The first item on the Order Paper is questions addressed to the Deputy President. May I also repeat that members may press the "to talk" button on their desks if they wish to ask a supplementary question. The first supplementary question will go to the person who asked the initial question, and thereafter we will have three other questions. The first three that appear on my list are the ones that are going to get a green light from me. The first question has been asked by the hon M B Skosana.
Hon Speaker, hon members, the three Zimbabwean political parties that comprise the inclusive government are bound by the Global Political Agreement to lead the country in a constitution-making process which, as we speak, is under way. The draft constitution will be subjected to a referendum leading to the elections.
Meanwhile, the parties have agreed to a set of measures which were negotiated among the three parties. Those measures include commissions on human rights, elections, media, land audit, anticorruption and Constitutional Amendment No 19, which gave rise to the inclusive government. These are instruments that are designed to level the political playing field. The reforms that the hon member refers to are part of the process that is already unfolding in Zimbabwe today. As South Africa we appreciate these developments which must lead to a free and fair election whose outcome will be credible and, hopefully, accepted by all parties participating in those elections. Thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and Deputy President for the answer. In fact, my question was, to a large degree, very rhetorical. The group which insisted on this issue was the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, the one led by Prof Mutambara. I'm saying it's rhetorical because I think the Deputy President will remember that even among the powerful nations that have strong regional and global influence - that would include the United States, Russia, China, India, etc - there are those who believe in a democracy-peace proposition, which means they insist on elections before peace. And there are those who believe in the peace- democracy proposition, which means they believe that there must be stability before there can be elections.
I know that South Africa is caught up within that type of paradigm.
Hon member, your one minute is up and that was not a supplementary question; it was a supplementary statement.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Deputy President, you may wish to respond.
Hon Speaker, I think I agree with the hon member's line of analysis. Thank you.
On my screen I have the following: the hon Mokgalapa, followed by the hon Ngonyama, and the last question will go to the hon C Dudley, in that order.
Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon Deputy President, in view of government's silence on the SADC Tribunal contravention by the Zimbabwean government, the question is: In what ways does the government regard Zimbabwe's contravention of a 2008 SADC Tribunal ruling concerning the country's land reform programme as having undermined the progress of political, social and economic reforms in Zimbabwe? Thank you.
Hon Mokgalapa, recently, SADC leaders met in Namibia and they - among other things - agreed to give themselves a period of six months in which to review and address the standoff between the government of Zimbabwe and the regional tribunal. So we hope that, within these six months, an amicable solution will be found to these problems. Thank you.
Hon Speaker, recognising that perception in politics is everything, can the Deputy President explain to this House how it is possible for the ANC-led government to be regarded as an impartial and honest broker when structures of the ANC are publicly pronouncing support for Zanu-PF? I thank you.
Thank you very much, hon Ngonyama. The role that South Africa plays as an honest broker and facilitator of the dialogue in Zimbabwe is one that is not at party-political level, but at government level. So, the government of South Africa is regarded as neutral because it relates to all parties in Zimbabwe. What NGOs do in their party-to-party relations has no impact on how the South African government is regarded. Thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon Deputy President, does government agree with Zanu-PF's assessment of the reason for economic failure and the stumbling block to reforms in Zimbabwe as being due to the shopping sanctions which have been externally placed on the elite? If so, how does government see the lifting of those sanctions benefiting the people of Zimbabwe and bringing reform? If not, what is government's view with regard to this matter? Thank you.
Thank you, hon Dudley. The government's view is that the problems of Zimbabwe cannot be solely attributed to the tastes of Ministers in Zimbabwe. However, the smart sanctions, so-called, affect free flow of capital and goods into Zimbabwe. It is really the view of the government that the process of dialogue in Zimbabwe - which is all- inclusive of all parties, including the MDC in its two forms - has called for these sanctions to be lifted precisely because we think Zimbabwe is on the right path towards recovery. We think that these sanctions retard progress that would otherwise be achieved so that the situation in Zimbabwe normalises or is normalised as soon as possible. That's the view of our government and that is why, together with SADC and the African union, AU, we have called upon the European Union, the United Kingdom, UK, as well as the US to reconsider their position regarding these smart sanctions. Thank you.
Investigation into, and steps taken to help, growing number of poor white people
6. Dr C P Mulder (FF Plus) asked the Deputy President:
Whether the Government, in its war on poverty, has (a) launched any investigation into and (b) taken any steps to help the growing number of poor white people; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?