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.]