Hon Speaker, hon members, malibongwe! [Interjections.] The antipoverty programme is a targeted intervention by government to fight poverty through the delivery of services to poor profiled households in identified wards, identifying change agents who can help those poor households move out of extreme poverty, and improving intergovernmental co-operation and co-ordination of service delivery. The programme has yielded many positive results countrywide, many of which I have mentioned in this House. These positive results are thanks to this intergovernmental co-ordination of service delivery and working with communities.
I would like to bring some examples to your attention. Following our visit to the Greater Taung Municipality in 2011, a joint, collaborative effort has been launched between the North-West provincial department of agriculture and rural development, the Agricultural Research Council and Haldor Topse, a private firm in Denmark involved in research, sales, technology and plant design as well as catalyst production, to position Taung Agricultural College as a centre of excellence in irrigation technology. In this way, it ensures that communities in Taung benefit and are able to produce food to improve their socioeconomic status.
On another visit to Lutshaya in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape last year and early this year, we were able to attract support from the private sector, particularly with regard to support in schools and the upgrading of the local clinic. As we speak, there is a commitment to continue with the renovation of infrastructure in that area.
Another example of a positive result I wish to bring to your attention is that of government, at all levels, working with the community of Zwide in the Eastern Cape province, in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. There, the youth is trained to build houses and they are, in fact, busy building houses. They are supervised by a private company. So, the replacement of shacks with brick and mortar houses is progressing fairly well in that area.
Of course, one of the lessons that are most inspiring is to see poor communities rallying to support each other. In Zwide we came across a 94- year-old man who is a double amputee, uTat'Disemba Dyafta, in Ward 25. He is confined to a wheelchair, but neighbours in the same street took up his plight with the local municipality and harangued the local councillor to ensure that his house, which was in a dilapidated state, was renovated. When we were there, people from Joshua Doore had also volunteered to upgrade the furniture inside that house. One of the young girls who had just passed Grade 12 last year and has not been able to study any further, due to a lack of resources, indicated to us that she takes responsibility for looking after this old man, providing meals and - because he is a diabetic -ensuring that ... [Time expired.]
Hon Speaker, I would first like to thank the Deputy President for his response. I think it is a satisfactory response, but I would like to check whether this programme, the War on Poverty campaign, is really making a difference, in particular to women out there in the communities. In addition, with this particular programme, can the Deputy President assure the nation that, if this campaign goes well, it will assist communities not to develop a dependency syndrome, but to become self- reliant? Thank you.
Speaker, hon members, tomorrow, as part of this programme, I am going on a visit to Gombane village in Limpopo. There is a house-building project there. In fact, they are involved in brick-making. This is a co-operative of women. They produce their own bricks. It empowers women to not only build their own houses but also to garner revenue, and so to improve and strengthen the local economy. So, indeed, these programmes do empower women - the one that I am going to tomorrow, specifically, is empowering women. Thank you.
Hon Speaker, the DA welcomes any and all efforts to alleviate the suffering of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens. However, we also know that the only way to eradicate poverty in our country is to create more and more job opportunities for more and more citizens. Yet, the Presidency's 2012 Development Indicators Report, which was released yesterday by the hon Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane, revealed that the number of discouraged job seekers in South Africa has increased by 1,139 million in the period since President Jacob Zuma assumed office in 2009. In addition, more than 68% of these discouraged job seekers are under the age of 35. It is clear that the War on Poverty campaign has not done enough to enable our poorer citizens and the youth, in particular, to enter the work force and uplift themselves from poverty.
Given these statistics, can the Deputy President tell this House what steps have been taken in the War on Poverty campaign to empower communities to find work and to enter the formal economy, and why these steps have not been effective? Thank you.
Hon Speaker, indeed, this programme is an intervention. It is not meant to and does not have the possibility of providing jobs to the rest of the population. That is why it targets the most economically depressed communities, to try and find change agents among those communities.
Otherwise, there are other programmes which, in terms of the creation of more permanent jobs - for instance, the infrastructure development programme - are aimed at increasing jobs. There is also a plan in the pipeline to develop the marine industry. That would also create more jobs. Of course, part of the infrastructure programme is aimed at building those catalytic rail lines that are so critical for unlocking even more opportunities in the Lephalale area, as well as the manganese and iron-ore areas in the Northern Cape, to link those to the sea ports of Saldanha Bay, Coega, Maputo and Richards Bay.
So, this programme should be looked at and assessed against that backdrop: There is a much bigger and more co-ordinated programme of creating more jobs as well as sustaining jobs that is in existence today. This, of course, also calls for much more and closer co-operation with the private sector. Government can only create so many jobs and that is why the parastatals also play a very important role in this regard.
Speaker, arising from his response, I would like to thank the Deputy President for highlighting these interventions and emphasising the need for job creation. The ACDP also believes that nongovernmental organisations play a critical role in the war on poverty in communities. We also know that without NGOs there would be even greater poverty, as they provide a range of statutory services for which they are partly subsidised by government, as you know. They also receive support from corporate and other donors.
However, Deputy President, many of the estimated 100 000 NGOs are facing severe financial difficulty due to increased demand and the decline in external donor funding. Would you not agree that government should consider reviewing their model for funding NGOs, or even consider greater tax deductions for donations to NGOs, as a further measure to assist communities in uplifting themselves in the war on poverty, given the very important role that NGOs play in communities and in fighting poverty?
Speaker, hon Swart, yes, NGOs play a very important role indeed and they deserve support. That is why, in our discussions with the private sector, we are always trying to link some of the companies with the NGOs, particularly those NGOs that are capable of providing services and particularly with regard to procurement of, for example, catering contracts for these major corporations. Of course, as someone who works very closely with the SA National Aids Council, I am aware that the reduction in external donations does affect NGOs that are playing a very, very critical role.
As government, we took the initiative to ensure that we assist these NGOs with systems of accounting. Government can only assist NGOs to the extent that those NGOs have the capacity to account for how the money is used. Most of them, in the past, were really not that efficient in terms of ensuring that they utilise resources to the optimum. So, indeed, I think there is value in assisting and giving support to NGOs, but, as I said, the condition is that if it is public funds, there has to be accountability as well. Thank you.
Speaker, hon Deputy President, it has been projected by the Department of Social Welfare that by 2015 almost 17 million South Africans will be on some form of social welfare. My question therefore is: When do you expect the developmental approach of the War on Poverty campaign to begin having an impact and reducing the number of people dependent on such grants? Do you have any projections in this regard?
Speaker, hon Ma'Zikalala, the fact that we have 15 million South Africans who receive one social grant or another is itself not sustainable. This is because we need to create jobs so that more people can be gainfully employed and also be in a position to contribute to the kitty - to the national coffers. If we have a situation where this number increases to 20 million and, at the same time, the pool of people who are gainfully employed and who are in business and therefore able to pay taxes decreases, it is not sustainable. It will lead to a financial breakdown and will push our country towards a financial crisis. So, that is why we are, on an ongoing basis, engaged in efforts to attract foreign direct investment, so that we can create even more jobs, to reduce the number of people who are dependent on social grants.
Other projects can play a role, too. For instance, if we were to succeed in rolling out solar power in many of the poor households, that would go a long way in reducing their costs in electricity bills. It would also create the possibility that they could be earning income out of excess power that they generate from private power producers, once the grid is configured to upload from households. I would imagine that in provinces where they have sufficient sunshine, such as the Northern Cape, many of the people could be provided with solar power as an alternative, so that those of them ... [Time expired.]
Details of South Africa's current oil supply security
10. Mr N Singh (IFP) asked the Deputy President:
What are the details of South Africa's current oil supply security, with particular reference to our mooted continental supply from Ghana?