National Assembly - 19 October 2004
TUESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2004 __
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.
LOSS OF LIFE IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
(Draft Resolution)
UMBHEXESHI OYINTLOKO WEQELA ELIKWISININZI: Mam’u Somlomo, ndiphakamisa ngaphandle kokwazisa:
Ukuba le Ndlu –
1) iqaphela -
a) ngomothuko nobuhlungu obukhulu ukusweleka kwabafundi abasixhenxe
kwakunye netitshala yesikolo iMthukukazi Junior Secondary School
ngomhla we-11 kuOktobha ka-2004 kwingozi yebhasi kuNtabankulu;
b) kwakhona ukusweleka kwabantu abali-14 ngaseBoabab Tollgate eMusina
kwingozi yokungqubana kweteksi nosilenge;
2) iqwalasela ngeliso elibukhali ukuba ezi ngozi zibonisa ngokumandla umngeni esisoloko sijongene nawo wokuqinisekisa ukhuseleko ezindleleni;
3) yenza isimemelelo kubo bonke abasebenzisi bendlela ukuba bathobele imigaqo yendlela ukuze luqine ukhuseleko ezindleleni;
4) vakalisa uvelwano olunzulu kuzo zonke izihlobo nezalamane zabo basishiyileyo; yaye
5) inqwenelela bonke abo benzakeleyo ukuba bachache
ngokukhawulezileyo. (Translation of Xhosa draft resolution
follows.)
[The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
1) notes -
(a) with shock and profound sadness the untimely death of
seven learners and one educator from Mthukukazi Junior
Secondary School who passed away on 11 October 2004,
following a bus accident at Ntabankulu Local Municipality;
and
(b) the death of 14 people near the Baobab Tollgate at Musina
who lost their lives after an accident involving a taxi and
a tow truck;
(2) believes that these tragic accidents highlight the challenge we continue to face in our efforts to ensure the safety of our road transportation services;
(3) calls upon all road users to observe road safety regulations and to be patient on the road in order to put an end to these events;
(4) expresses its deep-felt condolences to the families of the deceased, their relatives and friends; and
(5) wishes all those injured in these accidents a speedy recovery.]
Agreed to.
CONGRATULATIONS TO WANGARI MAATHAI
(Draft Resolution)
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
1) notes that –
a) on 8 October 2004 Wangari Maathai became the first African
woman in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize; and
b) this prize celebrates her work in leading the campaign to
plant tens of millions of trees not only in her home country
of Kenya, but throughout Africa;
2) acknowledges that Wangari Maathai’s Nobel achievement is not only a
victory for herself and her home country, but also a recognition of
African women who continue to struggle for peace, environmentally
sensitive development and democracy on the continent; and
3) congratulates Wangari Maathai on winning the 2004 Nobel Peace
Prize.
Agreed to.
BEST WISHES TO MUSLIMS OVER THE MONTH OF RAMADAN
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:
That the House –
1) notes that with the advent of the Islamic lunar month Ramadan,
Muslims worldwide and in South Africa will abstain daily from
partaking of food and drink from dawn to dusk;
2) recognises that such voluntary abstinence enhances both their
spirituality and their empathy with the poor, the hungry and the
destitute in society; and
3) conveys its best wishes to all Muslims over this fasting period,
and expresses the hope that it will encourage all Muslims in South
Africa to redouble their efforts to alleviate the plight of the
poor and the weak.
Agreed to.
REFERRAL OF THE ANNUAL REPORT ON THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL IN RESPECT OF THE 2003-04 FINANCIAL YEAR TO AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR CONSIDERATION
(Draft Resolution)
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Madam Speaker, I move the motion printed in the name of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party on the Order Paper, as follows:
That the House, upon tabling, refers the Annual Report on the Office of
the Auditor-General in respect of the 2003-04 financial year to an ad
hoc committee of the House for consideration and report and also
mandates the ad hoc committee to engage with the Office of the Auditor-
General on the Auditor-General's budget in due course pending the
establishment of the parliamentary committee to be established in terms
of the Public Audit Bill, and for that purpose establishes an ad hoc
committee in terms of Rule 214, the committee -
(1) to consist of 17 members of the National Assembly, as follows:
African National Congress: 10; Democratic Alliance: 2; Inkatha
Freedom Party: 1; other parties: 4;
(2) to report to the House on conclusion of its business before 19
November 2004; and
(3) may exercise those powers in Rule 138 that may assist it in
carrying out its task.
Agreed to.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT MONTH
(Members’s Statement)
Mufumakadzi T J TSHIVHASE (ANC): Mulangadzulo, mirado i thonifheaho, Tshimedzi ndi nwedzi wa mveledziso ya matshilisano, nahone ri tea u pembelela mvelaphanda yashu. Sa muvhuso wa ANC, ro no ita zwinzhi u khwinisa matshilo a vhathu shangoni. Ri nea vhashai magavhelo, vhudzulo na thuso ya shishi, kha avho vha kwameaho nga zwiwo kana dzinwe khombo.
U bva nga 1994, vhathu vhe vha vha vha tshi wana magavhelo vho vha vhe 2.7 milioni, fhedzi zwino ri vho kona u netshedza vhane vha fhira milioni dza malo nwedzi munwe na munwe. Magavhelo a ndondolo ya vhana o engedzedzea u bva nga 1997 he ha vha hu tshi vhuelwa vhana vha 50 000, ngeno u swika zwino vho no vha milioni thanu.
Kha minwaha mitanu yo fhiraho muhasho wo tikedza thandela dza 3 500 nga masheleni a linganaho milioni dza R521. Fhedzi-ha, rothe ri a zwi divha zwauri hu kha di vha na vhathu vhane vha kha di shengela Afurika Tshipembe. Ri tea u khwinisa tshumelo dzashu, ngamaanda kha avho vha vhuponi ha mahayani vhukuma, nahone ri tavhanyise maitele a u disa tsireledzo ya matshilisano.
Naho hu na mvelaphanda ye ra i ita, ri kha di vha na khaedu ya u khwinisa matshilo a vhathu vha dzimilioni vhane vha kha di tshila vhushaini. Kha uno nwedzi na minwe yothe i tevhelaho, kha ri shumisane kha u disa mveledziso yo fhelelaho shangoni lashu na u khwathisedza muano une wa ri, nwana wau ndi nwana wanga. (Translation of Tshivenda member’s statement follows.)
[Mrs T J TSHIVHASE: Madam Speaker, hon members, October is Social Development Month, and we must celebrate our achievements. As the ANC government, we have done a lot to improve the lives of people in the country. We give social grants to the poorest of the poor, and provide shelter and emergency relief to those affected by natural and other disasters.
A mere 2,7 million people used to receive monthly social grant benefits prior to 1994. We have managed to widen access to social assistance to cover more than 8 million people every month. Since 1994, the child support grant, which used to benefit just over 50 000 children, has grown to cover more than 5 million currently.
Over the past five years the department has supported over 3 500 projects to the tune of R521 million. However, it is known to all of us that there are still many people who are suffering in South Africa. We need to improve our services, especially those in rural areas and accelerate our efforts to put in place a comprehensive system of social protection.
Despite the progress we have made, we still have the challenge of improving the lives of millions of our people who are still living in desperate poverty. This month and all other months, let us work together for the overall development of our country, and especially to give effect to the slogan that says: “Your child is my child”.]
CRISIS IN ZIMBABWE FAR FROM BEING RESOLVED
(Member’s Statement)
Mr W J SEREMANE (DA): Madam Speaker, Deputy President, the DA believes that the optimism that has greeted the verdict clearing Morgan Tsvangirai of treason charges is hopelessly misplaced. While we are relieved about the decision, this does not change the fact that the crisis in Zimbabwe runs much deeper than any one decision of this sort can rectify. Tsvangirai is yet to face a second set of treason charges, and even if he is cleared of these, his embroilment in legal complications has effectively neutralised his role as leader of the MDC and damaged the party’s political role in Zimbabwe. This can only further erode democracy in Zimbabwe.
Until such time as Tsvangirai is cleared of the second set of treason charges, the MDC will remain severely compromised. Yesterday’s mixed signal announcement by Zanu-PF that there is no need for talks with the MDC is a further indication that the crisis in Zimbabwe is far from being resolved. It is about time that the South African government acted decisively to end the harassment of the opposition and to ensure that Zanu-PF enter into talks with all other role-players in good faith.
BRETT KEBBLE ART AWARDS
(Member’s Statement)
Prince N E ZULU (IFP): Madam Speaker, works of art are as old as the coming of mankind to this, our planet earth. The Nguni tongues will say “umsebenzi wobugcisa” [works of art] takes different shapes with different talented individuals in the form of music, visuals, woodwork, poetry, etc. Today we are proud to congratulate Philip Rikhotso and Tanya Poole who jointly won the Brett Kebble Art Award for this year this past Saturday.
Surprisingly, Rikhotso’s level of poverty did not enable him to pay the travel fare to the venue of the ceremony in Cape Town, and he had to borrow R20 from a well-wisher in order to make the trip possible so that he could fetch his joint prize of R260 000.
Talent is a precious gift hidden under one’s personality, and without concentration, hard work and talent research, one may not know that so much treasure is hidden under one’s hair. With this search for talent and determination to win, at the end of the day, Rikhotso is now able to buy a bakkie to advance his artwork, and he can send one of his children to college to take up a technology course.
Judges commended Rikhotso’s work as outstanding and as of the highest international standard. He has certainly made his Tsonga people proud, and all of us as South Africans are made to walk tall in splendour because of this humble and artistic man of God.
Praise to our democracy that recognises works of even the poorest of the poor. Praise to Rikhotso and Poole. Thank you, Madam. [Applause.]
Mr H P CHAUKE: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: While one really appreciates the statement by the member - it was quite a wonderful statement - I think what is important is that the surname is not Rikotso, it is Rikhotso.
The SPEAKER: Thank you hon member, but I also hope, hon Chauke, that you will be tolerant of many of us who might not be able to pronounce various languages the proper way.
MATRIC EXAMS
(Member’s Statement)
Mr M R SIKAKANE (ANC): Madam Speaker, the ANC congratulates the Minister of Education and the department for the problem-free start of this year’s matric exams. The planning and organisation of the exams continue to indicate the high level of professionalism and organisation within the Ministry and the department. The creation of a conducive learning environment and access to better educational facilities remain a priority to our government.
The ANC wishes our Grade 12 learners the best of luck in their exams. They should engage these exams conscious of the fact that sustainable development and social progress in our country is directly linked to their success. I thank you. [Applause.]
NIGERIAN WOMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING
(Member’s Statement)
Mr J BICI (UDM): Madam Speaker, the UDM notes with shock and dismay that two more women in Nigeria have been sentenced to death by stoning for the crime of having sex outside of marriage. As in the case of Amina Lawal, we are concerned about the moral, ethical and human rights issues associated with these death sentences.
Firstly, there is once again no mention of similar punishment being meted out to the men involved. It must be noted that it takes two to tango and it takes two to perform a sexual act. Secondly, stoning to death is a cruel and dehumanising act. It is an act too horrible to contemplate. Whilst we appreciate the sovereignty of Nigeria, we cannot, as democrats and fellow Africans, turn a blind eye.
We have taken the lead in the African Renaissance. We have played a critical role in turning it from a concept into a plan of action through Nepad, the revitalised African Union and the creation of the Pan-African Parliament. Throughout these processes we have acknowledged that Africans share a common destiny and are equally entitled to economic, social and political development. Importantly, we have a duty to ensure that African women share equally in these freedoms and rights that we aspire to.
Within this context we urge government at bilateral and new multi-lateral levels, as well as our Pan-African Parliament representatives, to intervene in this matter. Thank you.
MARINE ANTIPOACHING OPERATION
(Member’s Statement)
Ms C B JOHNSON (NNP): Madam Speaker, this week is National Marine Week, and a lot has been written over the past weekend about Operation Neptune. But what is important to note is that this week we are seeing the launching of an even bigger and even better antipoaching initiative on the part of government, and this is welcomed.
The new initiative is a joint operation between the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the SA Police Service and the Overstrand Municipality. It will effectively replace Operation Neptune. The new drive is aimed at tackling and rooting out the causes of abalone poaching, and government has pledged a further R8 million to bring the total government expenditure on antipoaching to in excess of R15 million per annum. The new initiative will include an operations room, a 24-hour response line, a dedicated investigation team, and a dedicated enforcement team working closely with the Scorpions and the Asset Forfeiture Unit, as well as the new departmental office situated at Pearly Beach. The marine antipoaching operation will play a fundamental role in deterring abalone poachers and in protecting our marine resources. We therefore call on all members of the relevant communities, members of the public and all relevant role-players to give their full support to the initiative and to join forces with government to protect and preserve our marine heritage. Thank you. [Applause.]
SRC ELECTION AT UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
(Member’s Statement)
Dr P W A MULDER (VF Plus): Mevrou die Speaker, die VF Plus wil die studente van die Universiteit van Pretoria, in die besonder die VF Plus-studente op die kampus, gelukwens met hul rekordoorwinning tydens die pasafgelope studenteraadsverkiesing op die kampus.
Aangesien die VF Plus, die ANC, die PAC, die OD en die DA aan die verkiesing deelgeneem het, is dit ’n besondere prestasie dat die VF Plus en sy alliansievennoot die vereniging Tuks Afrikaanse Studente die verkiesing met ’n rekordaantal stemme kon wen. Die VF Plus het vanjaar 6% meer steun as met die vorige jaar se verkiesing gekry. Die VF Plus het die ANC met meer as ’n duisend stemme geklop, en byna twee maal soveel stemme as die DA gekry. Die DA, wat in verlede jaar se verkiesing net-net tweede was, kon vanjaar slegs vierde eindig.
Die VF Plus wil egter sy ongelukkigheid uitspreek oor die deurlopende, regstreekse inmenging van die universiteitsowerhede en spesifieke persone uit die rektoraat van die universiteit in die verkiesing. Dit is die rede waarom die verkiesing gekenmerk is deur vertragings en ’n byna eindelose proses van klagtes en besware deur die owerheid en die onsuksesvolle DA – alles pogings om die VF Plus op ’n tegniese punt van sy oorwinning te ontneem. Dit bly ’n vraag dat sou die ANC of die DA wen, of die owerheid soortgelyk sou optree.
’n Rekordgetal van meer as 10 000 studente het vanjaar aan die verkiesing deelgeneem. Dit is die agtste agtereenvolgende jaar waarin die VF Plus as wenner uit die stryd getree het. Hierdie uitslag en stempatroon illustreer iets van die Afrikaanse jeug se huidige standpunte oor die politiek, en maak ’n voorspelling oor toekomstige politieke strominge in Suid-Afrika. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)
[Dr P W A MULDER (FF Plus): Madam Speaker, the FF Plus would like to congratulate the students of the University of Pretoria, in particular the FF Plus students on the campus, on their record victory during the recent student representative council elections at the campus.
Since the FF Plus, the ANC, the PAC, the ID and the DA participated in the election, it is a special accomplishment that the FF Plus and its alliance partner, the Tuks Afrikaanse Studente association, could win the election with a record number of votes. The FF Plus obtained 6% more support this year than in last year’s election. The FF Plus beat the ANC by more than a thousand votes, and received nearly twice as many votes as the DA received. The DA, who in the past managed second place by a whisker, could only manage fourth place this year.
The FF Plus, however, wants to express its dissatisfaction about the continuous, direct interference of the university authorities and particular persons from the rectorate of the university in the election. That is the reason why the election was characterised by delays and an almost endless process of complaints and objections by the authorities and the unsuccessful DA – all attempts to take away the FF Plus’s victory on a technical point. It remains to be seen whether the authorities would have acted in a similar manner if the ANC or the DA had won.
A record number of more than 10 000 students took part in this year’s election. This is the eighth year in a row that the FF Plus was the victor. This result and the voting pattern illustrate something about the Afrikaner youth’s present standpoints on politics, and make a prediction about future political tendencies in South Africa. I thank you.]
WORK AND CONTRIBUTION OF RURAL WOMEN
(Member’s Statement)
Mr M M DIKGACWI(ANC): Madam Speaker, 15 October is recognised worldwide as a day to appreciate the work and contribution that rural women make in our civil society. In South Africa today more than 70% of rural households are headed by females. These women continue to be trapped in the second economy. On average women produce more than half of the food we consume in the world today. Despite this fact, only 5% of all agricultural resources are directed towards the assistance of women.
In our country, the ANC is working tirelessly to drastically change the conditions of rural women. Over the last decade we have laid the foundation. A World Bank study has confirmed the ANC’s long held belief that if we invest in women we will reap the highest return, and ensure food security, slower population growth, reduction of child mortality and better awareness of environmental protection measures. I thank you. [Applause.]
EFFECT OF FIREARMS CONTROL ACT
(Member’s Statement)
Mr R JANKIELSOHN (DA): Madam Speaker, while an average of 13 154 applications for firearm licences were processed per month over the past six years, only 12 applications for firearm licences were received by the firearms registry in the first two months after the launch of the Firearms Control Act. This is proof of the crisis in which the 554 firearms dealers, 160 gunsmiths and 19 firearm manufactures find themselves. The chaos surrounding the implementation of the Act has also had negative implications for the professional hunting, film and private security industries in South Africa.
It is clear that the Act is bad business for South Africa. The Firearms Control Act is directing resources to the value of R63 million to target legal firearm owners while illegal firearms continue to plague our society. I intend to move a motion requesting that Parliament debate issues surrounding the disastrous implementation of the Firearms Control Act which the Minister himself has admitted to. Thank you, Speaker. [Applause.]
ALLEGATIONS BY INTERIM PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI
(Member’s Statement)
Mr N T GODI (PAC): Madam Speaker, Deputy President, the PAC of Azania expresses its shock and utter revulsion at - and dismisses as utterly baseless, misguided and bordering on contempt and mischief - allegations and pronouncements, as shown on the SABC3 news bulletin last night, made by interim Prime Minister of Haiti, Gerard Latortue, against South Africa and its President, Comrade Thabo Mbeki, in particular.
The PAC wishes to reiterate its view that South Africa has conducted its foreign policy with integrity and a progressive paradigm. Like President Toure before him in relation to Dr Kwame Nkrumah, President Mbeki has come to the assistance of an illegally removed head of state, President Jean- Bertrand Aristide, this time at the behest of the African Union and the Caribbean states.
The PAC believes that the onus is in the likes of Mr Latortue to prove correct the assertion made to justify the coup against President Aristide, namely that his removal would bring peace and stability to Haiti.
The PAC of Azania is of the view that it is the forces that have installed Mr Latortue in power that have trampled on international law. The PAC, therefore, calls on this House and Africans - black, coloured, Indian, white, or whatever they prefer to call themselves - to rally behind our government and to reject with contempt the attempt to assail its integrity with regard to Haiti. The PAC also makes a call that President Aristide must be reinstated to continue with his transformation agenda for Haiti. [Applause.]
POVERTY ERADICATION EFFORTS
(Member’s Statement)
Mr M JOHNSON (ANC): Madam Speaker, Deputy President, the ANC supports the United Nations’ effort to eradicate poverty. On 22 October 2004 the United Nations Development Programme will hold its 8th annual poverty eradication award ceremony. This effort is part of mobilising public awareness regarding the Millennium Development Goals.
More than half of the world’s population lives on less than US$1 a day. More and more children suffer from malnutrition while the world has more than enough resources to feed every soul on this planet.
Poverty and alienation from society are the breeding ground for internecine conflict over limited resources and for terrorist movements around the world. It is for this reason and these reasons that poverty eradication remains central in the ANC’s efforts to bring about a safer and a better world. Thank you. [Applause.]
SCHABIR SHAIK COURT CASE
(Member’s Statement)
Mrs S M CAMERER (DA): Madam Speaker, the Cabinet has been critical of media sensationalism around the Schabir Shaik court case, and has alleged that it impugns Deputy President Zuma’s integrity on the basis of allegations not yet proven in a court of law.
While the DA agrees with Judge Hillary Squires that the media should respect the sub judice rule, nevertheless it will be almost impossible for the media not to report and comment on allegations about the Deputy President as they emerge during the presentation of evidence in the Shaik case.
To quote Hamlet, the Deputy President is clearly “the ghost at this particular feast”. His name appears all over the charge sheet and not an hour of court proceedings goes by without his name being mentioned in evidence about Mr Shaik’s dealings, either in allegations that he was bribed or that he peddled influence. [Interjections.]
The Deputy President, who is represented in the Durban court by a battery of lawyers, claims he has never been given a chance to clear his name. This is disingenuous for he must be aware that had he been charged with fraud, corruption or bribery, he would have had to resign his position.
The DA believes that he should have been charged. [Interjections.] The fact that he was not charged, in spite of the prima facie case against him which seems to grow with each day of evidence, will surely go down as one of the great puzzles in the annals of our prosecution service.
The Deputy President has remedies. If he is innocent of any wrongdoing, he should sue the National Prosecuting Authority and relevant media for defamation. [Interjections.] There are other steps he could have taken to clear his name, such as giving evidence before the Hefer Commission, but he did not.
For the Cabinet to take a legalistic approach to the Deputy President’s guilt or otherwise is not helpful. They should be more concerned with the damage to the government’s integrity, with applying a code of conduct to members of government, and with a commitment to transparency and accountability. [Time expired.] [Interjections.] [Applause.]
VIOLENCE AND ABUSE AGAINST WOMEN
(Member’s Statement)
Mr T E VEZI (IFP): Madam Speaker, on Sunday, 17th October, a 26-year-old man was arrested near Camperdown in KwaZulu-Natal after allegedly killing his girlfriend during an argument at their home. This is just one of the many tragic examples of violence and abuse committed against women.
Although we have achieved much over the past 10 years, especially with regard to women’s rights, there are still too many reports and even more unreported cases of women being abused and victimised. There is simply no place in our society for this type of behaviour. It has to be stamped out.
The people who commit these senseless acts should be brought to book and dealt with accordingly. Constant efforts are needed to highlight this cause, as well as to educate and inform women about their rights. I thank you.
BREAST CANCER MONTH
(Member’s Statement)
Ms N P KHUNOU (ANC): Madam Speaker, the international community observes October as Breast Cancer Month. Notwithstanding that, African women and the poor in general continue to die unnecessarily from breast cancer. Therefore, the ANC urges all South Africans to recognise the importance of regular checkups.
Early detection of cancer results in a 90% chance of being fully cured. The ANC supports this campaign because it promotes early detection of cancer and therefore higher prospects for successful treatment of the disease.
Our celebrations of the first decade of freedom should be characterised by our greater commitment to the goal of achieving a better national health profile for all, especially women. The ANC pledges its support for the campaign in order to increase awareness about breast cancer. I thank you. [Applause.]
EFFECT OF FIREARMS CONTROL ACT
(Minister’s Response)
The MINISTER OF DEFENCE: Madam Speaker, an opposition member has raised an issue that there is chaotic application of legislation governing arms or weapons in our society. It is important for me to place on record something that is already before this House. Since we came into government, we have introduced legislation and procedures for management of the flow, sale and purchase of equipment under the National Conventional Arms Control Committee. This government is particularly responsible with regard to this matter.
At the present moment, we are dealing with very difficult and complex problems arising out of practices of the old order. The amount of weaponry that we collect whilst combating crime - weapons that were distributed according to information from the records of the past - by far surpasses the weaponry that emerges from purchases and sales of the present time. This is very important. We have told parties across the board that it is critical that, in securing the population of this country, we must sometimes forget party-political loyalty. South Africans across the board must at least collaborate on this particular issue.
The number of arms caches which remain recorded but unaccounted for, and with regard to which we are not assisted by those who know exactly where these arms are, is a major problem. We have now offered amnesties for people to come forward and say, “Here are armaments, take them and deal with them”. That alone will go a long way. Most of the weapons we find at crime scenes with their numbers filed off, at the very least, when one tracks them, go back to caches that have not been accounted for.
I don’t think that the governing party should use its position in power to score points. It is critical that we should be able to share the problem as a collective problem. I am quite happy to accept that in certain areas the state machinery is not perfect and mistakes happen and so on. But, it is this foundation of a collective effort that is lacking; and this is holding our country back.
We must deal with that issue because, as will be seen when we table reports, the serious situations that arise in our country as a result of this failure to collaborate and work together have serious implications for the country if we don’t deal with those issues as we should. I thank you.
SCHABIR SHAIK COURT CASE
(Minister’s Response)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr A G H Pahad): Madam Speaker, I find it quite amazing and surprising that after 11 years the members of the opposition continue to be as irresponsible as they are. It is quite surprising that my friend from the opposition has once again exploited the sanctity of this House in order to carry out what has been going on for some time, namely trial by media, which I think they perpetuated and initiated themselves.
It’s inexplicable that they are at such a weak and low level that they get reduced to exploiting personal things that are not proven. They talk about free trial and that people have to be proven guilty before they are found guilty.
They come here and use every opportunity to insinuate that a trial that’s taking place on these very charges of corruption definitely has something to do with the Deputy President. They don’t purport to give us any facts and information. I think it’s a dangerous load of rubbish that they continue to carry out and we must stop that. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AMENDMENT BILL
(Second Reading debate)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY: Madam Speaker, the Petroleum Products Act, Act 120 of 1977, is outdated and is no longer in line with the sociopolitical and economic dynamics of the South African liquid fuel industry. It does not meet the present-day governance needs of the sector. It is for this reason that, last year, this House adopted an amendment to this Act, which proposed a number of changes to the regulatory framework. Most of these changes are aimed at facilitating the liberalisation of this sector.
The Petroleum Products Amendment Bill is aimed at ensuring and improving the governance of the liquid fuel sector, and also ensuring that it is in line with the government’s policy objectives and developments in this sector.
One of the main objects of the Bill is to give effect to the Renewable Energy White Paper and in that process provide for a licensing dispensation that includes licensing of refineries, wholesalers and retailers that conduct business with respect to petroleum products.
Unfortunately, immediately after the finalisation of the amending Act, the Department of Minerals and Energy was alerted to the unintended consequences that would result from the finalisation of the Act as it stood. A few sections in the Act that were intended to facilitate market solutions seemed to have achieved the opposite effect.
The inclusion of these sections was not intended for the Minister to pre- empt negotiation on the supply agreement between Sasol and the industry, but to facilitate such negotiations. It was not the intention of the regulator to get involved in the determination of volumes or prices at which the products would be bought or sold, nor to pre-empt the sale of service stations. Section 2B(6) for instance draws the regulator into the setting of prices at which designated products are sold between wholesalers
- an issue that should preferentially be left to the industry participants.
In drafting the system of licences, the aim is to achieve equilibrium in the next 10 years. But, it is clear that the current provisions in the amending Act will not achieve this. It will merely postpone the inevitable structural changes to the time when the industry is liberalised, rather than achieving the smooth transition that is the object of amending the Act.
An industry as complex as the liquid fuel industry, which will have ever- changing contentious issues which therefore necessitate flexible interventions from time to time, would not be properly served by a rigid provision such as section 2B(6).
In view of the above-mentioned consequences, it is therefore proposed that the prescriptive sections be deleted and be replaced with enabling regulations. This amendment before the House today can therefore be reduced to simply asking the House to change some “musts” in the Act into “may”.
I commend this amending Bill to the House. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr C M MORKEL: Madam Speaker, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, in paraphrasing from the memorandum of the objects of the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill of 2004, I would like to say that the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill sets out to regulate the conditions under which the purchase and sale of petroleum products manufactured from coal, natural gas or vegetable matter occur. It authorises the Minister of Minerals and Energy to make regulations in this regard, as the Deputy Minister pointed our earlier.
It also makes amendments to the licensing system for such points of presence in the petroleum value chain as envisaged in the principal Act. The principal Act, the Petroleum Products Amendment Act, Act 58 of 2003 was approved by Parliament in September 2003 after exhaustive consultation with relevant stakeholders. The principal Act had amended the original Act, the outdated Petroleum Products Act, Act 120 of 1977.
The principal Act was intended to give expression to the policy goal of achieving an equilibrium in the number of service stations within a period of 10 years. However, as the Deputy Minister pointed out, the unintended consequence of that Act was to postpone rather than phase in the reduction and thus reach the equilibrium when the industry would eventually be deregulated.
For us, the principal Act and this amending Bill mark an important moment in the legislative and economic history of South Africa, as they mark a significant departure from a purely ideological approach to that of being pragmatic, which recognises that overregulation as a means to promote redistribution and growth can have unintended consequences.
To some, this piece of legislation may indicate that government has accepted that a market-oriented approach will determine equilibrium and greater economic efficiencies. Such judgment would, however, be premature as this piece of legislation will ultimately determine the degree of flexibility or inflexibility of the Minister in ring-fencing certain areas after applying certain criteria, as spelt out in the principal Act. These criteria are intended to assess the potential for success or failure of the industry, especially in certain locales.
Obviously, the Deputy Minister referred to the criteria earlier. But, I think the most important of these is the creation of employment opportunities and the development of small businesses in the petroleum sector. Ask any estate agent, especially in the present property market context, and they will still tell you, “It’s all about location, location, location.” Those in the property market will also tell you that the phenomenal growth in their market will plateau and the bubble will burst before a natural and longer-term equilibrium settles in.
An artificially induced equilibrium would be as much of a recipe for disaster as the unintended consequences that this Bill now intends to avoid. This piece of legislation basically gives the Minister the right to assess whether the demand for petroleum products could be satisfied by what the industry could supply through the most efficient distribution channels. A licence would then only be issued after the procedures, criteria and economic viability study are applied.
The regulations, as the Deputy Minister pointed out, would hopefully further clarify what exactly this economic viability test would entail. If that is accepted, then we would commend this legislation; and this refers not only the DA, but to every petroleum entrepreneur who believes that she or he can promote local economic development, jobs and growth. However, there are also those who say that they cannot switch off their phones because of this piece of legislation and the Minister having a say. Some say on golf courses and in coffee shops that they cannot switch off their phones because they expect an important call from someone they refer to as Phumzile. I don’t know who they are referring to.
They ring-fence opportunities by claiming that they have the ear of the Minister and that should people want to do business in the sector, then they would be the BEE partners with the right political connectivity because service stations require permits and the Minister plays an important role in that. I doubt very much that the Minister would allow her name to be abused in this manner. But, what could be done to stop these impostors from using this legislation to get their grubby hands on BEE shares in service stations that could be better invested in forecourt staff through employee share schemes?
We anticipate that this piece of legislation may very well lay the foundation for further unintended consequences such as greater elasticity in the pump price of fuel. But that is still a far way off.
The SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, your time has expired.
Mr C M MORKEL: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr A C NEL: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: In his speech, the hon member made a very thinly veiled reference to the hon Minister of Minerals and Energy. He suggested that the Minister is acting improperly through the awarding of business on the basis of criteria not provided for in the law. I would request that you please examine Hansard and make a ruling. Thank you.
The SPEAKER: I will examine Hansard. I did hear the hon member making reference to people who sometimes make reference, obviously, to the Minister. However, I will examine the context in which this was said.
Mr E J LUCAS: Madam Speaker, at the meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy, on 16 September 2004, I did believe that we were unanimously in agreement. The IFP fully supports the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill. We do agree that the Minister of Minerals and Energy will have a flexible approach to the liquid fuel sales.
Our concern has been that new entrants, especially historically disadvantaged South Africans, must not be sidelined. We do know and draw from the fact that the Minister has demonstrated her concern regarding new entrants to the industry.
The price of crude oil which has increased so drastically in recent times is a cause for great concern. We do know that these are internationally controlled prices and that because we have other minerals and not crude oil, this makes us dependent on the world prices. Let us hope that we will not have the fuel price passing the R5,00 per litre mark by Christmas. I thank you.
Mr A HARDING: Madam Speaker, this Bill is much needed to bring legislation in line with the dynamics of the petroleum industry. There have been a number of changes to the sector at retail level where we have seen an overabundance of service stations of almost 30%, which resulted in numerous closures, given the small profit margins.
This Bill will promote an efficient manufacturing and retail industry. The Bill will also ensure productive use of retail facilities. At the same time, the ID wants to warn against overregulation and appeals for the orderly entrance of synthetic fuel producers into the retail sector.
We also want to petition for the accommodation of BEE partners in upstream activities because this is where substantial returns are made, and that must be an area where real technical skills can be developed by BEE partners. I thank you.
Mr W D SPIES: The regulation of the fuel industry has long been a contentious issue in South Africa. Rising oil prices and the ever-present volatility of our currency on the one hand, and environmental requirements on the other, make any legislation with regard to the petroleum industry a potential source of conflict.
The FF Plus is in favour of the limitation of regulation in the fuel industry to the bare minimum required to protect consumers, communities and the environment. Since the proposed amendments to the existing Act were apparently driven by market forces, and given the fact that the amendments are made with due consideration to the eventual deregulation of the industry, the proposed amendments are acceptable. The FF Plus therefore supports the Second Reading of the Bill.
Ms S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, time brings a lot of change and we constantly need to ensure that we are moving forward with such change. We must develop, but under the conditions of democracy and the needs of our people, strictly adhering to stimulating change that is in compliance with our national Constitution.
The liquid fuel sector is one that requires such updating through policy and management. The MF supports the authority awarded to the Minister of Minerals and Energy regarding the purchase and sale of petroleum products, as well as the licensing system. The drafting of such regulations and amendments, we trust, shall be established efficiently and effectively to the benefit of both the sector and the public.
Last year we dealt with the Petroleum Products Amendment Act of 2003. It has been established that an unintended consequence has occurred regarding the need to attain equilibrium with regards to the number of service stations required. The MF supports the amendments made to the Act to allow the Minister to correct this process through a more market-orientated approach and regulations.
The MF supports the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill. Thank you.
Mr S K LOUW: In September last year, the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill was approved by Parliament after an intense debate and discussions with the stakeholders in the industry. One of the main aims of the Act was to promote transformation of the petroleum and liquid fuels industry, as well as to authorise the Minister of Minerals and Energy to make specific regulations. It also promotes the advancement of historically disadvantaged South Africans and gives effect to the liquid fuels charter.
Therefore, it is necessary in the Petroleum Products Amendment Bill for those amendments to authorise the Minister of Minerals and Energy to make regulations in this regard, and to make amendments to the envisaged licensing systems. The Deputy Minister has elaborated a lot during her input on these amendments.
The creation of employment opportunities and the development of small business in the petroleum sector would make the availability of petroleum products at competitive prices possible. What is key in this Bill is to promote access to affordable petroleum products by low-income consumers for household use.
We also need to guard against unintended consequences of the Petroleum Products Amendment Act that will result in postponement, rather than the phasing in of the reduction of the number of service stations when the industry is eventually regulated. This amendment dealt primarily with the power of the Minister to make regulations to curb the excesses of the market, should it be necessary. This is done in this Bill by amending section 2B, section 2E(3) and section 12C.
By deleting section 2B(6), the Bill allows the market to regulate itself. It is replaced by the empowering regulation under section 12C(1). These amendments in this Bill are indeed a milestone towards breaking down dictatorial barriers, and thereby businesses in the oil industry are encouraged to stand on their own feet and to function in a competitive environment.
The prices of petroleum products will be enhanced through a proper price control structure, which will allow price transparency at all levels. The amendment in section 2E is mainly to give flexibility to the Minister in making regulations by changing “must” to “may”.
We have to commend the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the department for submitting this amendment so quickly, because the outcry in the industry was huge. The ANC supports this Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY: Madam Speaker, let me thank all the parties for supporting this Bill. I also want to commend the DA for agreeing with us for the first time, but of course they came up with rumour mongering. Now I know where our press gets its unknown sources. I am actually surprised that Mr Morkel agrees to be used in this way when his name is being thrown around in the press at the moment. [Interjections.]
I would like to make it quite clear that the criteria for allocation of licences will be spelt out in detail in our regulations, which will be put to the public for comment. The Controller of Petroleum Products will have very limited discretion and will not be influenced by anybody.
I also want to emphasise that the Ministers of this government must have power, because the ANC is the ruling party. When the white government was in power, nobody questioned the discretion of Ministers. Nobody questioned the power of Ministers, and Ministers had extraordinary powers. Ministers had powers to instruct the army to go and shoot dead our children in 1976, and some of the members of the DA were silent. [Interjections.] I also want to say to Mr Harding that this Bill will only regulate the down stream petroleum industry. Exploration and production is regulated by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
THE INTRODUCTION OF A SINGLE NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE ADVANTAGES OF PROXIMITY TO THE COMMUNITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SERVICE DELIVERY
(Subject for Discussion)
Mr M R BALOYI: Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the debate as initiated by the hon Gomomo, who unfortunately cannot be with us due to unforeseen circumstances. As I introduce this debate, I want to remind this House of the provisions of the White Paper on the transformation of the Public Service, which puts emphasis on the key role that the Public Service has to play as the executing arm of the government.
In this document it is stated, amongst other things, that:
To fulfil this role effectively, the service will need to be transformed into a coherent, representative, competent and democratic instrument for implementing government policies and meeting the needs of all South Africans.
According to the White Paper and other policy positions of the current political dispensation under the ANC-led government, the Public Service should be responsive to the needs of the people. It should be accountable. It should be service-oriented and transparent. It should put people first and be co-ordinated.
The topic that we are debating today finds relevance in the broader debate about Public Service transformation in that, as one unitary country with one supreme Constitution, we should create and steer all state machinery towards the realisation of nationally acclaimed policies and objectives.
We are introducing this debate with the understanding that transformation is so dynamic a process that you can never say that you are done with it.
Whereas the question of the introduction of a single Public Service has been with us since the beginning of the democratic dispensation, the first 10 years of our democracy saw us building the foundation by creating such structures as we needed to take the process of governance forward, and we built on that foundation by introducing policies that are meant to assist us to move from one point to another in the service of the nation. Step by step, we have begun to answer this question, and the following bears testimony to this.
Having inherited a Public Service divided along racial and ethnic lines, the first logical step to create a single Public Service has been that of the restoration of the national identity of all line functions and all the people of the country in as far as Public Service delivery is concerned, and we achieved this through the rationalisation of the previously divided Public Service institutions into one. We now talk of a single national department for each particular line function.
In order to guide the activities of the rationalisation of the Public Service, we introduced national policies for service delivery for further transformation of the Public Service and for other critical areas of training and development of our Public Service personnel. All this was to ensure that we all read from the same national source materials and expose all our personnel to the same standards of consciousness for better service delivery for the one nation, South Africa. We created three spheres of government.
Laha hi nga tumbuluxa mfumo wa masipala, wa swifundhankulu na wa tiko hinkwaro. Hi thlela hi tinyungubyisa ku vula leswaku loko endla tano hi swi vekile swi va erivaleni leswaku hinkwaswo swiyimo leswi swa mfumo swi ta tirhisana hi ndlela leyi faneleke. Swi nge phikizani naswona swi ta seketelana ku yisa emahlweni pfhumba ro korokela vaaka-tiko hi ndlela leyi faneleke.
Mbulavulo lowu nga kona eka nkarhi wa sweswi, lowu hi tirhanaka na wona kwala Palamende ni le handle, hileswaku wu fanele wu twisisiwa ku vula ntsena leswaku vukorhokeli bya mfumo byi fanele byi fana hambi hi le ka masipala, eka swifundhankulu hambi hi le ka mfumo wa le xikarhi wa tiko hinkwaro, hi fanele hi kuma nkorokelo lowu fanaka. Hi lava ku vona vukorhokeli bya vanhu byi va fikela hinkwavo handle ko va va byeriwa leswaku hina hi le ka masipala ntsena a hi hina hi phakelaka vanhu mati na leswaku vanhu va ta rhumeriwa eka tindhawu to hambana-hambana. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)
[We created three spheres of governance: the local, provincial and national spheres. We are proud to state that these spheres complement each other without competing. They support each other in providing service to our people.
Current debates in Parliament and outside revolve around the question of a single Public Service, and service delivery to our people should be the same in all spheres of governance. We need to reach a stage where people receive service irrespective of where they are, without been told that, for example, local authorities have no capacity to handle their queries, so that people end up being sent from pillar to post.]
We want to make sure that people have a one-stop point for service delivery without further references, and the realisation of this depends on what we make of debates like the one we are participating in today.
Minhlangano yo hambana-hambana ya karhi ya kanela hi mhaka leyi ya ku va hi va na vukorhokeli byin’we bya mfumo eka tiko hinkwaro. Xivutiso lexikulu eka mhaka yo fana na leyi hileswaku loko hi ri karhi hi kanele ha yona i ku va hi twisisa leswaku xana swi vula yini na leswaku hi ta swi endlisa ku yini ku ri hi va na vukorhokeli byin’we lebyi fanaka eka swiyenge hinkwaswo swa mfumo.
Yin’wana ya minhlangano leyi nga eku kaneleni hi mhaka yo fana ni leyi i nhlangano wa Salga lowu thlelaka wu twisisa leswaku na wona wu yima na rona pfhumba leri ra ku hi kanele timhaka ta leswaku hi va na pfhumba rin’we ra ku korhokela tiko rin’we ra hina. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Various stakeholders are busy debating the issues around the possibility of a single Public Service, but the most important question about the whole exercise is how to go about having a single Public Service for all spheres of governance.
One of the stakeholders dealing with this question is Salga, which also supports the idea that we need to have a single Public Service for service delivery in our country.]
Salga, at the moment, is actually sharing with us as they debate this issue about the question of a single Public Service. When it comes to the conceptualisation of the objectives of this debate, they deal primarily with addressing service delivery problems and the mobility of skills between spheres of government.
Hi endlelo rolero swa olova leswaku mutirhela-mfumo loyi a nga kotaka ku korhokela tiko a nga suka eka masipala hi ku tlakusiwa a kota ku tirhela tiko kahle loko a ri eka mfumo wa xifundhankulu kumbe eka mfumo wa tiko hinkwaro. (Translation of Tsonga paragraph follows.)
[In this manner, it is possible for a public servant who is attached to the local sphere of governance who is promoted to the provincial sphere or the national sphere to continue serving the country with distinction.]
As parliamentarians we need to learn lessons from our constituency work to enrich debates like these and to take all necessary stakeholders on board, because it is through the introduction of a single Public Service that the realisation of the objectives we set ourselves may be possible.
Lexi nga kona eka maendlelo lama ya ku va ni vukorhokeli byin’we hileswaku vanhu va kuma vukorhokeli lebyi nga fanela handle ka swisolo hikuva i mfumo lowu wa hina wa ANC wu nga te ri hi ta endla leswaku vukorhokeli bya vanhu byi va emahlweni. Hi ta veka vanhu emahlweni eka migingiriko ya hina hinkwayo ya ku korhokela tiko.
Hikwalaho loko hi swi endla eka swiyimo swo hambana-hambana, swi languteka onge kun’wana a swi hlangani kahle. Kambe loko hi swi endla hi ku va hi ri na vukorhokeli byin’we hi kota ku fikelela hinkwaswo leswi fanelaka. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)
[With a single Public Service, service delivery is easily accessible for our people, for it is the ANC-led government that stated that people should come first in service delivery. We will always consider people first in our service delivery programmes.
When they are delivered in different spheres they are not well co- ordinated. However, if we have a single Public Service, service delivery will become easier.]
As we introduce this debate, we are saying that it is a contribution to the ongoing debate, which will continue until this engagement produces the final entity, in terms of which we shall be proud to say: Yes, a single Public Service is the answer. Let the debate continue! Inkomu. [Thank you.]
The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Hon Chairperson and hon members of this House, when we adopted our Constitution we imposed certain obligations upon ourselves and this was particularly in respect of building the nature of the state that we are currently building. And that was to ensure that we would indeed build the developmental state; one that would be interventionist, one that would be redistributive, and one that would indeed reflect that the capability of the state should be such that it can and should intervene in community and society where the market and other forces break down.
One of the fundamental goals for our country, as stated in the preamble to the Constitution, is to:
Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of
each person.
Our first task in building a single Public Service post-1994 was to dismantle the myriad apartheid regime services and to forge a single Public Service throughout the country with uniform conditions of service at national as well as provincial government level. But forging this Public Service was not and is not merely a technical exercise. It requires and involves the forging of a common ethos of service dedicated to the values of our Constitution and the values of a progressive and developmental state. To build this kind of ethos and to build the developmental state is not an automatic process. And it is something that we clearly identified in the 1997 White Paper on transforming service delivery, Batho Pele, when it was launched. Today the values of Batho Pele remain the fundamental values on which we are building our Public Service.
Now, as stated by the hon member who opened this debate, a single Public Service and integrated service delivery is about ensuring that South Africans receive services at their convenience, at times they desire and not according to government structures or government design. Hence we say that we need to look at how we use or ensure the modernisation of the state in order to ensure that the Public Service is responsive to the needs of the people.
Let me give you some examples of that this afternoon. In any rural part of this country where there is no tertiary hospital but there is a clinic, there are children and adults who are in need of medical services. It is necessary for us, through the use of ICT and satellite technology, to use telemedicine where a specialist in a hospital such as Groote Schuur can be linked up with a clinic in Bochum in the Limpopo province. That is about ensuring integrated and seamless public services.
It is also about ensuring that, in schools where there may be an absence of maths and science teachers, we use satellite technology or other forms of multimedia such as televisions. A teacher in one of the best public schools in an urban centre teaching maths or science can, in this way, reach those children in the rural communities. A country like South Africa that has two economies, that is divided at this particular point still in terms of developed and underdeveloped, should ensure that we use the resources available to us to overcome that divide and that is about integrated service delivery.
So what are we doing to make this happen? How are we going to ensure that we actually build a single Public Service? And when we talk about a single Public Service we talk about how we bring the services at local government level together with those at provincial and national government levels. How do we make this happen? Because in essence our communities are not interested in whether services are being delivered at local government level or at national government level. What they want is an effective service.
We have put together task teams that are currently working on conditions of service and they are dealing with four issues. They are dealing with remuneration and grading with regard to the salaries of public servants. And I will, at this point, liberally use that term to cover local government as well, where we are trying to look at the alignment of the salaries of those officials working at local government level with those at national government level. And why do we want to do this? We want to this in order to ensure that there is greater mobility of officials. We also want to ensure this in order that those who join the Public Service should understand that they are not employed in a post, but that they are employed in a service. So if someone is employed as the Director-General of the Department of Public Service and Administration or the Director-General of Foreign Affairs today, tomorrow that employee can be the CEO of the Kgalagadi municipality, because he or she has been employed to serve in the Public Service. Hence we need to look at the overall wage package for public servants.
We are also looking at pensions and medical aid, because currently the pension and medical aid dispensation at national and provincial government levels differs from that at local government level. We have already seen a great movement in terms of an alignment to the existing structure in the Public Service but more still needs to be done.
We also want to review other conditions of service, including a range of issues from leave dispensation to everything else because we need to have a common framework that governs the entire Public Service and all officials who work in it. And then we also want to review collective bargaining, which is something that is seen as a very sensitive but very necessary area. Currently we have different unions operating at different levels, but we need to ensure that we work towards a common bargaining chamber.
Now, whilst today I am talking about national, provincial and local government we also, as we deal with the single Public Service, want to look at the public sector as a whole. Are public entities so poised that they do respond to the developmental needs of the people of South Africa? When we have integrated programmes, is there input from the public entities where they reflect that they are part of this integrated Public Service, because after all these are all organs of the state, and are we utilising those organs of the state appropriately?
So in essence, to revert to the issue of Batho Pele, I think we need to restate that it remains a fundamental value upon which we are building our Public Service. It is about ensuring that people come first and hence our services must be so structured that they serve people, and it is about building such values that would ensure that a service-oriented Public Service remains central and the challenging task that we must confront. This is done despite claims that, when we look at integrated service delivery, we may want to control. That is not so.
What we actually want to do is ensure that the developmental state is geared towards addressing the socioeconomic needs of all people, especially the poor, the marginalised and the historically disadvantaged. Because we need to intervene actively, as I stated earlier, in both the first and the second economy in order to maintain the resilience of the first economy and to make progress towards integrating the second economy into the first. And as a result, our interventions into the second economy should be such that they actually release the potential of communities in the townships, in the informal settlements, and in the rural areas. And we should always consider whether the kinds of interventions of the state - whether it is public entities, local, national or provincial government - ensure that the people receive the services they require, like water, electrification, housing, quality education for our children, health services, cultural activities, sports facilities and so forth. And that requires all the spheres of government to work in an integrated and interrelated way. And that is why it makes sound economic and social sense as we move forward to ensure that this second decade of our democracy is about implementation.
We also need to look closely at what Chapter 10 of the Constitution tells us. It says public administration must adhere to certain basic values and principles. A high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained. Efficient, economic and effective use of resources must be promoted and hence it makes sense to talk about integrated service delivery. Public administration must be development-oriented and services must be provided impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias. People’s needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy-making. Public administration must be accountable. Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information. Good human resource management and career development practices, to maximise human potential, must be cultivated. And finally, public administration must be broadly representative of the South African people.
Now these principles present us with a range of challenges that we must overcome and this requires that there must be active engagement between the people of South Africa and the government of this country. And as a result all spheres of government and all public entities must ensure that they are part of this engagement. Institutions of the state must act in co-operation through their actions and we should see integrated and co-ordinated service delivery.
When members of Parliament go back to their constituencies and there is a particular need they should not, when they come to a particular government department, be told that that department is not involved in the delivery of water and that they should rather go to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. They should not be told when they need electrification that in this instance they can’t come to local government, but should go to Eskom.
We need to ensure that the basket of services is there and that it can be accessed in a way that reflects that we act in concert, that we are integrated and that government does not act in silos, but works across government departments. Services must be accessed in a way that reflects that services are provided in order to respond to the needs of the population and not to the convenience of a particular manager or a particular government department or even a particular politician who thinks very expediently about how they should protect narrow spheres without looking at the interconnectedness of the spheres of government; who also does not see the harmonising of public services and local government conditions of service, but rather wants to see a separation, and who does not accept that the state in actual fact is a single employer, and that we should ensure that it acts as such. We should not have fragmentation at local government level where each municipality is seen as a separate employer. We need to ensure that we address these issues and this clearly means that we need to address the question of the macro organisation of the state, because, as I stated previously, we are building and will build a developmental state.
I think we also need to ensure that public entities, as state institutions, assist in the delivery of the development goals of the developmental state and if the state does not have the ability or the statutory or managerial tools to provide oversight and guidance … Thank you very much. [Time expired.][Applause.]
Mnr K J MINNIE: Agb Voorsitter, agb Minister, agb lede, ek is baie dankbaar dat die Minister gehoor gegee het aan my oproep van ’n paar maande gelede om haar planne met die Staatsdiens op die tafel te plaas sodat die debat op alle vlakke van die samelewing gevoer kan word.
Die ANC beplan om met ’n verenigde Staatsdiens die probleme met dienslewering wat hulle tans aan ’n gefragmenteerde regeringstelsel koppel, aan te spreek, asook verder om die mobiliteit van vaardighede tussen die verskillende sfere van regering te fasiliteer. Dit is ’n rookskerm, want die ANC is sedert hy die regering in 1994 oorgeneem het, besig met ’n sentraliseringsoefening.
Tydens die plaaslike owerheidsverkiesing van 1995 het hulle begin om plaaslike owerheid te sentraliseer deur die mag van onafhanklike en sterk plaaslike owerhede weg te neem en die mag in ’n metropolitaanse stelsel te vestig. Tydens die plaaslike owerheidsverkiesing in 2000 is finale beslag gegee aan metropolitaanse rade, en het baie selfstandige stadsrade hul status dan ook verloor.
Onlangs het die ANC aangekondig dat hy oorweging daaraan skenk om die metropolitaanse rade in Gauteng saam te voeg in ’n super-metropolitaanse raad. Tesame met die Minister vir die Staatsdiens en Administrasie se doelwit om ’n enkele Staatsdiens te vestig, is dit baie duidelik dat die ANC op alle vlakke besig is om hul mag te sentraliseer.
Die Grondwet bepaal duidelik dat ’n munisipaliteit die reg het om op sy eie inisiatief die plaaslike bestuursaangeleenthede van sy gemeenskap te regeer. Enige verandering hieraan sal ’n grondwetwysiging tot gevolg hê, en ek dink die Minister moet vir ons uitspel of sy so ’n grondwetwysiging beoog.
In beginsel bestaan elke sfeer van regering uit ’n wetgewende gesag, dit is die politici wat die burgers verteenwoordig, en ’n uitvoerende gesag – die administrasie. Indien jy die administrasie wegneem, is daar geen rede meer waarom daar ’n wetgewende gesag moet wees nie. Dus word ’n de facto sentrale regeringstelsel ingestel.
Die regering het egter nie rekening gehou met Salga se reaksie op die integrering van die Staatsdiens nie, want luister wat het Salga te sê oor die Minister se planne:
It is important that this review results in the strengthening and consolidation of the local government sphere and not its emasculation.
Salga sê verder:
Municipalities must be given an opportunity to stabilise and consolidate after years of restructuring and change. The integration process should seek a greater alignment of the three spheres, rather than amalgamation.
Terwyl ek oor Salga praat, dit was ontstellend om tydens die bespreking van hierdie item by die kongres te moes sien dat die Direkteur-Generaal van die Departement van Staatsdiens en Administrasie se naam pertinent op die agenda verskyn om insette te lewer en om vrae te beantwoord wat moontlik uit die bespreking sou voortspruit, maar dat nóg die Minister, nóg die direkteur-generaal of enige verteenwoordiger by hierdie bespreking teenwoordig was om met die afgevaardigdes van Salga oor hierdie belangrike saak te praat nie. Gaan dit maar net weer afgedwing word? Dis die vraag.
Luister wat het President Mbeki, onder andere, tydens sy toespraak by die Salga-kongres gesê: Munisipaliteite moet luister as hul gemeenskappe praat. Hulle moet die regering se hulpbronne gebruik om ongelykhede van die verlede reg te stel en die greep van armoede te verbreek. Munisipaliteite moet fokus op basiese dienslewering. Kommunikasie met gemeenskappe moet nie deur rade gesien word as lastige prosesse nie, maar as ’n noodsaaklike vereiste vir volhoubare dienslewering.
Die President het dit gesê. Dit lyk vir my of die Minister nie net met Salga moet rekening hou nie, maar ook in die proses die President dalk moet fyn dophou.
Op plaaslike owerheidswesevlak is wanadministrasie, korrupsie en swak dienslewering besig om krisisafmetings aan te neem. Gebrekkige dienslewering en minder politieke deelname is die grootste probleem met sentralisasie. Dienslewering het reeds verswak waar kleiner rade geskrap is om plek te maak vir metropolitaanse gebiede. Plaaslike owerhede is op die voorpunt van die ontwikkeling van ons demokrasie, en dit vereis genoeg van ons bekwaamste personeel om dit in stand te hou. Daar is reeds ’n groot tekort aan bekwame en opgeleide personeel en herontplooiing sal hierdie krisis verder vergroot.
Sentrale regering word volgens funksionele, gespesialiseerde, departementele lyne georganiseer. In teenstelling hiermee is plaaslike owerheid horisontaal georganiseer en gegrond op dienslewering en die behoeftes van die gemeenskap. Plaaslike regering lewer diens direk aan die man op die straat – die naaste van alle vlakke van regering. Daar is dus direkte verantwoording deur die stadsraad aan die burgery. Hierdie werkskultuur verskil hemelsbreed van die werkskultuur op sentrale vlak.
Die DA is van mening dat onnodige tyd en energie bestee gaan word aan die implementering van ’n nuwe Staatsdiens, terwyl tyd en energie eerder oor die volgende vyf jaar bestee moet word aan die intensiewe ontwikkeling en opleiding van arbeid. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr K J MINNIE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, I am very grateful that the Minister has heeded to my call of a few months ago to place her plans for the Public Service on the table so that the debate can be held at all levels of society.
The ANC plans to address the problems with service delivery that they currently link to a fragmented government system, with a united Public Service, as well as facilitating the mobility of skills between the different spheres of government. This is a smoke screen, because the ANC has been busy with a centralisation exercise since it took over government in 1994.
During the local government election of 1995 they started to centralise local government by removing powers from independent and strong local authorities and vesting such power in a metropolitan system. During the local government election in 2000 final shape was given to metropolitan councils, and many independent city councils accordingly lost their status.
Recently the ANC announced that it was considering amalgamating the metropolitan councils in Gauteng into a supermetropolitan council. Along with the Minister for the Public Service and Administration’s objective of establishing a single Public Service, it is very clear that the ANC is centralising its power at all levels.
The Constitution clearly provides that a municipality has the right to govern its community’s local management matters on its own initiative. Any change to this will lead to an amendment of the Constitution, and I think the Minister should spell out to us if she envisages such an amendment to the Constitution.
In principle every sphere of government comprises a legislative authority, that is the politicians who represent the citizens, and an executive authority - the administration. If one takes away the administration, there is no longer any reason for a legislative authority. Thus a de facto central government system is introduced.
The government did not, however, count on Salga’s reaction to the integration of the Public Service, because listen to what Salga had to say about the Minister’s plans:
It is important that this review results in the strengthening and
consolidation of the local government sphere and not its
emasculation.
Salga further states:
Municipalities must be given an opportunity to stabilise and
consolidate after years of restructuring and change. The integration
process should seek a greater alignment of the three spheres, rather
than amalgamation.
While I’m making reference to Salga, it was disconcerting to see, during the discussion of this item at the congress, that the name of the Director- General of the Department of Public Service and Administration emphatically appeared on the agenda to give inputs and to answer questions that might flow from the discussion, but that neither the Minister nor the director- general nor any representative was present at this discussion to speak to the delegates of Salga about this important matter. Will this simply be enforced again? That is the question.
Listen to what President Mbeki, amongst others, said during his speech at the Salga congress: Municipalities should listen when their communities speak. They must use the government’s resources to correct the inequalities of the past and to break the grip of poverty. Municipalities should focus on basic service delivery. Communication with communities should not be seen by councils as a bothersome process, but as a necessary requirement for sustainable service delivery.
That is what the President said. It would appear to me that the Minister not only has to reckon with Salga, but should also watch the President closely in the process.
At local authority level maladministration, corruption and poor service delivery are reaching crisis proportions. Deficient service delivery and less political involvement are the biggest problem with centralisation. Service delivery has already deteriorated where smaller councils were scrapped to make way for metropolitan areas. Local authorities are the vanguard of the development of our democracy, and they require enough of our most skilled employees to maintain them. There is already a significant shortage of skilled and trained staff and redeployment will further aggravate this crisis.
Central government is organised along functional, specialised, departmental lines. Local government, in contrast, is organised horizontally and is based on service delivery and the needs of the community. Local government delivers services directly to the man in the street - the closest of all levels of government. There is therefore direct accountability of the city council to the citizenry. This working culture differs tremendously from the working culture at central level.
The DA is of the opinion that unnecessary time and energy will be expended on the implementation of a new Public Service, while time and energy should rather be expended on the intensive development and training of labour in the next five years.]
The creation of a single Public Service, couched in the language of capacity-building, is a smoke screen for the further centralisation of the ruling party’s power, and will take government further away from the people. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms M M MDLALOSE: Chairperson, hon members, the political arena is made up of a multiplicity of social priorities, which continue to change and evolve over time. Some are more urgent than others, such as delivery of services to many of our people who are still living in abject poverty today. Sadly, many municipalities have been found wanting in this area, which is why I understand government’s point of departure in its call for a single Public Service.
But let us not forget how government, a few weeks ago, dared public servants to go on strike. We know that the Public Service is the single largest employer that emerged from a fragmented bureaucratic system, but one needs to face the hard facts. Government has to be interactive. Departments need to co-ordinate their responses, share their expertise, pool their resources, and thus prevent duplication of activities.
The IFP believes in a federalist form of government where power is devolved to the citizenry. Therefore, the IFP cannot support a distant, remote- controlled government that ignores the dynamics and dilemmas in each province and municipality. Ideas have to be percolated from people and not in a top-down approach that continuously limits decision-making to the President and his Cabinet, while ignoring the needs of the people on the ground.
Government of the people should be done in direct consultation with the people in order to make decisions that reflect the will of the people. We need to stop this centralism, which is concerned with stopping all decision- making power right here and now in its tracks. By centralising the Public Service we will only be eroding the core values and principles of a true democracy, which is centred on the will and voice of the people, and not on the elitist decision-making structures.
The IFP therefore believes that a single Public Service will not in any way benefit democracy in South Africa, but will rather adversely contribute to breaking down our ailing democracy.
Teachers, nurses and policemen are still poorly paid today, while they are the very machinery that drives the rotation and the delivery of this country’s most critical services. Public servants are already migrating in their numbers to greener pastures in Britain, Saudi Arabia, and so on. Our workers, whom we have trained, are being cherry-picked. The end result is that a brain drain is occurring, which is stripping our country of valuable skills and expertise, hence making our country poorer due to the loss of such skills.
In order to maximise service delivery from public servants, we need to be realistic and carefully consider their grievances. Public servants need to be motivated in order to avoid strife, the syndrome of absenteeism and low productivity. Most importantly, the loss of valuable skills and expertise through our public servants migrating to other countries needs to be avoided at all costs.
Yielding more power and control will not improve the current conditions with regard to public servants. Government needs to realise that the process of governing is a two-way street in a democracy. The government also needs to listen and respond rationally and reasonably. It should not be a process of a disciplinarian versus the disobedient. It is time to grasp the nettle and put our people’s needs, like service delivery, before party politics.
Also, a new breed of supermanagers is being compensated at the expense of poor people in poor communities. There are also some of those public servants who are feathering their own nests … Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr M R SIKAKANE: Chairperson and my Minister, I had guessed that some people would come here and start making the wrong assumptions with regard to what we are talking about. They are now talking about top-down, three spheres of government, and yet we are talking about a simple national Public Service which is meant to serve the people. So, I had imagined that we would be derailed by people not understanding what the issue is.
I wish we had the Minister of Sport and Recreation here. Let me remind you, members: Do you remember when one day we woke up in the morning and read in the newspaper that the then Premier of the Eastern Cape was furious, saying that those three spheres of government must go because the road from East London to King William’s Town was nearly finished, yet each and every sphere was saying it should be done by the municipality of East London? Others were saying it should be done by the provinciate, whereas others were saying that it should be done by the local government of King William’s Town. He was furious.
I wish he were here so that he could understand what the Minister is saying when we talk here about one single national Public Service. So, I would like to start my speech by saying: At long last, the debate that has been conducted behind the scenes has now been brought before you to examine so as to eliminate knots in the Public Service.
Our approach is informed by the evaluation that was carried out in 2001. That evaluation had its own objective, namely the need to take the functioning of the state machinery to a higher level. Therefore, the central thrust of co-ordination, co-operation and complementary public service means that we have to move towards a single national Public Service whose character and content will ensure integration of functions that will result in the better functioning of the Public Service. It has nothing to do with whatever political ideology we hold. We are talking here about a public service that will render a better service to the people. People should note and understand that. This is not done or was not designed for fun but to give, render and implement one equal service to the people of South Africa.
Indeed, because of tradition we have clung to these dead-weight laws. Externalities are categorised according to two outputs, namely positive externality and negative externality. So we as legislators ought to be alert to distortions so as to remove determinants of dead-weight laws as early as possible.
Chairperson, I am saying that the Public Service, as it stands now, is distorted. It has negative externalities that have determinants of dead- weight laws. It is a distortion to apply different standards, rules and delivery patterns to the citizens of the land, yet all they want is better service. All they want is responsive service delivery, a user-friendly Public Service and an efficient Public Service. It is not about how many spheres of government there are, but about people-centred government.
The negative externality of not having a single national Public Service is what you see and experience. When you go to KZN, what you see is different to what you see in Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and Gauteng. Are we living in so many countries or are we living in one South Africa? Why should we let this go on the way it is now, because we can see that it has distortions? So, let us correct this.
The Minister highlighted issues such as mobility. You know, today you moan in this House and say people are being retrenched. In Cape Town, in Durban, municipalities retrench people, yet in the Public Service there are vacancies, because we do not have a single Public Service. Common sense should dictate these issues, therefore if you have listened, it is very important to open up and have mobility of public servants so that, as the Minister indicated, we could take a director-general from the national Public Service and put him in a Cape municipality or in Durban or Ethekwini, or in Gauteng.
We see that they all do it differently. The question is: Are we in different countries administered by different laws, brought up by different political parties? [Time expired.]
Mr M STEPHENS: Chair and hon members, I must point out to the previous speaker who asked the question whether we are living in one country or many countries, that of course we are living in one country, but we have to do with many cultural groupings of people who all should share in the power - especially the power closest to them in local communities.
It is something that, in this motion, the hon member and members supporting the unification tend to forget. We are a multicultural country, and it is something that the President again underlined in his speech earlier this year when he said that we recognise groups, as opposed to the DA, which only recognises individuals. We recognise that there are groups with their own interests and with their own identities. I think it is time that we started keeping that in mind and in practice.
Much has been said today about the many laudable objectives of creating a single national Public Service. We support, for example, equality in employment conditions of all public servants, and it is a matter that should be actively pursued. However, there are serious negative implications also.
We need to caution against creeping centralisation of power. We are concerned that the pursuit of a single national Public Service could easily become a back door or covert means of diluting the power and functions of local government, which will lose the ability to appoint, manage and control their own workforces. If you can’t do that, how can you govern? What is the sense of political power?
The essence of local government, which is entrenched in the Constitution, is the democratic participation of people in the way they are governed through their elected councillors and their ward committees. We must guard against any measure, however well intentioned it may be, that may detract from this process of democratic participation.
The costs and disruptions that the creation of such a single Public Service will cause are not even considered. Municipal employees earn more than some of their peers in the Public Service, and that is a matter that cannot easily be ignored. Thus, whilst there are possible benefits for a national Public Service, they are not guaranteed.
In the meanwhile the problems and challenges of local government run far deeper than this single issue. In fact, it is our contention that the immediate and full implementation of the Municipal Financial Management Act is a far greater priority, and will have far greater benefits for improved service delivery.
Experimenting with new policies while existing critical legislation is not being implemented is not good governance. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr A HARDING: Mr Chair, the introduction of a national Public Service is a noble idea, but it is one with major challenges for all public servants. One of the major challenges would be for all public servants to accept government’s aims and objectives. For government to achieve this objective will require a major training and reorientation programme for all its public servants.
We feel one of the major reasons for government not attaining its objectives is that some of these civil servants are being downright obstructionist. The Public Service is also not currently geared towards offering such a developmental function. Transferability between the different divisions will be the major challenge, because they are function- specific. Transfers across government spheres are thus difficult.
Such a move would also have serious implications for government’s training and development strategy. The Minister refers to a basket of services, but that is not available in all our communities at present. The mechanisms to achieve crosscutting governance are also not fully operational. Compatibility of ICT is required for the various spheres of government to converge. The Public Service policy framework must be adopted to achieve this integrated service delivery.
In conclusion, however, in the founding documents of the ID we have correctly identified the need for the developmental state to breach the divide that still exists in our communities. I thank you.
Mrs C DUDLEY: Chairman, this is a far-reaching proposal, and while integrated services must be a reality, and there are always advantages to standardisation, this does not require sameness or centralisation. The South African Constitution provides for three distinct and separate spheres of government. We must be careful not to violate this solid principle.
We surely cannot expect local governments throughout South Africa to be identical. Where are we heading with this? The ACDP stands for the principle of federalism, based on the grounds that it promotes the following principles: It is the only system capable of being closely associated with the country’s citizens, and which can adequately address the diverse needs of the local regions; it promotes a better degree of governmental and administrative efficiency and responsibility; and it is a system that recognises open democracy, power-sharing and diversity and builds co-operative partnerships.
The ACDP feels that there should be greater co-operation between the various components of the Public Service, and that co-operation between local, provincial and national structures is paramount in ensuring service delivery to the public. It is questionable, however, as to whether there should be a complete amalgamation and integration of all structures at every level. It is never a good idea to put too much power in the hands of a few, as this promotes corruption, and creates a different kind of red tape and bureaucracy to that which we now have.
The general consensus amongst experts is that the Public Service needs to be streamlined and trimmed to make it more efficient and cost-effective, but these changes should not be brought about without going into an extensive skills analysis process.
It is well known that successful states tend to be decentralised, and there are long lists of failed states that generally have high levels of centralisation. A move towards centralisation implies that Big Brother knows better. We don’t want government by remote control in Pretoria. We want to take government to the people. Service delivery is the bottom line, and this debate is therefore important. But I thank you. [Time expired.]
Ms S RAJBALLY: Thank you, Chairperson. As a democracy governed by the supremacy of our national Constitution, we are required to adhere to this supremacy. As a democracy we operate in terms of the separation of powers through our three spheres of government, namely national, provincial and local. Though this separation of governance allows for co-operative governance between these spheres, each maintains its individual authorised capacity.
We have had occasions when local government complained that they were not able to exercise the authority awarded to them by the national Constitution. The Minority Front strongly feels that local government is our greatest contributor in defining what is required from all these spheres due to its grass-roots level work, and access to the community.
We feel that a single national Public Service will compromise this. It is already an issue in areas of South African local government. We sense that a single institution will have even greater problems. Local government is our eyes and ears on the ground, and people have a greater chance of being heard, and governance is far more personalised.
The Minority Front feels that it would be flexible to look at the benefits of a single national Public Service, but prefers the personalised public service offered through local government. Thank you, Chairperson.
Mr M R BALOYI: Chairperson, thank you very much. In closing this debate I want to state to the hon Minister that we support the task teams that she referred to, knowing very well that in their endeavours there will obviously be challenges that will confront them. We are available as public representatives, and as such we should assist in as far as we possibly can.
Let me indicate that the assumption that the debate on a single Public Service is actually a debate on centralising, is unfortunate. It is unfortunate simply because it is not true. [Interjections.] It is also unfortunate, hon Waters, because it is actually a display of innocence, to be polite. It is a display of innocence by people who claim to be representing the public, as they participate here. For them to just miss what it means when we talk of a single service cannot be explained. That assumption is unfortunate.
Maybe, Chairperson, what you might want to do in a debate like this, is to offer free lessons to such members as the hon Minnie and hon Waters, as to exactly what it means when we talk about a single Public Service and exactly what it means when we talk of a one-stop service. [Interjections.]
We are saying that we need to provide service without referral. When we say we need to provide service without referral, it means that when people go to their nearest office they should be in a position to receive a co- ordinated service.
When we talk of co-ordination we are not talking of centralisation. For example, when you go to our multipurpose centres, in one office you find the services of various departments provided in that office. So, a member of the public will definitely be able to get all services available and they will be accessible. This is definitely not centralisation.
Maybe when we talk of a single service, the only problem that some people actually have, like those on my left, is that they talk of a single service as suggesting that we are talking of a single sphere. We are not intending, in this debate, to do away with the three spheres that we have. What we are saying is that we need to have services co-ordinated. For example, if a child is born at a hospital, which is a government institution, why can’t we provide systems whereby at that point that child can be registered? You can do that without necessarily having to do away with the Department of Home Affairs.
If there are people who claim that when we talk in terms of co-ordination, we mean what they narrowly indicated, that is quite unfortunate. When we talk of a single service, maybe it is like the hon member said, namely that we do not know where some of you are actually coming from. Just go to Galeshewe township in the Northern Cape; you have to see it to believe it. When we say you are able to access services under one roof, we mean it.
Just go to Makgoba in Limpopo, to the multipurpose centre. You will realise that when we talk of a one-stop centre for all services, we mean exactly that. It can actually happen. We do not want to talk in terms only of areas where we have the multipurpose centres. But we want to then say that you should be able to talk about a co-ordinated service, and co-ordination does not mean centralisation, as we have indicated.
We are not debating this because of any problems. We are debating this issue with the desire to ensure that what we said as the ANC government would be readily available to the people and we mean exactly that. That has to happen. That is exactly what we are saying. In fact, we are talking about strengthening the service delivery machinery to ensure effective service delivery. In doing this - contrary to what others will say, such as that we will be frustrating local government - in the end we will strengthen local government.
Maybe you need to do a bit of constituency work.
Hi nga nyika xikombiso xa vanhu va ka Dzumeri eLipompo lava va nga na masipala wa vona kun’wana ni kun’wana laha va fambaka kona. Xa vona hileswaku loko va fika lahaya va kombisa xiphiqo xa mati, a swi laveki leswaku masipala a ku a ti tirhani na yena, a va ye eka Ndzawulo ya Mati.
Masipala u fanele a swi kota ku hlamusela loko vukorhokeri lebyi byi ri kona laha va nga kona. Masipala, tani hi mfumo, u fanele a vona leswaku u ta endla yini, a nga fanelangi ku rhumela vanhu kun’wana. U fanele ku va pfuna. Hina hi fanele hi vona leswaku vukorhokeli lebyi byi le ndhawini yin’we.
Ndza tshemba leswaku mi le ku ndzi yingiseleni. Naswona loko hi endla hi ndlela yaleyo ivi vanhu va ku hi swi tisa ndhawu yin’we, a hi swona. (Translation of Tsonga paragraphs follows.)
[I can cite an example of the community at Dzumeri in Limpopo who also have their own local authority. If this community has water shortages, the local authority should not send them to the Department of Water Affairs.
The local sphere should have the capacity to explain if they are able to provide the required services. This level of authority should not send people away to get assistance somewhere else. It is our duty to see to it that services are provided where they are needed.
I hope you are listening. If we decided to do that and people say we are trying to centralise everything, it is unfortunate.]
Thank you very much.
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 15:57.
__________
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
FRIDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Bills passed by Houses - to be submitted to President for assent
(1) Bill passed by National Assembly on 16 September 2004:
(i) Companies Amendment Bill [B 10D - 2004] (National Assembly
- sec 75)
National Assembly
- Membership of Committees
The following changes have been made to the membership of the Joint
Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests:
Appointed: Gumede, Mr D M (ANC)
Discharged: Cronin, Mr J P (ANC)
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister for Provincial and Local Government
Report and Financial Statements of the Municipal Infrastructure
Investment Unit 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 178-2004].
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
CREDA PLEASE INSERT - Insert No 1 from “ATC0917e”
MONDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Translations of Bills submitted
(1) The Minister of Health
(i) Wysigingswetsontwerp op Keuse oor die Beëindiging van
Swangerskap [W 72 - 2003] (Nasionale Vergadering - art 76)
This is the official translation into Afrikaans of the Choice on
Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill [B 72 - 2003] (National
Assembly - sec 76).
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Speaker and the Chairperson
Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) for 2003-
2004.
CREDA PLEASE INSERT - Insert ATC0920e
- The Minister of Public Enterprises
Report and Financial Statements of Denel (Pty) Limited for 2003-2004,
including the Report of the Independent Auditors on the Financial
Statements for 2003-2004.
- The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs
Report and Financial Statements of Ncera Farms (Proprietary) Limited
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent Auditors on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
- The Minister of Minerals and Energy
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the Council for Mineral
Technology (MINTEK) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 31-
2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Council for Geoscience
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 68-2004].
(c) Report and Financial Statements of the National Electricity
Regulator for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 122-2004].
- The Minister for Safety and Security
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 25 - Department of Safety and
Security for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements of Vote 25 for 2003-2004 [RP 184-2004].
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development
Report and Financial Statements of the Independent Electoral Commission
regarding the Management and Administration of the Represented
Political Parties' Fund for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 116-
2004].
TUESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Public Works
Guidelines for the Implementation of Labour-Intensive Infrastructure
Projects under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
- The Minister of Arts and Culture
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the Playhouse Company for
2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the National Zoological
Gardens of South Africa for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(c) Report and Financial Statements of the Engelenburg House Art
Collection for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(d) Report and Financial Statements of the South African Library for
the Blind for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(e) Report and Financial Statements of the Africa Institute of South
Africa for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(f) Report and Financial Statements of the Nelson Mandela National
Museum for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 150-2004].
- The Minister for Safety and Security
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 23 - Independent Complaints
Directorate (ICD) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements of Vote 23 for 2003-2004 [RP 121-
2004].
National Assembly
- The Speaker
a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 11 - Public Service
Commission (PSC) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements of Vote 11 for 2003-2004 [RP 120-
2004].
b) Report of the Public Service Commission on Implementing Financial
Disclosure Requirements – a comparative desk study on best practice
concerning the implementation of financial disclosure frameworks.
WEDNESDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Finance
Report and Financial Statements of South African Revenue Service (SARS)
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 175-2004].
- The Minister of Trade and Industry
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Ntsika Enterprise Promotion
Agency for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 140-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Competition Commission of
South Africa for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 107-2004].
(c) Annual Review of the Competition Commission of South Africa for
2003-2004 [RP 107-2004].
(d) Report and Financial Statements of the National Manufacturing
Advisory Centres Trust (NAMAC) for 2003-2004, including the Report
of the Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-
2004.
(e) Report and Financial Statements of the National Lotteries Board
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(f) Report and Financial Statements of the South African Bureau of
Standards (SABS) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(g) Report and Financial Statements of the National Gambling Board
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
- The Minister of Science and Technology
Report and Financial Statements of the Africa Institute of South Africa
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
Note: On the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports dated
21 September 2004 there was an incorrect indication that this
document had been tabled by the Minister of Arts and Culture.
- The Minister of Public Works
Report and Financial Statements of the Construction Industry
Development Board (CIDB) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 138-
2004].
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- First Report of the Joint Rules Committee, dated 21 September 2004, as follows:
At a special meeting of the Joint Rules Committee on Tuesday, 14
September 2004, two matters were under consideration by the Committee,
namely a proposed vision for Parliament and the new governance model.
Consideration of proposed vision for Parliament
The following options for a proposed vision statement for Parliament
were presented:
OPTION 1
To build an effective Parliament that is responsive to the needs
of the people and that is driven by the ideal of realising an
improved quality of life for all the people of South Africa.
OPTION 2
To build an effective people's Parliament that is responsive to
the needs of the people and that is driven by the ideal of
realising a better quality of life for all the people of South
Africa.
Mr D H M Gibson, on behalf of the DA, expressed support for Option 2,
subject to the following amendment: To substitute "Parliament" for
"people's Parliament". The vision statement would, therefore, read as
follows:
To build an effective Parliament that is responsive to the needs
of the people and that is driven by the ideal of realising a
better quality of life for all the people of South Africa.
Mrs S A Seaton, on behalf of the IFP, initially proposed the omission
of the first and third reference to "people", but subsequently withdrew
the proposal and seconded the proposal by the DA.
Mr A C Nel, on behalf of the ANC, also supported Option 2, subject to
the following amendment: To substitute "their needs" for "the needs of
the people". The vision statement would, therefore, read as follows:
To build an effective people's Parliament that is responsive to
their needs and that is driven by the ideal of realising a better
quality of life for all the people of South Africa.
Mrs P de Lille, on behalf of the ID, seconded the proposal by the ANC.
Mr N T Godi, on behalf of the PAC, also expressed support for the ANC
proposal.
Mr D H M Gibson proposed as an alternative that "people's Parliament"
be replaced by "democratic Parliament". The vision statement would,
therefore, read as follows:
To build an effective democratic Parliament that is responsive to
the needs of the people and that is driven by the ideal of
realising a better quality of life for all the people of South
Africa.
After discussion, the Chairperson of the NCOP suggested that the
proposed vision could be tabled in both Houses for debate and decision.
The Chief Whip of the Majority Party said that if that were the case,
the ANC would reserve the right to return to its original proposal
presented to the Joint Rules Committee at its meeting on 4 August 2004,
namely:
To build an effective people's Parliament that is responsive to
the needs of the people and that is driven by the ideal of
realising a better life for all the people of South Africa.
The Speaker, noting that apart from some matters of detailed wording
there was broad agreement on the basic approach, appealed to all
parties to continue talking to one another in order to reach consensus
before the matter was put to the Houses for decision.
The Committee resolved that the proposed Vision for Parliament would be
presented to both Houses for debate and decision, while parties would,
in the meantime, continue their discussions in an attempt to reach
consensus.
Consideration of new governance model
After a discussion, the Committee resolved that the Presiding Officers
and the Secretariat would reconsider and refine the proposals before
the Committee, with particular attention to the following: -
· the processing of policy and the role of the Chief Whips' Forum, the
Quarterly Consultative Forum and the Joint Ad Hoc Committee on
Parliamentary Budget;
· the relationship between the directing authority and the Joint Rules
Committee;
· representivity on the directing authority; and
· the participation of the Secretary to Parliament in the directing
authority.
An adjusted document would then be presented to the next meeting of the
Committee, which would sit before the directing authority met for the
first time. In principle the directing authority was agreed upon and
work had to proceed for it to be formed.
MONDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister for the Public Service and Administration (a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 10 - Department of Public Service and Administration for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote 10 for 2003-2004 [RP 170-2004].
(c) Report and Financial Statements of the State Information
Technology Agency (SITA) for 2003-2004, including the Report of
the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP
75-2004].
- The Minister of Public Works
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 6 - Department of Public Works
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements of Vote 6 for 2003-2004 [RP 185-2004].
- The Minister of Minerals and Energy
Annual Financial Statements of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) Group of
Companies for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
- The Minister of Public Enterprises
Report and Financial Statements of Transnet Limited for 2003-2004,
including the Report of the Independent Auditors on the Financial
Statements for 2003-2004.
TUESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Finance
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 8 - National Treasury
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements of Vote 8 for 2003-2004 [RP 141-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Corporation for Public
Deposits for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent
Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(c) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 13 - Statistics South
Africa for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 13 for 2003-2004 [RP 163-
2004].
(d) Report and Financial Statements of the South African Reserve
Bank for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent
Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2002-2004.
(e) Annual Economic Report of the South African Reserve Bank for
2004.
(f) The Address of the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank on
24 August 2004.
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development
Report received from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional
Development on 23 September 2004 regarding the provisional suspension
of Magistrate S E Tebe without remuneration pending an investigation
into his fitness to hold office.
Note: This report replaces and supersedes the report tabled on 12
August 2004.
- The Minister of Minerals and Energy
Report and Financial Statements of Electricity Distribution Industry
Holdings (Proprietary) Limited for 2003-2004, including the Report of
the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
WEDNESDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Speaker and the Chairperson
Report and Financial Statements of the Office of the Auditor-General
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent Auditors on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 177-2004].
- The Minister of Finance
Report and Financial Statements of the Financial Intelligence Centre
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 189-2004].
- The Minister of Health
Report and Financial Statements of the Council for Medical Schemes for
2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial
Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 135-2004].
- The Minister for Provincial and Local Government
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the Municipal Demarcation
Board for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 165-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Commission for the
Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and
Linguistic Communities for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 167-
2004].
- The Minister of Public Works
Report and Financial Statements of the Independent Development Trust
(IDT) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 86-2004].
- The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
Report and Financial Statements of the Water Research Commission for
2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial
Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 143-2004].
THURSDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The President of the Republic
Report and Financial Statements of The Presidency for 2003-2004,
including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements
for 2003-2004 [RP 180-2004].
- The Minister for Provincial and Local Government
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 5 - Department of
Provincial and Local Government for 2003-2004, including the
Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote
5 for 2003-2004 [RP 193-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the South African Local
Government Association (SALGA) for 2003-2004, including the Report
of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(c) Report and Financial Statements of the National House of
Traditional Leaders for 2003-2004.
- The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 26 - Department of
Agriculture for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements of Vote 26 for 2003-2004 [RP
186-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 30 - Department of Land
Affairs for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 30 for 2003-2004 [RP 168-
2004].
- The Minister of Trade and Industry
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the South African Quality
Institute for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent
Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(b) Annual Review of the Community Public Private Partnership
Programme for 2003-2004.
- The Minister for the Public Service and Administration
Report and Financial Statements of the South African Management
Development Institute (SAMDI) for 2003-2004, including the Report of
the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 127-
2004].
- The Minister of Public Enterprises
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 9 - Department of Public
Enterprises for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 9 for 2003-2004 [RP 143-2004].
- The Minister of Transport
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the South African National
Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) for 2003-2004, including the Report
of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004
[RP 157-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Air Traffic and
Navigation Services Company Limited for 2003-2004, including the
Report of the Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for
2003-2004.
(c) Report and Financial Statements of the Airports Company South
Africa Limited (ACSA) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(d) Report and Financial Statements of the Urban Transport Fund
(UTF) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 191-2004].
(e) Report and Financial Statements of the Cross-Border Road
Transport Agency for 2002-2003, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003 [RP 27-
2004].
(f) Report and Financial Statements of the Airports Company South
Africa and Air Navigation Services Company Ltd for 2003-2004.
- The Minister of Minerals and Energy
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 31 - Department of
Minerals and Energy for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 85-
2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Central Energy Fund (CEF)
Group of Companies for 2003-2004, including the Reports of the
Auditor-General and the Independent Auditors on the Financial
Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 132-2004].
- The Minister of Correctional Services
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 21 - Department of Correctional
Services for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements of Vote 21 for 2003-2004 [RP 192-2004].
- The Minister of Housing
(a) Report and Financial Statements of Vote 29 - Department of
Housing for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 29 for 2003-2004 [RP 125-
2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Rural Housing Loan Fund
(RHLF) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent
Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(c) Report and Financial Statements of Servcon Housing Solutions
(Proprietary) Limited for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(d) Report and Financial Statements of Thubelisha Homes for 2003-
2004, including the Report of the Independent Auditors on the
Financial Statements for 2002-2003.
(e) Report and Financial Statements of the Social Housing Foundation
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent Auditors on
the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(f) Report and Financial Statements of the National Housing Finance
Corporation Limited for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(g) Report and Financial Statements of the National Urban and
Reconstruction Agency for 2003-2004.
- The Minister of Sport and Recreation
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 20 - Department of Sport and
Recreation for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 20 for 2003-2004.
National Assembly
- The Speaker
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the Special Investigating
Unit (SIU) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 128-2004].
(b) Letter from the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a) of
the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999),
explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the
Department of Foreign Affairs for 2003-2004:
LATE TABLING OF 2003/4 ANNUAL REPORT IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
1. Section 40(1)(d) of the Public Finance Management Act No 1 of
1999, as amended, requires the Accounting Officer of the
Department to forward to National Treasury within five months
of the end of the financial year:
i) an annual report of the activities of that department,
trading entity or constitutional institution during that
financial year;
ii) the financial statements for that financial year after
those statements have been audited; and
iii) the Auditor-General's report on those statements.
2. Section 65(1)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act requires
me to table the said annual report and audited financial
statements in the National Assembly within one month after the
accounting officer for the department received the audit
report.
3. In effect, the annual report and audited financial statements
must be forwarded to National Treasury on or before 31 August
and tabled in the National Assembly on or before 30 September.
4. The Department of Foreign Affairs did not comply with the
requirements of sections 40(1)(d) and 65(1)(a) of the Public
Finance Management Act in respect of the annual report and
audited financial statements for the 2003/4 financial year
because of the following:
4.1 The initial set of annual financial statements for 2003/4
were submitted to the Office of the Auditor-General on 31
May 2004, in accordance with section 40(1)(c) of the
Public Finance Management Act.
4.2 However, during the conducting of the audit work,
especially towards the end of the prescribed two months
period allowed to the Auditor-General in which to conduct
audit work, the Office of the Auditor-General brought to
the attention of the department that significant changes
are necessary to the department's annual financial
statements in order to present a true account of the
financial affairs of the department.
4.3 The effecting of these changes to the annual financial
statements constituted material changes to these
statements and resulted in the re-submission of the
statements.
4.4 In order to improve the preparation and presentation of
the information contained in the department's annual
financial statement so that the statements reflect the
true position of the financial affairs of the department
and to furthermore ensure the standard of accountability
and quality of information expected by the South African
public, the department re-submitted its financial
statements on 30 July 2004.
4.5 In accordance with section 40(2) of the Public Finance
Management Act, the Auditor-General is required to submit
an audit report on these statements within two months of
receipt of these statements. As a result of the re-
submission of the statements on 30 July 2004, the Auditor-
General is by law allowed a further period of 2 months
from the date of receiving the re-submitted statements in
which to complete audit work and issue an audit report.
The audit report is therefore expected on 30 September
2004.
5. In view thereof, it was not possible for me to table the
department's annual report and audited financial statements in
the National Assembly, as prescribed.
6. The annual report and audited financial statements will be
tabled in the National Assembly during mid October 2004.
7. I trust that you will find this in order.
Yours faithfully
B S MABANDLA MP
ACTING MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
MONDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Arts and Culture
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 14 - Department of Arts and
Culture for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements of Vote 14 for 2003-2004.
National Assembly
- The Speaker
The President of the Republic submitted the following letter dated 28
September 2004 to the Speaker of the National Assembly informing
Members of the Assembly of the employment of the South African National
Defence Force:
EMPLOYMENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE IN BURUNDI IN
FULFILLMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA TOWARDS THE UNITED NATIONS
This serves to inform the National Assembly that I authorised the
employment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
personnel to the Democratic Republic of Burundi as part of the United
Nations Operation in accordance with the United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1545 of 2004.
This employment was authorised in accordance with the provisions of
section 201(2)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,
1996 (Act No 108 of 1996), read with section 93 of the Defence Act,
2002 (Act No 42 of 2002).
A total of 1099 personnel will be employed until the end of the
transition period in September 2004. The contingent will be reduced to
1078 personnel after September 2004 and 1007 personnel after December
2004 until the end of March 2005. The SANDF personnel are already in
Burundi and will only changeover to the United Nations mandate.
The cost of the deployment will be funded from the Department of
Defence's current allocation for peace Support Operations and will be
reimbursed by the United Nations.
I will communicate this report to the Members of the National Council
of Provinces and the Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on
Defence, and wish to request that you bring the contents hereof to the
notice of the National Assembly.
Regards
SIGNED
T M MBEKI
TUESDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 24 - Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development for 2003-2004, including the Report of the
Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Vote 24 for 2003-2004
[RP 182-2004].
- The Minister of Minerals and Energy
Report and Financial Statements of the South African Diamond Board
(SADB) for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on
the Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 194-2004].
- The Minister of Home Affairs
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 4 - Department of Home Affairs
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements of Vote 4 for 2003-2004 [RP 175-2004].
- The Minister of Sport and Recreation
Report and Financial Statements of the South African Sports Commission
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
WEDNESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Health
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 16 - Department of Health for
2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial
Statements of Vote 16 for 2003-2004 [RP 179-2000].
FRIDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly
- Membership of Committees
(1) Mr N M Nene has been elected Co-Chairperson of the Joint Budget
Committee with effect from 8 October 2004.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development
Government Notice No R.889 published in Government Gazette No 26603
dated 10 July 2004: Designation of a body for the purpose of section
212(4)(a) and (8) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No 51 of
1977).
- The Minister of Labour
Report and Financial Statements of National Economic Development and
Labour Council for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Independent
Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
National Assembly
- The Speaker
Letter from the Minister of Public Enterprises dated 1 October 2004 to
the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a) of
the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1959), explaining
the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of Arivia.kom for 2003-
2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
Tabling of Annual Report: Arivia.kom
In terms of section 65(1)(a) and (2) of the Public Finance
Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), as amended, the Minister
must table in Parliament Annual Report and Financial Statements
within six months after the end of the financial year to which
those statements relate. As the financial year of Arivia.kom ended
31 March 2004, the Annual Report and Financial Statements must be
tabled in Parliament not later than 30 September 2004.
Unfortunately Arivia.kom is unable to table their report on the
said date, due to unforeseen governance approval, printing and
logistical problems.
This written explanaition is submitted in terms of section
65(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of
1999) setting out reasons for the delay.
Please accept my sincere apology.
Yours sincerely
Alec Erwin, MP
Minister of Public Enterprises
TUESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2004
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Speaker and the Chairperson
Annual Review of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of
Public Office-Bearers, 2004.
- The Minister of Education
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the Council on Higher
Education for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements for 2003-2004.
(b) Government Notice No 983 published in Government Gazette No
26692 dated 18 August 2004: Appointment of a replacement to serve
as a member of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)
in terms of section 4(4) of the South African Qualifications
Authority Act, 1995 (Act No 58 of 1995).
(c) Government Notice No 285 published in Government Gazette No
26119 dated 3 March 2004: Appointment of members to serve on the
proposed management structures with the aim of developing
additional subjects to be included in the National Curriculum
Statement Grades 10-12 (General) in terms of the National
Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996) and the South
African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No 84 of 1996).
(d) Government Notice No 995 published in Government Gazette No
26711 dated 23 August 2004: Amendment to the names of members to
serve on the Ministerial Project Committee and Associated Subject
Working Groups for the development of subject statements to be
included in the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12
(General) in terms of the National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act
No 27 of 1996).
(e) Government Notice No 1052 published in Government Gazette No
26767 dated 8 September 2004: Appointment of members to serve on
the proposed subject working groups in terms of the National
Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996) and the South
African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No 84 of 1996).
(f) Government Notice No 1080 published in Government Gazette No
26788 dated 15 September 2004: The development of a National
Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) - Second phase: Call
for written submissions from the Stakeholder bodies and members of
the public in terms of the National Education Policy Act, 1996
(Act No 27 of 1996).
(g) Government Notice No 981 published in Government Gazette No
26690 dated 18 August 2004: Extension of the term of office of the
current members serving on the Second South African Qualifications
Authority for the period 26 April 2004 until 26 October 2004 in
terms of the South African Qualifications Authority Act, 1995 (Act
No 58 of 1995).
(h) Government Notice No 982 published in Government Gazette No
26691 dated 18 August 2004: Calling for nomination of persons to
serve as members on the Third South African Qualifications
Authority for the period 27 October 2004 until 26 October 2007 in
terms of the South African Qualifications Authority Act, 1995 (Act
No 58 of 1995).
(i) Government Notice No 820 published in Government Gazette No
26560 dated 8 July 2004: National Policy regarding further
Education and Training programmes: Approval of Additional
Languages as National Education Policy to be listed in the
National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12 (General) in terms of
the National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No 27 of 1996) and
the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No 84 of 1996).
(j) Government Notice No 1081 published in Government Gazette No
26789 dated 17 September 2004: National Policy regarding further
Education and Training programmes: Approval of the draft policy
document, National Policy on the Conduct, Administration and
Management of the Assessment of the Senior Certificate as National
Education Policy in terms of the National Education Policy Act,
1996 (Act No 27 of 1996) and the South African Schools Act, 1996
(Act No 84 of 1996).
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry on the Water Services Amendment Bill [B 17 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 6 October 2004:
The Portfolio Committee on Water Affairs and Forestry, having considered the subject of the Water Services Amendment Bill [B 17
-
2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.
WEDNESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2004
-
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Communications
Report and Financial Statements for Vote 27 - Department of
Communications for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-
General on the Financial Statements of Vote 27 for 2003-2004.
National Assembly
- The Speaker
(a) Letter from the Minister for Africulture and Land Affairs dated
23 September 2004 to the Speaker of the National Assembly, in
terms of section 65(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act,
1999 (Act No 1 of 1959), explaining the delay in the tabling of
the Annual Report of Inala Frams for the year ended February 2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
TABLING OF ANNUAL REPORT FOR INALA FARMS IN TERMS OF SECTION
55(1)(d) OF THE PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT ACT (PFMA)
The Land Bank has decided to foreclose on the bonds registered
against the property of Inala Farms (Pty) Ltd., which is listed
as a Schedule 3B company in terms of the PFMA, due to the fact
that the proceeds from the farming activities on the property
were not utilised to service the Land Bank loans.
Although there are ongoing discussions between the Department of
Land Affairs and the Land Bank to find a solution to somehow
salvage the property for the benefit of the land reform
beneficiaries involved in the farming activities on the
property, it is however, anticipated that the outcome will
result in Inala Farms (Pty) Ltd. being delisted as a public
entity.
Under the circumstances, Inala Farms (Pty) Ltd. will not be in a
position to table an annual report for the financial year ending
28 February 2004, in terms of section 55(1)(d) of the PFMA.
In terms of section 65(2)(a) of the PFMA, I am therefore
tendering this written explanation on why Inala Farms annual
report was not tabled by August 2004 in terms of section
65(1)(a) of the PFMA and regret not having submitted a written
explanation earlier.
Kind regards
A T DIDIZA
MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS
(b) Letter from the Minister of Health dated 10 September 2004 to
the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a)
of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1959),
explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the
National Health Laboratory Services for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
LATE SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL REPORTS: NATIONAL HEALTH LABORATORY
SERVICES
The National Health Laboratory Services was formed when the old
SAIMR and ninety-seven (97) state controlled diagnostic
laboratories merged in 2002 to form the National Health
Laboratory Services.
The first Annual Report for 2002/03 is due to be released and
will be tabled shortly.
The second Annual Report for the period 2003/04 is due for
submission to you before the end of August 2004. As a result of
problems experienced during the previous year, the auditors
extended their testing and review on the 2004 accounts for the
period ending March 2004.
The Annual Report will now be submitted to you before the end of
October 2004.
A similar letter has been sent to National Treasury.
Kindly acknowledge receipt of this communication.
Kind regards
DR M E TSHABALALA-MSIMANG
MINISTER OF HEALTH
(c) Letter from the Minister of Health dated 5 October 2004 to the
Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a) of
the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1959),
explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the
Department of Health for 2003-2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
TABLING OF THE 2003/04 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH
I write to you to submit my Department's Annual Report for the
Financial Year 2003/04, in terms of Section 65(2)(a) of the
Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999). I want
to express my sincere apology for the late tabling of this
Report.
As you might be aware, the building where my Ministry and the
Department are housed, has been experiencing physical structural
problems over the last five months. The problems ranged from
constant waterpipe-bursting, fire threats, telecommunications
and internet breakdowns and other interruptions. As a result of
these problems, our staff had to be constantly evacuated from
this building whilst the problems were being addressed.
As I indicated, we experienced this situation over a period of
about five months. This consequently impacted very negatively on
our functioning as the National Ministry and Department of
Health. As I write to you now, my officials have been scattered
and are housed in three different buildings which are not even
located within the same vicinity. This again continues to impact
very negatively on our functioning.
It is in this background that our timely processing of our
2003/04 Annual Report was severely affected, and hence the
delay. I am glad however, to mention that despite the problems
and hurdles mentioned above, we were able to produce the Report
which is now ready as I am accordingly submitting as enclosed.
I trust that you and Parliament will accept my apology.
Kind regards
DR MANTO TSHABALALA-MSIMANG MP
MINISTER OF HEALTH
(d) Letter from the Minister of Finance dated 28 September 2004 to
the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a)
of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1959),
explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the
Government Employees Pension Fund for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
SUBMISSION OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND (GEPF) FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING 31
MARCH 2003
In terms of the provisions of section 6A of the Government
Employees Pension Law, 1996 (Proclamation No 21 of 1996), the
Minister of Finance has been appointed as the interim trustee of
the Board of Trustees for the GEPF until such time as a duly
elected Board of Trustees (Board) has been appointed.
Section 9(1) of the Law provides that the Board shall in respect
of each financial year draw up annual financial statements for
the Fund and shall submit copies of such statements, duly
audited in terms of section 13 of the Law, to the Minister of
Finance.
The statements mentioned in terms of section 9(2) shall consist
of -
* a statement of funds and net assets;
* a revenue account;
* a cash flow statement;
* notes to explain such statements;
* a report by the Board as referred to in section 10 of the
Law; and
* any such other statement that may be prescribed.
The statements are to be compiled in conformity with Generally
Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) and be accompanied by a
report of the auditors of the Fund as prescribed in section 13
of the Law.
Section 9(6) further provides that the Minister of Finance shall
within 30 days of receipt of such financial statements, submit
the financial statements, report of the auditors and information
referred to, to Parliament together with such comments as the
Minister may wish to make.
The financial statements and reports required by Law for the
financial year ending 31 March 2003 have been compiled and
audited by the external auditors of the Fund, Deloitte and
Touché, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Inc. and Faizel Sondiyazi Inc.
The financial statements are presented are unqualified, in all
material respects, and fairly represent the net assets of the
Fund as at 31 March 2003 and the results of its activities and
cash flows for the year ended, in accordance with GAAP as
applicable to retirement funds, and the Rules of the GEPF.
You will note that on page 42 of the Annual Report te reasons
for the late submission of the Annual Report are explained.
They relate to problems experienced in relation to an accounting
policy change, the implementation of a new investment accounting
system as well as changes to the annual report to improve
disclosure and to reflect a more precise position of the Fund.
Due to the above-mentioned matters that annual report and
financial statements could not be submitted in the time period
required by section 13 of the Government Employees Pension Law.
Steps have been taken to ensure that the 2003/04 annual report
is published within the required legislative framework.
Apart from the above, no significant matters occured after the
financial year had ended, up to the date of approval of the
financial statements, which could have a significant impact on
the financial statements of the Fund.
Kind regards
TREVOR A MANUEL, MP
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND INTERIM TRUSTEE OF THE GEPF
THURSDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Assent by President in respect of Bills
(1) Immigration Amendment Bill [B 11B - 2004] - Act No 19 of 2004
(assented to and signed by President on 12 October 2004).
- Classification of Bills by Joint Tagging Mechanism:
(1) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 12 October 2004 in terms of
Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bill as a section 75
Bill:
(i) Securities Services Bill [B 19 - 2004] (National Assembly
- sec 75)
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Trade and Industry
(a) Report and Financial Statements of the International Trade
Administration Commission of South Africa for 2003-2004, including
the Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for
2003-2004 [RP 188-2004].
(b) Report and Financial Statements of the Micro Finance Regulatory
Council (MFRC) for the year ended 31 December 2003.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
National Assembly
-
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Securities Services Bill [B 19 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 5 October 2004:
The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Securities Services Bill [B 19 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill with amendments [B 19A - 2004].
The Committee further recommends that the Minister of Finance be requested to consult with the Minister of Trade and Industry on the feasibility of including the names of persons disqualified in terms of Clause 96 of this Bill in the national register of disqualified directors and officers contemplated in the Companies Amendment Bill of 2004.
Report to be considered.
FRIDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Classification of Bills by Joint Tagging Mechanism:
(1) The Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) on 15 October 2004 in terms of
Joint Rule 160(3), classified the following Bill as a section 75
Bill:
(i) Financial Services Ombud Schemes Bill [B 20 - 2004]
(National Assembly - sec 75)
- Draft bills submitted in terms of Joint Rule 159
(1) Judicial Matters Amendment Bill, 2004, submitted by the Minister
for Justice and Constitutional Development on 6 October 2004.
Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional
Development and the Select Committee on Security and
Constitutional Affairs.
- Translations of Bills submitted
(1) The Minister of Finance
(i) Wysigingswetsontwerp op die Nasionale Betalingstelsel [W
14 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75)
This is the official translation into Afrikaans of the National
Payment System Amendment Bill [B 14 - 2004] (National Assembly -
sec 75).
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister in The Presidency
Report and Financial Statements of the International Marketing Council
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 174-2004].
National Assembly
- The Speaker
Report of the Public Service Commission on the Investigation into the
Appointment of Professional Cubans in the South African Public Service.
TUESDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2004
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- Bills passed by Houses - to be submitted to President for assent
(1) Bills passed by National Council of Provinces on 19 October
2004:
(i) Public Audit Bill [B 1 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec
75)
(ii) Public Investment Corporation Bill [B 6B - 2004] (National
Assembly - sec 75)
(iii) Government Employees Pension Law Amendment Bill [B 15 -
2004] (National Assembly - sec 75)
- Translations of Bills submitted
(1) The Minister of Finance
(i) Wetsontwerp op die Openbare Beleggingskorporasie [W 6 -
2004] (National Assembly - sec 75)
This is the official translation into Afrikaans of the Public
Investment Corporation Bill [B 6 - 2004] (National Assembly -
sec 75).
(ii) Wysigingswetsontwerp op die “Government Employees Pension
Law” [W 15 - 2004] (National Assembly - sec 75)
This is the official translation into Afrikaans of the
Government Employees Pension Law Amendment Bill [B 15 - 2004]
(National Assembly - sec 75).
National Assembly
- Messages from National Council of Provinces to National Assembly in respect of Bills passed by Council and transmitted to Assembly:
(1) Message from National Council of Provinces to National Assembly:
Bill, subject to proposed amendments, passed by Council on 19
October 2004 and transmitted for consideration of Council's
proposed amendments:
(i) National Payment System Amendment Bill [B 14B - 2004]
(National Assembly - sec 75) (for proposed amendments, see
Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, 6 October 2004,
p 852).
The Bill has been referred to the Portfolio Committee on
Finance of the National Assembly for a report on the
amendments proposed by the Council.
- The Speaker
I have, in terms of section 10 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities
of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, 2004, on 14 October 2004
granted permission to Dr G Woods and Ms P de Lille, at their request,
to give evidence on the records of the proceedings or evidence given
before, or any document submitted to, Parliament or a House or
committee in the trial of the State versus Schabir Shaik.
- Membership of the Assembly
The following member will be vacating his seat in the National Assembly
with effect from 1 November 2004:
Kannemeyer, B W.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Finance
Report and Financial Statements of the Public Investments Commissioners
for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2003-2004 [RP 99-2004].
- The Minister of Social Development
Report and Financial Statements of Vote 19 - Department of Social
Development for 2003-2004, including the Report of the Auditor-General
on the Financial Statements of Vote 19 for 2003-2004 [RP 198-2004].
- The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
(a) Government Notice No 1012 published in Government Gazette No
26731 dated 27 August 2004: Notice of list of protected tree
species under the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998).
(b) Government Notice No 1031 published in Government Gazette No
26749 dated 3 September 2004: Restrictions on the use of water for
agricultural use and for domestic and industrial use from the
Gamtoos River Government Water Scheme (The Kouga Dam and the
Gamtoos Canal) in the Fish-to-Tsitsikamma Water Management Area
(WMA 15) in the Eastern Cape Province, in terms of the National
Water Act, 1998 (Act No 36 of 1998).
(c) Government Notice No 1042 published in Government Gazette No
26752 dated 10 September 2004: Correction notice in respect of
lists of protected tree species in terms of the National Forests
Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998).
(d) Government Notice No 1099 published in Government Gazette No
26807 dated 17 September 2004: Notice to protect a tree in terms
of section 12 of the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of
1998).
(e) Government Notice No 1098 published in Government Gazette No
26799 dated 23 September 2004: Water Research Fund: Rates and
Charges in terms of the Water Research Act, 1971 (Act No 34 of
1971).
(f) Government Notice No 1103 published in Government Gazette No
26799 dated 23 September 2004: Restrictions on the use of surface
water for agricultural purposes and urban and industrial purposes
from any resource in the catchment of the Loskop Dam (Secondary
Catchment B1 and B2) in terms of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act
No 36 of 1998).
(g) Government Notice No 1104 published in Government Gazette No
26799 dated 23 September 2004: Establishment of the Upper Komati
River Water User Association, Magisterial District of Belfast and
Carolina, Mpumalanga Province, Water Management Area Number 5 in
terms of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No 36 of 1998).
(h) Government Notice No 1105 published in Government Gazette No
26799 dated 23 September 2004: Establishment of the Lower Modder
River/Krugersdrift Water User Association, Districts of Boshof,
Bloemfontein, Petrusberg and Jacobsdal, Province of the Free
State, Water Management Area Number 13 in terms of the National
Water Act, 1998 (Act No 36 of 1998).
National Assembly
- The Speaker
(a) Report on an Investigation into Allegations of Undue Delay,
Unlawful and Improper Conduct and Prejudice in the rendering of
services at Braamfontein Refugee Reception Office (Now
Rosettenville Premises).
(b) Letter from the Minister of Social Development dated 19 October
2004 to the Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section
65(2)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of
1999), explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of
Social Development for 2003-2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
EXPLANATION ON THE LATE SUBMISSION AND TABLING OF THE ANNUAL
REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2004
In terms of section 65(1)(a) of the PFMA, I am required to table
in the National Assembly the annual report and financial
statements of my department and public entities reporting to me
within one month after the accounting officer for the department
received the audit report from the Auditor-General. Sub-section
(2)(a) further requires me to table a written explanation in
Parliament in circumstances where I am unable to table such
reports within six months of the end of the financial year (i.e.
30 September 2004), setting out the reasons why they were not
tabled.
In this regard I would like to report that I was unable to table
the annual report and audited financial statements of the
Department for the year ended 31 March 2004 within the prescribed
period for the following reasons:
1. Firstly, a number of senior management positions in my
department became vacant following the departure of the
previous incumbents of those posts. These include the post of
Deputy Director-General: Integrated Development, the post of
Chief Director: Development Implementation Support, the post
of Chief Director: Corporate Services and the post of the
Chief of Staff in the Ministry. Due to unforeseen
circumstances, all these posts remained vacant for a period
exceeding 6 months. The remaining senior managers had to share
the responsibilities previously assigned to these positions.
2. Secondly, the management crisis that hit the National
Development Agency, which is a schedule 3A public entity
reporting to me necessitated that I deploy, since October
2003, two of the other remaining senior managers, i.e. the
Chief Financial Officer and the Director: Stakeholder
Management as part of the envoy that took over responsibility
for the day-to-day management of the NDA following the
suspension of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and its Chief
Operations Officer (COO). Due to unforeseen delays in
finalising the cases against these two NDA officials, my
officials find themselves still responsible for assisting the
NDA almost a year after their deployment to that organisation.
3. Thirdly, the process of establishing the new South African
Social Security Agency has put an enormous pressure on the
senior managers who have to cope with the huge task and
responsibility of meeting the deadlines announced by the
President for the operationalisation of the Agency while they
still have to carry on with their day to day running of their
programmes.
The department is busy addressing its capacity challenges. Three
of the four vacant senior management posts have been filled over
the last two months and only the post of Chief Director: Corporate
Services is still being filled. Following the resignation of the
CEO of the NDA and the ensuing process of filling that position,
the Department officials (Envoy) will be released from these other
duties and resume their normal responsibilities in the department.
The Department has, however, managed to table its annual report
and financial statements during October 2004.
Kind regards,
signed
Dr Z S T Skweyiya, MP
MINISTER
(c) Letter from the Minister of Finance dated 13 October 2004 to the
Speaker of the National Assembly, in terms of section 65(2)(a) of
the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No 1 of 1999),
explaining the delay in the tabling of the Annual Report of the
Public Investment Commissioners for 2003-2004:
Dear Madam Speaker
PUBLIC INVESTMENT COMMISSIONERS: TABLING OF ANNUAL REPORT
In terms of section 65(1)(a) of the Public Finance Management Act,
1999 (Act No 1 of 1999), the Executive Authority responsible for a
public entity must table the relevant public entity's annual
report within one month after the public entity has received its
audit report. The Public Investment Commissioners' (PIC) annual
report needs to be tabled by 30 September 2004. In terms of
section 65(2)(a), the Executive Authority should inform the
Parliament of the reasons for a delay in the tabling of an annual
report, should a public entity fails to meet the deadline
determined by section 65(1)(a). I unfortunately have to inform
Parliament that I will be unable to table the PIC's annual report
for the financial year ended 31 March 2004 by 30 September 2004.
Although the audit fieldwork for the PIC was timeously completed,
differences in opinion regarding matters raised in the report of
the Auditor-General resulted in delays.
The process in finalising the annual report of the PIC was as
follows:
• 25 August 2004: The special subcommittee, delegated by the
Board, approved the
annual financial statements
• 30 August 2004: The PIC received a draft copy of the
Auditor-General’s report
• 6 September 2004: The Deputy Minister of Finance, the PIC
and the Auditor-
General met to discuss the draft report
• 7 September 2004: The PIC, the Auditor-General and KPNG
met to discuss the
draft report
• 14 September 2004: The PIC receives the final Auditor-
General’s report
Due to the delays as mentioned above, the publishers of the PIC's
annual report was not able to submit it to the printers in time to
meet the deadline of 30 September 2004. The annual report is,
however, now in the process of being finalised and printed and it
is expected that it will be tabled in Parliament no later than 18
October 2004.
Kind regards
signed
Trevor A Manuel, MP
MINISTER OF FINANCE