Viva hon comrade Carrim! Viva! [Interjections.] I think hon Carrim did a lot of the
things that I was going to do today, so; you gave me the good opportunity to just focus on what I came here for. Hon Speaker, hon President and Deputy President, Members of Parliament ...
IsiZulu:
... Bantu bakithi emakhaya, bantu baseNhlazatshe, nansi ingane yenu ime phambi kwePhalamende namhlanje. Imisebenzi yenu yokuyifundisa ayiwelanga phansi. Ngicela abazali, ogogo nomkhulu, obaba nomama, o-anti nomalume ukuthi benze konke okusemandleni abo ukuthi bafundise izingane zabo, ukuze nazo ngelinye ilanga zibe nethuba lokuma la ngime khona.
Kungani ngisho njalo? Ngicela ukuthi imali kaHulumeni, izinhlelo zikaHulumeni eziphuma kuMnyango Wezokuthuthukiswa Komphakathi kufanele zisejenziswe kahle. Kubekhona ilungu elibuze ukuthi, bazofundiswa ngani? Ngathi liyakhohlwa ilungu ukuthi loHulumeni we-ANC uyayikhipha imali yokufundisa izingane. Ngisekuwona loHulumeni ka-ANC, ngifuna ukunitshela ukuthi bengilalele umsakazo ngelinye ilanga kukhuluma enye ingane encane ithi ithole umsebenzi eKapa. Ithi yona yafundiswa ngugogo nomkhulu wayo ngemali yesibonelelo senhlalakahle. Okumqoka akushilo,
uthe, "manje sengzonikeza ugogo nomkhulu ithuba lokuthi ngibancede ngoba mina sengithole umsebenzi."
Kusho ukuthi yona lengane le ayizicabangeli yona yodwa, icabanga nokuthi kufuneka isize ugogo nomkhulu ukuthi bafundise abanye. Ngisho ngoba ngiyazi ukuthi abaningi bethu kuleNdlu ehloniphekileyo bazimisele ngokuthuthukisa izimpilo zabantu baseNingizimu Afrika. Kungakho nje i-state of the nation address, Sona kaMongameli ikhulume nge-7 point plan efuna ukuthi sonke sibambisane ukuze iNingizimu Afrika ithuthuke. Lo msebenzi sawuqala kudala siyi-ANC nabantu baseNingizimu Afrika. Namhlanje mhlonishwa Mongameli, ngifuna ukusho ukuthi, ngime-nje la kukhona izinto ezintathu ezingijabulisayo. Okokuqala, i-ANC inqobe ukhetho. Yingakho namhlanje silana ... [Ihlombe.] yingakho nawe unikezwe leli gunya lokuthi ube nabantu ososebenzisana nabo, nami ngingomunye walabo obakhethile. Okwesibili Mnu Mongameli, ngifuna ukusho la eNdlini namhlanje,ngoba ngime la, laphaya phezulu kwigalari kuhleli intombazane yami, intokazi yami uPhindile Zulu. Laphaya phezulu kwigalari kuhleli abazukulu bami ababili uQhawe noNobuhle.
Ngifuna ukusho-ke Mnu Mongameli ukuthi labantwana abahleli laphaya bahleli ngoba ugogo wami nomkhulu wami bangifundisa, ngahamba ngaya enyuvesi ngaqeda. Yingakho ngithi leyamali yesibonelelo senhlalakahle kufuneka abantu bayisebenzise kahle ngoba owami ugogo nomkhulu babengenawo uHulumeni ababengaya kuwo. Ugogo wami nomkhuli babesebenza laphaya eGoli. Umkhulu uze washona ephuma ehostela Mongameli, ukhishwe yithi umkhulu ehostela.
English:
For over 50 years he struggled, working in Johannesburg, living from one to the other.
IsiZulu:
Ngakhoke labantu-ke abacabanga ukuthi namhlanje bafuna ukusitshela ukuthi ayikho into enhle eyenzekile, ngicela babheka laba bantwana abalaphaya kwi- galari. Balaphaya kwigalari ngoba mina ugogo nomkhulu bangifundisa. I-ANC yangisa esikoleni, ngaqeda, namhlanje ngineziqu ze-Master's ngoba i-ANC yakwenza lokho kubelula. [Ihlombe.] Yingakho futhi ngithi omama nogogo nomkhulu no-anti ngiyacela ukuthi, ngiyazi ukuthi lemali
yesibonelelo incane kodwa ngiyazi ukuthi bayakwazi Mnu Mongameliukuyisebenzisa. Enye into, eyesithathu engijabulisayo namhlanje, Mnu Mongameli, ukuthi ngithe uma ngibheka laphaya ezinkundleni zokuxhumana ngahlangana nomunye obekade ethola iziqu zakhe namhlanye kwinyuvesi efanayo naleya engathola ezami iziqu ngo-1987.
English:
She was graduating from a university in Moscow - and here is the difference - when I graduated there Mr President; I had to borrow a dress for the graduation day. She did not have to do that, somebody from here was there to see her graduate. Me, on my graduation day, I had to borrow a dress, shoes and all I had was that blue sash that showed that I had completed my task, that I had passed and that I had done everything. Nobody must come today and tell us that nothing has happened in South Africa. If you do not know what we have gone through, what we have been through, then you can stand up here and talk as if nothing has changed in South Africa.
IsiZulu:
Thina-ke Mongameli asipheleli nje ngokukhuluma ngoba bayathanda ukukhulumela safuthi ngapha. Abantu ngaphandle kwaleNdlu bakuzwa uma uthi Thuma Mina. Bakuzwile futhi uma uthi Khawuleza. Siyathumeka thina futhi sizokhawuleza.
English:
In the words of ...
IsiZulu:
... uBaba umhlonishwa uShenge [Buthelezi] namhlanje, okhulume ekuseni, uthe ...
English:
... it is about, "the nuts and bolts."
IsiZulu:
Ngifuna ukusho kuyena ukuthi, siyabonga.
English:
The nuts and the bolts are going to be delivered, right here in this House. We are here as the soldiers of our people, carrying
the whole of our people. Mr President, the ANC gave you the mandate to select your team that can take your dream, the dream of our people forward.
IsiZulu:
Ngoba-ke Mnu Mongameli ulande u-Ben Okri kuleNdlu ehloniphekile
...
Setswana:
... le nna ke tsere t?hwetso ya gore ke batla go mo tlisa mo Ben Okri ...
English:
... and what he further says in response to the people who do not see where the country is going. This is what he says, and I quote:
The Exhausted are those who have come to the end of their powers of imagination, who have limited their possibilities, who have thought themselves into the dead ends, that they call the highest points of their
civilisations. Those who are exhausted have lost the greater picture, the greater perspective; they are trapped in their own labyrinths, their lovelessness selfishness. For those with limited dreams there is chaos to come disintegration, nightmares.
He further, Mr President, says, "The exhausted should therefore clear the stage for new dreamers for warriors of love, justice and enlightenment."
IsiZulu:
Ngicela basuke endleleni yethu.
English:
That is what I am saying. [Interjections.] It is for this purpose - Mr President - that I stand here responding to your clarion call, and from the social development perspective, I will outline - not only today but also during the Budget - what our focus will be. The National Development Plan, NDP, accords a central role to social protection in tackling the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. It also
strongly advocates for a minimum level of social protection floor, below which no one should fall. These include fighting child and adult poverty through the social assistance programme and a minimum income guarantee for the most vulnerable in our country.
In this regard, we will work jointly with Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency to finalise our work on the national definition of social protection floor as well as the comprehensive social security reform process. We will, therefore, work together across all spheres of government and with social partners to break away from the silo approach, this has been one of our biggest challenges in government but we are aware that is what we need to do. I do want to say, when they speak about economic development, human settlement, health, social development, all those, they have a greater impact on social development and I would like to say, social development must not only be seen through the eyes of the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, social grants, it must be seen for what it is. Social development is about the development of every individual
in our society, each and everyone to see the value in themselves, their communities and in the future of South Africa.
So I call upon all my counterparts to work with me here and make sure that social development, we turn it into what it is. We will continue working with civil society organisations to support prevention and early intervention services, with special focus on parenting programmes and community action programmes. Keeping in mind that we are a developmental state - which must never be forgotten - the ANC-led government introduced a social assistance programme which 25 years down the line ensured that over 17 million poor and vulnerable South Africans receive social grants. This means the government spends more than R13 billion towards social assistance. Our long-term goal is to create a nation that is self-sustainable and contribute to socioeconomic development. Mr President, I do want to say that, working together with the Minister of Small Business Development, we need to make sure that those that have the capacity and capability of coming out of social grants and standing on their own two feet and making that money to work for
them because some people think, as black people we enjoy just standing here and ...
IsiZulu:
... sikhongozele.
ILUNGU ELIHLONIPHEKILE: Obani labo?
English:
It is not true. As black people, we have always been proud of ourselves. We have always provided for our families and all. It is just that we were disrupted by a system which made my grandparents hewers of wood and drawers of water. Hon Speaker, as a government we are obliged to address the scourge of social ills confronting our communities across our country. These include the intersection between the unacceptably high levels of alcohol and substance abuse, gender-based violence and femicide, as well as rising HIV infections, particularly among young women, and the relatively low numbers of men testing for HIV and actually starting treatment. To this end the department has partnered with the SA
National Aids Council, Sanac, and the Men's Sector for the implementation of Goal 4 of the National Strategic Plan for HIV, Tuberculosis, TB and sexually transmitted infections, STIs. We are currently rolling out the boys and Men and Championing Change programme. And this we believe, Mr President, working together, both men and women, it is our responsibility and not the responsibility of women to negotiate around these issues.
Working together with provinces, municipalities and social partners, the mobilisation of both men and boys in the fight against HIV and Aids and gender-based violence seeks to lay a solid foundation to transform existing gender imbalances. We will work with communities and the National House of Traditional Leaders to confront harmful cultural practices, norms and values that make young girls and boys as well as women, more vulnerable to gender-based violence. Almost every hon member in this House has witnessed the horrors of drug addiction, whether it is through the struggle of one of our own family member or through the struggle of a friend, a colleague or a neighbour's child. It might take us many years or even decades to bring this scourge under control, but we must start in earnest in the coming
months, working together with the police as well as the justice system. To this end, we will table the National Drug Master Plan to Cabinet in this financial year, with priority given to strengthening the Central Drug Authority's capacity to carry out its work. Our efforts to confront this scourge include making treatment and rehabilitation available to help our young people.
Mr President, as you pointed out during the Sona, we need a new social compact if we are to achieve a South Africa we want and I also do want to say that, in the building of that new South Africa that we are talking about we should not just be thinking of the houses, the workplace, we should also think about the South African who has to inhabit that South Africa, so I put together the South Africa we want but also the South African we want to live in it.
On a related matter, we have also successfully concluded provincial dialogues in all provinces as part of the build-up activities towards the Presidential Social Sector Summit to be held later this year. Our social transformation agenda, which is part of the overall vision of a South Africa we want, has been
delivering positive and encouraging results for our people. We must continue to build on this by remaining a nation and a people committed to ideals of human rights and human dignity as espoused in the Freedom Charter and concretised in our Constitution. These are the values of which we must never lose sight as we deliver on our new mandate. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Afrikaans:
Speaker, die President, lede, Suid-Afrikaners, laat my toe om ons mense te herinner van 'n bekende gesegde wat lei: Die lewe is 'n droom, maar om te droom is geen lewe nie. Dit was deur Constantijn Huygens geskryf. President, jou regering moet drome waar laat word. Jy kan nie saam droom nie. Daar is mense wat wag vir jou om hul drome waar te laat word. [Applous.]
Dienslewering in plaaslike en provinsiale regerings is waar die meeste mense se drome waar gemaak moet word. Dit is die drome oor 'n veilige omgewing, skoon water in hul huise,
kragvoorsiening wat bekostigbaar en stabiel is, en amptenare wat eerlik, betroubaar en hardwerkend is.
Terwyl die President droom, gaan al meer mense ongelukkig gebuk onder 'n voortdurende toename in swak dienslewering en korrupsie op plaaslike regeringsvlak.
Terwyl die President droom, word mense se drome verpletter as gevolg van korrupsie en politici wat daar is om hul eie situasies te verbeter, hulself te verryk en die mense swak te dien. Dit is die toestand waarin ons land is huidiglik is.
Wat vir die President 'n wonderlike droom is, is vir die mense van Suid- Afrika daar buite 'n aaklige nagmerrie. Hulle droom vanaf 1994 en is nou moeg van droom. Hulle wil aksie sien en nie mense wat saam hulle droom, wie eintlik die werk moet doen nie. [Applous.] Die mense voel dat, na 25 jaar, kan ons nie meer droom van basiese dienste wat jare gelede alreeds moes gebeur het nie. Ons kan nie aanhou glo nie. Iemand het my die naweek ges dat ...
English:
Someone told me this weekend that the President reminds him of Vuyo and his "wors" [sausage] idea - a big, big dreamer.
One of the most progressive ways to root out corruption in local government is by conducting lifestyle audits to test whether politicians and officials in this sphere of government live according to their income. The President made promises of starting the process of conducting lifestyle audits in 2018 already. There is still nothing. We are still waiting. While the President is dreaming about this, the looting continues.
Today, I am proud to announce to South Africans that in the very progressive and transparent DA-run Western Cape Government, MECs under the leadership of the capable premier, Alan Winde, already agreed to undergo lifestyle audits at the start and end of their tenure in public office. [Applause.] These are political office bearers that understand that they are there to serve the people and not fill their own pockets with the people's money like most of these ANC politicians do.
President, you also mentioned the issue of drug abuse in our country. I commend you for doing that or rather I love the dreaming about the solution for drug abuse in our country, but let me give you a rude awakening on that. Our borders are pourers. Drugs and other illicit goods get smuggled in and out of our country on a daily basis. We cannot stop the scourge of drug abuse in our communities, if this government cannot secure our borders, and don't allow drugs to come in our country on a daily basis. You are responsible for the drugs in our country. You are responsible for that.
Mr President, you failed to mention how the people in informal settlements and rural areas will be provided with greater access to clean running water in their homes. There are people that are still using bucket toilets in South Africa, this while the President boldly announced a bullet train and a dream city. It is only for the elite sitting there. Your friends and families will stay in that dream city because that is what you want - better quality for you and you forget about the people out there that are struggling. [Applause.]
This flies in the face of people who have been waiting for years to get a home. This flies in the face of the people of Alexandra who are still waiting for the promised renewal of their township where billions of rands were squandered by corrupt ANC politicians in local government and that province specifically. Just like Zuma and Ace Magashule now, those officials are calling press statements to hide the truth. Theydont want to come up with the truth, but I can gladly tell you that I commend Mayor Mashaba. You will commend out with the truth and you are all going to jail. The people of Alexandra will get what they deserve.
Hon Speaker, on a point of order:
English:
... who is not in the House to protect himself.
Hon member, I am going to let it go. The Rules, your powers and immunities cover members who are here and they do not preclude people to be mentioned. Let us listen to what he
says and it is then up to members in their debate to take that up.
Afrikaans:
Die rede waarom die DA-beheerde Wes-Kaapse regering die laagste werkloosheid syfer in Suid-Afrika het met 14 persentasie punte laer as die nasionale syfer, waar die helfte van werke wat in Suid-Afrika geskep is tussen kwartaal 3 van 2017en 2018, waarom 82% van die 2018 Wes-Kaapse begroting bestee is aan dienste vir die armes, waarom 91,5% van huishoudings 30 minute van die naaste gesongheidsorg fasiliteit woon, is omdat DA-regerings verstaan dat die mense se geld op die mense bestee moet word en nie op hulself, soos hierdie ANC- lede nie.
Die redes is dat openbare verteenwoordigers van die DA voorstaanders van deursigtigheid is en daarom stem hulle in om leefstyl oudits te ondergaan.
English:
Can you do lifestyle audits on yourself?
There is a reason why, despite a depressed economic and governance environment, DA-led governments are always a step ahead. There is a reason why 99% of Western Cape residents have access to piped water, 97% have access to electricity and 98% to waste removal.
There is a reason why people in the Western Cape can expect to live longer. There is a reason why this province, run by the DA, boasts with a 72% success rate of all land reform projects. There is a reason. What are the reasons for this? South Africans, the reason is that, in the DA, we don't just dream; we make dreams come true. [Applause.]
Speaker, another reason why we do so good is that we are proudly led by a united team with an impressive, young, energetic, knowledgeable, decisive, and incorruptible, dynamic, hands-on leader, Mmusi Maimane. Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, Deputy Speaker, His Excellency President Ramaphosa, Deputy President D D Mabuza, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members and ...
isiZulu:
Bahlali baseNingizimu, Sanibonani.
English:
Hon Speaker, the ideal of creating a national democratic society can only be realised through the efforts aimed at undoing patriarchal relations of power in the same way we give efforts to eradicating racial oppression and class super exploitation. Our Constitution profoundly identifies nonsexism and nonracialism as its foundational values. The inclusion of the term 'nonsexism' was not an accident of birth, but was born out of a collective dream towards realising a democratic society that is free not just from racial oppression, but equally free from gender inequalities and discrimination.
Hon Speaker, during a series of lectures presented in universities across the country in the centenary year of Oliver Tambo's birth, former Justice, Albie Sachs, gives a reflection on a workshop held by the ANC in 1988 in Lusaka which was meant to present the constitutional guidelines which would form the basis for the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Speaking on behalf of the women who attended the workshop, our fallen stalwart, the late Mme Ruth Mompati, made the following remarks, and I quote:
I see in the introduction we speak of three hundred years of colonialism and racism. But we say nothing about a millennium of male domination. And what about the sexism we encounter in our daily lives today inside the organisation? It's not just inequality in structures that we are talking about. It's the culture, the values and the things people just take for granted in their daily lives that are keeping us back.
The dream of realising a world that would not only denounce racial domination but equally put in efforts to undo male domination was beginning to take form. Dreams act as a compass to choose a path among many options. They shape our choices and ultimately link to a purpose in life. This dream formed as a basis for our progressive Constitution that is recognized worldwide. Hon Speaker, ultimately the text of the constitutional guidelines was changed to speak not only of 300
years of racial domination, but served as a benchmark which denounced a millennium of male domination.
Gender-based violence is a profound and widespread problem in South Africa impacting on almost every aspect of life. It is systemic and deeply entrenched in institutions, cultures and traditions. While government's posture towards gender-based violence has been a commitment towards primary prevention through awareness creation, community engagements and holding perpetrators accountable, we must emphasize that there is no single factor alone that is a direct cause of gender-based violence. It is caused by a combination of drivers operating at different levels of the social ecology, which is why the approach to gender-based violence cannot be one dimensional. It affects society as a whole and as such, requires collective efforts from all sectors of society. This stance recognises the complexity of gender-based violence and highlights its deep rooted nature in relation to the history and socioeconomic realities of South Africa.
In this regard, through legislative reforms, specific programmes and to an extent, public private partnerships, the ANC-led government has continuously prioritised the improvement of women access to justice and economic opportunities.
During our elections campaign trail, the ANC made a commitment to our electorate towards prioritising gender mainstreaming across all sectors of society. The most important being that of building safer communities and safer lives. We committed to equip police and courts to support survivors of gender-based violence. In keeping with this commitment, President Cyril Ramaphosa, on Thursday night delivered his second state of the nation address and noted that ending gender-based violence is an urgent national priority that requires the mobilisation of all South Africans and the involvement of all institutions. Work is already underway in the Presidency as an indication of the serious nature of this scourge and reflecting government's commitment to tackle it.
In November 2018, a Declaration of the Presidential Summit Against Gender- Based Violence, GBV, and Femicide was held where
the President sat down with civil society organisations to chart priorities to end gender-based violence. The summit was part of the 25 demands handed to the Office of the Presidency by the #TotalShutDown movement on O1 August 2018. The Presidential Summit Against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Declaration was later launched on 29 March 2019 at the Booysen's Sexual Offences Court in response to Article 9 of the Presidential Summit Declaration. On this day, the President signed the summit declaration together with key civil society organisations. This declaration is historic in the sense that it was the very first to be concluded on gender-based violence and femicide and between government and civil society.
It must be stated that while the life sentences imposed at the Sexual Offences Courts on cases received from the Thuthuzela Care Centres increased by 36,5% in the 2017 financial year, we are not blind to the realities that survivors of gender-based violence face through secondary victimisation. The retraumatisation of the sexual assault, abuse or rape victims reproduces itself through victim blaming, inappropriate behaviour or language by medical personnel and police officials
who handle such sensitive cases. We thus implore the Minister of Police to take on the plea of women across the country and racial spectrum to ensure that when survivors report these atrocious crimes that they are handled with compassion and sensitivity from police officials.
This scary and sad reality is emphasised by Prof Pumla Gqola in her book entitled; Rape, A South African Nightmare. Professor Gqola writes about The Female Fear Factory and states that, and I quote:
The manufacture of female fear is concerned with regulating women's movement, sexuality and behaviour. If women fear that they will be punished for being raped and for speaking about it, and they see evidence of this repeatedly in how other women who survive are treated, it makes sense that although many go for counselling, they may choose not to report it to the police.
Hon President, we encourage that all incoming portfolio committees in this sixth Parliament, exercise their oversight
mandate without fear or favour in ensuring that gender mainstreaming becomes a reality through the sufficient allocation of adequate resources. Arising from the seven key priorities mentioned by the President, gender mainstreaming should be included and prioritised in the planning of programmes of each department and SOEs, state-owned enterprises.
In conclusion, in echoing the sentiments of President Ramaphosa, let me equally make a clarion call on all South Africans to become champions of the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. A dream is an invitation to do something. As such, the ANC invites society at large, political parties across the House and civil society to be part of this dream. I thank you. [Time expired.]
isiZulu:
Mongameli, thuma thina sonke.
Xitsonga:
Manana Xipikara, xosungula ndzi rhandza ku xeweta Maafrika-Dzonga hinkwavo eka tindhawu to hambanahambana
laha mi nga kona. A ndzi rivali ku xeweta presidente wa mundzuku wa tiko ra hina ra Afrika-Dzonga, "commander-in-chief, CIC" [murhangeri wa vuthu] Sello Julius Malema.
English:
The EFF's founding manifesto cardinal pillar number three says that, we must build state and government capacity which will lead to the abolishment of tenders. Since the formation of the EFF in 2013 and when we came here in Parliament in 2014, we made the call for the state capacity because we know that economic transformation requires a strong people- centered state that has the ability to develop a clear strategic vision and deliver services. We made this call because we know that the private sector interest is to make profit at all cost including the lives of our people, like what we saw with Life Esidimeni.
Today, we are sitting with a backlog of 1000 special schools, a backlog of over 300 000 kilometers of roads that needs to be paved, we have more than 3,9 million people waiting for houses and the number of informal dwellings have now increased by over
2,1 million. We have more than 54% of households without running water inside the houses. Mr President ...
Xitsonga:
... vanhu va Giyani va ndzi rhumile. Va ri va karhele ku nwa mati na swiharhi.
English:
Water and sanitation pipeline backlog are over 400 kilometers. The current level of infrastructure backlog is a clear indication that the state has collapsed, incapable to deliver services and undermine any effort to improve the lives of our people. Instead, billions are wasted through tendering processes which we know has collapsed and it is used to steal money.
Mr President, why do we outsource security guards, cleaners, drivers and general workers? Why do we go on tender to buy toilet papers, stationary and other things which we can go and buy straight from black-owned manufactures? Why must hospitals buy food when there are kitchens in hospitals with workers? Why must government outsource the repairing of ambulances and wait
years for one ambulance to be fixed when government can open its own workshops and hire its own mechanics? [Applause.]
It is because of this sad reality that we welcome the recent announcements by the new premier of the Northern Cape on his commitment to increase state capacity, as this is in line with EFF policies and we will not be surprised when the rest of the government adopts this approach. We also want to warn the new premier that in his attempts at increasing state capacity he will be challenged at every turn by those only interested in the politics of the stomach.
The reality is that the tender system has been used as a means for self- enrichment for those in government and those connected to the ruling party. That is why we must do away with it and increase state capacity. Throughout the world there are examples of how this can be done and there is no better example than China.
In China the state provides services and uses the state as the driving force for economic development. As a result, the Chinese
have been able to lift 800 million people out of poverty in a 40-year period according the World Bank's own data. That is 20 million people lifted out of poverty a year. This has never been done in the history of the world and was because of the role played by the state. Increasing state capacity will not only improve service delivery and standards of living, but it will also create millions of jobs.
If government is to build 3,9 million homes, tar roads and build schools, state companies are needed. Under an EFF government there will be a state construction company, a state cement company and many other states companies whose sole mandate will be to deliver services. These companies will be able to employ millions of South Africans in quality jobs that will provide benefits. An EFF government will also increase exist capacity, will employ more doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, plumbers and electricians, all of which are needed if we are to provide quality services to our people.
However, sadly, the ANC government remains committed to its embrace of neoliberalism and greed of profit over the people.
Only an EFF government can truly improve the state of our nation and one of the ways we will do this is by increasing the state capacity. Mr President ...
Xitsonga:
... pfukani emilorhweni, mi tirhisa phuphu ya vunkombo, leyi yi nga ta pfuxa tiko ra Afrika-Dzonga. Ndza khensa.
The hon Speaker Mme Modise, hon President Ramaphosa, hon Deputy President Mabuza, fellow Cabinet colleagues, Deputy Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen and fellow South Africans, the President has made a bold declaration of his vision for a future health system as a clear instruction to the sixth administration, which I stand here to commit to and want to quote to what the President said: Putting in place a quality national health care system that ensures all South Africans have access to quality health care, based on need and not on the ability to pay, promoting social solidarity and working towards a cross-subsidisation of services, contributing to the collective health and wellbeing of one another, ensuring that resources are well managed and efficiently deployed.
The President has highlighted the challenges experienced by our people as they approach the health services such as staff shortages, shortage of medication, inadequate infrastructure, the raging burden of noncommunicable and communicable diseases. He has offered the clearest instructions on what needs to be implemented to correct the health services. I rise here to pledge that the entire health sector, both on the public and the private sector stand ready to respond to the President's injunction.
Both private and public sector have responded positively with huge enthusiasm to the fundamental reorganisation of the health services.
All the issues tabled by the President are a reflection of the issues raised with the President, whilst moving from house to house seeking a mandate and his visits to various institutions and hence constitute the undertaking to the sixth administration to deliver health care as a human right and not as a privilege.
Despite our post1994 democratic breakthrough and the multiple efforts that were aimed at improving access to health care services especially for the vulnerable, the South African health system has stubbornly remained two- tiered, fragmented and inequitable and consisting of the public and the private health sectors.
From a funding perspective, the private sector has grown from being a complementary service provider in the 1960s to now being a significant source of health care funding and expenditure. On the other hand, the public health care sector which is the backbone of delivery for the majority of the population, whilst achieving major strides in tackling South Africa's quadruple burden of deceases such as consisting of HIV/Aids, TB, maternal and child mortality, noncommunicable diseases, injuries and violence, now faces many challenges mostly related to the inadequate funding, poor quality, and inequitable access to health services.
In his state of the nation address the President noted that we as a country must reach the 90-90-90 targets for HIV epidemic
control. This means 90% of all HIV positive persons must be diagnosed, and that they must be provided with treatment and 90% of those must have the virus suppressed. We have shown that it can be done. In fact hon members, with the support of communities, we can reach the 90-90-90 targets. There has just been a study report which is released by the Doctors Without Borders in Eshowe, where they have shown increase on testing from 76% in 2013, to 90% in 2018 and also an increase in viral suppression from 93% to 94%. So, this in effect means that the 90-90-90 targets have therefore being reached well before the December 2020 deadline.
Mr President, you have given us quite an intense and immense task, but we are determined to achieve these targets. We want to plead to the members of this House that we need to work together for this task requires all South Africans working together.
As noted by the President, we are working hard to ensure that we initiate an additional 2 million antiretroviral treatment by December 2020. We still need to do more by initiating treatment
of these affected and infected individuals. To achieve this, we need to work with partners and communities at all levels.
Available evidence indicates that adolescent health and young women require special attention as they are most affected. Men and boys also, have to be given attention. They should not be left behind. No one should be left behind. We will also work with men's civil society leaders, developmental partners, political leaders, business and labour to facilitate provision of health services targeting men and boys from all walks of life and encouraging them to be tested and put on treatment.
We will be working with SA National Aids Council, Sanac, led by the Deputy President and its men's sector for the successful initiatives to promote testing amongst men and boys and also improving access to care.
So, we want to ask the members of this House to work with us in this particular campaign and I want to note that the hon Buthelezi has been very consistent on this, in that regard; I think all of us need to emulate and join him in this fight.
I also wish to inform this House of the state of this epidemic that we have estimated 7,4 million people living with the virus. At the end of March this year, about 4,6 million people are on antiretroviral treatment. Now this is also an important issue, because it estimates that we also apart from that we have another 300 000 who are on the private sector. Of course, the government in the past few years has achieved quite a lot in putting many people on antiretroviral treatment and achieved what we could call an epidemiological improbability of raising the life expectancy from about 49 years to about 64 years within a space of under 10 years.
However, it is clear that we cannot depend on treatment alone to stop the infections. Therefore, we need to really focus on stopping the infections. Regrettably the highest number of new infections is still amongst the adolescent girls and young women. It is also important to note that it is older men infecting younger girls and that is an issue that we have to confront as society.
Amongst them, we have an estimation of 212 infections per day. So, a lot more needs to be done in this regard. Therefore we need to ensure that the department also continues to increase the efforts on a number of areas like the provision of information on the risks of early sexual debut and unprotected sex, improve information about condoms and access to pre- exposure prophylaxis as well as focusing on men and in this particular case older men who are infecting younger women.
We also need to strengthen collaboration with various levels of government such as municipalities as well. We also have to focus on the issues of partnership with various sectors of communities. This for me is where this campaign has to go.
Hon members and hon President, today we woke with media reports stating that according to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA, Denosa, about 400 nurses have not found employment in Limpopo. These and many such stories are the reason why the President spoke about this issue and I quote:
We must attend to the capacity of our hospitals and clinics. An 80- year-old grandmother cannot spend an entire day in a queue waiting for medication.
All of these issues are issues that we need to be giving attention to. I have actually personally seen these concerns when we visited the Mamelodi and Pelonomi Hospitals, not only just about the issues of overworked health staff, but also the issues of the concerns around security. All of this is the work that we have to do to improve quality of the health systems. Therefore we are finalising the work that was done by the President on the Presidential Summit Compact so that we can then bring all the players to work together in dealing with the issues of health care services.
The President implored us to drastically improve the quality of care in our facilities. To ensure that our public health facilities meet the certification standards as prescribed the Office of Health Standards Compliance which is a national monitoring health system that we have embarked upon. To this end the Minister of Health will be embarking on a number of other
steps such as analysis indicating that patients who come to our facilities, a number of them come just to collect chronic medication. We therefore want to reduce these long waiting times in the public health care sector. We are focusing on a programme which we are expanding called the Centralised Chronic Medicines Dispensing and Distribution, CCMDD. This is a programme where you would get medication out to the community without people needing to go themselves to the hospital. This work is actually being done.
We also have a system to look at the stock visibility which means we not only look in the hospital, but we also look in the productive line within the manufacturers to see where the problem is arising which gives the shortage of medication.
Since last year, there has also been an outcry about the shortage of medicines particularly the antiretrovirals as well as the contraceptions. Now on these ones we have actually engaged manufacturers quite strongly, and therefore we indicated that the manufacturers that fail to deliver will be held to greater accountability for nonsupply.
Additionally, we are also working with Treasury to tighten up the alternative procurement mechanisms because when we are dealing with the National Conference on HIV and Aids the people living with Aids raised this issue very strongly. We have undertaken to work with them directly to monitor and ensure that there is improvement in the supply of medication, particularly in the supply of medication, particularly at the level of treatment of HIV and TB.
We would also like to hear a bit more from our patients. Therefore we want to involve them as we deal with the improvement on the monitoring over the supply of medication.
We shall be implementing the health patient records as well to ensure that we can monitor the movement of our patients as well as monitor the necessary interventions needed to improve on the medication.
Many of the private practitioners that we have spoken to; have indicated enthusiasm in working closely with our National Health Insurance, NHI, system, of course it is important for us to make
this point because I was a bit concerned when the hon Maimane raised the point of about a child borne in a clinic, almost creating an impression that there might be something wrong with such a situation. We actually still need those clinics, those community health workers and those private family practitioners working together in a well structured district health system based on primary health care. So, we must not create an impression that if you are in part of that system there might be something wrong with you. [Applause.]
It is also important that we deal with the issues of the equipment shortages in our facilities and also improve our procurement systems as well.
South Africa spends 8,6% of the gross domestic product, GDP, on health care, which is comparable to other middle-income countries with 4,1% of the GDP spent on the uninsured population, who receive care in the overburdened public sector. Private medical schemes cover approximately 16% of the population, with most of the principal members of these schemes
working in the formal sector. An estimated 4,4% is spent on 16% and that is a gross distortion that needs to be corrected.
Again here one has to be concerned about the statement that the hon Maimane raised that the NHI is unaffordable and it is expensive because we are doing a wrong calculation. When you calculate how much money you save and you do not calculate how many lives you lose, you then lose a count there. [Applause.]
In this case we just want to clearly say that universal health care coverage is the future and the National Health Insurance will happen. [Applause.]
We cannot ... [Interjections.] That is the only way we are going to be able to address the issue of inequality and therefore we can discuss different modalities, but we should not be going back to the question of whether we should or we should not be implementing the National Health Insurance. That debate is over.
The implementation of the National Health Insurance is aimed at moving South Africa closer towards universal health coverage,
wherein all citizens irrespective of their socioeconomic status will be covered to receive quality health care services based on their health needs. In the past it was racial. If you are on the wrong side you knew how the impact of the health services was going to be. This time around it should not be an issue of a socioeconomic division that determines whether you are going to die of simple deceases or not.
So, therefore in our case we are focussing on the National Health Insurance as a health financing system designed to pool funds and to ensure that these pooled funds are actively used to purchase health services with a cross-subsidisation of the healthier subsidising the more sick and then the younger subsidising the older and then we have a normal system like that. It is happening in most of the countries in Europe, UK, Germany, France, etc. We are actually copying the system that is already happening. So, we cannot understand why we must go back to a debate about whether we need it or not.
In this regard, the National Health Bill is actually on its way to Cabinet and therefore it is going to be introduced in this
House very soon. Out of that we really want to ensure that the strong governance mechanisms which are put in place, improved accountability on the use of all of the allocated funds. We want to make a huge progress on that one and on that basis therefore we need your support at that level. [Applause.]
Hon Minister, your time has expired.
We have had support of the members of the various stakeholders who came to say, "Thuma Mina." [Send me.] Mr President, we are ready to sign the accord. They are saying, "Khawuleza!" [Hurry up!] We are supporting you. Thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, Sir. The hon Mazzone.
Madam Speaker, hon President, Deputy President, and fellow Members of Parliament, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. There comes a time in every country's history when the brave need to stand up and they need to be counted. There comes a time when the people must have
their voice heard and can no longer face the abuse of government.
There comes a time when we must stand together and demand that injustice comes to an end and fight. Fight with all our might to obey, protect and save our Constitution. As we teeter on the edge of collapse, that time is now.
Speaker, to stand up and speak truth to power is not easy. When you know that billions and billions of rands are at stake, and those who were willing sellers to willing buyers in the feeding frenzy that was, and still is, state capture, will do anything, and by anything, I mean anything, to avoid justice - one has to look deep for a source to steel your resolve and maintain your determination.
I visited Robben Island, and while I was there, I was told that on the darkest days, when hope was at its lowest and when the situation seemed desperate, our Nation's father, President Nelson Mandela would recite a poem by William Ernest Henley called Invictus. Invictus is an adjective in Latin meaning
unconquerable, invincible and undefeated. I now regularly read this poem when I require a boost in my resolve. "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."
Speaker, through you, I use the opportunity that I have today to speak to the President, not just as a politician, not just as a member of an opposing political party, but as a fellow South African. I am outraged and frustrated more than any words can explain at the blatant slap in the face that all South Africans were recently dealt when the ANC announced its proposed chairpersons of our parliamentary committees. [Applause.]
I took it as a personal left hook to the jaw when I read with utter disbelief that the very man who was accused of offering a blank cheque to Advocate Vanara, the evidence leader in the Public Enterprises Inquiry in state capture at Eskom will be rewarded with a chairperson's seat. [Interjections.]
An ex-Minister who has been repeatedly accused of interfering with the South African mining industry for the enrichment of the Gupta family will be rewarded with a chairperson's seat.
[Interjections.] The woman who destroyed what was left of the SA Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, will be rewarded with a chairperson's seat. [Interjections.] The woman whom without explanation sold off the entire South African strategic fuel reserve will be rewarded with a chairperson's seat. [Interjections.] An ex-Mayor of Buffalo City Municipality who was found guilty for nine counts of fraud will be rewarded with a chairperson's seat.
Hon Mazzone, please take your seat. Why are you on your feet, sir?
Hon Speaker, the speaker on the podium knows very well that to cast aspersion on the members of the House must come as a substantive motion. [Interjections.] She cannot make those [Inaudible.]... [Interjections.] ... and be left unchallenged. No one has been found guilty anywhere. Thank you.
Madam Speaker, what the hon Radebe is trying to do is to inject the National Assembly Rules into the Rules of the Joint Sitting. There is no such rule in
the Joint Rules. Hon Mazzone has not mentioned a single member by name and therefore her comment is within the bounds of free speech. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Please take your seat, sir. Hon Mazzone, please continue. [Applause.] Order! Order!
Speaker, South African to South African, this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. This is that one step too far. This is the proof that the Zuma faction is still well and truly in charge of the ANC ... [Interjections.] ... and that it matters not if the driver has changed - the bus is the same. We have been taken for absolute fools.
Hon President, as the leader of the ANC, steel your resolve and dismiss these people from Parliament. Prove that you are indeed the master of your fate, that you are the captain of your soul, and that you are not being led by the nose by factions in your party. [Interjections.] While the Zondo Commission completes its work every single day, we, the people of South Africa are
exposed to horror and nightmares, the likes of which play out in the James Bond movie.
Trips to Switzerland to fill bank accounts, urgent medical treatment for premiers who alleged that they have been poisoned, stays and spa treatments at the Oberoi Hotel for business deals, midnight telephone calls to Paris calling off deals for our ailing airline, and these are to name but a few.
UNIDENTIFIED MEMBER: Where were you?
Winter has come, the wall has been breached, the line of defence has become thinner and those who are brave are systematically set aside. "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." [Interjections.] Now is the time for those of us who are still here to work together, to make a real difference with real plans. Now is not the time for mere dreams. We dare not allow ourselves to be silenced for our work is far from over. We have as our sword the mighty Constitution and we have as our shield our brave and incorruptible Judiciary. [Interjections.]
Now is not the time to accept the excuse that those implicated are innocent until proven guilty. Now is the time to ensure that our oversight is in fact strengthened. This is a direct instruction from Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. We can start this actual oversight in the Presidency in the form of a portfolio committee to oversee Vote 1 as requested - I may add, numerous times by the hon Steenhuisen in the Rules Committee.
Now is the time to sit down as fellow South Africans and not just dream of the future we want, but to actually create the environment we so desperately require for our economy to grow and succeed. It cannot be that state capture that is now estimated to have wiped out a third of South Africa's R4,9 trillion gross domestic product, GDP, no longer exists, but we are expected to celebrate the frontloading of R230 billion rand to Eskom. Mr President, Denel has no money this month to pay the salaries - this is it. We have hit rock bottom!
Our state-owned entities are broken. They are destroyed, and they are archaic in their design. They are destroying our country's economy and they are making living in South Africa a
nightmare and not a dream. We are at the cliff's edge, the dream has faded, and the reality is a horror. Doing the right thing is not easy, speaking truth to power is hard, but let us now bite the bullet and put a stop to the misuse of our state-owned entities for political gain.
Speaker, the President himself has said he wants us working together. Mr President, give us the opportunity to do just that; give our ideas a chance. Let us put South Africa first.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Hinds, and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charge with punishment the scroll.
Speaker, through you, allow me to end as I began. Mr President, now is the time to steel your resolve, you are the master of your fate and you are the captain of your soul. [Applause.]
Thank you very much Madam Speaker. Hon Maimane, could you help save Van Damme from Zille ... [Interjections.]
Hon Minister ... [Interjections.] Hon Minister, I have hon Van Damme in the House, please proceed.
No, I was speaking on behalf of hon Van Damme to be saved from Helen Zille. [Laughter.]
I don't need saving. Thank you very much.
Madam Speaker, Deputy Speaker, President, His Excellency, the Deputy President, hon members, fellow Ministers, Deputy Ministers, some of us did not visit Robben Island to understand what place is it. We spent some years there. We did not go there as visitors. [Applause.]
Receive our greetings this afternoon in the name of safety and security of the citizens of South Africa. In this new dawn, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa, the
hon Cyril Ramaphosa, posed a fundamental question to this august House in his state of the nation address and said; "what type of South Africa do we want?"
He furthermore gave marching orders in ushering this new dawn and said;
Talking time is over, it's time for action - let's implement.
Let's maybe try to work towards that going forward. Madam Speaker, therefore, in creating the South Africa that we want, a thorough prognosis and understanding of the current status quo is equally important in order to determine the strength of the manpower, machinery, technology and partnerships needed to formulate a convincing and realistic response to the priorities, and fundamental goals as directed by the President.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS' collective approach in responding to the service delivery agreement of ensuring that the people of South Africa are and feel safe will
be intensified and operationalized to meet the target of reducing violent crimes to half in the next decade, increase police visibility, improve human capital investment, prioritize gender-based violence and femicide programmes. This is in line with the National Development Plan Vision 2030 that; people living in South Africa should feel safe at home, at school and at work and that they enjoy community life without fear, women walk freely in the streets and children play safely outside and in the gardens. Mr President, this is one priority that you made a call for, and we are determined to achieve it.
Unfortunately, I did not hear the hon member Groenewald as he was speaking about the farmers because I left the House to go and see the family at the Lavender Hill where the police was gunned down and killed at 4'o clock this morning. So, this violence that you are talking about is something that we feel everyday, it's something that we experience, it's something that we touch and it is something that we are a part of. So, we can't dilly-dally around it. We need to put all the efforts regardless of political affiliation, colour or anything because once it comes close to you, you understand it better. So, the call that
you made should be to all South Africans and not just to the ANC members and not just to the government, but to all South Africans.
In the new dawn, our policing approach will align with the new crime patterns of enhancing resources in combating economic crimes, in stabilising the troubled trucking industry in transport and the zama zamas which are notorious in mine hijackings. Last year, these zama zamas, took R41 billion out of the economy. So, it is nothing but economic sabotage and we really have to work on it and make sure that South African money goes where it's supposed to go - to all South Africans. But also, the truck hijackings, truck stoppage crime that is in the transport industry, tax industry, and all that will have to work together and harder.
The specialised focussed policing will also extend to support the specialised task teams focussing on political killings, police killings, high profile killings, high profile cases and taxi related killings. Madam speaker, the fight against corruption is currently intensified. The Hawks are making
serious inroads in economic crimes and we are witnessing significant arrests in this regard. To date, we have 1800 dockets which have been submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA for determination. They are dealing with corruption in the Republic of South Africa. [Applause.] That is why the determination will have to be made. So, we are pushing on this one.
The plans to fully capacitate the unit with sufficient resources and relevant manpower are underway. To this end, a detective academy will be established to strengthen the capacity and training of new detectives and specialized investigators. Co- operation between prosecutors and investigators through prosecutorial guided investigation will be intensified to improve the success rate of all priority cases. Moreover, the project of the establishment of specialized courts will be enhanced in order to promote the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system.
Hon members, the continuous report of alleged police corruption is receiving attention, hence we are enhancing the capacity of
the watchdog bodies in this regard. The process of the appointment of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, IPID head is currently underway. In responding directly to the scourge of gangsterism, the Anti- Gang Unit will be elevated to a national division and other specialised unit will be introduced. This unit will extend its mandate in dealing with other fear crimes that are terrorising our communities. These include murder, rape, car hijackings, house robberies, house burglaries and cash- in-transit heists.
The success rate of the 72 hour activation plan is gaining momentum. This plan mobilizes maximum resources to ensure that preliminary investigation is done thoroughly and to guarantee that no evidence is lost and perpetrators are expeditiously brought to book. This was done at the backdrop of the spike in cash-in-transit heist which dropped drastically in 2018.
Crime trends are global in nature; therefore our efforts to enhance international relations will be strengthened. Our active participation in INTERPOL Programme is yielding positive results in fighting transnational crimes and terrorism. Extensive
technological advancement in the fight against crime is crucial. The JCPS cluster departments will set aside dedicated funding to improve technology that will drastically reduce all priority crimes. Automated systems will be introduced in certain environments to improve efficiency. The world revolves around technology and no country will succeed in the fight against crime without significant investment in technology, within the spectrum of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Hon members, community participation in the fight against crime is crucial in achieving any of the set targets, as we all agree that violent crimes are a social problem. The extent of the brutality in most contact crimes such are murder and rape, abuse of drugs, alcohol and gangsterism indicates the extent of social decay that needs a collective approach to resolve.
The cluster is currently implementing the Community Policing Strategy and Communities in Blue Policing Concept, which is aimed at re-affirming the government's commitment to building safer communities through community policing partnerships, and to further operationalise the concept of community policing with
a view of stimulating active citizenry and citizen participation in the fight against crime. Crime and violence in schools is on an alarming rise and is a growing phenomenon that needs to be handled and dealt with decisively through our school safety plan with long term solutions.
Gender-based violence is unacceptably high in South Africa which inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedom on the basis of equality with counterparts. The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, FCS, becomes extraordinarily important. There are currently 183 FCS Units which creates a specialist investigative environment to deal with gender-based violent crimes including sexual offences, with a focus on serial rape-related cases.
Furthermore, the police have established 1 047 dedicated victim friendly facilities at police stations countrywide to accommodate and assist. I heard the hon member Chirwa saying that there is no special focus on these. There is a lot hon member. We can sit down and talk and invite your input because we take this one very serious.
In financial year 2017-18, the FCS unit has achieved 692 life sentences and out of 3 234 dockets, we have sentenced those people to 30521. We are very scared Mr President, that the correctional services of South Africa will be soon be full lifers. We are putting a lot of lifers there that are in the scourge of working on abusing women.
Lastly, the question of gangsterism and criminality cannot be achieved by the police alone. We are facing a serious problem in policing when it comes to something called environmental design. I had somebody talking about a paradise Western Cape. There is no paradise Western Cape here. [Interjections.] Join me, join me, and let's go to Khayelitsha ... [Interjections.]
Order! Order! [Interjections.]
Let's go there ... [Interjections.] ... the people that died ... [Interjections.]
Minister, give me a second. Hon members, you may haggle but don't drown the speaker on the floor
Hon Speaker, the police that were shot last week were shot because there is darkness, there are no lights in Samora Machel. If you go to Bishopscourt, if you go to Hout Bay, no one will be shot there because it is forever daylight. The cameras are all working. If you go to side C in Khayelitsha, the police will be shot under the camera but you will never find that information because the camera in Khayelitsha has not been working for eight years. [Interjections.] So don't come here and talk as if we don't know this Cape Town, accompany us. We are making the call to the provincial government; work with us to deal with the crime situation here. Make life better.
Make sure that the people of the Western Cape that are in Khayelitsha, Samora Machel and in Siqalo, understand that Cape Town is also for them just like those that are in Bishopscourt. [Applause.] But for now, maybe some years back somebody called them foreigners here, maybe that is how they are kept in the Western Cape. So, don't come here and tell us about where you govern - where you govern. Let's go and see how those people ... this is the only province where people carry toilets like their
bags, potty potty. It is the only place and nowhere else. Anybody that respects any human being was not going to give them a toilet as my bag to move around with it. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
So, the DA must really understand that the people of Khayelitsha deserve the same things that the people in Bishopscourt deserve and that will help. [Applause.] Don't tell us about how to rule better. You are only partially ruling better in Western Cape but I want to invite you. [Interjections.] Let's go to Siqalo. Maybe, you can ask those that know where Siqalo is because most of you don't know where it is. You absolutely don't know where Siqalo is. [Applause.] [Interjections.] I will take you for a tour and we will go to Siqalo. Thank you very much, hon Speaker. [Applause.]
Madam Speaker,
Mr President, Mr Deputy President, we may look different, have experienced apartheid differently and support different political parties, but few will disagree on the absolute priority of reigniting the economy to create jobs especially for
young people. A few will disagree on the need for a more consultative and responsive government, with the means to accelerate service delivery and also a willingness to learn from the past. Where we are today, is too far apart from the country we dreamt of becoming in 1994. We must take urgent, practical steps to narrow that gap.
A state of the nation address is not magical melt away of problems. Realistically, state of the nation addresses are not, unlike the instructions that come with jigsaw puzzles. They do not tell us exactly which pieces go where. They show us a picture and a sketch of framework, but it is up to us in our public, private and civil society sectors to make it work. Our performance in this regard has been up to scratch. Wherever the election took us, people raised similar issues. They are tired of watching parliamentarians failing to hold government to account; tired of corruption without consequences; tired of being poor, hungry and landless when others are so rich.
Madam Speaker, the state of the nation address acknowledged much of what needs fixing South Africa. It contained visionary
elements, such as building a modern city Mr President, but also a welcome shift in emphasis from planning to implementation. That is the shift that I noticed. We already have a National Development Plan, NDP. We need hard, sensible, honest work to deliver on it. As a Minister I am fully committed to the implementation of that agenda. As the leader of an opposition party I am committed to holding government to account for implementation. Those who ask if accepting a position on the executive may compromise my role as an opposition leader should know that, I would not have accepted the position if it came with a muzzle. Weighing the state of the nation address priorities against GOOD's plan to fix South Africa [time expired].
Hon Speaker, Hon members, fellow South Africans. Mr President, during your maiden state of the nation address, you quoted Bra Hugh Masekela's song, asking the country to send you. South Africans indeed sent you. Now, with very little to show as the leader of this nation, you want South Africans to go to sleep and dream. For 25 years, Mr President, residents of Makana Local Municipality have been dreaming for a better life but
their dreams have been shattered at every turn. The President himself was recently in Makhanda to celebrate Freedom Day. The traffic lights were not working for months but were fixed in haste, in anticipation of the arrival of the first citizen of the Republic of South Africa.
The citizens of the City of Saints have been subjected to constant threats of electricity cuts by Eskom due to the municipality's inability to pay their bills, with continuous defaults on payment arrangements made with the power utility. Most residents pay their monthly service bills in Grahamstown Mr President, yet find themselves having to remove their own rubbish because municipal workers just do not pitch for work. The residents sometimes have to drink water with traces of the deadly E.coli bacteria, this being a result of the poor state of our water reticulation system. The City of Saints is now the city of potholes, with illegal dump sites, rubbish strewn in every street, uncaring management, maladministration and downright corruption.
IsiXhosa:
Ugqirha u-Zweli Mkhize nomama u-Pamela Tshwete babeziyele eRhini bazibonela intlalo embi yababtu baseRhini.
English:
Sadly hon members, the architect and initiator of the Makana rot was promoted by this ruling government and today he is with us as an hon Member of Parliament.
However, the same cannot be said about the tenure as the DA government on the other side of the historic Fish River valley. During the 2016 Local Government Elections, the voters of Nelson Mandela Bay chose to vote for change by electing a leadership of clean governance and transparency [Applause]. In a short space of 10 months after the DA-led coalition government assumed office; in Nelson Mandela Bay we were voted the second most trusted metro in the country. This is according to the SA Customer Satisfaction Index, as opposed to the second last position our predecessors comfortably occupied. During the two financial years of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, we managed to spend 100% of our allocation of the Urban Settlement Development Grant funding. This led to National Treasury further allocating
R170 million and R200 million in appreciation of a job so well done. Unfortunately, matters are less positive with the current leadership in Nelson Mandela Bay. A week before their financial year end, they have only managed to spend 62% of the Urban Settlement Development Grant funding and only 50% of the capital expenditure, disgraceful.
An Integrated Public Transport System which was meant for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, at a cost of R2 billion was abandoned by the then ANC-led government. After 18 months of assuming office, the DA-led coalition got those buses on the road. [Applause] In an effort to make the city a lot safer, we employed and trained 114 metro police, as well as introduced a ghost squad whose primary mandate was to curb bad or illegal driving in and around the city. Before we left the city hall, people of Nelson Mandela Bay felt a lot safer. We spared no effort in fighting corruption, not only in words but through action as well, because where the DA governs, we do not tolerate or promote people that steal from the poor.
IsiXhosa:
Umve umntu esithi iimpuku azityiwa,bhuti Sakhi, kodwa zivele ngemisila emlonyeni.[Kwaqhwatywa]
English:
A number of municipal officials identified for wrong doing, were either fired, charged or placed on suspension. Some of those officials have been brought back by the current administration, obviously, to let them continue their wrong doing by picking up from where they left off. Indeed, the good saying says "birds of a feather flock together".
I have spoken to a number of residents in Nelson Mandela Bay and all of them including business recall the realities of the DA- led coalition, and are calling for its return. Finally hon members, join me in wishing my daughter who is sitting up in the gallery, she turned 17 years yesterday. Happy birthday Ngcolo, I love you my daughter [Applause].
IsiXhosa:
Ngaloo mazwi malungu ahloniphekileyo, lo mthendevu wasemaMpondomiseni, ithole leenkuzi zamaKrancolo, ooMgema, ooMsiza, ooMbuyeni, uyatshaya. Enkosi [Kwaqhwatywa].
Madam Speaker, His Excellency, the President of South Africa, hon. members, distinguished guests and fellow South Africans, I greet you all. Hon Speaker, whilst the NFP supports the President in many initiatives outlined in the state of the nation address and believes that many of these initiatives can be achieved, if he could be more practical than being theoretical. However, the NFP is concerned that you have failed Mr President to highlight the struggle of many working class citizens in South Africa. The commuters continue to struggle daily as trains are cancelled and delayed because of the incapacity of Prasa. When you go to Soweto, KwaMashu, Kwa- Langa, you will see that people ...
IsiZulu:
... abakwazi ukufika emsebenzini ngesikhathi uPrasa izitimela zakhe zifa njalo ...
English:
...then you are failing our people. Before we can implement the bullet train dream Mr President, we need to pay vital attention to the current systems that are in place. We also agree with the reconfiguration of Eskom and the appointment of the chief structuring officer. We also further support the R230 billion that is to be given to assist Eskom.
Transformation in the education sector is correct to align education with the demand of the fourth industrial revolution by introducing coding and robotic related subjects at school level The R3.9 billion plan for black commercial farmers is commended however; the contribution that the Land and Agriculture Bank of South Africa wants from the applicant must be abolished because it prevents black people from accessing the allocated funds.
Rural development remains sidelined and marginalized. We have many citizens flocking to the cities for employment only to be disappointed, for our cities are unable to accommodate and meet the demand. Much of our people are still sleeping in empty stomachs and we are making our people to beg in the land of
their forefathers. The 55.2% youth unemployment rate must be top of our agenda. We cannot ignore that a large percentage of our young people are available to work and have taken active steps to find jobs but they cannot find employment. This is indeed a national crisis. Our people are being turned to a new society where they are being made paras (thugs). In fact, we are being foreign to our land because of how our people are treated. The proposed two million jobs are not enough although we note that it is a realistic projection given the economic condition. We believe more support for those young aspiring business men and women can add value in increasing that two million figure.
Mr President, whilst the NFP commends your hopeful spirit, we need to emphasize that radical plans need radical implementation; the time for lip service is over. Thank you
Chairperson of the NCOP, Your Excellency the President, the hon Deputy President, Madam Chief Whip, fellow Members of the Parliament, all dignitaries and the president of South African Local Government
Association, Salga, I need to say that specifically so that the home province can account.
Tshiven?a:
Ndi masiari avhu?i.
English:
This state of the nation address and its debate are taking place when the country is still commemorating the 43rd year since the June 16 student uprisings. As you have said, Mr President, we cannot impose our solutions on the youth; everything we have to do must be led by young people themselves.
Just to recommit to the announcement we made at your pre-state of the nation engagement with young people and as a special gesture to the national Youth Day commemoration, we shall fund 43 young entrepreneurs drawn mainly from the National Youth Development Agency. This funding is available to support the sustainability and expansion of the businesses of those entrepreneurs.
We are targeting young entrepreneurs who can create a minimum of
10 jobs, because we already know, hon Hill-Lewis, that entrepreneurs create jobs.
Instead of me freezing on my maiden speech, the technology is freezing on me, but as any other person, I always feel safe and have a backup plan. Yes, it is my maiden speech. Can I not be heckled?
Order, members!
Hon Chair. She must take her time. We are not like people from her party. We understand. It is your maiden speech.
Please, proceed.
Commander-in-chief,
CIC, the people from my party are accepting, because as we in the ANC Youth League boldly declared in our 24th national congress and on that congress theme that economic freedom is in
our lifetime and this remains a generational mission. Our contribution to that mission is a programme to enable job creators because young people can't continue to be job seekers. [Applause.]
Research has found that small businesses, if sufficiently supported, can play a vital role in economic development and inclusion as the barriers of entry are limited. Therefore, ours are twin tasks: firstly, is to achieving the National Development Plan, NDP, goal for small, medium & micro enterprise, SMMEs, to contribute at least 50% to the gross domestic product, GDP, by 2024; and secondly, is the transforming our economy for inclusive ownership. We shall not allow the ownership of our economy to remain in the hands of a few.
It is for this reason that the ANC in our elections manifesto, we have undertaken to scale up support for SMMEs, co-operatives, townships and village enterprises. To achieve this, we have plans that include the expansion of incubation centres to all 44 districts and eight metropoles that support village and township
enterprises. Linked to this, will be the extension of incubation period to a maximum of five years.
Indeed, Mr President, the scaled up support for SMMEs will require the state to play an entrepreneurial role - a role where the state is able to take some risks and enable the economy to grow. In this regard, we are taking some risks with our SMME funding model.
We are to introduce blended funding facilities that match loans and grants at a particular ratio. The details of the blended funding model will be provided when we table our Budget Vote. On the other hand, an integrated support packages including funding will be finalised with sister departments for co-operatives.
One of the challenges for SMMEs and co-operatives is access to markets. As the President has announced, we will create product- specific market places where SMMEs and co-operatives will trade their products. In this financial year, we will rollout five such markets. The plan is also to use these markets as centres where SMMEs and co-operatives trading in similar goods can
collaborate to scale up their product volumes and gear themselves to support big markets.
As part of our improved support to SMMEs and co-operatives, government will provide technical support to address some technical challenges inhibiting access to market, such as product quality. We will use a similar model when SMMEs and co- operatives operate from the revitalised local industrial parks, business centres and special economic zones.
Statistics SA has reported the resurgence in small business activity. However, the survival rate of both SMMEs and co- operatives is very low. On our part, we have a responsibility to ensure this sector access the incentives available for them.
Hon Maimane, this includes the employment tax incentive and applying for exemption from paying the minimum wages for those SMMEs that cannot afford. It is already there. Our government has thought and planned about that.
It is common knowledge that the business world is moving online, commonly known as digital platform. Without an active role of the state, youth and small businesses in our townships and rural areas risk to be left behind by the digital economy. It is for this reason that government is moving with speed to rollout digital hubs in townships and rural areas. This is to support tech-enabled platforms for self-employed youth and any other small businesses in those areas. This year, we will commence with the roll out of four such hubs in Capricorn in Limpopo, Mangaung in Free State, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga and Bojanala in North West province.
If members can just be patient, I am told that the team is here attending to the issue of sound system. Yes, they got it right.
We are back. Indeed,
this is in line with the district-based approach the President announced during the state of the nation address.
As the President committed our government to lead from the front on improved co-ordination, we are finalising agreements with the private sector and other development funding institutions, DFIs, for a much more co-ordinated effort in supporting SMMEs and co- operatives, which eliminates duplication and leverages the resources for a more impactful implementation.
We are here to implement the ANC manifesto, and it was indeed pleasing to hear members of the opposition benches speaking on ANC conference resolutions for they lack their own plans.
Interestingly, for a technology person, technology has failed me throughout the day. As I conclude, I would like to thank you Mr President for launching the buy local campaign at such an august occasion of our nation - the first state of the nation address of the sixth administration.
Tshiven?a:
Ri khou to?a uri buy local campaign i sa fhelele fhedzi kha u vha fulo. Ri khou to?a i tshi ?isa tshanduko ya mihumbulo kana kuhumbulele kwa vhathu vhashu, uri vha zwi ?ivhe uri musi vha
tshi shumisa masheleni avho vha tshi renga zwithu zwapo, vha khou tikedza kha u alusa ikonomi yashu.
English:
Like someone else said, buy local is not about buying from a local Chanel and Louis Vuitton store, it is about buying locally produced and made goods. [Laughter.] It is about growing the demand for our economy. We are committed to walking the journey with SMMEs as they deliver quality goods for all markets as we promote the buy local mindset shifts. Following on your giant footsteps, Mr President, I am beautifully dressed by Mr Rembu Ramagoma of Muhuyu House of Creations based in Pretoria West in Tshwane. [Applause.]
Tshiven?a:
Ndo livhuwa.
Chairperson, on Thursday night, we watched with great anticipation as the President delivered his state of the nation address. In truth, the speech was big on dreamy rhetoric and thin on much needed details.
More concerning was the absence of a plan to provide quality health care for our people. Each and every one of us in this House is familiar with the deep despair and helplessness which comes with sickness. It is at those times that nothing is scarier than being dependent on a health system that has been neglected for decades and has been systematically unravelling at the seams. The reality is that millions of South Africans are too familiar with that scenario.
Several weeks ago, I too, was reminded of the importance of the work that we do here. I lost a family member who was still in his prime following a short illness. His death impressed upon me why we need to improve the quality of health care in this country, not just for our family members, but for the people who rely of this government' service.
The millions of South Africans who have no other choice, but to surrender themselves to an overburdened health system are the people that the DA is here fighting for. [Applause.]
Mr President, your address on the health system of our country was simply not good enough. There are urgent commitments that South Africa requires from you when you respond to this debate tomorrow; firstly, fixing the broken health system, this requires an honest reflection about what has gone wrong in the health sector of our country.
The DA unequivocally supports universal health care for our people. However, in doing so, we cannot destroy the economy; risk a brain drain and rampant corruption. The Presidential Health Summit held last year, was simply an admission that there are deep inequalities when it comes to access to health. This is a known fact. The gap between those who have health coverage and those who rely on the public health sector are huge. However, this is because of decades of neglect and poor policies by the ANC government.
The rural Eastern Cape where I come from is visual representation of failure by this government. Nothing works. Dedicated and hardworking health care professionals are thrown into areas that have not seen delivery in decades. These are men
and women who want to serve, but are hamstrung by the unavailability of medicine, crumbling infrastructure and no medical equipment.
In KZN, thousands of patients died due to the oncology crisis which the ANC's nominated chairperson for the health committee, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has now presided over.
Yes, the rising cost of private health care needs to be addressed and this can be regulated by using existing legislation such as the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998. However, the fact that pregnant women who use our health facilities are taking a gamble with their lives is something that the ANC government needs to accept responsibility for.
The fact that the elderly are tied to chairs waiting for medical care as was done in Mamelodi Hospital is entirely on this government. The fact that there is a lack of access to reproductive health care leads to young women getting backstreet abortions and children under five die annually due to poor
living conditions is an absolute indictment on this executive. [Applause.]
The National Health Insurance, NHI, as it stands, premises its entire existence on the need to level the field of access. It does not seek to improve the existing health facilities and levels of care. The NHI, in its current form will nationalise health care. We cannot allow a piece of legislation that has neither been costed nor effectively planned for destroy the little that we have.
The DA will oppose this Bill until it places the patient at the centre of its conception. [Applause.] We trust that the newly appointment Minister Mkhize will begin working on the basics. Some of our health care facilities are death zones.
IsiXhosa:
Abantu bethu bangena ezibhedlele bekhangela uncedo baphume ngeebhokisi. Eyona nto abantu abayifunayo kukungena ezibhedlele naseziklinikhi bafumane abongikazi noogqirha aboneleyo.
Abantu bakhangela urhulumente oza kuqinisekisa ukuba abantu abadala abafiki ngonyezi, balinde imini yonke baphinde bahambe bengancedwanga. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Mphathiswa nawe Mongameli anisokuze nivume intsapho zenu ziye kufumana uncedo kwizibhedle zethu kuba niyayazi imeko ezikuyo. Nibayekela njani abantu abasonyulileyo baphatheke ngoluhlobo?
English:
The President should use the opportunity tomorrow to assure the families of the loved ones of the Life Esidimeni tragedy that they will receive their compensation.
In addition, the President should ensure that the people who were responsible for the death of hundreds of mentally ill patients are held to account. Those who are guilty, both politicians and officials must be fired. They must be held criminally liable for having played "upuca" with the lives of our people. [Applause.]
The fact that Qedani Mahlangu is still embraced by the ANC and enjoys a leadership position is an indictment on you and your organisation, Sir.
The problems that we face as a country are not insurmountable. They can be resolved, but they require us to go back to the basics of good governance like the DA has in the Western Cape. When we come to this House to talk about the success stories of the DA, we are not bragging, but we are bringing solutions to the table. [Applause.]
In the Western Cape, we serve over 75% of the province's population who rely on public health care, but the outcomes are objectively better than any other province in the country. [Applause.] This is easily confirmed by the fact that we have the highest life expectancy for both men and women. This is because we have used a combination of innovation, political will and commitment to our people.
Most critically, since the DA took back Western Cape in 2009, we have invested over R6 billion on infrastructure and maintenance.
This means, we have built new clinics, new hospitals and ambulance stations and upgraded existing ones. This investment has drastically improved patient experience.
To manage waiting times and critical medication stock outs, we have invested in two major innovations; we have a central depot that manages the stock outs. That is why when the national Department of Health bungled the tender for antiretroviral, ARVs, a couple of weeks ago, this province managed the crisis better because of effective planning. [Applause.]
In addition, the Western Cape is the only province which is at the advanced stage of digitalising patient records.
IsiXhosa:
Kweli iphondo abantu abasayikulinda imini yonke kuba iifolda zabo zingafumaneki.
English:
The critical point to be made here is that, if the DA can do this in the Western Cape, it is possible to do it across the country. [Interjections.]
We do not need any more summits, symposiums or imbizos; we need this government to do its work. Failing which, we will hold you accountable. We will ring the bell on corruption. We will demand better health care for our people. We will fight against the disastrous NHI and put forward a credible plan. The DA will never neglect our constitutional obligations. The people of this country deserve nothing less. [Time Expired.]
Chair, the address by President Ramaphosa mirrors the ANC's incapacity to plan, forecast and make projections to devise solutions to our challenges, for instance, the word "we will" appears no lesser than 35 times in the President' speech. Shockingly, the word "achieved" appears only six times. This means the ANC is perennially planning, while the country is on autopilot mode.
The President promised to create two million jobs in ten years, yet spoke nothing about his concrete solutions to achieve that.
In his words, "consistently reaching high rates of growth," the President quoted Ben Okri quite extensively. Ben Okri has also written that and I quote: "The challenge of our times has always been the challenge of leadership." While Ben Okri sustains the President's vision of dreams; he also asserts that the reality of freedom demands more consistency, vision and courage.
The cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and Ethekwini are not only running out of space, but they are also not tech-savvy and responsive to the demands of our people. The ANC administration dreams about building a world class city, but can barely manage a power station, a train station or oversee a successful social welfare programme, SASSA.
While our people are migrating to the cities, we cannot ignore the cycles of grinding poverty and despair still gripping their livelihoods. Whereas we are a people of resilience, determination and optimism, these positive traits will remain
meaningless unless they are underpinned by realistic targets by government.
Of the seven priorities that the President pronounced last week, none implicated rural development and integration, that aspects of which appears in his February address, where he said the following and I quote: The focus we have placed on revamping industrial parks in townships and rural areas has brought about discernible ...
Give me more minutes. [Time Expired.]
No, no, you can't get any minutes.
The Deputy Minister of Small Business saved six minutes and these minutes will go to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Your Excellency, the President of the Republic ...
No, maybe I should just correct that. The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs will get three of the six minutes. The other three minutes will go to hon Mbalula.
I hope you did not count that interjection as part of the three minutes. [Laughter.] Chair, Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of South Africa, President Ramaphosa and the entire leadership collective, Madam Speaker, Deputy Speaker, colleagues and hon members, it is indeed an honour to address this audacious gathering the highest in the country where great minds must enter into a theatrical battle of ideas with the sole intention of giving birth to the best pathway to take this country forward.
In order for us to reach our destination, we must firstly understand where we are. Our beloved motherland is faced with great adversity where our economy in the first quarter contracted by 3,2%; 40,7% of young people between the ages of 15 to 34 are not in employment, education or training. They linger in rural dwellings, townships, towns and cities, trapped
engulfed by the diminishing hope of a better tomorrow. They have taken refuge in drugs, alcohol abuse and crime. Those who have defied the odds and have access to higher education are concerned about their future as they face the reality of graduate unemployment. Those who have made it as professionals in various spheres are frustrated due to racially based promotion systems in the private sector frustrating their upward mobility towards a better future.
To solve the problems faced by our country we do not require political grandstanding and populist sloganeering, but requires discipline, clarity of thought and the ability to think and act in unison to make sure that tomorrow becomes better than today. To make sure we change the cause of history such that we are remembered as a generation that triumphed against great adversity.
IsiZulu:
Asizele ukuzodlala lapha. [Ihlombe.]
English:
We have been able to make 90% of public schools no-fee paying schools. We surely can go beyond and ensure that by 2024 all undergraduate students are funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS. This we say boldly because our commitment to change the lives of young people through education was reaffirmed by the scraping of the R967 million of historical debts benefiting 52 414 students. [Applause.]
An uneducated nation can never grow economically and education should not be seen as social expenditure, but should be seen for what it truly is, an investment for the future of this country. No country has successfully made the transition from being an underdeveloped country, to being a developed country without a substantial investment in education and building its human capital.
We have done well by investing in NSFAS from R70 million in 1994 to nearly R15 billion in 2018, resulting in the doubling of the student population in this period. We are now taking off to greater heights by building infrastructure to enable our universities to have higher intakes in order to speedily resolve
the higher education backlogs. We must build more state-of-the- art universities with sufficient residencies and academic capacity and research that produce world-class graduates who will lead innovation, that will fuel and grow our economy.
These are graduates whose ground breaking innovative ideas must be supported financially. Innovation is key to economic development and industrial growth. The burning spirit of entrepreneurship that lives amongst our youth must be supported. Development finance institutions must fund innovative ideas on the soundness of the business case and never on the basis of financial standing in society, which was inherently imposed to our young by pre-existing historically disadvantaged backgrounds. How do we expect a fresh university graduate beaming with innovative ideas to have accumulated assets to be used as collateral?
The rolling out of small business incubation centres will change the destiny of many young South Africans as they will provide youth start-up companies with both financial and technical support. In the year 2015 a grant funding of the National Youth
Development Agency, NYDA, for an amount of just R49 590 given to Frutee Belliez which is owned by Lisa and Lona Mthethwa in Durban for their idea of producing healthy snacks and smoothies using fruits and vegetables, today employs 10 people of which nine of those people are below the age of 35. Surely, if we are to make an investment in young people will see more jobs being created for young people. [Applause.]
Young people will no longer be bystanders and watch the mineral resources from the belly of their motherland leave to create jobs for international communities. The implementation of a targeted beneficiation program through the introduction of export tax will ensure greater local use of our resources which will in turn create local jobs. This will be the backbone of our industrial parks and special economic zones.
The Coega Special Economic Zone with a direct employment at firm level, which peaked at 8 210 in the 2017-18 financial year with 64% of all employees at the firm level being youth is a shining 1beacon of hope that indeed tomorrow will be better than today.
This is evidence that once the program of special economic zones is implemented in full it will create jobs mainly for the youth.
South Africa is a beautiful country, Chair, alive with possibilities. The global community marvels at the beauty of our country. This is a huge economic potential for our country. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council Annual Review, in the year 2018 tourism created 1,5 million jobs, accounting for 9,2% of total employment. The tourism industry contributed R425,8 billion to the economy. Tourism is a high impact growth niche for the country.
The implementation of an e-visa regime by the Department of Home Affairs which is currently at functional testing stage expected to be piloted by July 2019 and full production by early November 2019 is a serious enabler of economic growth for the tourism sector. This world-class visa regime will provide for easy, efficient, yet secure access to the country for visitors. This system will enable tourists to apply for their visa's online resulting to a quicker turnaround time on visa adjudication.
This will bolster our tourism figures and create new economic and job opportunities for the youth.
The expansion of the agricultural sector and agro-processing sector by supporting key value chains will drive our primary agricultural sector and agricultural exports. This will be a huge benefit to our youth who stand to benefit the most.
Our government institutions like the land bank must make intentional interventions that target the youth, not as a by the way, but as the primary segment of society that must be supported to work the land. The aspersions that young people are lazy are blatantly untrue and unfounded. The youth of this country is ready to work the land because they know that our land is our wealth.
We are inspired by the story of Siphiwo Gift Mafuleka from Bronkhorstpruit who used to work for McCain Foods as a crop manager, but has turned the tide and now runs his own successful diversified farm that also supplies McCain Foods. This was made possible because the government believed in a young man's dream
who in 2009 was 28-years-old. In the year 2009 the government assisted him to acquire land and subsequently the capital required to grow the farm. This government will continue to believe in our youth and expand its programs and as such affirming our conviction that tomorrow will be better than today.
We have a responsibility as this sixth administration to enact legislation that will change the socioeconomic material living conditions of young people. We are called to serve not to come here and dance nor to fight or scream at each other, but to always work together towards a common vision to change the lives of our people. We have a responsibility to speedily put in place legislation that will result to the fall of ridiculously high costs of data. The high cost of data has become a serious impediment that makes costs of doing business highly expensive, especially for startups which are needed to change the lives of our young people.
We have the responsibility to put in place legislation that will see to scraping of experience for entry level positions not only
in the public sector, but also in the private sector in order open the job market for our youth. The time has come to pass legislation for government procurement set asides for the youth. The Youth Employment Service has proved that through the collaboration of government and private business, we can solve the scourge of youth unemployment. The Volkswagen,VW, for example is quite interesting and it shows that indeed we can do more.
Chair, we come from a dark past where our youth was condemned before they were born. They were born into a system that intentionally and systematically excluded them from enjoying the fruits of their own motherland. Their destiny was to be nothing more than mere servants in their own country.
We continue to move away from this terrible past towards a better future where young people are masters of their own destiny, where past atrocities committed against our people will not weigh heavy and haunt their future. The strides and achievements we have made today were once a dream of our forbearers. It was only but a dream that one day a young African
female would be a combat fighter pilot. Today we salute Major Mandisa Mfeka who is an inspiration to other females that nothing is impossible. [Applause.]
Fellow South Africans, the words by Thabo Mbeki holds the truth today when he teaches us that gloom and despondency have never defeated adversity. Trying times need courage and resilience. Our strength as the people is not tested during the best of times. These are trying economic times for our country, but our resilience informed by our clear program will ensure that we change our destiny.
We will not be deterred by armchair critics who can never see a vision of a better future because they are not visionaries and have lost strategic focus. They can never provide solutions, but will always point to problems. It is also President Kgalema Motlante teaches us that political consciousness does not bid you farewell when it leaves.
IsiZulu:
Umuntu umuzwa esekhuluma khona lapha ukuthi akukho lutho [Uhleko.]
English:
In anyway, President Arthur reminds us that the truth passes through three stages. Firstly, it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, and thirdly, it is accepted as being self- evident. Just like the Malawian boy who brought electricity to his village was once declared crazy. He is today celebrated as a hero. We will build the smart city just like we brought electricity to rural Kwa-Zulu Natal whilst others were still saying ...
IsiZulu:
... ugesi uzoxhopha izinkomo. [Ihlombe.]
English:
Today they enjoy this electricity just like they will enjoy the bullet train. Your dream and vision President will go down in history as the start of many great things to happen to our country. We will be remembered that when faced with great
adversity, we triumphed as the people. Mr President, out of nothing comes nothing but out of a dream comes a reality of a close future. What we can envisage is what we can build and make it a reality. Thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, hon President ...
AN HON MEMBER: He is a Chair.
He is a Chair also? My apologies, Chair. Hon President, hon Deputy President and members of the House, last Thursday I thought that a major opportunity was missed. As I listened to hon Cele, the Minister of Police, I understood even more why. You made a paramount point that we urgently need to create jobs. No economy can create jobs without its primary industries, in particular, mining and agriculture.
He said, in his speech here just now, that some R41 billion worth of gold has been taken out of our economy in the past year by the zama zamas. These zama zamas are, otherwise, loyal
working people who, as a result of disinvestment and other things, have not forgotten where they were working and where the gold was.
They are now illegally mining and taking that money. That
R41 billion going to Dubai is being produced by our workers who are now unemployed as a result of disinvestment of people that were frightened amongst others - that is not the only reason - by the threat that their properties will be taken.
Those who left with their money left them unemployed, but they didn't forget the connection between themselves and those workers. They continue to illegally encourage those people to go underground to dig the gold and diamonds and get that out of our economy. Now we have to get police to arrest these people who, if they had legitimate work, would not be chased by police.
I thought that we should have said ... and I don't think that it is too late, Mr President, that you might be able to say to the potential investors, both at home and abroad, "please come and invest in South Africa in these properties. Please come and
invest and employ these zama zamas who will work and earn their money, keep their families going, but then we would have this R41 billion to tax and send our children to school with the company tax."
In a month or two, we will be breaking into August-September, the rain will come and agriculture will be in the same position. [Time expired.]
Chairperson, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members, it is, to use his own words, simply shocking that in his state of the nation address the President hardly mentioned the one thing that all South Africans have at the front of their minds every single day - Crime.
A few token references to crime here and there and then, as if out of nowhere, the bombshell announcement that violent crime will be halved in 10 years without even a hint of irony or an actual plan as to how this mammoth task will be achieved. It appears from his speech, Madam Speaker, that the President is
more concerned about bullet trains than he is about the bullets taking the lives of innocent South Africans every single day.
While the President is dreaming his dreams millions of ordinary South Africans are having nightmares. Nightmares of being, attacked, robbed, raped or murdered. These South Africans are our mothers and fathers living in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth and Elsies River right here in Cape Town. They fear that their children, on their way to school or guarding cars outside a mosque like 12 year old Aswin Jansen, may be mowed down in a hail of bullets fired from one of the more than 800 guns stolen from the police and wielded by a gangster who was put back on the streets by the very criminal justice system designed to protect these children.
They are our grandmothers like Nomangesi Peter from Luqoqweni village who, in 2013, was kidnapped, tortured and paraded naked before being killed. Our Gogos are too old to defend themselves from serial rapists and murderers who target these vulnerable women in rural villages and towns because they know that the
chances of being caught by a formidable police force are slim to none.
They are our farmers and farm workers from the former Transkei to Thoyandou who live in constant fear that they will be next because the ANC- led government does not treat rural safety as a priority.
These nightmares are not the imagination of some fictional characters living in some fanciful futuristic country. These are real stories about real people, Mr President. They are experiences grounded in the harsh reality of millions of South Africans sitting at home looking to this Parliament and their President for hope that they can one day live in a safe country. They want to live in safe Cities, towns and villages and not smart cities, town and villages, Mr President. They want to live without fear when they go to work or school.
They want to go to bed knowing that criminals lurking around outside their homes will get caught and that they will be locked up. Surely this is not too much for them to ask. The fact that
there was absolutely no mention of rural safety in the state of the nation address demonstrates just how out of touch this ANC- led government is and how little it cares about rural safety.
In KwaMlaza village in the Port St Johns Municipality, for example, violent crime has led to villagers fleeing their homes after nine people, eight of them women, have been hacked to death or raped and then killed in the past five years with no single prosecution.
In this village the people have given up hope in the police who appear to operate on a catch and release basis - allowing violent criminals to walk amongst their victims. Every other day we read about our farmers, our farm workers and their families being brutally attacked, and more often than not, tortured by violent criminals.
In May this year, Tool and Liezel Wessels were attacked on their farm in Bonnievale. Boiling water was poured over her and she was made to watch as her husband was stabbed to death. Your deafening silence on the violence committed in rural communities
across our country is simply unacceptable, Mr President. Not one reference to rural safety. It is time for bold action to tackle crime and rural safety now. We do not have another 10 years.
Chairperson, we can, however, turn the tide on the rural crime wave sweeping our nation if we act now. The DA has a rural safety plan which can restore hope and order to the most isolated and vulnerable communities: from the commercial farm in Viljoenskroon to the rural village outside Keiskamahoek. It is a plan that focuses on building a modern police force equipped with the necessary knowledge and resources to deploy cutting edge technology in the fight against crime.
We believe that the deployment of drones with heat sensing technology into mountainous rural communities will assist in tracking down criminals and helping police to bring them to book. This is not a 10 year plan, Mr President, this technology is available today to be deployed tomorrow. [Applause.]
We believe that by establishing rural community policing units, with community members trained as rural reservists, policing
capacity will be bolstered in some of the most isolated regions of our country. The DA's plan offers real tangible solutions to curb this rampant tide of rural crime.
Chairperson, South Africans deserve an honest and professional police service. A police service they can trust, led by men and women of integrity who are well trained and resourced to keep our citizens safe.
In order to build an effective and fit for purpose South African Police Service, Saps, a DA national government would adopt a zero tolerance approach to corruption in the police. You can't have corrupt police officers chasing down corrupt politicians. In fact, Madam Speaker, this very Parliament has an immediate opportunity to strike fear into the hearts of the corrupt and criminal elements within Saps by appointing a credible permanent head of Independent Police Investigative Directorate, IPID, with unimpeachable integrity.
This is our moment to give real hope to all South Africans living in fear that we are serious about their safety. A DA-led
government will insist on the appointment of fit for purpose officers and management who are passionate about policing, and we will move to retrain all police officers to serve with professionalism and protect with pride.
We will establish an effective drug-busting force which will be deployed to those communities hardest-hit by gang violence. And lastly, a DA-led government will make policing a provincial responsibility by giving more of the powers and functions of policing to provincial commissioners and station commanders so they are empowered to tackle crime on a local level.
Madam Speaker, despite the President's promises in his 2018 address that he would focus on the distribution of police resources to areas hardest- hit by crime, the situation is in fact getting worse. In the Western Cape last year, half of all murders were recorded at only 13% of police stations.
These are the stations and communities that need the resources you promised them last year. Over the past two years, the Western Cape provincial policing ratio has deteriorated from one
police officer to every 385 people, down to one police officer to every 509 people.
Chairperson, our nation is being held hostage by violent criminals who literally get away with murder. In South Africa, 109 people are raped and 57 people are murdered every day.
During this very debate, innocent South Africans will be attacked, raped or murdered. The DA has a plan to turn this situation around, Mr President, do you?
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Hon
Chairperson of the NCOP ... [Interjections.]
Chair of the NCOP. Chairperson. Hon Masondo.
Yebo. [Laughter.] What are you saying? On what point are you rising?
It is a point of order that there is a platform beneath the podium, hon Nzimande, because where I am sitting I can't see you, I just hear a voice. Just climb the platform
there like hon Naledi Chirwa and the Minister of Small Business Development.
Hon Ndlozi, please down.
But I can't see him, I just hear his voice.
Please down. Proceed Minister.
The MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Hon
Chair, I'm ashamed ...
IsiZulu:
... ukuthi naniyobheka izintombi esazingabangani nendodana yami bese ubuya uzokhuluma kanjena nami ngimdala. [Ubuwelewele.] [Uhleko.]
English:
Hon Chair, our President, Mr Ramaphosa, Deputy President, Mr Mabuza, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and hon members, you know it would have been very better if the DA when talking about safety
in rural areas, equally emphasises safety, health and good working conditions for farmworkers as well, because often all this speech was about really it's about competing and trying to win back the votes that have been taken away by the FFP, because they seem to be doing this job much better than you.
In his opening speech on Thursday last week, our President made a seemingly innocent but yet very telling and fundamental observation, and I quote:
We gather here at an extremely difficult and challenging time in the life of our young democracy. Yet, we are also at a moment in our history that holds great hope and promise.
The President can be said also to be reminding some of us about what Karl Marx once said that: "Men make history but not under circumstances of their own choosing," yet, this must be no reason to succumb and shy away from the tasks ahead of us and to change the conditions in favour of the majority of our people. That's what is bold about the President's speech.
First of all, it admits the difficulties that we are facing, but doesn't succumb to those problems. Secondly, it provides a vision and a roadmap to tackle those problems. I also welcome the President's focus on the economy, as well as the priorities that have to be achieved. Higher Education, Science and Technology, President, will indeed aim to improve on aligning all its programmes to support the economic priorities as outlined.
Indeed, the ANC is confident, so should its President be, that it is still the best and the only organisation that is best capable to lead the effort of changing the lives of our people for the better. If you have no responsibility for governing, you can say whatever you like, what hon Carrim nicely put as populism. Also, if all that you are concerned about given the challenges that we are faced with in our country is one province, then you know that we have no responsibility to tackle these many problems that are facing the country as a whole.
Let me highlight some of the plans, the progress and gains that we have made in the area of higher education, skills
development, science and technology over the past 25 years. For example, in 1994 the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, spent about R71 million in supporting poor and mainly black students to access higher education. Yet, by 2018 this has hugely increased to R15 billion, and having benefitted more than 2 million students, most of whom being the first in the history of their families to acquire a university degree or a college certificate.
For the first time since 2016 there are more black students studying engineering at university, which is ever in the history of our country. Since 2009, government introduced NSFAS in technical and vocational education and training, Tvet, colleges with an amount of R100 million but by 2018-19 this amount has increased to R5 billion.
IsiZulu:
Ngalezi zinto esizenzayo sekwenzeke umehluko omkhulu ezimpilweni ikakhulukazi zentsha yakithi ngoba loHulumeni kaKhongolose uzimisele ukuthi izikhungo zokufunda zisebenzele ikakhulukazi intsha yakithi. Nanokuthi-ke sithi kwintsha yakithi ikakhulukazi
abafundi, uma senithole lamathuba, sicela ukuthi niwamukele ngezandla zombili niwasebenzise ekutheni nithole imfundo ngoba akekho umuntu oyoyithatha imfundo uma usunayo. Siyeke ukufuna ezithembisa imali esheshayo kodwa ezigcina zifake eningi intsha yakithi enkingeni. Imfundo yisikhathi sokugcina ukuthi intsha yakithi ikwazi ukuthi yenze imindeni yayo ibengcono, nayo ibengcono, kanye nomnotho wezwe lakithi. Kungakho uKhongolose andisa lamathuba kangaka.
English:
The department has just completed the National Plan for Post- School Education and Training, NPPSET, which will soon be released to give further impetus to these policy and goals. NPPSET is a roadmap for a more integrated, transformed, articulated and effective post-school system. I also welcome the President's focus, since ascending to office, on a development strategy and approach for our country that is based on systematic, planning and focusing on the 44 district municipalities in our country.
In the light of this, our department, therefore, aims to ensure that within the next 10 year's there will be no district municipality that would not have at least one post-school education and training institution. Our plan is to significantly expand infrastructure for Tvet colleges, including new institutions and campuses, as well as upgrading of Information and communications technology, ICT, so that our colleges become part of the modern digital era in all the 44 districts.
In line with the President's focus, over the next 10-year period, we will focus on the effectiveness and expansion of the new bursary scheme in both the university and Tvet college sectors. This will require indeed a strong partnership between government, the academic institutions as well as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Students from families earning up to R350 000 per annum receive comprehensive support in the form of a bursary for the duration of their studies.
Over the 2019 medium-term expenditure framework, MTEF, period, in other words, the next three years, the investment amounts on NSFAS will be R82 billion for university students and
R20,4 billion for Tvet college students. The EFF can criticise us if they want to, but you can't be blind to these achievements that have made a lot of difference to millions of young people in this country. [Applause.]
An infrastructure priority for the sixth administration also includes the development of decent, affordable student housing for universities and Tvet colleges and we will give further details on this during the Budget Votes. Safe to say that, government plans a massive investment in student accommodation. The new landscape for the Sector Education and Training Authority, SETAs, will be implemented from 1 April 2020. The aim of the new landscape is to strengthen, realign and repurpose the SETA system to support our skills development and human resource development plans.
Artisan development remains a priority while expanding workplace-based learning through learnership, work integrated learning and internships. The government will continue to strengthen what we call centres of specialisation, to ensure this; we have identified 26 Tvet colleges, we want these in the
areas in which they specialise to produce highly skilled and highly trained artisans, whether they are plumbers, welders, fitters and turners as these are very important in terms of achieving the many things that the President has outlined which need to be achieved through our economy.
We are glad to say that there are four employer associations participating in this initiative and we welcome that. Again, we must remind the EFF, I was amazed to hear that the President is being criticised that he doesn't have the influence among business that he claims to have. This is amazing. It shows that hon Carrim was right, in fact, the EFF is not a left organisation.
What make us to be able to change things is not individuals who may happen to be President; it is the waging of the class struggle to change the balance of forces on the ground. [Applause.] That is what we need to do. You can't be putting the blame on the President because we have never known, well, according to some of you like hon Shivambu, what is it to actually wage a struggle aimed at transforming the relations of
production in society, rather than taking all those problems and giving them to individuals?
It explains exactly who you are. You can't be left and without being a materialist. We welcome some commitments from the President, amongst others I quote the following:
"We will expand our high-tech industry by ensuring that the legal and regulatory framework promotes innovation, scaling up skills development for young people in new technologies, and reducing data costs."
The President also continued to say:
"We have the opportunity to be at the forefront of green growth, of low-carbon industrialisation, of pioneering new technologies and of taking quantum leaps towards the economy of the future."
President, you will be pleased to hear that already the Department of Science and Technology has actually been funding
specified programmes, undergraduate, Honours and Masters Degree students, in order to ensure that we produce students who are accessing high level skills, such that they will become part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as the digital era.
For instance, as the Department of Science and Technology, we aim to be in the forefront and on the cutting-edge of big data analytics, so that the dream that the President is talking about is a dream for all South Africans that, indeed we can become a much better country that is in the forefront of high-level technology and digital development.
The Department of Science and Technology has already established the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research from 2011, which is a key driver for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Under your leadership, President, this year we adopted a White Paper on Science and Innovation, and in recent years, the Department of Science and Technology has also enabled the development of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, robotics, photonics and additive manufacturing.
Also, I want to invite the hon members who have got time to come and talk to us as the department; we will take you to see what we are talking about, and what kind of the potential that our country has. That's why we say that the President is not dreaming; the President is talking about some of the things that we are already doing and which we would like to build upon, so that we are able to achieve what we want to achieve. For instance, we are also supporting specific sectors.
Minister Mantashe, the Department of the Department of Science and Technology is partnering with the Minerals Councils of South Africa, MCSA, in implementing the SA Mining Extraction Research, Development and Innovation, SAMERDI, strategy. Also, the department has bioeconomy strategy aimed at supporting agriculture by boosting innovation to ensure food security.
The government has already initiated a project to ensure that by 2021 all universities and Tvet college campuses are connected to high-speed broadband connectivity. A national Open Learning System is being developed, which is aimed at improving access to high-quality learning materials and resources.
President, I would like to conclude by saying, by combining the Departments of Higher Education and Training with Science and Technology, you have opened huge opportunities to place our country on to a much higher plane in terms of better coordination between what higher education institutions are doing, as well as the science councils.
As the ANC, we end by calling upon our allies, labour, business and civil society, especially the workers and the poor to rollout their sleeves to realise our dream of a better South Africa for all in the true style of 'thuma mina.' Thank you. [Applause.]