Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Deputy Minister Nene, comrades and colleagues, the people of South Africa gave the ANC an overwhelming mandate to change their lives through, amongst others, the Budget. The Division of Revenue Bill that we are passing today is, therefore, one major tool that contributes to the creation of a better life. The track record of the ANC government, over the past 15 years, shows the steps that the ANC government has taken to address decades of deprivation and exclusion from the mainstream provision of services. And the people would want the ANC to continue with a programme of ensuring that children in rural areas have the same access to quality education, health, a clean environment, and food security, amongst others, as children in the Western Cape.
Despite the global economic meltdown, this Division of Revenue Bill, informed by the ANC manifesto, addresses itself to decent job creation through, inter alia, a restructured public works programme and public infrastructure. No one in this House can deny that South Africa, today, is a construction site. Construction is taking place at the stadiums, and it is taking place on the roads. It is taking place everywhere.
One matter that drew a lot of attention in the hearings, Deputy Minister, was the issue of incentives for municipalities that exhibit the capacity to create more jobs. These municipalities will receive more from the R4,2 billion earmarked for this process over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. This is expecting the Lephalale Municipality in Limpopo, for instance, to compete with Johannesburg Metropolitan. Ordinarily, we all know that the budget of Johannesburg Metropolitan is bigger than most provinces' and, therefore, comparing the small, rural municipalities with metropolitans is like comparing a cat to an elephant. So, the committee suggested that what needs to be done is to build the capacity of the small, rural municipality in order to create more jobs, and to give an incentive to the municipality to create these jobs. With increased resources in many departments, it will be incumbent upon committees to do vigorous oversight over the departments to ensure that these resources are expended properly. The government has responded positively to disasters by providing a special disaster management grant for swift response to disasters that continue to ravage our country. Emerging farmers or poor people of the Alfred Nzo Municipality, for instance, in the Eastern Cape can't wait for 20 years for government to respond to disasters. It is not fair. We must pass this Bill so that service delivery can start tomorrow.
I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the co-operation that we received from the officials of departments, especially National Treasury and the Department of Provincial and Local Government. I thank you.