Hon Chairperson and hon members, the Division of Revenue Bill for 2009 was tabled in a very different economic climate to that in which these Bills have been tabled in recent years. The world economy, and that of South Africa, is in a worse position than it has been for several decades. However, the DA welcomed Minister Manuel's decision to keep to his considered and responsible fiscal position in the current global economic environment.
This Bill is the most important Bill passed annually, as it is a recognised critical step in the budget process, allocating resources to the three spheres of government. It is a process essential for national government, the 9 provinces and each of the 284 municipalities to be able to determine their budgets. The process for making this decision is at the heart of co- operative governance - the ideal envisaged in the Constitution of South Africa.
As members of the select committee we are convinced that the debates on the division of revenue constitute the foundation of our work and our oversight responsibilities. We welcome the fact that the following have been prioritised: enhancing the quality of education; improving the provision of health care, particularly for the poor; to reduce infant mortality, child and maternal mortality rates; reducing levels of crime and enhancing citizen safety; expanding the built-environment to improve public transportation and meet universal access targets in housing, water, electricity and sanitation; and decreasing rural poverty by taking steps to raise rural incomes and improve the productivity of farms. Improving food security for our nation through increasing the number of extension officers to support emerging farmers is vital. However, I must caution that, while making funding available is vital and laudable, the most important step is to improve on delivery and accountability. There must be an emphasis on quality spending and responsible spending.
Mentoring is vital to improving quality service, and so is the enforcement of checks and balances. For this to happen there must be an improvement in the work ethic and in the performance of all officials, from the Directors- General down to the lowest levels. And so too we need a more responsible attitude from our mayors and local councillors, concentrating not so much on perks and privileges but on service delivery to the poor and neglected, those who have been sidelined and neglected in the pursuit of power and influence. When committees, whether from national or provincial parliaments, do their oversight work, they should keep this most important document, the Division of Revenue Bill, in mind.
We welcome the following improvements made in the current Bill: the recommendation that, just as the Division of Revenue Bill requires that indicated allocations to schools and hospitals be gazetted with the tabling of provincial government budgets, this practice should be extended to clinics and other primary health care facilities as and when they fall under provincial control. The intention is to address bottlenecks that are hampering housing services delivery by accelerating the accreditation of municipalities with adequate capacity in line with the framework provision of the Integrated Housing and Human Settlement Development Grant. I refer here, in particular, to the City of Cape Town, which was denied accreditation contrary to the spirit of co-operative governance. Who suffered? The poor who desperately await homes of their own.
The recommendation was made by the FFC to ensure that spending for public transport infrastructure for 2010 is linked to broader city development plans. With the introduction of the new conditional grants to provinces and local governments, it is believed that such grants will strengthen the capacity of governments at all spheres to accelerate service delivery. However, there is an area of concern, because the equitable share formula used is largely population-driven and the allocations it generates are sensitive to shifts in populations across provinces. Such population shifts, in turn, lead to changes in relative demand for public services across the provinces. Population shift patterns in provinces like the Western Cape and Gauteng need very special attention to ensure that underestimations in population trends are accommodated to avoid increases in current backlogs.
I am appealing to Minister Manuel and Deputy Minister Nene not to forget about significantly increasing the conditional grant for libraries every year when I am no longer here to make this appeal to them. I am also appealing to you, hon members, to ensure that the provinces spend the full allocation of the conditional grant, so that libraries can be built in order for literacy and education to become top priorities at schools and in every home. In this way our nation can prosper and thrive with jobs for all.
In conclusion, it was Thomas Jefferson who once wrote that: "The purse of the people is the real seat of sensibility". The way in which we expend that purse shows how we care about the poorest and most vulnerable in our nation and that our ideals are not just empty rhetoric. Let us all remember that as we go into this election period.
I thank the members of the Select Committee on Finance, Scof, for their spirit of collegiality over the past five years in the interest of the people who elected us to Parliament. Finance committees are generally not very political or combative, as they focus on figures rather than on ideology and I think it is a good idea for all of us to concentrate on service delivery to the people. We have insisted on better performance and have sometimes sent mayors and officials away with their tails between their legs, and told them to come back again when their figures made sense, but that has always been in the interest of service delivery. So, let us take that forward, as we all assume new roles in the next term of office. Thank you. [Applause.]