Madam Deputy Speaker, the executive would agree with those hon members who have referred to the constitutional right of all South Africans to demonstrate and protest in a peaceful manner, and we believe it is the responsibility of both Parliament and the executive to uphold this right.
We do, however, agree with the expressions of concern at what we saw at the demonstration outside the Union Buildings by members of the SANDF last week, and I'm sure all hon members would agree that no person serving in the security services of our country should conduct themselves in that way. No one would support such conduct. Therefore it is vital that the Minister of Defence does indicate in very clear terms the expectations of our government and the people of our country with respect to the security services and their conduct in South Africa. They are charged both with upholding and respecting our Constitution and ensuring a safe environment for all in our country, and this is what Minister Sisulu is seeking to uphold in the steps that she has taken in the past few days.
With respect to the statement by the DA concerning expenditure on vehicles by members of the national executive, I think Cabinet has issued a statement in this regard and indicated, emanating both from the President and the entire Cabinet, that all of us must take steps to ensure that we spend national resources judiciously.
The statement also included an indication that no Minister had breached any of the rules related to the purchasing of official vehicles. [Interjections.] I think that is important. [Interjections.] No, no, no! And in fact this is something that the DA chooses to ignore, just as they wish to ignore the ANC's statement about the gender neglect of appointing competent women in the DA to the government of the Western Cape. [Applause.]
We would indeed say that we expect women to continue to express disquiet and concern at this apparent statement that there are no talented women in the provincial legislature who are representatives of the DA. This is a most worrying statement to be made by any person living in South Africa today, and we hope that the DA will follow the example of the ANC and ensure that women enjoy equal opportunity for positions of leadership in South Africa. [Applause.]
Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, we would certainly agree with the hon member of the UDM that more must be done to encourage our people to save. All of us, as members of Parliament, must do more to encourage saving and the reduction of debt, and to ensure that we have information programmes in our constituency offices so that the people of our country do understand how they can avoid getting themselves into a situation where they can no longer cope with debt.
We certainly will intensify the efforts of government at ensuring that we begin to provide solutions that address the absence of jobs for all our people, as my colleague Minister Nzimande has indicated. We will do this by addressing the matter of skills, but also by intensifying our action toward implementing our industrial development action plan, which seeks to build new industries and strengthen our productivity in terms of job creation and economic activity in areas currently neglected in the economy of South Africa. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.