Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Ministers and hon members, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, and I quote:
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
It is therefore crystal clear that nothing can defeat us as long as we demonstrate the will, the desire, the purpose and the passion to overcome the challenges that continue to face our people on a daily basis.
Some of our people, 20 years into democracy, still live under conditions of squalor, degradation and dehumanisation. There are many of us, among us and around us, who have still not tasted the fruits of democracy, despite the strides that have been made to ensure that we take part in democracy.
Among the tenets of this department are the creation of conditions conducive to job creation and the delivery of basic services. We need the willpower, the passion, the zeal, the skill and the expertise to bring about just that. However, we need to fill certain key, strategic positions and posts in the department or else the lack to do so will compromise service delivery. I am talking about key strategic posts like procurement and supply chain management, and the positions of CFOs, especially in municipalities.
One takes cognisance of the fact that there is going to be an increase of 22,8% in the Community Work Programme. This programme plays a pivotal role in our communities, where it is mostly our women and youth who really need employment.
There should have been a more comprehensive explanation of why irregular expenditure of R276 million was incurred in the previous year. I say this because we all have a reason to build South Africa up and to ensure that we take South Africa forward, and the department has to ensure that we strive towards receiving clean audits.
Having said that, it is with regret that we note a reduction of 2% in the municipal infrastructure grant funding. We must also say we do acknowledge that that reduction was caused by reprioritisation towards bulk water. However, underspending in MIG funding is not acceptable. I therefore think that there is every reason for us to empower the managers with the skills that are needed to ensure that there is no underspending. I also believe that the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent will have to play the role of ensuring that managers are well trained in order to ensure that there is no underspending.
I conclude by saying that corruption must be dealt with once and for all. Hon Minister, you need to crack the whip on that.
Sikubongela kakhulu ukuthi likhona iqhaza abaholi bomdabu abalidlalayo ukuze bathuthukise uhulumeni wethu. Sicela ukuthi njalo uhulumeni aqhubeke aqinise amandla abaholi bomdabu, imihlomulo yabo nezindawo zabo zokusebenza ukuze bakwazi ukuhambisa intuthuko. Sidabuka kakhulu ngokufa kwabafana beyosoka; sethemba uhulumeni uzoqhubeka asebenzisane noMnyango wezeMpilo ukuze kungafi muntu, nesiko lesintu liqhubekele phambili, sithuthuke njengesizwe. Siyabonga Isilo samabandla onke, Isilo sikaZulu ngokusebenzisana noMnyango wezeMpilo ukuze leli siko libe sezingeni elilifanele. Ngiyabonga Sihlalo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We appreciate the fact that our traditional leaders play a role in helping our government with the improvement of service delivery. We plead with the government to continue empowering our traditional leaders by giving them better incentives and improving the environment in which they operate in order to enable them to promote development in their communities.
We are so sorry about the death of boys in initiation schools. We hope that the government will continue working with the Department of Health in order to prevent the deaths and to promote this cultural practice of circumcision so that the nation can move forward. We are grateful to the Zulu King for working with the Department of Health in order to ensure that this cultural practice is performed in a safe manner. Thank you, Chairperson.]