Mr Chairman, during the past year changes took place in the management team of the Department of Trade and Industry which I could almost term dramatic, and I think the House will permit me to refer briefly to our new officials and also to our ex-officials who have left us.

In the first instance hon members are probably all aware of the fact that Mr Sarel du Plessis retired at the end of February. He is a man who left a very deep impression on the Public Service, a man who served there for 40 years and a man with whom I personally worked very closely. He was Director-General of Mineral and Energy Affairs, and thereafter he was Director-General of Trade and Industry, and I want very much to say—I think everyone will agree with me—that I am very well aware of the fact that the very deep and fine impression which he left behind in the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs was also to be noticed in the Department of Trade and Industry.

We thank Mr Sarel du Plessis very much indeed for his years of fine and good service and I think that I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we hope that he and his wife will enjoy a very pleasant retirement.

I do not think it will be a very long retirement because, immediately after his retirement I thought fit to appoint Mr Du Plessis as Chairman of the SABS Board. This is a post which he occupied for many years and which he will continue to occupy in the future.

The man taking over from him is well-known to all of us. He is the man who led the way in the Competition Board, Dr StefNaude. He made his mark there and is now the new Director-General. We have been working together for some months now and I want to say that I find it particularly pleasant to work with him. It is a special experience to work with a man of his quality and status. We wish him all the best in the department and we hope that we will continue to work together for many years yet. [Interjections.]

Mr Frans Scheepers was the Deputy Director-General: Trade and he served for 43 years in the Public Service. He retired at the end of December and was succeeded by Mr Gerrit Breyl who came over from the Board of Trade and Industry. We also wish Mr Frans Scheepers and his wife a richly blessed retirement. One does not replace the experience of a man like Frans Scheepers overnight, and we have therefore decided to make use of his experience as an adviser, particularly in regard to our African trade where because of his knowledge and background he is rendering very, very valuable service for us.

Mr Gerrit Breyl succeeded Mr Scheepers, and we look forward to working together with him. He is a man with very comprehensive experience in the set-up of the Board of Trade and Industry and a man who has already left his mark in the department.

Another Deputy Director-General who retired is Mr Albie Myburgh. He was the Deputy Director-General of Industries and also a man with many years service—I think he had 43 years service and Mr Scheepers 44 years—in the Public Service. During that period he built up an extraordinary knowledge of industry in South Africa. We also want to wish him and his wife a richly blessed retirement. We are still using his services part-time as adviser on the Board of Trade and Industry where he is rendering very valuable service to us as a department in a way which still enables us to draw upon his background and knowledge.

Dr Lambrechts took over from him. He is a man who has also had previous service in industry and the Board of Trade and Industry. It seems to me as if the Board of Trade and Industry is now the training sector for our senior men. However, this simply goes to show the good work that is being done in the Board of Trade and Industry under the leadership of Dr McCrystal. It is an enormous task. He is training good men and we are making use of them now in the department as Deputy Directors-General. He was formerly Chief Director in the department. We want to tell him that we are looking forward to working with him. We believe that we are going to enjoy a very fruitful period together. Mr Manie Steyn was appointed as Chief Director of Industries.

I would like to conclude by thanking this management team—I want very much to call them a management team—very much indeed for the very hard work they have done over the past year and for their particularly pleasant co-operation. Over and above this, I also want to thank them very much indeed—and in this I also include all the other bodies such as the Liquor Board and the Diamond Board and all the others—for the very capable way in which this ministry, the hon Deputy Ministers and myself are supported and advised, and for the very competent manner in which they carry out their duties. On behalf of this House I want to thank them very much indeed.

Mr Chairman, I should like to associate myself with and through me express the CP’s good wishes to the various officials of the department. I should also like, as has the hon the Minister, to dwell on the successes achieved by these gentlemen, but unfortunately I do not have the time at my disposal that the hon the Minister had, and I am sure they will forgive me therefore if I simply say that we wish to congratulate sincerely all of those who have been promoted. We look forward to working with them more closely in the future. To those who are leaving or have left on a well-earned retirement, we wish a very restful retirement for a short period. Hopefully they will then come back and help us with this very important task.

At this stage I should also like to take advantage of the opportunity to congratulate Dr Louw Alberts as well on his appointment as chairman of the CSIR, and also on his appointment as chairman of the Advisory Council on Technology. I also congratulate the Director-General and all of his officials on their presentations and their efforts. It often amazes me to see how much success they enjoy, particularly when one considers the limited resources at their disposal. We should like to thank and congratulate them in this respect.

In the process of this debate we intend to define the CP’s economic policy, with specific regard to our minerals, to suggest improvements which we believe can be effected in the manufacturing industry, and also to explain our approach to the various facets of labour. Obviously there are many other facets which should be covered, but unfortunately we shall only be able to cover these at a later opportunity.

I think there can be few people in South Africa who will disagree with me when I say that our minerals are the key to our survival. When I say that, I believe we must extend the thought further to say that the real key is the maximum beneficiation of our minerals to the advantage of all in South Africa. I think we have reached the stage where we shall have to take an even closer look than we have in the past at the whole question of beneficiation, and I hope that via this debate we on this side of the House shall be able to make a constructive contribution to the improvement in that direction. I know that whatever is achieved in this regard is going to have a magnificent effect on South Africa. It will provide additional labour opportunities which are so seriously needed and so essential to us. It will also provide us with an increased access to foreign exchange, which is also an extremely urgent requirement in the present situation in South Africa.

When we talk about beneficiation, the first question that we ask is why we are not enforcing maximum beneficiation, particularly of our precious and strategic minerals in South Africa, and why we insist on exporting jobs, profits, industrial opportunities and development to outside our country’s borders. We ask the question whether this whole concept of exporting our raw materials instead of beneficiating them locally is not the way in which big business is transferring the wealth of our country to outside our country’s borders.

As I said, minerals are not only the key to survival but also the key to the return to normal trade relations between ourselves and all those trading partners we had in the past. We not only hold the key to the supply of these minerals but also to the price of these minerals. A precious metals boom, I believe, is on the cards and, according to both Dr Edon Edwards, the Director of the South African Council for Mineral Technology, Mintec, and Prof Karel Noffke, Director of the Institute for America Studies at the RAU, prices of strategic minerals have increased substantially overall since reports were received from South Africa that calls were being made on the Government to suspend sales of minerals to the USA. Prof Noffke told the law faculty at Pretoria University early in May that the time had come to hold America to ransom and to stop being bulldozed into submission by sanctions threats. He suggested a programme to use South Africa’s metals and minerals to better advantage in South Africa itself by beneficiation, and so treble the income from them in terms of foreign exchange. Dr Edwards of Mintec, I know, agrees completely with this approach. I must say, when Prof Noffke says it is essential that we adopt a winning strategy to beat sanctions, we on this side of the House agree with him wholeheartedly. Our metals could be used as a very effective weapon to persuade voters in the USA that any sanctions effected by their politicians would backfire dramatically and hurt their pockets.

I want to refer to the whole question of mineral production and sales as addressed in the report of the Directorate of Mineral and Energy Affairs. They say there was a continued strong demand for the majority of South African minerals on world markets in 1987. The total value of mineral sales amounted to R28 838,3 million in the year under review. Export earnings amounted to R23 887,5 million and accounted for 82,8% of total mineral sales. This was mainly attributable to the high prices realised for gold and the platinumgroup metals.

When one looks at the report one sees that it is a success story in spite of the efforts of our enemies to sabotage us and wage war against this country through economic channels. The average London gold price rose by 21,3%, while the rand price increased from R27 000 per kilogram to R29 230. The prices of most of the platinumgroup metals, the PGMs, increased during the year with the result that the average price achieved by the group rose by 12% compared with 1986. Rough diamond production amounted to 9,05 million carats and the local sales volume was 19% higher than in 1986. The export price of silver rose from R308 per kilogram to R379, resulting in increased earnings of R70 million. Export earnings from iron ore realised R268,3 million. The rise in domestic sales is reflected by a significant increase in local steel production and exports. It is encouraging to see this. The same applies to local sales of chrome ore, while the export revenue from chrome ore rose by 14,8% to R113,3 million. The ferro-chromium industry continued to operate at full capacity. The demand for high carbon ferro-manganese, ferrosilicon manganese and manganese metal remained firm, with exports improving by 16,5%. In 1987 South Africa also held its world market share in vanadium, and an increased international demand for copper resulted in a 21 % rise in production and a 24,6% improvement in export volume. The producers of lead concentrate achieved a 28,3% revenue increase and zinc concentrate production increased by 10,6% and local sales by 60% to 96 tons. As regards our more sensitive strategic minerals like antimony, all we are told is that there were substantially improved prices which resulted in increased income from sales. We accept that this information is strategic and we do not ask what volumes were involved. The same applies to titanium, a mineral which experienced an excellent year, with export sales and revenue substantially higher than in 1986.

It must be quite obvious from this that South Africa is the treasure house of the world. I do not think anyone can doubt this. There is a wealth of information which confirms this. It also confirms that we should use our raw materials and strategic minerals to shore up our economic and political strength in the world and to combat the attempts by other countries to disrupt normal trade relations.

Nearly 60% of our exports, mainly gold and other important minerals, are unlikely to be vulnerable to sanctions, mainly because they are sufficiently strategic to be immune to sanctions. Prof Noffke’s report on the vulnerability of the United States is quite enlightening, particularly with respect to the supply of a certain mineral—which is kept very low key—and that is chrome. The report shows quite clearly that it is the United States which is extremely vulnerable in this regard, and not South Africa. It also states that for some strategic minerals there are no substitutes at any price.

Before carrying on with the question of minerals, Sir, I should like to appeal very urgently to the hon the Minister to immediately institute action to abolish the ad valorem tax on our locally produced jewellery. I believe that this is having a disastrous effect on our jewellery industry. I also think the revenue which we get from that is a pittance compared to what we could earn if we manufactured jewellery here and exported it outside the country.

Mr Chairman, it is quite pleasant to rise to speak after the relatively positive contribution made by the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis. Unfortunately, he has apparently developed some kind of compulsion to say more about the Mineral and Energy Affairs Vote. The speakers on that subject will of course reply to him.

†Sir, while one cannot but agree with the hon member that we should try, insofar as our minerals are concerned, to effect the maximum beneficiation here and to create the job opportunities that go with it, we must also be realistic, and keep in mind the international structures and the economic reality insofar as these minerals are concerned, and then ask ourselves whether we can at this stage really afford an economic war with the rest of the world. Obviously, we cannot.

*I now want to say something in pursuance of the hon the Minister’s words of gratitude to those officials who are retiring from the department after so many years of fruitful service. I refer here to Messrs Sarel du Plessis, Frans Scheepers and Albie Myburgh. We are grateful to them. We are also very pleased that their expertise and experience will not be completely lost to us but that they have seen their way clear—even if only in an advisory or part-time capacity—to retain contact with the department.

Our congratulations also go to Dr Naudé on his appointment as Director-General, and to Mr Breyl, Dr Lambrecht and Mr Steyn. I really do think that South Africa is privileged to have men of the quality of Dr Naudé and his colleagues in our Public Service. We wish them everything of the best and we hope that their careers will be just as long as those of their predecessors.

This side of the House would also like to convey its gratitude to the hon the Minister, the hon the Deputy Minister, the Director-General and the department for the enormous contribution they are making in respect of the expansion of our real economy. Under the guidance of the hon the Minister and Deputy Minister the department has approached its task in a spirit of renewal to do everything possible to promote the expansion of the positive growth in the real economy since last year. Important legislation to meet the requirements of the times has already been passed, inter alia, in the sphere of copyright, patents and consumer protection.

I also want to make use of this opportunity to thank all my colleagues on the joint committee, of all three Houses and of all parties, for the positive spirit of co-operation prevailing in that committee. Legislation is really considered on its merits within the framework of our political differences. There are no petty politics in that regard. This fact certainly leads to better legislation and makes the task of the chairman that much easier. I thank my hon colleagues for this. The economy of a country forms the basis of that country’s political system. It creates the means of bringing political structures into being; it creates the means for those political structures to be able to function and to implement the socio-economic programme inherent in that political system.

The economic system that prevails will be the determining factor in South Africa, perhaps even more than in other countries, in regard to the political system which will eventually be adopted here. Whether a democratic form of government will continue in South Africa is going to depend upon the fact of whether the free market system which we advocate is accepted and maintained by the majority of our people.

Such acceptance will only take place provided that the system of a free economy offers the majority of our people more advantages than any other system.

To bring this about requires not only the distribution of existing prosperity but also the creation of new and greater prosperity in which people can participate equally. Concomitant with this is the creation of equal opportunities for everyone to participate in the system.

We shall have to ensure that our economic system is really of such a nature that his own initiative and his own inputs determine the benefits which any person can derive therefrom, and that he will not be prevented from doing so by other factors. On the other hand, because of our own peculiar situation, we shall have to take the necessary steps to balance out unequal points of departure where they still exist.

My colleagues on this side of the House will in the course of the debate cover various spheres in which the department is making an enormous contribution in regard to the expansion of our economy. In the time available to me I just want to confine myself briefly to three matters which in my opinion are of cardinal importance in expanding the acceptance level of the free market system.

Firstly, the even geographic distribution of economic activities within the limits of our physical circumstances and ability is of the utmost importance. It is physically just not possible to move all our people to where the economic activity is at present. Economic development will therefore have to be moved to where the people are. Every cent spent on regional development is in the interests of all of us, irrespective of where we find ourselves. This is particularly so because every area and every community, wherever it may be, forms an integral part of the broader South African set-up. What happens to that area and its people is eventually going to determine the future of the other parts.

Secondly, there will have to be a drastic lowering of the inflation rate. We shall have to work towards that end at all levels. The declining value of our currency which results in a high inflation rate is a serious and increasing threat to the standard of living and security of our whole population, but particularly of our pensioners and the lesser privileged groups.

Where as a result of rising living costs, in spite of an honest day’s work, a person can no longer provide properly for himself and his family, one cannot blame him for losing faith in our economic system and, together with that, our political system.

In this respect the State has done its share by means of drastic cutbacks, and a large section of the Public Service has made painful but necessary sacrifices. However, to give substance to this, the private sector must also do its share. Price increases and the raising of service costs will have to be limited to the actual increased input costs. Inflation must not be used as a guise behind which there is improper profiteering.

†Lastly, we will have to ensure a comprehensive and effective system of consumer protection, adequate for the needs of our society. Experience has shown that even in the most sophisticated country market forces alone are inadequate to protect the consumer, especially the old and less privileged groups, against unacceptable exploitation.

In this country in particular, the exploitation by an irresponsible element in the business community of these relatively powerless groups, has significant consequences. Those whose experience tells them differently are unlikely to believe in the wisdom of preserving an economic system of which they have only experienced the unacceptable face.

Meaningful consumer protection, as is provided for in the legislation which has now been passed by the joint committee, will provide effective protection against unscrupulous exploitation and is therefore absolutely necessary. Rather than being in conflict with a market-oriented economy, it contributes to its health and survival. Again, it is in our own interests to ensure that consumer protection is given the highest priority.

*Tn conclusion, I want to state that each of us can and must make a contribution towards proving authoritatively that the free market system in which we believe is the economic system which holds the greatest advantage for everyone in the long run. If we succeed in so doing, we will be laying the foundation for the successful expansion of a democratic system of government which will give everyone an equal say in regard to those matters affecting his life. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I do not have any quarrel with most of the sentiments expressed in favour of the free enterprise system by the hon member for East London City. I would also like to associate myself and the PFP with the good wishes expressed to the new appointees in the department and to the retiring senior officials. In particular, we want to express our good wishes to the two new Directors-General.

I would like to focus on a number of specific issues in the time available in this debate. Firstly, I want to focus on the question of anti-sanctions measures. It is now widely anticipated that the USA Congress will indeed in the near future enact further legislation to extend the existing Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act measures passed in October 1986. At the outset, I would like to make it clear that the PFP is firmly and totally opposed to sanctions as a means to bringing about the desired objective of ending apartheid. We believe sanctions are completely counter-productive and more likely to prolong the life of apartheid than to shorten it.

On the one hand—the arguments are familiar—sanctions merely strengthen intransigence and defiance on the part of pro-apartheid Whites, tending to drive them into a reactionary laager. On the other hand, the extent to which they actually succeed in slowing down economic activity and development is the extent to which they will increase Black unemployment, reduce Black economic muscle and retard the process of the urbanisation and upward mobility of Blacks.

It is my belief that it is the increase in economic muscle which offers Blacks the greatest hope of rapid, non-violent liberation from the shackles of apartheid. We contend that a combination of the social, economic, demographic, educational and cultural pressures that are generated by economic activity are more likely to change South Africa in the direction of a non-racial democracy than any punitive sanctions could ever hope to do.

We in the PFP, and in particular our leading frontbenchers, have campaigned actively around the world to persuade countries still friendly to us to accept this point of view. Sadly, however, we and others of like mind have not been successful. The sanctions bandwagon has become an emotional juggernaut which seems increasingly impervious to rational debate. The question one must ask is: What constructive response is left to those of us who oppose sanctions, but oppose them from an anti-apartheid point of view? Our answer is completely different from the answer of the hon member Mr Derby Lewis, presumably speaking on behalf of the CP. To suggest that we should try to hold the world to ransom by means of our precious metals and minerals, is madness! There are many examples of failed cartels around the world. The Arab world’s oil cartel is the most recent good example.

It would be stupid for us to embark on such a course. My answer is that we as a nation must keep the channels open by fighting back with as many sanctions-busting counter-measures as our imaginations and ingenuity can devise. I do not say this to barricade the final defences of the apartheid state, but I make this call in order to maximise the economic growth which is still possible in our embattled situation for precisely the opposite reason, which is to destroy apartheid with the potent weapons of growth and prosperity.

In making this call I am confident that South African businessmen are fully equal to the challenge of sanctions-busting. What they will need, though, is the full co-operation of the legislators and of the foreign exchange authorities. If South African businessmen are let loose on the world, armed with permission to operate through shelters, fronts and havens and armed with facilitating legislation and tax breaks, we shall still be able to defeat and confound the sanctioneers and to keep the South African economy humming and growing to its full liberating potential.

We dare not allow short-sighted, ill-informed and emotional sanctions to cripple this economy and to drive us into an embattled fortress economy imprisoned by a devalued currency and communication restrictions. That would be the desperate and much-feared Bulgarian option.

Allied to this call for concerted national sanctions-busting in the interests of continued economic growth, I would also like to call for the use of the concept here in South Africa of economic free zones. An EFZ is a special laissez-faire enclave where assurance of lower taxes and reduced Government regulation permits business and industry to operate freely and efficiently subject mainly to the forces of the market-place. These economic free zones attract investments with such devices as 100% corporate tax writeoffs for new plant and machinery, freedom from import-export duties and low or flat tax rates.

Examples of economic free zones range from a free port such as one finds on the Isle of Man, to special tax jurisdictions such as Monaco, Andorra, the Cayman Islands and many others, special micro-enterprise zones such as one finds at Corby in England and many places on the Continent, or whole free zone city states such as Hong Kong or Singapore which could be categorised in that way.

The concept of a tax haven or a free port has successfully placed the most remote, outlandish and formerly unknown places on the world trade map. There are now more than 2 000 economic free zones of various sizes and descriptions operating in various places around the world, and it was estimated recently that these economic free zones have cornered up to 10% of today’s total world trade.

On the basis of the well-known economic principle that if one can do something better and cheaper than anyone else, the world will beat a path to one’s door, I say that if we were to create an economic free zone right here in South Africa or, ideally, if we were to give a suitable part of the country its economic sovereignty and independence such as the Channel Islands enjoy in relation to the UK, no amount of sanctioneering would prevent that free zone from booming.

If the hon the Minister would seriously like to stimulate the jewellery manufacturing industry, for example—I believe he does and I share his ambition in that regard—he should give serious thought to creating a free enterprise zone for that specific purpose. To extend the point considerably, I submit that if greater Cape Town, for example, were to be given such economic independence as an international free port, I believe it would very soon be the Hong Kong of Africa.

Critics of economic free zones say they may simply uproot business from one part of a country and set it down in another, but the booming Pacific Basin and other economic free zones around the world indicate that what the Government may lose on corporate tax income is more than made up by new outside investment and the personal income taxes and sales tax that flow in from people who are put to work. The free trade zone can be an economic locomotive that brings everyone out ahead.

Order! The conversations in certain places in the House are too loud. I can hear them from where I sit. The hon member may proceed.

I call upon the Government to give very serious thought to the use of economic free zones in South Africa.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the Government’s announcement that the CSIR has been commissioned to study the feasibility of South Africa embarking on its own space programme. Many people were initially rather amused by this announcement and, of course, the cartoonists had a field day depicting such things as an ox-wagon in orbit and Buck Rogers van der Merwe on the moon.

Where was Stoffel?

He was on the sun at night!

Perhaps if the hon the Minister had referred to it as a proposed satellite programme rather than a space programme, the idea might have been better understood by the public.

Forced removal!

Be that as it may, I would like to welcome the initiative with enthusiasm. These days it is almost commonplace for nations, and even large companies, to contract for their own satellite to be placed in orbit. Why not South Africa? At this stage we are probably behind the times in not having our own satellite up there already.

While we must obviously await the CSIR’s feasibility study—I believe it is due in November—I think it is worth noting that the potential benefits of a satellite programme could be enormous. Broadcasting of large-scale TV education programmes to the undeveloped rural areas, for example, could be a spin-off benefit.

Improved monitoring of the environmental state of the nation and the subcontinent, leading to better conservation management of the environment in this part of the world, and economic benefits of better prospecting, for example, are some other possible advantages of a satellite programme.

Thirdly, the assurance of continued satellite communication links with the rest of the world in the event of sanctions limiting our existing communication links is another potential advantage.

Another one would be improved monitoring for intelligence and security purposes, something which any nation desiring to stay free must maintain.

Finally, there are specialised research programmes. It is well-known that there are some things one cannot do in the earth environment but only in space.

I hope the results of the feasibility study are positive. Apart from the benefits I have mentioned, and there are probably many more, an advanced industrial nation such as ours should be doing its best to keep up with the latest technological developments of the modern world, both as a matter of principle and as a matter of national pride and self-respect.

Another aspect I would like to touch on, and this with a degree of criticism of the Government, is the subject of tourism. I regret to say that I think we are falling down very badly indeed on the tourism front. South Africa is simply not getting its full potential slice, not even remotely, of the international tourism cake, and it is largely our own fault. World-wide the tourism industry is the main earner of foreign exchange for many countries, and it could be for us too, even outstripping earnings from gold and diamonds and other precious and base minerals. Yet all we have been able to attract is a paltry total of less than half a million genuine foreign tourists to this part of the world. When I say genuine foreign tourists I am excluding the visitors and migrant workers we get from other Southern African states. Half a million per annum is less than Disneyland by itself attracts in a month. It is a pathetically small number for a country which potentially is one of the finest tourist destinations on the face of the globe. In this connection I came across an interesting example of how much potential we have and have still not exploited. In the National Geographic Magazine of October 1937 the following advertisement appears:

That was at the time when world travel was by ship. It goes on to say:

With that kind of a head-start in 1937, what have we done with our potential?

In this connection I should like to refer to a conference which was held on the subject of excellence in tourism in Pretoria on 18 March 1988 which was reported on in the April edition of the magazine Travelog. In Travelog’s leading article it is reported that a visiting speaker, Linda King-Taylor, announced that South Africa had come 23rd out of 24 countries recently surveyed in tourism customer service. Third World countries like Malaysia and Kenya were rated 10th and 15th, respectively, which really puts us to shame.

They don’t have apartheid.

That, of course, is one of the biggest shackles on our tourism. However, there are things we can do apart from dealing with apartheid. Especially appalling services for tourists in South Africa which counted against us in the survey were said to be our taxis, garages, lower staffing levels at hotels, retailing, doctors and law firms, lack of training and infrastructure available to tourists. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, the hon member for Constantia made an interesting speech in which he covered many topics. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to reply fully to him, but I should just like to associate myself with the last matter he dealt with, namely tourism.

I myself and all of us on this side of the House would also like to see more tourists visiting our country from abroad because we have a great deal to show the outside world. We have a wonderful country. We realise that there are still bottlenecks in the industry that ought to be and can be eliminated. The State is not directly involved in respect of many of these, for example, the fact that we have too few hotel rooms in the Cape. At the moment, this is a factor which is hampering tourism in this part of the country. The fact that we have too few seats on our aircraft is also something that must be attended to. However, I do want to say that notwithstanding all the bottlenecks and all the problems experienced by the tourism industry I do want to express my greatest respect for and appreciation to the Tourism Board and its officials for the wonderful work that they are doing in our country and as a result of which we have already had a revival in the industry.

As is the case elsewhere in the world, we need economic growth for job creation and stability in South Africa as well. In fact, in South Africa it is of even more importance than in other places because here it is a matter of vital importance. One need only consider the poverty prevailing among a large section of our population and the resultant high birth rate as well as the enormous gap between rich and poor. These gross inequalities must be eliminated, otherwise we are going to experience problems. They can only be eliminated by growth. The question now is: How?

In the past our comparatively high level of prosperity was built on the development and export of our mineral riches with which we are blessed, together with our agricultural products. This paid for our imports of capital goods. That sort of relationship between ourselves and our trading partners was typical of the colonial period. Primary production was the terrain of the developing countries; advanced production was the sphere of the developed countries. This particular relationship acted to the advantage of both. The technological revolution of the past decade has also, however, resulted in a serious—one could almost call it disastrous—imbalance in that relationship. Industrial production has moved dramatically away from raw material intensive products in the direction of technologically intensive products and processes.

There was an increase in the value of manufactured products without more raw materials being used. For example, from 1965 to 1982 Japan increased its production of manufactured goods by a factor of four, while its consumption of metals and minerals remained constant. By 1982 the value of Japan’s manufactured goods amounted to 80 times the value of their constituent materials. That increase in value is based on the technology content of the manufactured products.

More and more expertise is being built into the products. The day is already envisaged when half of a car’s value will be situated in its built-in electronics. That is why the prices of mineral raw materials do not rise in spite of inflation. In actual fact there still exists only a marginal connection between the industrial economy and the primary economy of the world. The former balance between the two has been destroyed. That is why the industrial powers of the world are flourishing, that is why primary producers have problems and that is why we also have problems.

Our first prerequisite for future economic growth is therefore to accept what has already happened. The colonial economic era of the world is irrevocably past. Emotionally, mentally and in practice we must free ourselves from it once and for all. We must free ourselves from that past. The realities of a changed world have made us stand on our own two feet without our having had any choice in the matter. We have to compete in the new world otherwise we will go under. We have no choice.

We shall simply have to develop a South African manufacturing technology, and we shall have to do so bearing in mind the particular circumstances prevailing here. We shall have to base our manufacturing on both our domestic requirements and the challenges of the international markets because we have to export in order to be able to import and we shall have to replace the fall in the demand for our primary products with manufactured goods.

As far as our hinterland is concerned, we are still to some extent fortunate because we are far removed from the large industrial countries. As a result of this fact we actually have a built-in advantage in respect of heavy and relatively cheap products. Our domestic requirements in respect of all such products must therefore be fully met by ourselves. The production processes in this regard can also be labour intensive, thus making use of the enormous pool of lowly-skilled labour on condition that in the process we also assist them to achieve higher standards.

Very much more important than this, however, is the coming into being of a sophisticated manufacturing industry of refined products with a high information content. The most modern techniques and equipment must be used. South Africa must earn a comparative advantage in the new economic world order by means of technological innovation. We have to identify international market segments in which we will best be able to compete. We shall have to make optimum use of favourable combinations of production factors, which we do in fact have available, for this purpose. We also have to make it our goal to dominate internationally as far as possible in respect of our identified aims. For this we need efficient production processes and high quality linked to competitive prices. This is an enormous challenge but we have to be positive.

We must have the correct attitude. We have as yet practically no technological culture. That shortcoming has to be rectified by means of a national awareness of technology. It must be promoted by the expansion of training in the manufacturing technology at our universities and technikons; by placing greater emphasis on the correct management of technology, and by the continued support of technological parks such as the Technopark at Stellenbosch where South African innovation can take place; by giving positive support to in-service training in our key industries; and by taking over the most efficient manufacturing techniques and methods being followed elsewhere in the world.

It is to the Government’s credit that it has identified these requirements timeously. I thank the hon the Minister and his department for what has already been done in this connection. I thank them particularly for their support in the construction of the technopark at Stellenbosch.

This holds great promise for the Western Cape. The technology era does in fact hold out the possibility of a better distribution of manufacturing industries and the concomitant employment throughout the whole of South Africa. It is estimated that each post at technopark at Stellenbosch can lead to 16 job opportunities in the Cape area.

However, those job opportunities will not occur automatically. The Cape industrialists will also have to get out of the groove of the past. They have to accept the challenges of the times proactively. They have to do so now because, if not, the job opportunities that are made possible by the Technopark will simply once again be realised in the PWV area, and the chances for the Western Cape will be gone for ever.

Once again, it is a question of attitude. South Africa needs new entrepreneurs who will not flinch from the demands of the times. They can follow the example of the Government which showed the initiative of establishing a sophisticated weapon manufacturing industry. This ought to act as an example and an inspiration to all of us, in the sphere of exports as well. No challenge ought to be too great for South Africans if they have the will to accept them. We simply have to have that will because otherwise we shall not survive.

Mr Chairman, I cannot follow up everything said by the hon member for Stellenbosch, but in principle I agree with him about some of the statements he made.

Anyone who takes an objective look at the economy in South Africa will perceive a number of outstanding characteristics which are the cause of our economy not being able to get under way. The first is the reform policy of the Government of the day, an emergency measure which in the language of any investor from elsewhere makes the Republic of South Africa a very great risk.

The greatest injustice or sin of the Government of the day—and there are many of them—is the abolition of influx control and the resultant squatting, unemployment and wretchedness of these people.

The reason for the Government’s abandonment of its decentralisation policy is still unacceptable to every right-minded person. After all, the Government knows that it is far cheaper to take the job opportunities to the worker and that South Africa cannot afford this urbanisation programme.

Another major error of judgement on the part of the Government is the removal or narrowing of the wage gap. Who ran away from South Africa first? It was specifically those that had sold the so-called Sullivan Code to the Government. Those who applied it and saw that it was not working were the first to leave South Africa. Now one is faced with the situation that people receive money without being sufficiently productive. This is the direct cause of our high rate of inflation.

The Government is constantly talking about daring (waagmoed). I should like to put forward some ideas in this regard. The decentralisation policy did, after all, work. Was the Government afraid that its homeland policy would also be successful? When the CP comes to power in the next general election we shall make all the Government’s so-called non-workable failures work. [Interjections.]

I wish to confine myself to two specific subjects in our economic set-up. At this stage unemployment is probably one of South Africa’s biggest problems. When I look at the motor industry as a whole I think that with the so-called NP daring, far more job opportunities could be created in the motor industry. This and related industries already provide employment for 250 000 in the Republic of South Africa.

Implement what was originally envisaged with Atlantis and prohibit all imports that compete with what is manufactured at Atlantis. All South African manufacturers must be given preference in South Africa. This would create more job opportunities and make South Africa more self-sufficient in this industry.

It is necessary to go even further. I note in the report that import control on rebuilt motor vehicle parts is being retained. I agree with that. The same applies to the importation of luxury buses. The hon the Minister must also prohibit luxury cars. I want to make the statement today that the motor industry in South Africa can already manufacture pick-up trucks with a 100% South African content. I think consideration should be given to that.

This industry is probably the one that is most subject to control by various measures, for example the hire purchase conditions imposed on the purchase of vehicles, as well as interest and terms of repayment. I should like to suggest that the imposition of sales tax on second-hand cars be abolished. I think that the hon the Minister is going to have a small war with the hon the Minister of Finance in this regard.

The imposition of the 12% sales tax on sales of second-hand vehicles is a problem for the motor industry. [Interjections.] Once again, if we can have a turn-over in the second-hand car industry, more job opportunities will be created and the suppliers of parts, tyres, glass, paint and all the other products associated with the motor vehicle will compensate for the loss in sales tax. I might mention for the sake of interest that the original price of a new car that is traded in after 24 months is paid over again owing to the imposition of sales tax. This therefore means that sales tax is paid four times on the same vehicle and collected by the State. I hope that the hon the Minister can persuade his colleague, the hon the Minister of Finance, to abolish sales tax.

Would you abolish it?

Yes, we would abolish it, if the hon Chief Whip of Parliament wants to ask that question.

Would you abolish sales tax?

We would abolish sales tax on second-hand cars. We would not abolish all sales tax. Do those hon members understand that now? [Interjections.]

Order! The hon member for Middelburg is making a speech, not the other hon members.

The moment it seems as if this industry is getting under way, new factors emerge. If the Press predicts something, the Government does it two or three days afterwards. The increase in the fuel price is again at issue now. Is this increase really necessary? Can the hon the Minister please tell South Africa what percentage of the fuel consumed in South Africa is produced by Sasol?

In 1985 it was calculated that the motor industry would contribute approximately R3 000 million per annum to the States coffers. I would say that if one took all the price increases of the past three years into account, it could easily be double that figure now. I therefore want to repeat my request that sales tax on second-hand cars be abolished so that that industry can get under way again.

The hon the Minister should not focus only on the sales of new motor vehicles. The problem lies with the second-hand vehicles. Care must be taken in this regard to ensure that the State does not overtax the motor industry and the consumers in the process. Do not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

There is another aspect I should like to discuss. I just wish to exchange a few ideas about the chrome industry in South Africa. Probably one of the biggest manufacturers of ferrochrome in the Republic is in my constituency, and they are currently manufacturing 30% of the free world’s ferrochrome at Middelburg. This organisation also manufactures stainless steel and processes it in plate form for the export and domestic markets. They have also developed a rust-resistant steel marketed under the name 3 CR 12.1 see the hon the Minister knows the name. This product, too, is marketed world-wide as well as locally.

I have been excited for many years about the stainless steel manufactured in Middelburg. In view of all the rusted cars I see here in Cape Town I want to ask the hon the Minister whether the possibility of making use of stainless steel in the coachwork of motor vehicles could not be investigated. Such vehicles would never rust again. I think it is possible for the State to encourage such a project by way of an incentive subsidy to motor manufacturers. [Interjections.] One could perhaps also consider testing the same process for the ship-building industry in South Africa.

I address these requests to the hon the Minister because I believe that South Africa should process more of its riches itself and export them in processed form. I wish to associate myself with the hon member for Stellenbosch and say that it is necessary for South Africa to focus more on manufacturing internally and even on obliging the outside world to come and manufacture here the products they need from us. In this way job opportunities can be created for our people.

Mr Chairman, I take pleasure in following the hon member for Middelburg who is a very pleasant person, but I have a problem with some of his standpoints. It is odd that instead of leaving it to the hon member for Yeoville, the hon member appeals to us to abolish the state of emergency. That is what it sounded like to me. Imagine! A CP member saying that the state of emergency that the Government introduced, is wrong. I learn new things every day from those hon members.

Next, Sir, the hon member wants to have pick-up trucks manufactured locally, apparently with stainless steel bodies. I just want to tell him that the day the cost-increasing effect of the scheme he has just referred to has its impact on agriculture, that party must please come and defend it in my constituency. They can then come and explain that they have now decided to have new pick-up trucks fully manufactured in South Africa with stainless steel bodies. [Interjections.]

Indeed, the hon member did raise one very important point, namely the issue of unemployment. This is an extremely sensitive matter for all of us. Much of my discussion today revolves around this very problem and how we can address it.

The State must in future address itself as purposefully to the problem of leadership development among the people of colour as it does to the small businessman in the small business industry in all communities.

When I say that, the hon member for Carletonville probably chortles and says that it is just as he said—the NP is once again pleading for the people of colour; only the CPs plead on behalf of the Whites. I hope that the hon member will see from my speech how the interests of the Whites are linked with those of the people of colour. Only when one tries to promote the interests of everyone in the country can one promote the interests of the Whites. The prosperity of the Whites is indissolubly linked to the prosperity of the other groups in our country as well.

South Africa has a real problem as regards skilled and semi-skilled labour, but particularly as far as the management and leadership corps is concerned, almost crisis conditions are prevailing. The statement is made that it is recognised worldwide that approximately 5% of the population possesses those characteristics required of a good management corps. In South Africa, however, between 18% and 19% of the White population are in management and leadership posts. Basically, what this amounts to is that more than two thirds of the people who are in leadership positions do not belong there. They do not have the necessary characteristics and skills to perform that task successfully. That is our great problem: people who are in leadership positions without having the necessary ability.

Hon members of the opposition parties have repeatedly pointed out the decline in our productivity. I concede that point, because where people are not sufficiently skilled for their task, this aggravates the negative effect on productivity. However, we cannot get away from the fact that the quality of our leadership in this country is steadily deteriorating. I therefore ask that we establish a corps of leaders in the other groups as well.

I should like to mention the following example to hon members. I saw with my own eyes here at Tuynhuys the detrimental effect that a bad leader can have on productivity. [Interjections.]

At Tuynhuys?

That is true, Sir, and I am speaking about when the garden was being laid out there. If that hon member would just listen a little and try to think I shall tell him something about this matter. [Interjections.] There were two wheelbarrow pushers who had to push their wheelbarrows a distance of 20 metres. Their supervisor, who tended to drape himself over the railings, was supposed to see to it that the workers worked. Another worker stood talking to him. In the course of half an hour those two wheelbarrow pushers, each of whom had two loaders, only carried three loads each. Then they, too, went to relax with their supervisor—seven or eight men together. All of them were draped over the railings, and no one was working. The whole problem of low productivity is to be found in the fact that that supervisor was incapable of effectively manning the post of supervisor. The leader failed to do his duty to give leadership.

I said recently in this House that when we assist the Black states, we must see to it that we instil a work ethic and managerial skills in them. The hon member for Lichtenburg then acted as if I had said something that the CPs could not agree with. He said that if they helped the Black states they would help them to help themselves; they would help those states to pull themselves up by their bootlaces. It has been proved world-wide—hon members can go and read it themselves—by way of research carried out in this regard inter alia by Prof Sampie Terblanche, although I know he is not very popular in our midst—that when a situation is such that resources are scarce, those resources that one uses in the field of training and education yield the biggest return—particularly, too, with a view to the future.

Now I should like to know from the hon member for Lichtenburg how one helps someone to help themselves other than by training them. If one does not train a person and make him skilled and expert, how can one help him to help himself? Therefore, if the CP and I agree that people must be trained to help themselves, why does the CP constantly harp on our supposedly giving everything to the Blacks? Just see how much money Black education is getting, they constantly say.

Order! It would help if the hon member would tell me what part of the Vote he is dealing with. [Interjections.]

I shall do so with pleasure, Sir! I am discussing the importance of the leadership corps with a view to the establishment of a successful industry.

Get to the point! [Interjections]

Order! The hon member may proceed.

Sir, I recommend that the hon member for Carletonville makes sure that he reads his Hansard correctly. I referred to the speech in which he referred to an Indian Parliament and a Coloured Cabinet in the present dispensation. I think he should go and take a look at what he said, and leave me alone so that I can carry on with the country’s affairs.

You would not understand!

I hope that the hon member rectified that because otherwise he is really going to look too much like the ignorant person he is. [Interjections.]

We do not appreciate the extremely difficult situation that we in South Africa are faced with. The White matriculants with exemption in South Africa have stabilised at approximately 27 000. While this number is decreasing, the numerical strength of the other population groups is rapidly increasing. It is expected that between now and the year 2000, 7,6 million additional people will enter the labour market. The White trained people whose growth has in any case stagnated could never provide the leadership corps to train these workers effectively in the work place. The problem of a totally inadequate leadership corps will choke the economic machine of South Africa and the RSA will have the kind of inflation rate that one has never heard of or imagined. [Time expired.]

Order! It is a pleasure to call upon the hon member Mrs Jager to speak.

Mr Chairman, to begin with, permit me to convey a particularly heart-felt word of thanks to the hon the State President for the confidence he has placed in me. I want to say that I shall do everything in my power not to disappoint him. I also wish to send my thanks to every official of this House for their friendliness and their considerateness and to all my hon colleagues in this House for the spirit of camaraderie with which they received me and for the help they have offered me. It meant a great deal to me.

However, my presence in Cape Town means that I am away from my home town. Today I should like to thank my husband, Ben, and our two children, Ben and Sarie, who now have to get along without me. I want to thank them sincerely for their support and encouragement. It is sad to have to experience such a peak in one’s career without one’s parents. However, I want to thank them for their sense of calling, their commitment to the Afrikaner and the faith in God which they instilled in me.

I should also like to extend my thanks today to my colleague, the hon member for Sasolburg, for his friendship and co-operation. It is also with his consent and knowledge that I make a plea today for the development of the industrial complex at Sasolburg. In 1986 Dr Chris Stals made the following interesting remark: “South Africa is to a large extent based on the expansion of industries.”

I regard Sasolburg as one of the focal points for such development. In 1950 a start was made with the construction of Sasol One. In the sixties, with the low price of fuel—when it was no longer remunerative—consideration had to be given to a diversified chemical industry. Sentrachem and AECI were then developed for the use of Sasol’s product streams. Today we are in a similar position.

The current low dollar price of crude oil is again encouraging diversification of the chemical products. At present this diversification only applies to explosives and plastics such as PVC. However, there are still many other possibilities that could be exploited. I wish to point out to hon members the following benefits of such development.

It provides feeder materials for lighter, downstream industries that could be used to establish new industries. It also gives products a greater added value and therefore better utilisation of resources, higher earnings for the entrepreneur and a bigger contribution to the Treasury. The point is that it provides employment.

Ultimately it seems as if the highly processed product probably makes the biggest contribution to the development of the informal sector. In all cases mentioned we are referring to plastic products, solvents, agricultural chemicals and mining chemicals. However, in order to unlock this potential of raw materials, trained manpower is necessary. Here I should like to associate myself with what the hon member for Stellenbosch said and ask whether our country can afford the shortage of operators, technologists and engineers. Imaginative training programmes in these fields are imperative.

The reason I make this plea for the development of the industrial complex of Sasolburg is that this area will in future have to father a considerably larger settlement area than it is serving at present.

The continued prosperity of Sasolburg in the Northern Free State must be assured by paying tribute to and giving attention to its biggest asset, namely its people. That is why I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to every worker in the town. To every woman who has faithfully supported him, I as a woman, say: “We praise you!”

The successful establishment of the pioneering industry deserves special mention. It is therefore appropriate that the hon the State President should have given awards to the following contributors. Here we have in mind Steyn van der Spuy, the first chairman of the town council in Sasolburg who received the Order for Meritorious Service, Class 11: Silver. We call to mind industrial giants and pioneers like Dr Pierre Etienne Rousseau, who received the Decoration for Meritorious Service. He is a man with a prophetic vision. We call to mind Dr D P de Villiers, the father of the Sasol school athletics programme, besides all the other contributions he was able to make to the industry, who received the Decoration for Meritorious Service. We also call to mind Dr Johannes Stegman, who received the Order for Meritorious Service, Class I:—Gold. He is the man who had the privilege and honour of guiding Sasol through the rapids of monumental expansion and privatisation. This approach of winning ideas and of new initiatives adopted by these men is crucial for the South Africa of today.

Finally, I want to draw the attention of hon members to the coat of arms of the Sasolburg High School. It depicts a flame. It is the torch of Sasol One. It is also the flame of the pioneering industries established in the town, namely the petrochemical industry. It is the symbol of entrepreneurship. It is also the flame of hope for the Northern Free State. Mr Chairman and hon members of this House, may it always burn brightly!

Mr Chairman, I have pleasure in following upon the hon member Mrs Jager. I must say that I not only wish her luck in this House; I hope too that she will enjoy being in this House. I am sure she will make a very good contribution towards the debates in this House.

We have had some very interesting members in this House originating in Sasolburg. I can think back to many interesting members, and I must say that if I have to choose the hon member I would like to have in this House hailing from Sasolburg, whether elected or nominated, I shall choose the hon member Mrs Jager. [Interjections.] I think she is the best hon member we have ever had from that town. [Interjections.] As the hon member can hear, I think I have considerable support for this point in the House.

I must also say that I think she made a good contribution in the speech she made. I think her contribution for her town—perhaps I should rather call it a city because it is not a town—is one in which the inhabitants of that city will be very interested. I think they will also support her.

The hon member for Sasolburg will of course agree with her. However, what is of importance to us is that the group of people who are interested in industrial development and who support it, have acquired a new member. It is for that reason that I appreciate her presence in this House and wish her all the best with her career here.

I think she made a very important point at the start of her speech. The sacrifice that families make in order to enable members of those families to serve in this House is given no recognition whatsoever. The public in general are not aware of this fact, and I think it was very important for her to have drawn attention to this matter at the start of her speech. An MP enjoys a certain status but that MP and his or her family make a sacrifice to be present in this House. I extend my very best wishes to the hon member Mrs Jager with her career in this House.

I should like to discuss another subject about which very little has already been said in the discussion of this Vote, and that is companies. In the first instance I should like to pay tribute to the Registrar of Companies, including close corporations. On behalf of those who are in contact with that office I want to say that the staff of that office are very courteous and most co-operative. The practitioners are accommodated and their mistakes are often rectified through the indulgence and co-operation of the officials of that department. I should like to thank them for that.

†I would also like to bring the company into the context of one of the problems that exist in South Africa. We have repeatedly dealt—I have no problem with it—with the difficulties which various sectors of our economy have and the help which is extended to them. For instance, when the agricultural sector has problems we are the first to help farmers in distress and to make sure that they remain on the land. There is nothing wrong with that concept and we need to do it. However, we have gone through very difficult times and there have been many liquidations and many businesses have gone bankrupt, and here we believe that the free market should operate in this respect and that we should not really come to their assistance. In other words, it is a question of the survival of the fittest.

We spend millions of rand on the creation of jobs in South Africa, but I would like to suggest that we should also pay attention to the retention of jobs where businesses which find themselves in financial difficulty could be saved if the appropriate steps were taken timeously and correctly. I suggest that when a business which employs more than 10 people is either placed under provisional liquidation or under provisional judicial management, it should be referred to a particular board. It is not important whether it is connected with the IDC or the Small Business Development Corporation or is a separate board, but someone should investigate the situation to see whether it is practical, realistic and economic that the business should be helped to stay on its feet. When a final order for the judicial management or liquidation of that company must be obtained, a certificate should be included from that authority to say that there is no prospect of that company being helped to succeed. If it can be helped there should be a mechanism through which either IDC or the Small Business Development Corporation can put such a business back on its feet in order to retain the jobs.

What is then important is that it should not be left to the professional judicial manager, for example, to seek to try to put such a company back on its feet, because what happens is that in most cases—and history will show this—there are very few judicial managements that ever succeed. We should then put in people nominated by the board and recruited from the private sector in order to put the necessary business acumen into that particular business to put it back on its feet, as well as giving it financial assistance with the necessary security and the necessary safeguards so that one then seeks to save and maintain jobs, because it is so much easier and cheaper to save jobs than to create new jobs.

To my mind, and I make no reflection upon the people who take jobs as liquidators and judicial managers, they are undertakers, and I say this in all kindness. They put a company to bed and they put it to rest. They distribute what is left over and they do not really have the ability and the skills which are needed for that particular business. Most of them are accountants by profession. They are not business managers in that sense, and so—without reflecting on them—it is necessary where one has judicial management to actually have people there who are involved in it and who understand the business. My appeal to the hon the Minister today is to look at this whole question, to look to see whether we cannot have a campaign to save jobs in addition to a campaign to create jobs.

While I speak of the question of creating jobs I want to say that I am happy to see that in the person of the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, for example, we have another champion for inward industrialisation: To my mind inward industrialisation is the key to the creation of jobs in South Africa and we need to do more in relation to it, but I would also like to utter a word in a slightly different tone here. While we are here and while there are people in South Africa who do their best in order to try to create jobs, to create stability and to fill the stomachs of people, other people are seeking to destroy jobs in South Africa and they are doing it from outside and inside South Africa. The problem that worries me is that we are dealing almost exclusively with the question of trying to fight the destruction of jobs from outside South Africa. We talk about sanctions and disinvestment. We have campaigns to try to deal with this, but the question I want to pose to the hon the Minister is whether we are actually doing enough to stop people destroying jobs in South Africa, destroying production hours in South Africa and destroying them in a way which in many cases creates tremendous hardships for people. We have to ask ourselves whether in fact one can have a situation where people do not understand and are being misled and intimidated into the destruction of their own jobs. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, it is a pleasure to follow the hon member for Yeoville. He was a real gentleman today in congratulating Mrs Jager who delivered her maiden speech.

*As one of last year’s newcomers I also wish to congratulate Mrs Jager on her excellent contribution.

†The hon member for Yeoville discussed companies and troubled companies, judicial management and the preservation of jobs. I believe he made some very constructive suggestions and I support most of his views in spite of being an accountant by profession. He did have a crack at the profession!

A review of the economic conditions and factors which influence industrial and business development reveals, firstly, a considerable improvement in our growth rate in 1987 compared to 1986 and 1985.

Secondly, our real growth rate in GDP of 2,6% for 1987 compares favourably with the growth rate in a number of comparable countries such as Australiaat 3,5%, Canada at 3,5% and Ireland at 2%. The real growth in output in 1987 was accounted for mainly by increases in real value added to the agricultural, motor trade and financial and Government sectors.

However, nil or negative increases in real value are recorded by the overall manufacturing, mining and transport sectors although the manufacturing sector showed a significant upturn towards the latter part of 1987. While the performance of manufacturing, by way of its contribution to the balance of payments on the current account, has been disappointing, this sector, I think, has remained steady against the declining contribution of and past reliance on gold.

The recent upswing in industrial capacity, actively supported and lead by increased consumer demand, has given us encouragement but it has not yet been accompanied to any tangible extent by capital investment. With the increased pressure exerted world-wide and particularly by the United States for increased economic sanctions against South Africa, one cannot help thinking that the corporate backers of sanctions and the disinvestment bandwagon are largely influenced by the emotive and less than intelligent attitudes of their respective governments.

So, it is pleasing for me, in the light of foreign attitudes, to have recently attended the opening of a new factory in Pietermaritzburg which manufactures chemicals for the textile industry. In applauding and congratulating Bohme Chemicals on their first venture into South Africa one can also endorse the pragmatic attitude of the West German Government towards the role played by the German companies in the economic and social upliftment of the South African community. These particular new facilities do more than just provide new and technologically advanced products. The raw materials to be used are increasingly of South African origin and the plant and equipment itself was produced by South African industry. I think this is a welcome trend not only as local production reduces the cost of imports but also because the use of local raw materials will have a positive beneficial effect on upstream suppliers and producers.

I want to say something about the apparent situation and the prospects of the textile industry. The entire textile, clothing and distribution pipeline has been investigated and researched by the Board of Trade and Industries for over a year and a half now and their final report, which will probably include an overall strategic plan for this sector and hopefully a revision of customs tariffs and some plans for export promotion, is eagerly awaited. The board’s announcement that increased wages and salaries as a cost-elevating factor unaccompanied by related productivity improvements will not be considered as a reason for additional levels of production is a view that must be accepted by any reasonable person. While the need for increased productivity is obviously essential, sight must, however, not be lost of the fact that irrespective of progress in labour productivity, declining markets resulting in volume losses caused by disruptive imports can totally negate productivity in other areas.

The industry has been much concerned about the negative effects of the virtually duty-free arrangements on Turkish imports—this has been mentioned in the House before—as part of a recent bilateral agreement. I believe any future arrangement such as this should be very closely examined because it does have a very negative effect. Under normal circumstances the textile industry has reasonable prospects for growth. The industry’s index of production peaked in 1981 at 116 points, using 1980 as a base of 100. The steady decline in this index is disturbing, with a low point in the index of 84 points being reached in 1986. So it is pleasing that in 1987 a rise in the index to 91 points was shown. It seems as if the prospects for the textile industry are good and with growth many new jobs will be provided in this fairly labour-intensive sector. Some interesting facts are that the total fibre consumption in 1987 was 240 000 tons per annum, equivalent to 7 kg per capita of the total South African population. Compared to 20 kg for the EEC countries, 20 kg for the USA and 19 kg for Australia—which climatically is very similar to us—there is obviously room for expansion. What the industry needs is careful planning and teamwork, not only internally, but also with the Board of Trade and the Department of Trade and Industry.

I would like to discuss the footwear industry briefly. This industry makes a most important contribution to the economy of South Africa, particularly because it is so labour intensive. It is one of the largest employers in Pietermaritzburg, the city which I represent and which is recognised as the hub of the footwear industry.

At the end of 1987, there were 26 000 people employed in the industry in South Africa, the majority skilled and semi-skilled. However, this number had declined from a high of almost 30 000 in 1981. Employment in the industry increased by almost 8% in 1987—this was a welcome trend—but towards the end of the year retrenchments became the order of the day as a result of future orders, and the industry commenced production in 1988 with a labour force reduced by 6%. I believe this is a sad situation, but one which can be corrected with careful planning.

It is estimated that the total market in South Africa in 1988 will be 90 million pairs of shoes, of which probably 60 million will be produced locally and the balance imported. There is a disturbing trend in the footwear market, in that the proportion of imports rose from 21% in 1986 to 33% in 1987. Last year it was reported the average price of imported footwear had declined by 2% in 1986, while a substantial increase in the price of raw materials for the South African footwear industry was being experienced. In 1987 the industry found itself in a similar position.

Hide prices, which ultimately dictate leather prices, increased by almost 50% between January and April this year, and there are indications that the severe pressure on raw material input costs is to continue. Unfortunately, the footwear industry has no control over the situation, which can only aggravate the industry’s competitive position relative to imported footwear, a good deal of which is said to be overseas overproduction which is dumped on us.

While one cannot support import control totally—it was removed with effect from 1 January 1988—the continuation of the interim tariff protection introduced late last year is essential and should be endorsed. The industry cannot afford this stop-start planning of production and capital investment, neither can South Africa afford to import unemployment.

The notice in the Government Gazette of 27 November 1987 to the effect that the Board of Trade and Industry was to enquire into, report on and make recommendations on the footwear manufacturing industry, including the supply of raw materials, is to be welcomed. The Department of Trade and Industry will deal with the question of raw material supply and exports, while the IDC has been asked to investigate the retail sector and the marketing of footwear. The finalisation of this investigation is eagerly awaited, for this industry is a most important one in our country.

Mr Chairman, I do not think it is a frequent occurrence that someone speaks directly after his bench-mate has spoken. It is therefore a great privilege today to speak after the hon member for Pietermaritzburg South. I just want to tell him that if he keeps the box of sweets handy we shall continue to set them an example with a bit of rugby. [Interjections.]

I should also like to associate myself with the hon member in congratulating our colleague from the Free State, the hon member Mrs Jager, on her first appearance in this House. I think she has clearly proven to us why she is here, and we are looking forward to her contributions in future, because we have been convinced by her contribution today that she will strengthen the Free State team. [Interjections.]

She has reason to be proud of her home town and the industries that have developed there, but I want to warn her to tread warily, because I have an idea that the CP would like to destroy that place. I have an idea that they want to produce coal from petrol in order to get their steam engines going as they did in the past. [Interjections.]

I should also like to associate myself with those hon members who thanked and congratulated the officials of the department. I should like to congratulate Dr Naudé. As a native of the Free State we should like to tell him how much faith we have in him and how much we are looking forward to the contributions he is going to make in that department.

Prejudice has existed between the agricultural and industrial sectors for many years and in some respects it still exists today. It is also a fact that for many years poor communication has existed between these two sectors. Poor communication has also existed between the two departments for many years. Fortunately these problems are disappearing. I believe that these two sectors have much in common and that they are dependent on each other. Better co-operation can therefore only be to the benefit of both these sectors.

The input costs of agriculture in the field husbandry areas have a few main components. For many years fertiliser and diesel were the main components. During the past four years the interest rates became the main input component, firstly as a result of the high rates, and afterwards as a result of the high debt obligations.

The next high cost item is the replacement of and repairs to tractors and implements. The prices of both tractors and spare parts have increased out of all proportion. Agriculture just cannot afford them under the present circumstances. Numerous theories exist in regard to the cause of these abnormal price increases, some of which I disagree with considerably. I do not have the time to debate that today, however.

The fact is, in the late sixties, when I started farming, a certain well-known motor car cost approximately R3 000 and a 60 horsepower tractor—that is 45kW in modern terms—also cost R3 000. Today that same type of motor car costs approximately R16 000 and a 45kW tractor approximately R50 000! This is obviously a mistake which agriculture in South Africa can no longer afford.

It is also a proven fact that tractor prices are out of proportion in comparison to the prices of agricultural products. We have sales of 5 500 units per annum and expected sales of 7 500 in South Africa at present. We have 17 tractor manufacturers who market approximately 190 models. So on the face of it there is quite enough competition. We also know, however, that the financial position of the tractor industry is particularly weak. It is evident that the number of makes will have to be reduced considerably. From the sales figures it has become evident that the manufacturers should be reduced to approximately four. In my opinion the State will have to offer assistance. Rationalisation must receive urgent attention.

It is of vital importance that the SA Agricultural Union should set about monitoring costs and selling prices, and furnishing its members with the results. That will contribute to farmers not being exploited.

Mr Chairman, may I ask the hon member whether he does not consider that the Atlantis Diesel Engine factory has contributed fairly substantially to the increased price of tractors?

Mr Chairman, I shall refer to the ADE project at Atlantis at a later stage.

It is vitally important that the SAAU should scrutinise the most important aspect, namely the long-term needs of agriculture. It should be established which kW tractors are essential and which may be done away with. Our future needs must be seriously ascertained. Agriculture will have to decide whether it can still afford to buy highly sophisticated tractors and have them driven by unskilled drivers. The time has arrived for us to acquire tractors in regard to which these realities have been taken into account.

It has therefore become vitally important for a serious investigation to be made into the production of a locally manufactured tractor. It is well known that a local tractor can be manufactured on a competitive basis. The single greatest cost involved in the manufacture of a tractor is the transmission system and its components.

If we are able to get away from gearboxes with 20 gears and simplify them to three or four forward gears, and if we can furthermore succeed in rationalising this aspect by manufacturing such a gearbox locally, an improvement can be effected for the farmers. During the initial years the ADE project was considered an unnecessary burden on the farmers, but today this nightmare has evolved into an advantage. Between 1980 and 1986 the price of motor cars increased by 118%, that of implements, by 145%; that of tractors, by 172%; and ADE engines, by 68%. ADE components are up to three times cheaper than the components of a comparable, locally manufactured engine.

If success can be attained with the manufacture of engines, why not with transmission systems as well? If serious consideration is being given to the local content of motor vehicles, why not to the manufacture of tractors as well? I am convinced that the time is more than ripe for a thorough investigation into the various aspects in order to effect long-term relief for agriculture in regard to this important cost input.

Mr Chairman, may I at the outset also express the sincere good wishes of the Official Opposition to the hon member Mrs Jager on the occasion of her maiden speech, as well as on the subject matter of her speech. She has confirmed what I mentioned before—that it is not only in looks that she is a vast improvement on the hon member for Sasolburg!

Referring to the comments of the hon member of East London City regarding the confusion which he thought may have existed in our minds as to when to discuss beneficiation, I think that discussing it under the Vote covering the Department of Trade and Industry is quite appropriate, because beneficiation is going to lead to the promotion of additional trade and also to an increase in industrial activity. I think the most important factor is that we discuss it, and not under which Vote we discuss it.

The hon member for East London City also seemed to have the impression that we were suggesting an economic war as far as our minerals are concerned. What I was actually suggesting was that we use our riches for the benefit of all the peoples of our country. He spoke about sharing the economic welfare. We agree, but we believe that the best way to achieve this is through beneficiation of our minerals in South Africa, thereby creating more employment for all the peoples, and not for the White people only, by creating more local industry profits, and thereby increasing the tax base.

Referring briefly to the hon member for Stellenbosch, I must say I am glad to see that he agrees that we should expand our industrial base. He spoke about technology. I am not wrong when I state that as far as mineral technology is concerned, South Africa is one of the leaders in this field, and we must therefore use our strengths on which to grow, and not look for other alternative growth areas at this stage, because the situation is too urgent.

As far as the hon member for Heilbron is concerned, I wonder whether that hon member is actually with us, although he is physically present. [Interjections.] The reference of my colleague, the hon member for Middelburg, first of all, to the abolition of GST on the sale of second-hand cars, drew a strange comment from the hon member for Heilbron. I challenge the hon member to state here, either himself or via one of his colleagues, whether he actually stands for the exploitation of Blacks through GST on second-hand motorcars. [Interjections.] I think he must make it very clear today whether he stands for this type of exploitation.

I wish to remind him of another important factor, and that is the fact that more and more Black people, as a result of an upliftment in their economic situation, are buying new cars on which they pay GST, and more and more Whites, because of the impoverishment policies adopted by the NP, are forced to buy second-hand motorcars. [Interjections.] I should like to hear his comments on that as well. [Interjections.]

He also spoke about my hon colleague talking about producing a bakkie or pick-up truck built completely out of stainless steel. What my hon colleague was talking about, was that South Africa had the capacity to produce a bakkie which is 100% locally made.

He then referred to the question of using stainless steel in the manufacture of motorcars in a completely different sense, and I am quite surprised that the hon member for Heilbron confused the two issues. [Interjections.] We on this side of the House believe it would be a great advantage to South Africa if we could persuade the stainless steel manufacturing industry to manufacture a stainless steel car, because people at the coast who have a tremendous problem with rust would be the first ones to benefit. I am sure it would also create additional employment opportunities.

Mr Chairman, may I ask the hon member a question?

No, Sir, I do not have time. I want to continue with my plea to the hon the Minister to concentrate every effort on promoting and advancing beneficiation in South Africa. I called on him earlier to ensure the total abolition of the ad valorem tax, and I am quite concerned to see that, although the hon the Minister has the interests of our country at heart—I know this—it would appear that his colleagues are blocking and undermining his attempts to help the industrial sector in South Africa to develop by stubbornly refusing to abolish the pittance they collect via the ad valorem tax which is hamstringing the jewellery industry in South Africa totally. I appeal to him not to be guided by them but, in the interests of the promotion of local industry, the local jewellery trade and more employment opportunities for everyone, to insist on taking the lead and convince them of the need to abolish that tax.

I want to talk further about the advantages we can enjoy as a result of that. As far as the gold jewellery industry in South Africa is concerned we who produce the bulk of the gold in the world today actually contribute 1 ton of gold towards locally produced jewellery. We then import a further two tons of gold and we probably smuggle in an estimated seven tons of gold jewellery from elsewhere because of this ad valorem tax. First of all, this is an indication of the need for a far greater local contribution to the jewellery industry just to satisfy local demand. If the hon the Minister looks at those figures he will quickly realise the advantages.

I also want to talk about how we can benefit. We can earn R1 billion more from metal and mineral exports by increasing our beneficiation of precious metals in South Africa by a mere 5,8%. I am sure the hon the Minister will agree with me that that really is a worthwhile proposition. This will also channel more and more of the gold we produce into local industry and will make our country, with the abolition of the ad valorem tax, a far more attractive proposition for tourists. In a country like Italy a total of 75 tons of gold jewellery is actually sold to the tourist trade. I think the hon the Minister will agree that there is a tremendous potential as far as that is concerned. The Italian jewellery industry dominates the total world industry and utilised some 215 tons of gold in 1986. There are jewellery manufacturers in Italy who would be only too glad to come to South Africa to develop this industry if the Government made it possible for them to do so. The ad valorem tax is a stumbling block in that direction. That will immediately create, for a relatively small investment, large numbers of job opportunities because, as we all know, the manufacturing of jewellery is labour intensive.

I also want to make an appeal to the hon the Minister to consider the introduction of a platinum coin in South Africa. Even if we only satisfy the local market and place restrictions on it, profits on this can quite capably be used by the Government to develop the mineral technology sector or can be ploughed back into the promotion and development of a platinum jewellery or investment market. The income from a coin like that, surmising that we only sold 300 000 fine ounces via coinage, will be tremendous.

This would immediately have the effect of withdrawing 10% of the platinum production from the market which would create an additional demand and ensure that prices go up. We have the wherewithal, as far as platinum is concerned, to manipulate those prices so that they do not go too high and thereby make other sources of supply more attractive.

The other advantage of a platinum coin is that many other countries are developing platinum coins and, if we only serve the local market, then we will already be accommodating more than half of the total consumption of platinum by the USA. If they then carry on with all these ridiculous sanctions against us, the effect on our economy will not be half as dramatic.

I come now to the question of rough diamonds which are being exported but which we should be cutting in South Africa. If one looks at the advantages to, for example, Belgium and Israel, in terms of revenue which they earn through the diamond industry there—it amounts to almost R10 billion in revenue—this certainly is a further point for discussion. I should like to appeal to the hon the Minister to give this matter urgent attention. [Time expired.]

Order! Before I see the hon member for Wellington, will the hon member for Houghton please inform me whether the publication she is reading is connected with the debate?

Yes, Sir, it is the Financial Mail, and I am learning a great deal from what hon members are saying which I am correlating with what I am reading here! [Interjections.]

Order! The hon member for Wellington may now proceed.

Mr Chairman, I believe that the last part of the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis’ speech could be the subject of meaningful debates. I do not want to dwell on that, however. I just want to tell him that he initially had my sympathy, because it is awful if one has to give explanations about all the foolish remarks made by one’s fellow party members.

I rather want to come to the subject I wish to discuss, namely inflation. We all agree that the inflation rate is too high. That, in fact, is why the hon the State President referred to it in his opening address. I believe that that speech was made just in time. In certain cases we are already not as competitive in the foreign market as we used to be, all as a result of the high inflation rate. If things were to continue in this way, and our inflation rate were still above 10% in a few years’ time, we would soon outprice ourselves from the foreign market as far as most of our commodities are concerned. It is common knowledge that the hon the State President conferred with Trade and Industry, Agriculture and other interested parties. It was evident that everyone was unanimous about our inflation rate being too high and that we should get it down—even if we had to use drastic measures.

Sir, I have misgivings, however. A few years ago we had an anti-inflation drive. The net result was a huge failure because only public servants, farmers and certain sections of the small business sector suffered. I am afraid that we are perhaps going to have a repetition of that failure. If one looks at agriculture, one sees that its share in the consumer rand drops each year. Furthermore many people in the small business sector have been wiped out. The remainder of the economy has not really taken much notice of that. I therefore ask myself whether we are not going to experience the same problems again. I am of the opinion that public servants, farmers and the small business sector are willing to make sacrifices, but then the rest of the economy should do so as well.

It is a fact that the way is openly being paved—it is also being applied—for salary increases of 12% to 17%. My experience has been that on average they amount to 15%. Personnel consultants are paving the way for this, because ultimately their compensation is also linked to the outcome of the negotiations. The question I now want to ask is on whom those additional costs with regard to salaries are to devolve. In plain language, it can be said that this simply must contribute to a higher rate of inflation.

Two weeks ago I attended a congress of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, where this subject was mentioned. There were long discussions on the subject. The reasons that were advanced for the salary increases was that one was afraid others would lure his people away from him. The following promise was then made: “Watch us. We shall raise the matter and leave it to sink in. Next year we will make the correct salary adjustments.” I am waiting in suspense on behalf of this side of the House. I will be the first one to apologise if proven wrong. Hon members will, however, understand if I have my doubts.

Inflation is caused by many things. I am naming only a few causes. It is, in fact, the passing on of costs, like higher salaries, transport, packaging and profits. Another factor is expensive imports—I shall come to that later. We are so inclined to keep an eye on the rand/dollar rate of exchange that we forget about the yen, the German mark, the Swiss franc and the British pound. That is where our problem lies, because almost daily our rand weakens against those monetary units.

We have experienced a period of high interest rates that set many people back and also wiped out a vast number of people. The belief existed that inflation could be combated by high interest rates. We in agriculture never believed that; we knew that we would be wiped out like thousands in the small business sector.

Another cause of inflation is, what I would call, irregular profit-making. When one reads through the dailies—I have tried to count—one sees that five out of every seven profit announcements are above average. I do not want to make the word profit a term of abuse; I am talking about irregular profit-making. There are for example the suppliers of plastic, who increased their prices by 36,8% in a period of seven months. They gave the following reason:

To me that is a scandalous remark. After all that I have said, what is the solution? It is a complex problem, and no simplistic solutions exist.

Firstly I want to ask that we should forget about ever again having usurious interest rates in South Africa. We must also look at our import situation, because of the exchange rate. We must try to apply selective import control. It is a fact that over the years the State has favoured a policy of protection; it is a fact that we are moving away from quantitative import control or restrictions and have focused our attention on customs tariffs as a method of applying control. That has brought about moderate and selective import control. At this stage I want to appeal to the hon the Minister to keep a watchful eye on this situation. If we are going to apply control selectively and thereby place a subsidy on low productivity, poor management or inefficiency, if we are going to grant subsidies for the sake of granting subsidies, we will be engaging in an absurdity. I therefore want to make an urgent appeal to the hon the Minister to look into this aspect.

Meaningful export incentive measures is another aspect. This morning I was pleased to read that certain incentive measures that already exist, will continue for another year. I propose that we request trade and industry to co-operate and to refrain from trying to get away with transparent excuses and price increases. The hon member for East London City referred to this. In addition South Africa can no longer allow almost uncontrolled salary and wage increases to continue. This applies in particular to demands from trade unions. We must also make the public aware of these price increases so that they can complain. They must complain to the Consumer Council and the Competition Board. If the Government, and each of us—not only the Government—do not pull our weight in this regard, I want to ask the hon the Minister to intervene—eventually he will have to intervene—to curtail the rate of inflation which is going to destroy us economically.

Mr Chairman, it is a pleasure for me to enter the debate. Firstly, I want to thank hon members, who addressed kind words to the Ministry and officials, most sincerely for their support.

In the short time at my disposal I shall only have a chance to react to the speeches of a few hon members. Firstly, I want to refer to something which is very dear to my heart. It is a subject which the hon member for Ladybrand touched on here today, namely co-operation between the Departments of Agriculture and of Trade and Industry and their Ministries and the promotion of economic development through that co-operation. For example, we have already established a ministerial liaison committee which meets with the senior officials every two months. The purpose of this is to select opportunities for economic development.

Those discussions resulted in the major investigation which is at present underway being instituted into cotton, involving the IDC, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Agriculture, the Cotton Board, the Textile Federation and so on. We feel there is tremendous potential in the cotton industry to create work away from the farm, through the textile factories up to the clothing factories and also in respect of the export market. This major investigation is expected to be completed by the end of June. I have only mentioned one example, but there are many other matters which we have to discuss.

We are very involved in agriculture. The coffee project in South Africa developed from the investigations by the IDC, as did the tea development. The IDC made a thorough study into the development of pepper, for example. There are other such cases. We can become self-sufficient by saving R30 million here and another amount there. We can become self-sufficient in many areas and replace imports.

The hon member spoke about agricultural tractors, and broached certain ideas in this regard. I want to associate myself with him and tell him that the time has come for us to consider the practical and economical design of agricultural implements so that we can have agricultural implements which are suited to conditions in South Africa. The hon member emphasized how alarmingly high the inflation rate on agricultural tractors was relative to that of other agricultural inputs. He mentioned that a small number of tractors were sold and that there were a large number of manufacturers, namely 17, as well as 190 models. He referred specifically to the increasing degree of luxury.

The hon member also mentioned that the car he had bought as a newly-wed had cost the same amount as a certain tractor and that today that tractor costs three times as much as that car. However, today that motor car still only has three or four forward gears, whereas the tractor now has 20 or 24 gears. There are also synchromesh gears for the tractor which one does not get in the car. There is even air-conditioning and things of that kind in the tractor. In most cases we could manage without all those luxuries in our country.

For example, I recently made enquiries regarding the price of a certain luxury model tractor. It cost R172 000. I then asked how much the tractor would cost if all the luxuries were removed. They said it would then cost R170 000. We are therefore being compelled to import all those luxuries which are manufactured in other countries and sell them at vast expense to our farmers.

In actual fact we have First World tractors here which were designed for First World conditions, whereas in Africa we actually have other needs. I want to tell the hon member that we have been instructed by the Cabinet not only to look into the general rationalisation of motor vehicles and trucks, but also to look into the rationalisation of tractors. We cannot tell manufacturers that they must leave the country, but we can introduce economic rules to ensure tractor rationalisation in the country.

From analyses which I have at my disposal it would appear—the hon member for Port Elizabeth Central is not here at the moment, but I want nevertheless to link up with the hon member for Ladybrand—that if one considers a two-wheel drive tractor, one finds that the price of the engine constitutes approximately 15% of the price of the tractor. The gearbox, the rear axle, the T-piece, normally constitute 55 to 60% of the tractor’s price. The tractor manufacturers have now seen fit to try to blame high tractor prices on the price of the engine. If the engine, which constitutes approximately 15% of the total price is 20% more expensive or cheaper, this only makes a difference of 3% to the total amount. The big cost element is the gearbox and the rear axle. This is where the sophisticated technology has been applied.

We started to look at the cost of tractors and their possible local manufacture. As regards big tractors of more or less 100 kW, I believe that tractors can be manufactured here economically. There is already local development in this regard.

I am under the impression that approximately 75% of the tractors sold, are less than 75 kW. However, this is another problem. It is more difficult to compete in that field, but arising out of proposals we have a good local tractor in mind which could possibly compete economically, and could meet the basic requirements set by the Agricultural Engineering Industry. It must be as good as the ADE engine, because that engine which is manufactured here compares favourably with the best engines in the world. The tractor must be suitable for our conditions.

Certain proposals were made regarding tractors of less than 75 kW and we are having the matter investigated. I agree with the hon member that practically designed implements and tractors are needed for our conditions. If we can develop a tractor for Africa there will certainly be a big export market. I have been informed that a basic tractor no longer exists anywhere in the world. The industrial countries designed the expensive luxury tractors and they are imported by every country in the world and sold at great expense.

†The hon member for Constantia referred to the economic free zones.

*We are investigating all these possibilities, but as a result of an investigation which was undertaken a few years ago, there is already a rebate provision in the customs tariff in South Africa, the so-called item 470.03, in terms of which raw materials used in manufacturing processes may be imported duty-free in certain circumstances. In a certain sense we have in this way complied with the most important characteristic of a free processing zone. At present the Government is considering this matter and for that reason I cannot adopt a final standpoint in this regard.

I should like to refer to the speech made by the hon member for Pietermaritzburg South. He spoke about clothing and textiles, which is a very interesting topic. As he rightly said, this is the subject of a major investigation by the Board of Trade and Industry, which is nearing completion. At present we can meet approximately 80% of the local need for textiles.

There are only two industrial groups in the country which are net exporters. The one is the industry manufacturing paper and pulp and related products, and the other is the one manufacturing textiles and clothing. There are 102 000 employment opportunities in the textile industry. The turnover this year is expected to total R4,3 billion. Last year R240 million was spent on the replacement of equipment in factories alone. A total of 150 000 people are employed in the clothing industry and the turnover is R2,3 million. This gives one an idea of the importance of these industries.

The final report of the BTI investigation has not yet been submitted to me, but it indicates that both the industries have the potential for further development. We are of the opinion that these two industries have the potential to grow, and that we must handle them carefully in future and help them to develop. The Board of Trade and Industry also came to the conclusion that these industries had export potential and that we could encourage this. These industries also make a very positive contribution to the national economy and afford the opportunity to create many employment opportunities.

The cotton investigation being undertaken at present indicates that this year we will need 420 000 bales of cotton in our cotton factories. After the floods 353 000 bales are expected to be produced, but in my opinion we may have the potential to produce and process one million bales here. The purpose of the cotton investigation I have mentioned is to create employment opportunities here, and to get the most out of such a product. Cotton could possibly be beneficially cultivated in those areas which must be withdrawn from maize production.

I have also been informed that there is a great deal of money in the textile industry available for investment provided the investigation sends out the right signals, which I hope will be the case.

I want to mention another point here. The IDC made an analysis of imports, and came to the conclusion that at present imports to the value of R4 000 million could be economically replaced. Of this R275 million is in the field of textile machines. Recently I visited a number of textile factories from Natal and the Eastern Cape down to the Western Cape, and I came to the conclusion that the local content of the machines is in most cases virtually nil. These are sophisticated machines of which at least the replacement parts could be manufactured locally, and later on the machines themselves could probably be manufactured here too.

It is very important for us to develop these industries according to a national plan and for us to start at the farm. We have good co-operation between the Cotton Board and the textile industry, but we must consider a pipeline approach from the farm up to the export market.

The hon member also referred to the importance of shoes, and he mentioned several figures. Yes, we are also undertaking an investigation into the footwear industry in which the Department of Trade and Industry deals with one part and the Board of Trade and Industry with another, and this investigation will be completed soon.

The hon member referred to the problem with exports last year. Last year we experienced major problems with imports in two fields in particular. The one was textiles and clothing, and the other was footwear. These imports came particularly from sources in the East, like Red China, and were exported via Hong Kong and Singapore. Actually this was the result of dumping. Cheap materials were dumped here. As regards shoes, for example, plastic shoes exported to this country were so cheap that plastic processors were able to take the plastic shoes and cut them up into raw materials for the plastic industry. This gives one an idea to what extent dumping took place here.

As regards material, cheap material was also dumped here in South Africa and we had to take certain steps, because the market here is very sensitive. We are dealing here with a seasonal market, and when local buyers have access to cheap foreign products, they immediately cancel their local orders and as soon as the local orders have been cancelled, the local factories start dismissing people. This is an immediate reaction, and we are very sensitive to this.

I want to assure the hon member that these two industries are a matter of deep concern to us. I myself devote a great deal of time to them, and in Government circles we discuss them a great deal. We have opportunities to create work here if we handle the matter carefully.

In the meantime I should like to say something about the Board of Trade and Industry which has changed quite a bit since the Van der Horst Committee in 1984. The task of the Board of Trade and Industry is to advise the Government on economic policy. It is an impartial board which functions autonomously and is not subject to political pressure. The other point I want to mention and which I constantly refers to is that this board exists for the entire country.

For example, I held a discussion with the hon the Minister of Agriculture. The agriculture people have always written to him, and then he writes to me and then I must write the same letter to the Board of Trade and Industry. I told him that I was not a post office. The Board of Trade and Industry is also a board for agriculture, and agriculture has excellent economists and the Board of Trade and Industry also has excellent people, and it would be a good thing if agriculture also accepted that board as their own board. It is not the Government’s board or a political board; it is a board for all sectors of the economy.

A great deal of good has already come from this. I am no longer a post office. The farmer-economists go directly to the board. For example, there was an investigation recently in connection with increased duties on fertilizer and I indicated to the farmers that they should go directly to the board, and they held good discussions. The board recommended that the application be turned down, and I endorsed it. This, therefore, had very positive consequences.

The board’s staff has been increased considerably. The manual on industrial policy and procedures requested by the Van der Horst Committee has been published. The completion of investigations has been speeded up considerably. I can merely tell hon members how busy the board keeps me. In 1987 they completed 234 investigations, and these were not only tariff investigations. There was virtually a report per working day which I had to read. This does not include the development investigations, which frequently run to 100-folio reports. The board is therefore very busy and I greatly appreciate its contribution.

I merely want to mention that the Government gave its approval to Dr H P Muller being appointed Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trade and Industry with effect from 1 January 1989. Dr Muller was the director of the University of Stellenbosch’s Post-graduate School of Management up to December 1987. He is also a member of the Board of the National Botanical Gardens of South Africa. Dr Muller studied at the University of Stellenbosch where he gained a B Com in Industrial Psychology in 1967. He also studied at the Harvard School of Business and during his career he was also the visiting professor at the Universities of Austin in Texas and Istanbul in Turkey. We hope that Prof Muller will be happy working for the board and will make a major contribution.

The hon member Mrs Jager spoke about Sasolburg and the contribution its people have made, and I want to agree with this. Sasol is a monument for which we are grateful to the faith the NP and industrial leaders have had in South Africa since 1950. Sasol was built to exploit the advantage of a chemical industry based on coal, firstly to provide fuel, but also to provide chemical feeds, as the hon member rightly remarked. It is interesting to note that in the plastics industry alone, which is only a part of our chemical industry, 33 000 people are already employed today. These are the small plastics processors. I want to congratulate the hon member on her speech and thank her for it.

As regards the chemical industry, I merely want to say that we cannot give attention to all the industries simultaneously, but we intend to develop a national plan for the chemical industry in South Africa. We are looking at the different sectors to see what their potential is. In this way we noticed that that industry, for example, imported products to the value of R3 000 million in 1985 and only exported products to the value of R1 000 million. We feel that industry has the growth potential to make up that deficit.

The hon member for Yeoville is not here at the moment but I want to thank him for the compliments he paid the Registry Office for Companies. We instructed that office to prepare a report in terms of which a procedure would be introduced to complete the entire registration of a company from beginning to end in one day. It was important for this service to be rendered as effectively as possible.

The hon member for Wellington also spoke about a matter I am very concerned about, namely inflation. We must set national goals for ourselves. Our aim must be a growth rate of 5% and more. We must then see what the provisions are to achieve this, because I do not believe in an unqualified way in the econometric models. We must set our sights on a certain growth rate and a certain inflation rate. The Economic Advisory Council published an excellent report with regard to inflation and the Government is in the process of implementing those recommendations.

I also want to say something about the hon member’s reference to unlawful profit-making. If one looks at company reports, it is often true that profit margins rose quite a bit, but if one makes economic analyses, one very frequently sees that the profits have remained very small as a percentage of the total turnover. Whereas the profit may possibly have been negligible the previous year it may in the subsequent year be quite considerable and consequently large increases in profit do not always worry me very much. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I should like to speak on the tourist industry.

In 1987 the tourist industry showed an increase of 28% over the previous year as far as foreign exchange earnings were concerned. The tourist industry is the second biggest earner of foreign exchange for South Africa. In 1987 the tourist industry earned almost R1 200 million in foreign exchange, excluding air fares. It is clear, therefore, that in the near future this industry is going to become our biggest earner of foreign exchange.

Last year approximately 340 000 foreign tourists from overseas countries visited South Africa, and 380 000 people from African countries, excluding the TBVC countries, visited the Republic. There is another factor as well and that is that these 720 000 visitors acquainted themselves with the realities of the Republic. Where would we find a better ambassador than somebody who has personally visited South Africa? We cannot sufficiently stress the importance of tourism. For that reason I call on the Government to establish the necessary channels for the dynamic marketing of the tourist industry.

South Africa has the constituent elements to make it one of the most important tourist countries in the world. Since there is a growing consciousness throughout the world of the need for nature conservation South Africa, with its numerous parks—there are approximately 18, not to mention the hundreds of provincial parks, parks under the control of local authorities and private parks—can preeminently be regarded as a country abounding with game. Nowhere else in Africa is there a country which can offer such a variety of wild life as South Africa does. From Agulhas to the Tropic of Capricorn there are habitats varying from mountain peaks to swamps, from coastal valleys to bushveld plains, and from barren deserts to lush forests—habitats which sustain an astonishing diversity of animals, insects, reptiles and birds.

The Dutch and Flemish culture of the Western Cape, the Boland wine farms, the British and Voortrekker cultures of the Eastern Cape, Albany with its golden beaches, where the British immigrants settled in 1920, the mining industry of the Transvaal—an industry which is technologically a world leader—and still many more facets of South Africa, can serve as tourist attractions. For the full utilisation of the tourist industry, we need an infrastructure of good hotels. In the past 20 years the department has done everything it could to establish a satisfactory accommodational infrastructure by grading hotels and by way of tax concessions.

According to surveys made by the department, 50% of overseas tourists make use of three-star hotels, followed by five- and four-star hotels, while the local business community prefer the three-star hotels. What is the actual position in the Republic, however? Nine hundred and thirty-six or 70,7% of all hotels are one-star hotels, while 255 or 19,3%, are two-star, 104 or 7,9%, are three-star, 19 or 1,4%, are four-star and 10 or 0,8% are five-star hotels. Three-star, four-star and five-star hotels therefore represent only 5% of all hotels in the Republic.

When we analyse the situation on a regional basis, we find that in certain regions there is a serious shortage of three-star, four-star, and five-star hotels. For this reason in Cape Town, for instance, tour groups have had to be turned away because at certain times of the year there is no accommodation for them. There are no five-star hotels between Cape Town and Durban.

We nevertheless note with regret—from a Press statement by the hon the Minister of Finance on 4 June—that tax benefits for the erection of new hotels have been drastically reduced. Additional benefits for the installation of furniture and fittings have been announced. We welcome this. Our problem is that many of the one-star and two-star hotels are situated in the rural areas. They concentrate on selling liquor. The owners of these hotels have no interest in providing accommodation.

During the past 20 years these tax concessions were an incentive for the establishment of an infrastructure of new hotels, while in our more economically active areas such as the PWV area, Durban, the Natal coastal area and the Cape Peninsula new growth points are in the process of developing. The decision of the hon the Minister of Finance can only result in the complete stagnation of our undeveloped areas. I therefore appeal to the hon the Minister to use his influence with the hon the Minister of Finance so that tax concessions can be instituted on a regional or ad hoc basic.

In this respect I think particularly of the Eastern Cape coastal area, which is experiencing phenomenal development, and where there is a tremendous shortage of the higher graded hotels. Perhaps we could learn from the Turkish Government in this sphere. The Turkish tourist industry has grown enormously as a result of Government support for the hotel industry on a regional basis.

Mr Chairman, I certainly support the views of the hon member for Albany on the importance of tourism and on the development of the hotel trade. However, I sometimes feel that while a lot of emphasis is placed on quality, the smaller hotels also play a very important part in providing accommodation in the less well-known areas of our country.

I think it is clear from the debate so far today that this department has an enormously important role to play in the future of this country. As has often been said, we desperately need political solutions to our problems, but these must be accompanied by economic solutions and economic development. Economic solutions primarily entail the provision of sufficient jobs, something which is easy to say but is proving increasingly difficult to achieve. It is in the provision of jobs that this department has to perform.

Its stated overall objective is to promote and maintain a healthy and viable industrial structure, and it is also a fact that this responsibility rests jointly with central Government, local government and the private sector. Today I wish to make a specific appeal to the Government, and to this department in particular, regarding the lack of industrial development in the Cape metropolitan area.

Earlier this week the hon member for Rosettenville extolled the virtues of the Transvaal and, among other things, the beauty of the old Raadsaal building in Pretoria. I am sure she and other hon members will forgive me if I say that the Cape is an area of enormous charm and historical significance. The tragedy is that a higher population growth coupled with a significant decrease in the growth rate of important employment sectors has meant an increase in unemployment and poverty in Cape Town. The following facts illustrate this clearly.

Firstly, the Cape’s share of the total gross geographic product declined from 12,2% in 1968 to 10,6% in 1978, and by all accounts this is still the trend. In other words, the Cape is continuing to produce a smaller share of the total product.

Secondly, during the 1960s the Cape’s output grew at more than 6% per annum, but since then its overall growth rate, relative to Durban, the PWV and the rest of the country has been poor.

Thirdly—this startling statistic relates directly to this department—manufacturing declined from 32,5% of output in 1960 to 23,5% in 1983. This is a reduction of almost 10% in the contribution that manufacturing is making to the total product within the Cape metropolitan area. The shift has been towards financial services and government.

Finally, these developments have been accompanied by a population growth rate which, at 3,8% per annum between 1980 and 1985, is higher than that of all other metropolitan areas.

We can argue about the causes of this poor state of affairs, but it is clear that geography has much to do with it. In a recent business survey cosponsored by The Argus, Arthur Anderson and Co and the UCT Graduate School of Business, 79% of the respondents claimed that the remoteness of the Western Cape from the major markets in the Transvaal had an adverse impact on business.

I believe we are also experiencing the result of Government’s previous Coloured labour preference policy and its past failure to recognise the permanence of Blacks living in the Cape.

We welcome the Government’s removal of these impediments but are now having to suffer the hangover period of readjustment. This is most clearly illustrated by the enormous backlog of housing which we have to contend with.

Furthermore, the Government’s decentralization policy has adversely affected industrial development in this part of the country, particularly in the clothing industry.

I stated at the outset that the responsibility for industrial development and job creation rests jointly with the public and the private sectors. In this context I welcome the recently announced Regional Development Association to be formed in the Cape metropolitan area. This body, comprising local authorities and organised industry and commerce, will have an important local co-ordinating and liaison function on the one hand, while serving as the necessary link with the Government on the other. Its formation will be critically important in coming to grips with the enormous problems which are besetting this area.

Central Government, and this department in particular, also has a role to play. Here I specifically wish to refer to the Government’s policies regarding the decentralization of industry. Clearly there are strong arguments for encouraging industry to locate where people actually live. This cannot be appropriate, however, where there is large-scale unemployment in existing metropolitan areas. In other words, one cannot transfer existing jobs to decentralized areas whilst leaving unemployment behind.

A recent report prepared by the Cape Town City Council concludes that the continuance of current trends will result in the unemployment of the order of half a million people in this particular area by the end of the century. That represents approximately 35% of the total work force.

Between 1985 and 1990 the labour force in the metropolitan area alone will increase by 176 000 persons—a growth rate of 3,3% requiring 140 new job opportunities each working day. Under these circumstances industrial decentralization incentives need to be applied with extreme caution. Under no circumstances must they work counter to economic market forces, thereby merely redistributing the unemployment problem.

Secondly, greater effort must be applied to generating an informal business sector. Examples from the Pacific Basin area are clearly apposite and the programme for deregulation must be speeded up. The teeth provided by the Temporary Removal of Restrictions on Economic Activities Act must be used. It is my personal view that application has been extremely slow.

This is not necessarily a criticism of Government. Obviously the private sector has a very important role to play in utilising that particular Act in the creation of job opportunities. Once again a combined effort is necessary, but to the best of my knowledge that Act has not been applied at all in this particular area although there may well be applications outstanding.

I am aware of a very interesting development in the Transvaal area which we support as a party. By temporarily removing restrictions, factory flats were allowed to be developed, thereby offering accommodation and job opportunities in that particular area.

I would like to call on both the private and public sectors to use that Act wherever possible, as I see this playing a significant role in creating jobs which are so desperately needed.

Thirdly, I believe efforts to stimulate high technology industry in the Cape must be pursued. In a recent President’s Council report it was concluded that the general level of education in this area is higher than elsewhere. This may be a disputable fact but, nevertheless, this area is seen as being appropriate for the development of high technology industry. Projects such as Technocape, a joint venture between the Cape Town City Council and the Small Business Development Corporation must certainly be encouraged. Fourthly, attention needs to be paid to the encouragement of labour-intensive industry as opposed to capital-intensive industry wherever this is feasible. I do not suggest that the list which I have suggested contains all the answers. [Time expired.]

Business suspended at 12h45 and resumed at 14h15.

Afternoon Sitting

Mr Chairman, the hon member for Pinelands will pardon me for not wanting to respond his speech. I think his party is so irrelevant, not only in White politics, but also in the eyes of the general public, that I do not have to react to it.

I find myself in the peculiar situation of agreeing with the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis. [Interjections.] It is a rather rare phenomenon, but he is quite right. The hon member Mrs Jager is much better-looking than I am. She is also much cleverer than I am, but I have bad news for him. She is much more effective against the CP’s. So there are difficult times ahead for him. [Interjections.] As a fellow Northern Free Stater and a fellow Sasolburger, may I congratulate her on an outstanding speech.

I want to refer to small business development in South Africa, but before I come to that, we shall first have to have a few moments of quiet, so that the breakers from the right-wing radical boycott party who want to leave the Chamber can do so. [Interjections.] Normally, when one argues with them, they are so intolerant that they walk out. They do not see their way clear to arguing and tolerate no standpoint but their own.

I submit that the economic policy of the rightwing radical runaway party is playing into the hands of the ANC, and I shall come to that. [Interjections.] They are playing into the hands of the ANC to the same degree that the speech made by the hon member for Lichtenburg on the McCann report the other day played into the hands of the ANC. A strategy had been planned to counter the ANC in an effort to ensure that the municipal elections in South Africa succeeded, and there was a report that it would cost R4,7 million. The hon member for Lichtenburg’s speech means 10 million roubles to the ANC. [Interjections.] That is what it is worth, because he discredited the report. I understand they are going to erect a monument to him somewhere in the north of Africa. I hear that the terrorists of the ANC are dancing round the campfires in Lusaka at night, and in the flickering light one sees them holding AK-47s in one hand and in the other a hammer and sickle, chanting in chorus: “Ferdie, Ferdie, Comrade Ferdie!” [Interjections.]

Order! The hon member for Sasolburg must not digress so far from the Vote under discussion.

Mr Chairman, I wanted to add that they are considering awarding him the Order of Lenin, but I shall not take the matter any further.

Order! The hon member should rather not say that.

Mr Chairman, may I ask the hon member a question?

No, Mr Chairman, not the hon member for Pietersburg! [Interjections.]

I should like to say a few words on small business development, and then I want to come to the policy of the right-wing radical boycott party on this matter. [Interjections.]

We concentrate in South Africa on small business development, and it plays an extremely important role in our economy. For this we have the SBDC, which is mainly concerned with granting credit, inter alia, to emergent industries, but also to formal industries. We are pleased to read in its annual report that the number of loans granted almost doubled to 6 900 in the past year, and that direct loans granted also virtually doubled to R177 million per year. We greatly appreciate this. Even though they have had failures, there have also been successes. We wish them everything of the best with their task.

There is another leg of small business development, and that is the Advisory Bureau for Small Business Undertakings, whose main function is to give advice. We also received a very good annual report from them, in which they set out the total services rendered, persons contacted, consultations dealt with, advice given in letters, the analysis of statements, attendance at courses, etc. I think they are also rendering a tremendous service in this regard.

My question is just how many of the people who apply for loans and advice are White and how many are non-White. I suspect—I am asking the hon the Minister—that more Black people apply for loans. I also have an idea that the majority of loans granted to Black people are smaller loans for the emergent industries. However, we should like information from the hon the Minister in this connection because the opposition is making political capital out of this.

I shall come to the opposition in a moment, but I first want to put the NP’s standpoint in this matter. The expansion of private enterprise is part of NP policy. It is based, of course, on proprietary rights and effective competition. Private enterprise is the primary instrument for developing opportunities in South Africa and realising our development potential. Private enterprise is the best method of creating job opportunities for all. Private enterprise is also the best way to engender and develop prosperity in the country. In addition, it is also the best way of distributing tax responsibility. It develops responsible citizenship. Personally, I believe that the expansion of private enterprise—small business development has an important role to play in this—is one of our best weapons against socialism, particularly the socialism of the ANC.

Let us look at where the Official Opposition stands in this regard. The Official Opposition is against privatisation and the establishment of private enterprise. They shout this out on the front pages of their gossip-mongering pamphlets as a sell-out of the national assets. Imagine! If we want to promote private enterprise in this country, the right-wing radical party is opposed to it, as they usually are opposed to everything which is fit and proper. They are opposed to deregulation. They regard it as a betrayal of the Afrikaner businessman. I think that is the reason why they are forming these new Afrikaans business circles these days.

I put it to the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis, who is their chief spokesman and has most to say about privatisation and private enterprise, that his party is strongly socialist-orientated. Of course, the AWB wing of that party is pre-eminently socialist-orientated. I put that to the hon member. I am surprised he has not walked out yet; he is still sitting here. I also put it to him that the ANC welcomes their standpoints on this matter. Just as they want our propaganda campaign, aimed at ensuring that as many people as possible participate in the municipal elections this year to fail, therefore welcoming the hon member for Lichtenburg’s, likewise the ANC welcomes the economic policy of the right-wing radical boycott party. They also hate private enterprise because it hampers the establishment of a totalitarian system, which they stand for.

The racism of the Official Opposition is, however, much worse. They say only Whites must be helped. The hon member for Carletonville is the great advocate of only Whites being helped in this regard. Blacks may not be assisted by the SBDC.

Let me tell the hon member for Carletonville and the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis that their standpoint is a blow that pierces to the very heart of South Africa. Privatisation and the development of private enterprise is one of the most important weapons we have against terrorism and the totalitarian systems of the ANC. But the hon members are undermining this. There is no doubt that they are playing into the hands of the ANC.

I want to wish the SBDC and the Advisory Bureau for Small Business Development everything of the best: Be of service to all clients, whether they be Black or White; carry on doing so, because it is in the interests of all of us in this country who reject communism.

Mr Chairman, many hon members have already congratulated the hon member Mrs Jager on her speech, and I cannot neglect to do the same. I am certain that she will make a positive contribution in this House. Of one thing I am sure and that is that she has a first-class husband who will support her. He also comes from my hometown and that of the hon member for Middelburg, and we were even neighbours for a while. We wish her everything of the best here in this House.

The hon member Mr Derby-Lewis referred to his approach to the economy.

+He spoke about the importance of the mining sector and, of course, nobody can doubt the importance of the mining sector. However, he then went much further and said that the mining sector and minerals were the key to our survival and to the return to normal trading relations. Now, Sir, unfortunately that is not the case. It cannot be the case because the mining industry’s contribution towards the gross domestic product has been shrinking. Whilst the contribution by mining towards the gross domestic product was 16,4% in 1986, by 1987 it had shrunk by 3,1%, to 13,5% of the gross domestic product.

The manufacturing sector, however, has been growing in importance and significance. In 1986 its contribution towards the gross domestic product was 21,8% and in 1987 it had risen by 3,9% to 23,2%. Therefore, when one compares mining and manufacturing, one notices that they respectively contribute 13,5% and 23,2% towards the gross domestic product. Here lies a big problem for the CP, because South Africa’s prosperity, its standards and its economic welfare will depend more and more on growth in the manufacturing sector. That is precisely the area where the CP is going to find itself dealing with inherent internal forces which it will not be able to control through its policies.

When the mining industry and the agricultural industry were the main contributors towards our gross domestic product—that was until the middle 1930s—it was relatively easy for a government and the business houses to apply a segregation policy. There were masses of relatively unskilled labourers who could be segregated. There was also sufficient White skilled labour to take the White jobs.

Once the industrial revolution hit South Africa in the 1930s and onwards, and a growing number of Blacks were pulled into the manufacturing sector, it became more and more difficult to apply the segregation policies of the Government. In the 1960s there was an explosion in the economy of South Africa. There were fantastic growth rates. By the end of the 1960s the then Government, with Dr Verwoerd still at the helm, found itself in a very difficult situation. It had to deal with an unbelievable demand for skilled manpower and also with the pressure that was being applied on urban areas.

Since the decades of the sixties and seventies the NP Government—some of the members of that Government are still in the NP today—has had to give in to those pressures. They had to allow the economic growth to carry on, hand in hand with a relaxation of some of the restrictive measures that had been introduced. Influx control had to go, not because the NP had moral qualms about it, but because of the pressures inherent of the economy. The policies relating to urbanization were relaxed by the Government, not because there was a change of heart, but because the growth in the manufacturing sector and in the economy as a whole had produced a massive urban influx, a class of worker who was becoming organised and, as a necessity, growing educational standards. All sorts of forces were let loose as a result of that—forces which this Government could not contain anymore and which no conservative government would be able to contain, unless it was prepared to allow the economy’s growth to become negative and to allow the standards of education—and all other standards—to drop.

Because the economy is such a powerful force in changing the politics of the country, in changing the social circumstances, sanctions inhibit that aspect. Therefore I can find no fault with the reasoning of the hon member for Constantia this morning for opposing sanctions. Sanctions are counterproductive in the sense that they inhibit and retard this powerful force which will change all segregationist and separationist policies of this Government and of the CP. Sanctions just make it easier to pass on the delusion that that type of policy is possible. It must fail in the long run, because the economy will wipe it out.

Mr Chairman, at the outset I want to congratulate the hon member Mrs Jager sincerely on her maiden speech. I think she made a most interesting contribution. The hon the Deputy Minister and hon members on the other side of the House referred to this. Hon members on our side of the House have welcomed her, congratulated her and wished her well. It was pleasant listening to her, but I think it is also pleasant to look at her. [Interjections.]

†I think the golden thread through the speeches of each and every hon member today in this debate can basically be summed up by saying that it had to do with the growth of our economy, with industrial development and with beneficiation—added value to our dwindling mineral resources. I will come back to hon members separately, but before I do that, I first of all want to reply to the hon member for Yeoville, and I hope hon members will forgive me for doing so. I believe he has other appointments that he has to fulfil and therefore I would like to show him the courtesy of replying to him first.

I shall be very brief. He mentioned judicial management, and I fully agree with him. I have the figures relating to the IDC’s efforts to save industries that are in trouble. Their success rate is commendable. It is high, whereas the success rate in the judicial management system, as the hon member quite correctly pointed out, is very low. I shall take his appeal to heart, and I will definitely see whether it is not possible to change the system in order to save industries, to save jobs, instead of destroying them. I fully agree with the hon member, and we will pay the necessary attention to what he said. I thank him for his contribution.

*I think I shall be able to deal with the speeches of most hon members this afternoon by making some general remarks. I want to refer to a few matters. In the first place I want to refer to the growthrate problem in our economy. The econometric models are designed around economic indicators which can be assessed. It has been said that there is a ceiling to South Africa’s growth potential, and that ceiling is estimated at approximately 2,3% to 2,6%.

I really have a problem with this, because econometrically it is perhaps justifiable from a scientific point of view, but I think there is another factor which has not been taken into account. I want to look specifically at the non-assessable economic indicators such as the informal sector, and probably the small formal sector. Many hon members have referred to it, and the hon member for Sasolburg devoted his speech to this and gave some interesting illustrations. I do not want to associate myself with him, but he was quite correct in his summing up of this issue. It has been said that we should give more attention to the development of the informal and small formal sectors.

When considering what the Government has done in this connection, I think we must look at what the Taiwanese have done—I shall refer to them again in a moment—with their concept of “science parks” and “industrial youth parks”. Through these the small entrepreneur is given the opportunity of participating in the industrial forum and being a member of the industrial manufacturing family.

This concept has already found favour in South Africa. I think the hon member for Pinelands has referred to the question of Technocape and, of course, the Technopark at Stellenbosch. I think these are the seeds of a development of cardinal importance to South Africa. This sort of technological park must be developed. Until now it has been the exclusive function of the private sector. I think the one in the Cape has been developed mainly in co-operation with the SBDC. However, I think the State will have to develop a system, either in conjunction with the SBDC or the IDC, with a view to greater involvement in making the infrastructure available to small business undertakings which will enable them to exercise their entrepreneurship. I think the parks which have already been developed should really be supported.

I think the hon member for Sasolburg referred to the SBDC and specifically to the various financing techniques and methods of the SBDC. It is a success story of loans granted to small industries and small businesses. I think the loans start at levels as low as R5 000 or less and rise to levels far in excess of R300 000 in individual cases. The IDC has also started financing small businesses or small industries. I do have a problem with this, and I think we shall have to hold discussions with the IDC about the R50 million ceiling they have instituted. It is far too high.

I want to refer again to Taiwan. I do not think their circumstances can be compared precisely with those of South Africa, but we can learn from them. If we look at the Taiwanese situation, with specific reference to small and medium-scale industries, we find that Taiwan defines a small and a medium-scale industry as an industry with an asset structure of less than R6 million and a share structure of less than R2 million. That is their policy regarding small business undertakings. It is very successful. How successful is it? It is so successful that industries in this category comprise 90% of all industries in Taiwan. Seventy percent of all job opportunities created in Taiwan are created by these industries. These industries generate 55% of Taiwan’s GDP. I thank those hon members who have focused on the importance of industrial development and the development of small industrial development. I think we can learn from what we have seen there.

This brings me to the following aspect which was touched on by almost every member who took part in this debate. I want to give it a different focus today and refer to it as investment.

We must encourage investment in South Africa. Hon members will ask me now why we should do this. In my view it is important because through investment we can succeed in promoting technological development in South Africa. We must promote technological development in South Africa because without it we cannot promote the beneficiation to which hon members have referred. There must therefore be expenditure and investment in South Africa so that beneficiation can take place and so as to enhance the valueadded component of our mineral products.

However, it is also important to have investment for the creation of job opportunities. We must also have investment for the purposes of import replacement with a view to protecting our balance of payments. We must have investment for purposes of inward industrialisation, so that we can get the country’s economy off the ground. It is, however, also very important to have investment to promote our technology in order to achieve a comparative benefit in our industrial production and compete on the export markets of the world, because if we cannot compete in the export markets of the world South Africa has no hope of growth.

Your policies are chasing them out of South Africa!

We must compete with foreigners on their own markets, and that is a comparative advantage.

You are chasing them away!

When we study the investment pattern in South Africa, we see that with investment in Mossgas, this Government has again taken the lead in re-establishing confidence in South Africa. It is very interesting to note that immediately afterwards the private sector invested in it on a large scale. During the past few weeks there have been announcements of a largescale investment programme in the chemical industry. There has also been large investment in the mining industry.

The private sector, but specifically the State through its organisations such as the SBDC and the IDC, must become involved by way of investment in the medium-scale undertakings in particular.

An important fact is that we can invest as much as we like, but if we do not have the skilled manpower to work in those industries we shall make no progress. We must therefore give in-depth consideration to our training pattern in South Africa. At the moment there are 240 000 students at 20 universities, and 45 000 students at 12 technikons. I think we should examine two things in our training programme. In relation to our universities and technikons, we should give attention to the rationalisation of our resources which are in short supply, namely manpower and capital. Today I want to ask pertinently whether South Africa can still afford 10 engineering faculties in this country. I think we must rationalise dramatically so that we can effectively use our training facilities which are in short supply to give sufficient training to good quality people.

I think we should give far more prominence to technikon training. The ratio of engineers to technicians in the everyday industrial sphere should, depending on the industry, be approximately 1:5 to 1:10. I think the ratio in South Africa is 1:2. It is, however, also important that the Government should give priority to State assistance for training students. A system will have to be investigated in terms of which the State will subsidise technical and engineering training in some form or other, so that we can recruit more students for these professions. In Taiwan—again I want to take that country as an illustration—49% of all students study technical subjects at colleges and universities. In South Africa the figure is as low as 4%.

There is, however, a second aspect which must be considered together with the technical aspect. It is no use having the technical people when we have neglected to develop management potential in South Africa. When I come to refer to hotels in a moment I shall refer to this briefly. We must also look at management potential.

The hon member for Albany referred to tourism. The hon member for Constantia also referred to tourism, and I agree with him that tourism could become one of the most important industries in South Africa. Let us look at what happened last year. Last year local tourists spent R2 000 million in this country, while foreign tourists to South Africa spent R1 000 million, excluding transport costs. Last year our tourism grew by between 9% and 14%, but even last year we had a problem in dealing with tourism, and here I am referring to transport and accommodation for tourists.

I do not want to say much about transport, but we shall have to take an in-depth look at accommodation. The hon member for Albany referred to this. In South Africa we have 7 000 beds in five-star hotels; 5 900 beds in four-star hotels; 24 600 beds in three-star hotels; 23 000 beds in two-star hotels and 31 000 beds in one-star hotels. However, we are up against a problem. Accommodation for tourists is in the process of shifting from one-star and two-star hotels to three-star, four-star and five-star hotels. We must therefore spend far more money on three-star, four-star and five-star hotels.

We will have to examine this situation very carefully. When we consider the number of beds available in one-star and two-star hotels, we will have to look at the standard of accommodation in one-star and two-star hotels. If the standard of accommodation in two-star hotels could be raised to an acceptable level, I venture to say that we would have adequate accommodation in South Africa to meet the requirements of the next phase of our tourism industry.

However, our one-star and two-star hotels are developing into unclean and unsavoury places, and this applies to most of them. They are becoming places where liquor is abused …

One can have mixed parties there!

… and we shall really have to give a lot of attention to this. We will have to liaise much more closely with the SA Tourist Corporation so that, if they are unable to provided accommodation of a certain standard to the tourist industry, we will simply have to rescind their liquor licences. I should like to issue this warning today to those hotels which misuse liquor to the detriment of accommodation in South Africa.

†In the short time at my disposal, I want to react to a few of the speeches that have been made. The hon member Mr Derby-Lewis referred to the jewellery industry and I will reply to him. I am on the point of making a statement in this regard during the debate on the Mineral and Energy Affairs Vote. I think I will leave him at that until we get to that point. I am quite pleased that the hon member eventually retracted by saying he did not mean that we should retaliate by withholding our assets or our minerals from the outside world but that we should rather beneficiate them. I fully agree with the hon member and I am glad that he retracted on that one. I think this point was also made by the hon member for Constantia and I wish to thank him for that. Otherwise, Mr Chairman, I have no quarrel with what the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis said in his speeches. I agree with most of what he said.

*I want to thank the hon member for East London City most sincerely. He is an extremely capable chairman of a standing committee. I think this year he will, with great expertise, be piloting something like 11 Bills through his standing committee for the department. We thank him and all the hon members of his standing committee. The hon member referred to geographic distribution, the inflation rate and the protection of the consumer. I think he dealt positively with all these matters and made a very good speech. We thank the hon member.

†I think I have referred to most of the points made by the hon member for Constantia and the hon the Deputy Minister also referred to some of these points, especially as far as the free zones are concerned. I thank him for supporting the fact that we should not retaliate by also imposing sanctions from our side. I fully agree with him because that is also the policy of the Government!

*The hon member for Stellenbosch also made a very good speech for which I thank him. The hon member referred to the importance of the development of technology and I think we all support that.

The hon member for Middelburg also made a very good speech but it is a pity he spoilt it by mentioning a few things which he had not taken the trouble to verify. Unfortunately my time has expired but I should like to refer to the fuel price which he says we are going to increase all of a sudden. He wanted to know why. We have not once said that we intended raising the fuel price at this stage. That statement is quite untrue.

The hon member for Heilbron referred to the leadership corps. I fully agree with him. I hope that I also replied to that in my remarks on training. I fully agree that we must develop a leadership corps in South Africa.

The hon members for Pietermaritzburg South, Ladybrand and Wellington have already had replies from my colleague, the hon the Deputy Minister. I thank them sincerely for their very good contributions. I have already referred to the hon member for Albany.

†I also want to thank the hon member for Pinelands and the hon member for Sasolburg and Durban Central. I want to thank all hon members once again for their contributions and for a very interesting debate.

Mr Chairman, I should like to begin by thanking the hon the Minister for his comments and by saying that I certainly look forward with great interest to what he intends to announce later. I also want to say that I am in total agreement with the hon the Minister when he speaks about investing in technology for the benefit of the country and I cannot differ with him with regard to his comments about the need for training. He uses Taiwan as an example to illustrate this and I just want to say—I think the hon the Minister may be aware of it—that if he does not move quickly enough we may find that the Taiwanese have taken over the lucrative gold jewellery market while we sit around trying to make up our minds whether we should abolish the ad valorem tax and promote the industry.

I should also like to associate myself with the hon the Deputy Minister—who is not in the House at the moment—in the congratulations which he extended to the officials on their appointments. I echo those sentiments.

I do not intend to refer to the speech by the hon member for Sasolburg. I do not think I have heard so much rubbish for a long time. [Interjections.] As far as the hon member for Durban Central is concerned I think I must remind him that the reduction which he referred to in respect of our mineral sales was a reduction in rand value. He should have paid attention when I mentioned the increase in percentages because that was as a result of the favourable value of the rand against the gold price.

* A great deal has been said here about tractors—large ones, small ones and tractors with many gears. I wonder whether hon members have heard what a certain farmer’s comment was when a large, powerful tractor was being demonstrated one farmers’ day. It was as follows:

That is in fact the problem with these powerful, expensive tractors, Sir. [Interjections.]

†I must congratulate the hon the Minister on the successful legislation which keeps coming through from his department to regulate and to legislate against the sanctions campaign and to counteract methods used against us as far as snooping and spying are concerned. On the other hand, however, I am worried about how little we do to actively counteract that sanctions campaign. I do not mean the subterfuge to which we have to resort in order to sell our products. I do not think that we as a self-respecting sovereign state need to go to those lengths and should submit ourselves to that kind of treatment by anybody in order to maintain reasonably normal trade relations.

I find it strange that the Government that fought so hard and succeeded in shaking off the shackles of colonialism and founded the Republic of South Africa, which we all supported wholeheartedly, should now continue to allow this country to be a mineral colony of the West. I also want to say it is becoming apparent that the NP, instead of changing the game of rugby, is actually moving around the goalposts. We remember how, during the 1970s, we were told how invincible South Africa was, how immune to sanctions against our precious and strategic minerals. Now they tell us we cannot do without the exports of those minerals.

I want to appeal to the hon the Minister to co-ordinate the establishment of a platinum producing cartel in order to ensure that users who enforce trade sanctions against us will also have to revert to subterfuge in order to obtain supplies. According to overseas bullion dealers and futures traders well-disposed to us we should set up a marketing cartel to co-ordinate even the setting of a fixed price advantageous to South Africa and obviously to our clients too.

They do not produce the minerals; we do. Why then should they fix the prices? A marketing cartel also in platinum or chrome would give us the ability to control the quantities of minerals we export. In this manner we can effect higher prices and we can also ensure that stockpiling is not carried out so that more pressure can be exerted on us over a short period. This cartel would enable us to monitor supplies in order to ensure that stockpiling is kept to a minimum. We could use this cartel to introduce the system of licensing which would prevent stockpiling. I hope the hon the Minister will consider this. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, allow me to tell the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis that I will reply to him just now. I should like to make use of this opportunity to discuss a few matters.

The first of these is the following. We have also had a considerable number of changes in the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs. We know that Mr Lol Engelbrecht took over as Director-General last year. Dr Pieter Hugo of the Mineral Bureau came over to us in his place. Dr Hugo is a man of many capabilities. He has already left his mark in the short period in which he has served the department as Deputy Director-General. The niche he has carved there is already visible. We welcome him most heartily. We really look forward to working with him. I believe that those two will make an excellent team.

Hon members will remember that since 1 April last year the department has no longer had an energy branch. This branch, together with all its posts, was abolished, and transferred to the National Energy Council. Dr Dirk Neethling, who was the Deputy Director-General of Mineral and Energy Affairs took over the post of Chief Executive Officer, or executive head, as we call it, of the National Energy Council. I believe we could spend a great deal of time discussing the National Energy Council. It represents an excellent coordination effort in regard to the total energy activities of the country. I congratulate Dr Neethling and his team most heartily on their appointment. I also wish them everything of the best on the road ahead.

We also lost a very important man in the person of Mr Badie Badenhorst, the Government Mining Engineer, who for many years really left his mark on the inspection and security aspects of the mining industry. We wish him and his wife every blessing and everything of the best in their retirement. We also congratulate most heartily Mr Jan Raath, who was appointed in his place, on his appointment. We wish him everything of the best in his very important task.

My hon colleague, the Minister of Administration and Privatisation, is sitting here next to me. He took one of my best men. That is Mr Jasper Nieuwoudt. I do not begrudge him Mr Nieuwoudt’s services. I can assure him that it was with great sorrow that we gave Mr Nieuwoudt to him. Mr Nieuwoudt is a very capable man and we want to thank him very much indeed for the very good work that he has done, particularly in regard to enquiries on staff matters, as well as the rationalisation of our legislation with which he was closely involved. We wish him everything of the best. Our loss is my hon colleague’s gain.

I understand that he is once again actively involved in taking another of my better men away from me. [Interjections.] As long as it is a question of promotion, we have no problem as far as our good men are concerned.

†I want to refer briefly to the lead content of petrol. As from 1 January 1989 the maximum lead content of automotive fuel will be reduced to 0,4 grams per litre and will remain at this level for the foreseeable future. Simultaneously the research octane number of premium fuel at the coast will be reduced from 98 to 97, while inland regular and premium octane ratings will remain unchanged. The maximum permissible lead content of petrol will thus be less than half of the level that existed prior to 1986.

Consideration will now be given to reducing the octane rating of premium fuel at the coast to 96, but this will require a test programme to determine the implications as far as the present car population in terms of fuel consumption and engine durability are concerned.

The question of an optimum octane grade structure for South Africa will also be given attention, and I have instructed the National Energy Council to liaise closely with the oil industry and the motor vehicle industry to evaluate all the relevant implications in pursuit of an optimum energy balance for the country.

The study will embrace, among other things, savings in crude oil consumption and improvements in refinery efficiencies; the effect of an octane grade change on engine operating efficiencies; facilitating synthetic fuel production; and rationalisation of octane grades and petrol distribution.

If found to be feasible, the 97 octane rating at the coast will be replaced by 96 as from 1 June 1989. Further rationalisation of octane grades will depend on the results of the NEC study.

*I want now to refer to the mineral legislation. Apart from the passing of the Mineral Laws Supplementary Act Amendment Bill, the Cabinet has also decided that a comprehensive scientific enquiry be instituted into the long-term effects of high recovery coal exploitation on agriculture.

The aims of such an enquiry will be as follows: To establish ways in which the detrimental effect which coal-mining has on agriculture can be restricted to a minimum; to establish organisations to maintain a sound and balanced equilibrium between agricultural and mining interests; and to draw up suitable legislation to protect the rights and interests of the land-owners and the developers.

On completion of this enquiry it is possible that further amendments of the law will be considered in due course. The enquiry team will be led by the hon the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

My last statement—this is also important—deals with the jewellery industry. On account of its open economy, South Africa is to a large extent dependent upon its export industries. It is therefore a sensible policy to increase the value of raw materials and to further refine precious metals before they are exported.

The promotion of the South African jewellery industry can make an important contribution in this regard. After the jewellery industry had repeatedly drawn its problems to the attention of the Government, the Board of Trade and Industry was instructed to institute a thorough investigation of this industry and to make recommendations accordingly. The report of the Board of Trade and Industry was considered by the Government and it was decided to make the following concessions as an incentive to the jewellery industry with a view to further job creation and export promotion.

In the first instance, the existing ad valorem excise duty of 35% on jewellery has been reduced to 20%. We should like to do away with it completely but there are many good reasons which I do not want to go into now as to why we cannot do so. When we read the report of the Margo Commission, we can see where we are heading. The customs duty on cut and split diamonds imported for further processing has been withdrawn in full. The minimum value added to gold that is processed is being reduced from 20% to 15%.

Where a jewellery export undertaking is established exclusively with a view to manufacturing for export purposes, ad hoc consideration will be given to the further lowering of the above-mentioned minimum added value to as little as 10%.

I now come to the important announcement, actually the most important announcement. The Reserve Bank is prepared to make gold available to manufacturing jewellers in important manufacturing centres via its branch system. The Reserve Bank is also prepared to make gold deposits at a very low rate of interest at accredited participating banks which will then in their turn be able to loan it to jewellery manufacturers. In this way it will be made possible for the gold processor to have ready access to gold on favourable terms without having to keep a large quantity of gold in stock and to pay for it in advance. [Interjections.]

The Government is prepared to grant specific exemption from the export duty on rough diamonds exported to the TBVC countries where such diamonds are intended for the cutting industry in that particular country, and where bilateral agreements in this connection have already been concluded.

The restriction on the mass of unprocessed precious metal owned or available, is being lifted. The embargo on certain transactions in connection with unprocessed precious metal during certain hours or on certain days is also being abolished. The existing restriction on the quantity of precious metal which the holder of a jeweller’s permit may make up or process daily, is being lifted. The prohibition on the issuing of jewellers’ permits to Black persons in respect of areas outside of the released areas or the scheduled areas as defined in the Development Trust and Land Act, 1936, is being lifted. The prohibition on the holder of a jeweller’s permit to obtain unprocessed precious metal from other holders of such permits, is being lifted.

The obligation which presently rests on the holder of a jeweller’s permit to furnish the Commissioner of Police with a copy of his register each month, is being lifted. Each holder of a jeweller’s permit must when requested to do so by a member of the SA Police submit and display such register.

Lastly, the obligation on the holder of a jeweller’s permit to obtain a permit from the Commissioner of Police, or a person designated by him, for the transport of unprocessed precious metal, is being lifted.

Some of these concessions, such as the lowering of the excise duty on jewellery, and particularly the last-mentioned ones, have already been accepted by Parliament in the form of legislation.

These concessions ought to make an important contribution towards enabling the jewellery industry in South Africa to establish new export undertakings and to expand existing ones. They will also contribute further towards job creation and economic growth in South Africa.

I want to thank my colleagues in the Department of Finance, the Board of Trade and Industry and the President of Mintek, Dr Aidan Edwards, very much indeed for their very hard work which has enabled us to be able to make these announcements in regard to the jewellery industry.

Mr Chairman, we are grateful for the important announcements that the hon the Minister made this afternoon, namely those with regard to the lead content of petrol, the coal exploitation that we will probably discuss next week when the legislation is before the House and the final announcement with regard to the jewellery industry.

It is something that we on this side of the House have been fighting for for many years. We are grateful that the hon the Minister made the announcements this afternoon. I am sure that the jewellery industry in South Africa will be able to put this first concession, that was made today by the Cabinet and the hon the Minister, to good use. South Africa produces 43% of the world’s gold in that it produces 1 000 tons of gold per year. Of that, South Africa uses only 0,1% for jewellery. The rest is exported and processed elsewhere.

When we look at the situation in the world, we find the following: Europe uses 357,6 tons for jewellery; North America, 103 tons, the Middle East, 207 tons; India, 175 tons; the Far East, 117 tons; Japan, 80 tons and South Africa, only one ton. We must testify to the fact that this announcement will mean a great deal to our gold industry, but a great deal more to our jewellery industry, as well as to the general economy of this country. Our jewellery industry has a bright future with regard to platinum as well.

We want to thank the Director-General and his personnel for the annual report. It is very neat. We should like to wish him and his personnel in the various sections, for example, the Branch: Government Mine Engineer, the Branch: Geological Survey, as well as Mintek and the Branch: Mineral Bureau, everything of the best for the future. A glittering performance is to be expected from this department, because it deals with gold, diamonds, and all the metals.

South Africa is a country of contrasts. It is a country that experiences its droughts as well as its floods. It is a country with a population structure which is unique in the world. It is a country with beautiful natural landscapes, but also a country that has its desert regions. However, South Africa is particularly blessed in one respect, and that is in its mineral wealth, because there is virtually no known mineral that does not exist in South Africa.

South Africa and its people are more dependent on the mining of its mineral resources for economic and social progress than any other Western country.

Since as early as the first discovery of gold and diamonds, the mineral industry has explored and developed the enormous mineral wealth. Today the mineral industry is responsible for more than 75% of South Africa’s export earnings and directly provides more than three quarters of a million people with employment. The diversity and extent of its mineral deposits has placed South Africa at the forefront as a source of minerals for the Western world. The South African mineral industry is unique in regard to its size, significance and diversity, and it forms the cornerstone of progress for the Republic.

When we think of the minerals that earn the most foreign exchange for South Africa, we are inclined to think only of gold, diamonds, uranium and platinum, but there are also other minerals, namely the base minerals, which also make a substantial contribution to our economy and the export earnings of South Africa. In 1987 the base minerals contributed a total of 17%—that is R4,136 million—to the RSA’s foreign exchange earnings, and made a 91% contribution—that is R4,499 million—to national mineral sales. In addition to that the base mineral industry also provided nearly 170 000 people with employment, often in out-of-the-way places, where it made an important contribution to the economy of those regions. According to the annual report of the department, 25 base minerals played an important role in local as well as overseas sales during the past year.

The RSA ranks fourth in the world with regard to coal reserves. During the past year, the income from coal sales was R4 799 million, of which 52% came from local sales, and 48% from exports. Coal also makes a large contribution towards satisfying the country’s energy needs. We need only think of Sasol and Secunda. In that regard, South Africa is a world leader in the manufacture of liquid energy from coal.

South Africa is the fifth largest iron ore producer, and in 1985 it was the eighth largest producer and exporter of this commodity in the world. During 1987, iron ore to the value of R471 million was sold, of which 57% was exported value.

With regard to copper, South Africa has one of the largest open-cast mines at Phalaborwa. This mine makes a major contribution to the country’s copper production and South Africa is the 11th largest producer and the 10th largest exporter of copper in the world. In the same way that virtually all base minerals were an important commodity that contributed to the economy during the past financial year, virtually all other minerals also played a role. Chrome ore contributed R242 million; manganese, R176 million; zinc, R107 million; lead, R74 million; nickel, R106 million; asbestos, R88 million and limestone, R74 million. Tin, titanium, antimony, cobalt, phosphate and silica contributed to a lesser degree. The contribution of the base metal industry makes the Republic of South Africa virtually self-sufficient with regard to products such as steel, stainless steel, copper, tin, zinc and most of the industrial minerals.

Finally, I should like to raise one issue with the hon the Minister, namely that of our coins. I want to ask the hon the Minister whether we should not look into the quality of our silver coins. Is the quality of our coins not too high? It is estimated that the metal value of the silver R1 piece is approximately R5.1 assume that the value of our other coins is pro rata just as high. Should the use of stainless steel or other metal alloys not be considered for cheaper silver coins?

Mr Chairman, I would like to commend the hon the Minister for the concession he proposes making in the jewellery manufacturing industry. Clearly this will have a very beneficial effect on the local production of precious stones and metals. This is something that has obviously been in the thinking of the industry for a long time, and it is certainly something which we on this side of the House welcome and appreciate.

I intend devoting most of my address to aspects affecting labour in the mining industry, but by way of introduction I think it is worth reminding ourselves that the mining industry continues to be by far the most important contributor to this country’s earned wealth. When I say earned wealth I am referring to the foreign exchange which the mining industry earns. It is certainly on the increase. It is not a thing which is in any way stable or on the decline. In spite of the fact that the manufacturing industry appears to be taking a much larger slice of the economy, the mining industry today, by comparison with 1950 when it provided less than 30% of South Africa’s foreign exchange, accounts for approximately 70% of the foreign exchange earnings from mineral exports. I appreciate that there are financial reasons in terms of exchange control and the value of the rand as opposed to the dollar which affect this, but that is the position today. In terms of earned wealth the mining industry remains absolutely paramount.

Turning to the field of labour, the mining industry employs just on 80 000 people and, on estimates of the number of dependants each such worker supports, it is estimated that approximately 4 million South Africans are actually dependent on the wages of mine workers. This fact alone makes the mineworkers one of the significant factors in economic and social stability in our country. However, more importantly, possibly because they are such a big factor in economic and social stability, they are a very powerful force with real potential to influence economic, social and political change in this country.

I would suggest that the 1987 strike by the National Union of Mineworkers where 0,25 million workers, 40% of the Black work force on the mines, went on strike for most of August indicated clearly that wage demands were not the only consideration.

You will recall, Sir, that the wage increase that was offered at that stage by the Chamber of Mines was 23,4%. This offer was certainly well above the inflation rate at the time, and all objective viewers of the situation considered it to be a very reasonable offer. I want to suggest that no matter in what way the strike had started—it may very well have started about a wage dispute—it developed into a test of strength. It became a flexing of bargaining and political muscle.

There can be no doubt that the power of the unions will continue to grow—particularly in the mining industry. I think the mining industry, by its very structure and homogeneity, is ideally suited to organization among trade unions. We have to ask ourselves whether this power is to be used constructively or destructively. I think it would depend to a large measure on the attitude and policies of the Government. I accept, of course, that there will also be other influencing factors which will determine how our unions will act. However, the attitude and policies of the Government, and how the latter are implemented, will certainly be among the major factors which will determine whether the union force is applied constructively or destructively.

The mining industry knows that trade union power can be very destructive of the industrial, social and economic order if the workers are not offered alternative channels for political expression. I base this view on what the president of the Chamber of Mines, Mr Naas Steenkamp, said in an address in November last year when our manpower group visited the Chamber of Mines. Referring to the attitude of the Government, he said:

Sir, I believe that this issue can only be resolved by addressing the central issue of extending real and equal political rights to all South Africans—something which this Government appears to have no intention of doing. There are, however, a number of other problems linked to political ideology which are of concern to the mining industry and on which the Government may be less inflexible. I should like to turn to these as being areas of possible persuasion.

I refer here to the problems inherent in the migratory labour system and in the system of single-sex hostels. I accept that these are basically historical and geographical problems and in part due to the wishes of neighbouring governments and our own Government, but also in no small way to the financial needs and often greed of the early mine owners. Today, however, the mining industry is very much aware of the need to move away from this system as being contrary to their object of creating a stable work force living on a permanent basis at their place of employment, with their families, in adequate housing.

Clearly, the abolition of influx control has partially opened the door to doing away with the migratory system. However, efforts to eliminate this system and to move labourers from single-sex hostels to family accommodation are being hampered by the lack of suitably located and serviced land, as well as by limitations imposed by the Government on the number of Black employees who can be accommodated with their families on mining property and various other laws, including the Group Areas Act. Those hon members of the manpower group who visited Vaal Reefs will recall the problems that were pointed out to us. I refer to the problems which that mine had, in spite of its vast wealth, in providing housing for its employees because of the Group Areas Act.

The Government’s refusal to allow the development of Black residential areas in close proximity to the mines and its fear of so-called Black spots outside the prescribed Black townships—in fact, this ideological hangover of grand apartheid—remain, in my opinion, the major stumbling blocks to the adequate provision of family housing for mineworkers.

I wish to turn to one other aspect. The abolition of the definition of “a scheduled person” from the Mines and Works Act came through last year when the amending legislation was passed. This was hailed by all as the demise of the last racial job barrier. Hon members will recall that when this debate took place last year the hon member for Constantia had considerable reservations about whether this legislation would, in fact, be non-discriminatory; whether it really was the removal of the last racial barrier. Similar concerns have been expressed by the mining industry. Hon members will recall that, subsequent to the debate, the regulations setting out the requirements with which a person has to comply before he can obtain the blasting certificate, before he can actually sit for the certificate, were published on 4 September 1987 for comment. The Chamber of Mines subsequently expressed concern at the wording of these regulations. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, the hon member for Groote Schuur will pardon me if I do not react to his speech, but I should not like to have the same thing happen to me that happened to him, namely that he was unable to complete his speech because insufficient time was allocated to individual hon members. However, I want to take the opportunity to react quickly to the hon main speaker on this side of the House and to the exciting statement that the hon the Minister of Economic Affairs and Technology read out to us. I think it will mean a very great deal to the gold jewellery and diamond industries in South Africa. We are looking forward to future announcements in this regard that will stimulate the industry even further.

The Mining Rights Act of 1967 provides that a person who illegally occupies or lives on proclaimed land, or uses it illegally in any way, is guilty of an offence. Upon conviction such a person is punishable with a fine not exceeding R200. There is no mine commissioner in South Africa who has the staff or the time to take effective action against unlawful occupation of proclaimed mining land or unlawful squatting. I do not want to go into the whys and wherefores of the problem, but the fact remains that over the years more residential and work permits have been issued. Even permits that have become invalid, have remained valid. This has led to such a permit becoming a passport to proclaimed alluvial diggings. This has inevitably led to unlawful squatting.

I have been struggling with this problem in my own constituency since 1974. Over the years I have brought many Ministers, Deputy Ministers, heads of departments, members of the Divisional Council of Kimberley, the Police and members of various town councils to several areas in the region where this unlawful squatting on proclaimed alluvial diggings was taking place. However, it was in vain.

Although the Precious Stones Act, section 124(6), provides that a person who occupies or lives on proclaimed land in terms of the Act without being in possession of a required concession or authorisation, is guilty of an offence and the court that finds that person guilty, may order that he be removed from the land, I want to know who must evict him. The Police? Yes. Where do the Police take him? Wherever the Police may take him, wherever they may put him, he will be there unlawfully.

If people are resident on proclaimed alluvial diggings without having a residential or work permit and without the knowledge and consent of the mine commissioner, the mine commissioner is therefore by law in a position to act against such people. He may then request the S A Police to summarily remove the people and their families from the diggings. The authorities and the police have done so in the past. Just as the CP today says that they will remove millions of people, the authorities and the police have tried to remove these unlawful squatters from the alluvial diggings in the past. However, the reality is simply that these people return tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week or next month to the same alluvial diggings, or new squatters move in in their place. The problem, however, remains.

This position exists in my constituency, mainly in the district of Barkly West, all along the Vaal River to Delportshoop. The farm Gong-Gong was purchased by the community development council after many years of blood, sweat and tears and is now being controlled by the Department of Local Department, Housing and Agriculture of the Administration: House of Representatives. The problem has now moved to Waldecks Plant where the owners have made repeated requests to the department. At Forlorn Hope, Longlands and Wintersrush, squatting is on the increase daily. Even substantial buildings have been built which serve as shops. The latter places border on two of the most important assets of the Northern Cape, namely the Vaal River and the Vaalbos National Park.

I want to dwell for a moment on the Vaal River and state categorically today that our descendants will curse us for the activities that took place on the banks and in the river in the past and are still taking place today. The evidence of the destruction of nature will remain on our charge sheet.

In the same way that you dealt with the NP!

Secondly, the squatter area that I mentioned borders on one of the greatest future assets of the Northern Cape, namely the Vaalbos National Park. To my way of thinking, the establishment of the Vaalbos National Park was more important than the first diamond that was picked up in the Northern Cape. The squatting at Forlorn Hope, Longlands and Winters-rush creates a threat to Vaalbos. Before the rains came, the squatters simply walked through the river without getting their feet wet in order to gather firewood. Today the temperature is 4 degrees below freezing point. If I lived or squatted there because I had no other place to go and because I was unemployed, I would also walk through the river and climb through the fences to fetch firewood to keep body and soul warm. I would also enter Vaalbos and set traps in order to get meat for myself and my children to eat.

What kind of an example is that!

Then you will be put in jail!

I have now been told that the department is considering deproclaiming this land. In other words, it is nothing but a question of shifting the problem to another department, another organisation or person. The appeal I want to make to the hon the Minister is that he himself should take the initiative and form a committee of all the Government departments involved, the local authorities and other bodies, such as the Parks Board, in order to try to solve this particular problem amicably and to everyone’s satisfaction.

What a success story!

Deproclamation, however, is not going to solve anything. The hon member for Barberton is talking about a success story. That hon member does not even have a story, because his policy is an illusion and a chimera. I am dealing with realities here. Neither this Government, nor the governments of the past and even less the government of those hon members’, if they were ever to come to power, will be able to solve this problem in South Africa. The problem of squatting cannot be successfully solved anywhere in the world. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, during the discussion of this Vote last year I expressed a measure of disappointment and concern at the apparent—and I stress the word—lack of progress with the Mossgas project at Mossel Bay. I also pointed out the negative effect it had had on the community. Moreover I mentioned the measure of scepticism felt by the people in the area as to whether the project would be proceeded with, especially in view of the fact that there were no visible, concrete signs of such progress, and also because doubt had arisen concerning the ability to finance an undertaking of this magnitude.

It with great pleasure that I can inform the House today that there has been a dramatic change in the situation since then. Firstly the Government has taken a final decision that the project will in fact be proceeded with. This decision was still pending when I made my speech last year. It has now been taken, and in my opinion there can no longer be any doubt whatsoever as to whether the undertaking will be proceeded with or not.

In the meanwhile additional gas-fields of even larger magnitude than the original strike on which the project was based have been discovered in the ocean in the vicinity of Mossel Bay. This makes the project all the more viable.

According to my information the construction of the components and modules of the production platform has already commenced in Durban an elsewhere, and it is going full-steam ahead. Research into metals and other materials for the gas plant, the underwater pipeline and so on has made considerable progress, and the appropriate technology has been mastered. In addition there are no insurmountable logistical problems as regards ocean, rail or air transport, and the necessary upgrading of a wharf in the Mossel Bay harbour is receiving the necessary attention. The main road network in the vicinity of the proposed refinery is of an adequate standard to carry heavy loads and only in isolated cases will short bypasses have to be built.

Provision has already been made for the expansion of existing Coloured and Black residential areas to supply accommodation for the nonWhite personnel attached to the project.

The estimated water consumption of the Mossgas project is approximately seven million cubic metres per year. This water will be supplied by the Wolwedans dam on the Great Brak river. This dam will supply a maximum of 13 million cubic metres of water per year, which should be more than sufficient to meet Mossel Bay’s water requirements if it is borne in mind that the estimated water consumption of the Mossel Bay area is predicted to be approximately six million cubic metres in the year 2000.

Work has already commenced on the dam site, and the upgrading of the access roads to the dam site is at present receiving serious and urgent attention.

The financial requirements of the undertaking are estimated at more than R5 000 million. The extraction of gas from below the ocean bed will require almost R3 100 million and the land-based refinery almost R1 700 million. Approximately R3 000 million of the total amount will be necessary by the year 1991. It is expected that the capital requirements for the further development of the project will be met by the income from the project itself from 1992 onwards.

The State’s financial involvement will be supplied via the Central Energy Fund, and it has been decided, in accordance with the Government’s privatisation policy, that a significant input will be made by the private sector in that as much as 50% of the share capital will be made available to private companies.

Consequently there should be no concern whatsoever in regard to the financing of the project because there is no justification for such concern.

On 22 April this year the hon the Minister opened the very interesting information centre and headquarters of Mossgas at Mossel Bay. The headquarters are housed in a restored building which was previously Mossel Bay’s power station. I perceive a certain symbolism in this, in the sense that the place which previously generated electricity for Mossel Bay now houses the headquarters of what promises to become a far greater source of power.

You are becoming hospitable (gasvry).

Even in the vicinity of the proposed gas refinery there are already concrete, visible signs of activity. Hence there is no longer any justification for scepticism regarding the progress of the project, and I am convinced we are standing on the threshold of the considerable benefits which the project will entail for Mossel Bay and the surrounding area, and indeed for the whole of the RSA. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I should like to associate myself with the hon the Minister’s congratulations to Mr Badenhorst and his wife and his good wishes for their long and prosperous retirement. Personally I had a long and good relationship with Mr Badenhorst. He is a man who for years was an inspector of mines. Subsequently he was appointed Deputy Government Mining Engineer and then, in 1982, he took over from the previous Government Mining Engineer and became Government Mining Engineer. He has devoted 35 years of service—a lifetime—to the mining industry and the department and he reached the highest rung. Now I see that the reason he reached the highest rung was that he was a member of the Mine Workers’ Union for 10 years, and the Mine Workers’ Union produces many things that are very good.

Then, too, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Jan Raath on his appointment. This is another person who has left a deep impression on the mining industry and I am convinced that Mr Raath will make a great success of his career as well. Unfortunately he was not a member of the Mine Workers’ Union but I wish him everything of the best.

Then, too, I want to congratulate the hon the Minister and his department on the fine annual report that has been issued. It is a practical annual report. It is not like that of other departments that carry full-page colour photographs of the Minister and other officials. I must add that he is one of the few Ministers in this House whom one could describe as a gentleman. [Interjections.]

I now wish to dwell on the labour situation in the mining industry. I referred to it last year and the hon for Groote Schuur, too, referred to it from a different point of view. Last year there was a strike that cost the country a great deal of money and now we are again in that time where we were last year. If I am reading the signs correctly it is clear to me that another strike could occur this year among the Blacks. I can only say that I am pleased that the Whites in the mining industry have already reached agreement with the Chamber of Mines and have obtained an increase of 12%.

We have heard that there is a labour shortage and that there is a shortage of people to train and that is why the blasting certificates had to be given to people of colour. Sir, this was not because there was a shortage of Whites in the mining industry but in order to give effect to the surrender policy of the Government. If we consider the statistics released this year by the Government Mining Engineer we see that the number of Whites who entered the industry, qualified and obtained certificates of competency was exactly the same as before. There is no shortage, nor is there a substantial decline. For example, I could refer to the job of winding engine drivers, for which 162 people obtained certificates in 1986, while last year there were 142. The number of mineworkers who obtained blasting certificates was 1 821 whereas last year there were 1 815. In 1986,1 303 onsetters certificates were issued whereas last year 1 347 qualified. Therefore this shows that Blacks are indeed still coming to the mines, but I believe that now that people of colour can also obtain blasting certificates the flow of Whites to the mining industry will decline as has happened in other industries where Blacks have been permitted to do certain work. For example, this has happened in the furniture industry.

The great danger, however, is that when the Black trade unions once again negotiate for salary increases in future, these people who are now going to obtain blasting certificates will stay away from work and will deal the industry a severe blow. Only then will there be true appreciation for what the White mineworker has done in White South Africa.

I now turn to accidents. Although there has been a decline in the number of accidents—which we are pleased about—we know that there has in fact been an increase in the number of accidents in the coal-mines. The number has risen from 66 in 1986 to 121 in 1987. The major cause was a methane gas explosion.

Accordingly I should like to ask the hon the Minister to instruct the new Government Mining Engineer to have his inspectors carry out more unannounced inspections of coal-mines. I pointed this out last year but I want to reiterate that the major problem is the insistence on production. The person in charge underground is in fact pressured by his superiors to do things that he should not do. If the mine management does not know when an inspector is going to turn up, the inspections he then carries out will reveal the true situation underground.

The incidence of mining accidents in the gold mining industry has declined once again and this is a very good trend. I note that the depth at which miners are working at present is 3 325 metres for stoping and 3510 metres as regards development. I can attest to the fact that that is deep, it is hot and it is uncomfortable. Looking at the other side of the House, I do not think any of those hon members would like to go down a mine and go so deep underground. [Interjections.]

Another matter I should like to touch on here is that of dust conditions in continuous mining operations in coal-mines, and this is also a matter I referred to last year. Continuous miners were introduced at the coal-mines as far back as 1980. It is said year after year that conditions are going to improve and I have been reliably informed that there has been little if any improvement in continuous mining over the past year.

Last year I received a letter about the same matter from the hon the Minister and he pointed out to me that research has been carried out and that since 1980, when they were put into operation, many things have been done. He concludes by saying:

I then wrote a letter back to point out to the hon the Minister that it was only logical that one would not contract an occupational disease overnight. It takes time. The damage done to the White mineworkers from 1980 will only be felt after 10, 12 or 15 years. That is why it is so essential to do something now while we have the opportunity and the White mineworker has not yet fallen victim to this illness, even if the Government Mining Engineer has to apply regulations and call a halt at these places until those continuous mining operations have been rectified and do not cause dust. It is better to save one person who gasps for breath now, than to extract 10 million tons of coal a month.

I also want to say the 18 cases to whom the hon the Minister referred fall under the old legislation. In terms of the draft legislation submitted now the hon the Minister’s statistics will look even better because even fewer mineworkers are going to be certified even if they do have occupational diseases.

Then, too, I want to express my thanks to the hon the Minister for his announcement in connection with the jewellery industry. I think it is a step in the right direction.

Once again I wish to make an appeal to the hon the Minister to see to it that environmental control officials are appointed in the mining industry as soon as possible. This request was made to the department last year as well as the previous year. According to my information no progress has yet been made. Last year the hon the Minister wrote to me in this regard as well and said the following:

My appeal is that this investigation be finalised as soon as possible because if this man is present at the mines when work is in progress he can prevent dust conditions from occurring which could endanger the mineworker’s health.

I want to come back to the hon member for Kimberley South. He admits that squatting is taking place in his constituency and that no one can do anything about it. I just wish to refer briefly to the state of emergency that prevails at present and then come back to this subject. I quote from an article:

The person speaking is the hon the State President. The hon the State President admits that the laws of the land cannot stop these revolutions. However the laws of the land are made by the other side of the House. If the laws are not right, they must be rectified.

This squatting on mining land in the Kimberley district—I agree with the hon member that it happens elsewhere as well, and is not limited to Kimberley—is once again attributable to the weakness of that side of the House; they do not see to it that the laws they have placed on the Statute Book are enforced. That argument or apology that there are insufficient people to control it, does not hold water.

Until before influx control was abolished, one did not encounter squatting on mining land and everywhere on farms. The abolition of influx control has resulted in Black people squatting where they may not squat. I appeal to the Government to apply the laws in this country so that such problems do not occur.

Mr Chairman, hon member for Carletonville who spoke in the House this afternoon was a rather different hon member to the one who spoke here the other day.

He mentioned many aspects, but I am only going to react to a few of them. For instance, he said that if the blasting certificate were to be open to everyone, it would suddenly be found that Whites no longer applied for work on the mines. I just want to tell the hon member that administrative posts have always been open to all races, and this did not effect the number of Whites who applied for work. There are still just as many as there have been in the past.

Furthermore, I can just tell him that the position in regard to surveyors is still the same. There is no shortage of surveyors.

The hon member mentioned in passing that the Blacks were going to strike again. It is not only the Blacks who strike on the mines! In the 1978-79 financial year the hon member’s own trade unions beat up some of its own members outside Vaal Reefs and Welkom in an effort to stop Whites going to work. Its own members! They went on strike. But all he says is that the Blacks will strike. Every year, when certain White trade unions negotiate with the Chamber of Mines, they threaten to strike if they do not get what they want. Surely it is not just the Blacks who do that. They also participated, did they not?

He quoted a few passages about industrial diseases, and I share his concern in this regard. The hon member for Parktown, however, will tell him that more people die from cigarette smoking than from industrial diseases. [Interjections.] I do not necessarily agree with that.

Allow me to thank the Department of Manpower for all the help it gave our standing committee. They really were good. I must say it is a pleasure to work with officials like that. At the same time I want to express my thanks to the members of my standing committee. Sometimes there was very difficult legislation on subjects ranging from nuclear energy to gold and diamonds. The background material and guidance we received from the officials was outstanding and we look forward to the year ahead.

I want to associate myself with one of the matters raised by the hon member for Carletonville, and that concerns a problem which we shall probably never solve, namely accidents and deaths in our mining industry.

†Someone once said that most road accidents are owing to mechanical faults—the nut holding the steering-wheel! [Interjections.]

*I have said it in English, because it does not ring true in Afrikaans. [Interjections.]

†This also rings true in respect of the mining industry and its safety record. In any given situation there is the good news and the bad news. The good news is the total number of accidents decreased by 1 236 when one compares 1986 with 1987, whilst there were 47 fewer deaths. Further good news is that 23 mines, compared with 16 in 1986, achieved 1 million fatality-free shifts, which is excellent. This trend was also reflected in the coal-mining industry.

*We must, however, not sit back smugly and relax. The bad news is that last year we lost 753 people through deaths in the mining industry, with 11 473 people being injured. That is very bad news for all of us, particularly when one takes into account what it costs to train those people and nurse them back to health.

The gold-mining industry, of course, is still the mining sector which gives the greatest problems, because there were 547 deaths last year in that sector and 9 969 accidents. If we analyse these accidents, it is very interesting to find that by far the greater majority of them were not due to explosions or rock-falls, but from other causes, for instance machinery, tip-trucks, passages for underground transportation, etc. That is where most of the accidents happen.

I would be unfair if I did not express my appreciation today to both the workers and mine managements for their dedicated efforts to prevent accidents, fatal or otherwise. That applies specifically to those mines at which loss-control programmes are in operation. They eat, sleep and talk programmes there, and this furnishes outstanding results for the industry. I think we must also record the role played by Nosa, especially in regard to their star awards for safety in the mining industry.

There are, however, far too many people and smaller mines whose approach is that safety is someone else’s responsibility. They reckon safety is the responsibility of the Government Mining Engineer or the management, but it is never their own responsibility. This approach is fatal, as too many people have discovered too late. Many of those fatal mistakes have already been buried. I appeal to the hon the Minister to make safety control in one way or another the compulsory responsibility of the people in the workplace, or, as the men say in mining language: “Where the tyre meets the tar”. It is important for us to do it at that level—it must not be left solely to the managements and the mining engineers.

Lastly, in every accident there are men nobody talks about. All we see on TV is the shaft, and how many people have been injured or killed. That is what the report is about.

How many of us, however, ever think of the White and Black rescue teams who put their lives on the line underground in the most difficult circumstances in an attempt rescue the other men? These are men who sometimes use their bare hands to dig between the rocks trying to get to their fellow-workers. It is also very interesting that it is not just Whites who dig for Whites and Blacks who dig for Blacks. The hon member for Carletonville will know that Blacks and Whites stand shoulder to shoulder underground to get their colleagues out.

You have never experienced that.

Mr Chairman, I want to tell the hon member I was partly responsible for getting people out of an underground shaft when a lift-cage fell, but he would know nothing about that.

On behalf of these rescue teams I appeal to the Government to take this safety responsibility to the work-place as soon as possible. If we were to do that, there would be less calls on those rescue teams to go underground and put their lives at risk. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, it is a pleasure to follow on the hon member for Stilfontein. I hope he will forgive me for not reacting to his excellent contribution.

†Coal not only forms about 85% of South Africa’s primary energy needs, but has also enhanced the role of South Africa in international energy supply. South Africa’s coal exports have grown considerably in the past few years. In 1974 coal accounted for 2,5% of the value of the total non-gold mineral exports, and in 1986, for 12,8% of all mineral exports, including gold, and more than 40% of non-gold mineral exports.

According to the Mineral Bureau the country’s total coal sales in 1986 were a record 172,45 million tons, worth R5 360 million, with local sales amounting to 126 million tons. The coal industry, despite the competitive international market and sanctions pressure has been reasonably successful in maintaining its market share of internationally traded coal. However, this market share has now been eroded from 30% of the market share of internationally traded steam coal in 1985 to 27% of the market in 1987. Sanctions have had a major impact on the export coal industry, firstly, due to the loss of physical markets through foreign government action and, secondly, due to the effort and expense which has had to be undertaken.

Analysing the likely developments if sanctions against South African coal are extended provides no basis for the belief that further sanctions would be any more helpful to countries competing with South Africa in the international coal trade market than sanctions have proved up to the present; on the contrary, further sanctions may further weaken the world export coal market. Our bottom line must be that our coal will reach the free market despite widespread embargoes.

In the annual report of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs reference is made to the Natal embargo on Transvaal coal sales. The Natal embargo goes back formally for five years and, prior to that, informally, for many years. Originally the mining houses with coal operations in the Transvaal had operations in Natal and it was expedient to impose the embargo voluntarily. But for the restriction, it is unlikely that any of the Natal mines would be operational today, the reason being that the coal seams in Natal are known to be narrow, highly vaulted, extremely gaseous and normally deep. Consequently Natal collieries are high-cost producers, while Transvaal collieries are low-cost producers due to their large coal seams.

Whilst it may be argued that the embargo was in many respects most unfair on Natal users, this does not apply any more. In the early days there was no material difference in the railage costs. However, the controlled price of coal was applied in such a way that the Natal users buying coal sourced in Natal were paying substantially more per ton on a landed cost basis. However, with the passage of time the increase in railage costs has outstripped that of mining prices with the result that Natal coal can now be landed with the Natal users at more competitive prices than those that arise if the coal was sourced in the Transvaal.

*The estimated extent of the total industrial coal market in Natal is just below 2 million tons per annum. Coal produced in Natal accounts for about 56% of this figure. However, what is important, is that four new mines have been in operation in the Newcastle-Dundee area in Northern Natal since 1986-87, making a substantial contribution to the industrial coal market in Natal. I am referring specifically to the mines at Gladstone, Kilbarchan, Klipspruit and Wesselsnek. These mines contribute about 40% of the annual industrial coal market in Natal, or about 76% of the Natal production.

†It must be noted that these independent collieries which now supply the Natal market are all situated in the Dundee/Newcastle area of Northern Natal. Employment in general should be stimulated in this area in order to allow trade spin-offs in accordance with the Government’s policy. The designated Natal coal producers are already able to provide coal in excess of the total needs of the Natal industrial market and this will result in the forces of free market competition prevailing in Natal.

The Coal Advisory Committee noted that whilst the Natal producers support the embargo, from information gleaned the Natal consumers are mainly either indifferent to or against the embargo. The committee noted further that the Natal market should not be regionally protected from competition although the possible cutthroat competition could result in the closure of certain mines. This could have socio-economic effects. Therefore, an announcement in this regard would have to be made well in advance, so that the market could adjust itself and so that the Government could consider possible measures to stimulate economic growth in certain priority development areas.

Sir, because the present five-year embargo was aimed at permitting the necessary adjustment to take place it was stressed that the matter should be finalised and that it should not be allowed to repeat itself. It was agreed that the embargo, though voluntary and unenforceable, was artificial and contrary to the Government’s present deregulation initiatives. The committee also agreed that some form of assistance should be given to Natal producers, but that the nature and extent of such assistance had to be defined. It was also agreed that, from a strategic point of view, it would be preferable to retain producers in Natal. It was stressed that if the committee supported the free market system, which they did, then it could not support the embargo.

*The Government’s decision following on the recommendations by the Coal Advisory Committee, viz that the existing embargo and trade pattern for the next three years until March 1991 should remain unaltered, should be welcomed in all quarters. I submit that this decision will be to the advantage not only of the producer, but also of the consumer. This decision once again demonstrates the careful and responsible way in which the Government of the day goes about ordering and regulating important matters such as this.

Mr Chairman, the hon member for Newcastle will forgive me for not following him in respect of the coal industry.

I should like to come back to the question of the certificates of competency in the mining industry. We on this side of the House welcomed the amendment to the Mines and Works Act last August on the basis that it was removing the last formal statutory job discrimination barrier.

The hon the Minister confirmed this when he said (Hansard: 10 August 1987, col 3407):

In introducing that amending Bill the hon the Minister said that he would publish the regulations for comment by the public in general, obviously from both sides. I understood him to say he would also table those regulations in the standing committee for discussion there. However, that has not happened. Perhaps the hon the Minister will clarify that.

What I would like to know at this stage is what the response has been. I understand both the Chamber of Mines and the unions have submitted responses. How do things stand now? Have any people other than Whites acquired blasting certificates or certificates of competency in terms of the new provisions and the new regulations? I think this is a very important matter, and we would like to be brought up to date on the present state of affairs.

Another matter I would like to touch on is to welcome what the hon the Minister confirmed today. He confirmed that 1 January next year remains the cut-off date for reducing the permissible maximum lead level in petrol from its former level to a new maximum of 0,4 grams per litre. We are glad to see that he has stuck to his word in that regard. However, I would like to remind the House that this is still more than double the standard which has been set in most of the leading Western nations.

[Inaudible.]

Well, that is the ultimate goal—to have no lead and no pollution at all. The figure of 0,15 seems to have been widely accepted as the ultimate target level. I would like to ask that we have a date set for when we will achieve that level, because the figure of 0,4 is still more than double that level. I think attention needs to be given to that point.

As far as ethanol is concerned, I see the hon the Deputy Minister is going to enter the debate. I assume that subject will be raised by him. The development of ethanol resources has been slow, and I hope we will be hearing what is happening in that regard.

Another matter which I have not been able to touch on in the first half of the debate, is the question of the new export development plan. Perhaps we can have some indication of how things stand now. The A and B, C and D category incentives are about to fall away.

I made an announcement in that regard yesterday.

Thank you.

The final matter I would then like to raise is the question of the relationship between the SABS and veterinarians.

Did you say SABS?

Yes. The hon the Minister may already have had insight into this problem. A written submission was made in which certain veterinarians who develop stock remedies and various veterinary medicines complained that the SABS had entered this field in competition to them. There was the specific question of a major international supplier of veterinary remedies—I think the name is known to the hon the Minister—which, during a radio broadcast in October 1987, defended the closing of its facility in East London on the grounds that the SABS was doing development work in East London. I think there is a conflict of interest there which I would like the hon the Minister to clear up. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, the hon member for Constantia raised the matter of the certificates of competency, as did, I believe, the hon member for Groote Schuur. I do not know whether the hon member is aware of it, but the regulations were handed to the standing committee. They were circulated to them about a week or two ago.

Might I say that there has been every attempt to get these regulations published as quickly as possible, because these were sent out for comment some time ago and many comments came in and these have been processed. However, we have now run into a bit of a delay, because we realised that with the new Labour Relations Act going through Parliament we had to make sure that the policy as reflected in the regulations of our Act was in line with that which is now in the new Act. We have therefore submitted the regulation to the Department of Manpower for comment. We were hoping for some information today, however I doubt whether this matter will be finished this week. I have, in fact, informed the Chamber of Mines that I had hoped it would be published in the Government Gazette on 17 June, which is a week today. Unfortunately, it appears that it will probably be delayed by about a week. That is exactly the position in regard to the question of scheduled persons at this moment.

The hon member then raised the matter of ethanol and I do have a statement here which I would like to read.

*The possible production of fuel ethanol from sugar cane has been in the news quite regularly, and I should like to inform hon members about the latest progress that has been made in this regard.

As hon members know, consultants were appointed to conduct a detailed investigation, specifically into the financial implications of an ethanol project in Natal. This particular firm has a sound knowledge of the sugar as well as the oil industry, and was, therefore, in a position to comment on the various views and claims of these two industries concerning the proposed project. The final report was received a few days ago and is being studied at present.

†A part of the brief was to develop a model to compare financially a capital-intensive synfuels project to the sugar-based ethanol project in which the labour and raw material costs form a substantial part of the cost of the fuel produced. Obviously the assumptions used will have to be closely scrutinised before a decision can be made on whether or not to proceed with the project.

A task group of the National Energy Council has already been appointed and is at the moment considering all relevant information. It is expected to present its final recommendations to the Minister by the end of July. The Cabinet will thereafter be approached for a final decision in this regard. In the meantime I would strongly caution against speculation which could lead to overoptimistic expectation.

To explain this further and to give the hon member some indication of the approach we are taking, I would like to point out to him that one should study the basic price of South Africa’s liquid fuels—I am now talking about a premium fuel—which is around 45,8 cents per litre in relation to the price in the UK where it is 50,9 cents per litre. In Italy it is 47,61 cents per litre and in Germany it is 47,77 cents per litre. I have used these figures to illustrate to hon members that we in South Africa have been very successful in keeping the basic price of fuel quite low. Despite the sanctions against us, and the fact that a fairly large proportion of our fuel comes from our own synthetic plants, we are still able to have a basic price of fuel which is lower than that in most other countries. It is this objective that we must bear very closely in mind when we look at any future synthetic fuel plants. We must make sure that the projects are basically economically viable.

While I am talking about statements, I would like to report to the House that plans are proceeding to restructure the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs, especially as far as its regulatory functions are concerned.

This refers primarily to the mineral industry where there are functions concerning the allotment of prospecting and mining rights, mine safety, the physical safety and health of employees in the industry, rehabilitation of land and the import and export of certain mineral commodities, for example tiger’s eye, diamonds and coal. These have been thoroughly investigated and as a result of the recommendations made in this regard the Cabinet has decided that the time is ripe to review the approximately 13 mineral laws of the RSA, some of which are already outdated, against current trends and principles of policy. These laws should not only be rationalised and consolidated but should bring about legal reform in line with the Republic’s constitutional goal of a free-market economy.

This comprehensive and time-consuming task is currently receiving the urgent attention of a task group in the department and it is foreseen that one rationalised mineral law will become a reality in the forseeable future. We sincerely hope that perhaps by this time next year that Bill will have been passed through Parliament. That is indeed our intention.

I want to go on to what the hon member for Kimberley South said about squatters. I would like to inform him that this is a very difficult problem indeed. Hon members on the other side of the House might believe that they can easily solve such a problem but that is not possible when one is dealing with literally hundreds of people. However, I would like to inform him that the extent of the problem has been studied. In fact, I have a schedule here in which he may be interested. It contains details of the various areas to which he referred and of exactly how many squatters there are.

I want to point out to him that a large part of the problem does not really fall under the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs. It is essentially on the proclaimed land, and part of the policy has been to endeavour to deproclaim certain pieces of land. This has, in fact, already been done in certain areas. Gong-Gong has been deproclaimed and, as the hon member said, it has been handed over to the Department of Housing of the House of Representatives.

Land has been deproclaimed at the township of Longlands where a Coloured township is being developed. Longlands is in the vicinity of the Vaalbos National Park to which the hon member referred. We are investigating the possibility of deproclaiming more alluvial diggings, but we also have the interests of the digging community at heart.

As I have said, this is a very difficult problem. It is all very well to say that one can just push these people off the land, but some of them have been there for many years and I would like to ask the hon members of the CP whether they have no understanding of the needs of those people. It is a problem which is receiving attention and I believe the ultimate solution is the development of proper towns to accommodate these people in those particular areas.

What about the Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act?

The hon member is quite correct in saying that there is such an Act. When a private owner owns deproclaimed land he has the Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act to support his desire to move those people off the land.

Why do we not change the Act then?

The Act is there so that they are able to remove them, but the authorities have to remove them. This has been done where possible and where there is a major problem the departments concerned have to deal with it. However, as I say, that is not the direct concern of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs.

But you admit that the Act can be changed?

Order! The hon member for Losberg must contain himself.

The hon members for Stilfontein and Carletonville talked about safety in mines. I was very pleased to hear the hon member for Stilfontein quote some of the figures which he did to show that on average the position is better this year than it has been in the past.

The hon member for Carletonville also mentioned that but said the department should give greater attention to coal mines because it is there where a great danger lies, and I agree with him in that regard. I will say that we have in fact drawn up new safety regulations and we hope that they will be promulgated in the next few days or so. They are due to be published in the very near future. These regulations were published in the Government Gazette of January for comment. There were 11 organisations which submitted comments, and they have now been processed.

May I say that one of the aims of the new regulations is the appointment of safety officers at mines so that they can promote safety. We believe that these regulations will place a far greater responsibility on the management of a mine, and I think that is something which the hon member for Carletonville will support. A safety officer will be required to inspect working places on a regular basis and to report to management on his findings. He will also be compelled to record his findings in a register which will be available for perusal by the Inspector of Mines at any time. Safety officers will have direct access to mining inspectors of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs and their rank will not be lower than that of a shift boss.

Workers in mines and works will also have the opportunity to elect representatives from their ranks. They will be called safety representatives who will have direct communication with the person who is in charge of a particular section of the mine or works. A safety representative will also be entitled to accompany the safety officer on his inspections and bring any matter that might need attention to the attention of the safety officer. We believe that this will bring the responsibility much closer to the people whose responsibility it actually is to ensure that mines are safe, and we are hoping that this will result in a further improvement in safety on our mines.

The hon member for Carletonville mentioned the strikes in the mining industry. It was a compliment to the Government that that strike of the NUM last year was settled without the central Government interfering at all; that the process of negotiation as laid down in the Labour Relations Act enabled both the union concerned and management to negotiate. Certainly there was a strike. I would like to say to that hon member that as a union man—and might I say that at one time I also carried a union card and I was pleased to hear that Bardie Badenhorst also had a union card at one time—I believe that is the way things should be dealt with in the area of industrial relations—that there should be an Act that enables the negotiations to take place with as little, in fact without any, involvement of the Government.

I would like to refer to what the hon member for Newcastle said about the coal mines in Natal. He quoted from the report of the advisory committee, and I am quite sure he was very pleased that the embargo was extended for three years. It has given the Natal mines a chance to adjust to the changing circumstances. He is correct when he says that the railage costs are now making Natal coal more competitive relative to the Transvaal. In fact, at one stage one mine in the Transvaal broke the embargo, went into the Natal market and I believe went back to the Transvaal with its tail between its legs because it could riot compete with the Natal mines. I think that is what we should work towards. We understand the problem of Natal. The hon member quoted from the report of the Coal Advisory Committee and I wish to report that we also had the Competition Board look into this matter. As a result, the Natal mines have three years to try to adjust wherever possible so that they can compete in the future with the Transvaal mines. The hon member did make one point which I think is very important, and I also want to raise this with the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis. The hon member for Newcastle said the bottom line is that our coal will reach the free market despite sanctions.

If I may say so I think my hon Minister was very kind to Mr Derby-Lewis this afternoon when he let him off the hook when he said that he had said that he was talking about the need to beneficiate our minerals.

I have a cutting here from The Citizen of 23 May, which appeared under the headline: “Suspend sale of minerals to US, CP urges.” The article continues as follows:

I would like to ask that hon member whether he has really discussed this matter with the hon member for Carletonville. The hon member for Carletonville knows that his union has many members working in platinum mines, gold mines and so on. Here we are fighting sanctions, and an hon member of the Official Opposition, the chief spokesman of that party on economic affairs, stands up and tells us to stop exporting to the United States, as if stopping our exports of platinum will make the United States economy fold over and lie with its feet in the air.

Where were you this morning when I explained what we were going to do with the minerals?

If one takes the total of South Africa’s exports in terms of US dollars and compares that with the American gross domestic product, one will see that it is an infinitesimal fraction of that country’s huge economy. The point I want to make to the hon member is that if we withdrew our minerals from the international markets, it would be only a matter of months before the ingenuity of man would be put to work to find an alternative to our minerals.

I agree that platinum is in demand because it is a catalyst in the exhaust system of motorcars, but one can prevent that form of pollution by other methods. [Interjections.] Those methods may cost more, but that cost would not be beyond the means of the American public, especially in the light of the fact that their motorcar fuel price is the lowest in the world.

That hon member must be very careful about what he says. He reminds me of the Opec cartel, which was going to hold the whole Western World to ransom. What happened? A whole new industry developed throughout the Western World to reduce its dependence upon oil, and the oil price today is chugging along at something like $14 or $16 per barrel. I would advise the hon member to think this over again.

He should rather consider what happened on the coal market last year. On that point the hon member for Newcastle was absolutely correct. The bottom line is for our minerals to get into the free market. The West tried to boycott our coal. Australia placed great pressure on Europe to boycott our coal, and the United States did the same. They did so in their own selfish interests because we are one of their biggest competitors, but they did this at a time when the coal price was on a decline. Because we were facing sanctions, South African exporters were in a difficult market and had to give discounts on the coal price. The net result, however, was that despite predictions that we were going to export only 36 million tons of coal last year, compared with 44 million tons in 1986, we actually exported 43 million tons. In other words, we beat those people in the world market.

Mr Chairman, may I ask the hon the Deputy Minister a question?

I have only about a minute left.

I should just like to ask whether it is possible that the same thing that happened to coal could happen to the platinum group metals.

We produce most of the world’s platinum, and so we are marketing it, but the hon member says we must withdraw it from the market.

No …[Interjections.]

That is what his statement clearly said.

Read the statement. It is in English, not in Afrikaans, so you should be able to read it.

I am not going to argue with the hon member, and I have his statement here. The point I want to make is that as far as coal exports are concerned, we succeeded in beating the tail off the Australian mines. I believe some mines in New South Wales closed down because the competition was too tough for them. In the United States something like 3 000 to 5 000 miners are out of work because their sales dropped, and the United States has lost something like $250 million in the past year or so because of the stiff competition which the South Africans put up. The answer to sanctions is too beat our competitors on the world markets, and that is what we will do. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, today I should like to deal with a technical matter, namely what has happened to the fuel price in South Africa since last year. Prior to 1 July of last year there was one scheme which Bill No 90 of 1987 amended drastically. The most drastic amendments were in respect of the so-called farmers’ diesel for agriculture. There was a terrible fuss about this, but I think I dealt with this matter fairly comprehensively last Wednesday evening. Today I consequently want to confine myself to the changes to the other fuel levies. In the period 1 July 1987 to 1 April 1988 this so-called new system applied.

Prior to 1 July 1987 the levy for the Central Energy Fund was 4c and after July it was still 4c. The GST component of the levy changed from 12% to a fixed amount of 9c per litre. The levy on diesel for the road construction fund was increased from 8c to 10c. The levy for the Equalisation Fund dropped by 8,2c from 13,9c to 5,7c, the levy for customs and excise remained unchanged at 4c, and the levy for the Motor Vehicle Insurance Fund remained the same at 0,2c per litre.

On 1 July of last year the State’s share decreased to such an extent that the pump price to consumers of diesel on the Rand could be reduced by 2,2c per litre. All the levies, with the exception of the customs and excise levy, were consolidated into a single fuel levy. The customs and excise levy is still administered by the Department of Customs and Excise. However, the consolidated fuel levy has been placed under the control of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Technology.

On 1 April 1988 the Deputy Minister (Mr G S Bartlett) announced certain amendments. The first of these was a reduction in the pump price of diesel of 5,5c. In other words, within eight months the pump price of diesel on the Rand was reduced by 7,7c. Secondly the 3c of the CEF levy, the 9c GST contribution, the 0,2c for motor vehicle insurance and the 10c road construction levy were all consolidated in a single unearmarked levy, which was transferred to the control of the Minister of Finance.

The fuel levy is therefore no longer aimed at specific tasks and has been taken away from the Minister of Economic Affairs and Technology and placed in the hands of the Minister of Finance. However, account is still taken of the claims against the MVA account which deals with motor vehicle insurance. Ongoing checks are made to ensure that the claims and the levy revenue balance. The hon the Minister of Finance has announced that if there were to be an imbalance, the MVA levy would be adjusted accordingly.

The excise levy is still being levied and administered by the Department of Customs and Excise. The Equalisation Fund is being credited by an additional lc from the 4c of the Central Energy Fund. Hon members will remember that only 3c of this fund was consolidated. The Equalisation Fund is consequently being increased from 5,7c to 6,7c per litre. A subdivision of this fund, the so-called “slate”, to which I shall return in a moment, has received an additional 0,2c per litre from the reduction in the diesel price of 5,7c per litre so that it will also balance. As I have already indicated, there was only a decrease of 5,5% in the pump price.

The Equalisation Fund was established in 1979 with the purpose of stabilising the price; in other words, to buffer the consumer price against the increase in the international oil price—as it is calculated for our purposes. This had to prevent there being constant pump price adjustments.

On 30 April this fund had a credit balance of R598 million. However, at that stage the crude oil price was $13 per barrel. In the interim the price has increased to $16 per barrel. This could probably result in the R598 million being used up by the end of the year owing to the 17% increase caused by the crude oil price.

The other leg I referred to was the so-called “slate”. This fund does not have an Afrikaans name. The ladies who typed my notes, spelt the word “slyt” which is the way one would spell it in Afrikaans. It is actually a “slate”, which is a “lei” in Afrikaans—the slate one writes on with chalk.

This fund balances the fluctuation in the day-today price of crude oil which results from the fluctuation in the rate of exchange between the dollar and the rand. As the rate of exchange fluctuates, the “slate” fluctuates and it must be balanced by credits or debits, depending on whether the crude oil price is higher or lower than the estimated price. If the “slate” does not balance in the long term, this must be rectified by means of the Equalisation Fund.

At present this fund is experiencing a very serious problem. On 30 April 1988 this fund already had a negative balance of R98 million. At that stage, at a rate of exchange of $1=R2,1443, there was already an under-recovery of 4,7c per litre on diesel on the Witwatersrand. With the present more unfavourable rate of exchange of $1=R2,23 the under-recovery is at present 7,5c per litre. This is on diesel supplied on the Witwatersrand. If the rate of exchange therefore remains at this level, one can expect that by the end of the year a debit balance of R600 million or more may have built up. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, as I participate in this debate once again, I would like to thank the hon the Minister for the generous concessions he has made in an effort—I consider it a sincere effort—to revitalise and assist the jewellery industry.

It is quite strange that the hon the Minister and I seem to be very much on the same wavelength. He will recall that last year I asked him a question as to when he intended to reduce the price of petrol just before July when he announced a reduction in the price of petrol. The reduction was announced within days after that.

I think it is quite interesting that the same should apply to the reduction in the ad valorem tax. I would still like to know why he did not abolish the tax completely because, particularly in the case of gold, the income from ad valorem tax is so small that it is a drop in the ocean when one compares it to projects like the Human Sciences Research Council building of R50 million, and the Government had no problem finding that money.

It is significant to me that, in spite of the fact that the NP very recently issued a document called “The Economic Policy of the National Party”, we are now reaching the end of a very important debate and yet none of those members on that side has made reference to their economic policy. I find it significant that this document, produced after 40 years of power, should consist of not even four pages related to economic affairs and economic strategies. This works out to approximately one page for every ten years. All I can say is that it is no wonder this country is in such mess! [Interjections.]

Under the NP this proud country has to resort to subterfuge and camouflage in order to ensure a market for its products in a world consisting of so-called friends where in time of war they had no hesitation to call on us to help them and we had no hesitation in responding to that call. This is what the NP has achieved over 40 years.

Let me refer to their economic policy as they have practised it. Let me say that a lot of the material contained in this document does not apply to this Vote and therefore I shall not dwell on it. That eliminates about two and a half pages.

When we look at their fiscal strategy, it says here:

They are referring to the fact that the population growth of Whites has reached the negative growth stage—

They go on to say—

By their own admission, Sir—

Let us, however, look at the economic plan of action. I am not going to go through this article, because, really, it consists of words and more words which tell one very little. They refer to export promotions, import replacement and internal industrialisation. Significantly, they refer to the import replacement programme adopted over the past 50 years, a policy which they have adopted themselves, and it is therefore not even an original approach. They talk about the protection of industries and strategic industries, the combating of international sanctions and boycotts in South Africa, and they open that section with the following sentence:

I wonder whether even hon members on that side of the House understand the meaning of this new magic word “proactive”. [Interjections.] I shall be happy if they could give the meaning of that word. Maybe the hon member who is such an accomplished propagandist, the “Bloedkol” Boy from Springs, will oblige us in the future, as far as that is concerned. [Interjections.]

They talk about increasing productivity, but they say nothing about how they are going to do so; they refer to informal and small business sectors, and to decentralisation and deconcentration. However, there is nothing in this important policy document which refers to what I consider to be one of the most important factors in the recovery of our economy, and that is the beneficiation and the enjoyment of our minerals. Nothing is said about that, and a concentrated beneficiation programme could solve many of the problems with which we are faced today.

The hon the Deputy Minister referred to the question of sanctions against the United States of America. AS I mentioned, he misread the statement and he should look at it again. I did not say anything about withholding anything; I spoke about suspending sales, in particular to the United States. [Interjections.]

Before we go any further, I should like to give him some figures supplied by the United States Department of Commerce and the US Office of Strategic Resources, stating that in the 12 month period when previous anti-apartheid legislation had been in existence, US imports of key metals and minerals from Soviet Russia have risen as follows: Chrome: 157%; rhodium: 386%; platinum bars: 321% … that is just to name a few.

In spite of this our mineral sales have increased. The cost of the United States buying from the Soviet Union, in addition, is also high. If South African production was disrupted rather than just embargoed by the USA, the impact on American and other economies would be even greater. The United States is already purchasing strategic minerals from the Soviet Union, therefore their talk about alternative technology being imminent can also not be taken very seriously. If alternative technology were available or even possible the Americans would have developed it years ago.

The United States Government—I think the hon the Minister and his Government should make this clear to them—must not force South Africa into a David-versus-Goliath situation. They should rather return to normal trade relations.

In the light of what I have said, I ask: What is our priority? The CP priority is the survival of Whites in this country and the preservation of a sovereign White state. We believe that if White security is guaranteed, everyone in the subcontinent can benefit.

How can we maximise this priority? We are faced with what Prof Noffke calls a blatant act of economic terrorism. How does one retaliate when one knows that the US Government is preparing South Africa for Black majority rule, no matter how well they couch their words? Certainly not through capitulation, compromise and surrender, which is what the NP is doing.

South Africa cannot adopt a low profile whilst our enemies are mounting a high-profile war against our economy. The Dellums Bill inspired by the Black caucus in the House of Representatives in America contains the words “to ban”. It refers to banning investment, banning imports and exports and banning banks from accepting deposits. It even demands punitive action against any country increasing its trade with South Africa because of sanctions and it will establish criminal procedures against any organisation or individual violating the proposed Act. Why should we not do the same? The American Government is showing us how. Those American politicians who have no real interest in South African affairs use these measures to divert attention from the deprivations of minority group Americans. They must realise that there is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to sanctions. There is a price to pay and South Africa has the power to set this price.

The USA cannot live without our minerals. They have no alternative technology and no suitable alternative suppliers. The CP believes if the USA were forced to obtain its minerals in the same way that South Africa has been obtaining export markets for its products, Bills such as the Dellums Bill would be stillborn.

Mr Chairman, may I ask the hon member a question?

No, Sir, I do not have time. [Interjections.] Those hon members may find this a joking matter, but as far as we are concerned economic war against South Africa is a very serious thing and we will not accept it under any circumstances, no matter what those hon members say.

If the USA is determined to obtain our minerals we will not accept selective sanctions in order that they may have them. We will link our goods and services for export with our minerals. We do not like embargoes any more than those hon members do, but if one is being mugged by a man with a knife, one abandons any sportsmanlike scruples about where to kick him in self-protection. That does not mean that one carries on kicking if the mugger backs off. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis has challenged me to explain the concept “pro-active” to him. I can explain very well to many people, but I have a problem explaining political terminology to people who suffer from political dyslexia.

Explain it in English.

I will challenge the professor in that language any time he wants to.

Page 9.

We can talk about pages too.

I wish I had the time to react to the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis’s statements regarding an economic war with America, but perhaps it is as well for one not to devote much time to such absurdities. The fact of the matter is that it is one thing, when people impose sanctions against one and one then devises plans and strategies to get around this and the price of coal rises, for example, for those people because one is competing against them, but it is something else to start imposing sanctions of one’s own, because the moment one does that, one must realise that there will be counter-measures from the other side. To imagine that we can compete with the South African economy as a whole against the entire American and Western economies is too ridiculous for words. If one thinks how much sophisticated equipment, capital goods and technology we will have to import, one realises that with its policy the CP will not only cause Black people, but also thousands of White people to be unemployed. [Interjections.] In their bravado they are prepared to gamble with the future of our children. We will not allow them to do so. [Interjections.]

Sir, I prefer to try to make a serious contribution to this debate. I should like to discuss a certain industry, some aspects of which have been dealt with here today, namely the filling station industry in South Africa. It is a very interesting as well as a very delicate industry. There are virtually 5 000 filling stations in South Africa, and the industry provides work for approximately 65 000 people. It is interesting that this industry is one of the sectors of the economy which is subject to the greatest degree of regulation. This regulation takes place within the context of the filling station rationalisation plan, on which there are negotiations from time to time between the department, the oil companies and the Motor Industries Federation. The erection of filling stations, the shifting of sales points, and standards are regulated according to this plan. Of course, the retail price is also controlled.

Now the question arises whether it is really necessary, now that so much is being said about deregulation nowadays, for this industry to be so strictly regulated. If one wants to assess this meaningfully, in my opinion it is necessary to look at the history and the background in this regard—ie what gave rise to this regulation. In the thirties, a company called Arob, entered the South African market. In order to gain a share in the market this company reduced its prices drastically. This gave rise to a large-scale price war. Initially it was restricted to the oil companies, but later it extended to the filling stations. The result was large-scale instability and chaos on the local market. This gave rise to a large number of bankruptcies and literally thousands of petrol pump attendants lost their jobs.

But the customers got their petrol cheaper!

Sir, petrol might have been cheaper as a result of that, but if that hon member lived on the platteland where the local petrol station went bankrupt and the next nearest filling station was in Johannesburg, he would be in trouble. We cannot afford something like that in our country. [Interjections.]

*Sir, the point is that this situation gave rise to the retail margin being determined for the first time in 1937 in order to try to stabilise the market. Then came the Second World War. These were major shortages, and fuel rationing was introduced. Shortly after the war the oil companies started to establish so-called one-mark filling stations at the solo sales points—each for its own product. The result was that innumerable filling stations were established. This resulted in individual filling stations again being placed under economic pressure. This state of affairs gave rise to the then Department of Trade and Industry deciding to introduce a so-called filling station rationalisation plan with a view to the erection of new filling stations.

The first full-fledged plan, which came into existence after a petrol agreement, appeared as long ago as 1959. The entire purpose of the rationalisation plan was and is to create order in the industry, by increasing the turnover of retailers to a reasonable and economical level. There is no doubt that this kind of plan has great value.

There are two ways in which a filling station can be developed. One way is on the basis of so-called quotas. The oil companies use this to build filling stations themselves. Then there is also the so-called roster allocation to individuals. If one looks at the division of the market, I want to say in the first place that I am a bit worried about the fact that at this stage the oil companies have a direct interest of 70% in the filling station industry, while 30% is in the hands of totally independent operators.

I think attention should be given to this. I am grateful that the latest rationalisation plan up to and including 1990 provides that after 1990 it will no longer be permissible to close down and reduce filling station in order to make up quotas for further quota stations, because I think this could cause problems in certain remote areas. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, it is a privilege to follow on the hon member for Springs. As he has just said, at times he can be a fighter, but today he handled a very important subject, and I think he handled it very well indeed.

The Ministry of Mineral and Energy Affairs is one of the oldest ministries in this country. In the five or ten years ahead of us, in a world where we are to be bedevilled by sanctions, I think it is going to be one of the most important ministries that we have. I think we, and perhaps those hon members to the left of us, are at this time in our history a little disconcerted about the fact that with the close of President Reagan’s term of office, we are perhaps going to be facing ever-hardening, sanctions against us from the left of the Congress in America. Despite Mr Dellums’s new Bill, which I have here in my hand, and despite the policy of the President of the United States I do not think we in South Africa are going to change any faster. I think we, the people of South Africa, are going to settle our own problems in our own way and in the time that history allots to us. At the base of our power to determine our own future, will be the fact that we have the might of the mineral and energy resources of this country behind us.

I think Mr Dellums has fired the first shot of the Fort Sumter war in which South Africa in the end will gird up its loins and go out to fight. I think we can achieve anything we want to in this country. If we set our minds on a 4% growth rate this year we will achieve it. If we want a 5% growth rate next year we will get it. The machinery, the labour and the capital is already in place in order to achieve a 5% growth rate next year. I really believe that if we can work together and do not cut each other’s throats every day of the year, we will achieve a 10% growth rate in 1992 as Hong Kong and other places in the world already have.

Should Mr Dellums succeed with his sanctions Bill, we will be forced to find alternative sources of strength. He says in section 302 A of his Bill:

However, being a good American, he says in the very next phrase that there will be exceptions to this section A. He says:

That does not count. They can still import that. Every mineral that we have talked about here today, is an essential mineral in either the economy or the defence of the United States. We have heard quite a few times today that South African mines produce 70% of the world’s gold, 80% of its platinum and 70% of its vanadium. We export 90% of our own diamonds, and there is a success story in respect of almost every mineral we exported last year. Despite the 1986 sanctions I think we exported in value 16% more last year after the American sanctions were imposed than we exported before that.

I do not think it really matters in the long run who is governing and what they call their party. What is going to count, is who can feed the 5 000 mouths that are born every day in this country? I think we can, but I really do not believe that that can be done if the CP takes over and when The Citizen, which I have here, cries with banner headlines: “Suspend the sale of minerals to the USA”. We have had this sort of thing before, and the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis denies that is what he meant.

He says:

I like that. In the next breath here today he says that we must not get ourselves into a David and Goliath situation, but we must tell the USA what to do. [Interjections.] The CP usually has so many contradictions in what they call their policy, that it is laughable. He also says:

In the next breath he says that we have to have double standards in ours! He says that we export to 87 countries—we export to communists as well—but we cannot export to America. That will not be double standards, according to him. However, if they export to us, that is double standards.

I think even the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis will realise that what the real of aim of sanctions is, is to put millions of South Africans out of work. If they put millions of people out of work then Lenin’s idea of unifying the proletariat against the establishment will work. We will then have the people’s revolution and put the Government out of office. Why should we stop exporting our minerals and so keep our people out of work unless we want, through that to help the ANC?

The true way to beat sanctions, will be for us to pursue excellence. It will be to make our mineral exports of an even higher quality than they are already. It will mean that we must not only deliver our minerals, but we must deliver them timeously. We must be fanatic about getting there on time. We should then deliver them at the right price. The better that price, the better the demand curve will be and the more we will export. Very few countries in the world will be concerned about their loyalty to America if they really want to buy our goods. As long as our goods are good they will buy from us, although they will shout against us in the outside world and say how much they hate us. However, they will pay our bills.

The Dellums sanctions Bill should take to about 1990 to really get going, with all the clauses they have to give their people time to get out of here. By then I hope that our oil finds and our off-shore gas will provide us with an umbrella to protect us against the Dellums sanctions Bill. I do not think that Bill is really about apartheid. I think it is merely that the Americans are girding up their loins in the resources war of the world against us. They want to kill our coal, our oil and the things that we have with which we can compete against them. And like true racists the world all over, they are picking on one nation that cannot fight back. They are trying to make a stereotype out of us so that they can enforce a racist law and then destroy us.

We are doing good things today. We have heard about the jewellery industry, we have heard about other things. For me and my constituents it was exciting to hear what the hon member for Alberton said about our thinking of not importing nickel any more and of making our own coins from the tin, copper and brass we have inside the country. It will be good to see us—with that kind of internal organisation—beating the sanctions from outside this country step by step by step. [Time expired.)

Mr Chairman, present in the gallery at the moment is Dr Dawid De Villiers, the chairman of the National Energy Board, and I wish to express my gratitude to him for consenting to assist us by, as chairman, getting this very important board off the ground. We wish him and the top officials of that board and all other officials every success.

It is also a pity that one does not have time to honour those people who have rendered very good service but are no longer with us. I think I should like to place on record that we appointed Mr Dawie Van Der Merwe as chief executive officer of the Central Energy Fund. However we lost him very suddenly as the result of a heart attack on the tennis court. We also lost Mr Barry Osler, who was for many years involved in the CEF and the IDC, in the Helderberg disaster. We have also lost Dr Piet Van Zyl. He did real pioneering work at Soekor, particularly in recent years.

On behalf of this House we should like to say to their families that we share their sorrow and we pray that in the years ahead they will be comforted and that they will prosper.

I do not understand the hon member Comdt Derby-Lewis at all, and I trust he will assist me now. I asked him a moment ago whether his argument about sanctions was aimed at our surmounting them by way of greater beneficiation and added value.

That is one of the methods.

The hon member agrees with me.

I hope I understood him wrongly when I say that he said we should withhold our assets, thereby hitting back by also applying sanctions from our side. I really think that that would be the most foolish thing this country has ever done. The hon member for Germiston reacted very effectively to that, and I really hope it is not the standpoint of the Official Opposition that we should apply sanctions against other countries. We believe in carry on on a free trade economy with everyone who wishes to trade with South Africa. In my opinion, that is the only way in which we shall build channels whereby we will be able to counter any sanctions effort. However, I agree with the hon member about beneficiation.

The hon member tries to create the impression that we in South Africa are not doing anything about beneficiation. I now wish to invite the hon member to come and visit me in my office. We regard our plans as classified information, since if our enemies were to know what we are planning, they could throw a spanner in the works because we are dependent upon specific overseas technology and skills. However I shall show the hon member a plan from which it is evident that there is not a single mineral in South Africa of which we have not made a pro-active analysis and drawn up a plan from the raw material to the final product. This includes the status of every mineral in South Africa, the strategy we should adopt over a period of 10 years to achieve specific goals, the progress we have already made and what is being done at the moment.

We have such a plan for every mineral in South Africa and the person responsible is Dr A Edwards, who is also present here today. This is truly a master plan for each mineral, and I think that such plans represent the way we must overcome sanctions. We have been doing this proactively since long before the American government passed legislation in this regard.

You do not understand the word “pro-active”!

The CP thinks pro-active is a turbocharged CP oxwagon!

I thank the hon member for Alberton sincerely for a very good survey of the important part played by the mineral industry in the economy of South Africa through the creation of prosperity and the boosting of living standards. I thank the hon member for that.

To come back to the subject of beneficiation, I just want to add that this department budgeted R150 million this year to encourage and assist beneficiation. Moreover, this is not the first year that we have budgeted such a large amount of money. I think that last year, too, we budgeted for something in the region of R150 million, specifically with a view to the encouragement and promotion of beneficiation activities.

As a result we decided to take another close look at the type of beneficiation and the minerals. We therefore had to establish our priorities in respect of beneficiation. Dr Edwards is chairman of a Beneficiation Committee which determines from year to year which programmes and projects we should tackle in the beneficiation industry and how we should pursue them. We thank this committee for the tremendous job they are doing in this regard.

†My colleague the hon the Deputy Minister replied to most of the points made by the hon member for Groote Schuur. The greatest part of his speech was in relation to labour relation matters which are the responsibility of my colleague the hon the Minister of Manpower.

I think what I need to emphasise is the importance of having a well-trained work force in our mining industry and that we have a reliable and a stable work force in our mining industry. I think that is of the utmost importance.

*The hon member for Kimberley South referred to the squatting. I share the hon member’s concern, and I think that we are keeping a constant watch on that situation. I just wish to make the statement that if we deproclaim, the responsibility for the area of that farm will again be a matter for the farmer alone, and I think he may then be in a better position to see whether he would then be able to get rid of those people.

I want to convey my sincere thanks to the hon member for Mossel Bay for a positive survey of the progress of the Mossgas project. I can Ônly say to the hon member and this House that the project is making very good progress. Originally we planned a local content of 80%. At present we are moving in the direction of a local content of 75%. I am convinced that we could quite probably still achieve 80%, and a local content of 80% would represent a tremendous achievement for the Mossgas management, and I think they deserve our high praise for that.

I just wish to mention to the hon member—he apologised for not being present—that the groundwork is to begin within the next few days, in that the terrain where the inland refinery is to be built, is to be prepared.

The hon member for Carletonville was very kind to me, but I do not want to be unkind towards him, since before he came here, we held quite penetrating discussions. However the hon member for Carletonville tried to create the impression here, by quoting from correspondence I addressed to him, that nothing had happened. As far as the safety situation is concerned, he has already heard what is being done.

Let us now look at the dust in the mines. I am not a miner—I have never held a certificate—but I have at least been down there in those holes and have seen the worms that extract the coal and cause a lot of dust. I agree with the hon member that it is indeed unacceptable to have a high dust content, particularly at the continuous recovery units. However, it is not a case of our doing nothing, and I think the hon member for Stilfontein referred very effectively to that. We concluded that it would be impossible for the State to appoint sufficient inspectors to be at every work level in every mine in South Africa every day. The important point is that the supervisor must be at the working level every day, and we now have a good understanding with the mineworkers and the mine bosses that we want to transfer the responsibility for safety and health inspections—naturally this includes the dust situation—on to a responsible structure which the mines themselves will manage, but without doing away with the responsibility of the Government Mining Engineer. We want to retain the responsibility, but hand over the task of day-to-day inspection on the workshop floor, to the mines themselves, and we hope that these regulations will be made shortly.

The hon member gave me the impression that he was totally opposed to the state of emergency. I now have a problem with him and the hon member Mr Derby-Lewis. The hon member Mr Derby-Lewis congratulated us on the very successful legislation we pass, but the hon member for Carletonville makes the statement that our legislation is meaningless, since it is incapable of solving the problems we foresee. The state of emergency specifically functions as a means adopted by this Parliament to resolve problems which one cannot solve by means of a law.

Now the hon member has also created the impression that the squatter problem at the diggings is the result of the abolition of influx control, but surely that is totally untrue. The squatter problem in the Barkly West-Vaal River areas existed long before that Act was abolished. This is a different squatter problem that has causes other than the abolition of influx control, and I think we have dealt with some of those problems. I do not think we shall be able to solve everything overnight. It is a complex problem, but we are working on it.

The hon member for Stilfontein referred to the accidents. He made a very good speech in which he also referred to the responsibility to ensure freedom. He paid tribute to the proto teams. I, too, wish to pay tribute today to the proto teams in the mining industry. We and the public at large are unaware of the deprivations those teams have to suffer and what risks they have to run to help their fellow man in a time of emergency during a mine accident. I became aware of this when I paid a visit to the Kinross mine at the time of the accident there a year or two ago. I then realised that that group of people defy death to enter a situation that no other person on earth would enter, in order to go and help and support their colleagues. I think that we as a House should take cognisance of that and pay tribute to them.

The hon member for Newcastle spoke about coal exports and I think that my hon colleague, the Deputy Minister, referred to that.

The hon member for Constantia spoke about the lead situation. The problem with petrol is not the lead in the petrol, but the gases emitted from the exhaust pipe after the combustion process, namely the nitrogen and carbon compounds. The reason for the removal of the lead was to remove the gases by way of platimum catalysers, since they are the major elements of pollution, rather than lead. We shall constantly check the lead problem and if circumstances require, we shall reduce the lead content of our fuel to an acceptable level. The acceptable level, as the hon member correctly indicated, is approximately ,15g per litre. However, in the majority of countries of the world, particularly where platinum catalysers are used, the lead content is nil because lead pollutes the catalysers and renders them ineffective.

The hon member referred to the SABS problem. The hon Whip of the PFP was kind enough to send the letter to me. I shall look at it and come back to the hon member.

The hon member for Heilbron dwelt on the price of fuel. I thank him for his full exposition of our price structure. The hon member also pointed out how correctly we are acting in not holding back price cuts when necessary; he used the example of diesel. We hope that we shall be able to continue to maintain a realistic policy in regard to the petrol price in South Africa.

The hon member for Springs raised a very interesting subject, namely the filling station industry. I agree with what he said. He also pointed out the need for us to regulate the industry. I think it is important that we should have petrol at every place in South Africa, be it Steenbokpan or Olifantshoek, at the lowest possible price. I think our reputation over the last few years proves that we are indeed succeeding in doing so. However there is one point I want to rectify. The hon member said that 70% of the filling stations are in the hands of the oil industry. That is not quite correct. Forty per cent of the filling stations are owned by the oil industry, but they are not allowed to operate them themselves. They lease them to private people who run them. The figure is 40% and not 70%. I think someone gave him the wrong information. [Interjections.]

I want to thank the hon member for Germiston for a very good speech. I think the most important statement he made was that if we want to break sanctions, the reliability of supply, quality and price of our commodities must at all times be right.

Mr Chairman, with respect to what the hon the Minister said and in view of the policy of deregulation, may I ask him whether he will consider withdrawing the prohibition on reducing the price of petrol?

There is no prohibition on reducing the price of petrol. We reduced the price of diesel on 1 April by 5,6 cents per litre.

What about Pick ’n Pay?

No, Mr Chairman, if we allow that to happen once, we will find ourselves involved in a price war. We are not going to do so, and I am not prepared even to consider it.

*I want to thank hon members for a very good debate and very good contributions.

Debate concluded.

Mr Chairman, I move:

Agreed to.

Mr Chairman, this Bill provides for the establishment of university, teachers’ training and technikon education under one umbrella. This will be administered by each own affairs Ministry, providing for the needs of each community, and each Minister may decide whether he wishes it to be open.

Clause 12 of this Bill was the most contentious. It deals with the admission or refusal of admission of a student to a college. A council may, if it deems it to be in the interests of the college, refuse admission to any applicant. In this regard I wish to say that I, together with many others, was one of those who were opposed to this particular Bill at the outset. However, due to the wisdom of my colleague, the hon member Mr Nowbath, he enlightened the House that it had no racial connotations despite the fact that there seemed to be some entrenchment of apartheid, and recommended that this particular Bill should be accepted as it would not deny us education.

It must also be noted that approximately 5 000 Indian students were turned away from universities last year. If we did not accept this particular Bill it would have been found that this Bill which does not affect White institutions certainly affects Indian, Coloured and Black institutions. One finds that the White institutions are either half full or half empty today and this Bill therefore does not affect these institutions. It would affect us, however, if we were to turn it down. Dr Oscar Dhlomo has also accepted this Bill in toto as he himself also felt that it contained no racial connotations and that the Black community urgently needed this type of legislation.

This Bill also provides for the principal to be a member of the council and for the Minister to nominate persons with specialised knowledge in either university education, technikon education or teacher training education. Once again I want to say that with these amendments I support this Bill.

Mr Chairman, I want to give a broad overview of this Bill to adequately justify the adoption of this Bill. I must inform hon members in this House that some hard thinking went into the formulation of the Tertiary Education Bill. It has been on and off the desk of the Standing Committee on Education for almost a year. We did have initial reservations about the Bill but we finally came to the conclusion that these tertiary colleges were intended to cater for a particular situation, and as such had to be used to advantage. These colleges have a special character.

Character or carrot?

Character. This special character exists in the composite character of the envisaged tertiary institutions. A tertiary institution will be so designed that it brings university training, teacher training and technikon training together under one roof.

These tertiary institutions will be provided in centres where it is not feasible to provide separate institutions for each of the different aspects of education. It is obviously unimaginative and unfeasible to provide separate colleges for, say, 200 technikon students, 50 teacher trainees and 100 undergraduates. Tertiary education will be brought closer to the people and the provision of a college accommodating all three trends will become feasible. This is the main advantage of this Bill. A normal university as such could not be provided to meet the needs of smaller numbers, especially during the transitional phase of developing communities. It must also be borne in mind that the cost of tertiary education is prohibitive in this day and age.

The Latin word universitas means “the whole world”. This reflects the universal character of universities. It has two principal tasks, namely the search for knowledge and the passing on of this knowledge to its students. In our contemporary technological society the concentration on scientific events and technological processes has largely superseded the search for knowledge in the philosophical sense—knowledge of the essence of things and of the truth.

In more recent times the word “research” has assumed a different meaning. This is important, especially in relation to the tertiary institutions. It no longer means pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge and truth for the sake of truth. It now has an outspokenly pragmatic character and it means the investigation of functional processes with a view to their practical application.

To a great extent the university has become a social service institution the research, teaching and training activities of which are determined largely by society’s functional and material needs. Modern technological society demands the functionalistic university. Therefore these tertiary institutions will meet the functionalistic need which prevails in present-day society. They must be seen as forerunners of the university and indeed some of them, in the course of time, will be transformed into full-fledged universities.

I would like to indicate that from the 1940s to the 1960s there were innumerable colleges in the USA called “liberal arts colleges”. They often ranged from the worst to the best in regard to the standard of education. In the case of the tertiary colleges these setbacks should be avoided because each of the three main trends in education will be controlled by institutions—universities, technikons and teacher training institutions—to which the tertiary colleges will be linked.

I want to repeat that these tertiary colleges must be seen as institutions initially fulfilling a transitional need in the educational history of the country. Many of our universities started out as colleges. I may cite the Natal University College and the University of Durban-Westville. Before they came of age they served a useful purpose—the University of Durban-Westville in particular. There has, if I may say so, been tremendous criticism, but what is its position today? I think it enjoys pride of place in the Indian community, and in the course of time its character has changed so much that that university, which started off as an ethnic university—leaving aside the number of Whites and Coloureds attending it—has a very large number of Black students.

There have been requests from certain leading educationists in the Black community that the tertiary colleges are necessary. I want to assure sceptics who have contrary views that these institutions will serve a long-felt need, especially in developing communities. There should be no delay in the establishment of these tertiary institutions. They are in demand among the Black community, particularly for the training of teachers, which is a key shortcoming in the Black educational system.

The other urgent need is for the training of Blacks in trade and technology. Unless these institutions are established and given the priority they deserve, the manpower needs of the country will not be met. Especially when the economy begins an upswing their education will suffer if we do not prepare these colleges and give them the priority they deserve.

Sometimes idealists advocate an ideal institution. This is unfortunate when situational demands are overlooked and the interests of the community suffer. Let us not forget, however, that whatever needs we preach, they should be attainable by the common people. We have to think of the man in the street, and examine the circumstances which condition his life and action. Although our reactions were at first different, until we discussed the whole issue comprehensively, our thoughts concerned the disadvantaged conditions of the Black people in particular. After much thought we came to the conclusion that the salvation of this country lay in education and especially the education of the Black people who form the masses. No-one should stand in the way of progress. Claims and demands for an ideal “this” and an ideal “that” will always be there, but let progress continue unabated. Therefore it is envisaged that the new tertiary education institutions will play a vital role and will make a useful contribution to the educational upliftment of the masses.

Before I resume my seat I want to pay tribute to the chairman of the standing committee. He was always ready to listen to every reasonable amendment proposed by various members of the Committee. His accommodating attitude and personal outlook in executing his task helped considerably in the reaching of consensus. I wish to thank the chairman of the Standing Committee on Education and I wish to thank the Director-General of the department and other senior officials for conceiving the idea of a tertiary college as part of the education system in this country, particularly in Black education. This system of colleges for tertiary education will prove to be a boon in the upliftment of tertiary education. I welcome the Bill.

Mr Chairman, it is very pleasant for me to see my colleague, the hon the Minister of National Education, here once again. I welcome him and also Dr Louw, who is here to represent his department. We have not met one another for some time and that is why I say it is very pleasant to see them here this morning. The hon the Minister and I are, as it were, facing up to one another squarely.

Mr Chairman, it is not my intention to go into the details that were dealt with here by the hon member for Allandale and the hon member for Cavendish. They very efficiently outlined the objects of this Bill. I do want to say, however, that the main object of the Bill is explained in the very clear long title to the Bill which reads:

I think that amply states the intention of this Bill.

It is not always convenient for those students who intend going to university to attend a particular university. Therefore, with the consent of certain existing universities, university colleges may be established to facilitate tertiary education and to bring these colleges within easy reach of people who intend deriving advantage from them. The main criterion is that norms and standards have to be maintained.

The composition and constitution of such colleges will, of necessity and where applicable, follow that of the existing universities in the main. In other words, a college that is established will have to be run according to the same principles as a university is run. For instance, such a college must consist of a principal, a council to guide it, a senate, and it must of necessity have academic and administrative staff since it cannot function without these. Generally the management structure of such a college will, as I have said, be the same as that of universities.

However, as both my hon colleagues have mentioned, some members of the standing committee expressed misgivings about clause 12. However, I think clause 12 indicates very clearly the intention of this Bill. Clause 12 deals, of course, with the admission or refusal of admission of someone as a student. I think it was subsection (2) of clause 12 which was a cause of concern for those hon members. Subsection (2) reads:

I can recall that certain hon members did consult me, too. We were of the opinion, however, that there was no racial connotation as mentioned by the hon member for Allandale. Therefore, any fears that those hon members may have had, were allayed.

Having said that, Sir, I may say that I think that the Bill in general is a good one. I have no reservations about it and I therefore support it.

Mr Chairman, I can understand the support given to this Bill by the hon the Minister of Education and Culture in this House. He is, after all, an hon Minister in an own affairs department. To our way of thinking this Bill is foursquare behind the concept of own affairs. Quite obviously we understand his support for the Bill. However, I cannot understand support for this Bill coming from the hon member for Cavendish because, as I understand, his party’s policy is complete non-racialism in the school situation.

Mr Chairman, can the hon member tell this House if he is prepared, at all times, to support progress?

Mr Chairman, it all depends on how that hon member or anybody else defines progress. If progress is in line with non-racialism, most certainly we will support it. For the edification of that hon member may I remind him, and also the hon member for Allandale, that they said that there was no racial connotation in this Bill. That is true and one accepts that. However, the intention of this Bill is very clear from the definitions provided in the Bill. They provide that the Minister will be the Minister of Education and Development Aid or the Minister of the House of Representatives or of the House of Assembly or of the House of Delegates. Moreover, I would remind both these hon members of an amendment that was proposed by my party to this Bill—in particular to clause 12—which would in fact have completely cleared the air. I wish to read that amendment, which was negatived before the standing committee. That clause merely read:

It was sad that all the members of the standing committee from this House did not support that clause. However, the hon the Minister in his Second Reading speech quite correctly said that the Extension of University Education Act of 1959 makes provision for the establishment of university colleges for the education of persons other than Whites. However, I am a little confused when he says that up to now no university college has been established in terms of this Act. After all, as the hon member for Cavendish explained just now, the university college for Indians was in fact established in terms of that Act.

Of this Act?

In terms … [Interjections.] Was it established …?

This is a Bill, a new Bill. It was established in terms of the old Act. [Interjections.]

The hon the Minister said that the Extension of University Education Act of 1959 made provision for the establishment of university colleges for the education of persons other than Whites. He continued by saying that up to now no university college had been established in terms of that Act.

The old Act.

Of the old Act. However, the attention of the House was drawn to the establishment of the University of Durban-Westville. I am a product of that university … [Interjections.] … and quite obviously at that time we opposed the “Separation of Universities Act”, as it was called at that time.

However, I was in fact heartened by the reply that was given by the hon the Minister in the House of Assembly the other day in reply to, I think, the nominated hon member Mr Derby-Lewis, when he quoted some figures which in fact supported our contention that the major thrust of the Government’s policy over some 30 years was collapsing in regard to apartheid at universities. We believe that this is collapsing through the sheer force of necessity and of impracticality.

As I have said, the hon the Minister himself acknowledged this when he gave figures to Parliament the other day, which emphasised that the racial segregation of universities was breaking down. He said that in 1986 there were 9 682 non-White students studying at 10 White residential universities. We all know that these figures have increased since then. It might also be interesting to note that at the so-called Indian, Coloured and Black universities, the situation is the same.

We say that this is how it should be, because a university, by its very nature, should be an institution that is open to all persons who seek to enter its portals in the search for truth and knowledge and training, as was very nicely stated by the hon member for Cavendish. I am therefore particularly pleased that clause 21 of the Bill before this House repeals that Act in its entirety.

As the hon member for Cavendish also indicated, this Bill has had an interesting history before the standing committee which dealt with it. I am informed that this Bill, which is in fact a pretty simple Bill, was discussed and debated in this committee during June, August and September last year and that various amendments were made to it, which in fact improved the Bill. Quite naturally, my party supported this and we are grateful that the majority parties represented on that committee likewise accepted these amendments, which had, as I said, the effect of improving the Bill.

However, I am informed that both the majority parties in this House as well as in the House of Representatives, in a sense blocked the Bill, and I was informed that the reasons for this action were the following. Firstly, it was felt that the control of tertiary education institutions should be placed under the control of this hon Minister’s department, the Department of National Education. Secondly, it was felt that there should not be any racial restriction imposed on these tertiary education institutions. I am given to understand that it was also the hon member Mr Nowbath, who was on that standing committee, who was particularly strong on this point. I commend him for that.

My information is also that in the standing committee it was only the CP which was against any such proposal. It is to the credit of the CP that at least they have been consistent, if not misguided, and have again supported this Bill in the House of Assembly when it was presented there a little while ago. In that regard, the speech made by the hon member for Brits, Mr A Gerber, makes interesting reading for purposes of this particular debate and for the edification of hon members of this House. He said that this Bill was fully compatible with his party’s policy of total separation in regard to education and that was why the CP supported the Bill.

That is why Solidarity supports it too.

I again would like to commend this to the attention of all hon members of this House. I would like to ask hon members what has happened that parties of this House have since changed their minds, particularly in view of Solidarity’s policy document.

We in the PFP cannot support this Bill because, firstly, it does not place the proposed tertiary colleges under the Minister of National Education, and secondly, it does not prevent the restriction of the admission of students on the grounds of race, creed or sex. As I have indicated, my party specifically proposed an amendment to this effect and this amendment was rejected. Hence our feeling that although the Bill does not say so, this will naturally be the interpretation that can be given to it.

We are aware that if one looks at the number of students at our various tertiary education institutions at the present time, there is a significant imbalance. I am told that there are presently some 248 000 students at all our universities, some 54 000 students at our tertiary institutions and some 43 000 students at our teacher training institutions. Of course, these are figures for students of all races. I am aware that the aim of the Bill before us is really to correct the imbalance by creating additional tertiary education institutions in areas where currently there is no university, technikon or teachers’ training institution. More specifically, it is necessary to establish these institutions in so-called Black and Coloured communities. I understand that this was also brought to the attention of the standing committee, because it is highly unlikely that it will be used for the establishment of more such institutions for Whites and Indians. As we know—and the hon the Minister of Education and Culture is very much aware of this—we have in fact surpluses in this regard. I want to make it very clear that we are not against the proposal for the establishment of more universities. After all, if we merely look at the projected figures given for Black matriculants by the year 2000, quite naturally we must accept the fact that more institutions will have to be created to accommodate these people. However, what we say is that these institutions should come under the control and umbrella of the hon the Minister of National Education. We also say that this could be done by creating institutions as we have in the USA, where the smaller institutions and colleges fall under the umbrella of larger universities. We believe that this would address the needs of the country, not only because of the fact that we are in this so-called phase of reform, but also because we believe that smaller institutions, particularly as far as education is concerned, are what is desirable because they afford that personal relationship between students and members of staff. As I said, we are not against the principle of opening up more colleges, but since the hon the Minister is taking control of this Bill—that is also interesting—we say it must fall under his jurisdiction.

Our second criticism relates, as I said earlier, to the racial restrictions. In this regard, however, we must also commend the hon the Minister, because he has not applied a hard and fast rule about the admission of so-called people of colour to so-called White institutions. I would nevertheless like to take this opportunity, in view of the fact that we know that inherent in the Universities Act, as well as the Technikons Act, is the requirement of quotas, of asking the hon the Minister to remove all racial restrictions from these Acts. I believe that the Bill, as it stands now, only satisfies—at present, and in the reality of the South African situation—the policies of the CP and no one else. With these words I would like to say that we are opposing the Bill.

Mr Chairman, I must confess that I was tremendously shocked by the attitude adopted by the hon member for Cavendish on this subject.

He is a member of the NPP now.

The hon member is welcome to this side. We will make him a Minister if he harps enough. The hon member was well versed in the standing committee and talked about loosening the nuts and bolts of apartheid. He opposed this Bill in the standing committee, as did hon members from the PFP, as well as hon members from the House of Representatives who served on that committee. As far as I am concerned, on the very first day of the debate on this Bill in the standing committee, I made a submission. I said I was opposed to racial discrimination in education and also to the fact that this was an own affairs measure in that the different Ministers of own affairs would be responsible for the establishment of these colleges. I also pointed out that there is a harsh reality facing the nonWhite people—Coloureds, Indians and Blacks—of this country, and that reality is the need for education.

I have listened with interest to the hon member for Springfield. I should like to draw his attention to one exercise which I carried out in the standing committee. This was directed at his colleague, the hon member for Cape Town Gardens, who was very strongly opposed to this. I asked him through the Chairman how many White children were being denied education at a tertiary level because they had no colleges of education or universities. What was the answer to this? None! The hon member for Gardens also referred to the fact that the training college at Paarl stands half empty. He said we should not duplicate training colleges, but I said to him: “Sir, you are quite happy that your son will be sitting inside that institution, getting his education, while my son will have to stand outside, looking in and hoping for the day that your principles or practical stand will allow him to get inside.” I also told him: “Sir, you want to deny my son even a fraction of education, while your son is getting total education. Are you not now, by your attitude, being responsible for increasing the gap between Whites and non-Whites?”

I asked him if he would oppose the Bill, even though it had the warts of apartheid in it. The hon member for Cape Town Gardens said he would not. Oh, I see the Tweedledum for the PFP has left the House. [Interjections.] The hon member for Gardens finally conceded that he could not, in all morality and honesty, allow his principles to deny Black people some education, however fractured, however full of apartheid warts.

It sometimes seems to me that White liberals in this country are, in fact, the agents of apartheid. Their stance is such that it denies even a little room for movement to non-White peoples. We are under the harrow. We can feel every spike in the harrow, because it goes over us, and yet we have to survive. The White man does not have to survive. Despite all his principles, the liberal White man still wallows in the luxury and wealth created by apartheid.

Look at the attitude of students at the University of the Witwatersrand to the stay-away or protest that was called for three days. The University of the Witwatersrand, the most liberal university in the country, together with UCT, issued a policy statement: No work, no pay, no penalties. They brought in Whites to man the cafeterias on their campus! The very liberal PFP media has not as yet reported this.

On Tuesday morning the Natal Mercury reported that there was a total stay-away at the University of Durban-Westville. There was a total stay-away from the medical school, but the Natal University had a normal attendance. So much for the liberal progressive White students.

We are the suckers!

They are mouthing Nusas principles, and Nusas is an affiliate of the UDF. They want us to be suckers, as an hon member has said. Our students lost a day’s education. In the Cape Peninsula seven out of the ten Black high schools had no attendance. They had no teachers; they reacted in protest. I want to know from the PFP how many White high schools also had total or any stay-aways in an area such as Claremont, where I believe the PFP put their Indian members on exhibition recently.

Sir, while we are talking of principles, I should like to say that I have principles. However, I have to live, and the harsh reality is that at this stage I find it very strange that people oppose or advocate non-racial principles in a totally Indian forum. This is an apartheid forum; it is an Indian ethnic forum. One cannot just stand up and claim morally that one is opposed to it or that one will reject it. The practical solution would be to state one’s principles. I have my principles.

However, I was also a victim of White liberalism when I was refused admission to the law faculty of the Natal University College in 1941. I was told that they did not admit non-Whites. In 1949, when it became an independent university and there was no legislation in regard to apartheid at universities, when I enrolled for Afrikaans Nederlands I was sent to an annex at Sastri College. There were four or five of us and a lecturer was sent to us. We were not even allowed to use the toilets in Howard College or in the Commerce Block. They duplicated them. I am afraid, Sir, that the White liberals have turned out to be our worst enemies.

It took the National Education Crisis Committee three years to discover that Black education was being ruined by the slogan “liberation before education”. Schools with thousands of Black pupils suffered over three years, until the National Education Crisis Committee reversed its approach this year and said there had to be education before liberation. Three years were wasted. They were underpinned by what? By the UDF. And who runs the UDF?

The liberals.

The White progressive liberals. Nusas is an affiliate of the UDF. I am saying, Sir, that while we have our principles, we have to be very practical. I know where I stand with the Nats. They say it is an own affairs matter. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I want to take the point made by the hon member Mr Nowbath in regard to university education for Indians at Durban. It is true that we had a pokey little place at Sastri College where most of our graduates came from.

This Bill provides for university, teacher and technikon training or one or more components of these according to the needs of the community. I admit that the Bill is unique in the sense that it does not affect White members of the population. It caters mostly for non-Whites. By “nonWhites” I mean Coloureds and Blacks rather than Indians and Whites.

It is also true that this Bill has certain apartheid inferences and connotations. In the standing committee this Bill was canvassed for almost a year. There were serious objections to the Bill. However, it was reconsidered, especially by the House of Representatives, and my conscience is clear that the Blacks have been consulted in this regard. There are, however, certain practical problems facing those people in the remote areas with an established institution.

What this Bill purports to do is to incorporate university, teacher training and technikon education under one roof. As the hon the member said, we had a very long struggle to make progress in Indian education, but we took whatever opportunity presented itself. Here, in this Bill, however, the opportunities are extended over a wider front. My conscience is clear that the people affected have been consulted and that it is acceptable to them.

I do not want to become an idealist. As a member of Solidarity one can become idealistic about party policy, but sometimes we have to be practical. We cannot stifle the progress of other people who need it so much. I am not saying that there should be no idealism, but being idealistic and boycotting all the time and denying oneself the opportunities that are required to make a start is not desirable. I believe that every opportunity must be taken when it is afforded one. This tertiary education is not inferior nor does the Bill restrict admission on racial grounds. This is a Bill which affords those unfortunate people in the remote areas education of quality. It makes it convenient for them as they are people who cannot go to other universities or afford the luxury of doing so. However, it does not deny people who are thinking of furthering their education the right to go to the elite universities in the country.

This Bill, as far as I am concerned, satisfies particular needs that are being felt at a particular time and place. I therefore do not want to play politics although one can play politics with this. I agree with the ideal of centralised education under a single ministry which will mean equal education for everybody, but we have to be practical. The cost of establishing a university in a remote area is so tremendous that it cannot possibly be done. This Bill will therefore enable those established colleges to provide this type of education.

I am not saying that we should make university education available on a large scale in the rural areas, but we can promote technikon education which trains people to earn a living. If we want to improve the standard of education, universities should not be top priority.

We should not look at the ulterior motives surrounding this Bill. In the standing committee the PFP had no serious objection to this Bill apart from introducing an amendment that it should not have any racial connotations. However, the principle of the Bill was accepted. We cannot turn turtle now and say that they were right, but I think they have a mind of their own and we should take a practical stand on this matter in order to satisfy the needs of the community at present. As the hon member Mr Nowbath said, Sastri Technical College was a pokey little college, yet it produced graduates of whom we can be proud today. There has to be a starting point somewhere and we must take these opportunities. I do not believe in waiting for idealism but we must aspire to the ideal, fight for it and try to achieve it.

Mr Chairman, one thing that the hon members Mr R S Nowbath and Mr A K Pillay have in common is that they have their principles, but feel that they have to be practical. In other words, they have their principles to which they adhere, but if those principles stand in their way they have alternative principles! We believe that we must take a principled stand on every subject, and that includes the subject under consideration.

The hon member for Cavendish referred to universitas. Although it is a little dull at the moment, my recollection is that a university is really rerum universitas scolarium et magistrorum. That is what a university is. There is no requirement that a university shall always have only a single campus. Everyone knows that the University of London is spread out geographically over a large area. The University of Bombay is spread over 58 different geographical sections. Therefore, a university can cater for small communities by making provision for their admission.

However, the hon member Mr Nowbath went on a panegyric against what he called the White liberals. We understand the hon member Mr Nowbath’s position. After all, no one else said it. He personally said, not in this House but in the Chamber of the House of Delegates when we were in the Marks Building, that when he came into this Parliament he was politically emasculated.

Unlike you. You are physically emasculated!

He has amply demonstrated this morning what he himself said had happened to him. He said he was emasculated; we did not say so.

You are a PFP lackey.

What has emerged this morning, is the fact that in principle, there is no difference between the Solidarity Party and the National Peoples Party. [Interjections.] That has emerged abundantly clearly. Therefore, one cannot understand why they are contesting with one another, unless—and I shall leave that “unless” unstated for the moment.

In England they have polytechnics and we can see no difficulty in having polytechnics. However, insofar as this Bill is concerned, I want to make so bold as to say that those hon members who have spoken so far are not ignoramuses. They can read, and since they can read, they will have seen clearly that in terms of the definitions clause, that is to say, clause 1, a Minister is an own affairs Minister and that in terms of clause 2, it is the own affairs Minister who may, subject to the general policy conditions, establish colleges to provide tertiary education out of moneys appropriated by Parliament. An own affairs Minister cannot provide a general affairs college or a tertiary institution. That is why the hon member for Springfield has insisted—with which I concur—that it is the hon the Minister of National Education who should have that power.

We have the odd situation that hon opposition members want to give power to an hon Minister, and that hon Minister is fighting shy of accepting that power. In other words, he is saying: “No, no; I do not want that power. Give it to my colleagues generally in the own affairs administrations”, and own affairs represent a perpetuation of apartheid. Therefore if anyone says that he opposes apartheid whilst he supports this Bill, he is not telling the truth. The truth is that this Bill seeks to perpetuate apartheid.

Clause 12 provides that a council may, if it deems it to be in the interest of the college, refuse admission to any person applying therefor. This is obviously intended to refuse admission to people who do not belong to the same racial group as the one to which the Minister who established such a college belongs. That is why the amendment proposed in the standing committee was rejected.

There is another factor I should like to discuss. In terms of clause 13—

This is a pretty draconian measure. We admit that a student cannot be allowed to remain at a tertiary education institution ad infinitum, but surely there is such a thing as at least one second chance. What is more, the audi alteram partem principle is completely devastated in clause 14. In terms of clause 14(2)—

That means a council can arbitrarily deny a student the continuation of his studies according to its own opinion. The word “considers” is included, therefore such opinion could be exercised capriciously. That student will then be denied forever the possibility of continuing at that institution.

We object to those clauses as well. The hon members who have spoken were clearly so keen to support an apartheid instrument that they did not even read the Bill carefully. They did not realise that the principles for which we are supposed to stand—and that is the protection of the rights of the individual—are being completely sacrificed in these clauses to which I have referred. Let me point out clearly that in terms of existing legislation, one could in fact establish technikons which are tertiary institutions. Indeed, technikons have been established in the past.

I want to deal for the moment with the castigation which the hon member Mr Nowbath directed at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town. Does the hon member really believe that those two universities should have given backing to Cosatu and the UDF by paying their employees who stayed away on those days? Does he not realise the inconsistency of his argument? Actually the fallacious argument that people who stay away without lawful and just cause should be paid for staying away undermines the rest of the hon member’s argument.

You are now anti-UDF!

I am not anti-UDF. All that I am saying is that if an employee does not turn up for work without just cause that employee cannot at the same time demand that he be paid for staying away, which is precisely what the hon member Mr Nowbath is advocating. Since he is sitting in the chair generally occupied by the hon the Chairman of the Ministers’ Council, one wonders whether he is now the acting Chairman of the Ministers’ Council.

I beg your pardon, but this is not his seat. It is the seat of the hon the Minister of Education and Culture. I am aspiring to that!

In clause 15 it states:

Which Minister? It is the own affairs Minister and not the Minister of National Education. It is the apartheid Minister—whether it is the Minister who is called an Indian Minister, a Coloured Minister or a White own affairs Minister. I am surprised that the hon member for Merebank considers that his idealism could be so readily sacrificed and so easily thrown overboard in support of an instrument of apartheid. I would like to know from him what he is going to tell his constituents when they ask him questions about this.

The problem is this: Solidarity has no set of principles which differs from that of the National Peoples Party. The NPP being the governing party naturally supports measures which emanate from the Government. That is perfectly understandable.

That is not a fact. The PFP is now trying to score points.

However, for a party which describes itself as the Official Opposition to fall holus-bolus in support of the Government and in pretending that the obstacles … [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, it has been discussed already that considerable time was spent in the standing committee going through this Bill. I have great sympathy for the hon member for Springfield and his party. In fact, his party was responsible for a number of amendments to this Bill.

I just want to clear the air as far as the hon member for Merebank is concerned, because if the hon members for Springfield and Reservoir Hills have checked, the hon member for Merebank voted with the PFP against certain clauses.

He turned turtle today.

A number of amendments to this Bill, as it stands before us, have been proposed by the PFP and we saw the point in that and we acknowledged that and accepted it as such. However, behind the scenes a great amount of work has been done …

Is the hon member aware that I objected to certain clauses but not to the Bill itself.

Mr Chairman, had the hon member been listening to me, he would have known that that is exactly what I indicated, namely that he had objected to certain clauses of the Bill, but that he supported the Bill in its entirety. That is what, in his definition, constitutes practicality. I just want to assist him.

What I want to say is that whilst we concede that there were a number of man-hours put into this Bill, I think it is essential for the record that I read a letter from the Ministry of Education and Culture of the KwaZulu Government. It is written by Dr O D Dhlomo, who says:

In the last paragraph Dr Dhlomo goes on to say:

Now, Dr Dhlomo has supported this Bill, and we have considered this; we have considered the racial connotations in this Bill as well. However, one has to face the realities, as the hon member Mr Nowbath, I think it was, indicated. One cannot deny the right to any individual simply because that individual has a different colour. Therefore, in the present time, in the context of the present situation, and in terms of existing legislation, we have to make progress. It is in order to make progress that this Bill was accepted. This is why my party and the members of the Solidarity party supported this. It is not a question of supporting apartheid by accepting this. In fact, this is a measure that would bear out our contention that we would get in and make progress. This is one step forward. We did not give our support in totality to apartheid.

Does the hon member intend us to understand that we take one step forward by taking one step backwards?

Mr Chairman, when hon members of this particular House participated in the tricameral Parliament, they said it was a step forward. We would go into Parliament and loosen the nuts and bolts of apartheid. This is what we are doing. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I want to be brief and say that this piece of legislation was debated at length and that the provisions were canvassed extensively. When, however, a distinguished educationalist and a very distinguished South African by the name of Dr Oscar Dhlomo can speak along the lines quoted by the hon member for Lenasia East, one realises that it is not our duty to decide for those gentlemen what is best for them.

Having regard to the circumstances and conditions under which we operate, I believe that in the final analysis we have to be guided by those for whom this legislation is intended. That is exactly what we have done. No principles have been sacrificed. As far as I am concerned this legislation is the best under the circumstances. It may not be the perfect solution, but it is certainly a momentous step forward.

Mr Chairman, at the outset I want to thank all hon members who have indicated their and their party’s support for this Bill. I am not going to deal with the contributions of all hon members. Some of them—and I thank them for it—set out the basic contents of the Bill and its main aim in lucid terms. That has facilitated my task.

Allow me to say, Sir, that this Bill is not a politically inspired one; it never has been. The structure of our education system and the recognition of group-based education is regulated by other laws, inter alia the Constitution of the RSA. This Bill, like any other education Bill, obviously falls within the framework of the Constitution of the RSA, but it is not a politically inspired Bill. The Bill before us provides strictly for education matters and has been designed to open doors to more students so that more students can gain access to the diversity of tertiary education possibilities. This Bill is one which creates opportunities. It is a positive Bill. Those hon members who supported this Bill need not have taken so much trouble to explain why they supported it, because it is a good Bill.

The hon member for Cavendish referred to the question of full-fledged universities flowing from this. He is correct, theoretically speaking. It may also happen in practice. Still, I want to issue a word of warning in this respect. This country cannot afford the multiplication of universities merely to create status symbols. The need of the country and its population must be and remains the determining factor with regard to the establishment of new full-fledged universities. Let me say in the same breath that high level technical training must come into its own in the RSA.

As far as universities are concerned South Africa is at present well endowed. Our need is not for new universities. University education is, after all, intended for a relatively small proportion of the population. Should the need arise in time to come, however, then it may be possible that these colleges will be adapted.

The hon member for Springfield and his hon colleague specifically tried to politicise the debate. I am not going to allow myself to be drawn into a full-fledged political debate today; we can do that at another time. I do want to make a few comments, however. The younger universities that have been established to serve particular communities have rendered and will continue to render excellent service to those communities. Many Indian students would not have had university education if the University of Durban-Westville had not been established. The same applies to our Black population groups with regard to Black universities and to the Coloured community with regard to the University of the Western Cape.

I say that these younger universities fulfil a need and as long as they are properly managed they will be and will become an increasing source of pride for those communities. I am proud of my alma mater, which has a specific ethos and which stands there as an important institution rendering service to my people—the Afrikaners. Hon members have reason to be proud of what is developing at the University of Durban-Westville. People like the hon members for Springfield and Reservoir Hills should stop kicking that institution in the teeth.

Mr Chairman, is the hon the Minister prepared to take a question?

No, Mr Chairman. I have no time for questions. The hon member for Springfield also referred to the old Act. The former university colleges, Durban-Westville, Western Cape and the University of the North, were established as he correctly said, in terms of the Extension of University Education Act, 1959. In terms of that Act university colleges only could be established and they had to function under the academic control of the University of South Africa. Eventually they had to develop to become universities, as they did.

The Bill before us is based on a new concept in more ways than one. Firstly, three forms of tertiary education can now be given under one roof. That is a new approach. Secondly, the institution need not necessarily become a university. Thirdly, in terms of this Bill, education at such a college is not restricted to persons other than Whites, but opens the opportunity to serve all groups.

That hon member and his colleague both said that institutions like these should fall under my department’s jurisdiction. I want to explain the basic reason why this is not so. The Minister of National Education, in terms of the Constitution, hereby creates a new form of tertiary education. He will be involved with these colleges in general education policy, in terms of the implementation thereof. He will provide for the financing of this new type of institution as he does for the financing of all educational institutions. However, the provision of education in terms of the Constitution is left to the various Ministers of State responsible for education and they must administer the Act in terms of the Constitution. This is the philosophy of our system at the moment and these are the underlying principles of our Constitution.

We should not try to change the Constitution in an indirect manner by using this Bill. Should hon members feel that they can convince the majorities of all communities to change the Constitution, they should act in a constitutional manner and not try to do this by stealth, using an innocuous Bill of an educational nature. There is a second practical reason. The colleges in terms of this Bill will, I think, naturally grow from existing institutions already performing one of the functions. Teacher training colleges, for instance, can now be extended by entering into an agreement with a particular university and also by offering technical training to a small number of students in terms of the new possibilities which have been created by the institution of a certification council for technikons.

The hon member Mr Nowbath made a sharp attack on the PFP and I think he effectively highlighted the dualism and naivety of that party and its associates. I found his speech most interesting. I think we need straight talk and he certainly did exactly that.

Next I would like to address the hon member for Reservoir Hills. He first treated us to a short exhibition of his knowledge of Latin. I did not bring my Latin/English dictionary with me today and therefore I will refrain from replying to him in Latin. He says own affairs is a perpetuation of apartheid. I say own affairs is a necessary institution and a necessary constitutional structure in our quest to prevent group domination and to offer group security. If any group can testify to the need for the maintenance of group security for minorities it is the Indian community, considering what has happened to them in the rest of Africa. Is that true or not? In those countries there was no apartheid. In those countries no proper structures were created to afford security to minority groups. What happened to minority groups in those countries?

In South African politics we tend to be besotted with the word apartheid. I have been in Parliament for 15 years. I have been a Nationalist all my life. In those 15 years I have never used, in any way whatsoever, the word apartheid constructively. It is the PFP and the likes who keep the word alive. I say differentiation in a diversified country is common sense.

Your policy keeps it alive.

Is the differentiation afforded to the Flemish-speaking Belgians and the French-speaking Belgians, apartheid? Is the special accommodation of the Scottish people within the British constitutional framework apartheid? It is a recognition of diversity, and diversity is a reality in this country. We must accommodate the needs arising from that reality if we want a peaceful solution for this country. For that reason, I say that through own affairs, the needs arising from our diversity can be accommodated in a non-discriminatory manner.

We must stop arguing against the obvious, common sense, practical solution. The obvious, necessary thing to do in this country is to develop a system which can offer to the various groups, the minorities, each one on its own against the rest, sufficient security so that they will have the courage to move into structures for joint decision-making where they can, on the basis of mutual respect and recognising that each group is basically safe and secure, co-operate and strive for common goals. I believe it is in this spirit that we must approach the problems facing us in this country. We must stop this absolutely outdated debate which takes place over and over again, while, in their heart of hearts, hon members would also not like to see this situation concretise.

I want to thank hon members for accepting this legislation and I want to make a plea today that we must accept the basis on which we are here together, the basis on which we have taken a great stride forward, also in education, by creating one education system with diversified management, but which really offers that which the country requires. We must stop unnecessarily politicising education debates.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time. Question agreed to (Progressive Federal Party dissenting).

Mr Chairman, as a result of the question raised by the hon the Chairman of the Ministers’ Council in relation to Sanitas, I want to make the following statement.

The Ministers’ Council: House of Delegates has, since its inception, worked towards improving the conditions of service of its staff and bringing them up to par in that regard with their colleagues in the other sectors of the Public Service. One of these privileges is the provision of medical aid assistance.

Such medical aid schemes are, however, considered to be run as private mutual benefit societies, albeit with State support. At present the following schemes are recognised per population group: Bonitas for Blacks, Prosano for Coloureds, Sanitas for Indians and PSMAA for Whites. Unfortunately, these schemes have to date not been able to amalgamate, although it is recognised that this should be the ultimate goal. As an interim arrangement, I am satisfied that the existence of, and the continued service by Sanitas is in the best interest of the staff of the Administration: House of Delegates.

Two years ago Sanitas approached this administration to increase its contribution to afford members of Sanitas improved benefits. This was approved. Recently Sanitas approved a further substantial improvement in its benefits. This called for increased contributions by members and an increase in the contribution by this administration and other employers in the ratio of R2 for every R1. After careful consideration, the Ministers’ Council: House of Delegates approved an increase in its token contribution to Sanitas from the Exchequer and obtained covering approval in principle from the Treasury.

After consultation with the hon the Minister of Education and Culture, whose educators form the bulk of Sanitas membership, I am pleased to announce that additional funds will be made available for this purpose retrospectively to April 1 1988, subject to certain administrative conditions which have been made known to Sanitas.

Mr Chairman, the object of this Bill is to call for the registration of servicetype uniforms. The Defence Act of 1957, the Police Act of 1958 and the Prisons Act of 1959 prescribe that there should be no confusion or conflict in regard to the various different types of uniforms.

The joint committee met on numerous occasions where it was highlighted that traffic authorities, security companies and commercial security undertakings wear uniforms which give the general public the impression that they wear the official uniform of law enforcement bodies, often causing chaos in an emergency. In order to effectively control this, it became necessary to address the question of service-type uniforms. The proposals will be gazetted so that those people who wish to object because of encroachment can do so.

Forty-eight organisations were consulted and evidence was heard. Some of the organisations included the Institute of Traffic Officers of South Africa, the UME, the provincial administrations, the SABS, security associations, St John’s Ambulance, the SATS, Ucasa, etc. After extensive deliberations this joint committee agreed that there was a need for this Bill, with some amendments, and suggested that it be phased in within a reasonable period. Mr Chairman, I support the Bill with amendments.

Mr Chairman, this Bill was extensively canvassed at the standing committee meeting. However, there had been a considerable delay before finality was reached. I feel that there is a need for this type of legislation to register service-type uniforms. There also exists a need for the establishment of an advisory council to carry out these functions.

More and more personnel nowadays appear to wear service-type uniforms similar to those of the SAP, army, navy and so on. At the moment no provision is made for control over these people who wear similar types of uniforms. The uniform of the SAP is very distinctive. If we allow the numerous security companies that are mushrooming all over the place to copy the police uniforms, it will lead to confusion and chaos, and even the loss of morale. It was therefore necessary to introduce this Bill.

I was in West Street the other day and I saw some people wearing a sailor-type uniform. I was really confused, because I did not know who these people were. There are certain bodies like the Navy, for instance, who have a certain degree of prestige, recognition and tradition attached to their uniforms. This should not be abused by people imitating them. This piece of legislation is therefore necessary. I have no objection to the Bill. I welcome it.

Mr Chairman, I support the Bill. I agree with all the points that were enumerated by previous speakers. The main purpose of the Bill, as I see it, is to remove any confusion with regard to uniforms compared with those of the services. I think that is the main purpose. There are numerous uniforms in use. In some cases there is very little difference between many of them. Since it is difficult to define these differences and to avoid confusion, there is a need to have these uniforms registered.

In the penultimate paragraph of the memorandum itself, it makes it amply clear as to the intention of this Bill. If I read it, I may not have to explain it any further, and I quote:

I think that is the crux of the matter. The main intention is to have any confusion removed and to have these services-type uniforms registered. Mr Chairman, I support the Bill.

Mr Chairman, we have great difficulty with this Bill and we will oppose it because we believe that there is adequate provision in the Police Act in particular, and also in the Defence Act, for the public not to use “imitations” of services-uniforms. We believe that there is adequate provision in those laws to regulate the situation as the service industries want it to be regulated.

Moreover, I had been given to understand that this Bill had been circulated to Assocom, the mining industry and various other bodies, and the consensus of opinion of all sections of the business community was to oppose it precisely because they believed that it would not be possible to regulate this in practice. It was indicated in the reports received from Assocom in particular that great hardships would in fact be incurred when this Bill became law. It has also been indicated that there would be complete chaos in the uniform industry. Quite obviously we would not like that to happen.

Clause 19(1) of the Bill reads:

I find this clause intriguing because presently one gets plays and productions which are of a satirical nature, despite censorship. I am in particular reminded of a gentleman, Mr Pieter-Dirk Uys, who often presents this type of stage production. I believe if Mr Uys were now to stage one of his performances where he had to use a particular type of uniform which is used by the Defence Force, he would be guilty of a grave offence for which he could be fined R5 000. I would like to ask the hon the Minister to explain this to me. I am not a member of the standing committee that dealt with this Bill. It seems to me that here we have another ridiculous situation where we are trying to overlegislate for a particular concern.

Certain Press reports which appeared in various newspapers in the country also highlighted the fact that this Bill was required to control the AWB in particular. I do not see anything like this in the Bill. Quite obviously I believe that that kind of control is necessary. However, I also believe that there is ample provision for such control in the Police Act and in the Defence Act. Therefore I would like to lodge my party’s objection to the Bill.

Mr Chairman, there are problems with this Bill. One can understand the need to exercise control over the use of insignia and uniforms which, as the hon member for Merebank pointed out, could conceivably cause confusion. One can also understand the need to exercise control so as to make it more difficult for persons who might wear certain types of uniforms in order to confuse people or to obtain entry into premises for nefarious purposes. This would be balancing the interests of the collective against that of the individual or individual organisation such as Assocom or the FCI.

One would welcome the type of situation in which the Nazi-style uniform exhibited by certain persons in South Africa, and which definitely cause offence to a considerable number of South Africans, is prohibited. However, the most important problem here is that according to the memorandum on page 15 it is stated that, and I quote:

I have been informed—and I accept it unhesitatingly—that the draft bill was published for comment and that comment was received from various individuals and bodies and that some of them were invited to testify before the standing committee. However, I have not been given the assurance that the Inkatha Movement was specifically consulted.

The Inkatha members—and this is well-known—wear a specific type of uniform. We live in Inkatha country and see the ladies brigade and the male members of Inkatha in their uniforms. As we have not been given the assurance so far that Inkatha was specifically consulted, it would appear that they were not because if they had been specifically consulted that assurance would certainly be forthcoming. In a previous debate hon members set great store by what Dr Oscar Dhlomo had to say and if what he had to say in that debate was important then what he has to say in regard to this Bill should be equally important.

We know that Black South Africans are not represented in any section of this Parliament. We know that there are two million Black South Africans who are members of Inkatha and we know that when Inkatha calls a meeting at the Umlazi Stadium they draw a crowd of 30 000. We know that it is a very important organisation and we also know that in the Black community Inkatha is the counterpoise to the ANC. We therefore offend Inkatha at our peril. Even more so, it would be disastrous from a long-term political point of view to do anything which might offend Inkatha. I believe, because Blacks are not represented here, that it would be offensive for this House to support this legislation until and unless Inkatha has been consulted specifically and they indicate that they have no objections.

We therefore cannot possibly support this Bill. I do not know what the view of Solidarity is, but if they want to take the risk of offending Dr Oscar Dhlomo it is up to them. We have very great respect for that movement. [Time expired.]

Mr Chairman, I want to thank the hon members who have participated in this debate and supported this Bill. They have highlighted some of the important facets and I want to thank them for that. Again it was only the hon members for Springfield and Reservoir Hills who had reservations and indicated, as I understood the hon member for Springfield, that they would not support the Bill.

With regard to the question of ridicule, obviously the basis on which one must argue about that is whether we want anyone to ridicule the uniform of one of our forces. I do not know why the hon member raised this issue. He is worried about Pieter-Dirk Uys, but Pieter-Dirk Uys is not above the law. Does he want people to have the opportunity, and to be authorised to ridicule our uniforms?

We are grown up enough to call it satire.

Well, the hon member must either say yes or no. If he says no, then he must support that clause. If he says yes, then we know where we stand with him.

You know where you stand with me!

Should someone ridicule a uniform after this Bill becomes law, he will be tried in a court of law and the court will decide, taking into account the evidence before it and all surrounding circumstances, whether a particular uniform has been ridiculed. The court will interpret this in terms of the normal rules and laws existing in that regard, and will interpret the term “ridicule” accordingly. Secondly, the hon member raised the question as to whether the AWB would fall under these provisions. I have glanced through the Bill once again, and I do not see any reference in the Bill itself to any organisation whatsoever.

This is not a Bill that is aimed at any particular organisation. It is a Bill which is being introduced, firstly, to safeguard our services against duplication of their uniforms in a better manner than has been done thus far. Secondly—and no one has referred to this—it also offers organisations outside the services an opportunity to register their uniforms. It will then afford the same protection to those organisations in the sense that no one may duplicate their uniforms either and pass off other organisations as theirs, as it were. Therefore, it entails a broadening of the protection of the vested rights of people with regard to the facet of uniforms as well, as there is already protection available in terms of the Trade Marks Act, the Patents Act, the Designs Act, and the Heraldry Act. Therefore, it is to my mind a fairly logical and sound piece of legislation.

It may be possible that an organisation like the AWB could, under certain circumstances, be ordered in terms of clause 15(2) to lodge an application, and then the Minister, acting on the advice of a council, would have to consider that application in terms of the wording of clause 14. Hon members can read clause 14 for themselves.

The hon member for Reservoir Hills referred to Inkatha. I also think that Inkatha is a very important organisation to the people whom it serves. Obviously, it is a large organisation. In the time available during this debate I could not ascertain whether Inkatha was specifically asked by the previous interdepartmental committee to air its views in conjunction with the Noodhulpliga, St John’s Ambulance, or the Red Cross. What I do know, however, is that this Bill was published afterwards for public comment, and there was an equal opportunity for everyone in this country to pass comment and to make representations. All those representations that have been received, have been properly looked into and properly digested, and the Bill was only finalised after such representations had been taken into account.

With those words, I thank hon members for their support and I wish to assure them that when this Bill becomes law, if indeed it does so, we will also ensure that in its application, through the constitution of a board, people from outside Government will also serve on that advisory council. Therefore we shall constitute an advisory council in which there will be expertise from various sources under one roof.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time. Question agreed to (Progressive Federal Party dissenting).

Mr Chairman, this Bill is welcomed by those of us on this side of the House, especially in that it is now amended to extend the period for which it will be in existence. When it was first introduced it was for three years but now it has been extended for a further number of years.

While on the subject I would like to bring to the notice of the hon the Minister that over the past number of years since this became law very little deregulation has taken place at local authority level. I believe the time has now come for provincial authorities to be instructed to deal with local authorities who are holding back on the removal of restrictions, especially insofar as town planning is concerned. With these few words I support this Bill.

Mr Chairman, the function of the Temporary Removal of Restrictions on Economic Activities Amendment Bill is merely to extend the period of the Act, as the hon member for Southern Natal has said. Although the Act refers to the temporary removal of restrictions it has already been in existence since 1986 and the period has now been extended to 1994. It seems as though it is going to be a permanent temporary activity.

The memorandum on the Bill states the following:

We will give the hon the Minister the necessary opportunity and we will support this Bill.

I want to quote what was said by Dr Ben Vosloo, the MD of the Small Business Development Corporation, at a seminar in Natal a few days ago. I quote from the newspaper report:

Since the inception of this piece of legislation, although it was said to be a temporary Act, we have seen very little being done by way of the removal of certain over-regulations in the informal sector of our business world. What should really be considered are the municipal bye-laws relating to business activities. The changes have not filtered through yet to the third tier of government where very strict conditions are still imposed.

Even in households where both the husband and wife are unemployed they are prevented from undertaking any activity to generate some sort of income for that family. The municipality or local authority says that the town planning scheme does not allow them to do panelbeating, spraypainting or welding in their backyards.

At the time when this particular piece of legislation was debated in the House and in the standing committee, we were told that it would remove the factors impeding the economic activity of the country at a time when there was a very high rate of unemployment. A special example was given when the hon the State President went on a trip to Taiwan and saw the informal sector as one of the major creators of self-employment opportunities.

I still contend that South Africa is one of the most over-regulated countries in the world as far as economic activities are concerned. It is time now, with the extension of this period in respect of this particular Act, for the hon the Minister to do something and for us to move forward. For the last two years since the inception of this Act we have seen no forward movement as far as this particular Act is concerned. With these words I fully support this particular amendment to the Act.

Order! Before the hon the Minister rises to speak I should like to draw hon members’ attention to the fact that I am guided by the hon Whips of this House insofar as the arrangement of the speakers in respect of any matter on the Order Paper is concerned. If anybody has any query with reference to the speakers, they must approach the hon Whips in respect of their queries.

Mr Chairman, I should like to thank the hon members for their support for this important piece of legislation. As hon members have explained, it merely extends the duration of the present Act. I also agree with hon members—including the hon member for Laudium—that we in this country are over-regulated.

Deregulation, of course, does not mean doing away with all regulations. I do not think any of us would really support that, since the position of many people will be jeopardised if we simply do away with regulations. We want to modify regulations and do away with an over-regulated situation and make regulations more effective and less burdensome, and certainly we wish to ensure that they do not impede economic progress and job-creating activities.

We have not, perhaps, made as much progress as we would have liked to see, particularly at the local government level. We must also respect the autonomy of these bodies; it is not possible to regulate or deregulate on their behalf. However, in the process of persuasion I am sure that we can take them along with us and change their attitudes towards economic development in their town or region. We have made some progress.

I would also like to refer hon members to the steps taken in terms of this legislation to open up certain areas for small business ventures. The Kew area in the Transvaal is a good example, where a particular area was demarcated and where all restrictions were removed to enable 30 small businessmen and numerous other individuals to engage in various business activities.

Thus I do not disagree with hon members; I fully support the conviction of this House that we must make further and more rapid progress in this field. I am sure that the extension of the duration of this Act will also enable us to achieve that objective. I thank hon members for their support.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time.

Mr Chairman, if I remember correctly, this particular Bill was debated by the joint committee a day after the hon the Minister ran the Comrades Marathon. Whether it was to facilitate his coming back from Pietermaritzburg or not I do not know, but it was disposed of by the joint committee in a matter of 60 seconds!

The role of the commission cannot be underestimated. We in the joint committee felt—I believe every hon member in this House will agree with us—that the provision in this Bill which enables the State President to reappoint members after the initial period of five years for a period “not exceeding five years” is a good one for purposes of continuity.

Mr Chairman, I do not want to belabour the discussion on this Bill. As I said, the joint committee did not take too long with it, and we on this side of the House support it.

Mr Chairman, like the hon member Mr Seedat I do not wish to belabour the discussion on this Bill. The hon member has alluded to the explanatory memorandum on the objects of the Bill. We on this side of the House consider the Bill to be merely of a technical nature and we fully support it.

Mr Chairman, we in the Official Opposition have never been difficult with regard to reasonable Bills. [Interjections.] There are hon members here who want to score points, more so now that they have joined the PFP. We know the PFP standpoint. They always seem to be rejecting or expressing reservations about Bills, even very reasonable Bills. We on this side of the House fully support the Bill.

Mr Chairman, I thank hon members for their support. The Bill proposes a minor amendment to the Act. It is not controversial and its objective is really to contribute to the effective functioning of the Commission for Administration. I thank hon members for their support.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time.

Business suspended at 12h00 and resumed at 12h03.

Mr Chairman, the Customs and Excise Amendment Bill, which is an annual event, normally does not go to the standing committee, but this time we had an informal discussion about it.

The main object of the Bill is to give a certain permission to distillers. In the Transvaal and the Free State there were traditionally those distillers that used to brew “mampoer” and because of the mampoer industry the Government felt that a lot of potential excise duty was being lost. The distiller himself will still have to get normal permission through the normal channels as he used to in the past. However, an excise duty will now be levied on him which is the same excise duty that is paid on other spirits.

It is clear that apart from manufacturers as specified as well as certain owners, I quote:

Such legislation has always been in existence, but now certain additional provisions have been made to clarify such terms as “metals clad with precious metals” as well as “imitation jewellery”, etc. The Commissioner is also empowered to ask for the documents to be provided to him so that the enforcement of the law becomes more effective.

There are many amendments which are of a very consequential nature as far as excise duty is concerned. In clauses 5 and 6 provision is also made for the new feature we have in this country, namely LCL containers. Many times one finds that the people who import goods into the country place various different goods in one container. Provision is now made in this Bill for the Commissioner of Excise to identify such goods properly and to levy the right duty on such goods. This has given rise to malpractices and the word “fob” or “free on board”—to be free alongside a ship—is a new term which will be used in future. The concept “free on board” as we all know it and the word “transport” are now removed. The words have now become redundant and new words will be extended to this particular section.

Furthermore, the Bill also legalises the payment of duties and the refund of duties on diesel and other fuels which the co-operatives can now claim on behalf of their clients. This was already discussed during many meetings with the hon the Minister of Finance in this House and during his Budget speech. It merely serves to legalise some of the aspects which have already been introduced. We on this side of the House have no objection and we fully support these amendments.

Mr Chairman, I believe that the amendments proposed are intended to ensure that no money is lost to revenue and certain of the provisions here merely serve to tighten that up. The other measures introduced are to regulate the operation of the Customs and Excise Act. Ultimately, it is to the benefit of those who have to deal with the Department of Customs and Excise. For these reasons, we have no objections and support the Bill.

Mr Chairman, I wish to thank the House for its support. This is a technical Bill and it is an improvement. Some of the amendments are a result of the Budget. I wish to thank the hon member for Laudium who pointed out some of the changes. I hope I will get the same assistance when I come to introduce the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the Finance Bill.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a first time.

Second Reading debate

Mr Chairman, we have no objection to supporting the Second Reading of the Bill.

Mr Chairman, we support the Bill.

Mr Chairman, I want to thank hon members.

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time.