National Assembly - 03 June 2003
TUESDAY, 3 JUNE 2003 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
_____
The House met at 14:05.
The Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.
HORRIFIC DEATH OF BABY IN PIT LATRINE
(Draft Resolution)
Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes -
(a) and mourns the horrific death of a four-month-old baby in Kwa
Msane in KwaZulu-Natal;
(b) that the body of the baby boy was retrieved by police from a pit
latrine and is suspected to have been in the toilet for 24
hours;
(c) that the baby's mother was arrested and has been charged with
murder;
(d) that it is alleged that the mother did not receive a child grant
and could not maintain her son, possibly driving her to kill her
baby; and
(e) that there has been great improvement on the spectrum of child
grants and that we may ask: Can we do more?; and
(2) calls upon all to reach every corner of our community to help those in need.
Agreed to.
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House -
(1) notes that -
(a) the international community marked 1 June as International
Children's Day, highlighting the need to defend and uphold the
rights of children, especially the girl child; and
(b) through this day we also seek to highlight the plight of
children in conflict situations - especially child soldiers and
the millions of children who are trapped in poverty;
(2) believes that society has a responsibility to create a caring environment and build a safe and secure future for all children; and
(3) calls on the people of South Africa to work for a better future for all the children of the world.
Agreed to.
MOTION OF CONDOLENCE
(The late Mr Rudi Heine)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, I hereby move the following motion, printed on the Order Paper in the name of the Leader of the Opposition:
That the House -
(1) notes with deep regret and sadness the sudden death of the hon Rudi Heine, MP, who passed away on 29 May 2003 at the age of 68;
(2) acknowledges him as a man of leadership in both politics and business, having served as President of SACOB before his entry into parliamentary politics in 1999 where he served on the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises; (3) remembers him as a colleague who had friends in all communities across the colour and language divide and in all parties, and as a man of great warmth and generosity of spirit; and
(4) expresses its deepest sympathies to his wife, Entronette, his daughters and his grandchildren.
The LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Madam Speaker, colleagues, Deputy President, we mourn today the death and celebrate the life of our dear friend and colleague, Rudi Heine. Rudi served with distinction as a member of this Parliament from KwaZulu-Natal, representing Zululand, and as the DA spokesperson on public enterprises.
Rudi Heine het op sy stil, rustige en wyse manier diens gelewer aan sy omgewing, in die sakewêreld, in die gemeenskapslewe en ook in die politiek. [In his quiet, calm and wise way Rudi Heine rendered service to his environment, in the business world, in community life as well as in politics.]
Rudi enjoyed a public life that was as broad as it was deep. He was born in the town of Frankfort in the Free State. He went to Heidelberg High School and matriculated in 1952. After an initial career in banking, he joined Sanlam in 1970 and rose to become its business development manager. He retired at the end of 1996, after 26 years of service.
He was not just a businessman, he displayed a leadership in business that was as consistent as it was meritorious. It is noteworthy that he was not simply a collector of titles, and a holder of offices. He used his leadership to build bridges and to break down barriers.
Daarom is dit geen verrassing dat toe hy in 1989 as die President van die Durbanse Sakekamer verkies is, hy die eerste Afrikaanssprekende persoon was wat hierdie posisie in die organisasie se 137-jarige bestaan beklee het nie. In 1995 toe hy aangewys is as die President van die Suid-Afrikaanse Besigheidskamer, SACOB, was hy dan ook die eerste Afrikaanssprekende persoon om hierdie posisie te beklee. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[It was therefore no surprise that when he was elected President of the Durban Chamber of Business in 1989, he was the first Afrikaans-speaking person to hold this post in the 137-year old organisation. In 1995, when he was designated President of the SA Chamber of Business, SACOB, he was also the first Afrikaans-speaking person to hold this post.]
Rudi also used his business leadership to build bridges across the great chasms that existed in apartheid South Africa. He actively served in, and enthusiastically supported, the recommendations of the KwaZulu-Natal Indaba, which appeared like a bright shaft of light during the long dark night of apartheid violence and the state of emergency which wracked and engulfed Natal in the 1980s.
If business was his life, then education and the environment were his passions. He served, variously, on the boards of Unisa, the Mangosuthu Technikon and the Natal Parks’ Board, where he achieved the office of vice chairman.
Rudi tackled his parliamentary career with all the enthusiasm and energy that he had brought to bear in his previous work. Although fiercely partisan in the DP, and later the DA cause, it could truly be said that he was a man who believed public service was a noble calling. He practised the dictum of Lincoln that we should at all times have ``charity towards all and malice towards none’’.
His greatest belief, perhaps, was that it was better to have one smile for the living than a fountain of tears for the dead. Who can forget his crinkly smile, his twinkling eyes, and his belief that even the fiercest argument or political dispute was best settled over a drink at Barney’s in the Marks Building at the end of the day’s sitting.
Rudi was a paid-up subscriber to the Biblical injunction in Deuteronomy 13:19: ``I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, choose life.’’ He was that breed of whom South Africa is in great need: the optimist. And in the end it is always the optimists who win, not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Rudi believed that dedicated, wide-eyed open optimism pays, and that pessimism can only offer the empty consolation of being right.
I can say, without fear of appeal, that Parliament and all parties need more Rudi Heines. We need more people who pursue public life with his infectious enthusiasm, and who believe that a get-up-and-go attitude in South Africa will always trump a sit-back-and-wait-for-it approach.
When Rudi died suddenly last Thursday, it was because his great spirit was not matched by a strong heart. And yet in life, and now in death, it is his big-heartedness for which we will remember him.
Shakespeare wrote in Henry V:
A good leg will fall; a straight back will stoop; a black beard will turn white; a curled pate will grow bald; a fair face will wither; a full eye will wax hollow: but a good heart, is the sun and the moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon; for it shines bright, and never changes, but keeps his course truly.
Rudi kept his course true and fair. Rudi leaves his dear wife, Entronette, four loving daughters and three heartbroken grandchildren. The family has asked me to say the following:
Sonder hom is ons lewens armer: dié van sy vrou, kinders en kleinkinders, wie vir Oupie en sy terg en grappies baie gaan mis. Ons is jammer hy is so vinnig van ons weggeneem, maar ons vind troos daarin dat hy sy lewe voluit geleef het, en bereik het wat hy hom ten doel gestel het, en daarvoor is ons die Hemelse Vader dankbaar. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Without him our lives are poorer: those of his wife, children and grandchildren, who will miss Oupie and his teasing and jokes very much. We are sad that he was taken from us so quickly, but we also find it a consolation that he lived his life to the full, and achieved the objectives he had set himself, and for that we thank our Heavenly Father.]
Wanneer ons in die Parlement dus nou afskeid neem van ons geliefde Rudi Heine, dink ons terug aan die vreugde van sy samesyn met ons, en wil ons amper in protes saam met Eugène Marais weeklaag: [Therefore, while we are now bidding farewell in Parliament to our beloved Rudi Heine, we think back on the joy of having him with us, and we almost want to lament in protest with Eugène Marais:]
‘n Druppel gal is in die soetste wyn, ‘n traan is op elk’ vrolik’ snaar, in elke lag ‘n sug van pyn, in elke roos ‘n dowwe blaar.
Thank you. [Applause.]
Mnr J H VAN DER MERWE: Agb Speaker, die IVP ondersteun graag die mosie en ons het ook met groot skok en pyn kennis geneem van die skielike afsterwe van ons kollega, Rudi Heine. Graag vereenselwig ons ons met die pragtige woorde wat mnr Leon uitgespreek het, en ons treur ook saam met Rudi se dierbares.
Rudi was in een opsig ‘n besondere mens. Hy was ‘n ouboet. Ons Afrikaners ken die mooi posisie in ‘n gesin - die oudste broer wat vir pa en ma instaan as hulle nie daar is nie en wat na die ander kinders omsien. By ouboet kan jy gaan kla, gunste vra, simpatie soek. Ouboet is geduldig, verstandig en behulpsaam.
Rudi was een van die Parlement se ouboets. Hy was ‘n dierbare ouer persoon na wie jonges kon gaan om raad te vra, te kla of hulp te vra. Sy persoonlikheid het ver oor politieke grense heen gestrek. Die Parlement is ‘n ouboet kwyt; ‘n besondere ouboet. Hy laat ‘n groot leemte. Ons sal jou mis, Ouboet Rudi. Jy moet mooi loop. Hamba kahle Baba. Go well, Ouboet. Tata, Rudi. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Hon Speaker, the IFP would like to support the motion and we have also noted with shock and pain the sudden death of our colleague, Rudi Heine. We would like to associate ourselves with the beautiful words expressed by Mr Leon, and we also mourn with Rudi’s loved- ones.
Rudi was a special person in one respect. He was an older brother. We Afrikaners know the fine position in a family - the older brother who takes the place of father and mother when they are not there and who looks after the other children. One can take one’s complaints to an older brother, ask him for favours, look for sympathy. An older brother is patient, wise and helpful.
Rudi was one of Parliament’s older brothers. He was a kind older person to whom the young people could go to ask for advice, to complain or to ask for help. His personality far transcended political boundaries. Parliament has lost an older brother; a special older brother. He leaves a big gap. We shall miss you, Ouboet Rudi. You must go well. Hamba kahle Baba. Go well, Ouboet. Goodbye Rudi.]
Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD: Mevrou die Speaker, somtyds in ‘n mens se lewe dan kom daar mense oor jou lewenspad en van die oomblik wat jy hulle ontmoet maak hulle ‘n indruk op jou, en is jy bly dat jy die voorreg gehad het om daardie betrokke persoon te kon ken. [Madam Speaker, sometimes in a person’s life people across one’s path in life, and from the moment one meets them they make an impression and one is glad to have had the privilege to know the person concerned.]
This was the case with Rudi Heine. From the first moment I personally met Rudi, we became friends. So today as I am standing here on behalf of the New NP, it is not only on behalf of my party but also on behalf of myself that I am saying this: Rudi was a friend. Rudi was a colleague. When I learnt of Rudi’s death on Thursday, I sat there with another friend, Mike Ellis. We just reminisced for a few moments here in the benches about our friend who had passed away.
Not only have we lost a friend, but we have lost a colleague whom I had the opportunity of serving with at one stage in the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises and he was a man who, when he was set on a cause, would pursue that cause. And he was a difficult customer - I believe the chair of the committee would agree with us - trying to protect that in which he believed.
At the end of the day, I just want to say that this Parliament and those of us who knew him were honoured and privileged to know Rudi Heine better than just as a colleague. We will miss him and we believe that he has left us with an example of that which should also be predominant here: When we walk out that door, we are friends and colleagues in Parliament, and not opposition members in political parties.
Ek wil vir jou al die eer daarvoor gee. Ek dank u. [Applous.] [I want to give you all the credit for that. I thank you. [Applause.]]
Mnr A BLAAS: Speaker, die ACDP vereenselwig hom heelhartig met hierdie mosie. Ons bring graag hulde aan Rudi, ‘n baie besondere mens en ‘n baie spesiale vriend. Ons wil ook graag ons hartseer uitspreek en deel in die beproewing van sy gesin en familie.
Om ‘n vriendskap met Rudi te kon deel, was ‘n baie besondere voorreg. Dit was onselfsugtig en onvoorwaardelik. Dit is ‘n vriendskap wat hy met sy hele wese gegee het. So het hy ook teenoor sy gesin opgetree. Hy het leiding gegee en verseker dat hulle beskerm en versorg is. In die gemeenskap waar hy betrokke was, het hierdie selfde reëls gegeld. Met sy rustige maar ferm optrede het hy veral in die sakewêreld voor geloop en onuitwisbare spore getrap. As kollega in die Parlement was hy gewaardeerd vir sy deelname en sy konstruktiewe bydraes. Rudi het gedeel met almal om hom. ‘n Grappie hier ‘n woord van aanmoediging daar, en goeie raad as hy daarvoor gevra is. Deur sy respek vir ander het hy respek afgedwing.
Ons innige meegevoel gaan aan sy gesin, sy vrou, sy kinders, sy kleinkinders en ander familielede. Die verlies is groot. Die hartseer is diep. Ons deel met julle. Mag die Almagtige Here in sy mildelike liefde vir julle die krag gee om julle deur hierdie beproewing te dra. Ou Rudi, ons gaan jou mis. Rus in vrede. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.) [Mr A BLAAS: Speaker, the ACDP wholly identifies with this motion. We would like to pay tribute to Rudi, an exceptional person and a very special friend. We would also like to express our grief, and share in the tribulations of his family and relatives.
It was a very special privilege to be able to share a friendship with Rudi. It was unselfish and unconditional. It was a friendship that he gave with his whole being. He also related to his family in that way. He guided them and made sure that they were protected and taken care of. The same rules applied in the community in which he was involved. With his quiet yet firm behaviour he was a leader, especially in the business world, and made a lasting impression. As a colleague in Parliament he was valued for his participation and constructive contributions. Rudi shared with everybody around him. A little joke here, a word of encouragement there, and good advice when he was asked for it. On account of his respect for others he commanded respect.
Our condolences go to his family, his wife, his children, his grandchildren and other family members. The loss is great. The sorrow is intense. We share it with you. May the abundant love of Almighty God grant you the strength to carry you through this ordeal. Rudi, old chap, we are going to miss you. Rest in peace. [Applause.]]
Mr G T MADIKIZA: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and members, it is sad to say farewell to a member of this House. Every long- standing member who departs does so with a wealth of experience and knowledge that can never be fully replaced.
The UDM extends its condolences to the late Mr Heine’s family, friends and colleagues. Your loss is profound and we can only say that our prayers are with you. Though we may not always have agreed on matters of policy, I can honestly say that Mr Heine was a dedicated and vocal voice for his constituency and his party’s policies. Therefore he played his part in this House where all voices must be heard, and he played it very well.
Dr C P MULDER: Agb Mevrou die Speaker, agb Adjunkpresident, dit is goed en reg dat ons in hierdie Parlement die gebruik het om tot stilstand te kom en hulde te bring aan ons kollegas as hulle ons ontslaap. Ek wil namens die VF ons ondersteuning uitspreek vir die mosie van roubeklag vir ons kollega. Ons kan ons ten volle daarmee assosieer en ons ondersteun dit baie graag.
Ek wil ook namens die VF ons opregte meelewing en simpatie uitspreek teenoor kollega Rudi Heine se vrou en vier dogters en sy kleinkinders. Ook aan sy party waarin hy gedien het, ons simpatie en meelewing. U het ‘n groot en ‘n sterk kollega verloor. U sal die slag wat u party getref het wat dit betref, sekerlik aanvoel en ons wil u sterkte toewens daarmee.
Ek sal van kollega Rudi Heine iets spesifieks onthou en ek dink kollegas sal met my saamstem dat/dit sy vriendelikheid was. Hy het nooit by jou verby gestap sonder om ‘n grappie te maak, stil te staan, bietjie te gesels of te kuier nie. Dit het van hom uitgestraal en dit is so dat ‘n persoon wat so deur die lewe gaan en vriendelikheid uitstraal, iemand is wat rustigheid in sy hart het, gemoedsrus het en weet waar hy heen gaan.
Ek wil namens die VF sy gesin baie sterkte toewens. Mag ons Hemelse Vader u vertroos in die tye wat vir u voorlê. Dit mag vir u moeilike tye wees, maar wees getroos, u man, u eggenoot en u oupa was ‘n besondere mens en die Parlement staan vandag stil en ons eer sy nagedagtenis. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Dr C P MULDER: Hon Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, it is only right that we in this Parliament have the tradition of having a moment of reflection to honour our colleagues who have passed away. On behalf of the FF, I want to express our support for the motion of condolence for our colleague. We can associate fully with the motion therefore would like to support it.
I also want to express the sincere sympathy of the FF towards Rudi Heine’s wife, four daughters and grandchildren. Our sympathy and condolences also go to the party in which he served. You have lost a great and strong colleague. You will most definitely feel the loss you have suffered and we wish you well.
I shall always remember something specific about Rudi Heine, and I think colleagues will agree with me that it was his friendliness. He would never walk past you without cracking a joke, lingering a while, talking a bit or spending some time. It emanated from him and it is so that a person who goes through life in this way and emanates friendliness, is someone with tranquillity in his heart, who has peace of mind and knows where he is going.
On behalf of the FF we wish his family well. May our Heavenly Father comfort you in the time that lies ahead. It might be hard times for you, but find comfort in the knowledge that your husband, your spouse and your grandfather was an exceptional man and Parliament reflects a moment to salute his memory.]
Dr A I VAN NIEKERK: Agb Speaker, agb AdjunkPresident, dit was vir my ‘n voorreg om Rudi Heine te ken. Ek dink Rudi Heine is seker een van die min mense in die wêreld wat nie vyande gehad het nie. Selfs al het jy van hom verskil, het jy tog van hom gehou. Dit was sy geaardheid, dit was sy wese. Daarom is die nagedagtenis wat ons aan hom het, positief en ons sal hom in ‘n positiewe gees onthou vir sy omgang met mense en wat hy gedoen het. Ons sal hom onthou as ‘n vriendelike mens met besonderse vermoë wat sy merk op verskillende plekke gemaak het, ook in die politiek.
As ek aan Rudi dink en hy is weg dan wonder ek, soos hoeveel kere in die verlede, wie die volgende van ons is wat sal gaan; en of ons, soos Rudi, reg sal wees om te kan gaan die oomblik wanneer ons geroep is? Hy was vir ons ‘n voorbeeld.
Ons simpatie en meegevoel gaan uit aan sy familie vir hulle groot verlies. Ons sal hom mis. Baie dankie. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Dr A I VAN NIEKERK: Hon Speaker, hon Deputy President, it was a privilege for me to have known Rudi Heine. I think Rudi Heine was probably one of few people in the world who did not have any enemies. Even if one disagreed with him, one still liked him. That was his nature, that was his being. That is why our memory of him is positive and we will remember him in a positive spirit for the way in which he related to people and what he did. We shall remember him as a friendly person with the special ability to make his mark in different places, as well as in politics.
When I think about Rudi, and he is gone, then I wonder, like so many times in the past, who of us will be the next to go and whether we, like Rudi, will be ready to go the moment we are called. He was an example to us all.
We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family on their great loss. We shall miss him. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Dr M S MOGOBA: Madam Speaker, the PAC extends its heartfelt sympathies to the family of the late hon Rudi Heine, to the DA and to the members of this Parliament. May we all be comforted. Death is not our friend, for it visits us when we least expect it and creates a vacuum which is difficult to fill. Rudi was a great, gentle soul. Many may not recall his words, because they were never provocative but constructive. His gentle face, however, will be remembered for a long time to come.
May he serve the ``heavenly Parliament’’, where I think at this moment he has been sworn in, with the same kind of integrity and graciousness.
Rena ba Maafrika re re sepela gabotse. Tsela-šweu! Re re tloga le dithapelo tša rena o rotoge le tšona; o ba botse gore re na le mathata, re sa duma go a fenya; ba re romele maatla re kgone go fenya, Afrika-Borwa e be naga ye botse ya khutšo. Re a leboga. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.) [We, the Africans, say go well. Peaceful journey! We say, go with our prayers to heaven; tell them we have problems, we wish to overcome them; let them send us the power to overcome, for South Africa to be a beautiful, peaceful country. We thank you.]
Ms T E MILLIN: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, I did not know the late hon member Mr Heine personally, having only recently joined the National Assembly. However, by all accounts, he was in every respect a true gentleman and clearly a valued member of the hon House and his party’s caucus. His apparently sudden death last week, shortly after he returned home from Parliament, serves as a salutary reminder to all of us how frail our mortality is. We can never know when we may be called away from our earthly existence.
Although Mr Heine’s sudden passing must have been a terrible shock to his close family and other associates, his manner of passing must surely be the best way that any of us can hope for, namely to have lived a full and productive life, then to die in harness, so to speak, with no painful, lingering illness or injury suffered. I pray that this may be of some comfort to his family in their grievous loss.
In conclusion, may I, as the leader of the IAM, offer my heartfelt sympathy to his family, friends, parliamentary and party colleagues. I’m certain he will be sorely missed by all. Thank you.
Mr P J NEFOLOVHODWE: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, Azapo has learnt with sadness and shock of the sudden passing away of Mr Heine. To his party and those who knew him, Azapo is with you in this time of mourning.
On behalf of Azapo, we wish to convey our sympathies to Mr Heine’s family and relatives. I thank you.
Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, each time we are brought to the podium to convey condolences for one of our members, it is saddening. We have all contributed greatly to the progress we as a nation have made to date, be it on our side of the fence or on that of the opposition, and the loss of a member is the loss of a contributor to this House’s success.
On behalf of the MF and as a colleague of the late hon Rudi Heine, I convey our sincere condolences to his bereaved family and friends. It was always a pleasure receiving a good comment in passing from the late Heine as I returned to my seat after each debate. He shall be greatly missed. I further extend our condolences to the DA on the loss of a valued member.
The late Mr Heine leaves behind a dedicated wife, Entronette, four daughters and three grandchildren. May God give you all the strength to endure this painful loss. Your pain is our pain.
The late Heine appeared to have a keen interest in business, community service and educational matters. His contribution and concern was certainly an asset and is a loss to South Africa. To the hon Heine, we thank you. May you rest in peace.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, hon members, it is with a deep sense of sadness that we have to bid a final goodbye to Mr Rudi Heine. His country and people will forever remember his contributions in politics, business and also in education. We will remember that, as President of Sacob, he served to promote the business interests of this country. Also, as a member of this House, Mr Rudi Heine contributed to the nurturing, promotion and development of the culture of democracy and nonracialism in this country. He deployed his skills through our committees of Parliament to ensure that our democracy works.
We should be reminded that, as a people of one country, we should work continually to ensure that the things we say and do and the future we create is not on the basis of selfishness but a humane and proud democracy underpinned by the principles of ubuntu and social justice. We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to his family, his friends and his party, the DA. Thank you.
The SPEAKER: Hon members, the Deputy Speaker and I associate ourselves fully with the sentiments you have expressed. Mr Heine will be sorely missed, as will his contributions to this House.
Debate concluded.
Agreed to unanimously, all the members standing.
The SPEAKER: The condolences of the House will be conveyed to the Heine family.
G8 SUMMIT IN EVIAN
(Member's Statement)
Miss M N MAGAZI (ANC): The leaders of the Group of 8 countries, the G8, started their meeting on Sunday, 1 June, in Evian, France. The focus on Monday was to look at ways to stimulate global economic growth, Africa and Nepad; and on Tuesday, the focus will be on the fight against terror, arms proliferation and regional conflicts.
President Thabo Mbeki announced that the European Union will commit $1 billion a year to the fight against Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. It is also reported that the US administration has announced a $15 billion plan to combat Aids in Africa and the Caribbean countries.
The ANC welcomes these developments. The ANC further believes that the deliberations at this summit will be aimed at contributing to tackling the global challenge of eradicating poverty and underdevelopment. The ANC wishes all participants in this summit good luck in their deliberations. I thank you. [Applause.]
CRIME STATISTICS
(Member's Statement)
Mr D H M GIBSON (DA): Madam Speaker, we have a weak criminal justice system, but we deserve a strong, competent and effective system. Only then will we get crime under control. Statistics help to decide whether crime is increasing, stabilising or declining.
The hon Minister of Safety and Security has decreed that crime statistics will not be released until August. He appears to think that if he conceals the statistics we will all believe that crime is under control. I have news for him. In democratic countries like ours the people have the right to know.
MPs have a responsibility to hold the Government to account. Parliament passes or rejects the Budget. It is impossible for MPs to do their work if they’re kept in the dark by the Minister and unless we get the statistics which we need to assess the Budget and the priorities, spending, staffing and equipping, I intend using the Promotion of Access to Information Act to force the Minister to tell this House and the people of South Africa the truth about crime.
DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE
(Member's Statement)
Mr E J LUCAS (IFP): Madam Speaker, since yesterday very disturbing media and other reports have emanated from Zimbabwe to the effect that the Zimbabwean government and its security agency are relentlessly cracking down on mass protests organised by the Movement for Democratic Change.
This suppression takes place against the recent backdrop of attempts by African leaders, including our own President Mbeki, to open channels of negotiation between the government and the MDC. What is at stake is the survival of democracy in Zimbabwe. No true democratic state will ever deny its citizens the right to peacefully make their feelings known, even if those feelings are opposition and disaffection with the government of the day. The freedom to express an alternative point of view to the government is a true benchmark of democratic governance.
The situation in Zimbabwe is rapidly deteriorating and could lead to further negative effects for Southern Africa, South Africa and Africa, beyond those that have already resulted in the past two years or so. It is particularly tragic that the renewed violence in Zimbabwe is taking place against the backdrop of the G8 meeting in France, where African leaders are trying to persuade the developed world to give effect to their earlier commitment on Nepad and African renewal. We can only hope that the events in our neighbouring country do not derail these attempts. If they do, Africa’s rebirth would once again be postponed.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
(Member's Statement)
Mr K M MOEKETSE (ANC): Madam Speaker, the focused theme for June is youth development. The choice of this theme coincides with the historic 16 June youth uprising that took place in Soweto and quickly spread to other parts of the country. In commemorating this day we also honour young people such as Solomon Mahlangu and countless other young heroes: men and women who laid down their lives in order for all of us to be free from apartheid colonial rule. The ANC Government has put in place mechanisms to facilitate the development of the youth in this first decade of freedom. It has established the National Youth Commission to monitor and ensure that all Government departments have youth-friendly development programmes. The Umsobomvu Fund has been established to fund youth-driven programmes. The criminal justice system has been revamped to allow the category of youth in conflict with the law to be rehabilitated and integrated into society.
Whilst the ANC Government has made strides in facilitating youth development, more still needs to be done. We must, together as a nation, confront the endemic problem of youth unemployment. We also call on Government to design and implement a comprehensive national youth service programme. Most importantly, we call on the youth to utilise the opportunities created in the first decade of freedom and in the spirit of vukuzenzele to work for a better life for all. Thank you. [Applause.]
EXTRA RECRUITS TO FIGHT CRIME
(Member's Statement)
Mr J SCHIPPERS (New NP): Madam Speaker, in certain areas, especially on the Cape Flats, responsible citizens live in fear that a bullet unleashed by a gangster could kill or harm their children. Therefore, the New NP welcomes the announcement made yesterday by the Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, about the deployment of over 6 000 recruits in the Western Cape to tackle gangsterism and violence.
Apart from the 3 212 recruits who will be deployed in the Western Cape, a further 2 850 will be trained in the province during the new financial year. Members of the Pretoria Intervention Unit will also be deployed at crime hot spots in the province.
The New NP notes the DA’s recycled proposal of deploying more police officers on the streets as part of their criminal justice policy document, Freedom from Fear, a very ironic title because the document succeeds in awakening fear. Once again the DA has been so eager to find fault that they have failed to take into account the Department of Safety and Security’s actions to combat crime and the DA is now calling on the department to do what it is already in the process of doing. The difference between the DA and the New NP is that while the DA can only score cheap political points with pie-in-the-sky statements, the New NP can make things happen. I thank you. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
CRISIS IN MPUMALANGA HOSPITALS
(Member's Statement)
Mrs C DUDLEY (ACDP): Madam Speaker, the results of an investigation by the Mpumalanga provincial legislature highlight the crisis in the province’s hospitals. There have been reports of psychiatric patients released in general wards where they assault and rape other patients; regular power failures which, without backup generators, kill patients on life-support systems; doctors that are unreachable because hospitals no longer have internal telephone or PA systems; and doctors who are expected to treat up to 250 patients a day.
The premier has placed the department under curatorship and for this the Mpumalanga legislature must be commended. It is, however, astounding that the defiant and incompetent MEC, who tried to evict a rape support group from Rob Ferreira Hospital for providing antiretroviral drugs to victims of sexual abuse, continues in her position. Mismanagement and maladministration are MEC Manana’s trademark and reports that the Scorpions have begun investigations backed by evidence of at least two forensic audits are therefore encouraging.
In addition to the crisis facing health care under her responsibility, Manana has been accused of violating tender procedures, financial controls and Treasury instructions, with contract work costing taxpayers many times more than it should. It is more than reasonable to expect MEC Manana to resign under these circumstances and if she chooses not to, the premier has a responsibility to remove her from office. MEC Manana has violated section 195 of the Constitution which holds administration in every sphere of government to a high standard of professional ethics and efficient, economic and effective use of resources. The ACDP calls on the Minister of Health to intervene and ensure that the MEC is removed from office. Thank you. WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
(Member's Statement)
Ms G L MAHLANGU-NKABINDE (ANC): Madam Speaker, the United Nations General Assembly declared 5 June World Environment Day in 1972. World Environment Day aims to encourage people to become active supporters of sustainable and equitable living, and to promote awareness and understanding to ensure that communities play a central role in changing attitudes towards environmental issues.
The theme for World Environment Day is Water - Two Billion People are Dying for It! The choice of this theme is in line with the declaration of the year 2003 as the International Year of Fresh Water. This declaration aims to encourage Government and other stakeholders to promote awareness of sustainable use, management and protection of fresh water. This is part of the implementation process of the resolutions of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Millennium Development Goals, which seek to halve the number of people living without fresh water by 2015.
As part of this programme, the South African Government has declared 2-7 June National Environment Week. The theme for this programme is: My Environment, My Life. The ANC supports these programmes. We believe that environmental preservation is a key component of the broad strategy aimed at pushing back the frontiers of poverty. I thank you.
SAPS ACCUSED OF BIAS
(Member's Statement)
Mr P H K DITSHETELO (UCDP): Madam Speaker, the Ministry of Safety and Security always maintains that all citizens of this country are treated equally, as far as justice is concerned, and that if a member of the public commits an act deemed to be of a criminal nature, the law takes its course, irrespective of who that person is. But this statement was tested and proved to be incorrect in Venda, Limpopo, where the police arrested a prominent soccer boss, Mr David Didiyela, only for him to be released within minutes of his arrest when he called the provincial MEC for Safety and Security to intervene on his behalf.
This situation has created a bad image for the police services, as they are now being accused of favouring the rich and famous. It is important that this issue is addressed so that the integrity of the policemen and policewomen, who are committed to their duties, is restored. This, it is alleged, has also affected the morale of the junior officers, who are now afraid of being victimised. Thank you.
DISINVESTMENT FROM OUR COUNTRY
(Member's Statement)
Ms T E MILLIN (IAM): Madam Speaker, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, the hon Mlambo-Ngcuka, is on recent record as having delivered a strong message to foreign investors, when she told British business that companies not prepared to carry the cost of implementing economic empowerment should not do business in South Africa: ``Some companies may be put off, but that is the price we have to pay, and that is the sacrifice we are prepared to make - the lesser of two evils.’’
I put it to the hon Minister that it is not our leaders who have to pay the price or sacrifice for disinvestment from our country due to our punitive labour laws and unreasonable demands to overseas investors, who are understandably reticent to do business with the Government - seemingly hellbent on discouraging would-be investors - and who are instead far more likely to seek greener pastures and more investor-friendly countries with which to do business. Far better that we actively encourage investment by welcoming bona fide investors, relaxing our absurdly restrictive labour laws, reducing our burgeoning legions of unemployed, thereby restoring the dignity of so many skilled and unskilled workers. Remember: Half a loaf is better than none.
Earning a wage, even if it does not match up to the stringent requirements under present labour legislation, is certainly better than no wage at all. That, hon Minister, is the meaning of the lesser of two evils. I thank you.
The SPEAKER: Hon members, there are far too many private meetings going on, and too much whispering.
HOSTAGE-TAKING IN MPUMALANGA
(Member's Statement)
Mr M E GEORGE (ANC): Madam Speaker, we have learnt with shock and dismay of the hostage-taking of policemen, who were locked in Kabokweni police station cells by a group of criminals near Nelspruit in the Mpumalanga province. We unreservedly condemn this unacceptably perverse behaviour by these criminals, and we urge all people, including the DA, in this country to unequivocally unite against police attacks, in particular, and against crime in general.
We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the policeman who was killed, and those who were injured. As the Government we will continue to enhance measures of safety and security in all police stations in this country to halt these heartless attacks on our police members. We also urge the police to tighten and safeguard their designated environment in police stations at all times.
We acknowledge and congratulate the special task team that was sent to help resolve this senseless hostage drama for their selfless bravery and dedication to the cause of fighting crime in this country. Because of their outstanding service, they not only managed to retrieve the two guns used during the hostage-taking, but they also managed to contain these criminals inside the cells. We say: ``A job well done.’’ Thank you. [Applause.]
OIL DEAL
(Member's Statement)
Mr I O DAVIDSON (DA): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the DA requested the President to release all documents and correspondence relating to the alleged oil deal, reported in the Mail & Guardian on Friday, 30 May. This was to be done by 14:00 today. These documents include correspondence between the executive, the Nigerian government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. As I speak, there has been no positive response to this request, and therefore the DA is now invoking the Promotion of Access to Information Act in order to obtain these documents.
The release of these documents is important, as it would appear that a lucrative oil deal, intended for all the people of South Africa - secured with the aid of the President - has benefited only a select few, being a number of figures linked to the inner sanctum of the ANC, including the ANC’s own fundraising trust. If what is alleged is correct, then this is an abuse of the President’s office and a potential fraud on both the Nigerian and South African publics. Thank you.
UNITING OF LIBERATION STRUGGLE VETERANS
(Member's Statement)
Prince N E ZULU (IFP): Madam Speaker, the effort by the former President, Dr Mandela, to unite South Africa’s veterans in the fight for democracy is commendable.
The story of the success of the liberation struggle in South Africa will live on and on, and will be told for many generations to come. It is important to inscribe and acknowledge the names of those who played a leading role on the monuments and in the books of history. For the former President to unite the veterans is heralded as a positive move to fulfil a worthwhile cause for a worthwhile objective.
This story can only be told by men and women of goodwill, narrated in the context of its actualities and told with honesty and without bias. If so told, the story will end on a passionate note of how reconciliation among political parties and individuals was attained and sealed in the book of records of our country.
We were flabbergasted to note, in the first instance, the number of political parties from whom the veterans will be identified. Given that ugly chapter of the struggle which shows some parties singled out for discrimination as not worth invitation to the 1983 formation within the country, one is not surprised by the composition of the veterans’ forum.
Our leaders would be naive to forget the price the country paid for excluding other organisations during that fateful period as those organisations became the object of vilification and elimination. I don’t think our leaders can afford in this day and age the luxury of repeating the 1983 mistake. However, in the fullness of time, the truth shall tell itself. Thank you.
NEW DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES FOR NATIONAL YOUTH COMMISSION
(Member's Statement)
Mr E N MTHETHWA (ANC): Madam Speaker, the National Youth Commission is embarking on new development programmes for the month of June. The central focus of these activities will be to highlight youth interests, evaluate work done, facilitate youth development, and highlight the gains made for the youth since the advent of democracy.
This programme is underpinned by the theme ``Youth action to seize the opportunities of democracy’’. These activities will include a youth assembly, which will be held on the Grand Parade, Cape Town, on 12 June. Young people will march to Parliament to present a youth declaration to the Minister in the Presidency, Comrade Essop Pahad. President Thabo Mbeki will address the national rally at Atlantic Park, Nkangala District, Witbank, Mpumalanga.
The ANC calls on the youth of our country to attend the planned programmes in large numbers as these programmes champion the youth’s interests. The ANC firmly believes that youth empowerment and development cannot occur without the direct participation of young people. Youth, you are the future, produce and learn. I thank you. [Applause.] ALLEGATIONS OF FRONT COMPANY TO MISLEAD AND INTIMIDATE ELDERLY
(Member's Statement)
Mr A Z A VAN JAARSVELD (New NP): Madam Speaker, an incident in Stellenbosch has shown the DA’s true colours. The DA is using a front company not registered with the Department of Trade and Industry to mislead and intimidate the elderly.
A certain Mr Ivan Rene from the spook company, B W Market Survey CC, pretends to be a civil servant from the Department of Social Development to gain access to old age homes, where he pretends to do independent research on political attitudes. They fail to inform the voters that they are DA activists. Only when the voters say they will be voting for another party in the upcoming by-election are they then told that they have to support the DA because, and I quote: ``How can you vote for the kaffirs?’’ [Interjections.] We have sworn affidavits in our possession.
Last week the DA acknowledged their link to this company after being caught out. According to them, Rene has been fired by B W Market Survey CC. But the question remains: Is B W Market Survey CC still contracted to the DA? The DA owes the public an explanation. Who is B W Market Survey CC, that was apparently also contracted to the DA in Grassy Park? Is this how the DA spreads the swart gevaar message?
The incident raises serious questions about the squeaky-clean image that the DA tries to portray. We challenge the hon Tony Leon to have this incident independently investigated and to get rid of the racists in his midst. I thank you. [Applause.]
CRIME STATISTICS
CRIME ON THE CAPE FLATS
SAPS ACCUSED OF BIAS
HOSTAGE TAKING IN MPUMALANGA
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Madam Speaker, I am sure that you are again going to allow me to respond in terms of the amount of questions that I have.
The SPEAKER: Yes. The MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY: Thank you very much. I want to appeal to members of the ruling party not to be annoyed at times when people who pose questions display ignorance. It is our responsibility to educate people in this House. I don’t like it therefore that when the hon Gibson poses questions, people display irritation with him. He is going to pose the question of statistics every day.
I have given a response to the matter of statistics. We will give statistics in August as part and parcel of the report of the national commissioner. The hon member said that if we do it that way we are denying our people a report-back.
I want to tell him when it is that we give reports-back to our people. At the beginning of each year, hon Gibson, the President comes here and reports back to the nation. We then, as Ministers, follow. My report-back is next week, hon Gibson. Later on in the year, there will be a report- back. At times that report-back is given to the nation by the Deputy President. In terms of Safety and Security, the national commissioner will table before Parliament a report and that report will also carry statistics. That is how we report back to our people. Statistics are not going to help. If we do it on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, it is not going to help. We explain those statistics in the annual report that we give to Parliament. We have to assist the hon Gibson to understand this fact.
I appreciate the observations which have been made by the hon Schippers about the question of the Cape Flats and the fact that there are people who use firearms to commit crime. This morning, the Deputy President led a team that visited Bonteheuwel. There is a programme that we are going to unfold which is relevant to Bonteheuwel. It relates to the matter of crime. We have been covering the Cape Flats to ensure, indeed, that people do not commit crimes there willy-nilly as the case has been in the past. We appreciate, therefore, the observation that you made.
Regarding the hon Ditshetelo, I think that he also must learn how these parties deal with reports that they get. Even the DA, Mr Ditshetelo, write letters to complain when there have been problems. They write those letters to the Minister so that I can have an understanding of what is happening. I investigate and respond. That is how, hon members, these things are done. You can’t stand here and say ``the following thing has happened’’, because I won’t know how to respond. Please, write a letter and submit a report and we will deal with the issue that you have raised.
I am happy that the hon George has raised the question of the hostage drama at Kabokweni. Let me announce here that the police official who was shot dead is a member of our national task force. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal at this time what his name is. There are two other police officials who sustained injuries. One was shot in the foot and the other was shot in the hand. This drama took place at 22:50 last night and extended over a period of more than seven hours to just after 6:00 this morning. Indeed, the ringleaders relevant to this matter are people who are in detention and some of them have already been sentenced. They are in detention for armed robbery and murder. Of course, the situation has now been normalised. We will indicate later on the name of the police official who was killed. I would like to say that we really appreciate the condolences that you have extended to the bereaved family. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE CRISIS
(Minister's Response)
The MINISTER OF DEFENCE: Madam Speaker, the issue of Zimbabwe has been a cause of great criticism for the Government over a long period of time. I would like us to recall somewhat from our own history that at the height of the Codesa process there were several huge incidents - murders of large numbers of people especially from black communities, as a result of which, after Boipatong, it led to us reconsidering abandoning the negotiation route and suspending talks. But we soon realised that that was not the way to resolve the issue.
At the present time, we have taken action to move the parties in Zimbabwe to negotiate a settlement. We are in touch with both the MDC and Zanu-PF. Right in the course of that process, the MDC abandoned that course and made exactly the mistake that we ourselves thought we could make, and called for mass action. The result is that rather than giving the negotiation process a chance to resolve the issue, you are actually closing it off because you are making it impossible … [Interjections.]
You can’t resolve it and you will not resolve an issue if you abandon the talks. You won’t. We learnt that from experience. We pursued that and experienced it at Codesa. The reason that we, after Boipatong, went back to the talks and the reason we are sitting here today is because we recognised the fact that if you abandon the talks you will not solve the problem. If, of course, the MDC is satisfied that they can take on the might of the state in their country because we are only assisting the process - it’s after all the problem of the Zimbabweans - we can’t impose. We can suggest how to go about it. We will not compel anybody to do as we see fit. [Time expired.]
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 6 - Public Works:
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President and hon members, today I’m going to give an account of some of the things we have done over the past nine years which, at the beginning, were points of challenge and for which we have found some solutions. However, we still have to find solutions for other areas of challenge. This department started off as a simple handyman. It has managed to incorporate world standard operations and policies in the management of the state’s huge fixed property portfolio for which it is responsible. The count includes the thousands of rural infrastructure projects created to speed up development for the poorest of the poor as well as the growth and stimulation of broader participation in the property and construction industries.
A major policy development that affects all of Government that we are currently dealing with is the Government-wide Immovable Asset Framework. The key purpose of this framework is to establish a set of minimum norms and standards in respect of the management of such immovable assets on a Government-wide basis. This will help deal with many inconsistencies and inefficiencies in the manner in which Government assets are managed in the different organs of state. Our plan is to have such a policy document translated into an Act in due course.
There has been an expression of a need for the total evaluation of the Government portfolio. Thus an incremental programme to value components and categories of the state’s properties will be formulated in this financial year. We are also looking at the establishment of a programme to perform a valuation of the total portfolio and a valuation general entity to service the whole of Government will be established.
On property holdings and asset management, I can just say that work on the asset register is ongoing. But, coming to disposal, I wish to inform the House that Public Works, in the previous financial year, disposed of 835 properties, with an estimated market value of R55,2 million. Of these properties, 803 were disposed for land reform purposes, 19 were for low- cost housing, and 13 were for commercial purposes.
Following the announcement by the President in February of the Expanded Public Works Programme, the department is taking concrete steps to ensure that the concept of this programme is fully understood and supported within and outside of Government. Though co-ordinated by the Department of Public Works, this is a national effort, which will mean the participation of Government, business, unions and civil society in general. The objectives of this programme are job creation, poverty alleviation, investment in social and economic infrastructure and human resource development through the training of participants. The key focus areas where Public Works is in a position to optimise contributions are: labour-based methods, emerging contractor support programmes, procurement policy, monitoring and evaluation.
Coming to capital works, I remember telling hon members that last year, for the first time in the history of Public Works, we broke an age-old record of not fully expending money in this department. We are again on record as saying that the funds we were given as this department have almost been 100% expended.
In line with Government’s priority of security and crime prevention, projects for the Departments of Correctional Services and Justice and the SA Police Service have assumed special importance. We spent R759 million on Correctional Services projects in the past year. A major step in the development of prisons in South Africa today is the New Generations Prison Initiative. My department, together with Correctional Services, is involved in the design of a prototype prison, which should result in the converging of all prison demands into a functional, cost-effective and efficient operation. This prototype prison will carry reduced numbers of inmates per unit and is planned to be rolled out throughout South Africa.
Regarding SAPS projects, we spent about R216,7 million. Work has started on finding accommodation for 6 000 SAPS recruits, which was completed in six months. We have also introduced some rapid delivery processes for the Police Service. In the previous financial year, we completed and handed over various projects to the SAPS, including community safety centres in Khutsong, Tshidilamolomo, Centane and Leboeng where the SAPS is the leading department.
The Justice division accounted for R237,9 million of our expenditure. We have several major justice projects that are completed or currently under construction. Some of the interesting ones for us are those at Khayelitsha and Blue Downs. The project in Khayelitsha requires special mention as it is the second largest magistrate’s court in the country. The building of such facilities in Khayelitsha and Blue Downs represents the Government’s commitment to not just bringing service, but also justice, closer to the people in our townships as well as to stimulate urban renewal. We spent R33,66 million on 42 Ramp projects for the Justice department, and the largest amount was spent on the Klerksdorp Magistrates’ offices and the Durban High Court.
We have the problem of dolomite in the Waterkloof area in Thaba Tswane, and we have done a lot of work. The department has actually spent R53,5 million in the past financial year and has plans for an expenditure of R73,6 million so that we can deal with the problem.
There are other large projects for Defence, which include a new communication tower under construction at the Waterkloof Airforce Base and a major repair programme at the Dry Dock in Simonstown. We have done work to the value of R54,8 million for Arts and Culture and we have also built a weather observation and scientific research facility costing R117 million on Marion Island.
The Ramp initiative has also been applied to upgrade fishing harbours in order to provide vital support to the fishing industry in the Western Cape. I hope the Western Capers are listening. Currently 15 contractors have been appointed at eight harbours. This is for a contract valued at R85 million and has opened up 900 job opportunities. On schedule for the end of 2004, we are looking at 27 contracts at all 12 fishing harbours, with a contract value of R161,5 million and 1 700 job opportunities.
Public Works will, on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs, complete the South African Chancery in Berlin in July 2003. The chancery in Kinshasa, to the value of R72 million, will be completed soon.
Regarding new accommodation, Public Works has set up an Asset Procurement and Operating Partnership System Unit that specialises in delivering infrastructure through partnering with the private sector. We call these projects Apops, and we are going to be undertaking some projects for the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Education and Foreign Affairs. What is interesting is that we are honouring an old agreement to the effect that we need to renew the area within the Struben Street Boulevard precinct. We have already gone the route of asking for qualifications and subsequent proposals.
With regard to client services, we have so improved on our work, through service-level agreements that we have entered into, that we have reduced the level of client complaints by 75%. Our maintenance budget of R557 million has been fully utilised, and we want to believe that those departments that invested in these ventures will actually be satisfied at the end of it all.
Concerning leaseholds and acquisitions, 80% of the 442 requests for leased accommodation have been finalised. The procurement of accommodation has been identified as an area that offers an opportunity for the implementation of black economic empowerment. We are currently reviewing targeted procurement to assess and evaluate further commitment to the promotion of BEE. Tenders to the value of R400 million were awarded to work in contribution to black economic empowerment.
Regarding construction, we have started a strong thrust to empower women in the construction industry. Thus we say that we have got women in construction. To date, 79 construction-related projects to the value of R188 million have been given to women.
We are going to consider, together with the private sector, a transformation framework that will culminate in a transformation charter for Public Works. And we are also saying that there are problems at times when students cannot be catered for. Thus we are going to be driving, in the construction industry, a campaign not only to establish a construction industry development week, but also to try and attract and target young students.
Another initiative will be the incubator programme. The objective of this programme is to provide sustainable work opportunities, training and access to finance to black construction enterprises, which are of a significant size. Projects between a minimum of R2 million up to a threshold of R25 million will be identified exclusively for these enterprises over a period of time.
We started with the Community-based Public Works Programme where we had underexpenditure. I’m proud to say that a lot has been achieved. Today I want to speak only on what we said were going to be change factors in the fight against poverty, that is, the community public works centres. These centres have been established in a number of regions. The first was the one at Lambasi, which last year managed to have total sales of R3,9 million, which money we hold on behalf of the communities.
At Ncora we have been selling cabbages from 10 hectares for a period of a month, with sales that have been paid for of about R40 000. We made sure that rural women there also produce the seedlings for the nurseries. We’ve also engaged the Department of Agriculture, with whom we work very closely, to support a programme in terms of which women will be experimenting with the production of herbs. We are talking practical food here and not dreams.
At the Highlands CPC, of the 640 hectares fenced, 100 hectares have been put under maize. Of the 10 hectares under cabbage, about R20 000 has been raised from one hectare alone. At Keiskammahoek we have improved on the infrastructure for irrigation, where 51 cows are currently being milked.
It is interesting that in the Elandskraal CPC, the irrigation infrastructure involving approximately 290 small farmers has started working. Though it was initially subsistence-driven, local markets are now being serviced. Still with Limpopo, we have covered 550 hectares, which support around 400 small-scale farmer, by rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure, which is necessary.
In Mpumalanga we have already secured a market with Coca Cola, where we sell the Cairn lemon that is grown there, with the help of one commercial farmer. Work is going on successfully at Ndaya as well as at Makhathini Flats. We want to believe that the provincial Department of Agriculture in KwaZulu-Natal is also contributing well to what is important.
The Ministry of Land Affairs has always been worried about what happens when people are given land by way of compensation. Together with them, we are successfully engaged in the rehabilitation of water, which will actually move these people from subsistence to commercial farming.
I’m telling you, hon members, that we are not just looking at the present, we are also checking whether some of the projects we have undertaken in the past are not white elephants. With that in mind, we have allocated municipalities R6,5 million to revitalise some of the projects.
At this point in time I want to thank both the IDT and SA Breweries for their partnership in the Clean and Green Programme. In the gallery we actually have people from Grabouw who feel that this programme works very well for them.
Coming to the budget, for the financial year 2003-04, Public Works is presenting a budget of R4,47 billion. The provision for land and accommodation accounts for 86% and the National Public Works Programme for 7% of this budget, thus leaving 7% of our total budget for administration and other auxiliary associated services.
During the current fiscal year, the department will also facilitate the planned gradual devolution of budgetary allocations to client departments, starting with the devolution of rates and taxes in respect of provincial properties to the provinces. This would be followed by other operational budgets.
I want to say that without the help of the portfolio committee, a committee that has played an important guiding role, and without the co-operation of provincial Ministers, heads of departments and staff, we would not be where we are. We also want to mention yet again how helpful the MECs have been in making sure that they don’t just attend Minmec meetings, but also make invaluable contributions, which has added to the building of the department as you would like to see it. They still have a part to play in the Expanded Public Works Programme.
A special word of thanks also goes to James Maseko, our new Director- General, for his approach to management and his determination to deal with some of the auditing issues that continue to bother us. I do believe that we shall reap the benefits of his endeavours, coupled with that of the management and staff of Public Works.
I want to say, without any fear of contradiction, that the tide has turned, even if it is 45 degrees, and will continue to do so. What remains a challenge is to keep it flowing in the right direction and making sure that we carry the constituencies, our people, with us. If we leave them out of any programmes of development, we shall be behaving like the governments of old, which gave directions, dreamt overnight as to what they wanted for the people and went on implementing. We choose, as this Government and as Public Works, to consult successfully and duly with our people and then go into operation.
I won’t hide the fact that we are still dogged by capacity problems in a big way. Though local government does train staff, there is a lot of poaching of the very people that they have trained, which at times leads to a slowing down in some of the projects that we deal with. I thank you, hon members. [Applause.]
Inkosi M W HLENGWA: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President, hon Minister of Public Works, hon Deputy Minister of Public Works, hon Chairperson of Committees, Chair and your Deputy, hon members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, and hon members of the National Assembly, indeed, this is an appropriate occasion for me to congratulate Mr James Maseko on his appointment as Director-General of the Department of Public Works.
We, as the portfolio committee, having engaged with him for a short time, can confidently say we have every confidence in him. Who else could have been appointed? What we have realised as members is that sometimes it is not advantageous to change directors-general, unless it is absolutely necessary. We have seen that he has joined the department for serious business.
Let me commence by saying that Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, during the African summit on HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in 2001 said, and I quote:
HIV/Aids takes its biggest toll among young adults, the age group that normally produces most and has the main responsibility for rearing the next generation.
Today we are debating the Public Works Vote, and some people might think that what is being quoted is irrelevant to the subject matter under discussion, forgetting that if people are extinguished from the face of South Africa by the scourge of HIV/Aids, there will be no Public Works and its Vote. It is therefore imperative for the Department of Public Works and the Government to begin, and to be consistent with, the process of disarming HIV/Aids. That will allow and enable the young adults to honour their responsibility which, of course, is rearing the next generation.
It has now become common to talk about pushing back the frontiers of poverty, but the harsh reality is that when people are no more, there will be no pushing back of the frontiers of poverty. To the Department of Public Works, the Independent Development Trust, the Construction Industry Development Board and the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, HIV/Aids is the worst enemy and is a matter put very high on the agenda.
Recent studies show that the construction industry is under siege from HIV/Aids, and therefore this is a matter that can no longer be ignored. It is against this background that the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, together with various stakeholders, held a workshop on HIV/Aids in the construction industry. This workshop was held on 25-26 November 2002 and we hope that the report will be debated in this august House before Parliament prorogues.
The objectives of the workshop were, inter alia, the following: how to support rural areas in the fight against HIV/Aids; the challenges facing the construction industry with regard to HIV/Aids; how to ensure Government programmes have a strategic response to the pandemic, both internally and externally; and how stakeholders can begin to have dialogue about the ways to cope with the disease.
We all know that the aim of Public Works is to provide and manage, in accordance with prescribed standards and directives, the accommodation, housing, land and infrastructural needs of national departments, as well as to render associated and supporting services to manage the poverty alleviation programmes and to promote the transformation of the construction industry. For the Department of Public Works to honour and discharge this challenging obligation, an adequate budget allocation is fundamental. Yes, I do agree that there has been an increase in the budget, but, taking cognisance of the fact that this department has a huge constituency waiting for delivery, a 19,6% increase does not even attempt to dent significantly the expectations of the people of our country, especially those in the rural communities and the destitute urban squatter camps.
In the past years, this department did what it could with the lean budgets, and one believes that is why the President was prompted to announce the Expanded Public Works Programme during his state of the nation address on 14 February 2003. Notwithstanding the welcome nature of the said announcement, the challenge remains with the availability of funds to honour the Expanded Public Works Programme. It is on this basis that one is obliged to support any stance that might facilitate approaching Treasury for funds for the expanded programme which, indeed, all of us desperately need and deserve.
Let me wind up with the matter which I think all of us wish one day to see resolved amicably for the benefit of us all. The Community-Based Public Works Programme is understood to have been earmarked for discontinuation in the Department of Public Works. Given the extent of poverty in the country, the phasing-out of poverty relief projects by 2004 raises serious concerns, notwithstanding the fact that there is a need to review these programmes. Even if this programme is transferred to the local authority, as was once suggested, there is a concern that such an undertaking should be facilitated by the department for a certain period with guidelines and frameworks given to local authorities so as to make sure that they are capacitated to handle these programmes successfully.
The question then arises: who else is the local authority, which, regrettably, is viewed as the lowest of the low? Traditional authorities, even at the height of apartheid, demonstrated their ability, with no government budgets in place, to build schools, clinics, crèches, community halls, first aid stations, etc. The devolution of the Community-Based Public Works Programme to traditional authorities, and justifiably implemented with the necessary guidance and framework by the Department of Public Works whilst in a transitional stage, is not a matter to be decided upon by the department, since it needs a political decision by the Government.
In the Limpopo Province, one of the living examples is Kgautswane, a community consisting of 95 000 people, 19 villages ruled by an Inkosi and 22 headmen. The Kgautswane Community Development Centre was founded by Clara Masinga who works closely with her Inkosi and the traditional authority. Other traditional authorities can share experiences with Kgautswane Community Development Centre if they were to be given a chance to run the Community-Based Public Works Programme.
As the chairperson of the Public Works Portfolio Committee, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the hon Minister of Public Works, the hon Deputy Minister of Public Works and officials of the Department of Public Works for the healthy working relationship we have had for the past year, and hope we will carry on this financial year in the same spirit. I also wish to thank the members of the portfolio committee for the team spirit and making my work as the chairperson of this committee an enjoyable and memorable one.
Lastly, I wish to thank the secretary of the portfolio committee, Mr Joey Leburu, who has worked diligently with the committee and with me in particular, since I have worked as the chairperson without a personal assistant. The IFP supports this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr S E OPPERMAN: Chairperson, hon Deputy President, Ministers and members, most of the time allocated to me will be used to address the issue of unemployment. Therefore, my theme for this speech is job creation equals poverty alleviation.
In my address I will refer to very important findings and proposals by the Centre for Development and Enterprise. I want to give credit for the research done by this institution, and hope that Government will find time to evaluate the findings and will implement at least some of its proposals. The notion that the proposed Expanded Public Works Programme could be the magic wand that will substantially impact on or solve our unemployment problems is a pipe dream. The only solution is the long-term involvement of the private sector in the form of public-private partnerships.
Voorsitter, die nood is miljoene werksgeleenthede. [Chairperson, what is needed is millions of job opportunities.]
It has been stated over and over by the DA’s spokesperson on finance that South Africa needs economic growth of at least 5% to 6% per year before we can make meaningful inroads into dealing with the problems of unemployment, poverty alleviation, crime and even Aids. For higher growth we need more fixed investment and an environment that encourages entrepreneurship. Political and social stability will further help to stimulate economic growth. The high levels of crime, in many instances caused by the high levels of unemployment, erode social stability, which contributes to the loss of skills and entrepreneurial energy.
There was a passionate commitment from the President during his state of the nation address to the Expanded Public Works Programme. The Minister must inform us how this commitment is reflected in a specific budget allocation from Treasury.
If there is no specific allocation to the Department of Public Works for this programme, I will see it as a blessing in disguise, because the latest report of the Auditor-General on the state of affairs in the Department of Public Works is a clear indication that the department cannot even properly handle the management of the finances of the yearly budget entrusted to it.
I have said during previous budget debates that the situation is unacceptable. The political responsibility lies with the Minister, and the President must take a decision on how long he will allow himself to refrain from taking drastic action.
Die situasie van werkloosheid en gepaardgaande misdaad, ``the terrible twins’’, is uiters kritiek. Byna 8 miljoen Suid-Afrikaners was werkloos in
- Van hierdie totaal was byna 6 miljoen tussen die ouderdomme 15 en 34. Dit is byna die hoogste ter wêreld. Dit is ‘n noodtoestand wat noodmaatreëls verg. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The situation of unemployment coupled with crime, the ``terrible twins’’, is extremely critical. Almost 8 million South Africans were unemployed in
- Almost 6 million of this number were between the ages of 15 and 34. This is almost the highest in the world. It is a state of emergency that calls for emergency measures.]
We propose that the President of South Africa declares the present level of unemployment a national disaster. Along with the official declaration of a national disaster, we propose that the following apply as part of the proposed national disaster initiative: The initiative must be outside the ambit of any department; the present labour laws must not apply; it must be outside the jurisdiction of the Minister of Labour; no trade union must have the right to organise participants or influence this initiative; participants who wish to benefit from the jobs offered during these interventions must sign an undertaking to agree to the abovementioned rules, and there must be political support out the highest level with massive monetary intervention by Treasury …
… die privaatsektor se betrokkenheid moet op ‘n vrywillige basis geskied; befondsing moet vir spesifieke projekte geoormerk word; alle projekte moet arbeidsintensief wees; huidige konstruksie industrieë mag nie ondermyn word nie en die vennootskap tussen die publieke- en privaatsektor moet openlik, eerlik en sonder burokratiese rompslomp wees . . . . the involvement of the private sector must take place on a voluntary basis; funding must be earmarked for specific projects; all projects must be labour-intensive; current construction industries may not be undermined and the partnership between the public and private sectors must be open, honest and without bureaucratic red tape.]
Slogans cannot save the day. We need a massive, urgent and practical intervention.
Die probleem van misdaad, wat in ‘n groot mate ‘n uitvloeisel van werkloosheid is, moet terselfdertyd met noodmaatreëls aangepak word. Die jongste inisiatiewe van die Minister van Veiligheid en Sekuriteit kan met enkele wysigings ‘n belangrike bydrae lewer.
Die belangrikste wysiging is om nie polisierekrute in te stuur in wat letterlik ‘n oorlogsone is nie. Dit kan fataal wees. Laat die rekrute betrokke raak by gewone polisiëring. Kondig noodtoestande aan in probleemareas soos die Kaapse Vlakte. Gebruik die derduisende voormalige SAKK-lede en gee hulle tande om strate en woonbuurte aan ons gemeenskappe terug te gee.
Hierdie voormalige SAKK-lede is behoorlik opgelei in teeninsurgensie en kan na ‘n relatief kort opknappingskursus in probleemareas ontplooi word. Minister, die lede sit en wag en is slaggereed. Ons kan nie jong, onervare rekrute in die misdaadwêreld gebruik waar bendes met baie jare ondervinding in die onderwêreld en met internasionale konneksies optree nie.
Indien hierdie voormalige lede van die SAKK betrokke raak, bring ons ‘n reaksiemag in wat hulle man kan staan; slaan ons ‘n slag teen werkloosheid; slaan ons ‘n slag teen misdaad; bevorder ons ‘n positiewe gees in ons reeds getraumatiseerde gemeenskappe; bevorder ons sosiale stabiliteit en word ‘n gunstige klimaat vir beleggings geskep. Hierdie voormalige SAKK-lede bereid om besoldiging te ontvang wat van toepassing sal wees op die deelnemers onder die voorgestelde nasionale ramp inisiatiewe wat deur die President afgekondig behoort te word. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The problem of crime, which is to a great extent a result of unemployment, must at the same time be tackled with emergency measures. The latest initiatives of the Minister of Safety and Security can, with a few amendments, make an important contribution.
The most important amendment would be not to send police recruits into an area that is literally a war zone. This could be fatal. Let the recruits become involved in ordinary policing. Proclaim states of emergency in problem areas such as the Cape Flats. Use the thousands of former members of the SACC and give them the means to return the streets and neighbourhoods to our communities.
These former members of the SACC are properly trained in counter-insurgence and can after a relatively short refresher course be deployed in problem areas. Minister, the members are sitting and waiting and are ready for action. We cannot use young, inexperienced recruits in the world of crime in which gangs with many years of experience in the underworld and with international connections operate.
If these former members of the SACC become involved, we will bring in a reactionary force that can hold its own; deal unemployment a blow; deal crime a blow; promote a positive spirit in our already traumatised communities; promote social stability and create a climate favourable for investments. These former members of the SACC are prepared to receive remuneration that would be applicable to the participants under the proposed national disaster initiatives that should be announced by the President.]
We hope that the President will take note of these proposals and discuss it with his Cabinet colleagues. The time for action is now.
Ons sê baie dankie aan die voorsitter van die portefeuljekomitee. Baie dankie vir die span wat jy lei en baie dankie vir die vermoë en die geleenthede wat ons het om polities te verskil, maar nog met mekaar saam te werk. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[We thank the chairperson of the portfolio committee. Thank you very much for the team that you lead and thank you for the ability and opportunities that we have to differ politically from one another, but nevertheless still work with one another. I thank you.]
Mr E M SIGWELA: Hon Chair, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, if there are any, hon members and the management of the department, I am pleased to stand here. I hope my Inkosi was not offended when I jumped up first to come to the front here. He knows how I respect him, how we often share our experiences of rurality.
Our Government has identified investment in new infrastructure and the rehabilitation of existing social and physical infrastructure as a priority over the medium term. The realisation of this objective is one of the line functions of the Department of Public Works, but because the Government is not equipped to construct on its own, it has always been a fundamental prerequisite that there should be a programme that links Government with the private sector in the construction industry. Hence the Construction Industry Development Programme under the Construction Industry Development Board about which I am speaking today.
Through this programme, the Government is able to provide leadership and create stability in the industry in the interest of best practice, sustainable development and the opening up of our economy, giving an opportunity for the economic mainstreaming of emerging contractors and the creation of more permanent jobs, thereby pushing back the frontiers of poverty.
The steps that Public Works has taken towards the stabilisation of the construction industry must be acknowledged and admired, starting with the White Paper subtitled ``Creating an enabling environment for reconstruction, growth and development in the construction industry’’, which was launched in 1999, through to the passing of eight Acts in 2000, six of which create a regulatory framework for the built environment professions. In addition to these Acts, there are two other Acts which provide a framework for the co-ordination and stabilisation of the construction industry. One of these is the Construction Industry Development Board Act, which provides for the establishment of the Construction Industry Development Board in order to provide leadership in the establishment, co-ordination and implementation of an integrated strategy for reconstruction, growth and development of the industry through, among other measures, the setting up of uniform best practice standards and guidelines; the development of the emerging contractor sector; the promotion of skills development and labour absorption into the industry; procurement and delivery management reform; setting up of safety, health and environmental standards; the promotion of uniform application of policy, and, with regard to emerging contractor development, the promotion of mechanisms aimed at supporting access to opportunity, information, finance and credit. I will come back to this matter of emerging contractors later.
The other, the eighth Act, is the Council for the Built Environment Act, which is another piece of legislation which has made it possible for the hon Minister of Public Works to create dynamic communication between Government and the built environment professions. This will also enable the monitoring of transformation within each of the professions themselves.
Mhlalingaphambili, ngoku makhe ndibuyele kumcimbi weekontraka ezisakhulayo. Iingxelo zeSebe leMisebenzi kaRhulumente zisixelela ukuba olu xanduva lweekontraka ezisakhulayo luqwalaselwe ngokubanzi kangangokuba ukususela kunyaka ka-1999/2000, libe nokuseka iiofisi ezinenkqubo yokunceda ezi kontraka sithetha ngazo. Ezi ofisi zisekwe kumaziko olawulo lwesebe eRhawutini yaye xa ndithi eRhawutini ndithetha iJohannesburg, eBloemfontein, eKimberley, eKapa, eBhayi naseThekwini. Akhona ke namalungiselo okwenza lo msebenzi eziwenzayo kwezinye iindawo ezinjengeNelspruit, eMmabatho, eMtata nasePholokwane.
Iingxelo zesebe zithi umsebenzi wezi ofisi kukuba likhonkco phakathi kwalo lona isebe eli kunye neekontraka ezisakhulayo. Kulapho ezi nkontraka zingabhalisa khona zaziwe ukuba zikho. Kulapho zifumana khona amacebiso malunga nendlela iSebe leMisebenzi kaRhulumente elilawula ngayo iikontraki. Kulapho zicetyiswa khona ngenkxaso yemali kakhulu.
Kambe ke Mhlalingaphambili obekekileyo namalungu ahloniphekileyo, siyazi ukuba eli lizwe lethu likhulu kakhulu kwaye asithethi ngabantu abahlala kwezi dolophu zinezi ofisi kuphela. Umntu ohlala eMzimkhulu, okanye phaya eThabatshitsha phaya kwiintaba zoLundi eMt Fletcher, umzekelo kunzima ukuba azi ukuba kukho iofisi eseBhayi angabhalisa kuyo ishishini lakhe elinxulumene nokwakhiwa kwezindlu okanye indlela. Mhlawumbi lo mntu uthutha impahla, mhlawumbi wenza izitena nezi zinto zibekwa ecaleni kwendlela. Ingaba iSebe liyise iso na loo meko? Iyabuleleka yona into yokuba abantu bezidina ngokukokwabo ukuba babhalise ngoba ke kwiingxelo esizifumanayo ukusuka ku-1999 ukuya kutsho ku-2002 zisoloko zikhonkqoza zisixelela ngamanani abhalisileyo. Into ekufuneka siyiqonde kukuba ukubhalisa nje kodwa akuzisi kutya etafileni, kungezisi zimpahla zakunxiba, akuzisi zingubo zakulala. Into ezisa ezo zinto ngumsebenzi. Kulapho ke uvuthondaba kuphuhliso lwabakhi abasakhulayo lulele khona.
Xa ndigoduka ngemoto ndisiya ekhaya phakathi kwabaxhasi bam (constituency), ndiyathanda ukuthi xa ndidlula eBhayi phaya ngaseCoega ndimise. Ndibona oogandaganda beentlobo ngeentlobo. Ndibona iitraki ezimithamo ngemithamo. Ndibona kuvela izakhiwo zokuhlala nezokushishina. Ndibona kuvel ‘iindlela. Umbuzo endiba nawo uthi: Ingaba zingaphi iikontraka ezisakhulayo kolu lwakhiwo luqhubekayo? Andithethi ke ndakufika eCala. Ndiye ndimise ecaleni phezu kwentaba ngoba ilali yam iphakathi kweentaba. Ndiye ndijonge amaqolo ebekade ekhona ebebangela ukuba uthi uhamba ngemoto ungayazi into eza kuvela ngaphaya. Asukile. Aqhushumbiswe ngedamanethi hayi le yesabotage. Kangangokuba ndidla ngokuthi ebantwini, umntu othi akayiboni into eyenziwa nguRhulumente we-ANC mbuze ukuba ziyephi na ezi ntaba bezikade zilapha ngoba wonke lo mhlaba ududulelwa kumathambeka angezantsi kuvele amathafa amatsha. Ziyephi ezi ntaba? Kambe ke umbuzo wona usekhona. Ingaba xa sithetha ngeCala - ngokungaphandle koMnumzana uMakwethu, uMnumzana uSipeliti noNomonde Thukani - zingaphi ezinye iikontraka ezisakhulayo ezisebenza phaya?
Lo mcimbi ndikhe ndawusa kumalungu ekomiti aphaya ephondweni, ndabathundeza ukuba bazame ukuya bayilandela le ndaba. Kuhle kum, ndiye ndichulumance umphefumlo wam wonwabe xa ndiva kuholoza ingwenya, inqanqaza inqunqud’ inyengane. [Kwahlekwa.] [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, now I would like to go back to the issue of emerging construction companies. Reports from the Department of Public Works tell us that the responsibility of emerging construction companies is being carefully monitored in as much as in the financial year 1999/2000, it was able to establish offices that would assist such companies. These offices have been placed in administrative centres of the department in Gauteng and when I say that I mean Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. There are plans to extend their work to other places such as Nelspruit, Mmabatho, Umtata and Pholokwane.
Reports from the department say that the function of these offices is to maintain a link between the department and these emerging construction companies. That is where these companies can register and be in the department’s database. That is where they receive advice about how the Department of Public Works manages construction. That is where they receive information about where they could get financial assistance.
Chairperson, however, we know that this country is vast and we are not only talking about people who live in the areas where the offices have been placed. A person living at Mzimkhulu, or at Thabatshitsha in Mt Fletcher for example may not know that there is an office at which he or she can register his or her housing development or road construction business in Port Elizabeth. Maybe this person has a removal business or makes bricks. I would like to know whether the department has noticed that. It is not good enough that people register their businesses as we hear from reports compiled between 1999 to 2002 that quite a considerable number have registered. What we need to understand is that registering only will not put food on the table. It does not bring clothes to wear nor does it give blankets. That is where the focus on emerging construction companies should be.
When I go to my constituency, I like stopping at Coega near Port Elizabeth. I have noticed a number of different heavy vehicles used in construction. I see trucks carrying volumes and volumes of load. I see houses and/or flats and business sites. I see roads. The question I usually ask myself is: `How many emerging construction companies got contracts and are participating in this construction work?’ One finds a lot of them at Cala. I often stop on top of the mountain, because my village lies between the mountains and admire the condition of the roads now because before you would just drive and not know what lies ahead. There are no boulders or dongas anymore. Dynamite and not sabotage blew them up. There is so much that I usually say to people that one should ask a person who says he or she cannot see what this ANC-led Government is doing where the mountains and hills have gone to because there are new fields. Where have the mountains gone to now? The question, however, remains. When we talk about the town of Cala, besides Mr Makwethu, Mr Sipeliti and Nomonde Thukani, how many other construction companies are there?
I have taken this matter to members of the committee in the province and asked them to follow up on it. I feel very happy when I can hear animals making their sounds. [Laughter.] [Applause.]]
Mrs T L P NWAMITWA-SHILUBANA: Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and hon members, I am speaking in support of this Vote and wish to congratulate the hon Minister and her department on the work they have done up to now. It may, however, really be necessary to evaluate the further allocation of funds in areas where serious shortfalls could impact on delivery and in particular those cases where it will affect local authorities or hamper the continuation of the Community-Based Public Works Programme.
The Community-Based Public Works Programme has delivered extremely positive results to the communities in the deep rural areas. It has assisted the poorest of the poor in their plight to become economically active, to learn skills and even obtain industry-approved certificates equipping them to qualify for further employment in construction-related activities.
It has also provided training to local people to manage assets and activities performed from directly productive infrastructure created through this programme. Market stalls with production areas or workshops and the much larger community production centres from which several communities benefit are examples of this.
We have been told that only in the course of the 2002-03 financial year, 626 community assets have been created - these are facilities which were never there before and that have improved the quality of life of the community. It was also mentioned that close to 18 000 employment opportunities were created, of which more than 9 000 went to women, almost 8 600 to young people and 429 to people with disabilities. In all respects, I think this is a remarkable achievement of delivery, taking into account that co-ordination is taking place throughout all levels of government, as well as through traditional leadership and other private sector and NGO entities’ activities.
The Community-Based Public Works Programme has supported the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme since its inception. In fact, the Community-Based Public Works Programme was already operational in ll of the 13 ISRDP nodal areas before they were announced. The contribution made by the Community-Based Public Works Programme has resulted in aspects of the project management system being utilised in the implementation of the ISRDP and in a district information system that is currently being piloted for the ISRDP nodes, which is based on the Community-Based Public Works Programme’s monitoring management information system.
This year, Public Works has been identified as a lead department for the job creation component of the ISRDP implementation plan. The key responsibilities for the department include ensuring that anchor projects in the nodes have a job creation dimension and that potential funders of the job creation initiatives are attracted to the nodes and also ensuring that sector departments participate in the infrastructure development plan review process.
In the light of our oversight role in the portfolio committee, however, I have to emphasise that a measure of concern is experienced when considering that some implementing capacity may be lost due to the transfer of this programme to the Department of Provincial and Local Government. It should be ensured that the implementing agents and delivery structures continue to be involved and further engaged in building capacity at local level. Public Works has set a track record of 100% expenditure on this poverty alleviation and job creation programme of Government that we would not like to see filtering away.
In this instance, I would like to suggest that not only the departments involved but also the respective portfolio committees work closely together to ensure that delivery to the communities in our poverty-stricken areas indeed continues at its maximum potential, and that justice is indeed done to these communities. Nkulukumba Muthsami wa Xitulu, Ndzi pfumeleri ku hoyozela Ndzawulo ya Mintirho eka ntirho wo tumbuluxa miako ya laha vaaka-tiko va kumaka ku pfuneka kona ekusuhi na laha va tshamaka kona. Ku kuma ku kumeka ka swilaveko swa mfumo endhzawini yin’we. Hi twile eka ti-imbhizo leswaku leswi hi leswi vanhu va lavaka swona. Loko ku ri na miako ya laha vaaka- tiko va kumaka ku pfuneka, vanhu a va ha lahlekeriwi hi timali na minkarhi ya vona ku famba mimpfhuka yo leha ku lava ku pfuneka. Xikombiso, laha mina ndzi humaka kona, vanhu va pfuka na mpundzu hi awara ya mune va khandziya swibebe ku landza mathekisi, hikuva mathekisi lawa a ya fiki lomu va tshamaka kona hikuva na mapatu a ma kahle. Va famba hi mathekisi pfhuka wo leha ku ringana 24/wa tikilomitara ku ya ekusuhi eka xidorobana lexi vange i Tzaneen, ku ya folela ku kuma mapasi, tisitifikheti ta ku beburiwa na ta rifu, timali to wundla vana na swin’wana na swin’wana. Va tlhela va vuya va nga pfunekanga hi ku leha ka tilayini. Kasi loko swilo leswi hinkwaswo swiri endzhawini yin’we ku fana na kliniki, poso, Miako leyi vaaka-tiko va pfunekaka eka yona, vanhua va ta oloveriwa.
Namunthla, ndzi pfumeli, ndzi navela ku tshikelela leswaku mfumo wu seketela hi swa-timali no yisa emahlweni ka Miako leyi vaaka-tiko va pfuniwaka kona. Leswi swi komba hakunene-nene leswaku mfumo lowu rhangeriweke hi African National Congress wu yingisela swilaveko swa vanhu. Ndzhaku ku vuyela singe.
Eku heteleleni, ndzi navela ku vulavula hi xiyenge xin’wana lexi vuriwaka vuhlayiseki bya tiko na tindhawu ta vuhlayiseki (CSP). Lexi hi xin’wana xa swikombiso swa mintirho ya Ndzawulo ya Mintirho, ku endla leswaku vanhu va kuma ku pfuneka eka miako leyi ku endliwaka swilo hinkwaswo kona. Laha tindzawulo tin’wana ti hlanganaka kumbe ku hlanganisa mavoko ya vona ku pfuna ku aka tiko, hi ku landza leswi hi nge, i Mafambisele ya Rixaka yo Sivela Vugevenga na RDP. Tisentara ta muxaka lowu, ti pfuna vanhu hi swilaveko swa vona swo hambana hambana, ku fana na vuhlayiseki, timhaka ta ku wundliwa ka vana na swin’wana. Swi tlhela swi hlohlotela mahanyelo la’manene na vutshila eka va-aka tiko.
Tindzawulo hinkwato leti, ti hlanganiweke eka ndzhawu leyi yi ri yin’we, ti tlhela ti pfuneka hi ku kuma tindzhawu to tirhela kona ku pfuna vanhu (accommodation). Tin’wana ta tindzhawu leti, ti kumeka le eNqekhane, Galeshewe, Bloemfontein, Thabong, Khutsong na le Tshidilamolomo. Ndzi navela ku mi nyika xikombiso hi sentara liya ya Tshidilamolomo, leyi yi fanaka na tona hinkwato le’tin’wana le’ti nga boxiwa laha.
Maphorisa hi vona swirhanga-mahlweni eka ku va lava tirhisanaka swin’we eka Ndzawulo ya Mintirho ya Rixaka. Laha va joyiniwa hi tindzawulo to fana na Vululami, Rihanyu, Nhlayiseko na Vami-ntirho ya Makhotso, hikokwalaho hi nge, ndhzawu yo tani yi pfuna hi ku angarhela ku lwa na vugevenga, ta Rihanyu, Maphorisa na swin’wana. Hi leswi hi swi vulaka ku hluvukisiwa na ku antswisiwa ka ku fikeleriwa ka mintirho. Mfumo wu ya eka vanhu leswaku vaaka-tiko va kuma ku pfuneka.
Kwale Tshidilamolomo, ku na patu leri akiwaka na magezi lawa ya phakeriwaka vanhu. Vanhu va ka hina i khale va xaniseka hi vusweti. Hikwalaho hi nge, miako ya laha vanhu va pfuniwaka kona yo fana na leyi yi endla leswaku vanhu va ku, phulani byi hola. Inkomu. (Translation of xiTsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, allow me to congratulate the Department of Public Works on the good work of developing the structures where communities are able to get assistance nearer to where they stay. They are able to get Government assistance in one place. We heard from the Imbizo that this is what people want. When there are structures where the community is able to get assistance, people do not waste their money and time walking long distances seeking assistance. For instance, where I come from people wake up at four o’clock in the morning to catch bakkies to go and wait for taxis because taxis do not reach where they live due to bad roads. They travel for about 24 km to the nearest town named Tzaneen, to go and queue for ID books, birth certificates, death certificates, child grants, and so on. They even come back without getting any assistance because of the long queues. If all these things like clinics and post offices were in one place where the community could get help, things would be easier for them.
Today, allow me to insist that the Government should support, fund and develop centres where the communities can be assisted and show that the ANC- led Government listens to the needs of the people. Forward we go.
In conclusion I would like to talk about a section relating to security in the country and the places of protection (CSP). This is one of the examples of the Department of Labour ensuring that people are assisted in the multipurpose centres where various departments join hands or work together to provide services to build the nation, through the National Crime Prevention Strategy and the RDP. These types of centres help people in different ways, such as by providing protection, child grants and so on. They also develop and create good behaviour among the community.
These department have joined forces to work together and they even provide accommodation to help people. Some of these centres are found in Nqekhane, Galeshewe, Bloemfontein, Thabong, Khutsong and Tshidilamolomo. I wish to quote the example of the centre in Tshidilamolomo, which is the same as others that were mentioned.
The police are the leaders in working together with the national Department of Public Works. They are joined by the departments of Justice, Health, Defence and Correctional Services and that is why we say that a centre like this will help in general to combat crime, improve health and provide police services, etc. This is what is called for to promote development and sustain the progress achieved through this work. The Government goes to the people so that the people may get help.
At Tshidilamolomo roads are being built and electricity is being supplied to people. Our people were suffering and were living in poverty for a long time, and that is why we say these centres should let people enjoy life.]
Mnr J SCHIPPERS: Voorsitter, onderbefondsing van die Departement van Openbare Werke is seker die hoofkenmerk van hierdie begrotingspos. Administrasie word met R27 miljoen, voorsiening van akkommodasie en grond met R470 miljoen en die Nasionale Openbare Werke-program met R98 miljoen vir ‘n totaal van R592 miljoen onderbefonds. Geen wonder dat hierdie departement gebrandmerk word as die departement wat nie dienste kan lewer nie.
Voorsitter, die doel van die Departement van Openbare Werke is om voorsiening te maak vir akkommodasie, behuising en grond en om in infrastruktuurbehoeftes van die nasionale departemente te voorsien. Hierdie funksie moet goed vergelyk met die posisie in ontwikkelende lande. ‘n Vergelykende studie sal bepaal waar Suid-Afrika se Departement van Openbare Werke op hierdie spektrum inpas.
Jaar ná jaar verskyn die sleutel-strategiese beleidsontwikkeling in operasionele gebiede op die doelwitdokument van die departement, maar realiseer nie op die korttermyn en ook nie op die mediumtermyn nie. Daar is geen rendement op die departement se eiendomsportefeulje ten opsigte van die optimalisering van funksies, ekonomiese en sosiale verpligtinge nie. In die departement se eie woorde, moet daar nou ‘n hersiening van toepaslike organisatoriese strukture, vermoëns en sisteme kom.
Jaar ná jaar kla die lede van die departement oor die fisiese toestand in die parlementêre dorpe - Akasia, Laborie en Pelikan Park - en daar is net nie ‘n verbetering nie. Noudat daar ‘n nuwe direkteur-generaal in die departement aangestel is, vertrou ons dat dieselfde klagtes nie volgende jaar weer gelys sal word nie. Ses-en-tagtig persent van die begroting, naamlik R3,86 biljoen, is vir die program bewillig en die Nuwe NP glo dat die fondse beskikbaar is om ‘n verskil te maak.
Die tweede doelstelling van die departement is om ondersteuningsdienste in terme van hul statutêre mandaat te lewer. Onderbefondsing dra daartoe by dat die departement nie sy verpligtinge ten opsigte van bruikhuur, dienstegeld en belasting aan kliënt-departemente betyds aan die plaaslike regerings kan oorbetaal nie. Indien munisipale dienste aan hospitale, skole en ander openbare fasiliteite waarvoor die departement verantwoordelik is gesny moet word, sal dit katastrofiese gevolge vir die instellings en die land se beeld tot gevolg hê. Dit wil dus voorkom asof die R17 miljoen wat vir hierdie program bewillig is, nie voldoende is om alle departementele verpligtinge na te kom nie.
Voorsitter, program 3 neem R321 miljoen oftewel 7,2% van die begroting om die derde doelwit van die departement te verwesenlik, naamlik ‘n armoedeverligtingsprogram wat ook daarop fokus om transformasie te bewerkstellig. In hierdie edele doelwit probeer die departement werkskepping en kapasiteitsbou deur ‘n gemeenskapsgebaseerde openbare werke- program te lewer. ‘n Sterk faset is die basis vir volhoubare landelike ontwikkeling. In hierdie opsig moet die departement geloof word vir die suksesvolle projekte wat in Oos-Kaap, KwaZulu-Natal en Mpumalanga geloods is. Dit moet verder die grondslag vir ontwikkeling vorm en behoort in al die ander provinsies versnel te word.
Om meer werkgeleenthede te skep en sneller transformasie aan te help behoort die departement op ‘n vergrote of uitgebreide gemeenskapsgebaseerde openbarewerkeprogram af te stuur. Maar weens onderbefondsing kom die program en die departement nie tot sy reg nie, aangesien daar uit ‘n bedrag van R420 miljoen wat in die begrotingproses aangevra is, slegs R322 miljoen toegeken is.
Hier wil ek aansluit by ‘n verslag wat deur die Sentrum vir Ontwikkeling en Ondernemings op 1 April 2003 uitgebring is. Dié verslag is gebaseer op ‘n ondersoek oor 18 maande deur prof Peter Delius aan die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand en Simon Dagut wat 30 individuele kundiges gespreek en twee werkswinkels oor die onderwerp gehou het. Inleidend sê die verslag Suid- Afrika se grootste uitdaging is om werkloosheid effektief aan te spreek. Volgens die verslag is daar 7,8 miljoen Suid-Afrikaners wat nie ‘n vaste inkomste het nie, en 5,6 miljoen van hulle is persone tussen 15 en 34 jaar oud. Ek stem met hulle saam as hulle sê dat werkloosheid ‘n vermorsing van menslike potensiaal en investering in onderwys is.
Die ontevredenheid onder die werkloses neem toe en kan politieke stabiliteit in die land bedreig. Die oplossing lê daarin dat ‘n strategie van grootskaalse arbeidsintensiewe openbare werke ‘n betekenisvolle bydrae kan lewer die werkloosheid te verminder. Die verslag beveel aan dat vennootskappe tussen openbare en privaatsektore gesluit moet word. Om dit te kan doen beveel hulle aan, dat hoëvlak politieke ondersteuning essensieel is, dat arbeidsintensiewe openbare werke programme op ‘n massiewe skaal bedryf moet word, elke kenmerk van die program moet so gestruktureerd wees dat die maksimum van die privaatsektor betrokke moet wees, loonstrukture moet nie hoog wees nie en die program moet so gedryf word deur die toegewysde fondse wat hulle kry. Verder moet die kontrak duidelik, bindend en afdwingbaar wees, en die program moet nie die bestaande konstruksiesektor of die konvensionele infrastruktuur ten opsigte van besteding knou nie. Op dié wyse kan ook transformasie in die konstruksiebedryf effektief en doelgerig aangespreek word.
Die Minister en departement moet gelukgewens word met die feit dat die raad vir die konstruksie-industrie in plek is en reeds baie belangrike werk doen, die Onafhanklike Ontwikkelingstrust is betrokke by die provinsiale en nasionale ontwikkelingsprogramme, die werkswinkel oor MIV/Vigs in Durban op 25 en 26 November 2002 was ‘n belangrike mylpaal en ek glo dat die doelwitte wat daar gestel is, behaal sal word met ‘n toegewyde Minister en direkteur-generaal. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mr J SCHIPPERS: Chairperson, underfunding of the Department of Public Works is probably the primary characteristic of this Vote. Administration is underfunded by R27 million, provision of accommodation and land by R470 million and the National Public Works Programme by R98 million, for a total of R592 million. It is no wonder that this department is branded as the department which cannot deliver services.
The object of the Department of Public Works is to make provision for accommodation, housing and land and to meet the infrastructural needs of the national departments. This function must compare favourably with the position in developing countries. A comparative study will determine where South Africa’s Department of Public Works fits in on this spectrum.
Year after year the key strategic policy development in operational areas appears in the department’s document on objectives, but it is not realised in the short term and also not in the medium term. There is no return on the department’s property portfolio with regard to the optimalisation of functions, economic and social obligations. In the department’s own words, there must now be a review of appropriate organisational structures, abilities and systems.
Year after year the members of the department complain about the physical condition of the parliamentary villages - Acacia Park, Laboria Park and Pelican Park - and there simply is no improvement. Now that a new director- general has been appointed in the department, we trust that the same complaints will not be listed again next year. Eight-six per cent of the budget, namely R3,86 billion, has been voted for the programme and the New NP believes that the funding is available to make a difference.
The second objective of the department is to render support services in terms of their statutory mandate. Underfunding contributes to the department not being able to pay its obligations with regard to leases, service fees and taxes to client departments to the local authorities timeously. If municipal services to hospitals, schools and other public facilities for which the department is responsible, have to be cut, this will have catastrophic consequences for the institutions and the country’s image.
It would therefore appear that the R17 million voted for this programme is not sufficient to meet all departmental obligations.
Programme 3 takes R321 million, or 7,2% of the budget, to realise the third objective of the department, namely a poverty alleviation programme which also focuses on achieving transformation. In this noble objective the department is attempting to deliver job creation and capacity-building by way of a community-based public works programme. A strong facet is the basis for sustainable rural development. In this regard the department must be praised for the successful projects launched in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. This should furthermore form the foundation for development and should be expedited in all the other provinces.
In order to create more job opportunities and facilitate faster transformation, the department should aim for an enlarged or extended community-based public works programme. But due to underfunding, the programme and the department do not come into their own, as, from an amount of R420 million requested in the budgeting process, only R322 million has been allocated.
Here I want to link up with a report released by the Centre for Development and Enterprise on 1 April 2003. This report is based on an investigation over 18 months by Prof Peter Delius of the University of the Witwatersrand and Simon Dagut, who spoke to 30 individual experts and held two workshops on the subject. By way of introduction the report says that South Africa’s greatest challenge is to address unemployment effectively. According to the report, 7,8 million South Africans do not have a fixed income, and 5,6 million of them are between the ages of 15 and 34 years. I agree with them when they say that unemployment is a waste of human potential and investment in education.
The dissatisfaction among the unemployed is increasing and can threaten political stability in the country. The solution lies in the fact that a strategy of large-scale labour-intensive public works can make a meaningful contribution to reduce unemployment.
The report recommends that partnerships must be concluded between the public and private sectors. In order to be able to do that they recommend that high-level political support is essential; labour-intensive public works programmes must be managed on a massive scale; every characteristic of the programme must be structured in such a way that the private sector is maximally involved; wage structures must not be high and the programme must be driven by the allocated funds it receives. Furthermore, the contract must be clear, binding and enforceable and the programme must not hamper the existing construction sector or the conventional infrastructure with regard to spending. In this way transformation in the construction industry can also be effectively and purposefully addressed.
The Minister and the department must be congratulated on the fact that the construction industry board is in place and has already done very important work, the Independent Development Trust is involved in the provincial and national development programmes, and the workshop on HIV/Aids in Durban on 25 and 26 November 2002 was an important milestone and I believe the objectives set there will be met with a dedicated Minister and director- general. I thank you.] Nkskz A N SIGCAWU: Mhlalingaphambili, Sekela-Mongameli, amalungu ePalamente kunye noluntu ngokubanzi oluhloniphekileyo, oluze kuzimase ngethuba lentetho yoMphathiswa, ndizele yimincili engazenzisiyo kukufumana eli thuba lokuba ndiphose amazwi ngegalelo likaRhulumente kumba wokuphucula amakomkhulu eekumkani zezwe lakowethu.
Ndimothulela umnqwazi uMphathiswa uNomzamo Stella Sigcau ngokuqalisa iphulo lokuvuselela amakomkhulu. Ndibamba ngazo zombini kuMongameli wethu uThabo Mbeki ngokukhuthaza ukubuyiswelwa kwesidima seenkosi kwinkqubo yohlaziyo lwe-Afrika. Ndithi: Maz’ enethole, mzukulwana kaMbeki. Ungadinwa nangomso. Ukwanda kwaliwa ngumthakathi.
Iinkosi zemvelo zinomlandu kwezopolitiko kwezokuhlala, ezokuhlaziya ubuntu babantu nakumcelimngeni wokuqhawula amatyathanga enkqubo yocalucalulo, kwaye oko kunyanzelisa ukuba iinkokheli zemveli zitsale ngamxhel’ omnye neenkokheli ezenyulwe yintando yesininzi. URhulumente uyiqonda ngokupheleleyo le nyaniso, kungoko kukho le nkqubo yokuhlaziywa kwamakomkhulu nokubuyisela iinkosi isidima, esasijongelwe phantsi ngoorhulumente wamadlagusa phantsi kombuso wocalucalulo.
Sokhumbula ukuba iinkokeli zemvelo zizo ezakhokele abantu bazo kwiimfazwe zokuqala zokukhusela umhlaba kubaphangi base Ntshonalanga. Eyokugqibela kwezomfazwe zokukhusela inkululeko yabantu abamnyama yimfazwe kaBhambata ngo1906. Ekusekweni kwe-ANC ngo1912 bezikho iinkosi zemveli.
Ndivumeleni ndithethe ngababantwana bomthonyama. Abathi bazenza idini lokulwela amalungelo ethu. Iphulo lokuvuselela amakomkhulu apha eMzantsi Afrika lasungulwa nguMphathiswa weMisebenzi yoLuntu, uNkzs Stella Sigcau, ngomnyaka we2000 no 2001. Eli galelo leSebe leMisebenzi yoLuntu kwinkqubo yophuhliso libizwa ngelokuba lilima. Ilima linkqenkqeza phambili ekugxotheni ikati eziko phaya ezilalini. Ilima liyinxalenye yenkqubo yophuhliso kaRhulumente ebizwa ngelokuba luphuhliso oludibeneyo nolungapheliyo. Asixhenxe amakomkhulu ahlaziyiweyo phantsi kwenkqubo yelima.
Imali esetyenzisiweyo ukwakha amakomkhulu ukususela kunyaka u2000 ukuya ku2003 ngama-R34,6 yezigidi. Inkqubo yokuhlaziya amakomkhulu iphinde yakha ii-ofisi zoondlunkulu. Ii-ofisi zondlunkulu zisetyenziswa ekuphuhliseni inkqubo yoomama kumakomkhulu. Uphuhliso kwii-ofisi zika kumkani uSandile eMngqesha ludle iR5,2 yezigidi; uphuhliso kwii-ofisi zika Kumkani uXolilizwe ludle iR9,4 yezigidi; uphuhliso kwii-ofisi zika kumkani uThandizulu eQawukeni ludle iR5 yezigidi.
Amabini amakomkhulu asele egqityiwe avulwe ngoSeptemba wonyaka u2001 nangoMeyi wonyaka u2003. Amabini avulwe nguSekela Mongameli uMnu Zuma. Amakomkhulu asecicini lokugqitywa ngala: uphuhliso lwee-ofisi zebhotwe eQamata ludle R5,4 yezigidi. Uphuhliso kwii-ofisi zebhotwe eNyandeni ludle R5,3 yezigidi. Kuhlahlo-mali lonyaka u2003 ukuya ku2004 kuza kuchitwa iR5 yezigidi.
Malunga nokuqalisa ukuhlaziya eMpumalanga, kuhlaziywa amakomkhulu kakumkani Mabena nokumkani Mayisha. Uhlaziyo eLimpopo luxhomekeke kwiziphumo zengxoxo phakathi kwenkulumbuso yephondo kunye neNdlu yeeNkosi zeMvelo ngokuphathelele kwinkqubo yamakomkhulu ase Limpopo. Intsebenziswano yeenkosi zemvelo nooceba kuburhulumente bendawo benza umsebenzi wokuhlaziya amakomkhulu ube lula. Uxanduva lokukhusela nokuzigcina ezi zakhiwo zisemgangathweni luxhomekeke kurhulumente wephondo, kwiinkosi, nooceba nabantu ngokubanzi.
Uhlaziyo lwamakomkhulu lwenza iinkonzo zika Rhulumente zifikelele lula ezilalini. Ngexesha lohlaziyo abantu baxhamla kumathuba emisebenzi, ngakumbi oomama kunye nolutsha. Abantu abaxhamle kumathuba emisebenzi ngamawaka amathathu namakhulu amabini neshumi nethoba,3 219. Ezinye zezi zakhiwo ziza kusetyenziswa ngabantu kwimicimbi yenkqubela phambili, ushishino nezokhenketho.
Xa amakhosi enikwa isidima kuye kuthi nabantu babo babonakale ukuba asingabo abafokazana. Kuyacaca ngokwe kati emhlophe ehlungwini ukuba ikamva lobomi obungcono kumntu wonke lisezandleni zethu. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa speech follows.)
[Mrs A N SIGCAWU: Chairperson, Deputy President, members of Parliament and hon members of the community which came to lend support on this occasion of the Minister’s speech, I am filled with genuine joy for the opportunity I have been given to talk about Government’s contribution to the improvement of the great places of the kings and of our country.
I take my hat off to Minister Nomzamo Stella Sigcau for initiating a campaign of refurbishing the great places. I am grateful to President Thabo Mbeki for encouraging the restoration of the dignity of kings in the programmes of the African Renaissance. I say: I am grateful, grandson of Mbeki. Bear with us when we come for more. Thank you for your kind help.
The traditional leaders have a background in politics, social matters and revival of our ubuntu, as well as in terms of the challenge to break the system of discrimination which compelled traditional leaders to pull together with the democratically elected leaders. The Government fully understands this truth. That is why this programme of the refurbishment for the great places and the restoration of the dignity that the Afrikaner government looked down upon is in place.
We will remember that the traditional leaders were the ones who led their people in the early wars to protect the land from the plunderers of the West. The last such war defending the freedom of the black people was the Bhambata war of 1906. When the ANC was formed in 1912 traditional leaders were around.
Allow me to talk about the children of the soil who laid down their lives,
fighting for our rights. The campaign to refurbish the great places here in
South Africa was initiated by the Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella
Sigcau, in 2000 and in 2001. This contribution by the Department of Public
Works to the development programme is called Ilima''. The Ilima campaign
is leading the eradication of hunger in the villages. The Ilima campaign is
part of Government's developmental programme calledIntegrated and
Sustainable Development’’. Seven great places have been refurbished under
the Ilima campaign.
The amount of money expended on the building of the great places from 2000 until 2003 is R34,6 million. The refurbishment programmes also catered for the building of head offices. The head offices are utilised in the development of the programmes of women at the great places. The development of the offices of King Sandile in Mngqesha cost R5,2 million; the development of the offices of King Xolilizwe cost R9,4 million; the development of the offices of Thandizulu in Qawukeni cost R5 million.
The two great places that have been completed had opening ceremonies in September 2001 and May 2003 respectively. Two of them were opened at a ceremony by the Deputy President, Mr Zuma. The great places that are nearing completion are the following: The development of the offices of the Qamata great place cost R5,4 million. Development at the Nyandeni great place cost R5,3 million. An amount of R5 million will be spent out of the 2003-04 budget.
With regard to the refurbishment of the great places in Mpumalanga, King Mabhena and King Mayisha’s places are being attended to. Refurbishment in Limpopo depends on the outcome of the discussions between the premier of the province and the House of Traditional Leaders, regarding the programmes of the Limpopo great places. The co-operation of traditional leaders, councillors in local government, makes the work of refurbishing great places easy. The responsibility for protecting and keeping these buildings in good condition lies with the provincial government, the king, councillors and the public in general.
The refurbishment of palaces creates accessibility to Government on the part of people who live in rural areas. During refurbishment people get an opportunity to be employed, particularly women and the youth. The number of people who have benefited up to now is 3 219. Some of these buildings will be used by people for development-focused activities, business and tourism.
If the kings are given respect, normally their subjects are also seen as people who are not just nonentities. It is abundantly clear that a future involving a better life for all is in our own hands. [Applause.]]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Thank you, Chairperson, hon members, in supporting Minister Sigcau in the areas of prestige accommodation and other tasks assigned to me, I wish to express my appreciation for her capable leadership, her dedication towards making an improvement in people’s lives and also her continued strength as an exemplary reformer of our country.
A total of R43,2 million was spent on prestige accommodation last year and for the current financial year, R98 million has been budgeted. The weight of this function is experienced by each member in this House, both for office and housing accommodation, mainly during parliamentary sessions and I would like to assure you of our utmost consideration of your comfort, provided that the restricted budget allows for it. Under the Facilities Management Contract, we are now implementing the initiative to consolidate the provisioning of facilities management services on prestige accommodation.
Since 1 May 2003, WSP Sidibene Facilities Management (Pty) Ltd, which won this tender for R82,26 million over two years in Cape Town has been in full operation. This is an international company that has formed a joint venture with local companies, incorporating set socioeconomic objectives. This joint venture is made up by WSP Facilities Management SA (Pty) Ltd, ACG Architects & Development Planners, GVK Siya Zama Building Contractors Cape (Pty) Ltd, Ubunye Engineering Services (Pty) Ltd, Nibu Construction & Project Management (Pty) Ltd and Premiere Business Capital (Pty) Ltd.
They are working at prestige office and housing accommodation including the parliamentary precinct, VIP houses and parliamentary villages. The objective is to provide the expected day-to-day services as well as attend to the backlog in maintenance.
This contract includes a performance monitoring system, building maintenance plans, a prioritised preventative maintenance and life-cycle replacement control plan, an emergency repair plan and a planned maintenance programme. At present the priority list on the maintenance backlog is being compiled. The mammoth task of rectifying the backlog is anticipated to start within a few weeks.
The scope of work on this Facilities Management Contract includes, among a long list, the following: Managing and controlling the provision of services; performance monitoring and evaluation of facilities and service delivery; establishment of a call centre; establishment of a State Property Asset Management and Information System; and managing all types of capital and maintenance work, including statutory, preventative maintenance, deferred and corrective maintenance. The department does however reserve the right to undertake certain capital and maintenance work as it sees fit from time to time.
The scope of the contract includes all maintenance, gardening and cleaning where it is currently a departmental line function. Excluded from the contract is cleaning at all Ministerial houses. Deep cleaning at the Ministerial houses can however be effected upon request by a Minister and is catered for in that there is a call-down rate tendered for such work.
Also included are requirements in terms of the Presidential Health Plan, such as the monitoring and testing of air and water quality, biological testing of the environment, illumination levels, ventilation levels and thermal conditions at pre-determined intervals.
In terms of the contract and after consultation with the SAPS, WSP’s personnel have been security cleared in the same manner that all employees of the Department of Public Work are subjected to. This in effect means that they will not only be checked by the SAPS, but also by the National Intelligence Agency.
On the question of accessibility to people with disabilities, the Department of Public Works has also, at the beginning of 2003, commenced with a project to upgrade existing facilities in Parliament with the aim of making the complex more accessible to people with disabilities.
The objectives of the project are: The provision of accessible ablution facilities to people with disabilities on every floor and the fair distribution of said facilities across genders. This process includes the simultaneous renovation of all existing facilities. The improvement of access between and within the buildings with the provision of external wheelchair routes, ramps, improved lighting in public areas, improved signage and modification of elevators to enable their operation by people with disabilities. And lastly, it includes alterations to existing debating chambers, dining and conference rooms in order to accommodate wheelchair users.
The project is scheduled to run over a twelve-month period and is expected to be completed by January 2004. The value of the contract is just over than R5 million.
I now come to the issue of space planning and its utilisation here in the parliamentary precinct. One more literally pressing issue that the Department of Public Works is engaged in is the space planning and utilisation situation in the parliamentary precinct.
Since 1994 the staff and members of Parliament has increased by more than 30%. However, little attention has been paid to the provision of office space, parking space, etc. In accordance with Parliament’s wish, a holistic approach to the requirements is being taken. The project will include 120 Plein Street as well as consider all off-site functional units for accommodation on-site.
The Department of Public Works has appointed a specialist space management consultant to investigate the use of space within the parliamentary precinct and the hired accommodation with a view to consolidating all staff and facilities in order to provide an assessment within 6 months. The task pertaining to this assignment includes investigating and providing a status quo report in respect of office accommodation, committee rooms and boardrooms, auditoriums, chambers and vehicle parking.
This consultant will be required to translate the information and facilities data into spatial requirements utilising space norms to quantify the needs and provide options for optimising space with regard to current and future needs.
Security is of the utmost importance, therefore each member of the consultant team will be subjected to security clearances and the South African Heritage Agency approval will be obtained should any alteration or extensions become necessary to buildings with heritage status.
Coming to parliamentary villages, the crime rate at these villages, mainly in Acacia Park, is of unacceptable proportions and we are seriously working on solutions, together with the police. At least 10 arrests have been made in the preceding 12 months, the outcome of which cases we are still awaiting. Alarm systems have been installed at all the residences during 2002 but in addition to this, further security measures are being introduced and considered, including: physical searching of all incoming and outgoing vehicles at the gates; investigating the introduction of an electronic access control system although major resistance to this measure has been expressed by residents’ committees in the past; looking into the installation of burglar bars at all residences, and requesting the SAPS to increase the number of VIP protection staff to ensure regular foot patrols.
We are conducting an occupancy audit at all three parliamentary villages in order to compare the result to the information supplied by members and sessional officials in their original application forms for accommodation. These additional measures will obviously increase the cost of security measures in Acacia Park from the existing R1,5 million to an estimated R4 million.
For the remainder, the parliamentary villages will be taken care of under the Facilities Management Contract I spoke about and I am happy to have heard from some members here present that they have already experienced an improvement in service delivery, both through the call centre and in the overall appearance of the parks.
On the question of fraud awareness, our departmental activities regarding fraud prevention continue relentlessly, where we have found the major enticing of officials to collaborate with contractors in fraudulent conduct for, obviously, personal financial gain being the main occurrence. At present, 11 disciplinary cases and 11 criminal cases are being dealt with. The strengthening of our implementation of findings through the human resource section is a challenge that we are aware of. And the department is committed to rooting out all sorts of corruption from wherever it is found in whatever projects we deal with.
I am proud to report that on the Cholera Infrastructure Support Programme we have achieved a 100% expenditure on the almost R2 million allocated in 2002-03, building 1 395 toilets and protecting numerous springs from contamination and the spreading of cholera. The socioeconomic achievements include that 40% of the project budget went to community labour, 400 people got jobs, of whom 58% were women, 30% youth and 9% people with disabilities. This far exceeds our minimum targets in procurement.
The HIV/AIDS Infrastructure Support Programme achieved an overall expenditure of 95% on the just over R5 million allocated in 2002-03. This programme extended over four provinces. Both Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal had a 100% expenditure, whereas Limpopo is experiencing some delays and the Free State had a saving which has subsequently been used to procure trees for the project site.
Hon Minister Stella Sigcau indeed being the rural development activist that she is has taken the Community-Based Public Works Programme to successes that before were not even dreamt of. Minister, in this cause of rural development, I follow your lead with confidence. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr C J MALULEKE-HLANEKI: Chairperson, and hon House, in support of the Public Works Vote before this House today, I wish to commend the Minister and her department for turning the tide in the way in which Government is now dealing and will in future deal with the fixed property portfolio of Government.
In particular, the consideration given to the enhancement of black economic empowerment and other socioeconomic factors in all the transactions entered into by the department that are both construction and property related need to be acknowledged and taken further through continued procurement, performance, evaluation and involvement.
One of the Department of Public Works’ key mandates is to be the custodian of the state’s fixed property portfolio and to ensure that the state obtains the best functional, social and financial returns from its property portfolio. As Government, we should also ensure that as we evolve policy, everyone keeps abreast of it and co-operates to ensure the maximum returns from this huge economic asset.
Prior to 1994, a wide range of governmental structures were established, such as the former independent states and self-governing territories as well as own affairs institutions. Experiments with these multiple structures, together with the lack of property management skills and a proper management regime, all had a significantly negative influence on the state’s immovable properties. The management of properties inevitably went through a process of re-organisation and the proliferation of inaccurate, incomplete and absent record systems resulted.
The Department of Public Works therefore embarked on the mammoth task of capturing these respective properties on one comprehensive electronic asset register. The register compilation project commenced in May 1996, and was completed in September 1999. We do understand that work needs to be done continuously to enrich the information captured per property and grouping and also in terms of the proper maintenance on the system, which obviously needs to take place per transaction, be that work executed on a property, acquisition or disposal. Some of the key benefits that have been obtained from the compilation of the assets register exercise include having comprehensive, uniform and consolidated information in an electronic format. Also, for the first time, we have the ability to match expenditure against a group of properties, government departments, geographical areas, financial years and other reference groupings.
A further ability was created to better assess the level of utilisation of properties and to assess properties that have no strategic value and could thus be disposed of. It also provided an opportunity to combat fraud and corruption through the detection and reduction especially of fictitious maintenance, abnormal costs for similar types of properties etc, and it provides base-line information and building blocks for performing a valuation of the total portfolio of the state, as the Minister has already said.
Mufambisi wa ntirho, muchaviseki holobye u lhterile a hlamusela hi mafambiselo mantshwa ya matirhiselo ya nhundzu ya mfumu leyi yi nga susekiki na milawu ya mafambisele ya nhundzu leyi nga ta herisa ku tsandzeka loko ha ha hlanganaka na kona. Hi tshembha leswaku makungu yo lawula nhundzu ya ta tumbuluxa pulani ya mfumu ya nkarhi wo leha ya nhundzu leyi nga susekiki, leyi nga ta va na swikongomelo yi tlhela yi va na mbuyelo yo karhi eka mfumu.
Hi laha swi languteleke ha kona swi ta pfuna vatirhisi na vinyi va nhundzu eka ku teka swiboho na ku kuma nxavo wa nhundzu leyi yi nga susekiki, na ku pfuna eka ku hlanganyeta migingiriko hinkwayo mayelana ni matirhisele ya nhundzu. Mayelana na rejistara leyi ya nhundzu, makungu lama ya ta pfuna eka ku tumbuluxa sisteme leyi hlanganyetiweke ya mafambiselo ya nhundzu leyi katsaka ku pimela emahlweni, ku hlela na ku endla xiviko xa nhundzu ya mfumo. Naswona mayelana na ku lombisa, hi vonile mbuyelo wo antswa wa matirhiselo wa milawu leyi kungari ntsena eka ku hungutiwa ka mali ya mfumu kambe ni le ka vanhu lava lombisaka.
Ha swi tiva leswaku nawu wa leswaku mutirhisi wa hakela, wu pfumelaniwile ha wona na National Treasury laha vanhu lava tshamaka eka miako ya mfumu va faneleke ku hakela. Eka lembe ximali leri, ku fanele ku vulavurisaniwa na vatirhisi lava mayelana na milawu leyi va nga yi landzelelaka ku fikelela xikongomelo xa ku ri mutirhisi wa hakela.
Mpimanyeto wa ku engeteriwa ka tihakelo leti wu fanela ku tirha ku sukela hi siku ro sungula ra Dzivamisoko 2004. Eku heteleleni, a hi amukeleni magoza lama tekiweke ku herisa nhundzu ya mfumu leyi nga ha pfuniki nchumu. Muchaviseki holobye u kombisile leswaku nhundzu leyi hi yihi na swona nkoka wa yona hi wihi. Ku tirhiwile swinene na swona ku vile na vuhlanganyeti byo tala eka ku fikelela xiboho lexi, leswi kombisaka ku tiyimisela ka mfumu wa hina ku fikelela swilaveko swa vaaka tiko, hi ku lhterisela timfanelo ta vona ka nhundzu, ku va akela tiyindlu ta nxavo wa le hansi ni ta tiprojekti tin’wana leswi nga ta kombisa ku nghenelela ka hina eka migingiriko ya laha Dzongeni wa Afrika, Afrika Dzonga nile tikweni ni misava hinkwayo. Akhani mamba. (Translation of xiTsonga paragraphs follows.)
[The hon Minister also gave an explanation about new measures for the control of immovable state property and laws governing the control of this property so that we could eradicate the problems that we still encounter. We believe that these measures will be long-term and will, in the long run, benefit the state.
These new measures will assist the users and owners of immovable state property to ensure that they price the property correctly and also to co- ordinate all activities in relation to the use of this property. With regard to the registering of this property, it will help in the establishment of a system for the control of the property, as well as planning for the future, so as to assess and give a comprehensive report on the state of this property. Above all, concerning the issue of leasing out the state property, we are satisfied with the outcome concerning the financial benefits we received.
We all know that regulations that specify that the user of immovable property has to pay, have been agreed upon with the National Treasury, whereby people who are accommodated in such property have to pay. In this financial year a settlement of some kind has to be reached with these people on how they will pay for accommodation. The budget for paying for accommodation should be implemented as from 1 April 2004.
Finally, let us accept the measures taken to dispose of property that is of no use to the state. The hon Minister has already identified the type of property we are referring to and what its value is. In reaching this decision, a lot of effort and co-ordination took place. These efforts show the commitment of this Government to meeting the needs of its people by giving them back their rights to own property, by building them low-cost houses and providing projects that will illustrate our involvement in the activities taking place here in Southern Africa, South Africa and globally. Thank you.]
Ms N C NKABINDE: Chairperson, hon Ministers and hon members, the Vote before us today represents potentially one of the single biggest opportunities for Government to address directly the massive unemployment crisis in this country. It is a crisis that cannot be ignored or debated out of existence. Half of the adult population of South Africa is jobless, and the majority are younger than thirty years. This is the dilemma at the root of all the challenges that face the country. Our success or failure to address it will determine our success or failure in most other efforts that we as a society engage in.
The UDM proposes that the economic policy should shift towards investment in our economy through infrastructural development. It is our ardent belief that the Government must do more. Yes, we expect business and civil society to help solve this crisis, but only after the Government has created the enabling environment. Yes, we expect small businesses to create the jobs that we so desperately need. Yes, we also expect foreign investors to bring their money to our shores to invest in South African people and companies.
But we do not expect all of these other stakeholders to tackle the unemployment crisis while the Government sits on the sidelines as a spectator. The Government must invest in the economy before it can reasonably expect anyone else to follow suit.
Dramatically increased Government investment in infrastructure would address social needs, a constitutional requirement that cannot be ignored. Infrastructure development creates jobs; it facilitates skills development and provides opportunities for small business development. The long-term impact of improved infrastructure is to lower input costs, which helps existing businesses to expand and new businesses to enter the market. In both cases, jobs are created.
The Department of Public Works deserves credit for the success of some Community-Based Public Works Programmes. These programmes offer a glimpse of the possibilities that the UDM speaks of in terms of infrastructure development. Looking at the Vote, it is therefore sad to note that the Community-Based Public Works Programme constitutes a mere R288,3 million or 6% of the total Vote before us.
The UDM supports the Vote, but we call on the Minister to seek ways of expanding the tangible output of job creation in activities of the department. I thank you.
Mr I S MFUNDISI: Mmusakgotla yo tlotlegang … [Hon Chairperson … ]
… the Department of Public Works is the custodian of all Government assets, be it land or buildings. In these trying times of joblessness, Public Works has to come up with ways and means to alleviate poverty. Labour-intensive projects have to be mounted in all parts of the country. We have, however, noted that the department has been able to engage the other sister departments to set this to rest.
The erection of multipurpose community centres is a welcome venture. The wish is that they could be put up in really deserving places, and not just to make a political statement, as in the case of the one in Winterveld, where the targeted Government services are within walking distance of nearby Mabopane and Soshanguve, this in spite of rural areas detached from the metropolis having difficulty in accessing Government services. It is hoped that the R10 million set aside for the multipurpose community centres in the 61 district councils will be used wisely and not will not duplicate facilities where similar ones are in place already.
The vukuzenzele spirit imbued by the Emerging Contractor Development Programme gives young entrepreneurs hope. The unfortunate situation is that they experience difficulty in accessing funds. We call on other finance houses to take a leaf from the book of Standard Bank and Khula by making access to finance reasonable for the emerging contractors. Even then, we hope the allocations of the contracts by the department and its satellites will be done fairly and responsibly.
We are aware that it is difficult to dispose of property, but call on Public Works to ensure that buildings that stand unused are taken care of. Institutions such as Thaba Nchu College of Education and some of the former Public Works sites in the previous government dispensation come to mind.
It is unfortunate that even the Book of books states that those who have will receive more and those who don’t have will receive less. Gauteng and the Western Cape province will receive 36% and 19% respectively of this financial year’s budget allocation, while poor provinces - Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West - will receive 2%, 3% and 7% respectively. I thank you.
Mr N E MAGUBANE: Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, Public Works as a Government function possesses inherent economic opportunities for the public. Government uses Public Works projects and programmes to procure services and goods from the public for its benefit, thereby creating economic and business opportunities for the private sector and the public at large.
Naturally, procurement is the single largest economic muscle available to the Department of Public Works to acquire necessary goods and services, while realising the social and economic expectations of Government, such as poverty alleviation, job creation, infrastructure development, black economic empowerment and public-private partnerships, among others.
Procurement within the Department of Public Works may involve activities such as: supply of goods, services, work or any combination thereof, disposal of movable property, hiring or letting of anything, and the acquisition or granting of any rights. Prior to 1994, the policies and procedures of the State Tender Board which regulated the procurement of supplies and services tended to favour larger and better established entrepreneurs. This state of affairs did not create an environment that allowed easy access for smaller enterprises into the mainstream of procurement activities funded by the public sector.
In response, the Department of Public Works began to put into motion the process to reform the procurement regime as early as 1994. Within this context, an interim strategy called the Ten Point Plan was developed and published in conjunction with the State Tender Board in November 1995.
In its introduction, the document entitled Public Sector Procurement Reform in South Africa and subtitled ``A Ten Point Plan’’ acknowledges: While the general review of procurement policy will produce directives and procedures to accommodate RDP objectives, there is an urgent need for interim procurement strategies that can be implemented immediately within the ambit of existing legislation to impact positively on the participation of small, medium and microenterprises, with emphasis on the disadvantaged and marginalised sectors and with focus on employment creation.
As we celebrate nearly 10 years of democracy and freedom, we are proud to reflect on the glorious journey this Government has travelled in turning the tide of apartheid, alleviating poverty and establishing the conditions for the existence of a better life for all. Earlier efforts such as the one undertaken by men and women of Public Works laid a solid foundation for the development of sophisticated procurement policies such as the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act which, in partnership with the Public Finance Management Act, gives effect to the achievement of good governance in procurement, as well as the achievement of socioeconomic objectives through procurement.
The Ten Point Plan and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act provided the framework within which the Department of Public Works has developed procurement policy and procedure to guide the department in the procurement of construction-related services. For the second year running, because of its improved efficiency levels, the national Department of Public Works has expended 100% of its capital works budget totalling R1,6 billion. Considering that targeted procurement policies are integrated to Public Works transactions, it comes as no surprise that, of the R1,6 billion allocated in the 2002-03 financial year, about R400 million, which is 25%, went to affirmable business enterprises as part of the department’s drive to promote and cultivate black economic empowerment.
Affirmable business enterprises are defined as businesses registered with the SA Revenue Services, and who are adhering to labour standards and are owned, managed and controlled by previously disadvantaged persons. On the other hand, targeted procurement is an instrument of policy developed to create opportunities for participation by targeted groups. It enables Government, and in some instances the private sector, to utilise their procurement needs, firstly, to stimulate the growth and development of small and medium enterprises and local resources and, secondly, to empower specific population groups or sectors of society, increase the volume of work available to the poor and encourage the use of labour-intensive practices to technologies.
Targeted procurement within the Department of Public Works has been successfully used to direct capital flows into underdeveloped or disadvantaged rural communities on conventional construction projects. The department has also used targeted procurement to develop black construction capacity at prime contract level in its strategic projects initiatives and to ensure that black economic empowerment takes place in its Asset Procurement and Operating Partnership system. The resources specification on contracts for the designing, building, financing and operation of prisons ensures that black economic empowerment takes place for the period of the concession versus 25 years.
Further initiatives by Public Works for accelerated opportunities to ABEs within construction are: Regional offices advertise locally required services in the local communities; notices are put at public places such as magistrate’s offices, police stations, taxi ranks and railway stations. In the area where such services are required, the advantage is that local emerging contactors without access to Internet facilities or the Government Tender Bulletin remain informed of opportunities within the local community.
The department approved that authority be delegated to invite, close and award tenders at regional offices valued up to a maximum of R5 million. This accelerates the awarding of tenders to local emerging contractors without the intervention of head office. Also, the establishment of standing tender committees at each regional office with equal authority to that of the head office standing tender committee has been approved, which also contributes to the acceleration of tender awards.
The State Tender Board’s approval was obtained to waive the requirement for performance guarantees for construction projects up to R2 million, which eliminates potential financial stumbling blocks for emerging contractors. This action was taken as a result of the reluctance of financial institutions to provide performance guarantees to historically disadvantaged contractors. In conclusion, I wish to remind the House that BEE is a Government policy. It is enshrined in all business transactions of the department in its daily interactions with the public. We take this opportunity to congratulate the department on its commitment to do its work efficiently and effectively while realising the socioeconomic goals of the Government.
Sithola ukuthi abantu abaningi abamnyama, abafisayo nabathandayo ukusebenza izinto ezibonakala ziyimbali nokukhanya emphakathini, kubalulekile ukuthi bazinikele basebenzisane nabantu balo mnyango ukuze kubonakale umehluko okhona kubantu phakathi kwesikhathi samanje nesikhathi esidlule. Kodwa-ke okuhlupha kakhulu uHulumeni ukubona ukuthi abantu, endaweni yokuthi bazinikele ekusebenzeni ukuze baqondise isimo sokuthi baphile impilo engcono njengoba uHulumeni ayeshilo, sibathola besebenzisa ezinye izinto ezingaqondile nezingakwazi ukusiza uHulumeni ukuze nabo basizakale. [Kwaphela isikhathi.] (Translation of Zulu paragraph follows.)
[We feel that it is very important for many black people who have the desire and dedication to engage in developmental and exemplary activities, to collaborate with officials of this department so that the public can see the difference between the past and the present. However, what troubles the Government most is to see that, instead of dedicating themselves to work which will help them achieve the better life that the Government wants for them, people resort to wayward means which cannot assist it to help them.]
The ANC supports the Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr J P I BLANCHE: Mr Chairperson, the Department of Public Works has for many years been treated as the stepchild of Government.
Firstly, Presidents from the old and new South Africa seem to view this Ministerial portfolio as the one through which newly appointed Ministers must graduate before they are promoted to other departments, which are regarded as more important. That is why the department has the highest turnover of Ministers and directors-general. This has a detrimental effect on the managers of Public Works and causes instability for the ranks lower down.
Secondly, because the department’s main function is to deliver a service to other state departments, the other Ministers and directors-general seem to care less about their maintenance budget, a service which they expect Public Works must render to them, whether they budget for it or not.
When the occupant department doesn’t budget adequately for the maintenance or upkeep of buildings and properties which it occupies, the people’s properties and buildings fall into disuse and decay, often beyond repair. When this happens the officials perform poorly, the work environment looks bad and the taxpayers, our people, remain poor, because maintenance costs run out of control when a larger percentage of revenue collected has to be spent on the upkeep and renovation of neglected buildings and properties. All this leads to the image that Public Works is a junior department and as long as the Minister accepts that attitude from her colleagues, it will remain a department in trouble.
Let me illustrate why I say this by referring to a question which I recently put on the Order Paper. I asked:
Whether she or her department has taken any steps to address the plea of petitioners complaining about the state of neglect of the state property known as Excelsior Court in Durban; if not, why not; if so, what steps and what amount has been budgeted to address the problem; when will her department start with work to clear the property and renovate the buildings and how long will the project take to complete?
The Minister replied:
Yes, in 1995 a service was created to repair and renovate the facility. The project was ready for tender in 1997 at a cost of R7,7 million but the service was stopped. The national Department of Public Works is awaiting the SAPS to submit the priority of the service and to grant approval to proceed and, if approval is granted by SAPS, the project will be completed within 15 months.
Eight years later and the petitioners are still waiting.
The second part of the question was, and again I quote:
Whether her department has received any representations regarding the state of this building; on what dates, from whom and what was her department’s response to each specified representation?
To which she replied:
Yes. One letter of complaint dated 26 July 2002 from the Ethekwini Municipality.
That is the Durban municipality. The health department came to her office.
The letter was forwarded to SAPS. The Durban regional office requested SAPS Provincial Logistics to prioritise the service but no response has been received to date.
Eight years later and nothing to report and, in the meantime, the cost has risen. I asked:
On what date was maintenance carried out on this building; what specified work was done and what was the cost to her department of such work in each case?
The reply was:
Apart from reactive maintenance, refurbishment on the property has not taken place as SAPS did not prioritise this service.
Routine maintenance is the responsibility of SAPS and was limited to repairs below R5 000.
Chairman, from the reply, it is obvious that the Minister is neglecting her duty to oversee the maintenance of the nation’s fixed assets. She seems to think that when other state departments are delaying the upkeep of buildings, which they occupy, it clears her from co-responsibility for her department’s maintenance function. It does not.
This is not an isolated case. One can go to every town and city and you will see neglected state buildings. To name a few, there is the military base in George which was in the papers just recently; the portfolio committee visited Limpopo; a road leading to the airport; elsewhere around the country, and you find even in Cape Town that the Government villages are in a state of neglect. And let me quote the final one: A prison in Boksburg called the Cinderella prison has been vacant for 16 years and has now been vandalised.
Let’s see if we can find a solution. The Minister must develop a policy and submit it to Cabinet, binding the President and the Ministers to agree that Public Works must timeously carry out the required maintenance and bill the receiving departments when maintenance is due. She must bill them. When she thinks it’s due, they must carry on with the work, whether that Director- General wants to do it or not.
The nation’s fixed assets under her control and care are in a bad state, because she does not stand up to the President and her colleagues in Cabinet. Added to this, the rent is not collected from many officials living in Acacia Park. Rent is not collected even from the Public Works officials living in Acacia Park. And now they tell us R4 million will be spent on security.
There are six huts around Acacia Park, but you never see a policeman in them. They have probably been erected at a cost of about R20 000 - R30 000. On top of all this, we have to date not been given the reason why a state house was sold to Mrs Mbeki at an extremely low price. And then when there was a public outcry, her department reacted. [Interjections.]
I do not have time to expand on the problems of the metro councils who are in trouble because government departments occupying buildings and properties under this department’s control do not pay the local government accounts. What kind of an example is Government setting in this instance? What is the policy of the ANC in this regard?
Chairperson, the DA is contemplatimg not supporting this Vote because the Minister is neglecting the maintenance of the nation’s fixed assets by not laying down hard and fast rules for the other Ministers. I think it is time that she graduated to another portfolio.
Mr P J NEFOLOVHODWE: Chairperson, one of the objectives set out by the Public Works department is ``to become a pioneer of Community-Based Public Works Programmes’’. In this context, Azapo understands the department to be saying that these community-based activities will be geared at job creation and poverty alleviation. If our understanding is correct, we therefore believe that in targeting the rural poor, the department shall contribute significantly to the development and empowerment of rural citizens of our country.
Indeed these intentions are noble, but until such time as a co-ordinated strategy is developed together with the provincial and local spheres of government, these intentions will remain unfulfilled. Azapo has noticed with disappointment though that some local government entities have not even begun to implement these much-needed job creation activities. A mechanism should be found to facilitate job creation activities in this sphere of government.
For example, there has not been vigorous rural road construction in the remote rural areas of our country. In order for the rural poor to engage in microbusinesses and other income-generating activities, they need roads in order for their products to be accessible to potential buyers as well as reaching appropriate markets.
The youth in particular, in both rural and poor urban areas, should be integrated into these programmes. Azapo believes that when a country has large youth unemployment, it risks the possibility of the youth being recruited to engage in criminal or other kinds of deviant activities, such as gangsterism and violence. Or, as is the case in some other African countries, the youth are recruited to become soldiers to destabilise these countries.
Unless we in South Africa engage our youth in meaningful employment, who knows, we might live to see our youth being used by reactionary forces and individuals to destabilise our country. I thank you.
Miss S RAJBALLY: Chairperson, this department has served as a great contributor to the reconstruction and development of South Africa.
The programmes embarked upon by the department have delivered much success, which the MF applauds. The National Public Works Programme, NPWP, has mothered two beneficial programmes, namely the Community-Based Public Works Programme, CBPWP, and the Construction Industry Development Programme, CIDP. Both programmes have a number of success stories, which have certainly led to a tremendous domestic turnaround. We are proud to note that the CBPWP was judged by the International Labour Organisation to be the leading public works programme in over 30 developing countries.
Poverty is eating away at our citizenry, and beating it is certainly not easy. This programme has been instituted to achieve poverty relief and infrastructure investment. The programme has assisted Government in strengthening ties with the community and earned the title Letsema. Its contribution to alleviating unemployment has shown numbers with a pleasing recognition of women, youth and the disabled.
BEE has also received a large contribution from the programme showing the department’s commitment to bridging the gap. The MF is quite impressed by Operation Plough Down and the advancement it has made especially in the KwaZulu-Natal region. The multipurpose centres have also proved quite beneficial, allowing Government to monitor community needs and loopholes in rural areas.
The development projects on unemployment, skills development and labour relations are promising. It is hoped that the budget for this financial period shall be utilised to produce the promising results it has had thus far. Let us unite in bridging the gap and alleviating poverty. The MF supports the Vote. [Applause.]
Mr M M CHIKANE: Chairperson, the hon Minister and Deputy Minister of Public Works have outlined the major achievements and activities of the important portfolio for which we applaud and support them in the Vote.
During the course of the year, we have regularly interacted with the management through the parliamentary committee and we have been informed about the challenges and achievements. Of course, at times, Mr Blanché was not there. That is why he spoke in the manner that he did.
We have travelled a long way since 1994. We moved from a white male dominated empire to a department that represents a tapestry of all the people of South Africa. We changed the face of nepotism to that of a young and vibrant community with women taking central positions which were reserved for whites only. Our symbols represent united nationhood at work and are enshrined in our policy.
We grappled with the task and expanded on the main line function to include the Community-Based Public Works Programme, which has gone a long way in addressing poverty alleviation and the transfer of skills in the deprived and formerly disadvantaged communities in the cities and towns alike, as well as in the informal settlements and rural areas. The people have water and electricity. Access roads have been created where none existed.
Bongi and Jan can be heard talking in the classroom, trying to share common ideas on the problem facing them, a state which in the past was regarded as an anomaly. Mama Shenge and Annetjie van Wyk can today share a common topic on an episode of Madam and Eve, which was uncommon in the days of our dictators. Even Van der Merwe, not our van der Merwe but the other one, feels uncomfortable with the term `baas’. Mrs now applies equally to all those who celebrated have matrimony.
South Africa is at work. Apartheid is behind us, but there are challenges that we still face. Poverty and unemployment are still dogging all we have done and must be removed henceforth.
It is my task and yours not to threaten the poor with 150 000 police, but to deal with poverty through a decisive strategy. The planned job summit must have the support of all right-thinking South Africans. Let us not fight those who have brought about the system that is envied by most people the world over. Let us expand the programme to include all those we have not reached today. Let us isolate the lunatics who continue to advocate for separate and unequal development between Sandton and Diepkloof.
Bongi, whom I talked about, has been accepted as a pupil at the nearest school. She does not have to walk the long road in the platteland whilst her counterpart who is also her playmate enjoys a free ride on the bus.
Jan who was a student at the University of Pretoria and studied engineering is now a proud South African. He has no plans to leave his fatherland. He does not respond to the false drumbeat played by some among us of unrythmic music about the brain drain. He does not want a homeland. He wants a country and to serve his people.
Difficult and windy as the road to nation-building has been, we are happy that progress has been made. Apartheid and discrimination are on their way out. In comes a nonracial, nonsexist democratic dispensation enshrined in our Freedom Charter. Slowly, the doctrines of Verwoerd and Malan are fading away. In comes equality and self-respect of each other’s culture and values.
Lack of ownership is declining as Mrs Ditodi gets a house that she can call her own at the age of 73. In Tibane in the Ga-Matlala area, people have running water and some have electricity or both. The Community-Based Public Works Programme has created assets where none existed - clinics, schools, and multipurpose centres.
There is an access road in Madietane. The multipurpose centres have been completed in Maluti and Thaba Nchu. Nine years ago, some of these areas were dumping grounds for surplus people from the Johannesburg and Welkom mining giants. Today the roots are strengthening and the bond is made.
Amongst other challenges that we need to reflect on today is the full compliance with requirements of the Auditor-General in accordance with the financial management system - FMS, for you guys, hey! [Laughter.] - the property management information system and work control system utilised by the department. The Auditor-General’s report for the financial year 2001-02 identified gaps of unmatched transactions, but the department was able to address this through an action plan.
The Department of Public Works set up a task team of both finance and operations personnel to tackle the weakness identified by the Auditor- General and has informed us on some of the milestones in response.
Firstly, systems relating to reconciliation problems have been addressed and the Auditor-General is reviewing the work done to evaluate the proper solution of the problem identified. System reconciliation is now done on a month-to-month basis. The corrective measure is a direct response to the reconciliation of unmatched transactions between operation and management systems in the department.
Secondly, operating expenditure incurred due to the ownership, validity and accuracy of state-owned property questioned by the Auditor-General was analysed and provided to the Auditor-General who is currently evaluating it. Thirdly, to ensure the availability of supporting documents, the department has developed a filing-in convention that makes it easier to locate and retrieve the documents for audit purposes.
Fourthly, the Department of Public Works is consistently following up all debtors’ balances and recovering debt from the client departments to minimise losses by ensuring recovery of payments. We have been assured that proper accounting treatment in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act is strictly complied with.
The hon Minister also referred to the Repair and Maintenance Programme which we call Ramp, which is a brainchild of the Department of Public Works to address the acute deterioration of buildings and general backlog in maintenance of state-owned property. A lot of my colleagues before me spoke about this. Reports received indicate that the programme is indeed bearing fruit and that the client satisfaction level has been increased where Ramp has been introduced.
The hon Minister also referred to the reduction of complaints from the client departments in her presentation today. I would therefore support a motion for the increment of the budget for the Repair and Maintenance Programme. I would in fact recommend that other spheres of government learn from the National Public Works Programme how they can address deterioration in their own properties.
We also welcome here the Director-General, Mr Maseko, who has shown the determination to try to deal with some of these difficult problems. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Thank you, Chair and hon members. I have given myself some kind of a score. There were 17 speakers and 15 of them supported the budget and said we are doing a good job. And what is strange about the two who did not support what we are doing and the changes we are making is that they are the very people who came from parties which were part of Parliament ages ago, who were part and parcel of that history of public works in which the budget was never fully expended, especially that of public works. Now that we have broken the record, two years down the line, they are trying to punch small holes in what we are trying to achieve. I am a teacher by profession. Let me educate them a bit. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
In the Government that we are running today, we work as a collective and in some cases we work in clusters, and in that situation, there is a lot of consultation that takes place. There is also a lot of prioritisation of work. The impression that is being created by the two Cinderellas is that my department should not consult. What we have done to achieve the expenditure that we now boast of was that we agreed with Treasury and decided to let the budget for capital works devolve to the various departments so that themselves say: ``This is what we require to be done at a particular time.’’ It is not a question of being bullied.
Abantu abaqhela ukubhulisha abafazi babo ezindlwini baza kuthetha ngokuba kuyabhulishwa. [People who are used to bullying their wives will talk about being bullied.]
It’s a question of saying … yintoni na elungele ukwenziwa? Asukume ke umntu andixelele ngento eyabahlula bona kuqala … [… what is it that should be done? And now a person thinks he can just rise and tell me about something that they themselves did …] 16 years ago.
Ayithathe ngebhakethe aze kuyijula apha kuthi. Ndinomnqa. Okwesibini kwesi sikolo sam … [Somebody thinks he can just fill a bucket and throw its contents in our faces. I am puzzled. Secondly, with my education …]
… I just don’t understand why … [Interjection.] No, I was in Transkei and I am not ashamed of that, so if you keep on talking about it, you are missing the boat, my friends, because for me, it was quite a learning curve.
What some of these people forget, these two did not say they are not supporting the budget. They are sort of, you know, … uyalazi iqanda elibandayo elingazazi nokuba lithini. [… like a cold egg.]
One of them was actually out of information. Our Government has long spoken and implemented the policy of public-private partnerships. We don’t have to get it from some recent report. It’s long been effected. Even where - as I was talking for instance of some of the successes in the community production centres - if they were listening carefully, they would have heard it was not just community people, but a combination of community people working in partnership with people who had success in what it is that they were doing.
Some people, too, don’t attend portfolio committee meetings where departments report on some of the problems they have, or the challenges on some of the plans that they have to deal with, and then come to this House, as any truant will come, and want to take us some 10 years back. I’m sorry that in this year 2003 we still have people who debate in that fashion.
I have taken notes of some of the points that were raised by the hon members for, whoever is walking the talk cannot always be 100% accurate and the very reason that you are in Parliament is for you to make comments that are going to build us up further in our work. It should be criticism of a constructive nature, not of a destructive nature.
I’m happy that the IDT pioneered the workshop which everyone seems to be appreciating. You will remember even of old, whether it was the army or people in construction, there were always camp followers. So, in constructions once … intente igxunyekwe [… the tent has been erected] … the next thing you will find are some nappies or some clothing because of the camp followers. It becomes very important, therefore, that within the construction industry, we play a major role in dealing with issues of HIV/Aids and I really commend the portfolio committee because it was their initiative together with IDT although, as the Deputy Minister said, we have had our own initiative departmentally.
The issue of dealing with land is a subject to which Government gives a lot of attention, and as Public Works, we have set out to introduce programmes which, when people are given land, are balanced by projects like the one I quoted in Schmitsdrift where a community which was literally twiddling its thumbs has now, through an irrigation scheme and water supply, been able to move into the commercial field. I have also addressed a situation where through trade and industry, through Khula, we have managed to get finance for some of our people. There is some light at the end of the tunnel.
I want to end by saying we are not yet there but the fact that I acknowledge that the tide is turning is an important factor, and we shall only be able to fulfil what we have to do if you as parliamentarians, in your portfolio committees, play your role and are not absentee parties.
I thank all who supported the Bill, who came up with ideas that we might use. We are going to scrutinise those ideas and when we make a report back at the level of portfolio committees, you must know that we listened.
I just want, Chair, to give an explanation. What we are building for traditional leaders are not palaces. What we are building are chambers for them to operate together with community halls. If you take Sandile, because of the history of resistance, that family ended up being shunted from place to place and Sebe at one time even gave them a small farm. What is going to happen to the dignity of amaXhosa? All that we are trying to do is to say ikomkhulu must be respectable and that we have the right infrastructure in place.
Ndiyabacela abantu baseLimpopo … [I humbly ask the people of Limpopo … ] to help us solve the problem. The money is there. We would like to go and build those two chambers as soon as we possibly can. Ndiyabulela. [I thank you.] [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
HEARINGS ON DEVELOPMENT FUNDING FOR STATE INSTITUTIONS AND NGOs
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Prof B TUROK: Chairperson, hon Minister, colleagues, the hearings that we held with the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry proved one of the most interesting that I have attended. We had a wide range of presenters - I was going to say protesters - [Laughter.] - including Government development agencies, public entities and NGOs and I would like to thank all those people who came to present and spent so much time in producing good papers and evidence.
We must understand the background for these hearings. Firstly, poverty alleviation and overcoming underdevelopment are central themes in Government policy and I believe enjoy widespread national support. It is also understood that to achieve these objectives requires a major common purpose right across the whole country and a clear understanding of the instruments that are available to achieve those objectives. For instance, we obviously need a proactive development state, but understand at the same time that state measures alone cannot suffice.
We need a wide range of partnerships right across the country. We need to ensure that people’s participation actually happens; that the vision of people-centred and people-driven development is central to our work. We need to ensure that there is buy-in by civil society in all its forms and strong participation by the private sector. If we do that, this will ensure that all our resources are brought to bear: Financial resources, material, human skills and social capital. Nothing should be left out.
The hearings were brought about, because many MPs have encountered complaints that funding is scarce … [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Order! Order!
Prof B TUROK: Thank you. I lost three seconds there. Please add them on. [Interjections.] And there is grumbling here as usual, or is it grunting?
However, MPs have encountered complaints that funding is scarce, that civil society organisations are starved for development work and that some agencies are underperforming. And so the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry called these public hearings on behalf of a number of portfolio committees, the economic cluster and others. The purpose of the hearings, it should be understood, was not actually to look at funding shortfalls as such or to examine particular agencies, but to see what systemic problems there may be, whether funds are achieving their objectives and whether they are reaching the intended targets.
So the agenda was a broad one. We are not accountants; we are not the Auditor-General. We were parliamentarians looking at systemic issues to see what was going on. And so we invited a sample of agencies - Government, independent public entities and NGOs - to get a sense of the problems in the area. We found at the hearings that the sums involved are really very substantial, larger than we thought. The smallest fund that came to give evidence has R12 million a year, the largest R10,2 billion - a very substantial amount, indeed.
We also discovered that the funds for development have a range of origins. There is direct funding from Government to agencies such as the National Development Agency, the Umsobomvu Fund and the Independent Development Trust. There are allocations from general funds, which go to the Isibaya Fund. There are foreign donor funds and also private sector funds.
Examples of these are as follows: The IDT gets R800 million a year from the Government in support of Government development programmes. The RDP Fund has received R4,2 billion, of which R923 million is unspent at the moment, for good reasons. Funding is received from foreign donors, which is part of overseas development assistance and funding also goes directly to beneficiaries, not through Government channels.
We were told that there is no clear sense of what kind of funding flows to NGOs which do not go through the RDP Fund and we are not sure that they accord with national priorities. Also, ODA funding flows off-budget and this can be a problem, because the Accountant-General has to monitor them and yet it is off-budget.
Now I come to the recommendations, because that is where the important element of the whole exercise lies and also certain proposals for Parliament and the portfolio committees to consider. There is a call for a more focused national overarching vision and the NDA, to our surprise, told us that their work is not guided by Government vision and direction. And since the NDA is one of the major funding institutions in South Africa, we thought that should be looked at.
There was also an appeal for greater co-ordination across the whole developmental sector, including Government and the private sector-funded agencies. The whole gamut of agencies perhaps need greater co-ordination.
The suggestion was also made, which we thought was eminently sensible, that there should be a forum to discuss funding and spending, again across all agencies, not just the NGOs, but also government agencies, public entities, and so on. And there was a suggestion that perhaps there are too many agencies operating in the development area, so there is duplication, overlap and so on.
One thing is clear - the pool of funds is large, very large indeed, and we as Parliament have to ensure that the funds are allocated properly and are spent for the intended purpose. State institutions and state-sponsored institutions could also help in setting up proper methodologies for disbursement. We need an infrastructure which is unchallengeable, which has integrity, and which ensures that disbursement takes place properly.
We have also been told that Government payments are sometimes too slow and we would appeal to government departments to ensure that the funds which are allocated are disbursed speedily. We were also asked to ensure that government departments make greater use of NGO capabilities where appropriate. For example, Nicro has a staff of 100 and 1 000 volunteers, and they have enormous capacity in the security area and Government could use them more effectively and co-ordinate better with them.
The Community Chest in the Western Cape alone has 9 000 volunteers. This is a huge volunteer force which Government can use more effectively by co- ordinating better with them. We need to enhance also, at the grass-roots level, the capacity of community organisations to use money. The need is great, but the community organisations don’t always have the capacity to absorb funds and use them properly. This can be assisted by interventions from Government.
We were also told - and we know this for a fact - that there are NGOs with a very good track record and they should be given priority. They should be treasured. We should ensure that their capacity is enhanced and proper partnerships should be established between Government and such NGOs.
Now I turn to the role of Parliament. Clearly Parliament is not taking seriously enough the role of these agencies and development funding in general. We need a comprehensive oversight machinery which is located in the portfolio committees to ensure that development funding performs properly, that the agencies perform properly and that weaknesses are eliminated. Parliament could play an enormous role, and our committee believes that this is not being taken seriously enough.
We also need to ensure that foreign donor agreements are tabled in Parliament. These are formal agreements called ``technical assistance agreements’’. They should be tabled in Parliament so that we have an overview of the totality of overseas development assistance to South Africa. We don’t actually know what is coming here, because the reports we get are from the Treasury, and the Treasury reports don’t deal with all the detail and all the agreements which Parliament should be advised of.
We need to ensure that there are improvements to the regulations of development fund expenditure. There are some regulations in place. The Department of Social Development clearly has them. But we need to look at them properly and systematically so that the regulation of expenditures by agencies of all kinds, Government, public entities and NGOs is properly conducted and that Parliament has a sense - we are not looking at detail here, but systems - of what is going on.
Finally, we were told that there are inconsistencies in the legislation with respect to NGO activities, for instance, in the case of the Non-Profit Organisations Act, the Income Tax Act, the trust deeds Act and the Lotteries Act. Because they were put in place at different times, they are not co-ordinated and they are not systematic in dealing with the whole question of NGO activities, funding and expenditures.
And so, Chair, what I would urge, and what our committee would urge, is that we actually launch a massive joint effort across the private sector, with the NGOs, community organisations and government departments in a partnership to reach the development goals that we all support. It is our hope that this report may indicate some useful proposals on the way forward. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr C M LOWE: Deputy Chair, the lasting impression I took away with me from these hearings on development funding for state institutions and NGOs was the comment from the Head of the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders, otherwise known as Nicro.
When asked, at the conclusion of her presentation, to comment on the current status of funding of state institutions and NGOs, she said that she wished to make what some might see as a somewhat radical statement, but that it was necessary to make it. Huge bureaucracies had been created, perhaps with the best of intentions, to hand out funding, but in so doing, they were not meeting the needs of those who needed help the most. She echoed the cries of many when she asked if there wasn’t a better, more efficient way of doing things.
That telling observation was a recurring theme from many of the NGOs who came to brief the portfolio committee - a recurring theme that, on behalf of the DA, I should like to take up this afternoon. In part, it is to pay tribute to the extraordinary work that NGOs do in ever more difficult circumstances, but also to ensure that their suggestions and, in fact, their pleas from the very coalface of hope, of need and too often of grinding despair, are translated into a co-ordinated plan of action by Government to ensure that development funding for state institutions - but most especially for the NGOs who do so much with so very little - does receive more support, recognition, more understanding and, ultimately, more money.
And any talk of money must include the National Lottery, more popularly known as the Lotto. I remain deeply concerned about Lotto funds not reaching those most in need, particularly charities. Despite assurances to the contrary, from both the Minister and Uthingo management who administer the Lotto, the facts speak for themselves.
Only today, statistics included in Landscape: The changing face of South Africa, an ongoing research project of the Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing, reflect that more than 70% of South Africans play the Lotto, and that a staggering R80 million is spent on Lotto tickets every week. And yet, statistics provided by the DTI show that in the past year only 16% of funds available for distribution actually reached the applicants. From information given in response to my questions, since the inception of the Lotto, a paltry 7% of funds available appears to have been paid across to beneficiaries.
Welfare organisations are floundering and people are starving while bureaucrats in sharp suits and paid top-drawer salaries are building lavish empires to distribute other people’s money, proudly showing us by way of hi- tech presentations and glossy brochures how they have workshopped and strategised and visioned and planned. Yet, many are unable to produce even an income statement to show how the money has been spent and what they have delivered.
I have raised this before, but I believe the example of the Pinetown Child Welfare Society is instructive. Despite an exemplary history, this society has lost its grant this year, because it erroneously omitted two annexures from its application. Last year they received R500 000. Despite every effort by them to correct their error, this year they will receive nothing because the men in sharp suits say that they didn’t follow the proper procedure. How does one tell the communities of Claremont, KwaNdebeka and Marion Ridge that the Pinetown Child Welfare Society cannot help them this year because they didn’t follow proper procedure?
We also need a rethink on the current distribution policy, which ignores the Community Chest organisation, saying they do not qualify because they are distribution channels, when they should be targeted as institutions with the infrastructure, expertise and ability to get the money to where it’s needed most. It is deeply ironic that, while Khula and Ntsika have had little to show for the tens of millions pumped into them, the Community Chest is struggling to attract any money and welfare organisations are also cap in hand, yet R80 million is being spent every week on the Lotto!
It is also unacceptable that Government still has not resolved the issue of Lotto money allocated to RDP projects and programmes. At least R153 million is lying idle while so many worthy projects and development programmes go unnoticed or underfunded. Last October, the DA appealed to the Minister of Finance either to create a new fund so that this money could be distributed to worthy causes, as allowed by the Lotteries Act of 1997, or to bring legislation before Parliament to untangle the red tape tying up this money. Seven months later, nothing has happened. It is a serious indictment of the Government that this bureaucratic bungle has occurred at all. It is even worse that it has been allowed to drag on for so long.
The RDP Ministry was discontinued in 1996 and the Minister of Finance announced then that the RDP Fund would be integrated with international development finance to form a one-stop facility for grant financing. If there was a problem with this fund receiving money from the Lotto, it should have been identified by Treasury when the Lotteries Act was processed in 1997 or, at the very least, before the Lotto was launched three years ago.
The DA then called on the Minister of Finance to announce during his Budget Speech that he would create a new fund for the distribution of the Lotto’s RDP allocation. Considering that nearly R1 billion of RDP funds from foreign donors went unspent in the 2001-02 financial year, a separate fund administered by competent and dedicated people would be preferable to money being shifted from one unspent budget to another. Our request seems to have fallen on deaf ears. In conclusion, we can only agree with the head of Nicro. In creating mechanisms to ensure development funding for state institutions and NGOs we have, perhaps unintentionally, created bureaucracies that are inefficient in many ways, allowing many needy organisations to slip through the cracks. We urgently require a meeting of the heads of all funding agencies, a funding summit if you like, to allow those people who are at the coalface of decision-making about who receives and who doesn’t, a chance to create a better and more efficient way of getting funding to those people and organisations who need it most. In that way, the women and men in sharp suits with fancy plans will still survive, but so too will our welfare organisations, our Community Chest and our NGOs. I thank you.
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Hon members, I now recognise the hon T Shabalala who will be making his maiden speech in the Assembly. [Applause.]
Mr T SHABALALA: Thank you, Deputy Chair and hon members, for the warm welcome you have given me.
Today’s debate on development funding for state institutes and NGOs presents me with my first opportunity to address this House since my arrival from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature. It is a great honour to be an IFP member of our national Parliament. I want to express my gratitude to IFP President, Dr M G Buthelezi, MP, for giving me this opportunity.
Even after 10 years of political freedom, millions of people in our country still suffer the tragic effects of deep-seated poverty on a daily basis. There can be no doubt whatsoever that massive poverty alleviation must be a national priority, and that we, as members of Parliament and Government, have a special duty to see to it that our national responses to poverty make a difference to the people who are suffering the most.
The correct application of development funding is one of the tools at our disposal to alleviate poverty and help people to help themselves. The IFP therefore welcomes the public hearings held by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry during March 2003 where such funding from state institutions and the nongovernmental sector came under the spotlight.
It gave us as parliamentarians the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the problems that are being faced in the development sector as they relate to funding issues. The hearings thus also gave us insight into the reasons for the apparent failings and shortcomings in the field of development funding and, therefore, poverty alleviation.
The public hearings brought to the fore three major issues. Firstly, the IFP was grateful to learn that there is actually a large amount of money available for development projects and programmes. Secondly, however, we were dismayed to learn that co-ordination between development funding agencies and development programmes suffered from a serious lack of co- ordination, duplication and sometimes serious fragmentation. Thirdly, we also learnt of large deficiencies in the human resource capacity within development funding bodies and developmental agencies.
It became clear from the hearings that both state institutions and NGOs active in the field of development are in a position to take proactive steps to address shortcomings and problems, but that they may need outside assistance to rectify the situation. Parliament can potentially assist and the IFP therefore underwrites the portfolio committee’s recommendation that public entities …
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! Carry on, hon member. I am just trying to get the House to be more receptive to what you are saying.
Mr T SHABALALA: Thank you, Deputy Chair. Does that mean I will get another two minutes?
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Yes. [Laughter.]
Mr T SHABALALA: Public entities involved in development funding should report to Parliament in a more systematic and co-ordinated manner so that oversight and monitoring is improved. We also agreed to the recommendation that the development and development funding activities of NGOs should be reported in some manner to Parliament, but without placing too much additional strain on organisations that may already be suffering from capacity and other constraints.
The portfolio committee also recommended that there was a need for a national overarching vision to guide development funding. The IFP totally agrees with this, but we want to add that the development funding sector also needs a champion or champions to drive and implement the overarching vision. These champions could be an institution or person or persons fully dedicated to development and poverty alleviation.
I want to return briefly to the issue of capacity constraints. State institutions in the development field have indicated that they face capacity constraints in project and financial management and project implementation. This deficiency can be addressed by assessing the skills of the nongovernmental sector where they exist or joint skills development initiatives.
Due to time constraints, I have only mentioned a few of the portfolio committee’s recommendations to come out of its public hearings, but I want to place on record that the IFP supports all of the recommendations. Poverty alleviation and the development of our people, particularly the rural poor, must be a national priority. All South Africans, whether they are in state institutions or the nongovernmental sector, must urgently take the necessary steps to address the problems. The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Hon member, your time has expired.
Mr T SHABALALA: Thank you, Deputy Chair. I was about to finish. I needed one second. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: The first type of order that I pronounced, I learnt courtesy of hon Koos van der Merwe.
Dr R T RHODA: Thank you, Chairperson. We must bear in mind that many countries which have been democracies of one sort or another for more than 100 years themselves continue to grapple with problems of a similar nature to ours up to this day.
Seven years down the road from our first democratic elections is not a long time in the greater scheme of things. In most things, we are doing incredibly well. In others, we are doing things less effectively, but that is not to say that we are doing badly. No. It’s simply that there is room for improvement.
Dissatisfaction about the way development funds are allocated and used across the country is a typical example. Government has identified the problem. As has been mentioned, various committees in Parliament are aware that there is considerable dissatisfaction about the way development funds are allocated and used across the country.
There are serious allegations about underspending and duplication of effort. This committee was asked to work with other committees in the economics cluster to convene public hearings on these matters with the intention of examining systemic and policy issues so as to ascertain whether development funds were achieving their objectives and purposes.
The report is based on evidence presented by these institutions. We cannot escape the fact that we found that large amounts of money intended for poverty relief, socially responsible investment and black economic empowerment remain idle or unallocated in a number of these funds which were dedicated funds set up by Government for these purposes. Reasons forwarded in most cases were weak and skimpy. Bureaucracies, delays in processing funding applications and procedural inefficiencies rather than a lack of funds were offered as the cause for the bottleneck.
Special funds is not specifically a competency of the Trade and Industry Department alone because we are dealing, I feel, with matters that concern the socioeconomic section of practically all the portfolios that we have today. It is for this reason that I would like to propose, at this point, the establishment of a special committee on development funding and black economic empowerment.
As I said, the report is based on evidence presented by several institutions. Yes, indeed, large amounts of money intended for poverty relief, socially responsible investment and black economic empowerment remain idle or unallocated in a number of these dedicated funds. The main reasons forwarded were understandable to me, given our past history and the distortions it caused. It is the end of one process, and the beginning of another.
We are indeed today still faced with severe capacity problems and skills shortages. The report lists a number of very helpful recommendations. But, most importantly, I feel there is a need for a national overarching vision to guide the development funding, in spite of what the National Development Agency had to say. Where there are inconsistencies in legislation, Parliament must rectify that. Finally, reporting to Parliament by public enterprises engaged in development funding should be more systematic and co- ordinated.
In conclusion, our great leader, Nelson Mandela, once said, and I quote:
Democracy will have little content and indeed will be short-lived if we cannot address our socioeconomic problems within an expanding and growing economy.
Let us roll up our sleeves like true patriots and try to solve this problem. Thank you.
Mrs F MAHOMED: Chair, Minister, Deputy Minister, comrades and friends, in the name of God Most Gracious Most Merciful. I wish to congratulate Mr Shabalala on his maiden speech. Many debates on the developmental discourse aim to scrutinise the tools used to achieve active real growth which translates into skills development, capacity-building and job creation. Sustained economic growth and sustainable development can be realised by setting up effective systems and organising and co-ordinating spending of accumulated resources.
Chair, it is true that apartheid created severe disparities and inequities between black and white and it also widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Economic deprivation continues to disempower the poorest of the poor. Indeed many developmental funds aim to alleviate the scourge of poverty and helplessness such as the RDP Fund, the National Development Agency, Nicro, Non-Profit Partnership, National Empowerment Fund and many others. This development funding must be used effectively and proactively. Equitable disbursement of allocated funding will give opportunities to allow disadvantaged communities to engage in socioeconomic activities and this will help minimise past imbalances.
Advancement of women in the economic and business domain is becoming more and more a subject of concern. Deliberate and concerted efforts should and must be made to ensure that more women become players in the megabucks industry and the blue chip companies so that they become major players in policy formulation and trillion-dollar projects to advance our cause for realising our developmental agenda. I am sad to say that only two agencies were able to give me statistics on women recipients of developmental funds. They are Kagiso Trust and the Community Chest. I congratulate them.
The challenge remains for other development agencies to present us with statistics on the disbursement of funds to women and women NGOs. It is also a woman’s dream to realise her own potential and her full potential in industrial development and to be a major player in the global village. South Africans can indeed achieve optimal efficiency if we are successful in employing our total available human and material and developmental resources in such a way that the maximum feasible quantity of need- satisfying goods and services are produced. This value-added production will result in a reasonable degree of economic stability and sustainable growth.
Perhaps in looking for an effective system of utilising developmental funding and utilising other allocated resources in every economic system, three fundamental questions come to mind: What, how and for whom? How much of which alternative goods and services shall be needed to be produced? Who will produce them and what resources and in what technical manner will this be done?
Our present challenge is to use developmental funding effectively to transform, conceptualise and realise our developmental agenda so that we meet our new and urgent challenges by reaching our desired socioeconomic goals. We all know these goals - our goals of sustainable development, our goals of exploiting our human capital to acquire a desired skill so that our people are able to compete in the domestic and global markets and, most important of all, our goal to alleviate poverty.
It is important to create an enabling system of disbursement of developmental funding which must consist of indispensable elements which I will mention now. In my mind’s view, I call it a filter mechanism in which all claims must be passed to maintain a balance between resources and the claims on them so that optimum efficiency and equity is realised. It must provide a mechanism to motivate individuals to put their best performance in their own interest and in the interest of society. In other words, mentoring and the hand-holding process are necessary for any project to be successful. So the new entrepreneur or the new entrant is not lonely in the hard corporate world, because fear of failure and fear of the unknown are sometimes devastating.
An effective way needs to be found so that socioeconomic restructuring enables prompt transfer of funding without complex application forms and heavy bureaucracy. Development funds should be more systemic and co- ordinated. All the speakers have said that. NGOs should and must be accountable and guided by clear objectiveness. They should become more organised with a view to realising sustainability effectively; social upliftment should contribute possibility to sustainable development and poverty alleviation, and legislation should be consistent with respect to NGO activities.
Also, an overarching vision to guide development funding is fundamental. Therefore examined improvement to the regulation of development funding spending is imperative. We all know that spending of RDP funds has to be conducted according to the technical agreements between South Africa and the donor organisations. It is important that these agreements be encouraged to understand to help us realise our national objectives for our developmental agenda. During the hearings, the National Development Agency identified the following challenges and also said that application backlogs had to be processed: Their desire in improving their organisational structures and mainstreaming HIV/Aids into their activities. Also they had mentioned the decentralisation of the NDA and building network, streamlining projects and ensuring proper oversight.
All agencies agreed that co-ordination is fundamental for effective functioning of resources available. Non-Profit Partnership reiterated during the hearings that development institutions face numerous challenges including lack of capacity, inadequate funding, focus on investment rather than development, slow disbursement of funds and also administrative problems. Again, it is important for the harmonisation of development institutions within a unified framework. The introduction of a tracking system linked to an accessible database, and the setting of realistic and measurable targets by increasing funds to vulnerable communities is the way to go.
I just want to mention a little bit on the National Empowerment Fund. Let us just remind ourselves in this case that there are three main components to the NEF structure, namely private equity, venture capital and investment services. The Venture Capital Programme was established in 2002 and provides start-up and expansion capital. Some of the challenges highlighted by the presentation included poor delivery, quick staff turnover and capacity problems.
In conclusion, the hearings revealed that a great deal of development activity is taking place in South Africa, but there is a need to synergise and effectively co-ordinate activities around the said funding so that the responsible agencies proactively disburse the earmarked moneys to the targeted constituencies. Poverty eradication, skills development and job creation should be some of our guidelines to spur on developmental funding. It is important that development should have an overall vision of co- ordination within Government, between Government and public entities, between public entities and NGOs. Oversight and accountability of special funds remain a challenge. Therefore, systems should be put in place to track and monitor its effective spending of such resources which will enhance and realise our developmental agenda.
Miss S RAJBALLY: Deputy Chair, the MF shares in the dissatisfaction of how development funds are allocated and utilised across the country. It is especially concerned about the serious allegations of underspending and duplication of efforts. The MF is therefore pleased that the committee has taken on the task of analysing systemic and policy issues in examining the success of development funds. The MF is further pleased that this task involved major stakeholders concerned with this dilemma.
Having viewed the report, the MF is perturbed by the circumstances. There is a clear show of funds available for development work from Government and foreign donors. We constantly stress how we are striving towards poverty alleviation and social development, and the recognition of the need to alleviate poverty and create jobs. So where is the loophole?
It appears that the flow of funds is often disrupted and hinders our delivery negatively. Contributing to this is a lack of common vision and co- ordination. This disappoints the MF as much as it disappoints the citizenry. It is failures like these that give the media leeway to paint negative pictures of our system. There are a number of factors that need to be reviewed. With policies in place, it is disheartening that such glitches still occur. The MF calls on the necessary bodies to embark on a clean-up and to correct this negative fate of funds.
We have people starving and unemployed. There are resources to overcome this. Let’s put our weight behind ensuring delivery. We have a promising and viable system and if all stakeholders could commit to delivery, we would be in a better position than we are now. Thank you.
Dr R H DAVIES: Chairperson, the hearings which have resulted in the production of the report, which we are discussing this afternoon, are the product of an exercise that has taken us out of the usual silos within which we normally operate in this Parliament. Many of the agencies which we interacted with do not report to the Department of Trade and Industry, and are not agencies with which we would normally engage in our regular routine oversight. What we have been involved in here is an exercise which is based on an investigation of a thematic nature, which reaches across a number of different portfolios.
I want to begin by acknowledging the support of my colleagues in other portfolio committees who encouraged our committee to pursue this investigation. I particularly want to acknowledge the support of Mr Nhlanhla Nene, the co-chair of the joint budget committee, who also participated in the hearings.
When Government announces - usually in the Budget - that it intends to establish a fund for poverty relief or developmental purposes, I think many of us imagine that the very next day you can begin to apply for some of these funds to be made available. In fact, that is the beginning of a process which is often rather tortuous. First of all, very often the Government has to raise the money concerned, and that happens during the course of a Budget year. Then there is the question of the mandate for the disbursement of these funds. That is often followed by the setting up of an institution, the recruiting of staff, the setting up of procedures, and so on.
This is a process which, I must say, many of us feel has taken an inordinately long time. The result of this is that we now have a number of different spending agencies, all with somewhat different mandates, somewhat different criteria, and so on. All of this, I think, has to be seen against the background of capacity constraints, capacity constraints both to dispense and to absorb funds. In this respect I want to take issue with the image that Mr Lowe presented of Government bureaucrats in smart suits with fancy presentations, versus hard-working grass-roots NGOs. I think this is somewhat of an oversimplification. The truth is that the funding agencies actually have a variable record. At best, I think, they are headed by rather hard-working, dedicated and knowledgeable people.
But, more importantly, I think we need to acknowledge that the NGOs also have a variable record. Whilst, at best, some of them have hard-working and dedicated people, they also suffer from capacity constraints. They also have administrative costs and, as the report highlights, it was acknowledged that there is the issue of a lack of cohesion within the NGO sector, which was the basis on which the predecessor of the National Development Agency was set up in the first place. So, I think, the truth is that we need to deal with capacity constraints both to dispense and to absorb funds. That is our reality.
As Prof Turok highlighted at the beginning of the debate, one of our key recommendations is that there is a need for a guiding national vision for all of this activity. I think that the reality at the moment is that the lack of this is leading to processes in which each individual agency is working to define a mandate, to define criteria, to find a niche in this rather crowded market. We feel that there does need to be a national guiding vision, which we would also hope the NGOs would buy into.
We also feel that there are probably too many of these organisations. We suggest that if Government in future wants to make money available for these purposes, it should seriously consider capitalising, recapitalising or providing resources to one of the existing agencies, and not setting up a new fund. At the same time, I think we need to be clear that what we are recommending is a process of co-ordination rather than necessarily institutional merger, although that might be a product of the process of co- ordination.
It is important to note that in our hearings, the National Development Agency embraced and gave some very useful pointers on the way that this might proceed. I would suggest that this body is perhaps well placed to play a leading role in this process.
As I said at the beginning of my speech, these hearings are an exercise in parliamentary oversight, which is a little different to the kinds of exercises that we have been involved in. I do need to say that this initiative emerged within the ANC study group, that it got support from other chairs within the ANC, that we had the support of the Chief Whip, and that there was no attempt by Ministers or members of the executive, in any way, to stop us from carrying this out. I think this indicates that the ANC wants an actively engaged Parliament that is involved in oversight, oversight which is identifying policy and administrative and procedural matters that need to be dealt with in order to realise our common objective or rolling back the frontiers of poverty and delivering more effectively to our people.
I want to suggest that this report is only a first stab at such an exercise. I think that a lot of the recommendations are suggesting that there needs to be reporting to Parliament on some of these issues. We might have to consider how Parliament receives those reports. I’m not sure that individual portfolio committees are necessarily going to be the way that this needs to be done. I think the joint budget committee could play a central role, and that clusters will certainly have to be considered for some of this. But I do think that Parliament’s role in this can be an active one, as some of the reactions to our report already have shown. I therefore have pleasure in commending this report to this Parliament. Thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! I think the final concluding points that were made by the hon Davies have indeed to be carefully considered in order that we know exactly how Parliament will deal with these reports. I would like to place this on record so that the matter is dealt with expeditiously.
The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Deputy Chair, may I first start by expressing my condolences to the family of my friend Rudi Heine. I was unable to be there today. Rudi and I go back a long way when I was a unionist organising his factory in Pinetown and it is sad that one of the good people of our country is gone.
Deputy Chairperson, you have, in a way, summarised what I was going to say. May I first congratulate the committees on having such a hearing. I think this is, as the hon Ben Turok and Rob Davies have both indicated, a somewhat new form of hearing, and of oversight, and I think it has the potential to break new ground, because we need to begin thinking ahead on how these various endeavours to bring about development can be better co- ordinated and more effective.
I would urge you to consider a little more deeply on how we go forward on this matter. It may be that you wish to have more hearings. It may be, as the hon Rob Davies said at the end, that you want to think through how the reporting should take place. I would urge you to think of a few things. I think there is a difference between Government’s endeavours in which, we will all concede, I think, there is a little bit of duplication at present; maybe too many funds. Some thought needs to be given to how we as Government co-ordinate these activities because there are certainly considerable resources now available for activities.
I think in the NGO domain, for me, what is fundamental is an NGO as an NGO. It is a nongovernmental organisation. It is something that needs to grow and develop, not absolutely dependent on Government because, if it is, I don’t think it is fulfilling its fundamental objective. I think we have to accept that there has been a tremendous change in the environment in which the NGOs have to work.
There is a great difference. There is a great difference between the time when NGOs were part of some broad struggle and the time where they must now play a role in making our society better outside of that very stark set of circumstances that many an NGO existed in. I speak as someone coming from probably one of the most powerful NGOs that was formed in this society.
How do we do this? It would be wrong, I think, to attempt to make sure that we as Parliament had oversight of every NGO. It can’t be right. Obviously, it also needs to be necessary for NGOs to have access to public resources in one way or another, be it from the Lottery, NDA or whatever. So I think the wisdom of the multiparty processes in Parliament and your own processes are necessary here. Let us think this through because what we are trying to create is a society and an environment where developmental endeavours are secure, innovative and effective, and how that is done is not absolutely simple. No one has the answer. We may well be breaking new ground here.
So I would urge you to continue on this work and see how we work this through. I think Government is very receptive to it. It would be a sad day for our new democracy if we responded to every form of pressure by creating a new fund or new money. We need a system. We need a framework. We need to protect what one hopes and believes - and I think this is the case - is the vitality that comes from NGOs - a sense of exploration and the meeting of urgent and usually specific needs. We need to ensure that there is support for NGOs from public funds.
I would counsel against new committees dealing with development and BEE. I think we have enough structures. I think if we could say anything from the executive’s side, we would urge you to continue the work, reflect, engage and see whether we can develop - and I think we can - a framework that gives guidance and direction on how Government should interact with NGOs and give the NGOs some support for their work, but also allows those people that they work with to hold them to account. I think that is something that I would like to stress from my own experience in the past. What is most important is that the people that the NGOs purport to benefit must be able to hold them to account. It is not that we as Parliament should hold them to account for something else.
I think there is great work to be done. We have many challenges to overcome. The great achievement that we should all be thankful for is that we have achieved a situation where we can create the resources for these things to take place. It is not every society in this world or every society on this continent that has managed to achieve that. We may have many criticisms, as we all do, of something like the Lottery, but the amounts of money that are actually going out are unprecedented in this society.
So these are achievements that we all have been able to achieve and I would like to congratulate you on the work you have done. I think it is path- breaking. We begin to look ahead, and I would really urge you, on behalf of the executive and other Ministers that are involved, to take this process further. We will begin to reflect on it in the executive, but could you take it further. This is something that should not be a political debating point. This is something where genuine bipartisan multiparty work can be done to give us a better delivery system for the NGOs and for development as a whole. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! The Chair recommends that this matter be referred to the hon Chief Whip of the Majority Party to see how the request and recommendations, both of the Minister and of the hon Davies, can be processed.
Debate concluded.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: I move that the House note the Report.
Agreed to.
The House adjourned at 18:24. ____
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
MONDAY, 2 JUNE 2003
ANNOUNCEMENTS: National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
- Assent by President in respect of Bills:
(i) Exchange Control Amnesty and Amendment of Taxation Laws Bill -
Act No 12 of 2003 (assented to and signed by President on 30 May
2003).
National Assembly:
- The Speaker:
(1) On 30 May 2003 the Speaker received a legislative proposal on
the public auditing function from Dr Z P Jordan, MP, Chairperson
of the Audit Commission on behalf of the Audit Commission.
Copies of the proposal can be obtained from the Office of the
Clerk of the Papers.
TABLINGS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces: Papers:
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:
Government Notice No R 663 published in Government Gazette No 24867
dated 16 May 2003: Code of Conduct for Debt Collectors made in terms of
section 14(b) of the Debt Collectors Act, 1998 (Act No 114 of 1998).
- The Acting Minister of Transport:
Strategic Plan of the Department of Transport for 2003-2004.
TUESDAY, 3 JUNE 2003
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
- Introduction of Bills:
(1) The Minister for Safety and Security:
(i) Firearms Control Amendment Bill [B 28 - 2003] (National
Assembly - sec 75) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior
notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette No
24767 of 25 April 2003.]
Introduction and referral to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and
Security of the National Assembly, as well as referral to the
Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms of Joint
Rule 160, on 4 June 2003.
In terms of Joint Rule 154 written views on the classification of
the Bills may be submitted to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM)
within three parliamentary working days.
TABLINGS:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:
Papers:
- The Speaker and the Chairperson: Strategic Plan of the Public Service Commission for 2003-2006.
National Assembly:
- The Speaker:
COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE TREATY
ESTABLISHING THE AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC) RELATING TO THE PAN
AFRICAN PARLIAMENT - ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - 28 APRIL 2003:
1. At the initiative of the Commission of the African Union, the
Steering Committee (Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Libya, Mali,
Rwanda, SADR, South Africa, Tanzania and Togo) on the Protocol to
the Treaty establishing the AEC relating to the Pan African
Parliament, met at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
on 28 April 2003.
2. This Committee was established in conformity with the decision
of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government which met in
Durban, South Africa in July 2002, upon the proposal of the
Consultative Meeting of the African Parliaments which was held in
June 2002, in Cape Town, South Africa.
3. The Meeting unanimously elected Dr. Frene Ginwala, Speaker of
the South African Parliament, as Chairperson of the Steering
Committee.
4. The Committee agreed to work closely with National and Regional
Parliaments and other deliberative organs in Member States, in
particular, to coordinate its actions and initiatives with the
African Parliamentary Union and other parliamentary bodies towards
the acceleration of the process of ratification and
operationalization of the Protocol to the Treaty establishing the
AEC relating to the Pan African Parliament.
5. The Committee was briefed by Amb. Said Djinnit, Interim
Commissioner for Peace, Security and Political Affairs of the
Commission, on behalf of the Interim Chairperson of the
Commission, on the priorities and activities of the Union during
the interim period, in particular, the progress made in
establishing the key organs of the Union, and the political and
socio-economic situation on the Continent.
6. Following an exhaustive exchange of views on the ways and means
of accelerating the ratification and operationalization of the
Protocol to the Treaty establishing the AEC relating to the Pan
African Parliament, the Committee agreed as follows:
* Appealed to all Member States that had not signed and/or
ratified the Protocol to do so as soon as possible;
* The need for the Commission to request Member States to provide
information on their constitutional processes and procedures
for the ratification of treaties and the current stage of
ratification of the Protocol relating to the Pan African
Parliament;
* The Permanent Representatives to the AU should be requested to
inform the Commission on a regular basis, on the progress made
in the ratification of the Protocol;
* The members of the Steering Committee should work closely with
existing regional Parliamentary structures, in particular, the
Parliamentary Fora of SADC, CEMAC, UEMOA, ECOWAS, EAP, UMA and
IGAD.
* The Commission should send the text of all AU Treaties to
National Parliaments for information and appropriate action.
7. The Committee exchanged views on the vision of the Pan African
parliament.
8. The Committee requested the Commission to bring to the attention
of the 3rd Extra Ordinary Session of the Executive Council
scheduled for Sun City, South Africa in May 2003, the outcome of
this meeting and to urge all Member States to expedite the signing
and/or ratification of the Protocol.
9. The Committee agreed to hold its second meeting before the
Maputo Summit to assess the progress made and to prepare its
report to be submitted to the Summit in July 2003.
10. At the end of its deliberations, the Steering Committee
expressed its appreciation to the Commission for the initiative
taken in convening the meeting. The Committee commended the
Interim Chairperson of the Commission and all his collaborators
for the actions undertaken during the interim period.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
28 April 2003
Referred to the Working Group on the African Union.
- The Speaker:
(1) Seventh Report of the Working Group on the African Union, dated
3 June 2003:
1. Introduction
Following its Sixth Report, adopted by the House on 11 April
2003, the Working Group would like to report as follows:
2. The Pan African Parliament Steering Committee
The Working Group reported in its Sixth Report that it would
follow up with the African Union on the establishment of a
representative steering committee of Parliamentarians to
support and co-ordinate the steps necessary to achieve the
ratification of the Protocol. The African Union Interim
Commission has since established the Steering Committee which
is made up of two member states from each of the five African
regions. Members of the Steering Committee have been selected
on the basis of precedence in the ratification of the PAP
Protocol. In the case of those regions where no member states
have as yet ratified, members have been selected on the basis
of precedence in the signing of the Protocol. The Southern
Africa region is represented by Botswana and South Africa.
The first meeting of the Steering Committee was held in Addis
Abbaba, Ethiopia on 28 April 2003. At the meeting, the
Speaker, Dr F N Ginwala, was elected as the Chairperson of
the Steering Committee. At the end of the meeting, the
Committee issued a communiquÿ which, among others, appealed
to all member states that had not signed and/or ratified the
Protocol to do so as soon as possible.
3. Meeting of African Parliaments
The Working Group also reported and recommended previously that
a meeting be convened for countries that have ratified the
Protocol to begin to develop a common vision and
understanding. The Working Group has since agreed that this
meeting of African Parliaments should involve not only the
countries that have ratified, but all the African countries.
The Working Group has established a Task Team comprising ten
members to deliberate and make recommendations on the
programme content and resource people for the Meeting.
4. Recommendations
The National Assembly should consider -
(1) Convening a Meeting of African Parliaments on 30 June and
1 July 2003 to exchange views on the Pan African
Parliament with a view to building a common vision.
(2) Inviting the following participants to the Meeting:
a. 1 Speaker and 2 members from each Parliament, with 1
out of the 3 delegates being a woman;
b. The Speakers of each of the regional Parliaments;
c. Members of the Pan African Parliament Steering
Committee; and
d. South African members of Parliament.
Report to be considered.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
National Assembly:
- Report of the Portfolio Committee on Defence on Study Tour to Japan, dated 24 January 2003:
The Portfolio Commmittee on Defence, having undertaken a study tour to
Japan from 14 to 20 April 2002, reports as follows:
A. Introduction
1. Background
Japan and South Africa (SA) have similar positions with regard
to many security-related issues; i.e. the need for nuclear non-
proliferation, the banning of anti-personnel landmines, peace
support operations and the promotion of democracy and human
rights. Like SA, it is a military and economic regional power,
which places certain responsibilities on it.
Even though Japan lacks natural resources, is 75% mountainous
and is far from foreign markets, it has the second largest
global economy. It furthermore has a per capita income of
almost US$40 000 and a population of 126 million.
Japan's defence spending is comparable to that of China, even
though its uniformed personnel is a tenth of that of China's.
The Japanese Constitution, however, prohibits engagements in
foreign military conflicts. Although the Japanese Self-Defence
Force (JSDF) may partake in peace support operations, the JSDF
may only act in self-defence of its own personnel.
The objectives of the study tour were to share views on
parliamentary oversight, peace support operations, post-Cold
War defence management, civil/military relations, arms control
and the defence industry.
2. Courtesy calls
Courtesy calls were undertaken to the following dignitaries:
* Mr ME Mminele, South Africa's acting ambassador
* Mr Nakatani, Minister of Defence Agency (i.e. Department
of Defence)
* Mr K Tamaki, Chairperson of the Committee on Security
(House of Representatives)
* Mr K Tameki, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs and Defence (House of Councillors)
* Mr S Sugiura, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs.
3. Delegation
The delegation consisted of Ms T R Modise, MP (ANC), Mr J N
Mashimbye, MP (ANC), Mr V B Ndlovu, MP (IFP), Mr H C Schmidt,
MP (DP), and Mr G Campher, Committee Secretary.
B. Defence Policy of Japan
Japan's post-World War II defence policy was based on:
1. An exclusive self-defence posture.
2. Adherence to the Japan-US security arrangement.
3. The establishment of foundations for national security through
efforts for peace and co-operation.
This is encapsulated in the Constitution, as follows:
``Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on
justice and order,
the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right
of the nation and the threat or use as a means of settling
international disputes ...
The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognised"
[Japanese Constitution - Article 9].
An example of this self-defence posture is the fact that the in-
flight fuel apparatus of the American F-15J fighter aircraft,
which is manufactured under licence in Japan, was removed so that
the aircraft could not be used beyond Japanese airspace.
The US-Japan Security Treaty came into force in 1951. It
stipulated that the USA will defend Japanese and regional
interests and will maintain military bases with 100 000 personnel
in Japan. This treaty forms the basis of Japan's Self-Defence
Force (SDF) Act and its security policies. It also forms the basis
of military co-operation between the two countries; i.e. joint
military exercises, provisioning of goods and services, research
and development, and technology transfers. This effectively means
that the US is the formal guarantor of Japanese security.
In April 2002, the Japanese government submitted three pieces of
legislation to the Diet (Japanese Parliament), in an effort to
review security legislation. The first bill will define the basic
framework for the government to make decisions with regard to a
foreign armed-attack. It will enable the Prime Minister (PM) to
establish a task team, should Japan come under military attack.
The Cabinet will adopt fundamental policies, which must be
approved by the Diet, to deal with the situation. The public will
be obliged to obey these measures, as failure will result in fines
or imprisonment.
The second bill will amend the SDF Act to enable the SDF to engage
in necessary operations in the event of a military attack. It will
authorise the SDF to initiate preparations for an attack, even
before the PM, as commander-in-chief, has issued such an order.
During the attack, the SDF might be authorised to apply force to
fend off an attack and even to launch a counter-attack.
The third bill will grant the Security Council, an advisory body
to the PM, greater power to deal with emergencies.
The Diet
The Diet consists of the House of Representatives and the House of
Councillors, and came into existence in 1890 by virtue of the
Meiji Constitution, which was based on monarchism. In this
imperial Diet, the emperor, on the recommendation of senior
statesmen, appointed the PM. The PM and his Cabinet was thus
accountable to the emperor and not to the Diet or populace.
The new Constitution, i.e. the one after World War Two (WWII),
proclaimed that sovereign power resided with the people and not
the emperor, who became the symbol of the state. The PM and a
majority of Ministers of State are currently designated from among
Diet members. The Cabinet is collectively responsible to the Diet,
and if the House of Representatives pass a vote of no-confidence,
the Cabinet resigns en bloc or the House dissolves itself in order
that an appeal could be made to the populace.
Members of the Diet are elected by universal suffrage. The 480
members of the House of Representatives are elected for a four-
year term, while half of the 252 members of the House of
Councillors are elected every third year for a six-year term.
Members of the Diet are elected by proportional representation and
single-seat or prefectural constituencies.
The Houses have Standing, Research and Special Committees. No
business may be transacted unless at least one half of a
committee's members are present. The only observers at meetings
are the media and those that have the chairperson's permission.
C. Mr Takemi (Committee Chairperson: House of Councillors)
Mr Takemi is the former State Secretary for Africa Affairs. He
stated that the Constitution renounced war due to the fact that
the populace, which did not prevent the military from plunging
Japan into WWII, was repentant. The result was pacifism and strong
civil-military control over the military. However, some sectors of
the population, especially the youth, were against Article 9,
because it made security arrangements inflexible. For example,
Japan has the right to collective defence, like any country, as
per the UN Charter, but Article 9 prohibits the use thereof. The
result is that:
1. The JSDF may not defend another country during peace-keeping
missions, even though that would defend JSDF units.
2. It could not provide military units to ``Operation Enduring
Freedom'' in Afghanistan.
3. It cannot do anything about suspicious ships in its territorial
waters.
Mr Takemi stated that he supported the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD) and wanted Japan to become more
involved with African affairs. He also welcomed SA's role in
pushing for UN reforms, SA's relentless struggle to overcome
apartheid and SA's efforts to strengthen democracy. A Science and
Technology Agreement was also recently signed between SA and Japan
to enhance co-operation in this field.
D. Mr Tamaki (Committee Chairperson: House of Representatives)
Mr Tamaki stated that the military did not account to the populace
before WWII. However, its influence vanished after the war with
the effect that pacifism, which was entrenched in the
Constitution, became a dominant feature of Japanese society. He
warned, however, that the Diet's power seemed to be waning,
because approval for deployment of the JSDF for peace-keeping
operations and the ``War on Terror'' was only sought after the
deployments.
Japan was working tirelessly through international co-operation
missions to improve security in the region, so that incidents such
as the alleged kidnapping of Japanese nationals by North Korean
agents could be addressed.
E. JSDF and Society
The JSDF consists of the Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF), Air
Self-Defence Force (ASDF) and Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF),
i.e. Army, Air Force and Navy. JSDF activities are supported by
local governments and various groups. This support boosts the
morale of JSDF personnel and promotes a feeling that they are
working with the public to ensure Japan's security. The above-
mentioned activities include recruitment operations and supporting
retired JSDF members in their search for employment. The Reserve
Force system has a broad understanding and acceptance within the
private sector, which might be due to the fact that the Defence
Agency (the DoD) provides subsidies to companies and organisations
that employ reserves and retired soldiers.
F. GSDF Information Centre
This centre aims to inform the public on matters of defence, i.e.
defence spending, defence operations, structure, size and force
design of the JSDF and other defence forces, as well as on
regional and international balance of power. The ASDF and MSDF
have their own information centres. The centre has a theatre, with
a three-dimensional screen, which show videos of the GSDF in
action. There are also military video games and free photo
opportunities in GSDF uniforms. The history of the GSDF, which was
established after WWII, is also illustrated, whilst weapon systems
(main battle tanks, armoured vehicles and attack helicopters),
uniforms, parachutes and small arms are also on display.
The centre is open to both the JSDF and the public, and entrance
is free. It plays a major role in educating the public on the role
of, and the need for, a defence force, not only among the older
generation, who did not want a defence force after WWII, but also
among the younger generation, who serves as a feeder system for
the JSDF.
G. Mr Nakatani (Minister of Defence)
The Minister expressed his pleasure at the fact that the Portfolio
Committee on Defence was the first SA parliamentary committee to
visit Japan. He stated that Japan strongly believed in non-nuclear
and non-offensive defence policies, as it was the only country
that experienced the devastating effect of nuclear weapons. This
resulted in a demilitarised society, where civilians do not own
fire-arms. He added that SA had played a positive role in ensuring
peace in the world and paid tribute to SA for having delivered
four Nobel Peace prize recipients.
H. Mr Hayashi (Cabinet Peacekeeping Office)
Article 9 provided the framework for International Co-operations,
which has three aspects:
* UN peace-keeping operations (PKO)
* International humanitarian relief
* International election-monitoring activities.
The SDF was involved in seven international co-operation missions
since 1992. These included Angola, Cambodia, Mozambique, El
Salvador, Zaire-Kenya, Israel-Syria-Lebanon and Bosnia-
Herzegovina. It had recently sent 700 SDF personnel to East Timor
to monitor the ``elections for independence''.
Furthermore, the Cabinet approves, whilst the Diet ratifies, all
peace-keeping operations.
Even though Japan contributed 20% to the UN PKO budget, the UN
wanted it to be more involved in peace-keeping by providing ground
forces. The SDF has certain constitutional constraints, and is
therefore only used for medical, logistical, engineering
assistance and rear support for other peace-keepers. It does not
do patrolling, disarming or separation of belligerent parties.
This may change due to the results of the ``11 September 2001''
attacks in the US.
Due to the restrictions contained in Article 9, the JSDF applies
the following five principles whilst participating in a UN Peace-
keeping Force (PKF):
* Agreement on a cease-fire should have been reached between the
belligerents
* Consent from the host countries and the belligerents for the
peace-keeping operation and Japan's inclusion in the PKF
* The operations should maintain impartiality
* The Japanese government may withdraw the SDF if any of the
above cease to be satisfied
* The use of weapons should be limited to the minimum necessary
to protect the lives of own personnel.
I. Mr N Odano (Director-General: Sub-Saharan African Affairs)
Mr Odano emphasised the fact that Japan has an independent foreign
policy as a sovereign country, in spite of the US-Japan security
arrangement. For example, Japan has good relations with Iran,
which it believes is an important player in the Middle East. Japan
approached Iran to join the ``War on Terror'' campaign. Japan's
strategy to apartheid was also different to that of the US. For
example, whilst the US had an embassy in SA, Japan only maintained
a consular office. Japan furthermore applied the sport boycott
strictly, whilst the US did not.
He stated that the US-Japan security arrangement was useful,
because it helped to stabilise the region. The strait between
China and Taiwan was unstable because of missile launches by
China, whilst the Korean Peninsula was unstable because of the
remnants of the Cold War between North Korea and South Korea.
J. Mr Seriyama (Deputy Director: Defence Policy)
The US-Japan treaty was militarily one-sided, because Japan would
not be able to defence US interests, owing to Article 9. As such,
Japan only provided logistical support to the US in the Indian
Ocean during the ``War on Terror'' campaign.
The Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development (Ticad)
was established by Japan in 1993 as a vehicle to promote
development in Africa. It was based on ownership and partnership
and not only aid. SA's then Deputy President, Thabo Mbeki,
attended and delivered a paper at Ticad 2 in 1998. Ticad 3 will be
held during October 2003.
The primary theme of Ticad 2 was ``Poverty reduction and
integration into the global economy''. It focused on:
* Social development, i.e. the promotion of education, health,
access to water and the eradication or control of certain
diseases
* Economic development, i.e. debt management, debt relief and the
establishment of investment and technological promotion
centres
* Basic foundations for development, i.e. destruction of anti-
personnel mines, establishment of good governance forums and
Asia-Africa forums.
K. Defence-related Industry
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is Japan's biggest defence company. It
manufactures, designs, researches, develops, produces and tests
armoured vehicles and main battle tanks.
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Company Ltd is involved in
the military and commercial engine market. It builds, overhauls
and repairs engines for fighter aircrafts, passenger aircrafts,
patrol aeroplanes, flying boats, helicopters, space shuttles and
ships.
Most defence companies are diversified, because of the small
defence industry. The decrease of defence budgets globally
resulted in the downscaling of the local defence industry. The
Japanese defence budget is, nevertheless, relatively high, due to
the fact that:
* Japan cannot export its military products, because of Article 9
* Locally- produced defence equipment are more expensive, because
of a lack of competition. The result is that the industry is
not efficient, as it cannot recoup some of the massive capital
inputs from exports.
L. Recommendations
The delegation recommends as follows:
1. That the Department of Foreign Affairs be requested to
investigate the issue of allowances for the diplomatic corps,
because the standard of living is quite high in certain
countries.
2. That the SA government promote the reserve system in the
broader community through partnerships and incentives,
particularly in the private sector.
3. That the Department of Defence establish information centres to
broaden public understanding and appreciation of the SANDF.
4. That the SANDF and the JSDF share knowledge and expertise.
5. That economic, political, cultural and defence ties be
strengthened with Japan.
M. Appreciation
The delegation would like to thank our Acting Ambassador and the
Japanese Ambassador, as well as their respective staff, for the
assistance and friendship which assured the success of the visit.
Report to be considered.