the reason why the ANC led government urges Eskom on
behalf of the people and the country to ensure that it is able
to fix its associated challenges to end load shedding.
Load shedding has become a source of frustration for the
people as it affects schools, school going children, hospitals
as well as businesses and households. They really get
affected. Appliances get damaged so the unplanned breakdowns
and planned maintenance in a number of units Eskom power
stations must be resolved as a matter of urgency.
When load shedding occurs, Eskom needs to communicate this
effectively to our people ahead of time so that alternative
measure can be put in place when they know that load shedding
will take place. So, hon Minister the load shedding issue is a
painful and is also a painful for us as the ANC.
Deputy Speaker, President Ramaphosa announced in 2019 that
Eskom is our collective responsibility as a nation and
everyone must ensure that it’s supported. Denoting that
turning Eskom around is not something that is beyond the
technical capacity of the ANC led government. But rather
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solutions to issues of national importance that require a
collective action approach and unfortunately Parliament
operates in a fundamentally different environment currently
[Inaudible.] down a collective action approach to resolving
issues of national importance.
This is primarily because opposition parties always reduce
complex problems to the lowest common denominator and the case
of Eskom is not an exception but a role.
For example, we heard from the IFP and this is something that
we always heard. The continuously lament that Eskom is facing
challenges because it was at the centre of State Capture and
corruption which happened under the ANC led government and the
ANC has never disputed that.
What is important is when hon Hlengwa says that as Members of
Parliament rather when he mentioned issues of Eskom that our
economy is not doing well and the matters around population is
quite important. As much as it is the ANC government that you
keep on lamenting about, the question becomes you’re also an
opposition party and Members of Parliament and have the
responsibility towards Eskom.
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When hon Hlengwa says that money and budget has been lost to
Eskom, who allocates the budget? It is us as the Members of
Parliament. Who must check where the money goes? It is Scopa
who must do its job and follow the money. When the Auditor
General comes and gives the report of wasteful expenditure so
it is within our purviews and peace for us to do our job.
So, as we take collective responsibility that indeed what we
call challenges and setbacks that Eskom is facing let’s also
look at ourselves. Mileham, when you point a finger, look at
the three other fingers pointing back at you.
The DA blames the ANC for the state of Eskom and urges
consistently that the ANC was complicit in the State Capture
on corruption which undermines the governance and financial
controls of the utility in addition to its advocacy.
Now, the energy market should have been competitive earlier to
limit the possibility of load shedding.
The FF Plus is convinced that affirmative action, Black
Economic Empowerment and the supply of electricity to their
neighbours, neighbouring African countries brought Eskom to
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its knees. Which is not surprising given the fact that former
or rather its ancestors were beneficiaries of this.
The EFF advocates for state ownership of Eskom but the party
is cynical that the utility will never fulfil its
developmental mandate as long as the ANC is still in power.
There are also several challenges with the view of opposition
parties on the issue of State Capture on corruption. The Sixth
Parliament has dedicated itself through the ANC led government
to fight the State Capture and corruption. It was the ANC led
government that initiated the same Zondo Commission and has
already taken legal action against perpetrators of State
Capture and corruption at Eskom and Eskom is being
restructured and much progress has been made towards improving
its viability.
The opposition parties in this House should remember that
restructuring Eskom is a more complex process than making
instant coffee. No opposition parties have articulated a
single positive idea that can assist Eskom to end the load
shedding and improve generation capacity in the country.
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On the issue of competitive energy market, the ANC led
government has introduced the necessary reforms to allow the
IPPs, Independent Power Producers, to supply energy to the
grid even though IPPs can only supply 30% of energy due to
lack of economies of scale.
Now we saw the Johannesburg mayor that is calling for what is
called National Imbizo in Johannesburg where they lead and
tell people to come and bid and tell them what is more
important on IPPs. Who brought the IPPs? It is the ANC led
government. The same IPPs you are crying about. Like we said,
IPPs can only supply 30% of energy.
What is strange is the DA’s view that opposed the Nersa
Cachalia, you opposed the Nersa tariff application of 9,6%
increase in tariffs only to come back to the Western Cape and
increase electricity tariffs by 9%. You did it. That’s like
running with hair and hunting with a haut.
Moreover, the DA services are costly in Western Cape which
negatively affects the living standards of middle and working
class as well as poor citizens. It is the DA in the Western
Cape that has little to give in so far as the people of this
country.
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These are DA’s results in the Western Cape making super
profits from service delivery whether it be in water, we know
your tariffs in water are very expensive, electricity and
refuse removal at the expense of the living standards of the
people. Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and others are suffering but
you are living comfortably here in the Western Cape and you
like it and think that you’re too comfortable and that is your
problem. Now you want to do IPPs, I wonder if you’re going to
give people from Khayelitsha electricity.
It’s this ANC that gives everybody electricity including the
indigent policy that you in Johannesburg don’t even implement
as we are speaking. How hogwash things that you speak about
and you come here and you shout at me. I know how to shout my
friend.
On the issues of state ownership, the ANC led government has
supported the rollout of electrification programme to the
majority South Africans in an attempt to develop new
generation capacity through Medupe and Kusile.
Therefore, the EFF’s view on the state ownership of Eskom
under the ANC led government is the perfect reflection of
believing in the Easter bunny and tooth fairy comrade Maotwe.
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On the issue of affirmative action and the BEE ownership in
control of state African economy remain queued and such
politics are intended to address enjoined legacy of apartheid
which is what FF Plus does not want to acknowledge but rather
criticise policies meant to reverse the legacy.
The policy is not wrong if in its application is not abused.
Furthermore, exporting electricity to other African countries
is part of straight relations seeing the South African economy
is also sustained by the energy sources like hydropower and
gas from Mozambique and we are going to export electricity to
other African countries
Opposition parties have missed five obvious things about Eskom
challenges. Let me tell you, firstly it is the load shedding.
It is the direct consequences of the declining electricity
sales which has dropped over the years as some of these bulk
buys shifted towards less electricity, intensive technologies
as well as the absence of cost reflective tariffs due to the
triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality that
affect the majority of citizens.
This is unfortunate because it starves Eskom of funds to
expand maintenance necessary to improve energy generation
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capacity. None the less, Eskom has nine-point maintenance and
recovery plan that is pursuing aggressively to improve the
utility performance.
Secondly, the demand for electricity exceeds the supply to the
roll out of the electrification programme in some areas which
were denied electricity under this apartheid regime that we
had.
President Ramaphosa in the Sona as far back as 2020 identified
this problem subsequently advocated for the development growth
and participation of IPPs engage in renewable energy projects.
The regulatory process of ensuring that IPPs can create
further generation capacity has been completed and await the
development of these projects to increase electricity.
Let me respond to you Cachalia. When you say it has taken us
20 years, let me tell you...
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member!
Ms J TSHABALALA: Hon Cachalia, when you say it has taken us 20
years, when President Mandela was taking on government and was
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asked a question by Ian McRae may his soul rest in peace. He
asked Mandela one question, what are you going to do with
electricity? You know what Mandela said to him, he said I’m
not going to do anything about it as long as you keep on
connecting black people and citizens on to a cheap grid. That
is what Mandela said because he had a view around it because
we are talking about energy supply for everybody so don’t tell
us about the 20 years. We’ll tell you what was happening
before that because it was not for the majority of these
citizens but benefited the fewer that were very comfortable.
So don’t take me there!
The third part that you did not note is part of Eskom’s
challenges is the cult of non-payments that have become a
serious mantra on municipalities and yet we expect Eskom to be
flexible. We are reliable and pragmatic solutions that are
improving the collection of outstanding debt are being
designed and implemented through the installation of prepaid
metres.
Eskom’s performance has improved in its relation with
municipalities regarding the outstanding debt. As we have
witnessed, the debt owed by Eskom by Soweto in this instance
we keep on complaining and I understand it is not that we are
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complaining but there are issues that Eskom is unable to
collect its revenue from Soweto.
But let me tell you, we would have noted last year that Soweto
residents would have paid Eskom to a tune where we saw a
decrease of R7,5 billion from R12,8 billion last year. So,
when you say they don’t pay, they really do pay. They are
unemployed, they are indigent, they are trying all they can.
That is why Eskom must go to Soweto and ensure that it
addresses people of Soweto as they are also part of South
Africa.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon member, I’m afraid your time has
expired.
Ms J TSHABALALA: Thank you so much.
Mr S M JAFTA: Deputy Speaker, one thing that we cannot run
away from here is that, the energy supply crisis in South
Africa is ... [Interjections.]
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The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order hon members, please! The member is
trying to speak above your noise. It is too much. Go ahead hon
Jafta.
Mr S M JAFTA: Deputy Speaker I am saying, one thing that we
cannot run away from here is that, the energy supply crisis in
South Africa is manmade. Just recently in March 2015, Eskom
crisis was said to be a positive crisis within the ranks of
the ANC. Not to be outdone, Eskom’s own chief executive
officer Tshediso Mathona, told the world that there was no
crisis in Eskom. Most recently, there have been attempts to
move the ANC away from this crisis. This is largely driven by
patronage politics, and the mantra of I quote: “I scratch your
back, you scratch mine”
This kind of politics pays no regard to honesty, integrity,
ethics and smacks of intellectual bankruptcy. The energy
crisis in South Africa goes beyond Eskom. Fuel prices have not
stopped increasing. The Central Energy Fund is in limbo, and
less leadership. Hon members, the biggest question here is how
this crisis was allowed to manifest. The real crisis began
when members of Parliament at the height of Eskom’s capture
through optimal pole, clothed ranks and hanged Eskom’s future
in gallows. Today, instead of talking about energy just
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transition emigration to clean energy, instead of planning
ahead of consolidate the work of Brian Dames and Bobby
Godsell, we are forced to repair the damage of state capture.
The very goals of the National Integrated Resource Management
Plan of installing generating capacity of 89 532 megawatts in
2030 are bound to fail. For example, we have not diversified
our energy sources, we are obsessed with fossil fuels and have
shown little commitment to clean coal. In closing Deputy
Speaker, unlike the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy,
we have no qualms about the state of Eskom and energy security
in general. We are really in crisis in South Africa. I thank
you
Mr M NYHONTSO: Deputy Speaker, plunging the country into
darkness. Failing to change the downward spiral of Eskom.
Using expensive but unworthy methods to address the problems
inside the operational systems at Eskom. Failing to fund the
source of decline of equipment. Spending excessively beyond
budget in the erection of new power stations and continuously
resorting to the blackouts that we euphemistically call load
shedding.
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The same crisis before as Eskom’s executive management over
the years, has replicated itself again and again. Without the
supposed think tank in the lekgotla coming up with the lasting
solutions, the endemic crisis in a key commodity like energy
is a major threat to the industrial and household supply of
sustainable electricity. No one would want to set up
manufacturing plants when it is not clear whether the machines
will run their costs during the production process.
Eskom is a deficient of strategic direction. The tendency to
chop and change to go in the direction of where the wind is
blowing, to come up with private sector inspired alternatives,
which will soon cost an arm and leg to acquire basic
electricity for households and emerging industrial plants, it
means someone at the top leadership of government is sleeping
on the job. Ordinarily, we should mark this crisis as
treasonous. But of course there are untouchables in the
hierarchy of leadership. But of course we have a lame duck
government. But of course we have encountered leadership who
do not have their priorities right. We would like to suggest
that throwing funds to this dark pit is a fruitless exercise.
The source of the protracted failure is a dithering
administration that has run out of ideas. The root cause of
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the crisis is the inapt of the lekgotla gathering on a regular
basis, that keep on making it worse and rendering a total
failure.
Lastly Comrade Deputy Speaker ...
IsiXhosa:
... thina ucimi-cimi wombane siwufumana yonke imihla
ezilalini. Nokuba akukho mbane ...
English:
... I am sure I am also speaking for Sterkspruit Comrade
Majodina ...
IsiXhosa:
... umbane umka oko ezilalini. Ukuba kukhe kwaduduma uyemka.
Ukuba kuyanetha, uyemka. Xa kutshintsha imo yezulu, uyemka.
Imeko iba mbi ngakumbi xa kunetha, umka iiveki ezimbini
umbane. Hayi kucacile ukuba ngumbombayi wombane lo niwufaka
ezilalini. Enkosi.
Mr M G E HENDERICKS: Hon Deputy Speaker, Al Jama-ah is a
platform for all communities. I visited Lephalale in Limpopo
last month, that is in April after I was informed that the
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residents are dying a slow death and this includes 30% of the
residents who are whites. Since 2018, not a cent of the loan
given by the World Bank and the African bank to mitigate the
harmful effects of the emissions from the Medupi Coal Power
Station has been used. Sulphur dioxide emission is still 3 500
milligrams per cubic meter, and it is supposed to be below
500.
There’s absolutely no flue-gas desulfurization and the loan
given for this is due to be paid soon. On my visit to
Lephalale, I saw heaped up coal fuel nearly as high as Table
Mountain, maybe I am exaggerating, one of the seven wonders of
the world. But this fuel is no seventh wonder but the sitting
time bomb for climate change. The sad news is that something
will be done when the Seventh Parliament sits. That Parliament
will blame the Sixth Parliament for all the harm that has been
caused to the residents of Lephalale. Twenty-five thousand
children, men and women and the elderly are dying a slow
death. Hoh House Chair, that should be the reason that the
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts,
Scopa should be calling the chaos at Eskom as an important
matter of national importance.
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The hon chair should also investigate why there is no public
participation on the radar on the new loan to be given by the
New Development Bank of BRICS. Shanghai claims that this loan
and its conditions including ... [Inaudible] ... will be
signed by the Minister of Finance of South Africa before
Christmas. This will give you a little bit of Chair of Scopa
your energy and speed up the protected Eskom delay but
...[Inaudible] ... will have a lot on his hands. Thank you
very much hon Deputy Speaker.
Mr N SINGH: Hon Deputy Speaker, I echo the words of the hon
Hlengwa who called for this debate on behalf of the IFP. I
furthermore submit before this House that we must draw a line
in the sand once and for all on Eskom. Many of the speakers
outlined the technical, operational, managerial and leadership
issues faced by Eskom. Still many of the speakers failed to
mention the millions of South Africans who suffer from Eskom’s
rolling blackouts and the thousands of businesses held at
ransom by Eskom that are struggling to make ends meet.
This debate today should not be one whereby we rejoice in the
failures of this state-owned entity. We have a duty to our
country as members of this House, to ensure that Eskom does
better.
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Hon Deputy Speaker, South Africans want heads to roll. South
Africans want justice and we want those who are responsible
for the dismal failure of Eskom to generate sufficient
electricity to power our economy and homes to be held to
account and hold over the coals, as you would say.
Speaking about coal – I mean it was ridiculous at one
parliamentary committee where I sat to the hon Deputy Speaker,
where a coal mine was being paid for even before an ounce of
coal was delivered to any of the Eskom plants - six hundred
million. That is because the Guptas had collusion with certain
people within Eskom and the ruling party.
Parliament will lose its bite if we keep burking in this House
with zero consequences. Our words here cannot be ignored and
tabled in Hansard, to sit on the shelve for years. As members
of this House we must unanimously agree to the solutions that
all have offered in terms of turning Eskom into a viable
entity, capable of delivering on its mandate.
Hon Deputy Speaker, we need to move our country’s energy
generation capacity into the 21st century. This is possible in
the many interventions we have adopted in this House to allow
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independent power producers to generate electricity to the
national grid.
We need to ensure that we empower local and district
municipalities financially, to unlock the potential of
entrepreneurs who can offer innovative and climate sensitive
solutions, while creating jobs and developing local
communities.
Our people are standing by, waiting to assist Eskom and they
are ready to get our country powered up and ready to work.
Hon Deputy Speaker, as I conclude, we have a challenge in our
country, we have leaders who are trusted and we have the
capabilities to be a beacon of hope. Let us work on all the
positives that we have and turn this dismal state around. If
the government allows Eskom to fail, it could put South Africa
over the brink of becoming a failed state. The IFP will not
stand idle by and watch as our country regressing deeper into
crisis.
I would appeal to all hon members in this debate to let us
play the ball and not the man. For you know some hon members
are looking for excuses, particularly for the ANC for what has
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happened. They know quite well what happened and revelations
were made in the portfolio committee that dealt with the issue
of Eskom. They know what revelations were made in Eskom. They
know the proposals and counterproposals that are being made by
various individuals on how Eskom finds itself to be in this
place. So, let us accept responsibility that there were people
who looted. The looting has brought us in this situation, but
let us also say, let us look for a positive way out, because
we cannot sit by hopelessly and allow things to deteriorate.
The load shedding that is taking place at the moment, is
counterproductive as I have said, to investors coming to this
country, it is counterproductive to people in rural areas who
may just have electricity connected to them in the last few
years or so. We know of incidences of candles falling over and
houses catching fire. We know of other incidences taking place
because of the lack of electricity blasphemy. So let us look
for positives. Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker.
Mr G K Y CACHALIA: Hon Deputy Speaker, Eskom has been run into
the ground. [Interjections.] The old fleet is limping and the
new fleet is flawed. The gaps in generation cannot meet the
ignitions current produced needs, let alone any increment in
demand. Add to this eye watering loses, the mountain of
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internal and external debt and repeated inability to finance
or conduct proper reliability maintenance.
Factor into this dire scenario, the parlour state of the
nation’s Treasury and we have a disaster in the making.
Evidenced by Minister Gordhan’s bli floating of stage eight
load shedding probability today. The DA has called for a state
of disaster on Eskom to be declared and for an independent
commission of enquiry to address the mess that the ANC, as
Busisiwe Mavuso had the guts to point out has made of a key
asset. However, the silence has been deafening. And now that
the impending crisis has finally cost the penny to drop in
government circles, we are witnessed to called for private
sector investment. On what terms though? As always the terms
are shrouded in secrecy. I reckon the Minister owes Ms Mavuso
an apology. No!
The whole reality, is that the emergency measures like the
Karpowership option are plagued by 20-year contracts. Legally
contested procedures and the print-trick pickings of the usual
middleman.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. While
opening up generation access to Independent Power Producers,
IPPs, is necessary and long overdue, the late dent it will
make on the ability to meet our current needs to all interns
and purposes small in the scheme of things, the baseload in
parallel must be stabilised and that is Eskom’s ability.
The question is: Who is waiting in the wings Mr President to
scoop up the solutions to the problems that you and your party
have singlehandedly created? Who will benefit? I think we have
a sense of who. The mafia wears many hats, but the colours are
always the same; black, green and gold.
If this government is unable to agree that only an independent
commission of experts, transparently privy to everything, will
be able to asses a situation and chard the way forward that is
hiding something and is patently and not serious at best or up
to more or no good at worst.
Those who created this mess by past acts of commission or
omission, cannot be expected to fix the problem. Vested
interest past and present standards the way - you know this.
As to the application of the party factions to ensure limping
continuity that will usher in an unaffordable and disastrous
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state of darkness. Fix this now, or you will reap it well as
the lights deem in 2024. Do not think that we will allow you
to write a check with your mouth that your high in court will
allow you to cash in an effort to buy in time with our money.
You have squandered the past, mortgage to the present and sold
the future. You have been warned, you are on terms! The hon
Mahlaule! [Time has expired.]
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Deputy Speaker and hon
members, thank you very much, hon Hlengwa, for bringing this
motion to the House. It does give us an opportunity to once
again revisit Eskom, to very visit while we are where we are
and to once again speak frankly to the public not in the
matter of dramatic and theatrical terms as the last speaker
who has spoken which behaves absolutely no value to an
understanding of what is the problem, what is the solution,
how will we get there, who can make a contribution and who
can’t make a contribution. And he is absolutely number one in
the list amongst those who can’t.
President Ramaphosa, noted it in his weekly letter to the
nation on 25 April 2022, that, and I quote:
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A stable and reliable supply of electricity is essential
for almost every aspect of our daily lives and a
necessary condition for economic growth. That is why we
are focused on achieving energy security as one of our
foremost priorities.
This is our commitment to ensure that energy security is
achieved as soon as possible – it won’t be tomorrow, but it
will be achieved. Government and Eskom are working to resolve
energy crisis affecting this country. I can assure this House
and the public that there is a lot of hard work
notwithstanding the hurdles and the difficulties that we face
that are going into this.
At at the same time let’s be frank this is not a task that is
neither easy nor going to be a quick fix. It is going to take
time and it’s going to take resilience and it’s going to take
determined efforts and lots of hurdles along the way.
We appreciate, as the President said, that load shedding costs
our country dearly and it causes great frustration among all
South Africans and creates hardships for households and
businesses. We understand the impact of energy supply
interruptions that they have on people’s livelihoods, students
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at schools, households, the broader socioeconomic impact and
also on our recovering economy. Student can’t study. They get
home with no means to warm food at night. They leave early in
the morning in the cold. Business production processes are
disrupted and generators require to be bought and maintained
and increasing diesel fuel prices. These are some of the
impacts of load shedding and difficulties that we find with
the major provider of electricity in South Africa, Eskom. Load
shedding, therefore, is not an abstract phenomenon, it has the
real everyday effect on people’s lives.
Equally, let’s be frank with South Africans. It is not about
rhetoric, let’s be frank. Eskom does face serious challenges.
South Africa does not have energy security at present. While
previous administrations, boards and management caused some of
these problems, it is this ANC administration starting from
2018, that takes the responsibility to ensure that in time
there will be energy security and that it will transform
Eskom. We take the responsibility for whatever has been done
and we will cure whatever has been done given the time and the
effort that we will put in. We will tell you what the root
causes of the problem are, and not the kind of language that
you have heard until now in this debate. We have a clear plan
to sort out these root causes although it will take time. Like
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the public we are also impatient and we want to see results -
an end to load shedding. We know that some processes to
introduce new investment in generation can move faster and
these two are receiving our attention.
What is it that we want to achieve for this country? As the
President said, and I quote:
The process of structural reforms that this
administration has embarked on in 2018, will have a far-
reaching impact on the South African energy landscape
even if the changes will take time to bear a fruit.
So there must be energy security in South Africa sooner rather
latter. There must be sufficient investment both from the
private sector and the public sector in baseload and picking
power including battery storage and other technologies.
Eskom must be transformed into a new viable institution. There
must be both private sector and public sector investment in
generation in particular. The transmission company must be a
viable entity in its own right as a subsidiary of the new
Eskom holding company which can attract its own investment and
undertake massive expansion of the grid. The independent
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system and market operator must be able to transact with the
variety of generators in a competitive generation market so
that consumers receive the best price possible for the
electricity they use.
The decarbonisation process in the electricity sector, which
contributes 41% of the overall carbon emissions in South
Africa, must advance at a faster pace and the just energy
transition and its institutional framework must be in place
and operational. New technologies such as carbon capture and
other forms of technology must be explored. Municipalities in
particular must invest in their distribution infrastructure
and ensure regular maintenance of that structure.
What did this administration inherit and what is it that it is
trying to fix? True, South Africa’s fleet of coal power
stations are old and their performance is deteriorating but
they are not necessarily decrapped. There is much better
maintenance that is possible from private contractors and
engineers within Eskom itself. That is what the board and
management must continue to drive. Despite warnings from
energy experts of the impending energy shortages nearly two
decades ago, we will be the first to admit that there was no
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quick response to that – the 1998 White Paper that some of our
colleagues referred to.
When construction began at Medupi Power Station in Limpopo in
2007, it was a first power station to be built by Eskom in
more than 20 years yet at the same time there has been a
massive economic growth and the electrification, that hon
Tshabalala referred to, that has extended from plus-minus 50%
of the population to almost 85% of the population in terms of
consumers. For years existing power stations were not
maintained properly particularly as these plants have to run
harder so to speak to meet the country’s energy needs. There
was insufficient investment in the technical skills needed to
operate and maintain power plants. Of course the state capture
regime ensured that competed engineers and skilled people
leave Eskom rather than the maintenance.
Eskom’s huge debt burden of some R400 billion, including that
owed by municipalities, is still a major constrain on Eskom
itself. It is quite clear as the Zondo commission reports that
state capture in the last few years compounded the problem
that Eskom faced. I quote from the Chief Justice Zondo’s
report released last week. Firstly,
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The evidence of Ms Daniels, Ms Dlamini and Mr Masango has a
whole proof two things conclusively. Firstly:
There was a scheme to remove from Eskom certain
executives who occupied strategic positions who the Gupta
family believed would not co-operate with them in their
plans to capture Eskom and steal the taxpayers’ money and
to replace them with officials who would co-operate with
them.
Secondly:
Mr Koko was an integral component of the Gupta family’s
strategy to capture Eskom.
Paragraph 1253 says the 2018 board came to understand that
procurement processes and people are at the centre of the
challenges and internal controls were not effective. It goes
on. In paragraph 2500 the commission says, the evidence heard
by the commission revealed quite clearly that part of the
reason why some of the state-owned companies have performed as
badly as they have and why some rely on government bail outs
year in and year out is the calibre of some of the people who
are appointed as members of the boards of these companies who
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are chief executives and chief financial officers, CFOs.
Recommendations will be made and we look forward to that in
Part 5 of the commission’s report. It is interesting, hon
members and the South African public.
Apart from one speaker, I think, nobody referred to the
Guptas, nobody referred at length to the state capture and
nobody referred to the Zondo report and what it actually says
about who and what kind of damage was caused. All the rhetoric
was political and yet we don’t want to confront the real
problems that Eskom is in. But we will come back to that in a
moment.
This administration is working on the following. Firstly, the
number of political initiatives that hon Mahlaule referred to,
whether it is the Integrated Resource Plan, IRP 19, the
introduction of renewables, gas as a step down from coal, the
creation of the independent systems and market operators, the
electricity in the market being created in the generation
sector, the just energy transition, the responses to climate
change and the electrification I referred to earlier on.
Since 2018, efforts have been put in to put in a new board to
create a new management team. Much more work needs to be done
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in that regard to restore the finances of Eskom. That is why
the assistance of the state and the Treasury is required. That
money which is being put into Eskom is exactly utilised to
ensure that Eskom is able to meet its debt service costs, and
not for operational purposes at this point in time. But pretty
soon we will be meeting to determine what are the options that
we have in relation to resolving the debt issue that Eskom is
confronted with.
Similarly, the IRP 19 points to the energy mix that some of
the speakers have referred to. Eskom has dealt with corruption
issue in its own ranks and there is over R3 billion claim that
has been lodged against the previous boards and management. Of
course, it will take its course through the courts. There is
no doubt that further expertise needs to be brought in
particularly in the generation sector. But as Eskom itself
changes new types of expertise need to be brought in as well.
Procurement, in particular of coal and parts that are required
for the generation plant, are also important areas that
require further attention by the board and the management as
well.
The state itself has assisted in many ways to ensure that
Eskom operates better or do not completely effectively at this
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point in time. From the governance point of view as I have
indicated, from the department getting in extra technical
assistants to review some of the work of Eskom, the
establishment of the Eskom task team - the technical team -
chaired by the Deputy President and bringing in new leadership
at various levels within Eskom itself.
But I think what is important is to recognise that the senior
management team at Eskom also faces a huge burden on behalf of
the country and they do require words of solidarity and words
of encouragement when we see that load shedding is happening
at the rate that it is happening in this point in time, and
not just unrelenting criticism which doesn’t help in any of
way provided that the criticism is designed in order to assist
Eskom to perform better at the end of the day.
Is Eskom broken or dysfunctional? Eskom is not broken and it
is not dysfunctional, but it does have crisis and serious
challenges. We as we said it will take time to resolve some of
them in particular if we are able to acquire the 46 000
megawatts additional energy for Eskom, then we will create a
space for the kind of maintenance that need to occur. Is there
a threat of a protected failure of Eskom? No! The Eskom that
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we know today won’t be the Eskom that you will recognise in 10
years’ time. It will be a completely different than today.
Let me conclude by saying the following. Reference to the ANC
as criminals is wrong. There are many honest, dedicated and
patriotic South Africans who are members of the ANC just as
there are members of the DA, EFF, IFP or any other party.
These are honest people who want honest government, who want
the state to work for the people of this country and who want
corrupt people to, like as many of you have said, end up in
orange uniforms. Those are the people that all of us should
combine with to ensure that we leave behind a country for the
future generations that we as this generation can say we are
proud of at the end of the day. So, don’t call us all thugs -
we are not. We are the people who are trying to fix South
Africa, we are the people who want to fix institutions like
Eskom and we will succeed at the end of the day. Thank you,
Deputy Speaker. [Applause.
Debate concluded.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE ON
REPORT OF COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUALITY (CGE) ON THE STATE OF
SHELTERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
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Ms T M JOEMAT-PETTERSON: Hon Deputy Speaker, it is my honour
and privilege to introduce two committee reports for
consideration and adoption by the house today. In terms of
Chapter 9 of the Constitution, the SA Human Rights Commission
and the Commission for Gender Equality are institutions
supporting democracy. The importance of these institutions can
never be underestimated, and are vital to our Constitution and
democracy. The two substantive reports from these institutions
were referred to, and considered by the Portfolio Committee on
Police, the National Investigative Hearings into the Status of
Mental Healthcare in South Africa and the Investigative Report
on the State of Shelters in South Africa.
These reports concern two of the most vulnerable groups in our
society, women and persons that need mental healthcare. As a
country, our women are suffering disproportionally from
gender-based violence and femicide, compared to the rest of
the world. Shelters of the victims of domestic violence, a
safe haven, where they can escape the nightmare of suffering
violence from an intimate partner at home, where they are
supposed to feel safe. The Report on the State of Shelters in
South Africa, did not make any recommendations regarding SA
Police Service, SAPS, but the committee noted that this
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relationship between SAPS and the shelters across all the
provinces must be monitored.
We are concerned, hon Deputy Speaker, that the SA Human Rights
Commission held a national inquiry into the Status of Mental
Healthcare between 14 and 15 November 2017. The time that it
took for us to complete this report was way too long. As the
committee, we will continue to work with the SA Human Rights
Commission to ensure that the recommendations that they have
made will be implemented. It is our constitutional mandate as
a committee to exercise our oversight, especially on our
vulnerable and marginalised groups, and how these groups
interact with the SA Police Service. The ANC and the committee
supports this report. I thank you.
Declarations of vote:
M.Gen O S TERBLANCHE: Hon Chairperson, the Commission of
Gender Equality, CGE, tabled and Investigative Report of the
State of Shelters in South Africa in Parliament in May 2019.
The report only highlighted the police’s responsibility of
shelters, but did not make any recommendations regarding the
SAPS. The CGE only mentioned a good relationship between
shelter and the SAPS across all provinces. This report focuses
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on the most vulnerable groups in South Africa, and therefore,
their rights must be protected as a matter of priority.
The SAPs is usually the first government department to which
gender-based violence occurrences are reported to, and their
references must go further than merely opening a criminal
case. The SAPS on case call, must determine whether a
complainant is in danger or not, and if yes, steps must be
taken to protect the complainant from possible further harm.
Assistance must also include medical treatment and safe
interim accommodation, should it be deemed necessary.
The victim’s rights and further required action should also be
explained to the complainant as far as possible. The SAPS must
enforce existing protection orders, which might also include
the address of any perpetrator. The police should keep on
playing a leading role in these cases, further making the
state’s effort to investigate and build a prima facie case
against suspect. Station commanders are compelled to establish
and maintain trauma rooms at all police stations in terms of
national instructions to create an environment to safeguard
victims of these horrendous crimes and to contribute to
successful prosecution.
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These criminals must preferably be removed out of our
communities, thereby creating safer environment. The CGE
monitors whether the government creates and implement laws,
policies and programmes that are intended to advance gender
equality. The SA Police Service has made great strides for the
creation of trauma rooms at or near police stations. However,
there will always be a room for improvement and in this case,
the rural areas still don’t have the benefit of an integrated
approach.
A huge effort is still needed in these areas to bring service
delivery on par, to the most densely populated areas. South
Africa needs more shelters to cater for the ever growing need.
A large percentage of women and children are often turned
away, especially for long-term shelters. Government has no
formal planning in place at the moment on how they mature. No
young people may fall to the cracks when they turn 18 while
living in shelters. They are left behind, jobless and homeless
and could turn to crime and even sex work, to support
themselves.
These youngsters are often left at their own mercy with
nowhere to go. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
intersex, queer or questioning, asexual, others, LGBTIQA+, and
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other vulnerable groups are often in need of shelters
themselves. There is no such facility that exist at the moment
across South Africa. The availability of welfare shelters
across the country is an absolute must, but the shelter alone,
solves only part of the problem. A proper functioning shelter
is also reliant on a professional staff compliment to serve
the community of that area.
This though, can only be achieved through the intensified
national focus. Members of Parliament must step up their
oversight effort to quantify the country’s needs. Chairperson,
the DA is committed to see this ideal through. I thank you.
Mr B S MADLINGOZI: Thank you, Chairperson. South Africa is
home to the vilest of human beings, who prey on children,
women and the elderly. The rise in the murder rates of women
and children in this country, is a reminder of the horrible
state of security for women and other vulnerable groups in
society. It also reminds us of just how incapable SAPS is to
carry out its duties of protecting citizens against criminals.
The provision of shelters is crucial for the protection of
vulnerable groups in society, and we have previously argued
that the police must ensure that there are more secured
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shelters across the country to be accessed by abused women who
have nowhere else to go. The report of the CGE on these
shelters is shocking. It shows, for instance that, provinces
apply inconsistent budget allocation, administration and
minimum standard requirements for shelters.
The report also shows that, there is no clear criteria used to
determine if a shelter is adequately resourced, especially
NGO-run shelters. More horrifying from the report is the fact
the sexual harassment policies are not required to be part of
the set of policies needed for the purposes of funding a
shelter. This is key, as survivors are often vulnerable and
therefore susceptible to sexual harassment at the shelters. In
provinces such as Limpopo and North West, there are only two
shelters in each of those provinces.
All these point to a treasonous state of neglect of the needs
of the most vulnerable in society. It also shows the levels of
disdain the government has, and the lip service it pays to
victims of abuse and of gender based violence in the country.
While we support the adoption of the report by Parliament, we
are concerned that this is just a box ticking exercise, as it
carries no binding obligations to SAPS to improve security in
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shelters across the country. We support the adoption of the
report. Thank you, Chairperson.
IsiZulu:
Mnu M HLENGWA: Ngiyabonga kakhulu Sihlalo, noma le siteji
kungathi sifushane thina sibade impela. Asilungiswe ngoba
ngiyabona impela ukuthi sengimude njengothukela. Sihlalo, ...
English:
...I present this declaration on behalf of my colleague,
Comrade Zandile Majozi. The Report under consideration, the
Commission for Gender Equality, CGE, is an “Investigative
Report of the State of Shelters in South Africa” was tabled in
Parliament in May 2019. Three years have now passed despite
the pressures and restrictions imposed upon Parliamentary
Committees, the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the work of
Parliament. Is this an acceptable time frame for the
consideration of this Report, particularly the gravity of the
subject matter? We, as Parliament must do better.
Further, due to the progress of time, the CGE has since
published the 2021 Progress Report on the report we are
considering today. How long before such is tabled and then
signed off again? The GBV remains on the increase and whilst
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we welcome the co-operation that has been cited as a positive
feedback by the CGE in the original Report, that co-operation
must translate into practical action steps to deal with the
scourge of GBV, domestic violence and other forms of violence
meted out against women and children in South Africa.
We must also, of course, accept that there are budget
shortfalls that we must deal with, which hinder the important
work that shelters do in South Africa. So the right things
have been said, but little has been done and it is the latter
that must spare us into action to do right for the women of
South Africa. The IFP support the Committee’s recommendations
regarding the continued interaction between the SAPS and
shelters across South Africa and recognise the work of
shelters as very, very important for our country. In this
regard, the IFP supports and accepts this report. I thank you.
Afrikaans:
Dr P J GROENEWALD: Agb Voorsitter ...
English:
Chair, I want to say, yes, it is true that when it comes to
Police and the Service, much criticism can be given to the
acts of the police and certain shortcomings. However, I think
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today we also see the other side from the Police Service and
that is not that they only have to fight crime, but they also
have to look, for instance, shelters and also people who need
mental care.
Chairperson, I’m dealing with both of these reports. Firstly,
when it comes to shelters there is a compliment to the Police
Service because the Commission on Gender Equality in their
report said that they had good relations and good co-operation
from the Police Service. I think, we should congratulate them
for that. That doesn’t mean that there are some problems and
it is true the Commission made no recommendations. But it is
necessary to see how many shelters there are when it comes to
this subject. Therefore, the committee will continue asking
questions on that and to see that we even improve those
services. I want to say hon Chairperson, we need special, can
I say, members of the police with special training to deal
with these matters because it is emotional. It is sensitive
and we also have to look into that training, but we can
congratulate the SAPS on that.
Afrikaans:
As dit oor geestelike versteurde persone gaan, is dit baie
moeilik. Dit is uiters moeilik om met ’n persoon wat geestelik
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versteurd is te kan werk. Die persoon op sigself is moeilik.
Daar is ’n hele aantal aanbevelings deur die
Menseregtekommissie, MRK, gemaak en die komitee gee aandag
daaraan. In daardie opsig is daar ruimte vir baie verbetering
aan die kant van die SA Polisiediens en sal die komitee kyk
dat hulle hul werk doen. Daar is ’n nuwe kommissaris en ons
glo dat daar dan spesifiek hieraan aandag gegee kan word. Ons
kan nie dat ons mense wat geestelike probleme het net aan hul
eie genade oorlaat nie. Daar is ook goeie samewerking, soos
wat deur die MRK gesê is, maar ons sal daadwerklik aandag aan
daardie probleem moet gee. Die VF Plus sal albei hierdie
verslae ondersteun. Ek dank u.
English:
Mr S N SWART: House Chairperson, the ACDP has considered this
report and I will focus on the situation of the second report.
It must be a concern to all of us that as the committee has
reported there is a challenge of lack of safety and security
in schools for children with disabilities and that is the one
aspect that the committee did focus on. And it was the finding
of the South African Human Rights Commission that there is a
general lack between special schools and the department, such
as the SAPS to address the issues of crime prevention,
particularly the prevention of child abuse.
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Whilst the police committee noted that the SAPS has a School
Safety Plan, which manages this school prevention and
prevention of abuse at the schools. This plan has not, as yet,
at the time of this report extended to special schools and the
question obviously is why? While SAPS had that special school
safety plan for schools. Why was it not extended to special
schools and one needs to just bear in mind that this report of
the South African Human Rights Commission was tabled in
October of 2019. So, we welcome the recommendations of the
police committee that it ensures that SAPS implements the full
school safety strategy in special schools and takes all
necessary steps for crime prevention and safety at special
schools. The ACDP will support both these reports. I thank
you.
Mr B N HERRON: House Chairperson, Good notes and welcomes the
report from the CGE and in particular the reported good
partnership between the SAPS and various shelters. However, we
cannot ignore the portions of the report, which clearly
indicate the weaknesses in the Social Services system and we
call on the Social Development Department to address this.
Some of them include that the minimum standard on shelters in
the 2001 version and the 2004 versions are not being met and
of course, part of the problem is that the funding per person
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in need has fallen in real terms to almost half from R16 000
per person to R9 000 a person.
The report also indicates the lack of standardised practices,
polices, skills, skills development and complains mechanism.
So by implementing proper policies and processes, we will be
able to enhance the services that are needed by the community
and provide meaningful resources to GBV and other shelter
needs. A lack of accredited courses for survivors at shelters
makes it difficult for them to enter the job market, leaving
them with no income and often forcing them to return to
abusive environments or relationships.
There is also an absence of standardised approaches to
accommodate and assist members of the LGBTIQA+ community,
although shelters claim not to discriminate against the
sector. This is not the reality. Many shelters don’t admit men
and this is further an obstacle for those who are identified
as transgender. The support to shelters is inadequate and
serious interventions are needed to address GBV. We need to
factor in different aspects of shelter-related costs when
allocating budget.
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Finally, House Chairperson the lack of social workers and
therapists and counsellors are limiting shelters to provide
necessary services, which is crucial for the reintegration of
GVB survivors into society and to independence. Thank you.
Mr S M JAFTA: Chairperson, the Commission for Gender Equality,
CGE, investigative report which looked at the state of
shelters in South Africa paints an account of how vulnerable
women in shelters and gender-based violence, GBV, centres
live.
Their relationship with social workers, the police, the
Department of Social Development, amongst other key
stakeholders, is laid to bare.
A glowing picture is painted of how effective and efficient
policing alongside heightened psychosocial support provided to
these women is embraced by not only the Masimanyane shelter in
the Eastern Cape or the House of Hope in KwaZulu-Natal, Lest
Grace shelter in Mpumalanga and the Kimberley shelter in
Northern Cape; but also other non-profit organization, NPOs
specializing GBV matters.
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It is indeed true that the wording of the report and its
analysis of the legislative framework which underpins the
rights of women such as the Domestic Violence Act, the
Constitution provisions to the Children’s Act, the Promotion
of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination, the
Sustainable Development Goals and the Vienna Conventions
amongst others, is central to the values we cherish.
In this light, we cannot oppose the adoption of this report.
However, we must state that at the risk of being overtaken by
events the Gender Commission has released a progressive report
on the state of shelters in South Africa.
In this regard, the Portfolio Committee on Social Development,
in the spirit of co-operative governance, may have to revisit
this progress report. Thank you.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Hon House Chair, the support of the
Minister of Police has not gone unnoticed and we look forward
to more protection for women in shelters.
However, the problem is that the survivors of gender-based
violence. The men do not pay maintenance and the South African
law reform commission has been very slow in making sure that,
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that these interim maintenance is paid because sometimes you
wait for years.
I have a pleasure to inform this House that the amendments
that Al Jama-ah has made in the Private Member’s Bill now has
the constitutional master and we hope that this House will
support the provision of interim relief for survivors of
gender-based violence.
Al Jama-ah supports the two reports. Thank you very much, hon
House Chair.
Ms N P PEACOCK: House Chair, South Africa has one of the
highest rate of gender-based violence and femicide worldwide.
Violence against women is not random violence, it is a
specific form of violence which affects women and girls
disproportionally.
Between October and December 2021 cases of murder and
attempted murder committed against showed insignificant
increase compared to the same period of the previous financial
year. The murder and attempted murder of women increased by
4,2% and 7,2% respectively. During this period, assault with
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the intent to cause grievous bodily harm against women
decreased by 3,6%.
Between October and December 2021 the SA Police Service, SAPS,
recorded 30 277 cases related to domestic violence including
rape, murder, attempted murder, amongst others. During this
period, 232 murders and 209 attempted murder related to
domestic violence were recorded.
The most prevalent crime affecting both females and males in
relation to domestic violence is common assault with 15 142
case followed by the assault with the intend to cause grievous
bodily harm with 6 603 case and malicious damage to property
with 5 367 cases.
During this period domestic violence related crimes increased
significantly in October to December 2021, compared to the
preceding three months from July to September during which
19 090 cases related to domestic violence were recorded. Both
men and women are victims of domestic violence.
Rape and common assault categorically and disproportionally
affected women during the third quarter of 2021 and 2022.
Around 632 female rape related domestic violence cases and
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12 614 cases of common assault were recorded. The increase is
significant and is a concern.
These statistics place into context the importance of shelters
countrywide and the vital role shelters play in providing a
heaven of safety to our women falling victims of domestic
violence.
However, the Commission for Gender Equality report found
totally inadequate funding of the shelters. The CGE report
highlights the various responsibilities of SAPS in terms of
the shelters, but the report did not make any recommendation
regarding SAPS.
The committee noted that the CGE found that there are good
relationships between the shelters and SAPS across all
provinces. The committee felt that SAPS was working
satisfactory with shelters although it did not know the
numbers of shelters countrywide.
Based on the consideration of the committee, the committee
recommended that SAPS together with CGE research and make a
list of shelters available to all local police stations and
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that SAPS increases its training initiatives and training
programmes on victim empowerment.
We must continuously raise awareness of the impact of gender-
based violence on individuals, families and communities.
Consistent effort must be made to support victims and
survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. SAPS has an
important role to play therein.
The committee recommends the adoption of this report. I thank
you. [Applause.]
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY moved: That the Report be
adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE ON
REPORT OF SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ON NATIONAL
INVESTIGATIVE HEARING INTO STATUS OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN
SOUTH AFRICA
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Ms T M JOEMAT-PETTERSSON: Speaker, the Mental Health Care Act
2002 guides the interventions by members of the 06:53SAPS. The
Act states that if a member of SAPS has reason to believe from
personal observation, information obtained from a mental
health care practitioner that the person, due to his or her
mental illness or severe or profound intellectual disability,
is likely to inflict serious harm to himself or herself. The
member must apprehend the person to take him to an appropriate
health establishment administered under the auspices of the
state for assessment of the mental health status of that
person. He or she should be handed over into custody of the
head of the health establishment or any other person
designated by the head of the health establishment to receive
such persons.
If a mental health care practitioner after the assessment
referred to, is of the view that the person apprehended is due
to illness or severe profound intellectual disability likely
to inflict serious harm to himself or herself must be within
24 hours and not exceeding the period of 24 hours for
application to be made in terms of section 33 or if unlikely
to cause harm, he or she must be released immediately. If an
assisted or involuntary mental health care user has absconded
or is deemed to have absconded, the head of the health
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establishment may request assistance from the SAPS. The SAPS
must comply with the request. When requesting the assistance,
the SAPS must be informed of the estimated level of
dangerousness of the assisted or involuntary mental health
care user.
A person apprehended in terms of subsection 4, may be held in
custody at the police station. A member of the SAPS may use
such constraining measures as may be necessary. The committee
requested that the SAPS has included in its plan any training
programmes that is specifically aimed to assist its staff in
managing cases that involve a mental care user. The SAPS has
statistical information of cases dealt with by the SAPS
involving the report. The committee also wanted to know that
the SAPS monitors the effectiveness of its policies. The
committee wanted to know what costs were associated with the
delivery of resources to support victims.
In our view, there are key challenges confronting the SAPS
when engaging with the situation. We made certain
recommendations to address these challenges. In our view, key
priorities are required for the allocation of these resources.
Any information with relevance to the metal health care use
should be provided by the SAPS to the committee on a regular
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basis. The status of the SAPS investigations into Gauteng
mental health maritime project is also required. The committee
supports the report. It is a pleasure and honour of the ANC to
present this report to the House. I thank you.
Declarations of vote:
M.Gen O S TERBLANCHE: Chairperson, this substantive report was
referred by the Institutions Supporting Democracy, ISD, to the
Portfolio Committee on Police. The South African Human Rights
Commission held their national investigative hearings in South
Africa between 14 and 15 November 2017. The report was tabled
in Parliament in October 2019 and according to the commission,
despite numerous efforts they could not succeed to get any
response from the then Minister Mbalula or the Police during
the process, nor did they attend any of these hearings. When
it comes to mental health care, people’s reaction often is,
“What could the police’s role possibly be in this?”
The main purpose of the legislation, obviously is to ensure
that people with serious mental challenges which threaten
their health and the safety or the safety of the public can be
treated irrespective of the concern, where it is necessary to
prevent them from harming themselves or others. Data presented
by the South African College of Applied Psychology in 2008
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suggests that one in six South Africans suffered from anxiety,
depression or substance abuse, 40% of South Africans living
with HIV have a comorbid mental disorder, 41% of pregnant
women have depression and about 60% of South Africans with
also be suffering from depression.
The Police are therefore a very important role-player. It is
estimated that the mental health does to some extent plays a
role in about 40% of all the encounters with the public. Their
ability to deal with these situations are therefore of the
outmost importance. They made a presentation during this
December 2021 to the Portfolio Committee on Police. It was
quite clear that at that stage, they were very much at the
early stages of planning and development and a lot of ground
must still be covered.
Mental health care is a complex situation to deal with, and
sometimes other role-players complicate the task of the SAPS
unnecessary. This investigation was completed during 2017
already, but only referred to the Police and this committee
for finalisation. The SAPS’s role is to make sure that the
Police Service has the right systems and processes in place to
help people with mental health problems when they engage with
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the police. They must also help struggling officers and staff,
should they themselves need support.
South Africa consistently struggles with some of the highest
rates of violent crime, including homicide and sexual assault
in the world. This pressing human strategies compete for
police attention alongside the wide variety of theft, car
hijacking, harassment and other criminal offences. Barriers to
access mental health support include difficulties in
identifying and communicating the stress, stigmatisation
beliefs, shame or preference for self-reliance, and the
anticipation help may be difficult to access.
Historically, mental health was never a focus area for the SA
Police Service. There is no statistical information available
for the last 10 financial years. Apparently, it was not very
important or recorder, and subsequently, dealt with on a case
by case basis. This report obviously compelled the police to
take a long hard look at the prevalence of mental health
issues in the community to formulate the professional response
and the counterstrategy.
In this endeavour, the following areas are very important.
Training progress, capacity building, training curriculum,
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policies and standing orders, redesign and adjustment of
equipment and infrastructure, service level agreement and
forums with other departments and institutions, integrated
action plan, statistical information. South Africa can never
see a repeat of another Life Esidimeni scenario, and we ask
parliamentarians to ensure that the executive get their ducks
in a row. The DA supports this report. I thank you.
Ms P MADOKWE: Thank you, House Chairperson, we are here today
dealing with the report and investigation of the state of
mental health that was started in 2017 and was supposed to
have been concluded in 2019, but has been delayed due to lack
of co-operation from the SA Police Service.
The report goes in great lengths in dealing with the state of
mental health of those detained by the SAPS and points to
glaring shortcomings in the manner the SAPS handles cases of
detained people who are mentally incapacitated.
Shockingly, the SA Human Rights Commission, SAHRC, attempted
to have a conversation with the SA Police Service back then
when Fikile Mbalula was still the Minister. The police gave
the SA Human Rights Commission a cold shoulder back then, and
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even today, the police have not engaged with this matter in a
satisfactory way.
The report found out that the SAPS members were not
sufficiently trained to handle cases of mental health,
particularly of the people they detain. This has recently been
exposed in the manner the SAPS handled the arrest and
subsequently the trial of the person who was alleged to have
burnt Parliament. The report also indicates that police
themselves end up suffering from severe episodes of mental
disorder because of the insufficient preparation and training
they are given to deal with the mentally disturbed situations.
It is important to note that this was before the earth
shattering changes to the question of mental health that were
brought about by the dawn of the coronavirus.
In 2020, the SA Human Rights Commission did yet another study
on the state of mental health in the country, which painted an
even more bleaker picture of the state of mental health. The
situation must have surely gotten worse today with the
worsening of economic and social status of many of our people.
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The police as an entity entrusted with the security of our
nation must be at the forefront of ensuring that they are
capacitated to deal with issues like these.
The report shows that the police simply do not care. We accept
the report but condemn the conduct of the police. Thank you,
Chair.
Mr K P SITHOLE: Thank you, hon House Chair, I am doing this
report on behalf of hon Zandile Majozi. Before we discuss the
merits of the SAHRC report, and the importance of safeguarding
the mental health of citizens and the SAPS officers alike,
another matter must be highlighted.
According to the SA Human Rights Commission report, hon Mr
Minister Fikile Mbalula then the Minister of Police was
invited by the commission to, either in person or through an
authorised representative, make submissions at the National
Investigative Hearing Mental Health Care in South Africa.
Notwithstanding the multiple items of correspondence sent by
the commission and acknowledgments of receipt received from
the SAPS, to date, no response has been received.
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Where is the accountability and consequence management? This
was no frivolous request, but a matter of importance, brought
about by, and I quote: “The tragic loss of life following the
discharge of mental health care users from the Life Esidimeni
facility”.
How can a Minister, and a department blatantly ignore a
request from a Chapter 9 institution? Should they not lead by
example, and co-operate fully with other state institutions,
particularly those working in support of constitutional
democracy and the protection and promotion of human rights?
Further, following the nonresponse to the hearing, the SAHRC
provided the SAPS with a series of written questions requiring
... [Interjections.] ... responses, within a three-month
timeline, in November 2017. Today, five years later, it is
unclear whether these important questions pertaining to the
SAPS interactions with and their treatment of mental health
care users were not answered.
We further echo the committee’s concerns related to the
detention of mental health care users, as well as the ability
of the SAPS officers to deal with persons living with mental
health challenges. Therefore, as the IFP, we support the
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committee’s recommendations. However, in light of the SAPS
response to date, we would suggest that a timeline, as well as
consequences for noncompliance be included. The IFP supports
the report. Thank you.
Mr S M JAFTA: Thank you, House Chairperson, on the 28th March
2019, the SA Human Rights Commission lodged the report into
the status of mental health care in South Africa. It made wide
recommendations and the Police Service were not spared.
Amongst the recommendations implicating the Police Service
includes and I quote: “The considerable under investment in
mental health and the barriers preventing access to mental
health service.”
It is of great concern to us that neglect and lack of services
where particularly problematic in rural areas and in respect
for service for children and adolescents as the report finds.
The Life Esidimeni debacle should have been our greatest
preoccupation. In this report, Justice Moseneke made it clear
that state functionaries like the SA Police Service despite
being, and I quote:
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Obliged to respect, promote and protect constitutional
entitlements of mental health care users including their
inherent human dignity, right to life, freedom and
security of the person and especially the right not to be
tortured in any way and not to be treated or punished in
a cruel inhumane or degrading way.
Police have acted negatively and failed to protect the ...
[Inaudible.] ...
Rights of mental health ... [Inaudible.] ... were
entitled to have access to adequate health care services
and sufficient food and water. In turn, their families
and interested parties acting on their behalf or in the
public interest were entitled to demand that the
fundamental rights of mental health care users should not
be infringed or threatened.
Even our wording is important on how we respond to issues of
mental health. We do not have mental health care patients but
mental health care users.
Having cleared the overgrowth, we must point out that it is
plainly clear that the Police Service has its work cut out ...
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[Inaudible.] ... In fact, each police station must have a
mental illness helpdesk where accused or suspected persons
with mental disability must be processed. These helpdesks must
be equipped with professionals like psychiatrists.
In closing, we will support the report as it goes at the heart
of affirming the rights of mentally challenged South Africans.
I thank you.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Thank you very much, hon House Chair, we
are aware of the fact that there are pro bono desks at many of
our courts that provide a free service and professionals come
forward. Al Jama-ah would like to make an appeal to our
professionals to assist our police stations with their
numerous responsibility.
I do not know if you watch Muvhango, hon House Chair, but I
do, and I am very worried of what happened to Gugu as a result
of wrongful arrest and detention in a centre. I just hope that
will not be the norm going forward. On a more serious note,
hon House Chair, Al Jama-ah supports the report.
Afrikaans:
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Me L N MOSS: Goeiemiddag agb Voorsitter en alle agb lede van
die Parlement. Die SA Menseregtekommissie het tussen 14 en
15 November 2017 ’n nasionale ondersoek verhoor na die status
van geestesgesondheidsorg in Suid-Afrika gehou. Die
daaropvolgende verslag is in Oktober 2019 in die Parlement ter
tafel gelê en na die Portefeuljekomittee oor Polisie verwys
vir oorweging. [Tussenwerpsels.] Die verslag is bespreek net
...
English:
The TEMPORARY CHAIRPERSON (Ms R M M Lesoma): One second, hon
member. One second. Hon member, just one minute. Hon ...
[Inaudible.] ... if you repeat ... we are going to eject you
from the platform. You may proceed, hon member.
Afrikaans:
Me L N MOSS: Die verslag is bespreek net toe die COVID-19
pandemie ons samelewing versleg het en ons reeds toenemend
geestesgesondheidsuitdagings in die uiterste desperate
situasie geplaas het. Die pandemie het steeds ’n beduidende
impak op die geestesgesondheid van talle Suid-Afrikaners, van
wie die meeste nie hulp sal soek nie.
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Gedurende 2019 het die SA Polisiediens, die SAPD, begin met
die hersiening van die staande bevel oor die Wet op
Geestesgesondheidsorg om dit te ... [Onhoorbaar.] ... gradeer
na ’n wet op nasionale ... [Onhoorbaar.] ... oor die
geestesgesondheidsorg en ... [Onhoorbaar.] ... is die SAPD se
riglyne vir polisiëring van persone met gestremdhede ontwikkel
en goedgekeur vir implementering.
Die SAPD het ’n kwesbare groepsleerprogram ontwikkel wat
dienste vir geestesgesondheidsgebruikers aanspreek. Hierdie
leerprogram is in lyn met die Verenigde Nasies, VN, se
Konvensie oor die Regte van Persone met Gestremdhede en word
aangebied by basiese opleiding waar die nuwe inname van ...
[Onhoorbaar.] ... wat polisiëring en leerlinge is ...
[Onhoorbaar.] ... en goed toegerus sal word in die bestuur van
sake waarby geestesgesondheidsorggebruikers betrokke is. Dit
is ’n lang woord.
Agb Voorsitter, om ... [Onhoorbaar.] ... van lede te verseker
en die vakuum aan te spreek, is kapasiteitsbou sessies gehou.
Daarbenewens, om te verseker dat lede kundig is, is aan elke
provinsie SAPD geestesgesondheidsorg ... [Onhoorbaar.] ...
uitgereik vir verspreiding na clusters [bondels] en stasies
gedurende 2018.
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In die aanspreek van ... [Onhoorbaar.] ... kwessies, wat impak
het op toegang tot dienste, monitering en redelike
akkommodasie vir slagoffers en oortreders met gestremdhede,
insluitend geestesgesondheidsorggebruikers, het die SAPD begin
met verbeteringsprosesse van dossiers en vorms wat vir
inligting oor slagoffers ... oortreders gebruik word.
[Tussenwerpsels.]
English:
Hey! This is a very sensitive ... [Inaudible.]
Afrikaans:
Geestesgesondheidsorg is nie ’n maklike ding nie. Na oorweging
van die verslag, beveel die komitee die volgende aan:
Eerstens, die polisie bied meer ledeopleiding oor die
hantering van persone met geestesgesondheidsorguitdagings;
Tweedens, die polisie werk saam met geestesgesondheid ...
professionele gesondheidswerkers wat spesialiseer in pasiente
met geestesgesondheidsuitdagings;
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Derdens, die polisie hersien sy staande bevele en bring dit in
lyn met die Wet op Geestesgesondheidsorg, en verskaf ’n
afskrif van sy verslag aan die komitee;
Vierdens, die polisie genereer statistieke en verslae in sy
voorkomsboeke oor geestesgesondheidsorg gevalle teenoor die
land; en
Vyfdens, die polisie neem maatreëls om polisiebeamptes te
beskerm wanneer hulle met mense met
geestesgesondheidsorguitdagings te doen het, ingeval ’n
skietery plaasvind.
Voorsitter, ek wil die volgende stuk ook aanbring in hierdie
aanbevelings. Ek wil aanbeveel dat die verskillende provinsies
wat te doen het met geestesgestremdes meer aktiwiteite of meer
hospitale moet bou of moet voorsien. Ek wil ’n voorbeeld maak
van my eie provinsie, die Wes-Kaap, waar ek bly. Die Wes-Kaap
het net geestesgestremdheidsorg ... hospitale in die metro.
Dit is in die Kaap. Dit is ’n disgrace [skande]. Ons kan nie
so aangaan nie. Dit is tyd, in dié jare van demokrasie, dat
die staat meer fasiliteite vir geestesversorging in plek moet
bring. Ons kan nie net die Valkenberg Hospitaal het nie. Ons
kan nie net die Lentegeur Hospitaal het nie. Ons kan nie net
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die Stikland Hospitaal het nie. Ons moet meer hospitale
aanbring. Die platteland se mense gaan gebukkend onder drug
abuse [dwelmmisbruik] ... onder drug abuse [dwelmmisbruik] ...
[Onhoorbaar.] ... onder tik. [Tussenwerpsels.]
English:
No, it’s not the ANC! It’s tik, because tik works on people’s
brains and makes people mentally ...
Afrikaans:
So, ons moet meer hospitale vir mense met geestelike
gestremdhede bou, nie net in die metro of in die Wes-Kaap nie,
maar oral in Suid-Afrika waar ons te doen het met hierdie tipe
gevalle. Ek dank u. [Applous.]
English:
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: House Chair, I move that
the House adopts this report. Thank you.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.
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CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY PARLIAMENT OF
ACCESSION TO THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND
PEOPLE’S RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN
AFRICA IN TERMS OF SECTION 231(2) OF CONSTITUTION, 1996
Ms C N NDABA: House Chairperson, Chief Whip, hon members and
people of South Africa, good afternoon. Recognising that
persons with disabilities have the right to dignity, respect,
equality like all as enshrined in the Constitution, we request
this august House to consider the adoption of this report.
Noting the recent destructive floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the
catastrophic impact it had on the province, one cannot help
but wonder the kind of distress it has left many people.
Particularly those that were already vulnerable. We pass on
our condolences to those that have lost their loved ones
during the natural disaster. The most vulnerable are the most
affected in this situation, the working class, particularly
single parent headed households. People no longer have shelter
and do not have capabilities to start over, and not forgetting
persons with disabilities who are already struggling with
accessibility, care and mobility before the disaster.
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As we are adopting this report today, we hope that the
disaster plans in the municipalities will be gender-sensitive
and responsive, especially to persons with disabilities. The
Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with
Disabilities was briefed by the Department of Women, Youth and
Persons with Disabilities and the Department of International
Relations and Cooperation. Namely; the state law advisor on
the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s
Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa on
the 22 March 2022.
A follow up meeting was scheduled for the 29 March 2022 in
which the portfolio committee was briefed by the department
again as well as the South African Reformed Law Commission and
the presidential working group on disability in order for the
committee to gain more insight into matters related to
compliance, awareness raising and consultation held on the
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa.
The portfolio committee having been satisfied with the
additional information received and the discussion held,
reiterated its commitment to ensure that the rights of persons
with disabilities are promoted, protected and upheld.
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The portfolio committee having considered the protocol to the
African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities in Africa, hereby recommends that
the House in terms of section 321 subsection 2 of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996,
recommends that the House grants approval for the ratification
of the said protocol. Therefore, the Portfolio Committee on
Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities request that the
House moves for the adoption of the report, and I so move. I
thank you. [Applause.]
Declarations of Vote:
Mr M S MABIKA: House Chairperson, the Protocol to the African
Charter on Humans and People’s Rights of Persons with
Disabilities in Africa seeks to promote, protect and ensure
full and equal enjoyment of all humans and people’s rights by
all persons with disabilities and to ensure respect for their
inherent dignity.
This protocol was developed by the AU Members States who were
concerned about the harmful practices that persons with
disabilities still face. Including the killing of persons with
albinism in many parts of the continent, unfair
discrimination, high levels of poverty and the great risk of
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exploitation, neglect and abuse of women and girls with
disabilities face.
It was recognised that effective measures had not been taken
by Members States, including South Africa. To make sure that
persons with disabilities exercise their full rights on an
equal basis with others. The protocol calls on all Members
States to take appropriate legislative measures in order to
ensure the upliftment and protection of persons with
disabilities.
Article 4 of this protocol stipulates that Members States,
including South Africa, shall take appropriate and effective
measures, including policy, legislative, administrative,
institutional and budgetary steps to ensure respect, promote
respect, protect and fulfil the rights and dignity of persons
with disabilities without discrimination on the basis of
disability. Including, ensuring participation of persons with
disabilities or their representative organisations, including
women and children with disabilities in all decision making
processes, including in the development and implementation of
legislation, policies and administrative processes to this
protocol.
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It is however very unfortunate and unacceptable that the
Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has
failed to work with organisations that represents the interest
of persons with disabilities in the country. The department
has consistently failed to consult these organisations in an
effort to understand the barriers that keeps persons with
disabilities locked out of opportunities. For far too long,
these organisations have been saying that nothing about us,
without us. They want to be listened to by the department.
They want the department to involve them in matters affecting
their rights.
While instruments like these protocol are important, it must
be noted that they will be ineffective if the department does
not take appropriate legislative measures to implement them.
At the centre of this protocol is the need for Members States
to pass legislation that protects and promote the right of
persons with disabilities. It is very unfortunate and totally
unacceptable that the Department of Women, Youth and Persons
with Disabilities has consistently failed to prioritise the
development of the Disability Rights Bill.
In its draft Annual Performance Plan for the 2022-23 financial
year, the department still did not set any specific target for
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the development of this very important piece of legislation.
This shows that the department does not recognise the
seriousness of the challenges facing the persons with
disabilities in the country. The only thing that the
department has been good at is changing its mandate year in,
year out. It has failed to improve the living conditions of
persons with disabilities like uMama Mbanjwa from ...
[Inaudible.] ... in KwaZulu-Natal who was told by local clinic
that she had to wait for more than three weeks just to get a
wheelchair.
Many persons with disabilities in South Africa today still
lack access to education and employment opportunities. The
South African Human Rights Commission has noted that
households headed by persons with disabilities have less
access to basic services compared to households headed by
persons without disabilities. This is precisely why the
department need to start playing a role that it should be
playing in improving the living conditions of persons with
disabilities in the country.
Now is not the time for the department to keep changing its
mandates and do nothing. Now is the time for the department to
prioritise the Disability Rights Bill. Now is the time for
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this Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
to take effective measures and to ensure the domestication of
this AU disability protocol. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms Y N YAKO: Chairperson, for far too long the African
continent has not taken sufficient care for people with
disabilities. We have often been seen as accidents of nature,
not worthy of the protection of other able body human beings
have been afforded. We have seen this in the persecution of
persons with albinism for instance. And, we have seen it far
too often in the exclusion of people with disabilities from
engaging meaningfully in social and physical life of the
continent.
The proposed extension to the Protocol of the African Charter
for Humans and People’s Rights is a long overdue process. It
takes provisions for the protection of the inherent respect,
dignity, privacy and individual autonomy of disabled
individuals. It obliges Members State to adopt measures for
the full and effective implementation of programmes that
empower and protect people with disabilities. It requires
Members State to mainstream disability in policies, in
legislation, in development plans and in almost all aspects of
life. More importantly, it provides for the criminalisation of
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all exclusion and malpractices against people with
disabilities amongst Members State.
We as the EFF, are in full support of these interventions and
call on the government to do more than just play lip service
to the plight of disabled people in this country. We
particularly call on the Ministry responsible for people with
disabilities to recognise that they are dealing with human
beings who just happens to have disabilities, and need to be
treated with respect and we need to be empowered.
The Ministry has thus failed to advance the interest of
disable people in this country. We support the request for
approval of extension of the needs of disabled people to the
Protocol of the African Charter on Human Rights and People’s
Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa. Thank you.
Ms M D HLENGWA: Hon Chair, at the outset, let me say that the
IFP supports this request Protocol of the African Charter on
Human Rights and People’s Rights of Persons with Disabilities
in Africa. Persons with disabilities deserves legislative
protection as they remain marginalised persons, in many
instances, unfair, discriminated against due to their
disabilities.
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Human rights and fundamental freedom are universal
indivisible; interdependent and interrelated and the right of
every individual and recognised international human rights
instruments, which includes the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 1948 and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights in 1966, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, as well as affirms in
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of
2006.
People with disabilities have every right to dignity and to
make their own choices. They have every right to gain for
empowerment and to not be discriminated against or prejudiced
in any way. Government must do all that it can in order to
ensure that people with disabilities are afforded every
opportunity to pursue successful, happy and productive life in
our country. I thank you.
Ms T BREEDT: Thank you, Madam House Chair. The United Nations,
UN, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was
ratified by South Africa in 2007. The African Union, AU,
Protocol was only an already depending on how you look at it
signed an undertaking ... [Inaudible.] to ratify it in April
of 2019, not much has been done since then ... [Inaudible.] by
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Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities doing
the work over a ... [Inaudible.] following up, not wanting to
be the continue ... [Inaudible.] blankets and having to be
that I’m worried and not convinced. If it takes us as ...
[Inaudible.] leading human rights on the continent three years
to get to ratify protocol and not having even started on the
domestic ... [Inaudible.] I have little to no hope. We do not
have adequate legislation in place to address what is being
asked by us in this protocol.
Article 34,1 of the protocol requires that the protocol be
domesticated although the development of national legislation
to enable the courts to enforce the antidiscrimination laws
and to reach reasonable and fair judgement on case law proving
discrimination against persons with disabilities. This is a
matter of grave concern to me as legislation takes years and
years to see the light of day, and then to have legislation
enforced is a whole other story. We can talk about what has
not been done in terms of legislation since the 2007
ratification of the UN Convention on the rights of persons
with disabilities. However, may be a more recent example will
better suffice. Current legislation speaking about gender-
based violence and femicide, GBVF, and the implementation
thereof as well as the promise new legislation post Uyinene
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are evidence thereof. My colleague clearly painted the grim
picture hereof during the Freedom Day debate last week. The AU
Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is aimed
to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of
all human and people’s rights by all persons with disabilities
and to ensure respect for the inherent dignity. It is actually
a disgrace that we need to have protocols sign into law and
agreed to by continent as a whole because human dignity in
itself is not a given at all.
Afrikaans:
Die die stryd om regverdigheid is die ewigdurende stryd vir
almal in Suid-Afrika, maar meer so vir ons persone met
gestremdhede. The South African Medical Association, Sama,
sukkel al meer as ’n dekade om gebaretaal as ’n erkende
twaalfde, amptelike taal te laat aanvaar. Dis net om erkenning
daarvoor te kry, wat nie outomaties inklusiwiteit eers
daarstel of beteken nie. Dis nie eens om te praat van toegang
tot skole en verdere opleiding vir persone met gestremdhede
nie.
Suid-Afrika en Afrika is die wêreld ver agter wanneer dit by
die regte van persone met gestremdehede kom. Hierdie
departement, hierdie regering, maar ook hierdie Parlement,
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moet hul sokkies optrek, want ’n aanvaarde protokol beteken
niks, wanneer daar nie daad by woord geplaas word nie. Ek dank
u.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Thank you very much, hon House Chair. Hon
House Chair, we must complement Department of International
Relations and Co-operation, Dirco, that this protocol has now
been signed. South Africa is ready to implement the protocols
as you know, hon House Chair, that after the Second World War
... [Inaudible.] employment factories were built and they are
under the control of the Department of Labour. These factories
produce SA Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, quality furniture
and linen. Most of the furniture in Parliament was made by
them, hopefully is not all burnt down. Therefore, also our
affirmative action policies require the certain percentage of
people with disabilities being employed. We like to implore
government departments to increase it to 10% because 2% is not
enough, because we need to make sure that people with
disabilities play their rightful role in society. Al Jama-ah
supports this report. Thank you very much, hon House Chair.
Ms G P MAREKWA: Hon House Chair, hon Chief Whip of the
Majority Party and hon members, Chapter 2 of the Bill of
Rights in the Constitution of the Republic recognises the
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rights and freedoms of all persons in the Republic. This
includes the right to human dignity and equality. Persons
living with disabilities are no different and they deserve to
enjoy the same rights as all citizens in the Republic. They
too are reserve the right to no discrimination noting that
persons with disabilities often feel excluded from society
through mobility and accessibility, be it to services or
infrastructure and an environment that is enabling to their
needs. Persons with disabilities are considered to be one of
the vulnerable groups as often some are ostracised from their
families and communities.
It is through this understanding, hon members, that the ANC is
and will consistently champion and promote the rights of the
persons with disabilities to restore and bring them their
dignity. The protocol promotes and recognises the rights of
persons living with disabilities including the rights to
equality, security, freedom from unfair discrimination, human
dignity, accessibility and social inclusion to name a few. It
is in line with our Constitution and our socio transformation
agenda building a better life for all and a South Africa that
belongs to all who live in it. That is why as the ANC we will
continue to promote the rights of persons with disabilities
through legislation such as the Disability Act which is
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underway and continue to assist persons living with
disabilities through the provision of the disability grant to
assist them with the necessary support or mobility required to
make their lives better.
Representation and inclusion of persons living with
disabilities is significant to social inclusion. Government is
lead in this through the condition that departments in their
recruitment processes encourage and require persons living
with disabilities to apply for government positions and
prioritise them in their recruitment processes. However,
although we recognise that there is still more to be done to
promote the struggle of persons living with disabilities, we
have to take stock of progress that has been made so far and
the adoption of the protocol being that part. South Africa is
viewed to have one of the most liberal Constitution in the
world. The adoption of this protocol would benefit our country
to aid and better the lives of persons living with
disabilities including all person in the disability spectrum.
It will compel South Africa to have more programmes aimed at
addressing matters facing persons living with disabilities and
thus improving their quality of life. It is our duty to
protect those that are most vulnerable in our country and work
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to attain our goals of a free and save South Africa for all as
envisioned in our National Development Plan, NDP, documents.
The ANC moves in support of the Protocol of the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities in Africa. I thank you, hon House Chair.
[Applause.]
Accession to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in
Africa accordingly approved.
CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR APPROVAL BY PARLIAMENT OF
ACCESSION TO THE AMENDED CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION,
MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARINE AND COASTAL
ENVIRONMENT OF THE WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN (NAIROBI CONVENTION)
IN TERMS OF SECTION 231 (2) OF CONSTITUTION, 1996 (REPORT OF
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES)
Mr P M P MODISE: House Chair, thank you very much, Chief Whip
... [Interjections.] ...
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms R M M Lesoma): I will repeat
myself for the purpose of audibility for noting that
interpretation for Setswana, Afrikaans and Tshivenda is
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affected by load shedding. So we will have challenges with
that. You may proceed, hon member. [Interjections.] Hon
member, you may proceed. [Interjections.]
Mr P M P MODISE: Yeah. I am only 29. Thank you very much,
House Chair, greeting to the Chief Whip of the Majority Party,
a special greeting to you Chief Whip of the Opposition, I know
I am going to get a hug after this, hon members, fellow South
Africans, the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and
Fisheries held its briefings on the Amended Nairobi Convention
for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine
and Coastal Environment on the Western Indian Ocean, also
known as the Nairobi Convention on 22 March 2022. The Nairobi
Convention was developed in 1985 and came to the force in
1996. Starting in 2003, South Africa has been a contracting
and an active member of the Nairobi Convention. The 10
contracting parties worked on the amendment of the Nairobi
Convention and were finally adopted in 2010.
Since the convention was developed in 1985, there were lots of
developments and new knowledge that necessitated the
amendments, such as on; the focus on sustainable use of the
marine and coastal environment and resources; two, the formal
inclusion of South Africa on the geographical scope of the
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convention; and three, the alignment with other programmes of
the United Nations and the African Union. The provisions of
the amended Nairobi Convention aligned with the national
policies and legislation in particular section 24 of the
Constitution of the Republic that guarantees that everyone has
a right to an environment that is not harmful to their health
or wellbeing and a protected and sustainable use environment.
Furthermore, the provisions of the amended Nairobi Convention
enable collaborative effort in advancing the implementation of
national legislation, such as the Nation Environmental
Management Act and its variants. The National Development Plan
requires the regional collaboration and co-operation to
address the effects of climate change and building
environmentally sustainable ... and resilience. The current
environmental challenges such as climate change, coastal
erosion, pollution and illegal fishing require greater co-
operation in research, monitoring, implementation and
continuous assessment.
South Africa remains party to the original Nairobi Convention
and implements programmes in line with its obligations.
However, we need to agree that the amended Nairobi Convention,
particularly as required by article 31, acceding will enable
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us to contribute fully and take part in its structures and
benefit from the amended Nairobi Convention, its protocols and
its grants. During the past financial year, South Africa
received R6,9 million towards the improvement of water quality
in rivers in the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces. We
encourage the department, the National Treasury and the SA
Reserve Bank to work together in releasing the outstanding
funds to enable the timeous implementation of funded projects.
Following these comprehensive briefings, deliberations and
submissions of supplementary information, it is our considered
view that this House of Parliament should support the adoption
of the report tabled by the Portfolio Committee on
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries about acceding to the
Amended Nairobi Convention to the Protection, Management and
the Development of Marine and Coastal Environment for the
Western Indian Ocean, also known as the Nairobi Convention.
House Chair, I thank you very much. [Applause.]
Declarations of vote:
Mr D W BRYANT: House Chairperson, the ocean is the largest
ecosystem on earth and it covers over 70% of our planet.
Oceans have the potential to create energy and they act as a
sink to absorb manmade carbon emissions. Oceans provide
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natural resources and food and critically they are a source of
much needed jobs. The South African fisheries sector
contributes around R6 billion to the economy per year and
30 000 direct jobs along our 3 000 kilometres of coastline.
The oceans play host to a delicate and intricate natural
environment containing millions of different plants and
animals. The health of our oceans is directly linked to the
health of all life on earth.
Today, we consider the request for Parliament to approve our
accession to the Amended Nairobi Convention for the Western
Indian Ocean. The Nairobi Convention was first developed in
1985 in line with the United Nations Regional Seas Programme,
and it aims to address coastal challenges in line with
commitments made in the Stockholm Declaration of 1972. This
declaration placed environmental issues at the forefront of
the international agenda and began co-ordinated dialogue
between industrialised and developing countries regarding
pollution caused by large-scale industrialisation and its
impact on the developing world. It was a recognition that
mitigating this impact could only be achieved through
effective government interventions to address pollution at
sea. It also serves to address marine pollution emanating from
land-based sources such as plastic and chemical waste. The
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first of the key obligations of the Nairobi Convention is that
South Africa needs to develop measures to prevent, reduce,
combat and control pollution in the oceans of the convention
area.
One of the most pervasive types of pollution coming from South
Africa remains plastic waste. Millions of tons of plastic end
up in the world's oceans every year. An international study
recently estimated that plastic waste may outweigh the amount
of fish in the ocean by 2050. The Indian Ocean, where this
treaty is focused, is the second most polluted ocean in the
world, and currently there are more than 1 trillion pieces of
plastic waste floating around it. This waste kills marine life
and sea birds; it clogs up vital infrastructure, and it causes
disease and death when its toxic remnants are ingested by
people.
Nine of the top 20 plastic polluting countries are in the west
Indian Ocean region. These are Indonesia, India, Thailand,
Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and, yes, South
Africa, which ranks as the highest African ocean plastic
polluter in the region. While many other African countries are
taking significant steps to address plastic pollution, our
country continues to lag behind. As an example, five years
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ago, Kenya introduced the most stringent all-out ban on
plastic bags with hefty fines and even imprisonment for anyone
who contravenes it. In fact, across the African continent,
Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, The
Gambia, Burundi, the Seychelles, even Eritrea, among others,
have also implemented plastic bag bans, yet our government
overseeing the biggest contribution to plastic pollution along
the west Indian coastline sees fit to persist with the feeble
response of making shoppers pay 25 cents.
To add insult to injury, millions of rand from the funds
generated from the sale of single use plastic bags were
recently exposed to have been stolen by dodgy operators. And
if this government is serious about minimising South Africa's
high levels of plastic pollution, they must begin by standing
up to whatever lobbyist causing the intransigence and the
implement a complete ban on single use plastic bags.
Unfortunately, up to now, the government has shown similar
levels of ineffectiveness and even signing this convention in
2010; they missed the signature deadline because they were not
able to finalise internal approval processes. And our
portfolio committee has also heard that membership fees were
paid late over the past few years. It does not send a very
good sign in terms of our overall commitment. We sincerely
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hope these missteps are a thing of the past, and we will be
following closely to check that the government is honouring
the commitments made in the charter. Programmes being pursued
are good. And if they are implemented correctly, could have a
significant positive impact.
As a country, we have both the expertise and the willingness
to help address the challenges facing our oceans, and our
accession to this amended treaty provides an opportunity for
the government to show that it takes the sustainability of our
marine ecosystems, its resources, and the people who depend on
the oceans for their livelihoods seriously. The DA is in
support of the report. [Applause.]
Mr M N PAULSEN: Thank you, House Chairperson and happy
birthday to hon Modise. The EFF agrees in principle to the
Accession to the Amended Convention for the Protection,
Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal
Environment of the Western Indian Ocean, also referred to as
the Nairobi Convention. We do however have reservations and we
maintain that this ANC-led government and its Ministers are
not suitable for contributing to the lofty goals of the
convention.
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The Nairobi Convention prioritises the management of marine
and coastal protected areas, taking into account biodiversity
conservation and connectivity, ocean governance, pollution
from land-based sources and activities, climate change, ocean
acidification, environmental management for the oil and gas
industry, growth of the blue economy, scientific research and
fisheries management.
In January 2022, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the
Environment issued a permit to a Chinese ship to dump 1 500
tons of toxic chemicals into the sea about 250km off St Helena
Bay, on the West Coast. Not too long after that, the West
Coast experienced a red tide which caused harm through the
depletion of oxygen – anoxia - which affects all marine
creatures, and led to mass mortalities of entire marine
communities, including mass walkouts of rock lobsters that
tried to escape the anoxic conditions.
Another noble goal of the convention is to preserve the ocean
economy for future generations. Yet, in Fishing Rights
Allocation Process 2021-22, Frap 2021-22, the Department of
Forestry, Fisheries and Environment saw it fit to award big
fishing conglomerates with the bulk of the total allowable
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catches. Most new entrants were denied quotas for any of the
species.
It is these big fishing companies, with the necessary
infrastructure that are depleting our oceans. The men and
women with dinghies, and the lone fisherman whose only purpose
is survival, are not the ones depleting our fishing stocks. As
if dealing with Minister Creecy is not enough, we also have to
contend with the likes of Gwede Mantashe who continues to push
the country towards a climate change disaster by promoting a
fossil fuel economy. [Interjections.]
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms R M M LESOMA): Hon Paulsen!
Hon Paulsen, just pose there! We have got hon Mantashe; not
Mantashe. Please, be honourable and refer to members as
honourable also. Please do so!
Mr M N PAULSEN: Okay! Hon Gwede Mantashe! The Academy of
Science of South Africa, Assa, in January issued an advisory
on Shell's planned seismic survey. They warned that seismic
surveys cause harm to marine life. Shell’s oil and gas
exploration and production is not in the public interest, and
that the long-term intergenerational damage it results in
cannot be compensated for by short-term profits.
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Minister Mantashe labelled those opposed to Shell’s oil and
gas exploration as antidevelopmental. It very soon became
apparent that a company linked to Shell, Batho Batho Trust
donated R15 million to the ANC’s coffers.
IsiXhosa:
Amasela!
English:
The ANC cannot be entrusted with the future of our marine
environment. Everything they touch ends in ruin. South
Africans must do to the ANC what voters in Ward 5, Mahikeng in
the North West, did yesterday when 69% of voters voted EFF
overwhelmingly.
IsiXhosa:
Amandla!
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms R M M LESOMA): IFP!
[Interjections.] Hon members, let us listen to the member on
virtual platform. Hon Singh!
Mr N SINGH: Hon Chairperson, I see that hon Paulsen has picked
up a few words from the UDM members there, but let me start
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off by wishing hon Modise a very happy birthday and many more
returns, and anybody else who is celebrating their birthday on
this day. It is quite coincidental that we are dealing with
the Nairobi Convention today, when just a few days ago, the
hon the chairperson of the committee and some of us members
were invited by Winelands Trust to a visit to Nairobi, Kenya,
to look at, amongst other things, how they have dealt with the
burning of the use of plastic bags, which hon Bryant just
spoke about.
I think we are all aware of the harmful effect of plastic bags
to the environment and to the marine life in particular - and
even in cattle that ingest plastic bags. So, I think we have
our work cut out as a committee in ensuring that we proceed
with legislation, to burn the use of plastic bags in South
Africa.
Coming back to this convention, it is trite knowledge that the
Western Indian Ocean is under severe threat from unregulated
activities that are harmful not only to marine life and
ecosystems, but also, if left unchecked, will negatively
affect coastal communities and human health. By our accession
to Nairobi Convention, we assume co-responsibility, together
with the other of our nation signatories and pledge ourselves
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to work together at regional, national, civic, and private
sector levels, to ensure the sustainable use of the marine and
coastal biodiversity and environment of the Western Indian
Ocean region.
Hon Chairperson, it is imperative that our oceans are
protected and remain sustainable providers of food, employment
and even the air we breathe. At current rates, we are
depleting our oceans faster than they can be replenished.
Regional and domestic marine protected areas must be
increased, and a balance found between sustainable supply and
use of our ocean areas, especially in respect of the rights of
subsistence fisherman, to be able to continue to feed
themselves and their families. The concept of the sustainable
‘blue economy’ must be embraced, with clear focus upon the
reconciliation of conservation with economic development.
Chairperson, climate change remains a serious threat to coral
reefs and marine biodiversity in general, as does illegal
poaching, pollution, and irresponsible sea-bed mining.
Countermeasures, as well as ‘best practice’ sharing between
nations party to the Nairobi Convention and other oceanic
treaties is imperative. Marine life knows no borders and it
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will take our collective efforts ensure marine biodiversity,
sustainability and ecosystem supply for all people. The IFP
supports this request for approval and accession to the
Nairobi Convention. I thank you.
Afrikaans:
Me T BREEDT: Dankie agb Voorsitter. Die wêreld is oor die eeue
heen deur die mens vernietig, gebruik, misbruik en uitgebuit.
Aardverwarming of global warming is een van die vele tekens
daarvan. Die toestand van ons oseane en kuslyne ... die teken
wat ons vandag bespreek.
English:
The Western Indian Ocean is being degraded by activities that
harm marine life, undermine coastal communities and negatively
affect human health. These threats make it more important than
ever for governments in the region to work together to
strengthen protection of the ocean and therefore, the Nairobi
Convention.
This convention has come a long way since it was first signed
by certain member countries in 1985 and entered into force in
1996. It is, however, worrying that South Africa had not yet
signed the amended Nairobi Convention during the signature
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period that ran from its’ adoption on 1 April 2010, until 1
April 2011. The core reason was the government could not
timeously finalise internal approval processes.
Although the country, had remained a member of the Nairobi
Convention and actively participated in its activities, and in
terms of Article 31, it intended to accede to the amended
convention, it was not done in time. This cannot be going
forward being the way we handle this convention and the
implications thereof. We need to step up!
Afrikaans:
Gronderosie van ons kuslyne en die uitsterwing van ons seelewe
is nie gebeure wat gedurig in ons onderbewussyn lê of waaroor
ons daagliks bekommer nie, soos byvoorbeeld voedselsekuriteit,
maar daarsonder is ons bestaan as mens nie verseker nie en is
die nood daarvoor dus kardinaal van aard.
Die afgelope vloede in KwaZulu-Natal, die geweldige
ineenstorting van dele van die kuslyn, alhoewel nie direk die
oorsaak van gronderosie nie, speel tog ’n rol en fokus dit op
net die belangrikheid van voorsorg en deeglike beplanning vir
ons land en die land se toekoms. Dit is juis daarom dat dit
belangrik is om deel van konvensies soos hierdie te wees en om
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as wêreldgemeenskap ’n aktiewe rol in die bewaring van ons
kuslyn te speel.
English:
The key obligations of the convention include: To develop
measures to prevent, reduce, combat, and control pollution of
the convention area; to prevent, reduce, combat and control
coastal erosion; to co-operate in the field of scientific
research, monitoring and assessment of pollution; and to
establish systems for environmental impact assessment.
Chairperson, this should not just be another agreed upon
nicety with pretty words and the best intentions. We should
actively work towards protecting our Marine and Coastal
Environment for the next generations. I thank you.
Mr W M THRING: Chairperson, as we consider this report of
accession to the Amended Nairobi Convention for the
Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and
Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean, the ACDP
notes that the background to this convention is that it was
developed in 1985 under the UN Environment Programme and
Regional Seas Programme, which was established directly to
address oceans and coastal issues as part of the 1972
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Stockholm agenda, with the overall objective being to achieve
sustainable management and use of the marine and coastal
environment.
The ACDP is also cognisant of the noble obligations of the
convention, that being to develop measures to prevent, reduce,
combat and control pollution of the convention area; to ensure
sound environmental management of natural resources; to
prevent, reduce, combat and control coastal erosion; and to
protect and preserve fragile ecosystems and endangered species
throughout the establishment of the marine protected areas.
The ACDP’s concern is that the convention has links to the
1972 Stockholm agenda, which embraced the idea that human
overpopulation would result in a level of resource consumption
which exceeds the environment’s carrying capacity, leading to
population overshoot. This concept is often discussed in
relation to other population concerns such as demographic push
and depopulation. Strangely enough, the idea of overpopulation
was predominantly thought to be a problem of the third and
developing world. First world countries like the UK, with a
population just greater than South Africa’s, but has a
landmass about the size of the Northern Cape, was not
considered to be overpopulated.
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It is important that we find African solutions for African
problems, that we free ourselves from a colonialism of the
mind and that we do not subject ourselves to ideas that are a
danger to Africa’s population and developing nations as a
whole.
While the ACDP supports the noble obligations of the
convention, which essentially calls for us to be good stewards
of God’s creation, which includes our oceans and its
resources, it is the subliminal or hidden obligations which
concern us. In this regard, the ACDP will not support this
request for accession. I thank you.
Mr B N HERRON: Chairperson, we support the request for
approval. Thank you.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Hon Chair, if you visited Cape Agulhas and
you put your one foot into a certain part, you will then put
your foot into the Indian Ocean and then you can put your
other foot into the Atlantic Ocean. So, the Indian Ocean comes
right up to the sudden most point of Africa and it is a very
important ocean. We should not pollute that particular ocean.
So, Al Jama-ah will support the amendments to the Nairobi
Convention.
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The problem is that in Cape Town we pollute our oceans. In
Zandvlei we find that there is a sewerage plant and the poorly
treated sewerage is then pumped into a river that leads to the
ocean. You know what happens? A research study of R1 million
by the University of the Western Cape found that one third of
our snoek is diseased and directly linked to this sewerage
plant. Sewerage pollution is worse than climate change, and we
hope now that we have signed this convention that we will give
some teeth to the National Environmental Management Act, Nema,
and those responsible, like the officials of the City of Cape
Town, will be imprisoned for 10 years or fined R10 million, as
provided by the Act, for polluting our oceans and diseasing
our snoek. Thank you very much, hon Chair.
Ms S G N MBATHA: Greetings Chairperson and Members of
Parliament, and good afternoon to all people of South Africa
and Africa. The month of May is not only the month in which we
celebrate the global struggle of the working class and the
birth of Karl Marx, a German philosopher and economist.
Importantly, it is the month of Africa. In this month we
celebrate Africa Day on the 25th.
It is quite significant that today the House will consider a
request for approval for accession to the Nairobi Convention
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as amended. Our hon members in this House will agree with us
that our nation’s foreign policy is based on our domestic
policy and anchored in our Constitution of the Republic.
Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic states that
everyone has a right to an environment that is not harmful to
their health or wellbeing, and to have the environment
protected for the benefit of the present and future
generations.
South Africa is a member of the international community, and a
member of the AU and the Southern African Development
Community, SADC. The ANC recognises the integrated nature of
the global environment and the need for international co-
operation in policy making. The ANC has always emphasised the
importance of participation and policy alignment in regional
initiatives aimed at protecting the global environment. This
would mean the alignment of governance systems with an
outcomes-based approach, focusing on key national and
international engagements.
The request for this House to approve South Africa’s accession
to the Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and
Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the
Western Indian Ocean is fully supported by the ANC. The
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Nairobi Convention was developed in 1985 under the UN
Environment Programme, which is the UNEP Regional Seas
Programme, and established as part of the 1972 Stockholm
agenda. It is explained in the agenda of the Stockholm ... The
UNEP Regional Seas Programme is an important mechanism for the
conservation of the coastal and marine environment.
In 1972, the Stockholm agenda is referenced to the first UN
world Conference on the Environment held in Stockholm and gave
us the 26 principles known as the Stockholm Declaration that
placed environmental issues at the forefront of international
concerns and marked the start of a dialogue between
industrialised and developing countries on the link between
economic growth, the pollution of the air, water and oceans,
and the wellbeing of people around the world.
The Nairobi Convention was contracted and guided by the
Stockholm Declaration. Democratic South Africa acceded to the
convention in 2003 and this convention covers over 15 000
kilometres of coastline from Somalia to South Africa,
including the island states in the West Indian Ocean region,
WIO.
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Our country has been an active participant ever since acceding
to the Nairobi Convention and is now required to accede to the
convention in terms of article 31 of the Nairobi Convention,
and this is as a result of an amendment effected by the
contracting parties.
We understood that one of the concerns raised was that the
1985 Nairobi Convention did not cater for the new and emerging
uses of the coastal and marine environment. We agreed that our
world is rapidly changing and effective and meaningful policy
responses have to be taken for the protection and management
of our natural environment.
... support the request for approval for accession to the
Nairobi Convention by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries
and Environment as the ANC, not only because it is in line
with our national environmental interests but because, most
importantly, we recognise the fact that issues of
environmental protection and management, like world peace,
require a concerted effort, co-operation, partnership and
collaboration with all stakeholders involved. It is for this
reason that we find that the Nairobi Convention was developed
under the UN national framework for environmental protection
and management. The key obligations of the convention include
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the development of measures to prevent, reduce, combat and
control pollution; to combat and control coastal erosion; and
to establish systems for environmental impact assessment.
Through South Africa’s participation in the Nairobi
Convention, there have been improvements in the water quality
in the Swartkops project in the Buffalo River Estuary,
projects in ... [Inaudible.] ... and Buffalo City
respectively.
In conclusion, the ANC supports the request for approval for
accession to the amendment of the Nairobi Convention in terms
of article 31. We support the country’s participation and
contribution to the protection and management of the
environment. This is one of the most important priorities of
government in contributing towards a better Africa and world.
Thank you, Chair.
Question put.
Accession to the Amended Convention for the Protection,
Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal
Environment of the Western Indian Ocean (Nairobi Convention)
accordingly approved (African Christian Democratic Party
dissenting).
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CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
ON THE DETERMINATION OF REMUNERATION OF MEMBERS OF THE
FINANCIAL AND FISCAL COMMISSION, DATED 8 SEPTEMBER 2021
Ms P N ABRAHAM: Thank you, hon House Chair, the Chief Whip of
the Majority Party, members of the august House, all South
Africans, good evening, this report, hon members, replace the
report that was tabled in the Announcements, Tablings and
Committee, ATC No. 121 – 2021, on Wednesday, 8 September 2021.
It is on pages 28 to 29 of the ATC.
The report of the Standing Committee on Finance on the
determination of remuneration of members on the Financial and
Fiscal Commission dated 8 September 2021. In a letter dated 13
April 2021, the President of the Republic requested the
National Assembly to consider the draft notice of his
determination of the salaries and allowances of members of the
Financial and Fiscal Commission referred to as FFC, amongst
others. The draft determination is made in terms of section 91
of the Financial and Fiscal Commission Act No. 99 of 1997,
which is the FFC Act as amended by the FFC Amendment Act of
2015 Act No. 4.
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In terms of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of
Public Office-bearers Act 1997 as amended by the Determination
of Remuneration of Office Bearers of Independent
Constitutional Institutional Laws Amendment Act of 2014.
On April 2021, the part of the draft notice from the President
on the determination of the salaries and allowances of members
of FFC was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for
consideration and report. According to section 91 of the FFC
Act provides that members of the FFC are entitled to such
remuneration, allowances and other benefits as determined by
the President taking into consideration the recommendation
from the Independent Commission for Remuneration of Office
Bearers.
The determination by the President must be approved by the
National Assembly. Furthermore, the Commission must consult
with the Minister of Finance when investigating or considering
the remuneration, allowances and other benefits of members of
the FFC.
Subsection 6 (b) of section 8 of the Independent Commission
for the Remuneration of Office Bearers Act requires that the
Commission take the following factors into account when making
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recommendations as it did in the report. Firstly, the salary,
allowance and benefits of members of other institutional
constitutional must be taken into cognisance. Secondly, the
affordability in relation to the responsibility of the
constitutional institution concerned and the level of
expertise and experience required of a member of the
constitutional institution concerned.
On 24 December 2020, the report of the Commission was
published in the government gazette No.44039. As indicated in
the draft notice the Commission recommended after considering
the relevant legislation and factors that must be taken into
cognisance it considered the following: That there should be
zero percent adjustment to the remuneration of all categories
of public office bearers. The schedule to the notice indicates
that the FFC chairperson, who in April 2020 earned 1,8 gets
zero percent increase and in April 2021 will get the same. And
sitting allowances for part time positions per day, including
the deputy chairperson would be 5,697 as it was in 2020. And
then for part time members it would be 4,686 which will also
be a zero percent increase.
Hon members, can I draw your attention to the fact that this
is why the sentence I am about to read the reason why we are
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re-tabling the report. It Says the determination applies
retrospectively from 1 April 2021.
Hon House Chair, the House will note that the report that was
tabled indicated 2021 instead of 2020. The Standing Committee
on Finance having considered the determination of remuneration
of members of the FFC referred to it unanimously adopted the
report and approved the President determination of
remuneration of members of the Financial and Fiscal
Commission. The report is once again table for consideration.
Thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Report adopted and Determination of remuneration of members of
the Financial and Fiscal Commission accordingly approved.
The House adjourned at 17:42.
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