WEDNESDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2007 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:00.

The Deputy Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORT — see col 000.

                          NOTICE OF MOTION

Dr A I VAN NIEKERK: Madam Deputy Speaker, I give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move:

The issue of agriculture and land reform in South Africa.

               PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS


                       (Resumption of Debate)

UNGQONGQOSHE WEZEMISEBENZI YOMPHAKATHI: Phini likaSomlomo, Mongameli wezwe, Phini likaMongameli, oNgqongqoshe namaPhini abo, malungu ahloniphekile ale Ndlu yesishayamthetho, emveni kweminyaka eyi-12 umbuso wenqubo yentando yeningi ukhona kuleli, singasho ngokungangabazi ukuthi indima esesiyihambile ekwakheni kabusha iNingizimu Afrika iyabonakala.

Emiphakathini esihlala kuyo sezikhona izinkomba ezibonisa inqubekela- phambili. Singasho ngokuziqhenya sithi: nempilo yemiphakathi ethile isingcono kunalokho eyayiyikho ngaphambilini. Le nguquko-ke isinika ithemba lekusasa elihle neliqhakazile.

Yize noma kunjalo, izinkinga zisekhona. Inselelo yobandlululo nobuphofu kusabonakala. Kanti futhi izingqinamba eziza nentuthuko nazo ziveza enye inselelo okumele sibhekane nayo. Isibonelo salokhu engikushoyo sibonakala kakhulu uma sibheka ezinye zezinkomba zentuthuko, njengokuthuthuka ngesivinini kwamadolobha, okubizwa phecelezi kuthiwe yi-urbanisation. Lesi simo senza ukuthi babe baningi manje abantu abeza emadolobheni bezofuna imisebenzi. Umthelela walokhu kuba ukwanda kwenani labantu abantula izindawo zokuhlala emadolobheni. Yingakho nje sesibona imijondolo nemikhukhu isijike yaba yisithombe esisibona mihla namalanga. Imizamo eyenziwe yilo hulumeni kuba sengathi ayisabonakali, kanti lutho, siyayibona, yikho nje ukwanda kwentuthuko.

Ukuguquka kwesimo somnotho nakho kuze nentuthuko kanye nezingqinamba zokuntuleka kwamakhono ahambisana nezidingo zezimboni. Lokhu kwenze ukuthi babe baningi nabanye abalahlekelwa yimisebenzi ngenxa yalezi zinguquko. Nokho iqhaza elibanjwa uhulumeni ebambisene nosozimboni kanye nabasebenzi kulesi sakhiwo esisibiza nge-Jipsa, lisinika ithemba lokuthi singazama ukwandisa amakhono adingekayo ngokubambisana. Siyabonga-ke Phini likaMongameli ngokuzikhandla kwakho nokufaka umfutho kulo mkhankaso.

Okubalulekile-ke ukuthi asizukubhekela nje kuphela ukuthuthukisa amakhono alabo abafunde bagogoda enyuvesi, kodwa sizofaka nomdlandla kuleyo mikhakha esebenzisa kakhulu izandla. Kubalulekile ukuthi sibuke nxa zonke amakhono esiwadingayo ekuthuthukiseni umnotho, ngoba phela ukukhula komnotho wakuleli kuzonika amandla kanye nezimali ezidingekayo ukuze sifukule labo abasafufusayo, kanye nokuthi uhulumeni abe nemali yokuthuthukisa imiphakathi maqondana nezinto ezifana nokuthuthukisa izingqalasizinda kuleyo miphakathi esantulayo. Konke-ke lokhu kusho ukuthi kumele sibe namasu namaqhinga azomelana nalezi zimo ngokwehlukana kwazo.

Mongameli, inkulumo yakho obuyibhekise esizweni sonke evikini eledlule iphinde yagcizelela kabanzi ukubaluleka kokulwa nobuphofu nayo yonke imithelela yakho ekwakheni kabusha iNingizimu Afrika. Okuyintokozo ukuthi ihamba ngqo emazwini abhalwe kumqulu ongumkhombandlela obizwa nge- Reconstruction and Development Programme lapho uthi: Ubuphofu ngumthwalo onzima okufanele sibhekene nawo ngqo ekwakheni kabusha leli lengabadi.

Kungenzeka ukuthi, ngokukhohlwa, sizibuze ukuthi kungabe kungani ugcizelele ukubaluleka kokulwa nobuphofu enkulumweni yakho izinkinga ziziningi kangaka nje kweminye imikhakha yempilo. Ngizothanda ukucaphuna emazwini alo mqulu we-RDP esawuvuma kule Ndlu ngonyaka ka-1994, ekuqaleni kukahulumeni wenqubo yentando yeningi, ukuze sikhumbule ukuthi imuva lethu belimi kanjani njengesizwe, mangicaphune: (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)

[The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, Ministers and their Deputies, hon members of the National Assembly, 12 years of democracy in this country, we can say without any doubt that the great strides that we made in rebuilding South Africa are now clear.

In communities where we live, there are indications of progress. We can say with pride that life in our communities is better that what it was before. These changes give us hope for a good and flourishing future.

However, there are still problems. The challenges of racism and poverty are still there. There are also challenges that come with development, which we must address. The example of what I am talking about here is very clear when we look at other signs of development, like urbanisation. This state of affairs makes more people to immigrate to towns to look for jobs. And this sadly increases the number of people who do not have shelters in towns. That is why today we have shacks and squatter camps all over the country, and even the efforts by this government, seem to be inconspicuous, but we see them, and we are aware that it so because of the increase in development.

The change in the economic situation also came with development and challenges of skills shortages that are in line with industrial needs. These changes resulted in job losses. But the role played by the government together with industries and workers in the project called Jipsa, is giving us hope that together we can try to develop the necessary skills. We therefore thank the Deputy President for working tirelessly and by putting effort into this initiative.

What is important therefore is that we are not only going to deal with the development of skills for the graduates only, but we are also going to train people in artisan’s skills. It is vital to look everywhere for the skills that we need for economic development because economic growth in this country will give us the power and money to help those who are emerging and the government will have the money to develop communities in areas of infrastructures in poor communities. All this denotes that we must have plans and strategies in place t o deal with all these situations in different modes.

Mr President, in your state of the nation address, you again emphasised the importance of fighting poverty and its root causes so as to rebuild South Africa. What is good is that this is in line with the words that are in the guide called the Reconstruction and Development Programme, which states that poverty is the difficult task that we need to face in rebuilding this country.

It is possible that we might have forgotten, hence we may have asked ourselves why the president put so much emphasis on poverty in his state of the nation address whilst we have a lot of problems in other sectors of life. I would like to quote from this document of the RDP which we all adopted in this House in 1994 during the first democratic parliament so that we will remember how our history, as a nation, was before. Let me quote:]

Our history has been a bitter one dominated by colonialism, racism, apartheid, sexism and repressive labour practices. The result is that poverty and degradation exist side by side with modern cities and developed mining, industrial and commercial infrastructure. Our income distribution is racially distorted and ranks as one of the most unequal in the world. Lavish wealth and abject poverty characterise our society.

Interestingly, the RDP itself acknowledges that while this was the past that characterised us, South Africans in their millions struggled against this system over decades. They struggled to improve their lives, and to restore peace and bring about a more just and humane society.

Therefore, we agreed with you, Mr President, when you reminded us, in your speech, not to forget that still more needs to be done to achieve the just and humane society that many of our people struggled for, and where many even sacrificed their lives.

In the 12 years of our democratic rule we have introduced policies, legislation and programmes that have been the building blocks of transformation in our society. These building blocks have, on the one hand, sought to change the material conditions in which many of our people find themselves, whilst, on the other hand, building a caring and humane South African nation as evidenced in the Macrosocial Report that was released last year.

Today we have a society that is gradually embracing the common values of our country as espoused in our Constitution; a society that has gradually embraced the symbols of our nationhood; a society that collectively embraces the outstanding achievements of our citizens in sports, arts and science, and holds them in high esteem as our own, regardless of their racial background or gender.

We have a society whose corporate citizens are gradually working in partnerships to meet the challenges of our development, such as the work of the Business Trust and Business against Crime, to name just a few. It is a society that mourns together when one of us is maimed, injured or abused.

Maybe it is for this reason that almost all of us, particularly in the past few days, have been talking about the challenges of crime and the need for us to work collectively to address it. In the past 12 years, our social transformation has also seen material change in the lives of our people and within their communities. Many now have access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity.

We do acknowledge, however, that there are some among our communities who still live in conditions where these services are not available. It is for this reason that the programme of the Cabinet committee, Social Cluster, of government has resolved to work tirelessly to ensure that we accelerate the programme on sanitation, in particular the eradication by the end of this year of the bucket system that still remains in other communities.

Because municipalities are key delivery agents of our basic services at community level, it is important that they have the capacity to undertake this task. The intervention in the past year at this sphere of government has enabled us to build the capacity necessary for municipalities to undertake their work.

The results of Project Consolidate show us that if we work together as the different spheres of government, we can indeed improve the capacity at this level of government. The Ministers of Finance and Provincial and Local Government, together with the Development Bank of South Africa, DBSA, through their work on Siyenzamanje, which seeks to build the skills capacity of our municipalities on those technical areas of the built environment – have also shown us that if indeed we work collectively, we can change the lives of many of our people.

Today, many in our society have access to health care through the provision of health infrastructure and health services closer to where they live. Many people today have assets such as housing and land through our land reform programme.

We also acknowledge that our integrated human settlement strategy, which has delivered 2,29 million houses, will further contribute to building communities with access to all necessary social services.

The challenge of housing our people closer to our towns and cities will be addressed, in part, by prioritising the use of state land and public land where these are available. The special purpose vehicle, for instance, will act as a holder of such land made available by other government departments, public entities and private sector contributions for housing development.

Mr President, the approach of inner city densification with regard to housing delivery is another mechanism that will help us to meet our housing demand, while at the same time assisting us to meet our objective of integrated cities. The delivery of land, through the land reform programme, has not only given access to land to those who were disenfranchised before, but has also given a possibility for economic participation by these very communities.

Experience over the past years has shown that an integrated approach to land delivery is required, if such an asset will be used to empower communities economically. It therefore means that, from a planning stage, all relevant departments must constantly consult with communities so that these programmes remain sustainable.

Our social security acts as a safety net for those who are vulnerable among our communities. It is also true that this safety net is necessary. Our long-term objective should be, however, to create possibilities for empowerment where these communities and individuals can have opportunities for productive work, which will also bring back their dignity as a people.

Our employment creation strategies, such as the Expanded Public Works Programme, must be upscaled because they offer an opportunity, if done well, to create employment, while at the same time improving our infrastructure delivery where it is needed most. Our government assets, particularly our buildings and properties, have not been well maintained, making us ashamed that we are not the best landlord or landlady in the land. This state of affairs, while appalling, does create a possibility for employment creation for those young people who are unemployed.

The young people who will be recruited for this programme will also be enrolled with our Further Education and Training colleges, and industry colleges as artisan trainees, so that at the end of their national youth service they would not only have given service to their country but would at the same time have gained the skills necessary to make them employable in future.

We have correctly observed, Mr President, in your speech, that this is a challenge that needs all of us as South Africans. Maybe this is the time to revive our Masakhane campaign and Vukuzenzele, so that we can create meaningful partnerships. We have always had these campaigns, but maybe we have not done much to bring them to an operational level, where indeed we can build ilima [co-operative engagement] to fight poverty, using our various resources.

Mr President, a lot of faith-based organisations and charity organisations have, for many years, run soup kitchens, where the homeless have sought refuge and shelter. Others have run child care centres, responding to the challenge within their communities, while others have used their church premises for food gardening projects in order to enhance food security interventions at the local level. Others have, on their own, volunteered their services as health workers, at times not expecting any compensation. This is an indication that there are many of our citizens who are willing and ready to be part of a broad front for development.

The work that we will be doing as government this year, together with nongovernmental organisations, following a visit to Chile and Tunisia by a delegation from SA Women in Dialogue, will enable us to find a better platform around which we can co-ordinate all our efforts in fighting poverty. Central to the experience gathered from these two countries is that there is no quick solution to fighting poverty. The experiences of these countries also tell us that partnerships between government, community and the private sector are key.

Dedicated capacity is also required. This capacity must remain close to these communities and families for a period of time to ensure that targeted support as well as continuous engagement can be undertaken. These experiences, while not similar, are very close to the work by a self-help group known as Helping Hand in the province of Chennai, India, on which we have modelled our job-for-growth initiative.

Central to these initiatives, for instance, is that one needs to empower people to come out of poverty through engaging in productive activities, using the skills that they have acquired over many years.

This targeted approach will ensure that we bring dignity to our people, who may today find themselves poor and dependent on our social grant system. If they are linked to a job creation scheme as they enter the social security system in particular, including those in the indigent policy at municipal level, they will be able, once again, to regain their pride.

I must say that one of the things that we need to do is to take care of the health profile of our people. You have mentioned, Mr President, in your speech, our fight against HIV and Aids and the need for partnership in this area. Furthermore, revelations have been made in the past few days regarding a number of deaths arising from the ARV treatment regime.

This, in my view, Mr President, affirms the work that the Ministry of Health and the department do, and it actually highlights the importance of building a health infrastructure that would respond to this challenge.

I know that this might have been a debate for some time in this House, but today we can all affirm the correctness of our comprehensive HIV and Aids plan.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon Minister, your time has expired.

The MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]

The CHIEF WHIP OF THE OPPOSITION: Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Madam Deputy President, politics is full surprises. After being censured by Parliament at the end of last year on a motion by the ANC Chief Whip, the surprise is that I’m still here and he is not. [Laughter.]

Another surprise is that four years into the Travelgate saga, we’ve still not reached the end. You must listen to this; I take no pleasure in reminding the hon Minister about it: It’s surprising that 20 or so, hon members are still here after they have pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding the people. I will not anticipate the findings of the ad hoc parliamentary committee. Its purpose is to debate how Parliament should respond.

But, I want to address today how the political party should respond, and say that the real surprise is that the hon President, as the leader of the ANC, has said nothing about crime in Parliament and has failed to act. Surely, the ANC considers that those among us who have stolen money from the people are not fit to be parliamentarians. From the word go, the DA stated that any of our MPs convicted of dishonesty with the people’s money would be removed from Parliament.

The next surprise is that Members of Parliament, as many as 200, have been sued by liquidators. Thirty were sued in the last two weeks and some of them have paid and some are still paying up. The people of South Africa do not know who these MPs are and why they incurred these debts. Two hon Cabinet Ministers, who are married to each other, had to repay more than R300 000 to the liquidators. Mr Goniwe, the former Chief Whip, had to repay R70 000. It’s a real surprise that members could make a mistake amounting to that much money and yet have done nothing illegal that makes them liable to criminal prosecution. Surely, this is something that cries out for an explanation.

The DA believes that everyone of the persons who have had to pay money back amounting to millions of rands to Parliament, should be given an opportunity of explaining how and why these huge debts - sometimes R50 000, R70 000 and R100 000 were incurred.

The next surprise is that there has been no prosecutions yet. The parliamentary oversight authority was assured by the Scorpions that they would institute prosecutions if they had a case. I understand that a great deal more information has become available and I’m surprised that no further prosecutions have yet been instituted. Perhaps they will be soon prosecuted, especially if the prosecution refuses a plea bargain to just one or two of the accused travel agents and the truth, as contained in the original PricewaterhouseCoopers report, comes out.

Until we’ve cleared up every last crumb of data about Travelgate, the smell will permeate this Parliament. Our people regard corruption as one of biggest problems. While persons in high positions in public life get away with it or appear to have got away with it, corruption will not be stopped. When this Parliament demonstrates that it sets high standards; when the political parties, especially the ANC, show that they will not tolerate corrupt representatives, then the people of South Africa will believe that we are serious. I thank you. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, hon members and colleagues, let me once again add my voice …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, just a minute. Hon members, if you have questions for a person addressing us, you have the Rules that you can use. I don’t think we have to allow howling and shouting at members. Are we agreed? Let us respect our own Rules. Hon Minister, please continue.

The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Thank you, Deputy speaker. Let me once again add my voice to the many heartfelt condolences conveyed by other members to the family of the late Adelaide Tambo, the wife of former ANC President, Oliver Reginald Tambo, and great stalwart of our revolution in her own right. We shall always remember her as one of those humble giants who have given so much to her people’s quest for freedom and dignity.

Ma Tambo chose a life of struggle because she loved her country and her people deeply. This is evident in the work she has done, such as caring for and comforting the aged and her numerous visits to children’s homes. Our hearts were warmed during the period immediately after her death, when a group of children from the Orlando Children’s Home came to pay their last respects to her. Her dedication to the course of the poor and the vulnerable has a lot of reference to this debate and we shall dedicate this speech to her accordingly.

I must congratulate you, Comrade President, for your continued strong and incisive leadership demonstrated in your well-balanced address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament on the occasion of the state of the nation address. It is my view that the issues you raised and urged us to address are the real core issues that our society is concerned about and therefore want us indeed to prioritise.

In line with the government’s programme of action for the second decade of our freedom, the 2007 state of the nation address by the President has served to reaffirm government’s commitment to the intensification of the struggle against poverty. Most importantly, the President has re-emphasised the link between the eradication of poverty and the ability of our people to “enjoy the happiness that comes with freedom”. We indeed agree with the assessment of the President that the ANC’s historic mission for thoroughgoing social transformation in our country cannot happen outside the context of moving our people from conditions of abject poverty. We accept this assessment, acutely mindful of the fact that the very task of intensifying our struggle against poverty is intertwined with many other tasks …

Mr C M LOWE: Madam Deputy Speaker, I wonder if I could ask the hon Minister if she would take a question.

The MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: I won’t take a question. I will take a question at the end of the speech. Just allow me to finish my speech.

We accept this assessment, acutely mindful of the fact that the very task of intensifying our struggle against poverty is intertwined with many other tasks, and that none of the social ills that affect our people every day can ever be addressed in isolation from each other.

It is in this context that the ANC government preferred an integrated and sustainable approach concerning the tasks involved in social transformation, which cover the need to address a whole range of challenges, including access to education, jobs, health care, housing, water and sanitation.

On 27 April this year, we will officially mark the 13th anniversary since the dawn of democracy in our country. That will also mark the middle point of the current term of the third democratic government installed after the 2004 general election. It was with this in mind that the national executive committee of the ANC Women’s League attached greater significance to the business of our NEC lekgotla that was convened earlier this month.

It was important for the lekgotla to assess at this stage of our revolution whether we are succeeding in this historic mission of social transformation – most specifically to pose and answer the question as to whether the work that we have done so far has had a meaningful impact on ensuring that women are able to enjoy the happiness that comes with freedom. At the conclusion of this lekgotla, the NEC statement outlined the key outcomes thereof and emphasised that, I quote:

The lekgotla proceeded from an understanding that the central and most urgent task of the league is to intensify the struggle against poverty.

And that,

In line with Imvuselelo campaign, our branches should be central in the ongoing monitoring of poverty alleviation programmes at ward level. We believe that our branches should have, as one of their main tasks, the role of being leaders of social cohesion at a local level, and support and monitor poverty alleviation programmes. We also resolved that a broader economic summit for women be convened to address some of the gaps identified in intensifying the fight against poverty and the extent to which this affects women.

We’ve identified that these gaps exist in areas such as institutional arrangements, inconsistent multisectoral inputs, funding and distribution of resources, capacity to monitor and the sharing of best practices. We should take this opportunity to express our gratitude for the work that Sawid has done through research and study tours. We believe that their research capacity will help in our analysis of these trends and gaps.

A number of initiatives have been suggested in this regard, including the possible establishment of a national women’s fund that will look at supporting developmental programmes for women around the country. The lekgotla noted that despite progress made by government in refocusing service delivery towards the poor, many of our people still remain trapped in the pool of poverty.

Speaking directly to these South Africans, particularly women in rural areas, I must send this message that we are aware that we can never really be justified to declare victory over poverty, suffering and indignity as long as there are still many who do not yet enjoy the happiness that comes with freedom - those whose weathered faces tell a grim story of a life that, in spite of the gains of our freedom, continues to be characterised by squalor, hunger, disease, neglect and abuse.

To those women, I must say that we shall never betray the confidence that you continue to have in the government’s commitment to extend these benefits of freedom to you too. The work that we’ve been doing since the advent of democracy has started to make an impact on many women. These are women who were in a similar position as yourselves 10 years ago. We know the confidence that you have in your sharing the hope for a better life for all is neither misplaced nor unrealistic. We are aware that it is a sense of confidence based on the strong track record of this government to improve the quality of life of all South Africans. We also know that this confidence is further enhanced amongst yourselves due to the progress South Africa has made in the area of poverty alleviation, including the targets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, some of which we have already surpassed in our first 12 years of freedom.

You would have found confidence in the ability of this government to take the commitments it makes to the nation and the world seriously, including the speed with which we have moved to implement a considerable amount of the tasks emanating from the Beijing Platform for Action, as adopted 11 years ago. We have taken a keen interest in some of the achievements registered by the democratic state in accelerating the delivery of services to our people, not only in terms of the statistics and numbers of beneficiaries but also in terms of the extent to which the delivery has helped to change the overall gender relations in our society.

As the 2006 human development report correctly observes, gender division of labour assigns responsibilities to women that men otherwise do not share. As a result of lack of development, time spent collecting water represents a heavy burden on women. Further observations by the report are important in this regard, particularly on the issue of rights-based approach to the delivery of water in South Africa. Through the human rights-based approach concerning the delivery of water and other services, government has also ensured that more women no longer remain drawers of water. We should applaud the fact that South Africa is getting it right in this regard. [Applause.]

While we are greatly encouraged by the ability of our economy to create much-needed employment opportunities to key sectors, the ANC Women’s League lekgotla however decried the continued low levels of access to jobs for women in our country and the perpetuated skewed income levels in the workplace.

We welcome the support given to women in small businesses through training and financial resources provided by agencies. As this sector grows, including the acquiring of a share of international trade, we should assess the extent to which some of these enterprises are able to absorb more women into employment and thereby creating a ripple effect on the investment by the state.

We believe strongly, Madam Didiza, in the capacity of the Extended Public Works Programme to make a visible dent and provide immediate relief to many rural women. We have seen it, particularly regarding its ability to draw massive numbers of poor people into jobs at a go, coupled with the training and the resultant economic benefits in infrastructural development in these communities – that’s what women say. It comes with a bang and a boom.

Comrade President, we share the view that we need to move with speed to ensure that many women, particularly the aged and young mothers who receive social grants, are not trapped in the vicious cycle that is created by total dependency on the social security network. Although some of us have scoffed at the amounts of money paid for these support grants, particularly the child support grants, the experience of the poorest of the poor has been that this money makes a huge difference in a place where there was once nothing. Many families are forced to survive exclusively on the grant paid to one child - you may not know.

Le mali ithenga i-12,5 leekhilogramu zomgubo, iphinde ithenge i-12,5 leekhilogramu zeswekile, ibhokisi yezingxotyana zeti ezili-100, iilitha ezintlanu zeoyile kunye nekhaphetshu elinye ngeveki … [This amount of money can only buy 12,5kg of flour, 12,5kg of sugar, a box of 100 sachets of tea bags, 5 litres of cooking oil and one cabbage per week …]

… and this makes a difference to a family where there is no income at all. Therefore, it is important to help these young women who benefit from this social system because when that child grows and the money is withdrawn, they find creative ways of continuing to access this fund. They either increase the age of the child or find other ways – there are many other ways. I can teach you a lesson or two from the department. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Minister, unfortunately you don’t have any time left to take the question that was coming your way. [Interjections.] [Applause.]

I would like to welcome visitors to the National Assembly, schoolchildren – the future of our country. [Applause.] You are most welcome to the House, but you must be good visitors and not participate in the debate. Thank you. [Laughter.]

Dr P W A MULDER: Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, the FF Plus agrees with the majority of President Mbeki’s proposals that he made in his state of the nation address. Our problem is that what is being said here in Parliament and what is happening at the grass-roots level outside is usually two totally different issues. I only have time to talk about the President’s proposals on social cohesion, which the FF Plus welcomes.

Mevrou, verskille tussen ryk en arm veroorsaak konflik in sekere lande. Verskillende godsdienste, tale en kultuurgroepe veroorsaak konflik en bloedige oorloë in ander lande. Ons het al daardie verskille in Suid-Afrika en daarom is Suid-Afrika ’n baie moeilike land om te regeer. Dit was in die verlede so; dit is op die oomblik so en dit sal altyd so bly. Huidige en toekomstige leiers in Suid-Afrika sal altyd sensitief vir hierdie verskille moet wees. Dit gaan nie verdwyn nie. In Suid-Afrika gaan daar altyd sigbare wit, bruin en Indiërminderhede wees, daarom sal verdraagsaamheid en versoening altyd op die politieke agenda van Suid-Afrika moet wees. Europa, wat vir almal wil voorsê wat om te doen, weet nie op die oomblik hoe om hul Islamminderhede te hanteer nie.

Die Nederlandse Minister van Immigrasie Rita Verdonk is besig met wetgewing om alle kledingstukke wat Moslemvroue se gesigte bedek, te verban. In my toesprake in Europa het ek gesê dat hulle by ons kan kom leer. Ek sê dit nie meer nie, want ek sê dat ons besig is om die foute van die verlede te herhaal.

Onlangs moes ek ’n vorm van ’n staatsdepartement invul. By die derde vraag moes ek myself klassifiseer as hetsy “African” of “Asian”. Dis twee kontinente. Daarna: “White” of “Coloured”. Dis twee kleure en dit is uiters verwarrend. Jy kan nie appels met pere vergelyk nie. Of jy moet kontinente gebruik of jy moet kleure gebruik. Met kontinente moet jy onderskei tussen “African”, “European” of “Asian”, maar dan, sê ek, gaan ek en alle VF Plus- ondersteuners “African” daar invul. Ons is nie Europeërs nie. As jy kleure wil gebruik, moet jy swart, wit of bruin gebruik. Ek het in hierdie geval “African” ingevul. Solank as wat ’n vorm my vra om te kies tussen “African” en “white” sal ek eersgenoemde invul.

Dit kan vir u onskuldig klink, maar dit is baie belangrik vir die hele debat oor nasiebou en oor wie almal deel van Afrika is. As jou uitgangspunt is dat sommige mense “African” is en ander nie, dan eindig jy met woorde soos “white settlers”, wat sommige ANC-leiers gebruik. Dit lei tot woorde soos “maburu”, “makgowa”, “white trash”, wat ek mense wel op straat hoor gebruik.

Tien dae gelede is Albie Greyling in Eldoraigne deur jong, swart rowers doodgeskiet. “Ons gaan al julle witmense doodmaak,” is op sy vriend Martin Vermeulen geskreeu. Verlede maand het ’n swart jeugdige vir mnr Sarel Breedt aan ’n stoel vasgemaak. Die vasgemaakte Mnr Breedt is 78 jaar oud en was geen gevaar. Tog het die 15-jarige jeugdige vir Mnr Breedt op teregstellingswyse doodgeskiet. Waarom noem ek hierdie voorbeelde? Waarom verwys ek na swart en wit? Omdat ek bekommerd is oor ons jeug, swart en wit. In albei hierdie gevalle was die aanvallers jong swart jeugdiges wat in die nuwe Suid-Afrika grootgeword het. Hulle het nie Kaspirs of onlustepolisie of traangas ervaar nie. Hulle ken net vir President Mandela en President Mbeki en die nuwe geslag wat veronderstel is om sonder vooroordele te wees. Die jeugdiges reageer op toesprake wat hulle van leiers hoor. Hulle hoor dat wittes “settlers” is wat hul goed vat en dan kan hulle dit weer terugvat.

Verlede maand het ons ook die moordsaak gehad van die Waterkloof Vier – jong, wit jeugdiges wat so jonk soos 16 jaar oud was toe die misdaad gepleeg is. Afrikanerjeug reageer ook op hierdie gebeure. Hulle reageer op verskillende dinge. Die nuwe geskiedenisboeke skryf óf die Afrikaner uit, of hy is die skurk in die geskiedenis. In die Turning Point-reeks wat in skole gebruik word, is daar slegs ses reëls oor die aard van die Anglo- Boereoorlog. Geen melding word gemaak van enige Boereleier of –held nie. Is u dan verbaas as jong Afrikaners ’n lied soos De la Rey aangryp, wat oor een van die helde uit daardie oorlog gaan? Bok van Blerk het dubbele platinumstatus gekry met meer as 100 000 verkope in ’n baie kort tydjie.

Hulle reageer op die ANC se aanslag op Afrikaanse skole. Afrikaanse skole is lankal gemeng met bruin en swart kinders en daarom is die aanslag teen Afrikaans en nie teen ras nie. Waar Afrikaanse skole parallelmedium word, is dit net ’n kort tydjie voor die skool enkelmedium-Engels word. Ek kan vir u voorbeelde noem. Daar is slegs twee Afrikaanse enkelmediumskole oor in die provinsie van Mpumalanga. Die Minister gryp persoonlik in en forseer Ermelo om parallelmedium te word. Het die regering ’n idee wat die reaksie in die Afrikaanse gemeenskap hierop is? Meer as 800 plekname in Suid-Afrika is reeds verander. Die VF Plus het begrip daarvoor dat alle groepe se name erkenning moet kry. Om die waarheid te sê, ons het voorgestel dat die Noordelike Provinsie Limpopo moet wees, gaan kyk maar.

Teen die verandering van die meeste van hierdie name het Afrikaners nie beswaar nie. Maar daar is ’n baie groot verskil tussen ’n naam soos Pampoenfontein en Pretoria. Name soos Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Lydenburg en Pietersburg dra swaar aan ons geskiedenis en ons emosies. Deur hierdie name te verander, is ’n berekende klap in die gesig van die Afrikaner. As jy praat van “Africans” teenoor “white settlers” dan kan jy maar die “settlers” se name verander, want hulle hoort eintlik nie hier nie. Dink u dit help versoening aan? Dink u dit bring ons nader aan mekaar of saai ons die saad vir ’n volgende konflik? (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Madam, differences between the rich and the poor cause conflict in certain countries. Different religions, languages and cultural groups cause conflict and bloody wars in other countries. We have all those differences in South Africa and for that reason South Africa is a difficult country to govern. This was the case in the past; it is the case at present and it will always be the case. Present and future leaders of South Africa will always have to be sensitive to these differences. It will not disappear. In South Africa there will always be visible white, brown and Indian minority groups; hence tolerance and reconciliation will always have to be part of South Africa’s political agenda. Europe, who wants to prescribe to everyone what they should do, has no idea of how to deal with its Islamic minority groups.

The Minister of Immigration of the Netherlands, Rita Verdonk, is currently busy preparing legislation banning all pieces of clothing covering the faces of Muslim women. In my speech that I made in Europe, I told them that they could come and learn from us. I do not say this anymore, because I now have to tell them that we are busy repeating the mistakes of the past.

Recently I had to complete a form for a government department. At the third question I had to classify myself as being either “African” or “Asian”. These are two continents. Thereafter: as “White” or “Coloured”. These are two colours and it is extremely confusing. You cannot compare apples with pears. You either use continents or you use colours. With regard to continents you have to distinguish between “African, European or Asian”, but in that case I am saying to you that I, and all other FF Plus supporters as well, will fill in “African” there. We are not Europeans. If you want to use colours, you should use black, white or brown. In this particular case, I wrote “African”. I will write “African” for as long as a form requests me to choose between “African” and “white”.

It may sound innocent to you, but it is crucial for the entire debate about nation-building and who is considered to be a part of Africa. If your point of departure is that some people are “African” and others are not, then you will end up with words such as “white settlers”, which are used by some ANC leaders. This leads to words like “maburu”, “makgowa”, and “white trash” – that I have heard being used by people on the street.

Ten days ago Albie Greyling was shot and killed by young, black robbers in Eldoraigne. They were shouting at his friend, Martin Vermeulen, “Ons gaan julle witmense doodmaak!” [We are going to kill you white people!] Last month Mr Sarel Breedt was tied to a chair by a black youth. Mr Breedt, the man who was tied to the chair, was 78 years of age and posed no threat to anyone. Yet, the 15-year-old youth shot and killed Mr Breedt execution- style. Why do I cite these examples? Why do I refer to black and white? Because our youth – black and white – concerns me. In both these cases, the assailants were young, black youths who had been raised in the new South Africa. They did not experience the likes of Caspirs or riot police or teargas. They only know of President Mandela and President Mbeki and the new generation that is supposed to be without prejudice. These youths respond to speeches made by their leaders. They hear that whites are “settlers” who are robbing them of their property and now they are entitled to taking it back again.

Last month we also had the murder case of the Waterkloof Four – young, white youths, who were as young as 16 years old at the time the crime was committed. Afrikaner youth also respond to these events. They respond to different things. The new history books either disregard the Afrikaner completely or portray him as the villain in the history. In the Turning Point series that is used in schools, there are only six lines devoted to the nature of the Anglo-Boer War. No mention is made of any Boer leader or hero. Does it surprise you then when young Afrikaners embrace a song like De la Rey which relates to one of the heroes of that war? Bok van Blerk obtained double platinum status with sales of more than 100 000 within a very short time.

They are responding to the ANC’s attack on Afrikaans schools. Afrikaans schools have been racially integrated with coloured and black children for a long while and therefore the attack is fielded against Afrikaans and not against race. When Afrikaans schools become dual medium, it does not take long for the school to become English single medium. I can mention some examples to you. There are only two Afrikaans single medium schools left in the province of Mpumalanga. The Minister himself intervened and compelled Ermelo to revert to dual medium. Does the government have any idea what the reaction is to this in the Afrikaans community? More than 800 name changes have already taken place in South Africa. The FF Plus understands the fact that the names of all groups should be acknowledged. In fact, we suggested that Northern Province should be Limpopo – go and have a look.

Afrikaners have no qualms about changing most of these names. However, there is a vast difference between a name such as Pampoenfontein and one like Pretoria. Names such as Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Lydenburg and Pietersburg are laden with our history and our emotions. Changing these names is a calculated slap in the face of the Afrikaner. If you talk of “Africans” as opposed to “white settlers”, then you may as well change the names of the “settlers”, because they do not actually belong here. Do you think this will bring us closer together or are we sowing the seed for the next conflict?]

Now you should understand why I object to having to complete forms where I have to choose between whether I am an African or a white. I prefer President Mbeki’s speech in 1996, “I am an African”, where he added:

I am formed of the migrants who left Europe to find a new home on our native land. Whatever their own actions, they remain still part of me.

I was here when he delivered it and I applauded it. There cannot be two cradles of humankind. Our ancestors, thousands of years ago, migrated north from here. President Mbeki’s ancestors stopped in Central Africa and mine continued to Europe. [Laughter.] The Khoisan … look at the history … the Khoisan remained here. In approximately 1400 the Bantu speakers had started to move back south and, in 1600, so did my ancestors. Accordingly, only the Khoisan are not settlers – if you want to argue that.

Volgens die media moet die nuwe DA-leier ’n “African” wees. As ons die VF Plus se definisie van ’n “African” aanvaar, dan het Ryno King as ’n wit Afrikaner of Douglas Gibson as ’n wit Engelssprekende “African” ook ’n kans, naas Mnr Seremane. Die “Europeans” aan hierdie kant – as daar van hulle is – skakel hulself uit. Dit is ’n billiker benadering.

Gelukkig is dit nie vir die ANC om te besluit oor wat ek is nie – net soos die vorige regering nie vir Mnr Manuel kon forseer om vir die Springbokke te skree nie, want hy wou nie. Ek is ’n Afrikaner en ’n Afrikaan. Daarom is my party se kleure oranje en groen: oranje slaan terug op die Prins van Oranje, op Holland en Protestantisme, en die groen verwys na Afrika. Meer as 90% van Afrika se vlae is groen. Die regering moet besluit of Afrikaners ’n bate of ’n las is, maar 50 jaar van nou gaan ons nog steeds hier wees. Daarom verwelkom die VF Plus ’n debat oor sosiale kohesie en die regte resep vir nasiebou.

In 1996 is ons geforseer om met mekaar te praat. Feitlik 82% van die ANC- parlementslede wat in 1994 hier was, is nie nou meer hier nie. Ons praat nie meer met mekaar nie. Ons ken mekaar nie. ’n Toespraak van 2 minute hier van die podium af, gaan nie die probleem oplos nie. Suid-Afrika is ’n moeilike land om te regeer. As ons dit regkry, kan Europa by ons kom leer hoe om verskille te hanteer. Die Afrikaner stap graag daardie pad, maar nie op eensydige ANC-voorwaardes nie. Ek dank u. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[According to the media the new DA leader should be an “African”. If we accept the definition of an “African” as expressed by the FF Plus, then next to Mr Seremane, Ryno King, as a white Afrikaner, or Douglas Gibson, as a white English-speaking “African”, also has a chance. The “Europeans” on this side – if there are any amongst them – eliminate themselves. That is a more equitable approach!

Fortunately, it is not for the ANC to decide who I am – just like the previous government could not force Mr Manuel to support the Springboks, because he refused to do so. I am an Afrikaner and an African. For that reason, the colours of my party are orange and green: orange dates back to the Prince of Orange in Holland and Protestantism, and the green refers to Africa. More than 90% of Africa’s flags are green. The government has to decide whether Afrikaners are an asset or a liability, however, 50 years from now, we will still be here. Therefore, the FF Plus welcomes a debate on social cohesion and the ultimate recipe for nation-building.

In 1996 we were forced to talk to one another. Virtually 82% of the ANC Members of Parliament that were here in 1996 are no longer here. We do not talk to one another anymore. We do not know one another. A two-minute speech from the podium here will not solve the problem. South Africa is a difficult country to govern. If we succeed, Europe can come and learn from us how to deal with diversity. The Afrikaner gladly embarks on that road, however, not to the tune of the ANC’s unilateral terms. I thank you. [Applause.]]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon members, Mr President, I just need to stop the number of notes that are coming to my attention by granting the request of hon members. They say that I should wish you a happy Valentine’s Day. [Applause.] [Laughter.] Thank you, hon members - no more notes!

The MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I hope somebody has said “happy Valentine’s Day” to you.

Mr President, Deputy President, hon members, many of us are indeed fortunate to be a part of the economic transformation taking place in our country and to be part of an economy that has experienced its longest upswing in history. While GDP per capita growth averaged 3% per annum between 1994 and 2002, it has accelerated from 3,1% in 2003 to 4,8% in 2004 and 5,1% in 2005. The goal of growing the economy by at least 6% beyond 2010 is therefore reasonable and attainable.

This rising tide has lifted all boats but as we enjoy the new view, we cannot forget those whose circumstances conspire to exclude them from this view. Moreover, as we forge ahead to deepen and consolidate our economic successes, we must not lose sight of those sections of our population and areas of our country that remain marginal to these mainstream economic trends.

To include the excluded requires a systematic, coherent and co-ordinated approach. So, where we need to intervene quickly we shall, but guard against expending all our energies on the immediate and fail to plant the seeds now to ensure that we build on our current economic successes.

We have to deal with this issue within the realm of wider challenges facing the South African economy. One of those challenges is expanding the base of the economy, both in terms of ownership patterns and general participation in the economy. It is about whether we can move beyond the current strictures, limits and boundaries of the South African economy.

We need to break these boundaries and open up new frontiers. And the question must be asked as to whether, with the current ownership patterns and traditional players so dominant, we can break those boundaries. We must also ask whether we do not need new players to break these boundaries and move into new horizons.

We must ask: What must be expected of new black entrants and new players in the economy, especially those who are successful? Should they not be the embodiment of empowerment itself? Should they not lead the charge into these new frontiers and horizons? This is the context within which the work we do in broad-based black economic empowerment takes place. These are the issues of broadening participation, tapping into pools of talent, expanding opportunities through procurement and small enterprises, and of ensuring that people are exposed to opportunities to develop operational experience. This is the spirit of the codes we have gazetted, and therefore the scorecard should not be treated simply as a box-ticking exercise.

Hon members, when you passed the BEE Act in 2003, you enjoined government to take further steps to increase the effective participation of the majority of South Africans in the economy. We have acted. After an intensive period of consultation, during which we canvassed the widest possible range of views, the codes of good practice on broad-based black economic empowerment were gazetted on Friday, 9 February, along with two sector charters: the construction sector charter and the financial sector charter.

These codes will immediately become binding on all public entities, as it is required that they are taken into account in all economic interactions that government has. In terms of the Act, government must apply the codes when entering into decisions with respect to preferential procurement, licensing and concessions, public-private partnerships, and the sale of state-owned assets and businesses. I think it is important to note that, during the process of consultation, we were privileged to experience much constructive criticism and comment, but were also gratified to learn of the extent to which our society and international partners have shown an appreciation for the spirit of this legislation. It is for this reason that we anticipate profound co-operation during the next few years of enhanced implementation, as very few will argue that our country must be on an economic path that excludes from participation the majority of its population.

The BEE Act also directs us to establish an advisory council. This council will provide guidance and overall monitoring on the state of BEE performance in the economy, with a view to making policy recommendations to address bottlenecks and those areas that may contribute towards unintended outcomes. And we will be proceeding and concluding the work of appointing an advisory council fairly soon.

As increasing numbers of black people productively enter the economy, the opportunities for rapid expansion of our market and concomitant opportunities for diversification of our production base will become apparent. This brings me to further challenges facing the South African economy.

The challenge facing the South African economy is to ascend to new platforms. So, part of what we need to respond to is the knowledge intensity of our economy. We clearly have to push harder and more consistently and move in the direction towards a more knowledge-intensive economy.

We must also respond to the degree of value addition that takes place in the economy. We must respond to really substantially expand our capacity to export value-added goods. We must respond to the challenge of diversification, which is also really one of the best tools of macroeconomic management, because a diverse production base mitigates the impact that price swings always have on economies with a narrow production range.

So, through the work we have been doing on industrial policy, we have developed a national industrial policy framework in which we outline the following vision for the economy: to facilitate diversification away from current reliance on traditional commodities and nontradable services.

This requires the promotion of increased value addition per capita, characterised particularly by movement into nontraditional tradable goods and services. It’s a vision for the long-term intensification of South Africa’s industrialisation process and movement towards a knowledge economy. It is a vision for the promotion of a more labour-absorbing industrialisation path, with particular emphasis on tradable labour- absorbing goods and services, and economic linkages that catalyse employment creation. It is also a vision for the promotion of a broader-based industrialisation path, characterised by greater levels of participation of historically disadvantaged people and marginalised regions in the mainstream of the industrial economy.

The implementation will entail intensifying the implementation of sectors identified in Asgisa, the investigation of the industrial policy dimensions of the strategic infrastructure investments in information and communication technology infrastructure, in energy infrastructure, in public transport infrastructure, and other major investments.

It will also entail implementing sector strategies, which have been completed in such areas as metals, chemicals, clothing and textiles, as well as using the national industrial policy framework both to evaluate and speed up work in other sectors such as agriculture and agro-processing, and creative industries.

With regard to all of these challenges, be it inclusion, opening up new frontiers, or the industrial expansion challenges, the issue of competition in the economy has become of critical importance. The competition environment should be of such a nature that the barriers to new entrants are broken down. Therefore, competition law and the competition dispensation in general will have to be and will be strengthened as part of responding to these challenges.

One of the wider challenges facing us is overcoming the divide that persists in our economy. This divide is not just about racially defined participation patterns, but also about regions and communities that remain marginalised and excluded.

Hon members, for an economy that must respond to the challenges we have outlined above - enhancing economic inclusion, broadening participation in the economy, addressing the inclusion of marginal areas and communities - we must promote new activities and locate them in new areas.

Izolo, Mongameli, bendityelele uMasipala weSithili i-O R Tambo. Ebebambe ingqungquthela yohlumo nophuhliso. Ndandikuthembisile ke, Mongameli, ukuba ndiya kuzama ukuba ndizizimase ezi ngqungquthela zohlumo nophuhliso.

Nitshilo kaloku, Sekela-Mongameli, ukuba aniliboni lithabatha nxaxheba kuphuhliso loqoqosho lommandla nakuphuhliso loqoqosho lwezekhaya iSebe lezoRhwebo noShishino. Batshilo phaya ukuba bayeva ukuba kukho umzimveliso we-biofuels oza kwakhiwa eNgqurha. Babuzile ukuba njengokuba ingabo nje abaza kukhulisa lo mbona esifuna ukuwusebenzisa kuveliso lwale biofuel, kutheni kungathiwa omnye wale mizimveliso mawuze kwakhiwa kweliya cala? Ngumbuzo lowo endifuna ukuba nindincedise ukuwuphendula, Mongameli. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[Mr President, yesterday I visited the O R Tambo local municipality. They were holding a conference on economic growth and development. I had promised that I would attend such growth and development conferences.

The Deputy President had complained that the Department of Trade and Industry is not visible and does not take part in local economic development programmes. It was indicated by the people from that local area that they know about a bio-fuels factory that is going to be built at Ngqurha. They further wanted to know from us, whether this factory could not be built in their area, as they will be expected to produce maize that would be used for this purpose anyway. I would like to be helped to respond to that question, Mr President. [Applause.]

Clearly, we have to work on economic efficiency and thus investment in economic network infrastructure: road, rail, telecommunications, electricity, all assume greater importance. But perhaps the biggest challenge we have to respond to is the public transport efficiency challenge.

Public transport systems are vitally important to the economic empowerment of the majority and remain the only way to promote sustainable mobility for all citizens in our municipalities and districts. As our economy expands and we strive to bring more and more people into the economic mainstream, the public transport system will be a core element of economic development.

South Africa’s ability to generate the desired shared economic growth will require excellent public transport systems. The majority of South Africans are entirely dependent on, if not confined to, public transport for them to travel daily between their homes, schools and places of work.

In this respect, public transport plays an important social role and contributes immensely to economic growth and development. Therefore, the wellbeing of many South African communities is directly linked to their ability to move through a public transport system that is efficient and reliable.

To this end, the goal of the public transport strategy is to accelerate the transformation of public transport service delivery from 2007 to 2020. The strategy aims to equip South Africa with a modern and efficient, integrated, rapid public transport system. The system to be introduced will shift the current operator-controlled, commuter-based and unimodal system to a fully integrated, rapid public transport network based on 24-hour service and accessibility. [Applause.]

I wish to stress again that investment in the economic network infrastructure is an absolutely critical element in enhancing economic efficiency. As we go about these investments in public transport, in energy, in ICT, we shall also be investigating the industrial policy dimensions of all these investments in ways that help us to meet our other objectives, such as job creation and managing our current account deficit, among others.

To the extent that it identified the major constraints facing the economy and gave all the pointers to the issues we needed to address or the programmes we needed to undertake to respond to these, Asgisa remains a relevant framework in the context of which the work on industrial policy, investment in economic network infrastructure, and broadening economic inclusion, – for both of people and regions, has to take place.

So, as we report on work done, industrial policy, investments in ICT, public transport and energy, as we attend to the issues of integrating small and micro enterprises, we are in fact advancing the implementation of Asgisa.

And, indeed, since the adoption of Asgisa, we have seen important progress on the work of developing a strategy for the production of biofuels, and we have seen important progress in implementing the tourism strategy by, among other things, adopting a national airlift strategy to support the tourism strategy. We have also seen the finalisation of government assistance and support for business process, outsourcing and offshoring. The structure of our economy is still of a nature which precludes the rapid expansion of economic inclusion. This fact exacerbates the challenges we face in poverty alleviation. The process of continuing, accelerating and sharing growth is therefore being, and will continue to be, tackled on a wide front.

To summarise, we must increase efficiency in the economy; we must promote dynamic growth sectors; we must integrate small and micro enterprises; and we must continually improve our institutional arrangements in support of these initiatives. In other words, to improve our capacity to implement, these tasks will require that, as a society, we work together and work hard. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Mr M B SKOSANA: Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Deputy President, hon members and Ministers, one senses that the attention of an expectant nation is focused in a particularly profound, even spiritual way, on this House at this time. Once again, we are being called upon to invoke the gritty spirit of national unity which oiled the construction of the new South Africa.

Yesterday, my party leader, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, went beyond providing a socioeconomic commentary of our present state of affairs; he, once again, provided crisp solutions to our country’s profoundest and seemingly intractable problems.

It was therefore with surprise and sadness that one noted that the hon Ms Sotyu was not prepared to concede that the top-heavy centralisation of our Police Service does impede the fight against crime. It is also sad that she and others continue to harp on the point that crime is not out of control, even during the very same week that Rattray was slain.

If one is looking for international benchmarks, one could not find a better example than the decentralised New York police department. The NYPD has more police on the beat than our entire Republic.

During the 1970s and the 1980s, New York was a byword for lawlessness and street crime. In the 1990s, however, the city was able to reverse its crime rates through the implementation of zero-tolerance policing under the tough political leadership of Mayor Giuliani. I emphasise the word “leadership”.

New York is now one of the safest cities in the United States. Overall, crime fell by 54% between 1992 and 2000. Between 1993 and 2000 New York underwent a 67% decrease in the total number of robberies and manslaughter cases, and murder rates also decreased by 72% in the same period.

Concerning crime, let us stop talking and start acting, because we know what works. I would also like to touch upon one of the more important missing elements in the debate in fighting crime, the role of traditional leaders. Traditional leaders have been peace officers and administrators of justice since time immemorial.

In 2003 this Parliament passed the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act. Each province was supposed to pass its own provincial legislation to comply with the law. Of all nine provinces, only KwaZulu- Natal has so far complied with this legislation.

Traditional leaders in the province have, despite extreme difficulties, complied with the law. Yet, during the budget debate of the Department of Provincial and Local Government in November, Mr Mufamadi ominously told the House, and I quote:

This does not detract from the fact that what is happening in KwaZulu- Natal is a matter of great concern to us. It is for this reason that the chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Nkosi Mzimela, and I have been in discussions, which led to an agreement that we are going to intervene and exorcise this ghost out of the body politic of our country once and for all.

The President twice asked the Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Mr Mufamadi, and iNkosi Mpiyezintombi Mzimela, then chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, to see the Premier of KwaZulu–Natal, Mr J S Ndebele, concerning these matters. Sadly, these instructions have not been carried out. Of most urgent concern is the fact that the provincial legislation does not address the obliteration of the powers and functions of traditional leaders.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, your speaking time has expired.

Mr M B SKOSANA: Thank you.

The MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr President, Madam Deputy President, the theme of this year’s state of the nation address was partnerships - partnerships of all kinds. Our President said:

We must today renew our pledge, to speak together of freedom, to act in partnership to realise the happiness for all that should come with liberty, to work together to build a South Africa defined by a common dream, to say, together, in action - enough of everything that made our country to contain within it and represent much that is ugly and repulsive in human society.

Much of the debate yesterday focused on crime. To many members who spoke, this is the most pressing issue confronting South Africa. One cannot, of course, deny that crime is a challenge - a serious challenge and one that we must not neglect to address directly and forcefully. Nevertheless, it is worrying that the representatives of the people at this, the national level, seem unable to look beyond the terrifying effects of crime to the root causes and to determine ways of addressing them.

Crime is a serious problem, but the most serious problem and one we must confront directly, decisively, is the continuing reality of marginalisation, exclusion and deep poverty. [Applause.] If, as Parliament and government, we fail to address these issues, we will not eliminate crime.

Mr President, your reference to partnerships as a route to realising our immense possibilities is a call to action for all South Africans. The question we must answer as Parliament is: Can we meet the challenge?

Mongwe le mongwe o tshwanetse go dira, go itsenya mo tirong e e botlhokwa e, ya go tsholetsa setšhaba, ya go tsikinya botlhe ka tshwaragano ya go roba maatla a a maswe a a tlileng le tlhaolele. Tirisano ya baetapele le baagi ba rona ke yona e e tlileng go supa gore Aforika Borwa ke lefatshe la tshepo le ditshepiso. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)

[Everyone should ensure that they are part of this important undertaking of developing our society, to conscientise everyone about partnership in discouraging the bad influences of discrimination. The partnership between leaders and our community is the one to show that South Africa is a country of hope and promise.]

Each of us has to play a practical role in the critical process of mobilising our people, all our people, in the national task of breaking the grip of the apartheid legacy.

We must, as Members of Parliament, as leaders, show South Africa, our people, that this is a land of possibilities. Our job, beyond winning and sustaining freedom and democracy, is to embed in South Africa a fundamental social transformation that will unambiguously signal that we have created a better life, that indeed South Africa is a land full of possibilities.

To be that kind of national agent for social change, we need to move beyond our inherited and acquired social, political and cultural attributes. We have to throw off the cloak of self-imposed superiority that seeks to pretend that some of us know it all. We also have to throw off the cloak of imposed inferiority that causes some of us to define ourselves as unequal to the deep challenges.

We all must become full citizens of South Africa, able to enlist our people in the pursuit of those characteristics that signal a free, capable and able South Africa.

The assignment is that all of us must enter into a social compact that involves us in leading a process of social transformation. Such a compact means we do not need to ask the President about crime. Rather, we need to ask ourselves: What more can I do? What more can I contribute?

Such a stance will require commitment from Rev Meshoe to all the clauses in our Constitution, not just the ones that deal with homosexuality. We are bound by the whole Constitution, not just a part of it. [Applause.] National leadership carries with it the obligation to be true to the spirit and intent of our Constitution.

Clearly, the creation of this transformed, engaged, positive and thriving society depends on education. As the President said, we must redouble our efforts at improving the quality of our schools, our universities and our colleges. Our colleges are at full steam; 25 000 new students have registered onto the new curricula and we will soon reach our target of 27 000 at FET colleges in new modern programmes for this year. [Applause.] Our universities are, among many new initiatives, increasing the engineering intake and are taking decisive steps to ensure that our young people succeed.

Much that is positive has occurred. For example, for the first time in a decade we have offered student teachers full-cost bursaries, we have no-fee schools, and all high school learners, for the first time in our history, must now do maths or mathematical literacy. [Applause.]

The participation rates of young people in higher education are far higher than the statistics the hon Leader of the Opposition referred to when he quoted Naptosa yesterday, and I shall provide him with the correct figures shortly.

Building a transformed society will take more than changing structures and curricula in our schools, our universities and colleges. We have to re- examine all our practices. Multilingualism has to become a part of who we are. [Applause.] The study of South African history has to become a part of who we are. A knowledge of Africa has to become a part of who we are. Access to music, to the creative arts and the sciences has to become a part of who we are.

Schools and universities should reflect increasing diversity. Our mix of learners and students has changed; our mix of teachers and academics has to change as well.

We must also address the needs and interests of the vulnerable in our society. We need to do more for those with disabilities, and all of us must ensure that girls and women feel safe and that the conditions for feeling safe emerge. This implies building a truly caring society.

Our government has been commended by many for its social protection measures, pensions for the aged, child support grants, access to health care and housing support. All these are praiseworthy achievements.

However, given the growing number of orphans, the massive disadvantage and want of many pensioners, the number of beggars on our streets, and the clear evidence that many are hungry and without means, we have to ask: Are we doing enough to build a truly caring society?

Giving does not always show care; at times giving may actually reflect disdain. A truly caring society is one which would empower while giving, would support but ensure that the recipient, the poor person, the young person, will be free to direct his or her own life one day.

A recent strategy and tactics document of the ANC asserts that we as South Africa are only at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united and prosperous society in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity, without regard to race, gender and social status. It also states that if there were to be any single measure of the civilising mission of the national democratic revolution, it would be how it treats the most vulnerable within its ranks.

How do we, as South Africans, treat the most vulnerable? I believe that we need to work more closely with communities and social partners to ensure that we devise new models and, where necessary, institutions of a caring and empowering social development system.

If we wish to reduce the number of orphans seeking refuge in institutions, as some say, should we not support the development of caring communities where children feel safe and are loved? Should we not link grant recipients to work opportunities within national development programmes or to skills training opportunities? How do we make real our support for a thriving, caring society - one that is dynamic, thriving and empowering? Our social development programmes should be of a character that restores caring, mends the social fabric and creates the conditions for the promotion of dignity and freedom.

Each of us, I believe, Mr President, as you have said, has a role to play in defining such a response. Imagine for a moment a social compact in which each one of us South Africans gives up a meal to someone who is without food; each of us feeds one – no one goes hungry; hundreds work the land to ensure food for all – with seeds bought by all of us with the money we might spend on advertising a crime message.

Mr President, it is possible for all of us and our potential partners to work together to achieve that common dream you referred to last Friday. The type of South African equal to that imagery - I got the Leader of the Opposition riled – is the cadre identified by the ANC as “she who can pass through the eye of a needle”. She is a person who fully understands the sociopolitical impact of social engineering; who knows that the ANC cannot successfully be made a scapegoat for the residues of the racism that engulfed our country; one who knows that mouthing holier-than-thou platitudes will not work, because fundamental transformation requires getting our hands deep into the muddy bowl, right up to our elbows, if we contribute, as we must, to a South Africa that has rid itself of much that is ugly and repugnant. [Applause.]

Hon members, we must ask ourselves, as our President has done: Are we up to the challenge? [Applause.] I think, hon members, that we probably will see off the Leader of the Opposition with some glee but also a sense of fear that the hon Gibson might become the leader of the DA. [Interjections.] I can’t imagine anything more terrible than that. Thank you. [Applause.] [Interjections.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C S Botha): Order! Hon members, order please! May I repeat what the Deputy Speaker requested of the people in the gallery. I can understand your excitement, but it is difficult enough to keep order down here, and we cannot do it at both levels. Please, don’t participate in the debate. Thank you.

Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: Madam Chairperson, Mr President, as you see here, the very mention of the word “crime” puts South Africa’s National Police Commissioner to sleep. This man is a self-confessed confidant of an alleged organised crime boss who showered him with gifts. It is no wonder that he simply failed to appear again before the portfolio committee.

This is the same man whose very neighbours continue to be victimised by criminals. He doesn’t live in the rural areas, that your colleagues oddly claim over and over are the only areas experiencing crime, and as long as he continues to remain impassive to the plight of those of us not wrapped securely in the protective arms of seemingly endless shifts of taxpayer bought-and-paid-for bodyguards, we will continue to ask, to use his very words, what “all the fuss is about”.

Perhaps, Mr President, you could have a word with the man and instruct him to speak with his deputy, Tim Williams, who was shot at his home in Pretoria on Wednesday and then snarled at the journalists covering the story because he wanted it all kept quiet.

How embarrassing that this Deputy National Police Commissioner should be attacked, as the rest of us have been attacked and are being attacked in our homes, be it in rural and metropolitan areas, on the roads, on the beaches and at our places of work! I’m certainly not alone in finding it shocking that the Deputy National Police Commissioner tried to muzzle the press.

Your Minister Lekota yesterday took a very nonracial swipe at all South Africans who have been driven out of the country by crime - telling Ivan Makoku he was just some wealthy individual who could afford to leave.

Perhaps, hon Minister, you could find the time to sit with another member of the Cabinet, Minister Pandor, to discuss with her where all the artisans have gone. Not rich people, just ordinary souls who actually work for a living rather than battering elderly ladies over their heads and stealing their pensions. Like so many other hundreds of thousands of South Africans, they are not here anymore because they fear that their children might be raped and sodomised and disembowled and dismembered, or their relatives beaten and tortured. You find that amusing, I trust, Minister.

Minister Lekota, perhaps if you have left your armed bodyguard at home one day you’d come to understand how the rest of us are living. Fifty or more of us will be murdered today. Some of us farmers, some of us from the cities and some of us from townships … 50 of us today and every day.

Civil society has been patient, polite and forgiving up until very recently. However, after hon Minister Charles Nqakula flexed his muscles and shut down the FNB anti-crime campaign, while his spin doctors worked themselves into a positive lather trying to prove that the perfectly polite letter was somehow a direct attack on the hon President, it became clear that being patient and polite would no longer do. It was a bleak day for democracy when the government used its powers to muzzle civil society.

Mr President, ordinary South Africans are fighting what is basically a low- grade war – they are at war with criminals. While we welcome some of the initiatives you mentioned on Friday, there are still questions to be answered about how it is that, for example, a policeman or policewoman could become effective with more money in their pocket if they are not effective today?

It is also to be welcomed that 13 years down the line, an ANC President has finally agreed with us that the forensic laboratories have a serious problem. What you are not perhaps aware of, Mr President, is that the mass resignations at these laboratories can be tracked directly back to the apartheid-style race-based societal engineering, which attempted to force the highly qualified leaders of those laboratories to hire underqualified staff simply because they were black. Like SAfm’s John Perlman, they chose to resign rather than to compromise their professionalism. The backlog at these laboratories is staggering.

We do welcome, Mr President, your aim to improve crime analysis, but how can this be done when the public is continually kept in the dark about crime statistics? Your Deputy Minister of Safety and Security told me the figures were available. They are not! So, how is it possible to monitor what’s happening in one’s own neighbourhood without the relevant information? How can we help if you hog-tie us?

To quote Raymond Louw who wrote in Business Day today:

The crime moratorium creates the foundation for censorship, cover-ups and spin-doctoring, and all this, together with shady conduct, is destroying public trust in the credibility of government in dealing with people’s safety.

No one, Mr President, believes the crime statistics anymore. Your Minister was the first to refer to the “crime whingers” and to tell them to leave the country, the call eloquently repeated by Minister Lekota yesterday. This insight into the true feelings of the ANC towards South Africans has been an eye opener for the rest of us without 24-hour protection.

Mr President, the DA has put forward a Private Member’s Bill on the creation of a fund for the victims of violent crime and I do trust such a move will merit discussion in this House this year. I fully understand your spin doctors feel the need to belittle anyone who highlights the problem that may reflect negatively on your governing of this country – that’s what they are paid to do.

Finally, Mr President, last year you assured me in this House that you gave your full endorsement to my creating a multi-party commission determined to drive the revival of our Police Service, our courts and our prisons …

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon Kohler-Barnard, your time has expired.

Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: And I have begun to do just that. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mnr J J COMBRINCK: Voorsitter, agb President, agb Adjunkpresident, President Mbeki, die naweek van u staatsrede, verlede Vrydag, was dit vir my as ’n ANC-lid enersyds teleurstellend en andersyds ironies om veral die redaksionele opinies in die naweekpers se uiteenlopende kommentaar gade te slaan.

Dit was teleurstellend omdat die hoofstroommedia, beide Engels en Afrikaans, gefokus het op aktiwiteite wat grens aan sensasie, en dit is die koers wat hulle ingeslaan het om relevant te bly, en ironies omdat ek glo dat miljoene lesers, asook die bevolking in die algemeen, bewys het dat hoe meer hulle aan hierdie doemprofesieë blootgestel word, hul gesonde oordeel eintlik versterk word. Die oorweldigende ANC-meerderheid in die 2004- verkiesingsuitslag is ’n klinkklare bewys hiervan.

Maar om perspektief en uitdaging aan ons President se staatsrede te gee, is dit uiters kritiek dat ons in geen onsekere taal uitdrukking gee aan die President se ongeëwenaarde leierskap in hierdie verband – leierskap, omdat ons in hierdie demokratiese Suid-Afrika kritieke skuiwe moes maak waardeur sommige van die sogenaamde openbare beleidskenners en andere, verskans as onafhanklike ontleders, die harnas in gejaag is.

Mnr R J KING: Asseblief!

Mnr J J COMBRINCK: Ons is byna 13 jaar aan bewind, en in hierdie periode van stille sukses het ons as die ANC streng volgens die kongresresolusies van 2002 in Stellenbosch, wat ons hoofdoel van anti-armoede en ’n beter lewe vir almal nastreef, geregeer. Nodeloos om te sê, hierdie beleid van ons is in sy geheel ongeëwenaard in die geskiedenis van ons land. Dit is ’n onbetwisbare feit dat toe die ANC die leisels by die apartheidsregime oorgeneem het, was Suid-Afrika in ’n greep van ongelykhede, opwaartse armoedevlakke, stygende werkloosheidsyfers, onvolhoubare regeringskuld en begrotingstekorte.

Nieteenstaande hierdie verlammende nalatenskap het hierdie ANC-regering die volgende ekonomiese stutte verseker: ongekende hoë vlakke van vertroue en stabiliteit en sekerheid, nie net nasionaal nie, maar ook internasionaal; lae regeringskuld en inflasie; substantiewe groei in die uitvoer van vervaardigde goedere, veral in die motornywerheid, en minerale anders as goud; en verhoogde produktiwiteit en verbeterde menslike tegnologiese vaardighede in die algemeen.

Dit is die eerste keer in hierdie land se geskiedenis dat ons in die Noord- Kaap druiwe, wyn, rosyntjies en selfs vleis kon uitvoer. As dit nie vir hierdie ANC-regering was nie, sou ons dit nooit kon doen nie. [Applous.] Dit het gelei tot ’n toename in bemagtigings-geleenthede vir veral swartmense in die algemeen, vroue en die jeug, en tot hervorming van die arbeidsektor wat tot beter arbeidsverhoudinge gelei het.

Ek wil egter graag die dinamiek van my provinsie, die Noord-Kaap, benadruk aan die President en die ander agb lede, wat dalk nie bekend is met die basiese inligting van die Noord-Kaap nie, ten opsigte van die volgende: die Noord-Kaap is verreweg die grootste provinsie in Suid-Afrika met die kleinste bevolking; en dis ’n uitgestrekte, eindelose semi-woestynlandskap van wilde topografie en wilde vlaktes, asemrowende natuurskoon en panoramiese uitsigte.

Daarom, President Mbeki, dat ek dan net graag ’n paar van ons suksesstories in die Noord-Kaap met hierdie Huis wil deel. Die ANC-regering het en maak tans in my streek, Siyanda, ’n groot verskil in die lewens van bevolkings daar. Hier dink ek spesifiek aan die opgradering van die Augrabieswaterval Nasionale Park, wat verskeie werksgeleenthede aan die mense van Kakamas en Marchant verskaf het, en die bou van ’n teerpad tussen Askham en die Kgalagadi-oorgrenspark. [Tussenwerpsels.]

Ek wens die lede kon gesien het watter ontwikkeling en verbetering dit teweeggebring het vir daardie arm mense in die middel van die Kalahari, en of die opposisie dit nou wil weet of nie, die ANC-regering het ’n beter lewe vir daardie mense gebring. [Applous.] En hoe wonderlik was dit nie om die ongekende vreugde van die ouers en kinders te sien met die opening van die brug tussen Kakamas en Riemvasmaak nie – waar die kinders voorheen per boot deur ysige water moes skool toe gaan, gaan hulle nou per bus skool toe. Dis dié verskille in ons mense se lewens waarvan die ANC praat.

Ten opsigte van die landbou beleef die Oranjerivierstreek tans ’n opswaai, veral in die uitvoer van tafeldruiwe, met die gevolg dat ál hoe meer seisoenwerkers hier begin werk het. Ek skat so ongeveer 40 000 van hulle kom elke jaar daar werk, met die gevolg dat ander sosiale tendense ook daar begin posvat het. Byvoorbeeld, die skole het oorbevolk geraak, die klinieke het oorbevolk geraak en die hospitale was ook oorbevolk, maar, agb President, ons werk in dié provinsie daaraan.

Ek hanteer daagliks klagtes van werkers op plase in die omgewing wat summier afgedank word en wie onregmatig in baie gevalle onmenslik behandel word. Byvoorbeeld, baie van die werkers word op Kuruman gaan haal om op hierdie vrugteplase te werk, maar wanneer daar ’n probleem ontstaan, word hulle langs die pad afgelaai om hul eie pad terug te kies Kuruman toe sonder ’n sent in die sak. Dit is juis hierdie tipe minagting en skending van die basiese menseregte van hierdie arm werkers wat ’n mens se bloeddruk laat styg, maar dit eers daar gelaat.

Die opposisie is lief om aanhoudend te kerm en te kla … [Tussenwerpsels.] … oor die Minister van Landbou. Maar dit is ook nie altyd so lekker om te werk met boere wat aanhoudend praat van die “f” en die “k” nie. Want dit is hierdie boere wat dit nog steeds baie, baie moeilik maak om met die werkers van daardie plase saam te werk. [Applous.]

Mnr R J KING: Dis darem ’n duur handeklap daardie, hoor!

Mnr J J COMBRINCK: Ek wil dus voorstel dat ons monitering en oorsig ’n radikaal nuwe betekenis gee gedurende die res van die termyn. Ten slotte, wil ek onderskryf wat die President met alle oortuiging aan ons en aan die volk oorgedra het, naamlik dat ons nou ’n bevryde volk is en dat die selfsug en eiebelang wat steeds in sekere kringe gekoester word, vervang moet word met ’n gees van patriotisme. Agb President, dit was vir my ’n voorreg om in hierdie debat te kon praat. Baie dankie. [Applous.] [Tussenwerpsels.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mr J J COMBRINCK: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President. President Mbeki, the weekend following the delivery of your state of the nation address, last Friday, was for me as an ANC member, especially while reading the diverse comments in the editors’ columns in the weekend newspapers, on the one hand disappointing and on the other ironic.

It was disappointing, as the mainstream press, English as well as Afrikaans, focused on activities that bordered on sensation and they headed in that direction in order to remain relevant; and this was ironic, for I believe that millions of readers, as well as the general population, have proved that the more they are exposed to these prophecies of doom, the more their common sense is actually strengthened. The overwhelming ANC majority in the 2004 election results is resounding proof of this.

But, in order to give perspective to and meet the challenge of our President’s state of the nation address, it is critical that we give expression, in no uncertain terms, to the President’s unparalleled leadership in this regard – leadership, because in this democratic South Africa we have had to make critical shifts that antagonised some of the so- called public policy experts, as well as others who were disguised as independent analysts. Mr R J KING: Please!

Mr J J COMBRINCK: We have been governing for nearly 13 years, and in this period of silent success we, as the ANC, have governed strictly according to the congress resolutions of 2002 in Stellenbosch, pursuing our main objective of alleviating poverty and a better life for all. Needless to say, this policy of ours, in its entirety, is unparalleled in the history of our country. It is an indisputable fact that, when the ANC government assumed the reigns from the apartheid regime, South Africa was caught up in inequalities, rising poverty levels, increasing unemployment figures, unsustainable government debt and budget deficits.

Notwithstanding this crippling legacy this ANC government ensured the following economic pillars: unprecedented high levels of trust and stability and security, not only nationally, but also internationally; low government debt and inflation; substantial growth in the export of manufactured goods, especially in the motor industry, and minerals other than gold; and increased productivity and improved human technological skills in general.

For the first time in the history of this country we, in the Northern Cape, were able to export grapes, wine, raisins and even meat. If it was not for this ANC government, we would never have been able to do it. [Applause.] This led to an increase in empowerment opportunities, especially for black people in general, women and the youth; and to transformation in the labour sector which gave rise to improved labour relations.

I would, however, like to emphasise the dynamic of my province, the Northern Cape, to the President and to the other hon members who may not be familiar with the basic information about the Northern Cape, with regard to the following: The Northern Cape is by far the largest province in South Africa with the smallest population; and it is a vast, endless, semi-desert landscape with untamed topography and untamed plains, a breathtaking natural beauty and panoramic views.

Therefore, President Mbeki, I would just like to share a couple of our success stories in the Northern Cape with this House. The ANC has been and is currently making a big difference in the lives of people in my region, Siyanda. Here I am specifically referring to the upgrading of the Augrabies Waterfall National Park that provided numerous employment opportunities to the people of Kakamas and Marchant, and the construction of a tarred road between Askham and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. [Interjections.]

I wish members could see the resulting impact of this on development and improvement for those poor people in the middle of the Kalahari and, whether the opposition wants to know it or not, the ANC government improved the lives of those people. [Applause.] And, how wonderful it was to see the unparalleled joy of the parents and the children on the opening of the bridge between Kakamas and Riemvasmaak – where the children previously had to travel to school by boat on the icy water, they now travel to school by bus. These are the differences in our people’s lives to which the ANC is referring.

With regard to agriculture, the Orange River area is experiencing an upswing at the moment, especially regarding the export of table grapes, consequently more and more seasonal workers have started to work here. I reckon that approximately 40 000 of them come to work there every year, which resulted in the fact that other social tendencies have taken root. For example, the schools have become overcrowded, the clinics have become overcrowded and the hospitals are also overcrowded, but, hon President, in this province we are working on this problem.

I handle complaints from farm workers in the surrounding area who are summarily dismissed and wrongfully treated in an inhumane manner in many instances. For example, many of the workers are transported from Kuruman to work on these fruit farms, but when a problem occurs, they are dropped off along the road to find their own way back to Kuruman without a cent to their name. It is precisely this kind of contempt and infringement of the basic human rights of these poor workers that makes one’s blood boil, but enough of that for now.

The opposition likes to whine and complain continually … [Interjections.] … about the Minister of Agriculture. But also, it is not always fun to work with farmers who refer to the “f” and the “k” all the time. For these farmers are the ones who still make it very, very difficult to work together with the workers of those farms. [Applause.]

Mr R J KING: That was a costly round of applause.

Mr J J COMBRINCK: Therefore I want to suggest that we give a radical new meaning to our monitoring and review during the rest of the term. In conclusion, I want to confirm what the President conveyed to all of us and the people with so much conviction, namely that we are now a liberated people and that the selfishness and self-interest that are still cherished in certain circles must be replaced with a spirit of patriotism. Hon President, it was a privilege for me to be able to speak during this debate. Thank you very much. [Applause.] [Interjections.]]

Mr M V NGEMA: Chairperson, President, Deputy President, members of the House, a beautiful 14-year-old Thato Radebe was raped, stoned and killed last week. This inhuman act of sadism brought my comprehension of life and everything that I believe in to an abrupt halt. I am convinced that something is seriously wrong with our society.

We live in an age that breeds violence, crime, immorality, poverty, HIV/Aids, self-doubt, racial divisions, class divisions, and the list goes on. Should our core message not be borne out of the notion of morality? Instead, social deviance is the new trend that is rampantly spreading its disease in the womb of our beloved country. Our young democracy is at the mercy of the hand of the criminal, and South Africa can hardly enjoy the fruits attained from a struggle of blood, sweat and tears.

Nadeco applauds the President for acknowledging that crime is a problem in his 2007 state of the nation address. We support the notion of South Africa joining hands as a nation to obliterate this demon before it defeats us all. While we support this notion, we also believe that “deliberation and debate is the way we stir the soul of our nation”, as once stated by Jesse Jackson.

Therefore, we challenge the government to take a critical look at the Department of Safety and Security and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in order to find synergy between these departments, for the purpose of alleviating and eradicating crime in our beloved country.

Lack of initiative typifies those who feel a certain hopelessness caused by the belief that their best efforts won’t really make a difference, so they do not strive to achieve anything in our lifetime of promise and light. They see themselves as passive trade-ins in a South Africa that does not belong to the underprivileged. These demoralised South Africans see themselves as victims that are not masters of their own fate.

The Age of Hope which was the main feature of the state of the nation in 2006 called for a new, positive outlook on life. Nadeco is convinced that we can reinstil a profound sense of hope within every South African citizen, the very same hope that sustained our ancestors during the era of slavery and desolation in our beloved country, the very same hope that carried us from a place of bondage into a place where we realised our dream of freedom for all. It is the same hope that will carry us through to a place where there is no fear, no doubt, no hate or divisions.

Nadeco acknowledges the progress we have made, as reported in the President’s speech, and again, we commend the government for the excellent work done since the inception of our democracy up to this time. The President quoted and gave us details of the report on achievements in the past three years. All the data the President presented shows that the nation has indeed done better than specific past years given as our benchmarks.

Then the President voiced his dissatisfaction about the success he had spoken about by saying: “We must remain concerned that these figures are woefully low.” Quite clearly, the President was comparing the statistics he had given in his address to the target figures he knows we must attain in order for us to experience the kind of prosperity that causes the hills and the trees to clap hands, as was foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

Our country, together with all others in the world, has a number of appointments with our destiny – the 2010 Soccer World Cup and the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. These major events on our planning calendar must begin to shape our daily plans to include strategies that will eradicate issues that pose a threat to the success of these upcoming events in South Africa.

Our alarming crime statistics, incidents of attacks on tourists and repugnant but unfortunately, in most cases, accurate media headlines are matters that government has to tackle decisively with the help of all relevant stakeholders and citizens of South Africa in order to allay the fears of tourists to rest and double the probability of a successful 2010.

Nadeco believes that we must be driven by our common vision and dream. All the other minor challenges will be incorporated into our main objectives and they will be eliminated as we move like an African elephant, lumbering thunderously and ponderously through the jungle.

Robert F Kennedy once said:

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

Much has been done by government to eradicate a number of vile issues that prevent us from living together in harmony as a nation, and prevent us from realising our full potential. But, much more needs to be done by the private sector, civil society and all South African citizens to build our country into a safe and better place for all.

This is the common dream that we must hang onto as South Africans in order to realise our vision of a beloved country that caters adequately for all of us.

“I will command a victory to excellence and to victory, and that is what life is all about.” This is a quote once made by Vince T Lombardi. Nadeco believes it is time to grant South African citizens the gift of a beloved country that cares about the development of its people, a South Africa that is determined to move away from the dependency approach, and fiercely replace it with an ideology of inspired and industrious citizens who believe in their abilities and excellence from a young age.

It is the duty of our beloved country to bless our people with a high moral … [Time expired.] [Applause.] MOTLATSA LETONA LA DITABA TSA KGWEBO LE INDASTERI: Modulasetulo, Mopresidente wa rona, Motlatsa-Mopresidente, Matona, ba thusanang le Matona, Ditho tsa Palamente le ba dutseng pontsheng ke a le dumedisa kaofela.

Ho molemo hore ha batho ba batla ho kena ntweng ena ya hore re re, re lwantsha jwang bofuma le bosenyi, ha ba ke baye mane diforamong tsa sepolesa moo ba dulang teng. Mme Kohler-Barnard, ya qetang ho tloha mona, ke kgolwa hore a ka amoheleha haholo ha a tsamaya le sephepheshwana sa hae sa pampiri, a lo bontsha batho ba moo a dulang teng hore a ka etsa eng hore a fedise ntho eo a e bitsang bosenyi.

A se ke a tlo re jwetsa mona phodiamong hore “pampiri ke ena e rometswe ke mang mang”. Yena o etsa eng jwalo ka setho sa Palamente? Ha a tsamaye a lo nka karolo ho dikomiti tsa diforamo tsa sepolesa a buwe ka ntho eo a buwang ka yona mona. A seke a fella mona feela. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson, our President, Deputy President, Ministers, Ministers’ assistants, Members of Parliament and the general public, I greet you all.

It would be helpful if the people, who want to take part in the fight against poverty and crime, could attend police forums in their areas. Ms Kohler-Barnard, the one who’s just left the podium, I believe would be welcomed if she were to take her little piece of paper and go and show her neighbours what she can do to end what she calls “crime”.

She shouldn’t come to this podium and tell us, “here is a paper which was sent by so and so”. What is she doing as a Member of Parliament? She must go and participate in police forum committees and talk about the issues that she’s mentioning here. She must stop talking about it here only.]

Mr President, in the state of the nation address, you laid down a challenge to us to promote the growth of the small and medium enterprises and to implement detailed programmes as part of our response to fighting poverty and underdevelopment.

Surely, some of the members of this House will choose to talk to some of the issues that they feel are much better for them to talk to. Some of them will talk to the issues that we feel make a difference in the people’s lives.

These challenges are well known and are a visible reminder and remain a legacy as one of the cruellest forms of social injury known to humankind. How do you address these challenges as a collective: underdevelopment, a weak social economic asset capital base, alienation from the mainstream and global economy and untransformed first economy? We have progressive policies in place and we also have the organisational structure in place to rise to the challenges to intensify our programmes. But we now have the will and the energy to commit ourselves to making sure that we can also agree with you, Mr President, that those on the fringes of the economy should also enjoy the happiness that comes with a growing economy.

Ke tla dumellana le wena haholo moo hobane ke tshepa hore rona ba Lefapha la tsa Kgwebo le Mesebetsi ka tlasa moya wa hore rona batho re batla “A people’s contract to create work and fight poverty”.

Selemong se fetileng re ile ra nka tletlebo ena, ra ba ra leka hore re bone hore re ka etsa jwang hore re thuse batho ba habo rona ba hlophehang, hobane re tseba tsela eo ba hlophehang ka yona. Ha re e bale dipampiring, tlhopheho re a e tseba. Re hlahetse ho yona ra ba ra holela ho yona.

Ke ka hona re tsamayang re yang moo batho ba dulang teng re buisana le bona. Selemong se fetileng Letona la ka, Ntate Mphahlwa, o itse kgwedi ya Phupu e thonngwe hoba ya National Entrepreneurship. Ka tlasa programo ena eo re e bitsang hore ke “Outreach Programme” e leng ya ho isa Lefapha la tsa Kgwebo le Mesebetsi bathong.

Ha re qala ka programo ena re ile ra tloha Amersfoort, Mpumalanga ra tswella Nkungumathe kwana mapolaseng, mme moo le teng re ne re sa ithute mapolase re ne re ya teng hore re bue le batho, le mane eNkandla KwaZulu- Natal. Re tsamaya le diejensi jwalo ka Khula, re tsamaya le bona ha mmoho le ba diprofensi ho ditaba tsa moruo le ba diLED. Re ruta batho hore menyetla e entsweng ke mmuso ka tlasa hao Monghadi, le hore ba ka kgona jwang hore ba ngodise dikhampani tsa bona. Ba se ke ba tsuwa ka tlase ke dinokwane tse qhekanyetsang batho ba bangata, ba bang ba bona ba teng ka mona, ba ja tjhelete tsa batho.

Ho bona re re, tlohong Company and Intellectual Property Registration Office – Cipro, le bolelle batho hore le etsa eng, le ba bolelle ka leleme leo ba le utlwang e seng sekgowa se kenelletseng haholo, hore batho ba tsebe seo ba se etsang.

Re boele hape re nke le tse kang bo dithuso tsa tjhelete tsa pele “start- up grand” hore motho o bone hore o etsa jwang hobane maikemisetso a rona ke ho fedisa tlala. Mosotho o re “lepotlapotla le ja podi, lesisitheho le ja kgomo”, hobane o a sheba o bone hore o ka etsa jwang hore o thuse motho.

Rona re le Lefapha la tsa Kgwebo le Mesebetsi re ikentse ka setotswana, re batla hore re hafole tlala ena re sebedisana mmoho le batho. Moo re tsamaileng Monghadi, ha re fihla bathong re fumana bothata hobane setjhaba se lla ka hore se fuwa mangolo a thata a bileng a le matele. Re kopa hore le lokise dintho tsa mofuta oo re tle re tsebe ho sebetsa ha bobebe. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)

[I would like to concur with you fully on that issue because I believe that we, in the Department of Trade and Industry, are of the sentiment that we want “A people’s contract to create work and fight poverty”.

In the past year we took this contentious issue and tried to see how best we could help our people who are suffering, because we know how much they are suffering. We do not only read about suffering in the papers, we have also experienced it. We were born and bred in poverty.

That is why we go around and visit the areas where people live to talk to them. Last year my Minister, Mr Mpahlwa, said that the month of June was chosen as National Entrepreneurship Month, under the programme called the “Outreach Programme”, which was meant to take the Department of Trade and Industry to the people.

When we started this programme we left from Amersfoort, Mpumalanga and went on to Nkungumathe in the farmlands. However, we were not there to learn about the farms but to talk to the people. The same applied to Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal. We travelled with agencies such as Khula as well as provincial officials concerned with economic matters and LEDs. We informed the people about the opportunities provided by government under your patronage, Sir, as well as informing them about how they could register their companies. This will help them to avoid being conned by fraudsters - some of whom are amongst us - who swindle them out of their cash.

We advised them to come to the Company and Intellectual Property Office, Cipro, to get information about what it’s about, and it should be explained to them in a language that they can understand and not in very complicated English; so that they can understand what they are getting themselves into.

We also give them base capital – start-up grand – for them to determine how best they can use it because our aim is to eradicate poverty. There is a saying that goes, “time and tide wait for no man”, because one looks around to see how quickly one can help one’s fellow man.

We in the Department of Trade and Industry, in co-operation with the people, are hard at work trying to halve indigence. Wherever we went, Sir, we were met with complaints about how people were given long and complex forms to fill in. We would like to ask that these forms be simplified so as to facilitate our work.]

Communities have pointed out that there are problems with some of the agencies that finance small businesses, as intermediaries are used to reach such agencies. This has been proven to be a point of concern to these communities. So, we need to sit down and see what we can do to make sure that our people can access these services. Having said all the above, the DTI has programmes that speaks to the second economy and we have to ensure that our communities that are trapped in these particular situations are able to be part of the mainstream economy. This we have to do in partnership not only with government but also with the private sector and these communities. For instance, in the Northern Cape last year, Absa, together with the provincial and local government and Umsobomvu, jointly established a Batsha Fund that allows young entrepreneurs to access start-up capital. This is what we want. The speaker before me stated the type of the region we are talking about and what opportunities are available, in terms of making sure that those youth are able to be part of the economy. So, these are issues that members of this House should deal with.

The interventions we have are quite a long list, but I will try to talk to just a few. We have Khula and Khula Start-up. The Apex Fund has been launched in all the nine provinces, with 27 approved loan application outlets in partnership with the village banks that exist in those areas.

All these Apex Fund offices have been opened in rural areas because we want to make sure that, in these rural areas, people are able to make sure that they form part of the greater scheme, and can access funds because, to them, going to the banks is not just an easy target compared to people who have cars and who just go there. It is a struggle for them to take long walks or either use taxis or cars. We believe the Apex Fund will be able to assist them because it is closer to them.

Last year alone, we were able to disperse approximately R200 million. We think that if we have to increase the roll-out, we can even have a much greater impact in those areas. We have also employed provincial managers in all nine provinces. The fund offers products such as mobilisation through co-operatives and other indigenous formations.

Siyazi ukuba kudala besisenza izinto zemishayelwano okanye imigalelo. Besigalelelana anditsho? Besibeka le madlana yethu encinci, siyisebenzise ukwenzela ukuba sibona singayisebenzisa njani na ukuze izale, ibe ninzi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)

[We know that we have been engaged in financial self-help schemes or co- operatives or stokvels for a long time. We used to engage ourselves in these financial schemes, isn’t it? We would contribute our little amount of money and see how we could utilise it in order to accrue interest from it.]

Iyasiza-ke futhi i-Apex Fund. Abafuna ukuzobeka leyo madlana encane, siyabavulela ama-akhawunti abo, sibabhale phansi. Kodwa labo abafuna imali mboleko bangayithola futhi imali esukela ku-R10 kuze kufinyelele ku-R10

1. Le mali basuke bezobuye bayibuyise futhi siyabafundisa nokuthi bangayisebenzisa kanjani.

Lokhu-ke sikwenza ngoba sifuna ukubona iSamafu neMafisa, Mongameli, zisebenza zonke ngempela. Phela lezi zinhlangano zisebenza ngalaba bantu abaphuma le, abakuthola kunzima ukufinyelela koma-FNB. Ngakho-ke senzela ukuthi iMafisa neSamafu ibe seduze nabo, zibasize ukuze bakwazi ukuthi ngempela baphucule izimpilo zabo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)

[The Apex Fund is very useful. Those who want to invest whatever small amount they may have are assisted when they open accounts and everything is written down. And those who may need personal loans can get them, from R10 up to R10 000. These loans are repaid at a later stage and we teach people how to use their acquired credit.

And we do all this Mr President, because we want to see both Samafu and Mafisa working. You will remember that both these funds cater for those who come from the remote rural areas who find it hard to go to institutions like FNB. We therefore make sure that both Samafu and Mafisa are brought closer to the people so that they can make people’s lives better.]

International experience indicates that women seem to benefit more from access to micro finance and credit to a greater extent than men do. I said “international experience”, but that is not the case as we speak now in South Africa. The example of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the women’s self-help scheme that the Minister of Public Works was talking to, is one example that has shown us that if we make sure that we have such schemes, they do make a difference in terms of making sure that women access these particular services and improve their households. These schemes could also ensure that women can move out of poverty-stricken conditions.

So, Samafu and Mafisa to us are part of the important tools that we use to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment. Seda was also rolled out in all the provinces, but we hope we will finalise the opening of the offices such as the Limpopo one in March.

The patriots of the Congress of the People in Kliptown adopted the Freedom Charter. One of the clauses said and I quote: “The people shall share in the country’s wealth.” I further quote: “All people shall have the right to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.”

One of the means our people have been using to uplift communities over the years has been co-operative units.

NgesiZulu-ke bathi “amakhophorethivu”. Besizibiza ngamanye amagama lezi zinhlangano, njengoba bengishilo phambilini ukuthi besithi yizitokofela nokunye. Kodwa-ke ziyilezi zinto ebezisiza kakhulu ngalezo zikhathi futhi ziyasibonisa ukuthi ziyizinto ezisebenzayo kakhulu.

Ngalezi zinhlangano zobambiswano zamakhophorethivu thina singu-DTI siye sabambisana neMeropa Heritage neNdimande co-operative. Sesenze imisebenzi engaba ama-490, Mongameli.

Siqale ngonyaka odlule. Sisungule i-art and living co-operative esisebenzela kakhulu. Siyiqale eMpumalanga sineNkosi uMakhosonke Mabhena. Iyasebenza kakhulu ngoba manje asenzi izingubo kuphela kodwa sesenza namakhethini nefenisha. IMinyango siyayicela ukuthi uma isifuna ukushintsha ifenisha ize izobuza kithina ngoba le fenisha yakhiwe eNingizimu Afrika. Le ngubo engiyigqokile nawe uyayibona Mongameli, futhi ngiyakholwa ukuthi yinhle kakhulu. Uma nginyathela ngiyabonakala impela ukuthi ngingowase- Afrika. [Uhleko.] Yenziwe yibo labo mama. [Ihlombe.] Yenziwe omama basemakhaya abasebenza kanye nale nhlangano kamasibambisane engaphansi kuka- DTI. Siyabaqeqesha, sibanike imali futhi ziyabonakala ukuthi zinhle impela lezi zingubo abazithungayo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)

[It is interesting to note how they named “co-operatives” in isiZulu. We had these things before but we had different names for them. As I have said before, we called them stokvels, etc. But all in all these are the things that helped us and showed us that they can be very handy indeed. With these partnerships and co-operatives, Mr President, we as the DTI, in co-operation with Meropa Heritage and the Ndimande co-operative, have completed 490 projects.

We started last year. We started the Art and Living co-operative which is doing pretty well. We started it in Mpumalanga together with inkosi Makhosonke Mabhena. This co-operative is alive and kicking. It no longer only makes dresses, but it also makes curtains and furniture. We would also like to appeal to the government departments that should they need to change their furniture, they should get some advice from us because this furniture is made in South Africa. And I am sure, Mr President, you will agree with me that the dress that I am wearing today is stunningly beautiful. Wherever I go, everyone can see that I am indeed an African. [Laughter.] This dress was made by those women at that co-operative. [Applause.] It was made by rural women who are in partnership with the co- operative under the DTI. We train these women and we also give them some money and anyone can see how beautiful the dresses are that they make.]

Ntate Seremane, na ebe kobo ena ha e ntle? E entswe ke bomme ba hlahang dibakeng tsa mahae, ba tshehetswang ke rona. [Mr Seremane, is this blanket not beautiful? It was made by the women from the rural areas, whom we support.]

Ngakho-ke lezi zinto ziyasebenza, Mongameli. Izinhlangano zobambiswano ziyasebenza kakhulu. Uma sizisebenzisa thina ngokubambisana, zingenza izinto ezinkulu, size sigcine phela sesingena ekuhwebeni namazwe angaphandle. Kufuneka siyilungise le ndaba ukuze kuhambisane okungenayo nokuthunyelwa kwamanye amazwe. Uma sizixhasa, kuyacaca ukuthi kukude lapho sizoya khona nabo. Izinhlangano zobambiswano ngishilo ngathi ziyasebenza ngempela. [Ihlombe].

Lo mthetho wezinhlangano zobambiswano waqala ngo-2004. Wadingidwa futhi wagunyazwa ngo-2005. UMongameli wawushicilela wathi usuyasebenza. Ngakho-ke sithemba ukuthi sizosebenzisana nawo lo Mthetho ukuze phela sengeze, zibe ziningi lezi zinhlangano zomasibambisane. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)

[Therefore, Mr President, these things are really working. Co-operatives are doing a splendid job. If we can co-operatively make them work, they can do wonders and we can even trade with other countries. We need to look at this matter so that there could be a balance between what we export and what we import. If we continue supporting these co-operatives, it is clear that they will go places. I have already said that co-operatives are really working.

The Co-operatives Bill was passed in 2004. It was discussed again and it was passed in 2005. The President proclaimed it. We therefore hope that we will use this legislation to add more co-operatives to our list.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon Minister, I regret that your time has expired.

IPHINI LIKANGQONGQOSHE WEZOHWEBO NEZIMBONI: Sengigcina, ngizokhuluma ngesikhwana samakhosikazi. Ngithi kuwe baba, njengoba uNgqongqoshe eseshilo, sicela usifakele sona. Isikhwama samakhosikazi sizosisiza kakhulu. Siyabonga. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: In conclusion I want to talk about the women’s fund. I said to you, Sir, as the Minister had said, we are pleading with you to start it. The women’s fund will be very helpful. I thank you. [Applause.]]

Business suspended at 15:53 and resumed at 16:09.

The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Chairperson, Mr President, Madam Deputy President, members of this august House, the challenges South Africa faces are not simple. Achieving democracy, securing wide-scale societal transformation, ensuring economic growth, building one nation out of a deeply divided society, closing the huge chasm between the exceedingly rich and the desperately poor, these are not the kinds of challenges that respond well to either this or that. We should not choose between these, nor should we try to tackle them sequentially. We should meet them all at the same time.

Our challenges are to extend services while transforming and building the machinery to deliver such services. It is about growing the economy while distributing its fruits. It is about finding the balance between economic and social spending, not either-or.

Mr President, on Friday you showed how you created a delicate balance among the gamut of policy goals we have set for South Africa. But listening in this House, it seems that at least some of the people’s representatives are intent on advancing a position where we are to do one thing at a time, in a particular order, that will protect the advantages they have enjoyed as long as possible.

I’d like to use my time to debunk some of these fallacies that keep on being regurgitated by some. In the first instance, I want to address the label of “bureaucratic” attributed to our President. This term has acquired the quality of an insult under the neoliberal agendas for reforming public administrations that conservative politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan have hatched. It is therefore no surprise that this label has been attributed to those who, if they could have their way, would do away with the state, or at least minimise it, and roll it back in favour of the market. Their agenda would be one of destroying the efforts that have taken place under President Mbeki to strengthen the state to take up its rightful place as the leading force in pursuing a developmental agenda for this country, building the capacity of government in the interests of being the leading and direction-giving partner in complex governance arrangements that are to lead to the transformation of South African society - a partner that would not be a push-over for private and individual interests, but a formidable partner that would safeguard the interests of society as a whole, interests of this generation as well as future generations.

This agenda has always been one for trying artificially to separate politics from administration. In reality, politics and administration are deeply intertwined and inseparable. They are two sides of the same coin. Together they either introduce change or preserve the status quo. Together their actions result in the allocation of the resources of society. Administration might be a means to an end, but the means itself remains a player, since it is responsible for the implementation of a political agenda – an agenda they can either support or sabotage or scupper.

To retain oversight of this powerful machinery, to be in the engine room where the controls are, is therefore by definition one of the most political acts a head of state, a head of government can perform, and President Mbeki is doing just that. He has demonstrated that he has his hands on the key levers. The President understands the strengths and weaknesses of the machinery under his control, and he shared these insights unreservedly with every citizen in this country during the state of the nation address.

The opposition, through their political utterances, demonstrate how they underestimate the importance of the programme of action as a political instrument. Trying to dismiss it as “technocratic” or, even worse, “bureaucratic”, shows, surprisingly, a lack of insight into the overall workings of government. The programme of action ought to be respected as a tool, an indispensable point of reference that allows the President to keep all parts of the government machinery focused. It should be recognised for the fact that it allows the executive to allocate resources better and account for its use to the nation better. It should be appreciated as a mechanism for the executive to ensure that the administrative machinery of this country is involved with activities that will result in us achieving the policy and developmental goals we have set – the establishment of a democratic order, where all citizens will be able to enjoy the fruits of such democracy, not only in terms of political rights but also human and economic rights, an order that would have transformed itself from the discrimination associated with apartheid to one of inclusiveness and equity.

In the second instance, let me deal with the issue of lack of leadership, since it has been alleged that the President has said so little about corruption. The President’s stance on corruption should not be seen in isolation from the ANC’s position of an ethical and values-based approach to the Public Service and governance institutions, more broadly speaking. [Interjections.]

In the first instance, we need to be clear that corruption is not something to be dealt with on an individual basis. Yes, individual cases sell newspapers and make for saucy dinner table conversation, but the antidote to corruption and the institutionalisation of ethical governance practices are systems, strong systems - systems that are legitimate and can be trusted, systems and institutions that constitute a reciprocal check-and- balance on one another. Here I speak of institutions such as following due process, the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, innocence until proven guilty, as well as the rule where everyone has the right to be heard in defence of their own situation, particularly so when accusers have the protection of anonymity and so forth.

We will continue to be involved, not only in South Africa, but also on the continent and in the entire global community, to push an anticorruption agenda. To this effect, we are hosting two landmark events in the domain of anticorruption in the next few months.

But ethics is something much deeper than the systems I have mentioned just now. Ethics is a system of values that guides behaviour. Mr President, your oration at the funeral of Ma Adelaide Tambo on Saturday reminded us once again of how deeply entrenched value sets have always been part and parcel of ANC culture, how the spirit of ubuntu, the respect for every human being regardless of race, colour, class, gender and age, have shaped the thinking and doing of those in the ANC specifically, but also the broader democratic movement. We might have been guilty of being short on the detailed planning regarding the transformation of the Public Service at times, but we were never short on the values we wanted the post-apartheid Public Service to adhere to.

Mr President, you reflected on the hurtfulness of the perception some hold, that the ANC, and those who lived and died for its ideals, and who are still prepared to make immeasurable sacrifices:

… constitute nothing more than a dishonourable cabal and an effort that, in the end, serves purposes defined by immorality and amorality, that will give birth, inevitably, to a society whose unfortunate citizens are condemned to endure a fate not better than that visualised by Dante’s inferno.

We must guard against the habit that is setting in, of painting with very broad strokes, generalising to large groups and entire institutions, when we actually have in mind the example of one or a few individuals. As disturbing or moving individual cases might be, they are just that, and should not be seen as a pattern. They are the exceptions, rather than the rule. When we generalise the entire systems from these anecdotal examples, we are doing immeasurable harm, demotivating those who should be motivated instead, and discrediting institutions that rather need strengthening. In the end, it is the institutions that have to carry the day and provide certainty and predictability when individuals falter, as they certainly do at times.

We need to take note of what the President said at Ma Tambo’s funeral about soiling inside the caves and under the solitary trees that are effectively our safe harbours in times of need.

Dit was nog altyd my standpunt dat, indien ons die waardes van Suid- Afrikaanse staatsdiensamptenare kan verander, ons ’n mag in hierdie land kan loslaat wat sal lei tot transformasie tot in die kern van ons nasie. Indien staatsamptenare ’n perspektief kan aanvaar dat elke mens respek verdien, bloot vanuit die feit dat hy of sy ’n mens is, en dat elkeen van ons bereid sal moet wees om individuele opofferings te maak ten einde ons samelewing as ’n geheel te laat baat, dat ons voortdurend moet werk om te verseker dat elke lid van ons gemeenskap gelukkig is, en dat spesifiek dié van ons wat die geluk het om beter te lewe as die meerderheid, ’n spesifieke verantwoordelikheid het. Indien ons staatsdiensamptenare kan besef dat hulle ’n verpligting het om te strewe na die bou van ’n nuwe Suid- Afrika, een waar mense die middelpunt van belang is, dan het ons ’n masjien wat nie maklik gaan staan nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)

[It has always been my view that, if we were able to change the values of public servants, we could release a force in this country that would lead to transformation down to the heart of our nation. If public servants were to accept a perspective that every person deserves respect, merely because of the fact that he or she is a human being, and that each one of us should be prepared to make personal sacrifices in order for the community to benefit as a whole, that we have to work continually to ensure that every member of our community is happy, and that those who are fortunate enough to have a better life than the majority, in particular, have a specific responsibility. If our public servants were to realise that they have an obligation to pursue the building of a new South Africa, one in which people are of primary concern, then we will have a machine that will not come to a halt easily.]

With the re-orientation currently taking place in Samdi, we believe the running of the compulsory induction course for public servants, the rationale of which is, inter alia, the inculcation of a value system in line with our Constitution, the Batho Pele principles and overall philosophy of ubuntu in our public servants, will be a key initiative to achieve the forging of a single organisational culture across the public sector, in line with our developmental orientation.

The scope of it is now in the range where it could have adequate impact. Previously, the thinking was just too limited to have any lasting impact. In contrast to last year’s way of thinking that focused on inducting 3 600 public servants per year, we have raised the bar by thinking differently regarding the supply chain. We are now putting plans in place to induct 100 000 public servants per year. We have established that the actual need and demand for these courses, if we are to keep up with new entries and ongoing promotions across the system, are of such magnitude that we will have to run eight induction courses in every province and some additional at national level every week of every year in perpetuity.

In the third instance, allow me to deal with the extremely regressive position repeatedly put forward by certain representatives in this country. This is that capacity problems currently experienced in government is a direct result of government pursuing a policy of creating employment equity as a key strategy to move away from the iniquitous situation that prevailed under apartheid.

Só ’n posisie ignoreer die feit dat die aanvraag na dienste ná apartheid met ongeveer 400% toegeneem het, so te sê oornag. Maar laat ons maar hierdie realiteit ter syde stel vir die oomblik.

In ooreenstemming met die kritici van die gelyke indiensnemingsbeleid wil dit blyk asof dit onmoontlik is vir enigiemand anders as dié wat in ’n wit vel gebore is om bekwaam te wees in die pos wat hulle beklee. Dit wil blyk asof daar min ruimte toegelaat word vir die feit dat sommige swart Suid-Afrikaners en hul kinders, terwyl hulle bannelinge was, kon baat vind by onderwysstelsels veel beter as dié wat selfs wit kinders in Suid- Afrika geniet het, en dat hulle by hul terugkeer daardie kwalifikasies en bekwaamheid, opgedoen in die internasionale gemeenskap, kon terugbring. En hulle beskou dit as ’n voorreg om hierdie voordele wat hulle geniet het, terug te ploeg tot voordeel van die breë gemeenskap. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[A position like this ignores the fact that the demand for services increased by approximately 400% after apartheid, practically overnight. But let us put this reality aside for the moment.

In accordance with the critics of the employment equity policy it seems that it is impossible for anyone other than those who were born with a white skin to be qualified for the position they occupy.

It seems as if little room is left for the fact that some black South Africans and their children, while they were in exile, could benefit from education systems which were far better even than those enjoyed by white children in South Africa, and that on their return they could bring back those qualifications and competencies they had obtained in the international community. Furthermore, they regard it as a privilege to plough back the benefits they enjoyed to the advantage of the broader community.] In a very foolhardy manner, there is an insistence that every black appointment in the public sector could not remotely have met the requirements of the job as objectively determined, nor could they have been the best candidate in an open process of competing fairly for jobs.

Such a position is nothing else than a repetition of perceptions of racial superiority that has underpinned regimes such as that of apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany, which prevents us from tapping into the diversity of competence, skills and experience that are available through all South Africans, through the diaspora, and from elsewhere in the international community that has South Africa’s interests at heart.

I am surprised by the sudden amnesia that has set in within our so-called liberal community. Affirmative action in the public sector has been a policy agenda that they pushed even 14 years before the ANC became the government. Allow me to remind you that it was PFP MP Helen Suzman who, in 1981, used the term “affirmative action”, passionately arguing for accelerated entry of black South Africans into the Public Service. A PFP leader, Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, and liberal academic, David Welsh, at the beginning of the 1980s argued that, with respect to the above, and I quote:

The most suitable pattern of distribution would be that of proportionality – as far as possible members of each politically salient group should be employed at each level proportionately to the size of the group in relation to the others.

I want to ask the hon Leon, as he disappears into the sunset: Is there any other manner that he would suggest? Or is he acknowledging that there is a rethink on this policy issue in the liberal ranks? Or is he the one who took the party on the more conservative and rightwing path, and that is why he is disappearing into the sunset? Has the party rejected that? [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Rre I S MFUNDISI: Motlotlegi Modulasetilo, Mopresidente, Motlatsa- Mopresidente le ditokololo tse di tlotlegang tsa Kokoano Bosetšhaba, ke a leboga. Fa tlhogo ya naga e bua, pula ya maebana e nà jaaka mo bekeng e e fetileng, go na le tsholofelo ya gore letlepu le mo tseleng mme batho ba tla ja monate wa kobolela.

A jaanong ke re … (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)

[Mr I S MFUNDISI: Thank you hon Chairperson, President, Deputy President and hon members of the NA, the fact that there was a drizzle this past week after the head of the state has spoken symbolises that there is hope for a world of abundance in which people will enjoy themselves.

I now want to say …]

… the state of the nation address came forth as an in-depth result of introspection by government after considering all its successes and failures. We have noted that millions of people have access to social grants. It should particularly be noted that the administration of this exercise has been characterised by graft because of the unfortunate way in which applications were made. More people will still have to appear before the courts to answer for their misdeeds in this regard. We are not certain whether all such recipients deserve court cases. We should also be on the lookout that the country is not turned into a welfare state.

We, in the UCDP, have come to understand development as meaning that those who have no services should have them, without necessarily depriving those who have or had services before. It is sad that people who had ample potable water prior to 1994, in the Ramotsheri Moiloa municipality in the North West province, are now left without any because the new administration opted for a source on the farm of someone with ties to the powers that be. This was meant to earn this individual cash, but as fate would have it, the source was unable to meet the needs of the area. This is a sad lesson that reinventing the wheel is unnecessary.

Our matric results will keep vacillating like a yoyo if those charged with education do not discharge their responsibilities with responsibility. Teachers should teach and not cheat by bunking classes and attending endless meetings. They should not always have excuses when they are shown that they have not lived up to expectations. Clichés, such as lack of resources, are outmoded because some schools in poorer areas produce better results.

It is also unfortunate that officials in education tend to dance to the tune of their subordinates. Appointments to promotions are influenced by teacher unions. The latter call their meetings at any time of the day during the week, and the district officials are either unaware of what is going on in their schools, because they hardly visit the schools, or they condone the situation as in some cases some come from amongst the same ranks, and do not possess the necessary will and managerial skills to stop the rot. It is an unbecoming situation in education where the tail wags the dog.

The difficulties that go along with land redistribution are noted, but even where efforts have been made, very little or no support has come forth to assist the new occupants of the land. We have lost count of the emerging farmers who have tried their hand at producing food like the former occupants, but failed. Their livestock is left to die as there is an acute shortage of extension officers and, therefore, cynics go on to say: “What did you expect from these black guys?”

For any country to prosper, we in the UCDP believe that all role-players have to stand up to this task. No group should be seen to be strutting like a colossus, claiming everything as their own, to the total exclusion of others.

Social integration will take place if people are not perpetually reminded that they enjoyed privileges or that their forbears did this or that to some group that was dispossessed. Comments and remarks like these tend to polarise society. They tend to polarise society more, and those called names frown and stand aside to remain spectators even where they could help.

We agree that, 13 years into the new dispensation, we should forge ahead to build the new nation. It does not do us any good to be still speaking of the Afrikaner nation, the Bafokeng nation or the Zulu nation, when we have only one Constitution, one national flag, and one national anthem. Perhaps a new nomenclature has to be sought to designate those other groupings, but for each to call itself a nation is out of order. This is surely one area in which debates should start.

The resolve by government to deal with the scourge of crime is most welcome. This will, however, succeed if the supposed law enforcers are not lawbreakers themselves. It may be argued that such cases are few and far between, but what do you make of police officers who are alleged to have taken a marked police vehicle to go and commit robbery in broad daylight? What do you make of police officers who are alleged to have reported to be sick and left their station in Pretoria to go to extort money from a businessman in Lusikisiki?

The resolve by government that those who commit crime will be dealt with accordingly sounds like sweet music to South Africans with pride. Let us go back to those days of Tangana - oh, may his soul rest in peace - who said that criminals must know that they will be dealt with in the way a bulldog treats a bone. When the need arises, let us, within legal parameters, meet fire with fire. After all, some criminals act with obvious impunity.

Service delivery is compromised in most cases by the very people who have to make sure that people are served. While it is not palatable, it is common knowledge that it is, in most cases, members of the ruling party who are at one another’s throats because of allocations of tenders, appointments to certain positions and jostling over who should be doing what. Fifty per cent of municipalities in the North West, Mr President, have no senior management. This is not only because of rare skills, but because some have been purged as they do not belong to the same stable as those in power.

The President’s speech is a wake-up call to government departments that they should complement one another and not compete against one another. It is unfathomable that the Ministers of Education and Labour have, since 2002, not had time to meet and deliberate on relooking at the National Qualifications Framework. Such delays affect the progress and the development of our country.

We appreciate that the government has at last come to see that the days of wishful thinking are gone. The realisation by government that monitoring and evaluation across all spheres of government have to be strengthened is a bold admission of shortcomings. We accept that 2009 has been pencilled as the time by which all these things should have been done, because close deadlines have proved to be difficult.

The word “ubuntu” is being bandied around as if it will go out of fashion, but it is clear that some people say things that they do not mean. How can our people who have ubuntu go on national television or any available media source to insult the President? People have to learn that, in any situation, you win some and lose others. Therefore, if the judiciary made findings against one, it is not because they are obsessed with the apartheid mentality or whatever. It is because the facts at their disposal show that. The big question to such people is: Why do they not refuse to be acquitted by a white judge?

Let us rise to the clarion call by the President and, as one nation, strive for social cohesion. We should be one another’s keepers, and while we debate, should not put forward our numbers, but our brains; not brawn. Our unity in diversity should strengthen us. After all … popapopa e a ipopaganyetsa, phatlaphatla e a iphatlalaletsa [… waste not, want not.] Ke a leboga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]

Mr S L TSENOLI: Chairperson, hon President, given our past, relentless transformation is the one thing we cannot and will not waver from. Your remarks last Friday, Sir, emphasised its need both at personal and societal level, thus your reference to ubuntu, botho. As we say in Sesotho, “botho ke ntho ya rona [We are known for humanity”.]

I thought our debate today would benefit from observations made by one Pedro Luis Sotolongo about Ernesto Che Guevara in 2002, in a book subtitled Ethics and Aesthetics of Living.

Thus, to Che, purposes for which he struggled do not have, as their sole end, the transformation of the great objective structures of society. But also, firstly, the transformation of man, the creation of a new revolutionary man and unselfish man guided by a moral conscience, who prioritises serving society instead of himself.

Given the legacy of the past, the stubborn poverty and inequality in our country, I cannot see how the tasks emanating from such challenges can yield to any other persons but those described by Pedro that we should all aspire to be.

The discomfort some hon members of the DA and others are feeling about societal changes that advance black people, women - black and white - people with disability, arises because they never heeded our call. Permit me a brief detour from the need for humility at all times. I cannot resist the temptation to err.

Sasho sathi balibambe lingashoni. Sasho sathi akuzukuba mnandi uma sesibabuyisela endaweni yabo. [We warned them to make hay while the sun was shining. We even said that it would not be pleasant when we finally put them where they really belonged.]

This matter has been explored sufficiently by my colleagues earlier on and I think this was enough from me for today.

The backbone of poverty and inequality, including their negative manifestations, will only be broken effectively by a well-functioning state machinery that co-ordinates its work; maximises its resources; builds partnerships with communities and civil society organisations, which include labour and business groups; plans for long-term situations; monitors and evaluates its performance; and takes urgent but deliberate corrective and remedial steps.

The design of our intergovernmental relations, giving expression to co- operative governance provision of the Constitution, seeks to help us to learn lessons to achieve the above-mentioned objectives.

Sir, you described the challenge before as being that our state system must be innovative, enterprising and conduct its business in a people-centred, people-driven manner, with local government playing a key role in the system. Last Friday, Comrade President, you referred to work in progress and, in line with that, the National Spatial Development Framework and its piloting in 14 districts is crucial.

Without effective alignment of our plans, informed properly by people on the ground and by the potential of their neighbourhoods, our efforts will come to nought. But the real challenge lies in learning fast from our experiences across the country and infusing such lessons in our ongoing practices.

Local government is well placed to push for integration from below. The systems Act conceives of the integrated development plans properly as a platform for others, national and provincial departments, including public entities, to make their share of sectoral, financial and management support input for the realisation of the priorities identified as such.

Last week, the cities network, which is the coming together of six metros and three cities, held a seminar to reflect on the challenges of bringing together effectively issues of transport, housing and land in order to effect better integration at local level. That discussion was quite crucial and its timing appropriate.

We would like to ask: In addition to everything else that local government reports on, should local government not also be reporting regularly to the PCC about the quality of performance of the external public sector partners that it invites to participate in fulfilling their integrated development plan requirements? Are our monitoring and evaluation tools currently sharp enough to produce the results we wish them to? Is the system of delegation, both political and administrative, overall, working well in producing the accountability and performance we require? I think focused attention on these questions by government across the three spheres, and added visibility and consistent provision of strategic leadership, instead of a crisis mode of operation in some instances by senior managers, will make a huge difference.

Infusing urgency and a quick turnaround on these matters appear to me to be key to intensifying our campaign against poverty. There is no doubt that the work we are doing in the processes of the summit that will emerge from the alignment processes, as you told us last week, will produce very crucial lessons for the work that we need to do. These alignment processes that we are working towards are saying to us that the capacities that exist in these areas of our work need to be taken advantage of much more effectively. To avoid duplication, we should take advantage of other capacities that exist. But also in doing so, we should be mindful that they work in a manner that is informed, as I said earlier on, by the integrated development plans.

We said in our assessment that the credibility of these IDPs will be improved tremendously by people’s input, but equally by the input of provincial and national departments, including public entities. It is that work that we believe is going to be very crucial when the reports emerge from what you told us last week. That will be key, as I said, to the intensification of our campaign against poverty. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr J SELFE: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, Mr President, you have spoken of perceptions about crime. I want to tell you that there is another perception and that is that, when it comes to the application of the rule of law, there are ANC citizens and ordinary South Africans.

The perception is that ANC citizens have a much better time in prison than ordinary inmates. [Interjections.] I refer, among others, to Tony Yengeni. This offender was sentenced originally to eight years’ imprisonment for fraud. The sentence was halved on appeal. He benefited from a special amnesty even though he hadn’t even started his sentence and was released after 20 weeks.

Mr Yengeni began his sentence on 20 August last year. He was given a hero’s send-off by the high and mighty in the ANC, including the Premier of this province and the Speaker of the National Assembly. He was immediately transferred to the Malmesbury centre of excellence, one of our newest and least crowded facilities.

Because he is an ANC citizen, Mr Yengeni was admitted to a single cell in the hospital section on the grounds, we are told, that he suffered from hay fever. Yet there are many thousands of inmates, ordinary citizens, who suffer from Aids and TB, who cannot be accommodated in the hospital sections of our correctional centres for lack of space.

He was allowed out of his cell, alone and unsupervised, for exercise in the mornings before the inmates had been counted by the morning shift. Although the prison regulations, and I have them here, specify clearly that category A inmates are allowed only five visits per month, with a maximum of two visitors per occasion, because he is an ANC citizen, Mr Yengeni received more visitors more frequently than this – apparently 17 on Christmas Day alone. [Interjections.] Although section 15(1)(a) of the amenities regulation states very clearly that “no food may be received from family, friends and relatives”, he received and consumed such food. Eighty days after his admission, Mr Yengeni was allowed out on weekend parole. Despite his parole conditions expressly prohibiting him from consuming alcohol, and this fact was confirmed by Minister Balfour in a reply to my parliamentary question, he was pictured having a party with his friends with a beer in his hand. The Department of Correctional Services investigated this incident and, bizarrely, reported that it could not be proved that the beer bottle contained beer! [Laughter.]

Most ordinary inmates would have forfeited their chances of early release for such a transgression, but not Mr Yengeni. On 15 January this year he was released into community correction. Every other inmate that I’m aware of is either released as a phase-one or a phase-two parolee.

This is standard procedure followed by the parole boards. But, because Mr Yengeni is an ANC citizen, he was released as a phase-four parolee, meaning that he enjoys greater freedom than other offenders in his situation.

The Minister of Correctional Services himself went to this inmate to explain these parole conditions. But, apparently, not clearly enough. My information is that he has reported only once to the Educare centre at which he is supposed to perform community service. [Interjections.] This is a parole violation which would mean rearrest if he had been an ordinary inmate. [Interjections.] The message, Mr President, that this sends out is that there is one set of standards for ordinary inmates and another set of standards for the politically connected. The message is that some criminals pay less for their crimes than others. The message is that the ANC looks after its own, even when it comes to bending or disregarding prison regulations. And no amount of advertisements, like the advertisement the Minister put in the newspaper yesterday - this fatuous advert on correctional supervision and the parole system - will change that perception. It is only when there is one law that applies and is seen to apply equally to the rich and the poor, to the high and the low, to black and white, that this perception will disappear.

Mr President, I know you don’t approve of what has gone on in this particular circumstance and I look to you to give leadership to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I thank you. [Applause.]

Mr M R BALOYI: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, Ministers and Members of Parliament, when giving feedback to my constituents on the state of the nation address for this year, I quoted the concluding section of the speech that goes:

And so, let us roll up our sleeves and get down to work, fully understanding that the task to build a South Africa for which we yearn is a common responsibility we all share.

I did this as I was calling on them to participate in analysing the President’s characterisation of the state of the nation for what they think it means to them. They all agree that they may each tell a success story or more on the government’s visible record of performance in the delivery of services towards the betterment of the lives of the people.

They talk about it loudly and clearly, for they say that, for the first time, they see tarred roads constructed to connect even the most remote of rural areas neglected during the apartheid rule.

Loko ha ha ri eka mhaka leyi, Meyara wa Masipala wa Ba-Phalaborwa u hi tsundzuxa leswaku makungu ya ku kunguhata hi nkatsakanyo(IDP) ya nga antwisiwa loko hi nga herisa tindlela to leha to pasisa timhaka loko ku ri na mintirho ya mfumo, ku fana na ku endla mapatu, laha na loko ri ya hela ri endliwa, vanhu valavo a va ha wu voni na nkoka wa kona. Va languta ntsena leswaku ri hlwerile ku ya hi xitshembiso lexi va nga nyikiwa xona loko ku endliwa ti-IDP toteto.

Meyara u ri hi nga kota ku korhokela vanhu hi xihatla loko ho nyika vamasipala matimba yo nghenelela eka mapfhumba yo hluvukisa ya mfumo, hambi ya endla hi mani kumbe mani.

Hambi manyala ya van’watikontraka lava tsutsumaka va siya mintirho ya vona yi nga si hela kumbe va endla mintirho ya xiyimo xa le hansi a hi ta swi kota ku yi lulamisa. Pfhumba ra Single Public Service Murhangeri, ri ta hi pfuna. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)

[The Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality has reminded us that IDP programmes can only be improved if we do away with long routes of approving government-related projects, such as the construction of roads, where at the end of that particular project local communities do not enjoy its benefits. People would only talk about the long process followed in completing a given IDP project.

The Mayor stated that service delivery could only be improved if municipalities are vested with the powers of being directly involved in government’s development projects, irrespective of who is in charge of such projects.

We would also have the ability to deal with contractors who abandon certain projects before they are completed or contractors who do shabby jobs. The programme of a single Public Service would assist in this regard.]

They say, for the first time the government protects the rights of workers, including domestic workers and farmworkers previously exploited by their bosses with the blessing of the apartheid regime.

Nkulukumba Nyepe Sono u vula leswaku ku yisa emahlweni migingiriko ya mfumo eka ku sirhelela timfanelo ta vatirhi swi lava ku endliwa tani hi tsima.

U ri vathori va fanele va khoma vatirhi va vona kahle, kasi vatirhi va fanele va tirha hi ku hetiseka.

Loko a vulavula hi swa mphakelo wa mati, u hi tsundzuxa hi ta pfhumba ra swa Masakhane, leri ri lerisaka leswaku vakorhokeri va vanhu va fanele va enerisa vatirhisi va swiphakeriwa swa vona hi migingiriko ya vona, leswaku na vona vanhu va ta tidyondzisa ku amukela leswaku mati ya fanele ku hakeleriwa. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)

[Mr Nyepe Sono indicated that we need to work as a collective in order to protect workers’ rights.

He says that employers should treat their employees with dignity and employees in turn should be dedicated to their work.

With regard to the provision of water, he reminds us of the Masakhane Project which shows that service providers should satisfy the needs of their clients, so that people should also get into the culture of paying for services rendered.]

They say, for the first time the government has introduced such poverty relief schemes as the school nutrition programme, the various social grants, the food parcels, the no-fee school programmes, the free basic water and electricity services and other interventions.

Grace Malatji loyi a nga mutirhi wa swa nhluvuko wa muganga - community Development Worker- u hlamusela leswaku vunyingi bya swiphiqo hileswaku kun’wana vanhu va tsandzekisiwa ku fikelela ti-grant hi ku pfumala mapasi na switifikheti swo velekiwa, xikan’we na migingiriko ya vatirhela-mfumo van’wana la va tirhaka hi ku koka milenge. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)

[Grace Malatji, a community development worker, is worried because many people fail to access grants because they do not have identification books and birth certificates as well as government officials not being dedicated to their work who also compound the problem.]

They say, for the first time government gives support and pride to the institution of traditional rule.

Hosi Ngove u ri hi nga swi kota ku antswisa matirhele ya mfumo na ku herisa vusweti loko ho luka mano ya ku hlanganisa matirhele ya khale lawa ya kahle na lama ya sweswi.

U ri hi lwisa vusiwana hi ndlela yo rima, laha munhu un’wana na un’wana a nga nyikiwaka ndhawu ya yena yo rima, a dyondzisiwa na ku seketeriwa hi mfumo hi tlhelo ra swikomu, timbewu na ntokoto.

Ku endla tano Presidente, swi nga nyika nseketelo wa kahle eka leswi u nga swi vula eka nkanelo wa wena wa tiko, leswaku lembe leri ku ta humelerisiwa nawu wa Communal Land Rights.

Kona swi ngo be! President, loko wo endla na leswaku ku hatlisisiwa na ku hetisisa swikoxo swa misava hikuva yin’wana ya yona a yi tirhiseki hikuva ya ha ri emilon’weni.

Xin’wana lexi Hosi a hi tsundzuxaka i ku dyondzo ya vurimi eswikolweni yi lava ku rhangisiwa emahlweni leswaku vana va vona nkoka wa vurimi va ha ri vantsongo.

Xitsonga xi ri rigogo ri songiwa ra ha tsakama. Na le ka timhaka ta ndhavuko a swi ve tano. Kahle-kahle mhaka leyi yi nga humelerisaka nkoka wa swilo swo tala i ku vuyisa mintolovelo ya njhenjhekisano eswikolweni na le tihubyeni. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)

[Chief Ngove says that we could improve the performance of government and eradicate poverty if we combine methods that were used in the past with those identified for use nowadays.

He is of the opinion that we could alleviate poverty if we provided people with a piece of land which could be used for ploughing. Government should also provide people with the necessary skills and experience as well as resources such as hoes and seeds.

This will be in line with what you indicated in your state of the nation address that this year would be the year in which the Communal Land Rights Bill is passed.

It would be better if the President could expedite the processing of land claims since some of them cannot be done as they are sub judice.

He also advised that the agricultural sciences should be promoted so that children should see its value.

There is a saying in Xitsonga which says that children need to be taught while they are still young. It would be of great value if debates were brought back to schools and councils.]

Understanding that we have not yet arrived where we want to be in creating a situation of a better life for all, the people agree that we should not be complacent about the clean record of service delivery and that we need to strive to do more.

A swi laveki leswaku hi tekela ehansi mintlhontlho leyi hi nga langutana na yona ya ku antswisa matirhelo ya mfumo hikuva yi nga tshuka yi hi phija.

A hi lemukeni leswi Xitsonga xi hi tsundzuxaka swona loko xi ku eka swivuriso le-bya nyarhi leyo, u nga ku ndza yi vona hikuva u ta wela emavokweni ya yona. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)

[We should never underestimate the challenges we face with regard to improving service delivery to our people as these could create problems for us.

There is a saying in Xitsonga which goes that if somebody reminds you of a hole in front of you, never just say that you are aware of it and yet you are not doing anything about it, because you will fall into it.]

One local businessman, Mr Masekwameng, advised us to pay more attention to monitoring policy implementation. He called for the establishment of constituency-based monitoring watchdogs to ensure quality service delivery and fight corruption, and to help the government implement the Code of Good Practice for BEE.

Vanhu va vulavurile na hina hi nkarhi wa loko tiko ra Afrika Dzonga ri nghenela migingiriko ya ku tixopa-xopa ya Pfhumba ra ku Xopa-xopa hi Vuntangha ra Matiko ya Afrika- African Peer Review Mechanism. Hi dyondzile leswaku hi nga antswisa matirhelo ya mfumo loko ho tihlanganisa na vanhu. Hi vonile leswaku ku antswisa migingiriko ya mfumo swi vula ku korhokela vanhu. Hi lemukile leswaku hi nga antswisa migingiriko ya mfumo hi ku antswisa matirhelo yo landzelerisa vukorhokeri hi tiphalamende ta hina hinkwato, leyi, na ya swifundzha hinkwaswo. Ntshayiii xa mina i ku korhokela tiko. Xa wena i yini ke? (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)

[We had an opportunity to interact with South Africans during the African Peer Review Mechanism exercise. One lesson we learnt during this exercise is that such interactions with our people would help improve services rendered to communities. We can better our government’s function by rendering services to people. We also learnt that through oversight and accountability programmes of Parliament we would be able to monitor services provided to our people. My responsibility is to provide services to my people, what’s yours?]

Mr R B BHOOLA: Madam Deputy Speaker, our hon President, hon Deputy President and hon members, the leader of the MF, Mr A Rajbansi, has requested me to convey his warmest greetings to our hon President, which I hereby do.

Firstly, certain persons in the country had predetermined ideas to be severely critical of our hon President before the state of the nation address was delivered. The receptiveness of the country can be measured by the comments made on radio or in phone-in programmes, and newspaper editorials.

The editorial of the Sunday Times over the weekend is, in the opinion of the MF, a very fair reflection that the hon President’s address was indeed a frank and honest assessment of the successes and problems our country is facing.

The MF also holds the popular view that the road to socioeconomic freedom is long and hard, because, unlike other countries that have been under colonial rule, the suppression of the masses in our country has been extreme on all fronts.

Poverty, job creation, HIV/Aids and a climate of peace, crime free, have been highlighted as our highest priorities. Let us take a leaf from Germany’s book as a country united in the years that led up to the 2006 World Cup final. Our country should unite behind the President and the Premiers in a true spirit of loyalty to deliver the greatest sporting event in Africa.

Mr President, after the G8 countries, the Big Three are surely set to take over – China, India and Brazil. Let us not talk of agrarian revolution, but let us achieve it. We cannot find any excuses for the massive number of civil service vacancies when we are 13 years into the new South Africa. Countries in similar situations have skilled their people and concentrated on the small business and informal sectors; have abandoned Western rules and introduced their own rules.

India, for example, has created 400 million persons in the middle class, and the professionals of the United States are now imported from India.

We must prepare to ensure that, immediately after the Big Three, the rise of Africa takes place. Mr President, you have in one of your structures Mr Ratan Tata, who has become an economic giant and is investing in South Africa. Mittal is already in our country. They are the finest example of reverse globalisation, and Africa must be prepared to be an important player in reverse globalisation.

In order to compete and not lag behind the Big Three, we must not lose one or more South Africans in the ``brain drain’’. Europe, London and the American states, including the Middle East, are grabbing qualified and trained South Africans through fantastic salaries, and they cannot be accommodated in spite of vacancies in our own country because they belong to minority groups.

The MF strongly suggests that, after 13 years, a review of the affirmative action policy requires positive debate. We asked this question regarding KwaZulu-Natal: How is it that the first and second provincial Police Commissioners of colour in Gauteng are persons of Indian origin from Chatsworth, when they cannot play a role in lower positions in their very own province?

How is it that successful matriculants are hailed and paraded as great achievers, only a few weeks later to be turned away from universities because they happen to come from minority groups? How is it that highly trained persons from Chatsworth are turned away from jobs, only to be grabbed by England after presentation of their CVs?

Mr President, everyone wants to be of service to the country, to join you in this fight against poverty, illiteracy, for job creation and economic upliftment.

On 11 February 2007, we celebrated the 17th anniversary of the release of the hon Nelson Mandela, the father of our democracy. We take this time to commemorate all those who have led us to freedom. It is with much dismay that I express our condolences on the loss of a magnificent heroine of South Africa, Mama Tambo. May she rest in peace!

One of the greatest pandemics in South Africa is the horror of poverty creeping into every corner of our country. The conditions poverty imposes on citizens inspire our determination to deliver our people from the shackles of poverty. The majority of our people are poverty-stricken, and unemployment is the number one cause. It is encouraging to note that from March 2005 to March 2006, 300 000 jobs were created in the formal sector.

However, the unemployment rate has not really come down due to the fact that the rate at which new entrants are entering the job market is faster than the rate at which jobs are being created. South Africa has the biggest economy in Africa, and has an official unemployment rate of 25,6%.

The MF is encouraged that since 2001 the number of South African households – 4,1 million - that were living below the poverty line dropped to 3,6 million in 2004. We are, however, curious as to what the poverty line has been determined as.

South Africa suffers severe skills shortages that we are trying to service. The MF expresses its concern that between 1995 and 2005, 68% to 72% of persons holding secondary diplomas and certificates were employed, and 43% of people with incomplete secondary schooling or technical college certification were employed.

Our graduate unemployment rate in 2005 stood at 10,5%. Seventy per cent of these graduates are from the business, management, mathematics, computer science, education and training, manufacturing, engineering and the technology sectors. The MF places its confidence in the database system that is set to service this shortfall. However, a more effective method needs to be induced to ensure the incorporation of all graduates and students in the registry.

We feel that contributing to this graduate unemployment problem are the further education and training institutions and the system of technikons. We are certain, though, that the FET recapitalisation programme and the redesign of its curriculum may deliver the skills our society needs.

The skills we are experiencing a shortage of need to be identified and marketed at school level so that we may make available people as a resource for potential career fields.

The programmes of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, under the auspicious leadership of our hon Deputy President, have shown progress and growth in all the right corridors. The progress made with social grant beneficiaries is remarkable, from 8 million in 2004 to 11 million to date. We, however, desire the child support grant to be extended up to the age of 18 years.

The introduction of the new social security provisions shall now unveil a compulsory pension which is to the benefit of all our people, rich and poor. The MF, once again, calls for an increase in pension allocations to a more liveable amount to meet the cost of living of our aged. Government’s commitment to transforming the education system, addressing learning under the trees, teacher shortfalls and expanding the no-fee schools is reassuring.

Whilst statistics indicate that crime had increased by 7% between 1994 and 2001, and has decreased by 6% since, the situation of crime in our country remains a harsh reality, and is an extremely serious issue for our people. The MF denounces all forms of crime and unites in the fight to eradicate it. The MF believes crime to be a consequence of poverty and that its eradication is partly dependent on the alleviation of poverty. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mnu S E ASIYA: Ndiyabhotisa kule Ndlu yoWiso-Mthetho, ndizicamagushela ndisithi makudede ubumnyama kuvele ukukhanya. Sinenyhweba thina singamalungu kaKhongolozi asadla amazimba ngoba kwiminyaka emihlanu ezayo ukusuka kulo umiyo, lo mbutho uza kube ubhiyozela i-100 leminyaka. Kucace gca ukuba ookhokho kunye noobawomkhulu bawuseka kumhlaba ochumileyo lo mbutho waza wanehlumelo elisithi. Enye yeenjongo zabo yayikukuba isininzi sabantu silawule, ukuze kuzaliseke iimfuno zabantu. Oko kuyinyaniso emsulwa engenakuphikiswa.

Kwiminyaka eli-12,5 edlulileyo abantu beli lizwe bazinyulela urhulumente wentando yesininzi okhokelwa ngumbutho wesizwe i-ANC. Ngomnyaka wama-2004 ukuya kowama-2006 abantu bahlaziya igunya lokuba lo mbutho ulawule. Ngoko ke senza njalo. Silawula ngezandla ezingenamikhinkqi.

Njengelungu lale Ndlu ehloniphekileyo, Mongameli, kufuneka ndithathe zonke iinkqubo ezigqitywe apha kule Ndlu nakwiikomiti zale Ndlu ndizise ebantwini, ukuze nabo bandiphathise umphako.

Mandithethe njengomthunywa okhutshwe ngumbutho wesizwe ukuba ndiwumele kwisithili saseMsobomvu, esibandakanya iidolophana iColesberg, Noupoort kunye neNorvalspont, kwiphondo loMntla Koloni. Mongameli ohloniphekileyo ophethe thina malungu abambe iintambo, bathi abantu bomzi waseMsobomvu manditsho ukuba kule minyaka ili-12,5 noko izinto azifani nayizolo, kwaye banethemba lokuba ingomso labo liza kuba ngcono kunanamhlanje.

Mongameli ohloniphekileyo, kukho amakhaya amabini andicele ukuba ze ndiwakhankanye xa ndisenza le ntetho. Elokuqala ikhaya lelomntwana oyintombazana oneminyaka elishumi elinesibhozo. Bathi abazali bakhe ngelegcakamela ilanga ekhaya ukuba bekungelo ncedo lwalo mbutho okanye rhulumente weli lizwe, kuba babengenamali yokumsa edyunivesithi umntwana wabo ukuze aye kwenza imfundo enomsila. Namhlanje usedyunivesithi ngenxa yalo rhulumente. Ngaphambi koko babekhe beza kukhalaza kuthi, ndaza ke mna ndadlana indlebe noSekela-Mphathiswa wezeMfundo, ongazange ajikeleze, koko wasuka wamnceda lo mntwana. Abazali balo mntwana bathi mandithi: Maz’enethole! [Kwaqhwatywa.] Ngexa sasiphume iphulo njengamalungu kaKhongolozi amele abantu, siye ezikolweni ngexa bezivulwa, siye kukhuthaza abafundi ukuba bafunde ngakumbi izifundo ezinjengezibalo kunye nezenzululwazi. Sikhuthaze nabafundi bebanga leshumi, ngokwalaa nkqubo yakudala, ukuba bazifunde ngenqanaba eliphezulu okanye iHigher Grade, ezi zifundo. Ndithetha nje namhlanje omnye wabo bafundi useCuba uye kufundela ubugqirha ngenxa yokuba walisabela ikhwelo lethu. [Kwaqhwatywa.]

Mongameli ohloniphekileyo, iinkonzo zikarhulumente zisondezwe ebantwini kwezaa dolophana ndisebenza kuzo. Ndingabalula nje isibhedlele esakhiweyo, esinobugcisa bale mihla, esikufutshane ebantwini. Uthi nje tsii gxada, ufike kuso. Isibhedlele ebesikho ngaphambili, xa sichaza imbali, besikumgama ongange-15 leekhilomitha ukusuka ebantwini. Kambe ndithetha nje abantu bazithela chuu ngezikaTshiwo ukuya kubona abantu babo abalele kwesi sibhedlele. Kwakhiwe ichibi lezempilo, okanye ikliniki, kodwa ugqirha, ufika emini emaqanda ze asebenze iyure nje ibenye. Abantu bacela ukuba ukuba le iNdlu inako ukunceda, zongezwe zibe ne ubuncikane ezi yure, ukuze abantu bakwazi ukufumana unyango. [Uwelewele.]

Kwesaa sithili saseColesberg kukho iprojekthi edibanisa amaphondo amathathu, iMpuma Koloni, iFreyistata kunye noMntla Koloni, ndawo ezo eziphawulwe nguMongameli njengeendawo ekufuneka ziphuhlisiwe kwezoqoqosho. Ingxaki ekhoyo phaya yeyokuba abantu abanemihlaba ngamadlagusha, ngoko ke bathi abantu bakowethu xa kufuneka befumene elo cham aza nalo lo rhulumente, befuna ukusebenza, suke imihlaba ithengiswe ngexabiso lentloko kaloliwe. Abantu bandithume ukuba ndize kuchaza le ntlungu yabo ukuze urhulumente akwazi ukungenelela bafumane loo mihlaba, ukwenzela ukuba nabo bakwazi ukuxhamla kuba kule ndawo kudlula abakhenkethi abaye balale nokulala.

Enye into ekufuneka ndiyichazile kukuba kukho umzi omkhulu woonongqayi, okanye isikhululo samapolisa oselokishini phaya. Abantu bathi bayabulela ngokuziswa kwalo mzi elokishini kuba oku kuthe kwehlisa inqanaba lobundlobongela. Amapolisa akhona phakathi kwabantu, ngoko ke izinto ezininzi ezimbi azisenzeki kakhulu.

Ndithunywe nanguSodolophu, umasipala, abemi bezaa dolophana kunye noosomashishini ukuba ndibabuzele apha kulo mzi ukuba kwenzeka ntoni na, Mongameli. USekela-Mongameli ebeyile eDiyala kulo nyaka uphelileyo, wafika wathetha kakuhle. Savuya xa esithi umzila kaloliwe osuka eDiyala uye kutsho eNopoliti uza kuvuselelwa. Isivuyisile yasichulumancisa loo nto kuba besibona ukuba ikati iza kusuka eziko; abantu bakuthi baza kudalelwa amathuba emisebenzi. Camagu! [Laphela ixesha.] (Translation of isiXhosa speech follows.)

[Mr S E ASIYA: I greet everyone in this House. I would like to thank you and wish you peace and prosperity. As surviving members of the ANC, we are fortunate because in the next five years this party will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.

It is quite clear that our grandmothers and grandfathers established this party in this fertile land, of which we are the products. One of their objectives was that the majority of the people should govern in this country and thereby fulfil the people’s needs. This is an indisputable fact.

Twelve and a half years ago people of this country elected for themselves a democratic ANC-led government. From 2004 to 2006 people reviewed the authority, which states that this party must govern. We are indeed doing exactly that. We are governing without any doubt whatsoever.

As a member of this honourable House, Mr President, I feel duty-bound to inform the people on the ground about all resolutions taken by this House and its portfolio committees.

Let me speak as a representative sent by the ANC-led government to represent them in the Msobomvu district, which includes small towns like Colesberg, Noupoort and Norvalspont in the Northern Cape province. Hon President, the residents of Msobomvu at least acknowledge that in these twelve and a half years of democracy, things have changed for the better and they believe that tomorrow will be better than today.

There are families that have requested me to cite a few examples about them during my presentation. The first family is the one of an 18-year-old girl. It says that she would be basking in the sun if it were not for this party or government of this country. They had no money to put their child through university to obtain a degree. Today the child is at the university through this government. Before that, they had complained to us whereupon I spoke to the Deputy Minister of Education who did not hesitate to assist her. The family of this child has requested me to thank you on their behalf. [Applause.]

As members of the ANC, representing the people, we went on a campaign to motivate learners to study hard, more especially in subjects like science and mathematics. Furthermore, we motivated std 10 learners - according to the old system of education - to take their subjects on Higher Grade. As I am speaking now, one of those learners is in Cuba studying medicine. It is because of the call we had made. [Applause]

Hon President, service delivery has been brought closer to the people in those small towns that I work in. One of the examples thereof, is a hospital that has already been built which has modern technological facilities, and that is closer to the people. The hospital that was there before used to be 15km away from their homes. As I am speaking, people are able to visit their relatives.

The clinic is there but the doctor arrives at noon and only works for an hour. People request, if possible, that this House recommends these hours to be increased to four instead of one in order for them to get treatment. [Interjections.]

In Colesberg, there is a project that combines three regions, ie the Eastern Cape, the Free State and the Northern Cape. The President has identified these three regions for economic growth and development.

The problem they experience there is that land is exclusively owned by whites. When our people are supposed to benefit from the government land redistribution programme, land is sold at an unaffordable price. Therefore, people have sent me here to present their painful experience, so that government can assist them with regard to their land acquisition efforts. This will enable them to benefit from this region that boasts a variety of cultural tourist attractions.

Furthermore, I would like to make mention of a police station that is situated in the township. People are grateful that it has been brought closer to them, and that the rate of crime has now been reduced. Police patrol the area all the time.

Mr President, I have been sent by the Mayor, the municipality, the citizens of these small towns and the entrepreneurs to enquire about the progress that has been made thus far. The Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka went to De Aar and Noupoort last year and promised that the railway line between De Aar and Noupoort would be reopened. We were happy at the good news for we believed that that would help eradicate poverty and also create jobs for the people. I thank you. [Time expired.]]

Mnr S E OPPERMAN: Mevrou die Adjunkspeaker, agb President, ek stem saam met die stelling in u staatsrede dat ons land te lank reeds ’n bergplek is vir dit wat afskuwelik en walglik is. Die vraag vanmiddag is waarom ons weier om ontslae te raak van dit wat walglik is. Waarom verkies ons om as verdrietvrate reservoirs te bly vir die stinkende etter wat die ou wonde omspoel?

Dr Batarseh se wekroep by PW se begrafnis was: “Ons moet die verlede begrawe.” Daar is egter een belangrike voorwaarde vir so ’n begrafnis: Elkeen in hierdie land moet presies weet hoe lyk die verlede wat ons wil begrawe. Die naakte waarheid moet besigtig word, en die waarheid verskillende kleure, al het sommige in hierdie land meer respek vir ’n Nobelprys as vir die waarheid. Ons kan ook nie selektief met die waarheid omgaan soos dit ons pas nie. Ek het weer vanmiddag gehoor hoe Ministers skerm vir dinge wat waaragtig verkeerd is.

’n Bastervriend van my – nou reeds ’n oupa – vertel my onlangs, en hy onthou dit soos gister, hoe sy wit maatjie kleintyd verbied is om met hom te speel. Die rede, het die wit mammie verduidelik, was omdat my vriend Andreas eintlik ’n “hotnotjie” was met “menshare”, iets wat die wit seuntjie nie kon agterkom nie. Wat die wit mammie nooit aan haar seuntjie verduidelik het nie, was waar die “menshare” vandaan gekom het.

’n Vrou is seksueel misbruik en die produk van die misbruik is boonop verwerp deur ’n verteenwoordiger van dieselfde groep wat vir die seksuele immoraliteit verantwoordelik was. Dan lees ons nog in die gedig Trou van Jan F Celliers van ’n man wat die bastergeslag in sy siel verag.

Die bewuswording en bewusmaking in ’n soeke na identiteit onder bruinmense het ’n bruisende stroom geword. As ons heel en genees anderkant wil uitkom, sal ons onverskrokke moet deel met die etter rondom ons eie wonde. Ons moet gereed wees om vry te spreek en vryspraak te aanvaar by die simboliese begrafnis wat ek u vandag vra om te reël.

Die gesprek oor eerstenasiestatus en historiese grondeise vir bruinmense waaroor in 2004 gerapporteer is, moet nou asseblief momentum begin kry. Akademici wat die kunsmatige nomenklatuur gebruik en voorgee dat die geskiedenis van bruinmense sinoniem is met die slawegeskiedenis aan die Kaap moet wegkom van hulle ideologiese agendas. Terloops, die term “Khoisan”, wat in 1928 geskep is deur die Duitser Leonard Schultze, is deel van die kunsmatige nomenklatuur.

Bruin ondersteuners van die party, veral in die Wes-Kaap, het die afgelope tyd in groot getalle hulle rug op die ANC gedraai. Hulle is tweedeklasburgers wanneer dit kom by aanstellings in senior poste, en swart ekonomiese bemagtiging is net beskore vir ’n klein groepie alreeds stinkryk ANC-kaders en ons taal word met minagting bejeën.

As die ANC blindelings voortsteier op dieselfde pad sal die uitslag in Houtbaai en die naam Hangberg binnekort meer as net simboliese betekenis vir daardie party kry, ongeag wat die imbongi of die profete soos Zuma, John Ncinane en Winnie Madikizela-Mandela voorspel het. Die skrif is reeds aan die muur en die profete se plek is ook leeg. Baie dankie. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)

[Mr S E OPPERMAN: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, I agree with the statement in your state of the nation address that our country has for too long been a storage place for that which is ugly and revolting. The question this afternoon is why we are refusing to get rid of that which is offensive. Why do we choose, like gluttons for affliction, to remain a reservoir for the disgusting pus that surrounds old wounds?

Dr Batarseh’s appeal at the funeral of PW Botha was: “We must bury the past.” There is, however, one important condition to such a burial: Each one of us in this country should know precisely what it is in the past that we want to put to rest. The bare truth must be scrutinised and the truth has different shades, though some in this country have more respect for the Nobel Prize than the truth. Also, we cannot be selective about the truth when it suits us. I have heard once again this afternoon how Ministers are moaning about things that are actually wrong.

A Baster friend of mine – already a grandfather now – recently told me, and this he remembers as if it happened yesterday, how his white friend was forbidden to play with him during their childhood. The reason given by the white mother was that his friend, Andries, was in fact a “hotnotjie” with “human hair”, something which the white boy had failed to notice. What the white mother did not explain to her son, was where the “human hair” had come from.

A woman had been sexually abused and to add insult to injury the product of this abuse was rejected by a representative of the same group responsible for the sexual immorality. Furthermore, we read in the poem “Trou” by Jan F Cilliers, of a man that despises the Baster race in his soul!

Being aware and creating an awareness of the search for identity among coloured people has become a roaring stream. If we wish to be healed and reach the other side intact, we will have to be fearless when we deal with the pus in our own wounds. We should be prepared to speak our minds and accept freedom of speech at the symbolic burial I am asking you to arrange today. I am pleading that the discourse around first nation status and the historical land claims of coloured people, as reported in 2004, should now gain momentum. Academics who use artificial nomenclature and pretend that the history of the coloured people is synonymous with the history of slavery at the Cape, should get away from their ideological agendas. By the way, the term “Khoisan” is part of the artificial nomenclature created by the German, Leonard Schultze, in 1928.

Coloured supporters of the ANC, especially in the Western Cape, have in the recent past turned their backs on the party in droves. They are second- class citizens when it comes to appointments to senior posts, and black economic empowerment is only meant for a small group of ANC cadres who are already very wealthy and our language is treated with contempt.

If the ANC continues blindly on its existing path, the outcome in Hout Bay and the name Hangberg will shortly have more than just symbolic meaning for that party, irrespective of what is predicted by the imbongi or prophets of doom of the likes of Zuma, John Ncinane and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The writing is already on the wall and the seats of the prophets are empty. Thank you. [Applause.]]

The SPEAKER: Hon President, hon Deputy President and hon colleagues, I wish to start by quoting from the January 8 Statement delivered by the President on 13 January 2007, and I quote:

As we work to bring into being a broad front for development, we should continue to support the work to build and strengthen the Progressive Women’s Movement as a powerful force against sexism and patriarchy.

Immediately after the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa launch in August 2006, in a declaration handed to the President, the women said:

We note that democracy provided the voices of women space to be heard on matters of concern to their lives, their wellbeing and that of society. We note that the patriarchal system is the ideology, beliefs, values and practices underpinning the organisation and structure of society, resulting in unequal power relations between men and women, and the subordination of women in all spheres of life from the private sphere - mainly the family. Patriarchy is spread throughout and continuously reinforced by the whole society, including through education, work, religion and the media. So much so that it is assumed as natural, God- given or part of our culture.

The declaration goes on to draw attention to some problems which women face. It points to the feminisation of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment. It draws attention to the women living in the informal settlements, rural and farm areas and working class women, who are particularly worst affected by poverty, and so are among many who have never tasted the fruits of liberation.

The declaration talks about how the democratic state and its institutions must take note and prioritise the resolution of the situation, whereby our economy is growing at an impressive rate, but women are largely relegated to the entry levels and are trapped in the informal economic sphere. They don’t own the means of production and are in the lowest ranks in the job market.

Comrade President, in your January 8 Statement you hit the nail on the head on the matter of building and strengthening the PWMSA. In that context, I wish to give some feedback on the work of the past six months. The first point has been to ensure that there is sectoral and as broad a spread of representation as possible in the movement; to bring on board not only women from the political sector, but also those from different trade unions and labour federations, faith-based organisations – not only Christians, rural and social movements on violence against women, youth, business, children and, cultural organisations and others, some of whom had already been engaged towards the launch.

Many more were approached after the launch, including Jewish women and women who operate within the context of institutions of traditional healing, as well as in the broad traditional communities.

The national steering committee took three months to come together because each of the sectors and national organisations first had to convene, deliberate and decide whom to second to the PWMSA. In that context, the women in the Muslim and Hindu faiths have been getting organised and are temporarily represented in the national structure.

The first full meeting and strategic session of the PWMSA national steering committee took place on 26 November 2006. All provinces continue to be represented by interim co-ordinators, some of whom are hon members of this House. A small working committee appointed by the Bloemfontein conference has been meeting regularly to attend to ongoing business in the absence of full-time personnel and in the absence of offices.

The PWMSA is now registered as a nonprofit-making organisation and it is busy formulating financial policies and other relevant policies to enable it to have the capacity to engage properly in measures dictated by its founding principles and values.

In building and strengthening our movement, we are now focusing on the provincial level. We must ensure that the approach to provincial launches is informed by the same principles and the spirit of opening up and encouraging women … [Interjections.] Yes, indeed, Mr Leon … encouraging women to come together to fight against poverty and underdevelopment.

Although we had initially asked provinces to launch by the end of February, our analysis in the past week has reflected a need for more deliberative work and careful preparations to ensure sustainable structures. The support of all South African leaders – in and outside the state sector - is needed for this unglamorous behind-the-scenes work.

While this Parliament has passed gender-sensitive laws, thousands of women continue to face huge daily obstacles to real emancipation and access to full human rights.

The minimum platform for action that came out of the Bloemfontein conference was highlighted in the resolutions on education, the economy, patriarchy, crime and the media. This is the mandate that will inform our engagements in building a broad front for development.

While the sectors and organisations will continue with their areas of focus, we, as a movement, will work in partnership with the state sector and other stakeholders to ensure a better life for our women. We will embark on a road show in March and hope to be welcomed by various hon Ministers and the Presidency. Together, we must identify programmes and activities around which we must co-operate.

In order to enhance the opportunities and create a better atmosphere for women’s participation in the multifaceted programmes and strategies in the broad front for development, there are measures we must take that are within our grasp. In this regard, I wish to quote the 1954 Women’s Charter, which called for:

… the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against us women and deprive us in any way of our inherent rights to the advantage, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers to any one section of the population.

I wish to take the opportunity to use the time I am left with - just for the record - to pay tribute to a woman who worked very hard. She is a woman who was at the Malibongwe Conference - back in 1990, where a decision was taken by South African women, including more than 100 women who came from inside the country - a woman who engaged with women who were in exile, that we needed a progressive women’s movement.

That woman is the same one that gave leadership in the sterling work that was done from March 2006 to August 2006, when the Progressive Women’s Movement was launched. I am talking about a former member of this House, Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini. I think we ought to note her leadership, acknowledge it and pay tribute to her. [Applause.]

I also wish to, again for the record – although I did speak the other day at the memorial service – pay tribute to a former member of this House, our late grand lady and mother, Adelaide Tambo, who also in her lifetime has contributed enormously to the work towards the emancipation of women, but also in bringing about a better life for women, the youth, the elderly and all poor South Africans, without discriminating against those who have always been privileged. She was really a worthy South African and we must note her exemplary life. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr S SIMMONS: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, Ministers and colleagues, much has been said on a variety of matters by previous speakers, of which everyone considers his or hers as being the most important. The nature of these responses reflects that there are a number of issues on which government and the rest of the nation do not share the same level of concern.

I, however, wish to focus on issues that have been omitted from this year’s state of the nation address. The state of the nation address has in the past few years produced a number of repeated commitments to ensure a better life for all, with the emphasis on “all”. Allow me to briefly stand still at this principle of “all”. It is my experience, and not just a perception, that, as in the old South Africa, not ``all’’ our people have enjoyed the same priority. I’ll come back to this point.

The repeated commitments by the hon President in his state of the nation addresses the past few years, as we all know, have in many cases not been achieved. The hon President and government have, over time, reluctantly acknowledged capacity as a major problem in this regard.

But before I elaborate on capacity, I want to deliberate on the second equally important problem or catalyst of the apparent inability to implement commitments made by the hon President’s team. This is what I refer to as the existence of a distance between the Presidency and the rest of the executive in terms of their respective comprehension of our national socioeconomic challenges and the subsequent methods for their resolution.

The contradiction between this year’s theme of deepening the debate and high levels of intolerance from a number of Ministers underlines this point. So, for instance, when I attempted to address in this House the unfavourable effect, the unjust application that the Employment Equity Act has on brown or coloured people, amongst others, the hon Minister of Labour responded in an arrogant and insensitive manner by stating: “This thing about coloureds is your problem, not ours.” This is nothing short of blatant animosity towards the plight op brown or coloured for social and economic equality. It thus leaves no prospect of truly deepening the debate.

Also, the much-reported response of the hon Minister of Safety and Security telling the people to leave the country when a debate on crime was started, reflected an unwillingness to enter into a debate, so too by many in the executive. The recent reaction from even the Public Protector confirms the intolerance of those in authority, and sheds a dark cloud over many aspects of “deepening the debate”.

I believe that the issue of capacity is the single most important contributing factor to poor service delivery at all levels of government. The first problem is with capacity that is solely considered a quantitative issue. This is but one side of the coin. The other side is that capacity is also a qualitative issue. In other words, not enough emphasis is put on the quality of people entering the labour market, thus creating a lack of skills and experience. Instead, the Employment Equity Act is being applied in a manner that seeks to put more weight on achieving national demographic targets, making the creation of an effective and efficient labour market a secondary consideration.

If we wish to create a labour force that is effective, efficient and delivers good levels of economic results, I believe, government has to rethink the manner in which the Employment Equity Act is being implemented, given the undesirable consequences. Failure to get the labour market working endangers the success of Asgisa.

I nonetheless wish to commend the President for giving concrete direction in resolving major public concerns. I, however, cannot neglect to express concern over whether it will become a reality in the near future, for actions speak louder than words. I thank you.

Ms B N DAMBUZA: Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, members of this House and distinguished guests …

… ngale njikalanga intetho yam ndiza kuyiqala ngokunika imbeko kwiimveku ezithe zalala ubuthongo baphakade ngenxa yezifo ezibini, i-kwashiorkor kunye nemarasmus. Ngamafutshane, ukucacisa nje kancinci, xa sithetha ngekhwashiyoka sithetha ngokunqongophala kweprothini okumandla emzimbeni.

Okwesibini, imarasmus… (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[… this afternoon I will start my speech by paying tribute to the infants who died of kwashiorkor and marasmus. To explain briefly, when we speak of kwashiorkor we speak of the dietary deficiency of proteins.

Secondly, marasmus… ]

… is defined as an extreme malnutrition and emaciation, especially in children, which can result from an inadequate intake of food.

In the Eastern Cape, a severe malnutrition continues to be seen in the province, with 350 new cases per month spread across the province. It is a contributory cause of hospitalisation and mortality of young children.

Loo nto ibonakalisa mhlophe ukuba indlala lutshaba lwesizwe, kwaye ayinalusini. Ngamafutshane, , ngonyaka wama-2005 nowama-2006, sabhujelwa ngabtwana abali-162 eFreystata, abangama-587 KwaZulu-Natala, abangama-386 eLimpopo, abali-17 eMpumalanga, nabangama-21 eMntla Koloni. Loo nto ibeka inani labantwana ababhubhileyo kwi–1 113.

Kuyakhwankqisa ukufumanisa ukuba ngapha ngasekunxele kwam abayiboneli ntweni le ngxubakaxaka, kuba bona ayibachaphazeli. Xa uMongameli obekekileyo uThabo Mbeki ebesithi thaca intetho yakhe yokuvula iPalamente kwiintsuku ezimbalwa ezidlulileyo, uyibeke yacaca gcaa okwekati emhlophe ehlungwini indima edlalwe ngurhulumente we-ANC ukuphucula impilo yabantu baseMzantsi Afrika kule minyaka imbalwa siyizuzile inkululeko.

Kananjalo, urhulumente uzikhankanyile neengqinamba athe wahlangabezana nazo, waqwela ngokunika umkhombandlela kuye wonke ubani onyuliweyo ukuba aqinisekise ukuba iinkonzo zifikelela ebantwini ngokubanzi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[This clearly indicates that poverty is the enemy of the nation and doesn’t compromise. In short, Free State experienced a child death rate of 162 between 2005 and 2006, 587 in KwaZulu-Natal, 386 in Limpopo, 17 in Mpumalanga and 21 in the Northern Cape. That gives us a total number of 1 113 children.

It is surprising to realise that the people on my left do not take this into consideration, simply because it does not affect them. A week ago, when hon President Thabo Mbeki presented his state of the nation address, he clearly outlined the role that the ANC-led government has played to better the lives of the South African people within a few years of our liberation.

Furthermore, the government pointed out the difficulties that it had experienced and concluded by giving guidelines to those elected to ensure that all access service delivery.]

The President has called upon all sectors to intensify the struggle against poverty. To carry out this mandate successfully requires a collective and concerted effort across all sectors of society.

It is imperative to highlight that since 1994 …

… kwantlandlolo urhulumente ebesiwa evuka esilwa intlupheko kunye nendlala. Oko kungqinwa yimithetho nemigaqo yeenkqubo zikarhulumente. Kwakhona, masingalibali ukuba … [… government has been trying very hard to push back the frontiers of poverty and hunger for a while. This is confirmed by laws and government policy processes. Furthermore, let us not forget that …]

… this government inherited a society characterised by racial and gender inequalities in the distribution of wealth, income and skills. By gender inequalities, I mean skills and employment, especially, amongst others, black women.

Although government has made remarkable progress in addressing this matter in the economic sphere, a holistical approach is of critical importance in taking the transformation agenda forward. In pursuit of this oversight function, Members of Parliament should embark on massive mobilisation of people through their parliamentary constituency offices, PCOs, to access opportunities for development and fight the scourge of poverty, joblessness and inequalities. They must ensure that these initiatives are people- centred and driven by them.

ANC branches shall take a lead in monitoring such processes. Therefore, it is important that the existing development initiatives are known to our constituencies as well as those institutions that have been set up in the Constitution to promote democracy and a culture of human rights in the country, such as the Commission on Gender Equality, the Human Rights Commission and all Chapter 9 institutions.

Working closely with local government structures, state organs, ward committees and community development workers, CDWs, will be beneficial in advancing the struggle in building a better life for communities. Initiatives that government has taken with co-operatives will be able to develop human resource capacities, increase savings and investments, and also improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the people. Communities must also be encouraged to utilise public facilities.

Meanwhile, on the other hand we appeal to our Ministers that these institutions should continue to provide quality services. We welcome the announcement by the President regarding the training of additional professionals, salary improvements as well as conditions of employment for Public Service employees and further skills development programmes. Hence, the latter is an integral part of economic development.

The Public Service is always in dire need of dedicated patriotic and action- oriented men and women, intellectuals who can contribute towards building the kind of prosperous and successful society that is without poverty and underdevelopment, and where men, women and young people live in dignity with access to opportunities that make their lives better and meaningful. We hope that these initiatives will assist employees to discharge their responsibilities with clear consciousness, to correct and analyse the challenges faced by the country and suggest workable sustainable solutions that are informed by Batho Pele consciousness and supported by time- honoured value systems and ways of doing things differently rather that being obstacles in delivery.

Zithi izazi, ulwazi ngundoqo. Xa ndiqoshelisa intetho yam, ndinqwenela ukubulela amakhosikazi angamalungu ombutho owaziwa ngokuba yiPhilisani Community and Family Support Group akulaa ngingqi yaseMhlolwaneni eMatatiele, athe ngeKrisimesi edlulileyo yonyaka wama-2006, anikela ngeyunifomu yesikolo kubantwana abangama-25 abashiywa ngabazali ngenxa yesifo uGawulayo, kwa nokudla kumakhaya angathathi ntweni nakubantu abadala abangama-30. Kubo sithi: Maz’ enethole!

Kwelinye icala, sibulela inxaxheba ethathwe ngamasebe karhulumente, iSebe lezoLimo naMahlathi kunye neSebe loPhuhliso loLuntu, ngokuxhasa isakhiwo salo mbutho kulaa ndawo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[Experts say knowledge is power. In conclusion, I wish to thank the women who are members of the organisation known as Philisani Community and Family Support Group of the Mhlolwaneni District in Matatiele, who, on Christmas Day, donated school uniforms to children who lost their parents to HIV and Aids, and food to poor families and the aged.

We would also like to thank the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Department of Social Development for the role they have played in supporting the establishment of this organisation.]

With due respect to hon Comrade President, Minister of Education and the Minister of Minerals and Energy …

… uluntu lucela ukuba kujongwe ngeliso elibanzi umba wenkqubo yesondlo ezikolweni jikelele, kunye nesingqi sonwabu oluhamba ngaso ubonelelo lombane … [… may I inform you that the community requests that the school nutrition programme and the slow pace at which the provision of electricity is moving, be given the necessary attention …]

… especially at the Alfred Nzo municipality, which has been declared one of the presidential nodes.

Nangona kunjalo, Qabane uMongameli, abantu abathandabuzi. Bonelisiwe ngurhulumente kaKhongolose. Bamthembile. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] [Notwithstanding that, Comrade President, people have no doubts. They are satisfied with the ANC-led government and they have confidence in it. Thank you. [Applause.]]

Mr L M GREEN: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, Ministers and members, I concur with the sentiments of the President when he spoke on the issue of crime and when he quoted the following from the 1994 RDP White Paper:

Promoting peace and security will involve all people. It will build on and expand the national drive for peace and combat the endemic violence faced by communities … with special attention to the various forms of violence to which women are subjected.

Peace and political stability are also central to the government’s efforts to create an enabling environment to encourage investment. Decisive action will be taken to eradicate lawlessness, drug trafficking, gun running, crime and especially the abuse of women and children.

This commitment of decisive action was given to the nation 13 years ago. The FD concurs with the Leader of the Opposition, the hon Leon, when he said yesterday that crime was the crisis of the hour and that crime should be placed on top of government’s agenda. The hon Tony Leon is correct in this regard. There is a widespread perception amongst the public, both black and white, that our present government is unable effectively to contain and eradicate crime.

The policies, strategies, sentiments and intentions expressed by our government are noble and good. But this is small comfort to the millions of law-abiding citizens who bear the brunt of the ever-increasing wave upon wave of crime on a daily basis.

My comments are not based on the reactions of a few individuals who may be traumatised by personal tragedy, but on crime and lawlessness that is pervasive and endemic in our society. Criminals have become so brazen that nobody is spared, not even the President. In Arcadia in Tshwane, where the President resides, criminals do their regular rounds to rob even those who are not generally considered soft targets. The President must be aware that Arcadia has experienced at least seven armed robberies in one month, according to the Arcadia community police forum.

What is even worse is that diplomatic missions have not been spared from attacks by criminals. Isaac Mahlangu wrote the following in the Sunday Times of 11 February 2007, in an article called “Open season in Mbeki’s backyard”:

Embassies are now warning each other of attacks and this year some of them met Department of Safety and Security officials about crime, both within their secure enclaves and the broader areas of Arcadia, Sunnyside, Garsfontein and Hatfield.

The Sunday Times found that at least seven embassies have had staff, and in some cases their main residential offices, attacked. On January 3, the First Secretary of the Gabon embassy, Elizabeth Mathongo, and her three children were robbed by four armed men at the gate of their Garsfontein residence.

On 7 January at 7 pm in Groenkloof, the bureau chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting was robbed at gunpoint. On 28 January, at about 6 pm, a defence attaché from the Greek embassy was robbed by two gunmen in Garsfontein. On 30 January, three armed men broke into the house of the Pakistani High Commissioner. The robbers bound the hands and feet of the official and his family before locking them in a room and fleeing with jewellery, money, cellphones, watches and electrical equipment. On the same night, the house of an administration officer from the Pakistani High Commission was broken into. On 4 February at 10 pm five armed men entered the house of a US embassy employee in Waterkloof Ridge. The official and his friends suffered head injuries after being attacked with a spanner.

So, Mr President, the point I am trying to make is that this is not just a few individual poor people. This is, in fact, so pervasive that it has reached the embassies, and it is a very disconcerting thing for all of us.

In conclusion, criminals seem to have no fear for the consequences of their actions. There is nothing that deters them and nothing that restrains them; they fear neither God nor our government. We do not want the fabric of our society to fall apart. We do not want our country to become a haven for organised criminals and druglords. Mr President, now is the time to stop crime. I thank you.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr K O Bapela): Thank you, hon member. Could I also appeal to the House to try to maintain the decorum and the dignity of the House. The level of talk is too high, and I think the President is also getting disturbed by this level of noise.

Mrs M A A NJOBE: Madam Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon Ministers and hon members, last Friday in the state of the nation address, our President gave a befitting honour to Mama Adelaide Tambo, not because she was the wife of our struggle hero Comrade O R Tambo, but President Mbeki gave honour to Ma Tambo because in her own right she had been the living embodiment of ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the deepest African value of human solidarity, endurance, respect, honesty, compassion, human dignity, wisdom and collective unity. Again, in his oration on Saturday in Benoni, the President elaborated on why Ma Tambo will and must continue to be a living example for all South Africans; to draw on the lessons of ubuntu that Ma Tambo taught throughout her political life, not only through her words, but also through her deeds.

Had it not been for the deep-seated belief in ubuntu, a value system entrenched in Ma Tambo’s very soul - the understanding that umntu ngumntu ngabantu [a person is a person through others] – many people who came knocking at her door would have been destitute or lost in the hardships of living in exile. She understood the relief that comes with human solidarity.

We, too, as Members of Parliament, are challenged to place the needs and interests of our people at the core of our responsibilities. We must, for instance, ensure that there is timely distribution and that enough information is given to our communities and constituencies on the vast number of poverty alleviation and eradication services and projects government has introduced over the years.

It is an undisputed fact that the policies and programmes of the ANC-led government, programmes which, in fact, derive from the Freedom Charter, are based on the value systems encapsulated in ubuntu. So, too, is the transformatory legislation that has been passed by this Parliament since 1994, thanks to the foresight of the now 95-year-old ANC, which has ensured that ubuntu is entrenched as one of the founding principles of the new South Africa. This is acknowledged even internationally.

The Batho Pele campaign, of which the Minister for the Public Service and Administration spoke, ensures that public servants are service oriented. It is yet another tool that ensures that service delivery is based on values of selflessness, social consciousness and solidarity. However, there is an urgent need to fight against the corrosive role of corruption as it erodes democracy, public confidence, good governance and social stability.

Working as a collective, our Public Service can make a difference and give effect to this year’s theme, that is “to intensify the struggle against poverty as we advance in unity towards 2012”. As Members of Parliament, when doing oversight work, we must ensure that the mission to create people- centred and people-driven service delivery is continually characterised by a strong code of ethics.

Under an ANC government, unlike the secrecy of the past, citizens have a right to hold public servants accountable for the level of service they deliver. The public is free to blow the whistle at any time and at any level, should instances of corruption be identified.

It is important too that MPs constantly monitor and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of our anticorruption strategy, as yet another tool to ensure transparency and honesty, and to entrench the spirit of ubuntu.

The purpose of ubuntu has always been to promote co-operation among people, to promote honesty, to ensure that people are accommodative, that they share, that they save lives at all costs and that there is respect for both the young and the old. Some sectors of our communities, as seen among women especially, do look after each others’ wellbeing through activities such as stokvels, oomasingcwabane [burial societies] and umngeniselwano [stockvels/savings groups], and they support each other in times of grief.

Therefore, that is why I want to disagree with the Rev Meshoe that ANC leaders do not visit or support victims of crime. I want to let him know that. Inherited from the struggle for liberation, such compassion comes naturally to us.

However, there are signs that society is losing its anchor on ubuntu. Patriotism, a crucial part of ubuntu, sacrifice and selflessness, is being eroded by individualism and the desire for self-enrichment. We have witnessed public servants, the supposed custodians of Public Service delivery, plundering social grants through fraud and corruption; benefits meant for the distressed and poverty-stricken citizens.

We have seen corrupt service providers stealing the only day’s meal meant for a poverty-stricken schoolchild because of greed and selfishness. We constantly witness neglect, ill-treatment and abuse of the elderly by their own children and grandchildren. Surely, such criminal behaviour, as just mentioned, represents much that is ugly and repulsive in human society, as the President observed in his state of the nation address.

Ngale ndlela ke Somlomo, amalinge karhulumente okwenza ubomi boluntu bube ngcono agxojwagxojwa ngala matutu. Asibobuntu ukurhwaphiliza imali elungiselelwe ukuphelisa ubuhlwempu nentlupheko kubantu bakowethu. Ingebobuntu nokuhlutha emilonyeni yabantwana elo nqathana baliphiwa ngurhulumente esenzela ukuba bafunde ngcono. Yinkohlakalo egqithisileyo ukuba amachiza ezibhedlele nasezikliniki.

Asibobuntu ukutshonisa urhulumente azibone ehlawula imali eyamkelwa ziziporho, aba baziwa njengee-ghost employees, ngabula makhumsha Apha sikwathetha ngeziporho zeevenkile zeencwadi ezithengisa iincwadi ezingekhoyo. Kubalulekile ngoko ukuba abo bayibonayo le nkohlakalo xa isenzeka, babethe ikhwelo, bangayifaki ekhwapheni. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)

[In this manner, Speaker, government’s efforts to improve the lives of people are being thwarted by these thieves. It is inhuman to steal money that has been set aside to fight poverty and hunger in our communities. It is also inhuman to take away what the government is giving to the children to improve themselves educationally. It is a serious act of cruelty to steal medicine from hospitals and clinics. It is not good to make the government bankrupt by paying ghost workers and non-existing bookshops. It is therefore important that those who witness this cruelty do not to keep quiet, but report it.] We also need to rekindle the spirit of human solidarity and mutual respect, which is central to the concept and practice of ubuntu. To achieve social cohesion and human solidarity, we must continue to vigorously confront the legacy of poverty, racism, inequality and sexism that we inherited from apartheid.

As President Mbeki said, we must continue to work for national and social cohesion among our people and to restore the integrity of our social fabric. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr K O Bapela): Before I call the next speaker, that is hon C M Morkel, could speakers take note of the changes that take place at the Table and be gender-sensitive please. The last time I checked I was still a “he”, not a “she”. Thank you. [Laughter.]

Mr C M MORKEL: Mr Chair, last week I lost my paternal grandfather and thus shared my condolences in an intimate degree of empathy and sympathy for all those members of the late Adelaide Tambo’s immediate and extended family, especially her grandson and daughter. They spoke intimately of someone who persevered out of hope for a better future for herself and her husband, who was her lover and best friend, her children and her broader community. This begs the question: Are we living in the age of hope that Mama Tambo fought for? What have many of us, by various ways and means, fought for, other than to see our loved ones and our broader communities have the opportunity to thrive to the best of their abilities? Are we now living in an age of denial or an age of reality, when they have lived in hope for ages?

I still have hope and confidence in this country for myself, my children, my loved ones and our broader community. I say this having experienced the reality of apartheid and knowing that as painful as the reality is now, it is better than the reality of our past. We cannot deny that crime levels are high enough to be a major cause for concern to business leaders, investors and ordinary citizens. We cannot deny that sincere and honest efforts are being made by government in terms of policy, strategy, programmes and projects to prevent and combat crime and poverty, among others.

The reality is that the challenge is at the implementation level - not only by the SA Police Service, but also by communities that are affected most by crime. The reality is that community policing that falls under the governance of both the ANC and DA, at various levels of governance, is open for criticism. But it must be constructive criticism. The major challenge is community participation to offer real and implementable solutions.

We need to see eye to eye and establish common ground on the basis of our common patriotism and our love for this country - as we did with the National Peace Accord structures prior to 1994, when our inaction would have led to a fate too ghastly to contemplate.

Some may say that the candidness of the President on this issue and other issues and the apparent reaching out by the leader of the largest opposition party - with his marked change of tone and attitude - may be too little too late as they may not be around to see the fruits of their labour. But it is up to us all, in this House and beyond, to play an active role in fine-tuning the implementation of an essentially sound anti-crime policy and other policies. We must approach crime as if we were at war with an external third force. We must put aside our ideological differences to deepen the debate on issues such as crime. We need to go to the level, for example, where we discuss how we should deepen the debate on poverty- related crime and drug-related crime. We believe that if the tradeable commodities and proceeds of crime are removed as much as possible, then we could see significant reduction in turf wars between gangs and crimes committed to sustain the drug habits of addicts.

Regarding race and class, we need to recognise the need to segment government products and services according to a more closely and narrowly defined living standards measurement, so that we move beyond the government products and services that merely target the extremes of the first and the second economies. For example, with the rapidly growing middle classes, we are finding that many are too wealthy to qualify for state housing subsidies but too poor for commercial bonds and other financial products. This results in growing numbers of backyard dwellers and tenants being abused by inner-city landlords, with all the associated challenges.

This challenge of group areas defines perceptions of race and class along the old group areas of grand apartheid. These de facto group areas will define our consciousness along apartheid lines as long as they remain. So, too, will the slow pace of land restitution.

Mr President, we therefore encourage you to persevere and inspire further hope within this age of reality, as you did in your state of the nation address, because hope without realism is a fool’s paradise.

On this day of love, I want to wish everyone love and happiness. I thank you. [Applause.]

Dr M SEFULARO: Mr Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, comrades and hon members, let me first apologise as I see I am listed as intending to speak in Setswana exclusively. In fact, my main submission will be in English, but I will make remarks in all of the languages.

My entry into this debate is in response to the part where the President addressed the nation on matters of social cohesion, national unity, value systems and identity. To this end, I shall devote significant attention to the question of what the challenges of moral regeneration are in the context of ubuntu.

For a clearer sense of the challenges of values and social cohesion that face us today, I turn to the words of the President when he delivered the 2008 January 8 Statement of the NEC of the ANC in Malahleng on 13 January this year. The President said then:

Yet, existing alongside, and contrary to the values and norms that we inherited from the apartheid past are the values and norms that have also resided among our people and which have held together our communities from ancient times to the present. These values contained in the worldview known as ubuntu emphasise society, community and family as critical elements of personal development, security and fulfilment.

These are the essential values that informed the formation of the ANC 95 years ago …

The statement goes on to challenge us that, and I quote again:

We need to engage, with neither tame nor timidity, in an intensive struggle to engender progressive social values among our people and within all social institutions as part of a broader moral regeneration.

Perhaps we should read these words as a call upon us to seriously take stock of how we are performing in the front of moral regeneration and what the odds are that we may attain greater progress in this serious national undertaking. More specifically, we need to review our flagship project, the Moral Regeneration Movement.

A related question is whether, in calling for a return to the values of ubuntu, we are calling for anything new or separate from the call previously made by President Mandela when he called for the ``RDP of the soul’’, a call that gave birth to the moral regeneration project.

My submission is that President Mbeki is not calling for anything new. Rather, the call by him and the national executive committee of the ANC is a call for a major correction to the root cause of what has thus far constrained and hobbled the Moral Regeneration Movement. I believe that a careful assessment would lead to an inescapable conclusion that, to date, the Moral Regeneration Movement has neither delivered on the promise it implied nor matched the hopes and expectations it ignited among South Africans when it was first launched. In fact, it is floundering on the periphery of national attention and effort. In her monograph Crime Prevention and Morality: The Campaign for Moral Regeneration in South Africa, Janine Rauch states the following about the origins and challenges facing the Moral Regeneration Movement, colloquially known as MRM:

At the first national workshop in February 2000, the campaign approach to moral regeneration emerged strongly. What was envisaged was a mass mobilisation, harking back to the glory days of the liberation struggle, to a time when a large majority of people and organisations would be united against the common enemy. However, there were and are many debates about morality among the diverse groups that make up South African society … hence no easy basis for mobilising a united front against it.

This would be followed by the high-profile launch of the MRM in April 2002, where a declaration was made that:

The ultimate objective of the Moral Regeneration Movement is to assist in the development of a caring society through the revival of the spirit of botho or ubuntu and the actualisation and the realisation of the values and ideals enshrined in our constitution …

I want to argue, Chairperson, that one of the persistent fault lines that run through the MRM is the inclination by the presenters, interpreters and the receivers of the messages of the MRM, to cloak or imbue them with religious subtext and predominantly Western perspectives and value systems. We have failed to centre ubuntu as the defining value system for moral regeneration for our nation. The net result has been the alienation of the majority of our people from the MRM.

In a separate but related discussion on why we have failed in the above areas, Cedric Mayson, the ANC’s head of the Commission for Religious Affairs offers the following explanations concerning the key sectors and potential partners in the MRM. On religion – it’s a pity that Rev Meshoe is not in the House – he says fundamentalism has become a negative influence in nearly all the religions, prompted by influences from overseas. It usually encourages self-centredness which diverts people from the collective concern for others. Some religious leaders – at all levels – hunger for power and prestige and use their ecclesiastical or pastoral concerns to promote private political agendas.

In this regard, I believe all good believers and patriots should distance themselves from the persistent negativity of the hon Rev Meshoe, the leader of the ACDP. In his response, he chose to take upon himself the task of amplifying the voices that insist that the President, the government and the ANC do not care about the tragedy and the pain of those who fall victim to crime. Like the Pharisees, he wants the President to wear sack cloth and flagellate himself in public. And that, for him, would be a minimum indication of care, ignoring the many times that the President has spoken on this matter and the many statements of action that the President has put before this House, including on Friday during the state of the nation address.

On liberals and many of our fellow citizens, Cedric Mayson says:

Too many are trying to appease their conscience without disturbing their comfort zones … rooted in wishy-washy liberalism, with no courage of their convictions … being simply anti, especially anti being involved in responsibility, and finding satisfaction in the negative principle to avoid involvement, criticise government.

Finally, he says on moral regeneration:

We shall make little progress if we follow the Western approach of downgrading the role of spiritual power, or allow the spiritual life of our communities to be restricted by competitive religious industries, or move away from the commitment to banish poverty. We need a collective secular spiritual discourse related to the experience of the marginalised people transforming society … and like the political and economic revolutions, it has to come from the demands and insights of the oppressed people themselves.

Mr Chairperson, I’m running out of time, but I want to argue that the biggest challenge is how we centre ubuntu as the central message and project of our moral regeneration. And, in fact, this has to be done in the language of our people, the language of the marginalised and oppressed.

Hon member Nombeko Liwane says that it is imperative to translate all the essential ideas and practices from foreign languages into relevant local languages, because language and nationality are the strongest primary form of identity among Africans.

In an equally relevant study, The Report on Macro-social Trends in South Africa – A Nation in the Making found that language identity seems to be strongest among those in the lower income bracket, with lower educational qualifications.

We therefore have to seriously review our approach to the MRM and we need to centre ubuntu. Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mna L N DIALE: Modulasetulo, mohlomphegi Mookamedi, le Motlatši wa gagwe, Ditonakgolo tše di hlomphegago, gammogo le Maloko a Palamente, ke a le dumediša ka moka ga lena ka mo Ntlong e kgethwa. Ke thaba go tšea karolo mo ngangišanong ye ya go alwa ke Mookamedi wa naga. Yona ke tlo e kgokaganya le ba bangwe ba rena bao ba ilego ba tšea lesolo la leeto leo lehono re iphsinago ka lona re dutšego kamo. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)

[Mr L N DIALE: Hon Chairperson, hon Mr President and the Deputy President, hon Ministers as well as hon Members of Parliament, I greet you all in this honourable House. I feel honoured to participate in this debate that the President of the country has presented. I relate it to those of us who have travelled the long journey to freedom; the freedom that we enjoy today, as we have seats in this House.]

Comrade President, 40 years ago, in 1967, sons and daughters of our land crossed the Zambezi in a place that was rocky with strong, determined currents. Having crossed the Zambezi, these high-spirited uMkhonto weSizwe, MK, combatants were determined to reach the deeper paths of Zimbabwe and eventually enter South Africa.

Combined with the Zapu fighters, these combatants were determined to fight against and defeat the combined racist forces of the apartheid South Africa and of the then Rhodesia. Of course, these combatants were engaged in the Wankie campaign, during which, in battle after battle, the racist forces were overwhelmed by the high spirits, courage and fire power of our gallant combatants. Having been overwhelmed, the racist forces ran away, leaving behind their weapons, communication equipment, their injured and dead.

Comrade President, as we commemorate the Wankie campaign this year, we must, in the words of the late Comrade Oliver Tambo:

… pay special tribute to those illustrious combatants who fell on the sacred fields of Zimbabwe with the warrior cry “victory or death” on their lips; immortal fighters such as Peter Mhlongo, Delmas Sibanyoni, James Masimini and Basil February, their names are endless, who, in several battles, refused to retreat, fought the enemy to the last bullet.

Fellow South Africans, let us pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by these men and women, some of whom even gave up their lives in the noble cause of our revolution. Let us salute them and thank their fathers and mothers and their friends for allowing these heroes and heroines of our land to make sacrifices so that today we can, without fear, stand at this podium and talk about campaigns such as the Wankie campaign and some of our experiences during our struggle. [Applause.]

Indeed, Comrade President, there are lessons to be learnt from collective approaches and successes of uMkhonto weSizwe combatants and Zapu fighters during the battles of Wankie. We can draw lessons from the spirit of working together of these combined forces, which lessons must then give content to our approach to the fundamental challenges of poverty and crime in our society.

When reflecting on these experiences, the late Chris Hani wrote of the magnificent spirit of cohesion and unity between MK and Zapu. Without any doubt, Comrade President, the people of Africa require a spirit of unity in tackling poverty, security and other challenges that continue to face the African continent. Processes such as Wankie indeed constitute an important part of our history.

Mookamedi, “šikiša dira le molapo, mphago wa dira ke meetse”. “ Moya leeto tlama dieta di tie, moo o yago o tlo fihla”. Ke rata gore ke re “motšwa gabo ga a laele”. [Hon Mr President, it is very important to look after the people who work for you. They must be provided with the necessary resources to do the job well. It is very important that people thoroughly prepare for what they are going to do, which ensures that they will manage to get there. Let me just say: We meet to part and we part to meet.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr K O Bapela): Re a leboga. [Setshego.] Thank you. [Laughter.]

Mr R COETZEE: Chairperson, hon President, Deputy President, at the conclusion of this debate it has become clear to us that the ANC Cabinet and caucus simply do not get what people out there are saying about crime and about what they want this government to do about crime. [Interjections.]

It is no good coming up here, having done your best to draw all power unto yourself, and then say: “Crime isn’t our fault and it isn’t our responsibility to deal with crime; it’s something that everybody must take responsibility for.” That’s a non-point. Of course, everybody must take responsibility and everybody must pitch in, but everybody doesn’t have a budget of billions, everybody doesn’t control the SAPS, everybody doesn’t control the prisons in South Africa. And, if you want power, then you must accept the responsibility, Minister, and you have the responsibility to protect the people of this country. [Interjections.]

And you mustn’t complain when an example is brought up, or a few examples are brought up, because it would take five days of this House’s time to go through every single example of over 18 000 people who are murdered in South Africa every year on your watch. [Interjections.]

What South Africans want and what they deserve is a government that shows that it cares, not just a government that outlines certain programmes of action with which to deal with crime. It is possible. Indeed, it is imperative for leaders to be angry about crime and to grieve with their people without becoming reckless in their policies or stupid about the way in which they approach the problem.

In the words of Joan Armatrading, and I say this for the Minister of Arts and Culture because he is very interested in songs lately, “Show some emotion” – because he’s the last speaker in this debate. I wonder if the Minister can actually show South Africa not just that there is a plan - and one accepts that things are happening - but that there is real care and concern about how people feel about crime.

It is also not good enough to blame apartheid and engage in amateur sociology lectures. [Interjections.] Of course, there is a link between apartheid and the circumstances of South Africa today. And, of course, the social dynamics of any society determine to an extent the nature of crime in that society. But, again, what people want aren’t explanations or excuses, but solutions that are driven by a passionate leadership that cares about how they feel.

The Minister for the Public Service and Administration made the shocking mistake of bringing up the ANC’s approach to dealing with corruption. So, I want to quote for her what the secretary–general of the ANC said about corruption in the ANC:

This rot is across the board. It is not confined to any level or any area of this country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC’s problems are occasioned by this. There are people who want to take it over so that they can arrange for the appointment of those who will allow them possibilities for future accumulation.

That comes from the secretary–general of the ANC. Why was there silence when Douglas Gibson brought up the subject of Travelgate? Why is there silence in this House? Why can’t we just play open cards with the people of South Africa, and say: “These are the people who stole from you and these people, in fact, didn’t steal; there’s some other explanation for it.”

Is there something that is being hidden? And why do the Cabinet Ministers, who allegedly paid back R300 000 to the state, say nothing about it when they get a chance to speak? [Interjections.] Maybe you can answer that question some time, instead of heckling me. [Interjections.]

There is a film on circuit at the moment called The Queen, in which Helen Mirren brilliantly portrays a stubborn, tin-eared Elizabeth II who dangerously misjudges the mood of her people. I recommend The Queen to the chief and to the other VIPs sitting on this side of the House. Thank you. [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Mr Chairperson, Mr President, Deputy President and hon members, 13 years of democracy have brought impressive changes on the South African landscape. These 13 years have meant that, for the first time in over a century, South Africa has enjoyed relative internal peace. This last decade is the first, in more than 100 years, during which there was no major political upheaval. These 13 years have meant more than a decade of steady economic growth, not sufficient to be sure, to eradicate the poverty, joblessness and deprivation that degrade too many of our people; but steady growth nonetheless.

These 13 years have witnessed the steady improvement of the living standards of the majority of South Africans, especially the poor and the most vulnerable. Research indicates that between 1998 and 2004 more than 2 million people moved up the social ladder, whereas in 1998 the poorest categories represented 48% of our population and that figure had come down to 42% by 2004.

During these past 13 years, we have seen an expanding floor of rights and entitlements unfold for the historically disadvantaged. South Africa’s fiscal deficit, which stood at 40% of the gross domestic product, GDP, in 1996 has now been reduced to 1,5% of the GDP. In 2004, South Africa celebrated the electrification of 7,5 million households, that is 4 million new electricity connections since 1994. By 2005 access to electricity stood at 71% of all households. These are impressive achievements and to pretend otherwise is to bury one’s head in the sand.

We must acknowledge and celebrate what we have achieved, yet we are introspective enough to recognise how much still needs to be done. We, on this side of the House, have said and recognised that it is of no comfort to a citizen who has lost a loved one to crime to know that the rate of murder in South Africa has dropped dramatically since 1994. It is of no comfort to a citizen whose home is violated by criminals to know that the statistics indicate a steady decline in this type of crime.

It is not very helpful to a victim of pickpockets, muggers, thieves and other robbers to hear that we now have new modern methods of detection that can lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators. But it is equally unhelpful to use the issue of crime as a political football. The challenge before all of us is how to take the war to the criminals. To sneer at the measures that the government has put in place - to do precisely that is to be childish and petty. [Interjections.]

This government, elected with an overwhelming mandate – and I repeat, elected with an overwhelming mandate - in 2004, has reached its mid-term. [Applause.] That mandate included the acceleration of the growth and more equitable development of our country and its people, as well as the promotion of sociocohesion and the nurturing of a shared national identity. The issue of identity has assumed a special significance in our country, because of our extremely fractured and conflicted past. What we aspired to, as a country and society, was summed up in the Constitution we collectively adopted in December 1996.

The admirable principles contained in that document represent the commitment by all of us to strive for greater mutual understanding and acceptance, not despite our differences but rather by embracing the diversity of the South African people as one of our great strengths. I consequently want to underscore the President’s call for pluralism and inclusivity, not as a grudging recognition of difference, but as the positive affirmation thereof as both healthy and edifying.

It is that understanding of the spirit of our Constitution that persuades me to take issue with the hon Rev Meshoe for his misguided homophobic attitudes, which he once again voiced in this House yesterday. The suggestion that there are some South Africans who should enjoy fewer rights than others by virtue of their sexual orientation, clearly runs counter to the letter and spirit our Constitution.

Equally reprehensible is the idea that the rituals observed by some of our people can lightly be castigated as “savage”, “barbaric” and “uncivilised”. Each individual South African’s preference regarding these matters is not at issue. Whether I approve or not, these are constitutionally protected rights which we are all obliged to respect and defend. [Applause.]

The year 2007 marks a number of important anniversaries on both the continent and South Africa’s own political calendar. Fifty years ago, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to reclaim independence from colonial rule. Under the leadership of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People’s Party, Ghana took a place among the family of free nations, helping to accelerate the pace at which the people of Africa undid the outcomes of the 1884 Berlin Conference, when our continent was shared out amongst rapacious colonial powers.

South Africa will join the other countries of Africa in marking this significant milestone. The 50 years of progress since Ghana’s independence have not been without serious reverses and tragedies. Under the leadership of the ANC, South Africa has made a sterling contribution towards healing the wounds of our continent. This year, for the first time in more than 45 years, the people of Congo have been able to hold free and fair elections. [Applause.]

The SA National Defence Force, created by our democratic government after 1994, has become one of the greatest factors for peace and stability in the continent. Men and women of the SA National Defence Force, wherever they have been deployed, have done us proud. Democratic South Africa’s role on the African continent is not premised on flexing our economic and military muscle to bully and browbeat others to do our bidding. Patient, quiet and often unseen persuasion and discussion is how South Africa goes about its diplomacy and how it attains its objectives. [Applause.]

Those who imagine that shouting and extravagant gestures can change anyone’s mind would do well to examine the interesting diplomatic breakthroughs of recent days and contrast those with the impasses some very powerful countries find themselves in at present. Here at home, we will also have occasion to note and commemorate our own national figures associated to South Africa’s struggle for freedom.

In 1947, the presidents of the ANC, the Natal Indian Congress and Transvaal Indian Congress concluded an agreement, later dubbed the Three Doctors’ Pact, in terms of which the three organisations agreed to take common action on issues of common concern. That pact laid the basis for what was to grow into a powerful mass movement during the 1950s, the Congress Alliance, which still serves as a lodestar for the Tripartite Alliance today.

Chief Albert John Luthuli, then president of the ANC and South Africa’s first Nobel Peace Laureate, met his still unexplained death 40 years ago near his home in Groutville, KwaDukuza. Inspired by his patriotism and his deeply held Christian principles, Chief Luthuli led the liberation movement for 13 years. And, as he often recalled, for decades the oppressed people had very patiently knocked at the constantly barred door without any response.

In marking the death of this great patriot, South Africa will be honouring both the man and the values and principles he had fought for all his life. Those are the very principles contained in our democratic Constitution. Ten years later, in 1977, yet another great patriot met an untimely death. While the circumstances of Steven Bantu Biko’s death absolutely explain that he was literally beaten and tortured to death by his jailors, the courts of those days held no one accountable for his death. Perhaps some of the hon members should be reminded that while the judges of the apartheid regime might well have been very sober, they were anything but honourable. [Applause.]

The brutal murder of that young patriot shocked the world. The callousness of the judiciary that refused to hold anyone accountable for that dastardly deed bears testimony to the moral bankruptcy of that regime.

The 30th anniversary of Steven Biko’s murder will be appropriately marked, not to point fingers at anyone, but by way of affirming the democratic and liberatory thrust of the politics he represented. The massive assault on media freedom that coincided with the murder of Biko should also serve as a timely reminder to all of us of the high price exacted from the people of this country for the freedom our media enjoy today.

Thomas Paine once wrote that we esteem too lightly that which we gain rather cheaply. The tears, the blood and the very lives of the martyrs who were sacrificed so that our journalists, editors and newspaper owners today no longer have to nervously peer over their shoulders before putting pen to paper are well worth remembering. [Applause.]

How many of our latter-day journalists even consider that cost? It was in that spirit that I responded to a query from the Afrikaans magazine, the Huisgenoot, about Bok van Blerk’s song De la Rey. Whatever coded message others might attribute to Van Blerk’s song, he says it has no contemporary political relevance. And I reiterate my best wishes for the success of his song and may he compose and sing many more. [Applause.]

South Africa has left behind the previous bilingual dispensation that entailed the promotion of only English and Afrikaans to the exclusion of other languages spoken in our country. Government has accepted its obligation to promote and advance all of South Africa’s official languages. I once again want to underscore that Afrikaans, like the other official languages, will be actively promoted and protected by this government notwithstanding the hysteria in certain quarters.

The reaffirmation of this country’s African identity by correcting the corruption of African names, the resurrection of African names that have been arbitrarily abolished and displaced by previous regimes is not a threat to any of our language communities. [Applause.] Contrary to the popularly held urban legend, the overwhelming majority of name changes approved by me and previous Ministers entail not Afrikaans place names, but African names that had been misspelled, corrupted or otherwise done violence.

As we cast our eyes back over these past 13 years of democracy, all South Africans, all of us, on either side of this House, can justly say “not bad, not bad at all”. We are indeed creating a better life for our people. We are contributing to the creation of a better world.

I want to end off, Mr Chairperson. Chairperson, Comrade President, Deputy President, I want to end off with the word to the hon leader of the DA. We have been told that the hon Leon will be leaving political life during the course of this year. And I want to wish him well in his future endeavours, but I also want to say that we will sorely miss him on our side of the House. It is true the hon Leon raised the DA, which used to sit over there – four lonely members - to what they are today.

An HON MEMBER: Seven.

The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: They were seven! Were they? Oh, I didn’t see the other three. Sorry! He raised it to what it is today. But if you think about what his impact has been on this side of the House! We came in here in 1994 with 63%, we are now over 70%. Thank you very much, Tony Leon. Thank you. [Applause.]

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr K O Bapela): Order! That concludes the debate for today. Can members please sit. The President will reply tomorrow. The House adjourned at 18:36. ____

ANNOUNCEMENTS

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces

The Speaker and the Chairperson

1. Bill to be referred to Mediation Committee

   (1) Bill, as amended by National Council of Provinces, and rejected by National Assembly on 13 February 2007, to be referred to Mediation Committee in terms of Joint Rule 186 (2)(b):

    (a)   Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Amendment Bill
          [B 35D–2005] (National Assembly – sec 76)
   

National Assembly

The Speaker

1. Membership of Committees

   (1) The following changes have been made to the membership of Portfolio Committees:

    Finance
   
    Appointed: Marais, Mr S J F (Alt)
   
    Public Enterprises
   
   
    Appointed: Van Dyk, Dr S M
   
   
    Discharged: Stephens, Mr J J M
   

COMMITTEE REPORTS

National Assembly

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the request for approval of the Proposed exclusion of Portion 1 of Farm Mozib 279, the farm Drooge Veldt 292 and Portion 1 of the farm Than 280 from the Vaalbos National Park in terms of section 21(1)(a) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (No 57 of 2003), dated 13 February 2007: The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism, having considered the request for approval by Parliament of the Proposed exclusion of Portion 1 of Farm Mozib 279, the farm Drooge Veldt 292 and Portion 1 of the farm Than 280 from the Vaalbos National Park in terms of section 21(1)(a) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (No 57 of 2003), referred to it, recommends that the House, in terms of section 21(1)(a) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003, approves the said request.

Request to be considered.