Mr. Chairman, I think all of us have taken cognizance of the attitude of the official Opposition, expressed by their main speaker on agriculture, in consequence of the announcement of the new maize price. I do not want to take issue with the hon. member. I do not have the time to do so. I should just like to remind him kindly of the words of a wise agricultural leader, Bill Johnstone, who once said—

I want to commence my speech with a statement with which I shall also conclude my speech. Agriculture will have to accept that the farmer, in addition to his function to feed, has another important function as well, and that is to use today for rectifying yesterday’s mistakes, and also—and this is perhaps the most important—to use today to help the child and the young farmer to prepare themselves to face tomorrow.

In the course of Friday’s debate we became aware of bottlenecks existing in the agricultural industry, bottlenecks which are of such a nature in certain fields that they may prove to be destructive. There are also bottlenecks which have arissen as a result of circumstances beyond the control of this hon. Minister or of the farmer himself. A year of floods is, for example, followed by a year of droughts, and damage suffered as a result of an untimely heat wave in one season is just as damaging as untimely cold weather and hail in another season. Exploitation may also have played a role here and there. Besides all these factors, however, there are, in my opinion, sufficient grounds for some self-examination.

I do not want to be guilty of making an alarmist speech this afternoon. Perhaps the time has indeed arrived for us in South Africa to create our own alarm system, particularly agricultural economical alarm systems. However, I shall come back to this later.

The problems experienced by the farmer have been discussed. The South African farming community, however, is not the only farming community which is experiencing difficult times at this stage. Now I am not speaking only of farmers higher up in Africa who have to contend with a lack of knowledge, information, experience, guidance, machinery, fuel, fertilizer and seed. I am speaking of the farmers in the developing countries as well. According to an agricultural information document, 85% of the dairy farmers in the USA quit farming during the period from 1950 to 1974. Over the same period, the number of dairy cows decreased by 47%. According to an agricultural magazine from Australia, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is starting to take more and more action against farmers who chase their old stud animals—old cows and old ewes—into the mountains to die there from old age and exposure, because the cost of transporting them to public auctions, just to bring them back as there was no bid for them, has simply become too high. The so-called agricultural model of the EEC has also been experiencing problems in recent times. In the German Tribune of 25 January of this year we read the following under file heading “Common Market Farm Prices”—

Further on in the same article we read, with particular reference to the West German Government—

Even in the next edition of the same magazine, that of 11 February of this year, we find an article about the so-called “Green Week” of the EEC countries. There we read the following—

I refer to this in order to prove that problems in the agricultural industry are not to be found only in South Africa. We find those problems all over the world as well. It would be unwise to look for them only in South Africa. I think it would be equally unwise if we wanted to seek the solutions to our problems in agriculture abroad. It is true that all sectors in our economy are caught in a cost/price vice. It is true that requirements have become more expensive and that producer prices are of such a nature that they cannot always offset the costs. The farmer, the dealer, the individual consumer, the manufacturer all feel they have justification to complain. Some of them try to prove chapter and verse how serious their problems are. All of them want protection, and it is logical for all of them to seek security. However, we cannot afford to have one sector doing things at the expense of another, nor can we allow this. The jaws of the vice have to be wrenched open. For that, we need understanding, knowledge, managerial acumen, courage, realism and realistic producer prices, or, put differently, realistic production costs.

I feel that the farmer in South Africa is indeed able to meet his responsibility by wrenching open the jaws of this vice. In the course of Friday’s debate very little was said about one particular industry. That is the wheat industry, the industry which is developing into the provider of our most important staple food, viz. bread. The hon. the Minister said quite rightly that the Cape farmer is unable to produce wheat at R136 per ton any longer. That is quite correct. The Free State farmer cannot produce at R136 per ton either. The higher feeding requirements for the new wheat strains have increased the costs of fertilizing by between 70 and 100%. The old, established practice of simply applying a certain quantity of phosphate before sowing, has changed and now phosphate has to be worked into the ground to a reasonable depth beforehand at a very high cost, and then with the sowing a fertilizer with a reasonably rich nitrogen content is applied. This sector, the wheat industry, has had to contend with the same price increases as any other sector of crop farming. Over a period of five years the price of diesel has increased by 372%, the price of tractors by 215%, the cost of a wheat harvester by 154%, the price of a wheat planter by 208% and the price of fertilizer by 170%. Last year too, in the determination of the wheat price, the wheat farmer, in the interests of both the industry and the consumer, surrendered as much as R8,90 per ton in his price determination. This has had the effect that now, more than ever before, we have to guard against a reduction in saving to an extent that will make South Africa dependent on importing wheat.

The interests of the consumer and the farmer go hand in hand. The consumer established a consumer council to act as watch-dog against exploitation. Consequently I am of the opinion that a production means a control board can be established in agriculture in order to act as watch-dog over the prices of spare parts for machines, weed killers and pest control preparations, etc. The time has arrived for us to have a watch-dog of this kind in our agricultural industry as well. I have referred to the economic alarm system. We are grateful to the Department of Agricultural Technical Services for its assistance and guidance in the cultivation of our land and the conservation of our soil, but I think we now need knowledgeable, trained agricultural economists in large numbers to sound an alarm in the matter of injudicious capital expenditure—a field in which we have erred—but also to act as impartial agents for sounding the alarm when farmers plan wills injudiciously, establish companies injudiciously or take out insurance injudiciously. The population growth is not keeping abreast of the production of food. Therefore it is necessary for food production to keep abreast of the population growth. This is a challenge, and because of this very challenge I conclude my speech with the statement with which I commenced my speech, and that is that agriculture will have to accept that the farmer, in addition to his function to feed, has another important function, and that is to use today for rectifying yesterday’s mistakes, and also—this is perhaps the most important—to help to prepare the child or the young farmer to face tomorrow. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, in the course of Friday’s debate hon. members referred very briefly, as the hon. member for Bethlehem has just done, to my statement on the increase of the maize price some days ago. What I find particularly interesting, however, is the fact that not a single hon. member who mentioned, and slightly criticized, my reaction to the increase in the maize price went into any detail in an attempt to explain just why they were or are unhappy with my reaction to this announcement.

Are you still unhappy with the price?

Let me make the point very clearly again. In my statement I made it clear that I sympathized with the maize producer who was definitely in need of a price increase in order to meet increased production costs. I also made it very clear, however, that the major consumers of maize, i.e. other farmers, particularly those in the milk and meat industries, were not in a position simply to pass on the increases in their production costs as a result of the increase in the maize price, because automatically—and it has already happened—the suppliers of stock feeds have made it known that prices will go up considerably. If one is a pig or milk producer one is therefore faced with the problem of what to do. The question I should therefore like to ask is whether it is going to be possible for the hon. the Minister of Agriculture, or anybody else, simply to announce that there is going to be a price increase in those particular commodities which would offset the increased production costs. I would say the answer is probably “no”, the reason being that the consumer is starting to build up a certain amount of resistance to price increases. In fact, we will have a lower consumption of the commodities to which I have referred if we are not careful.

Am I satisfied that the increase is in fact justified? I am not in a position to work out in detail just how much the price increase should have been, but the information I was given by people who theoretically know about these cost increases, indicated to me that the industry probably would have been satisfied with a price of something like R95 to R96 per ton. [Interjections.] As I have explained, I am not pretending to be an expert and one must rely on the information that is fed in. Nevertheless, my criticism has not yet been answered.

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

I am afraid I have very little time. When I have completed my speech, the hon. member may certainly put his question.

I want to refer back to a debate that took place in trie House earlier this year. In that debate I suggested that one of the methods of ensuring more efficient maize production would be to cut out certain marginal production areas. An expert in this field, the hon. member for Carletonville, who, I think, on that occasion spoke immediately after me, tried to explain why this was not possible. When, later in the day, the hon. the Deputy Minister spoke, he did not respond to this at all. If I were alone in the belief that marginal areas could be excluded for purposes of the production of maize, I would have to accept that the hon. member for Carletonville was absolutely correct. However, I am not alone in this belief. I should like to quote from an article that appeared in the Farmer’s Weekly of 4 April. The article was written by Dr. Immelman, a very senior man in the hon. the Minister’s department. Basically, he said—and I quote an extract from his article—

*Therefore I am not alone in the belief that certain marginal areas can be excluded; there are experts in this field who share this belief. Again I should like to suggest to the hon. the Minister to investigate whether the exclusion of these areas may not have some merit.

The next point I should like to make, is that although we are dealing with approximately 70 000 farmers in the agricultural industry, it is nevertheless true that there is a very large number of Brown and Black workers—and previous speakers have referred to this as well—who are dependent on the farms for their housing and on the agricultural industry for their jobs. For that reason it is so imperative for the hon. the Minister to try and spell out a clear agricultural policy which is going to save the agricultural industry in South Africa in the long run.

Reference has been made to the crisis we are experiencing at the present time. I am not the only one who has used the word “crisis”; many hon. members on that side of the House have used it as well. It is clear that the time has arrived for a comprehensive agricultural policy for South Africa to be spelt out so that the smaller farmer as well as the middle-ranking farmer who find themselves in a critical situation at the present, may see what is awaiting them. If such a programme or policy is not spelt out, we shall have to continue following the course on which we shall have to use our fingers to plug the small holes in the dykes. Unfortunately more and more holes will appear until the problems in the industry will ultimately get completely, out of hand.

The third point I want to make concerns the problem we are experiencing with the marketing of our products. I am referring particularly to the products consumed locally. We simply cannot continue allowing there to be such a big difference between the price which the farmer receives for his product and that which the housewife pays for it. An in-depth inquiry will have to be made into this matter. I am fond of using the vegetable industry as an example in this regard but there are much more important industries in agriculture than the vegetable industry which are experiencing the same problems. I am referring to the meat industry in general and to the red meat industry in particular.

If there is one single sector of the agricultural industry in which the farmers simply do not know any longer what they are going to have to contend with tomorrow, it is the sector producing red meat The marketing system will have to be revised. Proposals are made every year as to how and where improvements can be effected in an attempt to bring about the cheaper distribution of this product, but at this stage it does not seem to me as though we have come anywhere near an answer. When one looks back at occurrences in the past it is easy to criticize, of course, but one wonders whether the gravest mistake was not possibly the policy of centralizing the slaughter facilities around the cities rather than in the production areas themselves, for it is simply a fact that the cost of transporting live cattle to the abattoirs has increased tremendously over the past few years. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I should like to tell the hon. member for Wynberg in his capacity as chief spokesman of the official Opposition that I shall return to the questions he raised, in a little while. I find it striking that only two members of the official Opposition participated in the debate on agriculture. One of them—it was the hon. member for Wynberg—rose three times, but in reality he did not say anything new. Every time he rose he just repeated his previous arguments. The other hon. member could not get to agriculture and eventually lost his way to such an extent that he got to the elephants again. Fortunately he did not get to the elephants by helicopter. However, I shall come back to them just now.

Before I continue, I want to extend my congratulations and my gratitude to our three agricultural departments in respect of their reports. In this regard I may mention the reports of all three departments, that of the Department of Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure, that of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing and that of the Department of Agricultural Technical Services. Those three reports contain valuable information. If we study those reports, we are brought fully up to date about what is being done in the agricultural field by those three departments. It is a major task to draw up such reports and I should like to extend my gratitude to the departments.

Then, too, I must associate myself with the good wishes conveyed to the hon. the Deputy Minister on his appointment by various spokesmen on this side. His kick-off during this debate was right on target. He said that there was no connection whatsoever between the market and agricultural value of land and that bodies and persons concerned with agricultural credit, will have to investigate this matter in depth in the future. In saying this he accurately identified and summed up one of our problems. We are very pleased that that is his attitude. If we look at the annual report of the Department of Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure, we shall see that 259 applications for consolidation of debt were granted last year, with an average amount of R22 892 per applicant. Taking into account the tremendous burden of debt the farmers are saddled with, this amount is in fact just a drop in the ocean.

I want to associate myself with the gratitude the hon. member for Carletonville expressed towards the hon. the Minister of Agriculture and the whole Cabinet in respect of the maize price. The fact that not many maize producers had a good maize harvest this year, is certainly not the fault of the Cabinet or the hon. the Minister of Agriculture. I think that if it depended on them, there would have been an enormous maize harvest this year. We as farmers are fortunate that South Africa has a Minister and a Deputy Minister in control of the agricultural departments who have an understanding of and a feeling for agriculture.

I want to dwell for a moment on the hon. member for Wynberg. In his first speech he asked what the policy of the Government was with regard to agriculture. He repeated this later. I think that if he has listened to the speeches made on this side of the House, he will realize that the problems of agriculture are so deep-rooted that they cannot be solved overnight. He went on to refer to a maize lobby. He wants to imply that the maize producer is protected and favoured above the other sectors of agriculture. I do not think that the hon. member knows much about the maize producers. I have a solution for him, however, but I shall come to that just now. As far as the Government’s policy is concerned, he raised a few minor points of criticism, but did not indicate what his party’s policy was in this regard. I now want to extend a friendly invitation to the hon. member. If he is able to offer a solution for the country’s agricultural problems, I guarantee that the hon. the Minister of Agriculture will grant him a doctorate in agriculture. If he is not satisfied with that, we shall give him a farm in the Free State on top of that. However, then he must come up with solutions for the problems of the agricultural industry.

I want to express a few ideas with regard to the grain sorghum industry. The hon. member must listen carefully to this. The grain sorghum producer is also caught in the cycle of cost increases, similar to, if not worse than, those which the maize producer is facing. In addition, the grain sorghum producer has to make a contribution of R 14,50 per ton to the Levy Fund, to the Research Fund and to the administration costs this year. It is true that the grain sorghum industry has large surpluses every year. The export market is limited and exports can only be effected at heavy expense and at a loss for the Maize Board. Malt producers find their largest market within the country, but that market is also limited. Their markets are not increasing. I wonder if the reason for that is not to be found in the fact that the name of their product has been changed. That product has not as yet managed to catch on significantly as fodder, mainly because the producers of fodder are of the opinion that the price difference between yellow mealies and grain sorghum is not in proportion with the difference in nutritional value for the purposes of fodder. I submit that grain sorghum has not yet come into its own in our country. I therefore want to make an appeal for intensive tests to be undertaken to prove the nutritional value of grain sorghum: I also ask that the product not be ground in these tests, but that the whole grains be used in the fodder mixture and stock licks. I want to say to the hon. member for Wynberg, who is so concerned because the maize price is so high at present, that he should go and tell the pig farmer, the dairy farmer and the poultry farmer that they must use grain sorghum rather than yellow maize as fodder as a solution to their problems.

As a result of the big difference between the price of yellow maize and that of grain sorghum, this year is the right time for grain sorghum to enter the fodder market. I am honestly of the opinion that once the industry has entered the fodder market, it will remain there. I want to make a request to our fellow-farmers in the drought-afflicted areas: The price at which you can buy grain sorghum directly from the producer or from the agent this year, could make up for the railage you have to pay on yellow maize.

We must also carry out tests with a view to human consumption of grain sorghum. What is more tasty and more nutritious than a nice plate of mabela for breakfast? I think the Maize Board could do more to promote consumption of this product by our people. Here I have in mind a possible advertisement which could be shown on television, viz.: “Give your husband a plate of mabela in the morning and see how wide awake he will be, day and night.” [Interjections.]

I should like to raise a few other matters about which I am really concerned. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I am sure all will recognize that my party, the NRP, has always adopted and will continue to adopt a positive and constructive attitude to agricultural matters. On Friday, however, the NRP was attacked and accused that on political platforms outside we had acted like vultures, feeding off the misfortunes and the plight of the farmer. I take serious exception to this. During the weekend I prepared a lengthy statement which I intend to deliver right here and now in order to clarify exactly where the NRP stands and how it views the Government’s agricultural policy and matters affecting the farmers of South Africa.

I wish to record that the NRP not only understands the critical problems the farmer is facing today, but also sympathizes with him and intends actively to support and assist him in obtaining a much fairer deal in the future. We also wish to record that in order to achieve this goal as rapidly as possible, we shall continue, as we have done in the past, to work constructively, consult and argue with the Government and take any other steps that may lead to an alleviation of the present plight of the farmer. The mere fact that we in the NRP are prepared to offer our full cooperation and support to the Government in order to assist the farmer, does not and should in any way be interpreted as meaning that we absolve the Government from any blame or responsibility it may have or has had in causing this crisis-situation to materialize. In fact, we condemn the Nationalist Government and lay the blame squarely at its door.

The NRP is totally committed to the free enterprise system. We wish to record that we do not associate ourselves with—in fact, reject—the Government’s view that inexpensive food has to be produced and has to be supplied by the 70 000 farmers who have been forced to carry this enormous burden and who actually subsidize the other 25 million South Africans who receive the direct benefit of this cheap food. These are hard words, but I believe they need to be said. However, I am prepared to qualify the statement by adding that I honestly believe that the hon. the Minister of Agriculture has attempted to do his utmost for the South African farmers. But I also believe that he has unfortunately failed, and failed hopelessly, to persuade or convince his own Cabinet colleagues of the nature of the extreme plight that faces the farmer today. I call upon him today to reconsider this urgently and to take up tile matter immediately with the entire Cabinet. Our indictment of the Government is based on 10 issues where we believe the Government has hopelessly failed to assist the farmer, in fact has in some cases actually acted contrary to the best interests of the farming community.

The 10 reasons for the present critical position of the farmer are as follows…

Do you not have 14?

I have 10 only. Firstly, the State has failed to recognize the urgency of the farmers’ dilemma and crisis of spiralling input costs and has failed to take the necessary steps in this regard. The State has also repeatedly refused to remove various duties and taxes on a large number of products and items that are required to produce food. This form of double taxation is naturally also affecting the final food price to the consumer, and is therefore also deplored.

Secondly, the Government is to be censured for its callous and uncompromising stand and attitude towards the plight, anxiety and feeling of insecurity of the farmer who, by accident, now happens to farm in or in the proximity of an area that may be expropriated at some time in the future in order to implement the Government’s homelands policy. The dictatorial and callous take-it-or-leave-it attitude by some Government officials in dealing with farmers who are to be expropriated, is similarly to be regretted.

My third point is the fact that the State has failed to timeously prevent the depopulation of rural areas on our borders and has not only allowed large areas of farmland to be underutilized, but it has also created a very serious national security risk.

Fourthly, the fact that the Government has imposed so many unnecessary restrictive regulations and conditions on the sale, distribution and methods of marketing of certain agricultural products, has not only caused the farmer severe hardships, but has also caused unwarranted price increases to the consumer.

Fifthly, many of the Government’s agricultural marketing boards have, due to a complete lack of understanding of the principles of marketing and of the basic economic principles of supply and demand, hopelessly failed in their prime objective, namely to promote and stimulate sales and market their own product. Some of these boards have in practice fallen back and have merely turned into ridiculed and disliked bodies of control. To make matters even worse, the hon. the Minister of Agriculture has personally in the past refused to allow both the Dairy and the Meat Boards to spend enough of their own funds, not only to promote and advertise their own products, but also to counter-advertise and to attempt to undo the tremendous damage that has been done to their own sales programmes by unethical advertising programmes geared specifically at replacing their products. It is also distressing that even after repeated requests by myself and the dairy industry the Government has failed to halt these unethical advertising programmes. It is also a great pity that the Government has not seen fit to introduce legislation requiring companies that imitate butter to remove the yellow colouring from their margarine.

Sixthly, the fact that the Government persisted against strong opposition to build two mammoth abattoirs, to standards far in excess of our normal requirements and at the astronomical cost of some R100 million—which will now have to come out of the pocket of the desperate livestock farmer—can only be described as a calamity. It is regretted that the State has not seen fit to pay for these abattoirs out of the Consolidated Revenue Account.

The fact that the State has allowed certain controlled prices affecting agriculture to rapidly escalate during the past six or seven years, knowing full well of the serious repercussions that it would have on the farmer who has to sell his product, not on a controlled market, but on an uncontrolled market, and that he will be unable to recoup these added expenses, can also be described as calamitous. One only has to look at the massive price increases of items such as electricity, railage, diesel and fertilizer to realize how serious the situation has become.

In the eighth place the Government has, furthermore, failed in its duty to ensure that sufficient finance is available to farmers at reasonable interest rates. The Government should also be slated for the fact that the entire programme of financing for farmers, including that of the Land Bank, has not been brought under one roof and under the guidance of the hon. the Minister of Agriculture.

In the ninth place, the attitude of a total lack of sympathy or assistance offered by Escom to the farmer, as well as the lack of interest in the rural electrification programme and the exorbitant tariffs to farmers by Escom, must be roundly condemned.

The final point is that the lack of assistance or sympathy offered to the farmer and his problems by the S.A. Railways, can likewise be described as lamentable. The shocking and the rapid rise of rail tariffs for farming products during the past six years can hardly be considered in the best interests of the farmer or the farming community as a whole.

I believe that I have indicated the Government with these ten points that I have raised…

Have you drawn them up yourself?

Of course! Hon. members will notice that much of my indictment against the Government is levelled at departments other than the Department of Agriculture. We believe that departments such as the Department of Finance, the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Health and the S.A. Railways, have in some way contributed to the serious plight of the farming community. We however believe that it is the sole duty of the hon. the Minister of Agriculture to see to it that those departments who play such a destructive role in the affairs of the farming community, should be asked to change their attitude forthwith. He should also take drastic and urgent action within his own Department of Agriculture.

I wish to end by referring to a paragraph that I left out originally. I want to state it clearly that I believe that the NP, with all its present power, has become immune to the farmers’ problems and that it has forgotten that it was the farmer that originally gave the NP its power. I further believe that the NP has now ceased to care for the farmers, and rides rough-shod over them. The farmer has now conveniently become “stemvee” while he has to provide cheap food for the rest of the population.

Mr. Chairman, the hon. member for Pietermaritzburg South has issued a statement in connection with politics in agriculture. I want to repeat now what I said on Friday, i.e. that in the Beaufort West constituency the plight of the farmer is being used for political purposes by the NRP, and I can prove it.

What about Black peril and “boerehaters”?

On Friday that same hon. member said that we should never bring politics into agriculture. I want to ask him: What did he do in the last few minutes of his speech today? He brought politics into this agricultural debate by blaming the Government for everything that is wrong in the agricultural field. He has brought politics into the debate, and should therefore now take his medicine. When I visit the Beaufort West constituency again, I shall tell the people there who brought politics into agriculture.

Are you threatening?

Mr. Chairman, I want to address a few words to our Secretary for Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure. The hon. the Minister will do so in more detail at a later occasion, but I should just like to convey my thanks to Mr. Steyn, who is retiring soon, for all he meant to me when I accepted the office of Deputy Minister. He acted towards me like a father towards a son, and I should like to extend my heartfelt thanks to him today for the very wise advice and assistance he gave me. It enabled me to find my feet very quickly. At the same time, I also wish to say that I really hope that when he retires later this year, he will enjoy a pleasant time of rest.

There are a few aspects relating to the department raised by hon. members during the debate, and I should now like to react to them.

The hon. member for Schweizer-Reneke referred to accommodation for labourers, amongst other things. In this regard I should like to point to two factors. In the first place, representations have been made to the department asking that the amount of the loan be raised. The department gave attention to this and we then decided to call in the assistance of the Department of Community Development in this regard and to ask them to draw up minimum standards and to do cost estimates for us in an attempt to see whether the loan could not be increased. As far as the number of houses are concerned, the maximum is still four for each farmer.

We had to give very careful attention to priorities within the department itself. After lengthy negotiations we decided that in the present circumstances we should have to set far higher priorities in respect of the numerous farmers who are struggling with financial problems. We consequently decided to apply the greater part of the available funds towards consolidation of debts in order to try and relieve the burden on farmers.

The hon. member for Wynberg asked whether the valuations of land could not be made known to the applicants. As far as I am concerned, I shall never agree to anything of the kind and I shall give the reasons for that. The hon. member will realize that as soon as the department informs the farmer of the valuation, a terrible controversy would arise between the department and the applicant about the valuation. It would give rise to endless correspondence and telephone conversations. I do not think one can do that. The reason why the valuations must be made known to the applicants, according to the hon. member, is that such an applicant will then be able to organize his farming pattern according to the valuation of his land that has been made. But surely he can make use of other extension services for that. The Department of Agricultural Technical Services and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing are, after all, there to provide him with the necessary extension with regard to planning, and his planning can then be based upon that. I do not therefore think it is desirable to make known to the applicant valuations which are done for financing purposes.

In the time that remains to me I should like to point out five bottlenecks which I have come across during my short period of service in this office. I think that we shall have to waste no time in seeking long-term solutions for them. I said something about the first bottleneck on Friday, but I should like to add something to that. It has to do with financing. I said that the market value of land has become totally divorced from its agricultural value. The bottleneck and problem we are experiencing, is to obtain sufficient security for loans. Applicants who have run into difficulties, inevitably experience security problems. We shall have to seek a long-term solution with regard to short-, medium- and long-term financing. We shall have to put our heads together about this problem, for it is one of the biggest single problems at present being experienced in agriculture. I am pinning high hopes on the findings of the investigation the Jacobs Committee is at present undertaking with regard to financing. One hopes that a solution for this will be found.

The second point deals with extension. I think we can be proud in this field, for South Africa has at present what must be one of the best agricultural extension services in the world, and I do not hesitate to say this. However, I have started to wonder. At present the department, the co-operatives, the fertilizer companies, petrol companies and stock medicine companies all give information. There is a vast number of people driving around in the veld to provide extension, which the farmer eventually pays for. Is it not time for all these extension officers—and I include our co-operative extension officers—to be co-ordinated and for us to make it a joint venture, so that when we propagate agricultural policy, we shall at least be doing it uniformly, rather than having every man giving his own type of extension? Furthermore, I think, it is a matter of urgency that we link up economic extension very closely with technical extension and that we do so in a way which would be of financial benefit to the farmer. What I mean by this, is that all technical extension must be economically justifiable.

In the third place, I want to refer to the question of hereditary succession. I believe that we should make it easier for farmers to hand over the reins to their sons at an earlier stage of their lives. I think this is a bottleneck which we shall have to look at in depth, viz. the question of hereditary succession in agriculture. I think in this way we must enable young farmers to take over from their fathers at an earlier age.

The fourth aspect to which I want to refer, is the aspect of estate duties. Land valuations have increased by more than 300% during the past four years in the small stock areas that I am acquainted with. We are having tremendous problems with that. I should like to know what amount of money flows out of agriculture in the form of insurance premiums to be paid in order to cover estate duty eventually. I think it is an enormous amount. It is money which flows out of agriculture, money which is therefore lost to agriculture. I think that we shall have to take a careful look at that as well.

Finally, I want to refer to the small stock grazing areas, the extensive areas, particularly in view of the droughts being experienced at present. We cannot suddenly take steps every time a drought is upon us. I think we shall have to plan a long-term policy, a policy which will satisfy everyone, but which will also, when a drought begins, prevent us from running around trying to obtain fodder, etc. We shall have to plan a long-term policy which will enable farmers to make timeous provision for times of drought. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, the hon. the Deputy Minister has given evidence of the particular problem he inherited when he entered this department I do not think it can be an easy thing for any hon. member of this House to assume an office such as this, especially in a time when things are obviously becoming more and more difficult for the farming community. The speech he has just made merely points to certain factors which have been the subject of discussion among farmers for many years. Let us take the question of death duties, for example. An amount of some R34 million was collected the year before last by way of death duties. This is a vast amount that passed out of the hands of the farming community. This is something we and hon. members on that side of the House, at agricultural congresses and elsewhere, have spoken about for many a year, asking that this levy by the Government should be abolished. This is also the crux of what I said to the hon. the Minister the other day. There are many instances in which the Government, by levies of that nature, by collecting insurance premiums to cover that sort of aspect, continually increase the financial burden farmers have to bear. I want to put it to the hon. the Minister that I believe that the basic approach of the Government is wrong. I am not hurling stones at him. I am merely stating a fact. Try as he might to put things right, the basic approach is still wrong. We should look at the attitude towards the farming community. I made the point the other day about the incidence of general sales tax that had to be paid by the farming community. There are many anomalies which are built into this and which are wrong. Just the other day we were talking about the excise duty on tractors and things of that nature. The hon. the Minister knows of the problems, the agricultural group on that side knows of the problems and so do we, but what can be done to bring this home to the Government as a whole, the hon. the Minister of Finance and other departments?

Let us just consider the Administration Board as an example. There is not a single farmer sitting here who will not tell one that the continual registration of labour in the farming community, in terms of the provisions of the Administration Board, is an absolute curse because as soon as one has a Bantu labourer registered on one’s farm, he leaves, and so one spends one’s time continually registering and reregistering. It is not good enough, in this country, for the Department of Inland Revenue to say that some special consideration cannot be given to the farming community. They are not prepared to make concessions to the farming community because, it is said, concessions would also be expected for commerce, industry or other sectors. The farming industry, however, is the basic industry in South Africa, and anything that drives up the cost of food is responsible for driving up the cost of production, wage demands and everything else throughout the whole economy. I therefore think it is high time that it was realized, not necessarily by this department, but by other departments that have to deal with the agricultural sector, that the farming industry not only deserves but absolutely has to have special treatment from tax authorities, etc., thus freeing the farmer from the countless levies that the Government is continually imposing on it, levies which not only drain away the farmer’s money, but also his time, initiative, etc.

Let me mention again the question of the diesoline a farmer uses to take his crop to market. That is a marketing cost, and surely the farming community is entitled to be free of general sales tax on diesoline used to market its crops. It is absolutely pointless to produce a crop that is on the farmer’s farm but is not taken to market. Why should it happen? I have told the hon. the Minister that we shall move, later this session, to delete that particular item from the general sales tax provisions, and I expect every farmer on that side of the House, including the hon. the Minister, to support us because there is absolutely no reason why the fuel used by the farmer to market his crop, to take it to the point of sale, should be taxed simply because industry and commerce, which also use vehicles to take their products to the point of sale, would object if the farming community were given special exemption. I cannot see how it could be regarded as unreasonable if the fanning community were to come along and ask, not for a concession but for the right to have the marketing of its products free of the application of the general sales tax.

There is another problem I should like to raise with the hon. the Minister, a problem I touched on very briefly during the budget debate. I am referring to the question of farm debt and whether the State, at some time or other, is not going to have to consider the writing-off of capital debts in the farming community. Let me put the case to the hon. the Minister. I know it is a very touchy and difficult subject, something that could be open to the most extensive corruption if applied on a wide scale. Things could so easily go wrong. Let us take a drought area. As the hon. member for Bethlehem has said, certain farmers have had crop failures for two years. They borrowed money from the cooperatives to finance the first crop. It failed. They borrowed money to finance the second crop. It also failed. Then they have to borrow money to finance the third crop, and by the time they get to the third crop they are paying interest on interest. How is it going to help the hon. the Minister to grant interest-bearing loans to that farming community? I say this because it is the community that is affected and it is the co-operative that is affected, and the co-operative is the arm of the community. So if the community is in very severe financial difficulties, it does not help the cooperative to sell up the farms of the people in the community in order to recover debts. I therefore want to ask the hon. the Minister whether there is not a case to be made out in an exceptional situation like that Drought is the hand of God coming between the farmer and his co-operative. That is what it is. It is something over which no farmer has any kind of control whatever. However, the farmer can find his entire commercial operation simply destroyed. Hon. members have said the need can perhaps be met with interest-free loans, but a loan is something that must be repaid and in that case one is merely borrowing against the future. The more one borrows against the future, the higher the capital debt rises, either in terms of a direct debt of the farmer or in terms of a debt to the soil—I referred to this the other day—through under-fertilization and over-exploitation of the soil. I seriously believe that we are reaching the stage where, if there should be a series of droughts, there would be no other option open to the hon. the Minister other than to consider this matter as I have sketched it. I ask him to look at this matter. It is, however, not something on which we can decide here and now across the floor of the House. As I have said, the entire farming community and the entire co-operative movement can find themselves in difficulties in situations of this nature. I think the hon. the Minister has the opportunity to plan ahead. One of the reasons why I took exception to the main budget debate was that during that debate there was no indication whatever of any thought being given to the situations that might arise in this particular field. I would like to think that the hon. the Minister is going to be sympathetic in this regard.

The hon. the Deputy Minister raised the question of the security of loans where money is lent to people who are already in considerable financial difficulty. The hon. the Minister must consider the nature of his investment, and that of his department, in the agricultural sector. They have lent people money.

The point the hon. member for Wynberg and I have made is that, in the light of the effect of the sudden increase in the price of maize on the smaller farmers who have already received loans from the Department of Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure, every single one of the loans they have made has been endangered, because the profitability of the enterprises on which loans have been made are now very seriously endangered. That is why I made the plea I did to the hon. the Minister. I hope he will reply to it. Unfortunately, I was not here on Friday and therefore I do not know whether he has not perhaps already done so. In respect of the crop already in storage, last year’s crop, the increase in the price will lead to an amount of money being made available, as I understand it, to the Maize Board. I want to make the point again that there are farmers who have certificates, farmers who are registered with regard to the General Sales Tax. They are bona fide farmers. Why is it not possible for the hon. the Minister to protect his investment in the smaller farmers by allowing them to draw from the stocks currently in storage, last year’s crop, at a figure below the figure he announced? The hon. the Minister is going to have to meet the situation one way or another. There could be a major failure among the smaller farmers who have a financial problem at this particular stage. We hope and pray that in two years’ time the economy of the country will be flourishing again. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I deplore the cheap politics some hon. members opposite tried to make out of the difficulties in which the farmers find themselves. I do not want to react to the rubbish, nor to the occasional truths emanating from the other side, still less do I want to praise anyone on this side.

I want to speak in particular about the farmers in the border area which extends from Dordrecht through Queenstown to East London. This area borders on the Transkei on the one side and the Ciskei on the other, and sometimes both. I want to speak about the difficult position of the meat farmer in that area, the farmer who farms with sheep and cattle. The hon. the Minister of Finance introduced an excellent budget—we have to congratulate him sincerely on that. For the stock farmer in the border area, however, this budget did not contain even a single mealie grain. With all respect to the hon. the Minister, we can say that he passed us by without even greeting us or waving to us, as one might say, except perhaps for the diesel picking or car which he saw in passing.

The stock farmers in this border area have to meet the same obligations and make the same sacrifices as any other citizen of South Africa. They cannot farm extensively and lower their production costs in that manner, or eliminate them completely. This region is a high production area where there should be intensive farming. Grazing should be established and maintained. There should be ploughing, sowing and planting so that the animals can get through the winter, or else they will die. For this, fertilizer, seed, wire, tractors, trucks and diesel are necessary—not to speak of capital, etc. Over the past four years the prices of the requisites mentioned, and others, have increased tremendously. If someone else has already said this, that is all to the good, because the more of us who say it, the better. Between January 1975 and January 1979 the price of fertilizer increased from a figure of 146 to 292; that of tractors from 209 to 411; that of implements, from 194 to 332; that of diesel, from 228 to 530; and that of all other farming requisites, from 193 to 336. This is an enormous increase in production material which is essential for the farmers, but over the past four years the price of meat in those areas has stayed exactly the same. Every year our burden of debt grows. One does not need an expert to deduce that the present situation can only lead to one disastrous result: The total depopulation of these farms in the border area. Not only is it a fact that the production can no longer be maintained; burdens of interest and debt can no longer be met; and the border fences between the Black states and ourselves cannot be maintained—this could lead to disastrous racial conflicts—but in addition, the farms will no longer be able to fulfil a function for the rest of the country.

That function has been of such importance to everyone, and still is. The function to which I refer is that when a farmer employs an employee, he has to provide accommodation or a place to stay for himself and his whole family—grandmother, grandfather, uncles, aunts, sisters-in-law, cousins and everyone’s children of under 16 years. He has to provide them with facilities and food. He has to see to it that the children go to school and that everyone is fed. He provides medical services, or failing that, transportation to the nearest doctor, clinic or hospital. In 99,9% of all cases he does this free of charge. This is a service the farmer renders for the benefit of every housewife, houseowner, businessman or factory owner in the town who hires a domestic servant, gardener or worker in a mine or factory, because the farmer has to provide housing and food to his remaining family. If all employers were compelled, as the farmer is, to provide housing and care for the whole family for the employment of every worker, there would not have been a Crossroads and there would have been less misery in places like Soweto. In addition there would be fewer Black men operating petrol pumps here in Cape Town. This is a job which is done by Black women and girls in the Transkei, but Black men have to come from there to do it here. Nor would it be necessary at this juncture for the State to build thousands of houses with State funds. This amounts to millions of rand which the farmer also has to help pay for by way of income tax and estate duty.

Estate duty is a monstrosity which haunts the farmer in particular. I have very good reasons for saying this, but unfortunately I do not have the time to go into this now. I want to say, however, that the hon. the Minister of Finance can stand on his head a thousand times, but he will not be able to explain away this injustice.

I do not want to claim that we are too obsessed with industrialization, but I want to ask that we should evaluate how many people a farmer has to support in spite of his uneconomic produce prices in comparison with the thousands of rand which it costs an industrialist and the State to create a single job opportunity for the individual. Furthermore, we must evaluate what it costs the taxpayer when lower interest rates, rebates, inexpensive and freely available capital and loans, tax rebates and many other subsidies and benefits are made available to entrepreneurs, companies, mines and industrialists. We must compare this to what the farmer receives from the State. I am not saying that is wrong, but I want to remove the misconception about the position of the farmer in the economy of our country.

I say to the House of Assembly, the Cabinet, the Press and to the whole country outside: Use the same fine toothcomb on all of us, not only the farmers, but all the others as well, and see where the most lice—I mean dandruff—appears.

The farmer does not want subsidies. He merely claims the same right which all other South Africans claim for themselves, i.e. that increase in production costs can be added to the price of their product and that their services to the rest of South Africa be rated and compensated at their true value. The consumer simply has to find the means to pay for the periodic increases in the prices of tyres, fuel, spare parts, motorcars, clothing, rent, building costs, electricity, rates and taxes, furniture, soft drinks, tobacco, liquor, etc. Everyone increases the price of his article or service regularly to keep pace with increased production or service costs. Can there still be a fool who believes that in spite of the fact that his production costs of meat have increased by 200%, 300% or 400% during the past four years, the farmer can continue to sell meat at the same price as four years ago and still stay solvent? If the consumer cannot buy meat at the increased price—and I do not have the time now to speak about the middle man—the State must subsidize him. This will be cheaper than importing food and meat when there are no farmers left and all the farms on the border are empty, because then South Africa will no longer have borders.

I want to say a few words about the dreaded weed Nasella tussoca, which, like most weeds, comes from overseas, and which is assuming appalling proportions in the Eastern Cape. These seeds, which stay fertile for 20 years, are spread by the wind and germinate profusely. This grass which is indigestible and inedible will shortly infest great parts of our country and make them totally useless. This is a greater threat than terrorism for our future, and we should immediately launch a campaign to fight Nasella with everything at our disposal. We must rather start now with millions instead of thousands of rand, or else it will cost thousands of millions of rands later on to combat it. It is recommended that tree fences be planted for miles on end; over the mountains as well—except where there are borders—to check the seed. If the State cannot subsidize the wire to protect these tree fences, the whole project will collapse. The farmers who are already in debt simply cannot afford this extra liability. They will merely have to sit back and wait to die with their land.

Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by referring to what the hon. member for Pietermaritzburg South said last Friday about the role of State veterinary surgeons in the exportation of livestock. We do not have enough State veterinary surgeons to perform the function he discussed, and therefore the firms have to make use of the services of private veterinary surgeons, but we are looking at the whole matter. The hon. member also spoke of the aid we were giving to the livestock industry in agriculture and more specifically of veterinary services. I may mention to him that to date we have spent an amount of R6 300 million on tuberculosis, for example. This amount has been paid out to fanners when their animals have been tested and some of them have had to be killed because of tuberculosis. Inspections have then been made to ascertain how many herds in the country are already free of tuberculosis. This kind of work can be phased out when all the herds have been tested. Then we can offer assistance for the things he asked for with regard to the exportation of live cattle.

The hon. member for De Aar wanted the two-year agricultural college training to be extended to three years. However, some agricultural unions are now asking us to go back to the system of one-year courses which existed in the past. We simply do not have the staff to accommodate all the students who apply for admission to agricultural colleges such as Grootfontein, Cedara, Potchefstroom and others. If we introduced three-year courses, things would be even more difficult. The hon. member made a well-prepared speech and I am taking the matter seriously. I may mention to the hon. member that we have approved the construction of a college for vegetable-growing at Nelspruit. We simply cannot get it off the ground because we do not have the staff. We do not have trained people, and those who have been trained are enticed away by the private sector with much higher salaries. This is a matter to which we shall have to give a great deal of attention in the future.

The hon. member also said that the salaries of livestock inspectors were too low. I wholeheartedly agree with him. We shall take the matter to the Public Service Commission, because the requirements with which livestock inspectors have to comply have become more and more exacting. The salaries of weed inspectors and some other staff will certainly have to receive the attention of the Public Service Commission.

The hon. member for Vryheid said that the cotton and meat farmers in his constituency who did not have co-operatives were experiencing specific problems. When we do financing, we do it through the co-operatives, and where there are no co-operatives, Mr. Geldenhuys of my department—he serves on the Jacobs Committee—has taken cognizance of the fact and will raise the matter in the committee as it affects the hon. member’s constituency in particular, to see what methods can be used to help the people. With regard to the butchers’ licences to which he referred and which he would like to have in his area to help the farmers there, I want to point out that the Wentzel Committee recommended that the limited registration of butcheries be gradually abolished. If a case can be made out for a butchery, but the application is turned down by the Meat Board, the applicant may appeal to me within 30 days if there is a need for a butchery in the area to assist the farmers there.

The hon. member for Carletonville spoke about maize. Arising from the attack made by the hon. member for Pietermaritzburg South on control boards, I want to refer to hon. members who serve on control boards, such as the hon. member for Heilbron, who is the chairman of the Dairy Board, the hon. member for Lydenburg, who serves on the Oil-seed Board, and several other hon. members who actively assist the department. During the Easter recess, the hon. member for Carletonville had to go overseas to finalize transactions with regard to our maize industry. I want to say that the approach of these people show us that they care about the industry. They are people who sacrifice their free time and who receive very little compensation for it They do it virtually for nothing. One cannot perform one’s task as a Minister if one does not have people helping one. I want to thank the hon. members concerned for the sacrifice they are making for this cause.

The hon. member for Wynberg said on Friday that farmers should be helped to keep their bookkeeping systems up to date. We have introduced a postal record system and invited farmers to participate in it. During my visits to farming communities, I have seen 25 or 30 farmers come together and have each one’s income and expenditure evaluated with the aid of the departmental economist in order to determine the profitability of every farming enterprise. I cannot overemphasize the fact that farmers must make more use of the postal record system.

The hon. member for Wynberg asked whether, if farmers wanted to eliminate the wholesalers, anyone would be free to go to Epping market to buy and bid without making use of a wholesaler. But now the vegetable farmers are caught up in financial problems. The wholesaler provides them with financing and then loads the price. The Commission of Inquiry into Fresh Produce Markets is investigating this whole matter. In many cases, the wholesaler is the one who is making unreasonable profits. The hon. member also asked whether the farmer could sell his products directly to the housewife. The farmer may do that any time. We are trying not to let the markets become a white elephant. Experience has shown that the man can sell his products directly to the housewife for a while, but cannot continue doing so indefinitely, because he does not have a variety of products available. If a farmer has carrots and beetroot available, the housewife may tell him that she wants some litjies and pawpaws as well. A vendor, on the other hand, buys everything on the market and can offer the housewife a whole variety of products. But if a farmer wants to sell his products directly, he is free to do so.

The hon. member for Humansdorp made a plea for the small farmers and the part-time farmers. We have taken cognizance of the request that these farmers should organize themselves co-operatively in a different form of co-operative. The part-time farmer is sometimes a great asset to us. One of the difficulties we have is that the part-time farmer does not always live on his land. In some parts this is not so essential, but in other extensive areas, especially remote areas, it is a condition that the farmers should occupy their farms.

†The hon. member for Orange Grove said farmers switched from dairy farming to maize farming. We can look at the figures. In 1974 we planted in total 4,4 million ha with maize; in 1975, 4,5 million ha; in 1976, 4,4 million ha; and in 1977, 4,5 million ha. In the past year we planted 4,6 million ha with maize, not because farmers are switching from dairy farming to maize production, but because, due to the late rains, farmers could not plant as much oil seeds, sunflower and ground nuts, as they usually do. There was not a switch from dairy farming to maize production.

He also referred to the Kruger National Park. I can tell him that scientists are investigating the ecological effects of certain veld conditions, of grazing conditions and the burning of the veld, etc. We have very excellent people working on this. I know of a few chaps who have obtained their doctorates on the study of the veld. In 1974 there were 7 702 elephants in the park. Now there are 7 478. There were 23 284 buffalo. Now there are 29 672.

In 1974 there were 2 321 hippopotami. Now there are 2 350. The lions were not counted in 1974, but now there are 1 200. In 1974 there were 6 745 blouwildebees. Now there are 6 504. Quaggas were not counted at that stage, but now there are 16 328. Rooibokke were not counted at that stage, but now there are 59 149. Having being done from helicopters, these figures are fairly reliable for the Kruger National Park. Nevertheless, we have taken note what the hon. member has said about the Kruger National Park and I shall refer his proposals to the National Parks Board.

*The hon. member for Griqualand East asked for a rebate on poisons and he specifically referred to a poison for the extermination of lantana and sesbania. We are already providing poisons for some weeds which pose a threat to us, such as nasella tussock and jointed cactus, and the State has a programme in terms of which it is spending millions of rands in an attempt to exterminate these weeds. However, we cannot provide State assistance for all kinds of declared weeds, because then the farmers will ask for assistance in exterminating other kinds of weeds as well. One gets the farmer, for example, who says that he has spiny cockle burr, large cockle burr or that kind of thing. There are some kinds of weeds which the farmers must try to get rid of themselves. We do the research, but he has to buy his own sprays.

Then the hon. member said that now that we have received R800 000 from the hon. the Minister of Finance, we should launch the scabies project for sheep again and compel farmers to dip in compliance with the request of the National Wool Growers’ Association and of the Cape Agricultural Union, and also that we must bring back Cooper’s dip. Cooper’s dip contains arsenic which builds up in the tissue, and when they find overseas that there is just a fraction of a gram of arsenic in a sheep, they forbid the sale of that carcass, so we cannot allow a larger amount of arsenic, bexadust or that kind of spray. We have other sprays today which provide the same results.

The hon. member for Kuruman spoke about the Gamagara water scheme and I shall refer that to the Department of Water Affairs. The two departments will investigate the whole matter of water supply in his area.

The hon. member for Eshowe, the hon. member for Marico, the hon. member for Barberton and a few other hon. members referred to the remote areas and asked me what we were going to do there. We appointed the Steyn Commission and several departments served on it. I want to thank each of those departments, such as the Department of Defence and the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, and the provincial authorities, for their positive contributions. Their proposals were submitted to the Cabinet, and a statutory amendment may be introduced before the end of this session. The specific areas which are going to be defined, namely 50 km from the northern and northwestern borders of the Transvaal and 30 km in the Komati area, will be defined in the new proposals. In order to attract a new farmer to the area, we shall introduce special measures to give him a loan for the purchase of land. For the first and second year it will be an interest-free loan. From the third to the fifth year, the interest will be 2%, with no capital redemption. From the sixth to the eighth year, it will be 4%, and only from the ninth year will he have to begin paying back the capital, at 4% spread over 25 years. This is an attempt to attract new men to these areas. To those existing farmers in these areas who have uneconomic units—there are an enormous number of them in the constituency of the hon. member for Marico, Soutpansberg, Waterberg, etc.—we are going to give loans to purchase land and to improve their financial position. For the first and the second year, the interest will be only 2%, 4% for the third, fourth and fifth years, and 6% after that, spread over a period of 25 years at 4% for the balance. Furthermore, it has been decided to give financial assistance in the form of an allowance to farmers whose farms are occupied and managed by Whites to the satisfaction of the department. At one stage in South West Africa, R8 was given per head of cattle to cover the escalating costs. A similar allowance is being envisaged here, calculated on the basis of the carrying capacity of the farm. Then the Department of Defence intends to enable a man to buy a two-way radio through which he can contact his neighbouring farm.

If a man buys land in one of the declared areas, he must realize that within six months of his having bought the land, it must be occupied, cultivated or managed by someone who will be able to utilize it to the advantage of the scheme. In the cases where the landowner is a city-dweller whose land is not occupied by a White man, we shall give him four years’ grace and also render him the necessary assistance to enable him to settle a White man on that specific farm. I shall give full particulars in this connection when the Second Reading of the Bill concerned is before the House. The legislation has already been drafted and the law advisers are just checking certain legal terms at the moment. Then I shall have the matter finally approved by the Cabinet.

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

Certainly.

Do you know more or less how much the project is going to cost in the first, second and third year?

According to estimations, we shall need approximately R21 million during the first year. I assume that provision will be made for this amount in next year’s budget. Perhaps we can get a certain amount for making a start this year, and we are taking up the matter with the Treasury. The whole scheme may cost between R65 million and R80 million over a period of five to six years.

The hon. member for Bethlehem referred to the wheat price and also said that the production costs in the Free State had risen. I have already said that there will have to be an upward adjustment of the wheat price, which must serve to encourage the farmer. The hon. member for Bethlehem probably realizes that when we determine the wheat price in September, other price increases will also have to be taken into account. The wheat price will also have to be determined depending on the harvest. At the moment, the conditions in the winter rainfall regions do not appear at all encouraging. The Swartland, for example, should have had some rain by this time.

†The hon. member for Wynberg said: “Cut out marginal areas in the production of maize.” He also spoke of free enterprise. I want to know from him whether I must compel farmers to plant sunflower seed in a so-called marginal area in a free-enterprise system such as we have? Must I tell him what to plant, or must I rather remedy the situation by price manipulation? If one has a shortage of a product, one increases the price, and if one has a surplus, one lowers the price. The hon. member for Winburg referred for instance to the surplus of grain sorghum in his area. Now, the price of grain sorghum was not increased, because of the surplus. That is the only way in which one can manipulate prices in a free economy.

*However, the hon. member must not expect me to tell anyone that he is not allowed to cultivate a certain product in his area just because it happens to be a marginal area. There are many areas, for example, which were regarded as marginal areas ten years ago and which no longer are. Factors such as research, soil analysis, the application of agricultural lime, the application of trace elements, etc., have enabled former marginal areas to produce optimum harvests today.

The hon. member also asked me to spell out a clear agricultural policy. I shall come back to that later. The Opposition simply cannot understand that we are having a problem in exporting products of which we have a surplus at depressed world market prices. In South Africa there are two products, for example, which are cultivated according to the quota system, namely wine and sugar. As soon as one introduces a quota system, one moves away from a free economy system, for if one does that, certain people are prohibited from cultivating certain products, and this is a matter for regret.

In this way, for example, one finds that one farmer has a quota for growing sugar, while his neighbour on the adjoining farm does not. The land of the farmer with the quota is worth R2 000 a hectare, while the land of his neighbour, who does not have a quota, is worth only R300 a hectare. Is one to apply such a system in every respect? Is one to apply it with regard to vegetables, to which the hon. member is always referring? Is one to say, for example: We need a certain tonnage of carrots, so only a certain amount of carrots may be planted? One simply cannot do that in practice. A farmer may plant too much of a certain kind of vegetable because the price is high at that moment, while the price may plummet during the following year. Two years ago, the potato price was very high, and sales of seed-potatoes soared. Seed-potatoes were flown from the Koue Bokkeveld to the Eastern Transvaal, for example, and one fine day the potatoes were coming out of our ears. We did not know where to market them. The surplus was exported to Mauritius and to Europe, inter alia, but after the freight and other expenses had been deducted, a farmer received 90c a pocket for his potatoes, while his production cost had been Rl,15.

The hon. member wants an agricultural policy. The hon. member can spell out an agricultural policy to me if he can say, like the American Minister of Agriculture, that they know that the average rainfall in Iowa is between 29 and 30 inches, that this has been the average rainfall for the past 20 years. Then I, too, can spell out an agricultural policy for Iowa. In our country, however, circumstances are different.

I had just become Minister of Agriculture when I had to address a meeting at Wolmaransstad. There were 6 000 farmers on the rugby field. There was no harvest—only red dust. The hon. member for Schweizer-Reneke will be able to tell hon. members that we could not land there the next year to meet the farmers, because the whole air-field was under water and 20% of the harvest in that district had rotted. That is South Africa. The late King Solomon would not have been able to spell out an agricultural policy under these circumstances either. [Interjections.]

The hon. members for Pietermaritzburg South and Wynberg keep asking why we did not build the abattoirs in the production areas. Suppose we built the abattoir at De Aar or at Colesberg, an abattoir to provide in the needs of the Colesberg and Philippolis area. There is a complex of 2 500 people. At the abattoir at City Deep, which the hon. member called the mammoth white elephant, 6 000 sheep, 2 000 head of cattle and almost 2 000 pigs have to be slaughtered every day. The hon. member now wants decentralized abattoirs to be built at De Aar. However, the maize is in the Transvaal. The pig now has to be fed in the Transvaal and conveyed to De Aar, because the abattoir must be operated as an economic unit. However, the hide and skin processors are at the City Deep complex. There, too, are the people who prepare polonies and Vienna sausages from pork and beef, who mix and grind it. The by-products are also made there. The big question is now what one does with the offal of 2 000 head of cattle and 6 000 sheep at De Aar. Who is going to eat that offal in De Aar? [Interjections.] That offal now has to be transported in cool-trucks…

Mr. Chairman, may I ask the hon. the Minister whether he appreciates that the transport of cool-trucked carcases is cheaper than transporting livestock?

I appreciate that it is cheaper, because it is compact However, the tripe, the hides and the skins are still there. The only problem that is solved is that of “pensmis”. [ Interjections.]

*Reproaches are made every time about City Deep and Cato Ridge. Kimberley has now had an abattoir built at a cost of R8 million. We did not tell them to build that abattoir. When the abattoir was completed, I told the city council that they would have to increase the rates paid by the inhabitants by an enormous amount They then asked me whether the Abattoir Commission could not take over this abattoir. Initially, the Johannesburg city council said that it could not go on with the Newtown abattoir, because it was already 65 years old. They wanted to build a new abattoir. When they took a closer look and saw how steel and cement prices had escalated, they said that they were no longer going to build it. The Abattoir Commission had to build it. When the Durban city council said that it was not prepared to build, representatives of the agricultural union, of the meat trade—all interested parties—met to discuss this matter. We did not want Pietermaritzburg to build an abattoir too. We wanted a central abattoir to be built at Cato Ridge for Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The abattoir is to be inaugurated in June 1979.

It is quite correct that the abattoir is going to cost approximately R50 million. However, all the existing abattoirs are more than 60 years old, and within 30 years our children are going to say that they are badly planned and too small. What will the cost of constructing an abattoir be then? It is quite expensive now, but the meat industry is paying it off without the State having to make any contribution. We evaluate the slaughter fees of all abattoirs—those that are cheap and those that are expensive—and we get an average price. Therefore we are not only taxing the man who sends his livestock to an expensive abattoir such as Cato Ridge. We take the average slaughter fee of Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Maitland, etc. The farmers are satisfied with this. After all, I spelt out to hon. members on Friday that there were certain bright spots, that an increase was coming in the price of hides, etc. The hon. member for Winburg is quite right The price of grain sorghum is R80 a ton at the moment The farmer contributes R14,15. However, this is really a malt levy. I myself feel, of course, that if we have a consumption of 2,2 million bags of grain sorghum in the country while our production is 6 million bags, we shall have to find more outlets. We shall have to use more grain sorghum, in forage, for example.

I want to thank the hon. the Deputy Minister for his approach to long-term policy with regard to forage and droughts. The time has come for us to plan with a view to the next cycle. The hon. the Deputy Minister is also right in saying that we should pay attention to our land valuations.

†The hon. member for Mooi River referred to the general sales tax. As was said by hon. members opposite, we have always had the feeling that the farmer does not want to be subsidized. The farmer is also prepared to contribute his share towards the tax income of the country by paying his general sales tax, provided he receives a good profit in return. However, at the moment that is not the case. Nevertheless, as I have already said, I will discuss the matter with the hon. the Minister of Finance.

The hon. member also spoke about the writing off of loans after a farmer has suffered two crop failures. The hon. member quoted Bethlehem as an example. If, after a wheat farmer has suffered two crop failures, we should say we are writing off all his loan debts, there are a couple of things we should not forget. We must remember, for instance, that only about 20% of those farmers are in financial difficulties. Hon. members opposite constantly talk about discrimination. This is the sort of distinction we cannot draw. One farmer may work carefully, and if we should begin to create the impression that we can write off farmers’ debts, it will be a sorry day. Farmers have always been prepared to repay their debts provided they get a good rainy season and good prices for their products.

*However, this is just a problem of the moment. There is a depressed atmosphere at the moment. I want to refer to this again at a later stage. I just want to finish dealing with hon. members points first.

†The hon. member asked about the difference between the old price and the new price of maize. When the new maize price was announced, it became effective that very day. Inspectors of the Maize Board are visiting agents, co-operations and mills to establish the total. The difference then has to be paid back into the Levy Fund, the Stabilization Fund of the Maize Board, with the exception of the Joseph’s policy. A quantity of 900 000 tons of maize is kept in reserve for in case something goes wrong.

*In terms of this Joseph’s policy, the difference in price with regard to the 900 000 tons of maize which is kept in reserve is also paid into the Stabilization Fund of the Maize Board, specifically in order to help the industry. However, the new maize price was effective from the day on which it was announced. From that day, the farmer has had to pay more for his maize.

The hon. member for King William’s Town referred to the problems of the meat farmer in the Border area of the Eastern Cape. I agree with the hon. member, but then that farmer’s price must simply keep pace with his production costs. How is this achieved, however? If there is a supply of 7 million slaughter-sheep, while only 6,5 million of them can be eaten, what does one do? Of course, this is only a temporary situation. What has happened in Rhodesia? I do not want to be disparaging, but it is true that when the Marxists take over, confidence in agriculture disappears. This has happened in Mozambique. Mozambique used to be a food-exporting country. Today, Mozambique is in every respect a food-importing country. Rhodesia had 3 million head of cattle when the problems there began. Today, Rhodesia has just over 2 million head of cattle left. Confidence in Rhodesia’s agriculture has been shaken. At one stage we were importing 2 500 carcasses from Rhodesia. If the Western countries persevere in their spineless policy and Swapo has its way in South West Africa—which will be a tragic day for us, but that is nevertheless the direction in which the Western powers want things to move there—agriculture in that country will be destroyed. At the moment, we are getting 400 000 cattle carcasses from South West Africa every year. If agriculture in South West is destroyed, what then? Where are we going to get sufficient amounts of meat? It is easy for me to say that one can buy soft meat at R2 a kilogram today. It is easy to say that one can buy a loaf of bread for 16c. Beware of the day, however, when the price of meat is R2 a kilogram and the price of bread is 16c a loaf and the housewife asks where she is to find them. Low prices are of no use when the product is unobtainable.

Now I come to the hon. member for Pietermaritzburg South. I cannot believe that a man says that he does not want to drag politics into this debate, but then says the following in a Press statement—

Then he speaks of 70 000 farmers in this country, and 70 000 farmers are not even seven constituencies. Hon. members need only go and count in Beaufort West how many farmers can vote compared with the number of Railwaymen, teachers and policemen. There are more officials than farmers in the Beaufort West constituency. However, what has this Government’s policy always been? We have an hon. Prime Minister who has an enormous amount of work to do, but agriculture is so close to his heart that he came to sit here all day on Friday and has been sitting here all day today as well, listening to the agricultural debate. [Interjections.] In the hon. member’s Press statement…

Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask the hon. the Minister where he got that Press report. His having that report is, I believe, a breach of privilege of this House. That was issued to the Press at exactly 2.15, and there is no reason why it should have been in the hands of the hon. the Minister. [Interjections.] In no way should that hon. Minister have that report in his hands. I believe it is a breach of privilege.

Order!

I quote what it says at the top of this statement—

You had it before that time.

That does not matter. I did not use it.

I shall take the matter up further.

Order! It is not a matter of privilege.

But, Sir, I should be proud if a man used my Press statement. [Interjections.] I quote further—

This is the Minister of Agriculture—

But I have said already that I have never, in all the time that I have been Minister, submitted a request for an increase in the wheat price to the Cabinet which has not been granted by the Cabinet After all, the hon. the Prime Minister tells me every time that we must take a sympathetic view of agriculture and its problems. It is no use saying that there are 205 000 railwayworkers, who are politically much more influential than the farmers of our country, when those people do not have food. If the 70 000 farmers are restless, it has a ripple effect. If the farmers are not prepared to invest in this industry, we are going to have a food shortage, and we are a food-exporting country! I think nothing could be more wrong than to have dragged this thing into the political arena in this way.

The hon. member makes a lot of false statements in this Press report. I quote point number 3—

Where are those under-utilized farm areas? Show me a hectare of land in Marico or Waterberg which is not being fully utilized. I agree that the occupancy of the land is not right, but show me a piece of land in the areas where field husbandry is practised which is just lying there and not being cultivated. It is easy to make wild statements. This statement is full of false statements for which the hon. member cannot produce any proof.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask the hon. the Minister whether he does not think that when an hon. member issues a Press statement to that effect, it is cheap politics?

Of course I think so. Ben, you have really asked a very smart question. I give you full marks for that.

The hon. member said that I was refusing permission for the control boards to advertise. I know he is referring to milk.

And meat.

Yes, and meat. I kept telling the Meat Board that I was prepared to approve a million rand for advertisements for them, but people must not tell me that we should eat more meat when at 17h00, when my wife tells me that we are going to have a braai, I cannot find any meat for sale anywhere and have to be satisfied with a broiler because all the butcheries are closed. People must not expect me to approve meat advertisements while one cannot buy it anywhere. However, matters have been put right now…

Tell that story to the Meat Board.

I did, and that is why meat can now be bought in cafés. Did the hon. member not see the Press statement in that connection?

What has happened to our dairy industry? The hon. members on the other side were laughing in their sleeve when I said that the industry was in trouble with enormous surpluses because of good years. We had a cheese and butter surplus of R25 million. I asked the cream producer to give up 30% of his price in an attempt to find the R30 million. I told the butter and cheese manufacturers that we were going to take R3 million of their profit in an attempt to find the R25 million.

We told the fresh-milk farmer that we were going to reduce six cents a litre from the price of all the milk he produced in addition to his quota. Because of this, he got less than his production cost, but we were looking for R25 million. After I had done all this, we were still short of R5 million. Then I went to the housewife and I told her that we were in trouble because we had a butter and cheese surplus. It had already been paid for, so I could not be told that the price of goods was being increased while there was a surplus. We wanted 10 cents a kilogram of butter and 15 cents a kilogram of cheese from the housewife, but the Opposition was laughing in its sleeve when all hell broke loose. We were left without any choice, and ultimately we got that R5 million from the farmer as well. Am I now to advertise butter and cheese when I know that the industry is suffering a shock?

How sad I feel to think of the fact that we decided last week that we had no choice. We need 24 000 tons of butter, but because we dealt with the industry such a hard blow in the past, even before the prices rose, we have to import that amount of butter. It is true that it is only a small part of our consumption…

So you admit that you made a mess of it?

Sir, can you believe it? I am explaining where this problem originated. But there are too many people who are interfering. [Interjections.] There are too many people with an opinion of their own. They said that I had struck oil by increasing the price while there was a surplus, but here I have the proof of what would have happened if I had been left alone. It seems to me that I am wasting my time. [Interjections.] One could tear file hon. member’s Press statement to pieces point by point. I shall give the Press statement to the S.A. Agricultural Union.

I should be glad. Is that a promise?

Of course I shall. I am going to say that we have an arrangement. The hon. members say that they set great store by our Marketing Act and our control board system and the Opposition opposed me when I accepted the recommendations of the Wentzel Commission and said that the Act would be amended so that the producers would be in the majority on the control boards. I shall obtain the names of those who can be appointed from organized agriculture. I do not look at a man’s politics; I look at his ability and the recommendation made by the S.A. Agricultural Union about his ability. I go so far as to say that a member of the NRP can also serve on a control board. There are a few intelligent members in the NRP.

The hon. member said—

The canning industry, the deciduous fruit industry, the citrus industry and each of the industries to which this is applicable must sell on an uncontrolled world market. Apples, pears, peaches, all of them are exported, and last year their exportation earned us more than R160 million in foreign exchange. If the bottom drops out of those European or Eastern markets, not one of the farmers will blame me for one moment This applies to all the other agricultural products which we export. It is an uncontrolled world market on which we sell the products. I shall leave it at that; I must complete my speech.

One thing that bothers me is that a feeling has developed that the Cabinet is not sympathetic towards the farmer. Really and truly, to think that is to make a great mistake.

I come now to the two last points. The Secretary, Mr. Piet Steyn, to whom the hon. the Deputy Minister also referred, is going to retire after a lifetime in the Public Service. He joined the Public Service on 8 April 1933 and has therefore been working for the State for 46 years. In this time there has been a great deal of criticism, with regard to land valuations, for example. One thinks in this connection of the Agliotti case.

Mr. Steyn went to great trouble to rewrite the whole Expropriation Act. He was formerly chief inspector of the Public Service Commission, and the first time he accepted responsibility in his career was in respect of the settlements at Groblersdal and the Loskop scheme. In this way, his contribution runs through everything like a golden thread. When one compares this with the gossip we hear today about some departments, I want to say: Mr. Piet Steyn, to me, the Deputy Minister and the previous Deputy Minister, it was a pleasure to have a man of unimpeachable integrity. One thinks of the case where a claim of R30 million was laid under the new expropriation system by a company which we had to expropriate. In the end, the case was amicably settled for R6,5 million without anyone having gone to court Our officials save the State millions of rands by being realistic, honest and sincere. I therefore want to tell Mr. Steyn: Good and faithful servant may you have a very enjoyable retirement.

Next I want to come to the Secretary for Agricultural Technical Services, Dr. Immelman, a man full of life and fire. I am sure that we shall work together splendidly. This also applies to Mr. van Schalkwyk and his people of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing. These are people who work with the public, with members of the House of Assembly and with farmers and who always make one feel that one may also be right and that both sides of the matter should be considered. I cannot help it, but I must also refer to Mr. Nel, Mr. Van Blommestein and Tina van der Walt, our typist These people have no easy time. Sometimes they have to lie and say that the Minister is out whilé I am sitting in my office next door! [Interjections.] I want to express my sincere thanks to all those people.

I want to conclude. We could give still more attention to certain problems, but one thing hon. members must remember: The Opposition may create the impression that the farmer has been financially and morally ruined and that he is down and out, but, Sir, make no mistake. When one talks to the farmer who is worth his salt and who is going to remain in agriculture, he will never tell one that the bottle is half empty, but that it is half full. When one asks him what his best year was since he began farming, he will say, “The year to come.” That is the attitude of the man who will remain in agriculture. We have taken a few knocks. We have to make price adjustments and we have begun with maize. Now we must look at the prices of dairy products, of fresh milk. As soon as the marketing pressure is over, we must raise considerably the floor price of mutton, beef and especially of pork. We have no choice in this connection.

Arising from the Press statement of the hon. member for Pietermaritzburg South, I want to say that if the housewives want to get at me, I believe that I shall have their support. I shall not abuse the Press statement, but I just want to point out that the hon. member expressly stated in it—

The hon. member is proposing that yellow margarine be removed from the market. If the housewives want to eat margarine which is yellow, however…

Then they can add the yellow colouring themselves.

No, Sir, if they want that, I shall not take it away. However, the margarine manufacturers are coming to see me, and all I am going to tell them is: You have not played the game in your advertising campaign; stop the cholesterol story and your scare stories against butter.

It is already too late.

No, Sir. We shall handle this matter correctly. The fact of the matter is that the consumer, the public, wants yellow margarine. If the manufacturers will meet me halfway as far as the advertisements are concerned, we can also launch a further campaign to propagate the use of butter.

If I were involved in the cigarette industry, I would not tell a man not to smoke Lexington because it caused lung cancer, but I would tell him rather to smoke Gold Dollar. Such a thing is simply not done. It is unethical. One does not attack a product and say that if one loves one’s child, one must not give him animal fat We are therefore trying to set this matter right.

Not a single morgen of land is being created any more. Yet every day, more people are being born. We are going to realize more and more in the future how important the agricultural industry is. We must please not kill this industry with complaints. We must not create an impression of pessimism. I cannot help having faith and saying that I do not believe the story that we are now facing seven lean years. I must believe that the year ahead will be a good year and that we are going to support one another. We must encourage the 72 000 farmers in the agricultural industry in a positive way. The hon. member for Meyerton and the other hon. members on this side of the House who spoke after him have stated the case of the farmer repeatedly in our caucus. There is still great sympathy with our producers and I want to express my sincere thanks to hon. members who are helping me in this matter, as well as my Deputy Minister, my officials and all the members of the Cabinet who have always taken a positive view of these things. I believe that we can remain a food-exporting country. We are going to have good years, and may the prices be such as to encourage the farmers to produce food with a smile and in the spirit of a believer—come hell or high water. Then, really and truly, we shall not have any difficulties.

Votes agreed to.

Votes No. 12.—“Health”:

Mr. Chairman, I request the privilege of the half hour.

It is appropriate that the Health Vote should follow the Agriculture Vote, because of all the factors which affect the good health of a nation, correct eating habits and eating healthy foods play a larger role than any other factor. 1979 is Health Year and I should like to start off by expressing our appreciation to the hon. the Minister, the Secretary for Health and his staff for the efforts which they have made in launching Health Year in a most impressive fashion. I believe that the activities which have been arranged and the vast amount of material which has been made available to hon. members and the public of South Africa is a credit to the hon. the Minister and his department. I believe it will go a long way towards ensuring that Health Year will play a major part in making the South African population aware of what health is all about, of promoting better health and of making it a subject which will receive far more attention at the various levels in the country in future.

I want to repudiate a tendency which is taking place overseas, the tendency to criticize, not only those fields of activity in South Africa where criticism is valid and deserved, but to start criticizing where criticism is certainly neither deserved nor valid. One finds that even certain institutions in South Africa which are taking all possible steps and doing everything in their power to remove discrimination, for instance in health services, and are going out of their way to improve services and opportunities for all the race groups in South Africa, are subject to unwanted and unsubstantiated criticism from abroad. I want to refer to just one example, and that is the article which appeared in World Medicine recently in which an attack was made on the Natal Medical School in Durban. In this article a number of points were raised for which there is no substantiation whatsoever.

In particular, I think it is deplorable because that particular medical school is setting an example of what can be done in moving away from discrimination. For instance, in the appointment of staff at that medical school race plays no part; salaries have, I believe, been equalized; and the opportunities there do not depend on the race of the person concerned. In that article the unfounded allegation was made that in South Africa the Black infant mortality rate was 40%, whereas the truth is that it is way below 10%. I believe this sort of article is most unfortunate because such articles appear in the journals of organizations which enjoy high credibility outside South Africa. Such articles can only harm the efforts which are being made to move away from discrimination.

I should also like to say a few words about the medical staff leaving South Africa permanently. Unfortunately, it is mainly medical staff in the academic field and specialists in various fields of medicine who are leaving the country. This is particularly unfortunate in a country such as South Africa. South Africa cannot afford to lose people with the qualifications and experience they possess. The reasons which these people give for leaving South Africa are just not acceptable. It is just not acceptable that people should argue that they are leaving for political reasons. I want to put it to the people who are leaving and also to the people who are left that South Africa needs them now and that the society from which they come, the society which has given them their opportunities in life, their education and training, is, warts and all, their society; and that society needs them today. We shall not be able to solve the vast problems in the health field in South Africa, problems which are closely related to socio-economic, political and other conditions, if we lose these people. These people have a role to play and I appeal to them not to run away from their society or from their responsibilities, and to stay here and do their job. I think that those who have left South Africa should reconsider their decisions and come back to play a part in helping improve the health of all the peoples of this country.

I read the very impressive report of the Department of Health. It contains two things for which I should like to thank the department and the hon. the Minister and on which I should like the hon. the Minister to give us further information. The one is the proposed Regional Health Organization for South Africa and the other is the Chair in Geriatrics. I think that both these projects are of tremendous value to all the States in Southern Africa. I would be very pleased to hear from the hon. the Minister what progress has been made with regard to the Regional Health Organization and, secondly, whether any further progress has been made with regard to the establishment of a Chair in Geriatrics and, if so, at what university we can expect that Chair to be established. Of course, coming from Johannesburg, I hope it will be at one of the universities there.

This year, 1979, is Health Year and a time of tremendous challenges and tremendous opportunity for the hon. the Minister and his department. South Africa is a society in which in the health field there are not only many challenges but also many opportunities. We have a very diverse population containing groups at different levels of development Because of the diversity of our population, we have the full spectrum of health problems that have to be dealt with. This not only makes it a challenging society, but also a very interesting society in which to operate health services. I believe that South Africa has not only in the past rendered tremendous service and made advances in the health field, but that it also presents opportunities for further great advances to be made as far as the combating of diseases is concerned. Dr. H. K. Steyn of the Cape Province’s Hospital Services Department said, when he gave an interview with regard to Health Year 1979, that South Africa was a land of firsts in the race to the grave in spite of the fact that the country had one of the best medical services in the world. He said—

I quote further from the article—

What he was saying is that in South Africa there is tremendous opportunity for the rendering of advanced and effective health services, there is tremendous opportunity for development and study and there is a tremendous opportunity for people who want to make their career in the rendering of such health services.

One of the more worrying aspects of health in South Africa is tuberculosis. I should also like to ask the hon. the Minister whether he will give us further information with regard to his plans in this direction. The department has decided on a programme to combat tuberculosis and I believe that some very interesting ideas flowed from the decisions which they took. One particular sentence in the report of the department I think needs to be lifted out and emphasized, and that sentence is (p. 3)—

Just under half the total South African population, according to that report, is infected by TB. Only one third of the infected people are in fact reported TB cases and therefore can be given treatment. This indicates that there is a tremendous challenge in that particular field to meet the serious effects of TB, both from the point of view of people’s health and from the point of view of the country’s manpower reserves and the efficiency of our workers in the rural and in the industrial areas.

One of the things we discussed when we spoke about the new Health Act, one of the things which I, for one, spent a lot of time discussing, was the part that could be played by local authorities in carrying out the requirements of the new Health Act. I indicated that I thought that local authorities had not been sufficiently consulted, that the relationship with local authorities was not on the best possible level and that the machinery had not been created for local authorities to play an effective and efficient part in the provision of health services. I should just like to quote what Prof. Marie Uys said sometime last year when she referred to the problems which existed with regard to providing health services at the local authority level. She said—

The point I want to make is that, in fact, there has been little improvement in that field in terms of the relationship between the Department of Health and the local authorities, in terms of the expansion and efficiency of the services and in terms of the removal of overlapping and contradictions.

I think it goes further than that. During 1978, for instance, only 13 local authorities availed themselves of the seven-eighths’ salary subsidy to nursing staff studying for the diploma in community health nursing. In fact, at the time this report was drawn up, only ten Whites, five Coloureds, one Asian and four Blacks were studying for that particular qualification, a qualification which is very important in terms of community health nursing services. In addition, last year only 13 new clinics were established: Seven in the Eastern Cape, four in the Western Cape, one in the Orange Free State and one in the Southern Transvaal. Clearly there is something wrong. The scheme is not working. Co-operation has not been established and we are not making the headway we should be making. The Department’s report says that local authorities were encouraged to provide comprehensive family-orientated health services which cover the whole spectrum and range of health services, but despite that encouragement we find that local authorities have not come up to scratch and that these services are not being effectively provided by local authorities. Dr. J. A. Smith, the Superintendent of the Day Hospitals Organization in Cape Town recently said—

That is also the problem that I foresee. Unless the hon. the Minister can succeed in ensuring that primary health care services are efficiently and effectively carried out at local government level, the whole scheme will not succeed to the extent it should.

One of the few good things that flowed from the Soweto riots was certain advances in health care which resulted from that. A lot can be learnt from what was experienced in Soweto. Dr. Beukes, the Superintendent of the Baragwanath Hospital, said that primary health care based on clinics and health centres had been revolutionized by the Soweto primary health care project. This project was launched by a Dr. Wagstaff, who indicated that doctors in clinics would become resource persons acting as managers, teachers, supervisors, evaluators and consultants, while primary health care nurses should be able, by specific guidelines of management, to handle approximately 80% of the ordinary unselected patients attending clinics. It was pointed out that between January and October primary health care teams in Soweto had treated more than 59 000 patients, with each nurse dealing with approximately 20 patients a day. This indicates very clearly what can be achieved: 80% of the cases that were previously attended to by doctors, could be dealt with by primary health care nurses who had been given proper training, the proper facilities and who were under correct management. I believe that the example set by Soweto should be expanded throughout South Africa and that the hon. the Minister should be prepared to learn from that.

I now wish to refer to a matter that I dealt with under the Health Vote last year when I spoke about the remnants of discrimination which still exist in the health services of South Africa At the time I made an appeal to the hon. the Minister, and he responded to my appeal by saying that in future in the case of seriously injured or ill patients they were to be taken by the first available ambulance, irrespective of the race classification appertaining to such an ambulance, to the first available hospital, irrespective of the race classification appertaining to that hospital. I should like to ask the hon. the Minister what progress has been made in getting the various authorities that have responsibility in this regard, to carry out the policy announcement the hon. the Minister made at that time? I should also like to hear from the hon. the Minister what progress has been made and what steps he plans to take in the near future to narrow the wage gap and, in fact, to wipe out the wage gap between White and non-White doctors and nurses. At the Durban medical school the pay structures have been equalized and I am told that in regard to various other medical services in Natal pay structures have either been equalized or very nearly so.

They have good people in power there.

The hon. member says they have good people in power there.

†What I should like to hear from the hon. the Minister, however, is: What progress has been made at all other levels in South Africa in narrowing and finally wiping out the wage gap in regard to doctors and nurses of the various race groups? I should also like to know what the position is in regard to other conditions of employment.

I believe that the responsibility to see that these things are done, lies at the top. I believe that if the hon. the Minister sets an example and he spells out in the clearest possible language the policy that there will no longer be discrimination in medical services in South Africa or he spells out a programme for the removal of the remnants of discrimination, the rest of South Africa will follow suit. It will then not be necessary for us to be embarrassed, as we were a few months ago by the Ladysmith incident.

*Let the hon. member for Durban-Central now speak of a province with good people in control.

†At the Ladysmith provincial hospital we had the ludicrous example that White patients were treated by White nurses while they were awake, but that as soon as they either fell asleep or were anaesthetized for an operation, Black nurses took over. The patient therefore had a White nurse to say good night to him and to say good morning to him, but while he was asleep or under an anaesthetic, a Black nurse took care of him. It might sound like a practical solution to the poor doctor in charge of that particular situation, but I think it is highly embarrassing for South Africa and for our medical services to have incidents like that taking place. It is no use blaming the local superintendent of that hospital or someone who is responsible on a local basis: It is the system in South Africa that is wrong, and that can only be put right by the hon. the Minister, if he is prepared to take the necessary action in order to do so.

In conclusion I should like to make an appeal to the hon. the Minister in respect of a matter which I think is very important indeed. In the planning programme for hospital bedding in the Transvaal there has for, I think, approximately the last 14 years now, been provision made for creating a new hospital in Soweto, which will provide 1 000 beds. I think that the whole outside world and the whole of South Africa know of the reputation and achievements of the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. It is known throughout the world that it has rendered medical services to Black people which have been described as miraculous in terms of their dimensions and their nature. In fact, the Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg has some of the most sophisticated medical equipment in South Africa. Recently a scanner which, if it is not the best, is certainly one of the best that is available in South Africa, was installed there. However, I believe that Soweto, a city which presently consists of 1,2 million people and which may in 20 years time have approximately 4 million people, deserves a new hospital, a hospital of the dimensions and characteristics of the new Johannesburg Hospital, because not only does Soweto present specific opportunities in the light of its diverse population, a multi-ethnic population coming from all parts of South Africa and presenting every form of medical problem, but it is also the biggest city in South Africa with a very large population involved in the commerce and industry of South Africa. It is a city which needs the services: the Baragwanath Hospital presently has a tremendous shortage of beds. The bed occupancy there is approximately 90%. I believe that the hon. the Minister would in fact make a very good contribution to the medical services in South Africa as a whole, but in particular to the medical services for the Blacks in South Africa, if he were to decide to establish in Soweto a very large and modern new hospital on the same scale as the Johannesburg Hospital, which was provided for the people of Johannesburg.

Mr. Chairman, I want to join the hon. member for Bryanston in expressing congratulations to the Department of Health on this ambitious effort they have launched this year, viz. Health Year. This Health Year affords scientists a fresh opportunity to examine certain health problems in depth over a very wide spectrum, but particularly cardiovascular diseases, of which South Africa has the greatest incidence in the world. It is also heartening to see that attention is being given anew to the whole question of tuberculosis. On this occasion I also want to draw the House’s attention to the whole question of tuberculosis. I quote from the Department of Health’s excellent annual report (page 3)—

I find this disturbing. Tuberculosis is still one of South Africa’s greatest health problems. This statement is given credence when we consider that the number of persons—and this is in the annual report as well—infected by the tubercle bacillus in South Africa, is estimated at 10 million. Between 10% and 15% of this group develop active tuberculosis at a later stage and then transmit this disease. It is therefore clear that there is a gradual, but very regular supply of tubercle bacilli being transmitted from this group of 10 million people. Scientific surveys indicate that at any given time there are approximately 110 000 infected cases, i.e. people who are suffering from the disease, and who can, therefore, transmit the germ to others. A major cause for concern is the fact that a mere 33% of these are found and treated. The remaining 70 000 to 80 000 cases, which are not found, all remain infective. Yet they move about freely and transmit the infection to others. It is therefore obvious that the majority of those falling into the latter category, viz. those who have the disease without being treated for it, must indeed be traced and treated.

In order to control and curb the latter problem effectively, the department has accordingly adopted a new so-called tuberculosis policy. It is trusted that this policy will achieve its objective, viz. to trace and treat the infected and infective cases as soon as possible.

The treatment of tuberculosis is relatively very simple. It consists of a process in which a series of injections are given over a limited period, and certain chemical substances are administered over a longer or shorter period. The period of medication is, of course, determined by the seriousness and extent of the tubercular lesion, but if a case is diagnosed and treated in the earlier stages, the treatment is of short duration and very effective, and complete recovery is practically assured. Such patients seldom if ever require hospital treatment. We should bear in mind that hospital treatment is expensive, that it sometimes takes a long time, and that there is therefore no reason why many of these cases cannot be treated on an ambulant basis. One of the objectives of this new tuberculosis policy is in fact to treat these cases at home and under normal working conditions.

Case-finding and effective ambulatory treatment can only be implemented successfully if the community can be involved. Community involvement, such as family planning, is another project which can be implemented with great success, and there is no reason why success cannot be achieved in this case too, with community involvement. Employers of large numbers of Black and/or Coloured workers in particular, such as factories, farmers, etc., have a very important part to play in this respect Counselling will have to be accorded top priority in this campaign against tuberculosis. For example, a basic knowledge of the symptoms of the disease would be of value. In addition the community will be motivated to be of assistance with the treatment of cases at home or at work. Hospital treatment is not only expensive, but is also, in most cases, quite unnecessary. More attention will therefore have to be given to the improvement of the facilities for the treatment of out-patients.

Basically the ideal conditions in which tuberculosis develops and thrives, is poor housing accommodation, poor nutrition and overpopulation. That is why it is so important—and of course also the duty of the State—that squatter camps should be cleared as soon as they develop, because they are a breeding ground for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis can be overcome, but it will require those concerned to devote themselves with dedication to this task and the combating of this disease.

Mr. Chairman, over a period of almost 10 years, we have succeeded to some extent in keeping the health vote outside politics. For that reason I am particularly grateful that this year the hon. member for Bryanston did not pursue the effort he made last year to make a little political capital out of this debate. I believe that the hon. member has succeeded in making a very sound and positive contribution to this debate. I am tempted to say that a new, fresh breeze is wafting through Parliament today.

The fact of the matter is, however, that we cannot but take cognizance of the statement made by the hon. member here today in connection with a renewed onslaught on South Africa from abroad in the field of our medical services. I should like to elaborate somewhat on the remarks made by the hon. member. Before doing so, however, I just want to make a few remarks about something else that I have been told, and I want to give the hon. member for Bryanston the opportunity of dissociating himself from such conduct. It is alleged that in the past year there have been people who have pretended to be office bearers of the PFP. They phoned various medical practitioners in Johannesburg and asked them to report any irregularities—“anything that stinks”. I just want to issue a warning. If we are going to carry on this type of politics by way of extra-parliamentary activities, this is only going to damage the profession and South Africa. I do not want to make any allegations. However, I do appeal to the Opposition parties in South Africa to dissociate themselves totally from methods of this kind. Certain medical practitioners who have the interests of the profession at heart, brought this to our attention, and we shall observe this matter very carefully in future.

My greatest concern is, however, this new onslaught on South Africa from the outside world, as reflected in the article mentioned by the hon. member for Bryanston. In view of other experiences over the past few years, I believe that this onslaught is taking place on an organized footing in the outside world. The recent article written in the BMJ by Kennedy Cruikshank and Nkosazana Dhlamini, who is apparently a South African, alleges that she was kicked out of the Natal Medical School during her fifth year. This statement has in any case been refuted by Prof. Sarkin of the Medical School. He proved that this was not true. She recently qualified in medicine at the Bristol University and was co-author of this article. To indicate what type of allegations are being made, I quote from a report which appeared in the Sunday Times—

Then they comment on certain of our institutions, our medical schools in South Africa and the standards, aspects which I shall deal with at a later stage.

The BMJ has always been a much sought-after journal and has always maintained a very high standard. However, if it lends itself to this form of international stirring up of hatred, it is not only doing itself a very serious injustice, but is also damaging the principal objective for which such a magazine is established, i.e. the promotion of the interests of the medical profession. I think I am entitled to say that to a certain extent I can assess the standard of medicine in England. I do not want to denigrate it. I had the opportunity of working in a hospital in London for almost a year under the National Health system there. I want to say at once that I do not want to make the same mistake in criticizing the British system, but the fact is that the National Health system is the last thing I should wish for South Africa. The fact of the matter is that many of the younger medical practitioners such as house doctors and even clinical assistants are experiencing a serious problem there because they are not getting enough experience. We often find that some of these people come to South Africa.

Since this magazine is now making an appeal to the British Government no longer to accept the qualifications of South African medical practitioners, I want to point out that they should take into account the fact that South Africa can also be of great value to the British medical profession with regard to very important aspects, inter alia, the fact that the opportunity of getting practical experience can be provided. Many specialists who have travelled overseas and visited many medical training centres there, can testify to the fact that our standards in South Africa can be compared with the best in the world. There is very little the world can teach us. In fact, I think that we can teach them a great deal. Once again I want to emphasize today the high standard of our medical services and qualifications in South Africa. In addition I want to make an appeal to all our medical training schools not to tamper with our standards by lowering them in any way, because in view of the onslaught on us, we could never afford this.

I wish to quote from a report in Die Burger in which reference is made to reports in the journal concerning the medical university in Bophuthatswana—

It is, of course, not a college, but a university—

Die Burger goes on to say that the college to which reference is made, is Medunsa which has 2 000 beds and serves 800 000 people.

The magazine continues to denigrate us in this vein. However, the onslaught is wider-ranging than this. Last year, for instance, I pointed out that it has now also become fashionable at certain international conferences to attack the medical services of South Africa. I referred to a conference or congress on mental diseases which had been held two years before and on which occasion the allegation had been made that we in South Africa used psychiatric methods for political purposes. This reminds me of certain other groups in South Africa who were busy with their sensitivity training when the whole Wilgespruit situation was exposed. Indeed, this does not come from the Government. As a medical practitioner who has devoted 13 years of my life to trying to raise the standard of health services of the Black people of South Africa, these allegations sadden me. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, the hon. member for Newcastle will pardon me if I do not react directly to what he has said, because there are a few other matters I want to deal with in the course of the debate.

In the first place I wish to congratulate the officials of the department on the excellent annual report.

† The report of the department is a mine of information. A lot of work has gone into it and I think the departmental officials deserve praise for the work they have done in that regard.

I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that we are living in a world at war. When I say that, I am not only referring to direct conflict, but also to a world at war against disease, infectious illnesses and viruses. I want to start off by saying that South Africa has won many battles in this war, and particularly in the war against malaria, over a period of many years. However, I believe that the current battle which is being fought against malaria is one we are showing alarming signs of losing. I should like to spend a few minutes on that particular point at the outset I believe it is a battle we should be winning and I think we should have foreseen the day when the problem of malaria would raise its ugly head again, increase and go on the rampage across Southern Africa. When the use of DDT was curtailed not so very long ago, we should have had better contingency plans for the problem for the next round against malaria. Those stinging sirens of the dark laden with deadly parasites do not discriminate—they enter any home in the risk area. We know that reports of malaria are very much on the increase at the moment. I do not want to quote to emphasize the negative side of the problem, but I have here sufficient documented evidence to show that, not to speak of malaria getting out of control, we must accept the possibility that in the conditions at present pertaining it could get out of control. I think there are enough comments from, amongst others, departmental officials, doctors in the department, to back up that statement. If the hon. the Minister wishes me to confirm that, I can do so at a later stage. I do not think, however, that we want a chronicle of what is bad.

What I should like to do is to pose today some positive thoughts for a campaign aimed at eradicating the scourge of malaria in Southern Africa. I think that a suitable code name for this campaign might be Operation S.W.A.T.—Spray, Wipe out and Terminate. We could use that acronym for the campaign against malaria. I would suggest that we need a co-ordinated campaign spearheaded by the hon. the Minister.

We need, first of all, an educational campaign. I should like to suggest that we could use television shots, including maps similar to those used by the Weather Bureau to put across the weather forecasts. These shots could be shown at peak viewing times when most of South Africa’s population is watching television, for example after the news broadcast. I believe we should also make more use of radio. What we could do in a practical way that would not cost a lot of money would be to introduce a new road sign to be erected on all national and other major roads where one enters a malaria area. The sign could bear the picture of a mosquito and the words “danger/gevaar—malaria”. This would serve to remind people that they have to take precautionary measures against this. Another aspect which should be dealt with is the question of the spraying of vehicles which enter the Republic or come back from areas of the Republic where malaria is known to be endemic. I believe that in that respect we should not exclude light aircraft arriving at and departing from our major airports. This has been done widely in Rhodesia in recent years and I believe it is something we should perhaps look at again.

Secondly, I believe that involvement is essential. According to current world thinking, total community involvement is the best weapon in the war against malaria. Thirdly, there is the question of eradication. In this regard I believe that biological control should be further researched. I know that research has already been done in this field—I have some cuttings on that here—but we are hoping to hear news of this biological control and when it is going to be implemented. I believe that the continued use of residual pesticides is essential in homes and huts in areas where malaria is endemic. What we really need is local South African research into new chemicals. What we really need now—and I am sure the hon. the Minister will agree with me—is a third-generation chemical. We have had DDT and other sprays, including various residual insecticides which are useful, but what I believe we need and our scientists in South Africa should be looking for, is a third-generation chemical which will suit our conditions, which will be bio-degradable and which will be effective and safe. I say this advisedly. We have some of the top brains in the world and if we can produce, as we heard last week, very effective modern weapons of war—and rightly so—I believe we should also use those talents to develop weapons of peace and weapons for health. I believe this is an aspect we would be well advised to consider seriously.

I believe that the first line of defence, one might say, in one’s health services is the nurses. I do not think there will be many medical doctors who will deny that the nurse is probably the first line of defence in a country’s health services. I therefore want to make a brief, but earnest, plea to the hon. the Minister to give urgent attention to the question of nurses’ salaries. Again, I have a lot of documentation on this, but cannot go through it all in the space of 10 minutes. However, as the situation stands at present, it looks as if a White, fully trained nursing sister receives a gross salary of some R327 per month in the employ of the Transvaal Provincial Administration, which means a take-home pay of about R280 per month. Even with the pending 11% increase—and I am not sure whether they have received it yet—that will only give her a take-home pay of just on R300 per month. I do not believe this is good enough for someone who is dedicated, works long hours under difficult conditions, is highly trained and has undergone a general as well as specific education. I believe that, even if they were granted an annual increase of 15% for the next three years, that would mean that, working from a base of R360 per annum, with the present increase applicable, they would only be getting a basic salary of R550 per month three years from now. In three years time R550 is not going to be worth nearly what it is worth today. I think that we would have to grant them an increase of something like 25% per annum for the next three years to get them up to a basic salary of R700 per month in three years time. I believe this is something the hon. the Minister should look at very carefully.

There is another line of defence in our health system and that is the people who are not able to participate actively or to give of their funds, but who can give of their blood. I want to appeal to all South Africans to become blood donors. The thin plastic tube going into the vein can possibly be referred to as sometimes being the only thin red line between life and death. The gift of one’s blood is a very personal gift which no money can buy and which nobody can donate for one. It is something which one can only do oneself. Nobody can take one’s blood against one’s will. It has to be a gift which is voluntarily given, and I believe that South Africans, generally, are not as aware as they could be of the blood transfusion services. I believe that more people should offer their blood on a voluntary basis, and I should like to see more publicity given to the need for fresh blood from blood donors in South Africa.

Sir, we have started this debate on a positive note and I look forward to hearing the hon. the Minister’s comments on the subjects I have raised and also on the other matters we hope to raise in the course of this debate. Finally, I want to raise one issue very briefly with the hon. the Minister, because this matter was dealt with at great length last year. I refer to the question of smoking and the action to be taken to reduce the incidence of death due to lung cancer and other cardiovascular diseases in South Africa as a result of smoking. I believe we have to double the excise on all cigarettes with a high tar and nicotine content. I believe this is something that is a must, as is a health warning on all cigarettes and other tobacco products. I want to commend this to the hon. the Minister. I hope he is going to make an announcement here this afternoon that he is going to take these positive steps, because although it is not generally known, the nicotine contained in one packet of 30 cigarettes is sufficient, if administered orally, at one time, to kill an adult. I think we underestimate the danger of smoking to our population and especially to the young people of South Africa [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, the hon. member for Berea touched on certain aspects of preventive medicine, which is certainly a duty of the Department of Health. He discussed malaria, inter alia, and made certain suggestions to which I am sure the department listened attentively.

In the short time at my disposal I want to refer to the Health Year which is proving to be such a signal success. I should like to congratulate the hon. the Minister of Health in particular on the contribution which he personally has made and is still making to this Health Year. It is probably also appropriate that we should have such a fine annual report by the Department of Health before us today. I should like to congratulate the Secretary for Health on it. I think it is one of the best-produced annual reports by any department which we have received this year. It conveys a very complete and exceptionally good idea of the work being done by the department.

In 1977 the Health Act was passed by Parliament, which incorporated new approaches to and concepts of health care, which are clearly reflected in the department’s annual report as well. I want to refer specifically to the gradual shift of emphasis to preventive medicine as it appears in the Act and to which reference is made in various chapters in this annual report. I am referring, for example, to preventable infectious diseases, preventive medical care which is provided by nursing services of local authorities, subsidized clinic services, community health services such as the care of the aged and medical services at schools. A whole chapter is devoted to health protection which involves the whole spectrum from air pollution control to occupational medicine.

In the very short time at my disposal I want to confine myself specifically to one aspect of preventive medicine which I think merits greater attention and positive action. This is file prevention and early diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, or high blood pressure. This condition constitutes one of the four major risk factors with coronary thrombosis, while there is also a definite correlation between heart fatalities and strokes on the one hand and hypertension on the other. This is important because approximately 4 000 White South Africans die of these diseases every year. This is no less than 2½ times the total number of people who die on our roads every year. Prof. A. J. Brink, chairman of the Medical Research Council, recently said at the launching of the MRC’s country-wide so-called heart effort that our death rate in, for example, the age group from 25 to 64 years is at least two to four times higher than that of America. I think that this is important and deserves our attention.

Regarding the problem of hypertension and its close connection with coronary thrombosis, it is an important fact that approximately 50% of people who suffer from hypertension do not even know that they have it In other words, it comes like a thief in the night, without symptoms, and like a silent danger which could lead to death or disability. One of the most important causes of hypertension is the increased tonus of particularly the smaller blood vessels which can be influenced by various substances in the body, of which sodium, which is present in ordinary table salt, is one of the most important. A high intake of table salt can, therefore, be regarded as an important cause of high blood pressure. I think it is important that the public be warned accordingly and informed of the dangers involved.

Neglect of repeated kidney infections, for example, without proper and effective treatment, can give rise to kidney damage with resulting high blood pressure. When we think of kidney damage, we must undoubtedly also think of the over-utilization or abuse of certain types of painkilling drugs, which can very definitely also cause kidney damage with resultant high blood pressure.

However, in 85% of cases of hypertension no clear or specific cause can be found. This is the group which is known as the so-called essential hypertension group. The trouble in this regard is that there is no particular symptom which points to hypertension. Some people get headaches, but other people never do. It is true that these people show a specific type of personality which is recognizable. They are often exceptionally irritable and have a habit of getting very worked up or angry about trifles. They cannot sit still for long. Sometimes they are overweight and worry unnecessarily about the trifling problems, and then on top of this, they smoke one cigarette after another—just to complete the picture.

When I think of the tendency to become exceptionally worked up or angry at the slightest provocation, for example, and I look at hon. members in the Opposition benches, I advise some of them to have their blood pressure taken at once.

Once a diagnosis has been made, the treatment by drugs is usually very effective, even though this could mean that some people have to use these drugs for the rest of their lives. However, in approximately 15% of all cases, specific causes can be found, which can in most cases be treated surgically, after which recovery is complete. Among these cases there are, for example, the narrowing of the aorta, or principal artery, abnormalities of the smaller blood vessels of the kidneys, tumours in some of the tubeless glands such as the adrenal gland and the thyroid gland, or the pituitary gland in the brain. When these diagnoses are made, usually by means of complicated and specialized laboratory examinations, the disease can be surgically cured, but this aspect has to be dealt with by experts.

If we examine the insidious effects of chronic hypertension, then it is not only the important correlation between hypertension and coronary thrombosis which is of importance, but owing to the continually heightened pressure, the cardiac muscle ultimately has to give way in a condition of cardiac failure. In the brain, continual blood pressure can give rise to a cerebral episode or a stroke, as it is commonly known. In the kidneys, which are highly sensitive organs, a process of increasing hypertension can lead to a hardening and narrowing of the smaller arteries, thus giving rise to further high blood presssure. So it is something of a vicious circle which is going on. In the case of the eyes, this same change in the smaller blood vessels can cause a progressive weakening of sight.

Many of these serious effects of a condition which can be diagnosed easily and quickly can be prevented if we can develop a method by which a whole community can be screened, so that we can systematically trace all cases of high blood pressure in order to control this tremendous problem. Prevention remains better than cure in every way. It saves time, manpower and money. I want to suggest to the hon. the Minister that the department should give careful attention to this extremely important health problem in our country and find a method to create an effective preventive measure for the public of South Africa in order to control the situation and to help reduce the 4 000 cases that die of heart diseases annually, and to deal with the problem effectively.

Mr. Chairman, as a person who is not a member of this group, I want to express my gratitude for again being given the opportunity to participate in this debate. As a person who is not directly involved in the medical services either, I also want to avail myself of this opportunity to congratulate the hon. the Minister and his department on the steps which have already been taken in connection with the Health Year and on the steps planned for the future.

I want to confine myself to certain aspects relating to the legislation concerning State President’s patients. As far as my research extends—I concede that I may be wrong, but then the aspect may nevertheless receive attention—our law does not make provision for a judicial procedure in accordance with which fact-finding can be carried out by a judicial officer after evidence has been called and tested by way of cross-examination in cases where an allegation has been made that a State President’s patient has committed an offence. I should suggest that an investigation, based on the pattern of an inquest, or possibly of the old preliminary inquiry, be instituted. I want to motivate this matter on the basis of a very practical and obvious possibility which could occur. The example which I want to mention, is that of a person—I am going to call him the patient—charged with improper conduct involving a young girl, a charge on which he is to appear in court. However, before any factual finding can be made by the court, it is found that he is mentally ill which results in his being admitted to a hospital as a State President’s patient He receives treatment in that hospital and it is eventually found that he has recovered to such an extent that he may be given a provisional discharge. One of the conditions attaching to his discharge, is that he may not molest young girls in any way. This patient then returns to the same area from which he came, and where he is known to the public as a person who molests young girls and who has been treated in hospital for that very reason. If the most innocent incident were to take place there, that person could find himself in the situation in which, for example, the mother of a girl thinks that he has done something wrong and because he is known to the public as a person who molests young girls, that mother is going to act immediately and call in the Police. The Police will try to determine the facts of the situation and discover that he is a patient of a psychiatric hospital who has been discharged provisionally. I am convinced that they, without investigating or considering the matter further, will immediately take such a person back to the hospital. At the hospital the standpoint will be adopted that he has spoiled his chances as he has committed the same offence again immediately after his provisional discharge. It is obvious, therefore, that such a person’s chances of ever being discharged again, or of ever returning to the community again, are very slim.

For that reason I say that it is really essential that a procedure be found—I do not say that it should be applied in all cases—in accordance with which, at the discretion of the Attorney-General who is the curator of such a patient, it will be possible to institute an investigation when the Attorney-General is of the opinion that there is any degree of doubt existing with regard to such a patient’s conduct. This will have the effect of rendering it possible to establish the facts with regard to such a patient’s alleged offence. I am advocating this in view of the very fact that the public is very easily prejudiced against such a person and will summarily condemn him on the basis of his previous offence, while, in fact, he may not have committed another offence. I hope that I have made a fruitful contribution in this regard, and I shall leave the matter at that for the moment.

I should also like to refer briefly to the position of the Fort England Hospital in Grahamstown. Members of the public are playing a very fine role as far as this hospital is concerned. I know that it is the department’s policy to have community involvement and participation in the activities of the psychiatric hospital, because in this way it is ensured that the patients can be helped and treated more effectively, so that they may again be assimilated in the community more rapidly. This is exactly what is happening in Grahamstown. The friends of the Fort England Hospital in particular, are playing a very important, leading part in this regard.

For that reason I want to address an appeal to the hon. the Minister and his department not to deprive the patients of this asset, because this is what could possibly happen if the State were to continue following the course of not developing hospitals in smaller places, of not enlarging them continuously and of not establishing more hospitals there. I think it is, in fact, in the rural areas where people are still truly interested in and participate in these efforts of community involvement. Consequently the retention of hospitals in smaller places, ensures that the important therapeutic measure, community involvement, is retained and developed, while at the same time we have the advantage of developing the rural areas further. I think there is a great need for this type of development in our country. Employment opportunities can be created in this way and consequently two birds can be killed with one stone. There are still a few other aspects which I should like to raise, particularly with regard to the Kowie Hospital, but I have been requested by my Whip to cut short my speech and, consequently, I leave it at that.

Mr. Chairman, the hon. member for Albany will forgive me if I do not react to his speech. I want to use every second at my disposal to deal with what I and others consider one of the greatest hazards facing the health of South Africa, i.e. cigarette smoking.

In March 1978, mindful of its obligations to the public of South Africa, the National Council on Smoking and Health, through its director, Mr. Denis Baird, obtained samples of the 69 brands of cigarettes sold on the South African market, and sent them to the USA where Quincy, Marshall and Jenkins of the Tobacco Research Program, Bio-organic Analysis Section, of the National Laboratory of Tennessee did an analysis of them. These cigarettes were very carefully sealed and were kept at a temperature of minus 2 degrees Fahrenheit. They were weighed, bad cigarettes were rejected and resistance to draw on every cigarette was tested. In the actual experiment the cigarettes were smoked through a Cambridge filter assembly on a four-point version of the Phipps and Bird analytical smoking machine. The hon. the Minister of Health and his department received details of how this experiment was carried out They were given a chemical analysis and the result which became available on 18 September 1978. The result was important, significant, startling and shocking because it showed that 27 brands on the South African market had a tar yield in excess of 30 mg and 41 brands, or 59,4% had a tar yield of between 20 mg and 30 mg, bearing in mind that 20 mg is considered as safe. As far as the nicotine content is concerned, it varied from 0,52 mg to 2,4 mg, bearing in mind that 1 mg is considered as safe.

Having received this report, the tobacco companies made statements to the effect that it was out of date and tried to dispute the claims. I do not want to enter into a dispute with the tobacco companies; I simply challenge them to produce the figures of their tar and nicotine analyses of the cigarettes they are selling to South Africans and which South Africans are smoking. The tar forms as a chemical residue of the microscopic particals left in the lungs after the smoke has been exhaled. 30 of these chemicals are cancer-producing and, as far as the nicotine is concerned, it is equally dangerous. It is a toxin that contributes to heart and circulatory diseases, and it is of course addictive. Cigarette smoking has been linked with lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and heart diseases. My authority for this is the Royal College for Surgeons in London and the Surgeon-General of the USA.

We have a health problem in South Africa. We are up against the problem of getting the public to accept this. In particular we have the situation in South Africa that 22 620 million cigarettes were produced in 1977 at a sales value of R403 million. The Rembrandt group of companies, who were responsible for 80% of these sales, showed a consolidated net profit of R36 million after paying tax to the amount of R31 million. We have a problem in that, as regards the incidence of smoking, 58% of White males, 79% of Coloured males, 57% of Asian males and 70% of Black males smoke cigarettes, while 32% of White females, 52% of Coloured females, 2% of Asian females and 20% of Black females do so. Prof. Seftel, who is professor of medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand, said that the single most important factor responsible for White South African men and women having the highest death rate in the Western World from coronary heart disease is attributable to this. Prof. A. N. Coetzee, who is the professor of preventive and promotive medicine at the University of Pretoria, said that 2 000 Whites, aged 20 to 64, died prematurely after 3 737 cigarettes, and, according to him, out of a total of 6 309 cases of heart diseases, lung cancer and obstruction of air passages, 3 307 could be attributed to smoking. He estimated that 3 500 would die this year as a result of diseases caused by smoking at a cost to this country of R400 million. He said, and I quote him—

We have to undertake health education and research evaluation. In this regard two things are required. We have to do research on education and evaluation and then we have to change, if we can, the smoking pattern and habits of South Africans to get them to turn to milder brands. In order to raise the money required, I firstly want to call for a differential tax to be levied. This has been recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons. The maximum content of tar should be 15 mg and of nicotine 1 mg. I have here a document which I shall make available to the hon. the Minister, should he want to have a look at it. This document contains the Customs and Excise Act of England. The explanatory note accompanying this document says—

The excess charge is 7c on every packet of cigarette with a tar yield of over 20 milligrams. In Australia an excess charge is levied on cigarettes with a tar yield exceeding 22 milligrams. In Canada it is 19 milligrams and in the United Kingdom 28 milligrams. I also want to refer hon. members to an excellent article that will appear in the next edition of Reader’s Digest. In that article a full analysis of this whole problem is given. I hope hon. members will read it and take note of it.

An excess levy, as the one I have referred to, will yield a substantial revenue which should be allocated to research and education. In this way manufacturers will also be forced to print the tar and nicotine contents on every single packet of cigarettes. It will enable the Government to monitor the tar and nicotine contents of all brands of cigarettes sold in South Africa, a task that can be undertaken by the Department of Health. It will also, I hope, persuade the smoking public to switch to cigarettes of a lower nicotine and tar content. We cannot stop people from smoking, but we can try to force them to make an intelligent choice in order to protect their health. It means that we will gradually have to encourage people, by way of education, and by the way in which cigarette prices are fixed, to smoke less hazardous cigarettes without increasing the consumption of tobacco. It can be done. Over the last 18 years the tar content of cigarettes in the United States dropped by 86%, while the nicotine content dropped by 83%. In the United Kingdom there was a 15% switch to cigarettes of a lower tar content.

Secondly, I want to urge the hon. the Minister of Finance, through the Department of Health, to make available funds for a health-orientated tobacco policy. This will involve health education, research and evaluation. Finland has only just legislated for 5% of tobacco tax revenue to be used for this purpose. America voted $23 million for the same purpose, Britain $1 million, Holland $1 million, Norway $2 million, and Sweden $3 million.

I have here a letter from the Department of Customs and Excise giving me the figures and showing an anticipated revenue from tobacco and cigarettes of R229 million for 1978-’79, compared with R216 million the previous year. I therefore urge the hon. the Minister to set aside—not the 5%, as in Finland—but only 1% of this revenue. Only R2,2 million of our cigarette and tobacco revenue could be used in order to help effectively the health problem in South Africa, with providing education, research and experimentation in this particular field. This is surely a small price to pay, if we look at the heavy costs of R400 million South Africa has to pay today for the treatment of diseases and illnesses resulting from the smoking of tobacco, not even to mention the loss of life, the pain and suffering of the victims of the smoking habit and their next of kin.

Finally, while this year is Health Year, let us resolve to embark on a massive health education programme in order to change the habits of the South African smoking public for the better. This is all we can hope for. We cannot go any further. The hon. the Minister has received information from the National Council for Smoking and Health, and from myself, and I hope the hon. the Minister and his department will approach this whole matter very sympathetically. If the medical data I have just given the hon. the Minister can be challenged by the tobacco companies or by anybody else in South Africa, I call upon them to do so. Nevertheless, as I say, the report is the most significant… [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, at this stage I should like to reply to the speeches of hon. members who have participated in this debate. I thank them for their contributions. I think the hon. member for Bryanston made a very constructive speech here contrary to my expectations. I do not know what caused his present good mood. I think he said more good than bad things. In other words, there are, at least, departments with which he cannot find fault.

†I want to thank the hon. member for Bryanston because I think he made a very constructive speech today, contrary to what, as I have said, I am usually accustomed to. That is not, however, the point. I am particularly grateful for the good wishes, or let me rather say the appreciation, he expressed to the department and to me for what has thus far been achieved during the Health Year. We are making good progress, and I shall be saying a few words more about that because some other hon. members also raised this matter. I think it is appropriate and right that I should therefore say something about it. I shall also have something to say about the overseas criticism.

I might just add that I agree with the hon. member about the emigration of doctors. I do not, however, want to go into detail. Suffice it to say that we have launched an extensive investigation into the matter. In this we have the assistance of the Department of National Education and the universities. We need a new attitude and we need new dedication. We must actually start with the students. Nevertheless, if one examines the reasons one finds them to be basically economic and not political, as some people think. The hon. member also spoke about the Regional Health Organization of Southern Africa. I think I should perhaps deal with these matters jointly because various hon. members have raised the aspects he specifically referred to. Let me just tell him that our relationship with local authorities is as good as it can be. There are, of course, still certain matters relating to finance that have to be ironed out, but I think that comprehensive health care is a fairly new concept as far as local authorities are concerned. By next year or the year after I think the hon. member will see this blooming because we see very good signs of increased co-operation in these matters.

I should not like to elaborate at the moment on the question of discrimination. Because the hon. member specifically spoke about ambulances, let me tell him that I set out the policy two years ago. I do not have the statistics, but the idea is that the provinces will be responsible for ambulance services. It is sometimes very difficult to force the lower tiers of government to comply in every respect with everything. Since the advent of the new health dispensation in 1977, we have come together at least twice a year in the National Health Policy Council. There we discuss these matters and raise these issues from time to time.

Let me also tell the hon. member that the new hospital for Soweto is also a provincial matter. It is not a matter for my department. As I have just said, however, we have good co-ordination. We now have an hierarchical structure in medicine, starting at the top with the policy-making body, of which I am the chairman. I am sure that the Province of the Transvaal will definitely lend very high priority to a hospital for Soweto. I agree with the hon. member that this is a very important aspect.

*Since certain hon. members mentioned a few interesting matters here that are signs of the times, I want to say a few words about the Health Year. The hon. member for Bryanston, the hon. member for Pietersburg and the hon. member for Cradock referred to it. I am grateful for the hon. members’ contributions. One is very grateful for the way in which this Health Year has begun to grip people and make them realize that healthy individuals, healthy families and a healthy nation are ultimately a long-term investment for a better economy. This is very important. To be able to do this, however, one must accept the challenge to keep one’s people healthy and to involve them in the health effort. This year, as a result of the wide variety of action on all levels, we are encountering more and more interest. I myself was present at many of these meetings. Discussions were held on matters such as mental health, coronary diseases, drug addiction and medicine abuse. In particular, I had the privilege of being able to appear at agricultural shows because we must have the co-operation of the agricultural people. I think I heard something to the effect that the department is indifferent to the problems of agriculture. Such a statement is, of course, totally untrue. I wish to express my gratitude for the fine initiative shown everywhere, from the smallest places to the towns. This initiative can contribute towards making the Health Year more and more successful as time goes on.

Visiting some of these places, it feels as if one is at a health rally. We as politicians surely know what rallies are. However, that is the way the people feel, and I can assure the Committee that apart from the initiative shown, there is also evidence of exceptional resourcefulness. In this regard I have in mind the large exhibitions at shows such as the Rand Easter Show. We must impress this riper sense of responsibility towards health upon people this year, because then it will be a long-term investment which will not terminate at the end of the year.

What is interesting, is the tremendous thirst for health knowledge found especially amongst our Black people. We have received approximately 20 000 requests from Blacks for the brochure about heart diseases. Hon. members cannot imagine how many requests for information the Department has received. We actually receive up to 1 000 such requests per day. There is a thirst for knowledge.

We plan to deal with this issue in a systematic manner so that it will have a growing effect systematically. However, I should like to make use of the opportunity to thank everyone—hon. members as well—who are helping in any respect, because we want to tackle this matter as a team and we want the involvement of our people, our legislators, our local authorities, as well as the other levels of Government, to form part, in all respects, of the Health Year. I do not believe that this will lead to an over-consciousness of disease. By tackling it in a balanced way we shall, as I have said, gain from this economically in the long run.

The hon. member for Newcastle referred very effectively to the international onslaught against us, and therefore I do not want to elaborate on that. The report to which the South African Medical Journal of 7 April draws attention, contains a number of lies. It is, of course, not the article in S.A.M.J. that contains the lies, but the article to which the journal refers. A defensive article appears in this journal reflecting the lies which can be regarded as an onslaught against us from overseas. This onslaught has been going on for years. In fact, it started in 1955. We are still a member of the World Health Organization, but since 1964 we are no longer entitled to vote. This is, of course, unfair if it is borne in mind that we are the country in Africa that ensures that there are no catastrophes, in particular as far as contagious or preventable or communicable diseases are concerned.

There are shortcomings in the health services of South Africa, but there is no country in the world where such shortcomings do not exist. However, everything cannot be blamed on politics. I think the hon. member showed an understanding of this when he said that we are trying to remove any unnecessary discrimination systematically. He found proof of this in our legislation. We have limited manpower, but I still believe that we are doing a very good job.

South African doctors as well as the South African approach are very highly thought of in the outside world. The same is true of South Africa’s ethics as well as its paramedical and other services. The standard of our training is exceptionally high.

There are, however, certain organizations such as that of the scientologists, that has done us harm over the years. We can do nothing about that. One can only follow the big lie and try to catch up with it. I am glad that the Medical Association replied to these untruths by way of the S.A. Medical Journal. However, we shall only succeed in our purpose if we involve all the communities—Black, White, Brown and Yellow—in health matters in South Africa and bring home to them that health itself knows no limits. So much for the onslaught from overseas.

Then, too, there is the important aspect of international co-operation. South Africa is always looking for contacts with other countries sharing our common problems with regard to the diseases which afflict Southern Africa. There are independent States on our borders and there are, of course, also the areas that are not yet independent. Last year we decided to put out feelers, and on 4 October last year a meeting was called which was attended by all the homeland States, including the Transkei and Bophuthatswana, as independent States, of the South African family. The others have not yet been involved in this. However, this does not mean that they will not be in the future. Eventually it was decided on 30 March this year to establish a Regional Health Organization for Southern Africa. This was accepted. There are, of course, certain aspects, for example financial responsibility and the secretariat, that have to be cleared up with the various Governments. The name of the organization will be Rhosa: Regional Health Organization of Southern Africa The aim is really technical cooperation. It is not necessary to introduce the political level. The issue is technical cooperation, for example the distribution and exchange of knowledge among member States, the promotion of health, the prevention of disease, the organization of the healing and rehabilitating processes or services, research and development, the holding of conferences and the rendering of assistance. It was decided to establish a secretariat and I think that it is generally agreed that this will be situated in South Africa. However, I do not want to anticipate this. I merely wanted to inform the hon. member that in that regard as well we do our part to co-operate at the essential levels of life to make progress with the problem of diseases that are prevalent in our areas.

The hon. member for Cradock highlighted and illustrated the problem of tuberculosis very well. I do not want to discuss that in depth. What the hon. member said, is in accord with the facts about tuberculosis which we have at our disposal. The question of tracing is very important. Many people are walking around with the disease. We know that about three times as many people as we can trace, have it. However, the department has under way a very active tracing programme which includes the examination of sputum. There is the whole idea conveyed by the Health Year, the idea of community involvement. People must help by not yielding to the stigma that sometimes attaches to this disease. They must rather give assistance so that these people can be healed. In our new treatment of tuberculosis hospitalization is limited to the very sick people and most people are treated as outpatients. We are achieving a great deal of success in this way. A greater effort should be made to trace these people, and the public can help us in this regard. I think we are slowly succeeding in this aim. In 1978 fewer cases were reported. It may be that the graph will first rise before it descends if we succeed in tracing more cases.

Hon. members will agree with me that counselling is one of the most important aspects as far as tuberculosis is concerned. Therefore it is the duty of each one of us to inform people as regards this disease, which is a destructive disease and which afflicts the poorest amongst our poor. The Coloureds and Blacks are afflicted in great numbers. It is not to the benefit of a country when this happens. I can assure hon. members that the department, as far as its technical knowledge and actions are concerned, does its best to try to solve this problem with the aid of local authorities, Santa and other organizations.

†The hon. member for Berea in the first instance spoke about malaria. I can tell him that last year we were confronted by an upsurge in the incidence of malaria. It was because of the excessive rains and also perhaps by the fact that we were faced with a new strain of mosquito that could affect people inside and outside their homes. We are increasing our research efforts. In this regard I can refer him to the Siegfried Annecke Institute and we are now trying, not only with regard to malaria, but with all tropical diseases, to do applied research on it Furthermore, an institute for tropical diseases is to be inaugurated in August, and I think the hon. member must accompany us on our tour in August. Then he will see that we are doing our best and are also co-operating with the States and other territories on our borders. We have been in a very unfortunate position because the inhabitants of these States did not have the expertise to see to it that malaria was eradicated in these areas. We have, however, a very comprehensive malaria control programme, and I can assure the hon. member that we are actively engaged on it at the moment. The results are already there. This year we only had about—I do not know the exact number—22 cases of malaria in Natal and about 544 cases in the Northern Transvaal. The comparative figure for 1978 was nearly 7 000; so we have been able to curb the increase of malaria.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask the hon. the Minister whether it is not a fact that the peak of the season for the incidence of malaria is still to come, usually the season between April and June? In that sense the figures the hon. the Minister has quoted may be misleading.

We have found April and early May to be the peak time for the incidence of malaria; so we are at the moment right in the middle of the peak period. There are, however, still no signs that we are going to have the same number of malaria cases as last year. I would therefore say that there has been an improvement. The seasonal variations are such that these cases normally occur in autumn. We still have problems at Kangwane, Bokebedi, and other places. I have not seen them myself, but I know where they are. We also have problems in areas like Tzaneen and Barberton, but, as I have said, we are working on it and are not indifferent to this problem.

The hon. member also spoke about smoking.

*Because more than one member spoke about smoking, I think the time has now come for me to make a policy statement with regard to the measures for combating the smoking habit. The Cabinet decided on this a few weeks ago. I do not want there to be any imbalance as regards this campaign.

†I do not want any hysterics. Smoking is a social habit that has been going on for more than 300 years. They even tried to ban smoking 300 years ago. Jacob Tappuis then, and later on James I, tried to eliminate smoking. But after 300 years we are smoking more than ever; so we must be moderate in our approach to this problem. We must at least have some perspective. I cannot ban this social habit As a matter of fact, I think it is a fairly nice habit if you can smoke in moderation. I am not a smoker. I have not smoked for 20 years. Yet I feel that there is something to be said for this habit as a social habit, and that is why I do not want to have a one-sided approach to this. Nevertheless I feel that in this Health Year it is my duty to take cognizance of the fact that the public is worried about this after these results about contents have become known. That is why I have decided that it is time we do something while being fair to each and everybody. The hon. member has stated the economic implications of this. I have to take notice of that. I cannot just forget about it. I have to take notice of the position of the tobacco farmers. A little while ago hon. members have been advocating more help for agriculture. I have to take notice of that.

*For that reason I held a meeting with these people and decided on broad principles. What I am saying now, is not part of the statement I want to make. I ask the news media to see to it that what I am saying now, is also recorded, because it is what the Government has decided to do. I cannot deal with everything in full detail, because one first has to try at least to consider what is the best practical way to do it.

To combat the health risk involved in the smoking habit the Cabinet took certain decisions. The Cabinet decided that the Department of Health must continue with an information campaign against the smoking habit as part of general health education. In this regard I want to say that the smoking habit is not really prevalent amongst children and young people, but amongst older people who can use tobacco in a normal and more moderate way, especially if they only acquired the habit later in life. [Interjections.] There are many who use it immoderately, but they should know what they are letting themselves in for. In the second place, the information campaign should be aimed at the youth at school to persuade them not to acquire the habit. Later on they can do what they want, but this is a duty we must and will perform. The dangers of a high tar content of cigarettes will be emphasized in particular.

In the third place, cigarette manufacturers will be forced by legislation to provide practical information about the tar and nicotine content, or condensate, as they call it, of cigarettes from 1 January 1982. There is a reason for this. The control testing will be done, as the hon. member for Hillbrow requested, by the Directorate of Laboratory Services of the Department of Health. This also applies to imported cigarettes. We are still to negotiate about the particular way in which this information must be given. It must be done in a practical way in co-operation with the industry. The necessary legislation by way of regulations in terms of the Hazardous Substances Act of 1973 will be promulgated in time to give those involved enough time to make the necessary adjustments. The draft regulations will be published for comment—as in all cases—before they are promulgated.

That is the Government’s decision and policy. I now briefly want to give the reasons why we have decided this. Hon. members have already mentioned it and therefore I do not think that I have to discuss it in depth. The tests and the research done overseas indicate more and more that the mortality rate amongst smokers—the death aspect—in comparison to that of non-smokers is much higher, especially in the productive age group of 20 years to 65 years.

†Amongst heavy smokers the risk of lung cancer is 15 to 30 times greater than that amongst non-smokers. This information has been obtained from Volume 24 of the World Health Organization Chronicle. Later on I shall refer to other issues of the World Health Organization. I shall not repeat everything. Amongst younger smokers the rate of ischaemic heart disease is two to three times the rate amongst non-smokers. Babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy, tend to have a lower birth weight and to be more susceptible to various infections than babies born to non-smokers. Smoking contributes to an increase in the number of abortions and still-births. These facts are from various volumes of the World Health Chronicle and from the Medical Journal as well. It is well known that especially heavy smoking is a hazardous pursuit, resulting in serious health problems, and that smoking-related conditions are an important cause of disease and untimely deaths in developing countries. In fact, the World Health Organization has gone so far as to state that the control of the smoking of cigarettes in those countries would contribute more to the improvement of the national health and the prolongation of life than any other single action in the field of preventive medicine.

Now is the time for the necessary planning and preventive measures in this regard. There is a better awareness and support for these measures among the general public. Health Year and the public media are probably playing an important part in this regard. The Department of Health has instigated a study to determine the possibility of combating the smoking habit in the most practical and effective manner. Legislation and measures taken in other countries were considered and other Government departments, the National Cancer Association, the South African National Council on Smoking and Health and the South African National Council on Health Education were consulted. Meetings and discussions were held with the Tobacco Control Board, as I have already said, and the various cigarettes manufacturers. These consultations have highlighted certain aspects of the problem.

*These discussions and consultations were aimed at changing over, as soon as possible, to the cultivation and marketing of types of tobacco with a light nicotine and tar content However, it takes approximately three years to do this. For that reason we are first giving these people the opportunity to do so. I have had excellent co-operation from the people and I want to express my appreciation for this. We hope to reach the stage, through these steps, when people will gradually realize that this habit is bad for them, and when smokers are worried about their health, they have the information. And the more it is advertised, the more people will realize what it does to them, and if people want to smoke strong tobacco—apparently there are certain areas where only strong tobacco is grown—they must decide on it for themselves. It is their problem. After all, there have been people who smoked and still lived for more than 100 years. The intended information to the smoking public is an educational process and I do not want to make it unnecessarily drastic. We have to be fair to those people who are involved in this. We should like to encourage the manufacturing of light cigarettes with a lower nicotine content. From time to time in future we will evaluate this matter. I do not want to say much about pipe tobacco and cigars. There are many vague opinions about the origin of mouth and throat cancer, etc., but in due course we might also look at that At this stage, however, it does not seem necessary to launch a campaign against tobacco as such.

Before I conclude, I just want to say that I have had good co-operation from the tobacco industry, and from all the institutions I consulted. These measures may not find general favour. Surely hon. members know how it is. However, I ask for the motivation of the public in a balanced way, because I think we can have a healthier population with greater moderation, as far as eating less is concerned as well. I trust that we shall also come to an agreement with the industries with further negotiations, because it is in their interest as well as in the interest of the tobacco grower that the stigmas are removed from a product which is, after all, useful in its way.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask the hon. the Minister whether he will accept our congratulations and support for the positive steps he has taken in the right direction?

Yes. Thank you very much.

*The hon. member for Albany mentioned a very interesting matter, i.e. the question of the patient of the State President who is committed after being involved in certain incidents, incidents caused by his mental condition. This is often the case. The provisions relating to this are sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which does not fall specifically under my department. However, the hon. member has something here, because the function of the court goes no further than committing such a person. This is what the Criminal Procedure Act dictates to the courts, amongst other things. After the court has heard all the evidence, it has to commit such a person. In the first place it might be that such a person is mentally retarded to such an extent that he does not know what he is doing. In the second place it can be that he was not accountable—this concept was accepted years ago—when he committed the act in question. But when the court has done this, it has completed its task in this regard.

The hon. member for Albany has now mentioned a very interesting aspect here, because surely someone has to look after these unfortunate people. But in my opinion this is not a matter to which I can reply fully within the short duration of this debate. In my opinion my department and I should conduct discussions with the hon. the Minister of Justice and his department, and in the course of these discussions we will have to examine quite a few aspects with regard to this legislation. In my opinion this is a matter which must be better investigated and I believe the department will take the matter further, as the hon. member suggested.

The hon. member also referred to the Fort England Hospital and I am pleased about the plea he made in this regard. Community involvement with our psychiatric patients is an aspect which has become established over the past two years. To me it is one of the most praiseworthy gestures possible when people involve themselves with the interest of our lesser privileged people who are in such institutions. In many cases these institutions have insufficient staff members to look after the interests of these people. Now there are organizations, such as the Friends of Umgeni and others, who form committees to look after these peoples’ interests. I want to say once again how grateful I am that some of our hon. members here, on both sides of the House, are prepared to serve on these boards and find out for themselves how these people are faring.

I am not sure whether I have referred to discrimination with regard to nursing salaries and attendant problems, but there is something I want to say in this regard.

†I think the hon. member for Berea also referred to the salaries of nurses.

Yes.

I want to tell the hon. member that I am concerned with the situation of the registered nurse who starts working as a registered nurse for the first time. I am concerned, and have always been concerned, with their situation, but I think the Nursing Association of South Africa knows where they stand in this respect. We have consultation with this association from time to time, and at the moment we are also engaged in having a very close look at what substantiation there are for their grievances. I can also assure the hon. member that the hon. the Minister of the Interior lent me a very sympathetic ear when I discussed the matter with him, and I envisage more discussions in this respect with him in future.

*However, I want everyone to realize that the Public Service Commission and the Department of the Interior, and in the final instance the Cabinet, decide on matters of this nature. This is so because we are dealing here with the overall salary pattern. It is only my privilege to make appeals in this regard and to see whether I can help. I shall not try to evade this duty and where my assistance is necessary, I shall try to help.

I think that at this stage I have provisionally replied to all the arguments of the hon. members.

†I have already reacted to the arguments of the hon. member for Hillbrow, and I do not think there is anything that I should like to add at this particular moment.

Mr. Chairman, I think in the brief space of time the hon. the Minister has furnished good answers to all the questions put by hon. members. I want to add that I fully agree with his balanced view of the smoking habit and everything connected therewith.

Health is a personal matter in the sense that every individual simply sees to his own health as far as he is able to do so and as far as this is possible. However, it is also a community matter. It is also a matter which involves the community and which should involve the community because one cannot have healthy individuals if the community is not in good health. The annual report of the Department of Health is one of the finest reports and apart from being an excellent report, it is also a very recent one. It even contains references to things that took place towards the end of 1978.

I want to refer specifically to one matter in this report which is of particular interest to me. It concerns the establishment of a regional health organization for Southern Africa, known as Rhosa. With the constitutional development of Black States in and around South Africa and with the establishment of two Black republics, viz. the Republics of Transkei and Bophuthatswana, it has become necessary to have liaison with these independent Black States as regards the question of health in Southern Africa. There are also other Black territories in the process of becoming independent. In the meantime, they have to be given the necessary attention and there also has to be the necessary liaison with them in various fields.

Previously liaison with already independent States took place on a national level. Now, liaison with them takes place on an international level and negotiations with them are conducted administratively. In view of the development that has taken place and is still taking place in Southern Africa, a conference was held in Pretoria on 4 October 1978, at which the desirability of such liaison in the nature of a regional health organization was discussed. The conference was attended by delegates from 12 different States or territories and it appears to have been a resounding success. At this conference a resolution was passed and I wish to read it to hon. members as it appears in the report. I quote from the report (page 3)—

In this regard there has been progress for which all of us should be grateful, not only we in South Africa, but also all those States in Africa that wish to co-operate with us in the field of health. Since health is an emotional issue, the position is at present that there is the possibility of liaison in other fields, for example in the economic field. It may happen that this liaison may form the basis for sound relations. It is not only health that is involved here. Since health is a matter of such an emotional nature, it is a fact that very good relations can be established through health activities, good human relations as well as good relations between States and nations, something that is so extremely essential these days for our own well-being and also for the well-being of our neighbouring States. Now the question arises whether the time has not also arrived for other States around us, States bordering on us, for example, Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland, to join this regional organization so that they, too, may make their contribution and avail themselves of the knowledge and skill which South Africa possesses in the field of health. There are so many fields in which there can be intensive co-operation, in which very good results can be achieved. When one thinks of the question of contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, this seems very obvious.

According to the annual report of the department there are 10 million people in South Africa infected with tuberculosis, people who can infect others with this contagious disease. When one thinks of the commuters coming to our White urban areas from the homelands and adjoining territories, people who come here to sell their labour, the position is that when the necessary cooperation exists and when people receive guidance and the necessary education so that they know that they should notify the authorities of such diseases so that they may be given the necessary attention and treatment, the danger of this contagious disease spreading is reduced.

Then there is also the question of malaria. Vast and fertile areas in South Africa have been made inhabitable through combating malaria. In this field South Africa has had outstanding achievements, and in this field too it is essential that our neighbouring States and adjoining countries give South Africa their wholehearted co-operation so as to eradicate this dreaded disease which is spread by the malaria mosquito, a mosquito which knows no boundaries and which spreads its deadly parasites across the boundaries of countries.

Then there is also the question of family planning, a field in which South Africa has gained a great deal of experience. With regard to family planning there is a great deal that our neighbouring States can still learn from us. Perhaps there is also a great deal that we can learn from them in this regard. In this way we shall be able to ensure a better quality of life for people. If one has regard to the fact that the oldest family planning programme in South Africa started only in 1952—India’s of course, was the first—it is obvious that it is still a very new movement in our country. In that sense therefore, we have in fact been making progress. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure for me to be able to speak after the hon. member for Hercules, who has made a very interesting speech. I also wish to congratulate the hon. the Minister on the statement he made on the smoking habit. It was a well-considered statement and I trust that he will have the co-operation of each and every one of us in this regard.

I wish to draw the attention of the hon. the Minister to a very serious problem I am experiencing in my constituency. I am referring to the problem of air pollution. I am making an urgent request to the hon. the Minister to give his personal attention to this matter. I am not going to deal with air pollution in general today, nor am I going to deal with other industries that help to cause air pollution in the Rand areas.

The air pollution problem I wish to single out is that being caused by the Kelvin power station. This large power station is causing a serious air pollution problem because a large quantity of fly-ash is given off together with concentrations of sulphur dioxide, which create unpleasant conditions and at the same time constitute a serious health hazard. This sulphur dioxide and grey ash or fly-ash lead to a high incidence of eye, throat and respiratory problems. This fly-ash, which falls out over a wide area, is so bad that housewives cannot hang their washing outside. Curtains cannot be kept clean and motor-cars and verandas are covered with layers of fine ash. This problem is at its worst during the dry winter months when there is little movement in the atmosphere. Then one has this fall-out of fine grey ash in that area.

Naturally, hon. members will want to know how this problem originated. We have a unique situation here. The problem lies in the fact that the Kelvin power station is the property of the Municipality of Johannesburg and supplies power to Johannesburg. Geographically, however, this power station is situated within the municipal area of Kempton Park. We therefore have no jurisdiction over it. This power station is a great asset to Johannesburg, but the poor inhabitants of Kempton Park have to put up with the pollution. When the public complain to our city council, we have to refer those complaints to Johannesburg, but normally those representations achieve very little. In terms of the legislation relating to air pollution, this has been registered as a classified process and it therefore falls under the chief air pollution control officer of the Department of Health. Negotiations between our city council and the city council of Johannesburg have been in progress for several years. During the second half of 1977 I personally arranged for discussions between the chief officer of the department and interested members of the City Council as well as other people.

On page 39 of the annual report there is reference to an analysis to try and identify the origin of fly-ash particulates in the Kempton Park area. According to the results, it originates from the Kelvin A and Kelvin B power stations. I am therefore on very safe ground.

Hon. members will most probably ask: What is the solution? The problem can only be solved by replacing the antiquated equipment with expensive electrostatic precipitators. Electrostatic precipitators keep back the ash and so reduce pollution. According to what I have been able to ascertain, work is being done on one of these steam generators and precipitators are being installed, and a promise has been made that the work would be completed this month. Since winter is at hand and since work cannot be done on the steam generators at a time when pollution is at its worst because the demand for electricity is then at its peak, it makes this problem even worse. It makes us feel anxious about what our people will have to endure during this winter. According to a report in Die Vaderland of 28 March this year, there are two precipitators that will only be installed in phase two next year. I have been told that Johannesburg did not budget for sufficient funds and that the project could therefore not be completed. The hon. the Minister will therefore appreciate my dilemma. We cannot solve the problem of the inhabitants. What is more, we have always maintained good and peaceful relations with the Johannesburg city council and we should like to go on doing so. However, they are making it very difficult for us to live in peace with them. This is a long-standing problem which has been the subject of negotiation for years. The inhabitants are now becoming impatient I am therefore appealing to the hon. the Minister today. I understand that there is already a letter on its way to him, if he has not already received it, in which a request is made for an interview with him. It is really only the hon. the Minister who can help us. We are asking him now to enforce the Act, regardless of the excuses, regardless of whether the finances are available, and regardless of any explanations they may furnish. It will no longer help them merely to say that they are dealing with the matter, that the matter is receiving attention, that spares are not available and that this is a key industry. This type of argument no longer satisfies our people. I am not allowed to use a coal stove in my house that emits smoke, and I am not allowed to bum my garden refuse. If I have to comply with the law, I expect the Johannesburg municipality to do the same, the more so because one neighbouring town is being a nuisance to another. I trust that the hon. the Minister will see his way clear to giving serious attention to this problem, because it is an urgent matter to the inhabitants of Kempton Park.

In the second place I wish to congratulate the department on their latest particularly fine annual report. I find the whole range of brochures that has been issued, particularly interesting and informative. In particular, I find the details regarding contagious, communicable and preventable diseases very interesting. However, today I want to deal more specifically with measles, because measles with its complications is one of the main factors in child and infant mortality. For the lower socio-economic groups, in particular, this disease not only creates a medical but also a sociological and economic problem. I have a great deal of appreciation for the efforts being made by the department to control measles by making measles vaccine for the protection of very young children available free of charge. The annual report mentions that 440 000 doses of measles vaccine were distributed in 1978. I find the manual Immunization very interesting. I can definitely recommend that it be read. In this Health Year I ask myself whether the time has not arrived to make vaccination against measles compulsory, too. I wonder whether it is generally known that measles can effectively be prevented by inoculation. In many countries outbreaks of measles have become virtually unknown. According to a report in Die Transvaler of 23 December 1978, Dr. Max Kleyn, senior lecturer in paediatrics at the University of Cape Town, alleges that—

On another occasion he alleged that three children were dying of this disease in South Africa every day. According to Dr. Kleyn, the fact that measles does not occur on the same scale in America can directly be ascribed to the effective use of vaccines against the disease. In the light of these facts I want to agree with him and pose the question whether the time has not arrived to launch a compulsory vaccination campaign to eradicate this disease once and for all. I think measles should be approached in the same way as, for example, polio, smallpox and diphtheria. I should be pleased to hear the standpoint of the hon. the Minister and his department in this regard. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I shall not pursue the argument by the hon. member for Kempton Park, but as regards his argument on air pollution, we are in full agreement with him.

†I should now like to make what I hope is a positive suggestion to the hon. the Minister. We are in Health Year and I believe that one very important way in which we can do something about this is to eat healthier foods. I should like to put it to the hon. the Minister that one good way to commemorate Health Year would be the formulation and production on an on-going basis of a whole-wheat, long shelf-life health loaf in South Africa. I want to suggest that a formula be derived for the composition of such a loaf and that we should aim at a long shelf-life loaf, especially for areas where it might not be delivered to consumers immediately. Furthermore, we should plan to make it shrink-wrapped, so that the health aspect is carried right through to the stage where it reaches the consumer.

The bread we eat today is full of blenders, mixers, tasters, fillers and risers, and what we really need is a health loaf that is going to give some good and healthy nutrition to the people of this country. I believe the aspect of healthy feeding is a very important one and should take up a little bit more of our time in the House. I should like to present some further suggestions in this regard because I think people have the idea that to eat healthily one has to be some kind of a crank or have to have a great amount of money. What I should like to do in the few minutes available to me, is to show that to eat healthily one does not have to eat way-out foods and that one does not have to spend a large amount of money. I should like to start off by saying that if we did formulate and prepare a health loaf, we should have to bear in mind that a quarter of a loaf of whole-wheat bread would be one of the first essential requirements in the diet of an adult and that one could sell a quarter of a loaf of whole-wheat bread for 5c. That will give a good start to the day. Then I believe one would need something a little higher in protein content. In this regard I believe one could have a look at powdered milk. I believe that 50 grammes of powdered milk would be a useful and very necessary ingredient providing proteins and vitamins. I believe that 50 grammes could be retailed at something like 10c. I am obviously reducing the cost pro rata according to the size of the packet. Apart from the proteins in the milk, one would need some further inexpensive protein. In this respect I believe a helping of roughly 60 grammes of soya beans could be sold at roughly 5c per person per day. That will constitute a further protein intake. I believe that something else one could take a look at, would be the eating of an egg a day, because from the egg one gets iron, trace elements and various other ingredients. The daily egg would cost roughly 5c. But there is still something missing. In South Africa with its natural abundance of fruit, an apple a day will cost possibly 5c. I am sure the doctors here will appreciate this, although we do not really want to keep them away. Just to show a little versatility, let me say that in place of the bread one could have a potato or rice, in place of the beans one could have dried peas or lentils and in place of the egg one could, although it would obviously be more expensive, have meat or fish. One does not get much meat for 5c. But at that price there is a tremendous amount of nutritional value in that little egg. One does not have to restrict oneself to an apple to keep the doctor away. Instead one could have oranges or bananas.

However, what I want to propagate, is an idea. I believe this diet would be sufficient to keep an adult going and would supply all his nutritional needs for a whole day. It could be supplied for 40c. If one cuts down a little by buying the powdered milk and perhaps the beans in bulk, one could even add a pat of butter or some suitable substitute. Why do we not sell spreads for bread in little pats at 5c so that people with a low income can buy them on a daily basis and make up their nutritional needs with them?

I am just putting this as a suggestion. I am not tied to any one or any combination of these, but if there is anybody in this House who disputes that there is in fact enough food in these ingredients to keep a person going for a day, I shall make them an offer they cannot refuse. If the hon. the Minister can get me some time on TV, I shall present these items on TV and answer any arguments that these ingredients cannot supply the needs of a working adult for one day. Forty cents a day is R12 a month, and so I believe the less well-paid people in our community could well look at some of these natural foods to provide them with all they need on a very healthy basis.

I should like to continue from here and raise another matter with the hon. the Minister, one about which I hope he will give us a few thoughts this evening, viz. the question of the fluoridization of our water supplies. This is a thorny question. There is a small, but vociferous lobby which does not want the fluoridization of water. I think they have the idea that we are going to pump huge poisonous quantities of fluoride into our water supplies and poison them and their children. Obviously, therefore, education is a very necessary part of such a campaign. However, when one thinks that what one is suggesting as an optimum fluoride level is one part in a million, and if one looks at the water supplies of South Africa, one realizes that there are areas where the natural fluoride content of the water is in fact more than one part per million. Therefore all one is suggesting when one suggests the fluoridization of water is a normalization and a standardization of the supplies available to the public in South Africa. From research which has been done in this country and overseas it would appear to be perfectly possible to do this at a cost of less than 10c per person per year. Obviously the larger the water supply that is to be fluoridated the lower the cost per capita. I think that South Africa is at a stage where we should on an experimental basis and with the consent of the majority of the population in several selected areas be considering the rapid introduction of fluoridization of water, particularly in those areas where we know that the fluoride content is low and that the dental caries in children in particular and also in adults is of a high incidence. The cost implications of visits to the dentist for fillings, the removal of teeth and the supplying of dentures is an absolutely horrendous exercise and the total man-hours lost and the anguish of people sitting in that dentist’s waiting-room, knowing that they are going to bleed, is another factor which one must take into account. I believe that if by normalizing the fluoride content in our water supplies we can overcome this problem to a certain extent, we should be looking at this and trying it on an accepted basis with the community and on an experimental basis in certain areas of the Republic. I hope the hon. the Minister will answer that point.

I am sure the hon. the Minister has taken cognizance of an earlier debate in this House with the hon. the Minister of Agriculture, and thus is aware of the difference of opinion on the question of advertising dairy substitutes, particularly in relation to the colouring of margarine. There is a tremendous difference of opinion on this issue. A lot of people have very strong feelings on this, and there is a certain and very strong body of medical opinion which feels that there is no direct, definite evidence to show that the natural foods are harmful to one. There are a lot of people who support that point of view. We shall be interested to hear the hon. the Minister’s viewpoint on the whole question of dairy versus non-dairy products. One is not thinking in terms of banning this or banning that, but I think the public has a right to know that what they are ingesting is a healthy, wholesome, needed food, and any advertising which pretends this while the opposite is the case, must be very carefully looked at.

Sir, my time is running out and it looks as though I shall have to be eating these commodities for dinner, because I have not had any offers on them.

Mr. Chairman, right at the outset I wish to associate myself with the plea by the hon. member for Kempton Park with regard to the fly-ash being blown into the air by power stations.

In my view this is a matter that merits very serious attention. In my constituency, too, terrific problems are being experienced in this regard and the sooner we can solve that problem, the better. I am aware that there is certain legislation and certain regulations that have to be complied with in this regard, but there are still some old power stations which do not meet the requirements and I believe that very serious attention should be given to that.

This year is Health Year and the object is to emphasize the health of the family, the community and the country. In my view it is therefore advisable for us in this debate also to take a look at the health of our farmhands and consider how the involvement of the farmer in this regard can be increased. The welfare of the agricultural labourer is and has always been of particular importance to the farmer and his family. In order to have a real and detailed understanding of the situation, one really has to experience that oneself and live with it.

The background to the interest of the farmer and his family in the weal and woe of the farmhand and his family has to be traced in the distant past. One finds it in the Christian background of our farming communities. Since our people are Christians, there is a great deal of concern for the mental health of our agricultural workers at the present time. That is very good, because that is the first and foremost health aspect in the lives of our people. Unless that is our highest priority, any other health service is totally worthless. A very good speech could also be made on the mental health of the agricultural worker, but that is not my task tonight. I can but stress again that that responsibility of the farmer has never been overlooked. That was initially the primary objective when farm schools were established for the children of agricultural workers. By means of these farm schools the farmer could reach the children of the agricultural workers to preach the Gospel to them, in the first place. The farmer also set himself the task of assisting his agricultural workers with their problems such as liquor abuse and marital problems. However, that is not what I wish to deal with tonight.

It is necessary in the interests of the individual himself, in the interests of the farmer and in the economic interest of our country, that we should be healthy, vigorous and economically active people. That also applies to the agricultural worker. Therefore a very heavy responsibility rests on the farmer in this regard. Since the earliest years the farmer and his family have indeed done their share in providing care and assistance whenever there has been illness in the home of the agricultural worker. The farmer did so out of genuine concern and a sharing in the weal and woe of the farmhand.

In this, the Health Year, we have the opportunity, in my view, of making the farmer more aware of the opportunities that exist for him to make a more meaningful contribution to the building of a healthy community. As regards immunization against various illnesses such as small-pox and other diseases, one does not really have to refer to that, because all and sundry are aware of it. In my view few people know that there are also other diseases against which children can be immunized. Free immunization services are available throughout the country and are often rendered even on the farm by visiting immunization teams.

In the old days, home nursing could not be taken away from the farmer’s wife. However, today we have far better facilities and knowledge at our disposal. I therefore wish to make a strong plea tonight that we should make more provision for opportunities to furnish advice to employers and agricultural workers in respect of health matters. The hon. the Deputy Minister of Agriculture referred to the existing extension services for farmers this afternoon, and made a plea for coordination of the services. However, I think that a health information service should be regarded as something altogether separate. By creating nursing posts on a regional basis, for example, we can ensure that the agricultural worker and the farmer will be able to obtain more information on an organized basis on aspects such as home nursing, innoculation and immunization, hygiene, housing, first aid and the availability of clinics and health services. Instruction can be given on hospital services. There are also many other aspects one can mention.

The farming population forms a very important sector in our national life. The agricultural sector provides approximately 40% of the employment opportunities for economically active Black people and there is no doubt justification for making provision in our budget for such an information service to make the latest scientific medical knowledge available to our agricultural workers and so to promote their health.

Another aspect which can be promoted, to the great benefit of the farm labourer community, by means of such a service, is family planning. The Department of Health is doing an immense amount of work in this field and since 1974 the service has been considerably extended. According to the annual report there are approximately 8 000 service points at present.

However, family planning should go hand in hand with discussion and instruction to give the people a better understanding of family planning and to show them what family planning means for the health of the family too. At present, the effort to promote family planning on farms, is insufficient It is mainly concentrated at clinics. There is a very great need for family planning instruction and aid. The farmer’s wife can render assistance in regard to such a service, but the average housewife requires training in order to be able to render meaningful assistance with such a service.

Another aspect which requires a proper information service at present, is the handling of insecticides and pesticides. Most of those chemicals are extremely dangerous and can cause fatalities if people take them or even work with them in normal conditions. Although warning directions appear on the containers, poisoning still occurs very often. If we can make the farming community more aware of the danger attending the use of poisonous substances, we shall be making a very great contribution towards making matters safer for our agricultural workers who work with those substances, and for their families and also for ourselves and for the entire community.

I advocate the introduction of a health information service in which the farmer’s family and the employee and his family can be involved in order to promote a healthier and happier community. This will ultimately also contribute to better relations between the farmer and the employee as well as between White and non-White. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the hon. member for Middelburg with regard to the very informative speech he made, which was also very relevant in the light of the times we are living in. I should also like to make use of the opportunity to add my congratulations to all the others that have already been expressed, congratulations to the hon. the Minister on the tremendous success being achieved with the Health Year which is being held this year. It has had a snowball effect, and I envisage that this is only the beginning of very big things for the Department of Health in the years that lie ahead. I should also like to add to that my heartfelt congratulations to the Secretary of the department, Dr. Johan de Beer, and his staff, people who do excellent work, work which covers a very wide spectrum with regard to the health services in our country. I think that those people deserve the respect and appreciation of this House for what they do, often inconspicuously and in the background. Because this year is the Health Year, these things are brought to our attention to a much greater extent. It does not normally happen to the same extent. Therefore it is my privilege tonight to extend these congratulations to all the people involved.

We are not only celebrating Health Year in our country this year. Internationally, the Year of the Child is also being celebrated this year. I wish to say a few words about that in particular tonight. I want to concentrate more specifically on one aspect with regard to the child, however, viz. the teenager, and more particularly, the problem teenager. The Year of the Child is also being celebrated in South Africa.

It is, however, a little overshadowed by the Health Year, because the latter is getting so much attention. I should like to make a few objective statements with regard to teenage problems. We may call them pathological aberrations if we wish, or—more simply—juvenile degeneracy or delinquency. The fact is, however, that this situation is assuming alarming dimensions and that it is becoming a very serious psycho-sociological problem.

I read recently in one of our newspapers of an occurrence where an 11-year-old boy killed a nine-year-old girl with a pistol. Without mentioning names or making any references, I should just like to quote from the newspaper article in question. The shooting with an automatic 45 calibre pistol took place in a certain house in a certain suburb. I quote—

in a certain suburb—

After giving a detailed account of the whole incident, the report goes on to state—

These two children were 11 and nine years old, respectively. The little girl who was shot and killed was nine years old. I have said that this is a very serious problem, but if one tries to analyse the problem against the background of juvenile degeneracy, questions also arise with regard to possible criminality and psychopathy. However, I think the most important aspect is for us to take note this evening of the hundreds of similar cases which can be described as juvenile delinquency, psychopathy, juvenile degeneracy, criminality, etc.

Hon. members may well join me this evening in asking what underlies this. In this regard I should like to make a few statements. It is a symptom of a more deep-seated illness. It is a parent/child problem. It is also a neurosis of our time. When we look at shocking accounts such as this one, there are a few things we should keep in mind if we want to try and understand what it is about and ask ourselves why it was done. We have also to take into account the fact that what we are concerned with here are behavioural problems caused by certain underlying psychological aberrations.

I therefore, want to draw hon. members’ attention to the following aspects. These children, of whom there are many in the Republic, learn all types of behaviour. Certain children are unable to handle all their problems themselves. There are unsatisfied needs which create tension and action. Tension drives a child to perform certain actions, and anti-social forms of behaviour, such as that to which I have just referred, offer more satisfaction than any other kind of behaviour. Environmental factors, of course, also play a role. A bad environment, such as that which is described in the above case, working mothers, or let me rather say, absent mothers, absent fathers or deceased fathers, bad discipline and many other reasons can be mentioned. The point is, however, that every child has certain psychological needs. What is it, in the first place, which threatens his security or his safety? Has something injured his self-esteem? Why is he tense? How are his parents? Does he have “überhaupt” parents? We should also keep in mind the fact that eventually a habit becomes just as strong as a primary need or urge. It then often happens with children who are not yet mature, that they do not master their urges, but instead their urges master them. We should also ask ourselves honestly how a child is accepted by his friends. Is he safe with them? Does he have to do things to draw the group’s attention? What guidance does he receive from the adults? Are his own status and self-esteem not threatened by problems? What is his self-concept and his reputation in the family? I want to state tonight that the attraction of immediate satisfaction is bigger and stronger for a child than the expectation of a future reward, because such a child then feels like a man amongst his friends, especially if he acts in an anti-social way.

My time will soon be up and therefore I should just like to make the following few remarks in conclusion. I should like to advocate the following few matters, matters which I regard as being extremely important In the first place, I want to make a plea in this Year of the Child for understanding for this particular problem child in our midst. In the second place, I advocate the re-awakening of the parent/child relationship, of our cultural values within our family context and our traditions. I advocate the retention, as well as the re-awakening of a sincere religious experience. I also advocate discipline, without which no child can exist [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, this has been a very cosy little debate so far, but I must tell the hon. the Minister that I do not intend to join in the chorus of praise and the back-slapping that we have experienced so far about the state of the health of the nation in Health Year in South Africa. I am not starry-eyed about it I know that there is an awful lot that needs attention. The hon. the Minister will agree that there is a very high incidence of, for instance, coronary disease among White males in South Africa and that the amount of alcoholism is horrendous.

They live too well.

They may live too well, but nevertheless people die rather young as a result of it. The problem of TB is not being properly coped with yet and the diseases of poverty, such as malnutrition and so on, are rife in South Africa, both in the homelands and in the Black urban townships. I refer to diseases such as pellagra, mirasmus and kwashiorkor which are all found in far too high a degree in a country as rich as South Africa I believe we have a great deal to attend to in the whole framework of society, including the migrant labour system, which leads to a very high incidence of alcoholism, crime and illegitimacy. Therefore, as I have said, I am not joining in the paeans of praise.

I do not really have time to go into the details of the overall health picture in South Africa I want to take up with the hon. the Minister an issue which has preoccupied me for some time and which the hon. the Minister will certainly know about I want to direct his attention to the pressing need for radical amendment of the Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975. I believe that in the four years, which is the length of time this Act has been implemented, there has been time enough for us to assess the way in which the Act has been working, and it is my contention that it is a failure.

Last year, when I raised the question of how the Act of 1975 was functioning, I had no figures to support my contention that the legal difficulties encountered by women wanting abortions would lead them to turn to backstreet abortionists for illegal and dangerous abortions. This year I do have figures, albeit only for the 10 month period from 1 March to 31 December 1978, which is the period during which the regulations promulgated under section 7(3) of the Abortion and Sterilization Act of 1975 began to be implemented. That is the section that requires that records have to be kept regarding operations connected with the removal of the residue of a pregnancy and that such records have to be transmitted to the Secretary for Health. I recently received that figure, in writing, from the hon. the Minister, having asked him for it at the beginning of the session. He told me at the time that it was being processed, and subsequently he has kindly sent it to me. 19 818 such operations were performed in South Africa during the 10 month period from 1 March to 31 December 1978. I believe, after discussing this matter with gynaecologists and obstetricians, that this figure is an underestimate, and I do so for the following reasons: Gynaecologists operating in private nursing homes hesitate to fill in the form saying that there has been “interference” which has brought about the abortion, because they feel that their patients are not adequately protected; secondly, as the hon. the Minister will know, many cases of induced abortions are in fact successful and the patients concerned do not land up in hospitals at all, and therefore never get reported. I have no doubt, therefore, that the figure given to me by the hon. the Minister is an underestimate. It is also not very informative and I should like to ask the hon. the Minister if he has a break-down of the figure indicating in how many of the 19 818 cases which were reported under section 7(3), affirmative replies were received to the “any signs of interference” question on the form. I think it is also fair to believe, after discussions with gynaecologists and obstetricians, that the majority of the cases reported are cases where abortions have been induced and are so-called septic abortions. This means, of course, that backstreet abortionists must be doing a very brisk trade as a result of the restrictive abortion law which has been operating in South Africa since 1975. If we look at the figures in the annual report of the department, we find that 541 legal abortions were performed in 1978 as against the under-estimate, as I maintain it is, of 19 818 cases of septic abortions in 10 months. Of this number, 260 were performed on the grounds of—and this might be a Freudian error in the department’s report—“serious threat to the mental health” of those concerned. In fact, the Act refers to—and this is one of my complaints—“permanent damage to mental health”. 136 abortions were performed because of the serious threat to the physical health of the women. I have no doubt whatsoever that the stringent requirements of the Abortion and Sterilization Act account for the small number of legal abortions performed in South Africa in comparison to the number of illegal abortions. The inevitable conclusion is that, if a woman wants to have an abortion to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy, notwithstanding the law, she will do so. The tragedy is that sterility, complications and often death result. Many women end up in hospital after septic and incomplete abortions, and this at great cost to the State, a good deal higher, I might say, than it would have been if a legal abortion could have been obtained under aseptic conditions at the hands of a trained doctor. In England such abortions are often performed on women as out-patients.

Various figures are available. I do not know how many of them are authentic. I saw one statement purporting to come from the Deputy Director of the Baragwanath Hospital to the effect that 150 cases of septic abortions are seen there daily. Another figure I have been given, is that the non-White hospital in Johannesburg admits between 30 and 40 such cases per day. Certainly, Prof. Strauss told us at the time of the 1975 debate that a figure of 100 000 illegal abortions in South Africa was an underestimate. The interesting thing is that Blacks do not seem to ask for legal abortions. What they do, is to resort to backstreet abortions or self-induced abortions.

Once again, I want to suggest amendments to the Act, amendments which I believe will bring South Africa into line with the practices followed in most modern countries today and which will obviate the need for poor women—rich women go overseas for their abortions—to patronize the backstreet abortionists and so endanger their lives. Firstly, I think that the section requiring pregnant young girls under the age of 16 to go through the whole trauma of the investigation required before a legal abortion is granted, is nothing short of barbaric. I said so in 1975. I pointed out to the male members of this House that there, but for the grace of God, goes anybody’s daughter because anybody’s daughter can get into trouble. Only 17 legal abortions were performed last year on girls under the age of 14 and only 110 legal abortions were performed on girls under the age of 19. I am pretty sure that far more girls under the age of 19 were pregnant and unmarried than the figure I have just given.

On what grounds do you make that allegation?

Secondly, the rape section requires amendment. I believe that interrogation is the last thing a woman who has suffered the hideous experience of rape and who has fallen pregnant as a result, feels able to face. It is bad enough that she has to report the rape and go through all the trauma of police investigation, but to be further interrogated thereafter before she is able to have a legal abortion is, as I have said, also barbaric.

This morning in The Cape Times there was a frightening indication of the frequency of the crime of rape in the Cape. I might say that in Johannesburg in Soweto, for instance, the position is equally bad. Yet only 21 legal abortions were performed under the rape provision.

Thirdly and finally, the word “permanent” should be omitted from section 3(1)(b), the section that lays down the circumstances in which an abortion may be procured as far as the mental health of the woman is concerned. The requirements in the original Act are, as I have pointed out, far too stringent. I want to end up by saying that, in pleading for these amendments, I am speaking on my own behalf. My party does not have a party line on abortion. That is left to a free vote. I am talking entirely for myself, although I have no doubt that there are many members of the PFP both in Parliament and outside who support me. I should say, too, that I believe that I am speaking on behalf of many thousands of people in South Africa, men and women. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I do not regard myself as qualified enough to answer the hon. member for Houghton’s queries, but I am certain that the hon. Minister will reply to them in detail.

Cornea transplants have not caught the public eye and imagination nearly as much as heart transplants. Yet the progress in this field has, in the last few years, relatively speaking, been just as spectacular, if not more spectacular, than that of heart transplants. The cornea of the eye, which is a thin, transparent layer over the front of the eye and can also be called the watchglass of the eye or the clear window through which one can see, can become clouded and cause a distortion of vision. This can happen as a result of abnormalities existing at birth, injuries, congenital syphilis, measles, ulcers forming on the eye or infection. In most instances this cornea disease will cause total loss of vision. Between 12% and 15% of all blindness is caused by this cornea disease. The only way in which this disease can be cured is by the excision of the clouded tissue and by the implantation of other healthy tissue. Healthy cornea tissue must be removed or excised from the donor’s eye within six hours of death and must be implanted within five days. Between the excision and the implantation of the cornea, it is usually kept at an eye bank at a temperature of approximately 4°C.

The field of cornea transplants in South Africa has in the last few years developed from a relatively backward position to a position where there is no need for us to take second place to any other country. As recently as 1974 cornea transplants were done on such a small scale that people suffering from blindness as a result of cornea disease had to wait years to be operated upon, if they were fortunate enough to get such an operation at all. At present we have three registered eye banks in the country. The first and the biggest in the country is situated in Cape Town, the eye bank of the Eye Bank Foundation of South Africa. There is another one, the Tissue Bank, in Johannesburg and there is the Willem Goosen Trust Eye Bank which is situated in Port Elizabeth. The eye bank in Cape Town was started in March 1975 and has since provided more than 1 500 corneas all over the country. This means approximately an eye a day. At present it is providing between 30 and 40 corneas per month. The availability of cornea for the eye bank has been brought about mainly through the provisions of the Anatomical Donations and Post Mortem Examinations Amendment Act, 1973. In the field of legislation providing for eye banks and the removal of cornea, we can certainly claim to be the leader in the world. Although the State of Maryland in the USA had similar legislation when we passed our legislation, we were then the only country in the world which, as a country, had such legislation and this legislation has since been copied by a number of other countries, the first being the Argentine. In practical terms, this means that, whereas five years ago a patient had to wait years for a cornea transplant, he can now within two weeks of being seen by a doctor have such an operation. The availability of cornea has indeed improved to such an extent that South Africa is now in a position to export cornea to foreign countries. The success rate of cornea operations is 90% and sight is usually completely restored within two to three months of the operation.

A person who has played a major role in promoting cornea transplants and making the operation available to all sections of the population is Mr. Lesley Simon, an attorney of Pietermaritzburg. The part he has played in this field is the more remarkable if one takes into account the fact that he is not a medical man and did not initially have any knowledge in this field. It started in 1971 when Mr. Simon was on holiday in Sri Lanka. He was approached by a person who wanted to export cornea to South Africa At the time only three days were allowed between the removal of a cornea and the implantation of it. Because at that stage there was no flight that could bring the cornea to South Africa timeously, this could not be put into effect. In 1972, however, such a flight was introduced, and Mr. Simon became responsible for importing cornea to South Africa. He was, however, not to accept the fact that South Africa was lagging behind in this respect, and he actively campaigned, together with other people, for the passing of the Act I have mentioned. This Act simplified the procedure of acquiring cornea from donors, and this caused more cornea to become available. He has further assisted in the establishment of eye banks in South Africa and was also instrumental in making eye banks and cornea transplants a national project for the Lions International organization in South Africa. Since then the Lions have played a major role in this respect. They financially assisted eye banks in the country and they have sponsored underprivileged people who need cornea transplants and through this sponsorship more than 600 people have had their eyesight completely restored. They also spread information about cornea transplants and have set up a country-wide delivery service for cornea tissue. If a cornea is required in Welkom or Bethlehem, for instance, they would see to it that it is collected from the nearest airport and delivered to the hospital, because in a case like this time is of the essence.

Mr. Simon was also the first person to introduce the MK solution to South Africa. This solution extended the period available between the taking of the cornea from the donor and the implanting of it from a period of three days to a period of five days. For his contribution in this field, Mr. Simon was awarded the highest award the Lions International organization can award to their own members. If one considers that he is the only South African so far to have received this award while there are 3 200 Lions clubs in the world and more than 1¼ million Lions members, this is in effect no mean feat. The great contribution Mr. Simon and Lions of South Africa have made, and are still making, in this medical field is indeed proof and an example to all non-medical people that they can make a valuable contribution in the medical field.

Mr. Chairman, in the first instance I want to apologize to the hon. the Minister if I should perhaps raise a subject here which has already been discussed by someone else. The circumstances are such, however, that I was present at the discussion of the Labour Vote in the Other Place and could only now find my way here. To begin with, I want to convey my sincere congratulations to the hon. the Minister and the department on the way in which the Health Year is shaping up as well as on the success it has already achieved. I trust that it will be of great benefit to the health of the people of South Africa.

I should also like to raise another aspect which is very close to my heart. The former hon. Minister of Health announced here in the House one evening after dinner quite a few years ago, in a debate similar to the one being held tonight, that he had decided to allow margarine to be coloured yellow. Hon. members will perhaps remember it. I suppose that if one has some knowledge of the problems with regard to margarine, butter, cholesterol, etc., one will hesitate before discussing, in such a place as this House, the pros and cons of the use of margarine or butter and the effect which cholesterol could have. Volumes, and yet more volumes, have been written on the effect of cholesterol on the body. Benefits can be listed by authorities from both sides. On the other hand, authorities can be quoted—here in Cape Town too—who have serious reservations about the use of butter, cholesterol, etc. I do not want to get involved in that dispute. I do, however, wish to discuss an Act which was piloted through this House by the Department of Health in connection with advertisements of certain medicines, as well as other medical advertisements. It provides that no one is allowed to ascribe certain characteristics which cannot be substantiated to a particular medicine. Although this is perhaps not covered by this Act, there are few fields in which opinions on cholesterol are so abused, if not to the benefit of what ostensibly does not contain cholesterol as such, then certainly as an attack on dairy products. It is unnecessary for me to go into detail. Hon. members can watch television every night. The slogan of a certain television advertisement is hat if a woman loves her husband, she should give him one or other kind of margarine.

And if she does not love him, he gets butter.

Yes. That is the implication. The hon. member for East London North the other day quoted a slogan from another advertisement which appeared in the Sunday Times. I wrote it down and I quote—

Below that was the invitation—

If one should read that booklet, it would become clear that it is a downright attack on the use of butter. [Interjections.] I think that the hon. the Minister of Health has the obligation at least to see to it, as far as television is concerned, that that type of advertisement should not be abused. That is one matter I want to raise.

Another matter which has recently been brought very forcefully to my attention, reminded me of something which was announced in this House not so long ago. Mr. Chairman, you could perhaps now say that I am out of order, but if I am out of order, I am still dealing with the correct Minister. [Interjections.] I have recently been receiving numerous letters—three in the past week—all dealing with non-social pensioners who are complaining about the high cost of medicine. They are people who were self-sufficient and who put away a small capital sum which would enable them to draw approximately R200 per month to live off. Eventually they reach the age, however, where medical costs overtake them and if such costs enter the region of R50, R60 and R70, those people can no longer make ends meet.

Not very long ago, it was announced that the right would be granted to persons who receive a social pension, to possess a card which would enable them to make use of the services of a district surgeon. That card became so important to the people that eventually, many of those people were not concerned about the small pension they received, but about that card which would give them access to a district surgeon. Fewer problems are experienced in this regard in the cities, because there are clinics for out-patients and day hospitals where those people can undergo treatment, even specialist treatment. In the rural areas, however, those people are stranded, and I now want to plead with the hon. the Minister—I know I cannot make such a suggestion—to consider it in future. I think that the hon. the Minister of Health and the hon. the Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions ought to understand each other in this case. [Interjections.] I therefore want to request the hon. the Minister to advocate to the hon. the Minister of Social Welfare that, with the co-operation of both the departments involved, a category of “pensioners” be created, pensioners who do not necessarily have to receive financial contributions from the Government, but which—if they have an income of twice the amount which would entitle them to the maximum pension—would enable them to receive a card which would ensure free access for them to such medical treatment. In this respect, I believe, we could make life a lot easier for a very large group of people, without necessarily causing the State unnecessarily heavy expense. However, it could perhaps be a very fine gift to those who are experiencing that need in this Health Year.

Mr. Chairman, we have come to the end of this debate, and I want to thank all hon. members very sincerely for their contribution. It is true that although it can sometimes irritate one if one is inclined to be belligerent, everything nevertheless goes well when people express their appreciation. We are discussing health now. Health means something good. It does not mean discord. I shall come to the hon. member for Houghton in a moment.

If I am forced to do so I am not unwilling to be at loggerheads with a person on occasion.

The hon. member for Kempton Park, as well as the hon. member for Middelburg, discussed atmospheric pollution. This is a very grave problem throughout the world; to a lesser extent in South Africa, but, in a local sense, it is sometimes quite bad. As the hon. member for Kempton Park explained to us here, particular problems are being experienced in his constituency. It is true that the power station there is very old, and still makes use of fines. Consequently there are problems with filters and other deficiencies. It is true that considerable expense has been incurred there over a long period. As the hon. member rightly said, it is no use my saying that the matter is receiving attention. The fact of the matter is that the people there have been experiencing problems over a long period. They have tried to carry out repairs, to rebuild filters and effect other improvements. It seems, however, that nothing helps. Actually we are dealing with two power stations there, not one. There is the Kelvin A power station and the Kelvin B power station. Perhaps the hon. member knows that, since 16 March of this year, the people there have indicated in writing that they are now going to spend ±R630 000 on alterations which will eliminate the existing problems. They hope to be finished by the end of July. This could greatly alleviate the matter. The power station is there. People must have electricity, and under the circumstances it is perhaps best that we give the people this one further opportunity. A long-term programme has been submitted and it may just happen that, with the rebuilding of the power station, the problem will still be solved in the long run. I am actually referring now to the Kelvin B power station.

The other power station gives problems for short periods, but the idea is to control the problem to a considerable extent within the next two months, with the alterations which are being made there and which they have promised to make. I understand that in the winter, with the inversion conditions one finds on the Highveld, in which the cold air remains stationary and does not rise with the result that one does not have the circulation which there ought to be, then these things happen. But I can assure the hon. member that we are not indifferent to this matter. Although it is very difficult for us to find the technical staff to deal with these things—such people receive up to three times as much money in the private sector—we are nevertheless giving thorough attention to this matter, and I expect that there will be a significant improvement in the matter raised by the hon. member as well.

The hon. member for Middelburg also mentioned this, although only in passing. From my general reply to him I think that he will realize that I have more appreciation for his general view of a matter than for a particular view.

I am pleased that the hon. member for Kempton Park dealt with the problem of measles. It was interesting how one was able to perceive this afternoon and this evening how the whole idea of community involvement caused quite a number of members to discuss matters which they would not normally have discussed. Our people are becoming involved. They want to know what is going on. The other day the hon. member for East London North did a good deal of research on matters which are definitely not in this field. But he wanted to become involved in health. Later on I shall say a few words on a matter which he raised, something about which no one in this debate really had very much to say. However, I think I ought to say something about these stories about butter and margarine.

As I have said, I am pleased that the hon. member for Kempton Park raised the question of measles. Measles is one of the most dangerous diseases among young children. The death rate is tremendously high. Complications in the case of this disease vary, according to the figures I have at my disposal, between three and 11 cases per day. At present it is impossible always to know precisely what the figures are. In any case we are soon going to make measles a notifiable disease. That is the decision. If we do not devise a plan to deal with measles, and with the many complications which it causes, where will we end up? But things are going well with the process of immunization against measles. We are making approximately ½ million dosis per year available, and the type of vaccine which we now have is very effective. Of course there are problems with the provision of vaccine, because the vaccine was not always stable. In recent times, however, things have improved considerably. We have now solved the problem. We have a vaccine with a longer shelf life and consequently we are better able to carry out our campaign. I am spending a little more time discussing measles because it is more important than we think. What the campaign amounts to is this: We want to raise the age limit for inoculation of children to four years. If a child is immunized before the age of nine months, there is a tendency for that child to become susceptible to it again. Then he has to receive a second dose after six months. We shall instruct the regional directors of health to keep on intensifying the campaign against measles, particularly in selected areas. In Soweto and in Durban, in particular, we have many problems. In those cases we shall make special efforts to intensify the measles campaign. The provision of vaccine free of charge is of course very important, and we shall try to supply the vaccine wherever we can. This year we hope to administer as many as 3 million doses. So much, then, for measles. However, one must bear in mind that with all these diseases counselling is in fact the most important factor because counselling presupposes involvement. Counselling presupposes that one is taking the trouble and making it one’s task to inform people of these matters.

Other contagious diseases are just as important, particularly a disease such as polio, which we have not yet been able to eradicate, but have brought under control to a large extent. Whereas polio cases soared years ago, we brought the disease under control to such an extent last year, by means of an inoculation programme, that there were not nearly as many cases this year. We did this by anticipating that there would be an epidemic in 1978, because epidemics usually occur every three years. The incidence of polio cases this year is very low.

I also think it is very important to know what South Africa’s position in regard to smallpox is, particularly since the hon. member for Middelburg discussed the immunization service for our farm workers and their involvement in their health, for they are the people who must help us to maintain production on the farms. In reality we have succeeded in eradicating smallpox completely in South Africa.

†I want to inform hon. members that on 17 April 1979 the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization in Geneva officially declared that smallpox had been successfully eradicated in South Africa. This announcement followed a year of intensive investigation, at the request of and in co-operation with the World Health Organization, to determine if smallpox infection still existed in South Africa. The world has now been free of smallpox since 26 October 1977 when the last case was reported in Somalia, and it is expected that the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization will soon make an official announcement in this respect. This will be the first time that medical science has achieved the ultimate object of wiping out an infectious disease. Smallpox was one of the most-feared scourges of humanity and since the earliest times has caused some of the most tragic and devastating epidemics in all comers of the world. Smallpox was transmitted to South Africa in 1713 from the East The disease spread rapidly, killing thousands and wiping out whole tribes of Hottentots. Numerous epidemics occurred as the disease spread inland. The first smallpox vaccinations were done on a voluntary basis as early as 1803. Compulsory vaccination was introduced in the Cape Colony as a result of the epidemic of 1881.

The Public Health Act, 1919, Act No. 36 of 1919, made smallpox vaccination compulsory throughout the country.

The first regular production of vaccine was initiated in 1893 by the Colonial Bacteriological Institute at Grahamstown. Subsequently, the first large-scale production of vaccine, using calves, was undertaken at Rosebank, Cape Town. Today the Department of Health’s Vaccine Institute in Pinelands produces more than 4 million doses of smallpox vaccine per annum. The freeze-dried product is equal to the best in the world.

After World War II, the World Health Organization made it one of its main objectives to complete the systematic world-wide eradication of smallpox. During 1966 an intensified eradication programme throughout the world was launched by the World Health Organization, and this campaign achieved such significant success that the final eradication became a feasible prospect. In 1973 an international commission was assembled with the object to certify areas which are free of smallpox. Such certification requires two years of active surveillance after the last case in the region has been reported. The last case of smallpox in the Republic of South Africa was notified in 1971. Until 1975 outbreaks occurred in other countries in Southern Africa. We aim to keep up to 30 million doses of vaccine in stock, in case something might occur that we cannot cope with in years to come. The vaccine can be preserved for decades. But in view of the changed circumstances it is no longer necessary to continue with compulsory vaccination against smallpox, and the department is at present taking the necessary steps to rescind existing measures.

*I have made this statement because I think it is extremely important. In fact it is a compliment to South Africa.

In regard to polio I have already said that we have to a large extent succeeded in curtailing it.

†The hon. member for Berea spoke about various health foods. I thought that if I had what he suggested for lunch, I would have had enough for the day. However, he took it away. In any case I could not detect any brand names although perhaps hon. members sitting near him should have ascertained that he was not, in fact, advertising some of the products.

I specially covered them up.

His speech was very interesting and I really took notice of what he said about these various health foods. The health loaf is perhaps something the private sector should think about. I think he has a good idea there. In any case, I do not think the State as such will pursue that matter much further. But the hon. member has a good idea with regard to the possibility of introducing a new kind of “Bremer-brood” in South Africa.

There is one thing the hon. member has mentioned that I am not happy about and that is the question of fluoridation, this hardy annual. I think my mail box will not be able to hold all the post and letters that will rain on me from tomorrow morning onwards from the protagonists and antagonists of fluoridation. We are at the moment studying this problem and consider holding a symposium towards the end of the year to get the community involved and to get all the people to present their ideas, after which I shall apply my mind to it. At the moment I feel that I am not in a position to decide finally, because this is a very controversial matter. There might be some merit in fluoridation in specific instances. Specific local authorities might be interested in it, but that is another matter for another day.

*The hon. member, as well as the hon. member for Fauresmith, discussed butter and margarine and I think that I should say something about it. At present the price of butter is higher than that of margarine. At present the retail price of butter is R1,92 per kilogram and that of poly-unsaturated margarine, the yellow margarine which stays soft, is Rl,50 per kilogram. I wish to tell hon. members that scientific and semi-scientific views on the margarine/butter controversy are causing great confusion, even among medical practitioners who do not keep abreast of the latest research results. There was an over-reaction to earlier results which appeared to indicate that excessive intake of animals fats was allegedly a cause of many cases of cardiovascular diseases, but in reality all excesses—of eating, smoking, etc.—constitute the danger of cardio-vascular disease. I have pointed out several other risk factors, for example overweight, hereditary tendencies and diabetes. There are quite a number of factors which play a part We are trying to determine the various risk factors. However, to imply that all animal fats constitute a danger is misleading. I want to make it very clear that this is not the case. For example it is maintained that all animal fats contain saturated fatty acids while the plant oils contain unsaturated fatty acids, but that is not always the case. We know that it is not always the case. If the unsaturated fatty acids in butter are compared with those in margarine, it will be found that butter contains approximately 34%—these are according to the facts at my disposal—and margarine approximately 50%. I am referring now to the soft not the hard margarine. In the same way one can examine the composition of animal fats. Soft mutton fat does not necessarily contain saturated fatty acids, but does contain unsaturated fatty acids. However, one must be careful of the hard fat. We are trying to remain level-headed now. As far as polyunsaturated fatty acids are concerned, various kinds of margarine have the same poly-unsaturated fatty acid content as butter, approximately 3% to 4%. We are dealing here with a major problem. It is true that when one is dealing with an unsaturated fatty acid it generally reduces the serum cholesterol. People with unusually high serum cholesterol are susceptible to cardio-vascular diseases. Research has indicated that the unsaturated fatty acids expel the cholesterol from the blood into other organs, and that is why women—and they are very fortunate in this connection—are more prone to gall-stones and related ailments of that nature.

I am merely mentioning these interesting things to hon. members which we have discovered over the years and which means that we do not have the final answers to many of the questions. Of course not all unsaturated fatty acids are beneficial. There are some of the unsaturated fatty acids which can aggregate—that means coalesce—in one’s blood vessels and in that way cause coagulation, i.e. thrombosis itself. There is another kind which counteracts coagulation. This becomes apparent as new research discloses these things. Sometime ago Dr. Du Plessis of our Medical Research Council—which is doing exceptionally good research in this connection as well—commenced an international attempt to establish what the risk factors are that make so many White men, particularly in the South-west Cape where these tests are being carried out, susceptible to heart ailments. Dr. Du Plessis established that the fatty acid content of quite a number of types of margarines is such that it in fact pushes up cholesterol instead of reducing it Consequently we still have a considerable amount of research to do. We cannot be dogmatic yet If one hardens margarine by adding hydrogen one saturates the fats, and saturated fatty acids definitely do not reduce cholesterol. Margarine can contain up to 30% saturated fatty acids. I do not think it would be justified to take margarine off the market at this stage, by no means.

No one asked for that.

It has and it must have its place. What we are opposed to are advertisements such as those to which the hon. member for Fauresmith referred. We shall have to take a look at these advertisements. We cannot allow advertisements in newspapers or periodicals to state by implication that dairy products are not good for one’s health. Whereas an hon. member stated earlier in the day that we are not looking after the farmers and their interests, I want to say that we are looking for the truth. If truth is on the side of the farming community, then we render assistance, but this is not always the case. Sometimes there is a great deal of sentiment. All sectors, the industries, agriculture, the economists, the official people and the professional people, all of them always try to benefit. After all, we know our people. It is of no avail trying to be sanctimonious in this respect. Nevertheless I have always been a levelheaded person and no one can change that.

†The hon. member for Houghton spoke about abortions. I suppose we should talk about abortions from time to time. It is a very important matter. However, I think she went a little off the rails tonight and I cannot therefore be so lenient towards her as I was a week or two ago when I felt that I should really concede that she had a point. We have troubles and I told her of those troubles. So she knew about them. But she did not want to know anything about it. She likes to fight and believes that an Opposition should only oppose, from morning till night, without being constructive. She does not like back-slapping or for people to live in peace. I wonder about the hon. member for Houghton sometimes. She is, after all, married. On 19 April last year the hon. member for Houghton asked me to furnish certain statistics for the period 1 March to 31 December 1978. I gave her the statistics that were collected for us by certain institutions in regard to abortions. The Act that controls abortions states that the following should be recorded and reported to the Secretary of Health every year: A complete miscarriage, whenever in any institution there is evidence that it is a case of that kind; secondly, an inevitable miscarriage; an incomplete miscarriage; a septic miscarriage, noticeable signs of injuries of and of foreign material in the internal genital tracts of the patient concerned, etc. The statistics that I could furnish to the hon. member covered all operations of that kind. They have not been analysed, and we have many categories in this regard. The various requirements were drafted in very close collaboration with the medical profession, but medical practitioners usually find it very difficult to determine the cause of a septic abortion.

They are also reluctant to involve themselves or to express an opinion about the possibility of an unlawful act. How does the hon. member want me to deal with cases of that nature? It is impossible to deal with these cases, because it is not something that one can be absolute about. It is our intention to computerize these results to see what we can make of them. That is so, but it remains impossible to say how many of these cases were illegal abortions. That is impossible to say at the moment. I know that the hon. member for Houghton is the spokesman for the advocates of abortion on demand. They have had that in England for many years. Books have been written about what happened in England, because they relaxed these measures to such an extent that it became absurd. Anyone could go for an abortion.

Abortion on request, and not on demand.

It led to books like Babies for Burning. In England there also may be a few hundred thousand illegal abortions, if one relies merely on guesswork.

That is a bad guess.

We have to rely on guesswork as well, because there are no real statistics available in this respect. The figures cannot be proved when people talk of approximately 100 000 or 200 000 illegal abortions that have taken place there. It cannot be proved how many have actually taken place. We are trying, as well as we can, by way of statistics to control the situation. We shall computerize the figures, and we shall see what we can do to at least let the hon. member have figures that she can analyse and from which she can draw conclusions. I have received quite a few telegrams, all with the same tune, i.e. that we must relax everything…

Nobody said that.

These telegrams state that I should not close my eyes to the thousands of illegal abortions performed yearly at great cost of life. I do not close my eyes to this. It is further submitted that economic recession, unemployment and contraceptive ignorance require abortion legislation on socio-economic grounds. The telegram reads—

Reference is also made to “rape crisis in Cape Town”. I have also read about that. I am also requested to implement the abortion legislation in respect of the victims of rape cases, otherwise it brings about an unnecessary prolongation of the rape victims trauma as such. Well, that may be so and one should think about that and see whether one cannot streamline those cases. I think we have had 19 cases where legal abortions were undertaken in cases of rape. In that respect I do not disagree with the hon. member for Houghton. We can think about that. The abortion law adopted by Parliament—and this I want to state specifically—is not the result of illegal abortions. It actually relaxed the common law and made abortions legal. The stigma will be attached to any kind of abortion, whether free abortion, abortion on demand or any kind of abortion. The stigma will always be there. However, the South African society will not accept this completely free and liberal attitude towards abortions, and I do not believe and will not concede that this Act has driven abortions underground. It did not. There were more underground abortions before than there are now. I am sure of that. Having practised for 20 years, I think I know perhaps a little bit more about this than the hon. member for Houghton.

In any case, all these telegrams have the same reasoning behind them and as far as I am concerned they are still only a mere handful. If it is the general idea and opinion that we should change the Act, that is all right. However, for the time being I am not going to change this Act, except where there are proposals to eliminate shortcomings, and I have specifically mentioned one of them.

Mr. Chairman, may I just ask the hon. the Minister if he will also please consider the case of the girl under the age of 16. The original Bill had a very different cause.

Cases under the age of 16 fall under the Immorality Act.

No, it has nothing to do with that.

There is also a case to be made medically for the girl under the age of 15 and is not marriageable to be aborted.

Yes, but not under the Act.

It is as far as girls under the age of 15 are concerned.

[Inaudible.]

I do not think that we really understand each other concerning this point. We can have another talk about it.

*The hon. member for Pietermaritzburg North was a testimony to community involvement in matters affecting health and in matters where one applies the healing aspects as research progresses. The question of corneal transplants was extremely interesting and is a testimony to progress being made by medical science. People such as Mr. Simon of the Lions Club have really made a name for themselves through their particular actions in this connection. This is the kind of thing we wish to develop during this year.

I replied to the hon. member for Fauresmith on the question of butter and margarine a moment ago. I think that we are in agreement on this aspect. That hon. member referred to advertisements, and I think I have already replied to him on that point. He raised matters which have already been discussed here. However, I do not take it amiss of him, because the matters he raised were all of real importance. In conclusion he raised a matter which is of course extremely important to me. It deals with the problem of our aged and our infirm aged, and escalating medical costs. I can inform him that a joint conference has been arranged for a date later this year by the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions, and that I shall be the introductory speaker at that conference. These matters will also be discussed there. In almost 25% of the cases it is true that this ushers in a new period in their lives, a period for realizing ideals which they would not otherwise have had. Almost two thirds of them regarded it in precisely the same way as the rest of their lives, as a period with its high- and low-water marks. These were our findings in an inquiry which we carried out recently in regard to elderly people and the age of retirement. We shall perhaps discuss this matter again later, when the Social Welfare and Pensions Vote is discussed.

Finally I should also like to convey a special word of thanks to the team of the Medical Research Council which is doing extremely good work in Tiervlei. I noted with great satisfaction that they altered their policy recently to make it more practicable and to involve themselves to a greater extent in practical life, to involve themselves to a greater extent in the economic and social life, and also to enable them to begin to apply the results of their research. In particular I want to emphasize that the national heart effort deserves the support of all of us. However, more money is needed. Of course I may not, like a clergyman, stand here and ask for financial contributions. However, I am delighted that it has been decided to do something practical in this connection. All of us were alarmed by the high death rate among young people in their productive years.

All that remains for me to do is to thank a few people. In the first place I am referring to my department. Quite a number of hon. members mentioned this wonderful annual report this evening. If there is one thing for which I want to thank my department, one thing which we may all be very proud of, it is this annual report. Of course that is not the only good thing they do. They do quite a number of other good things as well. I want to thank all of them, from the Secretary down, very much indeed. They work together as a team. They work hard, and are sometimes criticized. However, they cannot be criticized for being lazy. The criticism levelled at them will only be criticism because they sometimes want to do more than they need to do.

It is also a pleasure for me to mention that the head of the psychiatric services of our nursing services, Miss Iris Rӧscher, is also present here this evening. Quite a number of the officials of the department are also present here. Miss Rӧscher has had the distinction of recently being elected lady chairman of the Nursing Council. I want to congratulate her on her election, and tell all these officials that they are very welcome. I hope that they have enjoyed this debate with us. I enjoyed the debate, even when I had to argue with that old friend of ours. [Interjections.]

I do not know whether there are any hon. members who feel that I have not replied in full to their questions. Personally I think we have now come to the end of this debate. As far as I am concerned I want to thank everyone who participated very sincerely. I want to content myself with that. Oh, there is one man I have forgotten. It has suddenly occurred to me. It is a person who has made an exceptionally fine contribution, a contribution concerning the community and the relationship between parent and child as well as the pathological phenomena which we sometimes find in teenagers. He is a person who always makes a thorough study of things, a person with insight I am referring to the hon. member for Brits. I think it would have been very reprehensible of me if I had forgotten him. As far as I am concerned, he made one of the best contributions we have heard here this evening. I want to thank him very much.

Vote agreed to.

Vote No. 13.—“Social Welfare and Pensions”:

Mr. Chairman, one of the adjustments to the Cabinet which the hon. the Prime Minister effected, was to place two departments, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions, under one Minister. It was a very logical step, because the activities of these two departments are very similar. There is an interdependence which means that if they are placed under the control of one Minister, he is placed in a position to carry out his responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. I just want to thank the hon. the Minister, his Secretary and officials, wholeheartedly for the service they rendered to hon. members of the House, particularly hon. members of this party. When we receive inquiries about pension matters from constituents, and address those inquiries to officials of the department, we always receive a clear and thorough exposition of the situation. Unfortunately it is true, however, that in most cases they cannot offer these people any relief with regard to their pensions, but there is always a very clear and detailed answer enabling us to explain to the people in question what the situation in fact is.

I am convinced that the hon. the Minister feels dissatisfied and unhappy about the increases granted to pensioners in the latest budget. I think he believes those increases to be totally inadequate, bearing in mind the effect of the inflation rate on these people over the past few months and years. I want to express the hope, however, that the hon. the Minister will exert all possible pressure on the hon. the Minister of Finance to present increases in his budget next year which will really contribute towards solving the financial problems which these people have. Wherever one meets pensioners, one encounters the miserable circumstances in which some of them have to live and the problems which they have to contend with. The confusion one sometimes encounters among these people, is attributable to the fact that they simply cannot understand why the Government is not prepared to afford them more assistance in their old age when they are weak and there are no other resources for them to fall back on. There is always a great deal of confusion among these people and it is a very unfortunate situation in which the vast majority find themselves.

Very often they fail to understand how pension funds work, what the qualifications are, why specific problems exist, and why there are differences in the amounts of money paid out to people under different circumstances.

However, the biggest problem which these people face, is that of the means test For that reason I want to make yet another appeal to the hon. the Minister. I feel it is high time—and I believe South Africa can afford it—to do away with the means test once and for all. I believe it must be done. [Interjections.] The problems in connection with pensions are so farreaching. I know there are committees carrying out investigations at the moment, but I believe the time has now come for a commission of inquiry to go into the whole pension situation and to investigate all the aspects thoroughly and in detail. It must be clear that patchwork will no longer be sufficient and will not afford any solution to the problems which we are experiencing.

I just want to summarize and outline the social problems briefly, social problems which result from the present state of affairs. At the moment there is no legal obligation on business concerns to establish pension funds. As a matter of fact, of the 8 million active members of South Africa’s population in 1970, only 3 million belonged to pension funds. Five million of those people were not members. We can put it in another way too. 25% of those people who were on the staff of commercial concerns, belonged to pension funds, 10% to State pension funds, 4% to funds based on industrial contracts and 51% did not at any stage belong to pension funds.

Another very interesting statistic is that in 1973, for example, R209 billion was paid out in the form of pensions, of which R76,5 million consisted of nonrecurring cash payments. This is not money paid out to people on retirement, but money paid out to people merely because they changed jobs. I take it that that money was lost. I am convinced that the beneficiaries did not invest that money in another fund.

A further interesting statistic, is that 40% of the people receiving old-age pensions were members of a pension fund at some stage. The social problems arising from the present situation, are that in the first place, business concerns are under no legal obligation to establish pension funds, and in the second place, no legal provision has been made for the transfer of funds contributed by members. In other words, if a member changes his job, there is no legal provision for the transfer of funds contributed by that member. In most cases those funds are lost because of the fact that they are paid out to the person in the form of cash. Nor is there any legal obligation for the retention of funds contributed by that person. If they are not transferred, there is no provision for those funds to be retained by the existing pension fund.

There is no standard of minimum benefits in South Africa either. There is no recommendation, programme or outline of benefits that is, for example, recommended to bodies by the Government. I believe the Government must lay down certain minimum standards and that there should be a legal obligation for all pension funds and business concerns so that the minimum standards can be given full effect to. The benefits which exist at present as a result of the thousands of pension funds in South Africa are very divergent and cause a great deal of confusion among members of those pension funds.

Furthermore, people receive inadequate information when they are appointed or discharged or when they resign. They do not understand the implications of the funds, and are simply not capable of deciding what would be in their best interests under the circumstances.

Moreover, there is no body in South Africa representing pensioners and members of pension funds which could take care of their interests.

Very briefly, I believe this shows that there is ample room for improvement in South Africa as regards the pension system, the pension funds and the position of pensioners in South Africa. I believe these problems can never be solved effectively until the Government takes the necessary step of appointing a commissioner of inquiry to go into all the aspects once again. The commission must investigate and study the matter thoroughly and in depth so that proposals can be submitted to this House aimed at providing every working person in South Africa with pension cover which will take care of his interests and ensure that when he retires, or is prevented by accident or illness from making a living any longer, he will be fully and effectively covered so as not to become a burden to the State.

Mr. Chairman, just before I react to the speech by the hon. member for Bryanston, I should like to express, probably on behalf of all members of the House, my sincere sympathy with the chairman of our caucus group on Social Welfare and Pensions, the hon. member for Somerset East, who is recuperating in the Volks Hospital after a very serious operation. It would be appropriate for us in the House to convey our best wishes and offer our prayers for him and his family.

I listened to what the hon. member for Bryanston had to say in his short speech. There are certain aspects of what he said that I agree with. I also want to thank the Secretary and staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions very much for the extremely courteous and thorough manner in which they always receive us and help us when we—I am now talking on behalf of all hon. members in the House—bring problems in connection with our voters’ pensions and related matters to their attention. In the past few years the department has built up for itself a reputation as an extremely thorough department, a department with wide ramifications whose influence extends to the remotest comers of the country. In that way this department has built up a very fine image for itself. I also want to express my gratitude and appreciation at once to the hon. the Minister who is now handling two portfolios, Social Welfare and Pensions as well as Health, and is doing so very successfully, perhaps because these two departments essentially belong together. Without wishing to cause a flutter in the dove-cote now, one could say that it is perhaps a trial run for better rationalization in future, considering the excellent administrative rationalization programme which the hon. the Prime Minister announced.

I want to reply to a second matter which the hon. member for Bryanston raised. He called for better pensions for our elderly people. It is very easy to call for that—I and any other hon. member in the House could also ask for that—but the hon. member for Bryanston did not tell us where and how the financial means should be obtained to be able to make better provision for the aged. If one effects cuts at one point, it means one has to make additional provision at another. It would be a good thing if the PFP as the official Opposition, came back to earth for a change, and submitted practical, feasible proposals in the House on better pensions and their implementation. I know that thorough consideration is at present being given to this specific matter which I have just touched upon.

I think it is sheer foolishness to request the hon. the Minister to abolish the means test. This shows us that the hon. member for Bryanston does not have the foggiest notion of the financial structure of our national economy. I do not have time to pay more attention to that, apart from saying that as far as compulsory pensions are concerned, for every public servant and other worker in the country, there is a very clear tendency among the various bodies on a national level, tertiary level and other levels to insist on people of all the population groups joining the pension funds which are connected to their salary structures. This is a trend which is becoming very prominent and I find it strange that the hon. member for Bryanston has not noticed it yet.

The hon. member went on to say that no guidance is being given and that there ought to be minimum conditions that have to be met. It was one long diatribe about the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions. I regard it as a slap in the face of one particular council I wish to refer to, a council which is at present commemorating its fiftieth anniversary, viz. the S.A. National Council for the Aged. This council has in its constitution not only the structure and the way in which provision will be made for the elderly as regards the absolutely wide heterogeneous level over which we can spread our attention, but in the constitution which has been in existence since 1912, it also embodies benefits and conditions which apply to all races of the Republic. It is beyond my comprehension that only negative criticism is being levelled. This merely goes to show to me that the chief spokesman of the PFP on this Vote has a deplorable lack of knowledge of this subject. It is easy to ask for a commission of inquiry and for compulsory pensions, but to go into the practical implications is a different matter. However, I shall leave the hon. member at that.

There are very important matters which I still want to touch upon tonight. The first one is that I want to make the statement that South Africa is entering an era in which she will definitely have to pay a great deal of attention to our senior citizens, because there has been a tremendous growth in our elderly population over the last few years. The facts speak for themselves, and I shall just point out a few of them. Towards the end of 1977 10% of the White population was more than 60 years old. A projection for the coming 40 years, in other words until the year 2020, shows that 16% of the population will then be older than 60 years. In figures it means that there are 1 340 000 people over the age of 60 years in 1977—for the total population—while in 40 years’ time, in other words, in the year 2020, there will be almost 6 million such people. Now the question arises: Is South Africa ready to cope with this situation today and in future? Then we must also bear in mind that the elderly do not constitute a homogeneous group. In many respects they are a heterogeneous group with differences in background, in economic circumstances, in their state of health, in age, in sex, etc. If we consider the total population, however, we shall have to consider the total situation in which they live in order to render a comprehensive service to the elderly people of South Africa.

I have just paid tribute to the S.A. National Council for the Aged, but I also want to pay tribute to the work which this council with all its affiliated bodies is doing for all race groups throughout the Republic, particularly—I mention this specifically—because the PFP alleges that the Government is only looking after the Whites and not after all the inhabitants of the Republic. I also want to pay tribute to what is being done for our elderly people by the various churches, the welfare organizations and the numerous other bodies operating in this field and that deserve the highest praise of this House.

If we ask for services to be rendered, particularly by the South African National Council for the Aged, and the other institutions to which I have just referred, housing is important. There are also services like meals-on-wheels, which is a great relief to many aged people living under difficult conditions. There is also assistance at home when the elderly person is sick. Service centres are rapidly being established all over the country. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I just rise to afford the hon. member an opportunity of continuing with his speech.

Mr. Chairman, I should like to express my sincere gratitude to the hon. member for Mooi River, for this friendly offer.

If we were to consider the patients of the Groote Schuur Hospital, we would find that 40% of them are more than 60 years old. This, in my opinion, is a fairly average figure which can be accepted with regard to hospitals throughout the country.

I am proud to say tonight that during the past ten to 12 years, the State has built more than 200 homes for the aged, with sick-bay facilities of more than 20 000 beds.

On the other hand there is a new tendency developing among the elderly—this is a matter which I personally support—in that they provide for their old age themselves by joining schemes in terms of which they can deposit a certain sum so as to be provided with housing facilities in their old age. This also applies to the day when they will be admitted to homes as infirm aged. A few old-age homes which I visited, reminded me of hotels and I think the infirm aged admitted to those homes will, in their most difficult circumstances until the end, have no problems there. I believe the department deserves to be commended for the tremendous enthusiasm with which they set about this task. The department has for a long time now been just a complaints department, a place where one goes to moan and groan about welfare problems.

I know of various projects which are in full swing, which are planned and which have been realized, but I should like to refer to one in my constituency in particular, viz. the Sonop Settlement. This settlement is going to be completely reconstructed. This settlement not only offers housing to elderly people of more than 60 years of age who are physically and mentally healthy, but also to medically unfit people, including elderly people. In spite of their problems, these people are being utilized in a productive, functional and efficient manner. This is an aspect which I want to mention to the Secretary and to the hon. the Minister in particular tonight, because it is of great importance to the constituents of Brits, and we are all very proud of it and grateful for it.

Apart from the approximately 300 old-age homes subsidized by the State, there are another 84 private old-age homes that have been registered under the provisions of Act No. 81 of 1967. These old-age homes provide an additional 3 000 beds. If we consider the value of these homes and institutions, there are a few people in particular who deserve our gratitude and appreciation tonight. In this regard I call to mind the nursing staff of these homes in particular. According to the annual report of the department there were almost 8 900 infirm aged in 1977 of whom 7 700 required the daily assistance of a nurse.

It is a privilege for me tonight to be able to mention that the department is also engaged in an enormous programme of establishing places of employment for the handicapped. These places of employment are mainly for the handicapped who live in the community and who can work independently without having to be taken up by institutions. There is also the existing institutions for adult handicapped people with facilities where they can do protective work. There are also sheltered employment factories which are administered by the Department of Labour and not by the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions.

In my opinion there is another very important aspect which should be borne in mind if we want to understand the problems of the aged. I believe it also applies to the problems of the handicapped in our society. In spite of their handicap, they have as strong an urge as anyone of us to create something productive and to accomplish something. This is the aspect which the department is devoting special attention to in its planning and provision of services to these people. Suitable employment opportunities are created for them and for that reason these opportunities are regarded as extremely important in the lives of these seriously handicapped people and become indispensable to them.

There is a beautiful partnership between the Government and the community. The department is of the opinion that the objectives with places of sheltered employment in the community could best be achieved if they were undertaken by welfare organizations for the handicapped with State assistance. These organizations know their clients best and are usually in close touch with their real circumstances and needs.

What I want to say now, is very important and is aimed in particular at the hon. members of the official Opposition. It is in fields like these, but also in the wide spectrum of welfare work that the National Welfare Act of 1978 offers full opportunity to all organizations to come to full fruition and serve the whole community as well as every group in the community.

It can quite rightly be asked who is being taken care of in this case. Among these handicapped we shall find people who are mentally retarded as a result of birth problems, inter alia. There will be cerebral palsied and we shall find people with mental handicaps, physical handicaps, people who have perambulatory problems and people in wheelchairs. So we cannot expect the department to build an institution and its own working and living quarters for each category. For that reason provision is made for multihandicapped groups. I envisaged that these places of sheltered employment will develop the working abilities of some handicapped to such an extent that they will subsequently be capable of entering the open labour market. I regard that as a very important and real objective to be aimed at.

These places of employment have a dual task. The first is social. Places of employment must be created for these handicapped people which will suit their physical and mental needs and capabilities. The second point is economical. A business concern must be run on business principles. These people should not feel that they have been stationed in a particular place permanently but should feel that they are still contributing in a productive way to the welfare of the RSA. That is why I said just now that the department was no longer a place for complaints and a department with a negative stigma clinging to it. We are dealing here with effective production methods and functional efficiency so as to compete on a profitable basis on the open market In this respect the RSA need take second place to any country in the world. I have personally visited similar places abroad and in spite of all the problems we have and the millions of people we have to provide for, I am convinced and can say it to the House that we need not take second place to the rest of the world.

Perhaps it is interesting if I just mention that according to the latest figures at my disposal, viz. those of 1977, there are 27 such homes catering for 122 handicapped people. In 1975 there were only 17 homes catering for 678 handicapped people. Is that not progress? I wonder when hon. members of the PFP will notice it. There are also workers from the rural areas who work in homes in the cities during the week and return to their people over the weekends.

The State is also doing its share in respect of subsidies. A great deal was said by Opposition members about subsidies tonight. Since 1975 to the end of 1977 they have increased from R238 000 to R745 000.

I do not want to elaborate on the pensions for our civil pensioners, ex-servicemen and military pensioners again. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, the hon. member for Brits has dealt with a wide variety of subjects. Certainly, when the Vote of the hon. the Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions is discussed here in the House, one attempts to cover a very wide field, because there are so many matters that have to be raised during the course of this particular debate. However, I intend to address myself to certain aspects of this Vote. Before doing so, I should like to welcome the hon. the Minister to his new position. This is the first occasion upon which he handles this particular Vote here in the House. Those of us who were in the House some years ago still remember him as the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions. We hope he will remain in his present post for a considerable time so that he will be able to put into effect the ideas and plans he might have in order to bring about a better deal in the social welfare and pensions set-up in South Africa. We would also like to associate ourselves with the words of gratitude expressed to the officials of the department. We in these benches have also found the officials of the department most cooperative whenever we seek their assistance in solving problems that arise from time to time.

The position regarding the senior citizens of South Africa has received a great deal of attention. However, it is still causing a great deal of concern. I do not wish to raise this in a political sense. I do not want to try to allege that the Government has done nothing or is doing very little in alleviating the position of some of our senior citizens. It is generally accepted that, in the time in which we live, with the rapid increase in the inflation rate and in the cost of living, with the erosion of the savings of people who had made some provision for their old age, many of them are now facing a dilemma, their position being aggravated by the reduction in the rates of interest announced recently. Vast numbers of those people have their lives’ savings invested in building societies, and we know that the trend in the rates of interest at the present time is a downward one. Therefore, they do face the serious situation of having a drop in income from their own resources. Then there is also the predicament of those who just fail to qualify for a social pension. These people are now being placed in extremely difficult circumstances.

The National Council for the Aged, in its latest report, indicates the problems that exist. I quote from page 11 of that report—

This is the view held by a council which coordinates a large number of organizations caring for the aged. Consequently we are being faced with the fact that many of these people will have to seek some form of assistance from some quarter. Obviously, they have to look to the Government, and in particular to this hon. Minister, whose task it will be to try to obtain additional funds from the hon. the Minister of Finance. In this respect, I believe, it is imperative that something should be done in order to assist those people who have made some provision for their old age.

Here I refer in particular to the restrictions in respect of the means test. We all know that the limits of the means test have remained unaltered for many years. Since October 1972 the income limit in respect of a single or unmarried person has been R82 per month. Consequently, with the pegging in terms of the means test, and with the later pension increases, it means that the gap between those who just qualify and those who just fail to qualify has become even greater, particularly over the last seven years.

This is not really logical when one considers that the means plus pension limitation is R130 per month, which means that someone with a private income of R42 per month can receive a maximum pension of R88 per month, while someone receiving a ceiling income of R82 per month can receive a pension of R48 per month, totalling an amount of R130 per month. By pegging this income limit we now have the situation in which a number of people exceeding the ceiling income of R82 per month and receiving less than the maximum social pension of R88 per month, cannot receive any assistance whatsoever and cannot qualify for it at all. It is further compounded by the fact that there are people who receive slight adjustments from time to time. This results in a considerable loss of income to them should they lose their social pension. I refer, for instance, to pensioners receiving a military disability pension. These people have lately received pension increases.

Special steps will have to be taken to ensure that those who are also receiving war veteran’s pensions, while their wives are receiving old-age pensions, will have those pensions protected. Similarly, in the case of private pensions, we have the situation in which firms are granting increases to their pensioners. Many of them have received low level pensions over a long period. However, it is now found that by increasing the pensions paid to those pensioners they are actually being penalized because they are now worse off than before. It even happens that people in sheltered employment and disability pensioners receive an increase in their emoluments only to find thereafter that they lose their disability pensions because their income now exceeds the means test limits.

This is the one aspect to which I hope the hon. the Minister will give his attention. The situation will have to be alleviated because it is an immediate problem to many of these people. In dealing with short-term solutions ways and means should be devised of giving assistance to those who still have to live and make ends meet in spite of the very small incomes they receive. They are constantly faced with increases in the cost of living, especially in the light of the phasing out of rent control, a factor which again aggravates their predicament. This means that an additional demand will be made on our various organizations which provide accommodation for the aged. These institutions will have to cater on an ever-increasing scale for aged people who do not receive social pensions, particularly since their need is so great.

The anomalies that exist in respect of the means test are numerous. In the short time at my disposal I do not intend to enumerate them here. However, we do find that there is a great disparity between those who receive a small pension and those who have their capital invested in various assets. War veterans receive an extra R10 per month in the case of Whites, R5 in the case of Coloureds or Indians, and R2,50 in the case of Blacks. I hope the hon. the Minister will give his attention to this matter because this particular situation has also remained static for a long time.

The whole question of the means test, of course, revolves around finance. Hon. members opposite always reminds us of the question: Where will the money come from, and how will this be financed? We were encouraged some years ago when the then Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions appointed a committee to investigate the feasibility of a contributory pension scheme, known as the South African Pension Scheme. We also know that the hon. the Minister has appointed an interdepartmental committee to investigate that particular aspect further. We hope that the hon. the Minister will, in the not too distant future, come forward with some good news in this regard, particularly in respect of the transferability and preservation of pension benefits. The introduction of such a South African contributory pension scheme, I believe, is of the utmost importance. Why it is so important is because it will solve one of the serious problems, viz. the question of the means test. It is obvious that if one has a contributory pension scheme covering all people it would mean that the means test could be abolished. The means test could only be abolished, however, if such a contributory pension scheme is introduced.

It would also mean that the discrimination among the various race groups in respect of the application of the means test—which, at the moment, is still on a ratio of 4:2:1—would also be eliminated. It is surely the present-day policy of the Government to see to it that discrimination of that nature is eliminated. The pension gap between the various race groups would also fall away if the benefits to be paid could be based on the level of income earned. There too, another difficulty that has arisen in respect of the narrowing of the pension gap, will also fall away if a person’s pension is based on the level of income he receives when he reaches the retirement age. Furthermore, with the introduction of such a South African contributory pension scheme, more funds would become available, something which would in turn provide a degree of security, which is so sadly lacking at the present time. I believe that our country’s senior citizens of all race groups can, under the present system, only view the future with a great deal of fear and trepidation. [Time expired.]

Mr. Chairman, I should just like to refer briefly to one aspect of the treatment of our aged. The factual situation is that old-age homes are being occupied to an increasing extent by the infirm aged, and the problem with which we have to contend, is to keep the aged in the community as far as possible. In that connection I want to refer in particular to geriatrics or the geriatric services as such. Before I start I just want to define the concept briefly. The term “geriatrics” embraces the specific medical aspect of the clinical and social care of the aged. In other words, geriatrics deals with problems of ageing on the basis of gerontological knowledge. On the one hand it covers the prevention and treatment of diseases, and on the other the promotion of health at an advanced age. English literature would regard it as “adding life to the years of the aged”. As one person describes it—

The basic premise that they should be helped and enabled to maintain their independence for as long as possible, to remain living in the normal community and to live a meaningful life, is meeting with more and more acceptance. Therefore effective health services have to form a very important part of any care programme for the aged.

Until recently it was still being said in South Africa that the provision of services to the aged, to keep them in the community as far as possible, was being held in abeyance. However, I feel that the department is at the centre of the positive approach which is gaining ground and that considerable progress has been made and will continue to be made. I just want to refer, inter alia, to a study in which the following is indicated—

It goes on to say—

Having undertaken a study tour in England, Dr. Spencer said, inter alia, the following—

If one examines the statistics, one sees that the number of aged has, in fact, increased, chiefly as a result of children’s diseases being effectively combatted. There are, however, a few interesting particulars which relate specifically to the aged. In 1920 the life expectancy of 60-year-old men—i.e. life expectancy after the age of 60—was approximately 15 years. In 1960, i.e. 40 years later, the figure was still approximately 15 years. There was no increase. That of 60-year-old women was increased from approximately 16 years to 18 years during the same period, i.e. an increase of two years. Therefore, the considerable increase in the life expectancy of Whites at birth during the aforementioned period was mainly attributable to reducing the mortality rate among infants and juveniles, and not to an increase in the life expectancy in their old age. Therefore, hon. members can see that, as far as the provision of health or geriatric services to the older people are concerned, we cannot really boast of having made much progress. In recent years, however, an awareness of the necessity to take action and of the comprehensive nature of the service, which includes welfare services and various other services, has emerged. In this regard I just want to refer to a symposium which was held last week at Tygerberg Hospital, which has a geriatric clinic. At the moment, this clinic has more than 1 000 patients and after the patients have been in hospital, they are paid up to two visits by trained persons at their homes and after that the patients visit the clinic again. Therefore, we find here a multi-disciplinary foundation involving other organizations such as the National Council for the Aged, the Christelike Maatskaplike Raad and, in this case, possibly the Cape Town Health Department as well, the divisional council, day hospital organizations, etc. Patients are visited at home and at present we find that the hospitals are also training nurses in geriatrics, and we also find that these clinics are supported in every case by specialists and people associated with the hospital.

In conclusion I want to say that there are various hospitals that provide these services and that the department also pays these service centres a subsidy for these particular geriatric clinics and the type of health services which are developed and sustained. Chiropodial services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing services are provided. Furthermore there are the assisting clinics to which reference has been made. Health guidance is provided, and there are also after-care services in which a comprehensive service is provided by various organizations in the department. I believe that there will be considerable progress in this regard in future. We know that there are 14 of these service centres in the large city centres at present, that these clinics will be developed, and that this complete service in which the various disciplines are assembled, will also be developed to the benefit of our aged.

Mr. Chairman, I gladly associate myself with the hon. member for South Coast, who discussed the care of our aged. This probably remains one of our important welfare services and it is probably true that a State can never detach itself from this service. In the past, the State has had to accept co-responsibility in this regard, and probably, it will have to do so in the future as well. To detach itself completely from this responsibility could probably not happen very easily. There will always be those who, in their old age, will have to rely on the assistance and care provided by the State and other bodies, and who will have to do so owing to circumstances, sometimes completely beyond their control. For that reason it is also necessary for the State to give periodic attention not only to the care of the aged, but also to the accommodation of the aged in particular. The part which the State plays, with regard to accommodation in particular, is accepted as a matter of course. The view is held that the State simply has to help and has to provide the finance.

In the first place it is certainly a family responsibility to care for the aged. It is certainly true that the care and financial support, if necessary, should in the first place be a family affair. The child remains primarily responsible for his or her aged parent, just as the parent is initially responsible for the education and care of his child. I know that there are circumstances which render it impossible for the couple to care for their aged parents. These are circumstances which are created by certain factors peculiar to each family, but they should be the exception and not the rule. The parent remains part of the family as long as is humanly possible. To make this possible and to encourage this to a larger extent, I should consequently like to see the rebate on income tax for dependents being increased. At present a secondary rebate not exceeding R250 can be claimed. To my mind this amount can be increased considerably. I believe that a maximum amount of R500 is neither far-fetched nor unrealistically high. It can and will have the effect of increasing the number of families who will accept the responsibility of caring for the aged.

However, I also want to avail myself of this opportunity to pay tribute to our old-age homes in which our aged are cared for with so much love, sacrifice and dedication and are provided with accommodation.

There are three old-age homes in my constituency. The one is Mothusa Haven, a lovely, well-equipped old-age home under the control and supervision of the Mothwa, the wives of ex-servicemen. It is a magnificent place, not luxurious and pretentious, but beautiful in its simplicity and warmth. It has a sick-bay which was completed two years ago with the assistance of a loan from the Department of Community Development. The residents are fine people who are cared for in a wonderful way by an exceptionally enthusiastic staff. The staff are under the guidance of one of the most capable women as far as care of the aged is concerned. Not only in Pretoria, but throughout the country she is known as an outstanding person in the field of care of the aged. I am referring to Mrs. Leach. A group of aged who are under the supervision and control of such a person, is indeed a fortunate group. The second one is the Emily Hobhouse Old-age Home, a small, warm place for older women which functions under the control of one of our churches. These aged are also cared for by well trained nurses and a matron. Sister Badenhorst and her staff do wonderful, fine work.

Hear, hear!

She is not related to the hon. member for Oudtshoorn. The Pretoria City Council also contributes its share to the provision of accommodation to the aged, chiefly in the form of pleasant and neat houses of a smaller kind in which a husband and wife who have been spared for each other, can spend their old age. As far as I know, there are four such complexes in Pretoria; in the constituency of Hercules, in Koedoespoort and then in my constituency of Gezina. The name of the complex in my constituency is Silwerkroon. It consists of 84 units—84 houses—in which 84 families can live and enjoy themselves. Oos-Moot in Koedoespoort is easily as large. However, these people have real problems which I should like to bring to the attention of the hon. the Minister. At the two first-mentioned old-age homes in my constituency, viz. Mothwa Haven and Emily Hobhouse, one has staff in control of the homes and the residents, as far as their daily needs are concerned, receive assistance from this staff and are looked after by them. At Silwerkroon and other similar old-age homes the inhabitants have to rely on their own resources. They are self-sufficient and have to go and do their own shopping, have to pay their own water and electricity bills and go and fetch their pensions at the post office themselves. All of them are no longer physically capable of doing this. They are dependent on bus transport. To them it is a whole exodus, and all of them do not qualify for free bus transport in Pretoria.

Now I should like to suggest the following thought to the hon. the Minister: At Silwerkroon there is a large hall which is part of that complex. Is it not possible for the department to negotiate with the Post Office to send an official to that hall every month to allow the pension payments to take place there? I know of the arrangement of one person being given authority, as happened also in the case of Mothwa Haven, to go and draw everyone’s pension and then to pay it over to them. At this other type of complex consisting of small houses, there is no staff who can do this, and one cannot expect one neighbour being willing to accept responsibility for another. The risk involved is too great for the old people. However, if the payment of their pensions can take place in the hall, it would be possible for all of them to go there, to receive their money and no exodus will be necessary. If such an arrangement can be made, it will be possible to make further arrangements with the Pretoria City Council—and I undertake to proceed with these negotiations—to send an official on the same day so that the old people may be afforded the opportunity of paying their water and electricity bills and their rental there. I know that this is perhaps asking a great deal. I also know that precedents may most probably be created, but I ask for the elimination of the unnecessary and sometimes impossible exoduses of the aged people living at Silwerkroon and in similar complexes have to make.

Chairman directed to report progress and ask leave to sit again.

House Resumed:

Progress reported and leave granted to sit again.

Mr. Speaker, I move—

Agreed to.