Much obliged to you, sir.
Okokuqala, masithi, umzekelo, ... [Firstly, let us say, for example, ...]
... we understand the purpose and the rationale behind these indirect grants, but the question ...
... ekufanele ukuba siyibuze yeyokuba ... [... we ought to ask is, ...]
... do we leave it open-ended if we are talking about building capacity ...
... ukuze ... [... so that ...]
... at some stage these municipalities ...
... bakwazi ukuzimela. [... are able to perform independently.]
Do we leave it open-ended or should we be asking ourselves until when we are going to do that.
That also includes the issue where we talk about municipalities that have limited revenue-raising capacity. Yes, we acknowledge it is a problem, but what are we doing about it? Do we help them? You know ...
... xa usiya phaya eMpuma Koloni kooQoboqobo umzekelo phaya eNkonkobe, bakhona oomasipala baninzi kodwa bayaqhwalela. Uyakufumanisa ukuba banawo amandla kodwa bafuna ukuncediswa ukuze bakwazi ukuzenzela ingeniso kodwa asiyenzi loo nto. Abanye uye ufumanise ukuba ingathi badlala upuca okanye undize ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... when you go to the Eastern Cape, at Keiskamahoek, Nkonkobe, for example, there are many municipalities there but they are underperforming. You will find that they have the capacity, but they need assistance so that they can generate an income. However, we are not assisting them. You will also find that others perform as if they are playing a children's game or hide-and-seek ...] to the point where I actually made a commitment to myself that next time ...
... xa ndisiya kwabaya masipala ingakumbi abazimelayo abadlala undize, ndiza kuxela laa mdlalo wabantwana ndithi: Ndize, ndize, baze nabo bathi, hoyi, hoyi. [... when I went to those municipalities, especially those that play hide-and seek, I would mimick that children's game and say, "Can I come? Can I come?", and they would respond by saying, "Not yet! Not yet!"]
This is so that I can go looking for them in order for them to start doing their jobs properly.
The other issue is that of the salary bill in the public sector. In general, almost 60% - I think it is 59,9% - of the allocation to the provinces ...
... iya ekuhlawuleni abantu abangasebenziyo; ingengabo bonke ke phofu, kuba kukho abo baphangelayo. [... goes towards paying the salaries of employees who are inefficient; not all of them are inefficient though, because there are those who are efficient.] But the bottom line is, if we are not getting value for money, ...
... kucacile ukuba likhona iqhele elivuzayo elifuna ukulungiswa. [... it is obvious that all is not well and something needs to be fixed.]
Now, the other very important issue that the chairperson of the committee highlighted when he introduced the report was the issue that we get parastatals ...
... ukuba nazo zithi oomasipala baqale bahlawule amatyala kwiiparastatals neeparastatals nazo zihlawule oomasipala ... [... that say that municipalities should first pay debts owed to them before they can do likewise ...]
... because it is a problem. At some stage, the hon Minister will recall, there was a report in the media that municipalities owed Eskom about R10 billion. I am not sure if we have addressed that, but that could, to a large extent, address some of the problems that Eskom experiences, and vice versa. [Interjections.]
I am much obliged to you. The UDM supports the Division of Revenue Bill. Thank you very much.