Thank you, hon House Chair. The term unintended consequences come to mind. When government describes or defends the detrimental effects of certain policies we always hear that it's unintended consequences. I want to ask the ruling party to listen today and take the unintended consequences into effect now.
You see, many policies start with noble ideas but ignore the probable unintended consequences. Investment into developmental assets is critical to ignite social and economic development, and to create jobs. That's noble. Yet, learn from the past. The hon Abraham is absolutely correct. The National Party attempted to do exactly the same through prescription, but go and look at what the long-term effect thereof was. Go and look at what the state of the Government Employees Pension Fund, GEPF, was in 1994 as a result thereof. Completely depleted.
You are going to gamble away the money of pensioners. Contrary to government's concerted efforts and the positive changes achieved do date through the retirement reform initiatives, prescription will result in a reduction of investment returns
and would leave members of pension funds poorer. The risk to investors in pension funds would be that they would have to increase their contributions, work longer and contribute longer due to the poor performance of their investments.
The main objective of prescription is that assets are prescribed because there isn't sufficient demand for them based on their investment merits. In other words, if assets had sufficient investment merits there would be no need to prescribe them. Government should rather then work on the restructuring of state-owned entities, SOEs, than to prescribe assets. Why are our SOEs in the state that they are in?
Afrikaans:
Staatsentiteite is leeg gesteel en totaal en al wanbestuur. Die korrup het ons staatsentiteite leeg geplunder. Ek is doodseker dat die lede aan my regterkant en sekere ander lede in die Huis wat 'n affiniteit vir rooi het, slyp hul tande en slaan hul hande bymekaar, en sien dollar tekens wanneer ons praat oor voorgeskrewe beleggings, want hulle is seker dat hulle sien hoeveel meer miljarde daar gaan wees om te steel en te plunder.
Agb Abraham moet kennis neem met die feit dat dit die armste mense in Suid- Afrika is wat die meeste gaan ly as hierdie beleid van die ANC deurgevoer gaan word. Dit is die mees ondeurdagte beleidsrigting. Ek verstaan nie die agb Abraham nie. Wil sy soos die apartheidsregering wees? Wil sy soos die Nasionale Party wees? Want dit lyk my so.
Geskiedenis herhaal homself altyd. Die ANC raak al hoe meer soos die Nasionale Party; al hoe meer, met hulle geheimhouding, met hulle korrupsie en met die manier waarop hulle die land bestuur. U het geleer van die beste maar u gaan dieselfde pad as die Nasionale Party loop. U gaan ook mag verloor en u moet baie mooi na u eie profesie in hierdie Huis luister. U gaan u mag verloor agb Abraham, want die Nasionale Party het die mense se geld ... weg ... weg. [Tussenwerpsels.] Die mense se geld is weg. Die mense se geld gaan weer weg wees. U mag gaan weg wees. [Applous.]